tasty tuesday's: thanksgiving edition v.2

y'all getting geared up for thanksgiving?

i know i am. 

we have already celebrated with the hubs side of the family, but we are still looking forward to more family time (and more leftovers) 

on actual turkey day!

i've got two new recipes to share and i'm excited about them!

one is tried and true and one is a newbie.

let's get started, shall we?

first up is my mom's recipe...not sure where she got it from, but it's wonderful. 

Mama's Squash Casserole

what you need:

5-6 good sized yellow squash, fresh

(or two packages frozen sliced squash)

1 egg

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 package shredded cheddar cheese

1 package of bread crumbs or stuffing mix

(we use the Pepperidge Farms stuffing mix in the blue bag)

couple of spoonfuls of mayonnaise

1 small onion, or onion salt

what you do:

preheat the oven to 350 degrees

wash, cut and sauté the squash with the onion 'til soft

in a bowl mix together the egg, soup, 3/4 of the bag of cheese,

mayo, and bread crumbs (just eyeball the bread crumbs).

then mix in the onion and squash.

pour into a greased (or "pammed") dish.

top it with the remaining cheese and bread crumbs.

bake for 30 minutes.

voila! 

this isn't really healthy, but it is miiiiighty tasty. :)

next up we have a new recipe that i haven't tried yet, but i found it on pinterest so it must be good, right?! 

it originially came from a blog - 

pressed down, shaken together

- a cute site run by Keri. 

Mini Pumpkin Pie Croissants

what you need:

2 tubes of crescent rolls

1/2 block of cream cheese

1 can pumpkin 

(pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling)

1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

3 T sugar

*an additional 4 T sugar & 1 T pumpkin pie spice for later

what you do:

preheat oven to 375 degrees.

undo all of the crescent rolls and cut each one in half.

now you have 32 pieces of dough.

beat together the cream cheese, pumpkin, pumpkin pie spice, and sugar until it's nice and fluffy.

then spoon/spread some of the filling into each of the pieces of dough.

then roll them up and roll them around in the additional sugar & spice mixture so the outside is coated.

then bake them for about 15-18 minutes.

i'm so excited to try this recipe!

i'll try to remember to come back and 

update this post after we have tried them.

 they look so cute and delicious!

i will also try to remember to take pictures while i'm making them...not sure if this will happen though since i'll be gearing up for thanksgiving and watching the parade :)

have a happy thanksgiving, y'all!

just so you know...i'm thankful for all of you.

and my wonderful family.

and fantastic friends.

and am very thankful that this thanksgiving...

i am NOT pregnant!!!

yay!!!!

gobble gobble,

tasty tuesday's

i've got another good one for you...

man, oh man, is pinterest making cooking fun for me again!

i have found tons of new recipes to try and can't wait to share every single one of them with y'all! :)

but let's take this one day at a time, shall we?

for today i have a delicious, easy, cheap, healthy(ish)

slow cooker recipe.

my fave.

seriously, who's not going to love delicious, easy, cheap, healthy(ish) AND barely any cleanup or work. who?!

no one. that's who.

i found this recipe via pinterest, but it originally came from a wonderful lady named Mel, over at her blog,

thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com.

follow along with her 

(she has pictures),

 follow along with me 

(i made a few changes that i liked better + i'm hilar.),

 either way...try this recipe!

so here you have it.

Crock-pot Salsa Chicken

what you need:

- frozen chicken pieces, i used 4 thighs w/bone and skin because i think it's yummier than chicken breast

- 4oz cream cheese (1/2 a block)

- can of black beans, drained and rinsed

- 1/2 jar of salsa, or whatever you have on hand, like rotel or corn salsa...something tomato-ey with a kick!

