Chicken & Strawberry Spinach Salad with Lemon-Poppyseed Dressing

Pin It
Hey y'all. Just a quick post to tell you about one of my favorite summer recipes. This will be great for any end of summer get togethers you might be having this holiday weekend. I love to eat it all summer and it comes in at a whopping 4 Weight Watchers Point+ Points, 5 if you add a tspn of toasted almonds to your serving. It's actually under 4 because that number is based on 1 tblspn of Oil and this will yield enough dressing for about 4 salads.

Every time I make this for get togethers, I bring home an empty salad bowl. :)

Chicken-Strawberry Spinach Salad with
Lemon-PoppySeed Dressing

Here's what you'll need-
Chicken Breasts (I cook 4)
Spinach (I used the pre-washed bag kind because it was just the easiest)
Fresh strawberries (about 1 1/2 cups, but really I just get a large strawberry basket, and use most of them)
Cucumber- medium 1/2 -1

For the dressing-
1 Lemon
2 tspn White Vinegar
1 tblspn Vegetable Oil
1 tsp Poppy Seeds
Splenda to taste (I usually just add a few packets. I used to make this with sugar, but it's just as good if not better with the Splenda and it stays mixed up better and not as gritty)

This recipe is really so simple, you won't believe it!
Here's what you do-

Grill your chicken breasts. I used my Foreman because it was quick and easy.  While they're cooking, clean and slice your strawberries and your cucumber. I usually wash and spin my spinach even though it says it's pre-washed. I'm a little OCD about clean spinach.

Then mix your dressing-
Roll your lemon around on your counter to soften it up. If it's not particularly soft you can nuke it for 10-15 seconds and it'll juice up for you like crazy. Grate your lemon gently so you have peel and not pith (no-one wants a bitter dressing). Cut your lemon in half and juice it. I used Pampered Chefs Mix and Pour dressing container because I used to be a consultant and I love how it keeps dressings fresh and mixed. To the Lemon Juice add your Vinegar, Oil, and Poppy Seeds. Mix well and then add Splenda to mixture until you have reached your desired sweetness. I put a lot in the picture but I really only used a few.


Once your Chicken has finished cooking, Cube it into bite -sized pieces. Put your Spinach, Chicken, Strawberries and Cucumbers in a large bowl and toss gently until mixed well. Place onto individual plates. Mix your dressing and pour onto the individual portions. Top with Slivered Almonds if desired.

Next is the best part...Enjoy! This is a fresh, bright, tasting salad that gives you protein/meat, fruit, and vegetables all in one serving. You could even add some cheese like a Blue Cheese or Gorgonzola and get a little dairy in as well. Just know that will increase your Points Values.

I hope you give this salad a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! If you try it I hope you'll let me know what you thought. If you'd like to +1 or Pin this recipe I've put the buttons here on my blog for your convenience. Followers are always welcome too!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Take Care,
Shan

*Recipe adapted from Pampered Chef.*

Pin It

Mid-Week Motivation / State of Grace

Pin It

Hey y'all. Happy Wednesday. I hope you're having a great week and that if you're in Isaac's way that God keeps you and yours safe.


Last week's Mid-Week Motivation  was about finding beauty not in perfection but in imperfections. This week's post is along similar lines. Earlier this year, as I was going through my reader feeds I saw a piece of framed artwork on one of the sites that spoke to me. I put it as my screen saver so I would see it everyday and be reminded of it's message. It seemed very simple and I thought I could probably do something similar on my own. Here's what I came up with-

What a great thought, don't you think? I don't remember the name of the stamp set in MDS2+, if you're interested let me know. I totally forgot about the whole project list feature or I would have added it. :( 

I don't know about you, but this is something I struggle with constantly. I thought this might be a way to remind myself Perfection is not necessary, in a pretty way. :)

Here's the original-

What do you think? I think it's pretty close to the original. Maybe I'll add some little pearls to the inside of mine for a little extra something.


Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you liked it and I hope it inspires you. I love hearing from you, so if you have comments or questions about today's project, I hope you have just a moment to leave a comment. I read them all and they really do make my day. If you'd like to +1 or Pin it, I've put the buttons on my blog for your convenience. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

Pin It

Weekly Weigh in

Pin It
Hey y'all. It's Tuesday and for me that means another week has passed and it's time for an update. Before I do that though I just want to say my thoughts and prayers are with everyone dealing with Hurricane Isaac.

This has been a tough week for me. After getting new shoes and running in them last week for a total of 2 hours I am barely able to walk. I went back to the running store I bought them at and was re-fitted and given a new pair, but the most I have been able to walk was 11 minutes today and I'm paying for that now. My arches hurt so bad, the entire arch from the ball of my foot to the front of my heel pad, that if I had the money I would actually go to my Orthopod and request Cortisone Shots in both arches. I don't know if you've ever had cortisone shots before but they hurt bad enough when it's just in a joint, but when it's in a spot where there's simply no space for the fluid they're injecting it's absolutely excruciating and I have a high pain tolerance. I once had Cortisone shots in both heel pads a week before going to Disney so my bone spurs wouldn't bother me as much. I spent almost the whole weekend with my feet up. I didn't even go down in to the studio to stamp. You know I'm hurting when I don't want to take a flight of steps down to stamp. :(
I have a Medrol Dose Pack (steroid pack) at home that I'm going to try. I meant to start them last night and forgot till it was too late. I wouldn't have slept a wink if I'd taken them when I finally thought about them. It's been a full week now without exercise and it's making me nutz on top of the pain.

