Lose Weight By Drinking H 2 the O

Did you know drinking TONS of water can help you lose weight?!

You don't say.  Tell me more Daisy.

Most of the time, when we snack or think we're hungry, we're really just thirsty.

Drinking water ALONE, can help you lose weight - no exercise, no eating right, etc. but of course, there won't be much lost there if you don't do the rest.  The reason lies int he fact that the body is able to flush out waste when you have enough water (poop any?) so having a regular time in the bathroom for number 2 comes with good water and a good fiber-ific diet.

Why do I know this?  Have tried it.  Whenever I look at my food journals and see that I have been eating a lot of sugary snacks - mostly candy and cookies, it's because I haven't been drinking much water.    And.... for the thousands of dollars my mom paid for me to go to charm school when I was 19, the first thing the fitness expert told us was... start drinking more water if you aren't already.  So from that day on, as much as I hated water.. I have started (tips on making it taste better include adding a slice of lemon, orange or cucumber).  Some people think water will bloat them... not true.  Instead, water helps rid your body of excess water ... try it if you don't believe me.

The prescribed amount is 8 glasses per day... but who uses glasses right?  I probably drink about two Nalgene bottles (that's one liter per bottle or 34 ounces each).  If you drink water bottles, look at the ounces and try to get around 64 ounces a day (a coke bottle is about 16 ounces or two cups and a normal water bottle like the one I'm drinking below is around 16-17 ounce a day so four a day of those.. or more!)

Yes, that's a lot of pee-ing and makes it hard if you're in a line of work (teachers... sorry) where you can't go often.. but it's what's good for you!

So H 2 to O, get your drink on.

Brussel Sprouts Baby Food

So easy!!! I normally make baby food and I don't track how much I put in.. but I did this time!

1 pack of brussel sprouts from Trader Joe's - about 4 cups in the Vitamix

Steam the brussel sprouts

I have peas pictured, yes I know these aren't brussel sprouts, but I didn't think to take photos until I was on the next batch of vegetables which were snow peas!

Mix in Vitamix with 2 cups of water and 2 ice cubes

Blend blend blend

Pour into ready to eat bowls or freeze into ice cube trays

For ice cube trays, spray some non-stick Pam onto the saran wrap before covering to prevent freezer burn (not always guaranteed but helps).

After trays have frozen, remove from trays and store in ziploc bags with labels (dates if you might take a long time... Jordan goes through these in about 2 - 3 days).

The Truth About Making Baby Food VS Buying It

If you're breastfeeding, I don't really think making baby food will help you SAVE money unless you already have the tools. Over the course of however many babies you choose to have (the more you have, the more you'll save), you may end up saving money but the start-up costs are quite hefty.

This is what you'll need, in order of importance.

1) Baby (they are expensive - haha, it's a joke.. if you didn't get that, stop now)

2) Vitamix (yeah, you can get a baby food maker but that's useless after your baby grows up, the Vitamix has a useful life of 7 years and cost about $400 at Costco and acts as a food processor, smoothie maker, ice cream maker, bread dough mixer, shake maker, baby food maker, peanut butter maker, hummus maker, sauce maker, and apparently I learned it also grinds wheat. It is truly amazing and the one kitchen appliance I use almost daily. It's also easy to wash and makes baby food making a cinch!)

3) Steamer - I use my old school Chinese rice cooker because all I have to do is add some water on the outside of the bowl, put the veggies on turn it on.. don't have to watch for it as it will just turn to warm when done. I say old school because the new kinds out there make it easy to steam rice but useless for anything else besides rice. The brand I use is the Tatung rice cooker which runs for about $75 on Amazon but don't cheap out and get the tiny one (which my mom gave me in college and is too small for anything except a prop on your shelf to indicate you are Chinese)

4) Ice cube trays - These run for about $2.99 at Target

5) Ziploc bags -$7 for about 52 per Amazon

6) Saran wrap - $6.25 for a roll of Kirkland Stretch-Tite

7) Permanent marker - $3 for 2 markers

8) Pam or equivalent spray - $2.99

9) Tupperware containers - bite sized baby ones work the best, I got Nuk ones with caps but any small Tupperware will do, or you can save the glass or plastic containers from store bought baby food and reuse those. These cost me $5.99

Estimating about $5,550 for all costs in, minus the baby you're looking at $550 which is conservative because the Vitamix, rice cooker, saran wrap ziploc bags and ice trays can be used for non-baby stuff too! Baby food costs about $1.99 for a pack of 2 which can last my 6 month old baby about 1-2 days. Assuming he eats at the current amount for 3 months, that is about 45 days at $2 or about $90 to buy.

