How to let "cost" work for you!!!

Does this remind you of anyone???  Not you, right?  Hahaha...It definitely describes me.  It made me wonder what the reasons were that made me successful in losing weight and getting healthy this last year.  There is always that "why"...I encourage people to dig deep and tell me the WHY.  Most of the time it's their wanting to keep up with their kids, helping keep themselves and their family healthy, etc.  Mine was over hearing someone at one my son's t-balls games last summer comment "how can she wear jeans in this heat?" And yes, I was the only person in jeans and a 3/4 sleeve shirt in the middle of summer.  I was unhappy with my looks and hid it under clothes.  

Pinterest is a great FREE app and we love it!  But do you really ever do any of the FREE workouts you find on pinterest?  I didn't, though I had a blast pinning them.  Sometimes free isn't what gets you motivated...sometimes it's something that costs you money that makes you want to stay motivated to do it!

But despite having that WHY reason, there is another thing that kept me going and kept me accountable...the amount of money it costs me to do the program.  It wasn't cheap, it wasn't too expensive, but it did cost $$ and it was money I didn't want to spend on getting healthy at the time.  But because I did invest in a month of shakeology and a workout/fitness program called 21 Day Fix, I told myself I would go ALL OUT for 21 days.  After 21 days, I could quit...I could go back to eating fast food and sleeping in.  (I could go back to feeling like crap and being groggy all day long).  

Something amazing happened.  After 12 days of getting up early and hating it, I realized it was becoming easier...I was waking up and not thinking twice about getting out of bed.  I was becoming stronger and doing the workouts longer.  AND I was seeing and feeling results.  Day 21 I was down 10lbs and 10 inches and feeling wonderful.  So round 2 started and after 4 rounds of 21 Day Fix I was down 25lbs and almost that many inches.  

In the end, it was the best $$ I spent for 2014.  I still do shakeology...the money I stopped spending in the cafeteria all day at work, the gift shop getting chocolate and candy, and fast food on my days off pays for the shakeology that I get each month.  My monthly budget isn't affected by it because of the changes I've made.  Yes,  my family still eats fast food at times but not nearly as often because I don't eat it.  My son reaches for carrots and apples instead of chips and cookies.  How can you ask for anything better!!

I have a great team of people that are doing great at getting healthy...by being a coach for them, it keeps me motivated.  Check out the programs and let me know if you have any questions!

www.beachbodycoach.com/audram333

My In-Between Meals

Do you have problems getting your family it eat healthier meals?  I did.  When I first started my journey, I would make separate meals and snacks for them and myself in order to stay on track.  It worked for us for awhile, but it didn't take long before my husband wanted to "lose a little weight" and eat a bit better.  So that left my 5 year old who loves mac n cheese and pizza.  Haha!

So I started what I call "in between meals."  These are meals that consist of something everyone can eat.  My main coarse is healthy...something I want to eat and something that everyone should not have a problem eating.  I find recipes and make healthy changes, which most of the time no one even noticed.  

I include at least one healthy side...again something that I will eat and something my husband and son can choose to eat.  I usually make Mason eat a little bit of it, but not necessarily a full serving if he doesn't like it.  This is usually broccoli made in some sort of way or asparagus, which are both winners at our house. 

I also include a "regular" side, something that Mason really likes and that my husband can choose to eat if he isn't feeling the healthiness that day.  This is probably something I will not choose to eat, or I may use as a cheat for myself.  Mac n cheese, cheese dip, cheesy bread, etc.  

See what I'm doing here...I'm giving everyone a choice.  When they feel like they have a bit of control in choosing what they eat for dinner, things go fairly smoothly!

This is how I can keep few extra dollars in my wallet by not making two separate meals and slowly incorporating healthy meals to my family.  We still have our hamburger helper and frozen pizza nights which are usually nights I work, but when I am home I follow my "in between meals" strategy!  

Things that my husband has noticed: 

He feels full quicker since having healthier main courses.  Of course!!  Healthier foods will fill you up and keep you fuller longer.  

He has really liked the taste of the meals, even with ingredients he wouldn't have chosen on his own.  The mushroom rice pilaf I made last night was a hit, and he isn't a huge mushroom fan. 

Hope this helps some of you trying to figure out how to keep your nutrition and manage family meals.  It has taken me 8 months to get it down, but it is worth it to know I can keep my nutrition standards up while feeding my family healthy meals and keeping them happy.  

Never sick of salmon at this house!

No pictures today because my batteries are charging for a photo session tomorrow, but I will share the recipes I followed and tell you what I did different!

Both of these recipes are healthy so I didn't change ingredients.  I did change a few things with the Honey Glazed Salmon to fit my family's preferences.  

http://damndelicious.net/2014/08/18/honey-glazed-salmon/

I can't tell you how much I like this blog...it's got some great recipes so check them out!  I pretty much did exactly what the recipes says except I didn't bother with the flour or searing the salmon.  I instead salt and peppered the salmon, placed it on a bed of asparagus {in a foil boat} since we LOVE asparagus and then poured the sauce over the salmon.  Next time I will pour a little over the asparagus alone so it gets a little more sauce.  I still baked it for about 40 mins at 400 degrees and it was GREAT!!  For Mason, I will make tilapia.  Everything I've made with salmon so far tasted just as great with tilapia.  

