Weigh in Wednesday

Yup. I am up .4 pounds this week. It could be worse. Much, much worse. I have no excuses aside from, I like Easter candy & holiday food. I worked out religiously this week, like usual. I just need to get back on track with eating.

Easter 2009

I hope everyone had a great Easter! We arrived home from MN last night at about 7:30 pm after spending the Easter weekend with Tony's family. His parents had a full house! It was very nice to see everyone (especially our new little niece, Hannah!) I can't BELIEVE I didn't even take any good pictures of her! I am such a slacker!

Our kids had a BLAST on their Easter egg hunt this year. The Easter bunny hid them around grandma & grandpa's house in the woods. The woods sure do make excellent Easter Egg hunting grounds!

And they are off! I couldn't believe how quick those kids can run when they are on a mission! Tony started off helping Grace, but then he saw that she was beating Quinn to several eggs so he quit;-) That girl can hold her own already.

Here is Kade in mid-sprint.

Eggs Spotted! On the deck!

Hey! This is getting harder! All the easy ones have been found!

Grace was screaming at Kade here. She thought he was trying to steal her eggs, LOL. In reality, he was trying to help her by giving her one of his.

I love this one of them. They were chatting it up and I can even see my lil' rag-a-muffin's eyes.

Time to count the eggs and see what is hidden in them!

Here is Grace, showing Tony's brother, Andy her loot. Daddy is hard at work doing something.

BIG robin egg smile.

Hey! Quinn found a dog in his egg! Lucky!

This is Tony's entire family including his Grandma Anderson. She is a sweetie!

Hodge Podge Day

Today has been a very busy day. First thing this morning (after I did day #4 of Shred and took the boys to school, of course) Grace had gymnastics. I must say, she is so naturally good at it. I think it may be because of her utter lack of fear;-)

Unfortunately though, after gymnastics her and her little friend (also Grace) were the only 2 children who did not receive stamps on their hands. When we asked them why they did not have stamps, they said, "because we didn't listen". They really didn't seem to bothered or concerned by it though. I DO think Grace needs to listen & I had her apologize to the teachers BUT I must say that I have noticed that the teachers don't seem to be so great with kids. There is a BIG lack of patience going on combined with overreactions and just generally not really able to get down on the kids' level and relate in an appropriate way. I'm not so sure I will be signing her up again. Maybe we will try Mandan, she does seem to love it. Anyway, here she is doing her moves. I took lots more pics but they didn't turn out:(




After gymnastics, Grace sat VERY patiently through my dentist appointment. She did, however, require a step-by-step explanation from the hygienist on exactly what she was doing.

When we finished up there, we met Tony at Northridge to have lunch with Quinn, who is student of the week this week. Here we are eating the infamous 'Nacho Boat' .

Here is Quinn with his 'Student of the Week' display.

Our evening was just as action-packed. After picking the boys up from school, we discovered the neighborhood tramp- a miniature horse sized dog, that seems to somehow 'escape' from his owners quite frequently and for LONG spells, was waiting for us at our house. He has been friendly in the past, so I let the kids play outside with him there. Well, he ended up biting my daughter. It bruised her sholder but did not puncture the skin but I did call the Sheriff's office and had a deputy come out. He tracked down and talked to the owner (I did not know who the owner was, they live near, but not in our development) who says he will keep the dog locked up now. Hmmm.

After dinner we did Easter Eggs. I will let the pictures do the talking. That is always an adventure.

Happy Easter!

Weigh-in Wednesday

Well, it is that time again. It is Weigh-in Wednesday with the Sisterhood. I must say I had an AWESOME week. I stayed on track with my workouts and eating. As a matter of fact, I had 20 AP's that went UNUSED out of the 35 that I earned this week. I never do that. I ended up losing 1.8#. I am happy with that, but I was secretly hoping for more. As it stands, I didn't quite lose all of the 2.2# that I gained last week. At least I am on the right track now. I seem to have found my motivation and that is a very good thing. I am even planning on taking my new Shred DVD to the in-laws! I am determined to stick to the plan and do it every day for the next 27.

Here is my exercise journal for the past week:

Thursday: Nada

Friday: 1 Hour Run & 1 hr. Yoga

Saturday: 75 minute Yoga

Sunday: 1 hr. Yoga

Monday: 30 min. run, 1 hr. free weights at the gym, Shred day 1

Tuesday: Shred day 2

Wednesday: 15 min. run, 15 min. Precor (my ankles were bothering me running), Shred day 3

Parmesan Herb Baked Tilapia

I really love this tilapia recipe. I have made it several times already, and I don't even remember where I actually got the original recipe from. If I stole if from you, I am very sorry. Let me know & I will give you proper credit. Anyway, it is healthy, quick, easy, & delicious. Does it get any better than that?

Parmesan Herb Baked Tilapia


POINTS® Value: 6
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

24 oz raw farm-raised tilapia
1 1/2 oz grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup(s) Light Mayonnaise
2 tbsp Green Onions
1/4 cup(s) dried bread crumbs
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400. Place fish on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Combine cheese, mayonnaise, and onions; spread evenly over fish. Combine breadcrumbs and remaining ingredients (I usually just use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs instead); sprinkle evenly over fish. Lightly coat fish with cooking spray. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Creamy Italian Chicken

We had this for dinner tonight over rice & the kids really liked it. By no means is it a 5-star recipe, if I wanted to suit my tastes I would add in some peppers or pimentos to the mix. I did think it was okay though, as did Tony and like I said the kids (especially my picky Kade) gobbled it up. It was also just as simple as it gets so I'm sure I will be making it again.

Creamy Italian Chicken

Adapted from: Real Mom Kitchen
POINTS® Value: 7
Servings: 6

With the chicken shredded, this makes 6 cups. So, 1 serving = 1 cup

Ingredients

2 pound(s) uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, About 5 breasts
1 envelope(s) Good Seasons Italian Dressing
21 oz Campbell's 98% Fat-Free Cream Of Chicken Soup, (2 cans)
8 oz light cream cheese

Instructions

Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Sprinkle with dry Italian dressing mix. Mix cream cheese and soup in separate bowl. Pour over chicken. Cook on low all day ( 8 hours). Shred the chicken if you prefer (I did). Serve over rice or noodles. (Add milk if needed to thin sauce out- I did not need to do this, it was perfect)

Weigh-in Wednesday

Today is Weigh-in day over at The Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. Not suprisingly, I am up .6 pounds since my last weigh-in 2 weeks ago. I am back on track though and ready to recommit myself. I already started my day off right with 40 minutes of running and 1 hour of strength training. Not that exercise has been my problem. No, my problem would be my love for my late night munchie sessions (I'm also sure the 500 calorie martini I had last night isn't helping).

Well, now if I want to do that, I am going to have to work out like a fool because I am counting every bite.