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Jun 8, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Jun 8, 2011 in Uncategorized | 2 comments
Remember the last day of school, the bell ringing and flying out of the doors to a summer of freedom? Ahhh…those were the days! 2 of my kids were done today and my high schooler is done tomorrow and it’s officially summer. Well, it feels like summer in Chicago with 90+ temps!!
But, the weather hasn’t stopped me from my first goal of the summer which is???? Exercise!! Exercise and I are not friends. I don’t really like to work out so much which has got to change. It’s funny even completing 2 marathons and several half marathons you would think that would motivate me to keep going, but it hasn’t!
So, I’ve joined my sisters group in the 2nd annual Summer Challenge!. It’s not too late to throw your hat in the ring! So, my goal for this summer is to move every day. 100 days straight!!
According to the The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention only 5% of the U.S. population gets a vigorous work out in daily! I am trying to change that myself. So what have I done in the last 4 days?
Day 1: Rode my bike in 90+ degree heat for 40 minutes.
Day 2: Did Jillian Michaels “Boost Metabolism” DVD for 57 minutes
Day 3: Rode a bike during my lunch for 30 minutes and walked home from work (1.5 miles) in 90+ heat!
Day 4: Walked 30 minutes home in 90+ heat + some weight exercises after dinner
We’ll see if I can keep it going, I usually start strong and then fizzle out. BUT, I have a few new online weight loss pals and we are keeping tabs on each other, and I also have a lot of support at home as well as at work. (which helps!)
I told my daughter (who is 9) that I was going to do some form of exercise and she suggested we could run around at the park and maybe take long walks after dinner – both great ideas! 
I thought of Shelley because the bike I rode yesterday was actually a loaner from a company that works in my building. They actually provide bikes for their employees to use if they are going somewhere local instead of driving to stay green – how nice is that? The bikes are super deluxe and it reminded me of Shelley’s pink bike. This is the one I rode:
I’m friends with someone who works at that company and when I asked her if I could use a bike to get some exercise during my lunch, she got the OK from the Owner of the company. So, that will be great when I can’t ride my own bike to work for some reason – it will just give me another option.
So, I’ll be updating my progress to let you know how I am doing.
If you exercise regularly – what is your favorite kind of exercise and what motivates you to work out??
Jun 4, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Jun 4, 2011 in Uncategorized | 4 comments
I have to thank Tiffany fromThe Gracious Pantry for reminding me to make these again. If you haven’t visited Tiffany’s site – she has lost close to 60 pounds eating clean and is an excellent source of inspiration and recipe ideas that will help you lose weight while eating great.
I wanted to try her recipe, but didn’t have all the ingredients, so I went back to the recipe I made which is from the Culinary Institute of America. Did you know that you don’t bake English Muffins, you just cook them on a griddle? The recipe couldn’t be easier either.
English Muffins
Makes 12 servings
1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup water, warmed to 110°F
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cornmeal, or as needed
Oil or solid vegetable shortening, as needed
Place the yeast and warm water in the bowl of a mixer and stir to completely dissolve. Let the yeast proof until foamy, about 5 minutes. Add the flour, butter, sugar, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix ingredients together on low speed using the dough hook until all ingredients are blended, about 2 minutes.
Increase the speed to medium-high and mix until the dough is smooth, another 5 minutes.
Shape the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 2 hours. Fold the dough gently over on itself in three or four places and turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.
Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Shape into rounds and place on sheet pans that have been heavily dusted with cornmeal. Turn each muffin over to coat both sides with cornmeal. Cover and let rise until slightly risen, about 30 minutes.
Preheat a griddle over medium heat and brush lightly with oil or shortening. Cook the English muffins until lightly brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Turn the muffins over and cook until golden brown, another 5 minutes.
Split the English muffins by pulling them apart with a table fork. Toast them just before serving. Serve very hot.
Nutrition analysis per one-ounce serving: 120 calories, 3g protein, 18g carbohydrate, 3.5g fat, 200mg sodium, 5mg cholesterol, less than 1g fiber.
So, the school year for my kids is winding down – which I am so happy about! Having 3 kids in 3 different schools has been exhausting this year. Only one more year of that, then I’ll have 2 in high school and still one in grade school. This summer for me is going to be to move more!
So, I’ve joined my twin sister’s 101 days of Summer challenge. You can still sign up – just think about what goals you’d like to achieve this summer. Click here for the details. Let’s make it a great summer!
May 30, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on May 30, 2011 in Uncategorized | 8 comments
I don’t know if you’ve seen this new series called Extreme Couponing on TLC. It profiles people who spend up to 40 hours a week clipping coupons, researching online for their stores deals, shopping at different stores to get different deals. I wanted to watch it because I love reality TV and I was curious how these people could have 3 baskets filled to the brim and pay only a few dollars. One woman had $1,300 worth of groceries and paid less than $10.00!
