A Dose of Reality

Today is the day that I am going to force myself to try on my wedding dress that I bought when I was about 12 weeks pregnant with twins, and granted it didn't fit then. I bought a size 22 I believe, and I figured that I could fit into it after the girls were born. I exercised as much as I was physically able with the girls before I was told not to anymore. Majority of my weight gain during pregnancy was water weight because I retained water so badly! I dropped the water a month after pregnancy so I had about 20lbs to lose to be back to pre-pregnancy weight. However I had some baby blues and I began over eating so I gained what the weight back though now it's not water weight it's just fat.

My goal is to get back into a size 16 dress by my wedding day. Can I do it? Well hopefully with the help of this blog I can. I should also put on a side note here that I am already married to my husband, but we just had a civil ceremony after the girls were born. This is going to be our Catholic wedding with all of our friends and family to join in celebrating our marriage.

I'm going to post pictures of me in my wedding dress this evening to give myself a dose of reality. With this I will be able to visually see my progress.

On a side note though; my husband had work and school today so I made him lunch. Instead of the usual left overs or turkey sandwiches I made him something special this morning. It's called Green Goddess Grilled Cheese, but I did not make it exactly to the recipe I found.

Here is my recipe, and then I'm going to add the real recipe underneath that so that you can decide which one you would rather follow.

My Green Goddess Grilled Cheese Recipe:

Ingredients

2 slices bread (I used 45 calorie wheat bread from Sara Lee)
2 slices Mozzerella
1 handful fresh baby spinach (not from the bag)
1/2 avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil to grill the sandwich
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

Heat up oil in medium sized pan and add slice of bread then add 1 slice of cheese, sliced avocado, crumbled feta cheese, spinach, second slice of cheese, salt & pepper to taste, then top it with second slice of bread. Finish cooking like you would grilled cheese. Be CAREFUL though when you flip it because sometimes the sandwich will try to slip apart. Make sure you press it together firmly & that will help.

The Original Green Goddess Recipe:

Ingredients

2 slices bread (we used a white bread, but one filled with lots of different whole grains and seeds would be *awesome*)
2-3 tablespoons Green Goddess Herb Pesto (recipe below)
2 slices mild white melty cheese like mozzarella
handful fresh baby spinach
¼ avocado, sliced
2 tablespoons goat cheese, crumbled
olive oil (and butter if you’re so inclined)

Directions

Spread about 1 tablespoon of Green Goddess Herb Pesto onto each slice of bread (2 tablespoons total, but if you’re sensitive, go light, the pesto is STRONG).
On one slice of bread, add 1 slice of cheese, sliced avocado, crumbled goat cheese, spinach, second slice of cheese, then top it with second slice of bread. Press together gently.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan over medium low heat. (If you want to use butter, add it to the oil and let it melt). Add the sandwich to the oil and cook until bread is golden brown. Press down on the sandwich lightly, then flip the sandwich over and cook until second side is golden brown.

Green Goddess Herb Pesto

Ingredients

1 clove garlic
1 (or 2 if you’re ballsy) anchovy fillet (in oil)
½ small shallot, chopped (about 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
handful chopped fresh Italian parsley
handful chopped kale
2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
1 tablespoon chopped chives
¼ cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Whole lotta life going on!

Well I started this blog today with the help of my lovely husband because I am not tech savy at all! This is just going to be a little old blog so I can brag about my family, the things we do together, the little things I accomplish here at home, DIY projects, and my new hobby, cooking.

Today I dropped my son Ares off for Kindergarten today then went to the YMCA with my bestie Kyle Ann. We swam laps in the lap pool for an hour then of course had to take a 10min dip in the hot tub to relax our soar muscles. I am so proud of myself because throughout the rest of the afternoon I did not snack one bit!!! This is awesome for me because in case you can't tell from my picture I'm a little pudgy. I have been trying to lose weight so I can fit into my wedding dress by April. Granted I just had a small sonic reeses peanut butter blast. I did not plan to eat it all, but by the time Kyle brought it back to me it was melted so it was like eating soup so I ended up eating it all before I knew it. That's it I am not eating anymore ice cream after this!

For dinner I made Buffalo Chicken Tacos for the first time ever and they turned out amazing! Here are some pictures of the dinner. Here are some pictures of the fabulous meal!

 

Buffalo Chicken Tacos

 

The recipe called to cook the chicken in a dutch oven, but since I'm cheap and I don't want to spend money on a dutch oven I just pan fried it.

 

 

Here is our little set up for our tacos! 

 

 

Here is the final product! So yummy you could eat it huh?

 

 

WARNING! Those these tacos were terribly delicious I feel that I should warn you before you borrow this recipe.

 1st: The corn tortillas broke apart very easily. They added a wonderful taste to the tacos though so I didn't complain, but my husband Kyle didn't like it so he wrapped up his tortiall in a flour tortilla and said they were much better that way.

2nd: Do NOT put as much cilantro as we did because it was very over powering. Put just a teeny bit, or just skip it if you want because I tried one without the cilantro and it really could taste the flavor of the chicken more. Now here is the recipe!

 

Ingredients:1 pound chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into 1 inch pieces

⅓ cup flour
3 tablespoon cornstarch
⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce (Frank’s Buffalo Wing) , plus extra for garnishment
1 Tablespoon olive oil
10 6-inch yellow corn tortillas
Toppings:
Shredded butter Lettuce
Diced onions mixed with cilantro
Avocado slices
Ranch dressing
Green onions, sliced thinly

Tomato diced

 

Preparation:Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat (or pan fry it like I did if you don't have one!).

In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, cayenne, and garlic powder. Season the chicken pieces with pepper, then dredge in the flour mixture.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the Dutch oven and once it gets hot, add chicken and cook on both sides – about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Once the chicken is done, set it aside in a bowl and toss with ⅓ cup buffalo wing sauce.

Assemble 10 tacos, dividing the toppings evenly among each taco.

Yield: 5 servings, 2 tacos each.