Blueberry Buckle

I made some blueberry buckle this morning to have for breakfast this week. I made it once before, but it didn't turn out very well, so I wanted to give it another try. It turned out great this time! I got this recipe from my SIL. My MIL makes it quite often when blueberries are in season and it is always so good!

Blueberry Buckle

3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups blueberries (frozen from this past summer)

Topping:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup soft butter

Mix sugar, shortening and egg. Stir in milk. Sift in flour, baking powder and salt. Sprinkle in blueberries. Put in 8x10 pan and top with crumb mixture.

Topping:Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and butter.

Bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes.

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

I made another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking for cream cheese chicken the other night. This was very quick to prep, super simple, and very tasty. Definitely a keeper! Its pretty much like chicken stroganoff. We all loved it! I'll add a pint of mushrooms next time to make it even better!

Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken

2 cups homemade cream of mushroom soup (I used a pint of home-canned)
frozen chicken--enough to feed four adults
2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning (I just used some garlic, rosemary, oregano, parsley)
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 Tablespoon onion powder
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 cloves minced garlic
block of cream cheese (to add later)
pasta (I used up some random organic sprouted wheat ribbons and organic egg noodles)

Put everything except for the cream cheese into the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through and begins to shred. Shred the chicken with two large forks, and mix in the block of cream cheese. Switch the crock to high and cook for another 30 minutes, or until the cream cheese is fully melted. Serve over pasta.

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

I've been wanting to make this baked oatmeal for awhile, so I decided to make it for lunch today. This is another keeper from A Year of Slow Cooking. Very easy prep and super yummy!! I had never tried baked oatmeal, so I wasn't sure what to expect. This is so good, though! Even Kevin thought it was ok - and he doesn't like normal oatmeal. I think I may start making this regularly every other Sunday to have throughout the week. It will be fun to try different flavorings, too... different dried fruits, maple syrup and a little more brown sugar, applesauce and chopped apples, bananas and walnuts - yum!

Crockpot Baked Oatmeal

3 cups rolled (not instant) oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoon flax meal (optional)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup dried fruit (I used some store-bought golden raisins and cranberries and some home-dried cherries and blueberries)

I used a 4 quart oval crockpot. You're baking this, but no need to vent the lid of the crock; keep all the moisture in.

Mix all the ingredients together in the crockpot. I dumped in all the dry stuff, then added the melted butter and milk. Stir well with a spoon. Make sure the baking powder gets dispersed evenly.

Cover and cook on low for 3-5 hours, checking every so often. This is done when the edges are brown and are beginning to crust, and the center is set. An inserted knife should come out clean. (Mine took about 4 hours and 15 minutes).

Let it sit in the cooling crockpot for at least an hour before attempting to cut. The longer you let it sit, the more set and brownie-like the pieces will be.

Meal plans and the week ahead

We've got another busy week ahead of us. We had a lot of fun things planned for this week, but everything is kind of up in the air right now, with the passing of my grandmother. We'll just play each day by ear and see what I feel up to. Kevin will likely be in Michigan this entire week again. He's going to be one of the pallbearers at my grandma's funeral and thankfully his boss is being very understanding. So no Lafayette this week again. (Yay!!)

We may be heading to East Lansing this afternoon for a MSU women's basketball game - it'll be the Dutch giant, Allyssa DeHaan's last game before the playoffs, so we figured we'd better go see her in action! We had planned on meeting some friends at the game and then heading out to eat dinner with them in East Lansing after the game, but we'll see how this afternoon is going and whether I feel up to it or not (right now I'm not). I don't think I will work on Monday and definitely won't on Tuesday. Tuesday is the visitation and funeral. I have another podiatrist appointment that afternoon that I will have to reschedule (for hopefully later in the week) and I'll be skipping Zumba this week. Thursday I'll be in Windsor all day for meetings. Friday is my flex day and Carson and I have Kindermusik. And then I think we'll meet my friends Melissa and Jenny for lunch and to let the kids play a little. We'll head over to visit my grandpa at some point, too. Saturday morning, we're heading to Albion to visit the children's museum there with our friends, the Chapmans. Depending on when we get back (if we get back in time), we may head to the Flint Childrens' Museum for Seuss-a-Palooza to celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday. We'll just see how it plays out.

No extras this week. It'll be enough to just go through the motions.

Here's what I'm thinking for meals... which may change if I don't feel like cooking some night(s) or if we end up at my grandpa's...

Sunday - out to eat in East Lansing if we go to the game or family dinner at my grandpa's house if we stay here

Meatless Monday - scrambled eggs with broccoli and green peppers; toast with strawberry rhubarb jam

Tuesday - funeral dinner after the burial

Wednesday - meatloaf; ranch potato wedges; steamed green and yellow beans; applesauce

Thursday - leftovers from funeral dinner... chicken; salad; cupcakes; applesauce

Friday - pesto cheesy chicken rolls; mixed greens side salads; fresh oranges and clementines

Saturday - cajun blackened red snapper; steamed brown rice; peas and carrots; fresh pineapple and clementines

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I made stuffed pepper soup the other night for dinner. I found the recipe on RecipeZaar and made a few changes so I could do it in the crockpot. I'll post the original recipe below with my changes in parentheses. This was a very good soup - it smelled so good when we came home from work! It tasted very much like a stuffed pepper - delicious! All three of us loved it!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (I used 1 pound ground lamb)
3 large green peppers, chopped (I used 4)
1 large onion, chopped
2 (14 ounce) cans beef broth (I used Organic BTB and water... and added about 3 cups extra water for the rice)
2 (10 ounce) cans tomato soup, undiluted (I just used a pint of my home-canned)
1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes, undrained (I used organic, fire-roasted, diced)
1 (4 ounce) can mushroom pieces, drained (I used a pint of home-canned)
1 1/2 cups cooked rice (I used 3/4 cup uncooked organic short brown rice)

In a dutch oven or large saucepan, cook beef, peppers, and onions over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the broth, soup, tomatoes, and mushrooms. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the rice, heat through and serve.

(I cooked the meat and then just threw everything into the crockpot and let it cook on low for 9 hours).

Fruit trees, berries, and perennials

I've been working on filling out lots of order forms lately... many from our local Conservation Districts. In Michigan, every county has an established Conservation District that is dedicated to protecting our ecosystem. They are primarily funded from federal, state, and local sources, but they also all have Spring and Fall tree sale fundraisers. They sell all sorts of trees and plants - conifers, deciduous, shrubs, fruit trees, berries, native plants, etc. And they have AWESOME prices! I've decided to put in a few orders with our local and nearby county conservation districts this year to expand our home orchard and berry patches. I'm sure I'll also pick up some other trees and bushes from our local nursery, but for now, here is a list of my soon-to-be-added fruit trees...

1 Braeburn Apple Tree:
I LOVE Braeburn apples and just couldn't resist adding one to our orchard, even though we already have at least seven or eight apple trees (that I still haven't figured out all of the varieties... but I know that none of them are Braeburns)

1 Emperor Francis Sweet Cherry Tree ... and... 1 Bing Sweet Cherry Tree:
Since you need two varieties of sweet cherries to pollinate, I selected these two. Emperor Francis was actually my second pick during all of my research into different varieties last summer, so I was pretty excited to see it on the list for Shiawassee County. Bing cherries are so popular and do taste pretty good, too, so I figured I'd get a Bing as my second variety. I'm still hoping to find my top pick (Hedelfingen) somewhere, but these will do for now.

1 Balaton Tart Cherry Tree:
I figured if I was doing the sweet cherries this year, I may as well get a tart cherry tree, as well! Tart cherries are self-pollinating, so I only need one of them. This is a fairly new variety, but its supposed to be even better than the standard tart cherry, Montmorency.

1 Redhaven Peach Tree:
I waited and waited last year for our local nursery to get their stock in, but it was such a late shipment and I didn't feel comfortable planting that late in the season. I was so glad to see these listed as a variety to choose from... and for a third of the price as I would have paid last summer through our local nursery!!

We'll get to pick up the trees on April 16th and April 23rd (two different counties), so perfect timing for planting! And for celebrating Earth Day!! We started a tradition last year that we hope to always continue with Carson of planting a new tree or plant on Earth Day each year. It will be fun to help Carson learn about preserving our ecosystem and helping to beautify the Earth. Hopefully he will develop the same passion I have for this essential cause!

