A Bear & Chocolate Glazed Pumpkin Cookies!!!

Happy Halloween everyone! Today is my daughter Alana's first ever Halloween. YAY! So instead of just sitting at home all day, I decided to get her dressed up in a bear outfit that I had saved just for this occasion. We went to our local Publix Super Market because they were hosting a SAFE Halloween event for children. I absolutely love this idea because even through trick or treating is fun...us mother's must always keep our children's safety as our first and foremost priority.

My little bear had so much fun! Seeing other people and looking around at her surroundings is her favorite thing to do. Here are some shots I took of her before we went out to Publix.

Alana as a Bear

 And since I was already at the grocery store, I thought I'd pick up a few ingredients that I was missing to make these Chocolate Glazed Pumpkin Cookies. But Chelley, I thought the purpose of this blog was to lose weight...not eat cookies??? No need to fret, I am making them for my neighbor Julissa and her daughter. At the time that I moved into my new place with my boyfriend Travis, I was 9 months pregnant.Yikes, moving around while 9 months pregnant, I do not suggest it. Anyway, Julissa and I meet for a brief minute then, but I haven't seen her much since. Well a few weeks ago Julissa and her mother gave me the most gracious gift for my daughter. A huge bag of diapers (who would ever say no to free diapers when you have a new baby), baby wipes, crib sheets, and a keepsake frame. I thought it was so sweet and very small town neighbor of them. So now it is time to return the favor. And what better way to say Thank You than with a fresh batch of cookies.

 
I got the recipe off of the Martha Stewart website. And it was super simple to make. The recipe yielded 3 1/2 dozen, so I halved all of the quantities in order to make a smaller batch.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

To Health, Love, and Happiness,

Recipe: Very Veggie Meatloaf

Since I have a little more time on my hands, I have been trying to experiment with some of my favorite foods. And meatloaf is one of them! Currently, I am a (sometimes) stay at home mom. I say sometimes because last Sunday was my first day back at my part-time job. Work was exactly how I remembered it, the only thing that was different was ME. I missed my daughter Alana the entire time and couldn't stop thinking and worrying about her too.

How could you not love this face?

                                                        
But during my time at home with my lovely little one, I have found creative ways to pass the time. I have recently become obsessed with watching food network clips online. I've always been obsessed with watching food network, but now I can refine my search and watch whatever recipe I want. Sounds awesome to me!!! So I've been doing some research on how to make meatloaf juicier and more wholesome. Since my previous meatloaves have been on the dried side.
So I have a recipe that I really love and I want to share it with you...

The Ingredients 

(sorry I forgot to get the ketchup and hot sauce before I took the picture)

Ingredients:
2- 1 pound packages of extra lean ground beef
1- large yellow onion
1- 8 ounce package of button mushrooms
1- large zucchini
1-green bell pepper
1-large egg
1/2- can of tomato sauce
1- tbsp of tomato paste
2- tbsp of vegetable oil
1-cup of plain breadcrumbs
1 -tsp of dried thyme
1/2- cube of bouillon
1/4-cup of water
3-tbsp of ketchup (not pictured)
1-tbsp of hot sauce (not pictured)

Directions:
Step one: Chop up your onion and green  pepper. Add the oil to a medium high heated saute pan. Add in your veggies. Saute until heated through and beginning to wilt. 
Step two: Now finely chop up you mushrooms and add them to the pan with the onions and bell pepper.
Step three: Allow your veggies to sweat out. Then add in the tomato paste, thyme, bouillon, and 1/4 cup of water.
Step four: Chop up the zucchini and add them to the pot of veggies. Mix in the zucchini, and remove the pot from the heat so that the veggies will cool down to room temp.
Step five: Now in a mixing bowl, beat one egg. Then add in the bread crumbs and the ground meat.
Step six: Once the veggies have cooled, add them to the mixing bowl. Mix everything together.
Step seven: In a Pyrex baking pan form the meat mixture into a loaf.
Step eight: In a separate bowl mix together the tomato sauce, the ketchup, and hot sauce. Pour half of this mixture on top of the meatloaf. (The other half we used as extra sauce on the side) Bake in a 400 degree oven for 1 hour.

