Easy & Yummy Cranberry Sauce

November 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

I am  not a fan of canned cranberry jelly sauce but, after making homemade cranberry sauce a few years back it is a family tradition for the Holiday’s.  It is super easy and so yummy!

Recipe:
1 cup Orange Juice
1 cup Sugar
1 1/2 cups Cranberries
Dissolve sugar into OJ on the stove. Pour in Cranberries and cook for 10 minutes until Cranberries pop. Set aside in a jar and it will thicken as it cools. I stuck mine in the fridge to chill.
A few ideas besides just for the Turkey…chill it and eat it with cream cheese and wheat thin crackers. Also tastes good on bread with your turkey sandwiches or use it for topping on ice cream. 
Happy Thanksgiving Ya’ll!
Filed Under: Holidays, Recipes

Weight Loss– How I lost 15 pounds in 3 Months!

August 24, 2012 by 18 Comments
I wanted to share my personal success with weight loss.  I have received a lot of compliments lately and people asking how I lost the weight. I know many of women struggle with their weight.  For me I just wanted to get healthy.  I had been working out like crazy and just wasn’t seeing the scale move.  I thought I was eating right…I hadn’t drank soda in 3 years and I thought I was eating well balanced meals. I Dress My Truth which automatically made me look thinner and helped me to be confident in my own skin.  I still knew I wasn’t at my absolute best healthy weight and I knew I needed to get at least 10 more pounds shed after having 5 babies.
Weight Loss

{Disclaimer…this is my personal story and choices for how I went about my weight loss. I didn’t receive any compensation for the products I used to write this post.}
In May I decided I needed to do something different and I was talking with a few ladies at the gym about my challenge of working out but, not seeing the scale move.  They had recently learned about a company called Advocare and encouraged me to try the Herbal Cleanse and I used Peaches and Cream Flavor.  They had recommended it to several people who with in 10 days saw success and that it would really help to boost my metabolism.  It made sense that I needed to cleanse my body.  I was having a few other minor health challenges and so I decided to give it a try.
Advocare Herbal Cleanse - Peaches and Cream
Along with the 10 day cleanse I prepared myself I would need to change my diet for optimal results.  I took a month or so gearing up and mentally preparing myself for no white refined sugar, white refined flour, animal dairy products and cheese.  I prepared myself to eat lean meats (like turkey, chicken and fish), lots of fresh veggies (steamed sweet potato was my favorite for lunch), fruit, almond or coconut milk and whole plain nuts.  I just kept thinking to myself I wanted to eat as close to its natural form.  I didn’t worry so much as to how much I was eating but, that if I were hungry or felt like snacking I ate following these guidelines.
I also bought Spark Energy Drink – Fruit Punch flavor to drink when I woke up in the morning to help get me moving and not get tired for my work out.
Advocare Spark - Fruit Punch
The morning of the second day I saw my scale move 1 pound.  Now 1 pound isn’t much but, I hadn’t seen the scale move at all so this was motivation to me.  I came down to the kitchen only to find my Husband had left a huge cinnamon role from his early morning bible study class sitting on the counter…oh temptation for sure…but, I told myself “you just lost 1 pound in the first day so don’t give up now!”  I didn’t I continued on for the full 10 days and after just 2 days I didn’t even crave the sugar like I thought I would.  By 10 days I had lost 7 pounds.  Almost a pound a day.  I felt great and my body didn’t crave the processed foods or sugar.  It gave me motivation to keep going. 
I continued to exercise and focused some effort on to weight lifting and building muscle and eased up on the cardio. I also continued to stay as close to the diet as I could with little to no sugar, only whole grains and cut out as much processed foods as I could. I read the labels on everything to see the added sugar it has. I also drink the Spark Energy drink every morning.
In June I was able to listen to Dr. Daniel Amen speak in Atlanta.  He talked about diet and exercise in relates to our brain.  He has been doing some work with Franklin Covey and The 5 Choices content they teach. The foods we eat do make a huge difference in how our body functions.  I was feeling pretty good about the changes I had made in my diet and especially after seeing pictures of brain scans of unhealthy people.  We don’t think about taking care of our brain and our brain is the number 1 thing we should be thinking about when it comes to our body.  Our brain function effects our moods, our physical abilities, our mental capacities and when we are addicted to the wrong foods it makes a huge impact on our own quality of life!
Our brain uses 25% of the calories we eat to function on…what are we feeding our brain?  Our brains need water in take…He says we should drink half our body weight in ounces in water every day!  Drinking my water made a huge success in my weight loss.
Again all this was motivation to keep going and to live a healthy lifestyle that I was creating for myself and my family.  I spoke with Dr. Amen after his lecture and he sent me out his wives cookbooks that are full of healthy eating tips and recipes. 
cookbookbook
I still falter and my family and I still have some foods that we give into eating…like sugar treats every once in awhile. This is a process of getting healthy and it feels good to be on the right path.  I was able to maintain my weight loss on a cross country road trip this summer.  I looked for healthy foods to eat at fast food restaurants and it wasn’t easy.  I found it interesting that I was repulsed by seeing fried greasy food and I craved salads and veggies after a long day’s drive. The pictures of unhealthy brains came to mind for sure. For about a month because of our road trip and Summer plans I didn’t really exercise like I had been. I was eating right though and I still lost more weight.
So as of today I lost approximately 15 pounds since the beginning of May.  I have gone down a size in clothes. I feel great and on the days I slip up and eat something I shouldn’t because it was just there in front of me…I usually regret it and I don’t feel well afterwards.  I have learned to listen to my body and learned that certain foods just aren’t good for me. I have learned healthy eating habits and how important it is that I pay attention to what I am feeding my brain.  I also am striving to switch my family over to better eating as well. 
If you are struggling with your weight or health I hope that my story gives you hope and encouragement to make the changes necessary to get healthy!  Research the path you want to take and go for it! I know you won’t regret it!
Filed Under: Dressing Your Truth, Fashion, Recipes, Weight Loss

