Warning...these pictures may make you hungry...

A lot of you have asked me about my change in eating and cooking habits. I've really enjoyed this new way of eating. The thing that has helped me the most is that my husband and my kids are all on board. It takes a lot of planning and making sure that the fridge is stocked, but it's well worth it.
We haven't written off sugar and all things carb-filled forever, but for me - it is the better choice. It is still hard, but I've learned that by refraining from sugar and carbs, I have cut out things like chips, ice-cream, starchy potatoes, breads, fried and battered foods, milk shakes, most fast food, etc. I know. Sounds boring, right? It's been a challenge, but so far - so good. There have been a few times (like the Valentine's Banquet) where I've gone ahead and eaten dessert and starches, but it's not all day every day like it was before.
Here are some of the meals that I've served my family in the last few weeks, along with the ones you saw in my other recent post. It's been about a month and we've all lost at least 10 lbs. each, but my hubby has lost about 16 lbs! We've also been exercising regularly too!
Here we go...

I needed a little "comfort" food here so I made a seasoned ground beef that I usually serve on mashed potatoes, but this time I served it on the mashed cauliflower. My kids really love it!


Sauteed and seasoned asparagus

Omelettes are good any time of the day. Here is one with bacon, spinach, mushroom and cheddar jack cheese.

This one is sans mushroom, but with added sausage.

This was a quick meal that I made one evening with stir-fry chicken, pasilla chilies and mushrooms. Very good - lots of flavor.

This was a really great meal. We had shrimp scampi and mussels as a side with broiled salmon and broccoli. It was delish! It would've cost us so much to go out and have this at a restaurant.

Butter and garlic shrimp....

...lots of broccoli...splash of pepper jack cheese on top...

Broiled salmon...just right...

...and then there's days that I am in a super big hurry and I've got to just pick up a rotisserie chicken and sautee some green beans and go! Quick...but still healthy. No more just pullin' in to 'ole Jack in the Box for a quick meal.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Today, I am thankful for...our daily bread...

...which for me, lately, it's been meat, cheese, vegetable...anything but bread! haha.

I always say that it doesn't matter how down we are in the finance department, our family never suffers when it comes to food! lol The truth is that I cook almost everything from scratch and always cook what's on sale or special at the markets. I think our grocery bill is very low for a family of 6.

Anyway, I love to cook and so do my girls. Tonight, I made some shrimp. Don't know what it's called but I added bell pepper, tomatoe and onion. Served it with white sticky rice because the kids really wanted to have some of the Laver or seaweed my mom sent.

So, here it is...everyone loved it! I am thankful that we always have plenty.

Photo Hunt...PURPLE...

This was supposed to be posted on Saturday, but I had some trouble with the Uploader... Here's my favorite take on the purple assignment. =]

I think I will start posting more than one starting next week.

Check out the Photo Hunter button in my sidebar.

Friday 5...

Friday 5 for April 3: More Questions about Food and Drink
You can find this meme over at Friday 5

1.What is your favorite fizzy, bubbly drink?
My favorite fizzy or bubbly drink would have to be Mountain Dew and when I see a Sonic (closest one is probably an hour away), it's the Cherry Limeade!! I know! Isn't that terrible? Well, that's what is WAS, I should say. As of late, I have been abstaining from fizzy drinks and only consuming water. So far, so good!
2.What is your favorite deep-fried food?
I used to tell my students that I could probably eat an old boot if it was deep fried. *sigh* So sad. Anyway...this is another thing that I am trying to stay clear of, but when I do eat something deep fried, my favorite would be anything from Long John Silver's. Now I take my seafood grilled, broiled or baked. Way better, right?
3.What is your favorite hot beverage?
COFFEE!!
4.What is your favorite really messy food?
Whole Crab. Whenever we go to San Francisco, we always stop at Fisherman's Wharf and I choose a whole crab for them to boil up right there. I have gotten very good and getting every bit of edible meat out of the crab without looking too crazy! =]
5.What is your favorite recipe for a blended or mixed beverage?
I love making fruit smoothies - especially in the summer. Here's a good one:
Banana-Strawberry Fruit Smoothie Recipe
1 banana, frozen
6 strawberries, frozen
1 1/4 cup water
1 tbsp. skim milk powder
1 heaping tbsp. high- quality protein powder (optional)
1 tsp. flax oil (optional)
--------------------------------
In a blender, process all the ingredients until thoroughly mixed and serve!
Have a delicious weekend!

Have you "Bean Boozled"?