The key to their success is getting tons of coupons – one woman was know to dumpster dive to get the coupons that come in people’s newspapers!
One woman had 5 computers at her house because some coupons limited to only 2 per computer. I think the point is you can save money but you can also go way overboard too. These families had like mini grocery stores in their homes with all their bulk buying. One family had food/canned goods/toilet paper/paper towels/cereal boxes under beds, in closets, in garages, taking up their homes.
I would love to save more money at the store. To be honest I almost never clip coupons or pay attention to the coupons you get from your receipt. I read THIS GUYS blog where for 30 days he ate on $1.00 a day. He started with no food and using coupons-finding deals not only did he make his goal (he spent $27.08 where he would have spent $597.96 retail without using coupons). He chronicles the whole 30 days, showing his tips and tricks using coupons and in store deals to get things really cheap. He actually bought 600 boxes of cereal for practically nothing and donated them to food banks. Some things he got if you bought a bunch of a certain item and he donated things he didn’t need to the food bank too. He clearly stated he was not a great cook to begin with but over the course of the month he got super creative to what to make with few ingredients.
My friend Denise told me about a site called The Grocery Game or Refund Cents where you can sign up to compare pricing with local stores and get coupons. The guy who lived off $1.00 a day for food has also prepared a list called Lazy Couponing for those of us who don’t have an extra 40 hours to spend clipping coupons. Check out his post about that HERE
So, I am curious – do you clip coupons or have any tricks for saving money at the store? What’s the most you’ve ever saved using coupons?
Also, check out Spabettie’s site – she has a great give-a-way going on.
May 27, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on May 27, 2011 in Uncategorized | 5 comments
It’s been probably a year since I’ve made this soup and I don’t know why – it’s always so good and I love having it for my lunches at work. Make one batch of this soup and you don’t have to worry about making a lunch – quick and cheap!
You can make variations of this soup – it’s a great way to get rid of veggies in your fridge.
For this batch, I actually made half of what I usually make.
1/2 poblano pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper diced
1/4 white onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 tsp. olive oil
2 oz. small type pasta (I used the pasta that you would put in chicken soup)
1 cup water
1 can black beans – drained
1 can rotel tomatoes (tomatoes with green chiles)
1 tsp. chicken stock base
1/2 pound ground turkey (can use ground sirloin or boca crumbles)
1/2 a 46 oz. bottle of V-8 juice
(one ingredient I didn’t have but is good is 1 cup of corn – frozen or canned)
In a pot, add a little olive oil and add the peppers, onions and garlic – cook on medium low for about 5 minutes.
Next add the ground turkey, breaking it up into smaller pieces until its cooked. Add 1 cup of water with 1 tsp. chicken stock powder (or 1 cup of chicken broth from a can). Add the V8 juice, the taco seasoning and black beans.
So good! I love this soup.
Any good plans this weekend – after 40′s and 50′s this week in Chicago – it’s supposed to be like summer! I can’t wait!!
Mar 11, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Mar 11, 2011 in Uncategorized | 8 comments
I’ve made this breakfast at least 4 times in the last week and I’ll tell you why: It is mighty tasty – under 500 calories and it keeps me full for hours and hours! I don’t know if its the protein from the egg/egg white or what, but it takes me a long time to eat it and easy to make, less than 10 minutes from start to finish.
Ingredients for 1
2 medium red potatoes – cooked in the microwave for 5 minutes
1 green onion
3 turkey sausage links (frozen) diced
1 egg – 2 egg whites
.5 ounce of cheddar cheese
Cut potatoes into small chunks. Microwave for 5 minutes or until softened. Add the mostly cooked potatoes into a non-stick skillet. Add the frozen sausage links and green onion. Place a top on the pan and cook for another 5 minutes or so until the potatoes are nice and brown. Remove from pan. Add the egg and egg whites and scramble. Place the cheese on top of the warm potato/sausage and add the cooked eggs on top.
Since I take this to work, I’ll cook the potatoes/sausage, put that into a tupperware, put the cheese on top, then the egg. By the time I get to work and transfer that to a bowl, the cheese is all melty and yummy!
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And, I’d like to give a shout out to my husband David!!! It’s our wedding anniversary today! 16 years! It won’t be as warm in Chicago as it was on our wedding day, we had unusually warm weather that year and it was in the 70′s on our wedding day. Biz and I went to get our hair done that day wearing shorts and t-shirts!
You can read my post about my anniversary last year HERE.
Happy Friday Everyone!! What are your plans? My hubby and I will be dining by ourselves on Saturday night – one of the benefits of having a teenager who can babysit
