Weekly Challenge #7

This week I'm challenging myself to 4 goals all wrapped up in one. Every day this week I will.....

• Get up by 7:00 (hopefully 6:30, but we'll say 7 so I don't completely fail)
• Exercise every day
• Eat healthy (fresh fruits, vegetables, more water, less junk)
  
• Take my vitamins

I realize these goals are probably routine for 99% of people in the world. Sometimes they are routine for me too. However, I've been in a bit of a funk the past few weeks and each of these is a HUGE accomplishment for me. Last week was especially bad. I was doing well to roll out of bed by 8:30, I only exercised one day, I ate a whole pan of brownies in 2 days, and I didn't take my vitamins. Not good.

I failed on one of the goals today by sleeping in until 8:00. But to my credit, I was trying to catch up from only getting 4 hours of sleep the night before. I did exercise, didn't have any sweets, drank tons of water, and took my vitamins. Perhaps I'll be successful this week.

Weekly Challenge #6 update

Every day this week I will...wear a hair accessory.

I have a box full of different kinds of headbands, flowers, clips, and other hair accessories sitting in my closet. So, this challenge is to help me get more use out of those things and also challenge me to actually do my hair. Maybe I will take pictures. Maybe not.

Today, I have a bandana folded up and wrapped around like a headband. I've been cleaning this morning and getting ready to head outside to do some yard work, so it fits well with my grungy look today! :)

Update: I managed to fix my hair and wear a hair accessory 3 days last week, but didn't manage to take any pictures. I wore the bandana/headband on Monday. On Thursday I wore a headband with a flower. I wore a ribbon/headband with a clip on Sunday. The clip is a tiny hat with feathers and a bow. It was my Easter hat and tribute to the Royal Wedding this week! :)

Weekly Challenge #5

First, an update from WC #4....I was able to have the dishes done 5 1/2 out of 7 nights! One night I left the kitchen a mess when I went to bed. It drove me crazy, but I was just so stinkin' tired! We had worked out in the yard all day and just couldn't work up the energy to do the dishes. The 1/2 night was because a couple of nights I left a drinking glass or two on the counter. I was actually able to have all the dishes washed AND put away 3 nights! That's pretty good for me! I'm trying to stick with it even now!

Now onto this week's challenge. Every day this week I will...make a blog post!

I know, it's not all that exciting, but it might be challenging! I have a few things on my mind and some posts rolling around in my head. This counts as today's post and tomorrow might be a lengthy one. :)

WC #4 Update

Monday, 8:40 p.m. - - All clean and headed to bed!

Weekly Challenge #4

If I were being honest with myself and you, I could make this week's challenge be something along the lines of: get out of bed before 8:00 every morning, take a shower every day, put on real clothes, make supper every night, or make the bed every day. However, I'm sure I would be a complete failure. I'm not feeling very motivated today, but hopefully that will change as the week goes on!

Anyway, on to the challenge for this week.

Every day this week I will...have all the dishes done before going to bed.

This is a real challenge for me. I wash the dishes no less than 5 times a day. We don't have a dish washer and we have very limited counter space to let dishes build up. So, I spend a lot of my day washing dishes. I think the thing that makes it hardest for me to keep up is drying the dishes and putting them away so I can wash another load.

The evenings are the hardest for me. I usually try to keep up with the dishes as I'm fixing supper, but that doesn't always happen. Then once supper is over, I have to dry and put away what I've already washed plus wash the supper dishes. I'm also usually exhausted by that time of night and can't find the energy to get it done.

The problem is that I hate waking up and seeing a pile of dishes staring me in the face first thing. It's not a good start to the morning. I have to wash the dishes and clear the counter off before I can get breakfast going. I often think to myself, "I should have just done this last night. It would have been so much easier."

So, here's to having a clean kitchen at night! I'll let you know how it goes!