In addition to the trees, I've also ordered some berry bushes from one of the Conservation Districts...

Bluecrop and Blueray Blueberries:
I ordered 5 bushes total, 2 of one and 3 of the other. That should get my blueberry patch going pretty well. I do still want to pick up one or two Jersey bushes, but I'll get those from our local nursery. Now I've got to get on the ball and figure out where we're going to put the blueberries!

I've also submitted an order to Fedco Trees for some things that I see as garden essentials... I'll be splitting some things with some friends at work, since you have to order some in larger bulks. I'll list what I'm getting below.

Purple Passion Asparagus (25 crowns):
I've wanted to start some asparagus for a couple of years now, so I'm very excited to get it going this year finally! This variety is supposed to be sweeter and less stringy, so you can use more of the spear. They say they are tender enough to eat raw in salads, even. Yum!

Borderland Beauty Blackberry (1 plant):
This will add a little variety to my blackberry patch that I started last year with two Darrow plants from the local nursery.

Prelude Raspberry (4 plants):
This is an early variety ready in early July. I'm expanding our raspberries so that we'll have fresh raspberries over a long period of time with different ripening schedules.

Royalty Purple Raspberry (4 plants):
They just sounded too delicious not to order any and add to our raspberry patch. They are described as cohesive fairly firm large berries make outstanding jam and jelly and even better fresh eating. Their distinctive flavor is different from the red raspberries, with a hint of black-raspberry. Now doesn't that just make you want some, too?? :)

Yummy Yummy Coffee Cake

I made some coffee cake yesterday morning. This is a recipe that I got from my Grandma Burge. I've made it several times over the years, but its been awhile since I made it last. My grandma isn't eating much of anything these last few days, so I thought maybe she'd get a bite of this coffee cake down if I made it. She always loved this and made it quite often, so we'll see how it goes.

This is a great coffee cake - super moist and super delicious every time. Everyone always loves it. Its also very similar (even in name) to a recipe that my SIL posted last month. A little less butter, no baking powder, and a little less cinnamon in this recipe vs. hers. I included a glaze in the recipe below that we often will drizzle over the coffee cake, but its not necessary - its great with or without!

Yummy Yummy Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
2 cups flour

Filling:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup nuts (optional)

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 Tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 11x7 pan.

Beat butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla together. Add baking soda, salt, sour cream, and flour.

Mix filling ingredients in a separate bowl.

Put half of the dough in the prepared pan. Top with half of filling. Spread the remaining dough on top. Then remaining filling.

Bake 35-40 minutes.

While still warm, mix glaze and drizzle over top.

Meal plans and the week ahead

Today is Kevin's birthday! Happy birthday, babe!! We'll be going out to breakfast with my parents to celebrate. Then we'll be heading over to visit my grandparents for a bit this morning. We'll also be seeing my BFF Jaime and her newly adopted dog-son, Jack, this afternoon, as they're in town from Phoenix! And we may go out to dinner, just the three of us, to celebrate tonight, but that's up in the air still. Tuesday I get my hair done (had to cancel last week) and have Zumba. Kevin is also likely to head down to Lafayette on Tuesday or Wednesday this week. Friday morning I'll be going to the podiatrist and then heading in to work. If Kevin goes to Lafayette this week, he'll be coming home late Friday night. Saturday I'll be going to a baby shower for my cousin in the afternoon and we'll go visit my grandparents at some point.

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I need to start focusing on making sure I (and Kevin) eat breakfast every day. I always cook up eggs on Saturday mornings and pancakes on Sunday mornings, but both Kevin and I usually forego breakfast during the week. I know its not healthy and if I want to continue to lose weight effectively, I need to eat breakfast to get my metabolism started. So I've been trying to have something for us during the week. We need quick and easy.. something that is cooked ahead of time that we can grab and go. I made some millet muffins last week and took one to have with coffee for breakfast each morning. I've got some back in the freezer again, too. I also got a small loaf of zucchini blueberry bread out of the freezer to have a couple of mornings last week. And I made smoothies for us one morning. This week, we'll have coffee cake, some berry scones from the freezer, baked oatmeal, and I'm planning to make some blueberry buckle on Saturday. The hard thing is that the carb-loaded breakfasts are easiest to prep ahead, freeze, and eat... and I'd really like to get away from such carb-loaded breakfasts. If you have any suggestions, please let me know! I've made breakfast burritos and have frozen them in the past, so maybe I need to make up another batch of those, too.

Anyway, that's about it this week. Here's the menu...

Sunday - TBD... maybe out to eat... maybe spaghetti and home-canned meatsauce at home

Meatless Monday - goat cheese, corn, and black bean quesadillas; applesauce

Tuesday - stuffed bell pepper soup in the crockpot; homemade bread; peaches

Wednesday - Likely to be just Carson and me, so we'll have some of his favorites... grilled cheese sandwiches; raw celery and carrots; sliced apples with peanut butter

Thursday - leftover soup; bread; applesauce

Friday - pork roast with potatoes and carrots in the crockpot; fresh pineapple and mangoes

Saturday - cream cheese chicken in the crockpot; quinoa pasta; sauteed broccoli and carrots in EVOO and garlic; blueberry buckle

2010 Veggie Garden

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'll be focusing on the orchard and berries this year over the veggie garden. I'll still be planting a rather large garden with a good variety of veggies, but it will be nothing compared to last year's garden. I'm going for extra low maintenance this year, so I've decided not to grow corn, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, dry beans, okra, pac choi, brussels sprouts, parsnips, leeks, shallots, or peas this year. But I'm also trying out a few new things this year - edamame, beets, pumpkins, kohlrabi, and cantaloupe. I've decided I'll take this year off from starting my seeds indoors. So all the seeds I ordered this year are ones that I can plant directly in the veggie garden. I'll pick up some plants at our local nursery to fill in the missing veggies that can't be directly seeded. So here's my plan...

Seeds ordered from Fedco Seeds:

Green Beans - Organic Provider
Yellow Beans - Organic Golden Rocky
Edamame - Beer Friend Soybean
Cucumbers - Organic Little Leaf Pickling Cucumber
Zucchini - Jackpot (green), Sebring (yellow)
Summer Squash - Gentry
Fall/Winter Squash - Organic Uncle David's Dakota Dessert (buttercup)
Pumpkins - Baby Pam (pie), Lumina (white)
Beets - Organic Red Ace
Spinach - Tyee
Lettuce - Buttercrunch
Chard - Bright Lights
Kohlrabi - Kolibri

I'll pick up the following plants at our local nursery:

Broccoli
Tomatoes - heirloom varieties
Peppers - bell peppers and jalapenos
Cantaloupe

So that's my plan this year. Much more scaled back than last year's garden. I'm sure I'll miss having such a large variety of veggies, but I think we still are going to end up with plenty. :)

Nacho Cheese Dip

You can find this nacho cheese dip at probably 90% of my family parties. Everyone loves it and its always a hit with new people, too. I think this recipe came off of the Velveeta Cheese box, but I'm not sure. My family has been making it for as long as I can remember. Its super easy, very little prep, and super yummy. I made this for one of Carson's birthday parties and everyone loved it, so I thought I'd post it here.

Nacho Cheese Dip

1 pound bulk pork sausage, cooked
1 brick Velveeta cheese, cut into 1" cubes
16 oz jar salsa (or pint of home-canned)

Break up and brown the bulk sausage in a frying pan on the stovetop. Drain the grease and put sausage into the crockpot. Dice up the Velveeta into 1" cubes and put in crockpot. Pour salsa over top. Cover and cook on low for 3-4 hours until everything is melted. Once it is melted, you'll want to turn it to Keep Warm so that it doesn't burn. Serve with tortilla chips.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

On Monday, I made up a batch of cream of tomato soup in the crockpot. This recipe comes from my SIL Mary. This is a very good soup. It tastes as good as the last tomato soup I had tried (a Giada recipe), but its much simpler since everything is just thrown into the crockpot. We had a little for dinner with grilled cheese sandwiches and I canned the remaining soup into 8 pints. I'm very excited to have this on hand for quick lunches and dinners!

