Eat Healthy for $36 a Week

Ok you guys, you know I’m…what shall I call it? I’m frugal. And it’s sort of hard to be frugal when you are trying to get fit. (And we wonder why America is fat!! It’s cheap to be fat! I can get 2 bags of chips for the price of 1 organic apple!!! AHHHH!! Ok…off of my soap box) So here’s a cheap week long menu for you. You’re welcome ; )

SUNDAY

 

• Breakfast: A baked apple with four ounces of plain grits and cinnamon; eight ounces of milk
  Cost: $2.18
• Lunch: Cannellini bean salad; pumpkin/apple muffin; green smoothie
  Cost: 93 cents
• Dinner: Salmon burger on 100 percent whole wheat Arnold thin with steamed broccoli
  Can sub another frozen burger, such as turkey
  Cost: $1.90

Snack: Seasonal fruit cup Cost: $1.00

 

MONDAY

 

• Breakfast: A cup of plain, fat-free yogurt with walnuts and frozen blueberries (thawed and pureed)
  Cost: $1.77
• Lunch: Egg white frittata with your choice of frozen vegetables; 100 percent whole grain toast
  Cost: $1.11
• Dinner: Lentils with brown rice with frozen spinach and fresh carrots
  Cost: $2.00
• Snack: An ounce of unsalted peanuts, with an ounce of raisins
  Cost: 19 cents

TUESDAY

 

• Breakfast: Egg whites and frozen spinach scramble with 100 percent whole wheat toast; orange juice
  Cost: $1.11
• Lunch: Frozen broccoli/leek soup; quinoa with mixed frozen vegetables
  Cost: $1.50
• Dinner: One half cup Sloppy Jim’s with one cup 100 percent whole wheat pasta; cut apple
  Cost: $2.33
• Snack: 100 percent whole wheat crackers with one tablespoon of natural peanut butter
  Cost: 90 cents

WEDNESDAY

 

• Breakfast: One half cup of oatmeal or whole grain cereal, with one cup skim milk and an ounce of raisins
  Cost: 74 cents
• Lunch: Quinoa with your choice of vegetables in a whole wheat wrap; frozen berries
  Cost: 97 cents
• Dinner: Black bean burger on whole wheat Arnold thin with frozen mixed fruit salad
  Cost: $1.22
• Snack: Homemade hummus with red pepper sticks
  Cost: $1.22

THURSDAY

 

• Breakfast: Grilled peanut butter and banana, with frozen mixed berries
  Cost: $1.25
• Lunch: Four ounces of grilled chicken breast atop two cups of fresh spinach
  Cost: $2.50
• Dinner: Frozen mahi mahi with baked potato; fat free yogurt; green beans
  Can sub any burger
• Snack: String cheese; handful of dried apricots
  Cost: $1.32

FRIDAY

 

• Breakfast: A cup of whole grain cereal with one cup of skim milk and cut strawberries
  Cost: 70 cents
• Lunch: Whole grain wrap with fat free refried beans, canned salsa and lettuce
  Cost: $1.10
• Dinner: A cup of black beans and one half cup of brown rice; four ounces of frozen chicken breast
  Cost: $1.63
• Snack: Baked sweet potato kale chips
  Cost: $1.00

SATURDAY

 

• Breakfast: Hard boiled egg sliced; two slices of whole grain toast; fresh apple
  Cost: $1.46
• Lunch: Whole wheat pita with canned salmon, one tablespoon olive oil and vinegar, plus cut celery
  Cost: $2.00
• Dinner: Fat free tuna burgers on whole wheat Arnold thin with sweet potato fries and frozen broccoli
  Can sub any burger
  Cost: $1.67
• Snack: Air popped popcorn with one ounce of almonds
  Cost: 40 cents

Homemade Apple Dumplings

It’s fall and it’s time for some good southern comfort food
What better place to start than apple dumplings!

Ingredients

• 1 large apple {any apple will do, tart is better}
• 1 can Pillsbury Crescent dough
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2/3 cups sugar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup or 6 oz. 7-Up or equivalent {half the can}

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8×8 baking dish.

Cut each apple into 8-10 wedges. Slice the apple skin off as well and set aside.

Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the wide end. Pinch to seal and cover apple and place in the baking dish. {This is easier if you first pat the apple wedge dry, then wrap dough around it.}

Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon. Heat, whisking to combine. The mixture will slowly combine and thicken. When it’s thickened, remove from heat and add vanilla.

Pour cinnamon mixture over the apple dumplings. Pour soda over the dumplings.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

They’re best when served immediately, with a scoop of Cool Whip or vanilla ice cream.

However if you want to save them for later, be sure to separate the dumpling from the excess liquid that remains after baking.

Enjoy!

Weight Loss Milestone!!!

Happy Thursday!!!
I have some pretty great news!!! When I started this weight loss journey I had 75 pounds to lose in order to meet the Air Force weight requirements. As of yesterday I have 50 pounds to lose! That’s right folks. 25 pounds gone!!

No fancy diet, or prepackaged meals or trainer. All me! I have a long way to go but I’m already 1/3 of the way. So I can’t stop now.