WC #3 Update - Teriyaki Meatball Pita Sem-Review

I attempted to make the Teriyaki Meatball Pita recipe and homemade pita recipe on Friday night. It didn't go so well. First off, here's the recipe:

Teriyaki Meatball Pita

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup honey-teriyaki flavored barbecue sauce, divided
1 egg
1/2 tsp. pepper
4 large pita breads

Preheat oven to 400. Combine beef, bread crumbs, 1/4 cup barbecue sauce, egg and pepper in a mixing bowl. Using about 2 tablespoons of beef at a time, roll meat into balls. Place balls in a 9- by 11-inch baking dish. Pour remaining barbecue sauce over top. Bake 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cut each pita in half. Spoon meatballs into pocket just before serving.

Serves 8. Serve with a tossed salad, low fat dressing and fresh fruit kabobs (layer strawberries, blueberries, grapes, orange slices, etc. on toothpicks)

253 calories
17 g. protein
23 g. carbs
9 g. fat
69 mg cholesterol
1 g. fiber
380 mg. sodium

My pitas didn't go so well. I have a lot of trouble using yeast. I usually get my water too hot and it kills the yeast. That must have been what happened this time. They were rising OK, but then when I baked them, they were flat and dense. Also, if you look closely at the recipe for the pitas, it calls for 1 TABLESPOON of salt! That's a lot of salt!!!! I only used about 1/2 Tbsp. and they were too salty! I'm sure it is an error in the recipe.

After the disaster with the pitas, I thought I could still make the meatballs. But, my meat didn't get thawed out all the way. By that time, it was hot in the kitchen and I was frustrated. So, we had sandwiches instead.

I did make the meatballs for church on Sunday. I didn't have the honey-teriyaki bbq sauce, but I made my own. I just combined regular barbecue sauce, honey, and teriyaki. The meatballs were really good. I also added some onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper as I was mixing them up. Tasty!

Perhaps I will attempt this recipe again sometime.

WC #3 Update - Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir Fry Review

Here's the recipe for our supper last night. Chris gets weekly emails from work with healthy living tips and recipes. This was one of the recipes from a few weeks ago.

Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry

1/2 cup instant brown rice (measured dry)
1 tsp. canola or other cooking oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 cup chopped bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped raw asparagus
8 oz. frozen shrimp, defrosted
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce
Hot sauce
Salt and black pepper

Cook the rice according to package directions. Add the oil to a large skillet or wok and place over high heat. When the oil is smoking, add the onion, bell peppers, garlic and asparagus. Stir-fry for five minutes until the vegetables have browned slightly. Stir in the shrimp, soy sauce and hot sauce to taste; cook for an additional three minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve half of it over the brown rice.

Serves two

Per serving: 592 calories, 11 grams fat (2 saturated), 36 grams protein, 88 grams carbohydrates, 9 grams fiber

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I doubled the recipe and it was plenty for us for supper with some left over for lunch today. This was a really good recipe and very easy to make. I don't follow measurements when I'm using vegetables. I used 2 bell peppers (green and yellow), about 20 spears of asparagus, 1/4 white onion, and 3 or 4 scallions.

Review:

Ease: This recipe was super easy to make! It took me about 25 minutes total to prep and cook. That also included a brief intermission to clean up after the dog. Chopping up the vegetables was the most labor-intensive part.

Cost: When I first found this recipe, I didn't know if I would try it because shrimp can be kind of expensive. Thankfully, I found it on sale last week for less than $5 for a 16 oz bag. Asparagus has also been on sale lately. I can't remember how much I paid for it, but I think it was around $2.50 for big bundle and I only used 1/2. The peppers were cheap from Sam's and everything else I already had on hand.

Taste: This was really good! I wasn't sure at first because I'm not a huge fan of soy sauce. But, the 2 tablespoons isn't too overwhelming. I didn't have any hot sauce, but I did add some black pepper and cayenne while the vegetables were cooking. I was hesitant to add salt, because I didn't have low sodium soy sauce. After it was done cooking and I tasted it, I did add a little salt to it.

