Saturday, June 27, 2009

It was a lazy week...

"Little Mark" was at church camp this week. :-) He really enjoyed himself, and came up with a couple of new CDs. It seems a young lady named Yancy was the singer for the week, and "Little Mark" likes her VERY much. ;-)

His birthday was on Thursday. I still can't believe he is 13. The Children's Director arranged to have a cake brought to camp for him, and they had a "surprise" party for him. ;-) That was so sweet. We didn't know they were going to do that.

"Little Mark" also showed his bravery by going down the Zip Line. I believe it is 4 stories high, and most of the people in our household are afraid of heights, including "Little Mark." But, he did it. ;-) We're very proud of him.

While he was away I got a few things done around the house, but mostly I stayed on facebook, and caught up on the TV show "Harper's Island." Now, I'm hooked!! ;-) I did do my weigh-in yesterday, and I have lost another 2 lbs. That's 11 in all.

It's going slowly, but it is indeed going. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Great day/ iPod cake...

We had a really great day today. We had the "family" party for "Little Mark's" 13th birthday today. He got the Wii he has been wanting, and we have all had a ball playing on it. ;-) I think bowling, tennis, and golf are my favorite. :-)

I made him another iPod cake, but I think this one came out so much better than the last one. "Little Mark" requested a blue one this time, so we made it blue. ;-) Hope everyone had a great weekend.


Love,
Wendy Darling

Friday, June 19, 2009

Weigh-In #3 and Friday Recipe Swap

Well, this has been a busy week. :-) I am baking the nephew's birthday cake for tomorrow. I am going to make a few changes from the one I did last week. We'll see what happens. :-)

Tomorrow is the family party, and the day he gets all of his presents from us. :-)

"Little Mark" leaves for camp on Monday morning, so I have spent all week making sure he has everything he needs, and getting it together. I will spend Sunday afternoon helping him pack, and writing his name on EVERYTHING. :-) I plan to include a few "we love you" and "have a great day" notes hidden among his clothing. He has requested that I pack each days outfits as a set, so he can just "grab and dress". I am going to mark the set he wears on Thursday, so I can hide a birthday card in there, as well as $5. That way he gets a little surprise on his actual birthday. :-)

I know, it's corny; but I'm corny like that. ;-)

OK, the weigh-in for today is: I lost 3 lbs. this week. :-) It's moving slow, but at least it is moving in the right direction. :-)

Now for the recipe. :-) Remember, you can find more recipes by going to Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe. Gayle is so great about hosting this each week. If you want to participate, just post a recipe and link it to "Mr. Linky." :-)

Sassy Southwest Egg Rolls (From the Hungry Girl Cook Book)

3 Original (not large) Low Carb/High Fiber Tortillos (she recommends La Tortilla Factory)
1 oz of cooked, skinless, lean chicken breast; shredded (I used 98% Fat Free canned chicken)
3/4 C frozen, chopped spinach; thawed and thoroughly drained.
2 T canned black beans
2 T canned sweet corn, drained
1 oz fat free jalepeno jack cheese, shredded (I used the sandwich slices)
1 T diced red chili pepper

For sauce
2 T fat free sour cream
1 T mashed avocado
1 T diced tomato
1/2 t dry ranch dressing mix/dip mix
black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.In a small bowl combine chicken, spinach, beans, corn, cheese and chili pepper. Microwave for 30 seconds.

Warm tortillas for 15 seconds. Place 1/3 of mixture in center of tortilla. Fold sides in and roll from bottom to top.

Spray pan with non-stick cooking spray, and place wraps seam side down on pan.

Bake 12 minutes flipping half-way through the cooking process. Egg rolls will be crispy when done.

In a small bowl combine all ingredients for the sauce. Let egg rolls cool a few minutes and enjoy with the sauce. :-)

This makes 2 servings. Each serving is 181 calories, and 4.5 g of fat. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Monday, June 15, 2009

VBS, weigh-in, and cakes...

That pretty much sums up my last week. :-)

We did VBS all last week, so we never made it to the gym. I knew this would have an adverse affect on my weigh-in, and although it was a set back, it was not devastating. On Friday I weighed-in and I had gained 1 lb.


