Sucker

Every night it's the same routine.

Sienna: "Mom can I hold Mags?"
Me: "No because you always get preoccupied and forget to hold her the right way and then she gets upset."
Sienna: "I promise that this time I will hold her right and I won't forget!"
Me: "No."
Sienna: "PLEASE!!!"
Me: "No."
Sienna: "But Heavenly Father made her my sister so I could hold her!"
Me(in my head) "Thanks a lot primary!!!!"
Me: "Okay"


Two seconds later

What I Eat

So I got an email this morning about weight watchers from one of my friends, asking if I was starving everyday. This is one of many emails that I have received so I thought I would just write a blog about what I might eat on any given day, and to answer the question, no I'm not starving.

Breakfast:
I usually have a half cup(dry) of oatmeal with a cup of fruit of some sort. I love peaches with it! I put some Splenda sugar, with a tbs of Smart Balance light butter, and a lil vanilla. This is my favorite breakfast. If I'm in the mood for something different I go for three egg whites with a lil salsa, and three slices of turkey bacon. I can even add two pieces of light toast, we get the Sara Lee Light Whole Grain Bread, and add a tbs of no sugar added jelly if I'm still hungry. I'm never hungry after the oatmeal!

Lunch:
I go for the tuna at lunch. I add a tbs spoon of relish, and if I want it creamy then I add a tsp of Smart Balance mayo. I use the whole can and put it on four pieces of the Sara Lee bread. I then measure a cup of some sort of frozen veggie, usually green beans or broccoli , and maybe an apple. I've been sort of sick of the tuna, so I've been making sure I have left overs from whatever I make the night before and depending on the pt value I eat a serving of that.

Dinner:
Last night I made enchiladas from scratch. I find most of the recipes I use on skinnytaste.com. I love this resource because it has yummy meals that I crave, but with healthier ways to make them. The blogger also it doing weight watchers and has all the pts figured out for each meal.  Here's the enchilada recipe.



Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Green Chile Sauce
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1 enchilada • Points: 4 ww pts
Calories: 230 • Fat: 7.3 g • Protein: 20.4 g • Carb: 28.7 g • Fiber: 12.2 g  


Chicken and White Bean Filling:

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup minced white onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles
• 15.5 oz can Navy beans (or Cannellini beans)
• 8 oz cooked shredded chicken breast
• 1/3 can water
• 1 chicken bullion
• 1 tsp cumin

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 cup chopped white onion
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
• 7 oz can chopped green chile
• 2 jalapeños, chopped (I used jarred)
• salt
• 1/2 cup light sour cream

• 3/4 cup reduced fat Mexican cheese
• 8 medium low carb tortillas
• chopped fresh cilantro or scallions (or both!)

Preheat oven to 375°.


For the Filling:
In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes. Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover.Simmer on low 15 minutes. Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Set aside.

Green Chile Enchilada Sauce: 
In a large nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and stir well. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowlywhisk in the chicken broth. Whisk until the sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to tatse. Cook another minute then remove from the heat. Stir in the sour cream.

Spread about 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.Fill each tortilla with 1/3 cup of the chicken/white bean filling. Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of the tortillas.

Pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese. Cover with aluminum and bake 20-30 minutes, until the enchiladas are hot and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions. 

It was super yummy and I was able to have 3 servings!


Snacks:
I'm not really a snacker but if I find myself hungry I usually have a bowl of apples on my table and I go for one of those. We also buy the Weight Watcher's Giant Fudge Bars. They are only one pt and sooooooo good! That is usually my go to dessert. 


I also get 35 cheat pts a week. I have found that if I use them then I don't lose as much so I try not to, but if I want to go on a date with the hubs it's nice to have. I hope this was helpful!

Why I Love,...

So I'm gonna pick someone that I love once a week and tell everyone the reasons why I love them. So who will be my first pick?... My Hubby.

I love Grant because he's always calm. He's never raised his voice to me, he always takes the blame gladly when I'm mad, and he supports me in EVERYTHING that I do.

I love Grant because he's so handsome. Six ft tall, dark hair, and the perfect nose. Perfect for making beautiful babies.

I love Grant because he's amazing with the girls. He's loved Sienna like his own since I first started dating him and never has treated her like anything but his daughter. My heart melts when I see him get in a tickle fight with her, and it melts some more when he holds Maggie.

I love Grant because he honors his priesthood. He takes everything so seriously and would never do anything to hurt his ability to give a blessing. I love when he blesses our children, and that I can go to him at anytime and ask for a blessing and he'll be worthy.

I love Grant because he's the hardest worker I know. He makes straight A's and works every night and is doing the dishes right now. He does all this and still makes time for us.