The taste wasn't overwhelming, but it was good. The vegetables were cooked enough, but still had a good crunch to them. I didn't serve it with anything (other than the brown rice), but I wished I had some fresh pineapple and some strawberries to go on the side.

Nutrition: If I had used low sodium soy sauce and didn't add the extra salt, this would have been a very healthy meal. Even with the salt content, I feel like it was very nutritious. Protein, whole grain, fresh vegetables....doesn't get much better than that! I have a hard time understanding how each serving has 592 calories, but maybe that's right.

Overall: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars...We really enjoyed this meal, but it isn't something that I would crave. I would definitely make it again and enjoy it!

WC #3 Update - Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers Review

I made The Deen Brothers Lighter Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers for supper tonight. I served it with peas & carrots and garlic cheddar biscuits.

In my usual style, I made a few changes to the recipe. I added mushrooms when I was sauteing the onion, garlic and zucchini. I left them in big chunks so the non-mushroom eater could easily pick them out. I also browned the turkey before I put it in the peppers. The recipe didn't say to do this, but I was a little concerned that it wouldn't get cooked all the way in the crock pot.

Review:

Ease: This was a relatively easy recipe to make. It took me about 30 minutes to prep. That time did include figuring out how to use my new slicer/shredder that goes with my KitchenAid mixer.

Cost: Most of the ingredients are staples in our house. I don't always have ground turkey, but I found it pretty cheap last week and bought several pounds to put in the freezer. The zucchini isn't a staple right now, but once our garden starts producing we will have tons! The peppers were the most expensive part, but they are kind of pricey right now. I did find a bag of 6 yellow/orange/red peppers at Sam's for less than $5 the other day, which was a good price. Again, once our garden is producing we will have lots of peppers.

Taste: Chris and I both agreed that it needed more seasoning. It definitely needed a little more salt. I might also try to add some other herbs in the mixture next time. The texture was also odd. I cooked it in the crock pot on low for 6 hours, which I think was a little too long. The pepper was very mushy and the filling was also kind of mushy. I think also leaving the rice uncooked might help with the texture. Next time I will probably only cook it for 4 hours. Otherwise, it was a very good recipe.

Nutrition: The only "processed" part of this recipe was the shredded cheese and marinara sauce. Everything else was fresh, whole grain, and meat.

Overall: 3 out of 5 stars

Weekly Challenge #3

Every day this week I will....try a new recipe.

This might seem somewhat ambitious, but I love trying new recipes. I'm in the mood for new, inexpensive, healthy recipes.

Monday: Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers
Tuesday: Spicy Shrimp and Asparagus Stir-Fry (a recipe Chris got from work)
Wednesday: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken
Thursday: Veggie Burgers (recipe from March 2011 Better Homes and Gardens)
Friday: Teriyaki Meatball Pitas (another recipe Chris got from work) with homemade pitas

I'll attempt to post reviews and the recipes as I try them each night. Hopefully they will be successful meals!

Weekly Challenge #2 Update

This week ended up being a challenge, but not entirely because of this challenge. Make sense? The week didn't go as planned, but that's OK. It was a very busy week, but I did get a lot done around the house.

Just to recap, my plan for the week was:

Monday: Clean out humidifiers and prepare to pack away
Tuesday: Pack away winter clothes, throw out what didn't get worn, unpack spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Wash the curtains
Thursday: Wash all the blinds (YUCK!)
Friday: Wash the walls in Grandma's room.

Well, here's how my week went:

Monday: Didn't clean out humidifiers
Tuesday: Packed winter clothes away, put several things in the garage sale/Goodwill pile, unpacked spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Didn't wash the curtains
Thursday: Washed the blinds and windows in Grandma's room
Friday: Washed the blinds and windows in the living room, washed the walls in Grandma's room, washed the curtains in the living room

So, all and all it wasn't a complete failure, but not completely a success.

Weekly Challenge #2

The challenge this week isn't going to be quite as exciting as last week's. However, with Spring right around the corner, it's a necessary one.

