Day 4 & 5 Review

~Day 4~

Today was another fine day- nothing too exceptional to report.  I did try something new for breakfast- eggs baked in avocado halves.  Basically, you cut an avocado in half, take out the seed, scoop out a little of the avocado and crack an egg into each half.  Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, depending on how done you like your eggs.  It was pretty good, and a nice change from the scrambled eggs.

We had the garlic lemon chicken for dinner and while it tasted good, I think the next time I make it I will just use chicken breasts instead of whole chicken.  I'm not a fan of dark meat (or bones), so I did feel that wasted a bit of the chicken.  Luckily, my husband is not as picky and doesn't mind de-boning chicken.  

~Day 5~

This morning I had scrambled eggs and broccoli for breakfast, which I am surprised to say that I do enjoy having that for breakfast.  My husband is currently off work for a couple weeks, so we decided to go to a movie this morning while all of our kiddos were off at school.  We saw 42, which was a really good movie.  My husband did enjoy pointing out that movies are a lot less expensive when you skip the popcorn and cherry coke.

For dinner tonight we tried the Everyday Meatloaf from Everyday Paleo.  I also made some garlic mashed cauliflower to go with it.  It was a very yummy, my oldest even asked for seconds.  According to my husband, it was the best meal of the week.  Which is nice because it was pretty easy overall, it's just the cooking that takes the most time.  So it looks like we will be having that again soon.

Over the past five days I haven't noticed any changes except weight loss.  Don't get me wrong, that's great, but I had read the timeline and was expecting to have to deal with some of those situations, but really it hasn't been like that.  I haven't been hungry, haven't been grumpy, basically have felt the same that I did last week.  I guess the next week we'll see what comes.  Supposedly over the weekend I will be extremely tired.....

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese Review

This was really good, and honestly I was surprised at how much I liked it.  I wasn't really sure about it, even though the picture made it look yummy.  When I made it, there was a little more sauce, so I may have gotten squash that were a little too small, but it still came out very good.  We also had broccoli and sautéed chicken with it, so the broccoli was great to soak up some of that extra cheesy sauce.  You don't use a lot of cheese in the recipe, so I was pleasantly surprised at how cheesy it tasted.  The texture was a little different.  One of my monkeys said "Can't we just have real macaroni and cheese?"  This was after I told him that it would taste a little like macaroni and cheese.

As for the opinions of the house:  2 out of 2 adults liked it, and 2 out of 4 of the monkeys liked it, so I call it a success.  I will make it again, but I may sub out the spinach for mushrooms and broccoli.....we will see.

I've been back on track with running, I just haven't updated my moon jogger miles box, but I plan to do that soon.  Just a little over a week and I'll be on my way to my next half (and fun girls weekend!)

Somewhat on Track :)

Meals cooked at home are on track so far!  We had the Spinach Lasagna Rolls which were better this time than last time I made them.  The only thing I did differently was that I used the steam fresh spinach and since I'd forgotten to thaw the spinach, I was able to cook the spinach in the bag using the microwave.  I think that may have made the spinach a little softer and made it mix better with the ricotta and parmesan mixture that is in the noodles.  But the best part......clean plates all around!

I had a plan for todays run.  My run that was scheduled was a one mile for time improvement, and then a 4 mile run.  My plan was to do the warm up, the 5 minute warm up run and the mile for time all on the treadmill and then switch up and do the 4 mile run outside- after all, it was a beautiful day!  Well, I go through the warm up and the mile for time and my legs were just not having it today.  I kept trying to talk myself into it, but it just wasn't happening today.  I managed to get a little more than 2 miles in and I was done.  It's ok- I just switched my planned mileage days (I had a short 2 miler planned later this week), but I do wish I'd been able to push through.

Today is my rest day from JMBR as well, so there isn't anything to report from there :)For some fun news..... runDisney announced today that New Balance is the official running shoe of runDisney.  They have even released a new limited edition New Balance men's and women's running shoe, the 860v3 runDisney edition- in special Mickey and Minnie colors.  I've been running in New Balance minimus zeros for as long as I've been running, and I've loved them.  I'm actually now looking for a new pair to replace my current ones- which means a new color maybe....these are my current ones:   

What are your current shoes?

