Handmade Roses and Homemade Chili

So, I had a lazy day today. I spent waayyyy too much time being obsessed with Pintrest! I also like to be obessed with both Foodgawker and Craftgawker, if you have never been to any of these websites, go now! (actually finish reading my post first lol)  Today it was all about the crafts :)

Here are a few awesome things that I found today.......

 I ABSOLUTLY love handmade rosettes! Whether it be paper, ribbon, cloth, or what-have-you - it doesn't matter - I love them! So I tried them out today :) Here are a few newspaper roses and some ribbon roses that I made. Plans are to use them for Christmas presents......I figure if I get started on them now, I might be able to finish by Christmas lol.

The newspaper roses I plan on painting.......I'm thinking white with a hint of pink? The fabric roses are glued down to the paper so they stay together, then I'm going to cut them out using a craft knife. I can them use them for whatever craft I want, like a headband with roses, picture frame, a wreath..........the list goes on  :) Maybe if anybody is interested I will post a tutorial on how to make them sometime in the future.

Along with my crafty mood today, I have also been craving everything fall related. I have pumpkin spice candles out, blankets on the couch, apple cider in the fridge, sticks from caramel apples in the garbage.......the only thing missing (besides the leaves changing color) is our fall food staple - CHILI!

I don't love chili, I like it ok, just not a favorite......unless it's fall. For some reason it just tastes better with pumpkin spice candles and cooler weather :) I have experimented with different chili recipes over the past few years, and I'm pretty sure that the chili that I made today comes out on top. It's a little bit different...........lots of beans, chili beans and lentils (I put lentils in EVERYTHING now) and I added corn this time. I usually only use turkey burger instead of red meat, however, I didn't have any on hand, instead I had bear burger. It's ok........not my favorite.........I just don't generally like red meat.  So anyways..........here's the recipe for your enjoyment :)

Homemade Chili

Ingredients:

1  28 oz can crushed tomatoes (no salt added)
1  6 oz can tomato paste
1 medium onion - diced
1 medium green pepper - diced
3 garlic cloves - minced
1 bag frozen corn or 1 can of no salt added corn
1   15 oz can chicken stock (can substitute water if you don't have any on hand)
2 cups uncooked lentils
1  15 oz can chili beans
2 bay leaves
1 lb meat - cooked - and seasoned with chili seasoning - I like to use turkey burger for less calories
pinch of salt and pepper
sour cream and/or cheddar cheese for garnish


Instructions:

1.  Mix all the ingredients (not including garnishes) in a largish crock pot and turn on low for 6-8 hours or turn on high for 3-4 hours.
2. Add your favorite toppings such as sour-cream and/or cheddar cheese
3.  Enjoy with crackers or cornbread........yummmmm cornbread.......didn't have any tonight :(


Now, I think I'm gonna go work on a knitting project that I started last year lol................

Nature Trail Run and Leftover Chinese

I feel good. I'm sitting here at the computer eating my yummy leftover General Tso's chicken, feeling nicely sore (I'm sure tomorrow I will NOT be thinking "nicely sore") and smelling fresh and clean from my nice, cool shower. I went for a run after work today at the nature/fitness path at the school.

It's beautiful here! The trail takes you around the middle school, by a corn field, through this path of trees shown above, then as you go around, there are fitness stations where you can do sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, and many other strength exercises. I am always a bit shy excersising around other people. I know, I know.....the last thing I should be thinking about is what other people are thinking of me, but hey it happens! It usually takes me a moment or two to realize that most everyone around is either quite old and walking to get some excersise, or young and riding thier bikes around, or walking their dog - at least when I have been there.

I didn't do any of the fitness stations the first time I was there - tonight, however, I managed to work up the courage to do some push-ups on the push-up bars.........a whole measly 5 - LOL! Did I mention I am TERRIBLE at doing push-ups?! I work out my arms with free weights and do pretty good - I do reps of 15-20 with 10 lb dumbbells - which I think is pretty good since I started out with reps of 10 with 5 lb dumbells. HOWEVER, push-ups are another story - no wonder I didn't want anybody to see me! I'll get better eventually, and hopefully I will get over my fear of people seeing me working out.

