Munchy Time Monday

Happy Monday!! So, here is the first post in my new blogging regime! :) Munchy Time Monday! I have been thinking about what I want to post. So, I have decided to do this a couple of ways. First I am going to post something with lots of "munchiness" and then if I am making something special or new or post worthy for dinner, I will post it too! So, first off is something VERY easy, but SO yummy and can totally be adapted to your own taste and calorie counting level!

Yogurt Pie
2 6-8 ounce containers of flavored yogurt (the same flavor)
1 small tub Cool Whip
1 Graham Cracker Crust
(I use the lowest fat or fat-free versions of these ingredients that I can find, but use what you want!)

Mix yogurt and Cool Whip together. Pour into crust. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of hours. Cut and enjoy!

Yes, I know this is an EXTREMELY easy recipe, but it is one of my favorites!! I hope you enjoy it too!

And as far as what is for dinner? I am making Pineapple Glazed Chicken. I adapted a recipe from Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites cookbook (Pineapple and Honey-Glazed Chicken). Their recipe says to marinate the chicken and stuff. Well, I didn't have the time to do that, so instead, I pulled out the trusty Crock-pot (Seriously, I LOVE the crock pot! Who invented it? AWESOME invention!!). Here is what I did:

1/2 c. canned crushed pineapple in juice
2 T. soy sauce
2 T. honey (I did NOT have this much honey, but I suggest adding it if you have it!)
2 T. lime juice
1 T. grated peeled fresh ginger (I don't keep fresh ginger, I just sprinkled some powdered ginger on there!)
1 shallot, minced (another thing I don't have, so I minced up 1/2 an onion and used it instead!)
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (wear gloves or wash hands immediately after...do NOT touch eyes!)
4 Chicken breasts
1/2 t. cornstarch
2 t. water
1 T. Parsley

OK, so I am REALLY lazy and did not even thaw my chicken, I just stuck it in the crock pot! Hopefully this works. So, Put the chicken in the crock pot, cover with pineapple, soy sauce, honey, lime juice, ginger, shallot (onion), & jalapeno. Put on high...let cook all day till chicken is done. If you notice chicken is done, turn down to low and just let cook (that is what I am going to do!) Then I will follow the rest of the directions in the book!

Stir together the cornstarch and water in a small bowl until smooth. Transfer the chicken to a platter; keep warm. Poor the pan juices into a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook until the juices are reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add the cornstarch mixture and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture bubbles and thickens, about 10 seconds; stir in the parsley. Serve the chicken with the sauce. POINTS VALUE: 4

I am trying this recipe right now. Tomorrow I will let you know how it went, what it tasted like and maybe even get a picture of it! :)

Now for life things...I had MOPS this morning. Talk about an emotionally draining morning. A good friend shared her story and the entire room was crying. If you are interested, you can check out her blog at www.mommyonfire.com. She is an amazing writer and an even MORE amazing person. She inspires me! I love my MOPS group. The women that I have met in this group are just incredible women. They are all at different places in life, although most have small children. But, some do have older children, and there are Mentor Moms whom have grown children. They are great at reassuring me that the rough days with babies won't always be rough days! The one at my table is an incredibly strong woman whom I adore. She is kind and caring and has a very positive outlook on life. She is a wonderful mother and I strive to be like her when my kids are grown! She is also great about holding M when I want to knit during the meeting! :) This group of women and all of the moms at MOPS are such a GREAT influence on my life. I look forward to this meeting all weekend. NEVER in my life have I looked forward to Monday mornings, but I do now. They are wonderful. If you are a mom and are looking for a group of women, please find a MOPS in your area. There is discussion of God, but please don't let that deter you if you are not religious. There are women there that will help you on your path to Christ if you are trying to find your way, but NO ONE is going to beat you over the head with it-at least they don't in my group and I would hope that no one would in any group. Seriously though, if you are looking for a wonderful group of moms, check out MOPS! I love it!

I am struggling though right now with something as a Mom. Lately I have noticed that L doesn't seem to have a lot of respect for her things. I have been trying and trying to teach her to have respect for her toys. People have given her these things because they love her, but other than her "mommy bear" she doesn't really take care of them very well. Even stuff that I KNOW she loves I find thrown down on the ground. It is very frustrating. Last night though, the frustration hit an all time high as I discovered that she seems to be lacking in respect for other people as well, particularly me. It is very sad to me as I stay at home with her all day long and I feel that she has no respect for me. Don't get me wrong, she is a very sweet child and I know that she loves me and she knows that she is loved. But, she has started back-talking and just seems to have no care of the fact that I stay home for her (and J and M). I got so upset that I started crying and left the table. I know that E was really upset with her, but I just had to walk away. I don't know if I was crying because I was sad or angry. I just don't know how to teach her respect. I guess I should be happy that she feels comfortable enough to know that I will always love her even if she yells at me. I will just keep trying to teach it to her I guess and pray that at some point she realizes how she needs to treat people and her things.