Southwestern Chicken & Vegetable Chowder

June 1, 2012 by 3 Comments

Southwestern Chowder

This has been my go to staple soup recipe lately.  I have been working to change our families eating habits to less processed foods and more veggies.  My kids aren’t thrilled about this change but, this recipe is one I seem to get them to eat and it is so easy to make. This can be adapted for whatever vegetables you might have on hand. I probably make this slightly different every time depending on what I have or feel like. You can use fresh vegetables, canned veggies or a combination of both.

Grab your soup pot or your slow cooker and begin dumping ingredients.

1 carton Vegetable or Chicken Broth

2 cups cooked chicken shredded or cubed

1 zucchini cut up

1 can corn drained

1 can beans – kidney, black beans, pinto beans, etc. drained

1 can green beans drained

Approx. 1 cup chopped carrots

Approx. 2 stalks chopped celery

Approx. 1 cup Salsa depending on your liking

Optional add 1 can or fresh cut up tomatoes’

I also add spices to season if I don’t have Salsa but no specific amounts like White Pepper, Chili Powder, Cumin, Oregano, Garlic Powder or Onion Powder or any of your other favorite soup spices.

Bring everything to a boil and cook until veggies are done. I then turn heat down and sometimes add a small amount of cheese or milk to make it creamy but, completely optional as well.

I’ve also added cooked pasta or omitted the chicken.  This recipe is so versatile and so easy to throw together last minute. I hope it gives you some inspiration to make a yummy and healthy soup for your family.

Linking to: At the Picket Fence, Funky Junk Interiors, Country Mamma Cooks, Weekend Wrap up Party , Show and Tell Saturdays , Weekend Soiree, Scrappy Saturdays, Six Sisters Stuff, Nutmeg Place, A Simply Klassic Home, Think Pink Sundays, I Heart Nap Time, The DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, It’s Overflowing, Meet Me Mondays, C.R.A.F.T, Mad In Crafts, Lines Across My Face, DIY Home Sweet Home, Singing Three Little Birds, Crafts Keep Me Sane, Its So Very Cheri, Made with love Monday, Pink hippo party, Motivate me Monday, Craftastic Monday, Making the World Cuter, Market yourself Monday, A Round Tuit, Weekend Warrior, Whats in the Gunny Sack, Do it ya Self, Creative Me Monday, Craft O Maniac, Debbiedoo’s Newbie Party, Not Just A Housewife, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Share The Wealth Wednesday, Some What Simple,The DIY Dreamer, The Shabby Cottage, 52 Mantels, Savvy Southern, Natural Mother’s Network

Filed Under: Family, Recipes

S’More Peeps

March 27, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Warning if you are sensitive to seeing Peeps roasted by a fire please skip this post! LOL Didn’t intend for this to be gruesome! My kids loved this activity and it was a very yummy s’more treat!
IMG_4730
Mr. and Mrs. Peep’s on their roasting sticks.

You can find roasting sticks in the camping section of Wal-Mart for a couple of bucks and it makes it easy for the kids to roast marshmallows or hot dogs or in this case Peep’s over your own fire pit. Our fire pit was the best family investment and we’ve had lots of family home evenings around it. I highly suggest one to any family…I think ours was around $50!

IMG_4733
Roast your peep just like a marshmallow and then smash it between 2 graham crackers…I like mine with chocolate but, this one was for a little girl who didn’t want chocolate…not sure how a couple of my daughter’s don’t like chocolate and wonder if I brought the right babies home from the hospital! LOL
Fun Easter and Spring time treat but, I think next time I will buy blue, purple and pink peep’s so I don’t feel like I’m roasting a baby chick! LOL
Filed Under: Kids, Recipes
«Older Posts