Little Chef

Ready to make pizza! Got my favorite apron on with pockets.

This is nummy cheese Mommy!

Making Pizza is fun!

Daddy is helping me sprinkle cheese.

All done, I did it!

Love, Chef Violet

Cheat Day

On Cheat Day I bought a bag of my favorite Easter candy, Cadbury mini eggs. The bag was empty by the end of the day. Not sure who helped me eat them all!
Then for dinner I made Green Chili-Cheese Flour Flautas (vegetarian for Jaley), Chicken Corn Tortilla Flautas and Mexican Rice. I was at my mom's house hanging out with Jordan, Justine and Priscilla. The Mattie was out of town for work. So, we declared a Fiesta Feast! The vegetarian flautas were surprisingly good and reminded us all of Southwest Eggrolls from Chili's. So, you KNOW those were good! Justine whipped up a queso using velveeta and jalapeno ranch dip,mmmm yum.
It was fun and delicious. I'd say I did well on making flautas for the first time. Great way to end a Cheat Day! The rice I made is the only recipe I ever use for mexican rice. I change it up but always put cumin, cilantro, onion and lime juice in it.

My little Vk and I, she loves rice like her mamma!

As most of you know I'm on a Diet and Cheat Day is part of it. HUH?! I know it's crazy, right. I eat well (1200-1500 cal) for 5-6 days before I have a cheat day. It makes life simple and I've already lost 9 pounds in 4 weeks. I think that's flippety, flip, flip awesome! I'm loosely following the Body For Life diet plan. But I make up my own healthy food menus (I especially like taking old family comfort food recipes and making it healthy) and workouts. More info about Cheat Day here. This plan is good for those weeks when you know your gonna have a birthday to attend or holiday and you can just plan to cheat that day and no guilt!

Happy Sunday! Today is the day after my cheat and it's after noon and I'm still full from last night! Back to healthy eating today. The sun is out and I'm ready to get outside with the family.

Jordan

I mentioned in my last post that my sister Jordan whipped up some simple watercolor paintings to match my living room. That is her painted self portrait above. Isn't that lovely? I thought I would display some more of her talented art and photo skills on my blog. Go here to see more.




Portrait of her dog Olive. (this dog gets into more stuff than my 2 year old)

The last one is a drawing of me in a cartoon like form.

ps. Jordan, I hope you don't mind me bragging on you!

Before/After Dollar Store Frames

Here are 2 cheap frames from the Dollar Tree. Not very cute but they will do the job. Last week I received 2 watercolors by my sister Jordan. I like them so much! They will look perfect on my art gallery wall.

After 2 coats of heirloom white spray paint, here are the watercolors in their new frames! Lookin' Pretty!

We want Spring!

The snow is almost gone and we got some sunshine today. I took V on a walk. It was cold. So, the walk only lasted twenty minutes. We came back and made an oil/water/food coloring craft and then she painted a butterfly. She's at a really fun age right now and loves making art projects.

It would be neat if she grows up to draw and paint like her Aunt Jordan! The other day she drew a purple line with a cluster of blue scribbles on each end and told me it was a rainbow with clouds. I was so proud of her. I jumped up squealing to tell Matt! Isn't that silly?! But, that was the first time she drew an actual picture and we could tell what it was. I think that's pretty good for 2 1/2. My baby acts more and more like a big kid every day.

Hoping for warm weather and butterflies soon!

Happy Valentine's Day

Week 5 Meal Planning

It's almost week 5! The weight is coming off slowly but surely. Last week I did not work out. Well, lets say playing in the snow and rolling a huge snowball was a workout. But other than those two days, I got nothing!

I got a new cookbook that I'm really pumped to start using. It's by the same girl who does the Biggest Loser cookbooks. Everything in her book looks rich, savory and delicious! Very different from the pictures in the Eat Clean cookbook, lol. I think I will use recipes from The Most Decadent Diet Ever for week 6.



1. Italian Sausage Soup with bread (378 cal)

2. 15 min. Turkey Chili over Baked Potatoes.

3.Stuffed Chicken Breast with Citrus Marinade (172 cal) with Onion Rice (147 cal) and green beans. I'm most excited about this dish this week, yeeHAW!

4. Tator Tot Casserole with ground turkey (400 cal) I'm ashamed to admit I like this cheap-kid food. But it's good and healthy if done right.

5. Pan-Glazed Chicken and couscous with Tosca's EC Sesame Roasted Broccoli and Green Beans (111 cal)


Breakfast options will be granola bars or homemade egg mcmuffins. We are burnt out on breakfast burritos! For lunch I've been eating wraps made with low carb tortillas.

I'm down 7 pounds. My fourth weigh- in is this coming Tuesday. 9 pounds down on 4th weigh in. You can do this! Do cardio this week, no excuses :)

Snowing in Texas

Yesterday we had a blast playing in the snow! My husband and I have never seen that much snow in Tx. It was so fun. Violet played for a couple hours outside. When she woke up and saw the snow out the window she said she was ready to build a snowman and skate! She clearly has seen too many shows with people ice skating. After our second round outside. I brought her in and gave her a warm bath then I started cooking dinner. Well, Violet was passed out on the couch before dinner was ready. She was pooped!

It was a nice day for us to spend together as a family. Played outside, made cookies and Matt helped me with our current home project. It's almost finished...pics soon to come!

Graceling

I finished reading Graceling on Sunday morning. I woke up and was determined to finish it. I find myself still thinking of the characters and how their future will turn out! I was a little disappointed that Kristin Cashore's second book Fire is not a sequel to Graceling. The time period in Fire is 15-20 years before Graceling. There is a rumor that her third book, Bitterblue will mention my favorites from Graceling. I hope so because I loved this book.

