A brief HYC check in

Just a late night quickie so I actually check in kind of on time! I was downloading music for my step class online (for the first time) and it was taking me longer than I thought.
( So kind of fitness related.)

We had our first boot camp session after work today. Our favourite instructor is back from fireman school in Texas and was willing to train us at our school. Love it! Tough, but good. We're going to do a Biggest Loser kind of thing- complete with weigh-ins and measurements. We'll have to do percentages cause we have a least one skinny mini.

As for scale news currently, I need to clear out the left-over chocolate and jelly bellies from Easter or my belly will be jelly. I expect to be up at least 2 pounds tomorrow. Oh well! Back on track tomorrow with more water and exercise. Hope you all had a nice Easter!

-- Post From My iPhone

Happy Easter from Chocolate Central

...the bunnies are winning. Hypnotized by some beady candy eyes, I'm eating more of the delicious creamy stuff than planned. I can resist the cheap waxy bunnies, but the good stuff from a local chocolate place (love you Walkers Chocolate!) AND the delicious bag my sister brought from a flashy TO store, pretty irresistible.

side note: Laurie also brought me a tasty looking bag of tea: Coconut Cream Chai. A bunch of my favourite flavours together. I'll lyk how it is. Had a lot of caffeine today to offset the extreme tiredness of a very late night. That bunny needs a sidekick in the delivery department.

We had a nice Easter dinner. I did a couple of Martha recipes : Ham with Whole-Grain Mustard and Apricot Glaze and Roasted Potatoes with rosemary and garlic (with a side of sweet potatoes on the same pan- had a few sweet potatoes leftover from my organic delivery.) I also did the Anna Olson side salad with a tasty greens variety instead of the usual arugula and goat cheese instead of feta. I hadn't had goat cheese in awhile and one of my gfs was talking about it lately and I was reminded of my gc lurve. My sister Laurie did a Bon Appetit glazed carrot recipe that was very good, too. She did a funky foil covered steaming thing in the cookie sheet pan. I love Laurie and her fancy cooking ways. :)

Remember my plan to do some Cooking Light recipes? Well...my Cooking Light recipe (singular!) was one of my desserts. I picked up a lemon meringue pie (and rolls) from our amazing local bakery), so I decided to do a chocolate recipe. Individual Chocolate Mousse Cakes were delicious and found in my Cooking Light Complete binder, but you can find it here. We had ours with Half-the-fat Haagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream. Chocolate and creamy, 4 worth-it points and cute ramekin sized, they're the perfect end to an Easter dinner...

(...with a side of Easter chocolate eggs, of course- I told you: hypnotized!) ;)

Hope you all had a very sweet and tasty Easter. Tomorrow, we work out!

Easter prep and a long walk in the woods

Hey all! Happy Good Friday! We had an enjoyable day off work. We had a relaxed morning (though dd woke us up around 6 am crawling in). I caught up on some blog reading, made muffins (the Pumpkin Pie Spice ones again) and tidied (for Easter company coming).

In making the muffins, I realized, just as I was putting them into the oven, that I forgot to put in the vanilla. ugh! don't you hate that? assuming it happens to anyone else other than me? I had to scoop all the batter out (luckily this batter is NOT runny in the least), stir in the vanilla and re-spoon into the cleaned muffin tins. We ate them steaming hot from the oven, so it was all worth it in the end. ;)

In my other "fitness" news, I got my friend Karin to come with me on a walk through the conservation area near us. I turned on my Nike Ipod app sensor thingy and we ended up walking almost 5 K. The best part (worst part?) of the conservation area trails is that they are super hilly, so good quad work in there, too. It was a beautiful day to be outside- rather than on my basement treadmill. Something about the sunny spring weather to lift the spirits, eh?

Still have to do my menu planning for Easter dinner. Tomorrow, I guess, I plan AND shop.

Have a nice Easter, everyone! Watch out for those beady eyed chocolate bunnies...they can bite back! ;) (I plan to bite one first- just one bite though, possibly two.)

Scale Shocker

Ok, not soooo shocking! Just down 3 pounds from my last recorded weight a week ago on the online ww tracker.

Funny how just last night on the Biggest Loser, a 3 pound loss seemed like really bad news? LOL It's all relative, eh?

My cute model is my nephew who was telling us about the toy alligator he got on his trip to Mexico. (and not being surprised about my big 3 pound loss.)

Happy Hump Day, weight loss chums! Hope all your weigh ins this week are surprising in a good way, too.