I'll update with a picture later on.

Crockpot Cream of Tomato Soup

(This cream of tomato soup is rich and hearty and very delicious. It can be used as a substitute for canned tomato soup with excellent results and cannot be beat when served with grilled cheese sandwiches. Mix and match any of the suggested herbs and spices for a marvelous soup. For a traditional blend we use 2 tablespoons Italian parsley, 1 tablespoon oregano, and 1 tablespoon basil.)

2 Tbsp. olive oil (I didn't add this)
1 large chopped onion
3 crushed garlic cloves
2 minced carrots (I just did a rough chop into slices)
2 pounds peeled and diced tomatoes (reserve and add all juices) (I used 1 large can of diced tomatoes and 1 large can of crushed tomatoes)
4 cups chicken or vegetable stock or broth
3 Tbsp. tomato paste
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
2-4 Tbsp. freshly chopped herbs (basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, savory, chervil, Italian parsley, mint, lavender) or 1-2 tsp. dried herbs or spices (Italian spices, basil, oregano, marjoram, thyme, cumin, curry powder, nutmeg)
1 cup heavy cream (or milk - I used 1% milk)

Combine the oil, onion, garlic, and carrot in the crockpot. Cook on high, stirring frequently, until the onion softens. This can also be done in a skillet. (I skipped this step.) Add the remaining ingredients except for the herbs and spices and cream. Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. Add the herbs and adjust seasoning. Cool slightly and puree in small batches (I used an immersion blender). Return to the crockpot and add the cream. (I just added the cream to the individual bowls and canned the soup plain). Reheat until piping hot, or else cool and chill before serving.

* Process at 10 pounds of pressure for 20 minutes if you want to can it.

Biggest Loser, Week 11

I've finally broke through the weeks of just maintaining and lost a pound this week! I wasn't really expecting it with the weekend full of birthday parties, but I sure do welcome it! :) I'm really going to push to lose 2 pounds next week, though.

With my heels killing me when I do much of anything lately, workouts have been extremely painful. I don't think I'm going to do any running until I get to the podiatrist. I'll continue to walk during the day on my break at work, as well as on the treadmill at home. And of course, I'll still be doing my Zumba class on Tuesday nights, as well as doing a little Zumba work once or twice during the week at home with my book and DVD. I've done Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred a couple of times in the last week, but I'm getting bored with it since I've done it so many times in the last few months. So I picked up a really good bellydancing DVD and a Turbo Kick DVD last week. A couple of my friends do bellydancing and say its such an awesome workout, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm planning to do it tomorrow night after my kettlebells. My BFF Sara does Turbo Kick and it sounded like something I'd love, so I started that yesterday. I love it! I had to tone it down and do some things more low-impact for my heels' sake, but it was still an awesome workout. Its a combo of kickboxing and shakin' it and it is so fun! I love kickboxing, always have and always will, so I'm really looking forward to adding Turbo Kick to my routine. I still do kettlebells, but I've cut back a little and only do them two or three times a week. I still love them - they're still my favorite thing to do - you seriously just can't get as good of a workout out of anything else in as little time. But you have to put your weight on your heels for the swings, so it has become quite painful.

Even with the pain in my heels, I'm not giving up on this exercising. Some nights my heels are just too painful to even think about walking, so I just take it easy those nights and do some benchpresses or arm curls. At least I'm still getting something. Hopefully by the end of today I'll have an appointment scheduled to see a podiatrist and can get some relief for my heels. For now, I'll just keep doing what I can to try to get healthy.

UPDATE: I have an appointment with a local podiatrist for Friday, February 26th. Wish I could get in sooner, but with my schedule at work, its the best I could do.

Heavenly Pink Salad

I made this fruit dessert salad for Carson's birthday party today. This is another AllRecipes recipe. This is more like a dessert with the marshmallows in it. Its not really the most healthy of recipes, but its a nice treat. :) Very tasty, very quick to prepare.

Heavenly Pink Salad

1 (21 ounce) can cherry pie filling
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
1 (15 ounce) can crushed pineapple
1 cup shredded coconut
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 (16 ounce) package frozen whipped topping, thawed

Mix together the cherry pie filling, condensed milk, oranges, pineapple, coconut, marshmallows and whipped topping. Chill for several hours and top with crushed pecans if desired.

Orange Cream Fruit Salad

I found this recipe for fruit salad on AllRecipes awhile back and decided to try it out for Carson's birthday party with my in-laws and friends yesterday. If you like creamy, pudding style fruit salads, you'll love this. I thought it was very good, Carson loved it, and Kevin liked it. Most people that like that type of salad also really liked it from what they said. It was very easy to throw together. I'll make it again and will add more fruit to it next time. Even with the extra can of mandarin oranges and extra banana, it seemed like it still had a lot of extra pudding.

I'll try to remember to take a picture and post it later.

Orange Cream Fruit Salad

1 (3.5 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
3/4 cup sour cream
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple tidbits, drained
1 (15 ounce) can sliced peaches, drained
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin orange segments (I added two cans)
2 bananas, sliced (I added three)
1 apple - peeled, cored and sliced

In a medium mixing bowl, combine pudding mix, milk, and orange juice concentrate. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Mix in sour cream. In a large salad bowl, combine fruits. Gently mix in orange dressing. Cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Meal plans and the week ahead

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We won't be celebrating ours today since we're having another birthday party for Carson today. We had Kevin's family and some friends over yesterday to celebrate the big 2 with us. Today we'll be having my family over.

We've got another very busy week ahead of us. Today is another birthday party, as I mentioned. Tomorrow I'm off for President's Day. Carson and I will go visit my grandparents in the morning and we have Carson's 2-year well-child appointment in the afternoon. Tuesday I have Zumba and then I'm getting my hair cut and dyed after Zumba class. Friday is my flex day, so Carson and I will go to Kindermusik in the morning. Auntie Jaime will be home this weekend!! So we're waiting to hear if it's better for her to hang out on Friday or Sunday. If we don't see Jaime on Friday, then Carson and I are going to head down to Rochester Hills in the afternoon to go shopping with Kati. Then Kevin and Ben will meet up with us after work for dinner. And Saturday, we'll head over to my grandparents' house again in the morning. In the afternoon, we're planning to head west to Grand Rapids for another Calvin basketball game and then we'll go out to eat with most of the Hollebooms, Kevin's grandparents, and I believe his aunt and uncle, too.

I'm not sure I'll have much time for extras this week. I do know I'll be canning the leftover soup tomorrow evening. And I want to do some baking with Carson since he has been asking me to for a couple of weeks now. Other than that, I'm not sure what I'll do. I'd like to spend a little time finishing cleaning and organizing the laundry and utility half of our basement. Its almost done, so it'd be nice to just get it finished so then we can focus on the main part of the basement and get a play area put together for Carson. I don't think I will have time for much else.

Here's what I'm thinking for meals this week... other than Monday, we'll be utilizing our leftovers from the birthday parties this weekend for all our meals.

Sunday - Carson's birthday party! Appetizers: pickle tray; cheese and crackers; chips and dip; veggies and dip; grapes. Meal: pizza and breadsticks from Rocky's; antipasto salad; fruit salad; jello; cake and ice cream

Meatless Monday - grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread; tomato soup in the crockpot; homemade croutons and shredded cheese for topping the soup; leftover fruit salad

Tuesday - leftover pizza; breadsticks; and salad

Wednesday - some sort of mexican taco/lasagna bake to use up some leftover taco meat and beans; jello; pear sauce

Thursday - leftover chicken fajitas; peaches

Friday - TBD once we figure out our plan

Saturday - out to eat in Grand Rapids

Biggest Loser, Week 10

Another stagnant week... but at least I'm not gaining anything back! This next week I am really going to try buckling back down and focusing on this weight loss. That has been my problem for the last month now - I just haven't been focused on it at all... worrying about stuff going on in my family and being stressed out at work mostly. I've just got to change my focus for a little bit. I'm in second place in our competition right now - I just got passed up this week, actually. So I've got to get going again so that I can win!! :)

I had my first Zumba class a couple of weeks ago - it was canceled this week due to the snow storm. It is such a fun way to exercise!! I'm reading the book that the creator, Beto Perez, wrote about Zumba right now... hoping I can learn from the book and practice at home how to get my salsa hips going! ;-P Anyway, I am loving it!

