Goals & a healthy snack idea

1) Exercise 5 times - be able to at least do Day 1 of Week 4 of C25K by the end of the week - DONE (I finished week 4!!)
2) Review Matthew 5:1-8 and work on memorizing verses 9 & 10 - DONE
3) Park playdate with friends if they are available DONE
4) Chaperone field trip - DONE
5) Do the Mother/Daugher Devo each night with the girls - Did most nights but not all.
6) Go thru Titus' clothes and return 12M & 18M to my sister and get size 24M/2T - DONE (now to just organize them)
7) Keep up with laundry & ironing so that on Friday it is completely caught up. - DONE
8) Take the kids to storytime at the farm - DONE
9) Drink 64oz of water 3-5 days (I need to work on this again) - Nope, I drank more but not 64oz
10) Continue to limit sugar to just fruit sugar and continue to not eat after 8PM - Nope, I did great except for Saturday night.  We got together with some neighbors and this kind of went out the window for the night but Sunday I got right back on track :)


Weeks goals for 3/25/12
1) Work on Matthew 1-10, I still get a little tripped up on the order
2) Finish work for Bible Study
3) Read 2 Chapters in "The Power of a Positive Mom"
4) Spring clean kitchen
5) Organize 2T clothes for Titus & put them away
6) Keep up with cleaning schedule (I wrote one out a while ago that I've been using)
7) Finish week 5 of C25K
8) Do meal plan
9) Continue to work on water intake
10) Continue with sugar limits & no nighttime snacking

I also wanted to share a great snack idea that I tried today.  These were easy and very tasty. I found the original link thru Pinterest.

Sweet & Salty Roasted chickpeas

• 1 can (14 oz) chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or your spice(s) of choice (I added a couple dashes of cayenne to add to the spiciness)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Place chickpeas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat.
2. Bake at 450 F for 30 minutes. (You didn't miss anything here.  You don't oil or season them until after they are done.  In fact, for an extra healthy treat, try them when they get out of the oven before even adding the oil.  They are enjoyable all on their own.)
3. Transfer chickpeas to a bowl and mix thoroughly with the rest of the ingredients.
4. Enjoy hot, or bring to room temperature and store in an air-tight container.  Like popped corn, the chickpeas are never as good the next day.  However, they are still quite enjoyable 3-4 days after making them.  

I also made Salt & Vinegar chickpeas from another site.  They were also great but some of them did burn so I would suggest using the roasting method in the first recipe for these as well (i.e. don't oil them before roasting).

Salt & Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas

• 2 cups canned chickpeas*
• 3-4 cups white vinegar
• 1 tsp Coarse sea salt
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions: Line a baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Take chickpeas and vinegar and place in a medium sized pot. Add a dash of sea salt. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat. Let sit in pot for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 425F. Carefully drain chickpeas. Place on lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and sea salt. Massage with fingers until fully coated. Roast for 45 minutes, flipping once half way through. Keep a careful eye on them after 35 minutes of cooking to ensure they don’t burn. The goal here is crispy and golden chickpeas, not black…lol. Enjoy as a high protein snack or as a side to a lunch or dinner.

Enjoy!

Weekly Goals

I have a few minutes so wanted to post my goals for this week.  Even though I haven't posted every week I have been setting goals and it has been very helpful to have something concrete to work towards.  Here are my goals for this week.

1) Exercise 5 times - be able to at least do Day 1 of Week 4 of C25K by the end of the week
2) Review Matthew 5:1-8 and work on memorizing verses 9 & 10
3) Park playdate with friends if they are available
4) Chaperone field trip
5) Do the Mother/Daugher Devo each night with the girls
6) Go thru Titus' clothes and return 12M & 18M to my sister and get size 24M/2T
7) Keep up with laundry & ironing so that on Friday it is completely caught up.
8) Take the kids to storytime at the farm
9) Drink 64oz of water 3-5 days (I need to work on this again)
10) Continue to limit sugar to just fruit sugar and continue to not eat after 8PM

A 10 Minute dinner recipe

There are just some nights when a fast dinner is needed.  This recipe is not only fast but healthy.  All my kids really liked this.  The original recipe calls for this to be served over puff pastry but since I don't keep puff pastry on hand and we're trying to eat healthier I switched to using a seasoned couscous as the base.


