Happy Friday!
I am so grateful Fridays (and weekends!) come once a week. They are just so wonderful.
We’ve had a crazy, hectic, exhausting week so I’m looking forward to relaxing a bit this weekend. 😉
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First off, we’ve been passin’ the flu bug around at our house. Lovely.
I was just thinkin’ the other day about how grateful I was that none of us had been sick in quite a while. Then yesterday, my two littlest kiddos got very sick. I was up all night helping both of them and now my daughter looks to be next one on the chopping block. 🙁 I lovingly sang “Another One Bites the Dust” to her this morning.
She wasn’t amused.
Needless to say, I’m very exhausted and worn out. I’m grateful I’m not sick though.
And, I’m grateful it’s Friday. 😉
Oh, and this little cutie started kindergarten this week…
He’s getting too giant way too fast. He’s also a huge super hero fan! Check out his darling backpack…
Love it. This poor little guy already had to miss a day of school this week because he was sick though. 🙁
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I got a random email the other day I thought I would share. It was from Women’s Health and it featured this chick…
I actually gasped when I saw her. She is very beautiful and I’m sure she’s a nice person, but MAN she’s super duper thin! She’s border-line emaciated, IMO. Anyway, I also thought it was interesting that the article mentions “building toned muscles” right under her picture too.
Really??!
Weird. That’s all I’m going to say ’bout that.
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Sooooo, I went to a wonderful class at the gym last night. It was a great all over body workout with some blasts of cardio mixed in. Loved it. Our wonderful instructor said it was “Leg Day” and she just about killed my entire lower body. Awesome.
This morning I decided to head over to the gym to get a quick upper body workout in. Quick side note: My Fridays are so crazy. Here’s a brief rundown…
- Drive my son to Elementary school at 8:45
- My Junior High kids go to school at 9:50 on Fridays
- Take my kindergartener to school at 11:40
- Pick up the Elementary kids at 1:40 (Early out day)
- The Junior High kids get out at 2:50, but I make them walk home. 🙂
Ya, it’s a little bit annoying.
Anyway, I decided to take advantage of one of those small windows of time and head to the gym before my big kids had to go to school. It was great. I only had about 35-40 minutes, but I still got a great workout in.
Here’s what I did this morning (I followed the Body for Life format; 5 sets: 12, 10, 8, 6, 24 reps increasing the weight each time and then ending with 24 reps of light weight):
- Lat Pulldown
- Incline Chest Press
- Seated Cable Rows
- Lateral Raises
- Bicep Curls (Dumbbells)
- Dumbbell Flyes
- Skull Crushers (Barbell)
- Cable Tricep Extension (Rope Attachment)
It was great.
When I got home, I finished my workout with 3 sets of 15 pushups. I then made myself a yummy Strawberry Protein Shake (sans the vanilla pudding mix) and it was great.
Speaking of yummy food, I’ve pretty much been having the same general foods most days. I’ve been having scrambled eggs (1 egg + 4 egg whites) with toast for breakfast, leftovers (chicken, broccoli and brown rice) for lunch, random dinners and a protein shake or protein pudding in the evening.
Today, I was out of chicken so I had some leftover broccoli, brown rice and egg whites for lunch. I topped everything with a little soy sauce and it was pretty good.
Oh, and I have to tell you guys something funny. I’ve been keeping the leftover broccoli in this leftover cookie dough container…
I laugh every time one of my kids opens the fridge and excitedly opens this cookie dough container…only to find broccoli. Hee hee. I’m so mean.
I’ve also been loving this snack lately…
3/4 cup low fat cottage cheese with a fresh peach. This is so good! I look forward to it every day. Yum.
I also made a yummy dinner the other night I thought I would share. I made this dinner for one of my friends who just had a baby. It’s not super healthy, but it’s not too bad either. It’s a wonderful comfort food and very kid friendly though.
A friend of mine made this for me 10 years ago after I had one of my babies and it tasted so good to me. It has since become my “go to” meal whenever I bring a meal to someone.
Chicken and Potato Casserole
- 8-10 potatoes; peeled and cubed
- 3-4 chicken breasts; cooked and shredded
- garlic salt, black pepper to taste
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use my cream of chicken substitute recipe)
- 1 (8 ounce) sour cream (I used light)
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/3 cup onion; chopped
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Boil potatoes until fork tender (~20 minutes.)
Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Put potatoes and chicken into pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper to taste (can also add any other spices you like!)
In a large pot, combine cream of chicken, sour cream, milk and chopped onion. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Pour on top of chicken and potatoes. Mix the sauce in until it’s fully combined with the chicken and potatoes.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Remove foil, top with cheese (optional) and bake an additional 15 minutes, uncovered.
Enjoy!
I also made a batch of the BEST rolls on the planet to go with it….
I also included a salad and some brownies.
Oh and I brought this over to my friend earlier in the day, so I didn’t cook the casserole. I just wrote the directions on the top of the foil. I of course covered the salad and brownies before I brought them to her too.
Ya, I know it’s not healthy. But when you’re a new, sleep deprived mom there is nothing better than warm comfort food, yummy rolls and a gooey brownies!
Oh, and I really wanted to sneak a small crumb of a brownie, but I didn’t! Not even one little lick. Yay.
I made this exact dinner for my family too. I put our casserole in the oven on a timer while I ran to the gym. When I got home, I was starving and it was so nice to have this casserole ready to eat.
I only had a little bit of the casserole, but I had a small problem with the rolls. I ended up eating 2…okay 3, rolls with it! Auughh. They are just too dang good.
That’s the first “illegal” thing I’ve had since starting Body for Life. I think the exhaustion and sleep deprivation caught up with me and I found some comfort in the carbs. 😉 Yum.
Well, that’s all for now folks! I hope you all have a great weekend!
- Serves: 12
- Serving size: 1/12 of the recipe
- Calories: 247
- Fat: 5.5
- Carbohydrates: 32
- Sugar: 4
- Sodium: 255
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 16
- Cholesterol: 40
- 8-10 potatoes; peeled and cubed
- 3-4 chicken breasts; cooked and shredded
- garlic salt, black pepper to taste
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup (I use my cream of chicken substitute recipe)
- 1 (8 ounce) sour cream (I used light)
- ½ cup milk
- ⅓ cup onion; chopped
- shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
- Boil potatoes until fork tender (~20 minutes.)
- Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Put potatoes and chicken into pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper to taste (can also add any other spices you like!)
- In a large pot, combine cream of chicken, sour cream, milk and chopped onion. Heat on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until heated through.
- Pour on top of chicken and potatoes.
- Mix the sauce in until it’s fully combined with the chicken and potatoes.
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Remove foil, top with cheese (optional) and bake an additional 15 minutes, uncovered.
- Enjoy!
Your son looks so cute and ready for school. I love to greet all the little eager kindergarten children with shiny new backpacks and clothes. Hope they feel better soon. That model is paper thin. I definitely do not picture her when I think of toned muscles.
Thanks so much! I love all the new school clothes and things too. I couldn’t believe it when I saw that model either. Yikes!
Your little guy is so cute! I do agree, that model is crazy thin. Not a very good role model.
Thanks so much. I know, that model is crazy! 😉