How Do You Find the Time?

"How do you find the time?"

I get asked that question a lot and I really don't know the answer. I know that I just do the thing that I get enjoyment from and the things that need to be done.

A single parent, a working professional, someone who loves to read, knit, craft and create, someone who is working really hard to create a good life for herself and her kids. I know I'm not the only one out there, and I enjoy reading the blogs of others, so I thought, "well, why not?" So here we go!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

What did you do this weekend?

Nothing exciting going on here except for everyday life.    First off, accounting - down a total of 12 pounds so far!   Yay me!     Logged food every day, exercise 4 times this week  (busy meeting week!)   I'm in the process of finishing a UFO - a shawl made from homespun alpaca.   I'm close to the end and will finish it this week!   Woo hoo!

On Monday at school, we had the Black Hands Drummers come to visit our students.  They are amazing, energizing, and just so positive.      We got to get up and dance and sing with them.  I think we should start every day off that way.    Here are Gil and his wife.    They are such wonderful people!

On Saturday, our trainer, Moses tried to kill us!   Not really, but it feels like it today.   My quads are so sore - I think it was from the skating he had me doing on the gym floor with towels under my feet.    I did get a workout in today and soaked some in the hot tub, but I am still sore! 

Lately I've been finding a lot of recipes via Pinterest.    Talk about addicting!     I'm seeing lots of delectable desserts (think hot fudge chocolate cake made in the crockpot), but I have resisted, thinking of the progress I am making.     I have been searching for a few sweet treats to make that won't kill the health routines.    I found these three recipes on there, and that's what's for dinner tonight and lunches this week.   

Slow Cooker Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
from:  http://eatcakefordinner.blogspot.com/2012/01/slow-cooker-cream-cheese-chicken-chili.html
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn, undrained
1 can Rotel (tomatoes & gr. chiles), undrained (I used a 14 oz can of tomatoes and some generous spoonfuls of green chili)
1 pkg. ranch dressing mix (I only used 1/2 package)
1 tsp. cumin
1 Tbl. chili powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 chicken breast halves or 5 tenders (I used 6 boneless, skinless thighs, thawed), frozen

Place chicken in bottom of slow cooker.  Combine beans, corn, Rotel, ranch seasoning, cumin, chili powder and onion powder and pour over chicken.  Place stick of cream cheese on top.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Stir cream cheese into chili.  Use 2 forks and shred the chicken.  Stir together and serve.  Yield: 3-4 adult servings.   


Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower: 
from http://www.amateurgourmet.com/2008/11/the_best_brocco.html

Preheat the oven to 425.

Take 4 to 5 pounds of broccoli and cut into florets (but relatively big ones.)  Dry them THOROUGHLY. That is, if you wash them.

 Put the broccoli on a cookie sheet. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. ( 5 Tbs olive oil, 1 1/2 tsps kosher salt, 1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper.) Now add 4 garlic cloves that are peeled and sliced and toss them in too.

Roast in the oven 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.

When it’s done, take it out of the oven, zest a lemon over the broccoli, squeeze the lemon juice over the broccoli, add 1.5 Tbs more olive oil, 3 Tbs toasted pine nuts (I left those out), and 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

My Notes:   I tossed the broccoli and cauliflower in a ziplock bag with the garlic.    We have had this once before and it was delicious!   I think that the lemon zest and the Parmesan cheese at the end are the best parts of this dish! 


No Bake Granola Bars 

Ingredients
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup peanut butter (or other nut butter)
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- 1/2 cup hemp seed (or flax)
- 1 bar (1 oz.) Baker's* dark chocolate (optional)
Directions
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  
Roll into tbsp sized balls.  
Melt chocolate in microwave safe bowl and transfer to a sandwich bag.  Snip a small tip off the corner of the sandwich bag and drizzle away! 
Let balls set in fridge for another 1/2 hour before serving. 
My Notes:   I heated the honey in the microwave, mostly because it had hardened in the container, but it made it easier to mix.    I also heated the peanut butter for the same reason.     I only had about 3/4 of a cup of coconut and I did not use Baker's chocolate.   I used about 1/4 of a cup of chocolate chips and 2 Tbsp of  peanut butter.   I do not have hemp, so I used ground flax seeds - you can't use flax seeds whole unless you soak or cook them.     I did not refrigerate this first, but instead spread it into a cookie sheet on parchment paper and used a rolling pin to flatten it.    I started to drizzle the chocolate/peanut butter mix over it, but then decided to just spread it.   I then put it in the refrigerator and later cut it into squares.   I wrapped each one individually for lunches this week.    Just the sweet touch I was looking for!


And finally, we have been seeing some amazing sunrises this month.   I took this photo when I dropped the boys off at school on Friday morning.   Amazing colors!




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