Here is another quick n easy one using a rice mix, it was a generic rice n sauce, chicken flavor, I pulled all the chicken from one of the rotisserie chickens at WalMart and I sauteed some onion and a can of mushrooms, added the chicken and then added all that to the already cooked rice mix (i used 2 and had some leftovers). Sorry some of these are on cheesy paper plates, but I hate doing dishes!:) This was also part of the leftovers from last nights dinner, shoulda remembered to take a pic while it was fresh and on a nice plate...lol

The Carl Junction K3 PTO is starting a weight loss challenge for anyone who would be interested.  There is going to be a weighing at the Carl Junction 2-3 building on Saturday January 29 at 9 am.  There are going to be 3 sessions and you can win prizes for most percentage lost.  It is $10 per session or $25 for all three.  I am going to be at the old CJ football field behind the 2-3 building on Tuesday and Thursday evenings starting February 1st, weather permitting at 6:30 to walk, there is a playground for your kids to play on if ya got some:).  If the weather is bad, I plan on going somewhere for Zuba I think.  This is for anyone that wants to sign up, not just for people in CJ.  Have a great day and hope to see ya for weigh in on Saturday!

This was very easy and 317 calories a little more if you serve it with a salad.  1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts chopped and browned in butter, seasoned with italian seasoning, pepper and garlic, remove chicken and saute 1 cup fresh mushroom slices and one small onion chopped in the pan juices, add 1 3/4 cup chicken broth and 1/2 cup milk, bring to boil, add a package of quick cooking alfredo pasta mix (I used Knorr alfredo with broccoli), return to boil and cook 8 minutes then return chicken and serve.

I screwed this one up! I am willing to share my failures with my successes...LOL But I will make it again and again until I get it right, maybe if you try it, it will turn out!  It tasted great, but it was ALOT darker than it is suppose to be.  I need to learn how to use the lower heat settings...lol.  Anyway, it was 4 chicken breasts seasoned with pepper and seasoned salt browned in butter along with 5 cloves minced garlic for 4 minutes, take the chicken out and add 1/2 cup chicken broth or white wine, oregano and basil, bring to boil, return chicken lower heat and cover and cook 8-9 minutes, remove chicken again, mix flour with another 1/2 cup broth or wine and mix in with the pan juices and stir til thick, serve over chicken.I made a side of wild rice mixed with sauteed mushrooms and onion (that was yummy too)  The chicken was 270 calories.  I will repost pics when I get it right!  If you get it right and like it, send me a pic to use, just in case....LOL!

Breakfast!

Russ' favorite thing I make is omelets(at least I think so).  He likes omelets with ham, onion and green pepper and I just like ham n cheese:)  I tried n tried to make the perfect omelet for years, I met a woman named Cathy Murry who gave me a secret...you have to use a small pan and a big spatula!  Before I used to call them "scrambled omelets" now, while probably still not perfect, they look more like omelets and they are always yummy! With toast and a sausage patty, a two egg omelet is still under 500 calories. Before heating the pan (good non-stick) have all your add ins chopped and ready, heat the pan with 1/2 tsp butter, beat the eggs in a bowl, when the pan is hot, saute the add ins and leave them in the pan, pour the eggs on top, season, moving a silicone spatula around the edges and swishing the egg around the pan until most the top is not soupy, then using a large spatula flip it, unless you are talented enough to flip it in the air(I'm not).  sprinkle with cheese, fold and serve.:()

shannon, you dont have to buy a whole ham, a ham steak will work and they sell them with a bone it it and they are just about the perfect size, just have to cut it up into pieces

Hey, I forgot to mention that tomorrow, I will use the leftover ham and beans to create a yummy chili, chili? with ham?  let me tell you, my mom did it for us once, and I could not believe it, but it doesnt taste like it has ham in it!  We can make lots of different meals with the left over chili and so on, so you see how the pot of beans started a real money saving adventure! Also the beans and chili are not bad on calories, use lean beef for the chili.

This is perfect to come home to on a cold day like today!  It is my recipe for ham and beans.  The night before I soaked 1 lb of dry pinto beans in twice the water in a covered bowl.  This morning around 6:30 I rinsed the beans and poured them in a large crock pot, I added 1 1/2 pounds of ham chunks, include some bones!, one large onion chopped, one can italian diced tomatoes and one can mexican style diced tomatoes, pepper to taste and of course, you see it in almost every recipe, garlic powder! I added enough water to come about 1 inch above the ham and bean mixture, cover the crockpot and set on low, by the time 5 rolled around and I made cornbread, the beans were perfect!

