Forget-Me-Nots

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Wow, it's be a while since I've blogged to you...I apologize for my absence. The past few months haven't been too particularly busy, but I've just been focused on a lot of other things. So, I sincerely apologize for my lack up life update via blog - but it hasn't been too incredibly interesting. My hope is that over the next few weeks, the fruit of my blog silence will reveal itself through some new posts.

I've been trying to intentionally spend a lot of time reading God's Word. I started using Guthrie's One Year Chronological Reading Plan a few weeks ago. I've also started listening to a lot of sermons on podcast. I've randomly tried to unsuccessfully do this over the past few years, but I've focused on how to carve out time in each day to accomplish this. Why, you might ask? Well, I want to fill myself up with the Word so much that what I speak about, think about, dream about is God's Word. I literally am aiming to eat, sleep, and drink truth.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not there yet; I'm not even close. I still have to make myself listen to a podcast rather than turning on fun music at work. Then, I have to make myself pay attention. I have to make myself keep up with the reading plan...and I'm really not good at that. It's a lot easier to keep pressing snooze in the morning until I run out of time to read before work...and it's really easier to turn on the TV or just keep talking to Jason until I fall asleep instead of intentionally making time to read before bed. But, I'm working at it...and as always...God's Word has not returned void - but more on that later :)

Last week I was listening to a sermon by Matt Chandler that was preached the Sunday after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. The sermon as a whole was a great hour of truth, and as I expected, it was full of emotion due to the circumstances. I didn't listen to this sermon on purpose, it was just the next "unplayed" podcast on my iPhone, but as a drove to work on a sunny almost Spring day, I believe that God opened my eyes to something.

As I drove, I started thinking about many of the tragedies that I've heard about in my life - big and small. I thought about 9/11, Columbine, and Sandy Hook. I thought about friends who have lost a parent or sibling. I thought about struggles that I know are going on around me and hardships that friends, family, and acquaintances are enduring each day. I thought about the many times that I've told people I'd be praying for their circumstance, or the times that I've gathered with a church or group to pray for nationally recognized tragedies. I asked myself, have I really prayed? In many of these situations, the answer was yes, yes I did pray. But then I believe that God forced me to go a step further and think about those individuals now - am I still praying? I teared up a little, and I muttered a reluctant "no" aloud in my car.

At almost 24 years old, I finally came to realize that prayer is an act that must be sustained. The friend who has lost a parent or sibling still misses them every day. They need prayer. The family member who struggled with depression or an eating disorder is still fighting the temptation to turn back even five years later. They need prayer. The parents of those children who fell victim to a senseless tragedy in Newtown, CT still walk by their child's room each day and experience pain in the depth of their soul. They need prayer. Twelve years later, families who lost someone on September 11, 2001 will still have an empty seat at their dining room table. They need prayer. Just because the media coverage ends or the funeral is over does not mean that prayer for that circumstance should cease - in fact, it should increase.

In Novemeber/Decemeber 2012, Brook Hills did a series on prayer.
To listen to the podcasts from this series, click here.

Our sinful, human nature causes us to forget things that don't necessarily benefit or effect us directly. We're selfish, and that causes us to focus on ourselves rather than fix our eyes upon Jesus and cry out to Him on behalf of our brothers and sisters. I urge you to change that in your life. Let us be an outward focused people who intentionally continually pray for others' circumstances. Today, before you go to bed, I challenge you to make a list of people or situations you have prayed for in the last year or the last two years. Leave that list beside your bed, and pray for those people each night. Keep adding to it - your prayers will not return void.

I've blogged to you,
Now you can blogbacktome.

"so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
    it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."

{Isaiah 55:11}

"The Lord is near to all who call on him,
    to all who call on him in truth."

{Psalm 145:18} 

Directions, Losses, and Gains

What a week it has been. I apologize that I've been so extremely random in my blogging habits lately. Things have been busy!

So... a couple of updates:

• The wedding is now 74 days away!
• Every time I sit down at home, I think of about 5 things I should be doing.
• I have no idea what I'll talk to people (or Jason)about after September 22nd.
• Pre-marital counseling is awesome. 
• I haven't lost any weight on WW, even though I've stuck to the plan 100%.
• My dress is getting about seven inches of length cut off of it as we speak.
• I need to work out my arms.
• I have a lot of new recipes that I've been trying. 
• Jason turns 26 in two weeks. 
• My dad turns 50 tomorrow.
• I feel like I'm constantly doing laundry.
• I'm okay with the fact that I'm constantly doing laundry.
• I'm learning to be comfortable in my own skin.
• I think I know what I want to be when I grow up.
• I have no clue how to be what I want to be when I grow up.
• I'm reading three books at one time.
• I'm frustrated with WW.
• I'm thankful for WW.
• I hate carbs.