The 5K training had been going well, but I haven't been faithful in getting in three trainings a week this past week and a half. My heels are KILLING me ever since I started. It is looking like I have plantar fasciitis. And wow, is it painful. I'll be calling around on my day off on Monday to try to make an appointment with a podiatrist to figure out a treatment plan. Hopefully I can just do orthotics in all my shoes. We shall see.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a quick update since its been awhile now. I'll post more soon.

It's that time of year...

So it's that time of year again! The seed catalogs have been arriving for a couple of months now and it's now time to start submitting orders for veggie seeds! The Conservation Districts are also all starting to release their lists of trees available for their Spring sale, so it's time to start putting in the orders for trees and bushes, too! I love this time of year! :)

I've been really struggling with some decisions about competing priorities this year... veggie garden vs. berry patches vs. orchard. And I think I've finally made up my mind on what to do. While I'll still be planting what most would probably consider a huge veggie garden, it will really be scaled back compared to the one we had last year. This way, I can focus on the orchard and berry patches. I'm afraid that if I don't do this now, we'll never get the orchard under control and producing good, quality fruits. So fruits will be the priority for 2010. For now, we'll keep working on getting all of the existing fruit trees pruned in the orchard. And I'm talking major pruning... like they'll all be about 1/3 of the size they were to start with once we're done. I'll also be adding some new trees this year (post to come on that). And I'll be working on growing our berry patches. I put in some blackberry bushes last year and I am planning to add a couple more to the patch. I'll also be re-working our raspberry patch again - moving it to a new location and adding some new varieties. I'd also like to get some blueberry bushes this year, but I still need to figure out where I'm going to put them. And hopefully I'll be able to make a decision on where I want the strawberry patch to go so we can get started on building up a raised bed for them this summer.

I'm hoping that by focusing on the fruits this year, we'll have a pretty self-sustaining tree fruit and berry production going on in a couple of years, which would be awesome!! I'll be posting again soon with my specific plans for the orchard and berries, as well as my specific plans for the veggie garden. Whomever would have thought that I'd be so excited about this kind of stuff five years ago? Haha! :)

Miso Soup

I made this for dinner last week. I had planned to make some salads with an asian ginger dressing, as well, but I gave up on that for lack of time and we just had this soup with some veggie stir-fry. It was a super tasty, very low-calorie, healthy meal! And pretty quick to prepare, too! Gotta love that kind of meal! :) This recipe is from my Biggest Loser 30-Day Jump Start book. I've always had miso soup at sushi or hibachi restaurants - they usually bring this out with a salad with ginger dressing before your main meal is brought out or prepared. Miso is such a simple, yet super tasty and warming soup - I love it! Kevin didn't think he'd ever had it and wasn't too sure what to think of such a simple soup, but he loved it, too. And Carson... wow, he totally loved it! He ate every last drop... drinking the broth from his bowl... and asking for more! I'll definitely be making this again very soon! Everything I used was organic.

I'll update later with a picture.

Miso Soup

1 Tablespoon olive oil or sesame oil
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 Tablespoon peeled, finely chopped fresh ginger
4 cups fat-free, low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie)
2 Tablespoons sweet white or yellow miso
4 ounces extra-firm tofu, cut into 1/4" cubes (about 1 cup)
1 cup fresh spinach leaves, cut in fine chiffonade
1 scallion, white and green parts, very thinly sliced

Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat. Add teh onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until very soft, but not browned. Add the ginger and cook for 1 minutes. Add the broth and bring to a boil.

Whisk in the miso until it is dissolved into the soup. Add the tofu and spinach and simmer for 1 minute. Serve warm, garnished with scallions.

Makes 4 servings.

Per serving: 90 calories, 6 g protein, 4 g carbs, 6 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 360 mg sodium

Meal plans and the week ahead

Another busy week. Carson turns 2 on Saturday, so we'll be prepping for some birthday parties on Saturday and Sunday. Lots of cleaning and prepping food. And it will be another super crazy week at work, I'm afraid... I just hope I'm able to leave on time every night. I was planning to take a vacation day on Friday, but I won't be able to again. I'm hoping I can leave around 2:00 to get home early, at least. I guess we'll see how it goes.

Today we are heading to Brighton to celebrate my cousin Charlie's 17th birthday at my cousin Becky's house. Tuesday night I have Zumba. Wednesday I'll be at MSU for a forum. Friday I'm hoping to only work till 2. And Saturday we're having Kevin's family and some friends over for Carson's birthday party.

I didn't end up making the tomato soup last week since we had some leftovers to use up. And I didn't do the cannellini beans, either.... I totally forgot to do them. I'll hold off on both until next week, after the parties now, though. This week, I'll just be getting ready for the weekend and fitting in workouts. So I'm aiming for easy meals...

Sunday - eating at my cousin's birthday party

Meatless Monday - refried bean burritos; steamed broccoli; leftover fruit salad

Tuesday - chili in the crockpot; leftover fruit salad

Wednesday - meatless again... romaine and spinach salads with cukes, red bell peppers, cheese; homemade croutons

Thursday - leftover chili; random clean out the fridge stuff to make room for party food

Friday - meatless again... scrambled eggs with orange or red bell peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and cheese; toast with homemade jam; home-canned applesauce

Saturday - Appetizers - veggies and ranch dip; nacho cheese dip and chips; Meal - mexican layer salad (maybe); beef tacos; chicken fajitas; beans; shells; lettuce; cheese; salsa; sour cream; guacamole dip; fruit or jello; Dessert - cake and ice cream; Drinks - water; juice boxes; and probably 2-Liters of pop (as much as I don't want to have those...)

Fruit Salad

I found this recipe on AllRecipes and wanted to try it out for our family party to celebrate my FIL's birthday yesterday. It was very tasty and something I'll make again, for sure. I followed the recipe as stated below this time around, but next time around I'll use my homemade home-canned apple or cherry pie filling, I think. Again, everything was actually organic, too (I don't normally buy organic bananas, but did this week since I was shopping at Whole Foods for everything).

Sunday Best Fruit Salad

1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, juice reserved
2 apples, peeled and cored
1 (21 ounce) can peach pie filling
2 bananas, peeled and diced
3 kiwis
1 pint strawberries (I used some that I froze last summer)
(I added a can of mandarin oranges, drained)

In a small bowl, toss the chopped apples in reserved pineapple juice. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. In a large salad bowl, combine the peach pie filling and pineapple chunks. Remove apples from pineapple juice and add to pie filling and pineapple mixture. Add chopped bananas to reserved pineapple juice and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and slice kiwi and 1/2 of strawberries. Chop the other 1/2 of strawberries and set aside. Remove bananas from pineapple juice and add to pie filling mixture. Add chopped strawberries; toss together. Arrange kiwi slices around the edge of the serving bowl and alternate with strawberry slices. Chill and serve.

German-Style Warm Potato Salad

This recipe comes from my February 2010 issue of Vegetarian Times. I had some potatoes to use up, I had most of the ingredients on hand already, and this sounded pretty good, so I thought we'd try it. This was a very quick, simple, easy-to-prepare, meatless meal... oh yeah, and it tasted pretty good, too! We all really liked it a lot. And like I said, its very quick to prepare - the entire meal from start of chopping to being ready to eat only took about 15 minutes... now that's my kind of dinner on a work night!! :) This is great as a meatless main dish - and this is actually vegetarian, too, which most of my meatless meals are not truly vegetarian. This would be a great side dish, as well. Everything I used was organic - which is pretty typical these days, but I just realized I never say what is and what isn't anymore...

German-Style Warm Potato Salad

8 oz baby red potatoes, cut into 1" x 1/2" pieces
4 oz green beans, cut in 2" pieces
3 Tablespoons olive oil
3 green onions, white and pale green parts, chopped
2 Tablespoons white balsamic vinegar or white wine vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon or dill (I used dill)
4 cups loosely packed baby spinach leaves (I used a baby greens mix)

Cook potatoes in pot of boiling water, salted, for 8 minutes, or until tender. Add green beans during last minute of cooking.

Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium heat, stir in vinegar.

