Good Morning!!!!!!

Well, it's bright and early and I'm not sure if I've ever been so productive so early! 4:30am and I'm writing lesson plans... Please tell me I haven't completely lost my mind... :) **yawn** back to work.

Evaluation Time!!!!

SOOO...the last time I blogged I set 4 goals for myself... How have those worked out for me you may ask? I would say that the only goal that has successfully worked out is the one concerning cooking. That's right 25% success rate...OUCH!

I say this with loaves of zucchini bread fresh out of the oven and a kitchen that is a complete mess, but hey, I've kept ONE WHOLE GOAL! :) I do love to cook. That has never been an issue. The motivation just occasionally escapes me.

Time for some new goals to work on. I wish I could include the workout goals, but due to my new location that'll have to be tweeked a little and I need to get into my routine a little bit better first. Anyways, here goes:

1. Heading off procrastination before it starts...

For example, I will:

• Fold and put away laundry within 1 day of it coming out the dryer.
• Begin school work before 7pm on school nights to make sure that I can still get to bed at a decent hour.
• Put dishes in the dishwasher immediately after use rather than allowing a monster to take over my poor little kitchen.

2. Be 100% committed ;)

That should be enough for now. Those are some pretty hefty goals to take on. I think I've been battling the procrastination bug my whole life. A couple of weekend projects should help to make the transition to doer a little easier (hopefully!)

GOALS!!

So, they say that if you write down your goals and share them with people you are more likely to accomplish them. Here goes:

• Go to workout classes 4 days per week.
• Do an ab workout daily.
  
• Cook at least 3 times per week.
  
• Stop PROCRASTINATING!

So far the first goal is going well. I went to Zumba last Thursday and yesterday and then Turbo Kick on Monday. I'm headed there again tonight!

Zumba!!

If nothing else ZUMBA is just fun to say! As far as actually following the steps...that's not quite as fun, or at least not as easy!! Last Thursday I went to my first Zumba class. It was amazing how many different types of women were there. Most were in decent shape or at least weren't new to working out and they ranged in age from about 16 to 65!! There were about 40 of us in that little room!! Needless to say I was right, I have no rhythm and managed to run into a few people and hit this one lady in the head :) All in all, though, I did have a good time! I'm going back tomorrow night so that hopefully I can make it through the entire class!! (I thought I was going to die 2/3 of the way through the class)

Updates on my progress to come!!

Corn Chowder

I'm obviously on a bit of a cooking kick for now... I was craving corn chowder and also wanted to use up some of the food that I had around the house rather than buying more. This turned out surprisingly well, especially since it was 90% out of my head!

Ingredients (these are rough estimates because I just started throwing things together):

• 2 Tbl butter
• 1/2 bag Ore-Ida potatoes, peppers, and onions (it's a breakfast mix)
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
  
• flour for thickening
  
• 3 cups of skim milk
• 1 can corn
  
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• garlic salt
  
• pepper

1. Melt the butter.
   
2. Add potatoes and carrots. Cook on medium until potatoes are thawed and carrots are beginning to soften.
3. Sprinkle flour liberally on the mixture and stir until nicely coated.
4. Pour in milk and reduce heat to medium low.
5. Stir in the can of corn including the canning liquid.
   
6. Season to taste. Don't be afraid to use quite a bit of salt/pepper. Taste as you go.
   
7. Heat for about 30 minutes on low-medium low until soup begins to thicken. If it is not thick enough combine more flour and water in a cup and slowly add to the soup while stirring constantly.
   

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Yesterday morning I was watching the Food Network and saw a great recipe I decided to try! It turned out delicious! It was easy and cheap too. I modified the original recipe a bit to accommodate some things I already had floating around my kitchen...

Ingredients:

• 1 zucchini cut into half moons
• 1 red onion coarsely chopped
• 1 large carrot coarsely chopped
• 1.5 lbs chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces
• olive oil
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 2 cups chicken stock
• salt
• pepper
• Italian seasoning

1. Cook the chicken chunks in the olive oil until cooked through
2. Add onion and carrots and cook about 5-7 minutes until softened
   
3. Add zucchini and cook about 3 minutes
4. Add tomatoes, stock, and seasonings to taste
5. Heat through simmering for about 30 minutes until veges are soft and delicious!
   

Dieting...

Thrilling topic, I know...

Weight loss - it's an unending cycle I fear! So, I'm starting again...

I've gained about 10-12 pounds since early last summer and I don't like it. I'm still no where near my topped out weight, but it's still time to do something about it. I'm out in Arizona with my mom right now and we've been on a pretty drastic diet that has left me hungry and crabby, but it's working!! Although, with this little food no wonder it's working! Here's what I had for lunch today...

• 3.5 ounces of cottage cheese
• 1/2 of a cucumber (no dressing)
• 1 piece of Melbatoast (basically a cracker)

So far I think I've lost about 3-4 lbs, but it's hard to tell because her scale is different than mine (meaner for sure!!) and I didn't weigh myself before the first day. Either way I think I'm going to stay on this extreme diet until I leave here and then try to stick to a low carb, low cal, low fat version that gives me a little more freedom with the types of veges I can eat and so on.

Ultimate goal:
I want to be down under 130...I would love to be a size 4, although I never have been that small with my full adult height. I don't have too much to lose, prolly about 10-15 lbs depending on what I have to weigh to be a 4.