I think that about sums it all up. 

Here are my latest eats:

Chicken Skillet

Normal lunch for me

Saturday morning breakfast

Chicken roll ups with Tzatziki sauce.

Chicken Skillet (adapted from Betty Crocker recipe):
Yields 4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 diced red peppers 
• 1/2 chopped red onions
• 1 can reduced sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
• 1 Old El Paso® flour tortilla for burritos (8 inch) (from 11.5-ounce package), cut into 2x1-inch strips
• 4 oz. low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese 

Directions

1. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.
2. Stir in vegetables, beans and salsa; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Sprinkle with tortilla strips and cheese. Cover and cook about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

Chicken Roll Ups (adapted from Dashing Dish recipe):
Ingredients:
for the chicken

• 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. EVOO
• 2 tbsp. water

for the Tzatziki sauce 

• 1/2 c. 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 medium cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. lemon juice  

for the pita toppings

• High fiber/low carb tortillas (or pita) 
• Reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients for the chicken in the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2. To make the sauce, start by grating the cucumber over a small bowl. Blot the excess moisture with a paper towel until dry.
3. Add the yogurt, garlic, salt, and vinegar to the grated cucumber. Whisk until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate until serving (I put mine in a medium sized mason jar and kept the excess for other meals).
4. Place one sliced chicken breast onto each tortilla or pita bread. Top each with 1/4 cup yogurt mixture, feta, and onion if desired. Roll pita over chicken, and enjoy!

A look at my "Normal Lunch":

• 2 oz. of low fat or fat free turkey w/ something on top (1/2 avocado, honey mustard, etc.)
• 1 oz. of low fat cheese
• Sugar free jello cup
• Dannon Light & Fit yogurt (or Publix fat free yogurt)
• Something green
• Fruit 

A look at my "Saturday Breakfast":

I try to keep my breakfasts small, but it really is my favorite meal of the day. On Saturdays, I try to make it special by spending time actually cooking breakfast. This usually consists of a an egg and some fruit. On a weekday morning, I usually eat a boiled egg, 4 oz. of 2% cottage cheese, or a 0% Greek yogurt.

I hope you all feel slightly more caught up on the happenings of my food world (and I guess my world in general). I'll be expanding on some of those things I listed at the beginning throughout the week. But for today, I'm done rambling.

 

	P.S. Who is team 1 "f" Jef and who is team Arie? Ready...go!

Chicken Biscuits: Not just a Chick-fil-A Thang

Most of you know how delicious a chicken biscuit from Chick-fil-A can be. They're especially good on a cold morning when you're headed to work (or school) and you just need a little pick-me-up to start out your day right.

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Well, I love those little things too. But unfortunately that's not what this post is about...

In the Sansom household, we have our own form of chicken biscuits. My mom has been making them for years and when Jason and I started dating, this was one of the first meals I made for him. They've now kind of become a staple in the soon-to-be Morales household.

So, without further a due, here is the easy-as-pie recipe -


Chicken Biscuits - Sansom Style:
Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 1/2 c. BBQ sauce (I use Sonny's Mild & Sweet because it's Jason's fav)
• 1-2 cans of Pillsbury biscuits
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
2. Dice and sautéchicken in a skillet. 
3. While the chicken is sautéing, open the can(s) of biscuits and spray a regular sized muffin pan.
4. Smash the biscuits until they're pretty flat and lay them in the muffin pan. They shouldn't fill the whole thing, but they should cover the bottom and come up about halfway around the sides. 
5. Mix in BBQ sauce with sautéed chicken.
6. Scoop about 4-5 pieces of chicken into the middle of each biscuit in the muffin pan. 
7. Put in the oven for about 7-8 minutes. 
8. Pull out of the oven and sprinkle cheese on top. Cook for another 1-3 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Jason's dinner served with a spinach salad and extra BBQ sauce on the side.

The result is delicious! It's cheap, it's easy, and it's super yummy. Jason likes his with extra extra BBQ sauce.

And would ya look who is using the Alabama game cup...
...could it be Mr. Jason Morales?

This was Jason's Facebook profile picture in 2008.

Has he crossed over? Let's hope so.

I'm sure you'll all be glad that the rambling has been left to a minimum today.

Happy Tuesday, friends!


Prayer Focus of the Day: Matthew 20:1-16 talks about the last being first. How are you serving the Kingdom of God right now? Let us pray together today that we may serve the Kingdom well while we are in our temporary home.

...and Roll Tide....

