I love taking baths for relaxation. I used to have to have help getting in and out of the tub. My non-surgery victory lately has been I can get down into the tub and pull myself out of the tub with not one ounce of assistance.
The first time this happened I cried. I tend to leak from my eyes more often these days, but that’s okay.
Little victories.
Blessings!
A year ago with family at Easter.
And this year, just Carmen and I.
Pictures are a wonderful thing for anyone going through weight loss, or any change for that matter. I still don’t see a lot of my weight loss when I look in the mirror. I see it more in the things I am able to do.
Like today’s Mud Bug 5k. I will update you later this week on how that goes.
Blessings!
I needed a simple side to take over to the in laws for a birthday dinner.
I got some dried couscous, and some Greek feta salad. I had the idea to mix the two. It worked!!
I placed the Greek Feta Salad in a large mixing bowl. Cooked the Cous Cous per the instructions. Added a small, sauteed onion.
Let cool just a bit, and then mixed together. I really enjoyed it, as did Carmen. David wasn’t a big fan, but he is a lover of potatoes.
I had enough to serve on Easter, and even gave some to friends.
Blessings.
A couple of other dishes for Easter were roasted asparagus, and smoked ham (in the crock pot).
I love this way of cooking vegetables. Â It turns them to a nutty flavor, and somewhat smokey. Â Just olive oil, salt and pepper. Â Bake on 350 degrees until tender (about 25 minutes).
The ham was done in the crockpot for 3 hours on high, with 12 ounces of orange juice, and 1 cup of brown sugar. Â Made a slurry (mixed it together and pour over the top of the ham.
I really enjoyed the way this was plated.
Blessings!
Growing up, we always had lamb for Easter. Â David isn’t a fan, but Carmen had requested it, so …we had some lamb.
I marinated two large lamb chops in olive oil, 4 cloves of garlic sliced, rosemary, and salt and pepper.
Grilled inside on each side for about 8 minutes each due to the thickness.
I rested the meat for about ten minutes. Â Carmen enjoyed her chop, and I had part of the other chop.
My plate. Â I had too much Cous Cous, but overall a delicious Easter lunch.
Blessings.
I live in Northwest Florida on the Emerald Coast. Â I don’t live on the water, actually about 15 minutes away from the beach. Â I don’t go as often as I would like, and it seems that the weather doesn’t always cooperate with me.
Friday was perfect. Â It was going to be a busy week, and I knew that I needed to clear my head. Â It was windy, but perfect. Â The water was still cold, but warm enough to cool off. Â Not a lot of people. Â Just the sounds of the waves, and birds. Â Really nice.
My kind of therapy.
Blessings.
Spring brings a lot of discussion, it seems, to getting into the perfect summer body. Being obese or heavy the majority of life, this never really bothered me. It was always too much to do.
Now it is just getting healthy. Eating right, cooking, walking, taking time for me while making good choices not just once and a while, but everyday.
Part of my journey is giving myself too harsh of judgement with my body image. I have lots of skin, and my body is still adjusting. In the past, I was heavy, and really didn’t care too much about what people thought. Now that I am smaller, my self consciousness has gotten worse. I feel better about myself, but then I look down and still see rolls, and fat.
Pictures from left to right. May 2016; June 2016; November 2016; and today, April 13, 2017.
What is so weird about these pictures is how I felt at each station. Peach shirt, right before surgery: great, I have stuck to the liquid diet and I can do this. Blue stripe shirt: more pounds gone. Feeling confident in my skin. Wrap dress: I could never wear this before. Really! And today, I feel small. I know that I still have a ways to go but this I see. 50 inches gone. Size 14 PXL. A year ago I was wearing a 26/28 and felt okay about it. Never again.
Feeling really great about progress, and struggling to make the year goal of 100 pounds since surgery that is only a month away. I need to take more pictures. They help me see the progress even when I doubt myself.
Again, slow but sure.
Blessings!
Recently I discovered this photo of my precious family from a year ago at Easter. Â Dates are a bit off but at least a year ago.
Pictures are important with weight loss. Â Most of the time, for me anyway, pictures are something that I made sure that I was either in the back of the group or just picture of my head was showing.
Not anymore. Â I will post more of a much smaller me after this weekend.
Blessings.
So in the changes I have been making – yoga. I do about 5 minutes of basic stretching first thing in the morning. I have been wanting to do more, and have found some streaming beginning yoga on Amazon Prime. I have plenty of room in my craft room.
But there my mat sits. One day I will do this.
Blessings!
Boneless Chicken Thighs with Spinach in a baby Portobello Mushrooms Lemon Butter Sauce.
Y’all…this was super yummy. Â I made this for dinner on Tuesday, and really kind of came upon it. Â Stephen was supposed to come over for dinner, but ended up sleeping through. Ha. Adulting, right? Â Anyway.
Ingredients:
6-8 Chicken Thighs – boneless, skinless
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 package of Portobello Mushrooms, sliced
1 large package of baby spinach, washed
Zoe’s Seasoning, salt & pepper
This is what I wanted to begin with…but only ended up with the Zoe’s Kitchen Seasoning. Â It add a robust flavor to the chicken.
Rinse and patted dry the chicken thighs. Â Season one side with course salt, pepper, and Zoe’s seasoning. Â Add to a hot skillet, and brown on both sides (cooking them about 7 minutes on each side) to a golden brown.
While the chicken cooks, saute the onion until milky then add the baby portobello mushrooms.
Cook until mushrooms are browned. Â I did add pepper to the mushrooms as well. Â And butter. Â Lots of butter.
Oh, and garlic – added these about midway through cooking the mushrooms. Â I add 2 pats of butter, and continue to brown. Â To make the sauce, I used the rest of the butter (1 stick total), and 1/2 cup of lemon juice. Â I added fresh parsley as well to brighten it.
Remove the mushrooms from pan, and keep warm. Â In the same pan, add more olive oil if needed to cook the spinach. Â Cook until wilted.
My salad plate: one thigh, pan sauce and spinach.
David’s regular plate with spinach on the bottom of the chicken (2), and leftover pasta salad.
This was a bright, silky sauce over the tender chicken. Â Very Spring. Â I will be cooking this again, maybe with asparagus?
Blessings!
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