Pumpkin Spice Latte

Greetings! It's been a long while since I last wrote! We had a very busy summer full of outreaches, revivals, conference and trips to visit family! Now that school has started up again and the weather is cooling off we are able to settle down a bit and I should be able to blog again!
 I was reading the yahoo news and came across an article on making a homemade pumpkin spice latte! Since fall is slowly arriving here in SoCal I am feeling anxious for the cold weather and all the fixings that go with it! Pumpkins Spice latte from starbucks are a fall must have but can be rather expensive! That coupled with the fact that we don't have a starbucks in our rather small town I couldn't pass this recipe up! I pinned it but I know that articles have a tendency of dissappearing so I wanted to add it to my blog where I know I will always be able to find it! I hope you enjoy a cup and welcome back! 

Credit: Marcy FranklinINGREDIENTS INGREDIENTS 
• ½ cup milk 
• ½ cup coffee 
• 3 tablespoons pumpkin purée 
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar (more to sweeten) 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla 
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon 
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg 
• ½ teaspoon cloves 



Credit: Flickr/ dreggorMilk to Coffee Ratio 
We recreated the PSL using nonfat milk, whole milk, and even half-and-half. You'll find that the nonfat milk won't create as much froth and bubbles as whole milk and half-and-half, but it will definitely cut back on the calories and fat. 

For our PSL, we used a 1:1 ratio of milk to coffee; if you like more a milkier, pumpkin-y taste to your coffee, feel free to add more or less milk. Either way, it's best to use a strongly brewed cup of joe for your PSL - otherwise, you might as well be drinking a steamer. 


Credit: Marcy FranklinPumpkin Purée 
It wouldnt be a Pumpkin Spice Latte without it, right? 










Credit: Marcy FranklinSweetener 
For a lower-cal sweetener, we went with light agave nectar to sweeten our drink; and no drink would be complete without a splash of vanilla. 








Credit: Marcy FranklinSpices 
Averie of Averie Cooks explains what pumpkin pie spice really is: a mix of "warming spices," like cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom.Lori Lange of Recipe Girl recommends ginger and allspice in her mix. For ours, we used cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves for a spicy kick. 





Credit: Marcy FranklinDirections 
Add pumpkin purée, milk, and agave nectar to a small pot over medium heat and whisk quickly for about 5 minutes. Add in pumpkin pie spices and vanilla, and continue to whisk. Your spices may not totally dissolve into the milk; if you prefer a smoother texture, use less of the spices, or add it them at the end. 

If you have less time on your hands, Recipe Girl recommends putting your concoction in the microwave for bubbling, frothy milk in less than 2 minutes. If you want to get really fancy, Averie of Averie Cooks puts her milk into a blender to make it frothy. 


Credit: Marcy FranklinAlmost Done 
Once the milk is frothy and bubbling, add it to your mug. Pour in the coffee on top, and you're good to go. 









Credit: Marcy FranklinFinal Touch 
Of course, there's always the option to add whipped cream and more spices on top for an extra pumpkin-y drink. After all, we like the taste of pumpkin. With our version, you'll get that true pumpkin taste without the syrups and sweeteners. 








I posted this and went back to add one picture that I missed and the article is NOWHERE to be found! Glad I got it when I did! 

Revival and Moving

Hello! So much to share since my last post! :) We have been very busy with revival, my mom visiting and we moved! Yah! Two weeks ago we had a week of revival services with Evangelist Kris Hart, it was such a wonderful time for our church and we so great to watch our people grow throughout the week! It's so rewarding to see the precious people in your congregation first come in and get saved, then they start to change and then get an understanding about how much God loves them and has in store for their lives. When they get excited about everything God is doing for them it's like Christmas morning! :) We are preparing to go to our semi-annul bible conference in July and are looking forward to how God is going to continue the work He has started and are taking  a handful people with us! 3 couples, 4 single guys and a single girl! Love conference! 

