SWAG SWAP!

I know, I know.  I'm a terrible blogger.  Vacation has thrown me off in more ways than one, and every time I sit down to write a post, I get side tracked...

Today I wanted to reveal my Swag Swap Stuffs I got from the wonderful Kira over at A Day in the Life of Mrs T.

Kira is a military mom and wife, who is currently prego with her second child and her husband is deployed. They just found out that they're having another boy! She's a runner (still while prego!) and she just finished her 12th half marathon in Nashville with an amazing group of lady bloggers. Jealous, I am!

Both of us ran into problems with getting everything in before the shopping deadline, so we  both shipped a day late. (Which worked out well since neither of us were on time! lol) She really outdid herself in this swag swap and all the things she included in my box are AMAZING!

 

Who doesn't love the Pioneer Woman? I have coveted this cookbook (and recipes) since I found her blog about 5 years ago.  Go Buy This Book.  The chocolate sheet cake recipe? TO. Die. For. You can't screw it up and it's my go to for cakes, cupcakes, or brownies even. She even calls it "the best chocolate sheet cake ever" and I call it "the best chocolate cake recipe ever". Seriously. Make it. Now.

 

 

Cutest cup ever. Seriously.  We drink our sweet tea out of Mason Jars, and this cup makes it a lot easier to do! There are some yummy smelling travel size shampoos, conditioners, body wash and shea butters, and I'm def fixed up for my next trip! (hmmm... Vegas for my honey's 40th?!)

This chap stick? SO SOFT! Really, I don't even understand how she came across all this awesome stuff. She rocked this swap!

And probably my most favorite item? This wrist wallet from Vera Bradley! I purchased a couple of these for our trip to Vegas (albeit, mine were from Walmart) and I fell in love with the overall concept of having everything so handy, but not having to carry a whole purse. This is perfect! So soft, much more durable than the ones that I have and it has just enough room for everything. Of course, the fingernail polish doesn't hurt either... you should see my stash!

Overall, I loved doing this swap with all of these amazing ladies.  Thank you to Candra and Alicia for hosting, and thank you Kira for letting me get to know you and your life!

Thursday'sYummiest Healthy Food Linkup

***EDIT: I jumped the gun on this, and there is no linkup this week. I'll link this post to the next one I suppose.***

It's that time of the week to linkup with Alicia and Candra for the Yummiest Food that's Healthy too!

 I'm getting to participate this week with a recipe that I tried a couple of weeks ago since going gluten and dairy free with the 30 day challenge with Adie. (you can read more about that, here) I love a good meatloaf and this one did not disappoint. I was actually quite surprised that this turned out so well! Here's the original recipe I found over here ... Pinterest has been a lifesaver for me and this whole gluten thing.

Gluten Free Meatloaf
Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 30 mins Total time: 35 mins Serves: 4
Ingredients
•1 pound lean ground beef
•½ cup rolled oats (use gluten free if necessary)
•¼ cup ketchup, plus 2 Tablespoons
•¼ cup onions, finely minced
•1 egg
•1 teaspoon salt
•½ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.Place all ingredients (except the 2 Tablespoons of ketchup) in a large mixing bowl.
3.Mix together using your hands until well combined.
4.Place ground beef mixture onto a baking sheet and form into a loaf shape, or place into a loaf pan.
5.Spread the remaining ketchup on top of the loaf. 6.Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until meatloaf is cooked through and is no longer pink.
7.Let rest for 5 minutes before slicing to serve.

Now I tweaked it a bit, for my tasting. I added in some garlic powder, some chopped bell pepper, and rand my oats through the blender before adding them... and I may or may not have used more than the recommended amount of ketchup.  Oh, and I added brown sugar to the top.  And I may have greased the pan with my left over bacon grease...

