Health and juicing (kind of)

 My morning started out looking a little bit like this. Fresh fruits, some milk, and a blender make a seriously delicious breakfast.

 Lunch looked about the same. I decided since I didn't have a slew of healthy foods laying around that I'd make another fresh fruit smoothie to eat. I also loaded up on some good ol' H2O.

It was a couple of days ago that a friend sparked something in me that made me want to be a better me! I realized that I am not trying to have a baby right now and NOW is definitely the most opportune time to be getting my body back to better health which will hopefully in turn help us to have a baby in the future. Hence the "diet" (which isn't really a set diet).
With my PCOS, I have a hormonal imbalance and am also at risk for diabetes. I've heard many a person tell me that I need to be on a low carb, super low sugar diet. I've tried a couple of times and miserably failed but this week, I got back in the saddle.
In case you are wondering, I am NOT doing the juicing diet. I am modifying the diet to my specific lifestyle and have decided that two fruit/veggie meals are ok but that dinner is all mine. And by "all mine", I mean I get to chew food before swallowing it. It doesn't mean I will be eating unhealthy foods.

(proof that I actually CAN cook a decent meal!)

If you'd like proof, here was my dinner tonight. I was SO proud!!! Creamy mushroom chicken, baked asparagus with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, salad, and a hefty load of corn. The main reason my plate is filled with so many vegetables is because neither of my drinks this morning contained any veggies. I plan on changing that and venturing out a little bit tomorrow.

Also, if you were wondering, I joined my nearest rec center today because exercise is also super important when you're trying to lose weight. I convinced my husband to give it to me as an early birthday present (it's only 6 months early...ha!) since the heat is rising in Arizona already. We've had a couple of triple digit days this past week and between that and Boss' new work schedule, I just knew I wouldn't have easy access to exercise. So I started the gym this afternoon (complete with kids club for my littles...which they LOVED) and since I am paying for it, I am obviously going to make sure I get good use out of it!

I am hoping to have success with this new diet/exercise lifestyle. Obviously, I haven't quite stuck to my diets before but at least I'm trying again! Here's to a new me!

And that's how Suze sees it.

Quick Snacks

I have been on the lookout for healthy snack ideas for my kids.
My kids are the weirdest eaters (actually, they are probably as normal as most other children...but it still seems weird). Petey will finish 4 bowls of cereal at breakfast time, wait 5 minutes, and start asking when it's snack time.
Boss and I decided that we were going to implement a snack time every day because the kids don't need to be eating all day long. So they usually eat at 7:30-8am, snack at 10:30am, lunch at 12:00pm, Petey gets a snack while Spidey naps around 2:30pm, and we eat dinner around 5:00pm. Then, sometimes, they get another snack before bed. This has made a big difference for us and makes eating time a lot easier.
We also decided that snack times were to be held at the kitchen table, so as not to let the kids get used to walking around the house with food in their mouths.
So as I was saying, I needed healthy snack ideas! I didn't want to be giving my kids goldfish and fruit snacks at every snack time.
I found an idea on Pinterest from The Accidental Hostess, where she put grapes on wooden skewers and put the in the freezer, for a much healthier popsicle treat. I decided to make a variation of this treat and use blueberries too, since my kids LOVE blueberries.
So here are my lovely skewers (not frozen in the picture). I actually used really long toothpicks that we already had on hand but once we use all those up (if we ever do), I'll probably get the long skewers. My kids both ate 3 of these "popsicles" for snack yesterday and ate a couple more today. Also, today I tried Ants on a Log. I used to eat these when I was little and loved them but now I get a small allergic reaction to celery (among almost every other fruit and vegetable) and so I don't eat celery often. The kids loved them! Ok, actually I thought Spidey had eaten his really fast and it turns out licked all the peanut butter out and threw the celery behind his chair. "sigh". But Petey liked the celery. :)
I also found a list of 25 Toddler Friendly Snacks (Ok, the link is only if you click on the "5". Not quite sure why that is happening). I tried cottage cheese today and my kids weren't big fans. I take that back, Spidey was a HUGE fan of painting with it and throwing it on the floor but neither of the kids ate much of it.
It takes a lot more work to not only think about the 3 meals a day my kids are eating but also remember to keep their snacks healthy. But hey, I'm trying! :) And practice makes perfect. Soon enough, I won't have to think twice before giving my kids a healthy snack versus an "easy" one.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Tasty Tuesday: Yum! Yum!