Step by step photos

Add the green bell pepper and onion first. I do this because I like for these veggies to be really wilted

Add the mushrooms. Remember to chop them up finely, because we do not want big chunks of mushrooms in our meatloaf.

Get them nice an sweaty.

Add the thyme, tomato paste, and bouillon. And some water. This is the moisture layer in your meatloaf.

Now add in the zucchini. I add them in last so they keep a firm texture.

In a separate bowl add in a beaten egg and bread crumbs

I snapped this pic because I realized the I pick up two different packages of meat. Opps! Next time I will be sure to only get the extra lean beef. As you can tell in the picture, the regular ground beef is fattier.

Add in the cooled veggies and beef to the egg mixture.

Mix it all together.

Form the mixture into a loaf

Mix together the ketchup, hot sauce, and tomato sauce

Put the tomato mixture on to of your loaf

Bake at 400 degrees for an hour. And Enjoy!!!

 I hope you try this recipe! Sorry I do not have a picture of it plated. By the time it was done this mama was really impatient (hungry) and just wanted to eat! I will be making this again, so I will update the picture. Promise!!!

To Health, Love, and Happiness, 

To Workout or Not to Workout? That is the Question.

It's Friday night, and while most young women my age are probably out partying in their local downtown club scene, I'm lying by my sleeping baby girl...thinking about workouts? I know it may seem crazy but I'm actually excited to start working out again. I used to dread the thought of having to go through yet another 30 min or an hour of what I thought was torture. But now I'm more excited then ever about doing my first post baby workout.
I do still need to get the "OK" from my doctor to begin a workout regimen. But once I do I plan on doing tons of cardio, with a few days of light ( I say "light" because I just want to have lean muscles and not bulky ones) weight training as well. I will more than likely do all of my workouts from home, seeing as I don't have a gym membership and I have a 3 month old at home.
Previously when I have tried to lose weight in the past, I found myself trying crazy fad diets but not working out. And what happened with that? You guessed right! I would lose weight but I would never keep it off. I usually gain the weight back and then some. So I will no longer be doing that. I plan on eating right AND exercising too. But remember new moms that you should always get the go ahead from your doctor before jumping back into a workout routine. Once I talk to my doctor, I will start off easy (it's been over a year since I've last worked out), so you won't see me doing any marathons anytime soon.
Workout videos used to be my weapon of choice, but since I've done some research on other blogs, I may go another route. I was on the BodyRock site and the idea of home interval workouts interested me. So I will be doing that instead. I will not be doing the exact workouts that she does, because I do not have the equipment that Zuzana (she is the creator of BodyRock.tv)  uses. So instead I will be doing my own moves that I've seen in magazines or modified version of what Zuzana does.  
Anyway, Its still kind of up in the air since I have to wait on my doctor.  So I guess the question is really to workout or not...but when??? Hopefully soon, I get anxious. But I promise that I will make a post on what my first post baby workout is!!!

To Health, Love, and Happiness,

Recipe: Leftover Chicken Salad

*This receipt was created before going vegan* 

So I promised you all a re-make recipe. And here it is! I used the leftovers from my roasted chicken to make a healthy chicken salad. My boyfriend has been requesting chicken salad for a little while, and this is what I came up with. Its a simple recipe that takes about 10 minutes to prepare...

I usually have it as a healthy snack between meals. I had it with crackers and baby spinach, but you can serve it on top of a salad or as a sandwich.

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (shredded)
1 container of plain non-fat Yoplait Greek yogurt
1/4 of a cup of sliced almonds
1 tbs of cumin
1 tsp of salt
1/2 tsp of pepper

Directions:
Placed the almonds on a foil lined baking pan and place in a 350 degree oven for 3-5 mins. In the meantime, shredded your leftover chicken. Put aside. In a separate dish mix together the Greek yogurt, cumin, salt, and pepper. Next add in the almonds and the shredded chicken. Mix together until well combined...and Enjoy!

Here are step by step photos to help guide you!

First, start off by placing the almonds on a foil line baking pan. Make sure the almonds are not piled on top of each other. A thin layer is what we are looking for. This will ensure even toasting of the almonds.

Next shred the two chicken breast and set aside on a separate plate. You could also cube the chicken if you want to go with a more chunky chicken salad. 