 My mom was here two weeks ago and we moved it was so great to have her here to help and it was great to spend time with her, she looks amazing and has lost a total of 30 lbs! Way to go mom! I am currently at as of this morning 22.2 lbs it isn't my weigh in day so I am technically at 20 lbs, but that is the half way mark! Yah! I have been told my Julie that I shouldn't weigh myself everyday, but it is so hard to resist. I think that it is better for me because I know where my body is going and when I weigh in on Monday it isn't a shock for me. I think if I worked really hard all week and got on the scale with a half a pound decrease it would be very discouraging, but because i've been weight myself everyday and I know that on Wednesday I was actually down 3 lbs and it's just my body flucting its bearable. To each his own though, I think it's important you find out what works for you. :) My meal plans have been continuing but it is so hard to post them first because life just happens and it never fails that I have to deter is some shape of form! I think that it would work better if I posted what I had for the last week rather than what I'm planning to have. We have a three day fast next week (oh joy!) then it's off to conference. I'm so excited to see everybody and hear from God! It is always so timely and helpful! I'll update when I can...just wanted to put this out there to let everybody know I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!! 

Happy Memorial Day!

I just wanted to take a moment and say Happy Memorial Day to everybody! Also to say thanks you to all our Service members and their families for all the scarifies that they have made in our behalf! Living on a Marine base makes it so real and 'those troops' are now the men and women in our church. Their families are my friends. The wives are my friends and the women that I have bible study with! Praying with them for their husbands while they are deployed and waiting to get a good report on their safety! I get to see first hand how strong these women are while they raise their children alone because daddy is fighting for our freedom! Living so close to base that our windows shake due to the bombing! So many little things that bring it all to a reality and I will never again be unaware of everything that you have given for us! I especially want to say thank you to anyone who has made the ultimate sacrifice we are indebted to you, so thankful for you and remember you today! 

Menu for half of this week and next

Ok so I was able to pull my act together and make a menu for the rest of this week and next (at least through next Thursday) so I am going to post it so you can have a head start on next week. 


Thur- Tuna burgers on thin buns with sauteed zucchini 


Fri- Jalapeno popper chicken with black bean medley 


Sat- Pasta roni shells with chicken and broccoli for my family i'll skip the shells and just indulge in the latter. :)


Sun- Crock pot pork roast with twice baked caulifower and green beans. 


Monday- Blackened chicken with cilantro, lime quinoa and avocado cream sauce 

Tues- Turkey Burgers with zucchini chips 

Wed- Italian Turkey Sausage with sauteed vegetables and spaghetti sauce my family will have pasta with it


Thurs- Shafaye's tangy chicken with green beans and possibly a side that I am yet to decide on 


(for those who don't know, if you click on the highlighted and underlined phrases it will take you to the web page that I got the ideas from and give you the recipe) Happy Cooking! 

Making Greek Yogurt

I want to share some great sights and things that I have found for healthy recipes. They are on my pintrest account....the one that has fascinated me the most is the link on how to make your own greek yogurt!! I found that one yesterday and I am so excited to try it because multiple times I have wanted this 'jewel of health' for recipes but have held back because of the price!! Hopefully you will find this useful! 

Out of Town and Anniversary!

Well I have to say I apologize for the long space between my last blog and now! We have been very busy and I haven't had time to sit down and write. We were out of town for most of last week, my father-in-law was preaching in a city about 2 hrs away and we went to see him. He was preaching at the church in Blyth were our good friends are pastoring, Anna was actually my maid of honor in our wedding, so we stayed with them and had such a great time! Speaking of weddings yesterday was our 7 year wedding anniversary!! Its hard to believe that we have been married for 7 years, they have been 7 wonderful years and time flies when you're having fun! It has been such an adventure serving God together, loving each other and building our family. I couldn't ask for a more fulfilling life! :) I just had a girl ask me on Saturday why I was always so happy and all I could come up with is because I have nothing to be unhappy about. I know that my joy doesn't come from my outside surroundings but from inside. Sure I have things in my life that I could complain about but even on my worst day I am still saved and going to heaven and that is enough to give me joy. But even with that I am still incredibly blessed and that doesn't go unnoticed! 

Anyway back to our trip in Blyth...I did ok with my eating and staying on track. There were a few slip ups but I still was able to go down in my weight, I didn't even have a chance to workout all week! Getting back on track feels good, that first workout was the hardest to get motivated for but after I did it I felt great. It just proves the old saying "a rolling stone gathres no moss" I was starting to collect moss but I have successfully shook it off! The menu for the week isn't really made (sorry again!) We haven't had a chance to go shopping since we got back and I am just throwing meals together depending on what I have in my freezer! I have a reserve of frozen chicken, beef and vegetables for times like these. The meals are usually something simple like grilled or baked chicken with steamed veggies! Simple but healthy! 