Drain potatoes and beans. Toss with oil mixture, parsley, tarragon. Season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm on a bed of spinach.

Spicy English Layer Salad

I also made this layer salad for my cousin's baby shower. I found the recipe on AllRecipes - it sounded good and it had great ratings, so I thought I'd give it a try. It is so good! Better than your normal layer salad, in my opinion... partially due to the fact that this has no bacon and also because the dressing isn't sweet. It was a total hit at the shower, too. Everyone loved it and I now have a mass email to send out to everyone with the recipe from all the requests I was getting. Definitely a keeper for us!

Spicy English Layer Salad

2 cups small seashell pasta
4 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 head leaf lettuce - rinsed, dried, and chopped
1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
3/4 cup frozen green peas
1/2 cup frozen whole-kernel corn
2 cups mayonnaise
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook until tender, about 7 minutes. Drain, and rinse under cold water to cool.

Place the carrots in an even layer in the bottom of a large glass bowl, preferably one that is roughly the same diameter from top to bottom. Place the lettuce in a layer over the carrots. Combine the cucumber, peas and corn; spread in a layer over the lettuce. Once the pasta is cooled and drained, then spread that out over the top.

In a smaller bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, brown sugar, curry powder, and garlic salt. Spread this carefully over the pasta. Top with shredded Cheddar cheese. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving.

Strawberry Whip

I made this jello salad from AllRecipes for my cousin's baby shower on Saturday. This was very tasty and pretty easy make, too. Plus, it makes quite a bit - which always nice for a party.

Strawberry Whip

2 (6 ounce) packages strawberry flavored gelatin
4 cups water
1 cup frozen strawberries, thawed
1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Combine gelatin with 2 cups boiling water; mix well. When dissolved, add 2 cups cold water, mix and refrigerate.

Before gelatin is completely firm, stir in strawberries and thawed whipped topping. Refrigerate until completely chilled.

Meal plans and the week ahead

Today we were supposed to be heading down to Brighton to my cousin Becky's house for my cousin Charlie's birthday party, but Charlie is sick with a cold, so the party is postponed until next Sunday so the rest of us aren't exposed to the cold germs and can't see my grandma. So instead, we're going to go visit my grandparents for a short while this morning. Then we'll be heading home to either work in the 3rd bedroom or outside in the orchard. Tomorrow Kevin will be in Lafayette, Indiana. Tuesday I start an evening Zumba class. Thursday I'll be in Detroit all day for some meetings. Friday is my flex day and Carson's and my first day of Kindermusik! Saturday we'll be heading to the west side for a Calvin basketball game and dinner with the fam to celebrate my father's-in-law birthday.

For extras this week... I'm not planning much because I have no idea how late I'll be working again this week. So I've got some easy extras this week... things that don't require a lot of active time, anyway. I'm planning to can tomato soup on Thursday evening - we'll see how much the recipe makes, but I'm hoping to get at least 4 or 5 pints after we've eaten some for dinner. I'm also planning to cook cannellini beans (from our garden!) in the crockpot on Friday and can them that evening. I'll be working on some advance stuff for Carson's birthday parties - games, gift bags, wrapping gifts, etc. And I would really like to get an apple tree or two pruned in the orchard today (if it doesn't happen today, it won't happen all week, so we'll see).

I'm also trying to get in the habit of making some sort of breakfast for us, every morning, but on work mornings, especially. Normally we just run out the door without eating - Carson eats at the sitter's, but Kevin and I just skip and eat at lunch. If I have any hope of continuing to lose weight, I need to get in the habit of actually having something for breakfast - no skipping meals. Kevin and Carson love eating cereal, but I can only eat it once a week, if that... it's just not my favorite thing. I bought a new blender last week so we can make smoothies again. You can make smoothies so healthy and full of vitamins and nutrients - they're a great way to start your day! So the plan this week is to make a smoothie every work morning so that we can all take it with us in the car. We started this morning, making them to go along with our eggs and toast. Carson absolutely LOVES smoothies and is always super excited when we're having them. We haven't had them in awhile now, though, since our blender had broken. So they are going to be a nice treat again. I may also make up some breakfast burritos and/or oatmeal casserole this afternoon to freeze for an easy microwave breakfast to go. We'll see how much time I have this afternoon, though.

Anyway, here's our menu for dinners... another meat-limited week...

Sunday - beef ravioli from the freezer; sauteed zucchini and green beans in garlic and EVOO; thawed blueberries and strawberries from the farmers' markets

Meatless Monday - we'll try this again since I didn't have time to make it last week... german-style warm potato salad; fresh oranges or clementines

Tuesday - meatless again... zucchini crab cakes; green beans sauteed in garlic and EVOO; applesauce

Wednesday - quiche with spinach, broccoli, carrots, diced ham, cheddar and swiss

Thursday - meatless again... grilled cheese sandwiches; tomato soup in the crockpot; sliced apples with peanut butter

Friday - Flex Day! since I didn't have a chance to make it last week... let's try this meatless meal again... miso soup; romaine salad with homemade ginger salad dressing; veggie stir-fry with edamame, mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, and pea pods

Saturday - Grand Rapids for basketball game and FIL's birthday party at my SIL's house... we're having a taco bar

Biggest Loser, Weeks 8 and 9

I'm combining last week and this week into one because I don't really have time to post about this right now. Work has been crazy and I've been working long, late hours (I had to work a full day on my day off and I didn't get home until 7:45 one night this past week and 7:00 another night... normally I'm home between 6-6:30). We have full weekends from now through part of March. There's a lot going on in my family. And I'm just super stressed out. So don't expect much in terms of weight loss until things settle down, unfortunately. I haven't worked out since Tuesday because I have not had a spare 5 minutes at home, even. I was the same weight last week - at least I'm not gaining. And I expect the same for weigh-in this Tuesday. Zumba starts on Tuesday night, so hopefully I can actually make it to class in time from work. I'm excited for the class - even though I know I'll make a fool out of myself. :-P But it will still be fun, I hope!

Anyway, that's all for now. Time to get moving if we're to accomplish everything we need to today!

Homestyle Whole Wheat Bread

I tried another recipe from The Bread Machine Bible: More Than 100 Recipes for Delicious Home Baking with Your Bread Machine! By Anne Sheasby for our bread this week. This time for homestyle whole wheat bread. This recipe is slightly different from most wheat bread recipes as it doesn't call for dry milk powder. Again, this was a very moist bread with a great crumb and a good, nutty flavor. I have a lot of dry milk powder right now, so I doubt I'll make this one again anytime very soon, but I'll definitely be using this as my recipe once I'm out of the dry milk powder!

As a side note, I am totally loving this weekly homemade bread - never have to buy the stuff from the store again goal! Using the bread machine is super easy - effortless really... so is using the KitchenAid... which I'll be doing more of in the near future. There really is no excuse for not doing this sooner! We don't really eat a lot of bread - and rarely finish an entire loaf in a week... but I've been making homemade bread crumbs and storing them in the freezer with the inch or so of remaining loaf each week. I'm saving tons of money, not having to buy bread anymore, and even more now that I will never have to buy bread crumbs again!! It may not be a huge savings on a weekly basis, but it sure does add up fast! As my bread crumb stock continues to grow, I'll be using more leftovers to make homemade croutons for our salads. If you have any other suggestions, please let me know! I've wondered if I could slice and freeze the ends and pull them out when I get enough to make a french toast bake or strata or something else calling for day-old bread or the like.

I'll update later with a picture... I'm very behind at uploading pics from the camera right now...

Homestyle Whole Wheat Bread

1 1/2 cups water
3 cups whole wheat flour
Heaped 3/4 cup bread flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, diced
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast

Pour the water into the bread pan. Sprinkle each type of flour over in turn, covering the water completely. Place the salt, sugar, and butter in separate corners of the pan. Make a small indent in the middle of the flour and add the yeast.

Close the lid and set machine to Whole Wheat or Multigrain cycle, then select loaf size and crust type. Press start.

Meal plans and the week ahead

This week, I'll be getting ready for my cousin Michelle's baby shower on Saturday, mostly. Today, we're most likely going to see my grandparents since my Grandma is home from the hospital and I made another batch of bean soup to take over to them. I'm taking Friday off to make sure everything is ready for the shower. I'll be doing lots of cleaning and food prep during the week. So I'm aiming for very easy meals this week to allow time for working out, cleaning, prepping, and the normal day-to-day stuff.