Now in a mixing bowl mix together the Greek yogurt, the cumin. salt, and pepper.

Add the shredded chicken and the roasted almonds to the yogurt mixture.

Mix all of the ingredients together! Remember, this is just a recipe suggestion. You can make this your own by adding in dried fruits or different nuts. Whatever you like =)

And Enjoy!!!

To Health, Love, and Happiness, 

Recipe: Roasted Chicken

This week I have been cooking up a storm. And since I haven't posted in awhile, I wanted to share with you my favorite Roasted chicken recipe. It's super simple to put together! So here we go...

 It should come out looking something like this  ^.^  So yummy!

Ingredients:
1 whole fryer chicken
2 lemons (cut into 8 pieces)
2 yellow onions(cut into 8 pieces)
2 garlic cloves (crushed)
1 tbs of Italian seasoning
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 tbs salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
First start by preparing the veggies. Cut the lemons, the onions, and the garlic and set aside. Next prepare the seasoning rub. Mix together the Italian seasoning mix, the oil, and the salt and pepper in a separate dish and set aside. Next is the cleaning of the  chicken. Yes, this can get a little messy, but it has to be done. Remove all of the insides from the chicken and remove any excess fat from the body of the chicken. Make sure the outside of the chicken is dry. You can use a paper towel to blot it dry.
Now stuff the inside cavity of the chicken with half of the onions, garlic, and lemons. The other half will go underneath the chicken to serve as a rack. Now take half of the seasoning mix and rub it underneath the skin of the chicken breasts. And rub the other half of the mix all over the outside of the chicken.
Bake at 450 degrees for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 15 minutes...and Enjoy!!!
I hope you all like this recipe and give it a try. The leftovers are perfect for re-make meals. I will be posting a re-make meal using the leftovers of this chicken shortly! 

 This is how my dinner ended up looking. I served it with brown rice and broccoli. You can also make a quick pan sauce out of the drippings from the pan that you roasted the chicken in. Just remove the drippings and place it in a saucepan. Skim the fat from the top, add additional onions (optional) and chicken broth. And voila a quick pan sauce to serve with the chicken!

To Health, Love, and Happiness,

Calorie Commando!

Today I start preparing for my new weight loss journey! I've found that if you devote a little bit of time preparing before starting a new adventure, than you will set yourself up for success. So, with this said, I spent the day gathering up as much information as possible on how many calories I should be eating and how much fat grams one should consume in a day.

 A women of my age (24), height (5 feet 4 inches), and weight (196 pounds) should consume approximately 1500 calories per day in order to lose weight, this is based off of this website.

Now let's discuss fat. This was a little trickier, and required some math. But no worries, It is just two steps and you can find those on this site. First, you must find your total calories from fat. In order to do this you take your total amount of calories per day and multiply by 30%. So in my case it would be 1500 calories x .30 = 450 calories from fat. Then you take this number and divide by 9 to find how many grams of fat you should consume per day. So 450 calories from fat/ 9 = 50 grams of fat per day!
Anyway, I hope this information has helped you out!

To Health, Love, and Happiness,

The starting line...

Hey everyone! This is my first ever blog post. (YAY!) I am new to blogging, so I will be learning as I go. This blog is intended to help motivate me to lose my post pregnancy weight. Before getting pregnant I weighed 176 pounds, which was already over a healthy BMI for a 5 foot 4 inch female. SIDEBAR: A healthy BMI ( Body Mass Index) for a female who is 5 feet 4 inches is 140 pounds. Click here and here to help you calculate your BMI.

With my pregnancy I gained 34 pounds bringing me up to 210 pounds! That was the heaviest I've ever been in my life. But during pregnancy it is expected to gain a large amount of weight.
Now my post pregnancy weight is 196 pounds. My goal is to lose 56 pounds, which will bring me down to 140 pounds. That is within a healthy BMI! I hope to do this by the summer. My baby, my sweetie, and myself will be traveling then to Montana to visit family. I plan on attaining this goal through a low calorie, low fat, clean lifestyle. First I would have to work on the way I eat. Then when I get the ok from my doctor, I will add in various workouts. 

I just wanted to share with you all my goals and where I have been weight wise in the past year. Anyways happy blogging, and follow me if you want to share in this journey!

To Health, Love, and Happiness,