At any rate I was hoping to be down more this week and was hoping to hit 20 by this coming Sunday (3 months), but that isn't going to happen now. :'(

Here's this week's numbers-

As you can see, only 19 exercise points but at least I didn't use any of my extra points. I'm going to have to be extra careful with those the next few weeks.

Here's the tale of the scale- (Ha! I'm a poet and didn't know it! LOL)

Down another 1.2 for a total of 16.8. Now if I could just get some exercise in.

That's all I have for you today. I hope you'll come back tomorrow. I've got a new Mid-Week Inspiration for you.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

Pin It

Mid-Week Motivation / Letting Go of Perfection...A Constant Struggle

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Thursday! Just one more day until the weekend. Woo-Hoo!!!

If you follow my "main" blog you probably saw this on Monday. I thought it would be a good fit for this blog's "Mid-Week Motivation" as well. I don't know about you, but I often feel the need to be "perfect" or if not "perfect" than at least as close to it as possible. I know this is not a realistic goal and yet that still seems to be the underlying motivator in just about everything I do. Stronger, Harder, Faster is not just an Olympic idea. Once I decide to do something I'm all in. The frustrating part is when I'm not able to do things to high caliber I set for myself. This blog for example. I started it with the goal of a few entries a week. For the most part I've managed to stick with it, but there have been a couple of "missed" posts. This is very frustrating to me and drives me nutz! Even though I realize, rationally, that working a full-time job, having not one but two home-based independent business on top of that (daily work) and having 5 blogs (yes 5) that I contribute to, one that's 5-7 times/week and the others as often as possible, is a lot for anyone. It still frustrates me when I'm unable to get everything done, to the standard that I wish it done to. Lets not even think about just Me-Time.

Sometimes I need to just stop and remind myself that I don't need to be perfect. If I don't run for 2 hrs/day I'm not going to suddenly be fat and unattractive. If a blog post doesn't get written, I'm going to lose whatever followers I might have. Truth be told the blogs are for me. They're a creative outlet and a stress reliever. It's a good thing that's how I choose to look at them because if you've ever had a blog you know that even a quick, simple post will easily take you 30-60 minutes. A friend of mine had a picture on their FB page a few months back and the beauty of the image struck me. What struck me the most was how beautiful it was for the simple fact that it was not "perfect". It was in fact a mutation, an imperfect specimen. I knew then that I wanted to do something with a similar type image. Here's what I came up with-

I created this with My Digital Studio and simply added the photo. I think I'm going to have it printed and hang it where I can see it often to remind myself of this simple fact.

That's all I have for you today. I hope it speaks to you like it does to me. If nothing else I hope you enjoy the  simple beauty of it.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! I hope you'll come back soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

Pin It

Weekly Update

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a great week so far! Just wanted to check in real quick. Sorry I missed yesterday's weekly check in. Gonna get you caught up though.

Here's the numbers for last week. See that "0" weekly? Those are my "bonus"  points, freebies if you will. Normally I try not to use them at all and if I do it's only a few of them. I have never used them all! That's called being taken out to dinner at The Olive Garden and eating leftovers for 3 days. Lol! Not only that, but for the first time since I started I used some exercise points. (Do you ever want to spell exercise "excercise"?) I do it all the time. What, am I in 4th grade? *SMH* Anyways, I don't believe in denying myself so I enjoyed the food and sucked it up. I am running 2 hours/day 5-6 days a week. I should be able to enjoy myself on occasion right?

So, I was worried about the weigh in -

Check it out... down another 1.2 for a total of 15.6 lbs since I started 10 weeks ago. Woo-Hoo! Just 4.4. more for 20 lbs down and 10% loss. I was hoping to have that knocked out in the next 2 weeks but now I'm not so sure. I got new running shoes last week and after 2 days of running can barely walk. So disappointing. It's the first time I've ever had Nike's that I didn't like. Also a shame to pay $136 for shoes and not be able to wear them. Luckily, I got them at a running store and I went back and was fitted with some different shoes yesterday and after $10.00 more have my first pair of Asics. I remember they used to be called "Tigers" when I was selling them a bazillion years ago. Hitting the Advil hard today and no running. Hopefully tomorrow I can get in a few short runs. We'll see. Maybe I can hit the elliptical instead for the next few days.

That's all I've got for you today. Hope you have a great one and hope to see you back here soon. I'll be back tomorrow with my Mid-Week Inspiration.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

Pin It

A Tasty Treat For You

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Wednesday! I hope you're having a great week!

Just wanted to share a recipe with you real quick. Do you "Pin"? I do. One of the things I love to Pin  is yummy things to eat. Even better if they're yummy and healthy or at least a healthier version. I saw some cupcakes on there the other day that I just had to try. Now I know that not everything on Pinterest comes out like they say it will, but on the off chance that this would work, I had to try.

Here's what I made-

Vanilla Funfetti Cupcakes 2 W.W. Points+

Yum! I wish I had some more. They were so good. They almost flew out of my Cupcake Carrier and no-one could believe they were only 2 W.W. Points + points.

Here's the original Pin-

I'm not sure how they got their frosting to look so white, because mine was definitely more yellow in color, but Ooooohhhh were they delish!

