5 days later and alas my first failure.

So 8 days in and I wanted to reflect on the past few days.  I had my first trip up with eating out.  I confess!  We went to Buffalo Wild Wings.  What made me give in?  The T25 recipe for quinoa patties over spinach. I would love to say that this tasted good or bad but we never made it that far as the quinoa would not STAY in patties.  I am thinking of giving another go at this but it may be a while. For those interested in the recipe it is as follows.

¾ C. cooked quinoa
½ med bell pepper finely chopped *any color you want*
4 tsp. Flaxseed
1 Lg. egg * or sub for vegan*
3 C. fresh spinach
* Sea salt and or pepper to taste…

• Combine Cooked Quinoa, bell pepper, flaxseed, salt, pepper and egg in a medium bowl; mix well.  Form into two balls and flatten.

• Heat medium skillet lightly coated with spray over medium heat.T25 Veggie Quinoa Patties

• Place patties in skillet; cook for 2 minutes.  Turn and cook for 2 minutes or until cooked through and light golden.  Remove from skillet and keep warm.

• Add spinach to skillet; cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes, or until wilted.

• Place spinach on a serving plate; top with patties.

We did have an all time favorite added to our list.  A turkey sliders recipe that I found at Family.go.com  had my boys asking for more!  I was definitely shocked considering one of my boys hates any kind of meat usually and the other always follows what big brother does.

20 ounces lean ground turkey
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, grated
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 teaspoon basil,, dried
1/2 teaspoon oregano,, dried
1 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
16 dinner or slider rolls
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon honey Dijon mustard

• Combine ground turkey, cheese and all seasonings. Mix together well.
• Shape turkey into 16 small patties.
• Place patties on a greased baking sheet.
• Bake at 350 degrees F for 8 - 10 minutes or until cooked through. Be careful not to cook too long or they will become dried out.
• combine mayonnaise with honey Dijon mustard and stir until well blended.
• place on rolls and top with honey Dijon mayo.

I hope you are continuing to work on healthier eating for your family.  I know I had a slip up but we are human and it happens.  Life also has a habit of getting in the way sometimes but that is not a reason to give up.  Its worth it I promise.  Already we have seen my husbands waist go down 1/2 an inch and it hasn't been but a week!  Feel free to leave comments on any of these recipes on what you try that worked or didn't work.  Also let me know if there is a recipe maybe your leery of trying that you would like a review of.  We are up for anything!

Ok so here we are on the evening of day 3 and I am feeling victorious so far! I have to admit I almost gave in to temptation today when out running errands but alas my first victory! Instead of caving into Wendys we went home and made lunch. We have managed to eat in even while going out! Including a day at six flags which I think was one of the harder accomplishments. One of our least favorite foods comes out of the T25 fast track recipe book...The Tomatillo and avacado scramble. Kids didnt like it and neither did I.

Looks good huh? NOT! Recipe as follows if you would like to try. Too bland for our taste.

1 large egg
6 egg whites
Ground black pepper to taste
1/2tp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. tomatillo salsa
¼ medium avocado, sliced
•Combine egg and egg whites in a bowl season with pepper. Whisk to blend.
•Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-low heat
•Add egg mixture, cook. Stirring occasionally for 3 to 4 minutes or until eggs are set
•Top eggs with salsa and avocado

On a good note however that was the only meal that didn't go over so well. We had 2 favorites from the kids with requests for more! Kalua Pork yesterday followed by Spinach wraps today for lunch! Success! Mom isn't such a terrible cook after all! Hoping the next few days go as good as the last few. Hope your eating in is going just as successful as ours so far! Till next time I will leave you with our 2 favorite meals over the last few days.

 Favorites!


Kalua Pork...by far the best reception from my kids!

1 Pork roast

salt to taste

liquid smoke to taste

1 half head of cabbage

Cooked Rice (your choice of variety. We just used plain white)

• usa a fork to poke several holes in the roast
• rub meat down with liquid smoke and sea salt
• slow cook on low in crock pot for 8+ hours
• shred meat
• chop up cabbage ( can add as little or much as you like) then add to crock pot on high
• once cabbage is tender serve over rice

Spinich Wraps!

Best eaten lunch I have had in a while.

 

 This is just your basic sandwhich but instead of using bread we opted for healtheir spinich wraps and I made home made avacado ranch!

Late to a new year resolution

     Over the last several years the number of times I decided to go for the easy out and pick up dinner has increased dramatically.  I went from maybe 2 times a month to EVERY day!  I kept telling myself it would get better and I would buy more groceries and even create a menu plan.  Somehow it just never seemed to happen.  After thinking about 2014 and trying to come up with a new year resolution I thought about all the others I had made and broken in the past.  They always centered around working out or taking more family outings.  As I thought about why they failed I realized it was because I had ridiculous expectations.  I know I will trip along the way and that's ok.  No more blinders expecting perfect results.  This time I will keep moving forward despite the falls, I decided this year my resolution was not going to be a resolution at all, but instead a life changing goal. Not just something for this year but forever.  It is time to step up and make the change, not just for me but for my family.
      What was I doing to their health? I have a husband who is now overweight ( I am quickly following suit),  Children who expect McDonald's EVERY time we go out, and a quickly diminishing budget. I am ashamed to admit I had sacrificed the good of my family for convenience.
     With my husband leaving soon I know if I don't start changing now it will only get worse when I am left as a single mom for a year while he is in Korea.  So here I stand  making the hard choice.  I WILL change how we eat. I WILL put the good of my family before my own convenience.  So feel free to journey with me as I commit to cutting our eating out from every day to just once a month.  I know I am late to the punch as it is already the 2nd but better late than never! I will be posting as much as I can about what we are eating each day and the recipes to go with.   I will also be giving a review of how my kids liked or disliked it.