Fun Weekend Planned

So as everyone already knows, it's Superbowl Sunday this weekend and we are having some friends over to cheer on the Cards (or the Steelers;-)). I've got a lot of work to do. I've pretty much planned my menu:

Cheddar ale dip with soft pretzels
Rolled Chicken tacos served with sour cream
Beef Taquitos
Potato Slabs
Veggie tray and dip
Peanut butter cookies
**some other dessert, possibly cheesecake squares**

I still have some cleaning (guest bedroom and bathroom are spic and span), laundry and cooking. Any other suggestions to the menu are welcome.

New Finds at Great Prices...

I really love shopping especially shopping and finding steals! Hubs and I originally made a trip to Sheel's for a gun for him but no avail. Luckily I was able to stop by Banana Republic for some great finds.

I just loved this dress--especially at $26!

This was only $23.

I also picked up some cute ankle length pants and a purple merino sweater but they are no longer online. I also scored a great halter for summer (whenever that will roll around) too for only $4. Hubs was not excited to wait outside the dressing for room for what he feels was an eternity.

Homemade Pinto Beans

Growing up I always loved homemade beans. There's something about their taste that sets them apart from canned. Making them is the easiest thing in the world too, so lets do it.

(let me preface you, I don't use measurements on this but I'll try my best to give you an idea.)

bag of pinto beans (I'd suggest trying a small batch first + they cook faster.)
4 cups of water
1 clove of minced garlic (or 1/2 tsp garlic powder)
1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
pepper


Wash beans in colander and make sure to pick out any abnormal ones, they usually don't cook well anyway.

Dump the beans, garlic and pepper into crock pot and cover well with water. Set on low if you have time (like overnight etc.) or high if you're wanting them to cook faster, under 4 hrs. I'd recommend for your first batch if cooking on high, to be at home. Sometimes my crock pot gets too hot on high and if I'm at work, I can come home and almost be burning the beans.

Periodically check/test the beans as they cook making sure they are immersed in the water. It's not a bad thing if there's a lot of water, you can always dump the excess but if the beans dry out, you can't fix that. Once the beans turn a solid tan color and are no longer spotted, they're ready to be tested. If the beans are soft they're done, if they're sort of chalky, they need to cook a bit more. These beans work great for the Healthy Tostadas.

I thought I'd brighten everyone's day this Saturday with a wonderful array of warm weather color. These are roses from the front of my house from this past summer. I just uploaded them from my camera phone.


Well these are my orange lillies obviously. I love how they look but bloom just once a year, die, and come back then next spring.




This one isn't a flower but he sure is SWEET like the summer sun! I love my cute bubby!

Thursday's good

Here's a breakdown of my meals yesterday via www.selfdietclub.com. I stayed on track for my calories, even though I had a few slip ups in the marshmallow department. I also missed the gym yesterday due to a migraine.

Today I woke up and lost one pound! Yahoo for me:-) Every pound is a struggle. I don't know how well I'll do for dinner tonight, I'm really craving Ruby Tuesdays. Let's hope it stays off for good!

Another Lunch...Another Pita

Well the day is almost over but my migraine isn't. This morning for breakfast I took an Excedrine Migrane with some Kashi Honey Cinnamon Oatmeal topped with blueberries and a non-fat, sugar-free, cinnamon dolce latte. I guess that was more caffine than I bargained for. As lunch approached, not only was I suffering from the migraine, but now a jittery feeling as well. On my lunch break, I made a pitstop at the Chiropractor. Hopefully the migraine subsides...

Many of you may read and think to yourself, "Why doesn't this girl blog about anything but pitas?" Well it's because it's the easiest thing in the world to whip up on a rushed lunch hour. I was planning on making a soup but my Baked Chimichangas filling took longer than anticipated. I'll be posting pics and recipe information on those tonight or tomorrow.

Pita Lunch

I am constantly trying to find new ideas when it comes to quick lunches. This is one of my favorites. My mom used to make me these pitas for my lunch box when I was little.


