Tranformation Tuesday

This is not an overnight transformation, this transformation has been over the last two years. Also its not just my body that has changes, but my outlook on life, and my overall lifestyle.

I have made so many changes in my life, I cannot say that one thing was what made it all happen. Some changes were big (Moving out of my parents house), and some were small (incorporating more vegetables into my diet).

When ever you want to see changes in your life you have to make sure that you are 1. ready to commit to making the changes 2. And ready to fight yourself to keep those changes. The piece of cake will usually always look more appetizing than the veggie tray at a party. Its not easy to make the right choice, but I have always believed in giving in and indulging in something you love.. you have to treat yourself. Every "diet" has cheat days! :)



Starting from  the bottom left of these photo.  This first picture is from High school so WAY far back.. Next is freshman year, then senior year (note the cap and gown which doesn't help anyone's look). We then have 2014 Warrior Dash. From freshman year up to almost the beginning of 2015, I was always "watching what I ate" but never really did anything more to change myself. 2015 was the start of everything..

For the top row we  have July 2015. Early December 2015 and 12/12/15 is the most recent

As you can see most of the changes have bee in my face. Which really makes that first picture and the most recent one look like two completely different people.  I have had some family that I haven't seen in a while double take, to make sure that it is me! Its a great feeling. :)

If you are planning on trying to change yourself. Make sure you are ready for the ups and down of it all. You will make mistakes, you will hate the scale, you will gain weight some days, but if you stick to it you will get to where you want to be! Don't call what your doing is a diet, diets have end dates you only diet for so long.

 

Create a new lifestyle for yourself!

 

I will try to post more on what I am doing these days to keep my weight down and building muscle.

 

 

 

Not Ready for the Holidays

Thanksgiving is next week and Christmas is a little more than a month away. I am not ready... Christmas is always a rough time of year. Usually the holiday seasons are a time of family gatherings, love and happiness.. All I see is Stress, being broke, and traveling! It was hard enough to have two sides of the family to make happy and now having three, I was asking about Thanksgiving before Halloween. Who is hosting?, Who are we going to upset if we don't go? Thanksgiving is really not a holiday that I want to run around and make sure everyone sees me. I want to pick a house, go there and only there and eat a ton of food, and not have to worry about driving to someone else house and eating more until I explode! Totally not what I need when trying to lose weight. :( Christmas is a different story.. I want to be able to see everyone that I call family and have fun and exchange gifts and talk about everything we plan to do for the New Year! Speaking of gift I have no idea what to get for ANYONE! Christmas is my run around holiday, and thankfully Steve is a good sport with helping me celebrate with my family's, and his own!

Update for Weight Loss Goals:

As of 11/9/2015 I have gone Vegan.. Its only on a trial base. I don't plan to go Vegan for life.. I love meat!(Harsh). I am doing this to see how my body reacts and how I feel. So far its going good, I feel Good, I feel like I have more energy. I will see how long I can last with all the holidays and traveling going on right now. (Fingers crossed) I would like to hold on for a least a month. I will try to get some recipes on here and let you know how my progress is going.

One of my First dishes was a Soba Noodle bowl! It was so good and great start to being Vegan.

A New Season a New me!

This week we celebrated the first day of FALL! Fall is my favorite season! I love the colors of the leaves changing. I can spend all day outside without feeling like I am about to die in the heat! Perfect weather to run and play some lacrosse. Pumpkin patches, apple picking, corn mazes!  I love everything about fall, Don't you! You have two great holidays Halloween and Thanksgiving!!! Candy and TONS of FOOD! How could anyone not be happy!

Everyone usually waits until New Years to do their resolutions.. But I figured a New Season is just as good as a New Year.. I'm making the decision now rather than later. There's no day like today!!

My Resolutions
Lose another 15 pounds before Christmas.
Start meal prepping in order to stop eating out and save some money
Save all the money from my coaching and really work on saving it to go Germany!

That's it!

I know it doesn't seem like much. But I already know that its going to kick my butt.  With the lacrosse season in full swing and work I am already running around and trying to get my visits in at the gym. Dedication is key and so is having something that pushes you and hold you what you say. Hence why I am writing my resolutions on a blog, the world will hold me to what I am saying!

Stay tuned for updates on my Progress!!!

HAPPY FALL!

