Tasty Tuesday

Carnitas
Source: Adapted from Tracey’s Culinary Adventures, originally from The Homesick Texan Cookbook, to serve 2
1.5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2 inch cubes
1/4 cup orange juice
1/8 cup lime juice
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
Water

1. Place the pork pieces into a dutch oven, and add the orange juice, lime juice, garlic, cumin, and salt. Add enough water to just barely cover the meat.

2. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 2 hours without disturbing.

3. Remove the lid, and increase the heat to medium. Cook for another 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated and only the fat that has been rendered from the pork remains.

4. Sear the meat in the fat, browning it as much as you’d like.

5. Shred the meat or leave it in chunks. Serve with cilantro, avocado slices, pico de gallo, lime wedges, or any of your favorite sides


These were amazingly delicious and easy!  Kevin and I have tried 3 different Carnitas recipes and this one is by far the best.  We even used the leftovers for enchiladas later in the week. Yum! 
P.S.  We doubled the recipe because we had a 3-4lb pork shoulder.  I would definitely recommend this if you are wanting leftovers! 

(Sorry I don't have a picture. Apparently I deleted it off of my phone already.)
http://ourlifeinfood.com/2012/06/10/carnitas/

Weekly weigh-in 206

I'm actually typing this on Sunday night, but I was unsure if I'd get a chance to do it tomorrow morning. I babysit on Monday/Wednesdays and figured my weight would be about the same today as it would be tomorrow morning.  If it happens to be lower, I'll definitely update.  If it's higher...well..you won't know :) Ha! 
206 this morning.  The scale was at a steady 205.8 for 3 out of the 4 days (4th day today) that I weighed myself this week.  I was actually very happy with this since I only went to the gym one time.  My mind and body are ready to get back to the gym, but it was great to have a week off just relaxing and not rushing around.  I should be back in the swing of things by Tuesday morning. 

Starting weight:  222lbs
Current weight:  206lbs
Total lost:  16lbs

Goal:  170lbs
Pounds to go:  36lbs

Finding the motivation

There has been a lack of motivation on my part as far as the gym goes lately.  Kevin's been off a few days this week and the girls have been sleeping in much later (8am today & 9am yesterday).  This has totally thrown off my "rhythm"  I'm a very scheduled/punctual person and this is just totally throwing me off my game!  I feel like I have to completely replan my days now.  I was so used to them being up between 7-7:30, getting time for getting ready, breakfast, doing hair and a little chill time before we had to be on our way by 8:45.  With them waking up later, I'm not quite ready and I miss the class that I want to take. 

Also, I think once in a while maybe God is just saying "Slow down, child.  It's okay to have a week of nothing"  I think it's good for the soul and mind. 

While my motivation has been slacking in the exercise department, it hasn't in budgeting.  I have spent 2 days (and nights)  budgeting and see what we can put extra towards our debt.  It makes me sick to my stomach what we were spending eating out in a month.  I'm not even going to say because it's embarrassing and the reality check was that we didn't think we did it "THAT" much..but after spending a week at home cooking all 3 meals a day, we realized we DID eat out THAT much! 
We're going to allow ourselves as a family $100/month for eating out/recreation.  When it's gone, it's gone.  This should help our wallet and waist! 
I'm so extremely nervous though.  We've never put such tight reigns on our budget.  I suppose that's the reason we are in debt in the first place.  Most of our debt is my student loans and a few student loans that the Army didn't pay of Kevin's and one small(ish) credit card balance and our Expedition.  If we'd continue to pay our current payments, not apply any extra and not snowball, it would take us until 2014 to pay it all off and spend around $11,000 in interest alone!  If we stick to our budget, apply a few hundred extra to our debt and snowball it, we should have it paid off in less than 4 years and save ourselves around $6300 in interest. 
I think now is as good of a time as any to do this.  We don't really know anyone so turning down plans won't be hard, or the opportunity won't come very often.  Our kids are young and rambunctious, so honestly we'd rather avoid going out to eat with them as much as possible. 

So that's what I've been up to.  I should get going, it's PAYDAY! Time to pay bills.  Sigh...

Fall Fun (so far!)

Most of you are friends of mine on Facebook, so you see our daily updates and pictures from our weekly activities..but for those of you who aren't friends on facebook.  Here is what we've been up to! 
This fall has been crazy warm and dry (so I'm told) for the Pacific Northwest.  The rain is supposed to start up tomorrow, and I miss the rain since it's been about 4 months since I've seen any, BUT  I'm not looking forward to it raining everyday for the next 7-8 months. 

We have been keeping busy but making sure to take time to just relax as well.   Kevin usually wants to just relax on weekends and that is understandable.  I usually want to run away on weekends so we compromise and do fun things on Saturday and just chill on Sunday after church. 
It's been a good compromise. 

We still haven't made it to Mt. Rainier but we feel it's just a bit too much for the girls right now.  They do have stroller friendly trails but they are in the whiny "Hold you!"  "I want out!" "I want in!"  phase and we just would rather not deal with that right now.

