Crockpot Chicken Marsala Low carb, low fat, all around amazing!

You are looking at the best chicken dinner I've ever had.... Well, this one is Kevin's.
 I didn't have as many noodles on my plate!

These last two weeks, I've been cleaning out my kitchen off all the "foods" that are unhealthy and my bigger weaknesses. Oh weaknesses.

 I grew up going to big family parties, well, get togethers. They were never anything fancy fancy, but I loved every last one of them.  I used to run around my great-grandparents' house, playing Tripoli with the whole family for hours, and there was always some sport on the T.V. or radio. One of my favorite memories was watching my great grandfather make the best spaghetti sauce in the world, in a GIANT pot, to feed all 80 billion of us!  OK, so there were actually around 20 of us on average; but seriously, my family is huge, and I love it. Pasta is probably one of my biggest weaknesses overall.  I always am getting some sort of Alfredo, spaghetti, or even the vodka sauce smothered noodles with cheese, chicken, sausage, shrimp etc. The combinations are endless.

With the on going craving for Italian, I decided to cook up my own(almost from scratch) sauce with chicken and quinoa shells.  I basically woke up in the morning tossed everything but the noodles in the crock pot and set it to low for the entire day.  By dinner time the chicken was just falling apart and amazing.  I broke each breast into four pieces(around 2 oz a piece), boiled the noodles, and prepared a spinach, red pepper, red onion, and mushroom salad.

2- 8oz skinless boneless organic chicken breast
2 large cans of organic diced tomatoes
1/2 jar of organic marinara
2 cups of fresh baby spinach
6 large mushrooms
1 box of quinoa noodle shells

You ready for the best part of this craving cure?

Nutritional Info

Servings Per Recipe: 8(at least)

Amount Per Serving :

~Calories: 178.1

• Total Fat: 1.8 g
• Cholesterol: 16.4 mg
• Sodium: 325.2 mg
• Total Carbs: 31.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.4 g
• Protein: 10.9 g     

The #'s may actually be lower because not all the sauce is used, and there will be loads of leftover sauce that you could freeze and the toss in the crock pot with chicken and make another batch of this amazing and HEALTHY Chicken Marsala.

Week 1- Greek Burger and sweet potato fries recipe

Last week, I made protein smoothies every morning, drank at least 100 oz of water a day, made dinner every night, and worked out 5 days.

I honestly never felt hungry.  I made healthy snacks like hummus with cut up veggies, and zucchini chip(which didn't work out too well). I never counted one carb or calorie.

I'll admit the water intake was the most difficult to keep up with.  I usually ended up adding sliced cucumber, tea or the strawberries and blueberries that I froze in ice cube trays of water.

What was my favorite meal this week? Greek Burgers with spinach/ cucumber/ tomato/ mushroom salad, my own balsamic vinaigrette, and sweet potato fries.

Yes there is no bun and aside from the dressing I didn't use one condiment

Patties

• 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2lb ground turkey
• handful of halved cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup shredded spinach
• 1/4 cup of feta cheese

Mix all the above together and cook thoroughly on both sides. Serve

Fries

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• garlic, rosemary, cilantro, pepper to taste
• 2 large sweet potatoes

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan.  Toss cut up sweet potatoes in remaining olive oil and seasonings to covered. Add sweet potatoes to pan, cook on all sides till lightly blackened. remove and serve.

Screw the Skinny, I Just Want to Live Forever and Be Healthy!

So I've been "bigger" for as long as I can remember. I was usually the tallest in all my elementary classes and my belly was protruding with (what I was at one point convinced) a watermelon, that was growing in there be cause I swallowed a seed. Since then I began noticing that I was gaining 10lbs every year.


  I, definitely, was not that kid who was afraid of veggies, I LOVED THEM!  But, I loved most food. I would give everything a chance.  Salad bars, were among my favorite places for food when we went out, and if I could I would get one every time we went some where.

My mother and I, when I was really little and before her surgery

            Growing up, it was mainly my mother and I.  When I was in third grade, I was terrified because my mom got the surgery where they go in and make your actual stomach smaller. (the gastric band or something like that)  I thought she wouldn't be my same mom who made the best pillow in the world!

