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Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Tasty Tuesday

BBQ Chicken Pizza 

I can't take credit for this because I got the recipe from Pioneer Woman, but man oh man is it delicious!! 

We are still searching for a perfect pizza crust.  We used the recipe from the Pioneer Woman and it was good but just not "perfect".  At least not for us.  We are going to try it again though for good measure. 
*We left off the cilantro because we didn't have any and we used block mozzerella because we didn't have fresh. We thought it was still delicious and I imagine if you follow her recipe exactly it would be Scrumptious!  Enjoy! 

Recipe: CPK’s BBQ Chicken Pizza

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Ingredients

  • 1 whole Recipe For Pizza Crust (mine Makes Two Crusts)
  • 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
  • 1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
  • Olive Oil, For Drizzling
  • Salt For Sprinkling
  • 16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
  • 1/2 whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
  • Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.
Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.
Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.
Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion.
Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately. Repeat with other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time.



Recipe: Basic Pizza Crust

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Ingredients

  • 1 teaspoon Instant Or Active Dry Yeast
  • 1-1/2 cup Warm Water
  • 4 cups All-purpose Flour
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
  • 1/3 cup Olive Oil

Preparation Instructions

Sprinkle yeast over 1 1/2 cups warm (not lukewarm) water. Let stand for a few minutes.
In a mixer, combine flour and salt. With the mixer running on low speed (with paddle attachment), drizzle in olive oil until combined with flour. Next, pour in yeast/water mixture and mix until just combined, and the dough comes together in a sticky mass.
Coat a separate mixing bowl with a light drizzle of olive oil, and form the dough into a ball. Toss to coat dough in olive oil, then cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 to 2 hours, or store in the fridge until you need it.
Note: it’s best to make the dough at least 24 hours in advance, and 3 or 4 days is even better.
When you are ready to make the pizza, grab HALF the pizza dough (recipe makes 2 crusts) and squeeze the dough toward the bottom to form a nice, tight, pulled ball. You can roll out the pizza with a rolling pin if you’d like, but sometimes it’s just as easy to throw it around and pull and stretch till it feels right. And when the crust is nice and thin, lay it on an oiled baking sheet or pizza pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the dough and spread it with your fingers. Very lightly sprinkle some salt on the crust.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Top your crust with your toppings of choice. Then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

*Note these are NOT my recipes, just wanted to share the greatness that is Ree Drummond!  If you haven't checked out her blog yet, go now! www.thepioneerwoman.com 

Monday, September 10, 2012

Selectively Lazy

I have been slacking off greatly with this blog lately and honestly I am just not into it as much as I used to be when Lauren was a baby.  My life has been much busier with two toddlers and quite frankly I enjoy my time just loafing on the couch when I do have some free time.  So to say that I have been "selectively lazy" with certain things in my life would be a true statement.  Also, I feel like 95% of my readers are already friends with me on Facebook.  Therefore, they've already seen the pictures, status updates, and funny quotes from the kids.  I feel redundant when I come on here and writing once again about what we've been up to. 

As far as my weight loss, it's has it's ups and downs.  It's different not having the "in person" accountability during my first weight loss journey last year.  Also, my cousin Annette who is also my accountability partner is my facebook friend and we message back and forth on there.  She has requested though that I keep up my blog as well and I am going to try my best to do so!!  Another change I am making is what day of the week I will have be my weigh in.  I have been blogging my weigh-ins on Fridays but that just isn't working for me.  I feel like I work really well Monday-Thursday and then weigh in on Friday and let loose on the weekend, then what happens is I gain 1-2+lbs back over the weekend and come Monday morning I am disappointed because I have to lose that weight PLUS the 1-2lbs a week that I am wanting to lose for my goal that week anyway.  So Fridays are no more and Mondays will be my new weigh-in day.  It's when I weighed in last year and it worked well for me.  I love starting out the week with a bang and a goal to work for and I feel like this will help me stay more on track on the weekends as well.

