Happy Birthday To Me!

My parents took us out to eat for my birthday, and I picked Cheesecake Factory as I usually do. We rarely go out to eat because who wants to take four children with them?  But going out with my parents is perfect since we have a 1 to 1 ratio of adults to kids as you can see in the pictures below.  So, Happy 35th Birthday to me!

Southern Snow

Our poor southern children didn't get much snow this year.  So one afternoon, when flurries were landing on the trampoline, they all had to go out and watch and take their buddies with them.

Valentine's Party

So, I'm very behind on blogging again (imagine that).  Back in February, we had our annual Valentine's Party.  What's even better is that we had it after V-Day, so we could buy our cards on clearance at Target.  We had a small crowd, but we still had tons of fun!

A Day in the Life of THM

So, I have posted weekly menus before, but I thought I would post a daily menu so that you could see how all the meals combine in one day.  All of my meals/snacks are spaced around 2.5-3.5 hours apart.

Breakfast - Omelet with ham, mushrooms, spinach, and cheddar, water, coffee with half and half - S

Morning Snack - Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Banana Yogurt, 1/3 sliced banana, a tiny bit of chocolate shavings, coffee with a small splash of half and half - E

Lunch - Spicy Slaw with Lime and Cilantro (see recipe below), grilled chicken (precooked store bought), cheese crisps (microwave cheese until crispy), berries, sparkling water, square of dark chocolate - S

Afternoon Snack - Fat Stripping Frappe (Sugar free chocolate coffee drink with protein powder, recipe in the book), small handful of almonds - S

Dinner - (no picture because I was late getting it on the table) No Tortilla Enchilada Bake (recipe below), sour cream, a few chips made from a baked low carb tortilla, asparagus (didn't really go with the main dish, but it needed to get used up), salad with ranch, rest of the bottle of sparkling water - S

Bedtime Snack - 2 slices Ezekiel bread toasted.  One is topped with light laughing cow cheese and one with jam.

Spicy Mexican Slaw with Lime and Cilantro - S

6 cups thinly sliced cabbage (or buy a bag of colelaw)

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup chopped cilantro (or more)

4 T mayo

3 T fresh lime juice (more or less to taste)

hot sauce to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp. green Tabasco sauce)

salt and pepper to taste

Thinly slice cabbage, using a mandoline or food processor if desired. Slice green onions, and wash, dry and chop cilantro. Combine cabbage, green onions and cilantro in large salad bowl.

In small bowl, whisk together, mayo, lime juice, and hot sauce. (You may want to start with less than the full amount of lime juice and hot sauce and keep adding until you have the desired blend of sour/hot flavor.)

Use a wooden spoon to mix dressing into cabbage mixture. Season to taste with salt and serve immediately, or chill for a few hours.

No Tortilla Chicken Enchilada Bake - S

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded

2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese

30-32 oz enchilada sauce, store bought (check for low sugar, Aldi brand only has 1 g) or quadruple the recipe below.

Green onions, optional

Sauteed onions and/or peppers, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Layer the bottom of a casserole dish with shredded chicken.  Top with sauteed onion and/or peppers if desired.  Pour enchilada sauce over top.  Top with cheese and green onion, if desired.  Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and cook for another 10 minutes until cheese is melted.

Enchilada Sauce             Makes 1 Cup

• 8oz. can of tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 t. chili powder
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/4 t. sea salt
• 1/4 t. cumin
• 1/4 t. oregano
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

More Sierra Words

And the words keep coming and coming.  It is SO fun hearing her say Amen in church or tell me, "I love you," before bed.  I am just SO proud of this girl and all the progress she has made.

36. Blast off
37. Ignore me (I asked her if she was ignoring me, and she repeated it)
38. God
39. Book
40. Sorry (she has to do a lot of apologizing for beating Jordanna or Silas up)
41. Time to eat
42. Yes
43. Granola bar
44. Cup
45. Frozen
46. Let's Go
47. Obey
48. Grammy
49. Gramps
50. Dog
51. Caleb
52. Audrey
53. Jordanna
54. Elmo
55. Please

I am sure I am forgetting some, but you get the idea.  My girl is finally talking!

