Holey Donuts, Batman!

I have officially tried (an devoured) a Holey Donut! Let me just say...they exceeded my expectations! We ordered 3 varieties:

Triple Powdered Winter

Low-Fat Chocolate Chip

Lemon Coconut Cream Pie

These Donuts were 3-4 points a piece and only 2-3 grams of fat each. One Dunkin Donut is 15-24 grams a fat a piece...woah! Here is the biggest difference - density. The Holey Donuts were very light and airy like little sugary clouds. Normal donuts have the heavy somewhat greasy mouth feel. I like normal donuts, but every time I eat them I get a tummy ache. Not the case with these! The Triple Powdered Donuts were perfect and simple and delicious. The Chocolate Chip had a very nice vanilla glaze with big semi-sweet chocolate chips on them. They were also very yummy and a huge hit with the kids! My favorite (which I got for free) were the new Lemon Coconut Cream Pie donuts (a combination of the two most popular flavors). Oh. My. I am normally not a coconut fan - love the flavor, not the texture...BUT...I have been converted! These perfect little pillows of deliciousness had melt-in-your-mouth glaze with a sprinkling of coconut on top which would have been great in and of itself! However, the best part was the decadent lemon curd inside. I say lemon curd because it wasn't that cheap, imitation lemon glaze jelly that tastes like Pine-Sol. Nope! This was the real deal - and it was divine!

I am going to order again for sure! The donuts come shipped in dry ice and are ready for your freezer. I set mine out the night before we ate them so that they would be room temperature. They have detailed instructions on how to care for your donuts in the box...and a lovely heavy-duty styrofoam cooler - SCORE! ;) I guess on April 1st everything is going to be 53% off, so I will probably order again on that day. The biggest expense is really the shipping which I believe was $15. I'd love to find some other people who want to place one big order and then we could all split the shipping! Any takers? These pictures might change your mind!

Tomorrow I will be sharing my favorite Chicken Fajita recipe...adios!

Warfare

I have really been thinking this week about how much my weight has affected my life. I think about how much it has been a spiritual and emotional battle. God didn't create me to be self-conscious. God didn't want me to feel isolated and shameful. God created me so that I could bring glory to Him. I know that there have been many times in my life that I have shied away from following His lead because I was too scared about what other people may think. That makes me sad. The evil one loves that...loves to revel in my pain...and loves that I am not "all there" for God.

I am changing that right now, every day, and the evil one hates it. I really felt the lies creeping in last week, telling me that I am doomed for failure; that I always fail. Reminding me of all the times I have been down this path before and how many times I have ended up right where I started. These lies were working on me pretty good. In fact, I was so nervous today to weigh-in that I was almost sick to my stomach. There are two songs this week that have really been a light to me in my mental darkness. Here are some of the lyrics. I hope they can inspire you too:

"When I feel like caving in/My heart, my soul is wearing thin/I just wanna give up/And nothing seems at all to add up/Can you hear me, Lord?/My face is down upon the floor/It's then you whisper in my ear/Be still and know I'm here..." "Be Still" by StorySide: B

and:

"And if our God is for us/Than who can ever stop us/And if our God is with us/Than what can stand against?" "Our God" by Chris Tomlin

Very. Powerful. Words. I know that God is up to something bigger than I can even imagine - He always is. And I hope that He will continue to use me to inspire others, and to teach my children, and to bring Him the glory that He SO deserves!

This week I lost 2.8 lbs! So far, my total is -17.6! One day at a time, one choice at a time...

Stay tuned for Monday's full Holey Donuts review complete with pictures...mmmmm!

Deep Thoughts...

I am realizing why tracking (journaling, writing down what you eat) is such a huge part of WW success. This week I was a little less aggressive in my tracking. It is SO easy to nibble throughout the day and forget to write it down...and it adds up FAST! One night I sat down to enter my final foods after the kids went to bed and realized that I hadn't written down several small items throughout the day...I went over by 9.5 points. That bothered me. Since that day, I have been very careful to accurately track during the day.

One thing that has kind of thrown me off is making large meals for the whole family. For instance: whole wheat mac n' cheese (which was very good and fairly easy to track), beef stroganoff, and chicken taco soup (hard to figure portion size). WW has a great tool on their site called "recipe builder" that allows you to enter each ingredient and it gives you a total for the entire recipe. It is VERY helpful, but it doesn't tell you how much is in a portion size. it is hard for me to look into a large crockpot of soup and determine what 1/8 of the recipe looks like. I could have measured out all of the soup first, but it was hot and I am clumsy...you do that math! ;) So...guess what I did? I added (to the best of my ability) the ounces in each item and then divided it by 8 - because the recipe said it yielded 8 servings. I came up with 14.66 oz in a serving...so a little under 2 cups (the amount of oz in a cup is actually like 7.997 something, but I'll go with 8 Yeah, I am a big nerd)! Oh and there are approximately 5 points in a serving, just so you know!