Food:  Oh Food.  I have come to realize that I have a very bad relationship with food.  I LOVE food.  I swear if I didn't love food so much, I'd have lost 3x the amount of weight.  My goals from now on are to eat to survive.  Right now, I eat out of boredom, eat to celebrate, eat when I'm stressed, etc.  You get the picture. This is especially true on the weekends when Kevin is home, because he loves food more than me!  The thing with him though is that he workouts out everyday at work and it doesn't affect him as much as it does me. 

SO today, I am starting fresh.  I am going to be 100% honest on here from now on and I plan to use this as my journal to vent my frustrations as well along this journey.

Today's weight:  212lbs
Starting weight:  222lbs
Last weeks weight:  210.2 (up 1.8)

Total weight loss to date:  10lbs

Goal:  52lbs (170lbs)

Just to put it into perspective. If I could lose 52lbs total this time around that would put my weight at 170lbs.  That would be 100lbs lost since the day I had Kaelin.  100lbs!!!!  How amazing would that be!  So 42 more lbs to go! Let's do this. 

These are my pictures from last years weight loss journey and I plan to take more this time around. 



  November 2010: 250lbs (Down 20lbs post partum) 

March:  2011  225lbs

May 2011:  210lbs  Approx where I am right now.







Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lauren!

Happiest of birthdays to my first born. 

I think this year is so much more fun because she has been excited for months.  She could barely contain herself last night when we were making her cake! 
We have a fun day planned with some friends coming over for pizza and cake. 
I know she will have a blast! 

We love you, Lauren Grace. We can't imagine our lives without you. 

Friday, August 24, 2012

Weekly weigh- in: 210.8





Happy Friday!

I have been a little absent the last 2 weeks and for a good reason!  We went on vacation!  We went down the coast of Oregon to Seaside and the surrounding towns.  It was a very nice getaway but I'll save that for another post. 

I missed last weeks check in so I'm playing catch up today. 
I will admit that on vacation, I did not eat the greatest and of course did not go to a gym.  We did do some short hikes and I did take an hour long walk on the beach one morning, but despite that when I weighed myself Monday morning (4days ago) I was back up to 216.  Queue tears.  I know it was due to the way I ate on vacation, and of course PMS.  Sounds like an excuse but seriously a few days before my period, I totally bloat up and even look pregnant and puffy.  It's crazy.

I jumped right back in Monday and have been hitting the gym and making healthier choices. 
This morning I weighed in at 210.8. Whoohoo!  My original goal was 205 by 8/31.  Seeing as though that is a week away, that is pushing it.  I cannot lose that much weight in a healthy manner in one week.  The most important thing is that I am not giving up and the more and more I do this, the more and more it becomes a lifestyle not a 'diet'.  It helps that Kevin is doing it with me now.

That's all for now.  I hope you all have a great weekend and keep reminding yourself that the weight didn't come on in a week or even a month, so it's not going to come off that quick.  Just keep up the hard work everyone! 

Starting weight:  222lb
Today's weight:  210.8
Total weight loss:  11.2 lb

Friday, August 10, 2012

Airshow



Girls and I in front of a Navy plane. 
 We recently had the privilege of attending a FREE airshow put on at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.  The entire event was free to the public and it was a blast.  We also had the chance to go the night before for a "Hangar party" for military families only.  They fed us supper, had a band, several booths set up and some even met the pilots!  I would have to say this was one of the best times we have had as a family.  The girls absolutely loved it and Kevin and I enjoyed it too!
We are just so thankful for the opportunities that are presented to us, especially ones that are FREE!  You can't beat that. 


C-17  - these planes are so huge!  It's so exciting that we actually get to see these fly at least 2-3 times a week.  Living near the airbase is so awesome! 

The girls inside a Stryker vehicle.  This is the vehicle that Kevin's unit uses. 

