Sesame Chicken

Here is another recipe with under 5 ingredients. It is pretty tasty and super easy too.

Sesame Chicken

1 Pkg chicken breasts or chicken tenders

Olive oil cooking Spray

2TBSP low sodium soy sauce

2 TBSP honey

1/4 tsp ginger (I prefer fresh grated ginger, which I used)

2 tsp sesame seeds

Directions:

Toast the sesame seeds (I just put them in a hot skillet for a few minutes). If you use breasts, I recommend cutting them in thirds so they cook faster. Brown chicken with a little cooking spray. Mix soy sauce and honey and add to chicken. I like to stir my chicken to get it all coated and let the sauce reduce down a little till it almost gets like a glaze on the chicken. Add the sesame seeds at the very end.

I served this with a baked potato and steamed brocoli. It would also be good with rice. However, since I am trying to reduce my carbohydrate intake, I just ate the chicken and brocoli and it is easier just to make one baked potato instead of a whole pan of rice. This tastes kind of asian I think you could add stuff like some pineapple tidbits, green onion or bell pepper as well. You could always make a little extra sauce with the soy and honey. You could also probably spice it up to be more like general's chicken by adding red pepper flakes.

Believe It, Be It

So the other night I decided that it was about time to read a new book. I had heard that the first woman to win Biggest Loser, Ali Vincent, had recently wrote a book, Believe It, Be It. I went to the kindle app on my phone to see if it was available and quickly downloaded it. Having two small kids, I usually don't get a chance to read much but this book was easy reading and all the stars were aligned..so I read the whole thing in one night and morning.

It was a good read and inspring. Her transformation truly was amazing. Always a beautiful person she now has the beautiful outside to reflect her beauty inside. She talked a lot about her experience on the show. She always thought that she would be the first female Biggest Loser. It came much to her surprise when the game play worked against her even though she had lost a lot of weight and she was sent home. She lost tons of weight at home and got an opportunity to come back. When she came back she never went below the yellow line and went on to win the finale.

In the book she talked a lot about why she felt like she had gained weight and what she was hiding behind her fat. I really started psycho analyzing my own life and wondering what it was that has lead to my own weight gain. I think I may of figured out a part of it and plan to blog about it at a later time.

Here are a couple great quotes/excerpts from the book that I liked:

"I want to empower others through empowering myself. I want to prove that the impossible is possible. That a journey of 1,00 miles really does start with just one step, just one, and that anybody who can imagine that journey does have the strength and courage it takes to pick their foot up and take that first step."

"To think about your life is to create it. You have to take ownership of where you are right now and know where you are right now and know where you want to o before you can get there. Keep collecting evidence for your success. You can believe it, and you can be it. Start right now."

"Every time I exercise, I have a conversation with myself. Why? BEcause I don't do stuff that I am comfortable doing. If I'm comfortable , then it's not doing anything for me and I don't consider it working out"

Lent

So, while I am not catholic I have tried to do something in remembrance of the Lenten season every year since I was a sophomore in high school. I have given up all sorts of stuff: soda, chocolate, swearing, meat, etc. Something to do as a challenge and having it be the 40 days and nights before Easter, I try to put my focus on what is really important to me; my relationship with Jesus. It is not an official "lent" but it works for me and I can't remember a time that I have cheated. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 9th this year. I am planning to give up the white stuff: flour and sugar. I know that it will be hard but I think it will be good for me too.

I LOVE FLOUR AND SUGAR...AND EVERYTHING THAT THEY MAKE TOGETHER. However, I have an addiction and I need to overcome it even if it means having withdrawals. To be honest, I started early. I started 4 days ago and to my surprise it is going fairly well. It will be interesting to see if my weight loss is affected much.

Wish me luck, I am going to need it! I figure I can do anything for 40 days, right? Are any of you giving anything up for Lent? I considered Facebook but sadly I think sugar and flour will be easier. Hee hee. I'll keep you posted on how its going.

Exodus 15:2

The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

French Dips

A classic French Dip can be a very easy, yummy dinner. It can be as easy or hard as you want to make it. Here is how I did it.

French Dip Sandwiches

Beef Roast

(if you don't have a roast you could even use deli sliced Roast Beef, if you do this only cook till heated thru)

1 C beef bullion (you could also use low sodium soy sauce)

1 C water

1 envelope of dry Lipton French Onion soup

Instructions

Cook all of the above ingredients in the crock pot all day-Slice thin. Serve on a French Roll with additional au jus. I also sauteed some onions (you could also do bell peppers) and I added a small slice of swiss cheese. This so easy and a great recipe for you to make for your family if you have a gym night, church night, etc.