Weekly Menu

Greetings! Hope all is going well with all of my blog buddies! We had a fun week last week, Trevor had off the week for Spring Break so we just hung around the house. I am a big 'homebody' so I love doing this! The only down side was Paisley was sick with some sort of virus she had a fever almost the entire week, but she mostly slept. Its never fun when your baby is sick!! I had to take her to the hospital so they could draw blood and I had to give them a urine sample from her. When they drew her blood I cried right along with Paisley! I hated that I was letting my little baby be hurt, it was torture! The phlebotomist was a young boy, he looked about 18 and he didn't have any kids (I asked him) so I had a very hard time letting him poke my baby with a needle!! But we all came out ok with only a little bruise to show for it. 
On Friday and Saturday it was just me and the kids because my husband took a van full of people from our church to a healing crusade in Mexico. Every year the churches in the Southwest partner with our sister church in Mexico and put on a huge healing crusade and it is always a powerful time!  During the three days there were over 600 people saved and 200 miracles! It is always so great to see God working! 


Well here is the menu for the week! 


 Mon-I wasn't able to make the baked chicken last week so it was dinner tonight! 
Baked fryer whole chicken with steamed broccoli and baked potatoes. I made homemade gravy from the dripping and it was really good!!


Tues- Pork and vegetable kabobs with rice


Wed- The tortilla soup from the chicken carcass, I didn't do too good last week sticking to my menu so there are a few repeats! Sorry! 


Thurs- Eggplant lasagna with green tossed salad, I will be sure to get pictures of this one and post it. My camera has no batteries and no matter how many packs we buy the boys find them and put them into random toys so there are never any working batteries when we need them!!! But I will buy some and find a good hiding place for them!! 


Fri-Soup of some sorts, probably the chicken tortilla soup from last week. 


Sat- Naan personal pizza. These are really great, me and the kids actually had them this last Saturday too, its easy and fun to make together! I put peppers, sauteed onions and garlic, tomatoes and spinach on mine and it was really good!


Sun- Keeping this open for leftovers or going out 


Hope everyone has a good week and I will try to update soon! :) 

Cauliflower and Broccoli Cheesy Casserole

A low carb creamy dish perfect for dinner

Minutes to Prepare: 10

Minutes to Cook: 15

Number of Servings: 5

Ingredients

Cauliflower, raw, 2.5 cup (1" pieces) Chopped 

Broccoli, raw, 0.5 cup, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Sour Cream, .5 cup 

Cream of Mushroom Soup, .25 cup 

Cream of Chicken Soup, .25 can

Shredded 2% Mexican Four Cheese blend, 0.5 cup 

Stove Top Stuffing Mix, 3 Tbls. unprepared

Directions

Boil 3/4 cup water, add cauliflower and broccoli boil for 5-6 mins until tender. Strain. Put into 9x9 dish add salt and pepper.

Mix sour cream, both soups and half of the cheese in a pan until bubble and hot. Pour mixture over the vegetables and top with remaining cheese and stove top. Put in oven and cook at 350 for about 5-10 mins until the cheese on top is melted.

Serving Size: Makes about 5- 1/2 cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 5
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 124.3

• Total Fat: 8.7 g
• Cholesterol: 17.4 mg
• Sodium: 313.9 mg
• Total Carbs: 6.2 g
• Dietary Fiber: 1.5 g
• Protein: 5.3 g

Great Quote!

I found this quote and thought it was great! This sums up what I have thinking!!

Dr. Yoni Freedhoff:

 “Your real goal? Live the healthiest life you can enjoy, not the healthiest life you can tolerate. Yes, if you have weight to lose, you’ll have to make changes. But if you change so far from who you are and what you enjoy, odds are that it’s not a sustainable plan. Don't aim for your so-called "ideal" weight; instead aim for what I refer to as your "best" weight, which is the weight you reach when living the healthiest life you can actually enjoy.”

