Almost 2 years ago, when I was just about to reach -50 on my weight loss journey...I got pregnant. I was very happy, and excited because I thought I could continue to lose weight while I was pregnant.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Why does this always happen to me...
Posted by Marie 2 comments Links to this post
Monday, December 10, 2012
I love this macaroni and cheese!
Okay people! This Baked Macaroni and Cheese recipe is originally from EatingWell, but I have made some changes that suit our family and have pleased everyone that has tried it. It still uses cheddar cheese, so it isn't low calorie. But it replaces butter with cottage cheese, (BRILLIANT!) and uses low fat milk and whole wheat pasta, making it a much more wholesome and nutritious version of the beloved classic.
I recommend checking out the original recipe and reading the comments. This is a great basic starter recipe and easy to adjust to your own taste.
Just don't add butter :-P
First let me tell you my changes from the original:
- The original recipe calls for regular plain breadcrumbs. I have tried regular breadcrumbs, crushed crackers, and Panko breadcrumbs on top of the casserole. I liked the Panko crumbs best.
- SPINACH: The original recipe adds frozen spinach in with the casserole. I think I might like the casserole with spinach in it, but my picky eaters actually prefer fresh, raw veggies. So I leave out the spinach and serve it with a fresh baby spinach salad or raw broccoli.
- Nutmeg: The original recipe calls for nutmeg. I'll be honest, I haven't even tried it. Maybe some day when I just have to cook for myself I'll give it a go, but I used garlic the first time I made it and my family loved it. So, I just kept the garlic instead of nutmeg.
- 3 TBLS Panko Breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 2 cups whole-wheat macaroni
- 1 3/4 cups low-fat milk, divided
- 3 TBLS all-purpose flour
- 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese
- Dash of Garlic powder
- Pinch of salt
- Ground pepper to taste
- Preheat oven to 450°F and put a pot of hot water on to boil (for pasta)
- Sauce: Heat 1 1/2 cups milk in a large saucepan on medium until steaming. Mix 1/4 cup cold milk and flour in a small bowl until smooth. Add it to the saucepan and stir quickly until it the sauce thickens a bit. (It will thicken even more when you add the cheeses, but I don't like to let it thicken too much or the casserole ends up rather dry). Remove from the heat and stir in the cheddar until it is completely melted. Stir in the cottage cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper. TASTE IT, and continue to season until it is to your liking.
- Cook pasta for about 4 minutes. Don't overcook it. Drain it and mix in the sauce.
- Pour it into a 2 quart casserole dish and sprinkle the Panko crumbs over the top.
- Bake it about 25 minutes, until the cheese bubbles up the sides.
Posted by Marie 0 comments Links to this post
Friday, October 19, 2012
Urgh! Ugh! OUCH!
Yeah, I'm sore tonight. But it's a good sore. I finally got a day with my workout buddy. She's doing great! She's up to an hour 3 days a week, which makes me feel very sheepish. I'm still at 30-40 minutes 3 days a week. And even then I usually don't get in all 3 days.
Which is probably why I weighed in this morning and have gained 4 pounds. I hate the 260's. At this point I just want to be below 250!!!! That's not a huge leap, but it seems whenever I get down to 263 my weight starts climbing again.
So today we agreed to meet every Friday to workout and encourage each other. This is so important when you are trying to lose a lot of weight. It takes a long time, and if you don't have someone you can get together with and recommit every week, you will have a very hard time reaching your goals. This is the lesson I've been learning lately.
Today we decided to up our workouts to 5 days a week. I'll continue to do the bike Monday, Wednesday and Friday. And I'll be adding Yoga (just the basic stretches) on Tuesday and Thursday. I'm hoping this, along with religious calorie tracking, will help me get past this plateau and into the 250's before the holidays hit. It is also really important to workout regularly and eat consistently through the holiday season so you don't come up on the new year 10 pounds heavier.
Other areas of our life are going well, though. Homeschooling is going fantastic! Little Meme is picking up her letters and sounds really fast, and she's even started "drawing" her letters in Sunday School :-P Harmy keeps us smiling and both entertains with their singing and dancing.
I hope everyone that happens by will have a great and healthy weekend!
Posted by Marie 2 comments Links to this post
Friday, September 21, 2012
What's Important?
This is a question I've been asking myself a LOT lately. At each stage in my life it seems the polite answer is different. But up till now, I think the real answer would have been myself. I was my all importantness (that's a word, I just made it). My own dreams. My own desires. My own passions. Even my niceness to other people was motivated by a deep and long ingrained desire to please others and have them approve of me.
And even though love of self is not what prompted this long and very tedious weight loss journey, it is what prompted the start of this blog. It's also what prompted me to spend a ridiculous amount of time typing on this blog, designing the layouts, networking, and browsing other blogs.
While the most precious elements of my life played on the floor by themselves.
So some things have changed. I don't game online anymore. I'm not looking for an income. And I have all but stopped blogging. In fact, the computer is kind of a boring place for me right now. But the more boring the computer becomes, the more joy and delight I seem find in my real life.
MeMe has started preschool (homeschool) this fall, and Harmy is walking around getting into everything. I'm still losing weight, but at this season, being a part of their lives takes priority over blogging about what's going in mine.
Posted by Marie 2 comments Links to this post












