Weekly Update

I found a really nice website, FamilyShare.com that covers a lot of subjects. I found this article interesting and even tried "The Green Goblin." It was delicious and will now be one of our choice smoothies.

I put on 1/2 a pound this week. Why am I not upset? Do you remember the post last Friday? I commented on the usual weight gain at 'that time of the month'. Well, I usually put on five, sometimes as much as ten pounds. The doctor used to give me water pills to help on the heavier months. Anyway, I pretty much maintained my weight since last weeks weigh-in. You'll see that later.

I've taken pictures of the garden and when my husband downloads the camera, I'll put them up. I still haven't added any vegetables, but what's there is doing great. The seeds I planted from the neighbors were too old and they didn't germinate. I've planted some seeds from various vegetables we've eaten and will move them over to the garden if they grow.

I've been really busy emptying our storage unit, so I haven't had much time to blog. As the title says, this is an update of the past week.

Our slow cooking adventures:

We loved the Butternut Squash Soup so much, I'm planning on making it again this week. The Orange Chicken didn't turn out so well. Will have to try it again when I'm not so pressed for time. We also made Hearty Calico Bean Dip. A recipe from Crock-Pot, the original and #1 brand slow cooker.

3/4 pound ground beef (we used turkey)
1/2 pound sliced bacon, crisp-cooked and crumbled (left this one out)
1 can (16 ounces) baked beens
1 can (15 ounces) Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained (used dried beans)
1 can (15 ounces) kidney beans, rinsed and drained (used dried black beans)
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (was a bit too sweet)
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon cinder vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
Tortilla chips

1. Brown ground beef in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up meat. Drain fat. Spoon meat into 4-quart Crock-Pot slow cooker. 
2. Add bacon, beans, onion, brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar and mustard to slow cooker; mix well.
3. Cover; cook on Low 4 hours or on high 2 hours. Serve with Tortilla chips. (makes 12 servings)

It's a bit too sweet. I cut the sugar to 1/4 cup and will see if that's any better.

We loved this. As a matter of fact, we're having this again tonight. There was even enough left for several lunches.

We also cooked whole chicken in the slow cooker. We placed it in the cooker and rubbed fresh garlic and rosemary and left it to cook. After dinner we recooked the carcass, after removing all the meat, in it's juices along with leftover vegetable parts we'd been saving. (these come from peeling potatoes, cutting off the tips, etc. The stuff you usually throw away.) We let that cook on low overnight and then removed all the bones and vegetable rubbish. We added the leftover chicken meat from the previous days meal and dumplings. This was the best chicken and dumplings we've had in a long time.

Still haven't really added exercise to my regiment. I really need to and hope that will happen once our storage unit is empty.

Weigh-in--Beginning weight 188 pounds; this week 174.6. A total of 13.4 pounds since 12/26/2012 (approximately four weeks). I look forward to next week getting back on schedule.

Benefits moment:

Blueberries--Blueberries contain a wide range of micronutrients, including manganese, vitamin C, and vitamin K. These power fruits are also high in fiber, and renowned for teir anti-inflammatory and cancer-fighting chemicals.

Look for dark-blue blueberries--don't worry too much about scent. They should feel heavy in your hand, and have very few to no greenish or purplish berries in the package.
(copied from the Nutribullet pocket nutritionist)

Happy healthy eating, losing weight and becoming healthier.