Another milestone!

My blogger let me know I've already used this heading. But I don't care - I have some good news!

In preparation for moving in 2 weeks, I've started rummaging through boxes and seeing what I want to keep and what I can get rid of before moving. So I found a huge box that I probably haven't looked at since I moved in because it was my "no-fit" box...

I took out a few of my favorite things from way back when to wash and then ... see what happens.

I just tried them on and about half of them fit!!!! It's an amazing feeling - it's like I got some nice additions to my wardrobe for free! I can't wait to go to work and wear these items and get asked "Is that new?" just so I can respond - "Nope!" Yay!!!

WeimFest2010!!

Normally, whenever I go somewhere and there are more than 2 other Weimaraners, I make up some crazy name like "Weim-a-palooza" - but I'm not kidding ---- I went to WeimFest2010 today!!!! It was put on by the Mile High Weimaraner Rescue group, and was totally free! So I drove about 1 1/2 hours with Bailey and my parent's Weim Baxter and we had a BLAST!!! I was in Weimaraner heaven!! I imagine that today is what heaven will be like, at least for me. :-)

So, enjoy some of the great shots I got today of the Weims from all over! I would do it again in a heartbeat! (Except maybe I would remember sunscreen - ouch.)

Saturday Update

I got up early and caught up on some Food Network shows (Rachel Ray's 30 Minute Meals), while Justin headed out to go fishing in the great 80 degree weather we're finally getting!! I brought Bailey over to my parent's house since I'm dog-sitting Baxter while they're on vacation, and basically let them run around the house. Speaking of the house, the wind was INSANE!! Things were flying around everywhere - it blew all the petals off of all the tulips, the patio chairs were strewn all over the backyard, tree branches broke off of trees and flew around the neighborhood, and my parent's Hummingbird feeder flew off the tree and broke upon impact and their seed feeders all blew sideways and dumped all the seeds on the ground. Whoa. I did not stage these photos:

While the dogs ran around, avoiding flying objects, I watched another Hindi movie, called "Love Aaj Kal". It was a really great movie - good story line, good songs, and a tearful ending. Yea, I cried at the end of a Hindi movie - what of it? It was good!! I also finally got some laundry done - the nice thing about staying at my parents; I don't have to put in quarters to do laundry!



Then, I decided to pile on the sunscreen like I was going to the beach, threw on some shorts and a tank top and went to the dog park! I felt so guilty thinking about how nice it was outside and even though they were in the backyard, I just had to get them out and socialized!! Finally, after the park I took a very needed shower and gave Bailey a bath, then relaxed and planned out everything I would need for my fun-filled Sunday!!

Chicken with Pine Nuts and Orzo

I have GOT to share this AMAZING recipe I made last night!! Well, 2 technically. The Chicken Recipe is Weight Watchers, and the orzo recipe I got off a box of orzo - but it was spectacular!!! I will definitely make it over and over again. In order to help you duplicate this extremely tasty dish, I have copied it exactly as it is from the recipes I used.

Orzo with Spinach, Pine Nuts & Parmesean Cheese
1 cup of Orzo
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch dried red pepper flakes (optional)
10 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese, plus extra for serving (as much as you'd like!)
Salt
Pepper

1. Cook orzo as package directs.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3. Add spinach and stir to mix in garlic. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5 minutes until spinach is wilted. (*This was the point I added the pine nuts so they could get toasted**)
4. Once spinach has wilted, stir in balsamic vinegar. Add drained orzo to skillet with basil, any additional pine nuts and parmesean cheese. Toss well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with additional cheese, as desired.
*Makes 3 entree or 5 side dish servings.
**No nutritional facts listed, therefore, no WW Points :-(

WHILE PASTA IS COOKING, START ON CHICKEN!


Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata
4 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt (*I used kosher salt, but I LOVE salty food!)
Pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon grind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or a small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, seasoning to taste.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, and cook 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. (**The recipe doesn't call for this but for the last 5-10 minutes the chicken was cooking, I threw in a handfull of pine nuts to roast them - TOTALLY made the recipe!!!)
3. While chicken cooks, combine parsley, pine nuts, remaining teaspoon oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine. Server gremolata (this mixture) over chicken.
Yield - 4 servings. (Serving size - 1 chicken breast, 1 1/2 tablespoons gremolata)
Weight Watchers points - 5

As Rachael Ray would say - YUMM-O!!!!!