One of the items I got in my goody bag at the scrapbook retreat this weekend was this box of jelly beans by Jelly Belly. They are called "Bean Boozled". They have some interesting flavors. Just look at the picture below:

Yup. Your eyes do not deceive you. Let's say you pull out a black jelly bean. It could be Licorice or it could be Skunk Spray. Speckled orange could be peach or vomit. Oh, yes. So nasty. Of course, you know the kids are going to love it. So when we passed a Jelly Belly store - I had to buy a few extra boxes. I even bought one for my hubby to use at Youth Night at church. LOL Here are a few cute reactions:

Hmmm...they both chose black. Licorice or Skunk Spray?

Can you guess who got what?

Now Naomi's turn...Cream colored. Cafe latte or Ear Wax?

"Ewww...dat's nasty!" Yup. Ear Wax.

She bravely tries again. Yellow with brown speckles...Top Banana or Pencil Shavings?

Must be Pencil Shavings. She said it was "odd", but not horribly bad.

Well, there you have it! Thanks to Theresa who introduced me to these. Great stocking stuffer, don't you all think? =]

Can your 12 year old do this? =]

Hannah's cooking dinner tonight! She makes perfect chicken tenders. Yum!

She's in the kitchen again...Mangia! Mangia!

and I couldn't be happier! We went out to get library cards today so that we could really be prepared for our summer program. We decided to stop at Trader Joe's for a few items for dinner. We left with a bounty of goodness!

I just love this store. They have healthier alternatives to foods that I love, they carry lots of organic items, great produce and the prices are very reasonable! So we came home with fresh mozarella, fresh basil, extra long spaghetti (fun), whole grain sour dough bread, a few boxes of Quinoa, sweet Italian sausage, some great balsamic vinegar.....there may have been more, but let's get to the yummy pictures!

Hannah has been helping so much in the kitchen and today was no different. She got right in there and started putting the sauce together. I buy Prego with mushroom and then we add stuff to it. She cooked up the ground beef and the sausages. I put the salad together. It's so easy and tastes great. I remember eating this salad in Italy!

Fresh Mozarella (I buy the kind in water)

Fresh Basil (chopped)

Fresh Heirloom or Grape Tomatoes

Balsamic Vinegar

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Mix all ingredients and serve. You can chill it first, but I can't ever wait. =]

Dad was very happy when he came home to this (as you can imagine). I had to think of my friend Miriam (Hi Miriam!!). She loves bread and pasta and would've loved it. I will call her next time. LOL

Taryn is determined to get some more blog time, so she asked if she could do some baking this weekend - that's her "thing". Don't worry, I'll keep you posted! ;0)

Brussel Sprouts Anyone?

I have always been curious about brussel sprouts. I think because I love miniature things and they look like miniature heads of cabbage. However, I have only admired them for their looks. I had never eaten them. Then the other day I read Lee's blog and she mentioned her slight dislike for brussel sprouts. I had to find out.

So, today I bought some. Not the fresh ones or the plain frozen ones...I wasn't that brave. I bought the Green Giant frozen box. It already had butter and cheese - so why not? I cooked them in the microwave (another thing I rarely use), I got a fork and dug in.

The verdict? They were o.k. That's it. The small ones were better than the large, they all had a little bit of bitterness. The thing that I did NOT like at all were that the larger ones seemed to expand as I chewed. I felt like I had a big mouth full of leaves. LOL. Anyway, pretty uneventful, but now I can say that I HAVE tried brussel sprouts. =]

Healthy even tastes better!

I read a quote somewhere that "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels". Well, I think in most cases that would be true, but not tonight. We had such an awesome dinner. I made chicken fajitas. For those that have been keeping up on my blog, you may have noticed our goal of losing weight, eating and thinking healthier, etc. Well, I am happy to report that we are doing very well! We've cut out all blatant sugars, traded white bread, pasta, rice, etc. for brown rice and whole grain, 100% wheat products. We have also been doing very good on drinking lots of water. No soda - not even diet! Here's basically what our fajitas consisted of:


Boneless, skinless chicken tenderloin - grilled in a little EVOO with spices and seasonings


Green, red, and yellow bell pepper


Red onion


Cherry tomatoes


Roma tomatoes


100% Whole wheat tortilla


NO Cheese (that's a hard one for us to control, so I just skipped it tonight)


Light sour cream - just a little


Home-made salsa - I may have outdone myself. It was sooooooooo good!





I am all about home-cooked meals and family eating together, so that has not changed. I am all about flavor and color - that has become better! At first, I think our taste buds were numb from all of the salts, sugars and additives. Now that it's worn off, I feel like there is a whole new world of flavors out there for us to experience. Oh yeah, we love food - but we also want to take care of ourselves. What are you doing or can you do to be healthier with/for your loved ones?