Roots

You know, the last few weeks there has been much going on in our little part of the world. We have had a friend diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, a friend several friends dealing with crumbling marriages, a friend preparing to move to another state, a friend working toward reconciling friendships after 10 years, a friend opening his own business and yet another friend getting married. Oh and David's dad had another heart surgery! Quite frankly I am thankful to be participating in a ladies Bible Study called "The Frazzled Female, Finding Peace in the Midst of Daily Life"!


If you are wondering about my weight loss, there is nothing new to report.... and with all that is going on, I have to say that I am VERY proud of that! I may not be dropping weight but I am still working out and I am not gaining weight!





Well, as you can imagine, on the list of all that is going on right now, the most fun was the wedding that I mentioned. Last Saturday David and I got to get all dressed up to go to Jonathan's wedding! We were so excited to be seeing lots of our college friends all in one place. I was reminded of how special all of these people are to me!





See, when I moved from a tiny town in Arkansas to the DFW Metroplex in Texas to go to college, I never imagined that I would find a HOME and a family away from home. These college friends became my family. They taught me what it meant to be a brother and sister in Christ. They loved me and encouraged me and helped me learn about myself.








I met all of these guys plus several more at LABC when I joined the college department. They welcomed me with open arms and made me a part of their family! I discovered this church and this family because Jonathan (the groom!) was being obedient to the calling that Christ had put on his life to be set apart on his college campus.




See, Jonathan had spent a year praying for a Christian friend for his college campus that would help him grow the Baptist Student Ministries on campus. God chose me. He prepared me. He provided scholarships and then the much needed courage for me to move away from everything familiar. I was also praying for Christian friends and was seeking a closer relationship with my Jesus. I had to choose to be obedient. Then, another year later my friend Carey (pictured above holding the baby) was obedient in one of her college classes and invited a couple of guys to come visit our college group Bible Study. One of those guys was MY David.





One of the things I will forever be grateful to Jonathan and his family for is how they taught me about prayer and its POWER! (In the picture is me between Jonathan's sisters...Deborah and Liz). His mom Candy is what I would call a prayer warrior. I admire her dedication to other people's prayer requests. I also admire her ability to have a conversation with our Savior about all the little details of her day. She understands and practices the scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:17 where we are told to "pray continuously." Even at the wedding she was praying for her granddaughter to continue behaving nicely even though she had missed her nap. (Something I probably would have been worrying about rather than praying about. Convicted? Yes.... Lesson learned? I hope so!)




I think it is pretty fabulous how everything always comes together. This week in our Bible Study we were told to make our "to-do" list for the day and then take a moment and pray over each and every item on the list. Yes, even the laundry (This brings a smile to my face because I think of Candy, Jonathan's mom, praying aloud for focus and direction as she searches through a pile of mail for a specific piece of paper... I remember how at first her doing that made me uncomfortable and then how I learned that God really does care about my 'little' things). It has been a great way to remember that I should be thankful for clothes to wash and a washing machine to do the washing rather than being annoyed that my family can't seem to find the dirty clothes hamper! It has helped my attitude and has helped me keep my eyes focused on Jesus rather than my circumstances.




All of that to say, that I am thankful to have been reminded that this is home and I am where I am supposed to be. And well, I have been at our church for more than 10 years, I met my husband there and I am especially thankful that as I am growing as a Christian that I have ROOTS!

Focused

Focused.... on everything else.


I have to say that I have been missing all of my friends here in blog land! I haven't posted in a while and even worse, I am something like 575 posts behind in my google reader!


Last week was pretty crazy as we wrapped up Kirstyn's final days in Pre-K. I can't believe I am going to be a Kindergarten momma... how did that happen so fast?!?!?


Here is a picture of her dressed up for their Letter Parade. Kirstyn was thrilled to be going to school dressed as Quilla the Queen. We borrowed her skirt from my grandmother and found the cute crown at a local costume shop.

