Easy WINNER Dinner or Lunch

I have been letting the girls plan our menu for dinner this week and for tonight they wrote down chicken and raw carrots. To me that didn't sound so appetizing so I had to find a way to make it work. Then I remembered a recipe that is in one of our kids cookbooks "Finger Lickin' Chicken Salad" and I figured I hoped I could just add the carrots to the mix and it would be ok. Well I am so stinking happy they LOVED IT! Even Little G (doesn't that sound gangster) ate it all. R is taking it as leftovers in her lunch tomorrow and S said she would like me to make it for their lunches sometimes. (WE are always trying to come up w/ something different for lunch boxes).

I bought some beets today and usually I cut off the tops and pitch them because I either keep them in the fridge too long or I just don't know what to do w/ them. So tonight I decided I should try cooking them and found this recipe Beet Greens. These were perfect for me, a little sweet and a little spice (although I think I got a bit carried away w/ the spice on accident). I won't be throwing away beet greens anymore and I may just have to try collards this way. At first I wasn't too excited about the bacon grease but it was just one tablespoon and it really does add flavor (oh and I had some I saved from our last bacon meal). And knowing that the rest of dinner wasn't going to be heavy in fat I decided it was ok.

Finger Lickin' Chicken Salad (remember this recipe is for one serving adjust accordingly)
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup diced roasted skinless chicken ( i just baked some boneless skinless breast)
1/2 stalk celery, cut into 1-inch pieces (we also added carrots)
1/4 cup drained mandarin orange segments
1/4 cup red seedless grapes
2 tablespoons fat-free, sugar-free lemon yogurt
1 tablespoon reduced-fat mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon

PREPARATION:

1. Toss together chicken, celery, oranges and grapes in plastic container; cover.
2. For dipping sauce, combine yogurt, mayonnaise, soy sauce and pumpkin pie spice in small bowl. Place in small plastic container; cover.
3. Pack chicken mixture and dipping sauce in insulated bag with ice pack. To serve, dip chicken mixture into dipping sauce.


Beet Greens

Ingredients

* 1 pound beet greens
* 1 strip of thick cut bacon, chopped (or a tablespoon of bacon fat)
* 1/4 cup chopped onion
* 1 large garlic clove, minced
* 3/4 cup of water
* 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
* 1/6 cup of cider vinegar

Method

1 Wash the greens in a sink filled with cold water. Drain greens and wash a second time. Drain greens and cut away any heavy stems. Cut leaves into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

2 In a large skillet or 3-qt saucepan, cook bacon until lightly browned on medium heat (or heat 1 Tbsp of bacon fat). Add onions, cook over medium heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions soften and start to brown. Stir in garlic. Add water to the hot pan, stirring to loosen any particles from bottom of pan. Stir in sugar and red pepper. Bring mixture to a boil.

3 Add the beet greens, gently toss in the onion mixture so the greens are well coated. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 5-15 minutes until the greens are tender. Stir in vinegar. (For kale or collard greens continue cooking additional 20 to 25 minutes or until desired tenderness.)

Monday Jan 3, A NEW YEAR Same goals

Well almost the same goals, the only difference is my plan of attack. Last year I proudly lost 14 lbs and started moving toward my goal weight of 130 or better. I know I can get back there with dedication and hard work. I was pretty dedicated last year but I know I could have done better. So that is the plan for this year. To do it I am going to work harder than I have yet. I am going to keep pushing myself w/ every challenge I can. So first thing I did was sign up for a 28 day boot camp challenge on Sparkpeople. It sounded like a good challenge and the prize at the end is a chance for a $300 amazon gc, who couldn't use that. lol My gym is also starting some challenges this month so might as well do those too. I would love to get in on a Biggest loser challenge they have going on but I don't have 300 bucks to sign up for that (you do get a polar heart rate monitor and some personal trainer time and nutrition counseling but I just don't have the $$ for it) I will do the other challenge and push myself to a better me.

I am very frustrated w/ myself because I let myself slip this week and I am mad at myself that I did. You see I can push away sweets (well some) I can say no to soda and lots of other stuff but sit some chips or crackers w/ dip or spreads and I just can't stop. I really love that kind of stuff, you know cheese balls and spinach or artichoke dip. I made myself miserable eating that stuff new years eve and new years day. I felt terrible. And I gained 5 lbs from Christmas to now. *hangs head in shame* BUT!!! I know that I can lose those 5 lbs and more. I WILL LOSE Those 5 lbs and MORE!!

I really want to apply for M Mom this month but my future as a stay at home mom may be short lived and w/o knowing what will be happening so I hate to apply. I really want to apply again this year so hopefully the spring campaign will work out better for me, besides I will need a new challenge by then anyway. :)

I hope you all are setting goals to help you continue in forward motion.

Thank you to Game Stop for sponsoring this weeks Blogging carnival. The question of the week is;

What are ways you can work out without having to leave the house?

Ways I workout w/o leaving the house include: Using my Wii to do workouts on EASports Moreworkouts or playing Just Dance with my kids, Doing workout videos like Leslie Sansone Walk at Home, or finding videos on YouTube or Sparkpeople.