So...We've stayed close to home for the most part.  Here is our fall (so far) in pictures!

Berry picking in the ditch across the street from our house. 

Kaelin loves them!

Playing basketball! 

Pumpkin Patch

Giant pumpkins

 
I have some more pictures and video on my phone that I plan on sharing soon! 

Weekly weigh-in ( a day late)

208lbs
Yes that is .4 higher than last Monday.  :-/
I woke up around 4am yesterday morning and just felt so bloated.  So much so I had to remove my wedding ring.  I text my cousin Annette and told her that I didn't want to weigh myself in fear of being extremely disappointed.  She agreed and we decided to wait until Tuesday to weigh in.  
Cue- back pain and cramps.  PMS has set in.  Does anyone else have major PMS?  I swear the older I get the worse it gets.  It starts with the bloating that seems to last 2 weeks.  Then a few days later I get major stomach pain.  Not cramps but a pain that is off an on for about 2 days which I am guessing is when I am actually ovulating.  Followed by lower back pain for a few days then around day 10 my period comes for anywhere between 4-7 days. 
I try not to get too discouraged but it sucks feeling like a big puff ball. 
On a good note, I had a Dr's appt last Friday and at 1pm, fully clothed, with shoes, and having just had lunch, the Dr's scale said  207.  My scale had said 204.6 that morning.  So that means my scale is pretty spot on with the Dr's scale.  ALSO when I had been there on August 3, the scale at the Dr said 222.  So that's a 15lb weight loss in 8 weeks.  1.8lbs a week! Not bad at all! 
My doctor had mentioned that she only wants me to lose 1/2lb to 1.lb a week.  It's going to take patience for me because of course I'm like anyone else and want to lose it all right now!  

I'll admit that last week and weekend was hectic and I only made it to the gym 2 times. 
Everyday is different and the fact of the matter is that this is life.  I'm not perfect. I have goals and I will reach them but there are some days when I mentally just need chill. 

We're going on a "eating out" freeze for a few weeks so I'm hoping that will show a difference in the scale too. (And wallet) 

How was your week? 

Tasty Tuesday

I am a little late to posting today but I wanted to share a recipe with everyone that we thought was delicious!  Well, all of the dishes I post, we think are delicious so just bear with me. 
We've been trying to meal plan and shop 1-2 weeks at a time.  We buy the bulk of our meat/essentials/produce for the meals for one week and then plan week 2 off of the meat we have left from week 1 and buy any other produce at the farmers markets or grocery if needed for week 2.  We try to spend less than $150 every 2 weeks.  So far so good since this is the first month we're trying it. 
Let's just say we've been eating a lot of Mexican these last few weeks to use up the corn tortillas. 

BLACKENED TILAPIA BAJA TACOS

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream 
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 cup thinly sliced white onion (we substituted cabbage for the onions)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets 
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas 
• 1/2 ripe peeled avocado, thinly sliced
• 4 lime wedges
  

  Preparation

• 1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Combine jalapeño sauce and onion in a small bowl.
• 2. Combine paprika and next 6 ingredients (through ground red pepper); sprinkle evenly over fish. Heat oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness.
• 3. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Divide fish, onion mixture, and avocado evenly among tortillas. Serve with lime wedges.
  
  
  
  *These were so so good.  Alone, the fish is too sweet and the slaw was bland but together with the avocado and the squeezed lime juice, it was a flavor explosion! 
  Notice above we subbed out the onions in the "slaw"  and used cabbage.  We thought it was perfect this way, we got the crunch without the extra zing of the onions.   Feel free to try it either way.  We both love onions but thought it might be a bit too much and we had cabbage we needed to use anyway!* Enjoy!
  
  We served with a side of homemade refried Pinto Beans.  You can find the recipe from Pioneer Woman here. 

Weekly Weigh-in

207.6lbs

Today is going to be short and sweet. I watch a 3 month old little girl on Monday/Wednesday mornings and so I have to keep the kids busy and happy while she sleeps (so they don't wake her)  and I have to keep her busy and happy when she's awake.  Keeping her happy is super easy, she's a great baby unless she's hungry and she hasn't quite mastered the bottle yet.  So anyway..short and sweet. 

Life was busy this week.  I made it to the gym 3 times, the other days were filled with MOPS, walks and trips to the farmers market and parks with the kids.  I am happy. 
I saw the scale go as low as 205.8 and that was exciting but short lived because I didn't eat great this weekend. 

Those jeans I fit into last weekend, I don't know what the deal is but I can't get them up over my butt anymore.  What the heck?! So..my goal is to git into those jeans comfortably by Christmas even if they are dried in the dryer! 

Hope you all have a great week! 

Starting weight:  222
Current weight:  207.6
Total weight loss:  14.4

GOAL: 170
weight loss to go:  37.6lb