Other friends were Daisy the Doll and Zippy the Zebra...a very cute and a clever tradition from her preschool. James will be enrolled there in the fall so we will still be doing lots of fun things like this as long as the little mister will play along!

This week Kirstyn is in Arkansas taking swimming lessons and spending some quality time on the farm with my mom and dad. While she is there I have been enjoying lots of one on one time with James.


We had friends over the other night that have a little boy just a few months older than James and it was so much fun to see him experience a play date with HIS friend without his usual big sister supervision. It was too cute to see them running around and giggling non-stop. They were so busy they could barely stop long enough to shove a bite of food in their m

ouths and take off running and playing again. Finally they both sat down and ate a few bites because we taunted them with the promise of some yummy black bean brownies!

David and I have been watching 24. We have a tradition of recording the entire season and then watching it all together all at once. The very first season we watched one hour at a time with everyone else but we think it is much more exciting to watch it together as fast as possible. I can't wait to finish it so that I can get some more sleep! That is my main reason for being away from the computer. He isn't working upstairs in his office so I am not booting my laptop. We have enjoyed the time together curled up watching Jack Bower try to save the world!


Keep checking in on me. I am still working out and eating very clean. Inches are coming off but the pounds haven't changed in the last couple of weeks. I have several posts on clean eating and exercise that are swimming around in my head. I hope to catch them and get them out on the blog in the very near future.... but until then it's 'Bauer Time'!


What have you been doing the last few weeks? What would I be missing if I give up on playing catch up and just mark all as read in my reader?


Are you a huge fan of Jack Bauer and 24 like me?

Birthday Weekend

I honestly cannot believe that James is now a TWOYEAROLD! It seems like I was just announcing his arrival and we were all getting used to being a family of four. Now I can't imagine life without him! Here are some fun facts about our little mister:

• He says "da-do" (thank you) all of the time! He doesn't say much else because he doesn't have to... he has us all trained and I'm pretty sure that's what he thinks big sisters are for!


• He rarely goes anywhere (including bed) without his baseball cap! Although, he did trade in the paci in exchange for being able to sleep in his hat and as far as I'm concerned, breaking that habit can be left up to his wife. He is holding a sucker in this picture because I exchanged it for his hat for long enough to take a picture!


• He loves to play pretend.... especially loves to pretend to be a puppy or a cat. It is way too funny when he gets down, crawls around barking and then licks your leg...okay, that's not funny its kinda nasty but still very cute!


• His favorite cartoons are Scooby Doo, Tom & Jerry, and Handy Manny.


• His favorite foods are mixed nuts, corn on the cob, popcorn, and broccoli.


• He is a fun kid to cook for.... almost everything he takes a bite of is followed by "yummm"


• He loves to play trains, cars, and any sports although sometimes he mixes up the terminology. Today he was hitting a baseball off of a tee and kept screaming "touchdown"!

I know for most it was a Memorial Day holiday but this weekend, at our house, was all about our youngest family member turning TWO! Birthdays are a big deal at our house and fun is always had by all. This weekend was no exception. For James' "Birthday Eve" we loaded up and headed out for an afternoon of fun at Six Flags. It was great because the park was not crowded at all. There was a slight threat of rain but the weather turned out to be perfect and we had a great time. We even splurged and had "eeee-zzzzzza" (pizza) at the park for dinner.

Sunday, for James' actual birthday we celebrated again. First we took donut holes with sprinkles on them to his Sunday School class. Then after church and naps our friends from down the street came over and we had the ice cream cone cup cakes that Kirstyn had made for her bubby.

Our Healthier Cake Recipe: Devil's Food Cake Mix + Can of Pumpkin + 1/2 cup H20 (your welcome.)

Today we went as a family to the local Movie Tavern for lunch and a movie. This was James' first time to go to a movie theater. He did great! It helps that at this movie theater you also eat lunch while watching the movie. We saw and enjoyed Night at the Museum 2. James really liked the dinosaur bones that acted like a puppy. He would laugh and hang his tongue out. Funny. Then, after naps today we turned on the sprinkler in the back yard and had a great time splashing.