Trim Healthy Dinners: Part III

Day #1 -  Baked omelet (see recipe below), Trim healthy pancakes for me(from the book), regular pancakes for everyone else, fruit salad - crossover (To make this an S, use an almond flour pancake recipe and have berries not other fruit)

Day #2 - Bacon wrapped cream cheese stuffed chicken (no real recipe, I mix cream cheese, minced garlic and Italian seasoning.  Cut open chicken breasts and fill with cheese.  Wrap in bacon.  Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes then broil for a few minutes until bacon is crisp), sauteed green beans with almonds, strawberries - S

Day #3 - White chicken chili (see recipe below) topped with Greek yogurt, grilled cheese sandwich (2 slices sprouted bread, 1 tsp butter, light laughing cheese), berries - E

 Day #4 - London Broil with herb butter (see recipe below), roasted cauliflower for me, potatoes for everyone else, salad - S

Day #5 - Crockpot southwest chicken and rice chowder, baked blue tortilla chips (regular for the family), 0% Greek yogurt or low fat sour cream, fruit salad - E

Day #6 - Spaghetti (ground beef, organic sugar free spaghetti sauce from Aldi, Dreamfield's pasta), salad - S

Day #7 - Crustless Sausage Quiche (omit milk or sub half and half or heavy cream), roasted asparagus, berries, whole grain bread for everyone else - S

White Chicken Chili -E

 In a 6 quart crockpot, place 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Season with salt and pepper.  On top of chicken, place 3 cans of white beans (I used 2 cans of white kidney beans and 1 can of great northern beans), one small can of diced green chiles, one carton of chicken broth, 1 TB of cumin, and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  Shred chicken before serving.  Top with fat free Greek yogurt or sour cream.

  

Baked Omelet - S

Ingredients

8 eggs 1/2 cup heavy cream 1/2 cup half and half 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt 6 ounces bacon, cooked and crumbled 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese 1/2 tsp onion powder Directions

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease one 8x8 inch casserole dish and set aside.
2.	Beat together the eggs and creams. Add seasoning salt, bacon, Cheddar cheese, Mozzarella cheese and onion powder. Pour into prepared casserole dish.
3.	Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 40 to 45 minutes. London Broil w/Herb Butter - S 1 beef bouillon cube 3 TB extra virgin olive oil 1 TB soy sauce (make sure carbs are low) 1 TB Worcestershire sauce 2 TB fresh lemon juice Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 top round London broil steak (about 2 lbs) Herb butter: 4 TB unsalted butter, softened 1 TB chopped fresh parsley 1 TB chopped fresh chervil or tarragon Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper 1 TB fresh lemon juice Prepare the steak: Dissolve the bouillon cube in ¾ cup hot water in a bowl; set aside to cool. Whisk in 2 TB olive oil, the soy sauce, Worcestershire, lemon juice, 1 tsp salt, and ½ tsp black pepper. Place the steak in a large resealable plastic bag, pour in the marinade and seal, squeezing out the air. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to 1 day. Prepare the herb butter: Mix the butter with seasonings in a bowl. About 30 minutes before cooking, remove the meat from the bag (discard the marinade), dry it well and bring it to room temperature. Heat a large heavy skillet over high heat, about 2 minutes. Rub the steak with the remaining 1 TB olive oil. Sprinkle 1 TB salt over the surface of the pan; add the meat and set a heavy skillet on top to weigh it down. Sear for about 7 minutes; turn the steak; replace the weight until a thermometer inserted into the side reads 110 degrees for medium-rare, about 5 minutes. Transfer the steak to a cutting board; brush with some of the herb butter, tent with foil and let rest for about 10 minutes. Thinly slice against the grain; top with more herb butter and drizzle with the pan juices.

One Year Trimaversary

Today marks one year since I started Trim Healthy Mama.  I bought the book on 3/5 last year. I started reading it while eating a Chick-fil-a sandwich, large fries, and a large Coke. I read very fast, and I read enough to know that I wanted to start the next day. I started at 184 and a tight 12. I hoped to lose 10-15 lbs and wear a size 10, but I was skeptical that it would happen. Well, it didn't! I lost 40 lbs and wear a size 6! What a difference a year can make.

Before -

After -

Chatterbox

My sweet Sierra is saying new words like crazy lately!  Even her teacher has commented on how much she is talking at school.  A lot of time, she just repeats words. For instance, she will drag me to the pantry and point. When I ask he if she wants a snack, she will say, "Snack."  Some words she does use spontaneously, though, especially "all done" and "no".  Anyway, here is a list of words that she has been saying lately.