In addition, I might can some mandarin oranges in light syrup one night this week. We'll see how it goes, though. I'd really like to get the cannellini beans canned one night, too, but I think that will probably have to wait till next week.

Here's the menu... its a very meat-limited week...

Sunday - spaghetti with home-canned meat sauce; garlic bread; romaine/spinach side salads

Meatless Monday - german-style warm potato salad; fresh oranges scrambled eggs; toast; jam

Tuesday - sausage and veggie medley in the crockpot; pear sauce

Wednesday - another meatless night... romaine salads with cukes, broccoli, peppers, and hard-boiled eggs with homemade ranch salad dressing; zucchini yeast rolls from the freezer; fresh oranges

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - meatless again... if I can get to the Asian Market during the week, I'm going to make miso soup; romaine salad with homemade ginger salad dressing; veggie stir-fry with edamame, mushrooms, peppers, onions, broccoli, and pea pods probably ordering pizza

Saturday - baby shower... pineapple cheese ball/crackers; pickles/olives tray; fresh veggies and homemade ranch dip; sub sandwich; swedish meatballs; nacho cheese dip/chips; potato chips/dip; English 7-layer salad; orange cream fruit salad; cake; baby blue punch; coffee; water

Chicken Fajitas

I tried another recipe from My Kitchen Cafe for the best chicken fajitas earlier this week. They really were awesome! They had a fantastic flavor - we all loved them, including my brother-in-law who ate with us that night. Definitely a keeper! I've decided to have these on the buffet at one of Carson's birthday parties coming up in a few weeks, too, so I'm glad I tried them now.

The Best Chicken Fajitas
Serves 4-5

Note: liquid smoke may seem like an unnecessary, optional ingredient but I promise it adds an irreplaceable flavor and smokiness.

Marinade:
¼ cup fresh lime juice (about 3-4 limes)
1/3 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons apple cider or red wine vinegar
2 easpoons soy sauce
½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Fajitas:
1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts (about 3 large chicken breasts)
1 yellow onion, cut into thin strips
1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
1 red (or orange) pepper, cut into thin strips (I just used all green peppers)
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, quartered
1 teaspoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons water
½ teaspoon fresh lime juice (a quick squeeze of a cut lime)
dash of salt and pepper

Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Place chicken in a ziploc bag and pour the marinade ingredients over the top. Seal the bag and place in the refrigerator and let marinate for 2-3 hours. (mine marinated for more than 24 hours)

After marinading, take chicken out of the bag and discard the marinade. Grill or broil the chicken 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from pan and tent with foil to keep warm.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat and add the onion, mushrooms and peppers. Stir fry until softened but still crisp tender. Add soy sauce, water, lime juice and salt and pepper. Cook another 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Slice chicken thinly on the diagonal and toss with the vegetables in the skillet. Serve immediately with flour tortillas and top with tomatoes, lettuce, guacamole, cheese, sour cream...the options are endless!

Crockpot Taco Soup

I made another recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking on Tuesday - for taco soup. This was excellent! It seemed like a chili to us, though - not sure why mine got so thick... I even added some water to make up for the liquid I didn't add from using canned corn (I used home-frozen)... and with the kidney beans in there, it reminded us of chili with a taco flavor. No complaints from anyone, though - all three of us loved it! Definitely another keeper recipe! I made a half recipe and it was more than enough for dinner and several lunches.

Taco Soup in the Crockpot

2 cans of kindey beans
2 cans of pinto beans
2 cans of corn (I used home-frozen, so I added about 2 cups of water to replace the liquid in the cans of corn)
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 can tomatoes and chiles
1 packet taco seasoning
1 packet ranch dressing mix (I used 2 Tablespoons of my homemade mix)
1 lb browned ground turkey or hamburger (optional)
shredded cheese and sour cream for embelishment (optional)

Brown meat if you are going to use it. Drain fat and add to crockpot stoneware insert (the meat. not the fat.) Sprinkle seasoning packets on top of meat. Drain and rinse the beans and add to the crock. Add the ENTIRE contents of the corn and tomato cans. Stir. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5.

Stir well before serving and serve with a handful of shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream. (I just used a small dollop of sour cream)

Ranch Dressing Mix

I made some ranch dressing mix over the weekend. I've been wanting to make it for quite some time, just haven't gotten around to it. But when I decided to make taco soup this week, I figured I'd better get on it and mix it up quick so I could use some for that recipe. This is super simple to throw together - it takes less than a minute. I found the recipe on Heavenly Homemakers awhile back. I'm anxious to make some dressing or veggie dip with the mix - I'll update this post with my thoughts when I get around to that in the next week or two. I'll update with a picture later on, as well.

UPDATE 2/1/10: The ranch dip was awesome!! Very similar, yet much better, than the stuff you buy at the store.

Ranch Dressing Mix

5 Tablespoons dried minced onions
7 teaspoons parsley flakes
4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Mix together and store in an air tight container.

For dressing: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 1 cup mayonnaise and 1 cup buttermilk or sour cream.

For dip: Mix 2 Tablespoons dry mix with 2 cups sour cream or kreme fresh.

Mix up a few hours before serving, so the flavors all blend nicely.

Biggest Loser, Week 7

No weigh-in today since I stayed home from work to attend a funeral. So, we'll have to see what the scale says next week. I'm not too hopeful I did very well this past week, though. I didn't exercise at all on Sunday and only did a short workout Saturday... and I fell back into drinking some pop on Saturday and Sunday, as well. Not good. I can totally tell just by looking at my tummy, too. Pop makes it so bloated, I've figured that out now. I don't know why I even drank the stuff - all it does it make me feel crummy... both for giving in to the temptation and it really makes my tummy all unsettled and upsets my intestines majorly. I guess its just a vice that I turn to when I'm super stressed and sad. Any pointers on how to turn that vice into working out?? :) At least I don't eat more when I'm stressed out, I guess.

I am really trying to get back up on the bandwagon again this week. I did fairly well yesterday - 20 minutes of pilates, the 30-Day Shred (Level 1), and 10 minutes on the bike. Today I did 20 minutes of kettlebells, 10 minutes on the bike, and I'm planning to do power yoga this evening still. I'm not really sticking with the schedule I posted last week yet since I haven't started the 5K training. But we're picking up the new treadmill tomorrow night, so I'll be able to get started! I'm super excited about that and I can't wait to get started! I am planning to sign up for both the May 2nd and June 9th 5K races this week sometime... the only reason I haven't signed up yet is because I don't know what size t-shirt to order. I know that seems silly, but I don't want it to be too tight and I don't want it to be overly huge, either. So I still haven't really figured out what I'm going to order, but I need to make the commitment to the races and get signed up.

This week's tip is something I've known for ages, but I think it is often overlooked. It is something that is stressed in the 60-Day Kettlebell Challenge and I think it's great to remember... Train at different intensities every day. If you train at 100% today, don't do it tomorrow. For the 60-day challenge, the 7-day pattern seems to be 100%, 70%, 50%, 100%, 70%, 50%, Rest... and the pattern repeats. On the 50% days, we actually do not do kettlebells, rather we focus on other forms of strength training, joint mobility, and recreational exercise. Its really a good way to train. You will actually make greater gains in the long run, if you cycle the intensity of your workouts. This helps to avoid overuse injuries, eliminate monotony, and constantly changes training routines up (which is a major bonus for me, since I have a hard time keeping focus when I'm bored).

Pinto Beans

I canned pinto beans this morning. 14 pints. That should get us through the year, I think. At least, in combination with all the other beans I've done, or plan to do. This brings the tally to 49 pints of beans canned in a 42-hour time frame. Kinda crazy... but I've been wanting to work on beans for months now... and I'm figuring out that I turn to canning, cooking, and cleaning (you should see how far our basement has come in the last two days!!) to keep my mind off things when they're crappy... and this is most definitely a very crappy time right now... Anyway, I'd like to do some cannellinis tonight, but we'll see if I make it out to the store to get more wide-mouth lids and I probably should pick up some more jars while I'm at it, too, since I'm down to only about 15 pints left and I don't want to do beans in quarts or half-pints.