Well, that is it for Monday. I hope that you are all well and enjoying the sunshine! It is beautiful isn't it!?!?! Come back tomorrow for the results on the Pineapple Chicken and for "Take It Off Tuesday."

With love,
Theresa

How To Blog?

I am struggling with this blogging thing. I forget about it and then when I do think about it, I feel bad that I don't write in it more. I'm not sure what the problem is. I really do want to keep a journal blog, but don't want to feel guilty for not writing in it. I actually LOVE to write and I am on the computer quite a bit. One would think this would be an easy thing for me to do. Apparently though it is not. I don't know if it is because blogging about my life just seems like a silly thing to do. I mean, does anyone REALLY care how many times M has thrown up on me throughout the day? Doubtful! But, in reality that is my life. I get thrown up on. I spend my day changing diapers and cleaning up messes. That is the reality of a mom. So, do people REALLY want to read about that? Well, I hope so, because as I was writing this paragraph, I decided to keep going! :) I am going to write about whatever I want. It is my blog, and there aren't too many occasions in life that you can say, I'm going to do what I want and you can't say anything about it! :) I am going to set myself some parameters though. I want to make an effort to blog more. I really like doing it. It may cut into some knitting time, but I think that is important for me. I NEED this outlet, I HAVE this outlet, I should USE this outlet!

So, my parameters (is that even the right word? I'm not sure) or topics or whatever you want to call them will beas follows. First, Mondays are going to be Munchy Time Mondays. I keep getting asked on Facebook about what I am making for dinner. So, I will post on Mondays some of my favorite things to make. I do not claim that the recipes are my own, but I will try and provide the source of the recipe. Tuesdays will be Take It Off Tuesdays. I will discuss how my weight loss journey is going and fill you in on my progress. Let's see, let's make Wednesdays something like Book-Worm Wednesdays. I LOVE to read and I read as much as I can (although with 3 kids that a lot is admittedly less than what it used to be!). So, I will let you all know what I am reading on Wednesdays and what I thought about it. I think I will do Fiber Therapy Thursdays. Knitting is my therapy and I LOVE it! So, I will post about how my knitting is going. Don't worry Carli, I promise that I will still post to our knitting blog (Knitters Without Sitters), which I need to do a better job doing anyways! Hopefully this will help! Fridays are going to be Free-For-All Fridays where I will blog about whatever the heck is on my mind. I probably won't blog much on the weekends, but if I do, they will probably be about random things!! Throughout the week, I will post about the main topic and then if I have more things to talk about, I will. This blog is going to be about ME, not my family. Now, of course my family will be referenced, but if you want to read more about them, then check out our family Blog. Ok, so in short form, here is my new schedule!

Munchy Time Mondays
Take It Off Tuesdays
Book Worm Wednesdays
Fiber Therapy Thursdays
Free-For-All Fridays!

Let's see how well I can do here huh? I will start next week! Wish me luck!!!
With love
Theresa

Diet Soda Cakes Recipes

My friend Kelli shared thesewith me. A lot of my Facebook friends asked me to pass them on. THis seemed like the easiest way. Thanks Kelli! I can't wait to try them!

1- lemon cake mix (i use duncan hines) and 1 can sprite zero... mix together and put in 9x13 GREASED cake pan... bake 28 minutes... at 350....take 1 small box sugar free lemon jello - mix with 1C boiling water... pour over cake ... place in fridge... cut into 12 pieces.. 1pt per piece...

1 Vanilla or french vanilla cake mix... 1 can sprite zero - mix place in 9x13 greased pan.. bake 28 minutes.. at 350 ...Mix 1 small box (any flavor sugar free jello) I use strawberry - cherry, raspberry) with 1 C. boiling water - pour over cake. Firdge and eat - 12 slices 1 pt each ...

1 devils food cake mix with 1 can pumpkin... mix well (I use mixer) pour into 9x13 greased cake pan... cut into 12 pieces .. 1 pt each bake 28 minutes at 350

1 yellow cake mix with 1 can pumpkin .. mix well... (use mixer) pour into GREASED 9x13 cake pan... bake 28 minutes at 350 .. 12 slices 1 pt each...

