Menu Plan, week of 2/16/15

This weekend I officially hit 21 pounds lost... whoo hoo!  Of course tonight's dinner of fried pork chops and mashed potatoes won't really help my cause, but that's OK.  All good things in moderation!

There are three new recipes on this week's plan, mostly because today (Monday) is a holiday and I've had time to read some blogs and play on Pinterest today.  We had planned to be out all day running errands and such, but, it's negative temperatures and ice covered roads all around us.  Staying in our warm home seemed like a much better plan!

Family Suppers this week:

• MONDAY:  fried pork chops, homemade smashed potatoes, green beans
• TUESDAY:  new recipe: Crockpot Taco Chicken Bowls  (Our local favorite restaurant is Hot Head Burritos, where I always order a chicken burrito bowl.  This is my attempt to create something similar at home!)
• WEDNESDAY:   new recipe: Crockpot Corn and Potato Chowder (no bacon since it's Ash Wednesday), grilled cheese sandwiches
• THURSDAY:  I'll be working, so DH will feed himself and the kids. 
• FRIDAY: new recipe: Egg Beaters Southwestern Fajita Quiche   (I'll be leaving out the chicken to make this a meatless Lenten meal.)

Linking up with Menu Plan Monday... head over there for some great meal ideas!

 

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I always provide my honest opinion regardless of the source of the product.

Menu Plan, week of 1/4/15

I'm excited today... today is the first Sunday in a LONG time that I haven't had to work.  My schedule is changing at work, which means that I'll have Sundays off now for the foreseeable future.  That makes it SO much easier to get my meal prep and menu plan done for the week ahead!

89 days ago... yes, exactly, LOL... I decided to change my eating habits.  I did the first cycle of the 17 Day Diet to start, and then I switched over to simply being mindful of my eating and logging every bite on MyFitnessPal.   I've lost 18lbs so far this way.   I wish I had thought to measure inches in the beginning, because I know I've lost more there that isn't really reflected on the scale.  Oh well.  I'm happy, feeling better, and plan to keep going until I've lost at least 35lbs.

PREPPING ON SUNDAY:  sausage/cheese/English muffin breakfast sandwiches to freeze for the kids' breakfasts; a pan of baked spaghetti; some smoothie packets for my favorite breakfast smoothies.

Family Suppers this week:

• SUNDAY:  homemade protein waffles, fresh fruit
• MONDAY: modified Bobby Dean's baked spaghetti (I'm going to use 1lb turkey sausage instead of ground beef and freeze half the casserole for another meal), salad, garlic bread
• TUESDAY: Budget Savy Diva's Crockpot Chicken Chili, corn bread
• WEDNESDAY: broiled tilapia with parmesan (new recipe), steamed broccoli, rice
• THURSDAY: crockpot roast chicken & vegetables
• FRIDAY: leftovers or TBD

Linking up with Menu Plan Monday... head over there for some great meal ideas!

 

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links- see my policy here. 
I always provide my honest opinion regardless of the source of the product.

Menu Plan Monday 11/3

I've been working hard this past month at changing my eating habits... which means that the rest of the family is benefiting, too, since I do all the cooking.  It's all good.  ;)

On Sunday morning, we tried these Cottage Cheese Mini Pancakes by Weelicious.  They got rave reviews in my house-- the kids couldn't figure out the mystery ingredient.  My daughter (a Type I Diabetic) had a whole plate of pancakes and low sugar syrup for only 42 carbs-- you can't beat that!

Here's the plan for this week:

• MONDAY: Dashing Dish's Crockpot White Chicken Chili  
• TUESDAY:  Greek Marinated Chicken, Broccoli, George Stella's Mock Garlic Mashed Potatoes
• WEDNESDAY:  Crockpot Turkey Smoked Sausage, Green Beans, Potatoes
• THURSDAY:  Crockpot Spaghetti Squash and Turkey Meatballs (based on this recipe)
• FRIDAY: Turkey Sausage, Egg, and Broccoli Breakfast Casserole (based on this recipe but using turkey sausage crumbles)

For more ideas, check out Menu Plan Monday!

 

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links- see my policy here. 
I always provide my honest opinion regardless of the source of the product.

Healthier Me

Hello, blog land.  I haven't blogged much for a while now, and I do miss it.  It's ok, though, as I never wanted this blog to become a full-time thing.

So, recently, I've been working hard on my eating habits. Here's what's working for me:

• I've successfully given up my daily Mountain Dew habit.  It's been a lot easier than I thought, actually.  In the past month, I've had three... and I only actually finished the first one of them.  The other two, I took a couple of sips, then decided it just didn't taste good so I didn't want to waste the calories on it.   I'm amazed at how something I used to drink daily (sometimes more than once a day) now doesn't taste good to me!
• I am logging every single bite I eat into MyFitnessPal (free website/app).  I've used this in the past, and I know that any time I log my food, I automatically eat better.   Right now I'm on my 27th day straight of logging!
• I used the The 17 Day Diet Breakthrough Edition to start my weight loss.  I followed the program about 90% for the first cycle of 17 days, then decided to transition to just watching what I eat instead of following the next cycle.  (I kept my coffee creamer, and I had a few other things that weren't 100% legal on the plan, but I still lost 9lbs in those 17 days!)  If I find that I start gaining or just not losing, I will definitely hop back on the 17 day wagon.  
• I'm learning that many of my new food preferences fall under "clean eating" categories.  My tastes are definitely changing, and several of my old go-to snacks just taste... funny.   That definitely makes it easier to stay away from some of the bad stuff!

I'm working on this week's menu plan, and it will be up tomorrow for Menu Plan Monday.

 

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links- see my policy here. 
I always provide my honest opinion regardless of the source of the product.

Recent Reads: The Miting

"The Miting" by Dee Yoder tells the story of Leah, a seventeen year-old Amish girl who has questions about the Amish lifestyle in which she has been raised.  She is not seeking the English life, but rather she is reading the Bible (a forbidden act) and developing her own faith.

"The Miting" is not the typical Amish fiction that I have read in the past... this story involves someone who leaves the faith, enters another church, waivers on that decision, pays the harsh consequences by being shunned in her own home, and then ultimately is forced to make life-changing decisions.   It wasn't a flowery picture of the fairy tale Amish life, but a gritty and realistic-feeling story about what it's really like to live with the multitude of rules and restrictions that the Amish must follow.  I appreciated that this wasn't a fairytale with a "perfect" ending. I was quickly drawn into this story and found myself considering things that I didn't know before-- like why can't an Amish girl read the Bible for herself?  

All in all, this was an excellent read and I will be looking for future books by Dee Yoder.

Get your own copy: The Miting by Dee Yoder will be available for FREE May 19 and $1.99 May 20-31 on Amazon Kindle! 

Disclaimer:  I was given a free copy of "The Miting" in exchange for posting my honest review during Kregel Publishing's Blog Tour of the book, May 19-23.  I will also post this review on Amazon and Good Reads.

 

This post may contain sponsored reviews or affiliate links- see my policy here. 
I always provide my honest opinion regardless of the source of the product.