20 {not} by 30

"Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end."

Ecclesiastes 3:11

Well, given that I kind of stopped updating along the way, you can safely assume my losing 20 lbs. by today, my 30th birthday, has not happened. But the end is only the beginning as the saying goes...About 2-3 months in I had lost 10 lbs. Today, my 30th birthday, I am down maybe 4 lbs.? I meant to weigh myself this morning, but oh well.

Although I did not reach my goal weight, when I started I was all about saying it was not a diet, but a lifestyle. So I continue striving towards making better choices, but not depriving myself, although guilt from eating too much or too much of the wrong thing does creep in...I am not the size I was when I was on my 20th birthday, or wedding day a year and a half after that, but I have a husband who I know truly loves me no matter what and this WL (weight loss) journey has taught me more than just about losing weight, but also other things about myself and also how others (mainly my husband) perceive me. And I am so happy to report that dh has actually lost about 20 lbs. himself since I had set my original goal!

And although I am definitely not the weight I was 10 years ago, I am not the person I was either and for that I am so thankful!

I am blessed.

2012

Every year around the end of one calendar and the beginning of another, I try so hard not to get caught up in the looking back at what I didn't accomplish or still don't have and try to look forward with a sense of "it's just another year, we are just flipping the calendar" feeling. It's too easy to get caught up in the mentality of setting unrealistic goals or resolutions, or even setting them for that matter. But I do think goals are important.

I was just telling dh yesterday that while I've never been big on resolutions, I do think long term goals are important. Goals that you can reach in small, realistic steps. Goals that aren't measured in calendar years. Each day is a new day. A chance to strive again towards that end goal.

So I do think with the putting up of a new calendar, it's good to reevaluate what I want to be striving for and the things I already am, how that is going.

So, some things I have been and will continue striving for:

1. To lose 20 lbs. by my 30th birthday which is this year I can now say. Yikes! I am half way there, but failing miserably with food choices this past weekend. But I keep striving for my goal. This includes making a conscious effort to incorporate exercise into my weekly schedule.

2. To get our home office clutter free! I have made HUGE progress this past weekend which is such a wonderful feeling!!! I have bags of trash and shredded paper waiting to be put out to the curb (sorry, we have to pay $90/year to have curbside recycling...we reuse and conserve as much as possible though).

3. To finish our bedroom re-do. Painting is done. Headboard should be finished up by Spring. The hunt is on for a comforter set (but I think I found a "vintage" quilt that would work.

4. To do a freezer cooking day, once month! We have been enjoying so much reaping the benefits of my efforts a couple weeks ago. My goal is to do another one this weekend, so I'll be planning my recipes this week. Any suggestions are appreciated! I did Spinach/Ricotta Lasagna, Chicken Barley Soup, & Burritos last time while I had Curry Chicken simmering away in the crock-pot all day. Yum!

5. Spiritually, to be turning my will over to the Lord on a constant basis. Allowing Him to use me how He sees fit. To trust Him with my life and entrust Him with the lives of those I love. To be of service for Him.

6. To continue striving for growth and healing with our Infertility/Childless Status (as referenced before there never is complete healing with IF unfortunately). And continue seeking the Lord's will for us in this area.

7. I would like to start attempting, again, to read the bible in a year. We received a couple of new bibles for Christmas and one is set up in 365 daily readings to help with this. It doesn't get much easier!

8. On the hobby front, I want to start learning more of the hundreds of features on my camera I've had for 2 years now! And maybe, just maybe, revive my 365 blog, but maybe make it more of a 52 (weeks) blog :-/ And get all my 100's of pictures organized better. Maybe even delete a few. Do I really need to save every photo I take? Probably not.

9. Have more personable, meaningful contact with those in my life. I mentioned a couple posts ago that I am not doing Facebook right now and quite possibly never will again. I don't know. Looking back at all the time spent on it when I could have been more involved in real life with those I care about, seems a better way for me to spend my time. To concentrate my efforts on others and not "liking" posts or worrying about who is "liking" what I update with. But looking for ways I can serve others.

