Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken

This is one of my favorite ways to eat chicken. However, I try to take out as many unneeded calories as possible. The original recipe can be found here along with lots of pretty pictures of the cooking process.

This is how I make it.

Bacon Cheeseburger Chicken

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise
2 tbs teriyaki sauce (this is your salt so use what you like. I don't like salt)
1/2 cup light ranch dressing (I used about 1tbs per piece of breast)
1/4 cup 2% shredded Cheddar cheese (I just sprinkled it over the chicken a pinch at a time)
2 tbs bacon bits

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken breasts, and saute 4 to 5 minutes each side, until lightly browned. Place browned chicken breasts in a 8×8 inch baking dish. Cover with teriyaki sauce and dressing. Sprinkle with cheese and top with bacon bits. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

I serve this with garlic mashed potatoes (also made skinny) and a salad.

Week One:

Weight Loss
I lost 4.4 lbs this week.
exercise
I made myself get up 2 mornings to exercise and I loved it. I knew that if I ever allowed myself to skip a day then I wouldn't get back on track and I was right. While I was able to fit in 4 days of exercise, it was mostly me doing housework.
Food
I kept my calorie count on target but I ate pizza, hot dogs, and some fried chicken legs this week. Those are all things that I don't normally eat but due to circumstances beyond my control I had to eat dinner out twice this week.
I have kept a food journal the entire week so balancing my calories out with my exercise was easy to do. I will say that I had 2 fantastic salads this week. One was the Pioneer Woman's best spinach salad ever and it truly was. The other was a roasted veggie salad from a local pizza place. All organic veggies freshly roasted - zucchini, mushrooms,yellow onions, rosemary roasted red potatoes, baby spinach & broccoli on a bed of organic mixed greens with parmesan, spices & our croutons! It was awesome!

Goals for Week 2:
**exercise 4 times this week for 30 minutes each time or a total of 120 minutes
**Try out Jillian Michael's 30 day shred
**Lose 3 lbs this week
**Eat 4 salads

Momma Zen

I've been reading Momma Zen by Karen Maezen Miller and I've been loving every minute of it. The book really spoke to me but I didn't realize how much until I reached this section:
I was unhappy a lot of the time. When I wasn't, I might be annoyed or impatient and intermittently resentful. This was obvious to everyone. My daughter could read between my furrows and inflections. She would break my troubled silences with a stunningly simple question, "Momma, are you happy now?"
Monkeyface has started asking me this question all the time. Sometimes he even walks over, kisses me and then asks me again, "You happy now?" I always answer "yes" because why would a 3 year old need to know what's on my mind? However, now I realize that yes, I can be happy now and I am blessed to have my little one to remind me. I can choose and change, and by changing my attitude, change everything. Being happy is worth everything. It is my heart's desire...It's what I want most for my child. Being healthy is great, kind is sweet, smart is convenient, but happy matters most of all.
You don't have to wait for happiness, because there's not time but now to be happy. You don't have to go somewhere else, because there's no place but here to find it. You don't have to do something else, because there's nothing more to it. You don't have to get something else, because everything you already have is enough. You just have to be happy.
Am I happy now? Yes Monkeyface, I am and I thank you for reminding me.

Beginning of a journey

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year and the day I start my weight loss journey again. This has been a struggle my whole life but now I have a new goal. I want to be able to ride a bike with my son when the time comes. I need to be active for him. I want to be able to have the endurance for a long walk. Now I do realize that I have problems with my heart so exercise in the beginning will be difficult but I have never felt better than when I exercise. This is going to take a lot of hard work and this may even turn into a weight loss journal for a while. I'm ok with that. I'm also going to try to maintain my current $60/week for all meals eaten at the house as well as toiletries.
I haven't really been happy lately and my vacation helped me to realize what I need. I'm happy with most things on the outside but inside I've been fighting a real battle. I just haven't felt very kind, compassionate, or patient lately. I don't like feeling this way and it is time that I withdraw for a while and take care of me. We'll see what happens. I'm putting a weight ticker on the side of my blog to track where I'm going and my starting weight is from today, not the highest weight I've ever been.

Gravel and Grub

One of the great things about traveling is that you get to try new food. Here is what I had for dinner last night. It combined my beloved Costa Rica with some Jamaican flair. You can just click on the links for the recipes:

Jamaican Jerk and Plantain Kabobs

The recipe above includes a Jamaican Jerk Rub. I didn't want to go out and buy one so I made it myself. I love recipezaar. It has made my life a better place.

Gallo Pinto (Costa Rican rice and beans)

2 to 3 Tbs. oil
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 cups cooked white rice
2 cups cooked black beans, drained, rinsed and liquid reserved
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
2 to 3 Tbs. Salsa Lizano*, or Worcestershire sauce
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat, and add onion. When onion starts to turn color, add garlic, and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until onion is golden.
Stir in rice, beans and seasonings, combining well. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup liquid from canned beans, if desired, to make the rice "dirty." Cook until heated through, and add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

*Lizano Salsa is only made in Costa Rica but it makes everything you put it on taste better. You can sometimes find it in a Latino market or you could have a friend pick you up some when they go to CR.*

For more recipes, go see Gayle

Family Fun Monday

My sister in law introduced me to the concept of Family Fun Monday. Apparently the Mormon church has been doing it for years and I was never notified. Well since the little one's birthday I've decided that we are participating in this. Being an avid list maker, I've come up with several ideas:

1-make an apple pie together
2-play with the waterpillar
3-make sidewalk paint and paint together
4-ziploc omelettes
5-walk around neighborhood
6-play at Shelley Lake
7-walk at Umstead
8-feed ducks at Lake Lynn
9-drumming out at Lake Johnson
10-picnic at Pullen Park
11-Goodberry's
12-Pelican's Snoballs
13-picnic at Rotary Park
14-disc golf
15-airplane park

That should keep us busy all summer.