*whaaaat?!*

What I would have done differently: def keep all the listed ingredients, and keep the ones I added too.  I did more than the 2T of ketchup on top, but I think if I would have mixed it with the SPLENDA brown sugar blend (I tried to stay healthy), then it would have went farther and I wouldn't have had to use as much. I also would have added a couple of tablespoons of the brown sugar blend to the meat mix too. You could also add some strips of bacon maybe even turkey bacon) to the top of the loaf as well, if you don't want to grease the pan with your leftover yummy grease. LOL. Don't judge me. We have to fit in all the flavors we miss, without adding AS MANY calories as if we were to eat the real thing.

Anyway, that's my healthier recipe for the week! I really enjoyed it, and so did my honey.  He did request more ketchup though. Hope you're having a great week and that you link up with these lovely ladies!

What are you're favorite healthy recipes?

Hi there, hey there, ho there... Lots of links in this post!

I'm (obviously) a little behind on this weeks posts. Please forgive me.  I'm sure most of you will if you know whats been going on, but still, please.

So lets get down to it!
Monday started my 30 day challenge with Adie of Four Fit Sisters. So far, so good.  I'm loving the daily "homework" she posts to our facebook group, although, I'm not as impressed that I'm in a group of mostly repeaters... I feel like I'm asking stupid questions pretty often, and don't feel like other people are "participating" as much since they've already asked most of the questions they're going to.  Oh well.

Our first assignment was to figure out our average RMR (mines 1844). You can do that here... This number tells you how many calories your body should burn just sitting around. Not doing anything additional.  You should try to eat at or just under that number of calories per day.  Uh... hello! That's about 400 MORE calories than I've been eating for the past two months! So, I've adjusted my calorie intake on my LoseIt App around 1725. I just couldn't make the dive to over 1800... Just couldn't.

Our second assignment was to take pics and measurments of ourselves. Now, I had just done that on the fourth for the month, but I went ahead and did it on Sunday as well. Here they are:

 

 

Hey Look! I got new clothes to take pics in! Not really, I was just tired of those grey pants... they made my ass look terrible.  And that cheapo bra was driving me crazy!

Anyway, I posted mine on the facebook group page.  I'm pretty sure she said we were supposed to... but I'm the only one that did it. :-/ It's there... No take backs now!  Anyway, we're supposed to cut out wheat and dairy for the first two weeks.  So far, so good I think. I'll know more in two weeks! I don't feel any different as of yet, but I tried not to consume wheat anyway just because its usually in bread and so high in calories/carbs.  And the only dairy I really eat was shredded cheese on my eggs and salads... I do kinda miss that.

So... after two days of being in the group, this was my weight for weigh in Wednesday... I'm not sure if it's actually due to the group or he lack of wheat/dairy or just a better day for me.

And of course, since it's a weigh in, I've linked up with Heather and Ashlee

And Nina here...

(Sorry it's a day late guys!)

Back to the 30 day challenge group, Another assignment we had was to fill this out.  

This page was so emotional for me, given the circumstances I've been in the past couple of weeks.  After dropping my son off at the airport on Sunday, this hit home so much more than on just a weight loss level. Each one of these answers both pertain to me losing weight, as well as things I need to work on for myself emotionally. Ugh. Talk about a tough day.  And I'm super glad that it wasn't Monday's homework.  Cause I was a wreck that day.  I didn't make it to work, I laid in bed a cried.  I'm at work today, I'm trying my damdest to make sure each assignment is done and that I put on a (semi) happy face.

Two of the ladies that most inspired me to jump in to Adie's group challenge are hosting a linkup today for healthier foods.   Alicia at Brew Mama

 and Candra at Camo & Lipstick

.Since so many of us are on diets of "clean eating", "gluten free", "low carb" etc, I think this linkup will be SO beneficial to so many.  Even if not all of the recipes appeal to you, ONE of them will.  I'm so excited for this and have already been scouring the recipes for myself! Unfortunately, I don't have a recipe to add this week, but you can have a gander over here...

Anyway, that's all for now. Hopefully I can whip out another post tomorrow. Thanks for the understanding on the late posts, and hopefully, you'll stick around. Happy Thursday folks! 

