Thursdays are Rough (but a little Fiber Therapy Helps!)

Sigh...Thursdays always seem to be rough days. I'm not really sure why. They are just extra long and tiresome. I think part of it is that my IL's, the wonderfully amazing people they are, come on Wednesdays and spoil the kids (which is what grandparents are SUPPOSED to do!). The only problem with that, is that it makes Thursdays just a little bit of a challenge. But, it is one I will put up with as I enjoy the Wednesday freedom too much!!

I apologize for being MIA the past 2 days...I have had very little time to myself. Let's catch up..shall we?

I weighed in myself on Tuesday and I had lost another 3.4 pounds! That makes the total weight loss 42.6 pounds!! One thing that I have been working towards with this weight loss adventure for is to fit into a dress. Not just any dress either. About a nine months after L was born, E and I lost 50 pounds each. I bought this ADORABLE dress from Target. It is an Issac Mizrahe design that was originally $70. I got it for $10. It is so cute! It is a black strapless dress with a fitted waist and an A-line skirt. Well, unfortunately, I never got to wear it. In fact the tags are still on it. Well, my goal for has been to wear that dress out for my birthday. i haven't tried it on. It wasn't going to fit, I knew it wasn't. Well, my friend Casey encouraged me to try it on. I put it on knowing that there was NO way the thing was going to fit. Well, apparently, I was WRONG! It totally fit!!! My boobs are a little big yet, but with nursing, that is probably to be expected. Hopefully when I stop nursing here in the next couple of months, it will fit FANTASTICALLY!! So, to celebrate how excited I was, I went shoe shopping!!! I used some of my winnings from the contest for these kick ass totally impractical shoes:



I also found 4 very cool new scarves at the mall for 99 cents each! I couldn't knit them for that!! They are really cool!

Speaking of knitted things...Here are some pretty pictures of my Northern Lights Shawl:




And to end: Gratuitous cute shots of my beautiful children!!




Have a great one!!
With Love,
Theresa

Lasagna City

It is almost 8:30 at night and the kids are in bed. I am pretty tired, so I am going to post this really quickly. I have had some requests for my lasagna recipe and for the WW version of lasagna my friend Erica game me. Here you go:

WW Lasagna:

1 bottle of Vodka Sauce
15 oz. Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
10 oz Frozen Spinach, thawed/drained
1/2 c. low fat (or 1 c. fat free) shredded cheese
1 egg white
1/4 t. nutmeg
9 no boil lasagna noodles

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ricotta, spinach, egg white, and nutmeg. Spoon 1 c. of vodka sauce on bottom of 11x7 pan (spray pan first). Layer as follows: 3 noodles, half the ricotta mixture, 1 c. sauce, 3 noodles, rest of ricotta, 1 c. sauce, 3 noodles, remaining sauce. Bake 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese, bake 5 more minutes. Cut into 6 servings (6 POINTS each).

My Lasagna:
12 no boil lasagna noodles
15. oz Ricotta Cheese
1 egg
4 c. shredded mozz. cheese
1 T. oregano (or Italian seasoning mix)
garlic powder
1 pkg provolone cheese
1 pound ground beef (I usually use angus or sirloin)
2 jars spaghetti sauce
3/4 c. water
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pkg. of sliced pepperoni
1/2 c. parm. cheese

Heat oven to 375. Brown ground beef (I'll often cut up an onion and brown with beef and throw in some garlic too!), drain if needed. Add one jar of sauce and water to ground beef. Stir in the pinch of nutmeg. Mix up ricotta, egg, 2 c. mozz. cheese, oregano, and a good sprinkle of the garlic powder. Spray 9x13 pan. Pour 1/2 of other jar of spaghetti sauce into bottom of pan, spread around. Layer as follows: 3 noodles, 1/2 of ricotta mixture. 1/2 of provolone slices, and 1/2 of pepperoni slices, 1/3 of beef and sauce, 3 noodles, rest of ricotta, provolone, pepperoni, 1/3 beef and sauce, 3 noodles, rest of beef and sauce, 3 noodles, other half of second jar of sauce. Sprinkle with 2 c. sauce and 1/2 c. parm cheese. Cover tightly with double layer of aluminum foil (tip...spray foil, cheese won't stick!). Bake for 60 minutes (take off foil for last 10 minutes of baking). I HIGHLY suggest you put a large cookie sheet under the pan to catch spills...my oven is a MESS! Take it out of the oven and let sit for 10 minutes to set. ENJOY!