The mushroom rice pilaf was amazing.  I used the same rice I used last week which was the Minute Rice: brown and red rice with quinoa.  I followed this recipe to a tee except I added some chopped lil' smokies.  I usually pick these out for myself, but I knew Mason would like them.  YUMMY.

http://www.savynaturalista.com/2014/01/28/mushroom-rice-pilaf/

I added some bread for the guys to complete the meal and it was really good!!  Another success for a healthy meal.  It's taken awhile, but I'm finally getting the WHOLE family in on the healthy meals.  

Do you have any favorite blogs or websites that you go to for meals?  I have a few including the Beachbody site.  Not only does Beachbody support you through your workouts, but they supply you with some really great recipes.  Sign up for a free account at www.beachbodycoach.com/audram333

Dinner #3

So I have mushrooms left this week that won't keep long and deer meat to work with tonight.  So I found a couple of recipes that would be perfect for tonight with a few swaps and additions!  These are all recipes I've pinned on pinterest and haven't tried yet!

First is the Roasted Green Beans with Mushrooms!

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2009/01/recipe-for-roasted-green-beans-with.html

My changes for this recipe included adding a little Braggs Liquid Acids to the balsamic and olive oil. I love the stuff!!  It's a low sodium version of soy sauce and I use it a lot!  

Main Dish is a Braided Spaghetti Bread 

http://www.rhodesbread.com/blog/blog/braided-spaghetti-bread

  

With this recipe I made a few changes including using whole grain pasta, my favorite marinara sauce (low sugar for a jarred sauce) and adding mushrooms and onions to the meat and sauce mixture for extra veggies.  

 If you pay attention to the labels, you will see that many of your jarred spaghetti and marinara sauces have a lot of sugar in them...this is one I found that is pretty low.  

I made my spaghetti like I always do and then used a crescent roll for the bread braid.  If it was just me, I would have searched for a whole grain version.  Since I have a hubby, son and father n law to feed I figured I'd stick with plain crescent rolls.   I've found that using a pizza cutter and slicing all the way across the spread out crescent roll is easiest.  I had some spaghetti, meat and sauce left over so it would be a good, quick left over meal for one or two people. 

A little parm cheese and this Weber seasoning which uses sea salt and is all natural makes this so yummy!!!

Another success for the week!

What do you do when you have a bunch of asparagus left over...search for something to do with it.  I found this recipe and it looked easy and healthy with some minor changes!!

http://ameskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/04/baked-chicken-and-asparagus-casserole.html?m=1

So my changes included using this rice which is super colorful and yummy.  It comes in 4 packets so you can make as much as you want.  I used two bags and there was plenty for the three of us!  

So after cooking it and lining the bottom of the dish, I just followed the recipe by layering my seasoned asparagus.  Sprayed some olive oil on them so the salt, pepper and tad bit of garlic powder would stick!

I seasoned my chicken and placed that on top.  Now here's where I made a few changes.  I used cream of mushroom/cream of chicken soup and instead of using 1/2 cup of water, I went ahead and added 3/4 or so.  I don't like all the sodium in the soups so I do this regularly.  If I end up with too runny of a consistency I will add greek yogurt to thicken it up again.  I also add a cup or so of roughly chopped mushrooms to the soup for extra veggies and substance.  

I poured the mixture over all of the chicken and added my cheese and viola....it's ready for the oven.   When it comes to cheese, I don't go too far because each family member can add more as they want...this actually looks like more than what there really was on top.  Haha!

Again, my boys like it...another one for the recipe book!!  

Branching out in 2015

Do you love pinning recipes, but when it's time to actually cook or bake something you take one look at that recipe and get overwhelmed or discouraged??  YES, that is me!  So for 2015 I will not be scared to try new recipes, what about you??

So tonight I decided I would fix salmon.  My husband loves salmon, as do I; but I have never prepared it at home.  So I started with an easy recipe and gave it a try.  This particular recipe is on many websites and blogs, so I'm not claiming this as my own...just not going to list the half dozen places I found it.  Asparagus was another veggie that I had never prepared at home either...so I was skeptical.  As I was preparing it, I grabbed my camera to show YOU how easy it can be!

So I grabbed some frozen skinless salmon fillets, asparagus and lemons...the rest I had at home.  

Rinsed, dried and chopped the asparagus and lined a bundle on a square of foil.  Next time I will do more because Josh and Mason liked it!

 Topped the apparatus with the frozen salmon fillet and seasoned it with sea salt, pepper and a little garlic salt.  Slapped a square of butter and a slice of lemon on top!  I folded up the foil to make a little boat and the tops contained the heat.  I baked it at 475 for 25 minutes and could hear the butter bubbling when I pulled it out...smelled so good!  I then decided to turn the broiler on and open the foil up to add a little heat to the very top!!

And our final product was yummy...I had a scoop of mashed potatoes and some roasted parm broccoli.   My husband loved it.  Mason had the same but I used tilapia for him.  He wasn't a fan of the lemon, though.  My husband said he was so surprised that he felt so full and ate so little compared to our frozen pizza/hamburger helper type nights...hahaha!  Good, healthy food will fill you up and keep you full longer!!!

Sorry my pictures are the best quality....busy school night means no fancy editing.  hahaha!