- corn, i used frozen because the cans have gluten in them but you could use a can...she did!

what you do:

dump the chicken in

then dump in the cream cheese

next the beans, salsa, and corn

cook on low for six hours, stirring it occasionally.

it will be kind of soupy at first, but if you let it sit for about half an hour before you're ready to eat it, that helps.

we ate it with rice (recommended by mel) and that definitely helped soak up the juiciness.

i also typed all of these ingredients into my 

myfitnesspal.com recipe maker and came up with these stats.

yours may vary some depending on ingredients you used and brands and all that, but this is just a good ballpark for you!

calories 246 

(per serving, not including rice)

carbs 21 

(all those yummy black beans!)

fat 14g

protein 13g

pretty good, right?!

alrighty, that was it!

see...i told you it was delicious, easy, cheap, and healthy(ish)!

now go make this for dinner...you won't regret it! :) 

tasty tuesday's

hello all!

have you all been waiting with bated breath for my new recipe?

i gave you quite the tease in my last post.

so being on this health kick has been a lot of fun in the kitchen.

i've cooked up three really healthy and really yummy recipes so far and i can't wait to share them with you!

up first is the best salmon ever.

i like salmon, but i've never like loved salmon, ya know?

but man, oh man, does this recipe make me LOVE salmon!

and of course...i got the recipe off of pinterest. duh.

but it's originally from a blog, asweetpeachef.com

her name is lacey and she has lots of good looking recipes.

you can follow along here or there, it'll all be the same!

Pan Roasted Salmon

what you need:

4, 6oz salmon fillets skinned

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp brown sugar

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 dry mustard

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

what you do:

preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

combine brown sugar, salt & pepper and all of the spices in a small bowl.

rub this mixture into the top side of the salmon (the original non-skin side)

i really packed it on here. would let it soak it up a bit, then add a bit more on. yum.

sear the fillets in your oil rub side DOWN.

it needs to be in a oven safe pan (you will transfer it from the stove to the oven) and sear it on high heat.

when the seared side is browned and no longer "sticks" to the pan (about 2 or so minutes) flip them over and transfer the whole pan right into the oven.

don't put the salmon in a different pan! just put the whole darn thing in there!

roast the fillets until they flake easily about 5-6 minutes.

(mine was more like 10 minutes, but my oven is SUPER old so just keep an eye on it!)

voila! you're done!

easy, fast, healthy meal.

the spices are the secret i think.

it's sweet with just enough of a kick too.

delish.

i made this with asparagus and it was delightful.

the nutrition facts come up to about these figures per serving.

(keep in mind not all the rub/spices were used 

and then not all of them per fillet...get it?)

calories 298

carbs 4g

fat 12g

protein 15g

awesome.

well i hope y'all are having a good week so far!

i'll check back in soon!

oh! and let me know if you try the recipe...i'd love to hear what you think! :)

let's get physical...

it's not what you're thinking.

i actually do want to get physical.

like as in moving.

burning calories.

fit.

in shape.

(nothing else your dirty little mind is thinking, mmkay?)

and olivia newton john in her prime just stated it best.

let's. get. physical.

i've been on sort of a fitness kick lately.

i posted a little bit about it last week, but wanted to expand a little more on it.

as i mentioned before, i have been counting calories using the awesome website/app combo over at

myfitnesspal.com.

i also have committed to doing one dance class per week and two yoga classes.

might i add that these are at 6 o'clock in the morning.

i know.

but seriously, even though i am not a morning person,

(at all!)

i'm actually really excited about it!

last week was supposed to be my first week doing this new schedule, but my alarm clock and i kinda went retarded on tuesday and wednesday

(sorry again to stephanie and madeline who showed up to class and i didn't! whoops!)

 and i didn't make it to those two classes.

but i did go on monday morning and thursday morning and loved it.

it felt so good to start the day off right and feel sore again.

yoga is no joke though.

i took a yoga class years ago and didn't really "get it" so to speak, but man did it whoop my butt.

literally.

my butt still hurts from thursday! ha!

so i'm looking forward to progressing in that and getting to do all sorts of crazy yoga poses.

like this and this!

i don't know what it is, but feeling sore just makes me want to eat better.

it's a constant reminder.

whenever you start walking to the kitchen for a snack and you have to move slowly because your backside is killing you...let's just say it keeps me in check to choose snacks wisely.

i also have found it super encouraging to browse the fitness tab on pinterest.

there's just a lot of good motivation and inspiration going on over there.

i could sit there for half an hour everyday and feel like

i've just had an epiphany.

it's awesome.

i've used multiple quotes/tricks on a daily basis i learned from pinterest.

a few i can think of off the top of my head: 

 "nothing tastes as good as skinny feels."

 count down from your current weight to your goal weight whenever you want to binge.