I hope that you enjoy these! Let me know if you have any questions. For the record, MY lasagna is SO NOT DIET WORTHY!!!! But, it is OH so good!!! Have a great day everyone!
With love,
Theresa

Free For All Friday!

Today is Friday! Yippee!! This has been a REALLY long week and I am glad to see Friday be here. I have a lot of randomness today, so let's get started!

First off, the results are in on my Biggest Loser Contest. I got 2nd place!!! I am very happy about this. I did everything I could and quite literally worked my arse off. The woman that got first place beat me by over 2%. It would have been very difficult for me to get that extra 2%. I did what I did and did very well. I lost almost 40 pounds and gained almost $100! Not a bad job! I am even in my "skinny" jeans. I bought some jeans when I was at my thinnest after L was born. I haven't seen them since I got pregnant with J. Well, they fit and I am wearing them. This makes me SUPER happy!! Great job to everyone that participated! We all did great!

Laundry...UGH! Does anyone else hate this chore as much as I do? I did about 4 loads yesterday and have already started the first of at least 2 loads that I am going to have to do today! It just never stops! And then on top of it, L is not quite potty trained at night. She is working on it, but still struggling. She is fine during the day, but not quite there at night. Well, I have to wash her sheets about every other day. It gets tiring. And then there are the dishes. I don't even want to go into the dishes. UGH. Okay, done complaining. Sorry, just got a little household chore overwhelmed!

I know that I have missed a couple of days this week blogging wise. I am still plodding my way through a book, hopefully I will have a book review for Book Worm Wednesday. For Fiber Therapy Thursday, I am working diligently on my BEAUTIFUL Northern Lights Shawl! I love it so much!! Hopefully I will be done with it by next week and can show it to you! It is so soft and smooshy. I hope that I will enjoy wearing it as I can see lots of wraps and shawls in my future! :)

My friend Natalie blogs over at Mommy On Fire and today's blog was pretty neat. She talked about scents that she thinks candle makers or other companies that make good smelling things should make. That got me thinking about what scents I would want to have made. Read her post here. So, here are a couple of scents that I would like to have!

1) yarn (shocker huh?) But, wait you might be saying, yarn doesn't smell. Oh, I disagree! Natural fiber yarn (wool, alpaca, etc...) does most definitely have a smell. My favorite is Malabrigo. It is soaked in vinegar and that smell combines with the wool and it is just YUMMY! Every time I go to the yarn store, I take a BIG whiff!

2) freshly cut wood, especially cedar.

3) That new car smell (does anyone know what actually makes the new car smell so good?!?!)

4) Animal Cookies. The smell really really good!

Thanks for the idea Natalie!

What else an I blabber about today? Ooh, how about a Song To Live By?

"I Need A Miracle" by Fragma
-"I need a miracle, it's more than physical."
There are more lyrics to this song, but this is the only one that applies for me right now. So, why is this song on my live by list? One reason only...it is the song that plays during the lunge section of Body Pump Class. Through the whole time doing those stupid things, I can't help think how appropriate the song is. I need a miracle to get through the whole thing!!

Well, I have 3 kiddos wanting my attention. I hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!
With love,
Theresa

Final Contest Weigh In! (Take It Off Tuesday!)

I woke up this morning and got a little giddy. Today is the final weigh-in for my Biggest Loser Contest. Giddy or scared, I am not really sure, but either way, I stepped on the scale. Good news! I was down another 2.6 pounds. That make 39.2 pounds total!!! I just am floored by that number! My goal was to lose 15% of my original starting weight by the end of the contest, and I did it! I actually even beat that, ending at 15.68%! In the contest I earned 2 One Pound passes (one for being one of the first 3 to hit 10% of my body weight and one for finishing the 30 day Shred!). This puts my contest percentage at 16.48%. I am really really proud of myself. I have worked really hard to get here. I still have 30 pounds I would like to lose, but for today, I am proud! I even have on the jeans that I bought when I was at my thinnest after L was born. Exciting!

