Roast Chicken Receipe

I love cooking a chicken. It is super easy and it tastes and if you have been working hard all day when the oven did most of the work! Another thing I love about this is the price. The chicken is only $3 to $4 then you add veggies and rice. You also get many meals out of one bird (unless you have a big family).

Recipe:

1 Chicken

3 big ones or a one to two handfuls of the baby carrots

1 onion (chopped into large pieces)

1 small lemon (chopped into 8 slices or so)

5 cloves of garlic

2 Tbs olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Rosemary and Thyme (fresh works best but you can use the stuff from the spice aisle as well.

Thyme

Water

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Wash the chicken and remove the "guts" (heart, liver, etc...). Dry the chicken off. In a large pan place the washed celery, carrots and chopped onions on the bottom of the pan.

This way the chicken is not sitting on the bottom of the pan and it also allows the heat to move around the bird easier. Next set the chicken on top of the veggies. Then stick the lemon and garlic into the bird. Rub the entire outside of the bird with the olive oil and then sprinkle the salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme on top of the bird.

This is what it looks like right before I stuck the chicken in the oven. (Sorry it is a little out of focus).

Put a little bit of water in the bottom on the pan (about 1/2 inch deep). Place the chicken in the pre-heated oven for about 2 hours. The internal temperature of the chicken should reach around 180. Remember to baste the chicken every 15 to 30 minutes.

When you take the chicken out make sure to remove the garlic and lemons from inside the bird.

Gravy:
Strain off all of the extra veggies pieces, fat, spices, etc... Place the remanding liquid into a sauce pan and add about 1 to 2 TBS of flour. Whisk this constantly until the mixture thickens and now you have a wonderful, yummy gravy. Serve brown rice or mashed potatoes along with your favorite veggie and now you have a wonderful meal.

What's For Breakfast?

We all have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. But what you are eating also counts as well.

I was never much of a breakfast eater, coffee was good enough for me until lunch time. Then I got pregnant with Mikayla and breakfast became a necessity if I did not want to get sick. At that time I found my love for cereal again, Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Fruity Pebbles and my favorite Lucky Charms! After I had Mikayla and was done breastfeeding I gradually stopped eating breakfast again. Then I became pregnant with Lily. This time I made smarter choices, mostly because I did not want to serve Mikayla Lucky Charms. It is amazing how we will choose not to feed our children sugar filled foods but we will choose those same foods for us. Since I did not want to load Mikayla up on sugar filled cereal I started buying much healthier cereal, Cheerios, Kashi, Special K.

Since I had Lily I have kept up the habit of a bowl of cereal every morning and I try to choose cereal that has at least 10 grams of fiber per serving.

Here are two different types of cereal that are in my cabinet. Let's compare them.

The first is Oatmeal Crisp, Hearty Raisin.

The Oatmeal Crisp has 270 calories per serving (with a 1/2 cup of skim milk), 4 grams of fiber, 1 gram of soluble fiber, 20 grams of sugar, 5 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fat and .5 grams of saturated fat. When I bought this I must have been in a hurry because if I had noticed that it only had 4 grams of fiber in it I would have put it back. I must have been thinking "Oatmeal is good for you". That is one reason why it pays to leave the kids at home while you go grocery shopping and READ the labels.

I can tell you that the Oatmeal Crisp is very yummy, I loved all of the raisins but it did not fill me up. I am usually hungry 2 hours after I have had this for breakfast.

The second is Fiber One, Honey Clusters.

This cereal has 200 calories per serving (with 1/2 cup of skim milk), 1.5 grams of fat, NO saturated fat, 13 grams of fiber, 3 grams of soluble fiber, only 6 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein. This cereal is a much healthier cereal, with more fiber and less sugar and less calories. It is not as exciting and yummy as the Oatmeal Crisp but it is not boring either. I would choose this cereal again. The Fiber One has only 200 calories and it will keep me full from 6am to 10am.

There are many cereals that are just as healthy as the Fiber One. I normally like to buy the Kashi Cereals but they are a bit more than the Fiber One. The past few months I have been searching the cereal aisles for something that has a lot of fiber, is yummy and not too expensive.

What do you like to eat for breakfast?

Creamy Broccoli Soup with Cheddar and Chive Toast

Doesn't that look yummy!!!

Welcome to Sunday Cookin. On the weekends I like to spend the time researching recipes and coming up with something different and super yummy.