Busy Little Bee

Well, the last night and day have been super busy/productive for Jason and me.

As soon as I got home last night, I went to work making our Caribbean chicken. As promised, here's the recipe.

Caribbean Chicken:
Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken fillets
• Caribbean Jerk marinade (I used the Great Value brand)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 lime

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pour half of the marinade into a bowl or container. Submerge raw chicken breasts in the marinade for 20 minutes.
3. Place chicken breasts in a oven safe pan and pour remaining marinade over the chicken breasts. Add salt and pepper as needed.
4. Bake chicken for 30 minutes.
5. Squeeze lime over chicken and serve. 

After dinner, Jason and I headed out to small group. It was so good to be back! 

When we got home, I was so excited to make my Avocado Vanilla Soft Serve. Unfortunately, mine tasted like baby food. I'm not sure what I did wrong. If you try the recipe from Itty Bitts of Balance and you figure out the secret, please let me know!

So what does one do when her desired tasty snack doesn't work out? She goes for Arctic Zero. 

150 calories per pint. 37 calories per serving.

Arctic Zero is a wonderful substitute for those of you with a constant hankering for ice cream. 

Today, I rolled with two boiled eggs for breakfast. 

For lunch I stuck with the usual salad, turkey, nonfat yogurt. 

I partook in the newly-added coffee hour that my friends and I are starting to get a little bit too accustomed to at work. 

When I got home for work, Jason and I took a nice walk along the Lakeshore trail. It was perfect weather and so convenient since it's about 1/2 a mile from our apartment. 

For dinner, I sautéed two tilapia fillets in teriyaki sauce. 

Tilapia with yellow squash and a sliced orange. 

After dinner, Jason and I borrowed a truck and headed down to Montevallo to look at a used washer and dryer. 

About an hour later...

...we had made a purchase! Thank you Craigslist!

Today's ramblings have been quick, but it's been a long 24 hours! 

Have you been productive this week?

Prayer focus for today: Pray for our country, and for the nations in general. As many of you know, our president made a bold statement today. Many people have strong opinions on his statement. May we seek the authority of our King and his Word, rather than depend solely on a fleeting presidency and this temporary life. 

Eats and Little Treats

One of the biggest realizations that I've come to in the last week and a half is that to maintain a healthy lifestyle is that I must do my research and plan ahead!

Since I've been really bad about posting my meals over the last few days, I will go through from Sunday-Tuesday and explain what I mean by researching and planning ahead along the way.

Hopefully, at the end of this post you'll see that it's not hard to change your eating habits. I'm not eating "diet food" nor am I eating nasty cardboard stuff. I'm just following the rules and guidelines that I set up for myself and I'm not letting anyone or anything persuade me to get off that course of action. 

Sunday
Sunday I drove back to Birmingham from Destin. I know that I always get hungry on this drive, and my usual reaction is to stop about an hour and a half in and get something from McDonald's like an ice cream or a McFlurry. If I'm feeling healthier, maybe I'll just go for a smoothie. But Sunday I ate Great Value nonfat yogurt before I left Destin and packed an apple for when the hunger would strike.

By the time I got back to Birmingham, I was still not hungry, so I went on to the grocery store, and then finally made it home. I had about 20 minutes to kill before Jason got back in town, so I made myself a smoothie for lunch. It was around 1:30 or 2:00 when I did this, so the yogurt and apple really held me over.

I don't have a picture of my smoothie because I drank it too fast, but here's the recipe -

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie:
4 oz. skim milk
2 very ripe bananas
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter (creamy)
6 ice cubes (this may vary depending on the size of your ice cubes)

I really meant to drink half of the smoothie then and half before church, but I was kind of really hungry by then so I drank the whole thing. Jason and I were going to the 6:00 service at church, which means no dinner until 8:15 or so. I decided on a super filling snack to hold me over.

Nutella Yummy Oats:
1/2 c. whole wheat oats
2 tsp. Nutella
1 c. water

This will be a breakfast meal in the near future.

Stir all of this together and then put in the microwave for about two minutes. I honestly couldn't even finish this snack because I was so full. I also wasn't hungry until about 8:45 that night.

After church, Jason wanted to pick up sushi and take it back to my apartment. I decided to just make a salad when I got home.


Dinner Salad Galore:
1-2 c. spinach leaves
1/2 avocado chopped
1/4 c. fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1 slice roast beef from the deli
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Since Jason picked up food from Maki Fresh, I decided to pretend I did too and I used one of our many Maki cups for my water.

Here is my calorie count for the day:

I think the smoothie and oats snack made my calories a bit too high for the day.

