Pinterest Review - Green Smoothie

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170018527/

 

 

I have always wondered about green smoothies.  They look interesting but I have never tried one. Since we have a problem getting all our fruits and veggies in I thought this would be a good idea.  This smoothie calls for 1 cup yogurt, 1 apple, 1 banana, 2 handfuls of spinach, 5 strawberries and 1/2 and orange.  That is way more fruit and sometimes veggies then I EVER eat in one day.

 

 

I tried this on Sunday and split it with Brandon.  I thought it was really yummy but my blender didn't do a very good job mixing everything so the small bites of spinach in it weren't that great!

 

I made another one tonight and this time I used the blender on my Bosch and it worked way better.  I blended everything for about 2 minutes and it was smooth with no spinach pieces in it. :) 

 

 

I also decided to put my smoothie in the freezer for a little while so it was nice and chilled and it made it so much yummier!! 

 

I know on the pin it says if you drink these everyday that the weight will just fall off.  Since I just drank my first one 2 days ago I don't know if that part of the pin is true and that wasn't way I tried it in the first place but I can however say that this is a very yummy green smoothie that will help you get more fruit and veggies in each day.  I know there are several varieties to green smoothies that incorporate more veggies and I plan to find one of those and try it next.

 

LOVE IT!!!



Pinterest Review - Easy Baked Chicken Dinner

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170066377/

 

I know I have seen a ton of people pin this meal.  That is probably because it is easy and the whole meal is in one pan (or 2 if you have a larger family)

Well I have to say it is just as easy and yummy as each of you thought when you pinned it. 

 

My only complaint would be the butter.  The recipe calls for a whole stick of butter.  I personally thought that was way to much after I got done cooking it.  My veggies were swimming in butter.  Brandon didn't mind but I think it would of been just as good with maybe half the amount of butter. I will try that next time. 

 

But you literally just put everything in the pan, cover with foil and bake for 1 hour and Viola!!  Dinner!!

The flavor was great and everyone loved it.  I also think it would be yummy with brussel sprouts instead of broccoli.  I might do that next time too!!

 

Another keeper for our family!!



Pinterest Review - Spaghetti with Shrimp in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

I love when I find reviews on Pinterest ideas.  It helps me know if something is good/bad or tips on what works and what doesn't.  So I decided maybe I could be one of those helpful people and post Pinterest reviews on the recipes and/ or crafts that I make.

 

Dish #1 - Spaghetti with Shrimp in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

 

This is what the post looks like.

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154740937170074414/

I was excited to try this recipe.  We love pasta and we love shrimp so it was the perfect combination.

 

The recipe calls for 6 tomotoes.  After I diced them all I thought it was way to many tomotoes.  In the notes on the website some suggested maybe they meant roma tomatoes.  But after I combined everything together I think the tomatoes were just fine.  I do however suggest making sure you drain any liquid from the tomatoes before you start putting in all the other ingredients.  I didn't do this and there was way to much liquid.  I ended up dumping some out which may of resulted in losing from flavor. Besides that I pretty much followed the recipe as it is written.  (Actually Wal-Mart was out of Medium Shrimp so I bought 2 bags of Small Shrimp, that is why it looks like there so so much shrimp in the pan)

 Once it was all cooked I mixed it all together and it was time to eat.  I was a little worried about how it would taste since the sauce was more runny then I think it should of been due to the extra tomato juice and we were fully prepared to get hamburgers from Taylor Freeze if needed.  But much to my surprise it was FANTASTIC!!  (My plating skills need help as my plate it splattered and this doesn't look that apptizing but it really was good) 

 

 

 

FYI - There is a little bite to it from the Red Pepper Flakes so adjust these according.  I thought it was perfect with what the recipe called for but Brandon said he would of done more.  But he still loved it and I loved it and Jordan loved it. 

 

This one is a keeper for our family!!