I started going to Body Pump classes on Thursday and have now been to 3 of them. I am not doing heavy heavy weight as I tend to bulk up easily, but the class is still a hard workout. I love this class, I really really do. And the instructor, Stephanie, is fantastic. She is helpful, motivating, and welcoming. If you have a Body Pump class around you, I highly recommend it. Don't worry, I am still doing PLENTY of cardio, but doing Body Pump instead of Shred. I will still do Shred if there are times I can't get to the gym though, I want to keep active!

Big thanks go to everyone that has supported me and encouraged me throughout this contest. I really do appreciate it! I hope you will stick with me throughout the next 30 pounds!

I should hopefully find out the results of the contest on Thursday...I will let you know!

With love,
Theresa

Low fat, low cal, and WAY good!

Today's Munchy is something my mom made a lot when I was a kid. I remember it fondly and make it often as an adult. I'm sure that other people may call them something else, but we have always called them "Country Beans". There are 2 different ways to make Country Beans, but I like to make them as low fat and low calorie as I can. Of course you can make them on the stove, but I prefer to put them in the crockpot (shocking I know!)

Country Beans
4 cans cut green beans (undrained)
1 onion, sliced
1 can corn, drained
1 pkg. turkey smoked sausage, sliced into about 1/4 inch slices
Salt/Pepper

Put everything into the crockpot and add enough water to cover. Season with salt and pepper. Cook on low for 6 hours.
POINTS value for a GOOD size portion:3 (2 for sausage, and 1 for onion and corn).

For the times when I am not watching my weight and could care less if something is low-fat/calorie, I make this a little differently. I wash and cut up 2-3 potatoes and use REAL smoked sausage or kielbasa, not turkey smoked sausage. This is GREAT served with corn bread (buy the EASY Jiffy Mix box).

I hope that you enjoy this! It is one of my favorites!

Tomorrow is the final weigh in for my Biggest Loser contest...wish me luck!
With Love,
Theresa

Quick quick Book Worm

I only have a second, but wanted to do a book review since I didn't get to do it last week since we were out of town. Here you go...

Kitty and The Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn is the first in this new for me series. I did enjoy it. I think that you would need to enjoy this type of genre to enjoy this book (and probably the rest of the series, but I haven't gotten that far!) however. I intend to read the rest of them though. Kitty is a Werewolf, but she is also a DJ. Now, one of my dreams in life is to be a DJ (I REALLY wish I would have done an intern doing so in college...shoulda woulda coulda!) so I TRULY enjoyed reading about the DJ end of the story. The supernatural part of the story was interesting though. It is told in 2 different "persons", first from Kitty's perspective and then from the perspective of the wolf she turns into. It is a different way to read a story. Again, if you like this type of genre, check these out. I intend to get the rest from the library, so I will keep you in the loop about the rest of the series!

On a side note about the supernatural genre I love so much...I wish these writers would get together and all agree on the specifics of vampires. Each book is different and if it is a series, then I have to remember which vampire rules pertain to which series. Just a little rant on my weird end! :)

I have started and stopped about 3 different books. I just haven't found one I can get into. I'll let you know next week what I decide!

With Love,
Theresa

One Week To Go (Take It Off Tuesday!)

So, I had a great week weightloss wise! I lost another 3 pounds this week! I am really pleased with that. Especially since I splurged at my mom and dad's house and downed an order of Applebee's Chili Cheese Nachos and had some REAL ice cream (as opposed to the low-fat crap that I suck it up with!). It is good to know that one day of high fat food isn't going to cripple my efforts as long as I don't do it every day. So that is 36.6 pounds total, which is over half way to my ultimate goal of 70 pounds. It makes 14.6% and my goal for the contest is 15%. I only need to lose about 1 pound in the next week to hit that goal. Of course, I will try and lose all of the poundage that I can in this last week of Biggest Loser. I have earned 2 One Pound passes in the contest too. I have been in the top 3 so hopefully that will continue and I can pull out a win!!

Nothing more exciting to post today as I am tired and my eyes itch SO bad from these stupid allergies. Have a great day!
With Love,
Theresa

Lovely Monday (Munchies!!)

