Falling Back Into Old Habits...

It's funny how quickly you can fall back into old habits. Over the course of the past couple of weeks, I have noticed that our dinners have turned back into being unhealthy. Fried pork chops, Velveeta Mac N Cheese, white spaghetti instead of wheat...and the list continues. I'm glad I noticed it before I had gained all my weight back, and for the past couple of days I have been thinking about ways to re-vamp our food into healthy stuff again.

So, I was wondering if you had any QUICK (because I can't stand standing in the kitchen for more than 30/45 minutes) and HEALTHY meal recipes. Please feel free to share them with me! I'm desperate, because I am in the rut of cooking the same thing every week and I know the hubby and the Breester are getting pretty tired of that. In fact, the hubby asked me the other day if I would be interested in taking some cooking classes, and that was on a night we had spaghetti!

Here is a Stuffed Portabello Mushroom recipe I found. I'm definitely gonna cook this up, but I wanted to share it with you too. Sounds delicious & it's only 233 calories!

Spinach Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms

Ingredients
- 4 large portabello mushrooms
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 eggs lightly beaten
- 1/2 Reduced fat sour cream
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
- 1 cup crushed seasoned stuffing
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/2 tsp. of garlic salt
- 3 tbl. grated parmesan cheese

What to do:
- Line a baking sheet with heavy duty foil; coat the foil with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Remove stems from mushrooms; set caps aside and chop steams. In a microwave safe bowl, combine chopped mushrooms, and onion. cover and microwave at 50% power for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds.
- In a small bowl, combine eggs & sour cream. Stir in the spinach, stuffing, feta cheese, garlic salt, and onion mixture. Spoon into mushroom caps. Place on baking sheets.
- Back at 350 degrees fro 35 minutes. sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Back 5 to 10 minutes longer or until mushrooms are tender and cheese is melted.

That sounds pretty darn good to me. Slap a salad, and a piece of bread on a plate...and you have a meal! So, give me your recipe suggestions. I'm only interested in healthy ones, and preferably quick prep/cook time. Remember, I refuse to get fat again :)

On a side note, I'm having to wear my glasses until tomorrow afternoon. They're driving me crazy. I want my contacts back!

"Mommy, WOW! I'm a Big Kid Now!"

I always hated the first morning of school. You could hear my Dad chirping cheerfully through out the house, "School days, school days, wonderful golden rule days..." Of course, those were the only lines he knew of the song. I don't know the rest either, but you can guarantee that he sang the line of that song each morning of the first week of school. It was just more irritating the first day. I always liked school, it was just the people I couldn't stand. I wasn't popular, I wasn't a geek, I wasn't a weirdo, and I wasn't gothic. I was just me. A loner, I guess. I had maybe 2 people that I could call friends. It hadn't always been that way though. At my first Elementary school, I knew just about everyone and everyone knew me. Sure, I would get picked on and stuff, but everyone was mostly friends with everyone. It was a small Elementary School, and most of the parents of the kids I was in school with, went to school with my Parents. It was one of those types of schools and towns.

I miss that little town, and that little school. If I could have lived every day of my life as an Elementary school kid at the school, I would have. Not much went wrong. At that age though, you're more concerned about growing up than you are enjoying the present. I couldn't WAIT to be a 5th grader. 5th graders were the coolest people ever! They were so big and smart and cool! But then when I got there, I wanted to be a 2nd grader again. 5th grade was no fun. I had more responsibilities in my 5th grade classroom. More homework, stricter teachers. It wasn't fun. Being older was no fun at all.

Truthfully, who wouldn't give anything to go back to their childhood? We didn't know how good we had it back then. I would have enjoyed family vacations more, and playing with my siblings more. I wouldn't have worried so much about growing up, and paid more attention to being a kid. When we're kids, we think being older is the "coolest, most awesomest" thing in the world, but then when we get older; it's not as cool or awesome as we thought it would be. We forgot about the responsibility that comes with being older.

Remember when you were in school, and your 5th grade boyfriend/girlfriend broke up with you? Or how about the time your Mom forgot to pack your lunch, so you were forced to eat cafeteria food? What about the time you lost a middle school friend, or someone spread a stupid rumor around about you? We all thought that was the end of the world. We just knew we were going to die. It was over. That was it. No more living. But now that we're older, we compare those "tragedies" to our present tragedies and would give anything to have those childhood tragedies back.

I don't want Bree to be forced into being a big girl too fast. She's already grown up fast enough as it is. I don't want her to feel like she can't wait to be 5, or 10, or 16! I want her to stay a baby. I want her to enjoy it all, because I grew up too fast and I can't get those years back. I don't want Bree to EVER have any regrets.

