She's making me crazy..

Amelia has really gotten into the party planning for her birthday this year. The only problem is all the stuff she's planning doesn't really go together. She wants a PJ party during the day, but she wants a bouncer too. I'm not sure if parent's want their kids out playing in my yard in their PJ's. She wants to do girly stuff like makeup, and painted nails, but now she's got 2 boys she wants to invite. I'm tempted to tell her to just pick one kid and I'll take them both to Disneyland for the day and just be done with it. Or I could just do what we normally do for parties, have a bouncer and pinata, lots of food, lots of our friends and leave it at that. Maybe we'll save the sleepover style party for next year. What do your kids do for birthday parties? Are they big and crazy parties? Small family only gatherings? Tell me all about it. :-)

What I ate Wednesday #4

It's Wednesday! Time for what I ate. And since I'm getting new visitors around here, I thought I'd share a little disclaimer. I had stomach surgery in August. I'm still on a pretty limited and small portioned diet. I'm eating super small quantities but I'm under a doctor's care. Don't send me emails that you're going to eat like I eat so you can lose weight okay? lol.

I didn't really have breakfast, it was more of a brunch. It was blackberries and Chobani Greek yogurt. This was my first time trying the Chobani yogurt. It's good because it has a lot of protein, but it's also got a lot of sugar. I ate half the container and was okay, I think if I ate a whole container it might make me sick.




Dinner was a small baked pork chop and some veggies. It was yummy. I was just released by my surgeon to have pork, after not being allowed any for like five months, so pork chops are pretty exciting. lol.


Blackberries are one of my favorite foods from my childhood. They grew wild all over the place where I grew up, but that's not the case where I live now so they're a rare treat. So of course I had to have them twice in one day. My snack was blackberries and cottage cheese. Nom. Nom. Nom.

What WIAW isn't about

Comparison - Judgement - Restriction - Guilt

What WIAW is about

Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!

WIAW is about food and fun! It's about making new friends, breaking out of a food rut, inspiring yourself & others, embracing fruit & vegetables, finding new ways to eat your favorite foods, and so much more <3

Celebrate blogging. Celebrate Food. Celebrate Individuality.
[Cause over here, we like to party!]

Menu Plan Monday

It's been ages since I played. I plan my menus every week but I've been too lazy to post them. Well here's this weeks plan. Jeff is not going to be home for dinner this week so it's pretty simple stuff, silly to make big meals for my small appetite and the kids don't eat a ton anyway.

Monday Meatball and Vegetable Kabobs
Tuesday Baked Pesto Chicken, Broccoli, salad
Wednesday Simple Turkey Chili, corn bread
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Shrimp and White Bean Salad
Saturday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, baked sweet potatoes, Sliced cucumbers and Carrots
Sunday: Out





Meatball and Vegetable Kabobs
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 20 mins

Ingredients
1/2 6-oz. can tomato paste with Italian seasonings (1/3 cup)
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, crushed
16 1-inch refrigerated or frozen Italian-style meatballs, thawed (I buy the turkey meatballs from Trader Joes in the Frozen section.)
2 small zucchini
8 large cherry tomatoes
Nonstick cooking spray
8 metal or bamboo skewers

Notes / Directions
directions

1. Preheat indoor electric grill or broiler. In a medium bowl combine tomato paste, water, and Italian seasoning to make a thick sauce. Add meatballs to sauce, stir to coat; set aside.

2. Using a vegetable peeler, cut 4 evenly spaced strips from zucchini. Cut zucchini in 1-inch cubes.

3. On skewers, alternately thread meatballs and zucchini; thread a tomato on each end. Lightly coat kabobs with nonstick cooking spray. Grill or broil (3 to 4 inches from heat,), for 4 to 5 minutes each side or until meatballs are heated through and vegetables are crisp-tender. Brush remaining sauce on kabobs during last 2 minutes of cooking.
nutrition facts

Baked Pesto Chicken
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 25 mins

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves (about 5 oz. each), skinless
1/2 cup BUITONI® Refrigerated Pesto with Basil
2 plum tomatoes, sliced (optional)
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Notes / Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.

