Update and Cauliflower Tortilla/pizza crust

Coming down to the end of the 24 day challenge!  Coming up quick!

Here's my numbers....
Weight- 171 lbs (-1 pound)
Waist- 35 inches (-0.5 inches)
Hips- 41.5 inches (-0.5 inches)
Chest- 38 inches (+0.5 inches)
Thigh- 21 inches (-1.5 inches!)

Jan 2, 2015

Jan 10, 2015

Jan 16, 2015

Jan 24, 2015

I'm seeing results and happy with it.  I'm down over 6 pounds since the first of the year, and down 15 pounds from my heaviest this fall!

Recipe: Cauliflower Tortillas

This is from a fellow Advocare Challenger's facebook site.

Rice 2/3 head of cauliflower and microwave for 2 minutes.  Stir and microwave another 2 minutes.

Carefully (because it's crazy hot) squeeze all the liquid out of the cauliflower. 

Then add salt and pepper to taste and 2 eggs.  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  On parchment paper make tortillas.

Bake for 10 minutes, then carefully flip over and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Cool on rack. 

This batch didn't turn out well because I tried to make it thinner than last time.  Instead it fell apart, so thicker is better. 

We made little pizzas with this- put on pizza sauce, veggies and meat and a little cheese (except for Eli for allergies)

Here's the "tortilla"- as I said a different batch turned out better but I didn't think about pictures. 

Egg "muffins"

So we tried a new recipe for the challenge for breakfasts for all of us!  Super easy and can be changed easily for those with allergies (except against eggs).

Egg Muffins!

 

You put all the ingredients you would normally put in an omelet and put it in the bottom of greased muffin tins.

  

You mix up eggs and pour over to fill the tins up.

Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Tada!  Breakfast!

We put in green peppers, onions, spinach, broccoli, mushrooms and turkey sausage.  

We refrigerated these and just popped in the microwave for about 30 seconds in the morning when we were ready to eat.  

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).

Soups on

So today was soup day.  I have been on vacation for two weeks, and not been the greatest about the diet, so I'm getting back on track with some planning and soup.  I made two kinds of vegetable soup- one called the Magic weight loss soup, and one that is a weight watchers soup. Both have a little different flavors, different but a lot of veggies, and are yummy.  Both recipes I got off of pinterest. 

The first is the weight watchers soup.  It has spinach, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, oregano, basil, tomatoes, and veggie broth.  Here's the picture: 

Next is the "magic weight loss soup".  This has Italian diced tomatoes, V-8 juice, chicken broth, onions, carrots, mushrooms, garlic, green beans, zucchini, yellow squash, and cabbage.  Here's the picture:

So I made a crockpot full of the magic soup, and a huge kettle of the other soup, and bought these cheapy Tupperware so I can put some in the freezer for lunches the next two weeks.

My plan is to do the Advocare meal replacement shakes for breakfast, these soups or a salad for lunches, and a healthy well rounded dinner.  :)  I'll keep you up to date.

Allergy Update

So we did it, we got Eli scratch tested for allergies to see if he's growing out of anything.   The answer is...maybe.  :)
We get to challenge one at a time wheat and soy and in 4 weeks we go back to the doctor to try egg!  What a change this would be for the little man!
He still reacted very strongly to milk, and pretty strong to beef and peanut. 
So yesterday, we started trying to introduce small portions of soy to his diet, and I guess I've been too good at keeping soy away.  It's been hard trying to find things with soy in them that I think he'll eat!  :)
We've done an Italian salad dressing, which he ate on almost everything yesterday.  Frozen french fries that are made with oil that may contain soy, and cooked with vegetable oil yesterday.  So far so good.  This weekend we will keep up with the little things: soy as the 3rd or less ingredient is ideal according to the allergist, but next week I want to try soy milk to see!
Once we're done with the soy, and hopefully have no reaction we can start trying some gluten/wheat and see how that goes!

A pinterest fail and chicken salad

So, vegan recipes are usually where we start with allergy friendly foods, since then we only need to substitute a few extra ingredients.  It will already be dairy and egg free.  So my sister found this simple recipe for a pudding that is Eli friendly and sounded easy to make.  I'll give the recipe then you can see how mine worked out. 

