Menu Planning - 11/30

I can't believe it's the last day of November already! Wow, time is flying by. We had a great holiday weekend and got a lot of jobs done around the house. We are planning to put our house on the market at the beginning of the year, so we need to get it ready (clean out the clutter mostly). We plan to get our Christmas decorations out next weekend. It will be interesting to see how Hope does with the decorations. I might have to move things around this year so Hope doesn't get into things. :) Ok, so here is what I am planning for dinners this week.

Monday - Roasted broccoli, Turkey tetrazini (for Adam), and a loaded baked potato for me

Tuesday - Vegetable Curry with Lentils

Wednesday - Burgers, Parm Asparagus

Thursday - Cottage cheese and noodles

Friday - Roasted corn and garlic couscous, chicken (for Adam), salads

Have a great week everyone!!!

Menu Planning - 11/23

So the first part of the week will be panty and freezer items and the rest of the week will be leftovers from Thanksgiving. So it will be an easy week in the kitchen for me (except for Thanksgiving Day).

Have a good Thanksgiving week!

Product Review - Zone Indulegnce Bar

I am part of the Zone Bar VIP Club and they offered me a sample of their new Indulgence Bars. It was FedEx to me and I was so excited to try it. I had the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse. This bar is a little different then most of the Zone Bars. They are square, not the usual rectangular. I, personally, associated this as a treat, not a workout supplement. I ate it one afternoon when I was hungry and wanted something sweet. No, it was not a workout day for me, by the way. It was VERY good. It was decadent. It was very sweet. I would not suggest eating this after a workout (or before), but for only 190 calories, it is a great treat for yourself. It also has 10 grams of protein in it. I am pretty picky when it comes to protein bars. I don't like the taste of most of them and I don't like to eat a lot of processed foods, but Zone bars are always in our house. They are one of the few I can stand. They usually have a good bit of protein in them and taste like chocolate. YUM! I don't eat them a lot but Adam will have them once or twice a week for breakfast when he doesn't have time for a real breakfast. I would buy these indulgence bars too and use them as a healthier sweet treat like I do with some of the granola bars I keep on hand.

Overall Rating: A-

Menu Planning - 11/16

Good morning! Here is what I am planning for this week for dinners. It's a little more low key than last week, but should be just as good.

Monday - Burgers, fries, peas

Tuesday - Baked Potato Eggs, roasted broccoli

Wednesday - Big salads

Thursday - Taco night

Friday - Homemade pizza

Have a good week everyone!!!

Hope's first visit to see Santa

I know it's a little early, but I was off for Veteran's Day and thought it would be the perfect time to get Hope's picture with Santa. Santa was not at every mall, but I found one that he was and we went right after her morning nap. I took my grandmother as an extra adult because I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know if there would a long line and one of us would have to wait in line while the other walked Hope around (yes, she's walking now). Well we got there and there was ZERO line. One woman was paying and no one else was around. So I took Hope over near Santa and told her all about Santa. The woman then explained the packages and then I took Hope up to see Santa. Now, I did not like Santa for years. In my baby book, year after year, you would see me crying in Santa's lap. I was not a fan of the bearded man in the red suit. Well, it looks like Hope is following in my footsteps. I got her up there and she was fine. Then I put her in Santa's lap and she didn't fuss. She was all out screaming (and it shows in the picture). Hope does not scream like that often, so you know it's bad when she does. We got the quick picture and I scooped her up immediately.
After I purchased a package of pictures, we were allowed to go back up there and get pictures with our camera. So I had my grandmother take my camera and I sat next to Santa with Hope on my lap. She did not cry, but she did not smile either. She was over Santa at this point.

And here is a picture of Hope in her Christmast dress (bought it in Oct. at Macy's 50% off). I was trying to get a nice picture but this child does not like to sit still. Well you get the idea of what the dress looks like.

And one more of her dress at home.

I hope everyone had/will have a better time taking your children to see Santa.

Lobster Bisque

Last week I had planned to make "chicken" pot pie on Friday night but when I was at the grocery store, I saw that 2-1lb. lobsters were $6.99/lb. I just couldn't resist and had to get them. I didn't know what I was going to do with them, but I got home and went online to see what I could do with approximately 1lb. lobster meat. I found a recipe on Allrecipes and used it as my base. It turned out really well and still very healthy.

Ingredients

• 1 cup vegetable stock (reduced sodium)
• 1/4 onion, chopped
• 2T unsalted light butter
• 2T flour
• 2 cups skim or 1% milk (I used skim because that's what I had and it thickened nicely, but obviously not as rich as it could be)
• 1 lb. lobster meat, cubed
• 1/2t kosher salt
• 2 shakes of worcestershire sauce
• 1 shake cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Saute onion in 1/4 cup vegetable stock in a small saucepan.
2. In a medium pot, melt butter. Then add flour and mix for 2 minutes to cook the flour.
3. Gradually pour in the remaining stock and whisk until the flour/butter mixture is incorporated.
4. Next whisk in the milk, onion, salt, and lobster. Once all incorporated, add in the worcestershire and cayenne.
5. Let simmer (not boil) for 20 minutes as soup thickens.
6. Enjoy!

Serves 4

Nutritional Information

Calories: 224

Total fat: 6.7 grams

Saturated fat: 3.9 grams

Carbs: 11.3 grams

Protein: 28.1 grams

Menu Planning - 11/9

Sorry, I am a day late on this, but I just couldn't get around to posting this yesterday. Hope was up late last night and I was distracted most of the day. I am excited about this week's menus because I plan to try a lot of different recipes.