Winner, Winner!! Weigh in Wednesday

It's Weigh in Wednesday again, and I'm a little stoked about seeing today's number.  I've been eating *mostly* clean and back on my Zeal Wellness every morning.  Plus doing my protein shakes in the mornings.I also found this Weigh in Wednesday linkup! Go Check it out!

I signed up for the Jillian in January challenge with the ladies over at the other linkup, but... it's not going so well... Jillian's Yoga Meltdown... burn... whatever its called, KICKED MY ASS! I had terrible pains in my left ass for three days (yes, I still hurt today) and I decided Jillian wasn't for me.  Not yet.  I've got to get back to the agility and stamina to keep up with her perfect ass.

So yeah, I'm a quitter.  I'll admit it. But I've picked my old yoga video back up and I'm gonna start there.

Awesome news for ya from yesterday... I WON SOMETHING! Whoot!

I won the awesome #topsecretjug from Valerie over at Fab Chick Gets Fit...

 

You must read her story! She's hilarious, shes a cutiepatootie and she gave me free stuff! She's definitely one of my inspirations for my health as she started her weight loss journey this time last year, and she is ROCKING it! Thanks again Valerie!

I'm a huge Instagram addict... seriously.  And since I've made my account public (so that the lady doing the yoga challenge in October could see my posts) I've gotten tons of followers... It's crazy! And I'm actually really stoked about it! LOL Now... if all those followers would actually follow my blog.. I'd be even better off! HA!

I'm also pretty excited about our Resolution Revolution packages coming in! Jess stuck them in the mail yesterday, so mine should be here Saturday-ish? Our mail people run EXTREMELY slow around here. If you're interested in the Resolution Revolution she's started, check out her blog, and leave her your email... I know she's taking a wait list for February now!


So here it is, ladies and gents (HA! Like there were any!) Here's today's lucky number.... drum roll please.................................

Okay, so its not as as good as it could have been if I would have stuck with Jillian. But its down. Hopefully being more active before the next weigh in will help!

Thinking about posting some recipes an Aunt sent me last week.  They're crock pot (so not tons of work) and she thinks they could be frozen before crock potted, so they should be pretty handy for this cold weather. It'd be neat to have a couple crock pot meals ready to pop in once or twice a week...

what are your thoughts on me posting recipes??

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday y'all. Hope your weekend was all our was cracked up to be! Our weekend was rather uneventful. I spent some major time with my oldest boy, Ayden. It's rare I get one on one time with either of them, so it was a nice change.

We watched Calamity Jane like me and my granny used to do...

Then I even let him bring his sleeping bag in and camp out next to my bed.

Jillian kicked my ass Saturday with Yoga Meltdown... literally. My ass and left hip are killing me

I did more food prep and stuff on Sunday.

Baked chicken fajitas were amazing. And not too terrible for you, even after you add a whole wheat tortilla, sour cream, cheese and salsa. Here's the recipe, but I forgot to take a pic.

 Oven Baked fajita Ingredients: 
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips 
2 Tbsp vegetable oil 
2 tsp chili powder 
1 1/2 tsp cumin 
1/2 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp dried oregano 
1/4 tsp seasoned salt 
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel) 
1 medium onion, sliced 
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into strips 
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into strips 
Directions: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken strips in a greased 13×9 baking dish. In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt. Drizzle the spice mixture over the chicken and stir to coat. Next add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine. Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are done

Also made some baked chicken with the new Weber's Grill Spice I got free in the mail from Marlboro. Yes, I quit smoking, but I still log in for my free stuff, yo!

I skipped the Jillian challenge Sunday... she hurt me way too much Saturday, so I just stuck with my plain old yoga video. Anything is better than nothing, and her version is just not what I want. Lol

Today starts back the school weeks again. I'm really hoping getting back in a normal routine helps get my kids under control... Sheesh! Also hoping that you teachers that have been off this whole time are rested up, too. My kids will be back in rare form, I'm sure.

My honey is sick this weekend, so it's a good thing he had Sunday and today off work.  He's at home sleeping and recuperating, I'm assuming.  Poor thing. lol

How was your weekend and whats on the agenda this week?