Sunday, January 11, 2015

Pictures and Collard Greens Recipe!

Two posts in two days!  Crazy for me.  But I promised yesterday and I retrieved my phone from my minecraft obsessed child.

First is the before and after pictures so far.  The first was on January 2rd and the second on January 10th.  I have exercised a minimum of daily every day and 4 times I have done Tabata/strengthening as part of the routine.  I am spreading out the Tabata so I let my muscles that I'm trying to build rest, but I still at least walk or jog between strengthening.
Jan 2, 2015
Jan 10 2015

As per my measurements I listed yesterday, bust line is smaller, hips are smaller, waist is about the same but love handles aren't as bad.  :)  

For those who think you can't run, I need to let you know that I couldn't either the first time I went to loose weight.  But the pounds start coming off, you get more energy and all the sudden (at least for me) one day you try and you can run a block or a minute.  That's when the junkie in you kicks in and you start pushing yourself!  You don't think it will happen, but it will.   You might never be a marathon runner or be able to do it daily, but you'll run one block and the next day wonder if you can do two...then three....then a half mile...then a mile...then a 5K.   I know several people people that it's been just like that!  Start with walking, then walk faster and longer and you'll see a huge difference.  

Dinner last night was a collard greens recipe.  I was not raised with any kind of Southern types of foods so I've never had these before!  I got some fresh, local produce from a patient and collard greens were included.  I guess it was time to learn.  I pulled a crockpot recipe off the internet (honestly, I googled something and don't remember where) and I kind of threw things together based on their ingredients.  So here it goes. 
*This recipe is Allergy and Advocare Friendly*
I put some turkey smoked sausage cut up in a crockpot.
I cleaned and tore up the greens into large bite sized pieces.
I put onions and garlic in a skillet with a little EVOO and let it soften.   I then added some chicken stock and let it boil. 
Then a little at a time I added the greens to let them start wilting (the recipe said that they wouldn't fit in the crockpot non wilted, but I bet it would have at least for our family of 4)
After they were all wet and wilted in the boiling stock/onion/garlic I turned off the heat and added some red wine vinegar (it said apple cider but I didn't have any), sugar and red pepper flakes (it said to use cayenne pepper, once again I didn't have any!).  I also added some salt and pepper.  
Throw that in the crock pot and turn on low.  The recipe said 5-6 hours on low, but it was ready in less than 4 and I turned it to warm so it didn't dry out.  
TADA!  My first collard greens made!
I served with mashed potatoes for the hubby and daughter (not allergy friendly because it was boxed) and fried potatoes for me and my boy (Allergy friendly and mostly Advocare friendly *I try to avoid white starches because they don't help with as good of weight loss results, but I didn't have many calories all day yesterday*)
It was pretty yummy!  The flavor was better than cooked spinach to me, which I don't care for!  We saved calories and fat by doing turkey sausage instead of a pork product (the recipe calls for ham or bacon).

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