Loving the Monsters

Okay.. so it has taken me forever to make a post about this. I have only been filling out surveys for Influenster for maybe a few weeks and they sent me a Vox Box. If you don't know what one is.. it is a box they send you full of AWESOME stuff to test. In my box I received:  These little lovelies are supposed to help with appetite control. I can honestly say that so far they seem to be working pretty well. I have been trying to shed some baby weight from having my daughter recently. So far I have lost 9 pounds and I intend to keep it up! Ok.. so I didn't even know this stuff existed.. It is AWESOME! I personally havent gotten a cut or burn I have had to use it on.. but I have a two year old boy. I have used it on a couple scrapes he has gotten playing around and it seems to work amazing. I also used it on my brother who plays football, and he said it was awesome. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this stuff. I will be purchasing more when it runs out. As a mother of two.. so...

Today was freezing.. I mean cold... not like Fall weather.. like Winter weather. So after being out in the wind and low temperatures, at my brothers football game... I decided to make some spicy chili and homemade tortilla chips. And I just gotta say.. it turned out AMAZING! I saw a picture of some southwestern chili but I didn't know the recipe.. so I tried to throw something together that looked like what I saw in the picture. Not only did my creation turn out AMAZING but it was super super easy, didn't take long, and it was low calorie. Only 450 calories for the chili AND the chips. Anyways.. lets get to the good stuff! Cook da chicken Shred da chicken Add da stuffs Cook and stir the stuffs Open da bag Cut dem up Lay dem out Eat dem! (as you can tell.. I am pretending to be Jamacan) YUMMY! Makes 5 servings 298 calories per serving (just chili) 150 calories for 12 chips rounded up 450 calories for both Ingredien...

One thing you should know about my family is that we LOVE chips and salsa... especially my  husband. So, today while I was out at the store.. I forgot to buy more tortilla chips *sigh*. Instead of making another trip out to the store I figured I would try and make some homemade chips since I had extra tortillas laying around from when I made fajitas.  All the stuff you need! Lay them out on a baking sheet Spray each side of the tortillas with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. This is what they turn out like if you cook them at too high of a temperature This is how they look when you cook them at the RIGHT temperature Delicious bowl of chips! These turned out SO yummy. They were definitely different than a corn tortilla chip.. but they were light and crunchy and oh so delicious. Also.. they were extremely easy to make. Instead of all this nonsense lets just get to the good stuff! Ingredients: 1 pack of tortilla...

So.. I have been on a diet.. and the other day I realized at the end of the day I had almost 1000 calories left over. So I decided to treat myself and to have some regular NOT diet popcorn! But since it was a treat.. I wanted to flavor it up really nice.. and I came up with THEE most amazing recipe for popcorn. Its easy and it only takes 2 ingredients. And just incase you are curious about the calories for a bag of regular popcorn.. It was 393 calories for an entire bag of Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter. Ingredients: 1 bag Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter popcorn (or honestly any other popcorn) (393 calories) 1 0.4oz package of Hidden Valley Ranch Buttermilk Dressing seasoning. (0 calories) Instructions: Pop your popcorn in the microwave. Open your bag of popcorn and dump in the package of ranch seasoning. Shake and shake and shake some more until all the popcorn is evenly coated. ENJOY! My husband, brother, and myself.. all went NUT...

So lets be honest.. who doesn't love grilled cheese and tomato soup?! The only downside is that usually things smothered in butter are high in calories. Well, I have a solution that will make your taste buds happy. You will all be thanking me especially now that the cooler weather is approaching. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is one of my favorite cooler weather foods. Calories for this meal: 328 Calories for if you have the entire can of soup instead of just half: 440 Calories for if you have an extra slice of cheese: 418 Calories for the whole can and an extra slice of cheese: 530 Ingredients: Great Value (Walmart brand) tomato soup. (average size can is 90 calories per serving for 2.5 servings or 225 for the whole can) Sara Lee Soft & Smooth Whole Grain White bread (120 calories for 2 slices) Slice of cheddar cheese (I get pre sliced and its 90 calories for one slice) I can't believe it's not butter spray (it says 0 calories but I estimate it is abou...

So.. I am very happy to say that after a full week of dieting I have lost 5 pounds! Now don't freak out and think i'm starving myself.. I always tend to loose a lot right at the beginning of my diets.. then it ends up only being about a pound or two once I get  a few weeks into it. I started out at 239 and after weighing myself this morning I am down to 234! YAY! Anyways.. Tonight for dinner I made myself some spaghetti squash with chicken and red sauce. I LOVE spaghetti squash because it has very little calories and you can easily use it in place of pasta for most dishes. The total calories for this ENTIRE dish was only 220 calories. Lets get to the good stuff! Seed your spaghetti squash salt and pepper it season and cook your chicken add your tomato sauce use a fork to "fluff" up the edges and get all the yumminess out of there Should be looking like this mmmmm. spaghetti squash in a bowl Top it off and eat! ...