Speaking of Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup...this is a recipe from my sis:

Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 7 Hours

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 (16 ounce) can chili beans (u can find them @ meijer or Kroger with no sugar added in the ingredients)

1 (15 ounce) can black beans

1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn,

drained (we used the frozen bag of corn)

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce (again no sugar added @ walmart)

1 (12 fluid ounce) chicken broth

2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained (found no sugar added one @ walmart)

1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning (made our own)

3 whole skinless, boneless chicken

breasts

Directions:

1. Place the onion, chili beans, black beans, corn, tomato sauce, beer, and diced tomatoes in a slow cooker. Add taco seasoning, and stir to blend. Lay chicken breasts on top of the mixture, pressing down slightly until just covered by the other ingredients. Set slow cooker for low heat, cover, and cook for 5 hours.

2. Remove chicken breasts from the soup, and allow to cool long enough to be handled. Stir the shredded chicken back into the soup, and continue cooking for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and crushed tortilla chips, if desired.

Here's the ingredients for the taco seasoning!!

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

I really enjoyed the soup...it was pretty spicy though - too spicy for the kids. I added a zucchini and a pinch of cinnamon which gave it a lot of depth. Next time I make it, I will probably add more corn and zucchini and less beans...it was very "beany." Also, I will take my sister's advice and make my own seasoning. I didn't have some of the spices she listed, so I used a packet of Taco Seasoning. I think tortilla chips would have been awesome with it, but I didn't want to waste the points, so I opted for fat-free sour cream. I actually liked it better without it. Here is the finished product:

"Before" Pictures

The purpose of this particular post is not to put myself down. I want to have some "before" pictures to compare to when I am in the "after" stage, and also along the way in my journey. It also helps me to see where I started in a very honest way. Sometimes I think I get caught up in life and just don't really realize where I am, where I've come from, and where I want to be. I know I don't want to be the person in these pictures anymore! I don't want to make anymore excuses....Lord knows I have many! To give myself a little credit, though, most of these pics were taken during or right after a pregnancy...

This is Christmas 2008. Jadon was born 8/28/08. I thought I looked good that day...yipes!

This is Summer 2009. I was pregnant with Ethan. I was pretty miserable. (photo by Morgan Young)

This is Fall 2009. I included this pic to show how round my face had gotten. I was very pregnant with Ethan in this picture. As you can see I was having a good time! (photo by Morgan Young)

This is February of 2009. A Romantic getaway to Chicago complete with the stomach flu. Little did I know...I was pregnant for Ethan here. I think I look like Sasquatch...just sayin'.

I hate this last pic...and I hate that I hate it, b/c it is Jadon's 1st b-day party. Anyway, I wanted to show how big my arms had gotten. I was very, very pregnant with Ethan!

I will hopefully take pictures periodically to show my progress...here is where I want to be again...

Love it! Can't wait!

Fun with pictures!

Now that I figured out how to add pictures to my posts...let the fun begin!! :)

Looking into my fridge these days makes me smile! We just got our first order from B&B Organics a co-op in Kokomo for produce. Here is my happy, healthy fridge (hee hee...check out the milk crammed in on the bottom shelf):

Here is a shot of all the bananas and oranges and apples...we go through A LOT of bananas in this house!

By the way, the oranges are from Sam's and they are SO very sweet and juicy. My mother-in-law convinced me to forego my usual Clementines to buy these...they are worth it!

And here is my favorite pizza made with the Flat-Out "wraps."

Mmmm...now doesn't THAT look yummy!!

In the next few days I am going to compile some "before" photos so that I can have some pictures to compare my progress to. Normally I would pick the best of the best pictures - ones that hide most of my imperfections, but not this time. I am digging deep for the worst of the worst...the ones that I try to hide away and never look at! This will serve as my motivation and inspiration!

Ups and Downs

So...let me just start with a big *SIGH.* Here we go with a week 4 update:

It has been a month now since I started WW. I have to say, collectively, I FEEL so much better already. My mind is clearer (most days), I have more energy, and I am enjoying tasting and preparing new foods. I always have been a veggie and fruit lover, just too lazy to prepare them and too overwhelmed to buy them. It is so much easier to eat junk, really. That's sad. Now, I just feel like it is part of my life. I feel like each week gets easier in terms of fitting the new me and new habits into the rest of the chaos! Yay God for that!