Anyway, I used the crockpot to make these beans to save on the humidity in the kitchen when making them on the stovetop. I filled my 6-quart crockpot about half-way with beans last night. Then filled the other half with water - right up to the rim. Then I turned it on low and let them cook all night while we slept. I filled my 4-quart with beans, as well. I ended up with 10 pints from the 6-quart crockpot and 4 from the 4-quart pot (could have fit more in both, but that's all I had). From the crockpot, I used a slotted spoon to fill the jars with beans - make sure you tap the jars down to compact the beans. Then use a ladle to fill with the cooking liquid. Leave a 1" headspace and pressure can at 10 pounds of pressure for 75 minutes.

Meal plans and the week ahead

A new week and we're half-way through January already! Its been a productive first half of the month, at least, between home and kitchen projects. The fitness room is finally done! We've also been doing a lot of cleaning, purging, and organizing of stuff in the basement. I did a bit more canning over the weekend, as I've posted about already... 15 pints of baked beans and 20 pints of great northern beans... I'm done with both for the year now. I'll be canning pinto beans today... and maybe I'll get to the cannellini beans from our garden later tonight or tomorrow. I've been looking for a refried beans recipe to can, but haven't been successful and after thinking about it, I doubt they're safe to can at home - too thick/dense. So I guess I'll be using home-canned pinto beans to make homemade refried beans when we want/need them.... or just continue to buy them from the store for awhile longer.

This week is turning out to be quite busy. Today we're going to the family service at Faith Lutheran and then we'll be going to visit my grandparents - its my Grandma's 82nd birthday today. We'll also be doing some more work in the basement - organizing and cleaning. I'm off tomorrow for MLK Jr. Day... Carson and I may go back over to my grandparents' house to visit again, depending on how my Grandma is feeling after her treatment in the morning. Otherwise, we'll go visit my other Grandma. I also want to spend some more time in the basement and maybe canning some more beans if I don't get to them today. We may end up at the funeral home at some point, as well... we're waiting to hear what the plans end up being for my BFF's grandfather who passed away on Friday. Tuesday will likely be the funeral, so I'll be going to that. Wednesday I'll be in Detroit for meetings and we'll be picking up the new treadmill in the evening. Friday is my flex day! Carson and I will be going over to my grandparents' house again. And Saturday is TBD... we might be doing something with my old college roommate, Tiffany, and her husband and boys, Mark, Evan, and Tyson... otherwise, we'll either make a trip to the Flint Children's Museum or to the open gym time at GB Gymnastics. And since its prime time to do the fruit tree pruning, I'd like to get two of the pear trees pruned in the orchard... and I'm talking MAJOR pruning! :)

In addition, I'll be finishing up my veggie seed selections from Fedco and submitting my order this week. I'll also be getting a head start on some of the deeper cleaning in preparation for my cousin's shower on the 30th. And I'll be double-checking all of the supplies and other fun stuff I've picked up for the shower to make sure I'm not missing anything.

On to the menu... I've got a few new recipes coming up again this week... Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday...

Sunday - TBD... we'll see where we're at come dinnertime... grandparents' house, funeral home, or home... if we're home, we'll probably just have leftover white bean and ham soup

Meatless Monday - MLK Jr. Day! herbed baked eggs; steamed frozen broccoli; fresh oranges

Tuesday - taco soup in the crockpot; homemade bread; home-canned peaches

Wednesday - chicken fajitas; fresh mangoes

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Flex Day! italian tortellini soup in the crockpot; fresh oranges

Saturday - TBD... maybe out to eat to use one of our gift certificates... or maybe ordering Rocky's pizza

Farmhouse Loaf

Yet another new bread machine recipe. This one comes from The Bread Machine Bible: More Than 100 Recipes for Delicious Home Baking with Your Bread Machine, by Anne Sheasby. This is another tasty bread. We're having a hard time figuring out which is our favorite of the new recipes I've tried these last couple of months. But its been fun having slightly different bread each week. I still have an arsenal of new recipes that I want to try, so this trend of having a new bread every week will continue for quite awhile. Anyway, this bread has a great crumb. Its nice, soft, and moist inside with a slightly sweet flavor from the brown sugar. And I liked that the sides didn't get super crisp and dark brown like most other loaves seem to if I let them cook the full time.

Farmhouse Loaf

1 1/2 cups water
2 3/4 cups plus 2 Tablespoons bread flour
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons whole wheat bread flour
1 Tablespoon skim milk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons soft light brown sugar
2 Tablespoons butter, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons instant dry yeast

Pour the water in the bread pan. Sprinkle each type of flour over, in turn, covering water completely. Sprinkle milk powder over flour. Place salt, sugar, and butter in different corners of the pan. Make a small indent in the flour and place the yeast there.

Select Basic White cycle, select loaf size and crust. Press start.

If possible, 10 minutes before the baking cycle starts, brush the top of the loaf with water and dust with flour. Using a sharp knife, cut a slash, about 1/2 inch deep, along the length of the loaf.

White Bean and Ham Soup

My grandma makes bean soup quite often. I've never been a huge fan... mainly because I just didn't think I liked soups. But since I've been expanding my soup tastes, I like bean soup now. Kevin loves it and Carson really loves it. I had some great northern beans leftover from canning this morning, so I decided to make a batch of this soup. There isn't really recipe that we have written down, its basically just throwing things together in the quantities that look good to you. But I've tried to capture it below.

White Bean and Ham Soup

2 cans great northern beans - (or about 2 cups dried - you'll want to increase the amount of water you use if you're using dried)
1 - 2 cups diced carrots
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced onion
2 - 3 cups diced, cooked ham
2 - 3 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
water, just to cover... maybe about 2 cups? (be sure to cover by about an inch if you're using dry beans)
1 teaspoon organic Better than Boullion Veggie base

Throw all ingredients into your crockpot. Cover and cook on low all day.

Great Northern Beans

I canned a batch of great northern beans this morning - they're still processing in the canner right now. I bought a bunch of organic dry great northerns at the health food store last week so I could make the baked beans, can a couple batches, and make white bean and ham soup (post coming later). I'm going to do another batch of baked beans today and can another batch of plain great northerns later on, as well... and I'll be done with them this year. I made 10 pints in this batch - and I'll do another 10 pints later on.

I used the same process I posted last year when I made black beans. First I soaked the beans in water overnight (about 12-18 hours). Then drained them, rinsed them, and put the first batch into my largest stockpot (a 12-quart) and covered them with water by about an inch. You then bring them up to a boil for 30 minutes and remove from heat. Using a slotted spoon, fill the jars with the beans, then use a ladle to add the cooking liquid, leaving a 1-inch headspace. (I used my pasta stockpot this time with the insert in so I just raised the beans out in the insert and left the cooking water in the pot... much easier!) Then I processed the beans for 75 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure. And voila! Home-canned great northern beans... with no additives, salt, preservatives, etc.! Not only does this save some money (using the organic beans, it ended up being about 35 cents per pint), but it will limit our exposure to BPA tremendously since the beans only touched the metal lid during the processing time.

I'll update with a picture once I take them out of the canner.

Crockpot Fish Chowder

I made crockpot fish chowder from A Year of Slow Cooking earlier in the week... I don't have a picture and I'm not going to post the recipe... we didn't care for it at all. I was super disappointed since we love seafood chowder normally... but this just did not do it for us at all. It got great reviews on the A Year of Slow Cooking blog, but it just wasn't for us.

Crockpot Baked Beans

I made baked beans today - they're currently pressure canning. I found a recipe that sounded good on AllRecipes. It utilized the crockpot, so I thought it was perfect - I could let them cook all day while I was working and then could finish them up, taste them, and can them when I got home. These were super easy! And they tasted great! Very similar to the Bush's canned beans. Although I made several changes to the recipe, so I guess I don't know what the original recipe tastes like... :). I made a double recipe of the one posted below and ended up with 7 pints.

