Sweet and Sour Meatballs

I don't think I have posted this recipe here. If I have, forgive my memory (or the lack thereof). It is a family favorite!

Sweet and Sour Meatball Simmer

¾ pound frozen prepared Italian meatballs
1 medium each red and yellow peppers, cut into chunks (or substitute 1 bag frozen mixed veggies)
1/2 cup water

1/2 cup apricot jam
1/2 cup Catalina dressing
4 tablespoons soy sauce
¾ teaspoon each ground ginger and garlic powder
2 cups Minute white rice, cooked


Combine all ingredients except rice in large skillet. Cover. Cook on medium heat 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Increase heat to medium-high; uncover. Cook 10-20 minutes or until sauce is thickened and meatballs are heated through, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot rice.

NEO November

It's time for another edition of NEO November!  What?  You've never heard of NEO November?  Well, let me tell you all about it.  It stands for No Eating Out November.  I have made a commitment to not eat out for one whole month.  We may have a few exceptions, i.e. Mom's Night Out, family birthday dinners, etc. but for the most part, our family will not eat out this month.  And I totally lied about the "another edition" bit, because this is the first time I have done this.  I'm thinking it will be a good weight loss plan, as well as the beginning of some great new lifelong habits.  Yay!

I have shopped for a month's worth of non-perishables, and have stocked my pantries, cabinets and garage shelves with good, wholesome, filling foods that will last all month.  Mike will be doing the weekly grocery store run for milk/eggs/veggies/fruit/etc. since he is not an impulse shopper like I am.  I should not be in the grocery store every week.  That in itself is not good for our budget!  I did not buy cold cereal, which has been a staple at our house for several months... basically, since Oliver was born.  He is now 7 months old, and I have got my groove back!  I want to make hot, nourishing breakfasts for my starving men in the mornings. 

I love spending time in the kitchen preparing meals for my family.  I am a slow cook, and I will probably never be one of those ultra-speedy choppers you see on the cooking shows.  I will never be Rachael Ray.  30 Minute Meals?  Um, probably not.  I'm more of a Paula Deen or Nigella Lawson.  I have never been accused of being a fast cook.  More than likely, you'll find me puttering around the kitchen, looking for another ingredient to add to an already perfect mixture, while all the men around me are holding their hollow, growling stomachs in misery.

I just need to plan for this, and be prepared to spend several hours in the kitchen every day.  It will be a new concept for me.  For some reason, I still expect to be able to go into the kitchen as soon as people in my house start saying they are hungry and whip something up.  Not. Gonna. Happen.  My husband is amazing at this.  He loves sandwiches.  Deli meat sandwiches, to be precise.  He could eat one every single day for lunch, and be perfectly happy.  Just meat, cheese, and Miracle Whip.  That's all.  He is also great at cooking up a quick, yummy dinner of chicken, rice and peas.  For some reason, my brain is not wired this way.  So I just need to plan on being in the kitchen for a while.    

Here's to many fun days in the kitchen this month!

2010, Mario, Food and a Cat.

Griffin:  "SAMMY!!!!  YOU KILLED ME!!!!!!!  Now you have to POP me and I'm not the FREEZE guy anymore!!!  Hey, watch OUT for that MUSHROOM!!!!!!"

Sammy: "Oh... okay."

And thus has been much of the conversation at our house lately.  If you have ever played Super Mario as a kid, or your children are...

Okay, I had to take a break, the boys needed me to beat The Water Level for them.

What was I saying?  Oh yes.  Mario.  It's a whole other world.  It is also quite the aerobic activity.  What?  You didn't know that?  Oh, yes.  It helps if you jump up and down while you play.  And kick every so often.  And run back and forth in front of the TV.  Yeah.  Those things can make you work up quite a sweat.  Just ask Griffin.

So I sat down and wrote out my resolutions a couple of days ago.  Drink lots of water.  Eat at home more.  Spend less.  You know, the usual.  I was actually a lot more specific than that, and I wrote out my specific plan, but that is for only me to know.