I made it 3 times around - I believe that it is a mile all the way around once. I didn't run the entire way - I did intervals where I ran basically as long as I could then at certain points I would sprint, then walk and catch my breath for about 2 minutes. I think I ran about 3/4 of the way and walked a 1/4. I really need to get one of those nifty watches that track your distance, time, and calories!

I also used mini goals and visualization to get motivated to run faster and further. My mini goals were something like "just get to the next station" or "I am going to run until the next bend in the path". And, you are probably going to laugh, but I visualized a pair of size 6 jeans up in front of me and pretended that I needed to catch up to them so I could put them on........it's a little silly, I know, but it worked because I really don't remember the last time I could fit into a size 6  (middle school maybe?)  I wasn't big in high school - I was in really good shape because I was riding my horse almost everyday and training for the equestrian team and for 4-H. I stuck mostly to a size 8 because I had a lot of muscle in my legs and butt. So, a size 6 is my eventual goal and my motivator - I'm in a size 13/14 right now so I have a ways to go yet. I know that being healthy is suppose to be the biggest motivator, but, I am eating very healthy (well except for tonight with my leftover chinese - I only ate like a quarter of it though!) by completely changing the way that I eat and the kind of food that I eat. I'll take what works - I've lost 35 lbs so far, with another  30 to go - for now using my pant size is working for me - if it stops working than I'll figure out something else. The most important thing to me is not quitting.


P.S.     This is me being a bit more honest about myself - I don't usually share quite this much info - I  don't like share my failures, pant size and amount of weight I want to lose with just anybody - so enjoy (this is prolly my endorphins talking right now.....I may end up regretting this lol).

Pondering My Daughter's First Day of School and a Fresh Salad

This is my beautiful daughter. She is 4 years old and will be starting preschool in a couple of weeks. On top of the normal anxiety that I'm sure every parent experiences when their child goes to school for the first time - mine is one-upped. For those of you who do not know, she has a sever tree-nut allergy. She is anaphylactic and carries two epi-pens with her at all times.

We found out about her allergy last year - January 1 actually. She had eaten 1/2 of a cashew then promptly threw it back up. She then started breaking out in hives all over her body, especially stomach, back, and face. My hubby gave her some benedryl and put her in a cool bath because of the hives and itching of the hives. This did not work. So starting to get more worried my hubby called me (I was on my way home from work) and told me that he thought we should take her to the ER. By the time I got home she was crying, itching, and her face was starting to swell up a bit. We took her the the ER and what followed was probably the worst night of my life. They rushed her to the back and put her on IV's to get her heart rate down. After she was stable, the doctor then told us that if we had waited just one hour to bring her in, we would have lost her. We were definitely being looked out for that day - that day we happened to be really slow at work so they let me go early - I was supposed to be home and hour later that day! It still gives me chills to think about it.
 

So after allergy tests and doctor visits - our life changed a bit. We promptly threw out all the food in our house that had nuts in it or on the label and I spent a lot more time grocery shopping because I check labels religiously (I still have to remind myself sometimes, and sometimes I don't remember checking the label so like a crazy person I dig through my whole cart and check every label again). We have it under control for now - no more episodes so far and I hope she never has another one! I know this isn't likely because as safe as you try to make it, accidents happen and you can't control everything. It was knowing this that had me freaking out and panicking the couple of months after. It even went so far that I had a couple of panic attacks when I would think about it. I spent hours researching her allergy on the internet - the FAAN website is a wonderful resource along with various blogs and forums. It is true - knowledge is power - I feel better about it knowing that I am well informed. However, now she is starting school................THIS FREAKS ME OUT!

We are sending her to a private school here in our little town. The ONE major thing that makes me feel so much better about trusting these people with her life is that they know how to manage her having an food allergy. I have talked to the secretary a couple of times and she has told me about her daughter who has the same food allergy my daughter has. They are willing to make her classroom completely nut free and have agreed to send notes home to all the parents of her classmates informing them of her allergy and making sure they know not to send their kids with any food that has nuts in it. I feel better, for sure, knowing this and knowing that they are very willing to do whatever it takes to keep it safe for her. Of course, I'm still a bit freaked out know that I'm trusting these strangers with her life, but there is a little bit of peace within that.