Running has started to get a little easier, but I still can’t run nonstop. Slowly but surely I’ll achieve my goals!

Dieting When You’re Friends and Family Aren’t

   Let’s face it…you can’t make everyone around you diet. Shoot some people around you don’t even need to diet. But wouldn’t it be great if they did??? Well snap back into reality cause it just ain’t gonna happen.

   I’ve done my fair share of dieting..and when I’m going strong and seeing the weight fall off, I’m hardcore and nothing can stop me. But in the beginning stages, it’s very easy to fall off track. Especially when you have friends and family around you indulging. And what makes it worse is, they support you and don’t realize what they are doing. My boyfriend wants to go out to eat or go out to do things that are heavily linked with eating. And when I go over to my my sister’s house she cooks some of the tastiest dishes, especially dessert. Damn you Pinterest. At work everyday it’s “where are we going for lunch” or bags of sweet salty who knows what all over the break room.

   With that being said…I’m all about self accountability. And at the end of the day, what you put in your mouth is YOUR decision. You can not blame that on anyone else. So I had to look into ways to keep from putting myself in these types of situations. This is what I came up with.

   A lot of times when you’re out, all your friends know you’re dieting and either they don’t care or they don’t think that what you do on one night could possibly ruin your diet. Wrong. If you skip on what everybody else is doing, then you’ll get the negative comments about how you’re starving yourself and blah blah blah. So what you can do is, even they pass the dessert around, take a small bite. That way you have a little harmless indulgence and everybody will shut the heck up about it. Win Win or you can excuse yourself from the table around dessert time.

   When you go clubbing with friends food and alcohol are very much involved. If you eat, choose protein like grilled chicken wings. If you drink, skip the alcohol and ask for water or a 100% juice like pineapple or cranberry.

   When you go to family members houses and they cook things that aren’t so much on your diet, this is even self control really comes into play. Portion control is key! Make a plate that is half veggies, a quarter meat and quarter starch (potatoes, corn). And if you know what they are cooking ahead of time, ask them to use whole grain products. You can bring your own dressing. And when you’re at the dinner table, talk. Talking slows down your eating and gives your brain time to catch up and say “Hey I’m full”. And also you have some quality time spent together.

   As far as the non dieting spouse goes…they are a little easier because they should be a little more understanding. If they love you and care about you’re health they may still ask for unhealthy things..but will understand when you say no. If he or she seems jealous of you losing weight or makes comments about you trying to look better to find someone else….you my dear have a control freak. Leave that sucker!

I know it’s not a lot, but maybe these couple of tips will help someone.

Some Plus Size Fashion Inspiration #5, Fall Edition

I this look. It’s a little sleek with a little play. Leather jacket and boots matched up with a Hello Kitty T shirt. Don’t quite know why she looks like that though LOL

I really want a cape like this! It doesn’t look all “Mary Poppins” either.

Tanesha always brings it with her style

Fall…and it’s time for jackets and scarves. I love jackets with buttons, buckles, and zippers.

And her natural hair is a plus.

She does it again! Light wash skinny jeans with a colored animal print top.

She gets a lot of her clothes from ASOS check them out and I do not know why I don’t

have a nude pair of pumps yet! I need to change that.

Peekaboo Pumpkin Pound Cake

 

Saw this recipe on the SHEKNOWS website. I had to share. I’m going to give this a try during the holidays.

 

 

There’s a pleasant surprise baked into every slice of this fall-inspired pound cake — a pumpkin! Everyone will be asking, “How’d you do that?”

 

 

Ingredients:

 

For the pound cake

 

• 1 (14-ounce) box pumpkin bread mix
• 1 (16-ounce) box pound cake mix
• Orange food coloring

 

For the icing

 

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter
• 3-1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 tablespoons evaporated milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)

 

Directions:

 

Prepare pumpkin bread

 

Mix up pumpkin bread ingredients according to the directions on the box. Add orange food coloring to make it more “pumpkin-y” looking (less brown).

 

 

Bake and cut

 

Bake in a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan according to directions. Remove from oven before completely done, about 8-10 minutes less than instructed. Let cool, remove from pan and refrigerate for up to four hours. Cut cold pumpkin bread into large slices. Cut pumpkin shapes from slices.

 

 

Align them down the center of a lightly greased and floured 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

 

 

Make pound cake

 

Mix up your pound cake batter according to the directions on the box. Pour over your pumpkin bread cutouts in the pan, making sure to cover the tops of the pumpkins. You may have more pound cake batter than you need. Try not to overfill the pan. Bake according to the directions on the box. Let cool when done.

 

 

Prepare icing

 

Meanwhile, prepare the brown butter pecan icing.

 

Put powdered sugar in a mixing bowl. In a saucepan, melt butter and boil, stirring until it starts to brown and form dark flecks on the sides and bottom.

 

 

Remove from heat. Pour the melted brown butter and flecks over the powdered sugar. Add the evaporated milk and vanilla. Stir until combined and creamy. Add more powdered sugar if it appears too runny or more evaporated milk if it seems too stiff.

 

 

5

Ice cake

 

Remove baked and cooled pound cake from pan and top with brown butter icing. Add chopped pecans, if desired.