Slow Cooker Black Bean Chicken Tacos

This meal was maybe the biggest hit so far.  It was super easy and full of flavor.  I didn't even start the crock pot until 2:30 and dinner was still ready by 6.  The rotel and black beans were combined and put on the bottom of the crock pot and the chicken seasoned and laid on top of the beans and rotel.  It cooks up very quickly, then you shred the chicken and add it back in for a little longer.  While we were at gymnastics, my husband made some brown rice and broccoli that was ready for us when we got home. The kids had their meal taco style in whole wheat tortillas with a little cheese and avocado.  They had rice and broccoli on the side- everyone cleaned their plates- and two of the four even had a second taco!  My husband liked it even more than the soup we had last week.  I had mine minus the tortilla- so rice, chicken, a little cheese and avocado.  Very yummy and will definitely go on our list to have again.

Today was a little different.  My plan today was to get up early and run because my littlest had a doctor appointment.  The problem with that always is that I don't want to wake anyone up any earlier than they need to be woken up.  So, after some thought, I decided to wait until after her appointment- I thought I'd have plenty of time between the appointment and when it was time to pick up our monkey from preschool.  Well, the appointment took a lot longer than I thought it would and as I was driving home, I was really having a mind battle- trying to talk myself out of doing the run.  I did have about an hour and a half so I did have enough time to do it, I really think I just didn't really have the desire to do it.  I hate when my mind gets in the way like that.  But, despite that, when we got home, I got the littlest settled in with a show and some milk and got on the treadmill.  I had a 45 minuted run scheduled for today, still following the 2 min run:1 min walk ratio and ended up averaging a 12:20 pace- very exciting!  So, my time is improving, and I'm anxious to see what my time looks like at the Tinker Bell half next weekend.

After tucking the kiddos in bed this evening, I also did JMBR workout 4.  Lots of squats and lunges in that one....always fun after putting my legs through that run just a few hours earlier....

Baked Chicken Parmesan Review

This was my first time trying out this meal and it turned out great.  It was very easy to put together and took less than 45 minutes from start to finish.  I love easy meals- it makes my life so much easier.  We had the chicken parmesan with a small serving of fettuccine and some sautéed yellow squash and zucchini.  While the kiddos were more than happy to finish off the chicken and noodles, they were hesitant on the veggies.  One of my kiddos even said "Mommy, where did you get the squash- I thought your plants were dead?"  He's referring to the squash and zucchini that we grew over the summer- I thought he'd be over the amount of squash he ate over the summer :)

This morning I ran intervals and cadence drills and then did a couple more miles.  I am still working off the Half Marathon with Jeff Galloway app for my phone.  That gives me 3 runs per week and then I am just adding in another run or two to make up the extra miles to complete my moon jogger miles for the week.

I have been wanting to get back to the Jillian Michaels Body Revolution for a while, but timing has not really worked out until now.  Tonight my husband joined me and we did our first workout in a while.  We had finished weeks 1 and 2 several weeks ago, so we decided to start with workout 3.  I forgot how tough that workout was.  Thankfully I do remember that the odd numbered workouts are harder than the even numbered workouts, so tomorrow should be easier :)

Bangin Good Shrimp Dinner

Delicious!  Because I knew this would be a spicier meal, I did make some macaroni and cheese for the kiddos.  But, we did have company for the weekend, so my husband, my sister, and my mom got to be the guinea pigs for this meal.  They all told me it was really good.

This was a very quick meal to prepare, it only took a few minutes to mix the sauce and cook the shrimp.  I served it over purple cabbage along with some avocado.  We also had broccoli as a side.  The shrimp with the cabbage was a really good combination.

This morning my mom and sister we nice enough to keep up with the kiddos while my husband was nice enough to join me on a 6.61 mile run.  We did a 2 min run/1 min walk ratio and then ran the final .75 mile to finish up our run.  I'm thankful that my husband is willing to run with me (my pace is definitely slower than his!) and that he is willing to try out the run/walk/run program.  He's very good at  being encouraging while we are running and I really enjoyed the miles yesterday.  I'm also above my target goal for moon jogger miles this week, 17.703 for the week.