This week, I really felt like I only had one "bad" day. I tried new veggies - loved them! Zucchini is probably a new fave for me (recipe at the end). I tried to make tilapia, but due to the fact that it was frozen and slightly freezer-burned...I choked it down even though I hated every bite! My hubbie tells me that Meijer has the fresh stuff on sale this week, so I will try fresh Tilapia next week. I also attempted to make a healthier version of my husband's beloved childhood favorite - Beef Stroganoff. It didn't go so well. It didn't taste bad, but it didn't resemble beef stroganoff either...maybe because I used soy crumbles instead of ground beef? ;)

A big round of applause goes to Applebee's. (clap, clap, clap) We ate there last night and I had the Grilled Dijon Chicken & Portobellos - excellent! It is one of the five under 550 meals. It is a a grilled chicken breast with red onions, portobello mushrooms, and cheese. It came with steamed broccoli, carrots, zucchini AND seasoned red potatoes! I was able to (thanks to Hungry Girl) find exact stats on it and it only weighs in at 450 calories! Way to go Applebee's! However, I am disappointed that Applebee's doesn't post nutrition facts on their website...shame, shame. At least Chili's isn't ASHAMED that their salads are thousands of calories a piece...man up!!

I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed with the scale this week, BUT I still had a loss even though it was small. This week's loss was 0.6 pounds and total weight loss is 14.8...not bad for one month, eh? Congrats to my 2 WW buddies who both had awesome stats! :)

I am excited to try out my new food scale this week AND my organic produce through B&B Organics. Did you know there is a co-op in Kokomo???? You should join! :) Oh, and I can't forget the Holey Donuts that will be arriving at my door...can't wait to try them out AND I don't have to feel guilty about it! ;)

Scratch recipe #3: Italian Zucchini

I remember making Italian Zucchini in one of my college cooking classes...yes, I took Foods 1 and 2. (I really wanted to go to culinary or pastry school.) I know I have the recipe somewhere, but I didn't really want to dig for it, so here is what I came up with. SUPER easy and SO SO good!

2 Zucchini sliced into "coins"

Olive Oil

S&P

1 small onion (I didn't have one, so I used my *Onion, Onion! seasoning)

1c. Tomato Sauce (I used Hunt's plain tomato sauce)

Italian Seasoning (I used my *Italian Garlic Bread seasoning)

Kraft Italian 5 Cheese (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Asiago)

Slice the zucchini - not too thick, not too thin and throw it into a pan with the olive oil, salt and pepper, and onion. Saute it until slightly fork-tender. Add tomato sauce and Italian seasonings. Let it bubble for 5 minutes or so OR until your kids are quiet enough that you remember to check on it. ;) Sprinkle with cheese and eat. This was SO good and the fish was SO bad that I ALMOST ate all of it by myself. It is so good for you and packed with so many nutrients, you should really just go make it right now!

* These are items sold through Tastefully Simple. You can substitute them with just "minced onion" and "italian seasoning," or you can ask me how you can acquire them.

Changing my mind...

It's funny how I view things a little differently already. Yesterday, I felt I failed. I didn't go over my points, but I just felt like the food I chose to eat wasn't the best use of my points. For instance: I was a very good girl and portioned out the Girl Scout cookies that were staring me in the face. I figured up the point values on each box and decided that the only box WORTHY of "wasting" points on was my beloved Thin Mints. I pulled out the good ol' Ziploc baggies and portioned them out into serving sizes. The serving size is 4 cookies. Who REALLY can only eat 4? I could eat the whole box. However, I only ate four and put the rest away into the freezer. Still...4 points were wasted on crap...yummy, but still crap. That's like 2 apples or 4 cups of fresh pineapple, or 2 large bananas. *Sigh*

Instance #2: The fam wanted pizza last night. I was game, and we got our pizza. Not a great move. Afterwards, I felt sluggish, had horrible heartburn, and used up every last point I had for the day on sub-par pizza (not a reflection on the restaurant, just on take-out in general). I have decided that I would much rather, from here on out, make my own at home. It is less money, less points, and much better for everyone involved. Each slice of THIN CRUST (Dominoes) pizza is STILL 3-4 points a slice, and that is just veggies and cheese. Pizza Hut and Papa John's are even higher. I can make one w/ turkey pepperoni and all the veggies I want for like 5 points...and that's for a whole pizza. (OK a whole pizza means the size of a Flat-Out wrap which is comparable to a burrito-sized tortilla) Oh well. Live and learn.

Today has been much better! :) I made pancakes for the kiddos (they LOVE pancakes!) and was able to restrain myself and only eat 2 small pancakes with just a little drizzle of maple syrup (envision the old me drowning my stack o' pancakes in a pool of fakey, imitation, butter-flavored "syrup"). This only cost me 4 points! And...I was full!

I am really digging the edamame and the risotto turned out pretty good as well even though it was time-consuming! Going to have some lemon-pepper tilapia tonight...