In a blender or food processor- 2 ripe avocados, 2 TBS of honey, 1/3 cup of cocoa powder, 2 TBS softened coconut oil, and 1 tsp of vanilla extract.   She said you can also use a combination of 1 banana and 1 avocado or 2 bananas.  Anyways.  Throw it all together and puree it.  Put in the fridge to get cold and "enjoy".

Here's what we got....

The problem may have been the avocados not ripe enough so they didn't blend well.  We will try again with bananas or combination, but this reminds me so much of those pictures of pinterest fails.  

 

Nailed it!

 So onward.  For dinner I made two chicken salads.  One is my mother in law's recipe that is not allergy friendly, and one is a recipe I have made before from the allergy cookbook. 
Creamy Avocado Dressing is-
    1 clove minced garlic
     2 TBS honey
    2 TBS chopped cilantro
    1 ripe avocado
- puree these in a mixer
-Add-
    3/4 cup rice milk
    2 TBS apple cider vinegar
    3 TBS lime juice
Mix about a minute, till all together.

This can be used for salads, dipping or about anything.  Lyle said he'd try it on a taco or taco salad.

 Eli's chicken salad is made with this dressing-

   1 cup cooked chicken

   1 celery stalk chopped
   2 TBS Dijon mustard
   1 TBS minced onion
   5 TBS avocado dressing.

He LOVED it!  He said the chicken made him fast for running!

Our chicken salad is the recipe my mother in law gave me, and honestly I don't measure anything.  It has cooked chicken, boiled eggs, celery, relish or chopped pickles, mayo, sugar, and salt. 

Super shopping trip!

So this morning Ella and I took off with the shopping lists and made a huge trip to Walmart in the snow!
After the prep- here's what we have! 22 meals in freezer bags for the crockpot on the busiest days!

Here's the lists again- one Eli friendly and one not necessarily!  But the cilantro lime chicken is doubled up- we just made 4 because I didn't notice!  :)  Left for the store at 8:45, done with everything by noon.  Not too shabby!

Here's the two lists.

Eli Friendly Freezer Meals

Black Bean Taco Soup – Brown meat and onion, let cool and divide into two bags.  Cook high 1-2 hours or low 2-3.5 hours.  Serve with tortilla chips, cheese, and sour cream.

·      1 lb lean ground beef (we used turkey beef)

·      1 medium onion, chopped

·      1 package mild taco seasoning mix

·      1 (16 oz) bag frozen corn

·      1 (16 oz) can black beans drained and rinse

·      1 (14 oz) cans stewed tomatoes

·      1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

·      1 (4 oz) can diced green chilis

Cilantro Lime Chicken- makes 2 bags, cook on low for 8 hours, shred meat and serve on tortillas.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         4 tablespoons of lime juice

·         1 bunch of cilantro chopped

·         2 – 16 oz bags of corn

·         4 cloves of garlic- minced

·         1 red onion chopped

·         2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

·         2 tsp cumin

·         Salt and pepper.

Honey Rosemary Chicken- makes 2 bags.  Cook low for 6-8 hours.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         2/3 cup balsamic vinegar

·         2/3 cup honey

·         2/3 cup olive oil

·         6 tablespoons rosemary, chopped

·         2 teaspoons salt

BBQ chicken- makes 2 bags, cook low for 6-8 hours.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         1 12 oz bottle of BBQ sauce

·         1 cup brown sugar

·         ½ cup vinegar

·         ¼ tsp cayenne pepper

·         2 teaspoon garlic powder

Chicken Fajitas- makes 2 bags, cook on low for 6 hours. Serve with tortillas or rice.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         Variety of bell peppers, sliced (about 5)

·         2 large onions sliced

·         Lime juice

·         Chili powder

·         Salt and pepper

Southwestern 2 Bean Chicken- makes 2 bags, cook on low for 5-7 hours, serve with tortillas or over rice

·         6 chicken breasts

·         2 cans (15 oz) pinto beans rinsed and drained

·         2 cans (15 oz) black beans rinsed and drained

·         2 cans (28 oz) diced tomatoes in juice

·         2 pounds frozen corn

·         2 jars (12 oz) of salsa

Tips:

·         Look over your pantry to see what you have/need.

·         Write instructions (how long to cook) on freezer bag and what is in it to make meal planning easy.