2. Place chicken and pesto in medium bowl; toss to coat. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet.

3. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove from oven; top with tomatoes and cheese. Bake for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Simple Turkey Chili
Makes: 8 servings
Time: 1 hr

Ingredients
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 (28 ounce) can canned crushed tomatoes
1(16 ounce) can canned kidney beans - drained, rinsed, and mashed
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Notes / Directions
1. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Place turkey in the pot, and cook until evenly brown. Stir in onion, and cook until tender.
2. Pour water into the pot. Mix in tomatoes, kidney beans, and garlic. Season chili powder, paprika, oregano, cayenne pepper, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 30 minutes.

Shrimp and White Bean Salad
Makes: 6 servings

Ingredients
1 (16 ounce) package frozen cooked shrimp, thawed and tails removed
1 (14 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup cherry tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic salt
6 cups salad greens

Notes / Directions
1. Toss the shrimp, cannellini beans, cherry tomatoes, and diced red onion together in a bowl.

2. Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian seasoning, and garlic salt together in a small bowl until well blended; drizzle over the shrimp mixture and toss to coat. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 4 hours to overnight.

3. Put the salad greens in a salad bowl, and top with the chilled shrimp mixture to serve.

BBQ Chicken
Makes: 4 servings
Time: 8 hrs

Ingredients
Onion, chopped
2-4 Chicken breast, boneless skinless
1 bottle Barbecue sauce, kc masterpiece
1 cup Chicken stock
4-8 Onion rolls, toasted

Notes / Directions
Put chicken stock in crockpot with chicken and onion diced. Cook on low 6 hours. Shred chicken. Add BBQ sauce. Cook1-2 more hours on low. Serve on toasted rolls with sharp cheddar.

Happy New Year!

We had so much fun on New Year's eve. Good friends, good food, and sore bodies from too much Just Dance on the Wii.


The kids actually managed to stay up until 12. Well 1:30 for Anthony. Crazy boy. He was just so excited. This is us at midnight with our apple cider.... I was so tired. I look intoxicated but I actually wasn't. lol



Anthony had issues with the dog gate. He refused to open and close it, instead he'd sit behind the gate and make sad faces and tell us he was trapped.


The poor dogs needed a nap too. Or they were just sick of the karaoke...


I took a bunch more pictures, but well, a lot of them are kinda goofy. Not sure I'd want pictures like that of me posted online, so I'll do the same for my friends. lol

Hope you all had a wonderful and safe New Year's!

What I ate Wednesday #3

Week three! My food was not great the day I took pictures. I thought about waiting a day and doing it on Tuesday, but I like the idea of posting my food from a set day every week, whether I meet my nutritional goals or not.
I didn't actually eat these cream puffs, I just made them for New Year's. I had to post a pic though, don't they look yummy?

Half the food I ate this day was leftovers from New Years. This is a frittata with peppers and beans and all sorts of yummy stuff. Oh and cheese. Lots and lots of cheese.


More leftovers. Shredded beef with barbecue sauce and some provolone cheese.


Dinner was a little spinach with a hard boiled egg, some diced chicken breast and tablespoon of raspberry vinaigrette dressing.


I did have a couple cups of tea on this day, that's good since I didn't drink any water, and I only got in one serving of my vitamins. I'm supposed to take them 5 times a day. Eep. The next day was better though with water and vitamins, although they're still something I struggle to get enough of each day. It's a challenge when all I can do is sip water, I can't chug it the way I'm used to.

What WIAW isn't about

Comparison - Judgement - Restriction - Guilt

What WIAW is about

Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!

WIAW is about food and fun! It's about making new friends, breaking out of a food rut, inspiring yourself & others, embracing fruit & vegetables, finding new ways to eat your favorite foods, and so much more <3

Celebrate blogging. Celebrate Food. Celebrate Individuality.
[Cause over here, we like to party!]

What I ate Wednesday (#2)

I'm actually doing this two weeks in a row. Yay me. My food this week isn't very exciting. I've got a cold and can't really taste anything. And I have a fridge full of leftovers, so that's what I'm eating.


As is still typical for me, my eyes were bigger than my tummy. I ate the cranberry sauce and turkey and the deviled egg, and only had room for one bite of stuffing. It was a good bite though! :-)



More turkey. I told ya it was an exciting day didn't I? So turkey, green beans, and a bite or two of potatoes.