10. To continue striving to step out of my comfort zone more. Related to #6.

Anyways, this list will be evolving in the coming days but these are the things that come to mind first.


Photo courtesy of: smallroots

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars!

They were almost gone when I remembered to take a picture...

I found the recipe here while doing a search, but it's out there in varying forms, in many places. As a lover of both Snickerdoodles and all things pumpkin, especially Pumpkin Pie, these seemed like the perfect pairing for a sweet treat this time of year! So I decided to be brave and give these a try since I was making them for dh to take to a work party where my Snickerdoodles are always requested at potlucks!

I'll just give you my version here since I made a bunch of changes...I did try to "healthify" it a little :-)- Oh, so yummy! And they can be eaten as part of a nutritious meal. I had days of eating these when the scale still went down :-)

Pumpkin Pie Snickerdoodle Bars

Snickerdoodle Layer
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 t baking powder
1 1/2 t cream of tarter (mine is a little old, so not sure if that means it was stronger or weaker?)
1/2 t sea salt
2 cups brown sugar (un-packed)
1 cup butter, at room temperature (I used Imperial Vegetable Spread Sticks-1/3 less fat)
2 eggs, at room temp.
1 T vanilla extract

Pumpkin Pie Layer
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 stick butter, at room temp. (I used the Imperial again here; the first time I made these I used 1/2 cup Best Life Buttery Spread because I was out of the other, and they were totally fine!)
1 t baking powder
1/2 t sea salt
1 1/2 t Pumpkin Pie Spice
2 eggs, at room temp.
15 oz. can of pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling!)
~3 t white sugar
~3 t cinnamon

(I did not make the white chocolate drizzle as the original recipe suggests.)

Directions (with some editing)
Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch pan.

To make Snickerdoodle layer:
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. In large bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in the flour mixture until well blended. Spread evenly in prepared pan (mixture will be thick and cookiebatter-ish.)

To make Pumpkin Pie layer:
In a mixer bowl (you can use the same one you used to make the Snickerdoodle batter) with a paddle attachment (or as I used just a hand mixer the first time and stirred by hand the second time), mix together all ingredients until well combined. This layer will be less thick and more pourable. Pour over the Snickerdoodle layer, smoothing out the top.

Combine white sugar and cinnamon in a little bowl. Evenly sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake for 35 minutes (be careful as oven temps vary!) or until a toothpick inserted into the *center* of the pan comes out clean. Let the bars cool completely (about an hour). They will deflate a bit and remain a bit pie-like on the top layer. I find that these are yummy when still warm but the layers (esp. this second time separated until they had been in the fridge overnight).

Store covered in the fridge once cooled.

*I am still perfecting these as I would like to experiment with the Snickerdoodle part a little more, maybe make without the brown sugar as my Snickerdoodle recipe doesn't call for it and I think it does change the taste a little. But they are still really good!

It's Soup Weather Again~ Lower Carb Baked Potato

In an effort to try "healthified" versions of our favorites since we've started making a conscious effort to eat better, I found this recipe here (picture of soup with recipe) and modified it just a little.

Here are my ingredient modifications:

5 russet potatoes (instead of 2)
2 cups of fat free chicken broth (instead of 1 1/2 cups)
2 cups of 1% reduced-fat milk (instead of 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup of light sour cream (instead of 1/2 cup)
~12 T of reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese (instead of 10 T)
6 slices of pork bacon for 1 slice/bowl (instead of only 3 slices)

My cooking modifications:

I don't have a steamer so I boiled the cauliflower for maybe 6 minutes? Then drained and divided in 3 batches for pureeing in my blender with ~1 T of milk each time. Then I added back to the pan with the potatoes chunked, and continued with the directions given (since I don't have an immersion blender). In the future I will add some minced garlic to the cauliflower when I blend it I think. My full-carb BP soup recipe calls for garlic and I definitely think it adds a nice touch.

We got about 6 bowls (more than 1 c. servings each). I topped mine with just one slice of bacon, a dash of garlic powder, and some more chives. This was very, very, yummy! I am definitely making it again! I was so happy to find this version as BP soup is one of our cold weather staples :-)

I served it with multi-grain bread.

