My Very First Video Post and WIAW!

Instead of writing a blog post, today I spoke it.....

....so after watching that, it's no way to hide which part of the country I'm from, ha-ha!

Now for the party, over at Peas & Crayons, WIAW!


.... a sample of food from the week:

I LOVED the chocolate dessert above AND SO HEALTHY! It's a win, win!

What I Didn't Eat, but man did they look good:

My FAVorite recipe from the week!

Pollo al Limone (for all of us non-French speaking folks, lemon chicken)

ingredients:

1 chicken, about 3 1/2 pounds cut into 8 serving pieces (I used leg quarters, because they were on sale at Whole Foods)

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

• Place chicken pieces, skin sides down, in a baking dish.  In a bowl whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper.  Pour over the chicken.  Let marinate for at least 1 hour.  (I marinated mine overnight).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Roast the chicken for 30 minutes.  Turn the pieces skin sides up and continue to rest until browned and the juices run clear when a thigh is pierced, 30-45 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a platter, cover loosely with foil, and keep warm.  Pour the pan juices through a sieve into a bowl and skim off the fat.  Pour the juices over the chicken and serve.  (Don't skip this last step, the sauce is yummy!)

Let me know if you try this recipe!  My youngest daughter said, "this is the best chicken ever."  Let me know if you agree.  

Notice I don't have a picture of the final product, oops, bad food blogger. 

............

Well I started by saying, I was vlogging tonight instead of blogging, but I did both! :)  

I never went to the gym because I've been working on this post all night.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day.  I'll pack my workout clothes and take them to work with me.  No excuses, right.

Tell me:     Recently was there an activity in your life that seemed difficult enough to cause anxiety or fear, but afterwards seemed relatively easy?

Thanks for listening and have a great evening.

Take care,

Cat

Make sure to check out my Facebook page: Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

Busy, Busy, and Loving It

My life has been so crazy busy!!!! I love to be busy, so it's all good!  I had to go to Warrenton today for a private sale, fun, fun.  Actually it was fun, I love meeting and talking with people!  Now it's par-tay time, over at Peas and Crayons, otherwise known as What I Ate Wednesday.




Let the party begin....
Breakfast:  Oatmeal (gluten free oats, Justin's Maple Almond Butter, chia, maple syrup, bananas) and turkey bacon (nitrate free)

Lunch:  Smithfield's Brunswick stew

Our snacks today:  my daughter packed these.  Good to know I've raised her right ;)

Dinner:  Taco Soup chili (recipe below) and romaine with Italian dressing

Taco Soup Chili Recipe
-Brown 1 pound of hamburger (may use ground turkey or chicken) and drain grease.-Add:1 can corn (partially drained)2 cans pinto beans1 can tomato sauce1 can of diced tomatoes1 package of taco seasoning (look for one with no MSG. I used about 3 tablespoons of taco seasoning found in the spice section of the grocery store.)1 tablespoon chili powder-Heat thoroughly 
optional:  (I haven't been adding these things to make it healthier, but they are very tasty)Top with grated cheese, sour cream, onions, olives, brown sugar, etc. and serve with corn bread or corn chips. 
Let me know what you think of the recipe.  My family thinks it's super yummy!
Goodnight.  See ya tomorrow.


Cat's Belly Fat Cure Facebook Page

This weekend, I did it & a new recipe

Over the weekend I tried a new healthy cookie recipe, banana oatmeal peanut butter cookies.  They were so yum!  Here's the recipe:

Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies (gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free, egg free)

Ingredients:
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon vanilla
3/4 cup natural unsweetened peanut butter
2 tablespoons organic local maple syrup
2 cup gluten free rolled oats
1/2 cup rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup no dairy chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix bananas, vanilla, peanut butter and maple syrup into a creamy consistency in a large bowl.

In another bowl combine oats, flour, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until they are well combined, the batter should be slightly sticky.

Fold in the chocolate chips.  Place heaping tablespoon sized balls of the batter onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 15 - 18 minutes.  Makes 15 cookies.

These cookies were delicious. Too delicious because there are none left. oops!

For some time I've been wanted to do something that would remind me of my new life where anything is possible, weight loss or any goal for that matter.  I decided to get my cartilage in my left ear pierced!!!!  So tonight after dropping the kids off at church, I went to the mall by myself and had it done.  I like it.  What do you think?

After this week and weekend, even though I stayed on track most of the time, I don't think my weight loss will be stellar.  That said, this weekend hubby and I went to Bonefish Grill .  It was SO DELICIOUS.  I highly recommend it.  Monday its time to get back on track and BUST this plateau baby!  I need a plan, so I developed one.  

This weeks action plan:

Nutrition:

• Eat carbohydrates (fruit, grains, etc.) at breakfast or within 2 hours of  working out.
• Other snacks and meals will consist of protein and veggies.
• Lots of H2O.  Some tea.
• Will continue gluten free and dairy free.  I'm feeling too good to stop now.  

Exercise:

• workout 5 days this week (cardio and resistance).  Probably will split my time between the two.  

Sleep:

• in bed by midnight ( I know this sounds late, but I've been known to stay up to 2 - 3 a.m.)

Still can't believe I got my ear pierced!!! Yay!!!!!!!!


Did you ever do anything to remind you of a goal or a new chapter in your life?

Daily Inspiration:

Have a wonderful week, staying healthy and fit.  

Take care,

Day 4 & Favorite Things Thursday

I saw Favorite Things Thursday on Itty Bits of Balance & thought...oh cool!  Looks like fun:

My Favorite Things Thursday:

1.  A Yummy Smoothie

PB&J Smoothie

This was so yummy!  I made this with just the items I had on hand at the time.  Aren't the best recipes made that way. Here's the recipe (all of the ingredients are more or less to taste):

• 1 cup of strawberries
• scoop of vanilla whey protein powder.  I used Show Me The Whey from Earth Fare
• 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter
• 1 packet of Sun Crystals
• 1/2 scoop of Garden of Life Super Seed 

2. An Awesome deal on the products we buy.  Yea!

Great Deals for Yummy kids bars from Amazon !

3. A feel good song

LOVE!!! this.  Even if I'm feeling down, it makes me happy.  Really.

4. I've always loved pretty silky panties.

Pretty Panties!!!!!!

6. Motivation Baby!

My most favorite thing?  ............drum roll please.......

......giving away clothes that are TOO BIG!!!!!!

What are some of your favorite things?

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

Take care,

Chocolate Is Good For You

Hi everyone, I wanted to pass along this yummy chocolate recipe I've concocted.  Chocolate for breakfast, what could be better?  I was feeling a little drowsy this morning and thought chocolate peanut butter oatmeal would taste awesome!  It's so rich though, I normally don't eat it all.  I know during that time of the month when I'm craving chocolate, this will be so much healthier than a refined flour, sugar, oily kind of treat, and will satisfy that craving completely.

Yum-o Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal
1/2 cup of old fashioned oats, cooked with 1 cup of water, either stove top or microwave
2 squares of dark chocolate, chopped (I used Endangered Species Chocolate, 88% cocoa)
1/3 scoop of Garden of Life Super Seed (optional)
1 Tablespoon of no sugar added peanut butter
2 packages of Sun Crystals
vanilla extract to taste

Cook Oatmeal

Add all other ingredients except chocolate.  Stir.  Add chocolate last, not stirring completely. 

 A smaller portion would make a tasty dessert, maybe with some whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Nutritional stats:  Calories 360, Carbs 41, Fat 19, Protein 12, Sugar 5, Fiber 9.

Let me know what you think and if you made any modifications?  I'd love to hear. :)

Happy cooking.

Take care,