Menu Plan Monday 2012 ~ Week of June 9th

Just like last month, we are cooking from a monthly menu plan.  And again, like last month, I allowed for some last minute additions to the plan!

Last week, we attended my niece's graduation party and my sister-in-law sent us home with a quart of baked beans that were left at the end of the party.  Since I had some leftover ham steak in the fridge, I decided to make the most out of those leftovers and threw together a quick Corn Dog Casserole, replacing the sliced hot dogs with the diced ham.  Mmmm!  I made some corn on the cob to serve on the side.

Pork loins were on sale last week.  I'm picky pork and only eat it when it's prepared a few different ways.  Since Grace's Aunt Barb is recovering from surgery, I decided to make a crock pot full of Heinz 57 Pulled Pork to take over for dinner.  Two small pork loins made enough for 5 of us to eat generous portions and also provided leftovers for both here and at Barb's house.  Potato wedges and some store bought coleslaw and cucumber salad were served on the side.

We also enjoyed some Pesto Orzo.  Another dish that was leftover from the graduation party.  I'm really glad I made too much for the party since the heat was so bad this week, I was happy to not have to cook a few nights this week!

I think the weather is supposed to be a little cooler this week.  So hopefully I will be motivated to prepare a few new recipes.  Here's what I had in mind for this week:

• Whole Chicken in the Crock Pot, Mashed Potatoes with Cauliflower, steamed carrots.  

• Loaded Mashed Potato Pie, corn on the cob, salad.  

• Sweet 'n' Sour Meatballs, Buttered Noodles, steamed veggies.  

• Tuna Tomato Pasta, fried eggplant (or breaded zucchini if they are ready to be picked from the garden).  

Now that you know what we're eating this week, let us know in the comments what's for dinner at your house this week!  Or, if you need more menu planning inspiration? Follow me over to  Menu Plan Monday hosted by I'm an Organizing Junkie! Or, if you like what you see here, you can check out my past menu plans.


You can also find this week's menu plan linked to On the Menu Monday hosted by Yvonne at Stone Gable.

Check out our latest giveaways!

• Enter the Aurora Natural Original Salad Fixin's Giveaway! 

• Enter the Butch's Smack Your Lips BBQ Giveaway!  

Weigh Loss Challenge ~ Weigh In ~ Week 6 Begins

Saturday, June 7th (day before weigh-in)

It's Saturday morning and I have a moment before today gets crazy.  Lots to do today in this horrible summer heat!  I figured I'd take this time to start my weekly Summer Sizzle Slimdown update.

After 2 pretty bad weeks, this week just got worse.  There's been a lot going on around here and I've been lacking the focus I need to stay on track.  I can't even tell you the last time I logged in at My Fitness Pal.  


The high temperatures helped play a role in my failure this week.  While I don't exercise, I found that I just didn't move around as much as usual this week.  Even with the air conditioner on, the heat has been pretty brutal.  I've never handled the heat well at all, even when I was skinny.  Now that I'm overweight, it's even worse.  


We don't have central air, just window units in the living room and bedroom, so our kitchen is HOT.  Because of this, I've not been weighing and measuring out recipes to determine portion sizes and calories.  I'll admit that a lot of it was me being lazy, but also just me trying to get out of the hot kitchen quicker.  


I've been lucky with continued losses the past 2 weeks, though I know that they weren't deserved, I do not expect the same results tomorrow.  I expect a gain and I'm extremely disappointed in myself.  Hopefully, I will turn that disappointment into determination and get back on track this week.

Goals will be the same as last week:

• Food Journal / Count Calories via My Fitness Pal.  I failed miserable in this task last week.  I need to get back into the habit of entering the calories BEFORE I eat.  

• Weigh and measure my food.  Keeping my counter cleared off (except for the scale and measuring cups) will help me to "remember" to do this.  I'm no good at estimating portion sizes and each meal becomes easier for me to add just a little extra to my portions.  

• Water.  This is a constant struggle for me.  

• Eat more fruits and vegetables.  This is about the only point that I didn't fail last week, but I'm posting as a reminder for myself.  Smoothies and salads are my favorite ways to get my daily recommended servings each day!  

• Exercise.  I'm never going to be one of those people that can work out for an hour a day.  But I promise that I will get up and move around much more each day.  

• Sleep.  I had more than a few late nights last week.  This contributed to me being lazy about all of my other goals.  When I am running on just a few hours sleep, I don't want to take the time to weigh my food and enter calories before I eat, I just want to get what I am hungry for and go sit back on the couch.

Sunday, June 8th (morning of weigh-in)

Sorry, friends!  It's almost 3:00 on Sunday and I'm just now getting around to finishing up this post.  We had a pretty busy day .already.  I weighed-in, gave Grace a bath, took a shower and immediately left the house (after getting dressed, of course) to run some errands.  Now, I'm actually in the middle of getting dinner ready as our dinner guests will be here in half an hour.  


Just as I suspected, this week showed a gain.  A 1.4 lb. gain to be exact.  Honestly though, I really think that this is the kick in the butt that I needed to get back on track.  At least I really hope it's what I needed to get back on track.  All I know is that I want this for myself and I somehow need to find a way to not be so overwhelmed with everything else in my life so that I am able to focus on my weight and my health.  