Crockpot Baked Beans

2 cups dry kidney beans (I used Great Northerns)
5 cups water
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
4 ounces cured pork (I used turkey bacon)
1/4 cup molasses (I used 1/4 cup for a double recipe)
4 tablespoons brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup, plus a few spoonfuls, to taste, for the double recipe)
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 cup ketchup

In a slow cooker place beans, water, onion, salt and pork. Cover the pot and cook on low for 9 to 10 hours. (Mine were plenty done after 8 hours)

Drain beans, saving the liquid. Add molasses, brown sugar, dry mustard, ketchup and 1 cup of the bean liquid. Cover and cook on low for 1 hour.

(If you are canning the beans, cook them for 8-9 hours and do not cook them the extra hour after adding the sauce... they'll get too mushy otherwise. To can them, you'll want to leave 1-inch headspace and can for 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.)

Crockpot Pork Cacciatore

I tried out a crockpot recipe that I found on AllRecipes for pork cacciatore for dinner last night. It was delicious! We all loved it! The chops were super tender and everything had such great flavor. I simplified the prep - see my notes in parentheses below - to make it super simple to prepare. This is a definite keeper that will go into our regular rotation of meals. The picture isn't the greatest because the meat just falls apart, its so tender.

Crockpot Pork Cacciatore

2 tablespoons olive oil (didn't use this)
1 onion, sliced
4 boneless pork chops (mine had bones)
1 (28 ounce) jar pasta sauce (I used home-canned sauce)
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 (8 ounce) package fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used BTB chicken mixed with water)
4 slices mozzarella cheese (we didn't put cheese on ours)

In a large skillet, brown chops over medium-high heat. Transfer to slow cooker. In the same pan, cook onion in oil over medium heat until browned. Stir in mushrooms and bell pepper, and cook until these vegetables are soft. Mix in pasta sauce, diced tomatoes, and white wine. Season with Italian seasoning, basil, and garlic. Pour over pork chops in slow cooker. Cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours. To serve, place a slice of cheese over each chop, and cover with sauce. (I didn't use cheese... to save on some calories... it was still delicious... but cheese always makes things even better, so I'm sure it'd be awesome with it.)

(I put the onions on the bottom of the crock. Then the pork, then mushrooms and peppers. Then I poured the sauce, tomatoes, broth, and seasonings over top. Much simpler.)

Pad Thai

I made pad thai for dinner earlier in the week. We love thai food - even Carson does! I've made pad thai this way before, but have never posted it. Its super easy, since you just use a packet seasoning. I've been looking to make the seasoning on my own, but haven't been successful in finding a recipe yet. I made this meatless this week, but it is very good with chicken or tofu. This is a super quick work night meal, filling, and tasty!

Pad Thai

Pad Thai seasoning packet
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Rice noodles
Fresh veggies of your choice (I used broccoli, green peppers, carrots, mushrooms this time)
1 egg

Chop veggies - or skip this step and use frozen vegetable mix... I like fresh veggies best, though.

Boil a large pot of water. Throw in the rice noodles, cover, and take off the heat..

Saute the veggies in a pan with some oil or water (I use water). When the veggies are almost done, push them to the edges of the pan. Crack an egg into the center of the pan and stir until scrambled.

Add the Pad Thai packet, water, and soy sauce (or whatever is recommended on the packet of seasoning that you use). Drain the noodles and add them to the frying pan, coating them with sauce. Toss everything together and serve hot.

Biggest Loser, Week 6

This week brings a new exercise program. It is going to be challenging for me to carve out more time to dedicate to exercise, but I just plain have to do it right now. Not only to get myself healthy, but to win this Biggest Loser Challenge!! :)

First off, I started the kettlebell 60-Day Challenge on Saturday. Its a 60-day program that uses the Busy Woman's Cardio & Fat Burning DVD. I thought it would be a good thing for me to sign up for the challenge, rather than just exercise to the video on my own. I get daily emails with tips and guidelines for the workouts. Each day involves a 15-30 minute kettlebell workout... right now they're only about 15 minutes and they'll increase in length as I progress through the challenge. Three days into it and I'm loving it! I sure am sore, though! :)

Secondly, I had planned to start my "Couch to 5K" training program on Sunday. But... we've had a few more snafoos with the fitness room. I went to help Kevin put the carpet in on Sunday evening... and it is about a foot too small on both sides! We were just using a remnant from my aunt, but we thought it was going to fit... nope. So we went out last night and bought some carpet at a local carpet dealer... it is being installed on Thursday. The carpet was the easy one, though... we went to move the treadmill into the room on Sunday evening and realized the safety key is missing! I know its around our house SOMEwhere... but we don't have the time to tear everything apart looking for it. So I ordered a new one online... and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will, indeed, fit when it arrives! Our treadmill was given to us my some of my family, so its an older model and its not easy to know if the key is actually the right one... So, as soon as the key arrives in the mail (assuming it fits and works!), I'll be starting up my 5K training. I'll be following the 9-week schedule from CoolRunning. Only I will be doubling and maybe tripling up the weeks... I'll do the week 1 schedule for two weeks in a row so that I am getting into it even more gradually. Basically, I'll move on to the next week when I feel like I am ready. Most of the program consists of walk/run intervals. This will burn more calories and fat and actually make me faster and increase stamina more than just straight running would do. I'll be doing my 5K training on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays for the time being (will have to change once Zumba starts in a few weeks). I will do three 20-minute workouts during week 1... each consisting of a brisk five-minute warmup walk, followed by alternating 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes.

In addition, I continue to do yoga or pilates one day a week. I'm also continuing to do at least one 15-minute walk during the work days with my friends, Lina and Lisa - sometimes we are able to fit in two walks, but we are pretty good at getting in one at least. I also make sure to do the stairs at least once a day, but usually I'm able to do them two or three times. I very rarely take the elevator when going to meetings anymore - I almost always opt for the stairs now. I've also been getting some pedaling in while I'm reading reports. My SIL let me borrow her pedal exerciser to try out and see how I like it. Its nice to get a little more movement into my day. Thanks, Mary!

So here's what my current exercise schedule looks like (I am including the 5K training since that will start later this week, as soon as the key arrives.) You'll see I haven't factored in a day of rest yet... I may or may not change that if I feel like I need it.

Sunday - 15-30 minutes of kettlebells; 5K training; 15 minutes of stretching

Monday - 15-minute walk; stairs; 10-15 minutes pedaling; 15-30 minutes of kettlebells

Tuesday - 15-minute walk; stairs; 10-15 minutes pedaling; 15-30 minutes of kettlebells; 5K training

Wednesday - 15-minute walk; stairs; 10-15 minutes pedaling; yoga or pilates

Thursday - 15-minute walk; stairs; 10-15 minutes pedaling; 15-30 minutes of kettlebells; 5K training

Friday - 15-minute walk; stairs; 10-15 minutes pedaling; 15-30 minutes of kettlebells; 15 minutes of stretching

Saturday - 15-30 minutes of kettlebells; 15 minutes brisk walk on treadmill; 15 minutes stationary bike

I'm really focusing on keeping a positive attitude towards all this additional exercise. Its the only way I'll make it! :) I am kind of looking forward to it all, actually... or at least to seeing the results! I already feel so much better than I have in awhile. So anyway, on to the numbers...

This week's weight loss = a big fat zero. I am so bummed out about that! I've been extra good about eating this past week and have been working my butt off exercising! Although, I have read that when you do start pushing your muscles more than you were (which I have been these last three days especially), your muscles will retain a lot of water as they repair themselves... but they will shed that water retention as they get used to it. I hope that's the case and I see big results next week!

And in closing... I've been doing lots of reading lately... on the web, in books, and in magazines. I've come across lots of great info and I want to share some of the tips I find... mostly for new things I learn that could benefit everyone. First up is a stretch that I came across in the Women's Health Big Book of Exercises...

Doorway Stretch -
What it does: Loosens your pectoralis minor. Almost everyone who works at a desk has stiff pectoralis minor muscles. When they are stiff, they pull your shoulder blades forward, which makes you appear hunched instead of tall and straight.
How to do it: Bend your right arm 90 degrees into the high-five position. Place your forearm against a door frame. Step through the doorway with your right foot until you feel a comfortable stretch in your chest and front of your shoulder. Switch arms and legs and repeat for your other side. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds on each side. Repeat for a total of three sets. Do this daily, up to three times a day if you are really tight.