Pork Carnitas

This is another very easy recipe. It is especially nice because you can make it in the crock-pot. It also only requires you to buy 2-3 ingredients. It is so yummy. You can also substitute the salsa verde for pace picante if you prefer red sauce.

Salsa Verde Pork Carnitas
2 1/2 pounds pork shoulder (I didn't have so I just used some boneless chops)
1 (16 oz) jar salsa verde
1 white onion, chopped
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp kosher salt
1/4-1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:
Place pork shoulder in crockpot. Cover with salsa, onions, cumin, and salt. Cover and set on low for 10 hours.

After 10 hours, remove pork from crock pot and place into bowl. At this point, it should be very tender and falling apart. Shred the meat with two forks and use however much liquid you need from the crock pot to moisten the meat. I used a combination of the liquid and chunky salsa to make it a mixture of onions and meat.

Serve in tortillas, and top with cilantro, guacamole, sour cream. You could also add lettuce or cabbage. This is great for people on low calorie diets or low carb. If you are watching you calories I recommend using the fajita size tortillas or find yourself a low carb option at your local grocery.

Salmon & Noodle Bowl

This is one of my favorite recipes. Tastes like something you would order at a five star restaurant and takes less than 20 minutes to cook. You don't have to use the refrigerated pasta but it speeds up the process. This recipe is under 500 calories but varies depending on what type of pasta, vinaigrette, etc you use. It is also a very pretty dish. Try it for your next dinner party, you will not be disappointed. It only requires you to buy 5 ingredients and it makes 4 servings.

Salmon & Noodle Bowl

1 9oz. package refrigerated fettuccine

2 TBSP olive oil

1 Lb skinless boneless 1-inch salmon (I buy these frozen in a bag at Walmart)

Salt and ground pepper

6 C fresh spinach (1 large bag in the salad section)

1/2-1 C bottled roasted red peppers

1/3 C reduced calorie balsamic vinaigrette

Feta cheese

Prepare pasta according to package directions

Meanwhile brush 1 TBSP olive oil on salmon and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

Heat an extra large skillet and cook salmon over medium heat 8-12 minutes turning once. Remove salmon and keep warm under foil.

Add spinach, peppers, and remaining oil to skillet, cook and stir 1-2 minutes until spinach is wilted.

Drain pasta, add to skillet, add dressing and toss to coat.

Top with salmon and sprinkle with desired amount of feta cheese.

**Original found in Better Homes & Gardens magazine; watch the video here.

"Ma'am may I please see your ID"

The other day I was purchasing something and I paid with my debit card. The young check out boy quickly looked and me and said "Ma'am may I please see your ID". I was like sure but my picture is right there on my debit card. He then went on to repeat himself and said "Ma'am can I please see your ID". I pulled out my license and he looked at it and then he looked at me repeatedly. I then looked at him strangely and said "is there a problem?". He politely said "no ma'am..I'm sorry but frankly they just don't look like you". I chuckled and told him that he didn't need to be sorry, that I was happy they didn't look like me but that he could quit calling me ma'am. LOL.

When I look at myself everyday in the mirror I obviously see no change, it is not until moments like this or until I see an old picture that I realize that I have made progress and lots of change.

Wii Dance

On Friday night I was invited to a Wii Dance party. I LOVE to dance and so it didn't even take me 30 seconds to give my RSVP of "Yes, I will be there". I totally thought that I would dominate. Most people see me and would not take me as a dancer but little do they know that this booty was meant for shakin'. A whole lot of shaking. I mean, I can really shake it. haha. However, when I arrived to my dismay I was not the dominator and I kept getting the low score. However, it only judges you by what your right hand does and I had the head, arms, hips, etc all moving. I am sure I could perfect it; I guess there is a special way to hold the remote.

There were about 20 of us girls and only 4 remotes so we all just danced even if we didn't have a remote. I went crazy burning calories. I wore my bodybugg and burned almost 900 calories in those 2 fun hours of dancing. It was great. I gave up on trying to get a high score and decided to just try and dance my heart out. I did and while I was at it, I tried to shake my butt right off my body. It didn't work (it's still there) but maybe it's getting smaller.

We are going to have Wii parties every month and I am hosting the next one. I can't wait! Two things I love the most...throwing parties and dancing. What a fun way to burn calories. It was also great being with all my workout buddies and trainer. They are such a big support. It feels really good when one of them that is in perfect shape tells me that I am somehow their inspiration. It is that which keeps me going. When the people around you all have a common goal of "being in shape", no matter what their size is, it is nice. It is nice to have friends with common goals and that built in support system. Totally looking forward to having at my house and then I will make sure to post some pictures.

I'm going back to Zumba on Tuesday for some more booty shaking. Here is to shakin' it off!