To make, I calculated the following: Food costs of $6 bucks a week (for veggies and fruits I'd make into baby food) over the course of 12 weeks or 3 months which is $72 bucks plus an amortized $15 / month if I assume my start-up costs can be spread over 36 months which would be $45 for three months which turns out to be a total of $117 to make my baby food.

So $90 to buy versus $117 to make... equals a difference of $27 bucks for three months or $9 more per month. Why in the world would I make my baby food, right?

I started to think about how weird it was that unopened baby food can just sit out unrefrigerated until opened. What are they putting in it that enables them to let it sit out at room temperature? Who knows?! But it can't be good! The whole point of homemade cooking for the family is so we know what we're putting into our body and why we only eat out once a week. So why in the world would I give my son baby food that is $9 cheaper per month and not really know what is in there? Why not just feed him what I know are real vegetables plus water (decided not to use my frozen breastmilk because then the food made might not last as long in the fridge)? So that is why I decided to start making baby food. Truth be told, the stuff above makes it very easy to do. And I feel good knowing my son is eating what I made versus something labeled as peas but probably filled with who knows what!

Pumpkin Pie Milkshake!

I made some pumpkin alfredo and unfortunately for me, the pumpkin in a cans come so large... I had to make some pumpkin pie milkshake with the leftovers!

2 cups milk

2 cups vanilla ice cream

1 t cinnamon

1 t nutmeg

1T brown sugar

1/4 cup whip cream

3/4 cup pumpkin from a can

Add a few dollups of whip cream on top and...perfection.

Pumpkin Chicken Alfredo

For Halloween this year, we had our friends, the Oldroyds join us for dinner and FHE. In celebration of Halloween, I decided to make something festive and went with pumpkin alfredo taken from Our Best Bites. It was delicious - and not just per my husband, even the Oldroyds thought so (unless they were just being nice...)

It was so easy.. and with the leftover pumpkin from a can, we made pumpkin pie shakes!

Makes 10 servings (we had four people with leftovers enough for one person's lunch)

Ingredient List:

3 T Light Cream Cheese

2 T Flour

2 T Butter

1/2 yellow or white onion chopped

1 cup low fat milk

3 cloves of garlic (use the store pre bought container kind!)

3 chicken breasts

1 t sage

1 t dill weed

2 T chicken broth

1 package of pasta - fettucine

1/4 cup of pumpkin from a can

vegetables (optional)

In a blender, mix:

3 T light cream cheese

1 cup low fat milk

In a saucepan, heat 1T butter and 3 cloves chopped garlic for 30 seconds and add milk mixture. Stir constantly for about 10 minutes, sauce will thicken.. then remove from heat, add 1 cup of Parmesan cheese and put a lid on it (so it continues to steamy cook). While you're doing this, have your husband help grill some chicken (I just sprinkled some pepper and salt on it and had him grill it and then I cut it). You can also steam some broccoli if you want some vegetables in the pasta.

Start pasta - cook as normal... I used little circle fun pasta from Costco. I like how they look but the thickness of the pasta goes great with a thick sauce like alfredo.

In another saucepan, on medium heat melt 1 T of butter, put in about 1 cup of chopped onions and stir and cook until it's translucent and smells yummy. Add in 1 t of dill weed, 1 t of sage and 2 T of chicken broth and keep cooking for 1-2 minutes, then add the alfredo sauce and 1/4 cup of pumpkin from a can and swirl, mix, swirl and add cooked pasta in and keep mixing... remove from heat and dinner is served!

Egg Salad

Sometimes when I forget to think about what's for dinner, I like to make egg salad. Full of protein and so easy to make!