All in all it was a great weekend and I couldn't be prouder of my darling little boy that is not so little anymore...

Our Broadway Baby

Kirstyn's debut performance was Saturday night at her first official dance recital in front of LOTS of people! She did amazing and looked very pretty and much too grown up! Her height was even more obvious when she was on stage with her peers. Yes, my 5 "AND A HALF" year old daughter is 48 inches tall! Anyway, she did a great job and she can't wait for the DVD of the recital to come in so that she can watch it "over and over"!



I joked on Facebook about how putting on a little makeup and pink lipstick made her walk rather sassy and about how it seemed to scare her father to death! It was pretty funny.

Her daddy really does love her so much. See, I have proof! He agreed to and participated in the finale at the Dance Recital... their "traditional" Daddy Daughter Dance! This year's theme was DISCO! Kirstyn was so proud of herself and her daddy for putting on such a great show!



You can't tell from this picture but Kirstyn performed in only one shoe! See, they ran in on the isles for this performance and the daddy behind her stepped on the back of her shoe and she lost it. She was so proud of herself that she didn't stop or worry about it! When the dance was over she said to David, "Daddy, I need to go over there and get my shoe." David asked her why she didn't get it when she lost it and she said, "because they told us even if something goes wrong with our costumes, like if a feather falls off, then just keep going and no one will know until we tell them and then they will think we are a REAL star since that didn't even matter!"

We couldn't be prouder of her! And yes, she is a REAL STAR!

Oh and I have to share this one last Kirstyn funny...
I have been asking her now for two months if she wants to take dance next year and she has been adamant that no she did not want to do dance anymore. Finally, on the way home from recital I got to the bottom of it. I said, "Kirstyn you were really good tonight, don't you want to keep taking dance?" She said, "No Mommy, didn't you see that I am really good at Broadway Baby? I don't want to practice that dance anymore." Ha. Poor kid thought that if she took dance again that she would just keep doing that same routine over and over! When we explained to her that she would get to learn one of the other "big girl" dances she was over the top excited! So, I guess we will be taking dance again next year!!!

This is definitely a WordFUL Wednesday!

Tuesday Tribute - Siblings

Welcome to my first time to participate in Tuesday Tribute....

Mother's Day weekend in my family is a huge get together with my grandparents and all of my grandpa's siblings and their families. I grew up looking forward to big family reunions on the farm every year. I am closer to some of my second and third cousins than others are to their first cousins. I value family and the importance of making time for each other and I think that is rooted in the traditions started by my grandpa's mother to get her children together every year, especially when one of her boys came home from war.

In this picture my Papaw is on the far left and he is 83. Their dynamic is interesting, but at least they have been able to age together and watch each of their families grow. They also seem to have defeated so many odds. My Papaw has a Purple Heart from WWII, his youngest brother served two tours in Vietnam. They also all attended college...

I'm glad we thought to get a picture of them all together this year.

Then, since I am talking about siblings I have to introduce you to my younger sister, Neida. She is holding my darling nephew Bryton who is giving me his best ever "CHEEEEEEESE!". Neida and I are only two years apart and it amazes me sometimes how much my daughter Kirstyn reminds me of her Aunt Neida. I've heard before that the older sibling helps raise and influence the younger sibling therefore many of the younger sibling's traits show up in the older sibling's children. I have to say that I am a believer!





And of course my favorite pair of siblings are the two that made me a mom. Kirstyn and James sometimes think that fighting is an appropriate pass time but most of the time they adore each other. I pray that they will grow old together remembering how lucky they are to have a sibling that is there to support and love them no matter what challenges they have to face!



So, tell me about your siblings...

I'm still here...

So I guess I should have announced that I would be taking a little bloggy break but honestly it wasn't really planned...life just took over.