What a great Monday!! Yes, not usually the highlight of the week, but I have really had a great one! First, I was able to actually get a shower, fix my hair, and do my makeup this morning. If you are not a mom, you have NO IDEA just how wonderful of a thing that is! Then I went to MOPS. I feel SO good about myself after MOPS. Everyone was telling me how great I looked. Seriously, I feel HOT!! Then the kiddos and I came home, grabbed lunch and went to the gym. I wasn't sure how they would do with being in child care in 2 different places, but they were great! I had a good hard workout and am now ready to weigh-in in the morning. We had a great dinner of Grilled Chicken (thanks E!) and then we all went and played outside for a while. It was a fun fun day! I am exhausted! Tomorrow the kiddos are getting their pictures taken by my beautiful wonderfully talented cousin, Jennifer. Between the 2 of us, we have so many ideas! I can't wait!

Are you ready for a recipe? Now, don't judge before you try them! I made Salmon Patties the other night. I have memories of my mom making these when I was a kid and I hated them! Not only did they smell, but it always bugged the heck out of me that the can was smaller at the bottom than it was at the top. I don't know why it bothered me so much, but it did. But, I know salmon is good for you and E likes it so I thought I would give it a try. Now, I feel like I should warn you. When you open the can, be prepared for the fish skin and some cartilage. I was not expecting that at all! E laughed at me some as I yelled, "What the hell?" Once I got over my initial shock, I got to work. These are SUPER easy and they were really good! I will make them again.

Theresa's Salmon Patties

2 cans salmon, drained (don't feel like you have to get ALL the liquid out, a little won't hurt!)
1 c. bread crumbs (I used the 2 heels of my Brownberry Double Fiber bread and just ran them through my food processor)
1/2 onion, minced
2 eggs (whip them up a little in a bowl before you add them)

Mix everything together! Spray your pan with cooking spray. Make 1/4 c. patties and smash with your impeccably clean hands! Cook until brown on one side, flip and cook until brown on that side. Pretty simple.

I got about 16 patties out of this. They will reheat well too. The only thing I would do differently next time is add some spices (garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, Cayenne pepper, maybe some cumin, salt,pepper, whatever you like!). I also served with low-fat sour cream which was really good. E had horseradish sauce with them and said they were fantastic! I figured these to be 2.5 POINTS for each patty.

Let me know if you have any questions. Oh, you might want to open a window while making these though, they are a little stinky.

Well, have a great day! See you tomorrow!
With Love,
Theresa

Songs To Live By

Driving home from my parents' house today, I was listening to the radio (SO love Satellite!) and heard several songs that really spoke to me. I decided to start doing a "Songs To Live By" theme sometimes. I will post these when I hear something that strikes me, makes me laugh, or just really makes me think. Now, I should warn you, these songs will range from all over. I LOVE music, and I like listening to a variety of genres so these will probably be all over the place! I will post as much of the lyric as I can or just what really got me. I hope that you enjoy this, I think it will be fun to do.

"Toes" By Zac Brown Band (this is my new favorite band!!).
-"I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand. Not a worry in the world, a cold beer in my hand. Life is good today. Life is good today."
--Sounds like a plan to me. I want a vacation BAD!!! For full lyrics, click here.

"People Are Crazy", performed by Billy Currington, written by Bobby Braddock and Troy Jones
-"God is great, beer is good, and people are crazy"
--Need I say more? God is most definitely GREAT, beer IS absolutely good, and People are CRAZY!!! For full lyrics, click here.

"Forever Young", By Bob Dylan
-"May God bless and keep you always, May your wishes all come true. May you always do for others, and let others do for you. May you build a ladder to the stars, and climb on every rung. May You Stay, Forever Young."
--This is the theme song to one of my new favorite shows "Parenthood" on NBC. I DVR it on Tuesday nights so I can watch it when I get a chance. It is a fabulous show, I HIGHLY recommend it. Anyway, usually when I DVR something, I fast-forward through the beginning credits, but this song just speaks to me so much, I listen to it every time! I think it is just beautiful. This is what I want for my children and one day for my children's children. I went them to keep some of their childhood innocence, even as adults. Maybe if more people had that childhood innocence to temper their adult arrogance, our world would be a much better place. May you stay, forever young!! For full lyrics, click here.