Pizza Night!

Tonight we had pizza like our normal Friday night, but instead of ordering, everything was made at home.  I used our new bread machine to make the pizza dough and while that was going I made the pizza sauce.  I found this recipe for the pizza sauce using my vitamix (which means my pizza sauce was done in about 5 minutes!).  

The pizza dough was finished in about 45 minutes and then I took it out and divided it into 4 pieces:

I did a kiddo pizza with just cheese, this was before baking:

And the finished adult pizza with sausage and mushrooms:

The result?  Again- every bit was gone and it was delicious.  I'm really looking forward to trying out new pizza toppings on our next pizza night.  The sauce was good as well, but I think I am going to continue to look for a different sauce that we just love....

Today was a rest day from running, I will be doing my long run tomorrow morning, hoping that the new pain in my hip will go away overnight :)

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili Review

Another winner for us!  This was another one that we all enjoyed and the boys even all had seconds again.  This was a very filling meal and so easy to make.  It's another one of those "toss everything in the crockpot and check on it later" meals.  The combination of all of the ingredients made this very tasty and not too spicy for the kids to eat it.

We are so far going very strong with our home cooked meals, three in a row!  Tomorrow we will be using our new bread machine to make homemade pizza to enjoy during our family movie night.

Before I had dinner, I did a quick 2.5 mile run to add to my Moon Jogger miles.  Between that run and the delicious Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili, I count this as a successful day :)

Dinner Review

Tonight's dinner consisted of two new recipes, both from SkinnyTaste:  Garlic Lover's Roast Beef and Skinny Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  We also had steamed broccoli, our family's favorite vegetable.  This entire meal was a hit with everyone.  Even had all of the boys asking for seconds.

The roast was really great, it smelled great while cooking and was very easy....just put it in the oven and wait.   I used my pampered chef small ridged baker for the roast- it was the perfect size and the ridges kept the roast from sitting in the juices that came from the roast.  Delicious :) The potatoes were also really good, I added a little bit of parmesan cheese to the potatoes, and that made them even yummier :)

This morning I did a 5.266 mile run using my half marathon with Jeff Galloway app.  It was a pretty good run- there were intervals in the workout, so not just running the miles on the treadmill-  the variety helps when doing that kind of distance.  So far I am on track for my moon jogger distance.  Tomorrow will be a shorter run, followed by a rest day and long run on Saturday.

The Last Couple Weeks

Wow!  It has been so busy around here!  I kind of thought that when school started and we were in a routine that things would be a little more calmer.  A little more sane....well, nope!

I started my Jillian Michaels over again....ready for another 90 days of this challenge.  I'm loving that while doing the first couple weeks I feel so much stronger than the first time I did this challenge.  I love how much stronger I am feeling.  I really do like this program. So much that this is the third time I have done this program.  But the really nice thing about it (besides the fact that it is just 30 minutes a day) is the variety.  I have not been doing the cardio workouts because I have been running, so I just have the strength workouts, which I really like.  I will be doing a full 90 day before and after of inches and pounds lost.

I've been running 4 times a week, following the plan laid out for me by my TNT coach.  She's been great at working with me to meet my goals for the Tinker Bell half marathon in January, while also taking into account the half marathons that I have planned for this fall.

Speaking of half marathons this fall, I have two more coming up.  The first one is in less than two weeks!  I'm very excited to be running in the Inaugural Crawlin Crab Half Marathon on October 7.  I'm loving the cool, fall weather that we are starting to have in Virginia.  I am hoping that we are in for a great race in a couple weeks.  Next up will be Disney's Wine and Dine Half Marathon.  I'm really looking forward to being back at Disney to run, and this will be my first nighttime race.

I've been back to meal planning, which has been so helpful with helping me keep a little more balance in our busy schedule.  So far we've been pretty good at following a plan.  I have to say- I love how much easier our evenings seem to be when we have a plan.  And I am finding that my crock pot has become a permanent addition to my countertop- I've been using that most- I love being able to fix it and forget it!  Last nights Crock Pot Chicken and Rice was another big success.  I'm really lucky, my kiddos love broccoli, so I can pretty much make that our side vegetable every night and they'll eat it up. But, when I try out new ways to cook chicken, it can go either way.  This one they liked- the littlest one especially loved the rice part!