If you are a single mom I would like to take a moment to say.... I HAVE NO IDEA HOW YOU DO IT and at the same time I AM IN AWE! See, David took a class this last semester toward finishing his MBA (only 2 more to go) and this particular one was an advanced finance class that required tons of work! The last 3 weeks he went straight from work to campus to study and work on a group project. Then half of their final was a take home that he literally spent over 40 hours in one week working on in addition to going to his real job! Crazy.

His final was the Monday night after Mother's Day weekend so I actually took the kids and went to Arkansas for my family reunion by myself. The drive alone was a little intimidating but it actually went really well and wasn't as stressful as it could have been because I drove fast the kids did great! Of course I had lots of family around when we got there to love on my kids so that was nice for me. It would have been better if it had not rained the entire weekend, because my kids LOVE to be outside at my parent's house on the farm.

Since David's final was over at MIDNIGHT on Monday night (yes the final was a 3 hour final that started at 8:15!) he has been spending this week trying to catch up on sleep and on work at the office. And this past week has been about the kids!

Kirstyn had her first ever Science Fair on Thursday at pre-K. We had to put together and display a collection. She did a great job decorating an egg carton and arranging her favorite sea shells that she has collected the last few years on our vacations to the beach. Then Thursday night she had dance practice, Friday night she had dress rehearsal for her dance recital and then Saturday night was her debut performance and she did fabulous! Pictures to come!!!

Saturday morning was also James' 2nd Birthday party with our playgroup (real Birthday is May 24th). We did a combined party with my friend Elaine's little boy Gavin that just turned two on Friday. They had a great time that could have only been made better if it had not been pouring down rain and we could have gone on the planned nature walk.

Oh and ME... I finally made it to a Weight Watchers meeting on Saturday morning before the birthday party and was down 2.4! That is a two week total but either way I am proud of it! David and I went on a date last night (mom and dad came for the weekend and stayed an extra night so we could go out!) and we ate Mexican food so HOPEFULLY I didn't blow it too bad!

Thanks for checking in on me and if you read all this then you truly are a fabulous friend! More to come this week.... PROMISE!

Wash Your Hands...

Just a friendly reminder to Wash Your Hands!

The last couple of weeks our news has been talking about all things Swine Flu related along with numerous school closing and plenty of reminders that we all need to be washing our hands! Check. James LOVES to wash his hands! He is very much in a stage of doing everything by himself.

The other day he took off to the bathroom, went potty, and then this is the site I saw... He already had the water on and the soap bubbles all over his hands by the time I got back with my camera! I mean, who wouldn't want to capture a shot or two of those cute thighs!

And yes, he is able to pull himself up and climb onto almost anything! The other day I found him sitting on top of the washing machine! There is no such thing as childproofing for this boy!

How's that for Wordful Wednesday!

Fat Fighting Friday - W14

Down 1.8! Yahoooooo! I am also now only 10 lbs from making lifetime at Weight Watchers! Finally, it feels a little more like a goal that is within my reach! Also that is 5.8 down on my 20 in 20 goal. Only 6 weeks to go so I probably won't make it but at least I can say I didn't give up or quit!

One of the trainers at the gym worked on my diet for me and it is now much cleaner! He said something to me when I made a comment that I thought I was eating clean but not seeing a loss even though I am exercising all of the time. He said "clean is relative". And that is soooooo true. I probably would have told you a year ago that I was eating clean but MY definition of 'clean' eating keeps changing. After a week eating according to his 'clean' I can say that I have kicked my sugar cravings for the first time in my life!

In other news, Christina is a photoshop miracle worker! Thanks to her, Shamu is now the only whale in the picture! Now I wish I had that shirt in purple...it looks great! Thanks again girl.

Meeting Shamu

I can honestly say that I never ever ever thought that I would make the following statement:

"Standing next to Shamu made ME look FAT!"

Seriously, I need one of you photoshop magicians to tell me how to change my shirt color so that I am not the one in the picture that looks like a WHALE!

Link up and share your Word-ful and Word-less Wednesday pictures!