Monday:
Monday was date night. Here's where the research comes in - Jason had mentioned going to Stix for dinner. I usually get the teriyaki chicken without rice and I substitute double veggies. So I looked up the nutrition facts on that meal and it was pretty decent, especially for dinner. Then, I thought about another restaurant that Jason and I like a lot that is a Mongolian grill type place. You pick your protein, veggies, seasonings, and sauce and then they cook it for you. I looked up their website to try to find the nutritional information, and guess what? They let you build your own meal online and they count the nutrition facts as you're building it.

I built my meal and recorded the nutritional information. After that, I called Jason and asked if he wanted to go there instead. He was all for it, thus I had a super healthy dinner, even though we were on a date!

No special recipes today, but here goes a "normal" day for me:


Breakfast:
1 c. skim milk
1/2 lb. watermelon
Coffee - Millstone Foglifter

Lunch:
2 oz. turkey from the deli
Great Value nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. cucumber slices
1 tsp. wasabi mustard (probably less)
25 pistachios (no salt added, also this was throughout the afternoon)

3:00 Snack:
Sliced orange

Dinner:
Genghis Grill bowl - Chicken, shrimp, yellow squash/zucchini, celery, spinach leaves, broccoli, green beans, red pepper flakes, salt, island teriyaki sauce.

This comes with a starch, but I ordered tortillas on the side and I didn't eat them.

Once we got home, I made a little snack because Jason popped some popcorn. I mixed up some fat free/sugar free chocolate pudding with skim milk. While that was gelling, I got out the Nutella (can you tell I'm a big fan?). I spooned some pudding into a bowl and put an even teaspoon of Nutella right in the middle. It was the perfect dessert for less than 200 calories.

Here's my calorie intake for Monday:

Tuesday:
Today was a little bit harder for me to research because Jason and I decided to meet for lunch about 20 minutes before we actually met. Luckily, I brought my lunch to work today, so if he picked some place that would be hard for me to eat at, I was just going to bring my lunch with me or eat after. Luckily, he chose a place where I can eat pretty decently and that has their nutritional facts online.

Breakfast:
1 c. skim milk
Oikos 0% Greek yogurt, vanilla
Coffee - Folger's Black Silk

Lunch:
Taziki's Chicken Feast with basmati rice (although I only ate about 2 bites of the rice) and a small Greek salad (but I didn't use the dressing).

Doesn't this look yummy? I even ate the tomatoes...but I still don't like them!

Dinner:
Things got tricky at dinner tonight. I've been so excited about making Mini-French Dip Sammies for Jason, but that's not something that I can eat. So before I left for work today, I pulled from my stock of frozen tilapia and left two filets out to thaw. I recently saw a recipe for "Fish Cakes" on a blog and I've been wanting to try it. Tonight seemed like as good a night as ever!

My dinner -

Fish Cake Spinach Salad (recipe adapted from the Fit Cook blog):
Ingredients

• 2 filets of white fish (tilapia)
• 1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp mustard (yellow or Dijon)
• 1 egg white
• the juice of half a lemon
• Emeril's Fish Seasoning
• salt + pepper
• 2 c. spinach leaves
• 1/2 cucumber sliced
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil** in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the red pepper, and cook until soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add another 1/2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides, and cook on each side for about 3 minutes, allowing the fish to brown (brown = more flavor). Use a spatula to break up the fish, then transfer it to the bowl with the onion and pepper.
3. Add the Greek yogurt, mustard, fish seasoning, egg white, and lemon juice to the bowl and stir with a spoon until well combined. Set bowl aside and let mixture cool.
4. Prepare spinach, cucumbers, and avocado on a large plate. 
5. Serve 1/4 to 1/2 (depending on how much you want) of the mixture on top of the salad.
6. Pour balsamic vinegar on top and it's ready to eat!

**I used nonstick cooking spray instead of EVOO.

Jason's Dinner -

Mini-French Dip Sammies (recipe from Plain Chicken blog):
Ingredients

• 1/2 pound deli roast beef, thinly sliced
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• Arby's sauce, horseradish sauce, or ranch dressing
• 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 packet Au Jus Gravy mix

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Separate crescent rolls into 8 triangles.  Spread 1/2 teaspoon Arby's sauce or ranch dressing on each crescent.  Top each crescent with 1/2 slice provolone cheese and roast beef.  Roll up crescents and place on baking sheet.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.
3. While crescents are baking, make Au Jus according to directions on packet. 

I also had the second half of my pudding/Nutella dessert tonight.

Here is my calorie count for today:

If I can live a healthier lifestyle, so can you.

Goodnight everyone!

...and until tomorrow, happy ramblings!