My new excuse!

So about a month a go I mentioned being sick.  What I would have liked to say is that I have been sooooo sick.  I wake up feeling sick, go to sleep feeling sick and feel sick every moment in between.  And I have been so tired that I can barely heave myself off of the couch to provide basic care for my family because.....I AM PREGNANT.  Yep, like on about day ten I realized I was pregnant.  So, the weight loss plans are going by the way sides for a while.  I am starting to feel better so I'll start eating healthy and exercising again, just not to the extreme that I had originally planned!  We are super happy and can't wait for November when our new little addition will be here!

Summer Goal

I was recently reminded of just how many popsicles my kids can eat in a day.  Like a WHOLE bag! So I've decided to make a new goal for the Summer.  I will not, not, not buy any popsicles.  Crazy, you say? And why am I so passionate about an absence of popsicles you say?  Well for starters I love them and if they are in my freezer I will eat them.  Also, my kids, ff allowed would eat bags and bags of popsicles all summer long.  I have a weakness for them because they are soooo cheap.  Last Summer when they went on sale for .88 cents a bag I filled my freezer with them.  And Otter Pops, oh my, you can buy a box of those for practically nothing.  And what is in them sugar and artificial color, TERRIBLE! 

My six year old who is my worst eater is also the most crazy about popsicles, so my sneaky plan is that if the only kind of popsicles I have available are made with real fruit he will eventually eat them, right?  Knowing him maybe not, but still I'm stickin' to this.   The kids won't be banned from eating them.  If they have them at a friends house, family party, no problem.   I just won't be purchasing them.

Here are a few recipes I have found if anyone has any other great ideas or recipe for homemade, healthy popsicles, send them my way!!

Extra Sneaky Chocolate Breakfast Ice Cream
1 frozen banana, cut into pieces (about 1 cup)
2 Tb plain yogurt
1 Tb honey or sugar
1 ts unsweetened cocoa powder

*this is supposed to be super thick.  I don't think my blender (I don't have a really cool one or a food processor) would be able to handle something this thick.  I would add more yogurt or milk (and honestly more sugar) thinner would be OK because I am planning on freezing them in popsicle molds anyway.

Another one from the sneaky chef HERE

I've made the ones found HERE before with great results.

I also just plan on making my own wing it version with pureed fruit and  little sugar.  I'm honestly not too worried about the sugar.  I will be so happy that my six year old is eating fruit!!


Along with the recipes I need to decide what to do about the popsicles molds.  I have some really cheap ones (like dollar store cheap) and in the past I have just done small bathroom disposable cups with popsicle sticks.  I think I will invest in some better ones this summer.  Any suggestions on what to look for?

I'm also intrigued by the idea of using THESE.  They are actually for cake push ups but I wonder if I could use them for Popsicles or find some reusable type push-up Popsicle molds.  My kids LOVE push-pops!  I'll let you know what I find and try!

I'm still here

I got side tracked the last few weeks.  I blame it on being sick, having my nine year in a play (they logged over 17 hours of rehearsal time in the three practices before opening night, and the parents logged a whole ton of volunteer hours, YIKES) and going on vacation.  So I should be on like day 40, but I'm so not!

Day 14

I missed my workout on Saturday but I'm not going to beat myself up about it becucase even with that last workout in these 14 days I've exercised a total of 660 min.  That is GREAT for me!
Today I really didn't want to exercise but I did it anyway. 
I'm learning to put my health as a priority.  I exercised during my two year old's nap today.  In that past I would have never given a precious hour of nap time away to exercise but I'm changing my priorities.  Sometimes my kids might have to wait for something until I've finished my workout, my toddler has sat by my feet and cried through the last few minutes of a workout and they've been just fine. 
I still need to change my eating habits and make eating better a priority but for now I'm just focusing on exercise.  Baby steps. :)

Jane Fonda is awesome!

 I was in an exercise slump today.  I really did not want to do anything, but thankfully I've committed to seeing this 60 min thing through so I did finally force myself to do it.  I decided to stick this little gem in the VCR (we totally still have VHS!)   I have had this Jane Fonda video and step for close to 20 years.  I asked for this one year for my Birthday when I was in Junior High.  I remember my mom kept asking if that was really what I wanted, and oh yes, it was!  After this many years I don't think I will ever have the heart to get rid of this thing.  I haven't done the workout in a loooong time but it all came back to me.  It is amazing after doing a video so many times you know it by heart no matter how many years it has been. And really, step aerobic moves haven't changed all that much in 20 years.  The basic step, over the top, straddles and three knee repeaters are timeless.
Here are some photos I took for your enjoyment.  LOVE the leotards and flesh colored tights!

In this one below I was trying to get a shot of this lady who has a pretty skimpy back.  I don't care how thick your flesh colored tights are I do so not want to be behind someone in step class wearing a thong on! And Merri, I think that might be you in the back there in the purple.  I'm pretty sure that is what your hair looked like in 1992. :)

And the last one is of some other winners I have sitting on my shelf anyway.  I got these beauties at the DI not too long ago.   Why?  Becuase they were $1.  I need help.

Day 7

I've logged 365 Minutes of exercise for a calorie burn of 3,080 (as calculated by myfitnesspal.com)  Not a bad first week! :)

Baking Day

I've been trying to make my grocery dollar stretch a little farther and feed my family healthier foods.  Really the only way I can figure to do this is make more things from scratch at home.  And thus, baking day was born.  For this instalment of baking day the agenda was, whole wheat pancakes, Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars, and Banana Bread.  And the results:

I made Zonya's recipe for banana bread found HERE, this we will eat this week for after school snacks. I probably won't freeze any of it.

The chocolate chip cookie bars recipe also came from Zonya, go HERE if you want it.  These will go into the freezer for treats in my nine year olds lunch.  They do have a lot of sugar in them so they really are more of a treat but apparently it is totally dorky not to bring a treat in your home lunch.  Really you may as well just give up on ever having a life if you are that big of a loser that you can't even bring a treat in your lunch.   So this will be better than a Hostess snack cake (although I'm sure it does not carry the same amount of trading power)! 

And for the pancakes, I made half using my usual pancake recipe but replacing half of the white flour with whole wheat and cutting the oil called for down by a lot (like more that half). The other half I used a new recipe called, Whole Wheat Fluffy Pancakes.  They definitely taste like 100% whole wheat but I think my family could get used to them.  We do already eat 100% whole wheat bread so it's not that much different.  The pancake recipes are from cook books so I don't have a link for them but if anyone wants them I will add them to the site.  Obviously most the pancakes will be going into the freezer.
 And the totals: 2 loaves of banana bread
                        24 chocolate chip cookie bars
                        32 pancakes

Last week I made some frozen roll dough as well.  I just use a basic roll recipe with whole wheat flour.  After I shape the rolls and before they rise I set them on a pan to freeze, when they are frozen I take them off put them in a baggie and voila, my own frozen roll dough. 

And this is what your toddler and your kitchen look like after baking day!  At one point I looked over and he was pouring salt from the salt container all over the floor.