Olive Garden Strikes Again...

Ready for a good laugh? Less than 24 hours after I posted my last post I was planning my next restaurant meal! I have to throw in that is was for a celebration, and not just because we didn't want to clean up dirty dishes. Why, oh why, didn't I remember to put Celebrations on the exception list?

Anyway, we packed the kids in the car and drove off into the darkness. This is how it went:

Salad - 2 plates @ 350 calories each = 700 (Oh man this already looks bad...)
Breadsticks - 3 @ 150 calories each = 450 (I should just stop tallying this up now...)
Peach tea - 1 glass @ 170 each = 170 (Oops what happened to the water?)
Stuffed chicken Marsala w/ garlic parmesan mash - 1/2 dish = 400 (Thankfully no dessert.)

For a grand total of 1720 calories. 

SERIOUSLY??? IN ONE MEAL???

At this point, I'm coming to a couple of realizations:

1. I shouldn't eat ANYTHING until I look it up on My Fitness Pal app. (iPhone users, free from the app store and claims to have access to the largest food database out there. So far there hasn't been anything I couldn't find the calorie count for.) 
2. It's beginning to feel like the smack in the face I felt after tracking my spending down to the $1 when we started the Dave Ramsey plan... except this is more like slamming 100 mph into a brick wall. It really hurts... 

So, after failing miserably yesterday I've continued the trend thus far today. I'm just going to be happy it's the weekend and start over on Monday! It's Friday and the weather feels like summer in the middle of January. Opportunities have presented themselves, hence the celebratory dinner. God is gracious!

Oh, contemplating dinner... I'm deciding on whether to eat bread and water or order chinese takeout...

I may have to go for that hypnotherapy after all...

Eat This... Not That...

Ok, so you remember when I posted about not wanting to resist those delicious Girl Scout Cookies? (Click HERE to refresh your memory.) 

Yes, yes, I know... it comes down to will power. Why is it when I can be SO stubborn about other things, I can't resist FOOD! It's ridiculous how quickly my resolve melts away when I see, or smell, or even THINK about something scrumptious! Downright shameful even...

So I'm launching on a new adventure... well ok, not entirely NEW. Maybe rediscovered? Well, maybe not even that because I'm pretty sure this is on my list of 2012 New Years Resolutions.

Whatever you want to call it... I'm changing something, and that something is... FOOD. Not changing food itself, just what I eat. Maybe not even WHAT I eat... but how MUCH I eat. 

I want to train my eyes, and my nose, and my everything else... to have a smaller appetite, if that's possible. You know this food-addiction is ingrained in my DNA so this is going to be hard, but I have you to cheer me on, right? And if all else fails I'll go get hypnotherapy or something...

Anyway, if I see this... 

I'll eat this instead...

Yes, that picture up there is HOMEMADE lasagna and the one below that is avocado & tomato salad... and YES, that day I ate very large servings of BOTH! 

Case in point... why I want to try this new eating-slash-portion-control-slash-experiment.

Drumroll please... 

"Rules" of new experiment:

1. Choose the healthier option, if available.
2. Eat half of what my eyes and brain are telling me to eat.
3. Drink more water and less everything else: cokes, tea, juice, etc. This is a big one because I hate plain water, YUCK-O.
4. Last but not least: No eating in front of the TV so I can keep track of how much consumption is going on...

"Exceptions" to rules of new experiment:

1. I will eat what hubby makes for dinner... no matter what it is. This is where portion control comes in.
2. I will not totally cut out guilty indulgences... because if I do, I'll wind up obsessing about them all day, and all night, and all week, and all month... and... you get the point.

And if this works for a week or two, I'll think about adding more "rules". 

Come on guys... Let's do this...

Happy Birthday to Me

One more year into my thirties...

Am I sad? No.

Depressed? Nope.

In fact, I had a wonderful birthday weekend! Good food and great company, what could be better than that? 

Sure, I'm another year older... but blessed to be alive! 

Definitely a few pounds heavier... but blessed to have food to eat! 

I certainly have less energy... but blessed to have kids to chase after!

So to those who despair on their birthdays... it's just another day! A great excuse to eat great food and CAKE! (Psst... calories don't count on your birthday.) Time to hang out with people you love, and talk to loved ones who live far away. A day to rejoice... not cry! Look around inside yourself, bring out your inner child, pretend you were the only person born that day, and most of all, be JOYFUL on your birthday!

It's YOUR day!

I've been blessed by yet another year and another chance to make it count... Bring it on!

Techno-Geek Style Coffee Mug

My inner nerd just loves this coffee cup! It doesn't keep your coffee scalding hot but it doesn't let it get cold either.

Fabulous Christmas gift from my sister in law, who did try to keep it cute and stylish with the red detail. :) Thanks a million, I love it.

P.S. I'm sure deep down inside every techno geek at the office secretly wants one!

Irish Chicken & Dumplings

Warning! This recipe probably violates all diet calorie recommendations

...but it is sooooo YUMMY!!

Ingredients

• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 3 cans condensed chicken broth
• 1 can water
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 onions, quartered
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tbsp McCormick brand Grill Mates: Roasted Garlic & Herb
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 5 carrots, sliced
• 1 package frozen mixed veggies (green beans, corn, peas, & carrots)
• 1 package Grand's Buttery Tastin' biscuits

Directions

1. In large, heavy pot, combine broth, water, chicken, celery, onion, salt, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Cover and cook over low heat about 1 1/2 hours.
2. Remove chicken from pot, shred it, and return to pot.
3. Add carrots; cover and cook another 30 minutes.
4. Add frozen veggies and cook 30 minutes longer.
5. Remove biscuits from packaging and cut into large bite size chunks.
6. Heat stew to boiling.
7. Add dumplings. Drop biscuit chunks into BOILING stew. Simmer covered for 10 minutes, then uncover and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

The original recipe can be found at allrecipes.com