I don't like people to know what my resolutions are because if no one else knows them, I am only accountable to myself and I don't disappoint anyone but me -- and it's okay if I disappoint myself.  I am a middle child, and I hate to disappoint other people, so I just won't tell anyone what I want to change.  Not exactly, anyway.  You just get the Cliff's Notes.

I have lost 5 pounds so far.  Yay for me!  Now I just have to keep it up.

My ultimate goal?  To be a healthier person.  I don't have a weight loss goal, or really any specific goals in mind.  I just want to be healthy again.  Or maybe for the first time in my adult life.  I have always gone for convenience; fast, easy food is what I have mostly been feeding my family.  Now, I am shopping at Whole Foods at least once a month, and probably will replace my former grocery store with Whole Foods.  It is farther away from my house, so I have to drive a bit, but it is worth it to feed my family well.

I have been making a weekly menu plan for the last month, and it has worked out well for me.  I love being able to look at the menu and see what is for breakfast, lunch and dinner and not coming up to mealtime and not knowing exactly what to cook.  I also write reminders for myself to "take chicken out of freezer," etc. so that I am not tempted to skip meals on the menu because I am not prepared.  Oh yeah.  It saves us money, too.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am an impulse shopper.  Well, not anymore!  Okay, maybe sometimes.  But a lot less often.

I love to cook, I really do, and having quality ingredients just makes it that much more fun.  Here are a couple of the scrumptious things we've eaten this week.

Homemade Bagel Pizzas

Chimi-Ritos (crispy baked burritos)

We are also going to have this.

I didn't take any pictures, but another favorite was the sandwiches I made yesterday.  I toasted bread, then layered Miracle Whip, sliced ham, turkey and pepperoni on one side, then on the other side I put a couple of slices of fresh sliced provolone.  I made the sandwiches on a baking sheet so that I could pop it into the oven (open-faced), and the provolone melted like a dream!  I popped some alfalfa sprouts on the sandwiches, put the tops on, cut them in half, and they were so delicious... I will definitely do that again! 

Also on the menu for the week are Beef Stroganoff, and Chicken and Noodles over mashed potatoes (Great-Grandma Style).

Oh, and before I forget, here is a picture of our dejected kitty Cleo (glowing alien eyes and all) as Mike was taking down the Christmas tree.  She was so disappointed!  She and Miles will go and lay down on the floor where the tree used to be, dreaming of the days when they chased each other around under its branches and played with ornaments that had been knocked off by Gordon's tail.

Rice and Beans

This afternoon I pulled out my never-before-been-used rice cooker, and read the instructions. What? Just rinse rice, add rice, add water and push a button? Why have I not used this wonderful contraption before? It has been sitting neglected under my kitchen island for months and months! (Apparently, though, I can even make sticky rice in a rice cooker --I just checked it, and it is all gooey -- this may take some mastering, but I have heard that rice cookers are wonderful, so I'll keep trying!)

Here is the recipe I came up with. It smells wonderful! It looks like a long list of ingredients, but it is mostly spices, and if you don't have one it is not the end of the world, just leave it out and yours will taste different. Not worse, just different! Except for the beans. You might want to have those in there.

Black Beans and Rice

1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes
2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
1 Tbsp dried cilantro
1 Tbsp dried basil
1 tsp garlic powder (too much garlic? no such thing!)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1-2 Tbsp chili powder
2 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
2 Tbsp dried chopped chives
1 pinch crushed red pepper
2 cubes "Not Chick'n" bouillon
2-3 cups of water

Saute the onion and garlic just until soft, not browned.
Add the beans, tomatoes and spices.
Cook over medium heat until bubbly, then turn heat down and simmer until liquid is thick, about 10-15 minutes.
Add bouillon cubes and water, and simmer until liquid is thickened again, about 30 minutes.
Serve over rice.

Good Food and Good Times

My front door three days ago.

My front door today.