Yesterday, I promised the recipe for the sweet pork that was our dinner. Tonight, you're going to get it. Sweet Pork: 7-8 lbs. Butt Pork Roast (cook thawed) 4 8oz cans tomato sauce 3 tsp minced garlic 2-4 c. brown sugar (depending on how sweet you like it) 4 tsp. Cumin 4 c. Dr Pepper 3 tbsp. Molasses 1/2 tsp. Salt Pepper to taste In a crock pot, add all ingredients, mix well. Add roast, cook on low for 12 hrs. Check every so often to see if tender. When roast is falling apart, take it out of crock pot, cool and remove fat. Shred and return to pot. Keep warm in pot until you serve it. Creamy Cilantro Dressing: 1 16oz jar La Victoria green salsa 1 pkg. Buttermilk ranch dressing [dry] 1/2 c. sour cream 1/2 c. mayonnaise 1 c/ chopped cilantro 1 tsp. minced garlic 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper 1/2 tsp. salt 2 tbsp. lime juice 1/2 tsp. cumin 1/2 c. sugar In a bowl, mix all ingredients together then transfer into blender. Blend until smooth. Chill and serve. Enjoy all of this yumminess!!! Tonight, we ate some of the leftover sweet pork in some super nachos. Mmmmm. I could probably drink that cilantro ranch and it would still taste delicious. :) With all of the other leftovers, I separated them into freezer bags and threw them in the freezer for the days that I dont feel like cooking [every day?]

Petey devoured the nachos and ranch but was more hesitant with the pork.

Spidey finished ALL of his pork and had a couple leftover chips. My kids are such opposites with food.

Also, some really happy exciting news from today! I actually used craigslist for the first time. I browse on craigs list all the time and today, this rocking horse just jumped out at me. I knew my little guy [and even his big sister] would love it and he does!

Isnt his cheesy face so adorable?

That same little boy got a lesson in time out's tonight. He kept hitting Petey on the head and so finally I told him to go to time out [not actually believing that he would]. Well, he marched himself right over to this corner and stood there for 30 seconds! Even though he thought it was funny, it's a start! :)

Tasty Thursday

I dont even know what you would call this delicious taste of heaven. Salsa dip? Pico de gallo with a twist?
Anyway, I have a delicious recipe to share with you. All ingredients are pictured below so let's get started!1 packet of Good Seasons Italian dressing. Prepare packet as directed. (You will be adding water, vinegar, and oil)

Add 3 large tomatoes, diced.

Add a bunch of cilantro, chopped.

Add 4 green onions, chopped.

I can of black beans, drained and washed.

And last, add one can of corn, drained. Mix together and enjoy!

The first time I had this, it was at a party used as a dip with some chips. It also had avacado in it, which I am allergic to (yes, I ate it and had an allergic reaction) so I didnt add the avacado.

But tonight, I enjoyed mine with some lean ground beef on some corn tortillas. Delicious!

Petey enjoyed the tortillas more than the salsa mixture. Oh well.

Spidey enjoyed it all!

On another huge, happy, moment, I am so grateful for my amazing husband. He did the very nicest thing for me for Valentine's Day this year (I know, abit early). He sold some things that were very special to him to buy me a new camera...nicer than the last one I broke.

I am so lucky to be married to such a wonderful guy.

And that's how Suze sees it.

Once upon a time...

...I cooked a meal that was delicious!

Today was a great day. A seriously great day. And dinner---seriously delicious.
Are you feeling proud yet? If you've followed my cooking (and yes, Ive repeated this many times) you already know that I have a cooking handicap. But recently, it's been getting better. And today, it got even better!
Have you ever heard of Our Best Bites? Because if you havent, you are probably missing out. Especially if you've never tried their recipe for Creamy Chicken Taquitos. I mean look at how yummy mine turned out. It MUST be a simple recipe if mine look this good.

Even the youngest of our bunch enjoyed this meal. This is him saying "Mmmm!". I absolutely love when I find meals that our entire family can eat---from the toddler with 5 teeth to the adult with ALL of their teeth. :)

And Miss Picky (not to be confused with Miss Piggy) also devoured a taquito. She decided one was good but hey, if I can get her to eat one, I am feeling accomplished.

Her brother actually polished off 2 1/2 taquitos and they were stuffed with chicken. He is such a boy. And she is such a girl. :) Not that all girls don't eat a lot---because trust me when I say I can eat A LOT in one meal. It's slightly embarrassing and probably the reason I don't lose weight. Oh well. :)

So please, try these out. They are way too good to be ignored.

Next on my list of recipes to try from their website is their Creamy Lime Cilantro Dressing because I have an obsession with Costa Vida. And what could be better than Costa Vida type food in the comfort of my own home? Not much, that's for sure!

