10 Food Challenge

So, my sweet new followers and dear not-so-new readers, I have another question for you. Maybe a set of questions.

Our challenge from Weight Watchers tonight is to use 10 new foods this week or prepare same foods in 10 different ways. What would you recommend that I try? Have a creative way to prepare chicken? My favorite (relatively) new food here is hummus. Now what should I try?


I hit my 15 pound mark today and I struggle with not getting bored by eating & doing the same old same old. That's what got me in trouble in the first place! I want to keep my momentum!
 
While it is easy to eat things that I already know the points for, it does get old and I start searching the cupboards for something more exciting.
 
What are some healthy things that your family loves? I have been trying not to fix separate meals for me. My whole family needs to eat healthy, not for weight loss, but for healthy habits & healthy bodies. My kids (except Lydia) will try pretty much anything. If I give Lydia some cauliflower and a baked potato or rice she's pleased as punch. She might have been switched at birth. What do your kids love?
 
Now that we all have some new blogging buddies here, please leave a comment and share some ideas with the rest of us. I have a very yummy chicken lasagna florentine CROCKPOT recipe that I made long, long ago & my family loved. I posted it on my sister's recipe blog in August of 2008. I had forgotten all about it until we were talking about new ways to prepare chicken at my WW meeting tonight.
 
Here's the recipe:
Chicken Lasagna Florentine- in crockpot


This is so easy & so yummy! I would definitely recommend using a Reynold's crock pot liner for easy clean up!

2 (10 3/4 ounce) cans condensed reduced fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1 (9 ounce) package frozen diced cooked chicken (I cooked a large chicken breast myself)
1 (8 ounce) carton reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup 1% milk (skim worked fine)
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup chopped onion
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
9 uncooked lasagna noodles
cooking spray
1 cup (4 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Combine first 10 ingredients in large bowl; stir well.

2. Place 3 uncooked lasagna noodles in bottom of a 5 quart crock pot coated with cooking spray (or liner), breaking noodles in half as necessary to fit crock pot. Spread one-third of spinach mixture over noodles; sprinkle with 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Layer 3 more noodles, half of remaining spinach mixture, and 1/3 cup mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining noodles and spinach mixture, sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup cheese.

3. Cover with lid; cook on high heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low heat setting, and cook 5 hours or until pasta is done.

Yields 8 servings (about 1 cup each)

So, this is a Weight Watchers recipe and it was 7 points per serving on the old program. I will refigure the points and let you know. The serving size is very filling!

If you are not interested in cutting fat, you might want to increase the cheese a bit.


Leave a comment with your ideas too!

And the winner is...

True Random Number Generator




Min: 1

Max: 29

Result:

4

Powered by RANDOM.ORG



Number 4! (I'm not sure if I pasted the random number generator thing correctly, but it says #4 at this exact moment. Apparantly I should do more research on HOW to have a giveaway, but it's too late tonight!)

Without further ado...
The winner is Ardis, who said:
kanaboke said...



AND I just mentioned ya on my Blog..sheesh, I'm lookin' like a Giveaway Hog here...heeheeeheee!

February 24, 2011 10:43 AM


Hooray for Ardis!! Thanks for spreading the love & joy! I will send you a message to get your address. Let us know how you like the recipes!

Thanks, everyone for playing along! That was fun, wasn't it! We'll have to do that again so. What else would you like to win?

Somethin' happenin' here.

What it is ain't exactly clear.

I heard Buffalo Springfield on the radio last night and it brought back some good times in high school. No, I'm not that old. It reminded me of MUN & our big multi-media presentation. Remember?

*crickets chirping*

Nope, just me.

 (I have very strange eclectic music tastes & am pretty sure that no one knows the songs I'm referring to half of the time.)

So something exciting is happening tomorrow. I'm not at liberty to tell you at the moment. It will have to wait until after church.

Also happening after church and equally exciting- THE GIVEAWAY! You have until 6pm Mountain time to enter. You won't be sorry! If you already posted a few entries, keep it up. If you already followed my blog, leave a separate post telling me so. That counts!

For the random picture of the day: Awesome Cousin It costume from the elementary school Halloween carnival. This picture doesn't do it justice. I know you'll want to make one too!

So, check back tomorrow to see who won & to see what else was happening!

Question of the day

Don't forget to enter my little giveaway! Go here for the details.

On to the question of the day:

What did/will your child do for his/her 100th day of school project? I guess this is a big deal these days. I don't remember ever noting the 100th day of school. Thanks to year-round school, Aubrey's 100th day is in March. March, people! They should be done by now, right?

So, Aub is supposed to bring a poster of 100 items, grouped in tens. You know, math.