You can tell I'm not a food blogger, because there is invariably something I forget to take a picture of. This time it's of all the ingredients and of the frosting. *SMH* Sorry. I normally blog cards. :)

This is so simple and takes a whopping 4 ingredients. Yep, I said 4. So make sure you run by the store tonight on your way home and you'll have yummy cupcakes in no time that you won't even feel bad about eating.

Here's what you need- 1 Package of Funfetti Cake Mix, (just the mix not all the other stuff it says you need), 1- 12 oz can of Sprite Zero, 1 tub of Fat Free Cool-Whip ( I used the generic brand because it was on sale) and 1 Package Fat Free/Sugar Free Vanilla Instant Pudding. That's it. You're probably pretty skeptical right about now. I know I was, but I figured the worst that could happen was I'd be out a few bucks so why not try.

Now I had seen plenty of other posts with soda cakes and the like but even though they were on sites like Cookies and Cups (which I totally love) I just hadn't been in need of one of these when I saw it so it kinda got pushed tot he back of my mind.

Here's what you do- 

1- Preheat your oven and get busy mixing.

2- Mix your Sprite into your cake mix. *Tip* Use a spoon or hand mixer not a wire whisk. Ask me how I know. At first your batter will be very lumpy (it will clump up in your whisk). Just continue to add the Sprite in slowly while mixing and have a little faith. Eventually you will get a nice smooth batter-

I tried not to taste too much, but since it didn't have any raw eggs in it I didn't feel too bad about licking the bowl. :)

 

Next scoop into your lined cupcake tin-

Bake according to the directions. I don't remember exactly but I think it was about 18-20 minutes.

While your tasty little morsels are rising up all fluffy-like, mix your frosting. To do this mix your pudding mix and whipped topping together. I used my hand mixer for this. *Tip* let your topping thaw slightly. It will mix much easier if it's not frozen when you try this.

Once your cupcakes are cool, frost them with your frosting and enjoy. *Tip* Have faith in the frosting. I wasn't convinced it wouldn't run off my cupcakes during the night because of the whipped topping so I didn't frost all of them until the next morning. The frosting had "set-up" by that time and was difficult to spread. It still tasted good, but they didn't look as good as the one I frosted right after I made them to photograph. Next time I will definitely frost them all as soon as the cupcakes have cooled.

 I think next time I try these I'm going to make them with Diet Sunkist (orange). I think they'll be cool for Halloween and I bet they'll taste great too!

I hope you'll give these a try. I know you're going to love them. They came out like and fluffy and super moist. I liked them better than the regular funfetti cupcakes.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

Pin It

Mid-Week Motivation

Pin It
Hey y'all. Trying to get back on track with posting here. This is my second of 5 blogs and the 2 of 3 I try to update on a regular basis. Hope you'll stick with me.

Here's this week's motivational thought-

Isn't this a beautiful picture, and a beautiful thought.

My exes have often said I just won't let go of something once I set my mind about it. Guess that's not such a bad thing after-all! LOL!!!

Keep the faith and keep on pushing through. Just think of the Amazing things you might be able to do.

That's all I have for you today. I am really going to try to get back this week with a new recipe for you. I've got a few and I'm baking a new one this weekend. Maybe I can get it posted next week. :) Thanks so much for taking time out of your day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Weekly Weigh In

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I'm a day late here but at least I'm here right? I went in for my weigh in Sunday morning and had a very happy surprise. Love when that happens! :)

Here's the run-down from last week-

As you can see, I had a little less exercise this past week. I didn't feel good for a few days, so I was really careful about what I ate.

It paid off, because this is what I got when I stepped on the scale-

Yep. Down 2.4. I'll definitely take that!

I averaged 13,346 steps/day.

Keep the faith in yourself and don't stop trying!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan


Pin It

Weekly Update

Pin It
Hey y'all. Sorry this is late. I've had a busy week and when it would have normally updated this I wasn't feeling good. :(

Here's this week's tracker- (note- this would normally have been posted on Tuesday)

I managed to keep up with my exercise this past week. I was not happy with that .8 loss and wanted to make sure that didn't happen again.

I averaged 14,755 steps/day. Yea Me!!!!

Nothing but the M-F runs for exercise. I need to see about remedying that. I'm sure it will not hold much longer.

Here's the weigh-in- (Remember the dates are always wrong. I weigh in on Sundays but it automatically sets it back to the previous Tuesday which is the day I originally started my weigh-ins on.)

Down another 1.2. I'm really glad because that takes me below a "10" lb mark (the 90's) and gives me a total of 11.2 down.

I hope you all are having a great week and have a fabulous weekend. I'll try and be on time with everything next week. Oh and I've got a few new recipes to share soon too!

Thanks so much for stopping by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Mind Games

Pin It
Hey y'all. I hope you're having a great week. Just one more day until the weekend. Woo-Hoo!

Do you ever wonder if others are thinking/doing the same thing as you? Do you ever play mind games/bargaining games with yourself? I do. In fact I was doing this earlier today during my run.

It started by me looking down at the timer on my I-pod and thinking "Just 30 more minutes... You can do 30 more minutes. Heck if you just do 15 more then there's only 15 left after that, and that's nothing!" Do you ever do this? I've said this before, I hate running. No, really I do. I have NEVER got that "Runner's High" so many people talk about. Just never happened for me. I fear it never will. When I started running again, I started with the C2-5K method of running 60 seconds and then walking for 90 more. Back and forth, back and forth. Ugh so monotonous! Then I started with the whole "Just 30 minutes" Then as I went to 60 minute runs I broke it down to the number of songs it would take to complete that amount of time. 30 minutes seems long enough, but 60 just seems soooo long. :( But, if I broke it down to songs well that was only about 16 songs...less if they were live concert tracks. Totally doable. 16 songs, that's nothing.