This week I made Cream Broccoli Soup with Cheddar and Chive Toast. I would love to say that I came up with this meal but it is from Rachael Ray’s 365: No Repeats Cookbook. One thing I love about Rachel Ray’s recipes is that they are easy to make substitutions and also easy to make. One thing I have noticed is that I cannot make a Rachael Ray meal in 30 minutes. Maybe if made this recipe many times I could get quicker at it but this time it took between 45 minute to an hour.

Recipe:
2 tbls extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
4 slices of bacon, chopped (We hardly ever cook with bacon so I used more!)
1 large yellow onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbls fresh thyme (I did not have any fresh time so I used rubbed thyme)
salt and pepper
Hot Sauce (I did not put this in.)
2 10 ounce boxes of frozen chopped broccoli (I used fresh broccoli - about 3 to 4 cups)
1 quart of chicken stock (I forgot about this until the last minute so I used water and about 1 cup of chicken stock
½ cup of heavy cream or half and half (I never use heavy cream due to calories and fat so I used 1/4 cup of whole milk and 1/4 cup of whole milk)
8 slices of baguette (I used whole wheat sandwich bread)
1/4 cup cup parsley
Zest and juice of one lemon (I used the juice only - I was lazy)
1 cup of shredded sharp Cheddar
3 tbls chopped fresh chives

Heat a large soup pan over medium heat and add the EVOO. Add the bacon and cook until crisp. Remove the crispy bacon and let it drain on a paper towel. (I added bacon to the soup as well as the bread.) Add the onions, garlic and thyme to the pot and season with salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook, stirring frequently until the onions are tender. Add the broccoli and heat thoroughly. Transfer the onions and broccoli to the food processor with ½ cup of chicken stock and puree until smooth. (I wanted a hearty soup with chucks so after everything was cooked I took a hand mixer and pureed it lightly.) Add the pureed mixture back to the pan and then add the remaining chicken stock and cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for 8 to 10 minutes.
While the soap is simmering, toast the bread slices until brown, sprinkle the cheese, bacon and parsley over each slice and return to the boiler or toaster oven until the cheese is melted.
To finish the soap add the lemon zest and juice and stir to combine.

Dish up and Serve. I have no idea what the calorie content is on this but if you used extra lean turkey bacon and substituted skim milk for the heavy cream this would be a very healthy recipe.

Couch to 5K Running Program in 9 Weeks

Since I have started this blog I have had people ask "How did you start running?" This is my normal answer. I have been running for over 10 years now and I started slow. Running 30 seconds and then walking for 30 seconds to a minute, and then repeating that. I also started running very slowly. I eventually worked up to my first mile and I still remember how excited I was when I ran my first mile. I was 19 years old, in the workout room at Western State College, it was my evening workout on a treadmill in front of these huge windows and boy it felt great.

My longest run for many years was the Gothic to Crested Butte race. It was a 1/3 marathon, about 8.75 miles. The first year I did that I trained for it, I ran the whole time and I finished. I was so proud of myself for doing that.

For many years I was stuck in that I was about an 11 minute mile (on a good day) runner. It was not until I started training for a marathon that I finally picked up the pace and miles. Now I can complete a 10 mile run and on my shorter runs I can keep my pace to 10 minute miles or less and I am still working on getting that pace even shorter.

The reason I am telling you this is that you too can become a runner. Everyone and I mean EVERYONE can run. (Unless your doctor told you no or you have horrible knees or something.) I would encourage everyone to give it a try and see if you like it. BUT do not give up after the first run, give it some time and eventually you too will find yourself enjoying the time outside, away from the kids, just you, mother nature and maybe some I-tunes.

Here is a Couch to 5K Running program I found that looks pretty good and was recommend by Active.com. This is from www.coolrunning.com.

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Pick out a 5K race that is about 9 to 10 weeks away, start training for it an then go do it.

Here are some other great sources for running.

www.active.com
www.runnersworld.com

Pictures of My Beautiful Daughters

Here are some pictures of the girls.

Here is one reason I am glad we moved out of the old house and into our new old red house. The yard. The backyard at the white house was dirt and this is what happens when you give a 4 year old and a 1 year old a dirt back yard.

Here is a picture from Mikayla's 4th Birthday party this weekend. The weather was perfect and everyone had a ball.

We went for a quick hike on weekend. Here is my little model.

This is a picture the babysitter took one day and then photoshoped it.

While I was busy packing up the white house Lily decided to go into the laundry room and mop the house!