Salmon & Pesto with Couscous:
1-2lbs salmon cut into portions (as much as needed for your family)
2TB pesto per piece of salmon
Chopped fresh tomato
2 cups couscous (measure dry then cook)
1-2 TB lemon juice
1-2 TB parsley
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400.  Place salmon on foil lined baking sheet and cook for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, cook couscous according to package.  When couscous is ready toss with lemon juice, parsley, salt & pepper.  To serve place salmon on top of each serving of couscous top with pesto and chopped tomato. 

Homemade Larabars

I discovered Larabars a few weeks ago and really love them.  The great thing is that there are only a couple of ingredients and no added sugars, just the fruit sugars.  I also loved the fact that there are so many variations of flavors and the fact that they are high in fiber, protein and good fats.  The only thing I didn't love about them was the price.  The cheapest I found them was $1.25/bar (and the bars are small) so I set out to find a recipe for making them myself.  I found this  recipe at Oh She Glows and after doing a bit more research just changed it up again.

The basic premise is equal parts dates and other dried fruits and just adjust the nut amount accordingly.  Grind up the fruits into a paste, remove from food processor.  Grind up nuts until very fine and starting to stick together add the fruit paste back in and process until well mixed.  Press into 8X8 pan and refrigerate.  Once firm cut into 12 bars and, if desired, wrap individually.   Depending on the type you make you may need to add a couple tablespoons of water or for added flavor use 100% juice.

Here are the combinations I've tried so far (with good reviews from my husband and kids).

Cranberry:
1 C dates
1C dried cranberries
1 1/3 C almonds
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Chocolate Coconut:
1 C dates
3/4 C coconut
1/4 C unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 C almonds

Cinnamon Raisin:
1 C dates
1 C raisins
1 1/3 C almonds
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

You can use whatever nuts you like; I just have almonds on hand.  Depending on the flavor Larabar uses pecans, walnuts, cashews, peanuts or almonds.  Here is the link to the Larabar product page, if you click on a flavor they list all the ingredients.  Enjoy!

Weekly Goals

I'm actually getting around to posting goals this week.  :)

1) Continue with water intake
2) Continue with no evening snacking
3) Exercise 5-6 times (I'm training for a 5K so I'm really trying to push myself with this)
4) Memorize Matthew 5:5-6 & review verses 1-4 (I'm memorizing the beatitudes with my sister-in-law)
5) Type and print 8-10 recipes for my recipe binder
6) Take Gram shopping
7) Organize Co-op orders (end of week)
8) Take Keira & Titus to story time at the farm on Friday

Review/Catchup

The last two weeks have been busy; but definitely in a good way.  Last week the kids were on school vacation so we had dentist & doctor appointments along with some fun things like visiting the Museum of Science in Boston and a day trip to visit my parents.  We also had some friends over here and Hailey had her first solo sleepover at her cousin's house. 

(Ethan & Keira having some fun at the MOS)

This week has been getting back into a routine.  I also had Bible study on Wednesday (it's every other week) which takes up the morning and yesterday the kids had their first snow day of the year.  I love having them around but they are always ready to go back to school, they love seeing all their friends! 

As for my goals, I have done pretty well with keeping up with them.  I've kept up with my water intake, exercising and not eating after 8PM.  I've also written in my "Gifts' journal and have started memorizing the Beatitudes; so far I have verses 1-4 down.

I also made this little guy for a friend of mine.  Last year I participated in a kind of "pay it forward" thing on Facebook.  If someone commented on my status I was supposed to make them something handmade.  I finally figured out what to make this friend (who loves anything owl) and will get it sent out to her in the next couple of days.  I'm still debating adding a keyring to him to make it useful, another thought I had was adding magnet tape to the back, just need to figure out how to finish him.

So, that is what I've been up to the past few weeks.