As a woman who has dieted many times, and is currently on a diet, I find that eating super flavorful foods help with not feeling like your missing out. I also feel like anything kinda spicy helps me feel like I don't need to eat as much.. which is good at the beginning of a diet when  you are trying to shrink your stomach. Tonight I made these Spicy Shrimp Fajitas with some fresh homemade Pico De Gallo, Recipe for the Pico De Gallo I made can be found here:  http://cookingforthemonster.blogspot.com/2013/09/pico-de-gallo.html . AMAZING Pico De Gallo I found some flour tortillas at the store today that were only 80 calories.. which is awesome because in using those It was only 187 calories for one fajita. I ate two.. but still only 374 calories for a meal.. that's really really not bad. Anyways lets get to the recipe for the shrimp Entire recipe for shrimp is 435 calories. Makes about 5 servings (87 calories per serving) Ingredients: 1 12oz. bag of froze...

As many of you know I am on a diet.. so that means more veggies and less fried stuff. Tonight I made some spicy chicken fajitas with some pico de gallo. It was my first time making this and I must say it turned out flippin awesome. I think at some point I am going to alter this recipe a little and make it into some salsa. My husband stole the rest of it and has been eating it on chips. Anyways.. enough talk.. lets get to the recipe ☺ The entire recipe is only 180 calories! Ingredients: 4 roma tomatoes (about 120 calories) 1/2 red onion (about 25 calories) 1 jalapeno (about 5 calories) Juice of one lime (about 10 calories) 1 tsp minced garlic (about 20 calories) 1 Tbsp cilantro chopped finely Salt and pepper to taste Instructions: Seed your tomatoes as best you can and chop them up.. add to a bowl. Finely dice up an onion.. add to bowl. Seed and very finely dice up your jalapeno.. add to bowl. Add your minced garlic (I get mine from a jar.. its easier). Fin...

So.. I FINALLY have decided I need to go on a diet again. And I feel the need to shpeal about my weight loss stuff.. I am not shy to say that I weigh 239.. it may seem like a TON to some people. But not all of us can be blessed with the skinny genes. I can honestly say that I looked my best when I weighed about 170 -180. I am big boned (honestly not trying to make myself feel better.. I have 7 inch wrists and a size 11 foot. You can even check to see if you really are big boned at this website I discovered   http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/imagepages/17182.htm ) and I have very dense muscle. It is kind of sad to think that back in high school when I weighed 170 and looked like a hottie.. I thought I was fatter than all get out. And now weighing as much as I do, and having all my extra flappy mom skin from pregnancy.. I look in the mirror and actually love myself. I saw one of the most amazing quotes on Pinterest (all time favorite website) that said "If you don't lov...

This morning I woke up and decided I wanted some pancakes. But not just normal pancakes.. I wanted fancy pancakes. I have been sick so I wanted something extra flavory ☺. These pancakes turned out amazing and really didn't take that much longer to make than a regular pancake. Now.. lets get to the good stuff!!! ☺ My son LOVE LOVE LOVES to help me cook.. he is such a cutie! ♥ Ingredients for pancake: 4 cups of all purpose flour 8 tsp baking powder (or about 2.6 Tbsp) 1 tsp salt 2 Tbsp sugar 4 eggs 2 ½ cups milk 2 ¼ tsp almond extract 3 ½ tsp poppy seeds Ingredients for blueberry sauce: 4 cups of blueberries  1 cup sugar Instructions: Before you start mixing up your pancake mix.. put your blueberries and sugar in a sauce pan and cook on med heat until it gets really bubbly. Then turn it down to about med-low to low heat and let it simmer while you are making your pancakes. I would say let it cook for about 15 minutes before you take it off ...

So.. my family has not been feeling too great the past few days. We are already getting colds and Summer isn't even over yet *joy*. Anyways.. curry is just one of those comfort foods that makes me feel better. Its warm and just insanely delicious. I felt like we all needed a little comfort with our throats hurting and our noses being stuffed up. This meal is also delicious when you are not sick obviously ☺. Put 1-2 Tablespoons of canola or vegetable oil in a pot. Then chop up your onions and add them. Chop up your baby carrots (I cut them into 3rds) and add them to the pot. Peel, rinse, and chop up your potatoes and add them to the pot. Then you are going to want to cube up your chicken and add it. I also added a little salt and pepper at this point as well as about a cup of water. Once you add the water put a lid on it to help everything cook and get all nice and tender. This is what Golden Curry looks like. I bought mine at Walmart, you can get it in ...