Those are the songs that I want to live by today...what are yours??

With love,
Theresa

Big Day!! (Take It Off Tuesday!)

Wow, OK, so it is only 11 am here and it has been a BIG DAY!!! I apologize for not posting yesterday, but I didn't really have a recipe to share and I was pretty busy with 2 of the kiddos (L is at Grandma's) who were crying a lot! So, on to today!

This morning J had to get tubes put in her ears. Yes, it is a routine procedure, but when it is your kid and they are little and they put them under, But, she did fantastically! She didn't even cry when the anesthesiologist took her back (and before you ask, yes, I did, but I didn't do too badly!). The nurse said she didn't cry when she woke up either. She started fussing a little when they had to take off the heart monitor patches and when the ears started to be a little sore, but other than that, she did AWESOME! At home, she was back to her old self and has already said "beans" and "ball". I about cried again! It is so great. She is napping right now and I told her we could go to either McDonald's or Burger King for a treat for lunch.

In other big news....I lost 4.8 pounds this week! I am floored! I know I did well, I worked my TAIL off, but I wasn't expecting that! E was happy as he had told me that by having a smaller number last week that I would probably have a big one this week! He loves it when he is right! But, I am very happy. I looked in the mirror today I can really start to tell a difference. It makes me feel so good and I'm really proud of myself for all my hard work. I have 20 more days until my contest is over...it would be SO awesome to win!!

We had a wonderful Easter holiday. I hope you did too. I need to go as M is starting to get fussy (shocking!), but I hope you have a wonderful day!
With Love,
Theresa

What Would You Be? (Free For All Friday!)

Happy Friday! It is still so beautiful outside! I shouldn't be sitting at the computer! Oh well, I have the doors and windows open and am listening to the birds outside and the BEAUTIFUL singing of J to "ELMO'S World". Because it is Friday and it has been a long week, I have nothing new to come up with, but saw this on a fellow blogger's site (Creative Attempts...check her out, she is FANTASTIC!) and thought it was a different take on the about me kind of thing. So, here you go!

What Would You Be?

If I were a month I’d be September.
If I were a day I’d be Saturday.
If I were a time of day I’d be evening.
If I were a planet I’d be Venus.
If I were a sea animal I’d be a Sea horse.
If I were a direction I’d be North-east.
If I were a piece of furniture I’d be a comfy couch.
If I were a liquid I’d be RUM! ;)
If I were a gem stone I’d be a peridot.
If I were a tree I’d be a red wood.
If I were a tool I’d be a monkey wrench.
If I were a flower I’d be a gerber daisy.
If I were an element of weather I’d be the sunshine.
If I were a musical instrument I’d be a piano.
If I were a color I'd be bright grass green.
If I were an emotion I’d be joy.
If I were a fruit I’d be a star fruit.
If I were a sound I’d be children's giggles.
If I were an element I'd be oxygen.
If I were a car I’d be a Dodge Viper.
If I were a food I’d be my grandma's perogies.
If I were a place I’d be the Grand Ol' Opry.
If I were a material I'd be velvet.
If I were a taste I’d be tart.
If I were a scent I’d be clean cotton.
If I were a body part I’d be legs.
If I were a facial expression I'd be a big toothy grin.
If I were a song I’d be sung by Janis Joplin.
If I were a bird I'd be a flamingo.
If I were a gift I'd be a knitted shawl.
If I were a street I'd be in San Fransisco.
If I were a city I'd be Nashville, TN.
If I were a door I'd be metal so kids could hang their pictures on me.
If I were a pair of shoes I’d be comfy, but HOT!!!

If you want me to explain any, just leave a comment. Till next week! Have a wonderful Easter!!
With Love,
Theresa

No Fiber Therapy Needed Today...

As it is GORGEOUS outside! Seriously, absolutely stunning! So, I'm not going to waste any more time in doors than I have to! Sorry. I will fill you in on knitting blogs next week, but if you REALLY, REALLY can't wait until then...check out my knitting HERO!

She is the Yarn Harlot and I think you will find her funny! I do!

See you tomorrow!
With love,
Theresa