What I did with the "old" wreath. This garage sale cookie jar is coming in handy! There is a candle inside of it, and I'll be filling it with small pinecones and cinnamon sticks. The candle inside is called Cinnamon Bun, and it is YUMMY. I just love fall!



We had a lot of fun last night. We got to spend time with Adrienne and Nicolas at IHOP; Grandma G. and Suzy (Grandpa) stopped by for a while after a birthday dinner they went to with some long-time church friends; and Caleb came by for a few minutes to pick up their dogs, who spent the week with us. It was a fun evening!




We were handing out cherry pie left and right, because I made one yesterday and everyone knows I love to give people food. It's what I do! You can't come over to my house and walk away hungry. I haven't tasted the pie yet, so I hope it was guest-worthy.

I was going to make tuna casserole last night for dinner, but there was no way I was going to turn down IHOP with a good friend. Now I have chicken that needs to be used tonight, so I think I'm going to make shredded chicken, stuffing, roasted potatoes and gravy for dinner.

I stuck a package of frozen chicken thighs in the crock pot on High on Monday morning with some butter, sea salt and pepper, and by Monday night the house smelled SO good. I'll make the gravy with the drippings and "good bits" that I saved from the bottom of the crock pot.

Here is my tuna casserole recipe. It is easy and fairly quick to make. It's the recipe my mom made when we were kids, and I still love it! The boys (all three of them!) love it too. The leftovers are really good. You may want to use an extra can of cream of mushroom soup if you plan to reheat it more than once so that it stays creamy.

Tuna Casserole

1 bag large shell pasta

2 small or 1 large can tuna (or salmon)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can cheddar cheese soup

1 can sliced mushrooms

1-2 cups shredded cheese

1. Cook the pasta.

2. Mix the tuna, mushrooms and two soups together in a baking dish.

3. Add the cooked pasta and stir together.

4. Cover with the shredded cheese.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until cheese is all melted.

I see banana bread in my family's near future.

Sick Day and a Recipe

Not for me, but Mike is sick today. He came home sick from work around lunchtime with a head cold, and went straight to bed. He's been there ever since, and it's 11pm right now.

Griffin and I did our school shortly after breakfast today. That worked out really well. He had a full belly, he wasn't tired yet, and Sammy was content to play with Legos at our feet most of the time we were reading. It was a good homeschool day. :)

I spent most of the afternoon and evening making pumpkin muffins from scratch. Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Muffins

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger or ground cloves

1 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1/3 cup shortening

1 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350.

1. In a large mixing bowl combine all of the dry

ingredients except the last cup of flour.

2. Add the wet ingredients.

3. Beat with an electric mixer

on low speed til blended, and on high speed for 2 minutes.

4. Add the remaining flour and beat til blended.

5. Line muffin tin with paper baking cups.

6. Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups 2/3 full.

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Yellow Squash Casserole

This is a recipe that came with my CSA order last week. We will be having it for dinner tonight, since we have all of the ingredients. I will probably double the recipe, actually, since we have about 4 pounds of yellow squash! I'll let you all know how it turns out. :)

Yellow Squash Casserole
from cdkitchen.com

2 pounds small yellow squash
1 medium onion
water
salt to taste
2 cups grated mild cheddar cheese (reserve some for topping)
1 cup whole milk (or use 1/2 milk and 1/2 heavy cream)
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg, beaten
2 cups RITZ cracker crumbs (save some for the topping)

Directions:

Wash the squash well and cut into bite size chunks.
Place in a pot with the chopped onion, add about 1 1/2 cups water, and sprinkle with some salt.
Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer until the squash are just barely tender.
Drain well and set aside to cool slightly.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the aquash/onion mixture, cheese (save some for the topping), melted butter, milk, egg and about 3/4 of the cracker crumbs.
Mix gently until all is combined.
Pour into a lightly greased or buttered baking dish.
Combine the reserved cheese and crumbs and sprinkle over the squash mixture.
Bake in a 350 degree oven about 25-30 minutes.

Whole Food? What's That?