Enjoy!
Theresa

Isolation

Now that the holidays are over and life is supposed to start calming down, I can reflect on how I am feeling. Honestly? I feel really lonely. I forgot how isolated having a new baby can make you feel. I know that I have friends, but I feel like I have barely seen anyone since Marshall was born, and honestly even before. Don't get me wrong, I will take the blame here, but that doesn't make it any easier. Part of the problem is that most of my closest friends live at least an hour away all the way up to another country completly. I don't blame them, I mean, you go where life takes you. It's just hard to get all three of the kids around a lot to go visit. Especially now that it is winter, the decent days to go visit are few and far between. I know in life, we all go our own way and all my friends have gone their's and I am SO happy for all of them. It just leaves me with a sense of isolation. Does that make sense? I used to go have all sorts of Mom's nights with friends. What happened to those? Maybe we could set one up sometime soon? Bottom line? I miss my friends...all of them.

My Dirty Little Christmas Secret!

Yes, I have a Christmas secret! I LOVE cheesy Christmas movies! I'm not talking about ones like "White Christmas" or "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" (although I DO love it!) I'm talking about the ones that are especially made for TV like on ABC Family. As I type this I have "Santa Baby 2: Santa Maybe" playing. They just make me laugh and I totally tear up at the inevitable cheesy ending! I may not have much Christmas spirit this year, but those always make me a little Jollier! :) Sometimes don't you just wish life could always have the happy ending! I sure do!
I have so much I want to write about today, but not enough time. I will try and get more time later and hopefully I can write some more!
Love,
Theresa

Snip, Snip, End of the Road

Monday E got the big Snip Snip. He got along just fine, actually better than fine, he really got along great. He didn't have much pain and was back at work today (Thursday). He probably could have gone back yesterday, but the doc said no work until Thursday!

We now have 3 beautiful children. They are wonderful and we love them so much (see previous post!). We do not want to have any more children. If for no other reason, than I am not sure I could handle another pregnancy. My body didn't tolerate M very well at all. I am sure that I do not want any more. So why is there this part of me that is a little sad that I won't have any other babies and will never be pregnant again? Is this a little masochistic? I really have NO desire to be pregnant again and once M is through with the newborn stage, I am done with that too. But, there is just that part. That part that gets a little sad that I will never feel a baby kick me from the inside again. I will never feel him or her get hiccups again. I won't get to drive my friends and family crazy by not finding out the sex of the baby again. I will not get to diaper a baby with those tiny newborn size Pampers again. There is just something there that makes me truly sad. I don't know why. Is that normal? To want (if want is actually the word here) what you can't have?

We put up the Christmas tree this past weekend. It doesn't have a whole lot of ornaments on it as we are chasing J around the house with the few that are on there. I will put up the stockings (as soon as I find them) and the nativity scene. But, I just don't have a whole lot of Christmas spirit this year. One would think that with all that my family has been through this year, I would have Spirit coming out the Yin Yang. But, I don't. I tried listening to Christmas music this evening, and nothing. I don't know if I am just overwhelmed with all that has happened, that it is just too much. I feel really badly about it. The kiddos deserve a great Christmas and M will never have another first one. I just am not feeling it. Any advice???
Love,
Theresa

My Joy

I am a Facebook poster. I have a lot of friends on there and love that I can celebrate or vent as needed. Yesterday was a bad day in our house. Both girls were very difficult and Marshall wouldn't let me put him down without screaming bloody murder. It was a very difficult day. I was in tears half the day and I posted this on Facebook. Well, today I posted that I was determined to have a better day (which so far we have) and a Facebook friend (who shall remain nameless) posted the following:



"...There are alot of times I read ur updates and I feel that way about grown adults.. need a nap, constantly wining, asking the same questions a billion times, and my personal fav is do something to just make u mad cause they can... See this is y i am never having offspring.. I am surrounded by them... sigh..."



This makes me very sad as a mother and makes me doubt how good of a mom I am. Do I really complain about my children that much? I figure I must, which makes me sad. And why do I complain about them that much? I mean, it isn't their fault that they are all under the age of 4!



I hadn't planned on being a parent. To be honest, I hadn't really planned on ever getting married, until I met Eric. When I met him and got to know him though, I KNEW I wanted to marry him and have his children. This is a decision I do not regret at all. I honestly LOVE being a mom! I love that I get to spend my day playing with these 3 wonderful creatures of God. Sure, there are plenty (and I do mean PLENTY) of days that I doubt my abilities as a parent, but I have to believe that GOD would not have given me these lovely gifts if he did not trust and know that I could take care of them. He has made them my JOY. This JOY that fills my heart with a simple smile, an "I Love You", or a hug around the legs. There is no better JOY for me than these children. They help make me the person I am and for that, I am so thankful to God. I love these three children so much and I truly do not know why I complain about them. I guess that is just human nature, to complain about the JOYs we have in life. But, I need to do better. My children are my JOY and I need to share that feeling with the world, not complain about it.



So, thank you my Facebook friend for making me realize how much my children mean to me. Even if you do not want to have children, as that is completely your choice, know that I hope that you find the JOY in your own life. And that you let that JOY fill you up inside.



May you all find your Joy,

God Bless,
Theresa