Latest 2 meals...

We've been enjoying the grill lately, despite the less than ideal weather. We're having marinated beef and pepper shish kabobs tonight, and bacon/egg/onion/mushroom/cheese quiche tomorrow.

Bon apetit!

Back in the grind..

We're back from Boston, and just happened to bring home like 7 extra pounds as a souvenir, oops! So we're home and back to eating our healthy meals. Last night we BBQ'd chicken shishkabobs and they were absolutely delicious! Tonight was seared black pepper salmon and broccoli. Another delicious dish. It'll all pay off! Countdown is now officially 3 weeks to Hawaii! WAH HOOOOO!

1 month to go...

Verge and I are in Boston, MA visiting his parents right now. That means 7 days of his mama's good cookin. we're getting our grub on to: pork shoulder, spaghetti, smoked turkey and green beans, pot roast with rice and gravy, pizza, baked mac and cheese, gumbo, corn bread, and a traditional southern fish fry. When we get back, only 3 weeks to go to Hawaii!! So hopefully all our hard work and healthy eating will be worth it when we put on those rusty bathing suits.

Our BBQ deliciousness

Verge barbequed the best steak ever the other night. I found new york strip steaks half off at Safeway, so we seasoned them up and man were they go. 10 points for the Traeger

Our grub..

We had bbq turkey sausages on the traeger with whole wheat buns, organic sour kraut, and all the fixens. threw in some corn on the cob, and we got our grub on

Gluten Intolerant?

So if any of you know my husband, you know that he's had intestinal issues for years. He started getting sick in college, and doctors have never been able to figure out why. Two years ago he had his gallbladder taken out, which we thought would help, and maybe it did.. a little. Anyway, a friend of ours is gluten intolerant and she was explaining to Verge the symptoms that led up to her discovery. Verge has been told his symptoms were anywhere from lactose intolerance, Chrones disease, IBS, stress, etc. and many of these are misdiagnoses for gluten intolerance or celiac disease. All that to say he has an app with an allergy specialist tuesday morning, and I'm praying that they figure it out for sure. We read it takes an average of 8-10 years for someone to be diagnosed from the time they have their first symptom. Anyway, that was a long introduction to our meal.. I was going to make chicken noodle soup, but since we're trying to stay away from gluten until we know for sure with the blood test, I made chicken and wild rice soup. it was DELICIOUS!! It had cumin and red pepper flakes which gave it a zip!! (that's the picture above). we'll let you know what the dr says!!

Last night's late meal..

Verge barbequed burgers last night after the kids went to bed on the Traeger, delicious!! We made them a little heathier by turning some into salad and some we used small whole wheat dinner rolls. It was a fun date night.

One of the drawbacks to cooking....

Quite good...

Just an FYI, the pot roast with carrots and potatoes in the crock pot was quite delicious, despite the power going off in the middle of the night, our trusty crock pot did it's thing and we had a great and healthy meal after church sunday. All this healthy eating is paying off!!

Only 5 more pounds to my goal!! Wah Hoo!!

Total cheat day, totally worth it..

Verge and I were able to go out on a date thanks to my parents Monday night. We went to see the new Tyler Perry movie. We ate good the first half of the day, so we could splurge on our date! First we went to get mocha's from Coffee's On, where we also got a muffin. Then when we went to the theater we had a Regal Rewards candy coupon so we shared a box of sour patch kids, yum. After the movie we went to Buffalo Wild Wings at almost ten at night and shared mozzarella sticks, buffalo wings, and pina coladas. Now that's a date. A high calorie date, but totally worth it. We had another date night tonight, next to each other on the ellipticals at the gym. Back on track!

Budget update for this month is $120 to date for all food/household. But pantry, fridge and freezers are fully stocked so we're good for at least a week or two. If anyone has never been to the Frontier Mission store on Stark, I HIGHLY recommend it. Cheap cheap food that's mostly been dented or packages ripped on the edges.