Boil 6 eggs
T mayonnaise
3/4 T Dijon-style mustard
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
some salt and pepper
2 green onions diced

Mix and serve with cheese and lettuce on wheat bread and dinner is served.

Four More Pounds....

I'm four more pounds to my pre-pregnancy weight but I'm struggling to find the time... so when Pinterest gave me some ideas for quick cardio reps, I took it and modified it (in purple) to the following:

1. 50 jumping jacks
2. 5 real push-ups
3. 5 girly push-ups
4. 30 seconds at the lowest of push-up hold
5. 20 sit-ups (arms crossed on chest and all the way up, can use a couch or coffee table to tuck your feet under)
6. 25 swimming paddles (on your stomach, feet up and alternate right hand and left foot up and left hand and right foot up)
7. 20 climbers
8. 30 second plank
9. 10 burpees (jump up in the air, down to touch your feet, jump your feet back into a plank, do a push-up and then jump back to your hands and up into the air and repeat)
10. salsa for 3 minutes
11. hip-hop pump your stomach 16x left and 16x right with knee to stomach standing straight up, alternate legs
12. pick up your son and dance with him for 5 minutes

Repeat twice. Three if you have time.

Panda Express Orange Chicken

Am I the only ABC ("American Born Chinese") girl who does not know how to cook rice?! I never had a reason to learn (mom or dad always put the rice in, we set the table and cleaned up) and my rice knowledge only goes as far as being instructed by my grandmother the proper way to serve rice (mix it in the pot and then serve it loosely). It's a bit disgraceful ... but true.

So when I got married and my mom gave me a rice cooker, I called her on a few occasions to ask for the proper water to rice ratio. After being scolded one too many times, I started googling it. But google only explained how to cook rice without a rice cooker. So then I started doing it on a whim without instructions. To date, I have not cooked rice successfully even once (and I try to cook Chinese food once a week). Fry rice - now that is different because you make it with old rice (and nasty old rice is fine) but normal rice, not so much. Today was no different. I put the correct rice ratio but forgot to put some water outside of the pot in the rice cooker so it could steam. Smart.

So I boiled some egg noodles instead. Still Chinese. Pretty good for the Panda Express orange chicken I made (cheated and bought the $4.99 Panda Express sauce) that Andy fried (while I fed Jordan!). Now I will never forget how to bread Chinese chicken:

1-2 pounds of chicken cubes

white pepper

black pepper

salt

sesame oil

1 egg

mix 1/4 cup of flour with 1/2 cup of corn starch and mix in with the chicken, cook in hot oil and wala - Chinese breaded chicken!

Then, cook some garlic, ginger and green onions, put the chicken back in and pour the sauce in.

The Thoughts That Go Through My Head

Today, I took a cardio kickboxing class and my instructor's style was that of Billy Blanks from Tae-Bo (he trained with him). It was a very excruciating sixty minutes of a work-out and here are the thoughts that went through my head throughout the class:

Oh no, I'm going to get a wedgie and have to pick it.

Why do the windows have to be so big and open for everyone outside to see what we're doing?

I like that girl's shirt - I wonder where she got it.

Lululemon. Duh.

Is it just me or did that mother and daughter combo smell of heavy perfume. Wait a minute, their hair looks perfect and their faces have a lot of make-up on 'em. Maybe they went to brunch first.

Man I'm thirsty.

Only 15 minutes so far?

Ugh, I need new work-out shoes.

I have a wedgie again.

I like his music!

I'm dying.

I miss my son.

Will my body ever be the same?

These mirrors make me look skinnier than I am.

Darn wedgie.

Is he serious?

Funny, I never thought I'd be one of those girls who wears their rings to the gym, but here I am.

Man, I need a drink.

As you can see, I am ADD when it comes to working out.

Update on Losing the Baby Weight!

Jordan is almost 4 months and I am about 8 more pounds to my pre-pregnancy weight. Let me begin by saying, it is hard! Although my efforts have been little to non-existent, the joy of no longer having to wear my pregnancy jeans was quite apparent and well celebrated. Thouhg I'd like to continue towards my skinny clothes, between boob feeding, cooking and cleaning, there seems never a moment for a good endorphin kick.