(my google reader is being pissy this morning so I can't pull up the blogs to link up...maybe later.)

Fat Fighting Friday - W13

Okay so nothing new to report on the weight loss front. I really hope that changes soon but I am getting rather bored with my own updates so I know you have to be too!



I decided that I would share with you my favorite 3 foods right now!



Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds - Dark Chocolate Flavor

7 of these little wonders are my absolute favorite 1 point snack! These almonds have the same nutrition information as regular dry roasted almonds but they taste like real chocolate covered almonds... you know the ones my fat self used to get every single time we went to the movies (granted if you just had some "real" ones last week then you might wait a while but if you are like me and haven't had the "real" ones in several years then why are you still reading this... you should be on the way to the store!)



PB2

I have been adding a serving of PB2 (50 calories, 5 g protein) to my oatmeal every morning! Yummy! I also really like it mixed into chocolate protein smoothies.



Laughing Cow Cheese

I like laughing cow cheese on apples, I really like the way one little wedge of this stuff can make egg beaters taste so creamy and good. I also like laughing cow mixed into potatoes or polenta. My favorite use though is still my chicken recipe!



What is your favorite "healthy" product right now?

the Effects of Getting Healthy

Today is Earth Day...

I am making an effort to be greener and teach my family to be greener.
I have changed all of our light bulbs to the CFLs except the ones in the vanity.
We installed a more energy efficient heating and a/c unit (not really by choice, but it had to be done.)
We had our house weather proofed.
We use our own shopping bags.
I am gardening and growing some of our own food (my broccoli plants are looking amazing!).
We recycle.
We compost.

However, I still have plenty of inner conflict when it comes to what I prefer and what is best for my environment.
I don't plan to give up my SUV any time soon.
We just spent the weekend at amusement parks using 'unnecessary power'.I don't turn off the power strips to the entertainment centers in our house because I don't want to reset the clocks!
James wears Pampers.

During this journey that I have been on to get healthy I have inadvertently learned how to keep Mother Earth healthier too. See, since we started composting, we have been talking a lot about how the foods we need to be eating should be generating compost and not recycling or trash. This has been a very helpful tool in motivating Kirstyn to want to eat healthy. It has also helped me even more because she is like having my own 'Jimmy Cricket' on my shoulder!

For example, by eating a '100 calorie pack' of something, we generate trash; but, by eating an apple, the only waste generated is the apple core and that is composted! It gets even more convicting, by drinking a can of diet soda, recycling is generated; but, by drinking a glass of tea, the tea bag can be composted.

Taking care of myself and taking care of my planet really do go hand in hand...

And the real reasons behind all of my efforts are these two adorable faces!

Back...

Just a very quick update to let you all know that we are back home safe, sound, and sleepy!

We left Friday morning and returned tonight from a fabulous weekend in San Antonio! We spent time at Sea World, Fiesta Texas, the Alamo, and the Riverwalk. We had a great time and I took LOTS and LOTS of pictures! I will download my pictures and share some many of them in the next few days!

If you are wondering if I will be stopping by your blog, the answer is yes but right now I am over 400 posts behind in my reader and right now all I want to do is go to sleep in my own bed!

Oh and yes, I had some very yummy, probably too yummy, Mexican food... I just hope I didn't blow it too bad! Time will tell...

Oh and every night we asked the kids what their favorite part of the day was and I have to say my favorite part was all of the truly QUALITY TIME that we got to spend with each other away from the computer, tv, work, gym, school and housework! David has been working a lot and studying like crazy for his graduate class so this was a much needed getaway! I have to say, I am not looking forward to tomorrow since it will be "catch up" time and laundry day! (Have you noticed how the laundry multiplies even faster while on vacation?)

So, what did you do this weekend or what did I miss on your blog since it may be a while before I make it over there?

Fat Fighting Friday - W12

DOWN 1.8! All I have to say is.... It is ABOUT TIME! That puts me down 4 lbs in 12 weeks, not exactly record breaking but at least I am headed in the right direction!