A few things on the menu for the next while are...
Chicken stir fry
Chicken Quinoa salad
BBQ chicken salad
Tomato and white wine Maui Maui
Sloppy Joes
Enchiladas
Lentil Soup
Chicken noodle soup
Taco soup
Chili (chicken or beef)
Cream of mushroom chicken over rice
Pot roast with potatoes/carrots
Meat loaf and veggies
Salmon and scalloped corn
Grilled/BBQ chicken
Bacon and cheese Quiche
Spinach chicken parmasean
Beef stroganoff
Potato garlic soup
Spicy beef vegetable stew

same old, same old...

It's been a while since a post, blame it on nothing to write I guess. It's sunday morning and since 5 am I've had a roast with carrots and potatoes going in the crock pot for after church. we've been doing good... few cheat meals here and there, and we've definitely enjoyed them. I have put off bread making for a while and we've been enjoying great harvest loaves for the last few weeks. It's a good thing because they're $5 a loaf! Verge's parents were here for Easter so we did healthy cooking one day then went out to eat at Red Lobster the next. We splurged on all the good stuff, like pina coladas and their cheddar garlic biscuits! Yum! I transferred another prescription to Safeway so this month's food budget is looking sweet so far. I've been making a lot of soups (that usually start off being something else then morph into soup when the recipe doesn't work, but it's good to be flexible). We had baked tilapia this week that was awful. Verge thought it was decent I guess because he heated some up for lunch the next day, I kid you not when he pulled it out of the fridge I thought Lincoln had pooped his pants. Verge just said, "Nope, it's the fish." I think I'll steer clear of buying that for a while.

Last night's feast..

Verge made Filet Mignon and we had scalloped corn (no green vegetable, Safeway was out of asparagus). The corn is kind of like a baked cheesy corn tabasco custard, so delicious. And Olive loved the meat!

Budget update...

So everyone's been asking us about how we're affording to eat healthier, as it's the obvious more expensive route. I get a high out of coupon shopping and good deals, so it's actually been fun for me to see how cheap we can eat, but still eat good healthy food. One key is shopping at like six different stores, but luckily I like to run errands, and I have incredible kids that do great in the car and in carts. For example, we get raw honey at Morrow Brothers Fruit Market, Agave nectar at Costco, meat at New Seasons, (except shrimp which we get at Grocery Outlet), produce mostly at Winco, etc. etc. etc. Anyway, so far this month we're at $148 which includes eating out and coffee dates. Not too shabby... However we did both open an account at US Bank to get $75 free groceries, and I use a bazillion coupons for everything else (for example tonight I only used three coupons at Kmart but got Huggies for only $2). But I guess my hours of searching money saving blogs and printing coupons pays off! I'm hoping to stay under $200 this month, which seems doable seeing that I transferred a prescription to Safeway and got a $30 gift card, which I'll use with my $10 off $50 coupon and doubles to get over $50 worth of groceries for under $10. Sweetness.

Indulging in a guilty pleasure..

Olive and Lincoln and I were running errands tonight and headed to the gym.. I realized it had been a while since I'd eaten and Olive had finished up all of her "car snacks." So we splurged and got one of our favorite things in the whole world.. snickers :) We shared it, and it was awesome. It has been months since I'd tasted the chewy carmely nutty deliciousness that is the snickers bar.. But then I had a kick butt workout afterward to make up for it.

Stuffed Buns...

Today I made one of Verge's favorites.. stuffed buns. I made home made whole wheat rolls then rolled out the dough and stuffed them with cheese and a cooked combo of onion, ground beef, shredded carrots and cabbage. Yum! Verge dips them in our agave nectar sweetened ketchup, but they're pretty delicious on their own. I'll have to remake them when I perfect my roll makin.. they're supposed to be a bit fluffier.

Homemade Pizza on the grill...

After church sunday Verge and I had homemade pizza, it was whole wheat pizza crust, pesto, mushrooms, spinach, feta cheese, sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, motzerella and parmesean cheese. Then Verge cooked it on the Traeger.. it was delicious!

We had more of the lentil soup for dinner tonight, with salad and home made bread. Then tea for dessert :) It's still going great!

