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Monday, July 30, 2012

I'm Detoxing

My hubby and I just spent last weekend at a Masonic function.  It's a group that we get together with every four months or so.  We have a group of about eight that we really enjoy spending time with while at these events.  I got to wear a nice dress and the hubs wore a tuxedo so it was fun just seeing ourselves all spiffied up for once!

We ate and drank a lot of good stuff so I thought I'd try a detox that I'd read about on It Sux To Be Fat.  I love that blog and she has great recipes for sweets, which call me like crazy!

Here's the recipe she had on her site.  I just went to Wal-mart and bought the ingredients, which were super inexpensive and easy to find. 

Arden’s Garden 2 Day Detox
Yield: 2 Gallons
Serving Size: 8 oz
Ingredients
  • 48 oz fresh grapefruit juice
  • 32 oz fresh orange juice
  • 16 oz fresh lemon juice
  • 160 oz quality steam-distilled water
  • Empty 1 gal. jug for mixing
  • Funnel (optional)
Directions
  1. Mix together for each gallon (128 oz): 24 oz. fresh grapefruit juice, 16 oz. fresh orange juice, 8 oz. fresh lemon juice and 80 oz. distilled water.
  2. Drink 8 oz. every hour until the total 128 oz. have been consumed – and that is it! No food.
I'm on Hour 5 - It's 1pm right now and I started at about 8:30am.  My stomach has been growling quite a bit in the last hour but it's really not unbearable.  I actually like the juice.  It's not very sweet and pretty tart, but tasty. 

We'll see how I do tonight, which is my snacking time.  Night time boredom kills me! 

A friend of mine told me to also get the book, The Healing Code.  She's lost about 30 pounds just going through the mediations in the book.  I'm thinking about downloading it on my phone, but I'm cheap and it's $12.  I'll be ticked if I don't read it and could have bought something with that money instead.

I must really need to lose weight because I'm passing up a Masonic dinner tonight with Italian Beef sandwiches shipped from Chicago.  I love those things. 

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole and A 3 Year Anniversary

Yesterday I tried the best recipe.
 I mean awesome, finger licking good recipe. It's the ultimate in comfort food - I found it on the Tastebook website from a lady named Kristin. http://www.tastebook.com/recipes/1881796-Chicken-Crescent-Roll-Casserole

It's super rich and filling and would be perfect on a cold winter day!  But summer works too! Trust me!


Cheesy Chicken Crescent Roll Casserole
2 (8 ounce) cans Pillsbury Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1 (10 3/4 ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese or swiss cheese (or any cheese of choice)
1/2 cup 18% table cream (or use whipping cream)

FILLING 4 ounces cream cheese (very soft)
4 tablespoons butter (very soft but not melted)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped (can use green onions)
2 large cooked chicken breasts, finely chopped (or use about 2 cups, can use cooked turkey)
1/2-3/4 cup finely grated cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (or use 1/2 teaspoon white salt or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper (or to taste)
2-4 tablespoons mayonnaise or whipping cream
1-2 cup grated cheddar cheese (for topping)

directions

1. Set oven to 350°F.
2. Butter a casserole dish (any size to hold crescent rolls).
3. In a saucepan, mix half and half cream, 3/4 cup grated cheese (can use more cheese if desired) and undiluted chicken soup (can season with black pepper if desired).
4. Heat just until the cheese melts (do not boil).
5. For the filling --- (make certain that the cream cheese and butter are very soft) in a bowl, mix the soft cream cheese with butter until very smooth, then add in garlic powder (if using).
6. Add in the chopped chicken, onion and cheddar cheese; mix well until combined.
7. Add in 2 tablespoons whipping cream or mayonnaise; mix to combine (add in a little more if the mixture seems too dry).
8. Season with seasoned salt or white and black pepper to taste.
9. Unroll the crescent rolls.
10. Place 1 heaping tablespoon chicken mixture (or a little more) on top of each crescent triangle, then roll up starting at the thicker end.
11. Drizzle a small amount of soup mixture on the bottom of the dish.
12. Then place the crescent rolls seam-side down on top of the creamed mixture in the casserole.
13. Drizzle the remaining sauce on top (you don’t have to use the full amount of cream sauce, just use as much as desired) and sprinkle with 1 cup (or more) grated cheese, or amount desired.
14. Bake for about 30 minutes.


I made some ratatouille also.  My neighbor brought by some zucchini, yellow squash, onions and a bunch of tomatoes.  I just sauteed it all together with some olive oil and italian spices and ate it for lunch everyday last week.  You can't get healthier than sauteed veggies for lunch!
Notice my beautiful Paula Deen saute pan has been bent.  That's what happens when you drop it on the tile floor after hand washing it.  Ugh.   I could have died!  I just got that pan for Christmas too.

It still works, it's just not pretty anymore.


July 11th was our 3 year wedding anniversary.  We all went to Lone Star steakhouse, our favorite.  The boys went with us because, as they said, they got married that day too!  Ha!  They just didn't want to miss out on some yummy steak to eat!

We don't do huge things for our anniversary typically.  We're the type that we tend to celebrate everyday so we don't really feel the need to make a big to-do about it.  Maybe on a big year like 5, we'll go on a honeymoon finally-haha!


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

4th of July Fun

We had the best fourth of July this year. We invited a bunch of friends over and had a lot of family over, including my mom, who needed to get of the house. She had a terrific time watching the boys shoot their fireworks.

We kept the menu simple this year, only grilling hot dogs and hamburgers. I also made shish-k-bobs with a white wine and herb marinade that were out of this world. We has two kinds of potato salad, coleslaw, chips and six different pies. Our friend Marilyn made sangria that was so good. I'm becoming a big fan of sangria. It's so refreshing but can also be very dangerous since I can't taste the alcohol in it.

We live in the best spot for our towns fireworks display. We live right next to the airport where they shoot off fireworks, our house is literally 400 yards from the airport and the fireworks go off right over our house. It's the best seat in town and our front yard is facing the perfect way to see them. We set up canopies so it's not too hot when we first go outside and the suns still up. It's perfect!

We always have such a fun time when we have all of our family and friends over. It's still funny to me that we live in such a small town that every parent and sibling my husband has lives within three miles of us. Isn't that the cutest thing?!

The boys loved their fireworks this year. They've finally reached the age that I let them light their own fireworks. They are very safe when doing it. They know I'm a complete freak about safety and fire. They actually had one firework that their uncle bought them and I swear it was like an atomic bomb went off in front of the house. So loud!

My youngest thought it was funny to punt the sparkler and watch it fly across the street. I guess boys will be boys!