Ok, ok, the picture does not do this justice, it is super easy, only 5 ingredients, only takes about 45 minutes and everyone likes it and it is only 270 calories and serves 8.  It is called Green Enchilada Casserole.  1 1/2 - 2 pounds chopped browned boneless, skinless chicken breast seasoned with southwest seasoning and garlic powder, 16 oz sour cream, 16 oz salsa verde (green salsa, not the hot kind unless you really like spicy), 8 oz monterey jack cheese, shredded and 12 corn torillas.  Mix the sour cream and salsa, spray a 13x9 baking dish with Pam, dip 6 shells in the salsa mixture and place on the bottom of the dish, spread the chicken over the tortillas, dip one side of the other 6 tortillas and lay the covered side down on the chicken, spread the remaining salsa mixture over the totillas and sprinkle the cheese on top, bake 25-30 minutes at 350.

This one is not under 500 calories unless you eat a small amount, but the kids love it and it is quick and easy, which is what I look for, something that I can whip up after work and it doesn't take a long time, but tastes yummy!  Brown 2 pounds chopped boneless, skinless chicken breasts, season while browning with pepper, garlic powder and seasoned salt, melt 1 pound Velveeta in the microwave 1 min at a time, add a can of cream of chicken soup and 1 can Rotel tomatoes, mix with the browned chicken.  Either serve with tortilla chips (my favorite way) or mix with 1 pound cooked pasta (kids favorite way).

OK, I admit I am one of the most unorganized people I know at home.  This school year I decided I was going to be different!  I was going to be super mom, and super wife!  Woo Hoo! ....NOT.  But one thing I have kind of stuck to is getting with the kids after they come home, going through their papers from school and seeing what needs attention, getting them to do their homework and then getting all the things needing to go back to school the next day in their bags so that when morning  comes tomorrow I am not scrambling to get it all together. We get all this done before they get to play around for the evening.  They grumble and groan, but they go along with it.  This has made a huge difference in our mornings:)  Try it, it works!  Fridays are flexible, but it must be done by Sunday evening so you dont have the scramble problem on Monday.

We have finally decided to start having at least one family time night a week.  We picked Mondays.  We are going to order pizza and play games.  We had the first official one last Monday.  It went fairly well.  We played 2 games and we all got along fairly well.  The 5 year old lost interest about 1/2 an hour before we quit.  But that is ok, we made her stay at the table with us anyway, wuahahaha!  Try to think of something you can all do together at your house and schedule it on the calendar, and stick to it.  One of our biggest challenges was making dad and oldest son put the cell phones in a safe place on silent until our time together was over. May have pics to post next Monday:)

Money Saver

I have a family of 5.  Once upon a time I was spending over $250 a week in groceries.  I now spend half that.  How?  I started sitting down once a week and planning the next weeks meals.  Once I have the meals I make the grocery list for what I need for those meals, going through the fridge, freezer and cabinets to make sure I dont already have what is needed.  Once I have my list, I go to the store ALONE (the kids and hubby seem to add to the bill).  I try not to go hungry and I try to stick to only what is on the list, unless it is just a "too good to pass up deal". I try to add match or go to more than one store if needed for sales by checking the ads and try to use coupons to.  Dont worry if you dont feel like making what is on the list for a certain day, switch em around, just know that at the end you are stuck with what is left on the list...lol.

Kid favorite: Chicken Cordon Bleu (easy version still under 500 calories)
 Bake 8 frozen chicken cordon bleu according to the package.  For the sauce 1 can cream of chicken soup and 1 can of cream of celery soup, 3 green onions finely chopped, pepper and garlic to taste, heat it all in a small sauce pan and pour over chicken, serve with green beans and mashed potatoes.  I have made the from scratch and it is much better, but this is a good busy work night meal. For the from scratch pound out 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts to 1/8 inch thickness, roll sliced swiss cheese and shaved ham in the chicken breasts. Dip the rolls in seasoned flour, then egg/water mixture, then italian bread crumbs and bake at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes until chicken is done still use the same sauce:)

Our First Favorite under 500 calories

Italian Sausage Stew - yummy!  When we decided we wanted to start losing weight we tracked what Russ was eating and decided we would cut calories down to 500 a meal, he has since lost 25 or so pounds.  We just have looked through cookbooks and things and have been trying new things, this was the first big hit!
1 lb italian sausage browned in olive oil along with red onion, two cloves finely diced garlic, two sliced small zucchini squash , green, red and yellow pepper strips, black pepper to taste cook til onions and pepper are tender, add in 1 can diced italian tomatoes and one can garbanzo beans (drained). Cook for 20 minutes and it is done.

Here we go!

I have decided to start a blog.  Why you say?  I have no idea, I don't even know what I am going to blog about.  But I'm thinking of it as an adventure.  I will be posting some 500 calorie or less recipes with photos.  I will be posting interesting things, to me at least.  Craft ideas, family fun things, 500+ calorie recipes and whatever else comes to mind.  Hope you have fun on this journey with me:)  Learn something new and have fun, always!