Not too shabby...

Olive helped me make chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight: a delicious combination of free range chicken breast, peas, corn, carrots, onion, celery, whole wheat organic noodles, chicken broth, marjoram, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, parsley and love :)

If at first you don't succeed.... try try try try try try try try try again

The first picture is Olive helping me make Dad breakfast, an omlette with red peppers and green onions and tomatoes. She loves helping mom cook, and we've been doing a lot more of it lately! We've enjoyed stuffed peppers and chicken salad the last couple of days, and are having home made chicken noodle soup tonight, home made pizza on the Traeger on sunday, and mexican chicken casserole on monday.

Now onto the explanation of my title...I've expanded my horizons from bread to rolls. Maybe they'll be a little nicer to me. Nice thought huh?! I just tossed a batch in the trash and started over again about an hour ago. Round one tasted ok, but the dumb things looked terribly sick and wouldn't stay together and they fell apart into a million pieces the instant you touched them. anyway, this is a picture of round two baking in the oven. I'm like a proud new mom, they're just beautiful! Now let's see if they are edible.... I'm going in....

stupid bread.. who needs rolls with soup anyway?

WARNING!!!

You can still get fat eating healthy food!! I made muffins tonight, with olive oil, flax seed, raw honey, oat bran, spelt flour, etc. and we can't stop eating them! Although they aren't bad for you, thirty two of them isn't great for you either :) Verge is perfecting his bbq skills, yesterday he smoked ribs for like five hours with homemade rib rub and they were to die for. We are having a lot of fun with meals lately, making fancy vegetables and getting creative for desserts. We found if you put frozen cherries, agave nectar and greek yogurt in the magic bullet it makes a delicious sorbet substitute, olive is loving having "ice cream" again. Please enjoy the pictures of our beautiful kids, we sure do... thanks for checking in on us, we're going strong!

PS. the bread picture is to show you that I'm improving and haven't given up the every going battle with my bread making skills..

Still Going Strong

So a lot of people have asked, "Are you still doing that diet thing?" and the answer is yes.

I guess it is about the time when people give up on their New Year's Resolution. I sincerely believe we've started a new habit with food. To think of going back to our old ways seems ludicrous.

However, it was my birthday last week... You can't really turn down birthday food...can you?

Kelsey is growing as a cook. We are trying all kinds of new things.

You know, sometimes you just don't know what else to say so I'll quit now.

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...

9th time's a charm!

So I've decided that bread making is not for the faint of heart... today, for the first time in two weeks, we had a winner. My 9th loaf of bread is delicious! From forgetting the butter, to bad yeast, to opening the top of the bread maker, to over kneading that stupid dough... I think I finally got it right. However I did perfect my meat loaf slicing skills along the way, as that's what the bread resembled most often. We love great harvest bread, and I had given in to the fact that we'd probably end up buying our bread there for the rest of our life, thank goodness for their punch card! But at almost $5 a loaf, I desperately needed to get this thing right... So, finally, we have a decent loaf, Praise the Lord! (Too bad I dropped it when it was still hot and the top got crunched down :( but at least it tastes good!)

Going Strong

Homemade spaghetti!!! It really doesn't get better than this. Kelsey has come a long way in her spaghetti making skills. Most husbands can identify with what I'm saying. I never complained before, I just ate the bad spaghetti with a grateful heart. But now that things are soooooo much better, I make comments like "This is the best spaghetti you have ever made. This so much better than last time. I can't believe how much better this is..." Usually, Kelsey gives me the stare and I quit. Recipe: sugarless red sauce, grass fed ground beef, whole wheat pasta.

Cajun shrimp and polenta. One of my new favorites. We had this for the first time at the Williamson's house. Simple yet delicious. Just shrimp in cajun seasonings and polenta.

Spaghetti squash. Not really good, not really bad. It's squash. What makes it worthwhile is its versatility. You can eat it sweet with a little butter and agave nectar or you can eat it savory as a pasta substitute.