I love Grant because he can sing. I think he's got and awesome voice, the kind that gives you chills.

I love Grant because he is such a nerd. He reads nerdy things, loves nerdy movies, and can speak the nerdiest lingo there is.

I love Grant because he doesn't play video games or watch sports, two things that I detest. I love even more that he felt prompted to give them up on his mission, about the same time I decided that I would not marry someone who did these things. We both wrote about it in our journals when we made the decision.

I love Grant because he's an awesome public speaker. I think he'll be a senator someday. He is totally Mitt Romney-esque.

I love Grant because he's kind to everyone. As his mom says, if Grant has a problem with someone, that person really is the problem. He finds good in everyone.

I love Grant because he has random spurts of being hilarious. He's usually reserved and lets me do the joking but sometimes he shocks me and I still can laugh at some of the things he's said.

I love Grant because he loves me!

I love Grant because he's mine FOREVER!!!! 

Lawn Mowing Mama

Grant goes to school from 9-3 Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, and works from 4-9 every night and also every Saturday morning. With that being said, any ounce of time we get with him, I don't want to be wasted on yard work, so I decided to mow the lawn last night. I got Mags asleep and Sienna stayed outside and watched and I mowed the whole thing. I have four brothers that always did this growing up so this was something totally foreign to me. I discovered that it is actually a pretty good work out, especially since the front yard is on a slope and I walked up hill half the time. It was actually pretty relaxing. I also loved the feeling that I was doing something for Grant, because he does so much for us. Grant was surprised that I did it, and I could tell he was a lil relieved. This morning we got to spend a bunch of time together, and even got a nap! So this mama shall be mowing the lawn every Monday!

Sienna's Second Day of School

So I'm happy to say her second day was sooooooo much better than the first. She came home and told me that she made friends with the girl that scares her and she's not scary anymore. She also told me that she's just learning and it's okay that she's different, everyone is different. It made me feel so good to see my lil one learn how to be kind, and I was so proud of her. She also made crafts and played outside, so I think she's going to love this school thing.

Diet Update!

I lost three pounds this week, so I'm almost to my first goal! I lb away!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!! Tonight we had a spiral ham with baked mac n cheese. Sooooo yummy. I used some of my cheat pts on some pecan pie I made for my bro's birthday, but I'm going work out enough this week to compensate. I still like weight watchers, although last night we had Cafe Rio catered to our church function and I got a few stares when I whipped out my paper with the points figured out for every single item on the menu. Excessive yes, but when I'm skinny I'll be getting a different type of look so it was totally worth it!

Sienna's First Day of School

Sienna started school on Friday, and it was a rough! The day before she got 6 shots in her thighs and she was in a good amount of pain because of it. Parenting brain fart, I know.  She was determined to go, so she did, and she just sat on a little trampoline in the room and moped because she couldn't move without being in pain. To make it worse there is a special needs child that for some reason was drawn to her and would squeal and take toys out of Sienna's hands. The lil girl was just precious, but Sienna didn't know how to handle it, and she just was not up to par that day, so she ended up crying. I sat and cried a lil for her in the parent observation room. She goes back tomorrow, so I'm hoping for a better day!









She might have felt bad, but she sure looked cute!

Con Artists

So I do not like pets. I don't like the smell associated with them, I don't like the allergies they cause, I don't like having another something to take care of, and I really don't like cleaning up after them. That being said, we now have a kitten. We heard it earlier today it's cute lil meow sounded like it was saying "Natalie, Natalie, take care of me." I thought we'll give it a lil food, and maybe I won't feel guilt taking it to the pound tomorrow. Then the sprinklers turned on, and the meowing started again, and I thought we'll bring it inside to it doesn't get wet, and tomorrow I'm taking her to the pound! Then Grant started playing with her, and Sienna gave me that look, and I realized I'm living with a couple of con artists. I wouldn't doubt that they planted her in the backyard, knowing what I would do. Ugghhhh, so introducing Savannah Daniel,...

Grant Post

I haven't read Nat's last post, so there are probably some repeats. Oh well. She thinks that the title of my post should be "Nerd Alert". I can't really argue with that. We spent about an hour this evening doing meal plans for this next week. I really like it because it means that I get to eat way better food (not that I eat that bad when we don't). I found out today that I am going to get to go to Boise next month to do a presentation at an international economics summit. So far all I know is that topic for the summit is USA-China trade relations. From what I have seen so far, it is really not that complicated from an economics point of view. The issue only becomes complicated when we try to decide what is "right" and "wrong". Don't take that to mean that I don't believe in right and wrong, just know that what may seem "right" at first glance is probably a really bad and inefficient idea. I had better move on or Nat will get mad at me for spending blog time talking about economics. Work is going very well. I just got a promotion that went into effect today. I am enjoying the night shift because it gives me more time to study, and I feel like I have to talk to fewer crazy people. We went to go see Sienna at her first day of preschool. She was so excited to get to play with all the different toys, and I think that she will have lots of fun this semester. Well, I'm pretty sure that my brain is done with thinking for today.