And that's how Suze cooks it!

A 4th Thank You

First of all, yes, my daughter did fall asleep like this while watching her new favorite movie today. I thought Beauty and the Beast would be too scary for her but she is hooked (except for this time when she fell asleep during it). Second, I made a very yummy potato salad tonight. According to Boss, this would be the winner of this week's meals but I am not as big a fan of mustard as he is---so my winner was still the beef and potatoes from the other day. Here is the recipe for this sausage potato salad. You wont regret it.

And now onto my 4th thank you. I received a package in the mail from Sami a couple of days ago (sorry, I'm just thanking you now).

And the contents inside were perfect for me! Ok, all you ladies who sent me mugs---how did you know I am a hot chocolate addict? And we only own a couple of mugs so they actually REALLY help. And they're adorable!

Also, there were 2 pairs of socks...but one of them is already in the laundry because I wore them all day yesterday. :)

Thank you a million times all you lovely ladies that are giving me gifts. It seriously makes my day and reminds me how many wonderful people there are in this world.

And that's how Suze sees it.

How do I?

How do I cook without poisoning my family?

A friend requested that I display my recent cooking adventures since you all know how hard cooking is for me. Refer to the post I have a cooking handicap if you were not aware of my disability.
Anyway, I am highlighting 3 meals from the past week in my post today.
The first meal was manadarin orange chicken stir fry.
I cheated and used a "Simply Asia" packet for my seasoning on the stir fry but I cooked everything else. Doesn't that still count?Steps:

1. Cook chicken strips in a pan.
2. Add any veggies you want in your stir fry and heat them in skillet with cooked chicken.
3. Add mandarin oranges.
4. Pour in sauce...and you're done.
   It was pretty darn good. I cooked this right before Boss came home from something and I completely forgot to cook rice or noodles to go with it but we just ate it plain. Petey hated it---but we liked it. :)
   
   

Meal Two: English muffin pizzas
One of my favorite childhood meals was english muffin pizzas. I know, very amateur, but have you met me?
Steps:

1. Lay out english muffin halves on a pan.
2. Add pizza sauces and any toppings.
3. Broil in oven on 450 for probably 5 minutes.

Have you noticed I really like 3-4 step meals? I don't like cooking in 3 different pans for the same dish and somehow pulling everything together. Maybe I'll get there...I'm not there yet. I put onions and spinach on my pizzas and pepperonis on all of the kid's pizzas.

Third Meal: Ground beef, red potatoes, and corn.

Steps:

1. Cook ground beef in a pan and add any seasonings (I stuck with season salt, pepper, and a little chili powder),
2. Dice red potatoes (keep the skins on, yum!) and add them to boiling water until they are soft.
3. I used frozen corn and just heated it in a bowl on the stove. It was super easy and I sprayed it with spray butter after it was done cooking.
   

By far, meal # 3 has been my favorite this week. Maybe because Boss' aunt introduced me to Shepherds Pie a couple months ago and the two are very similiar. Even though I made all of my dishes separate and served them to the kids separately, I mixed all 3 of my dishes together. Yummm!

And that's how Suze attempts to cook.

PS: Tomorrow night's dish will be a contender with meal # 3. I saw it on Paula Dean's show and am going to try and copy it tomorrow for Sunday dinner. Sausage Potato Salad. Yum!

Thankful Banner and Wooden Letters

I have TWO tutorials for you in this post. Feeling lucky much? But first, I have some exciting news about this week.
My first news was Tuesdays dinner. I made chicken bake and mashed potatoes and Mmmm, it was good! Even ask my friend, Candice. I'm pretty sure she liked it too.
My second piece of exciting news involves a little chubby guy we like to call Spidey. He is officially trying out the view from up here with the rest of us! He can take 5 steps in a row and is practicing and trying hard to get more in there. I'm so proud of this little guy. Today, he just stood and stared at me for 30 full seconds. Go Bubs!

Now onto your tutorials. Tutorial # 1 is for mod podged wooden letters. I am doing a word for each month and they slide right into a wooden hanger on my wall.

This month, for Thanksgiving, I chose to do the word Give. I went to my favorite store and picked out some cute scrapbook paper and got to work!

You will need:

• 2 different colors/patterns coordinating scrapbook paper
• mod podge
• wooden letters
• scissors

First, I sized each letter and added about a half inch around all of the edges before cutting out a square of the paper. Then, I applied mod podge to the tops of my wooden letters and layed them on my pieces of paper.

You dont have to do this, but I found something heavy and layed it on top of my letters to make sure they would have no bubbles in them.

