Broken computer... Hopefully be back soon

Slow cooker Chicken Chili

So tonight for the first time I am trying to cook dried beans in the crock pot. So many canned beans have tons of salt or even sugar in the ingredients, and I'm too cheap to buy organic canned beans, so we bought some in bulk and are trying this sucker out. I'm making chicken chili tomorrow, so tonight I've got my black and white beans in the pot (fitting for Verge and I don't you think? Maybe they'll come out the color of our children :) I've also got my third loaf of bread in two days going. I think my yeast is bad (winco bulk yeast), the last two have been solid little rocks, so I've doubled the yeast.. 5 tsp for one loaf. So in the morning i could still have a little hard ball of dough. or a light and fluffy over sized loaf that tastes very 'yeasty.' I'll let you know tomorrow how both turn out! Verge has his alarm set for six, I'll see if I can get him out of bed when it goes off! (It's usually much easier to get him up if I've been up a few times with Lincoln, I just have to remember to do it lovingly, I'll let you know how that part goes too!)

Happy Valentine's Day...

We had a fun Valentines day party last night with our good friends the Dahls. The girls got all dressed up in red cheer outfits. We enjoyed a delicious salad that Carrie brought, and Cajun shrimp and polenta, a new favorite around here.

Today on the menu is grilled asparagus with lemon and Parmesan and lemon caper chicken. We're headed to the gym after dinner for our Monday night elliptical date. Enjoy the sun!

Our favorite breakfast..

Verge and I have fallen in love with smoothies.. we're on our second magic bullet (which we also love). A perfect breakfast food.. frozen cherries and strawberries from Winco, orange juice, honey flavored greek yogurt from Trader Joes ($1.29 and so stinking good), probiotics and raw honey. Great way to start off your morning. On the menu today is venison crockpot stew courtesy of my good friend Kristal Bone and her family's hunting and shooting abilities. Then Verge and I have a date on the ellipticals together at 5:30. How romantic :)

It's a new week...

Verge enjoyed his day off yesterday by washing cars. We also went on a walk to the park, got coffee, and rented a movie. Boy was it a beautiful day. We topped it off by grilling dinner. I say we, but I just enjoyed the outcome. We made tandoori grilled chicken thighs, which we marinated over night. Verge got a Traeger grill from Costco for his birthday/valentines/I-love-you-and-want-you-to-feel-like-a-man-so-you-can-get-a-grill gift. It was awesome. Grilled to perfection. This morning at 6:30 I was Verge's personal alarm clock, lovingly urging him out of bed to get to the gym. Tough love, tough love. But it's paying off! We've both lost weight and are still super excited about our new eating plan.

Back into the groove...

Just had to post a couple of pictures of our cute kids... Olive got gold fish named Dorky and Blue that she gets to feed when she goes potty... Lincoln just started rice cereal, so he's been eatin good.. and the last picture is pan seared salmon with garlic green beans. bon apetite!

Delicious soup!

My friend Beth just gave me a recipe for DELICIOUS lentil soup that is so easy and cheap! I made it last night for dinner and I had to convince Verge that it's still a meal even without meat. Beans and rice people, it equals a protein. Anyway, it's called Armenian Lentil Soup and all the ingredients equal about 800 calories, zero fat and super high in fiber for a full pot of soup. It's a delicious and healthy meal paired with a piece of toast.

Put 1 1/4 cup lentils, 10 cups water, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 tbs onion powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 6 chicken bullion cubes, 3 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp basil, 1/2 tsp ginger, 1/2 tsp paprika and 1/2 tsp oregano in a large covered pot and simmer for 1/2 hour then add 1/2 cup brown rice and simmer again for 1 1/2 hours. I add a little sour cream on top of mine, yum yum. Verge doesn't like anything white (except me :) Enjoy!

Great chicken find....

Verge and I have wanted to go cold turkey (or cold chicken) when it comes to switching to free-range chicken, however it's so darn expensive! The cheapest we've found other than Fred Meyer clearance mark-down meat is $5.99 a pound New Seasons. But this week I found a GREAT deal on chicken at Winco. They don't sell free range, however they have packages of Pilgrim's Fresh all natural No hormones and No steroids boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale (no water added, fresh not frozen) for ONLY $1.79 a pound!! That is a steal! Especially if you are currently buying your chicken breasts at Costco for about $2.29 a pound with water added. Anyway, just a heads up for anyone looking for a great deal. We bought a bunch and froze them in small portions. Go Winco!

Finally back...

So we obviously took the week off. I was in Salt Lake City visiting my sister and her family for the week and Verge took a little retreat to Sisters, OR. We both got some down time, and had some cheat food; both of which were awesome. But now we're back in the saddle ready to go. So far this week we've had Southwest Chicken Quinoa Salad, spaghetti and meat balls, and pesto quiche. We're excited about getting back into our routine, and continuing to lose weight! Verge will post more later...