JMBR/Surgery/ER/Sickness Update

Some of you may be thinking that you haven't heard an update in awhile so that must mean that I gave up and didn't finish/continue with my Jillian Michaels workout.  Well although that may seem like the truth it is not!!  I absolutely love this program.  It is the perfect workout for me.  I got all the way through Week 6 of 13 when I had to go in for surgery.  Now although I knew I would have to have this surgery I didn't plan on it being right in the middle of my program.  But it was something I needed and had been waiting to get done for some time now.  I assumed I would be have to wait a week or two before I would be able to start working out again.  Well the 1st week went by and then the 2nd week went by and I decided I would put in my DVD and give it a try.  I made it through about 9 minutes before I had to shut it off.  :(  That was a little discouraging.  Now I am not one to push my limits.  I have seen way to may people try to get back in the saddle too soon just to hurt themselves and be worse off then they were beforehand.  So I decided I would give it another couple days and try again.  I knew there was a dirty run fundraiser coming up on Saturday and I thought that would be a good test to see if I was ready for physical activities.  It wasn't a hard run so it would be perfect.  I took the nieces and we went through the course twice.  It was so much fun and they had a blast.  One of the parts was a slip in slide.  I debated if I should go on it or not.  I am a little older and it hurts a little more these days to slip n slide.  But I decided to go ahead and do it.  When I stood up a pain just shot out from under my rib cage but I just ignored it and continued on.  We had so much fun and got completely covered in mud.  When we were leaving I realized that I was super thirty and couldn't wait to get home.  Once we were home I went and got in the shower and realized that I wasn't feeling very good.  I figured it was just cause I needed some more water and something to eat.  But then it just got worse and worse.  I went and got Jordan from Tabitha's and we came home and then the vomiting starting!  It was a horrible day!  I threw up 9 times in 9 hours.  I assumed I just had the bug that everyone else was getting but then I started getting intense lower back pain and lower abdominal pain.  Brandon was on shift so I was home alone and I kind of started freaking out.  Had I not just had surgery a little over 2 weeks ago I don't think I would of been so concerned but Brandon and I decided that I needed to go to the ER.  My dad took me in and Chris took Jordan.  I was sad that Brandon was at work and not with me but I was glad to at least have my dad there.  (Best part of the night.  I was laying in my bed and heard the back up alarm of what I knew was an ambulance.  I laid there just waiting and hoping to hear if I was right.  I waited and waited and waited and finally I hear the greatest voice ever and his laugh and I knew that Brandon was there!  A smile plastered my face and my heart raced as I waited for him to come into my room.  He has been at work for 3 days already and I missed him terribly and wanted him by my side so bad.  I was so glad that they had a transfer that night so he could spend a little bit of time with my in the ER before he had to return to quarters.)  Well after 8 hours in the ER, a urine sample, blood work, a CT scan, a pelvic exam, an internal ultrasound and an external ultrasound.  They decided that it may be something with my appendix.  The only problem was, they couldn't find my appendix so they didn't really know.  But my vomiting had stopped so that was a good sign.  I finally was able to fall asleep for a little over an hour before the Dr came in again.  I realized that when I sat up it didn't hurt my back and then he pushed all over my belly and I had no pain at all!!!  It was the weirdest thing!  and he was baffled but I was relieved.  So he decided to send me home with instructions to come back if the pain returns.  At this point it had been almost 24 hours since I had eaten and I was very weak.  My dad took me back to his house and i forced myself to eat a couple crackers and drink some water before I went to bed.  I slept for about 2 hours before my handsome husband finally got home.  We got up and Chris made breakfast but I just ate an apple.  Anyway, this ended up being way longer then I planned.  But Sunday started my recovery again.  It is now Thursday and I think I may finally be getting back to better.  I hope!!  It has just been a hard recovery since my surgery and I don't really like it.  So although I am not going to finish my 90 day JM program right on the day of the Neon Splash Dash, I will finish!!!  Now that I am almost 4 weeks behind I may have to start over to rebuild my strength but I will finish the program.  I will!!

Our 1st "Family" home evening!!

I rencently decided that we needed to be more diligent in having family home evening.  Brandon and I have tried doing it in the past but it is hard when there is only 2 of you.  We always felt a little silly but now that we have sweet Jordan we know that this is important.  And although she is only 7 months old and probably doesn't understand much of what we will talk about, I have faith that she will still be able to feel the spirit as we do our best to have this family time and to study our scriptures and do activities together. 

So tonight was our first go at it and I think it went great!!  For the month of March we will be learning about Our Earthly Bodies.  Tonights lesson was on Healthy Food and Exercise. 

The opening song was The Lord gave me a Temple from the Children's Songbook.  I was unfamiliar with this song but we had pictures to help us learn it.  We then talked about the gift that our bodies are and some of the healthy foods that we should put in them daily and the foods that we should eat in moderation. We had a Eatwell Plate picture to help us understand the different food group we should eat. Jordan played with toy foods from the food groups while we talked about them.   We then talked about exercise and how important it is to keep our bodies moving each day.

After that we each set some goals for ourself and then some for our family. 

Afterwards we did a Scriptire Health Match-up.  Jordan liked this part.  She just wanted the paper so bad!!

Then for a treat we made Rainbow Fruit Sticks.  Well I made a stick and Brandon just ate his out of the bowl with a stick and Jordan just enjoyed her Mango the whole time. 

It was a great 1st family home evening.  I know that our family will be blessed as we continue our efforts.  :)

JMBR Phase 1 complete!!!!

4 weeks down!!!  I can  hardle believe I have survived this long.  It had been good so far.  I missed a couple days last week do to unexpected overnight trips to Phoenix and birthdays but I did play catch up this weekend.  I couldn't let myself miss a day cause I knew it would be harder to move on to the next phase had I missed a day.  The scale has not moved since the 1st week which kind of stinks but my eating hasn't been right on so I need to work on that but my body is changing and I am getting stronger so I am happy to continue with the program. 
I ordered a heart monitor that will help keep me in my target zone and help track my calories so I know exactly how much I need to be eating each day and to make sure I am giving it all I can.

4 weeks down and 9 to go!!!!!!!!!

JMBR Week 3

Another week down!!  I am actually surprised at how fast the weeks are going.  I can remember trying to do Slim in 6 and I never made it past week 2 so I am feeling pretty good!!  Week 3 was interesting.  I moved on to workout 3 and 4 this week.  Monday was the first time I did workout 3 and Brandon decided he was going to sit on the couch and watch me.  I never mind people watching me cause  I think it pushes me to try harder but workout 3 was hard the first time and I felt like a fool.  Especially since he was watching me.  He probably was thinking that I had no idea what the heck I was doing!!  Some of the moves were tricky and since I had never done them  before I spent most of the time just trying to figure them out!  Workout 4 was also a little tricky but not as bad.  I am still on cardio 1 so there was no change there which was nice and then by the time I did 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Thursday I was much more coordinated and felt better about myself.  Only 10 more weeks to go!!!!!