-- Post From My iPhone

Tuesday's Italian Tomato Tart (and checkin' in!)

Well, actually I made this Italian Tomato Tart from the new April 2009 Cooking Light, last night, ie Monday, but I had left-overs for lunch- so it was kind of Tuesday's tomato tart- for alliteration and all. :)

It was pretty easy and very tasty. It would have been even easier, but instead of the called-for commercial pesto, I made some. I had basil left from my organic delivery and so I made the Cooking Light classic pesto from my Cooking Light Complete Recipe binder. I made just half a recipe (since I just had one basil bunch) and refrained from chopping basil for the top since my children would not have liked a scattering of green on top.

Okay, my children didn't like it even without the scattering of green, but dh and I gave it a big thumbs up. It's actually a recipe that takes awhile to make though- cooking time wise- so maybe try it on the weekend, if your week nights are rushed. I changed up the tomato a little, too, since I had left-over organic grape tomatoes and one vine one. I bought a single (called for) plum and the plum WAS the easiest to work with and the best for this recipe. (so go "plum" if it works for you.)

Finally, I enjoyed the rice/pesto crust of this tart. dh didn't even notice the pesto flavour. Score one for team pesto.

In check-in news, I'm down a couple of pounds so far this week. Easter is a danger zone ahead, but we're holding Easter dinner at our house, so I have a little control over the meal anyway. I will be looking up Cooking Light recipes. (or a crock pot ham one? ;))

In exercise news, we're starting a new workout program after work at our school with our favourite personal trainer from boot camp. Yeah! I'm excited to start back in with a boot camp type workout since we never did make a final gym decision. Best of all, no time to get comfortable home on the couch, forming excuses as to why not to exercise. This is right after work. woo hoo!

Banana Loaf and Chocolate Chicken Chili Soup

BEFORE:




AFTER:




Happy Monday ( if there is such a thing in your world. ) My day has been busy and long seeming, but no step at lunch (conflicts with volleyball and illness), so no workout YET. I'm feeling bad now with this cold though ( dizzy symptom added to the unattractive rest) so I might take the night off.

On the weekend I did a couple of recipes: one my classic banana bread one from Cooking Light Complete. I've only done it as muffins, but with my new, crazy looking red "pan", I decided to try it as a loaf. The family really liked it this way. Dh said he preferred it as a loaf.

I liked it, too, but the loaf makes me want butter on it even more. Crazy? I think of pre-buttered slices at teas and events: inch thick at that. It makes me want butter. Anywhooo! Moving on....

I did another crock pot recipe from The Art of the Slow Cooker: Chocolate Chicken Chili Soup. It was yet another good one. His ingredients are always so flavourful. There is a little prep work, but nothing too onerous.
I only had to buy the chicken for it. The rest I had on hand. It works out to 6 points and 6 servings. I served it with baked tortilla scoops and/or crusty bread. I really enjoyed it. My family were fixated on the chocolate part and complained about that flavour (shouldn't have told them that part) LOL I don't think they would have noticed it otherwise.




Recipe in brief:

2 pounds of boneless chicken (cut into 1/2 in pieces)
Cook chicken in non-stick pan-- med high in tbsp of veg oil
About 3 mins. Put in slow cooker.
1 onion
Add onion to pan and sauté 2 mins
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp cumin, oregano, thyme, salt
2 tsp chili powder (I did 1 tsp)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp flour
Add garlic and above spices. Cook 1 min.
1 1/2 c chicken broth
1 can (15oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (15oz) white beans, rinsed + drained
Add broth + tomatoes. Stir, boil, thicken
Add to cooker with beans.
Cook 3-4 hours high
Or 6-8 hours low
1 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Stir in until melts -2 mins
Cilantro garnish (I skippped)


-- Post From My iPhone

A Trial Post

Happy Saturday night in blogland! I've been off line for the last few days, but thought I'd post a quickie testing out a new app from my touch. Hope to catch up on more blog reading before the weekend is over AND hope I have a recipe to share on my blog, too.

I made muffins this morning- before getting together with friends for coffee and chatting-but while tasty, not low fat (and made in a rush- so no pic).

The ladies in this pic ( I'm in the pink in the middle) all signed up for the Plan B organic veg delivery and we often share posts and recipes over facebook. I love the support of friends (like my blogging friends, too) on this quest for better health through good food and exercise! I need all the help I can get. So I thank you for all of yours, too.


-- Post From My iPhone