·         If you use potatoes that are NOT frozen boil first for a few minutes or they will turn black in the freezer.

·         Can buy slow cooker liners to save on dishes- they kind of cost a lot but then you don’t have to scrub the crock pot every night to use it the next day!

Shopping List:

Fresh:

·         3 onions

·         5 bell peppers, variety of colors

·         Rosemary

·         1 Red onion

·         Cilantro

·         Garlic- preminced or 4 cloves

Meat-

·         Chicken breasts- 30 breasts total

·         1 pound ground beef or turkey

Canned/Pantry-

·         2-15 oz cans pinto beans

·         5-15 oz cans black beans

·         2-28 oz cans diced tomatoes

·         2-12 oz jars salsa

·         Lime juice

·         Chili powder

·         Salt and pepper

·         1-12 oz bottle of BBQ sauce

·         Brown sugar

·         Vinegar

·         Cayenne pepper

·         Garlic powder

·         Balsamic vinegar

·         Honey

·         Olive Oil

·         Cumin

·         1-4 oz can diced green chilis

·         1-8 oz can tomato sauce

·         1-14 oz can stewed tomatoes

·         Package of taco seasoning

Frozen-

·         5 bags of Frozen Corn

Freezer Meals!

Teriyaki Chicken-

   Divide into two freezer bags.  Thaw overnight and cook on High for 4 hours or Low for 8.  Serve with rice.

·         1 bag of Baby carrots chopped into bite sized pieces

·         1/2 red onion in large chunks

·         20 oz can pineapple undrained

·         1 garlic clove chopped

·         6 Chicken breasts

·         1/2 bottle Teriyaki Sauce

·         2 cups broccoli

Sweet Barbecue Hawaiian Chicken- Divide into two bags. Cook on low for 8 hours

·         6 chicken breasts

·         2/3  cup of BBQ sauce

·         20 oz can of Pineapple chunks, undrained

·         2/3  cup soy sauce

·         ½ cup brown sugar

·         2 TBS corn starch

Salsa chicken- makes 2 bags.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours, stir in ½ cup sour cream at end and serve over rice.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         2 cups salsa

·         2 packages taco seasoning

·         2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

Cilantro lime chicken- makes 2 bags- cook on low for 8 hours.  Shred meat and serve on tortillas.

·         6 chicken breasts

·         4 tablespoons of lime juice

·         1 bunch of cilantro chopped

·         2 – 16 oz bags of corn

·         4 cloves of garlic- minced

·         1 red onion chopped

·         2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

·         2 tsp cumin

·         Salt and pepper.

Pot Roast- make 2 bags- cook on low for 8 hours.

·         2 small hunks of beef roast or pork roast

·         Red potatoes- chopped

·         1 bag of baby Carrots- chopped

·         1 Yellow Onion- chopped

·         Celery- chopped

·         2 cans of beef broth

Shopping List:

Fresh veggies:

·         Bag of red potatoes (or can buy frozen potatoes)

·         2 red onions

·         1 yellow onion

·         Hearts of celery

·         2 bags of baby carrots

·         1 bunch of broccoli (or can buy frozen)

·         Cilantro

·         Garlic- 5 cloves or pre-minced

Meat-

·         2 small beef or pork roasts or 1 large to divide

·         About 24 chicken breasts

Canned/Pantry-

·         Lime juice

·         2 cans of black beans

·         Salsa

·         2 packages of taco seasoning

·         2 cans of cream of mushroom soup

·         Soy sauce

·         Teriyaki sauce

·         BBQ sauce

·         2 cans of pineapple chunks

·         Brown Sugar

·         Corn Starch

·         Cumin

·         2 cans of beef broth

·         Large Freezer Ziplock bags- at least package of 10 for these recipes

Frozen-

·         2 bags of corn

·         Broccoli (if not fresh)

·         Potatoes (if not fresh)

Dairy-

·         Sour Cream

Tips:

·         Look over your pantry to see what you have/need.

·         Write instructions (how long to cook) on freezer bag and what is in it to make meal planning easy.

·         If you use potatoes that are NOT frozen boil first for a few minutes or they will turn black in the freezer.

·         Can buy slow cooker liners to save on dishes- they kind of cost a lot but then you don’t have to scrub the crock pot every night to use it the next day!