Food Diary: Monday November 19, 2012 and Deer Roast Recipe

Happy Monday Evening!

Today was a little different than my usual Monday's but that is okay. :) First here is what I ate:

Breakfast: Same as a few other mornings.

1/2 Cup of Whole Grain Quick Cooking Oatmeal with Brummel and Brown Butter, Cinnamon, Truvia, and Brown Sugar.

1 Cup Skim Milk

Vitamins and Antibiotics

 

Lunch: 2 Slices Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful with 6 slices of Smoked Turkey, 1 slice of 2% American Cheese, Romaine Lettuce, and Dijon Mustard.

About 15 Chips

 

Dinner: Homemade Deer Roast with Frank's Red Hot Sauce

Antibiotics

(This is one of my favorite meals!!!)

 

Venison Roast Recipe

(You can use Beef too)

 

About 2lbs of Deer Roast or 1 Chuck Roast

1 Pkg of Lipton Onion Soup Mix (I use generic)

1-2 Cans of Fat Free or Reduced Sodium Cream of Mushroom Soup

1-2 Cans of Fat Free Beef Broth

1 bag of Carrots (pre-cut and washed, not a huge bag)

8-10 Yellow Gold Potatoes - quartered (or you can use red potatoes)

 

Oven

Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Put meat, onion mix, cream of mushroom soup, and beef broth in a deep casserole type dish.

Cook meat for 4 hours.

Add Potatoes and Carrots then cook an additional 1 Hour. Or until veggies are soft when pierced.

 

Crock Pot

Put meat in crock pot. Cover with Onion Soup, Cream of Mushroom Soup, and Beef Broth. I stir the juices to break up the cream of mushroom soup to make it look more creamy.

Cook on low for about 4 hours until meat is brown. Then add potatoes and carrots and cook about 3-4 more hours on high or until potatoes & carrots are soft.

You can cook it on high for 2-3 hours and then add veggies and cook a few more hours until veggies are soft.

 

I usually use 2 cans each to cover the meat in the crock pot so the meat doesn't dry out. You can also add beer if you don't have an extra can of beef broth, to make more liquid. I feel like adding water may take away the flavor?

 

Let me know what you think. This recipe was adapted from my former step-mom. :) She's an amazing cook!



I had the 20 month old little boy today, we will call him B. I usually have him on Tuesday's and Wednesday's but with me being sick last week and then he got sick, we added an extra day to today.

I got up...very tired. Some days I just don't wanna! LOL. Especially in the winter time when my bed is nice and warm and soft. It's cold outside of the covers...brrrr...

I got ready and made my oatmeal breakfast.

The other kids were dropped off and I got them on the bus for school. Caleb woke up and I got him changed and dressed for the day.

I collected the laundry and started a load to finish what I didn't finish yesterday. Caleb and I cuddled for a while until B showed up.

I got to meet his daddy, but not under good circumstances. B's grandpa had a heart attack last week and from what B's daddy says, it isn't looking good. B's grandma passed away in April of this year. So sad for his family right now.

B is recovering from a double ear infection, so he was fussy and clingy. He is a daddy's boy for sure. I felt bad for the little guy but eventually he came around and played.

Caleb still has a hard time with sharing and playing fair. He has never played with a younger kid before so it is an adjustment for him.

I started roast for tonights dinner and cleaned up the kitchen.

I am constantly playing referee. Don't hit him, don't push him, be nice, share...ahh. LOL.

Lunch time is probably my favorite. B eats really well. A little more on the messy side than I am used to but he eats. He is quiet and confined to his chair for a while. Caleb is hit and miss lol. Sometimes he eats and other times he is just snacking. All-in-all they are both good boys though.

I lay B down for nap and let Caleb play for a little while. Then I have him lay down. I continue to do laundry and bring loads up to be folded throughout the day.

I add potatoes and carrots. I changed the setting to high so it will be ready by the time Jerry gets home.

B wakes up and I entertain him until Caleb wakes up. Not to long after that it is snack time and the bus drops off the other kids.

I entertain all of the kids until their parents show up.

I suppose this is like a day in the life of. LOL.