Summer is on its way.... let's do this!

Oh and cross your fingers that I don't blow it this weekend as we will be eating out several times! I will be careful how I order but it is still not the same as controlling the calories at home!

Have a great weekend!

The Journey so far...

This is my 500th post!


So, since this is a pretty major milestone in the "life of my blog", I thought I would share with you the personal journey that I have been on during that same time. I have really been thinking about the person that I was when I had Kirstyn (about the same time I started writing on the blog) and the person that I am now. One of the reasons I have been thinking about that is because a few weeks ago at my MOPS meeting the Steering Team did a thing called Cardboard Testimonies and it was pretty powerful and moving. Anyway, for the cardboard testimony we all needed to think of a word or a few words that described us before and then that describe us now and how God worked in our lives. For example, some could say "Fear and Worry" then flipped to say "Experiencing God's Peace", another one was, "Unable to Trust" then flipped "Happy Marriage", yet another one said "Lost" and then "Found". You get the idea...





Mine said



"Lazy"





and then the other side said



"Disciplined".





So, what has changed?

• I now exercise regularly for the first time in my life!



• I used to just watch Kirstyn and now I PLAY!



• I menu plan a month at a time where I used to plan dinner at 5:00 and that often meant fast food!



• I have learned to prepare healthy meals for my family on a budget! I used to have all kinds of excuses for not trying new foods and new recipes but the real truth was that I was being too lazy to learn new recipes and spend the time to make them.



• I am learning to grow some of our own food.



• We are now composting, recycling, washing clothes in cold water, and doing other things to take care of our environment.


• I am really working to continue learning all I can about "being healthy".


• I realize that I still have a long way to go and that there is always room for improvement in the Lazy/Disciplined department.

Thanks for all of the support and encouragement. You my friends have done a lot to encourage me and help me realize that I CAN do anything I set my mind to doing...

Now, if my garden will just grow....

Thanks for reading and commenting!

Oh and if it isn't too much trouble, share with me an area of your life that you have been working to improve over the last 4 years or so...

(If you are a blog stalker**said with much love**....it would make my day today if you would de-lurk and leave me a comment!)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

HE IS RISEN!

This morning I was a little sad that I wouldn't be able to get our traditional Easter family snapshot at home before church...well, until David let me open MY Easter present! He got me a remote for my camera and I took the above photograph with less than 5 minutes of preparation (my own tiny Easter miracle)! I am so excited and can't believe how good it turned out! James actually thought it was really funny that the camera was "getting" him with out me behind it!

For breakfast we made Resurrection Rolls (I played along but didn't eat any...I had my regular bowl of oatmeal and fruit)!

Ingredients:
1 can refrigerated crescent roll dough
8 large marshmallows
Melted butter, Cinnamon, and Sugar

Directions:

• Give each child one triangle shaped section of crescent roll. This represents the tomb.
• Each child takes one marshmallow which represents the body of Christ. (Kirstyn got a little frustrated with James for eating his Jesus.)
• Dip the marshmallow in the butter and roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture. This represents the oils and spices the body was anointed with upon burial.
• Lay the marshmallow on the dough and carefully wrap it around the marshmallow.
• Make sure all seams are pinched together well. (Otherwise the marshmallow will “ooze” out of the seams.)
• Bake according to package directions.
• Cool.
• Break open the tomb and the body of Christ is no longer there!

Then I witnessed something that made my heart smile! James tore into his 'roll' and said "ohhh no no! go?" Kirstyn said, "Bubby, Jesus isn't deaded anymore. He came back to life. So your smarshmellow is not in your tomb."

So there it is, the real reason we celebrate! Jesus isn't dead-ed anymore!

And even though we know that Easter is not about hunting eggs or gifts from Easter bunnies, that part is fun too!

We pray that you and your family had a wonderful Easter celebration and took a minute to thank Jesus for defeating death so that we can have LIFE!

(This was post #499. Any suggestions for what I should do for my next post!)