I do the same thing with working out. If  just get up, well that is half the battle right? Anyways, if I just get up and do 30 minutes, well 30 minutes more isn't that bad. Oh, 15 gone...I can def do another 15. Although I know in my mind it's the same amount of time...somehow breaking it up like that makes it seem so much easier. Dontcha think?

That being said, I'm going to go run for 15 more minutes. :) See ya soon.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to visit my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Mid-Week Motivation

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a great week so far. Just two more days to go until the week-end. Woo-Hoo!

I've got a new thought for you today. If you're following my main blog, you may have seen this one a while back.

Geesh! Do I need to remind myself of this and often too! How about you? Do you hold yourself to a state of perfection even though you know you are only setting yourself up for failure? I think I'm going to try and re-make this in MDS so I can have it matted and framed. LOL! It should probably be my next tattoo, somewhere I could see it everyday. Too bad both inner wrists are already taken .

That's all I have for you today. Hope it helps. :)

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are appreciated! Hope to see you back real soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Weekly Weigh-In

Pin It
Hey y'all. I hope you're having a great week so far! It's great for me because I get to check in with you and give you an update.

Last week was a rough week for me. It was very stressful and as such, I was tired and didn't exercise as much as I would have like too. Luckily, I didn't stress eat but between the stress and the decreased amount of exercise, I didn't lose what I was hoping too.

Here's my numbers-

As you can see my activity points are about half of what they normally are. :( It should be better this week.

Here's what the scale shows-

I took this off the computer as I forgot my Wi-Fi. It doesn't show what I lost but it was .8lbs, exactly what I needed to reach my 5% goal. That makes 10lbs down. Woo-Hoo! I'm aiming for my almost 2lbs again this week.

I didn't do any extra exercise except the running. Well I did have a very physical Sat evening, but I haven't figured out how to put that in the tracker yet. ;).

That's all I have for you today. I'll be back tomorrow with something for Mid-Week Motivation.

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are very appreciated!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Mid-Week Motivation

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Wednesday. Just 2 more days till the weekend. Woo-Hoo. :)

Just a quick post today with a one of my favorite lines from a favorite movie. I had dinner with one of my best friends last night and turns out, it's one of her favorites too, so we put it in the dvd player and watched it as we stamped. I find it's good for not only love but for any situation really.

"You can not leave everything to Fate, boy. She's got a lot to do. Sometimes you must give her a hand." Leonardo da Vinci to Prince Henry in The Amazing "Ever After".


Regardless of what we want in life, we can not count on it just "magically" happening. We have to be willing to get up and make it happen. I'd love to be a size 5 again. It will not happen though if I don't get up off the couch and do something to bring that to pass.

Just a thought... I hope you liked today's quote and it inspires you to keep going after what it is you really want. If not, I hope it at least makes you smile or want to go home and put this fabulous movie in for a few hours of great lines and a love story for the ages.

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day and stopping by today. I hope to see you back here soon. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storm to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Weekly Weigh In

Pin It
Hey y'all. Hope your week has gotten off to a great start!

Sorry there was no Monday Musings yesterday. If you read my other (primary) blog yesterday you would have seen that I was pretty busy musing the theft of my car. :( I'll try to pick back up with that next week. I am, however, back today with this week's weigh in and update-

Here's my tracker update-

As you can see I did indulge a little this past week and used 17 of my weekly "bonus" points. I ate out twice this week with friends. I even had a beer with dinner & some Reese's pieces at the movies during Girls Nite Out. In case you're wondering what we saw...Magic Mike and yes it was worth seeing!!!!! Nice to know that you can really eat what you'd like and still work this program.I had a few less exercise points this week as I didn't get all of my running in during the week.

I averaged 14,297 steps a day. The small decrease in my run time and the weekends pulled my average down a little lower than I would like but still good. I didn't have any "exercise" outside of running this week save the gardening and mowing the lawn on Sunday.

Here's the weight update-

The actual date for this weigh in was 7/14

While I was really hoping to make my 5% mark I didn't quite make it. I needed 0.8 more. Darn!!! 1.4 is respectable though so I'll take it. It's still a move in the right direction. :) Sometimes it's hard to remember that slow and steady wins the race.

Well, that's all I have for you today. I'm a little under the weather and dealing with all this mess around the car is not helping. I should be back tomorrow and I still have some recipes to share with you.

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your busy day to stop by my little corner of the world. You are so appreciated!

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

New Recipe - Greek-Quinoa Salad with Grilled Shrimp

Pin It
Hey ya'll. Hope you're having a Fabulous week! Just one more day till the weekend. Woo-Hoo! :)

I have a new recipe for you today. I try to cook up food for the 2 weeks between paychecks on Sundays and I did some of that this past weekend. 3 new recipes. Yea Shan! As you may or may-not have heard last Sunday was day 11 of the longest and hottest Heat-Wave the DMV had ever had. Thankfully it stopped the next day but they are predicting high temps again this weekend. Any-whoo, I was kind of in the mood for a Greek Salad, but wanted something with a little more protein and lasting power. They had shrimp in nice little packs on sale at the grocery store and I got the yummiest idea for lunch. Instead of a regular salad or even a cold "pasta" salad, why not use Quinoa. It's good hot or cold, like pasta and so good in so many different recipes and I had a brand new package at home. So, why not combine the flavors of my Greek Salad with the extra protein of the quinoa for a new taste? I could hardly wait to get home and try it.