Running and Mountain Biking

Due to my foot I have been told no running for one month. The past two weeks it has not been an issue - I have not had a free second to consider a run. Every day on my lunch hour I have been cleaning the old house and in the mornings I have been busy packing and unpacking. Now that we are settled I am ready to exercise. Today I did a wonderful mountain bike ride at lunch. It was tons of fun - I do love mountain biking. I am missing running but I am really trying to be good to my foot. I hope that on June 3rd I will be able to go for a run and not be in pain. If my runs still hurt I will be seeing a foot specialist in Denver. I don't want to drive to Denver - it is over 3 hours away.

This week my plan is to mountain bike, swim and focus on my weight workout. That reminds me - gotta go work on those abs!

Computer is Up - Back to Blogging

The house is put together and the computer is up and running so now I am ready to get back to blogging. I have really missed it.

Here are a few of pictures of our new old house.

This is where I am blogging to you right now and this is my view from the computer.

This is our living room. We have a long living room. This is looking from the kitchen into the living and our bedroom and Lily's bedroom are at the other end of the living room.

This is the view from our bedroom, down the living room and into the kitchen. (Notice Skylar still sitting there. I told her to sit and stay and she did - for quite awhile.)


Here is Mikayla's room. She has a super big room so it is also the playroom.

Here are a couple pictures of parts of our yard.

Birthday Party, Moving, Biking and Fox Family

Sorry I have been away for so long. We have completed our move and the old house is nice and cleaned (I have been busy cleaning it in my spare time – what spare time!!) We also had Mikayla’s 4th birthday party on Saturday and it was a success. It was so much fun to see all of her preschool friends at our house having a blast. The weather was WONDERFUL. 80 degrees, sunny and very little wind – what more could I have asked for!

I have also been slacking in the exercise department as well. I have tried not to be too hard on myself because I have been packing, unpacking and cleaning which all burns a lot of calories. I was exhausted every night. I did head out for a 35 minute bike ride early this morning. It was great and I even saw a fox family with a very cute baby fox that was so tiny!

Win a Laptop and a Carrying Case

Head over and visit Metropolitian Mama and leave a comment so you too can register to win a Toshiba Portege M750 laptop computer AND a Small Phantom laptop bag from STM Bags. Also check out her blog while you are there. I LOVE it.

Recipes

My husband does most of the cooking in our house. I find it hard to come home after working all day, tired, still have to get things together for tomorrow, straighten the house, do laundry, get the girls to bed and cook dinner. Joe is also wonderful at opening up the kitchen cabinets and throwing together a meal. I keep telling him that he needs to go back to school (when we can afford it) and become a chef.

Don’t get me wrong I enjoy cooking. I love watching Food TV, or going through recipe books and planning wonderful, healthy meals. On the weekends (especially if we are having friends over) I love to cook dinner.

That said I am going to start posting meals that I have made with pictures and share them with you on a weekly basis. Maybe (if I can get Joe to share his recipes with me) post his pictures and recipes from his meals as well. Since we are in the process of moving this week I have not had time to post the recipes that I had wanted to this week. Hopefully once we get settled in this weekend I will be able to post some wonderful dinners I have made lately.

Tomatoes

One of the attorneys that I work with has a great sunroom in front of his house. His wife decided to plat a bunch of tomato seeds. Because this sunroom has lots of sun (and she has a super green thumb) they all took and she gave me four of the starters.

I have a large window in our living room that faces East and gets a ton of sun as well. The four tomato plants have doubled in size and yes that is a Poinsettia from Christmas in the picture as well. It loves that window too! Next year I won't have to buy a Poinsettia at Christmas time.

I cannot wait until these tomatoes plants are producing tomatoes. Once we move into the red house I plan on re-potting them into larger pots for hopefully that many more tomatoes. We will see.

When I wrote this blog entry about a week ago this is what my tomatoes plants looked like.

Now in less than a week this is what they look like!!!

The abs, the abs are so not the same.

I am now down to 135, only 2 pounds away from my pre-baby weight. It has been a long and hard journey and it has taken me longer than I thought to get here. I have not been running or working out much the past 8 days due to my foot and the funny thing is, is that this was when I lost the last 2 pounds! I think when I am running I overeat because I know that I need more calories but I eat too many.

Now that I am getting closer to my pre-baby weight I am really noticing that my stomach is not the same. It looked much better at this weight after I had only one baby than when I have had two. I don’t remember from before I got pregnant the first time – that was too long ago.

I guess I really gotta up my running (slowly and carefully – maybe through in more cardio with more mountain biking) and MORE ab work in order to get a flatter belly.