I am finding out! It will be a long, hard process, but I am going to be trying my very hardest to stick to a "whole foods" way of living. I am headed toward diabetes at a train's pace... okay, maybe not the speed of the trains that run through our town, but at a FAST train's pace. And my children have diabetes on both sides of their "family lines," so I think it's only right that I make a concerted effort to help us all live healthier lives so that we can spend a long time together as a family, God willing!

I made my first "official" trip to Whole Foods yesterday, and although it is definitely not on The Grocery Game plan, it was a very productive trip. ("official" in that I did my entire week of grocery shopping there, with this new way of eating in mind the whole time) As a dear friend of mine often says, "It is better to spend more on good quality food now than on doctor's bills later." I have always agreed with this statement, but my actions where food is concerned have never matched my beliefs. So now I'm going to work on my actions!

Last night for dinner, we had a rotisserie chicken, white peach slices, homemade guacamole and chips, tomato slices with fresh ground salt and pepper, and carrots. I got home from the grocery store at about 7:15 last night, so we were all starving, and cooking was not an option. So we just threw some stuff on the table and sat down to eat.

I am lazy where food is concerned, and although I love to cook, when it comes to the average weeknight I usually just end up throwing something together (usually not something very healthy).

Anyway, I could say a lot more about this, but I think the proof will be in the so-called pudding. So I will be trying to post recipes and menus on here so that you all can see what we're eating, but also so that you can try the recipes if you want to.

My Guacamole

2 ripe avocadoes -- cut in half, then remove seed by whacking with big sharp knife and twisting out, then scoop out avocado with spoon
1/4 or 1/2 tomato -- cut into chunks, remove the seeds
1 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 or 2 tsp chopped garlic
1 tsp salt, or more to taste

Mash avocado with fork or spoon. I like mine chunky, so I don't mash it too much. Add other ingredients and mix together with spoon. Serve immediately. Even with the lemon or lime juice it will still turn brown after a couple of hours. Enjoy!

Menu for May 6

Here is our menu for today. Just so that I can record it for posterity, or something. I might start posting my menu more regularly, now that I have SO much time to blog!

Breakfast

scrambled eggs with melted cheese
country gravy with sausage (I cut sausage links into chunks so that I can eat around them)
waffles with maple syrup


Lunch

deli turkey on bagels with lettuce, cream cheese, vinegar and oil, oregano, green onions
OR
leftover Little Caesar's cheese pizza
salad with homemade orange marmalade (fresh from the farmer's market!) vinaigrette dressing


Dinner

all-beef hot dogs on the grill -- chicken breast for me
all the fixin's -- warm buns, ketchup, mustard, relish
baked mozzarella sticks
steamed asparagus spears

Because I've been a slacker...

I haven't posted a Make A Card Monday this week, and I have a good excuse, really, I do. I have been working tirelessly (okay, I have been getting SOME rest) on the lovely baby shower we will have for Bonnie tomorrow. Can you tell I hang out with this gal a lot? Yeah, well, she's totally worth all of the trouble we (me and Heather, another good friend of Bonnie's) have gone to to get this shower put together. And I must admit, I have had a BLAST doing it, too. Maybe I should go into the party planning busine.....NAH. But it has been fun while it lasted. I can't wait for tomorrow afternoon. I want to make Bonnie cry. Only because I know I will be crying too; I'm such a big baby when it comes to this stuff. Baby. Hah.

I promise I will post MACM in two days, because I have something really cool that I have been working on for quite a while, but I can't post it yet, because it's a surprise for said shower tomorrow. Don't get your panties in a wad, I'll post it soon!

Meanwhile, here is a creation I worked on one morning. When Mike came up for lunch, he saw it and didn't say anything. Then Griffin said "Hey, Daddy!! Mommy made a PIE!!!

And Mike said "Mommy didn't make THAT!"

Which just goes to show how much confidence he has in my pie-making skilz. And yes, I do have skilz. I love me some pie, and when I make one, I put my heart and soul into it. Actually, he said that it was truly a compliment to say that my pie looked store-bought. So I accepted his statement and gave him a piece.