When they were dry, I turned them over, cut a bunch of slits all around each letter, and wrapped the paper around to the back of the letters, securing it with mod podge.

Last, I mod podged the tops of the letters over the paper so they would have a glossy finish.

And here are my letters, all festive and ready for Thanksgiving. :)

Now onto tutorial # 2. I have seen these banners going around and thought I would try it out and make my own. I chose to use the word Thankful for this one.

You will need:

• 5 different colors/patterns of coordinating scrapbook paper
• brown tulle
• a printer (and printer paper, of course)
• mod podge
• a glue stick
• scissors
• paper cutter (optional)

First, I printed off the word Thankful in the size and font that I wanted to use. I made sure to use black ink so I could see the print through the back of the printer paper. I cut out each letter and glued it to the back of a piece of scrapbook paper. I then cut out each letter again so now it was connected and all I could see from the front was the marroon scrapbook paper I chose.

Then, I used my other coordinating scrapbook pages to cut out squares in two different sizes-one size barely bigger than my letters, and the next size barely bigger than that. I wanted my squares to have a slant so I matched each one up and cut diagonally into them.

I mod podged all of the papers to each other (included the letters on the front) and waited for them to dry.

After they were dry, I hole punched each sqaure on both top corners and tied them together using the brown tulle.

This is probably my second favorite craft so far, aside from the yarn wreath. :) I love the way it looks hanging on my wall above my cute turkey and my favorite pictures. (that's my favorite wall in our house)

Good luck! and Happy Crafting!

And that's how Suze sees it.

Pizza Pockets

I know what you're thinking..."There's no way I'm taking a recipe from HER blog." Well just give me a second to explain. Yes, I made this up. And yes, I'm sure it's been thought of many times before me but if you haven't heard of it, try this out. Especially if you have kids that love pizza like I do.
What you'll need:
bread
shredded mozzarella cheese
pepperonis
pizza sauce
a sandwich cooker or a stove (I'm sure you at least have one of those...hopefully)

Step 1: Put the bread down and sprinkle mozarella cheese on it. Step 2: add your sauce.

Step 3: add your pepperonis.

Step 4: add some more mozzarella cheese.

Step 5: grill to perfection and devour.

If you are at our house for lunch, this is probably what it would look like. We keep our lunch meals as simple and quick as possible. It's usually some sort of sandwich or burrito or chicken nuggets, etc because my kids are almost always cranky at lunch time.

Enjoy!

I have a cooking handicap...The end.

Oh the joys of cooking meals for my family. And by joy, I mean frustration. :)
I try to follow recipes to a T. I try. And yet, my food almost always tastes like crap.
Remember how I made manicotti on Monday night? Yeah...my husband wont touch it. And I wont even touch it. It was good when I was really hungry for dinner but as my tummy filled up, I realized how not good it was.

Then there was Phase 2: Bruschetta. This was the ONLY thing I've made this week that I liked and almost ate the entire thing of. Yum. The recipe called for A LOT of basil and though it tasted good at the time, you'll hear about the end result with Phase 3.
Phase 3 was homemade pizza. How could anybody screw this one up with premade dough from Fresh and Easy (my favorite!)? I got smart and decided to spread the leftover bruschetta on the pizza and just add some tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. I thought I was becoming quite savvy with cooking until I ate that pizza. Basil up the wazoo! Maybe the flavor of the basil had just soaked into the leftovers and become WAY too much in 24 hours. Whatever it was, I did not like the homemade pizza. On the other hand, of course Boss thought it was pretty good. Of course...the one meal I hated.
Phase 4 was homemade macaroni and cheese. You see, that was supposed to be Phase 3 (Wednesday's meal) but I realized we had no milk or worchestershire sauce that night so we did pizza instead. [Notice I made 3 italian meals in a row? I didnt even realize that!] The macaroni and cheese wouldve been pretty good but the ratio of noodles to sauce that the recipe called for was WAY off in my opinion. There were times I was just eating plain sauce and it was too cheesy for me. I could probably tweek it if I made it again to taste better.

I guess I'm just a bit discouraged. If Phase 5 (Chili Verde) doesn't work out tonight, I may just have to hire a chef. Or eat prepackaged meals. Or starve. Who knows. I am very very VERY proud that I have cooked 5 homemade meals this week. I am serious when I say I have never done that in our entire marriage...or actually in my entire life, for that matter. But I wish something would actually taste good enough to eat again the next day. How does my mom do it? She is always cooking awesome meals and I have always loved eating the leftovers. "sigh".

Wish me good luck tonight...and forever. Hopefully my cooking becomes better with time.

And that's how Suze sees it.