2 countries 1 post

So for all of you that actually read this.. if anyone. I do apologize for not telling you about my meal last week. I was way too busy to blog about my post, but I did cook don't you worry.

 First we Went to Ireland- with an Irish Coddle And then we went south to the islands of New Zealand with a chicken and root veggie
meal. .

New Zealand

The New zealand Wine, with which I cooked with and drank!

Chicken ontop of the  onions and hearbs

Yummy Carrots, leeks and potatoes.

The finished product.


Ireland

My Lovely Shamrock, to celebrate the Irish pride

sausage, bacon, onion, and potatoes. Sounds like new zealand

this meal steamed for about 3 hours

An Irish dinner turned into and Irish breakfast, just add eggs.

I know I didn't talk about the meals all to much,  but im so busy. All i have been able to do is cook and take pictures!

The meals were great! Just did a Canadian meal. Ill post soon!!!

To Spain and back in less than an hour.

Tonight we were off to Spain and let me tell you this was the easiest and quickest. I think i used a total of 3 dishes to make this dish. I was able to cook and then clean everything before the meal was even done.

I am Paella tonight and it was yummy! This dish had a great flavor and we had enough for leftovers.

Infusing the chicken stock with Saffron

Here is the yummy chicken stock

Add the rice

Peas and shrimp

                 Bon Appétit

Here is the  Paella recipe that i used.  So easy and simple

Off to Scotland!

I know I am a couple day behind on posting lasts week Meal from around the world. But better late than never.

And this meal defiantly lasted. We had a bunch of leftovers.

While doing some research on what to make for this weeks Around the world dinner, I found an interesting recipe for scotch eggs which are in the movie Brave. This was a great opportunity to watch a great movie and a great mess in the kitchen.

So the meal consisted of Scotch Eggs and Shepard's pie and beer bread muffins

They look like little dragon eggs

What a yummy new food. I would never thought to make this! Tastes like breakfast.

Yummy Yummy Shepard's pie.

This was quite a yummy meal and we made enough sheapards pie to feed a family of four! But I'll never turned down left overs. 

Heres the link for the scotch eggs! Its a really easy recipe. 

And here is the Shepards pie recipe. I did use beef instead of lamb and ketchup instead of tomato best.

Next Weekend in New Zealand!

Jamacian me Happy!

Week two of my 22 dishes from around the world. This week is Jamaica. while I doing research Steve was skeptical about the meal. But it all worked out and he enjoyed it and he said we could have this meal again one day.

Some of the ingredients I bought.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Can't be to careful.

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 habanero stemmed, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of All spice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and puree. I use the ninja and it did a marvelous job. Set aside about 1/4 cup of the now pureed goodness so you can use while the chicken is actually cooking. 

add the below ingredients below to the remainder puree Jerk seasoning. 

• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Cut the chicken into cubs and place in a freezer sized bag pour the pureed Jerk seasoning onto the chicken and let marinade.

Before I cook the Chicken, I want to create the sides. Tonight we are having Rice and Peas. (which is rice and kidney beans) and Fried plantains. Yum and YUM.

Rice and Peas

This was an interesting go at the recipe i pulled from the website. I tweaked it a bit. 

• 2 cups of rice
• 1can of kidney beans (do no rinse)
• 1 Can of coconut milk
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 3/4 water
• 1 uncut Habanero

Add all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a light boil and then let simmer for 20-30 mins are until rice is tender. Make sure not to puncture the habenero. You are not using for the heat you are using to get some extra flavor.

Once the rice is just about done get those plantains cooking.. I used Coconut oil in order to fry them. I thought it was fitting. Heat up the oil and start frying. keep a close eye on them don't let them burn. 

Before

After

I let the chicken marinade for about 4 1/2 hours. Though over night would be best. Once the chicken has marinade place on skewers and Prepare the grill. In my case its an indoor grill we received for Christmas!! 

Cook the chicken completely. you can you either uses the extra sauce and slather in on while the chicken is cooking or as a dipping sauce!

 

Before

After

This dinner was an amazing succsess. We both really enjoyed that flavor they pair very well. The rice had a sweetness to it from the cocunt milk and the heat of the chicken! We will definitely be making this again. 

Next week Scotland!

PB & B Oat Pancakes!

