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 :)

Sunday Meal Planning

This past week I tried out several new recipes and had success with each of them, I'm hoping that I have similar success this week.  I'm on track for home cooked meals so far- I cooked at least one meal each day, and I'm hoping to continue that this week.

Monday- Baked Chicken Parmesan from Skinytaste.   New recipe- this will be a first for us, but with it being chicken and noodles, I don't think it can go wrong.

Tuesday- Slow Cooker Chicken Black Bean Tacos.  Tuesday is still our gymnastics day, and since this is one that can be done in the crock pot, it makes for an easy dinner for one of our busiest nights.

Wednesday- Spinach Lasagna Rolls- we didn't have this last week, so I'm keeping it on the menu for this week.

Thursday- Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs- we've had this before, and the kids liked it.  So I'm hoping it will go over as well this time as the last.

Friday- Pizza night with homemade pizza.  I'm still looking for a good sauce recipe, but I've got a little more time.  I like trying out new options.....anyone have a favorite pizza sauce recipe?

Saturday- Crock Pot Potato Cheese Soup- I really liked this one the last time we had it and it is fairly easy.  We've been working on reorganizing our house, so with an easy meal, we can get a lot more done.

Sunday- Leftover night

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 :)

My 13 in 2013

One of my three goals is to complete 13 races in 2013.  I have several planned out, but need some more races to fill in the gaps....I'm open to suggestions if anyone has any!

1 ~ January 20- Tinker Bell Half Marathon (registered)
2 ~ February 24- Princess Half Marathon (registered)
3 ~ March 17- Shamrock Half Marathon (registered)
4 ~ April 28- Nike Women's Half Marathon (registered)
5 ~ September 1- Rock and Roll Half Marathon (registered)
6 ~ September 28- Tower of Terror 10 Miler (possible)
7 ~ October 5- Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon (possible)
8 ~ October 26- Wicked 10k (possible)
9 ~ December 7- Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler (possible)
10 ~
11 ~
12 ~

So, I've got some empty spots....any ideas?

Also, if you'd like to be a part of 13 in 2013, find the details and sign up here:  13 in 2013