Chocolate Covered Strawberries

6 TBSP milk chocolate chips

1 1/2 TBSP white chocolate chips

2 cups strawberries (about 16)

2 teaspoons water

in bowl microwave milk chocolate chips and 1 tsp water for 1-1 1/2 minutes and stir until smooth, may need to add a tad more water. dip strawberries half way up to stem.

In another bowl, microwave white chocolate chips with 1 teaspoon water, stirring until smooth. may need to add more water because this should be really thin. Dip fork in white chocolate and drizzle over strawberries.

Chill and serve.

Great for Valentines.

2 cups of strawberries was about 16 or so, so according to the recipe builder, it is 1 smart point per berry.

Planning my first weightloss reward

Growing up, we lived out in the country and we had horses. We lived down an old dirt road, had a garden, played outside from sun up till sun down and we rode horses. Our first was a Shetland pony, then as my sister and I got too tall for the pony, we got a couple of quarter horses and a Tennessee walking horse. I have loved horses my whole life, but as I put on more and more weight, I was afraid I weighed too much to ride, and also it was harder and harder to get up on the horse, putting so much weight in the stirrup....in fact, the last time I remember riding was on a deacon's retreat and Bo Bradley and Robert Hemphill had to help boost me up on the horse.

Well, there is a farm near our home that has trail rides and you can rent their horses. They are beautiful. There is a weight limit to ride. I want to be well under the weight limit in case they pull out a rusty ole scale, I would die of embarrassment if I was over the limit.

Soooooo............I cannot wait until I reach that first personal goal and reward myself with going horse back riding.

Going to see Tim Hawkins tonight - Ready to LAUGH!!!!

Week 3 - 12.6 Pounds Down - Total

Yea, it was a good week!!!

Still craving sweets more than I want to admit.  I am definitely a carbohydrate addict.  I never met a cupcake I didn't like.  But keeping on keeping on.

Dallas is ready for church

Sarah laughs at me..........she is more of a jeans and camo kind of girl.  Me, when Dallas is with me, I am more of a mint green and baby blue, plaid, seersucker, white socks and cardigan kind of mimi.  He doesn't care, he just smiles.

Senior Fitness

Ok, so the picture is a tiny bit deceiving.  I DID go to the Senior Fitness class today, but I am certainly NOT flexible.  I am really not even a senior, although I do have an AARP card - from my husband of course, but I needed something a little more low impact because of my weight.

It was a really big class.  I decided to get in the front so I could see the girl teaching and the  different moves.  The problem with that is that I am very uncoordinated and out of shape, therefore, I felt very self conscious about people "looking at me".  I did have to rest every 10 minutes or so, but each person had a chair if they needed it.  After 30 minutes of aerobics, we did some stretching and weights.  It was better.  It is still hard when you are lugging all of this extra weight.  I think about it each time I bring in 2 twelve packs of diet coke from the car to the house, how much more weight am I carrying around each and every day that I can't put down???  I will never forget when Oprah lost all of that weight doing Opti-fast (my momma did it too at the same time).  She pulled a wagon out on stage full of fat to symbolize the weight she had lost.  It made an impact on me.

I did learn a couple of things..........bring water!  and it is OK to sit down if you need to, just don't stop.

Thanks for the ladies and man that came by to encourage me that even if I sit down, to not give up.....rest a couple of minutes and try again.

Week 2 - Total of 10 pounds down!!!

I was so nervous and frustrated this week. We were out of town last weekend and even though I stayed within my points, I ate alot of rich things and did not walk as much. There were days that I got really frustrated. I felt like I was STARVING, but really what I was doing was craving. I LOVE sweets! I could eat them all of the time, day - noon - and night!. I need to find some foods to help curb that sweet tooth.

Anyway, I was very proud when I had lost 3.8 pounds for a total of 10 pounds. It is amazing how that little star makes you feel.

My first goal reward is to be able to go horseback riding. I can't wait! Hopefully in February.

Fried Rice Fake Out

1 head cauliflower (chopped finely to resemble rice)

1 carrot shredded

1/2 small onion diced

1 clove garlic diced

2 TBSP peas

1/4 c. Egg Beaters

1 TBSP lite soy sauce

Pam spray

4 oz. ground turkey browned

I sprayed a large skillet with pam, sauteed onions and softened the carrots, added cauliflower and about half a cup of water to keep it from sticking.  Stir for 5-10 min until cauliflower is tender.  Mix in turkey and peas.  In a separate skillet, scramble the egg beaters,  add to cauliflower mixture.  Toss in soy sauce.

1/2 skillet is 4 Smart Points. 

Dallas 7 month pictures

This picture is so cute.........he loves to say "Hey!!!"........he got his two bottom teeth this week........we don't like it!  He is growing so much.  I want him to stay a baby just a little bit longer.  He is such a sweet boy.

Jersey Boys - Merry Christmas to me from Dwayne

Dwayne surprised me this Christmas with a whole weekend planned for us.  We are going to Jackson, Mississippi.  He made reservations at the Hilton Hotel, tickets for us to see Jersey Boys - my favorite!!!!  And dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - his favorite!!!  I can't wait.

Why can't I really look like my Bitmoji

OK.............so first of all the dang blogspot autocorrected the title to BIGmoji............what the mess?  Anyway, I wish I looked like her.........so for today I pretend.  I guess Skipper will pretend too.

