Its Better To Have Tried and Failed Than Never To Have Tried At All

It has been a busy week for us and I am pretty surprised that we made it through! :) However, today is a new day and I am getting a lot done which is always encouraging! :) Plus I have a super hero of a husband who runs circles around me and gets things done! All in all we are a great team! :)

Anyway..... 

As my title suggests, my good intentioned eating didn't go as great as I had hoped.... but that's the beauty of it because there are no strict guidelines. :) Either way, I am off to a better start this week even though our weekend was a rough one. (I did have some necessary ice cream to cope with the craziness) :D But enough about that and on to the "Good Intentioned" Recipes.....

The Chicken Sausage Pizza that I replicated last week was mostly a success.... Paul and I both decided that the diced tomatoes made it taste too "healthy" so we will just use all natural pizza sauce in the future. I usually add some pureed spinach to the sauce to put a needed veggie servings in (we are awful at eating our veggies).... and you cant even taste it! :)

Another recipe I made last week was Honey Balsamic Chicken:
It was delicious in my opinion but Paul said "it was ok, but I would be ok if you didn't make it again." :) Nice! I also loved it because it was so easy to make! The only thing I would do different is instead of eating it plain I would use it to put on a lettuce salad or with rice and veggies, which the recipe does recommend.

Last night I tried another new recipe which was super successful! We loved it! I made a Clean Chicken, Potato, and Veggie Bake! Yum!!! With this one I made some alterations:

• Instead of the asparagus (I love it but Paul is not a fan! :( ) I used red, yellow, and orange peppers and a little onion. 
• I also didn't used fresh basil or rosemary..... and I only added about 1/2 of a 1/3 of a cup of basil (sorry... I'm not a math whiz.... and Paul isn't here to convert the fraction for me.... don't judge!! ;) )  because a full 1/3 seemed like too much and there was definitely enough flavor.
• I would recommend precooking the potatoes a little bit because they were a little harder than desired when I made it. Other than that it was delicious!!! 

Tonight I am trying another recipe.... a nice and simple one, but not quite as "clean." On tonight's menu we have Ground Beef and Rice with Cheese. It seems like it might be a little boring so we may jazz in up with some chips and salsa on the side! :) I will let you know how it goes!

Have a great week!

-M

Back In Action!

Hello Everyone!
I know it has been a while since my last post.... almost a year actually! :S But I am back and better than ever!! ;)

I want to try something and see how well I do with it... As many of you know I have done a "Clean Eating" diet in the past and got great results from it. Well I know myself and lets face it, I love me some food! So the chances of me clean eating myself through the rest of my life are pretty slim to none.... especially with a husband who is rather particular about what he likes etc. Which is why I have decided keep clean eating in mind when making meals but not to be so rigid about it. I like to call it "Good Intentioned Eating." :) As its name suggest it is going to be a "do what I can" kinda plan. What I am trying this week is I am using "Clean" recipes and making them more practical for me and my family. Here is what I am trying tonight:

Here is the original Recipe I am using and below are my changes:

Spinach Chicken Sausage Pizza

• Instead of chicken sausage I used a couple chicken breasts that I pan fried in olive oil and some garlic salt and a few other spices for some flavor.
• The recipe calls for whole wheat thin pizza crust and instead I used wheat pitas (they make individual size pizzas).
• For the cheese I just used Sargento four cheese Mexican since that's pretty much the only shredded cheese we buy. 

For dessert I made Soda Pop Cake.... easiest thing ever!!! :) I just bought a generic cake mix and poured a can of diet coke in it and followed the regular cooking directions. Delicious!! And because I used Diet Coke there are no added calories.... However, I'm sure the chocolate frosting and sprinkles I covered it with took up all those saved calories and then some.... again I had good intentions! :)

I have a few more recipes to use this week and I will post how the results turn out as well. I am going to be busting out my good ole Tae Bo dvds this week too to get my butt in gear.... This last 10 lbs of post baby weight is hanging on for dear life and I am bound and determined to send it packing!! :D Wish me luck!!