Peanut Butter Icebox Pie (2 ways)

So with our new healthy eating goals and dh's birthday this week, I didn't want him to get jipped out of a yummy birthday treat...and of course I love my sweets :-)- So when he requested Peanut Butter Pie I did some hunting online for a healthier version than the one I have made for probably 5 out of 8 of his birthdays we have celebrated since we got married. So I found a diabetic version that sounded like it would work and I tweaked it slightly.

This is what I came up with and we (and everyone we passed out the leftovers to) liked!

Ingredients:

Crust

(1) 9 oz. package of Chocolate Graham Animal Crackers (I bought the store brand)
1/4 C of Best Life Buttery Spread (or other healthy butter/margarine)

"Pie"

(2) 1 oz. packages of Sugar-Free Vanilla Pudding & Pie Filling Mix
2 1/2 C Milk (I used 2%)
1/2 C Lite Whipped Topping
~1 C Natural Peanut Butter- Smooth (I started with 1/2 cup and thought it needed more. I probably added at least 1/2 cup more.)

Also, 16 Cupcake Paper Liners

Directions:

For crumb crust:
1. Crush about 3/4 of the box of Animal Crackers. (When I make it again I will measure exactly how much, but I was in a bit of a hurry.)
2. Melt butter in a covered bowl in microwave.
3. Place crumbs in bowl and mix with spoon. It will be a "dry" mix.
4. In cupcake pans, place 16 of the paper liners.
5. Spoon about 1 T of the crumb mixture (reserving about 1/2 c.) into each liner and press down, packing it together. I used a measuring cup that fit perfectly. You could also use the bottom of a drinking glass.



For "Pie":
1. Mix together both boxes of Vanilla Pudding Mix and Milk with an electric mixer on low, then med. speed. It will turn pretty thick. At this point you can stop mixing.
2. Add Peanut Butter and mix until smooth.
3. Add Whipped Topping and mix for approximately 1-2 minutes.
4. Spoon even amount into each of the cups.
5. Use the remaining crumb crust to sprinkle on top of each dessert.
6. Place pan in the freezer. I left them in for several hours until we ate them frozen. But they probably wouldn't even need to be in there an hour. They are like a yummy ice cream bar :-)- You can also set them in the fridge if you don't want them to be as hard.



Version #2 of Peanut Butter Pie (from this book- omitting directions/ingredients for the chocolate sauce as is in book)

Ingredients:
2 C Heavy Cream
3/4 C plus 2 T Confectioners Sugar
2 t Pure Vanilla (I use Imitation Vanilla Extract)
1 C Smooth Peanut Butter
1 Prepared Crumb Crust (I have always used a pre-made chocolate cookie crust, but you could also make your own the same way I did above)


Directions:
1. Combine cream, the sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and using an electric mixer, beat until stiff peaks form (I always found it to be about 10 minutes, just to give a heads up!)
2. Place the PB in a med. size mixing bowl and stir in 1/4 of the whipped cream (that you made in step 1). Gently fold the lightened PB mixture back into remaining whipped cream. Scrape the filling into prepared pie shell, smooth top w/rubber spatula, and refrigerate the pie until the filling is firm, about 3 hours.

(Ideas for serving: top with store bought chocolate syrup and crushed peanuts.)

20x30 Update

It's been a busy few weeks of cooking up new things (and old), changing our eating habits, celebrating birthdays, starting/planning projects, and the list goes on...

~As far as my 20x30 goes, I'm a quarter of the way there! I put a tracker in the side-bar of my blog. It helps so much that hubby is doing this with me! For now we are eating as low-carb as possible/some good carbs (brown rice, oatmeal, granola). Mainly it means: no crackers, Cheez-Its, icecream, sweets (only a tiny amount on special occasions), bread (again, I have only had bread products a few select times), pasta... We are eating a TON of veggies and fruit. Lean protein. Low or No-Fat. Healthy fats. Low-sodium. Diet pop or other beverages only. More water.