So if you tilt your head sideways... This meal is a staple in our home. Crockpot beef, slow cooked in beer and salsa. Just add peppers and onions; slap it in a corn tortilla and you're good to go.

One of the questions we often get asked is, "What do you eat for snacks?" Lots of popcorn, fruit, toast with jam, almonds, and dried fruit. We're doing well.

Moroccan Chicken Stew and cous cous

There's been a few requests for the recipe for this delicious stew, so here it is.. (thanks Beth for sharing it with me!)

In a large pot heat 1 tbs of olive oil for 2 minutes then add 1 small diced onion and 3 cloves of minced garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 tsp tumeric, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 2 bay leaves and 3 whole cloves. cook for 3 minutes. Add 2 cups of chicken broth and 4 raw skinless/boneless chicken breasts plus 1 can of diced tomatoes. Simmer covered for 25 minutes. Stir in 1 large sliced carrot, 1 cup peas, 4 small squash, 1 cup corn, 1 can of chick peas (drain and rinsed), 1 tsp salt and 1/2 cup of raisins. Simmer 10 more minutes, break the chicken up into pieces and serve over whole wheat cous cous.

For the couscous, bring 2 cups of chicken broth, 1 cup of water and 1 tbs of butter to a boil, add 2 cups of whole wheat cous cous, remove from heat, cover for 5 minutes then fluff with a fork. Serve stew in a bowl over the cous cous. Enjoy!!

A Fantastic Week of Food; mostly

The best shrimp pasta I've ever had. It was a combination of whole wheat pasta, garlic, lemon juice and zest, white wine, tomato, basil, chili pepper, and olive oil. It was fantastic.

Something new and different, yet very delicious. Scalloped corn. If you like baked mac & cheese, you'll love this. I know it may not sound like an adequate substitute for a comfort food, but it hit the spot. It's like a corn, egg, cheese, red pepper, and chili pepper bake. I highly recommend this one.

So Kelsey is a master grocery shopper. She snagged this wild salmon for $3.99 per lb at Albertson's. It was pan seared, 5-7 minutes on each side (America's Test Kitchen recipe). I had the leftovers for lunch today. Very good.

So this may not look appetizing, but it is one of my favorites. Just chicken with squash, carrots, tomatoes, and lots of pesto. I could eat this every week.

We promised to be transparent... Kelsey attempted a fish stew/soup thingy. You know how some foods don't look good but taste fantastic? Well, this one tasted as bad as it looked. I am purely going by Kelsey's assessment. I never got a chance to taste it. But the smell lingered. We both like fish, but I don't think fish soup is our thing. Something about fish swimming in its own juices is repulsive.

Do not try this at home. The recipe is called "sweet potato cookies." I got my hopes up when Kelsey told me that she was making cookies. First, what a cruel, cruel thing to do to a guy who has just given up sugar and is searching for a sweet treat that fits into the eating plan. Anyway, these aren't cookies and they did not taste sweet. They are basically: sliced, seasoned, and baked yams. Proceed with caution.

I saved perhaps the best for last. If you attend Gresham Bible Church, then these delightful muffins graced the snack on Sunday. Wonderful! Made with spelt flour and sweetened with pure maple syrup and raw honey. I found a sweet treat. Once again, "Great Food, Good Medicine" has been a great resource.

The eating plan is going exceptionally well. We feel great, we're eating some delicious food, and we are losing weight. Kelsey's planning, shopping, and cooking are the key.

Posts are on the way...

Our computer is in the shop. We have lots to update you on.

Food and Family

Sooooooo... Kelsey has been cooking up a storm! I have included some pictures of the recent delights that she has prepared. On January 1st she made the roasted chicken, grilled asparagus, and french potato salad I mentioned in a previous blog. Then, last night she threw down on Moroccan chicken stew with whole wheat cous cous. I'm talkin bout some good cookin.

This blog is about food, but I have to show you a few pictures of the kids. And by the way, little Ms. Olive is diggin the healthy food. Kelsey and I just commented to each other that we have never seen her eat so well. Go figure.