Fires, Tornados, and Allergies... Oh My!

I know this is supposed to be my Fat Fighting Friday post but I didn't go weigh in this morning because I was watching the news and lost track of time.

Last night around 10 pm my mom called me to tell me that they were okay. I actually said, "why wouldn't you be?" See, I had no idea that big storms where hitting their area of southwest Arkansas. She said that a tornado had hit several houses between her house and my sister's house (they are only about 3 miles apart) and damaged several houses. They also had hail the size of apples! Mom said their swimming pool looked like the ocean! They showed Mena, Arkansas (about 40 miles north of my hometown) on the national news this morning and there is lots of damage there.

We missed all of that excitement on our news because our local news is covering all of the wildfires that are in the counties surrounding us. The smoke around our house is thick like fog at times. This morning my allergies are driving me crazy and I know it is because of the smoke in the air.

Anyway, I weighed in on my home scale and is still stuck. I think I might get up in the morning and try out that meeting.

I am eating very clean and working out like a crazy lady... hopefully the scale will show me some results SOON! I am staying motivated because I am losing inches but I NEED the pounds to come off too so that I can get into my "healthy weight range".

Please tell me what you do to stay motivated to exercise and eat healthy. Do you have a favorite motivational saying?

Whatcha Eating?

I just had to share this one because it was a huge hit tonight with the family! I just love it when I make something new and everyone likes it.

Here is a picture of my plate:

Here is the recipe from Hungry Girl for the chicken:

Rhapsody in Bleu
Warm chicken wrapped around melted cheese and juicy ham that won't break the calorie bank!?

Ingredients:

• One 5-oz. raw boneless skinless lean chicken breast cutlet
• 1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese, room temperature (I used the garlic and herb flavored.)
• 1 oz. (about 3 slices) 97 - 98% fat-free ham slices (I only had 3 slices in the house so I used one thin slice per chicken breast and that was enough!)
• salt and black pepper, to taste (I added garlic and onion powder too!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Put chicken in a large sealable plastic bag, squeeze out as much air as you can, and seal. Using a meat tenderizer or a can, carefully pound chicken through the bag until it is about 1/4-inch thick.
Remove chicken from the bag, and season to taste with salt and pepper on both sides.
Lay the chicken flat and spread the cheese wedge over it.
Evenly layer the ham slices on top of the cheese.
Starting with one of the longer sides (or any side, if it's square), tightly roll up the chicken breast cutlet, and secure with toothpicks.
Place chicken roll in a baking dish lined with foil and/or sprayed with nonstick spray, and then cover the baking dish with foil. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil covering the dish. Continue to bake (uncovered) for an additional 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Enjoy!

MAKES 1 SERVING
Serving Size: 1 chicken cordon bleu (entire recipe)
Calories: 222
Fat: 4.5g
Sodium: 692mg
Carbs: 2g
Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 1g
Protein: 40g
POINTS® value 5*


I served our new yummy chicken creation with some roasted cauliflower and broccoli (put light spray of olive oil pam and sprinkle w/ salt, pepper, garlic powder and put in hot oven until "toasted") and some fresh blanched asparagus that I picked in my flower bed right before dinner!

Oh and before I forget, when I posted the recipe for Mexican Lasagna, I got several questions about hominy. I hadn't thought to answer those questions until now when I watched Dr. Oz on Oprah today and there was Oprah grinding up some hominy (they just called it lye soaked corn) to make these tortillas and tamales. Good southerners love grits (ground up hominy) so when I mentioned it in my recipe, I didn't even think about it being more of a regional food. I say, if you have never tried it then get some and try it! I prefer Bush's hominy as they don't have any added fat in the can as some of the store brands appear to have.

So tell me, whatcha eating?
What is your favorite "healthy" meal or what are you fixing for dinner?


For more Wordful Wednesday head on over to Angie's place.
And this dinner definately Works For Me!