I'm thinking that rather than posting a weight loss tip this Thursday, maybe I should take the time to post a mid-week update.  Maybe that will help.  Sometimes Sunday seems so far away that I find myself thinking that a little cheating here and there won't hurt.  Well, my little cheats here and there just cheated me out of a loss this week.  I'll have to use this week as an example the next time I decide that I'm not going to pay attention to portion sizes.  


I try post daily updates on my facebook page.  Just quick little blurbs here and there about how my day is going...sometimes diet related!  So, check it out if you'd like to follow along each day!

Also, if you are also using My Fitness Pal, my profile name there is fitmomma613.  Add me as your friend!

Well, time for me to go finish preparing dinner since our guests will be here soon!  Hope you all had great results this week!  

FREE Concerts in the Park

During the summer months, our local park hosts free concerts on Sunday evenings.

It's a great way to spend the evening after a nice Sunday dinner with family.The music is always family friendly so there's no worry that the kids will hear inappropriate lyrics.

A few weeks ago, we packed a bag with some drinks, snacks and a soft mat for Grace and I to sit on along with a lawn chair for Joe.  We drove over to the park to enjoy a wonderful swing band.  We packed light since parking can be a challenge, we didn't want to have to lug too much stuff with us if we had to park a few blocks away.

Grace danced and patted her knees to the music and enjoyed some animal crackers and a juice box!

Soon after, Grace started to get a little hyper, so I took her for a walk around the outside of the park and pointed out flowers and doggies and the nice police officer that chatted with us for a bit.  It was nice that we were still able to hear the music while we strolled along.

We went back to where our stuff was and allowed Grace to kick her soccer ball around for a little bit.

Since the concert was free, we didn't mind leaving the park a little early to let Grace get a little swimming time in before dark.


I know that many towns in our area offer some type of summer concert series in their parks, check your local paper to see if your town (or surrounding communities) offer free concerts in the park.


These are other ways we've been having fun this summer spending little or no money:

• Muddy Puddles
• Soap Box Derby
• Visiting the Farm

This post has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Frugal Friday hosted by Life as Mom 

Berry Banana Smoothie ~ Low Calorie, Non-Dairy

Although this is a recipe post, it still fits in with the weight loss theme that my Thursday posts have been leaning toward lately....

I love smoothies.  And while they are a great way to enjoy getting those servings of fruits into your daily routine, they can be a pretty high-calorie snack.  Not that I cared too much about calories in the past few years!  But now that I'm trying to lose weight and I'm counting and limiting my calorie intake, if I want a smoothie for breakfast, I need to know the nutrition information in order to track my count for the day.

Recently, I entered the ingredients for my Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe into the recipe builder on the My Fitness Pal site.  The calorie count was 352!  Although I knew it would be a pretty high number, I was very shocked to see just how many calories were in that single serving!  Yikes!  To think, sometimes I drank two of those in a day!

So, since 352 calories is really too high for a snack and really didn't keep me full enough to be considered a meal, I started to experiment with my smoothies.  Using less banana or less milk to lowered the calorie count, but not enough to make it worth it.

After seeing a pin on Pinterest, I decided to try adding dry oats, figuring that would help keep me from feeling hungry so soon after.  That didn't work either.

One night, I was venting to Nicole (from Colie's Kitchen) about wanting a lower calorie smoothie.  She gave me a few tips and tricks that uses when she makes her smoothies.

I always use frozen fruit when I make my smoothies, but it never occurred to me to cut the dairy out of my recipe.  And after I thought about it, it actually made a lot of sense.  I decided to give it a try.

Here's what I came up with:

Low-Calorie Berry Banana Smoothie

Ingredients: 

• 1 large banana, sliced and frozen
• 2 large strawberries, sliced and frozen
• 1/4 cup blueberries, frozen
• 1/2 cup water

Directions: 

• Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.  

Notes: 

• Oh my goodness!  Yum!  These smoothies are soooo good!  I always thought I needed to add the yogurt and milk to make the smoothie creamy.  The frozen banana is enough to give it the creamy texture that I love!  
• These low-calorie smoothies are great for a snack on their own.  They are also wonderful for breakfast along with a handful of almonds or a low-calorie English Muffin.  

Serves 1

Total calories: 153 

If you want to lower the calories even more, use 80 grams frozen banana, 35 grams of frozen strawberries, 35 grams of frozen blueberries, along with the 1/2 cup water.  Those small changes bring the calories down to 101 calories per serving!

I love the flavor and texture of these fruit smoothies and have been enjoying them almost every day, sometimes twice a day! I love that I was able to find a lower calorie option that will free up some calories so I don't feel as if I'm just drinking my meals each day.  Now, I can enjoy smoothies twice a day in addition to my regular (lower calorie) meals and still have calories left to EAT some yogurt later in the day!

Gardening Journal ~ Squash Blossoms

Watering the garden is one of my favorite times of the day.  I look forward to seeing how much the garden has progressed since the day before.  Also, it's one of the only times of the day that Grace and I aren't attached at the hip!  If I'm lucky, I can sneak out without the dog, too!

Don't get me wrong.  I love my family with all of my heart and soul, but I enjoy a quiet moment now and then!  What better way to spend those few moments of peace and quiet!

One morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see so many blossoms on our summer squash and zucchini plants!

So peaceful.  So quiet.  So pretty!  


This post has been linked to the following blog carnivals and linky parties:

• Outdoor Wednesday hosted by A Southern Daydreamer 
• Wordful Wednesday hosted by Parenting By Dummies 
• Works For Me Wednesday hosted by We are THAT Family