OH! And here is a picture of the bouquet Mike gave me on Valentine's Day. I had a rather unpleasant "yearly checkup" at the ob/gyn that day, and he knew how much I had been dreading it. He came home while I was at the doctor's office and left this on the table for me to find when I got home. Isn't that just too sweet? He knew it would make me smile... and I did. :-)



Here is the recipe for the pie.

Valentine's Day Pie

1 Graham Cracker pie crust

2 boxes banana cream instant pudding mix

1 small container strawberry cream cheese

chocolate chips (1/2 bag? 1/4 bag?)

*make pudding according to "pie filling" directions

*pour pudding into graham cracker crust

*fill decorating bag (I used the star tip) with cream cheese

*make two circles of stars around the outside of the pie

*make one circle of chocolate chips

*two more circles of stars

*one more circle of chocolate chips

*one more circle of stars, with a big star in the center

and you have yourself one very yummy pie

Vegetable Delight

Here is a recipe I made up from veggies I had in the fridge. It was so good! I think I may use rice next time instead of Ramen, so the veggies would be the main focus and have most of the flavor, and so that there would be less salt. Tomorrow I will use the leftover vegetables to make quesadillas with some freshly shredded mozzarella cheese. Oh, I can't wait!

Vegetable Delight

*1 package Little Smokies, smoked sausage, or a vegetarian substitute

*2 green onions, just the green parts, finely chopped

*1/2 red pepper, cored and diced

*2 cloves minced garlic

*5 carrots, scrubbed and diced

*1 whole bunch of celery, diced (use the leafy parts, they add so much flavor!)

*1 leek, sliced into thin slices and soaked for a few minutes in cold water to remove any gritty residue

*3 heads of broccoli, and stems if you like them, dice the stems and separate broccoli into florets

*1 stick sweet cream butter, cut into chunks

about 10 oz. chicken stock

*1 TBSP Basil

*1 TBSP Oregano

*2 TBSP Seasoned Salt

*2 packages Chicken flavor Ramen Noodles (or rice)

Directions:

Yspend about 30 minutes chopping all the veggies up

Yput the little smokies into a big stock pot that has been sprayed with non-stick spray and cook them over medium-high heat, stirring every minute or so so they don't burn, until they are starting to brown

Yturn the heat to medium, add all of the chopped veggies and stir to mix

Ystir in the butter

Ywhen veggies start to soften, add the chicken stock and seasonings

stirring frequently, cook the veggies to the softness you like... Sammy likes his veggies pretty soft or he has a hard time chewing them

Ymeanwhile, cook the Ramen noodles or rice according to the package directions

Yserve Ramen/rice in bowls topped with the cooked vegetables

Yummy Soup

We got to have Bonnie and Caleb over for dinner tonight, which is always fun. Bonnie had worked long and hard yesterday making a very tasty rye bread with dill in it that went really well with the soup I made tonight.

I am going to attempt to remember how I made the soup, because it turned out beautifully and was extremely yummy, a definite keeper. Here goes!

Cheesy Veggie Soup

Y1 box chicken broth (about 3 cans worth)
Yabout 15 small or medium red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered
Y5 large whole carrots, scrubbed and diced (don't need to be peeled)
Y1 sweet red pepper, washed, cored and diced
Yabout 5 celery stalks, or the middle leafy part of the celery stalk with the surrounding stalks,
chopped
Y1 bag frozen sweet corn
Y1 pint half and half (or milk if you want less fat)
Y1 TBSP dried oregano
Y1 TBSP dried basil
Y1 TBSP Lawry's seasoned salt
Y1 cup cubed Velveeta

Pour chicken broth into large soup pot, on high heat. Add potatoes, carrots, red pepper, celery and corn. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium and simmer until potatoes and carrots are tender, could be 15-30 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. Take out about 3/4 of the mixture and place in a blender (I used a VitaMix, but a regular blender will work, as long as it can blend hot foods). Add the half and half to the soup pot so that it can heat up while you use the blender. Blend mixture until most of the big chunks are gone, or less if you like a chunky soup (or skip this step if you like lots of chunky veggies). Put blended mixture back into soup pot, then add oregano, basil, seasoned salt and Velveeta. Heat over low heat until cheese is melted. Serve hot with crusty bread!