Lauren piloting a Blackhawk helicopter. 

She loved it.  Can you tell? 

This moment was truly amazing.  This parachuter jumped, carrying the flag during the playing of the National Anthem.  Still brings tears to my eyes. Loved it. 

Army Golden Knights Parachute team

Golden Knights

Golden Knights





Stealth bomber



Super sleepy girls.  It was actually a warm day (for here) and we were out in the sun for about 6 hours.  The girls were pooped! 

Here are a few videos of the airshow.  Some of the acts just took our breath away.  They are at the beginning of the post.  Sorry! 




Weekly weigh-in: 212.4

212.4 
Down another 1.8lbs! 
It has been a ridiculously challenging day today at home with our kids, so the weight update is about all your going to get.  I hope to get back on track with actually blogging about the kids/recipes/etc. Not just my weekly weigh ins. 

Anyway, have a great weekend!

Starting weight:  222
Today's weight: 212.4
Total weight loss:   9.6lbs

P.S.  I was pretty stoked today because I ran for 7 minutes  without stopping!  I know for some of you, it may not seem like much but at the end of June when I started this journey, I could not run for more than 30 seconds at a time without feeling like I was going to keel over and die.  So I'm pretty excited and on my way to a mile straight!

Friday, August 3, 2012

Weekly weigh-in: 214.2

Down 1.4lbs from last week.  I am happy to see the scale gradually go down.  Still my one major fault is weighing myself everyday.  I'm obsessed.  I know!  I almost need Kevin to take it away and hide for the week. 
I sucked it up this week and put the girls in childcare at the gym.  I made it to the gym 4 times since the last weigh in. 
It's been a super busy week at our house and I would have gone more to the gym but Kaelin has had a snotty nose for a while and I was informed by the gym childcare that they don't allow kids with snotty noses if the snot is green/yellow.  I understand where they are coming on but come on, kids have snotty noses. Kids pass germs.  Kaelin has been a snot bucket since she was born. In Kansas I don't there was more than 2 months total that she wasn't without a snotty nose because of allergies.  They (allergies) seem to have subsided once we moved and I honestly believe she just has a cold because of the climate changes and the fact that she is teething and her fingers are always in her mouth.  Also, I have been sneezing like crazy and I sometimes here Lauren sniffling but nothing to the extent of Kaelin's snot-fest.  There were a few days that it was super sticky/thick and greenish, so in case of an infection I got her into the doctor this morning.   I'm actually taking both girls for their well checks and a few issues that I have concerns with.  Anyway.  My beef with the gym child care is that I would never jeopardize the health of another family by sending my SICK child to their care.  In fact the lady told me they only had to wipe Kaelin's nose once in the 90 minutes that she was there.  I don't think that's too bad..but still green and that's a no no to them.  So my point is.  If she had a fever, or was throwing up etc.  I would do what any other daycare would say:  Keep her home for 24 hours until fever subsides.  But she doesn't have a stinking fever! 
Sorry for my rant but I just think the runny nose rule is dumb.  I have kept her home the last two days and probably throughout the weekend and we'll see what the doctor says today.  It'll be one of 3 things.  Common cold (most likely), sinus infection (possible because of thick/green consistency) or once again allergies. 
So snotty nose kid = me not getting to the gym the last 2 days.  Kevin's days have been very long (14 hours ) and by the time we have supper and clean up, I just don't feel like leaving in the evening.  I actually really enjoy go during the day and getting out of the house for a few hours.  It makes me really enjoy my evenings home with my family instead of despising them. 

How was your week ?  As a parent or some of your are teachers/caregivers...  Is the snotty nose rule a little overboard or do you think they are on the right track? 

Starting weight:  222
Current weight:  214.2
Total weight loss:  7.8 lbs

Goal:  205 by August 31st.  9.4lbs to go!  That's about 2.35lbs per week for the next 4 weeks. I can do it!!