Greek Quinoa Salad with Grilled Shrimp
(Sorry, I just realized it's a little blurry. I was in a hurry to enjoy it!)

Here's what you need-
quinoa, shrimp, feta cheese, cucumbers, cherry/grape tomatoes, red-wine vinegar, Greek seasonings, chicken stock or base and anything else you normally enjoy in your Greek Salad. I'm not a big olive fan, love the oil not the olives, and am def. not an anchovie fan. No hairy little fishes in my salad, Thank You Very Much!

Ooops! I forgot the Greek Seaoning> :(

This is so easy and tasty, you're going to want to make some tonight.

1- Prepare your quinoa. I like this brand that I got at my local Giant, because it's pre-washed. Anything that makes my job easier and decreases my time in the kitchen (even though I love cooking) is great. I've been using Better than Bouillon instead of canned broth. It's concentrated, 1 tsp = an 8oz can of broth, and it takes up less space than all those cans, it tastes better than cubes and is more cost effective. I actually use 1/2 tsp /8oz and still get tremendous chicken flavor. Oh and it's 0 points. :)

2- While your quinoa is cooking go ahead and prepare your shrimp. Peel them, de-vein them if necessary and put them in a bowl.

Aren't these beautiful? All I had to do was shell them. The store had already de-veined them for me 

3- Remember to not throw away your shells. Put them in a plastic baggy and freeze them. You can use this to make stock later.

 4- Add just a skosh of olive oil and your Greek-seasoning to your bowl. You just want enough oil so that the seasonings stick. Mix until all the shrimp are coated with the seasonings. 

5- Grill those sweet little morsels up until they are pink and done. Not too long though because you don't want them to get dry. 

This made two servings

I used my George Foreman, cuz like I said it was a bajillion degrees outside, and look how scrumptious they look! All pink and yummy. I actually had them on skewers first but the lid didn't close all the way like that so I grilled them just on the plates like this and they turned out Fab!

6- While the shrimps are grilling, prepare the rest of your salad ingredients. I diced up some cucumber and sliced some little grape tomatoes. Your quinoa should be finished by now.

7- Once everything is cooked mix your veggies, shrimp and quinoa together and add just a splash of the red-wine vinegar (or more to taste). Top with your feta cheese and get ready for the taste explosion.

8- Enjoy your healthy meal. This meal is 8 W.W. Points Plus points and trust me worth every one. It's full of wholesome fresh food and the points come from the proteins, so eat up and enjoy! This meal is good served hot, but I think it's even better served with the quinoa cold.

Thanks so much for taking the time out of your day and stopping by today. I hope you'll give this recipe a try. If you do, I'd love to hear what you thought. I also put this on my other blog Lets Find A Way, cool recipes and money saving ideas there.

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

Pin It

Mid-Week Motivation

Pin It
Hey y'all. Just a quick check in today with some Mid-Week Motivation. :) I don't know about you, but there's usually something going on in my life that wouldn't be hurt by adding a little motivation and would probably be better off for it's addition.

I've been feeling a little bummed lately that I can't seem to pick up my pace during my 2 daily 5K's. Yep, I said 2. Now, I bet most people would say, "Wow! 2 5K's a day!?!" In fact when I told my best friend Jason I was running  jogging 2hrs a day he said, "You're running a half-marathon a day!!!?!!!" Sadly, no. Still, on some level I guess I should be happy with the fact that I'm running 2hrs a day instead of sitting on my rather curvy posterior. But, I'm a little OCD and a little on the "Everything I do has to be Perfect" side, so even though I feel this is an accomplishment since I only started running a month ago, it's still been bothering me. Then I found this message on Pinterest last week and it made me feel a little bit better. I tried to upload the pic, but Pinterest is blocked at my worksite so no-go. I'll load it later from home and update this post, but here's what it says.

"Whether it's a 14 minute mile or a 7 minute mile, IT IS STILL A MILE."


You know what? It's a true statement. I may not be going as fast as I want, but hopefully it will come in time. If not, I'll just be cruising along at the end of the pack, still running my race.

I hope this is helpful to someone out there in blogland. :)

Oh, by the way, I met someone today who I'm hoping will be a new blogger-pal. Ruthanne over at Eclectic Whatnot . She is also blogging about her weight-loss journey. In fact, She's the inspiration behind me putting my weight up each week. Talk about accountability! She had taken a short hiatus from blogging and as I was catching up on my feeds this morning I was so happy to see she's back in Bloglandia! If you get a chance, go check her out. She's fabulous!!!

Well, that's all I have for you today. I'll be back tomorrow with a new recipe for you. It's sooo tasty!

Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to stop by. You are so appreciated! Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Weekly Update

Pin It
Hey ya'll. I hope you're having a great week so far. We've finally broken free of the All-Time Record Heat Wave here in the DMV and even though it's still hot it's definitely a step in the right direction.