My Litter sister and my mom, 11 years after her surgery.

           

              I've never seen my mother more happy though, be cause even now she has managed to lose over a hundred pounds and keep it off. Even just over a decade later, my mom looks amazing, and is such a giant inspiration.  Although, I'm too scared to get surgery, I know there are ways for me to achieve a healthier way of living.

My Before (247 lbs. 5'7")

My Before (247 lbs. 5'7")

    Regardless of what happens when a person passes, I don't like the idea of not being able to do everything I do now, I want to ride around with my grandma all day, I want to cook dinner and watch married with children with my fiance.  I want a life, I want to succeed and be able to comfortably take care of my family. I want to see my great great grandchildren. My life goals.


 My plan is to eat real food, no buying junk. There are ways to make the junk better for you or alternatives. I will eat as many natural and low processed foods possible.  I will avoid fast food that is terrible,(i have a working brain that says salads and grilled chicken are oooookkkkkkk).  I already don't drink dark pops at all, and rarely drink the clear ones so giving that up will be easy.  I will drink half my weight in ounces of water a day. and I will work out at LEAST 5 days a week. My weekly grocery bill will be under $100, and I will have enough food to feed my fiance and I, with leftovers.

       I'm only 20, trying to get back to finish school, but get a job first. Wait...... How am I supposed to afford this $200 diet plan to get healthy so I can live to do it all? I am going on a life long journey to be not only healthier but happier that I can do it all whilst living frugally and dealing my love of DIY.

Winterfest

For as long as I remember, my family goes to the Winterfest in downtown Cleveland the saturday after Thanksgiving.  Although every year is lacking something else, I was surprised this year, because there was more to do than usual. They had this awesome area where crafters from Cleveland were all set up with their displays of the different things they did.
 

driving down town

my mom and Kevin joking around on the rapids

My little brother and sister playing on the giant free stamp

Waiting to cross the street, my little brother is so adorable

My mom, her boyfriend, and Kevin walking through the arcade

I loved this little artsy thing on the side walk

My brother, sister and I with Santa

My mother and I at tower city

The awesome fireworks

Some of the light display in the square

Tower City all lit up

The toy soldier show

My siblings getting ready to leave

DIY: Impromptu Treetopper

I used several ornaments that I didnt mind giving up like these small red ones...

And these larger randoms

 

and using four snowflakes I had

I hot glued the ornament in a circle them put the snowflakes in a triangular shape.  

This is my finished tree topper =)

A little view of my set up , I really want to get a second smaller colored tree to off set my more traditional one.

I love the old ornaments my mom made when I was 3

The Aboslute Best Pulled Pork Recipe

So my crock pot bit the dust a while ago, and I felt it was about time for a new one.  I went to target and got the cutest damask print crock pot for around $15.  Completely stoked, and the conversation of pulled pork in the office. I decided to christen my crock pot with one of my fiance's favorite meals.

Isn't that the cutest Slow Cooker ever!

 Never before making pulled pork, actually I never even tried it before I met him, I wanted to try my hand at it.   It was one of those moments where he turned to me and said, "this is one of the main reasons I'm marrying you." But he says that every time I cook something AWESOME.



Ingredients:

• 1 jug of apple juice
• cinnamon
• brown sugar
• 5 lbs. center cut pork roast
• 2 bottles of BBQ sauce

Directions:

1. Add apple juice, cinnamon, and brown sugar in a crock pot.  stir
2. Add the pork roast and cook on low for 10 hrs (or high for 6)
3. Once pork falls apart with just a fork, drain liquid.
4. Using two forks, pull the pork apart until completely shredded.
5. Once shredded, add one bottle of BBQ sauce with a bit of brown sugar, mix.
6. Cook on low for 2 hours
7. Finally, add BBQ sauce to taste place on a sandwich and enjoy!

This year's and Past years' Halloween Looks.

This year's Sugar Skull

this was two halloweens ago, I wanted to be kinda like bruce campbell.. Some zombie slaying heroine, who is turning into a zombie.

Last year, I went for a vampy dark look with a sweet mask.