This morning I was in the mood for pancakes but not in the mood for something I would regret eating. I'm currently on the path to lose an additional 30 pounds. WOW! So instead of using the box of Bisquick i decided to work of a recipe i found off the one and only Pinterest.

So i made some PB & B Oat pancakes. 

Ingredients 

1 Banana
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of Oat Flour ( we just put some oat in the the ninja to make some oat flour)
1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon
splash of Almond extract or Vanilla
1/4 cup of Applesauce
some globs of Peanut butter. personal preference to how peanut buttery you want your pancakes. 

after adding all the ingredients you may need to add more oat flour to get a more pancake batter consistency 

First Flip... Looking Good!

Since the Peanut butter doesn't mix in completely you get these yummy surprises in the pancakes.

Breakfast was a Success. the batter only made about 9 cakes. which was plenty for the two of us! The cakes are denser than a normal cake due to the oat flour.

Put a little syrup on them and ENJOY!

For the love of Pinterest

I think I heard it best on The mysteries of Laura while watching on Hulu.

If Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray had an orgy at the craft store and posted photos online, pinterest is their beautiful love child.
-Max

You can find just about any thing on pinterest. I usually find something new and exciting to cook for dinner. Lately I have been feeling a bit more artsy. I have found some cool artwork and crafts that I can do to keep myself busy. 

I have painted some art work and made a ton of food! 

Everyone has boards that are filled with hopes and dreams, Flavorfull meals that we never make and clothes we will never be able to afford. this is the year that i make my pinterest come to life. 

I found these on pinterest right around the holidays

One of my progress pictures.

I have so much fun browsing on pinterest, I swear I have seen almost every pin there is to be. I have so many things to cook, to paint, to piece together, to wear! 

I love this picture and totally want it on my wall!

So I decided to try my hand at painting. Don't worry I plan on trying again.

I wont say that my first try at painting with acrylic is going to make me the next Picasso. But it doesn't look like a two year old picked up a paint brush. I will continue to practice, and make new things. Continue my creativity. 

I will try to share some of my favorite recipes in a later posts.  

Keep in touch!

22 dishes from around the world

Since we have been cooking so much since moving out and we both seem to have so much fun in the kitchen. I thought why not have more fun by cooking dishes from around the world. We occasionally cook dishes from around the world but never to this degree.  I have chosen 22 countries that we will make full authentic meals from the country (as much as we can). There will be a new country every week and we will cook on the weekend. Here's the start to some great food!

This week is Mexico!

We actually cook alot of Mexican food, but tonight we are documenting! 

The Menu:

• Carnitas
• Salsa Verde 
• Red Salsa
• Roasted Jalapenos and cebollitas
• Black beans
• Marranitos (Mexican pig cookie)
• I did not make this, I bought it from the mexican grocery store

Carnitas

• 2 pounds fatty pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces ( We used bone in pork shoulder 2 ½ pounds)
• 3 cups water
• 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
• 
  
  
  1/2 orange, cut into 2 pieces
• 1/4 cup pork lard or vegetable oil
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of white sugar
• 1 tablespoon of non-dairy coffee creamer
• I can of beer (we used miller light)
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoons fine salt

Remove the meat from the bone and cut meat into 1-2 inch pieces. Since we used bone in we got as much of the meat off the bone and put the bone into the pot. Add all of the ingredients and bring the pot to a boil. As the pork and goodness are starting to cook you will notice fat the will begin to foam at the top, simply skim off and toss.. Once the pot is boiling turn down to a low simmer. It will simmer for 2 hours. make sure that you stir the pot every so often. 

Plenty of time to get everything else prepped and made.

After 2 hours of simmering you should find that almost all of the liquid has been boiled off. preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put all the pork into an oven safe dish and cook for 20-30 mins. until the pork looks encrusted and browned.

Its ready to serve in a wonderful warmed tortillas and topped with onion and cilantro. 

Roasted Tomatillos and jalapeno for the Salsa Verde

For the roasted jalapenos and cebollitas, place onto a baking sheet and spray with pam. Roast until the cebollitas a soft on the inside and the jalapenos are slightly toasted.

Here is the recipes for the Roasted Salsa Verde , The black beans,  and Marranitos.

How can you pass up a yummy cookie/cake shaped like a pig.

I threw together my own red salsa. wasn't the greatest, but it was tasty.  

Bon Appetit

Stay in touch! Next week we are cooking Jamaican!