So, on to the recipe!!! This is a salad that I made the other day when I was thinking about sending her to school and doing some research on sending kids with food allergies to school - I needed a break from the computer and this is a involved recipe, plus I really wanted something super healthy :)

Southwest Organic Veggie Salad
(this is almost 100% organic :)

1/2 cucumber - sliced
handful of baby carrots
1 yellow summer squash - sliced
1 zucchini - sliced
1 garlic clove - minced
1/2 yellow onion - sliced in half moons (or diced)
1 small tomato - diced
1 small red pepper - sliced
handful of lettuce/spinich
3-4 leaves fresh basil
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
fresh parmigiano reggiano cheese - grated - to taste

Dressing
1/4 cup salsa (I used homemade but you can use your favorite)
1 Tbsp ranch dressing
1 Tbsp BBQ sauce (here's the link to my recipe for homemade)

*heat skillet with olive oil then saute onion for about 5 minutes or until soft
*add garlic then the zucchini, summer squash, and peppers and saute about 5 minutes (I like the squash to get a bit browned on the edges)
*toss all veggies together and sprinkle parm cheese on top then add your dressing
* enjoy :)

*note - if you want to add a bit of protein add in a cup or so of diced chicken breast, steak, or black beans

Dinner, Movie and a Makeover

Tonight we decided to spend some good quality time with the kids. We don't get a lot of nights that we can do this because of our crazy schedule :( Sometimes by the time the weekend gets here we are just so burnt out and tired - and we miss the kids and the kids miss us.........sometimes we all just end up being crabby lol........those are not the good weekends as I'm sure you can imagine! HOWEVER, tonight we were determined to spend some quality time with the kids and have a good time (and cross our fingers for no tantrums) Dinner was not the recipe I am posting - sorry! Dinner was actually orange chicken stir-fry but I didn't get any good pictures of it and (gasp) I used a jar of non-organic sauce instead of making my own. I was tired - I usually am on Saturday's because I work an early shift (this is the reason we don't go to church every Sunday - by the time Sunday rolls around we are exhausted and we just want to get some sleep with a big family breakfast/brunch after, instead of getting up early yet another day and rush to get somewhere on time) Sometimes you have to make exceptions for your sanity lol. So the recipe is actually from a couple of days ago and is one of my favorites :) It has all of the qualities I like for a home cooked dinner - cheap, easy, quick, healthy, and delicious. (and the kids will eat it all!)

So, anyways, I need to tell you about the makeover! Emma got a makeup set for her birthday earlier this year and only used it a couple of times. Well she remembered it today and asked if we could do makeovers ( I have no idea how she even knows what a makeover is......) So after dinner we got everyone involved ( yes including daddy lol) Both kids had a lot of fun smearing it all over mine and daddy's faces.........did some hardcore washing of the faces after..........crossing my fingers that neither of us breaks out from the grease!

Then after we were done we did a photo shoot and settled down on the couch with some popcorn and blankets to watch Rio - which we all enjoyed :) So all in all it was a really good night and some quality family time that we all really needed. Now daddy's upstairs doing homework and I'm writing this drinking my iced latte wishing my sinuses would calm down - but enjoying my latte nevertheless.


Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

2 cups of my homemade BBQ sauce - or your favorite brand
2 large chicken breasts

*put the thawed chicken breasts in the crock pot
*pour in BBQ sauce saving about 1/4 jar
*turn on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4 hours - when it is done it will shred itself when you stir it :)
*add the rest of BBQ sauce

This makes for awesome leftovers - great for pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches with some slaw on top, BBQ chicken quesadillas, BBQ chicken salads, BBQ chicken tacos, and whatever other combo you can come up with :)


Homemade BBQ Sauce
*adapted from thegalleygourmet Western Carolina Tomato-Based Barbecue Sauce

makes about 2 quarts

2 tsp onion powder
1 40-ounce bottle of ketchup (I use Simply Heinz)
2 1/2 cups water (20 ounces) to rinse the inside of the ketchup bottle
3 8 oz cans of tomato sauce
2 cups white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsulphured molasses
1/4 cup yellow mustard or Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
1 Tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
can add smoke flavoring to taste

*using a large pot - add the ketchup; rinse the bottle with the water and add to the pot.
*stir in the tomato sauce, vinegar, sugars, molasses, mustard, lemon, salt and pepper.
*bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 3-3 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
*remove from the heat and allow to cool.
*store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week or in the freezer for up to six months.
I used freezer safe canning jars - it made enough for 5 jars.
Enjoy!