 

 

Cut into slices and delight your guests with the pumpkin-shaped surprise that peeks out from inside!

Losing a Pet…

Hey everyone,

So, my pets are like my children. Seriously. I feed them, play with them, bathe them, hold them when they are scared, and scold them when they are acting up. So, losing a pet, in my opinion is a horrible experience that I find, most of my friends and family don’t quite understand.

This past Friday morning, I was met with a series of horrible events. On the way out to work every morning I feed my pups and let them out of the cage to play for a bit. That is our routine. I always turn on the light in the garage and I am welcomed by their wagging tells and pitter pattering of their paws on the ground…Their way of saying “Good Morning Mama.” Well, this morning, I turned the light on, and Sweet Pea was doing as expected, but my yorkie Baloo just laid there. First thing that comes to mind is, “oh no he’s sick.” But the closer I get to him the more I see this is no sickness. He is dead. {GRAPHIC} His skin was ripped from his neck to his abdomen. I could see bones and flesh. He wasn’t breathing. He just laid there. And Sweet Pea still acted as if everything was normal. I let out a short holler which turned into a long cry. Sweet Pea started to sense that something wasn’t right. I didn’t know what to do. I called my job to let them know I’d be late, I called my boyfriend. I didn’t know what to do. I separated the dogs…got in to my car and just cried in my driveway for about an hour trying to piece together what could have happened.

Later that evening my boyfriend finally had to see the horrific scene. I told him to look at Sweet Pea to see what he thought because I couldn’t bare to do it. He did, and he saw blood on her mouth. And there was the reality. She had killed Baloo. We didn’t know when and we didn’t know why. Sweet Pea had been around Baloo since she was only weeks old, and at 10 months old, she turned on him. Well what does this mean?? Will she turn on us? We don’t know but she has to go. We buried Baloo, said a little prayer, talked a little, then tried to get some sleep (which didn’t happen)

Now the question is, what do we do with Sweet Pea. Originally I wanted to snap her neck my self….then we took some time to think about it.  She’s been a loving, loyal, playful companion all this time. So, no matter what we do, it has to be done with care because she’s still our baby. Do we give her away, do we take her to the humane society, do we have her euthanized. All have been choices, but we still haven’t chosen one.

The reality is…I’ve lost two pets. And words can’t describe how I feel…even days later. I know most people’s mindset is “they are just dogs, who cares” But they were so much more than that to me. They were members of my little family. They loved me unconditionally.  I had to push pause on myself because I find myself already looking for another pup to fill the void. Too soon.

*sigh* I feel much better now that I’ve talked about it…a release

RIP BALOO

New Goal to start my New Life

 

Hey ya’ll,

So as I have mentioned in previous posts…I’m considering (strongly, like my mind is made up) joining the Air Force as an Officer. I want to take my nursing career to another level. But with the decision, comes much responsibility. Like the fact that I have to lose 50 pounds!!!! Gahhhhh!!!!

My goal is to hit my goal by Christmas. My weight loss has been decent and I’ve started running…but I could use any help I can get. Any military or athletic people in general have any tips on getting the weight off and getting into shape??

 

Thanks a Bunch,

 

Running= This must be what dying feels like

Oh…..my…..gosh!!!

This can’t be what running is like LOL. I’ve gotta be doing it wrong!

I started of great, I was running at a good pace. I downloaded a running app called Run Keeper and it told me how far I ran, my pace, and time I’d been running. Now like I said, I started out running, but then I hit a mental wall and it was all down hill from there. Running outdoors is TOTALLY different fron running on a treadmill. But I’ve gotta get used to it, run faster,and run longer. Any suggestions??

How To Cook Ribs in the Oven

Hey ya’ll!

Ok so everyone knows I’m a country girl! And us country folks love a barbeque. I wanted to grill because it’s so beautiful and pleasant outside today in Atlanta. Well the mosquitos must of thought so too because they bit me up just from walking into and out of the grocery store. Anyway, I have never cooked ribs before and decided to give it a try today…but uhhh indoors. So I cooked them in the oven.

I got spare ribs (from Kroger for $11!!!!), Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce, and used seasoning that I already had.

Preheat the oven to 350°. So there’s this white stuff one the back of ribs that you need to remove because apparently when it’s cooked the texture is horrible. So I took that off, and that was the hardest part off the process because it don’t wanna work with me.

After that clean your meat. Then season it with whatever you like. I used salt, pepper, seasoning salt, onion powder, and garlic powder. Rub the seasoning on both sides.

Put your meat in a pan bone side up. I had to cut my slab in half and use two pans because it needs to fit. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil. Cook im the oven for 1 hour. Then take the ribs out, pour off the juices, cover them in whatever BBQ sauce you like and put them back in the oven uncovered for 1 hour. Take them out when done and let them sit for about 5 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!!

I paired my ribs with red potatoes (mashed) and cabbage. The ribs were SO tender and juicy and flavorful!

For those of you trying to lose weight like me…remember, this is all about portion control. The picture above was not my actual plate. That was before I cut the ribs. Eat 3-4 ribs max, and load up on veggies! Who says getting in shape had to be bland!? : )