We were on a plan that was too strict at the beginning and we were very low on energy and getting headaches. So we have lightened up a bit, and have allowed some exceptions. Overall, I want to get to 1/2 my WL (weight loss) goal before I begin adding more carbs in. I am a recovering carb-addict so I feel like I need to put a safe distance between myself and as many carbs as possible right now in order to get these extra pounds off.

~As far as my time in the kitchen goes, I have been trying some new things and having fun experimenting. I have had some flops lately though...
My first try at Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes" was so bad we had to throw it all out :( Definitely not trying the recipe I used again. In fact, the lesson I have learned with both this dish and the freezer pickles I tried making last week, is go with your gut instinct! Does it seem like too much garlic? It probably is. Too much salt? It probably is (besides getting distracted and forgetting a step!). And I HATE wasting food! But I tried to save the pickles and ended up freezing them anyways. I will probably use them chopped up as part of tuna salad or something similar. Take #2 on the pickle making will take place shortly as my big cukes have decided they are going to start producing like crazy!



So...I plan to post some more recipes in the coming days as I have gotten a few requests and I also want to remember the good things I concocted, not just the bad :)

The Food Part of the Blog :)

I really do love to cook and bake (more cook, than bake to be completely honest since so many things can go wrong with baking and there's not much you can do to fix it!) and as I mentioned in one of my first posts, being in the kitchen is like therapy for me most of the time. Sometimes it's out of necessity, but I love those leisurely evenings or weekend afternoons when I can just relax, put on some of my favorite music, and create away! I've really been wanting to start writing about my adventures lately and decided to start with my first food post tonight :)

So, here is one thing I made recently. It is something I found in this cookbook. I borrowed it from the library since the title really caught my attention per this post. I love the ability to check out cookbooks at the library and if I really like it, I put it on my wish list to get :)

We love Quiche and they are so versatile and easy to put together so I definitely wanted to try the Mushroom and Spinach Quiche with Potato Crust. It is only 210 calories per each of the 8 servings that it yields and we LOVE mushrooms and spinach and potatoes, so what could be better?

I varied it slightly and used frozen spinach which I don't know if that is what made it more "soupy" as I'll describe it (but I did try and make sure, as the directions state, to let the liquid cook out of everything). Or I'm not sure if it was my substitute of Evaporated Milk for the Skim Milk it calls for (although it says on the box you can use as regular milk in recipes!??). Or if I should have left it in a little longer although it stated to pull it out when center is still slightly wobbly. Maybe my definition of wobbly is not theirs. So when I cut into it, I was very disappointed to see liquid running out :( But I'm not going to write it off completely. I will just have to re-re-modify it next time. LOVED the potato crust (oh, I used Russet Potatoes not Yukon Gold and that part was totally fine)...Here is mine (notice the sliced cheese. Yeah, I thought it would melt and spread across the top, but it didn't!):



I am excited to try their Cheezy Chicken Parmesan With Zucchini "Pasta", this week. I will report in on that soon and also share some muffin and cookie recipes that I have made lately that have been delish. Muffins I find are a nice alternative to a loaf of bread which I am inclined to cut too big a slice of, and I'm really trying to practice portion control (which is another post. I'm not doing as well as I would like with my 20x30 goal...I really need to get serious again but am very discouraged in this area which makes it generally hard...).

Good night!

20x30

Currently I am on a self-imposed journey of losing 20 lbs. by the time I turn 30. I have a little under a year to do it. I would like to lose a few more pounds than that but I feel that this is a reasonable and atainable goal to have and if I reach it I will be very happy :-)

So what have I been doing to reach that goal? I have been trying to do things that seem realistic and "doable" to me. I'm trying to eat less, eat more fruits and veggies, drink more water, exercise more and just be generally more active. I jumped off the exercise wagon recently and am trying to get back on. I've also had fun looking at cookbooks with healthier versions of classics and recipes that use ingredients I've never used before.

I'm also trying to get my hands on a copy of this book which I think will also help me long-term in this endeavor.

So here's to 20x30!