A Definite Favorite

This is a meal that I made up, and it is one of our family's all-time favorites! It can be made with or without the sausage. My mom tried it with ground chicken sausage and that worked quite well also. I usually chop up an onion and a couple cloves of garlic and add them to the butter before putting the cabbage in.

Cabbage and Mushrooms with Smoked Sausage

1/2 stick butter
1 head cabbage
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms OR
2 cans mushroom pieces and stems
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 smoked sausage, cut into chunks
2 packages Ramen Noodles, oriental flavor, cooked according to package directions (drain almost all water before adding flavoring)

Chop cabbage into desired size pieces. Melt butter in skillet on medium heat (this is when you'd add the optional onions/garlic and add cabbage and mushrooms. Salt and pepper to taste and add garlic powder. Stir well. Cover and cook over medium to medium-low heat until cabbage is tender, stirring often. Meanwhile, brown sausage in separate pan. Mix cabbage and sausage together and serve over Ramen noodles. (If you cook the sausage in the same pan as the cabbage, your sausage will not brown and will lose flavor.)

Cooking, Baking, and Playing

The last few days have been pretty uneventful. Cozy, but not much going on. I don't like to drive on snow and ice, so unless Mike takes us somewhere, I pretty stay at home. Mike worked from home Friday afternoon and all day today. It was nice for him to not have to drive to and from work, but he worked from 8am 'til 7pm tonight, with two hours off for a break. So we didn't see him much! Griffin got to go outside and play with him in the snow today, though, and it was his first time of official "snow play". We went to Target last night and found some mittens for him (and a matching hat that makes me laugh every time I see it... he looks like the court jester). He had boots, but his little tiny fingers get so cold so fast that he couldn't really play until he had his mittens. They had so much fun! My pictures of them playing didn't really turn out that great with the combination of the sun shining off of the snow and the reflective windows (I got a great picture of the camera, though!).

We have only eaten out once this year! I love saying that. But hey, two weeks is a long time for me to not eat out. I did go to Spin Neapolitan Pizza with Bonnie last week (was it last week?). That was SO yummy. She also took me to see Charlotte's Web, and I wasn't ready for how sad it was! It has always been one of my favorite stories, so it was a very special thing to go see it again after so long. It makes me not want to eat pork. I haven't since I saw it, it just hasn't appealed to me. We'll see how long that lasts.

We had these little mini meatloaves tonight. SO good. Here's the recipe. It's from Kraft Food & Family magazine.

Marvelous Mini Meatloaves

1 pound ground beef (or beef substitute)

1 box stuffing mix

1 cup water

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

3/4 cup BBQ sauce

3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Mix first 4 ingredients together, then press mixture evenly into 12 cups in a muffin pan. Make an indentation with a spoon in the center of each meatloaf. Put in a tsp. of BBQ sauce. Bake pan in a 375 degree oven for 35 minutes. Take out pan and put a bit of shredded cheese on each meatloaf. Bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

We all loved these! There are also Mediterranean, Mexican and Italian variations to this recipe. Very versatile. The stuffing keeps it moist, too.

I cut out all of the recipes from their magazine and started a new recipe book. To sign up for their free magazines which have tons of awesome recipes, go to www.kraftfoods.com. Their website also has tons of recipes. I want to have all of my recipes in plastic sleeves in a 3-ring binder (thanks for the inspiration, Mama G!) so that I can just pull out however many I need for a week's (or a month's) worth of dinners and put them in order in my binder and write my grocery list from them. Then I won't have to find all of my recipes in various cookbooks. Oh, I almost forgot. I wanted to post this recipe here, because it was truly amazing, and we loved it. I didn't know what to make for dinner a couple of days ago, so I started to cook some chicken, thinking I'd do something Mexican, but it turned into this.

