May 2013 - Week 1 Back Again

Our first week back again on plan ended last Tuesday and has yielded some nice results:

Me - lost 6 pounds

Brent - lost 10 pounds

Not too shabby!  Our scale has since broke and so we need to buy a new scale before our next weigh in.

I made me some yummy knox blox!!  (strawberry, banana, blueberry AND Peach Mango)

Last Saturday was a beautiful day and we went to the park as a family and enjoyed playing catch with the baseball and football, and just hanging out.  It's not easy getting everyone together now that our kids are older and my oldest has a job, so it was way nice.

Can't wait for long bike rides and hikes and summer fun.  I hope my knee will cooperate!  I'm having a hard time staying positive in my mind lately.  It's such a battle!!  But every day I am looking for all the positive in my life and expressing my thanks to my Heavenly Father.

One of my neighbors and friends just lost her husband less than two weeks ago.  My heart is so broken for her.  They were high school sweethearts like me and Brent.  I know how hard it's been suffering the loss of my parents, I can't imagine the pain from losing your best friend & husband.  I've been thinking and praying for her everyday.  

There is already enough sorrow in this life.  I know we need to celebrate LIFE and all that is GOOD!  There is also SO MUCH GOOD!  So many people who help others and serve and bear each others' burdens'.  There are so many good people on this earth, it's easy to get caught up in the negative.

But I don't want to waste my time.  I am trying to look forward with faith to all that is ahead of me for myself and my family!  This week I'm thankful for the sunshine, the health of my family, cars that are currently working, a friend I haven't seen for a long time who stopped by for a visit, my sons working on a project together, my daughters going to Morp this weekend, and me and my hubs going to see Iron Man 3 tonight.

Woo Hoo!!!

We are ON PLAN and DRINKING the H2O.  

Life is GOOD!!

XoxO ~Margene

KNOX BLOX Queen

That's me!  I love the stuff!  I really wish I could mass market these little delights!

Here is my set up in making my next couple batches.  Above I have my ingredients ready to make my Strawberry/Banana/Coconut  (I am a sucker for coconut) and peach/Mango/Pineapple (a favorite of my daughters).  I have my syups and flavorings, sugar free jello, knox unflavored gelatin.

The recipe is simple:

* 6 cups boiling water (if you use sf syrup just minus the amount from the water like 5 cups water + 1 cup sf syrup)
* 6 packets knox gelatin
* 2 big boxes (or 4 smaller boxes) sf jello

Mix together thoroughly - pour into brownie dish and refrigerate for several hours.  Cut up and put into little snack baggies if you want.  It's about 40 calories per little baggie.

A big hit with my son and his friend who could NOT stop eating my Lime/Banana/Coconut blox.  

I love having these low calories, tasty little treats around!

Also, I don't know what it is means, but I just love making kabobs!  I didn't ever have them growing up so it's like a special thing.  

 This was our dinner tonight for just  our family.  

I know, I know... I made enough for an ARMY!!  (lots of yummy left overs)

These are BBQ Teriyaki Pork Kabobs which I made early on in week 12 of my journey and posted about them as well.  I don't have a BBQ grill anymore so I just baked them in my oven.   I had these pork pieces marinating for 24 hours and skewered them today.  I was loving them.  My kids liked them.  I love the sauce for dipping as well.  Yum!

Here's another quick lean and green I did a couple nights ago.  

I just sauteed my zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes with some Mrs. Dash tomato basil seasoning and added my shrimp.  I love that added flavor of the tomatoes.  For Brent, I made his standard salad with a sprinkle of low fat cheese & Walden Farms Ranch dressing and his 3 Morning Star sausage patties.  He loves those patties!

In the next couple days I will be hosting my FIRST GIVEAWAY!  I'm excited.  Some lucky winner will win some exciting Scrapbooking software.  What a way to perserve all those memories and pictures.

Life is Good!!  XOXO ~Margene

For the first time...

I made knox blox here in my new house in Utah.  Yay.  I guess that really solidify’s our move; I’ve made my mainstay snack.  Not only that, but there was a women’s church activity last night and I took my knox blox as one of the desserts.  I had peach/banana flavor and raspberry/huckleberry flavor.  They were enjoyed.  My first social function and it wasn’t too bad.  I was mostly by myself smiling at everyone but I did meet a lady who has done a triathlon and who goes running 3x a week.  Bingo!  Possible running partner.  She also goes about 3 miles which is about what I’m at so that might work out good.  I am a little bummed that I can’t find any group that plays basketball.  I am really gonna miss that!!

Yesterday I went running again in the morning.  This time I took some Advil before running and said several prayers that my knee would last a little longer.  I was able to run for 35 minutes!!  My knee was strained but not too bad.  Although, my leg muscles are very sore today, I’m glad I went again. 

My daughter and I went for a bike ride last night again.  I showed her the cool trails that we had discovered the night before.  I think I got her hooked because she kept wanting to go over a series of small dirt hills all rolled together.  Wickedly fun.  She said “Wow, mom, we’re so dangerous!”  It was so fun and the evening air was cool and great smelling!  We rode clear to the foot of one of the mountains and looked back for a great view of the homes in the valley.  

Food wise, I haven’t been keeping strict tract of myself but I have been generally working on eating lots of fruits and veggies.  For snacks I am loving cashews, fresh pineapple, red peppers, celery, bananas and beef jerky.  I am excited to be making some great overall changes to my family’s eating habits.  There is still lots of room for improvement.  We make lots of salads.  I hope to have a garden next year.  


And next on the horizon is getting 1 or 2 kittens!!!  Then in a month or two, we want to get 1 or 2 miniature dachshunds!  How cool is that gonna be!!  We have waited YEARS to get pets.  And who knows... maybe we'll eventually get chickens and goats and who knows what else?

I hope you are having a great on-plan day, making healthy choices and being kind to yourself and those around you.  You are worth it!  Life is good!