Breakfast of Champions

I have NO idea why it took me 25 years to try this, but it has become my favorite breakfast by far. Paired with a cup of coffee, I'm satisfied until lunch (usually).

Behold the peanut butter and banana sandwich. The squishier the banana, the better!

Try it NOW!

Top 5 Tuesday

After two miserable days of 100+ temps, Labor Day itself was a welcome relief with 60 degree weather. Of course, I pulled out all the seasonal stops and took advantage of this. My top 5 favorite Labor Day 2011 activities (in no particular order):

Starbucks Hot Chocolate (and a cuddly pup)

Naptime (in HOODIES!)

Engaging reading material

Autumn ambiance

Creamy Chicken and Cornbread Casserole. Drool.

How are you enjoying the changing of the seasons?

Less is More

Remember when I mentioned how I HATE letting my ingredients go to waste?

My goal this week when I was menu planning was to buy things that I would use, and possibly use more than once.

In doing this, I managed to get away from the grocery store spending under $25 for the week (Score!).

Here's how I did it. Bear with me:

• Kroger has chicken on sale for $1.99/pound this week. Looks like I'll be working with chicken!
• I searched for a chicken recipe I enjoy that doesn't have overly complicated or too many ingredients. Skinnytaste's Crockpot Chicken Taco Chili is one of my favorites, easy to put together (especially spectacular since I don't get home from work til 7:30 pm), all of the seasonings are already on hand, and many of the ingredients are one-timers (I'm looking at you, canned beans and tomatoes). This means I'm really only going to have chicken left after making this.
• SO I searched for another chicken recipe without too many ingredients. Enter cheesy chicken bagel pizzas. I had homemade marinara, mozzarella, and chicken, so all I needed to buy was two bagels. I made it even more delicious by breading the chicken bits in panko crumbs. Unfortunately, the pictures didn't do it justice, and I had a showdown with the broiler again. I think we tied.

Here's their picture, since mine wasn't quite as pretty.

Between those two meals, it may not sound like much, but that chili is going to go FAR. It was Tuesday night's dinner and has managed for a couple lunches and dinners for the rest of the week as well. I'm a creature of habit, though, so I can eat the same things day in and day out and be content. This weekend's trip to the grocery store will be another adventure for my Less is More Challenge to myself!

Any tips from you all on the art of buying less ingredients while using more?

Top 5 Tuesday

When I first started working out regularly a few years ago, I discovered indoor cycling, or as many of us know it, spinning. I think the most appealing thing for me is that I get to sit on my tush and still get an awesome workout. While I don't get to attend a class as often as I'd like, I've been trying my best to make it to Saturday morning classes as the 10:45 instructor is hilarious and plays the best music. Sometimes I even find myself dancing in my seat...

Here's my top five tips for anyone who's never gone to a spin class:

1. Bring a towel and PLENTY of water.
2. Go at your own pace. If your instructor tells you to add resistance and you're struggling, stay where you feel like you need to be. It's OKAY; you're not racing anyone but yourself!
3. Let the instructor know this is your first class so he or she can help you set up your bike.
4. Attend a class a good 2-3 times before you decide whether or not you'll never go again. In my experience, it takes that long for your bum to recover from that seat!
5. Have FUN!

 

That Time I Went to My First Weight Watchers Meeting

I've been doing Weight Watchers online on and off since about 2007. Believe me, this ain't my first rodeo.

With 5-10 (depending on the time of day) MEASLY pounds left until I hit my healthy weight range, I am somehow losing all motivation and steam. Plus, looking at my future, I don't want to be dropping $17.95/month for all eternity to access Weight Watchers. I want to get to Lifetime and do Weight Watchers for free.

Enter Weight Watchers meetings.

Yes, I'll be paying $40 a month instead of $17.95, but I'm crossing my fingers that this will be the extra push I need every month. I don't want to be spending all that money and go nowhere on this thing! I feel like my health is definitely a worthy investment.

I've been looking forward to this meeting all week, yet very nervous. Are they going to think I'm too big? Not big enough? Too young? Most importantly, were they going to notice I haven't shaved my legs in 4 days?

No worries on that one, folks. I doubt anyone noticed.

I have to say, I really enjoyed the meeting! I felt like I was in school again, but for something I was actually interested in. The leader was very encouraging and positive, they didn't weigh you on some massive scale and shout out your weight, and it was great to see people from all walks of life there (older and younger, male and female) and there seemed to be people at every stage in their weight loss journey.

I'm really hoping this gives me the motivation I need to finally get to goal and lifetime. I feel like I've started all over again, but I don't have so far to go this time.

Buying in Bulk

Dave Ramsey recommends buying food in bulk, but when you've got a small family to feed (or just yourself...), how do you know what's a good deal for you and what food will last?

Mint.com posted an article on their blog this week about which foods to buy in BULK!

Check it out and go get you some Costco.

Happy Friday!

PS--While you're there, be sure to buy yourself a smoothie or some ice cream after the checkout. They have AWESOMELY low prices on those, but they only accept cash.

Teach a woman to won ton...

Do you ever buy a cart full of groceries with the intention of making some amazing recipe you found, but then have no idea what to do with all the extra ingredients you spent so much money on? It's frustrating that you put so much time, effort, and money into something and simply get one meal out of your entire purchase.

I believe that being able to plan meals surrounding similar ingredients is an art. An art I very much intend to master over the coming months. To do that, I figure I should start small.

Remember those s'mores brownies I made a couple weekends ago that nearly burned the kitchen down? I've got half a bag of semi-sweet morsels left over from this. And I've got half a package of won ton wrappers left from lasagna cupcakes I made that weekend as well.

Enter: Chocolate Peanut Butter Won Tons! Don't worry. It's easy peasy.

And the recipe is pretty straightforward. Just drop a little dollop of peanut butter and a couple semi-sweet morsels on a wrapper. Wet the edges with some water, and fold over, making a triangle. Spray the wrappers with cooking spray, then bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Don't forget to sneak in a few chocolate morsels to snack on. 

Once the won tons start to turn brown on the edges, take them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. Sprinkle some powdered sugar on each, and enjoy!

Voila!

Tonight's baking music brought to you by Adele.

And because my boyfriend enjoys when I post pictures of my pup...

Have you mastered the art of using multiple ingredients throughout the week for multiple meals? Share!