Dinner was two little Babybel cheeses and a cup of tea 30 minutes later. (I can't eat and drink at the same time because of the surgery. Fun huh?)




So, did you play What I ate Wednesday this week? Leave me a comment if you did, I'd love to come visit your blog. :-)

What WIAW isn't about

Comparison - Judgement - Restriction - Guilt

What WIAW is about

Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!

WIAW is about food and fun! It's about making new friends, breaking out of a food rut, inspiring yourself & others, embracing fruit & vegetables, finding new ways to eat your favorite foods, and so much more <3

Celebrate blogging. Celebrate Food. Celebrate Individuality.
[Cause over here, we like to party!]

Merry Christmas! In pictures...

Amelia and I are ready to go to a Christmas party.




School Christmas party. They had a pajama day, and a day long party. They work so hard all school year, it was nice to see them have a fun day. And I love that I got to be there for the party, yay for being a stay at home mom. I got to spend 6 hours in my kids classroom that day.



Christmas Eve was a big surprise for Amelia and Anthony. We got tickets to see Disney on Ice. (Thank you person at Jeff's work who gave us the company tickets and parking pass. You are awesome.)

It was Toy Story 3 on ice, those are the army guys being dropped down from the ceiling. It was pretty well done. I was pleasantly surprised.


The show finished up way past dinner time, so we decided to find somewhere to eat near the arena. Jeff spotted this nice seafood restaurant and of course I said yes!
This item on the menu grabbed my attention. See those Willapa Bay Oysters? I grew up on Willapa Bay, and in fact my mom worked in an oyster cannery there for years.


I had an amazing meal. Well actually this much foods equals about three meals for me, it was also my Christmas morning breakfast. Jeff had a slight problem with his food, involving a big rock that looked like a clam, but hey, they comped us his dinner for it. lmao.

The Christmas tree, loaded down with presents. We did a pretty low key Christmas this year. The big presents were from Santa, and were little two wheel scooters. The kids got a few toys each, a video game or two and some clothes. And of course a whole bunch of junk in their stockings.


This is me thinking, "Why the hell am I letting you take pictures of me in my pajamas before I've had caffeine or a shower? Cause this picture might actually turn out cute and then I'll have to put it on my blog or facebook." At least the kids are cute... lol



This picture cracks me up. She's wearing a hat she got from Santa, but it's on backwards, with her Christmas dress, and her new boots, that she says are "Cowgirl boots? ya know? like they wear in Old Texas?" I love that kid but she's a goofball sometimes.
My Grandfather happens to live about 30 minutes from our house, so Jeff picked him up for the day too. The kids love seeing him since we don't have much family around.

This kitchen was clean when I started cooking this morning. Then I made a turkey, and homemade Italian sausage stuffing, and mashed potatoes, and candied yams, and a pumpkin pie, with fresh whipped cream, deviled eggs, and some rolls (those did come out of a bag, I can't make everything!) and a green bean casserole thing, and I don't even remember what else, and by the time I was done, my kitchen was a wreck. But the few bites I had of turkey and orange cranberry sauce were awesome.





And this goofy little pig, was the favorite toy of the day. My friend Buffi bought it for Anthony and he got us to all play it with him about 87 times. It was a good day.

What I Ate Wednesday

I found a fun linkup on Jen's blog, that I thought I'd try out this week. A few people have asked me lately what exactly I can eat. Here's a day of food for me, in pictures.


Gotta start the day with a cup of Good Earth Chai tea.



.
Laughing cow light cheese gets spread on the peeled cucumbers. Then the turkey and cheese gets rolled up.



Can you tell how itty bitty my plates are? They're the size of a saucer for a tea cup. This is salsa chicken with black beans and a little reduced fat cheese on top.







Teriyaki chicken with stir-fry veggies.






Snack is three mozzarella balls from Trader Joe's. One of my favorite snacks.

What WIAW isn't about

Comparison - Judgement - Restriction - Guilt

What WIAW is about

Celebrating one of the glorious things we all have in common: We all eat!

WIAW is about food and fun! It's about making new friends, breaking out of a food rut, inspiring yourself & others, embracing fruit & vegetables, finding new ways to eat your favorite foods, and so much more <3

Celebrate blogging. Celebrate Food. Celebrate Individuality.
[Cause over here, we like to party!]