Yeah, I was upset too.


HOWEVER, I went ahead and weighed this morning and saw I have lost 2 lbs. over the weekend, so I am not feeling bad anymore. ;-) Hopefully, the "official" weigh-in this Friday will show even more loss. ;-)


VBS was great. This is the first year I have done "Missions", and our project is putting together "Lifeboxes" for soldiers. The kids really came through with the donations, and it was all great. The lessons were great, and I think I would really like to do it again next year.


Moving on.... let me give a positive testament to "Coppertone Spray". We took "Little Mark" and a friend to a local amusement park on Saturday. I sprayed everyone down with the Coppertone before we went in. The guys even did their faces and the backs of their necks. I did my arms, but didn't do my face because of my makeup, and forgot the back of my neck/top of my back.
NO ONE got burned except for me...... and guess where? Yep, a little on the face, and the back of my neck/back. Moral of the story: Coppertone works if you use it. :-)

The reason we took the boys to the amusement park was for "Little Mark's" birthday. It really isn't for a couple of more weeks, but this was his "party" with the friends. He opted for something more exciting and just take one friend. It was fun. :-)
Well, except for the whole "sunburn" thing. :-) I made his cake again this year. This is a picture of it. :-)



I plan to do another one this coming weekend for the family party. He will be at church camp on his actual birthday, so we are having the parties a little early. :-)


Love,
Wendy Darling

Friday, June 05, 2009

Friday weigh-in.

Down 7 lbs. Not a bad start. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling

Thursday, June 04, 2009

Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap...

Tonight we had "Pizza Pockets" from the Hungry Girl Cook Book. (She called them something else, but I don't have the book in front of me, and I am too tired to go get it. So, we are just going to name it 'The Pocket.') :-)

They were wonderful. The were filling, they tasted great and they were MUCH cheaper than the real thing, or ordering calzones from a pizza place. I'm posting the recipe here. Please, go to Gayle's for more great recipes. :-)

"The Pocket"

1 large low-carb tortilla
1 triangle of Laughing Cow, Low-Fat Swiss Cheese
1/4 C tomato sauce with Italian Seasonings
3 T FF Mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 T onions, diced
2 T bell peppers, diced
Mushrooms, sliced
about 4 or 5 slices of Turkey pepperoni (the original recipe did not call for this, but we used it and it is tasty!)

Microwave your tortilla for about 10 seconds. Spread the Swiss cheese down the center, and spread your sauce on top. Top with other toppings and cheese. Fold like a burrito,and place on pan with folded side down. Bake for 10 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Enjoy! :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling




Wednesday, June 03, 2009

So far, so good. ;-)

So far things are going well with our diet. We have been using recipes from The Hungry Girl. We checked out the following two cookbooks from the library:


And...


I have to say the first couple of days were very difficult, but the food had nothing to do with it. Let's just say that when your body (digestive tract) is not "normal" due to a horrible diet, and you suddenly change to a high fiber diet, but you are also dehydrated, because you do not drink enough water; this causes a severe stomach ache.

The stomach ache/problem is still here, but not as bad. I am trying to rectify the problem, and it is getting better. Just takes time. :-)

We have changed the time we go to gym, so we can be more consistent. This morning we were in the pool at 6:30 am. :-) I think this will work better for us. :-)

"Little Mark" has really liked the recipes we have used so far, and is even looking through the books to pick out others to try. Let me share one of the recipes we tried this week.

Kickin' Chicken Pot Pie

8 oz of boneless, skinless chicken (baked or boiled.) I used 98% fat free, canned white meat chicken.
98% fat free Cream of Celery Soup
3 C of frozen mixed vegetables
Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls

Combine chicken, soup and veggies in a 9 inch round dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Stir. Remove 3 crescent rolls from the package. Form into a small dough ball and roll into a thin circle. Lay on top of mixture and replace in oven for 15-20 minutes, until top is golden brown. Serves 4. Enjoy! :-)

It was quick, inexpensive, and tasted wonderful. We served it with a spinach salad. :-)

Love,
Wendy Darling