I'm battling the urge to go stage-mom psycho and just let her do it her way. I'm picturing flowers made from a variety of colored beans, dying pasta to make a rainbow, or some similar overkill. Back away from the poster board!

What do you recommend?

Spread A Little Joy- a GIVEAWAY!

I'm having a great day and I hope you are too! In honor of this wonderful day, I'm having my first giveaway here. I have the perfect thing!

My friend gave me this awesome cookbook and I want YOU to have it too!

What could bring more joy than a book full of recipes with cream cheese? (Unless you're lactose intolerant!) I'll give you multiple ways to enter to win!

1- Leave a comment & tell me one of your favorite comfort foods (leave a link to the recipe if you'd like.)
2-  "Follow" my blog & leave a comment telling me that you are a follower.
3- Post a link to this post on YOUR blog- leave a link as a comment so we can enjoy your blog, too.
4- Post a link to this post on facebook & leave a comment here that you did.
5- Leave a comment and tell me a favorite post that I have put on here in the past. (That was an awkward sentence.)
6- Leave a comment telling me where you live- not and address. A city or region (IE Parowan, or Eastern Pennsylvania) will do. I love to see where my words of wisdom travel!
Do you see a pattern there? I admit that part of blogging fun for me is having people comment on my blog. This is partially a shameless ploy to get comments! Ü

The contest will end at 6 pm (Utah time) Sunday, February 27th. I will announce the winner Monday & ship or deliver the book to the winner.

Hope you find something joyous in your day today!

Reality...check, please.

 

So, those three extra kids in the above picture are my nieces and nephew that live (with their parents) in Pennsylvania. They want to come back to the motherland for a visit sometime this year. With the price of fuel and airline tickets so ridiculous, we have been brainstorming cost-effective way to get them all here.

*Lightning flash* *thunder crash*

Here comes the brainstorm!

My mom mentioned to Hillary that she needs to get on a reality show that would pay for her travels.

Hillary and I were talking yesterday and planned the perfect show. "Sisters to Zion." It would be on BYUTV. They would fly me and my kids back to Pennsylvania to start our adventure. Hill & I would drive cross-country to Utah with our seven kids between us. Zany hilarity would insue. we would highlight Church history sites (since we're on BYUTV) and possibly be sponsered by a company with very nice motorhomes. Then we thought, why not add the rest of the crew:

Kat, Court- we're taking you and your kids too. "Four Sister to Zion."

John & Kate, the Duggars- they've got nothing on this crowd. An eight year old, two six year olds, a five year old, three four year olds, a two-and a half yr old, 18 monther, and two infants.

Maybe Huggies, Pampers, Enfamil and Gerber could help out too.

So, who thinks this is a good idea?

As sisters to Zion we'll all drive together. The noises of kids in the background we'll hear. We'll tour all the church sites from Harmony to Parley's, then get our free travel for the Arveseths!

The lyrics need work, but you get the idea.

Craft follow-up

Here's a crappy picture of what I made for Tim from the a fore mentioned things I spray painted. (I haven't the time to take nicer pics- sorry) I know it is presumptuous to say "T loves C" but when I put our initials the other way it looked like it said "CAT" which would be a strange thing to hang on our bedroom wall.

The paper behind the glass is the sheet music to the song "Longer" (Dan Fogleberg)- super cheesy, but I love that song. I printed them out small & inked the edges for a little variety and 'visual interest.' (Does that sound fancy, Nancy?)

So, there you go. A project finished-- took me 3 weeks to post, but I finished it. Some day I might hang it on the wall when things settle down around here. Hahahhahahahhahah!!!!!!!!!!!

Accountability update

My gift to you: Something to make you feel a little better about what you do today!

So, here's my accountability follow-up from yesterday. Terribly boring for all, I'm sure. You can skip this part & scroll down to the cute picture of Lydia at the bottom.

Load dishwasher

  Did this TWICE- The sink has more dishes again, but that is to be expected.
Wash clothes
  Three loads and counting. We were gone Tuesday night, which totally threw me off my "do laundry while we watch The Biggest Loser" routine.
Fold clothes
  Got our underwear put away and about 10 items on hangers. The rest is glaring at me from the corner of my room where I stashed it at 10:00 last night.
Iron the last 3 shirts that have been piled on the ironing board since Monday
  I did it! By golly, four more appeared. I've set myself up for unrealistic expectations.
put ironing board away
  Nope.
find people for next year's PTA board
  No dice. I asked three more people, shot down every time. It's fun, people! You make new friends, have fun with your kids (and other kids), get to know the teachers & administrators better and feel like you've made a difference in the world. 
clear kitchen counter
  I cleared most of it. Then I made dinner, kids did homework, hubby came home. It's buried again. I think in my dream home my counters will be slightly slanted- just enough for papers to slide off instead of pile up.
PACK
  I wish.
find a new house
  Ditto.
sell this house
  Ditto. Twice.
Help at school at 2pm
  Check!