Still alive!

I'm still here! I've been extremely busy at work as we approach our busiest season, and each night when I come home, I just love to crash. But, here's a little update on my life currently:

1). Justin and I were approved to rent an awesome townhome right across the street from the local HUGE dog park!! So not only is the place really nice with a lot of space, but I can take Bailey to the dog park everyday, getting both him and me some great excercise!! And come June 7th, I have no excuse! I'm really excited about it!!

2) Justin's new job is going really well, and I really like the people he works with. He's spending a lot of time at work, and working really hard, and he's having a great time. It's so great to see him so happy! And he'll be on his first business trip for them the last week in May - they're sending him to Kansas City for a full week of training; pretty intense!

3) My parents leave this month for a 2 week cruise around Italy and Greece (jealous much?!?!?!?). They're sending Cody (the puppy) to a dog-sitter who works at their vet's office, so I only have to watch Baxter! They're doing that for 2 reasons: they know my schedule won't allow me to be home during the day and Cody is still in the stage where he needs to go out several times a day, and they also know that the three dogs with just me will be really stressful after a while. But Baxter is a great, easy dog and it's easy to have both of them at either the apartment or the house.

And, the best news is, the 2nd week of the dogsitting is when Justin is on his business trip, so I will stay at the house the entire week, and minus the dogs chasing each other a few times, it will be so quiet!! I can't wait!!

4) No news on the weight loss front, unfortunately - but I have less than 5 lbs to go to get to my goal weight, and if I just started walking more, I should have that off in no time! The best news is that I'm at least maintaining, and I haven't had any gains.

So thanks for checking in! I hope to be back on here soon with some pictures of what's been happening!!

Cooking Adventures

Since I started on Weight Watchers, I've really gotten in to cooking. I find that it really calms me and puts me in my old little world and it's just amazing to me to see things come together and make fantastic tasting items!! I turn everything out except what I'm cooking.

So I've taken some pictures of 2 recent dishes (on my cell phone, so I apologize for the poor quality) that I was excited about and that turned out well!


Dish #1 - Cheese Quiche from scratch:

This was the quiche going into the oven. It was supposed to be a spinach and cheese quiche, but the spinach wasn't defrosted by the time I made what you see below, and I didn't want to leave a bowl with raw eggs and milk in the fridge overnight.

And I can I just say that the finished project (below) looks YUMMY?!!??!??!?! I didn't have the spinach ready, but I felt like adding something extra, and so I just threw in the rest of the onions I had in the fridge. This was breakfast for me for about a week. O....M....G....

And then here's a great side shot of a slice of the best quiche ever (sorry mom!).

Then...
Dish #2 - Turkey Burger:

I attemped 2 first with this dish: I had never tasted ground turkey, let alone a turkey burger, AND I had never made my own turkey burger from scratch! Here's what it looked like in the bowl when I mixed it with onions and seasoning - the MOST disgusting consistency and feeling in between my fingers I have ever experienced. It was like the feeling you get when you chew your gum too long, and it goes from being "elastic" feeling to dissolved in 2 seconds. Ew.

So, it looks great, but here are the two patties I made (Justin wanted one). Still kind of yucky...

But, in the end - doesn't this look good? It was really tasty too - with a slice of cheese and some spinach leaves, on a whole wheat flattened sandwich bread. So all in all, I think I would make it again, because it was SOOO good, but I'm really not looking forward to touching the ground turkey again. EW - just had another nightmare flashback.

Quick Update

So I realize my posts have been getting few and far between, and not really full of substance, but I like to think it's also a way for me to look back and see my own progress. So maybe these past few posts have been just for me, but someone could be reading them ... who knows. I will try to bring "good" posts back!!

We had another weigh in last week and I'm now at 22 lbs lost!! I only have about 10 more to go before I reach my goal weight. I can say that I'm very proud about my B.M.I. and how much I've reduced it in just 3 months!! (B.M.I. - Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.)

When I first weighed myself on my Wii Fit Board, my B.M.I. was over 25. Now, as of this morning, my B.M.I. has reached just over 21. YAY!! I went from being in the overweight range to the normal range - and once I reach my goal weight, I will be at exactly the B.M.I. I should be! I'm finally glad to see results and that I'm making progress - I can do this!!