Other news- my great pal at Run Find your Happy Pace and I decided to start our own business Running Happy.  We make non-slip headbands and also extremely adorable runner decals!  Stay tuned for more....and if there is something you'd like to see us carry, suggestions are welcome :)

So, the kiddos and I are finding our balance again amidst school schedules, after school activities, homework, running, JMBR, and meal planning.  I am still working on what seems to be my best weekly schedule so that I can use my time wisely and not end up just wasting it....those 12 hours to myself a week really go by fast!

Crock Pot Potato Cheese Soup Review

This was another really easy one :) I'm really loving the ability to throw something in the crock pot and just dish it out when it comes to dinner time. I decided to serve this with broccoli, and I just put my broccoli in the soup as well. The only thing I'd change next time- I would make a half recipe. I've got leftovers to share, which is good, but I don't always eat leftovers. So with just me and the kiddos, I'm better off with less leftovers. This one is very kid friendly- two thumbs up all around ;)

Chicken Stroganoff Review

This one got 10 thumbs up!

I started the crock pot at 8 this morning and turned it down to "keep warm" when we left for gymnastics.  When we got home from gymnastics I made some whole wheat pasta and some broccoli to go along with the chicken.

This meal was met with much more enthusiasm than last nights.  Even though they ate the zucchini enchiladas, they were much happier with the chicken.  The sauce was really good, and I will definitely make it again!

I've been doing a little bribery about tomorrow's pizza night.  My oldest is working on following the rules of his new class at school.  He's had 3 out of 4 "green" days at school.  We made an agreement that if he got 4 out of 5 "green" days, that I would get them take out pizza instead of making our own.  So, only time will tell... and the next new recipe is Saturday :)

Zucchini Enchiladas Review

This was a really easy recipe to make. It all came together very quickly and the baking time was short as well. It is also one that could be made ahead and cooked later.

I really enjoyed the meal. My kids love refried beans, so I made that as a side for them as well as the quinoa mexican salad.

The kids were not too impressed. Three out of four ate it anyway- with the promise of yogurt for dessert. One is just not a fan of zucchini- even with cheese.

Tomorrow's meal also looks promising...at least to me :)

It Was a Monday

Everyone has a "Monday" every now and then. You know, the kind where you can't get started or where if it's going to go wrong it's going to. It started off fine, got up, got into workout clothes, fixed breakfast and then started off on my treadmill run. About halfway through I was switching the incline and the safety magnet came off also, which turns off the treadmill. I didn't know that this would go through a calibrating cycle for the incline. So I didn't know what was going on and just decided to call it a workout. So that did not give a very good start to the day. The rest was fine, just rainy and cold- my least favorite kind of weather.

Dinner tonight was Chicken and Broccoli Noodle Casserole. I thought it was a very yummy dinner. My complaint was that there were too many dishes used while preparing the meal. All the boys liked it, Sophie ate all the broccoli and noodles and then called it a day- big surprise. Overall it was a hit and we will be having it again.

Non-Scale Victory

Today was a definite non-scale victory day for me today. I didn't sleep well last night- I was just kind of restless. No real reason, just didn't fall asleep until late (like after 1 am) and then up several times through the night. One of the times when I was awake I remember thinking that I would just skip my run in the morning and that would allow me to sleep a little later in the morning. But, when my alarm went off, I decided to get up anyway and run on the treadmill. I'm so glad I did. I felt so much better after that run and my general attitude was just better overall today. I hadn't run since Thursday, so it was good to get back into that as well.

The Chicken Divan that we had for dinner last night was really good. I was a little worried about the kids and the swiss cheese, but they seemed to really like it. I think this is also a recipe that will reheat well for leftovers. That is always positive because with just me and the kids, we always have leftovers.