I've got this weeks update ready for you. How'd you do with the holiday? It's a big eating and drinking holiday for sure. I hope you did ok. Usually I have most of my "bonus weekly" points left over but not this week. In fact I used most of them on the 4th! Hey, that's what they're there for, right? Right!

Ok, here's the snapshot-

Like I said, used most of my  "bonus" points on the 4th but didn't go over and didn't touch any of my "activity" points. What did that get me weight wise?

Yep, down another 2 pounds. Ignore the date on the weight. It was actually Sunday the 8th. The computer always takes it back to Tuesday because that was my initial weigh in day.

So, it's been a month now and here's the breakdown-

I'll take 7.8 pounds down in a month. Not as much as I'd hoped but it's getting there. 2.2 more and I'm at my  5%. Woo-Hoo!!!

*Edited*

I forgot to put my exercise and steps here yesterday so I'm updating it today.

Monday- 2 1hr runs
Tuesday- 2 1hr runs
Thursday- 2 1hr runs
Friday- 2 1hr runs
No P90X this week as I was busy in the evenings and the holiday.

Since I'm counting steps everyday my average for the week was 14664/day. The weekend and the holiday brought down the daily average a little.

Oh, and I took measurements last night. While I may be crazy, brave enough to show you my weight, that's not going to happen with my measurements. I will tell you that in the last month I'm down a total of 7.25" overall. I was hoping for more, but not too shabby anyways. :)

I've got some recipes I'll be posting soon. I did some big cooking on Sunday with recipes that I came up with and they are so yummy!

Well, that's all I have for today. Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by. I hope you'll come back soon to see what's new. Friends and Followers are always welcome too! :)

Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

Monday Musings

Pin It
Hey y'all. Hope you had a good weekend. Thought I'd try something new here today, we'll see how it goes. At any rate, I'll be back tomorrow with the weekly weigh-in update. :)

Here we go- (Wow! All these musings going on in my head waiting to jump out onto the screen until I actually sit down. >(  Guess I should start writing them down as they come to me. LOL

1- Went into my local Safeway Tuesday night and saw this-

What in the World?!?

Now, it's a shame I didn't have this sooner to send to send in to Cakewrecks, because this is definitely a Wreck! What in the world do those Albino Poo-piles have to do with Independence Day? And, yes, that does say $12.99 for a "Patriotic cake". Since when do sprinkles and pale-poo-piles = Patriotic? *SMH*

2- I went to see Abraham Lincoln -Vampire Hunter on the 4th. Ok, so I didn't really go to see it. I went to see Brave, but despite the heat wave (or maybe because of it) the mall was packed and the movie was sold out. :( Now I don't go to the movies a lot since they pretty much rob you blind and I figure it's going to be out on HBO or Red-Box soon enough, but I was already out, so I figured "Why Not?" Why?, was probably the better question. The good news is I only spent $6.00, the bad new is I'll never get that hour and a half back. I don't know that it was bad, but it wasn't good either. I'm not used to leaving a movie and feeling ambivilant. It was intense. I liked how they wove his childhood and the story of his child into it though. I usually rate movies on whether I would pay full-price for it and this one definitely didn't make that cut.

3- I enjoyed a fabulous afternoon with friends on the fourth, before starting to feel bad and heading home early. :( Yep, I was in bed by 7:30. Sad but true. Next!

4- I made this-

 Strawberry Cream Cheese filled Angelfood Cake for the cook-out and it was devoured, I mean gone, almost as soon as it was cut. I have step by step instructions and pictures on the post before this one. You can scroll down when you're through here.

5- I entered the cake in a couple of Linky-Party's here and here, met some new blog-friends and got featured over at Sweet Bella Roos. It was the most viewed. How cool is that!?! Sooo Cool!

6- Saw Brave, Saturday morning. So cute. Def passed the would I pay full-price test. Of course some of that could be the fact that it's main character is a Sassy, Independent, Red-Head with Curls galore. Ummm-Pixar may just be owing me some royalties. Well, Disney may have given us a red-headed princess in Ariel (whom I love btw) but she is sooo sweet I gain a few pounds just watching her on the screen. Not so with Princess Merida. Whoo, that one's trouble with a capital "T"!

7-I am the "Master of Self Control", most of the time anyways. Saturday morning while I was waiting on my movie to start I strolled around the mall, including two of my favorite stores- Victoria's Secret and the Coach Outlet. I even managed to not purchase anything. Pretty impressive right!?! Especially since I had a coupon for an additional 30% off at Coach. I walked around for about 20 minutes with the cutest little wristlet, just big enough for my cell, i.d. and a little cash and put it back cuz I wasn't sure how often I'd use it. Can't exactly put my 45 in it! So I left without it, feeling pretty proud of my will-power and the next morning I could have used it when I ran my errands. What's a girl to do!?!?!?!