1 half of a Pita
turkey slices
low-Fat cream cheese
green leaf lettuce

Just spread the cream cheese along one side of the pita and add the rest of the ingredients. I ate my pita with cottage cheese and chips and guacamole today,(I was very hungry)and voila--lunch!

Oh and just because he's so darn cute, my bub Duke!!





He loves snacks!! He's a little angel, we don't know what we'd do without him. Right now he's enjoying an afternoon at doggy daycare. It's so cold here, he can't go out and play :-(

Risa's Best and Worst at the Golden Globes

I'm cutting right to the chase, here are my three upsets. Apparently these made the worst dressed list, but not in my book.
Hayden, okay your boobs may be smashed but that dress is regal.
The top of the dress is mediocre but that a-line bias crinkle is very flattering.
These are the worst:

Maggie what are you thinking?
This is just trash...

I don't even know what is going on here, Marissa. It's like grandma meets pirate.

Here are my Best:

So gorgeous in red
Very Jackie O.
Winslet is a ten in Yves St. Laurent.

Kid Friendly Chili

I have a picky husband who doesn't eat anything green. This is his mom's recipe that she cooked for them growing up. It's a good recipe for kids since there's not a ton of ingredients for kiddos to complain about.

1 large can of tomato juice
1/2 onion minced
1 can of Mrs. Grimes chili beans
1 can of petite diced tomatoes
1 lb. ground beef (I use lean 93/7)
1 packet of your favorite chili seasoning (I use either Carrol Shelby's Original Texas Chili Mix or McCormicks)

Cook beef and onions until cooked thorough. Sprinkle half of the chili seasoning in beef mixture and stir. Add tomato juice, tomatoes, beans and ground beef to your crock pot and cook for 2-3 hours on high or 4-6 on low. Enjoy!

chili Scare!!

Quick post... I made Chili last night and fell asleep early. DH didn't put it in the fridge from the crock pot and I woke up this morning and it was still there. Is it ruined?

Disciplined is the Word

So I've already shot myself in the foot today as far as food is concerned...

As you can see, I've really helped myself to a plethora of breakfast items. I ate my normal breakfast and then bagels somehow appeared here at the office. Luckily I didn't totally oink out and only served myself half, with reduced fat hazelnut cream cheese. See the above breakdown of calories remaining and I haven't even had lunch yet! I don't have room for many other things for the rest of the day. Luckily today is my cardio day and I can make up for it at the gym today after work.

I highly suggest keeping a log of your diet. It really shows you where you are with the day's caloric intake. I prefer Self Diet Club's. You have to have a subscription to self, but it's only $8 so for a year to use this tool for that price, you can't beat. It also charts your weight loss and exercise too!

Breakfast for Healthy Eaters

I'm getting back on the saddle of healthy eating. Today I started with a breakfast of Kashi Honey and Cinnamon and a skinny, sugar-free caramel latte. Hopefully I can stay on the healthy track for the rest of the day.

Cleaning out the Purse

Ladies, it's that time to clean out your purses again. Time to get rid of all that scratch paper of Christmas lists and addresses of parties to attend. Plus it's a great time to get out a new style of purse for the New Year. I've been using my LV for too long (since my mom gave it to me in September). I'm going back to a long time favorite...my Kate Spade.

First things first:
1. Take everything out of your purse.
2. Start the sorting process (take out all 5 lip glosses, you know you only use two of them everyday anyway). Sort things into three piles: things to put in your new purse, things to throw away, and things to put back in their place somewhere in the home (i.e. unused lip glosses go in with the rest of your makeup).
3. Think of how you'd like to organize your purse. My mom got me this great purse organizer as a gift a few year back. It's a great help on prioritizing what's a keeper and what's not. Unfortunately it doesn't work in all purses because of it's size. I believe it's called Purse Brite. So I place everything I need in the organizer, place it in my new purse and put my big items like my wallet in the middle.