Diet Coke Chicken

today I made this, they serve it in a local restaurant here and shared the recipe.

I was making it for my family so I used 2 pks of Chicken tenderloins.

Chicken tenderloins, browned

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp Worchestershire sauce

1 can diet coke

In large skillet brown chicken using Pam Olive oil spray, salt and pepper. comvine wet ingredients in a bowl and pour over chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionally, making sure when the liquid cooks out it does not stick. YUMMY!!! Sorta gives it a BBQ flavor.

Again, I counted the chicken tenders I ate and ketchup as my points. I really need to figure out the recipe builder.

Week 1 - Lost 6.2 pounds

I guess you could say I had a good first week.  I still have a long way to go, but it is one day at a time, one foot in front of the other.  This week I just focused on planning, tracking, food prep and having the right kinds of things in the house.

I was really hungry for sweets, so I ate bananas and peanut butter a few times, but they cost lots of points, so will need to use that sparingly.  I ate mini marshmallows a couple of times.  I did find that I do better if I eat more protein.

There were a couple of days that we had events....New Years dinner at Mrs. Conlees is a challenge, she is a great cook.  Then we had Christmas with daddy and marilyn.  They had BBQ and key lime pie.  One slice of Edwards key lime pie is 25 points.....needless to say I had a sliver.  I had a stressful, drama filled night once this week, and was proud that I did not turn to food.  I had a nice icy diet coke, a nice hot bath and went to bed (who cares if it was 8:30 p.m. - I did not eat).

Anyway, it is on to a new week.  This week will have its own challenges because we are going to Jackson, Mississippi to see Jersey Boys (what a sweet Christmas present).  Dwayne has made reservations at Ruth's Christ steakhouse before the theatre that night.  I gotta be ready with my weekly points.  Then keep my fingers crossed for my next weigh in.

My WW leader on Sunday's is Carrie.  She has lost over 150 pounds. She is so great.  I really think I am going to like her.

Mexican Zucchini Skillet

I made this low carb meal today.  It was YUMMY!!!!!

1 pound 93% fat free ground turkey, browned
1/2 small onion diced
1/2 envelope low sodium Taco seasoning
2 cups water
1/2 can rotel tomatoes
3-4 small zucchini diced
3-4 small yellow squash diced
salt and pepper to taste.

combine in a skillet bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.  stir frequently and add water as needed, this is very low in fat and burned easily. I cooked it until tender and all of the water has evaporated.

makes 4 servings, 4 smart points each serving.

Dallas daycare pictures

Hunter's 4 year old School Picture

Weight Watchers Garden Veggie Soup - "Free points"

This is not your momma's WW cabbage soup.

1 small onion chopped

2 small carrots chopped

saute with Pam Olive Oil spray

1 large chicken stock

1 cauliflower chopped

1 broccoli chopped

3 yellow squash diced

3 zucchini diced

1/2 bag of cabbage slaw mix

1 can rotel (I accidentally got chili rotel - it was quite yummy)

I did not put salt or pepper due to the chili seasoning in the rotel tomatos

1/2 can tomato paste

green beans

Bring to a boil and simmer for an hour or so until tender.

This is no points on weight watchers. 

Roasted Brussell Sprouts

Great way to make brussell sprouts.....cut in half, spread out on cookie sheet, spray with Pam Olive Oil, kosher salt, a dash of balsamic vinegar, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.

Bake 400 degrees for 20 minutes or so.....larger sprouts may take a bit longer.  

I joined Weight Watchers today

Well, today is the day that I have been planning for a few weeks now.  I wanted to get through Christmas, but get started before New years.  This has been a long time coming and I hope and pray that THIS will be the time that I can lose weight and keep it off.  

I need to be able to walk down the stairs to a delivery and not be short of breath.  I need to be able to chase 3 little grandsons without getting so exhausted.  I want to beat diabetes and hypertension before I get them.  I have been lucky so far, but I know that time will only tell before I get the diagnosis of these things that are very common in obesity.

I follow Stasia on Instagram and Facebook.  She is a hilarious lady who had a lot of weight to lose.  She is still on her journey, but it is cool to see her go through ups and downs because she is a real person.  She posted this picture 29 weeks ago...............I loved it.......it stuck with me.

Do I wish I had started 29 weeks ago.....maybe.  Is there anything I can do about it??  no.  So............I started today.  We shall see where this journey takes me.

Sarah, Noah, Hunter and Dallas' Guardian Angels were working overtime on Christmas Day

Sarah and the boys were leaving our house heading to Oakland on Ellis Road at Brunswick, when she stopped at what she thought was a 4 way stop............it was a 2 way stop....Brunswick did not have to stop, so she got hit by a car on Hunter's side.  We went down there to check on them and wait for the police, Hunter's door was jammed, but Dwayne got it opened.  Thankfully it was a little car that hit low on the door, had it been a truck that had hit just a foot higher on the door, it could have been really bad....especially for Hunter.  I know their guardian angels were watching out for them today.  The boys were not too shaken up by it, although Sarah was for sure.  They had a new movie in the DVD player and were watching TV till the police came.  one guy took the wreck information and wrote Sarah a ticket and the other one was talking to the boys and wrote them each a warning ticket too.

It really brings it all back to reality.  Material possessions and money are just stuff.  What is important is our family.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy spending time with your loved ones.

Love Kay and family