8- I had this last night-

Why yes, that is a BK Bacon Sundae. O...M...G... I can't even tell you how good it was even though it was a little melty after only a five minute ride in a.c. It should simply not be that hot at 8:30 at night!!! It was so worth the points (all 14 of them). Sadly it really is 510 calories, 75grams of carbs and 18grams of fat. Definitely not an everyday indulgence, but it was pretty darn yummy. I highly recommend sharing it and the points with a friend or loved one

9- I puppy-sat last night for my friend Sharon. I stayed at her house so I could let her little fur-babies out last night and this morning before I left for work. Here's what I woke up to this morning-

Sorry it's a little dark. They were helping to hold the blanket down over my feet, isn't that nice? Bless their little hearts! If you're from the south, you'll get that. :)

10- The funnier thing, well it's funny now... not so much so last night, is this.  Do you remember when hotel rooms had the little box attached to the beds and for a few quarters you could get the "Magic Fingers" for a few minutes? Ok, so I'm "dating" my self. If you're a wee babe and don't know what I'm talking about, the whole bed would vibrate, no really, shake like crazy. Well that happened to me last night only it wasn't a hotel bed, it was the incredibly Huge sofa at my friends house. And it didn't cost me any money. What it did however cost me was sleep. You see, the bigger fur-baby, Stoney is afraid of storms. I mean like shivering uncontrollably scared. And between the lightning and accompanying thunder as well as the rain, well lets just say he was not happy. I guess I should be thankful he didn't whine during it all. Well he decided he needed to be snuggling, you know because there's no better place than right under my arm tucked up next to my ribcage. He was inconsolable. Poor baby. He literally shook so hard I couldn't sleep. Augh!!! And how was I supposed to make him get down? I eventually got him to go lay across my feet where at least  he didn't vibrate my whole body. He just drooled on my feet instead. Eeeewwww!

11- Oh yeah, I cooked up some new recipes yesterday. Yum! I'll get them posted here soon and will put the links here for those of you that arrive here later.

That's all I have for you today. Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you have a great day and just maybe that I've made you smile. I'll be back tomorrow with my weekly weigh-in and update. Hope to see you back then. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

Pin It

Strawberry Cream Cheese Filled Angel-Food Cake

Pin It
Hey y'all. I'm back for post #2 today with a Super Simple, Quick and Easy recipe that will be great for tomorrow's holiday picnics or really anytime. It's complete with pictures.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Filled Angel-Food Cake (Sounds pretty decadent and points heavy, huh? Nope!) This is a No-Bake, No-Added Sugar, Fat-Free Recipe. Woo-Hoo!!!! And it's Yummy too! ;)

Look at all of that ooey, yummy goodness

Here's what you're going to need-

1 Angel-Food Cake- you could make your own but it's so easy to just buy them pre-made then you don't even have to turn on the oven for this yummy treat
1 Large package of fresh strawberries
1 bar of Fat-Free Cream Cheese at room temperature
1 lemon


Here are your instructions-


1- Wash and hull and your strawberries-

It's ok if you want to snack on one or two of these little beauties

2- Slice off the top of your Angel-Food Cake and make a little tunnel all around the inside-

Don't throw out those bits of cake you're going to use them in the next step.

3- Cube up the cake you scooped out and put them in your food processor with half the strawberries and your room-temperature cream cheese cut into cubes. Blend until everything is well mixed.

4- Take that wonderful mixture and spoon it into the tunnel in your cake.

Oooh so yummy! Just lightly sweetened from the strawberries. :)

5- Put the top of the cake back on and put in the refrigerator to chill and let the cream cheese filling firm back up.

6- Take the other half of your strawberries and the juice of your lemon and puree them in your food processor/blender.

This is Amazing! Sweet with just a little tart from the lemon. Nectar, I tell you. Put this in a seal-able container and refrigerate. This is your topping. It sets off the sweetness of the cake and the richness of the filling perfectly.

7- Enjoy! I let my cake filling set for a few hours, Your time will differ depending on how cold your refrigerator is. Simply slice your cake and drizzle some of your Strawberry-Lemon goodness over your cake and get ready for the yumminess to hit your taste-buds.

YUM!!!!

Are you ready for the best part- Here's the points break-down-

If you cut it per the "serving-size" listed on the side of the cake this will yield 8 approximately 1" pieces. Each one inch piece is only 5 Points-Plus points. If you cut it into 1/2" pieces which is still enough to enjoy it's only 2.5 Points-Plus points. The picture above is a 1/2" piece.

As this is a refrigerator cake, it's perfect for hot days. The cool, creamy filling really hits the spot. Know what else hits the spot? Eating this and knowing you still have lots of points to use for other cook-out yummies.

I hope you'll give this a try. I'm sure you'll enjoy it! If you try it, I'd love to hear what you thought.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have an Amazing holiday tomorrow. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,

Shan

This recipie inspired & updated from an Emeril recipe

Pin It

Weekly Update

Pin It
Hey ya'll. Just a quick post for this week's update.

For any of you who worry that you can't stay on your plan (what-ever plan that may be) and still enjoy what you eat, here's something to think about. I had two, yes I said two, McDonald's breakfasts, an Arby's lunch and a midnight Dinner at Denny's including Pancake Puppies and stayed within my plan's "budget". I even had alcohol at the concert Friday night. :) I ate 3 meals a day plus snacks and had dessert most nights.

Here's how I finished up-

Yes, even with all of my "indulging" I still  had 40/49 weekly points available and lookie at those activity points! Holy Cow! Hard to believe, 116. I averaged 16,269 steps/day. Saturday was down because of travel back from Hershey and Sunday was low because of the heat and the fact that my AC died so no more movement than was necessary in and around my house. :( But even with those two low days still pretty impressive.