Also went visiting teaching- totally forgot it was Thursday until my comp rang the door bell and said she was here to pick me up. Good thing we weren't meeting there- she'd have been alone!

Other than that, nothing else on the list got touched yesterday. The 3 oldest girls also had play dates, plus I made an extra trip to the school to take a change of clothes to a daughter who fell in a puddle and was wet from her boots to her hips. I'm exhausted just remembering yesterday.

Today is Tim's "off" Friday, so I hope to a few more things accomplished. I've already worked on some birthday books while watching last night's Office- it was pretty good! Hope your day is more productive than destructive!

Random cute picture of Lydia

And a funny story to go with it:  A conversation with the 3-going-on-23 year old.

Lydia: Mom, how do polar bears walk?
Me: On all fours. Do you know what that means?
Lydia: Does that mean they walk on their hands and feet?
Me: Yes. (Thinking what I smart girl I have.)
Lydia: Mom, that's called 'supinate.'

Not exactly right, but where did she learn that word?

To-Do list & random dream interpretation.

In theory, if I put my to-do list on my blog, I will be more accountable, right? IN THEORY...

Let's try. Here it is, in no particular order:

Load dishwasher
Wash clothes
Fold clothes
Iron the last 3 shirts that have been piled on the ironing board since Monday
put ironing board away
find people for next year's PTA board
clear kitchen counter
PACK
find a new house
sell this house
Help at school at 2pm

Unfinished projects:
birthday books (two are over-due by now)
Journal box mod podge
PACK
organize/dejunk bathroom closet
move remaining food storage cans to rolling shelf thing
deliver baby gift
Hire someone with OCD to dejunk my house
put away out-grown clothes

Projects I never would've thought of if I didn't read other blogs but now I'm committed to doing:
refinish toy box
refinish doll house
refinish little cupboard for a night stand

I can't wait for spring so I can mow the lawn. That job stays done for at least a few days after I do it & no one can talk to me while it do it!
(Side note- while I was originally starting this post, my computer froze. I took that as a sign that I should do a job instead of just blogging about it. I loaded the dishwasher. Unfortunately I had waited so long to do it that the sink is still half-full of dishes that wouldn't fit, but the dishwasher is running as I type!)

Also, I dreamt about a new house yesterday. It was perfect inside. All of the things I was hoping for, storage everywhere, fresh paint, nice carpet, rooms for everyone. We moved in all our stuff & then I went out the front door and saw that it was next to a Chevron station, in an industrial area, next to the freeway. How would you interpret that dream?

Where does the time go?

So I guess I have neglected my blog longer than I thought. The couches have long-since sold to some nice Hispanic family that found us on ksl.com. Again, speaking Spanish sure comes in handy!
Our front room now has the rocking chair, entertainment center, a book shelf and all of Eliza's furniture. Her swing- which I should sell now too- and exersaucer/playground take up the space where the sofa was. That exersaucer has its own zip code- it's huge!

Note to self- Next time I impulsively sell a couch, make sure I know what I want to replace it. I am currently lying on the front room floor as I type this. Must.go.shopping.

So, Happy Valentine's day, too. Got any big plans? I'm trying to think of something special to make for dinner since I will be at my Weight Watchers meeting after FHE. I refuse to go to the store on a holiday so I'm making due with what I've got in the food storage. I have steak in the freezer. Check. Rhodes frozen bread dough. Currently thawing & will be shaped into a heart somehow. Check. I just remembered I have 2 heart-shaped cake pans. Maybe I'll make a cake or brownies for the fam to enjoy while I'm gone.

What are your V-day traditions?

We celebrated our 10th anniversary on Feb 1st, so V-day is always a bit more about showing our kids how special they are. They always get a treat & a new shirt or outfit. Thrilling, I know.

The day is also filled with class parties- one at 2, one at 2:30. Should be fun! Lyd & Eliza will be drug along for the ride.

Enjoy your Valentine's Day! Love yourself- that's the only person you can control. Your Heavenly Father loves you. Your Savior loves you. I love you. Have a great day, or at least a piece of chocolate. ;)

Sleep sofa & love seat for sale- new price

POST EDIT: I want them gone by Saturday. I have reduced the price. There's an even lower friend/family price, if you're interested!

We are selling our love seat & sleep sofa. They are listed on ksl.com for $75 for the set, but if you want them, I'll give you the blog discount. Let me know if you are interested.

 There is some wear and tear on the fabric on the seat cushions, but the frames & cushions themselves are in great shape! The mattress has only been used a few times & is immaculate!

I want to get rid of them ASAP, so no reasonable offer will be refused. Leave a comment, facebook me, call, whatever. Thanks!