After dinner, I tried to catch up on my fellow blogger's posts. I think I may have to many I am following. But I am truely trying my best to read them all and make a comment on them.

Once caught up, I posted my blogs.

Plus we are watching Dexter and Walking Dead. I don't think I am paying attention to the shows. :/ and I love Dexter...but it is what it is. :)

Food Diaries, Funfetti Cake with Icing, and Weigh-In

Hello Everyone!

 

I'm sorry I have been absent. I tried to keep up with my blog but I just did not feel very well. So I did my best during the week and took pictures when I could. So now you can see some of the things I ate last week. I know you are so happy I did this. You're welcome.

 

Inspired by a fellow blogger, Thank you Lauryn Roth. Whole Grain Waffle's spread with Peanut Butter and I sliced banana to put on top. Very good and very filling!

 

Since my throat was sore and I felt poopy, I drank a lot of chamomile tea with honey. I did have a Yo plait Light Strawberry Yogurt too.

 

I love taco dip or layered dip. I had some Fage Total Greek Yogurt Plain. I heated up my refried beans and spread them on a plate. I mixed about 1 Tbsp of low sodium taco seasoning in with about 1/4-1/3 cup of the yogurt. Then I spread that on top of the beans. I chopped up some romaine and added that with some WW Mexican blend cheese and Pace Medium Salsa. I used Whole Grain Tostitos Scoops to eat it. It was pretty good and very filling. I didn't eat all of it but now I know another option instead of sour cream.

 

I woke up Friday morning and checked on Caleb. This is how is was Sleeping. He is so much like his daddy. Jerry hugs a pillow at night, Caleb hugs his Mickey Mouse or a blankie. Too cute!

One morning when I was feeling a little better and had a good few doses of antibiotics in my system I made this amazing breakfast. Two Egg Whites, 2 slices of bacon (I didn't eat the fatty parts, ha I know it's bacon but I still cut off the extra fat), 2 slices of Sara Lee 45 Calories and Delightful Whole Grain Bread with a little butter and jelly, 1 cup skim milk with 1 Tbsp of Carnation Instant Breakfast Chocolate powder. It was very good!

I was craving a sandwich like this with these chips and magically we had them on hand since it was deer season. I used smoked turkey, 2%  cheese, and Dijon mustard. It satisfied my craving. :)

 

Since I was not feeling well, my hubby picked up St. Louis Bread Company for Dinner. I had the You Pick 2: French Onion Soup (no croutons) with a french baguette, half Italian Combo with no sauce, and an iced tea. I didn't finish all of the soup, I was full.

 

Skinny Funfetti Cupcakes Recipe - made into cake
recipe from Six Sister's Stuff

This cake was pretty good. I made it for a little girl's birthday and she devoured it. I am not sure I will make it again but it is okay for a one time thing. It does not taste like it would when using the cake box directions but that was to be expected. The icing was okay too. I kept this cake in the fridge since I used cool whip in the icing. I am not sure if you should keep it refrigerated but I did to be safe. I read some reviews on the recipe from Six Sister's Stuff and someone mentioned adding a cup of milk to the icing. I did not try this but it is an option. Also, I believe I read on Hungry Girl's recipe for vanilla cake that she has tried using diet cream soda for vanilla/yellow cakes. When I made the icing, it started to thicken after a few minutes so try to spread it on the cake as soon as it is mixed thoroughly.

Skinny Funfetti Cake:

(Serves 12 slices of cake, 5 Weight Watchers Points Plus Values)

Cupcake Ingredients:

1 pkg. Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix (just the powder, not the recipe on the box)

1 (12 ounce) can Sprite Zero

Cake Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13" pan and set aside.  In a large bowl, combine cake mix and Sprite together. Continue to mix until the batter is smooth without any lumps.

 

 

Pour mixture into pan and spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees. Following baking time directions according to type of pan you use. I think I baked the cake 30-35 minutes.  Let cool before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) container Fat Free Cool Whip

1 (1.5 ounce) pkg. Fat Free Vanilla Jello Instant Pudding (just the powder, not the recipe on the box)

Frosting Directions:

In a mixing bowl, add Cool Whip and pudding. Mix with a whisk by hand or an electric hand mixer until smooth. Spread over cooled cake. 