Chicken A La Carody

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used frozen, but fresh would work too)

olive oil pan spray (any kind of pan spray should work)

2 tbps olive oil

1 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp salt

2 tsp pepper

2 tbsp jerk or cajun seasoning (optional)

4 tbsp butter or margarine

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup milk (more for thinner sauce, less for thicker)

4 tbsp sour cream

white or brown rice, cooked (optional)

Spray a skillet with pan spray. Drizzle olive oil in skillet. Turn heat to medium and place chicken breasts in pan. Chop onion into little pieces (or big if you prefer). Smash garlic cloves under knife; peel. Cut off the hard end of the clove and throw it away. Okay, I didn't know anything about garlic cloves until about a year ago, I always used garlic powder, so I thought I would just describe the whole process. Put the onions and garlic into the pan with the chicken. Sprinkle each chicken breast with salt, pepper and jerk seasoning. Turn over multiple times (I'm quite the "flipper" when I cook.) while chicken cooks so that the seasonings are distributed fairly evenly. Cook chicken in pan until onions are soft and chicken is cooked through. Remove just the chicken from the pan. Add cream of mushroom soup and milk to onions, stirring continuously to get up all the little chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. Put chicken back in pan when sauce is completely heated through and is thickening. Spoon sauce over chicken until it is almost covered. Put one spoonful of sour cream on top of each chicken breast. Turn chicken over so sour cream is on the bottom. Serve over rice, or by itself with veggies.

Hope you like it! Let me know if anyone tries it.

Sammy is fully stocked up on baby food jars. He still doesn't like many of them, but we're getting him used to them slowly but surely. He needs to eat more than just bottles! He loves our food, but he really can't digest so many things that we just need to stick to baby food for now. He'll get used to it soon, I hope. He seems to take it better if it's cold, so we'll just keep doing that for now.

Sory I haven't posted in so long, I'm working on getting organized. It's a slow process, one that might take my whole life to complete! :)

Healthy talk

Okay, this is me talking about healthy stuff. I have a lot of head knowledge, but not a lot of experience. I'm working on the experience part!

My weight loss group (which I say I am leading, but I'm actually the only one without a gym membership in the group) just finished Dr. Phil's book The Ultimate Weight Solution, which I would totally recommend to everyone who is interested in losing weight. He really delves deeply into the reasons you have gained the weight, the relationship you have to food, the things in your life that cause you to make unhealthy choices and what you can do to change that, and the people in your life who sabotage (knowingly or unknowingly... Mike says there's no such thing as unintentional sabotage, but I disagree) or encourage your weight loss. I have learned a lot, and have lost 15 pounds and 6 inches off my waist while doing this study.

I'm looking forward to studying another good book, we're going to be reading Breaking The Food Seduction next. It sounds awesome, and I am hoping I can understand why certain foods make me feel good and how I can break the dependence on them. I love cheese, for instance, and the book has a whole section on cheese addiction. Yay! I love learning new things, I'm a total self-help junkie.

Bonnie took me to Whole Foods a couple of days ago and gave me the royal treatment. I got to pick out fresh fruits and veggies so that I would have snacks that appeal to me that won't "sabotage" my plan. It came at a great time, because since this week is Thanksgiving I can eat a lot more healthfully during the week and still indulge in a piece of pumpkin pie without guilt!

I read the whole chapter called "Your Circle of Support" to Mike so that he would understand and be able to encourage me to stay on track. He has been SO supportive of everything I have ever done (Mary Kay, Stampin' Up!, weight loss, staying at home with the boys, decorating the house....well, maybe not decorating the house... but that's a whole other topic of conversation!), and I love him so much!! He really is the most wonderful man I could have married. His mother did a wonderful job raising him (thanks, Mama G!). We both have our faults, but we have a great relationship and can tell each other anything. Anyway, he's been my biggest source of encouragement throughout this process. I got a high-five today after I told him I'd lost 15 pounds, and it felt so good! It makes me want to go work out... but right now I need to go to bed!