Here's how it broke down activity wise-

Tuesday- 2 - 1 hour runs
Wednesday- 2 -1 hour runs plus P90X and Ab-Ribber X
Thursday- 2 - 1 hour runs
Friday 30 minute run outdoors and 2  1/2 hours dancing at a concert. DMB :)

I decided to go ahead and switch my weigh ins to a morning, and went on Sunday. I'm not sure why when they updated my tracker it went back and wrote over last Tuesday's weigh in. Will have them check on that tonight. So even though the date below shows last Tuesday it was actually from Sunday morning. I was down another 1.6 pound which put me over 5 for a total of 5.8 pounds lost. This was especially exciting as it was 2 days early and right after my 2 days of indulgence. Yea Shan!

Here's the snapshot-

Ignore the "ghostly fingers" reflecting in my I-Pad. Sorry about that!

So that's all for this post. Hang in there and enjoy what you're eating and know you can have what you want and still lose.

My next post is going to be a Yummy Dessert that will be great for tomorrow or anytime.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
Shan

Pin It

A Few Ideas For Motivation

Pin It
Hey y'all. Just a quick post today.

I just found out about Under Armour's What's Beautiful Campaign. The main competition is about to end, however they say they are going to keep up with the campaign and with challenges. It's about celebrating Women and helping them to meet their fitness goals. I signed up. Come and join me! :)

Also, Recipe Girl is promoting a new group, the Red Faced Runners (love the name) and is helping to encourage and motivate all of us to be healthier. Check her out, she has some Amazing Recipes!

So, that's all I have for you today...just a few ideas to help keep us all motivated. No post tomorrow as my sister and I will be heading to Hershey to watch my husband, Dave Matthews (Don't I wish! LOL!) sing some songs to me. Why, yes, of course he's crooning those love songs to me...didn't you know!?!

Will be back soon to let you know how off track I went. Of course 3 hours of dancing in the pit is sure to burn off a few calories, right? Right!. : D

Thanks for taking time out of your day to stop by. Don't forget, Friends and Followers are always welcome!
Till next time-

Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to overwhelm. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.

Be Safe,
ShanPin It

It's A Good Day

Pin It
Hey y'all. Happy Humpday! I hope you're having a good day and an exceptional week. So here we are day 2 and already ahead of my last 2 attempts to do this. :)

So, I weighed in last night and of course I was nervous because even though I've been doing everything right the needle hasn't been dropping. I was hopeful though because this is what I finished out my week with at the end of Monday night-

Told you I was gonna keep it "Reals" right? So I had 45/49 "bonus weekly points" left and 71 activity points. Truth be told I had more than that but I haven't quite figured out how to list P90X and I did 60 minutes of that Monday night + 15 minutes of Ab-Ripper X, plus not counting those "Special" activity points that I haven't been able to find in the W.W.'s database. : D 

I went in dry (thirsty) cuz of course I didn't want any extra water weight, so I stopped drinking after 2, no food either (can't get an accurate weight with a food baby) and stepped on the scales and .... *Drumroll*

Yep, there it is- down 2.8 pounds for a total of 4.2 lost. How insane am I to put that out in the universe for everyone to see!?! Oh well, I carry it well, I'm full-figured, and I don't expect it to be there for long. Most people would never guess that's my true weight. Of course the ginormous (Why, Yes, that is a real word!) boobs take the focus off my curvy hips and bountiful booty! I have to say I was pretty excited by that loss so I snoshed on my yogurt parfait and unsweet tea (splenda) before the meeting started. I went home, had dinner and desert, did some laundry and slept like a stinkin' baby till it was time to get up this morning and start all over again. Amazing how almost 2 hours of running ( 2- 51 minute runs) will wear you out. That and the avg 13,806 steps/day. Can I just tell you I love the pedometer I got at W.W.? It flips up so you can read it easily and it has a safety strap that you can clip to your belt-loop or clothes, love that feature! All it takes is a couple lost pedometers to be able to appreciate that feature. :(


I've already run 2 - 1hour sessions today so I'm well on my way to an excess of points again. The goal is for some more P90X tonight. If anyone out there knows how that should be classified, I'd appreciate the help. Somehow, I don't think 30 minutes of weight lifting and 30 minutes of aerobics would be sufficient, however 60 minutes of each I think would be too much. 


I imagine I will use up the bulk of my points, my bonus ones at least, Friday night when I go to Hershey with my sister for the DMB concert. There will surely be some alcohol consumed and possibly even some late night I-Hop or Denny's. I like knowing that nothing is off-limits. What a great feeling! I also like being able to "bank" my exercise points in case I know I'm going to be "indulging". In general though, I try not to use them. I figure the whole point is for me to expend more than I consume so my goal is to not touch them as much as possible.


Well, that's all I have for you today. Thanks for taking the time to check in with me. I'll let you know how it goes this weekend. I've got a recipe I'm going to try and get posted for you in time for the fourth. It's one I adapted from Emeril and it's so tasty. Maybe I can make one on Sunday for pictures. I should be able to give most of it away to the neighbors or my darling Sweets Eater. Ha! I need a name for him on here... maybe N.M. (Noms Monster) Will have to think about that one. LOL! That's the only thing that stinks about empty nesting and having of a love of cooking/baking, what to do with all the extras. Luckily, I have him and new neighbors that tell me they love sweets, so we'll see.


Any-Hoo, thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you back soon. Don't forget, Friends and Followers are always welcome here on my journey.


Till next time-


Remember- Life is often more about the storms than the peace they seek to destroy. It's not about Waiting for the storms to pass, but Learning to Dance in the rain.


Be Safe,
Shan

Pin It