Love the Marc Jacobs Glow Stick

I received this from Influenster in exchange for a review. This is a great all-around product that delivers an easy glow - especially on the go. I love that it's in a stick form versus a powder, especially in summer when my skin gets dry.

I am not at all skilled at contouring but this stick gives me a nice, soft glow that just looks sun kissed. It's perfect for professional day looks and fun at night, too.

Week 5

This week's menu is all planned out, my meats are all prepped and it should be fairly easy to stay on track.

Sunday & Monday
I also had one dual-cooking day. Today (Sunday) we are having the Portobello mushroom burgers but I also prepared the Chicken Ropa Vieja for tomorrow's chicken tacos. It's a crock pot recipe and when trying new things, I don't like leaving them unattended for the day.

Here is the Chicken Ropa Vieja before and after cooking. It smells divine and took about five minutes to prep.

Tuesday
Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Dipping Sauce
Cilantro Rice - this is seriously the best rice ever. I follow these directions, leaving out the lime and cilantro if it doesn't fit the meal. I won't cook rice any other way again.

Wednesday
Clean the fridge/leftover roundup - I hate finding food in the fridge days later so since I'm doing a lot of cooking the first part of the week, we'll use this night to have a free-for-all on the leftovers.

Thursday
Probably pizza for the girls because we have a date to see Tears for Fears

Friday
Greek Feta Zucchini Turkey Burgers

Saturday
Vietnamese Shaking Beef

Sunday
Father's day/our 7th anniversary - TBD

Week 3 Went a Little Off the Rails, On the Road for Week 4

Week 3 was plagued by the plague. It started with Charlotte, then Brian and I had it, then Madeline got it. Then we thought we were through it, and we had a middle-of-the-night trip to the emergency room because Charlotte had a very bad case of croup.

As a result, many of the things I'd planned to cook during this meal plan fell by the wayside. But the food I did make turned out great.

Carne Bistec

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Feta-Stuffed Chicken Burgers

 

 



And by far, one of our favorites of the week (and we've already made it again) - Baked Dijon Lime Chicken

 

Lunches are typically left overs or a nice big salad. Here was two days' worth of salad with grilled chicken, a hard boiled egg and a dressing made of avocado oil, red wine vinegar, kosher salt and a little bit of splenda

 

 

Week four was a bit of a challenge for us because I was out of town for several days. I prepped another batch of that Dijon Lime Chicken for one night and they got pizza the other. This was my first trip on my new plan, and I did well. I actually ordered my favorite protein shakes and had them sent to the hotel (I love Amazon) and then made sure I asked what was in things, customized them if need be and packed 100 calorie bags of almonds for when I needed a snack.

 

 

 

 

Four-Week Check In

This last week marked the completion of four weeks on my new clean eating regime, and I am so happy with the progress.

This pic was taken the first week of May during our Disney World extravaganza.


And this picture was taken last night. Just about six weeks between the two, but four weeks on my new plan. I'm so excited about my progress.



Here are my four-week stats:
Pounds lost: 23
Total inches lost: 14.5
Chest: -4.25 inches
Waist: -4 inches
Right & Left Arms: -.75 inches
Hips: -1.5 inches
Right Thigh: -1.75 inches
Left Thigh: -1.5 inches

I'm about a quarter of my way to my goal. Yes - I want to lose 100 pounds. So far, so good.

This Week's Fabulous Food

This week I focused less on weekend breakfasts (mainly because it wasn't a holiday weekend and I didn't need to figure out three of them) and expanded our meals to bring in more chicken. I was a little red meat heavy last week so I wanted to incorporate more chicken this week. I think part of me as I started this diet knew I couldn't just do a bunch of chicken, so I strayed from it last week.

Like last week, I find that the key to success is meal planning. Saturday morning I sat down with my cookbooks and my favorite website - Skinnytaste - and thought about what was already in our fridge/pantry and what would work for the week again given the fact that I'm high protein, low/no carbs, B is on weight watchers and we have two rather picky toddlers. I am not a short-order cook, so I want to find things I can modify as I go to fit the various needs.

 

 

Shopping this week was fun. I can honestly say I've never purchased this many vegetables in one shopping trip before.

 

 



Saturday
Carne Bistec - Colombian steak with tomatoes and onions
grilled brussel sprouts
corn on the cob (for everyone but me)

 

Here's how I did the brussel sprouts. I had always roasted them in the oven but figured there had to be a way to throw them on the grill. I combined a recipe I found online for grilling along with one I'd used for roasting, and the final product was fabulous.

 

 I washed and halved about a pound of brussel sprouts, then dried them off. In a bowl, I mixed them with a bit of olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, diced shallots and minced garlic. Then I made a big envelope - dull side out - of foil.

I placed them on the grill at medium heat for about 15 minutes, turning once. I made sure they were all in the foil in a flat layer so all of them had exposure to the grill for the duration of cooking.

After pulling them from the grill, I opened the package slightly, added about two teaspoons of balsamic, mixed them up and closed the foil for a few minutes. That's it! Super yummy and little oil (and no additional fat or calories from bacon
like so many other recipes).

Sunday

For breakfast I threw together something based on last weekend's yummy Baked Eggs with Wilted Sausage

 

I started with two diced links of Jimmy Dean Turkey Sausage and some diced shallots in a frying pan with one swirl of oil. I diced the sausage versus just chopping it so the taste was spread throughout.

Then I added some fresh spinach and cooked it down. I pulled off the really long and obvious stems but didn't mess with all of the leaves.

Once the spinach cooked down, I added 6 tablespoons of Egg Beaters and stirred until the eggs set. I served it with 1 1/2 ounces of sliced avocado for a recipe total of:

Calories: 193
Fat: 10.2
Carbs: 6
Protein: 18.5
Sugar: 2.1

 

 

I'm actually prepping one meal and serving another today. This is because the chicken sausage I purchased expires today and I just wanted to use it quickly.

 

To serve today - Turkey Stuffed Zucchini with Hot Chicken Sausage: I made this last weekend but I'm modifying it this week to use the hot chicken sausage (the girls will get leftover steak)

 

To make today but eat tomorrow - Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Wraps

 

Tuesday

Feta- Stuffed Chicken Burgers

 

Wednesday

Mongolian Beef and Broccoli (from this cookbook)

Cilantro Rice

 

Thursday

Baked Chicken with Dijon and Lime

Grilled Asparagus

 

Friday

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

 

Saturday

Citrus-Marinated Skirt Steak (from this fabulous cookbook)

Grilled vegetables (depends on what is left from the week)

 

Sunday

Herb-Crusted Roast  (also from this cookbook)

 

 

 Lunches will be a mix of leftovers, hearty salads with fabulous fajita meat (found ours at Sam's) and chicken salad (from Costco) for Brian.