Back from Vacay: Relaxed, Tan & Poor

Who doesn't come back from vacation poor? I guess it's all part of the experience. Speaking of experiences, we have had just that with Bree over the course of the week. Bree has learned how to climb out of her crib & open doors all at the same time! It was inevitable I know, but still, it's scary. We had her crib as low as it would go, and I definitely don't think she is ready for a toddler bed. I'm pretty sure that she would NEVER go to bed. So, we decided to take the bars that her mattress sat on, out, and drop the mattress to the floor. She can't get out now. Believe me, at 6:30 this morning I was desperate for a solution. Not only is she waking up bright and early in the morning, climbing out of her crib, and traipsing into our bedroom; she is also only taking hour naps compared to her 2.5/3 hour naps. Yes, I know, her naps will get shorter as she gets older, BUT (this is a huge but) she is waking up incredibly grouchy which leads me to believe, she's not sleeping to her full extent. She's getting up just because she knows she can get up without me, regardless of how incredibly tired she is. Nevertheless, we have fixed the problem, and for that I am happy.

Anyway, back to our vacation. It was truly a wonderful week with a few minor exceptions:
1) Bree had to sleep in the room with us, where she could climb out of her play pin and wake us up at the butt crack of down
2) I had PMS
3) A week is never long enough

We did come back 1,000 dollars poorer, but 600.00 of that went to my brand new Canon Rebel! Yes, I treated myself with the money I earned from two photography gigs I did. Believe me, I had a very hard time purchasing something for that much money. But I did it, and I am absolutely IN LOVE with this camera!

Bree was great on the beach. Unlike she was in June, she stayed right there with us. I never had to get up once. I got to lay back in my beach chair, and get my tan on. That was perhaps the best part of the entire week. I was relieved that Bree was very cooperative, but that only lasted while we were outside. While indoors, she was a demon. Paul and I were able to get a date night in, and my Parents kept Bree. They claimed that Bree was a perfect little angel the whole time we were gone. She ate her supper, she didn't try to climb on the table, she actually sat down. To which I say, Bree hates me.

Oh well, it was a wonderful week...I'm relaxed and inspired once again. You should see my blog start taking off again now that I have recharged!! Below are some photos for you to enjoy from our week at the beach!

Lose The Fatty Friday: Taking a Break

Alright guys, so we've been working four long weeks on losing the fat! It's time to take a break. I find that taking a break after 2 or 3 week of exercising, helps the body to drop a few pounds. Therefore, I exercise 2, sometimes 3 weeks and then take a 1 or 2 week break. So, over the next 2 weeks...eat right, continue to drink water and watch the pounds fall off. I generally lose 3 to 5 pounds during my exercise breaks! I just reached my 3rd goal of 125 pounds. I for one am trying not to lose anymore weight, and concentrating now on repairing my post baby stretch marks and uneven skin. For that I use Palmer's Weight Loss or Post Pregnancy lotion. It works!

I wanted to also let you guys know that we will be leaving tomorrow night for a week of family vacation at the beach! I may or may not be in touch. Just depends on the internet connection at the beach. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and week. Don't forget that this weekend is also TAX FREE weekend! So make sure you get your school supplies!!

Love you all & talk to you soon!

O.C.D - Obsessive Cookie Disorder

My daughter has O.C.D; Obessive Cookie Disorder. Cookies are a new found infatuation for her, and it's driving me crazy!! She won't eat regular food and every other word in her vocabulary is "cookie". Last night, I handed her a plate of spaghetti and some Texas Toast, and she handed it back to me saying, "I want cookies." I wish you could hear her say "cookies". It's probably the cutest thing she has said yet (besides "I love you"), but still...I'm not going to be one of those mother's who lets their kids eat nothing but sweets.

So...I put my foot down last night.

You should have seen her then. She melted into this puddle of screaming baby. You would have thought I had chopped her toe off. "Coooookiiiiieeeee..." she cried. I continued to tell her that she had to eat all of her supper first, and then she could have a cookie. "Cooooookiiiiiieeeeee...." she cried some more. I ignored her to the best of my ability. The tantrum lasted nearly 10 minutes before she relented and finally began eating her spaghetti (which had gotten cold during the tantrum). When she finished her plate, I gave her one cookie. She, of course, asked for more after that...but I stood my ground and she complied.

I realized that Bree's O.C.D was serious when she finished a box of Ritz Bits by herself. I'm not even sure that I could do that, so I know my 2 year old doesn't need to be eating that much. She could eat every minute of the day, and wouldn't think twice about it. She's not fat though. She's tall an thin. She'll be 2 next month and she can still wear 9, 12 and 18 month clothing. She still wears a 3 in diapers. She eats, eats, and eats and never gains a pound. But again, I REFUSE to be one of those mother's who lets their child eats sweets all of the time.

Random Thought of the Day: I bought Edge shaving cream the other day. I bought the Extra Protection Againts Nick and Cuts. When I used it to shave my legs yesterday...I swear I got more nicks & cuts than I have with any other shaving cream.