Monday - Cottage cheese and noodles

Tuesday - Stuffed peppers

Wednesday - "Chicken" and Veggie Pot Pie (I plan to use veggie chicken strips instead of real chicken), broccoli

Thursday - Mac and Cheese with Cauliflower, chicken for Adam, side salad

Friday - Dinner out

I did not make the chicken and veggie pot pie last week because I found lobster on sale for $6.99/lb, so I just couldn't pass it up. I will post the recipe and pictures of my lobster dinner later, I promise. Have a good week everyone!!!

I won the giveaway!

I never win anything, so you can believe how surprised I was when I found out I won the giveaway I mentioned last week. A fellow blogger is lucky enough to have a nice following and has companies send her tons of stuff to try and write up a review on her blog. Well she had so much stuff, that we had a giveaway and I won! I received the package on Wednesday and immediately opened it up and started going through it. Lots of gels, powders, and fun exercise food stuff. I have already tried some of it. I really liked the nunn tablets.

Here are some pictures of my loot. :)

And if there are any companies that would like to send me free stuff to review, I am open and willing. :)

Holiday Challenge

So, some of you are as bad as me when it comes to message boards, and some of you frequent the same ones I do, but I have to say I am addicted to The Nest. I was on The Knot before I got married, and I am also on The Bump now. On The Nest, I frequent the Health and Fitness message board. One of the nesties started a Holiday Challenge and even if you are not a big fan of message boards, I thought this might be something you might want to do on your own. You can download the spreadsheet and do it anyway. I am such a competitor that I plan to do it this holiday season, but instead of going crazy to fill in every 5 and 10 point block, I am going to be realistic about it. In the past, I would have gone over and above to make sure I won it, but now I have a child and I have to put her needs first (wow, look at me, I am growing up). It started Nov. 1, but you could start today and runs through the end of Dec. I will let you know how I am doing periodically, and how many points I end up with. For those that plan to do it as well, good luck!

Planned Exercise for week Nov. 2-8

So the weather is nice again and I can get back into the swing of things with me, Hope and our jogging stroller. Yeah! I also saw a new ab routine in last month's Shape's magazine. I couldn't find the routine online, but it is the 4 week ab makeover that has 8 exercises and Jennifer Love Hewitt is on the cover. I thought I would give it a try and see what it does since I am always trying to change things up. Here is what I am thinking for this week.

Monday - Rest

Tuesday - Run 5 miles with jogging stroller, new ab routine

Wednesday - 30 minutes on elliptical, push-ups

Thursday - Tennis practice

Friday - Run 6-7 miles with jogging stroller, new ab routine

Saturday - Tennis match

Sunday - Run 9-10 miles - this time without the jogging stroller

I hope I can get it all in. I am thinking by Sunday, running is not going to be the first thing on my mind, but I do have another half marathon coming up on Thanksgiving morning, so I need to get some long runs in.

Hope's first flight and trip to Notre Dame

Well, a few weeks ago, we went to South Bend, IN via Chicago to see the Notre Dame football team face Boston College. It was Hope's first flight and all in all, she did very well (the trip up was much easier than the trip back). We stayed with friends both nights (Friday and Saturday) which was nice because they have little ones so we didn't have to bring as much stuff for Hope. Saturday morning we were up early to make the drive from Chicago to South Bend (a little over 90 miles). The drive was no problem, but once we got to South Bend, it was very cold and looked like it was going to rain. We parked the car and made it over to the bookstore where Adam could get a new t-shirt, some gifts for family, and a whole slew of stuff for Hope. As soon as we reached the bookstore, we saw the leprechaun and I had to get a picture of Hope and the leprechaun. Hope looks more interested in his glove, then him. :) Notice how bundled up she is. I had to hit the store on Friday before we left to buy her a winter coat, something she won't need much for winters down south.





After that, we made our way to the tailgate. It was very cold and windy (42 degrees and 10+ mph winds). Then it started to rain. After an hour of being held, poor Hope wanted to get down and move around. I walked her around for a about 10 minutes, but knew I couldn't do this all day and we were both getting cold.

So we grabbed a few pictures of Hope in South Bend and Hope and I headed to the car. Here we are in front of the stadium.

Hope and Adam with Touchdown Jesus.

The fam in front of the golden dome.

Hope and I got warm at a local diner that Adam recommended (he went back to the tailgate and then to the game with college roommates of his).

This is what Hope ended up doing during the game. We were lucky enough that we had some friends who were also in town and had a daughter just a few months older than Hope. So we spent the rest of the day inside watching the game and Hope was able to play with toys and new friends. I think she enjoyed it!

Halloween 2009

Halloween 2009 was a success despite the crummy weather we had in the ATL. Hope was a ladybug this year and a darn cute one if I do say so myself. :) Adam has been pushing the whole ladybug thing for a while now, so I was glad when I found this cute costume at Target. Here are a few pictures of her during the week of Halloween.



At Gymboree (we were told to dress them up for class).





Going to the block party, all dressed up.





Checkin' it all out!

We had a number of trick or treaters and I can't believe next year Hope might be going to houses with her daddy. They grow up so fast.

Menu Planning - 11/2

Good morning everyone! I am back on track with my menu planning this week. Late last week was tough; we had a lot of candy in the house and we did not eat well. I am feeling it today too. I need to get back to my healthy meals and I know I will feel like myself in a day or two after that. I have a number of new recipes I plan to try out this week. I can't wait! A lot of them are seasonal, so it will be fun. Here is what I have for this week's menu:

Monday - Chicken, rice pilaf, salads

Tuesday - Pumpkin Orecchitte with goat cheese, broccoli

Wednesday - Veggie and Black bean Quesadillas

Thursday - Potato and Carrot Pancakes, Baked beans, pork sandwich for Adam

Friday - "Chicken" and Vegetable Pot Pie