Chicken and Dumplings

 This is the recipe I always use. I had never made chicken and dumplings before, and when I was a kid, I did not like chicken and dumplings... So when someone at home requested it, I chose this recipe. Everyone liked it, so I have stuck with it. Why change a good thing? Its pretty easy and really cheap to make.

 3-4 pound chicken, whole
 1 gallon of water
 1tsp poultry seasoning
 1tsp garlic powder
 1/2 tsp pepper
 2 celery ribs, chopped
 4 green onions, chopped
 1 carrot, shredded (or chopped)
 6 chicken bullion cubes

 **dumplings**
 3 cups flour
 2tsp b. powder
 1 tsp  poultry seasons
 1/2 cup butter flavor crisco
 1 egg
 2 c. chicken stock (that has had time to cool)

 What I do.

 In the morning, start your chicken and the other stuff in your crock pot. Let it cook on high 3-4 hours low 5-7 hours until chicken is done.

 Remove chicken and let it cool off. Remove meat from bones as best you can. Place meat in the fridge. Remove 2 cups of chicken stock. Add bones and meat on them back into crock and cook additional hour or 2.

 Once your broth has simmered, remove all bones. I do this by straining the stock into a collinder with a bowl under it. Put broth into a pan and bring up to a boil. Add your chicken, cut up into chunks.

 Meanwhile make dumplings by mixing flour, b powder, seasons and butter until its a cornmeal consistency. Once its there, add your egg and cool broth. Mix into a dough ball. Adding flour if needed. Roll dough out to about 1/8 inch thick and cut into small squares (I do this with a pizza cutter)

 Plop several dumplings into boiling water at a time, stiring well to make sure they do not stick together.

 continue to simmer for about 10-15 min after all dumplings have been added. Serve hot. YUM YUM

A salmon cake by another name... Makes kids want to eat it!

 This was a new recipe a few times ago. The first time I made them, the kids asked "whats for dinner" When I said Salmon cakes, I seen noses immediately turning upwards.... Oh Change of plans... I announced. I am making "CRABBY PATTIES" Suddenly the kids were interested, and ready to try my new recipe!

 For those of you without children, or cable, or both. Crabby Patties are made on sponge bob. They are a secret recipe no one knows but Mr. Krabs, and I somehow got the recipe!!! I am super mom after all. So if you would like to be super mom as well, you can borrow my recipe and my name, and see what your kids think. Or you can even just make them for yourself, and then, you can call them salmon cakes.

 What you will need:

 2 cans of salmon (I like to take as much skin and bones out as possible even though I have heard its edible)
 1/2 cup of oats
 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
 1TBS Dill
 1TBS cilantro
 1TBS green onions
 Salt and pepper to taste of course.

 Mix this together until it makes a texture similar to tuna salad.

 Get your skillet oiled up and nice and hot. I like to use an ice cream scoop as my size for my patty's. Although the original recipe states that it makes 6, I can get about 12-14 using a normal size ice cream scoop. I find them easier to deal with this way as well.

 Take your ice cream scoop of Crabby Patty and form into a "patty" like you would a hamburger. Place into your hot skillet and let cook until side is crispy. Flip and then let the other side cook until crispy. Usually this takes about 3-4 min. On each side.

 The kids like them just served up on the plate with some tartar sauce. They are also good on a bun. They make good leftovers as well, so don't be afraid to make a few extra!

A 2 day streak!

So far I am all on it baby. Monday I started out strong. Well not STRONG but I ate well and worked out. Drank 48oz of water.

 Today same scenario. worked, worked out, ate well. Well I did have home made macaroni and cheese, but I have a very small serving and did not over stuff myself. In fact honestly I would have rather had box mac and cheese than the home made stuff. I just like it better. Go figure.

 I hope to keep my momentum up all week. Oddly enough I showed a loss on the gym scale today. Not sure if that was a fluke or what, but I'll take it. I cannot wait to see and feel a difference, which is what I am really going for.

Gym Bound!

 Wow I am quite the slacker. I started this blog thinking it would motivate me and in turn possibly motivate someone else some day... So far all it has proven is that I want to do this, but never do. Where is that get up and go I had before? I get discouraged because I see no results but deep down I KNOW that I have not worked long enough or hard enough to see any results so getting discouraged is stupid.

 So Monday is tomorrow. I love Mondays a fresh new start a new week and I always feel like I can "start over" this day. Then when I screw up Tuesday I think.... I will start over Monday and fuck my whole week. NO more of that. I am human and I will mess up but I will NOT wait a week to "start over" after messing up. Right back on that track girl... No waiting. NO tomorrow, no next week. NOW.

 My goal is to hit the gym right after work each weekday do whatever for however long, just HIT THE GYM.

 Eating smaller portions and try to stay away from the sugary empty carbs, if I "need something" I will have ONE serving of it. Not 20. Drink my water, and just try to feel better about who I am and realize what I can become with some work.

Gym Today!

Went with my oldest daughter. We worked out a total of 66 min. Felt good, but I am sore, already. I am still loving the woman's gym. This evening when its usually really busy upstairs there were only four other ladies in the gym with us. Very nice.


 Destiny says she 'd like to do Zumba next time... I think I might be scared! I want to try it but not alone so this is awesome!!! :)

 Eating has been pretty good today. I ate a bit too much macaroni salad at work, and ate out dinner but chose subway (6g fat sub) So it could have been better, but it could have been so much worse.

Joined the lady's only gym

 In my gym. My co-worker has had the membership for a while and likes it, but last month they had a special where you could add anything to your membership for half the regular cost. So I did. Ladies gym here I come!

 I went today and let me just say I.LOVE.IT.

 The TV's are NOT on sports. There is a bathroom in there WITH a scale. There is a tanning bed in there WITH a lock on the door. There are lockers in there. A couch. Weight machines, free weights, cardio equipment, mirrors... Add that to the fact that there is hardly anyone in there, and it is my new favorite place to be! ;o)

 On my way into the gym today I saw a regular customer from work (buffy customer) He said to me "you should come earlier, we could work out together!" heh. yeah. Cus I am on the same level as that! :)

 Anyway I worked out for 30 min today. I was kind of all over the place trying to check everything out. They have some nifty machine in there called the wave. I really like it. Tomorrow if I have time to go I want to do the weight machines.

 On the bad side, I weighed myself, clothes and shoes on and I got a read out of 175.0 I guess that is not horrible, compared to where I was, at home clothes off before my scale broke, but even so... blah. Onward and downward!

Keeping Up

 Life has somehow found a way to get in the way again. BUT this time, although I have not hit the gym, I have been keeping within my calories.... I found this awesome new site I like the best of any I have tried http://www.livestrong.com/myplate/ You can get it to tell you how many calories you should have a day, and then add in your foods, water intake, and even workouts and calories burned! I like it a lot. So all week long I have stayed within my calorie range. JUST barely a few days... but under none the less!

 I signed up for the womans only part of my gym. I will go tomorrow and try it out. I hope i love it. I have a co worker that has the membership and she loves it, so I am sure I will too.

 Other than that I have just been plodding along. My scale is broken so I cannot weigh in, which might not be a bad thing as I obsess, and its not really about the scale, its about how I feel and how my pants fit! So far so good, but this week I really hope to get both things going, eating right and working out!