Book summary from this link-

In the seven kingdoms, there are some children who are born different. They are marked with eyes of two different colors, and they are called Gracelings. Gracelings have abilities beyond the natural, and they are feared and shunned by most people. There are many different Graces—some are benign, like the Grace to swim long distances, or to juggle. And some are deadly.

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight--she's a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king's thug.
When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po's friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace--or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

With elegant, evocative prose and a cast of unforgettable characters, debut author Kristin Cashore creates a mesmerizing world, a death-defying adventure, and a heart-racing romance that will consume you, hold you captive, and leave you wanting more.

5 out of 5.

Next book just arrived in the mail as I was posting! Matt had just checked the mail. Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella.

Shout Out to Marcia! Your next book- Eat, Pray, Love looks like a good one.

Meal Plan-Week 4

It's Valentine's Week! Ready for week 4 of planning and eating well. My sister Justine's bday is the 9th and we will be going out to eat. This will not be a cheat meal for me. I will choose a healthy option there. Thursday I'm hosting a Valentine's Party for Violet and her friends. This day will be a challenge but I plan to skip breakfast in case I have too many sweets and count everything I put in my mouth. I've opted to make a Cooking Light steak dinner for actual Valentine's Day.

Allowing myself one cheat day a week is working out well for me. I think it shakes my metabolism up since I'm eating 1400 calories or less for 6 days out of the week. On saturday I got to jog at the park for 35 min...(when I say jog that means walking half the time) I also have been doing my workout dvd's. So ready for warm weather. Tomorrow is my third weigh in. I'm excited for it!

You'll notice I used this cookbook for most of our meals. I'm taking a break from the Eat Clean cookbook this week.

Meal 1- Cooking Light Deep Dish Pizza (277 cal)and salad. My sister Jordan used to make this all the time!

Meal 2- Cooking Light Mexicali Turkey Casserole (330 cal)

Meal 3- Cooking Light Creamy Chicken and Spinach Soup (300 cal)

Kid's Party Lunch- Tomato Basil Soup and Chicken Salad Contessa on croissants....these two dishes are so good. You know why? Butter! Turkey sandwiches and goldfish will be options for the little ones.

Valentine's Day Dinner- Pan Seared New York Strip Steaks with Red Pepper Sauce, Baked Potatoes and Wedge Salad with homemade Blue Cheese Dressing.

Come on week 4, be a good one!

Behind the Name

I used this site for the definitions. Jordan and I like looking up names on the message boards too. It's really interesting.

Violet Soleil (soLAY) daughter- 1. From the English word violet for the purple flower, ultimately derived from Latin viola. It was common in Scotland from the 16th century, and it came into general use as an English given name during the 19th century.

2. Means "sun" in French. It is not commonly used as a name in France itself.

I chose the name Violet because I think it's sweet to name girls after flowers like Violet, Lily, Iris or Rose. Also, purple is one of my favorite colors. We came up with Soleil after reading through the book Cool Names for Babies. I like how her first and middle name share a lot of the same letters..looks really pretty in script. I think her name flows good and it fits my 2 year old perfectly.

Jillian Lark (my name)- 1.Medieval English feminine form of JULIAN. This spelling has been in use since the 13th century, though it was not declared a distinct name from Julian until the 17th century.

2.From the English word for the type of songbird.

I wish Lark was my first name! There's a story behind that. I guess Lark was too strange for 1983. But I like my name as a whole. Flows well.

Matthew Neil (hubby)- 1.English form of Ματθαιος (Matthaios), which was a Greek form of the Hebrew name מַתִּתְיָהוּ (Mattityahu) meaning "gift of YAHWEH". Saint Matthew, also called Levi, was one of the twelve apostles. He was a tax collector, and supposedly the author of the first Gospel in the New Testament. As an English name, Matthew has been in use since the Middle Ages

2.From the Gaelic name Niall, which is of disputed origin, possibly meaning "champion" or "cloud". This was the name of a semi-legendary 4th-century Irish king, Niall of the Nine Hostages.

I think biblical names are classic. Always a good choice. I was surprised that Neil meant champion!

Thanks for reading my boring post!

Resale Shop Goodies

(Flapdoodles outfit, 3.75)

(Gymboree sweater, 1.75)

(Gymboree set, 3.25)

I popped into a kid's resale shop today. One that was new to me. I liked it. It was very clean and organized. There was also a play area set up with little people toys and a climbing thing with a slide. So, Violet was occupied while I looked around. I spent 10.00 on 2 outfits, zip up sweater and pajama set!

Hope I'm not grossing anyone out with putting my child in used clothing :) I think it's perfectly fine as long as the clothes are clean, no visible stains and smells good. Then I don't have to worry as much if she gets a ketchup stain on her clothes and that makes me happy. I'm going back to get clothes in the next size up for next winter.

Week 3 Meal Plan

(Turkey Burgers with Guacamole and Sweet Potato fries, pic by Jordan)

Meal 1- Beef Lettuce Wraps with mushrooms

Meal 2- 15 min. Chili over Baked Potato (spark recipe)

Meal 3- Eat Clean Greek Salad with Honey Baked Chicken

Meal 4- Turkey Burgers with Eat Clean Sweet Potato Fries

4 Meals planned ahead are usually enough for the 3 of us. We eat leftovers and lunch stuff for all other meals.

Not sure how this week's weigh in will go tomorrow morning. I give myself one "cheat" day a week. Usually on the weekend to eat freely and not track calories. But this week I had 3 cheat dinners.

Going grocery shopping today. Ready for a good week!