To date, I have gone to the gym a whopping six times.

1st Visit - Took a bosu class that made me regret returning to the gym, wishing I had a badge that said "I just had a baby" as I struggled to keep up and fought for more air, water and my towel.
2nd Visit - Missed the aerobics class and walked for 20, ran for 10 on the treadmill and felt it for three days after. I think it had been about a year since I ran last.
3rd Visit - Tried a Zumba class that had me in pain 10 minutes into the class, felt this one for two days after but kinda liked the change of pace and short spurts of dance style and songs.
4th Visit - Took a weird sword fighting Brazilian wanna-be class, we used wooden Korean swords that were supposed to have certain "elements" to help us achieve our work out goals. The instructor bugged me since she kept reminding us rejects that her class was normally way harder and she was giving us a huge break. Bite me. Then her cooldown was a bunch of mumbo jumbo meditation junk. We lay there doing nothing with our eyes closed. Interesting to say the least.
5th Visit - A throwback to the 70's jazz-ercise dance class that had me mortified but still pumping the cardio elements! Not sure if I burned any calories, but was heaving and ho-ing quite a bit afterwards.
6th Visit - Jammed to Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani and Bon Jovi on the elliptical because I figured it'd be easier on my knees which hurt for three days after I last ran. Felt good but Jordan spit up on my shirt before I left so I sported some armpit hair and a tank top. Hopefully nobody saw. Felt daring.

This has also been over the last six weeks as my gym frequency is at most, once a week. Hopefully, I can get my butt in gear and get there more than once a week!

My baby just woke up from his nap... perfect timing!

Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

I love the crock pot. It is a busy woman's best friend and this is now included in my list of easy to do recipes!

2-3 frozen chicken breasts

1 can cream of mushroom or chicken

1 cup of LIGHT sour cream

1 package of dry onion soup mix (Lipton's or generic - find it in the soup aisle in a box)

2 cups of baby carrots

1/2 cup of chicken stock or broth

Cook on low for 7 hours

Serve over pasta or rice with Tabasco!

Cafe Rio Salad and Dressing!

This is the recipe I got from my sister-in-law, Tammy to imitate the barbacoa pork salad from Cafe Rio!

Meat:

3.5-4 lb pork roast

2 t cumin

1 and 1/2 t Kanye (cayenne) pepper

1 t salt

Mix spices together and rub onto pork and cook on low overnight in crock pot.

In the morning, add the following:

1 cup of chicken stock or broth

2 cups of chopped white onions or 1 small white onion chopped

16 oz or 2 cups of Coke

2 cloves of garlic

Cook all day on low and one hour before serving, shred the meat and add in 1 cup of brown sugar and cook for another hour on low.

Creamy Cilantro Cafe Rio Imitation Dressing:

1 1/3 cup of LIGHT sour cream

3/4 cup of LIGHT mayo

1 bunch of cilantro

1 whole pack of Hidden Valley dry Ranch dressing

4 T green salsa verde

2-3 crushed garlics

1/8 tsp of Tabasco (or a couple of dabs)

Juice of 1 lime

Mix in food processor or VitaMix until all blended, and ready to eat!

My Mother in Law's Sorta Salsa

I made this THREE times this weekend - once for Andy's med school buds, once for my cousins, and once for our friends. It was spectacular every single time. Simply sensational! And after making it three times, I tweaked it to make it a tad more healthier by using less oil (tastes the same!) and EVOO instead of pure oil.

Serves 10-12 with tortilla chips!

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained

1 can corn rinsed and drained

1 can diced tomatoes slightly drained (just with the lid)

1 lime squeezed

1 bunch of cilantro chopped

4 T of pico de gallo salsa or one tiny can

1-2 avocados chopped

1 package of Italian dry seasoning - mixed - here is where I first mixed 3 T vinegar (used apple for last batch and tasted just as good!), 1/4 cup of water, then subsequently added 1/4 cup of water and 3 T of EVOO instead of 1/4 cup.

Was quite delicious if I do say so myself! The only warning is - it is a load of protein and the combination of beans may give you gas. But it was well worth it!