Name Gallery

Have you been following MckMamma over at My Charming Kids? If not, you need to head over there are read some of thier story and then start praying for thier youngest son Stellan.

There is a name gallery over there where people who are praying for Stellan submit pictures of places where they have "taken" Stellan. There is an amazing collection of pictures in Stellan's Name Gallery.

These pictures were taken on Saturday when David and Kirstyn went to the last pre-season Texas Ranger's Baseball game at the Ballpark in Arlington. They went all the way up to the top and took this picture with the new Jerry Jones expensive mother ship Dallas Cowboy's stadium in the background.

Then when they went down to their seats they took this picture overlooking the baseball diamond. Kirstyn enjoyed telling people that Stellan is a little boy with a sick heart that we are praying for.

Please take a minute right now and say a prayer for Stellan, his mom and dad and their 3 other children.

So, tell me, where would you take Stellan?

Fat Fighting Friday - W10

So, I visited a Church of Christ and was enjoying the worship time until I noticed a huge buddha over to the right of the stage. Then we were told to evacuate. When we got outside the flood waters were so bad that we had to get into boats and row away. That would have been fine until we realized that we were being followed by men with guns. At first I wasn't sure if they were there to protect us or hurt us. Then I panicked because I realized they were enemies and then the tallest one aimed his gun at me and pulled the trigger.

Good thing I woke up! Holy Crap....I should not sleep after taking hydrocodone! And I woke up with a headache.

I went to weigh in this morning and I was down 0.2. Yeah. (Can you hear the heavy sarcasm?) This week I plan to track every single bite and lower my points by 2 like I said I was going to do last week and then didn't. Cheer me on... I have to get out of this rut!

It's a miracle that I can walk...

Today began like any other day with coffee, breakfast, laundry, dishes, getting everyone dressed and off to the gym for my morning workout. I managed to complete my workout in spite of the fact that my entire hand was throbbing.

See, last night while fixing dinner I learned why they put all of those warnings on the mandolin. I was fixing my family a yummy dinner of baked fish, green beans, and sweet potato "fries". I had pealed the sweet potatoes and was running them through the juliane attachment on my mandolin. And yes, I was using the guard. Well, apparently that particular sweet potato had a knot in the middle that I caught just right on the blade, the guard flew out of my hand and I sent my innocent pinky finger into the blade.

I poured hydrogen peroxide over it, bandaged it up and finished dinner.

A few hours later I called a nurse friend of mine to find out what I could do to stop the bleeding. Jennifer gave me a quick tutorial on a pressure dressing and I did that. When I got home from the gym today after my shower I removed the bandage from last night and realized that it was STILL bleeding. So, I gave in and called the doctor to make an appointment.

I knew it wasn't good when the doctor even cringed and promised pain meds before she even touched me! She had to cauterize my finger to get the bleeding to slow down (no, they couldn't even get it to stop completely) so that they could do a pressure wrap on it that I have to leave on until at least Friday morning. Bonus, I also got a tetanus shot that has made the rest of my arm sore!

David has been super dad tonight and taken care of dinner and the kids and is letting me rest.

I have to say, this is the worst kitchen injury that I have ever experienced! My finger will eventually heal but I'm sure I will have a reminder scar. My mother in law called to check on me and told me that she was going to get me one of those cut proof gloves to wear the next time the kids want sweet potato fries! I have often thought about buying one but thought that I was safe since I was using the guard. Wrong. I have always showed a preference to learning things the hard way. I am hard headed like that.

When I first told David that I had cut my pinky finger on my right hand... his response was, I don't think you have ever injured that one before! Seriously, I am always burning my hand or my arm while baking. Getting steam burns and basic knife injuries are common place with me and my cooking. I'm sure that it has nothing to do with the fact that dinner time is also prime time for whining and fighting at my house!

But this injury has effected more than just my cooking.... my typing is almost impossible! So if I get behind on commenting on your blogs the next couple of days, I blame my injury and the pain meds!

Please tell me that I am not the only kitchen klutz!