Sick of being sick

As some of you know, my littles and I have been struck down with the flu and the bacterial junk that followed, so not much blogging (or anything for that matter) lately.  Now that I feel like I'm on the upswing again and headed in the right direction, I figured I better get back at it!

Number 1 I'm so proud to say that a full week of being sick and the stress dealing with two very ill little ones and I did not falter once.  Not once did I go for crackers or toast or grilled cheese.  Not once did I punish my already I'll body with anything that would not feed its need to heal.

That being said, I did stick to easy meals and snacks if anyone's appetite called for anything at all, but I've been missing cooking.  So, tonight, I made something new that will likely be a staple through the winter.  I made a delicious gumbo (minus rice) that was so warm and hearty, I wish I could have every one of you for dinner to share.  Well, that and I made an ENORMOUS pot for the three of us to eat.  Get the big pot out folks, here's the recipe....now remover I don't measure much, so adjust to taste.

Rice less Gumbo

2 lbs of chicken breasts (cut in bite sized pieces

Kielbasa (or other ring sausage) 

Uncooked shrimp - tails removed

Ham - diced

A package of celery

2-3 bell peppers 

2 yellow onions

Lots of garlic

Old bay seasoning

Cajun seasoning

1 big can of fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 can of navy beans (wish I would've used more)

1/2 boxes of chicken stock

1/2 stick of unsalted butter (yup, the real stuff!!)

In a stock pot, melt the butter and sautée the onions.  Add other veggies, stock, meats (except shrimp) and seasoning.  Simmer approx 20-30 minutes until chicken is cooked through.  Add shrimp, simmer approx 3 additional minutes until shrimp is opaque.

Serve!!! Yum!!

A little prep, but pretty easy and I had it ready when the kids came home so they just sat down and scarfed down a bowl full.  You could easily add or subtract veggies or meats to suit your taste or add more Cajun seasoning or some cays me for a little more bite.  You could easily add some Quinoa to the mix as well if you felt so inclined, I didn't.

I'll likely be eating this deliciousness for a while, but I've also got chicken parm muffins on this weeks list as well as pizza quiche and some breakfast stuffed sweet potatoes!  Mmmmmmm until then, I'm going to nestle down in my bed with a cough drop and pin myself to sleep.

Goodnight world!

Proud Sugar Detoxer

Well this morning was my "weigh in" day.  Tina and I chatted and decided the first of every month is a good day.  Mind you my last weigh in was two weeks ago, but I have a special person that is going to join me in weighing every month instead of weekly to support me in avoiding unhealthy behaviors. 

I'd mentioned to both my amazing boyfriend and my amazing trainer that I wasn't feeling much different and that I wanted to get on the scale SO bad at the beginning of this week.  Because both of these people are so wonderfully supportive, the coaxed me in to staying off the scale and waiting for November 1.

Anyway, I didn't even think of it until later in the morning and then because I hadn't had anything to eat or drink yet, I stripped down, climbed on the scale and WHOA!!!  I'd lost 11 lbs in 2 weeks!  THAT is exciting and an amazing way to start the weekend and recover from a stressful Friday evening.

Speaking of stressful, I have to share my success last night and something I'm super super proud of!  Normally the Fridays the kids leave to visit their dad is stressful for me, to say the least.  I normally end up in a foul mood and isolate myself from people for the evening.  I might play around on FB or Pinterest, but I won't answer my phone, depending on the person I may not even answer text messages or instant messages.  BUT, the last couple Fridays have been a little bit easier and BOTH Fridays I've managed to not stop at every Culver's on the way home to get a double scoop waffles cone of the flavor of the day or indulge in multiple chocolate candy bars, donuts, cookies, etc.  For some reason, those foods seemed to comfort me in some strange way.  ESPECIALLY last night, after trick or treating I had quite an abudance of candy riding in two smiling orange faced buckets in my back seat and my kids never would've known had I devoured 1/2 of each of those buckets, but guess what....by the time I got home, I'd forgotten the candy was even in the car.  At one point I was feeling munchy, so we stopped at a convenience store to use the bathroom and get a snack.  I grabbed a single serving bag of Blue Diamond Almonds and two 32 oz bottles of water and enjoyed every nibble and sip.  I've found that the Blue Diamond Almonds (especially the spicy versions) help my hunger and cravings a TON!

There are currently two ridiculously large tubs of Halloween Candy on my kitchen table and at this very moment, I couldn't care less about them and I intend to keep it that way.

I've talked to my trainer and I may or may not start adding fruits back in to my daily intake.  I may keep them eliminated for another two weeks, however, she's given me the ok to introduce them back in slowly (1 each day as a treat).  Two more weeks to ditch the sugar cravings and I think I'll be ready to head back to some hard core workouts at the gym. 

The reason I'm waiting?  After a workout I crave carbs HORRIBLY and paired with the slight cravings I'm still experiencing here and there, I feel like it may be too much for me at this point.

Happy November folks!  The holiday feasting season has begun and it's time to take control of that season rather than letting IT control YOU.