Tonight we had Meatball and Spaghetti Soup. It was good. The kids loved it and ate it up very quickly- a good sign. I think it would be better with a little more spaghetti sauce, but the turkey meatballs were very good. They didn't seem dry at all, which is usually the problem I have with ground turkey. This was also a very easy recipe to make in the crock pot. I put everything in earlier this morning and then before we left for gymnastics, I added the noodles. When we got home, we had a nice meal waiting on us.

Winning Dinner!

The Chicken Pot Pockets from Hungry Girl were amazing! Since they were only 2 points per pocket, I also added a cup of shredded cheese to the filling mix, making them 3 points each. They were so good. Each of the kids had more than one- except the youngest. But, if you know her, you'd know that the next time I make these for us she'll probably eat the whole thing and seconds also. I was a little concerned that it would take a while to put them together, but it was really a fast process. One thing that I did do that I think helped was I got the egg roll wrappers that had a plastic wrapper between each wrapper so that I didn't spend a lot of time separating the egg roll wrappers. I was very happy with the finished result of this meal and I will plan on making them again.

I also ran one of my short intervals today. It was a good workout and I felt really good after finishing, but I've had a horrible headache since finishing. I used to get them a lot after my long runs or my races, but I haven't had one in a while. Oh well, nothing that a good night's sleep won't cure most likely.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with Broccoli

Good. Not great. I love mac and cheese. I love both homemade and Kraft (the blue box). This one just wasn't cheesy enough. That's the problem though- more cheese= more fat. Oh well. I liked the broccoli in it and the kids loved that part. They are not fans of homemade mac and cheese, but the added broccoli seemed to go a long way (my kiddos are definitely broccoli lovers!). I was able to fix this one ahead of time and put it in the crock pot, so it made for an easy meal since it was a gymnastics night, but I just wasn't completely sold on it. I don't know that I will make this one again, instead I will continue my quest for a light, filling mac and cheese.

We have had our treadmill for about 3 years. I've put more miles on it in the past 6 months than ever before. But, I have always just done my own thing, never tried one of the pre-programed workouts. This morning I decided to give that a try. It was strange to only be walking at 3-3.5 mph. It seemed so slow! But, add in the inclines of 6-8 and man was it tough! I look forward to trying another workout on Thursday.

Crusted Honey Mustard Chicken Review

I thought it was good, all the kids ate it, so it is a keeper. One thing I was unsure of was the points value. WW has it as a 16 point per serving recipe. I thought that was extremely high for a serving. I decided to plug the ingredients into the recipe builder to see what it came up with. Also, I decided to skip the dill and scallions, so really the recipe was just the 1/3 cup of lite honey mustard dressing (I used Kraft reduced fat honey dijon), 1 cup cornflakes and 1 lb chicken cut into 4- 4 oz pieces. After I plugged that into the recipe builder, it came up to 6 points per serving. Much better! A side of broccoli completed this meal. After reading some of the reviews of the recipe on WW, I realized that I was not the only one who thought it was a high point value recipe and adjusted it using the recipe builder. I also used my ridged baker from Pampered Chef- it kept the chicken from sitting in the juice that chicken creates when it bakes, so the outside was crispy. Yummy! It is one we will definitely have again!

So I switched my interval days up a little. I did a long interval today and will do my short interval on Wednesday. I did long interval #1, each of the 800 meters I did at 5 mph. Not an average like last time, but at 5 mph the whole time. I'm very happy with that. Next month when I do this interval again I am hoping to do it at 5.5 mph. Tomorrow I am planning on doing my 10 minute trainer video as well as walk/jog a couple miles or so. We'll see how the morning goes!

A Horrible 10 Minutes

Today's run was short interval #4. Total workout time was 10:00. Not fun at all. First few sprints were okay- hard but okay. When the rest time shrank, it made it almost impossible. I finished, but I will admit the speed at which I did the sprints did decrease as I went on. I so look forward to doing that interval again! I am hoping by the next time that one rolls again I'll be able to keep up my sprint pace. My goal is to complete them at 7 mph.

About dinner....the Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken was amazing! This was the favorite recipe so far. All four kids ate it up without me having to prompt them at all. This is one that I would highly recommend, and we will be having it again. Very yummy and filling!