-M

The Big Bad Momma Is Trying New Things!

It has once again been quite a while since I have posted.... Im not too good at this whole blogging thing apparently! :) Anyway.... on to the important stuff! We have made some necessary changes in our house in the last few months.... mostly due to planning for little Jackson. Though necessary, these changes have not exactly been easy. One of these changes was to eat at home every night. As many people know, I hate to cook normally and I have been more tired and less motivated than usual since I have been pregnant. All I wanted to do was go out to eat every day and not have to worry about it. I would beg and beg and rave about my coupon stash and we would eventually go out and spend way to much money on unhealthy food. So in order to keep myself in line I made a commitment to make one new recipe a week to keep things fresh and new.... and surprisingly it has worked quite fabulously! :D I have had some successful meals and some not so good, but I figured that I should share them all the same! :D

Week 1- Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo
(From a GEMS cookbook from my old church)

6 oz uncooked fettuccine or 8 oz spaghetti

1 c fresh or frozen broccoli

2 Tbsp butter

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed

1 can cream of mushroom soup

½ c milk

½ c parmesan cheese

¼ tsp pepper

Prepare fettuccine according to package directions. Add broccoli for last 4 min. of cooking time; drain. In skillet over med-high heat, melt butter. Add chicken and cook until browned, stirring often. Add soup, milk, cheese, pepper and fettuccine mixture. Cook through, stirring often.

Yield: 4 servings 

(This was delicious- not exactly the healthiest meal but it was so easy and we had a ton of left overs! I made a few changes: I used more noodles, olive oil instead of butter, and extra chicken.)

Week 2- Chicken Quesadillas

(Also from the GEMS cookbook)

1 can chunk chicken in water

1 can diced tomatoes and green chillies 

 8 oz. shredded four cheese Mexican

6 (8 in.) flour tortillas

Drain chicken and flake. Add tomatoes and green chillies; mix in cheese. In a large skillet over medium-low heat, place one tortilla with 1/2c. of chicken blend. Spread over tortilla and cover with another tortilla. Heat Cheese is melted, turning once. 

(This was delicious as well! It was so easy.... also not very healthy but Paul loved it as well. Also, there werent any leftovers for this meal.)

Week 3- Noodles and Veggies

(This is my own concoction and its super cheap!!) 

Spaghetti Noodles

3/4 bag Florentine Veggies

1 tsp. olive oil

Crushed garlic (garlic salt if you dont have fresh)

Parmesan Cheese

Chicken (optional)

Bring water to boil and put in spaghetti. In the last 4-5 minutes drop veggies in with noodles and continue cooking. Drain noodles and veggies and mix in olive oil and garlic (and cooked chicken if you so choose) and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle with Parmesan Cheese and serve. 

(You can play with the amounts of the ingredients in order to make more or less. Its so easy and relatively healthy as well.)

Week 4- Bubble Pizza

(This is from the GEMS cookbook as well and it seems like something kids would like)

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 can (15 oz) pizza sauce

2 tubes (12 oz) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits

1 1/2 c. (6 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese)

1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheese

In a skillet, brown the beef; drain. Stir in pizza sauce. Quarter biscuits, place in a greased 9x13x2 baking dish. Top with beef mixture. Bake uncovered at 400 for 20-25 mins. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 5-10 min. longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5-10 min. before serving.
Yield: 6-8 Servings.

(This was okay but it tasted better the second day. Next time I may try to add some veggies to it such as onions, green pepper, etc.)

Try a few and see if you like them! :)


On to the Pregnancy.....
Sorry for the lack of pictures and details. There isnt much to tell except that we are having a healthy baby boy who will be named Jackson Fay Slauter! In other news.... I feel good except for being tired and having a sore back and feet. I have been reading some pregnancy books and learning alot! I am already huge and I dont know how that little guy is going to find room in there in the coming months! :) He moves alot and he loves diet coke and reeses just like his momma! His daddy has felt him move for a while now and is very excited to meet him. The nursery is set up but it still is waiting on some details! :)

Here is the bedding:



More details and some belly pics to come.... :D