 

This was a nice snack I had one day last week. Healthy Choice Greek Frozen Yogurt. It came in a pack with 3 individual yogurts. It tasted like strawberry ice cream. Pretty Good!

 

This is my little man. Isn't he adorable? Yes he is. Thanks! My hubby was leaving to go hunting and Caleb decided he wanted to wear a hat like daddy. So he put on his Red Head Bass Pro Shops hat and did not take it off until we had a late lunch around 2pm. He is so awesome!

 

Caleb and I went to Kohl's to use my Kohl's cash to buy him a new pair of shoes. I also picked up a few outfits for him. Then we went to Wal-mart to grab a few things. I had a gift card for Old Navy from my Birthday so I went in to grab a pair of Skinny Jean's so I can wear my boots. Just to see if I could, I grabbed a size 12 with my size 14 to try on. I tried on the 12's first. Below is the 12's, zipped and buttoned. I was so excited! They are still a little snug in my belly but they fit! I couldn't believe it! Crazy!!!

 

Saturday Weigh-In Day: November 17, 2012
Weight: 194.8
I lost 2lbs this week. I was sick all week and didn't really track my food but I also didn't really eat much either with my throat being sore. This week was also my 16th week so I received my 16 week charm. They say it takes about 16 weeks to get used to a new plan and keep up with good routines. You start to notice you make different choices and have different habits.

I think I need to have bad weeks and sick weeks. They teach me that I am making progress. I do not eat near the amounts of food that I used to eat. The day that I made bacon, eggs, and toast. I really wanted a fried egg, over easy. But I changed my mind and just made egg whites. I still order diet soda or water when I am out. I notice that I make better choices. They may not always be the healthiest but they are much better than they were in the past.

I am starting to see what my husband sees when I look at myself in the mirror. I see a pretty girl with kind eyes and a nice smile. I am starting to enjoy every day and that is good with winter around the corner. Depression tends to settle in for some people during the winter months. Dark on the way to work and on the way home. Home is dark. Not much sunlight. Cold outside. So with that, I am hoping to beat that old way and make each day better. Now I will have to allow some snuggle time by the fire with Caleb but not every day, all day. :)

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. I love spending time with family. Then the holiday season really starts to feel like it is in the air. :)

Caleb and I window shopped on Friday night to see what he would like to ask Santa for for Christmas. It was fun. :) I think he enjoyed it too.

What do you do for the holiday's?

Hats Off To You All...Recipes

Happy Friday Everyone!
 
First of all I want to Thank all of you that took time to play along with the Liebster Award!
It took me a while to do mine partly because I was pretty much copying Hannah's post (thank you Hannah) because I had no idea what I was doing and ended up answering the wrong set of questions.
And partly because I am a deep thinker so it took me a while to answer those questions.
Then to realize I had answered the wrong set of questions.
Ah...as my husband says...It's a Good Thing Your Pretty. LOL.

Second of all...I started following a few more blogs.
I try to keep up the best I can and I am still new at this.
If I don't get to you it is not on purpose, it is because I don't know what I am doing or have a routine down.
Please be patient with me and then come over and say HEY why didn't you answer me.
LOL.
I honestly do not know how all of you do it?
It takes me a while to write a blog.
I am a bit of a perfectionist with OCD.
Not a good combo.
You may notice that I have not been spell checking or proof-reading my posts...That's usually a big no-no for me.
How do you all find the time to blog, read other blogger's blogs, check your email and answer your email, reply to comments, post to blogs, go to work, take care of your kids, work out, run, cook dinner, prepare meals for the week or lunches, decide on what your next blog post will be, clean your house, take care of yourself (shower, sleep, eat, workout), check your pinterest, instagram, facebook, twitter...and so on.

HOW DO YOU ALL DO IT???

My hats off to you! LOL I am sure I will get into my routine and it will get easier. :)

I tried a few recipes this week and I'd like to share them with you.