 "you can't out exercise a bad diet."

i've also found a plethora of crazy good recipes.

which i will be sharing on a regular basis.

so keep checking back in on tasty tuesday's! :)

i've also really enjoyed reasonstobefit.tumblr.com.

it's pretty self explanatory...

  it's just a ton of good reasons to be fit.

i think the key word here is fit, by the way.

i'm not looking to be skinny, or tiny, or little.

i want to be a healthy, tone, beast.

i'd like some curves...with some muscle.

i'd like to look like a woman...while being strong.

but most of all i'd like to just feel good about myself again.

i had started beating myself up for not being able 

to make the slow carb diet work.

and then quitting the 30 day shred.

but what i learned is, it doesn't matter what you did yesterday.

what matters is today.

what matters is making good choices today.

because no matter what i look like in the mirror now,

i know that if i just keep making good choices on a daily basis

 the change will come.

and i shouldn't beat myself up over one day of mistakes.

start over the next day, just keep looking forward and make the best decisions for today.

i can honestly say, i have never been so motivated to be fit and healthy.

i turned down waffle house to stay home and eat oatmeal.

unheard-of.

i went three whole days without drinking a coke.

flabbergasting.

i am looking forward to waking up at 6 am tomorrow to go workout.

shenanigans.

but enough of my ranting and raving about weight loss and fitness. 

i think you get the point.

i guess i just wanted to share this to have some sense of 

accountability and encouragement. 

thanks for listening. :)

see you tuesday...i'm not giving away any details, but you won't be

fishing 

for a new salmon recipe any time soon!

...see what i did there...? huh?! huh?!

 ok, just check back on tuesday.

xoxo,

heather

http://reasonstobefit.tumblr.com/

halloween & tasty tuesday/hot mama update!

hello all!

i hope everyone had a great weekend and had fun 
trick or treating...

i know we did!

we went trick or treating in my parent's neighborhood this year and had a blast!

we walked a long way, but the kids loved it.

and their costumes were a hit!

quinn & lincoln
a.k.a. cookie monster & elmo

everyone kept asking if they were twins...

even more shocked to find they were 15 months apart and had a 6 month old sister...sigh...just don't ask if you can't handle the truth, people!

i'm just now realizing i didn't get any pics of cora fayne's whole outfit, my mom was taking pictures too and i must have been relying on that too much! oops!

but...

i do have pictures of cora fayne in her halloween shirt

(the hubs agrees that this is absolutely true!)

and

in her "bean" (for beaner) halloween costume sporting her bud porter's yoda hat! ha!

(i like to call this picture "Yoda Bean")

it was just too adorable to pass up the photo opp :)

all in all it was a fun evening though...

lincoln was totally into it.

he walked from house to house and would say,

"can i have some trick or treats, please?"

we kept trying to tell him that he only had to say,

"trick or treat",

but he just kept repeating the same thing over and over again...

and as he received his candy he then would proceed to tell them..."ok i'm going to go and get some more trick or treats." haha!

love that kid.

quinny was a little unsure.

he liked getting the candy and seeing new people.

but he walked slow and about every 20 feet would stop and try to start eating candy right there on the sidewalk.

he's not really a "big picture" kinda guy, that quinn. ;)

and cora was just taking it all in.

we had her bundled in her stroller with a blanket and she liked watching the people and seeing all the lights.

so i deem this halloween a great success!