Every day this week I will...do one deep cleaning task.

Monday: Clean out humidifiers and prepare to pack away
Tuesday: Pack away winter clothes, throw out what didn't get worn, unpack spring/summer clothes
Wednesday: Wash the curtains
Thursday: Wash all the blinds (YUCK!)
Friday: Wash the walls in Grandma's room.

This is certain to be a challenge for me. I only enjoy one of the tasks (packing away clothes and getting out new ones). The others are like pulling teeth for me, especially washing the blinds. I'm sure It will be worth it when I'm finished.

I won't be making a post every day to update you on the progress. That would be a little boring. But, I do have a few other posts planned for throughout the week.

Weekly Challenge #1 Update

Monday

I've had this necklace a long time. I believe I bought it to go with an Easter outfit about 5 years ago. It was one of those that I had forgotten about and was in the back of my jewelry box.

(Pardon the awkward shadows and angle. I was trying to take a picture of myself with my phone, but not get my face/neck in the picture much. I have this rash thing on my neck and jawline, so I figured you probably don't want to see that!)

Tuesday

This beautiful necklace was given to me by a dear friend for Christmas. I really love it! Turquoise and brown are big down here, so I feel like I fit right in.

(Have I mentioned how much I hate taking pictures of myself!?!?!)

Wednesday

This necklace was a Christmas present from my Grandma Kate. I really like cameo jewelry and I was so excited about this necklace. I love the black, white, and silver combination. It has earrings to match, but I wasn't in an earring mood today.

Thursday

I was looking quite nasty today, but the necklace helped disguise that a little. I was in desperate need of a shower, but decided to wait until I could go for a run.

Unfortunately, I don't remember where I got this necklace. I'm sorry if that fact hurts someone's feelings. I wish I could remember, and I've tried all day, but it won't come to me. Maybe it was Tasha? It's a very pretty necklace. This picture isn't very good, but the necklace is green and blue with some silver running through it. It kind of has an iridescent look.

Friday

I was trying to do something different with the picture this time, but it didn't go as planned. You should see all the "mess-up" pictures, it's quite humorous.

This necklace was from my Mom a few years ago. I love the bright blue and really like for it to stand out. I paired it with this simple white shirt and called it done.

Saturday and Sunday

I didn't get around to taking pictures with the necklaces on, so this will have to do. I wore the necklace on the left on Saturday and the one on the right today.

The necklace I wore on Saturday is made out of blue and brown buttons. It was a gift from a friend when I graduated from high school.

The necklace I wore today is a simple red and silver necklace. I bought it to go with the outfit I wore the night Chris proposed to me, so it holds many special memories.

I enjoyed the challenge this week. I had hoped to be more creative with the necklaces I picked to wear, but that's alright. Just for fun, I counted that I own 39 necklaces! That might be a few too many!

Weekly Challenge #1

(See post below to know about the Weekly Challenge.)

Every day this week I will.....wear a different necklace.

I was inspired to do this challenge last week when I looked in my jewelry box. I have TONS of necklaces, yet rarely wear them. I love wearing necklaces. They just add so much to an outfit and can really just make me feel better about myself. So, this week I'm going to make a special effort to put on a different necklace each morning.

Weekly Challenge

Is it just me, or has this blog gotten super boring? I'm sure you're tired of reading about the dogs and Grandma. I need to think of more exciting things to write about.

Actually, I have a plan to help make things a little more exciting around here. I'm going to start doing a Weekly Challenge. Each week I'll pick a different "challenge" that must be completed every day. For example, every day this week I will wear a necklace. Or maybe every day this week I will call a friend. Sometimes the challenge will be related to clothing. Sometimes it will be related to household tasks or maybe something I need to accomplish.

I'll write about the challenge for the week and try to make some posts about how I'm doing with the challenges. Maybe it will inspire some of my readers to take part in your own challenges.

Hopefully this will add some spice to the blog and my life in general. Also, I can't think of a more creative name than "Weekly Challenge." If you think of something, please share your ideas!