Sunday's With the Stevens

I wanted to make that like Tuesday's with Maury, but I don't think the play on words quite works, but whatev. Our favorite couple has got to be the Stevens. It's a rare find to have a couple that both the husband and the wife love each other, so that's why we love them so. Now that school has started I've found myself counting the days each week until Sunday because I know they are coming over to eat and I get my Britney fix. Tonight the Cramers joined in on the fun and we watched a Comedy Central Special with a comic named Mitch Hedburg. SOOOOOOOO FUNNY! He has jokes like and escalator can never be broken, it can only become stairs, they could put a sign up that says sorry for the convenience. Haha, oh Mitchy,... anyways we laughed, ate beans and cornbread, played apples to apples, and had a grand old time. Good times always happen when they come over.;)


Quick update on life, Grant made it through his first week of school with his uber crazy schedule. I don't know how he does it! I also survived the week, and both girls are doing well. I have been doing well on the diet, although I didn't count the points tonight at dinner, so tomorrow morning I'm going to work out like a mad man. Now I'm off to bed. Night!

Spaghetti Squash

My new favorite meal is now Spaghetti Squash with the original Prego and green beans. SOOOO Yummy and it's a total meal all for a whopping one point. My mom is on a crazy diet that her nutritionist put her on and has lost around 30 lbs, and she found this amazing vegetable and told me all about it. I had Grant go out and buy on that night and tried it and we all love it. It's like a crunchier buttery version of a spaghetti noodle. I made it again tonight and Sienna couldn't get enough of it! It's super easy, all you do is cut it in half length wise, scoop out the seeds,put it in a pan with a lil water (you can cook it without for crunchier noodles) put the oven on 375 and cook for 45 min. When it's done just run a fork along width wise and the noodles form like magic. You can also make some meat balls to go along with, I'm just not a big ground beef person.

Quick diet update: I'm doing great and down another 2 lbs! I'm so excited because I've tried a lot of different things to lose weight and this is the first time I've seen results this quickly. I'm becoming a huge Weight Watchers fan!!! 

Jesus Loves Me

He does, and I just thought you should know. The End

Diet Update

We are dieting but Mags apparently didn't get the memo.


The diet is going fab! I lost 5 lbs the first week!!!! Not bad. The waking up at 6 thing is going okay, although if a particular lil 4 month old decides to have a bad sleeping night, then it goes out the window the next morning. I'd say it's about 85% of the time. I love weight watchers, it's super easy to stick to, and I'm never hungry, but it is a lil time consuming. I think part of the reason it works is that you write down everything you eat, so you can see exactly how much your eating. I also like it because you check off how many grains, proteins, veggies, milk products, water, essential oils, and vitamins you consume everyday, and it gives you a lil smiley face when you eat the recommended amount. Who doesn't love a lil smiley face?!  I hope it keeps on going well!

Kids

I love my lil kiddos! I have been laughing at the funny things that they do all day , and it has hit me how incredibly blessed I am to get to stay at home with them. We were looking at a friends baby pics today and Sienna asked if the baby was a boy or a girl and when I said boy, she looked at me astonished and said" she allows boys in her family?!" haha LOVE HER!!! Top that off with Maggie grabbing Sienna's green beans off her dinner plate, and stuffing them in her mouth, and Sienna telling me that she wants to be pretty like barbie and she's not because I made her wear khaki pants, you can prob tell how much I've been laughing today. Life couldn't be anything but great with these lil ones!

Update From Last Night

I woke up this morning full of energy, worked out, ate a yummy breakfast, and now I'm full, happy, and wide awake! I might become a morning person!!!

Update From This Morning

I'm hungry, sore, and tired. The end

6 A.M.

Ughhh, that's how I feel about waking up early. I love that my babies are good sleepers and I usually get up around 9, but I find that I have no time to read scriptures, work out, and have a lil mommy time if i'm not up earlier. So I'm waking up at 6 am now. Sooooo early. My hubs decided to do it with me, and we worked out together this morning. We both started weight watchers and after we hit our goal weights we're going to do P90X. I think we're crazy, but I'm commited and so is he, so wish us luck. We should have awesome beach bods by next summer! Maybe we'll go on a romantic get away,... Back to being mommy for now.