---

tasty tuesday's & hot mama

double whammy.

it's been a while since i posted a recipe so i thought i'd share not only a new "recipe" (it's really just a delicious sandwich),

but also give an update on my hot mama status.

last i checked in i was going to attempt the 30 day shred.

well...that was a bust.

i got through a week of it, and then just lost all my motivation.

i think i just didn't enjoy the workouts much.

and i didn't have all the right equipment to begin with, so plain and simple i just gave up.

however, i am feeling much more motivated these days and feel like i am on a much better track.

i am no longer doing slow carb for right now, because i found that i had fallen into some pretty bad habits.

one of these bad habits was if i found myself in a bind at dinner time or out and about, i would immediately just break the rules.

and if i broke the rules i somehow felt like i was confined to only starting over on a monday and would proceed to eat like crap until that next monday came.

so i'm sure you catch my drift, but if i found myself eating chick fil a on a tuesday,

i would eat HORRIBLY the whole week until next monday.

not good.

so i'm switching things up (yet, again) and have been counting calories.

the plain, old fashioned way of losing weight. :)

my friend, brandi, gave me a tip on a great tool i've been using and would love to share with y'all.

it's called myfitnesspal.com

PLUS they have a free app for smartphones!

you can set your calorie limits, challenge weight, and all sorts of things and then simply record what you eat all day via the web or your phone.

add in any exercise as well and it will recalculate your numbers for you.

on the app it has a function where you can scan a bar code of any food and it will automatically bring that food up for you to put into your daily journal.

it also has a HUGE database of foods, so if you find yourself in one of those aforementioned "binds", you can search anything...a restaurant, brand, type of food, and most times it will have all the nutritional facts there for you. 

pretty awesome stuff.

plus you can add people as friend's if you'd like and see what they post throughout the day and how they do on their weigh -ins. you also have the ability to send and receive messages and comments so you don't feel like you're doing this whole weight-loss thing alone. it gives you a great support system! 

so if you're looking to lose weight (the old fashioned way!) 

i highly recommend this website/app!

and just so you know i am definitely NOT getting paid to talk about this website, it really is that awesome!

i also want to side note that i am starting to inch myself more towards clean eating as well.

while 100 calorie fudge shoppe cookies are delicious and low in calories, they are still a processed food that just isn't good for your body. so i am slowly switching my pantry over to fresh, whole, healthy, clean foods.

little steps make it budget friendly. :)

so....all that to introduce this week's tasty tuesday recipe!

graham and i have been calling these delicious sandwiches,

"that good sandwich".

original i know.

but seriously y'all. this was SUPER tasty.

and filling.

and not expensive or hard to make.

and above all...it was fresh.

it just tastes like good ingredients should.

and makes you feel refueled.

not just full.

awesome.

so until i can think of a better name for these...

That Good Sandwich

what you need:

1 sandwich thin 

(i used the Arnold's brand, whole wheat, 100 cals)

fresh spinach

baby portabella mushrooms, sliced

carrot chips

(the presliced carrots that are thin and long)

low-fat block of part skim mozarella cheese

hummus

(i chose the gluten free Sabra roasted red pepper because it was low on cals and big on flavor)

what you do:

1) so basically you use your hummus as your condiment.

no mayo. no mustard.

2 tablespoons generously covers both pieces of bread.

2) pile on the spinach. as much as you'd like! i usually use about a cup.

3) next i use 2-3 sliced mushrooms

4) 2-3 carrot chips

5) then i cut a couple of pieces of cheese, usually around an ounce worth, and layer it on top.

6) put it altogether and enjoy!

it's so. freaking. good.

trust me! you do NOT need a bunch of meat and mayonaise to make a sandwich good! this will fill you up and be tasty i promise!

the best part is...this sandwich is only 221 calories.

total. 

that's pretty awesome in case you didn't know!

i'm sure in the future i'll switch it up a little, maybe add or swap out for different ingredients.

but for now i will bask in the deliciousness of 

this good sandwich. :)

hope y'all have a good week and

happy november!

xoxo, 

heather