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Uh oh
4. All done
5. Snack
6. Stop
7. Show
8. Hi
9. Bye
10. Go
11. School
12. Bus
13. Home
14. Candy
15. Chocolate
16. Derivative (Dave thinks it's funny to get her to repeat this.)
17. Amen
18. Jesus
19. Alexa
20. I love you
21. Ball
22. No
23. More
24. Bedtime
25. Hotdog
26. Okay
27. Molly
28. Ready
29. Thank you
30. Bath
31. Dora
32. Barney
33. Yeah
34. Cheese
35. That one

I'm sure I forgot a few, but I'm so proud of all the progress she has made!

Sierra Selfies

The other day, Sierra found the camera, brought it to me, and wanted me to take her picture.  Again.  And Again.  And Again.  And she had to look at the display after each picture and admire herself.  Then she would hand the camera back to me to take another picture.  This kid cracks me up!

My New Clothes Dryer

So about two weeks ago, my dryer decided to go out in flames.  Literally.  It caught on fire and set the smoke detector off and stunk up the house.  Fortunately I was standing right nearby and shut it off and unplugged it before it did any damage.  Our friend Aaron looked at it a few days later and declared it dead.  So, Molly and Nick graciously agreed to give us the extra dryer that they will have when they close on their new house, 3 1/2 weeks after my dryer broke.  So for now, I have this lovely drying rack, which is currently in front of the fire since it is 9 degrees outside.  And my parents and Molly and Megan have also dried a few loads for me.  So we are making do for now, but I will be so happy to have a dryer again soon!

Teaching Time

The big kids and I are looking forward to winter break starting tomorrow.  Dave even has Friday and Monday off with us.  Sierra still has school, which I am hoping will enable me to get several big projects completed during our time off.  But, in the meantime, we have been plugging along with school.

Alexa was working on measuring and adding to find perimeter, so she measured the kitchen rug.

Jordanna working on a sock sorting page for "S" week

When Sierra gets home from school each day, first she likes to drink her juice and watch a show.  Then she often sits right here in front of the bookshelf and pats the floor for me to sit with her.  We build blocks and string beads and read books before she goes to take her nap.

Here is Jordanna with a city that she made this week.

Alexa typing her spelling words.

And Caleb practicing piano.  He does most of his work upstairs in his room, so it's hard to catch a picture of him.

Trim Healthy Lunches: Part II

Here's another round of Trim Healthy Lunch ideas.  And I took a lot of pictures this time.  I keep saying that I will post snacks, but I'm always grabbing snacks on the run and never remember to take pictures.

Day #1 - 1 Light Rye Wasa crackers, beef summer sausage, cheese slices, carrots (just a few in an S) and ranch, berries - S

Day #2 - 1 toasted Joseph's Pita topped with homemade pimento cheese (see recipe below), 1 boiled egg, side salad with ranch - S

Day #3 - Bread in a mug (from the book) sandwich with a fried egg and slice of cheddar cheese, two sausage links, berries - S

Day #4 - Mixed greens, smoked ham, egg salad, cheese crisps (place wax paper on a microwave safe plate, sprinkle with shredded cheese, microwave for 1 to 1/5 minutes until oil is released and cheese is brown and crispy), ranch, berries - S

Day #5 - Sandwich made with 2 slices of Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Tuscan Panne, lean ham and light laughing cow cheese, toasted under the broiler then topped with mustard and mixed greens, Triple Zero mixed berry yogurt, carrots - E

Day #6 - 1 Joseph's pita split in half and toasted then topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, and mushrooms, blueberries - S

Day #7 - Brown rice topped with black beans cooked with salsa and cumin, plain Greek yogurt or fat free sour cream, salad with low fat dressing - E

Pimento Cheese - S

8 oz Kraft sharp cheddar cheese

½ c mayo

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ c pimento

salt and pepper to taste

2 doonks Worcestershire sauce

Shred cheese and combine all ingredients to your desired consistency.

My Silly Jordanna

Jordanna stayed home sick from church on Sunday, and she kept herself busy most of the day playing and pretending.  She also has time each day to play by herself when she finishes her school.  Here are some of the things she has been playing lately.

She dressed up like this (hat, princess crown, glasses, apron, sweater, purse, and red shoes) and performed a drumming and singing show for me on Sunday night.

Here she is playing "Cinderella family".  She got out 4 Cinderella baby dolls and was playing all sorts of pretend things with them.  Side note: Why do we have 4 Cinderella dolls?

One day during school, she set up all the chairs and her baby dolls and got them menus and played restaurant.

I love my sweet, silly Jordanna!