HG's Chocolate on Chocolate Frosted Cake

 

 



This cake was very good for a "diet" type cake. It was very moist and full of chocolate flavor. I made it to celebrate my babysitting the kids for 1 year. The servings were very large and very filling. I would make this again!

 

I used a 8" round pan because that is what I had. I couldn't find cake boxes bigger than 16.25 oz so thank goodness HG gives us the measurements for the cake mix.

 

Icing:

1 sugar-free chocolate pudding snack with 60 calories or less (like the kind by Jell-O)
1/3 cup chocolate frosting
2 tbsp. light chocolate syrup

 

Cake:

2 tbsp. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Two 25-calorie packets hot cocoa mix (like Swiss Miss Diet or Nestlé Fat Free)
Half an 18.25-oz. box (about 1 3/4 cups) moist-style devil's food cake mix
1 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute (like Egg Beaters Original)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9" round cake pan with nonstick spray and set aside.

In a medium-large bowl, combine topping ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until thickened and cake is ready to be frosted.

To make the cake, place chocolate chips and the contents of both cocoa packets in a tall glass. Add 1/2 cup very hot water and stir to dissolve. Add 3/4 cup very cold water and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir well. Add chocolate-cocoa mixture and egg substitute. Whisk until completely blended.

Pour batter into the cake pan. Bake in the oven until a knife inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool completely.

Once cake has completely cooled, transfer to a plate. Evenly spread the topping over the top of the cake.

Refrigerate until topping has set, at least 15 minutes.

Evenly cut cake into 8 slices. Serve and enjoy! (Refrigerate leftovers.)

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

Serving Size: 1 slice (1/8th of recipe)
Calories: 217
Fat: 5.5g
Sodium: 476mg
Carbs: 40g
Fiber: 1.5g
Sugars: 24g
Protein: 4g

PointsPlus® value 6*

HG FYI: Some brands' cake mixes now come in smaller boxes... Make sure to grab an 18.25-oz. box for this recipe if you go by the half-box measurement.

 

Spinach and Ricotta Stuffed Shells

 

 



This looked so good and I love the spinach and cheese ravioli's from The Old Spaghetti Factory in St. Louis, so I thought I'd give this recipe a try. When I was making the sauce it smelled so good. I am not sure what I did wrong, but it did not taste as good as I had hoped. ~ If you have any suggestions please let me know. TIA!

 

I did not use Chorizo. I used 2 cloves of garlic along with the small onion. I sauted them in the olive oil then added the crushed tomatoes, sugar,  and S&P. The sauce smelled amazing! Someone commented on the site that there was not enough sauce so I added 1 8oz can of tomato sauce. I chopped up 2 cups of fresh spinach and mixed it in with the other ingredients. It turned green (which I know spinach causes). I followed the directions the rest of the way. It smelled really good...but it tasted funny to me. Was it the garlic? I love garlic and I didn't think it would change the taste too much. Was it the extra tomato sauce? I think the ricotta/spinach filling needed something...maybe I used too much spinach? Any suggestions? :)

 

Makes: 4 servings

Prep 10 mins Cook 45 mins

 

Ingredients:

18 jumbo pasta shells (about 6 ounces)

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

1/4 medium onion, finely chopped

4 ounces fresh chorizo, crumbled

1 15 ounce can crushed tomatoes

3/4 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt plus additional for seasoning

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper plus additional for seasoning

Olive oil cooking spray

2 cups (about 2 ounces) baby spinach, finely chopped

1 cup low-fat ricotta

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

1 egg white, lightly beaten

 

Directions:

1. Cook shells according to package directions; rinse under cold water, drain and pat dry.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and chorizo and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Drain all but 1 1/2 teaspoons drippings and return pan to stove. Add tomatoes and sugar and season with salt and pepper to taste; simmer until sauce is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and coat a 9-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
4. Combine spinach, cheeses, egg white and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spoon half the tomato sauce into prepared dish. Stuff each shell with 1 heaping tablespoon filling and arrange stuffed shells in baking dish. Spoon remaining sauce over shells and cover with aluminum foil. Bake until pasta is cooked through and sauce begins to bubble, about 30 minutes. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

I am also planning to try HG's Pumpkin Pie tomorrow. I will post on that later.