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/blog/the-healthiest-food-in-the-world#ixzz1t4vWs9gt

Weekly Menu

Monday- BBQ chicken, roasted asparagus and baked potato. Tuesday- Chicken fajitas mmmm.... no tortilla for me and I will limit the cheese and topp'ns! I will probably end up making it a salad. Wednesday- Shrimp and Quinoa (a new recipe, this one I will feature, the last new recipe I did didn't turn out so good, I have the pictures and will still post it but it wasn't that great!) Thursday- Bake chicken (whole fryer chicken) steamed cauliflower and broccoli with a pasta-roni for the family, none for me! Friday- Baked or grilled fish with a sauteed vegetable medley of squash, onions, peppers and zucchini and rice Saturday- Chicken tortilla soup, use the leftover carcass from Thursday. If you don't save your leftover chicken carcass you should they make great soups!! Sunday-Leftovers!! With all this food there are bound to be leftovers one of the days and those are easy!

Trip Review

Well back to the desert! Our trip was really fun and relaxing, we got to see some of our good friends and fellow pastors from the area and that is always such a joy! It was great to hear some preaching too, as a Pastor's wife you personally get sermons far and few between and a sermon with your husband sitting next to you is rare!! so that was a high point too! My husband is such a wonderful man and I appreciate him and his thoughtfulness! He surprised me with shopping money (woo hoo!!) and put such thought and plan into our trip, he planned special dinners (our favorite sushi) and things to make our time together special! He even skipped the 100th anniversary game of the Red Sox at Fenway Park to go shopping with me, now you know that is love!!! Thanks babe! The only downside of the weekend is Paisley got sick while we were gone, a sick kids is never fun. I took her to the doctor today and they didn't really say what was wrong just a bug I think I have a follow up appointment on Friday.   SO I have to say that I am really surprised about my weight after our long weekend in Redlands, I weighed twice just to be sure I was reading it right lol, I was down two pounds. I really did try to keep my food the same as what I do at home, but with my calorie limit I went over, then under, then over again. All my numbers for carbs, protein and fat where all over the board and everywhere in between! California law requires that you put calorie information on menus and order boards so that was helpful but some things we did eat (like the hotel breakfast) didn't have it. I tried to keep to my usual basic breakfast, they offered eggs cooked to order so I did an omelet with veggies and small amount of cheese. I took the nuts with me for snacks and then at lunch I tired to stick to salads and sandwiches (which I would only eat half of the bread). Even though they list the calories you still aren't sure what is in the rest of the nutrients and that is a challenge when you are trying to keep an eye on those as well.  But overall I think it was a great experience and good test for my new acquired information. I did splurge a couple of times but I tried to keep them healthy as well, a skinny latte rather than a frappuccino. So I am hoping to continue my downward trend, I think this week will be a challenge because sometimes I think that the weight I am reflecting is actually a week or so behind me? Not sure if that is true or not but it makes sense to me. Any thoughts?   I have to add, I know under normal circumstances the week before last would of been the week I stopped and retuned to my old habits. It was a difficult week and I was feeling like I was making no progress, but I pushed through it and am going to stick with this! So thanks to Julie, my mom and Micah you are all great motivation!

Weekly menu and trips!

I have a partial menu for this week because we are going to be going out of town to Redlands, CA for a Pioneer Rally (for church). God bless Julie who has sent me a whole email on how to survive vacations and navigate the waters of junk food and restaurants! My goal is to continue to lose weight even though it is an upset in my daily routine. I am very excited to go be going out of town, we are leaving the kids here with a good friend and will get to have three days to ourselves! If you don't count conference we haven't had an 'us' trip since the December before Paisley was born.  

 So I have to apologize, I said I would feature my Eggplant Lasagna but unfortunately my camera was acting up and I didn't get any pictures (but it was very good!!). Then I said I would feature my very healthy carrot cake, but we were taking it to an Easter dinner and the dinner didn't work out so I didn't make it. SO they didn't make it to the blog! 

Monday- Leftover beef stew, I got this recipe off of skinnytaste.com, I made it Sunday in the crockpot so when we got home from church it would be ready. I spiced it up a little with red pepper flakes and it tasted much better with a little kick. 

Tues- Island Chicken, a new recipe...I'll let you know how it goes. My family will have rice with it, I'll skip that part. 

Wed- Ground beef burritos, I'll skip the tortillas and eat it as a salad. Topped with sour cream and fresh homemade guacamole! Use salsa as a dressing to keep the calories low. 


Thur-Sat out of town!! :)


Sunday- I'll just throw something easy together, like tuna sandwiches.

Dancing

 Yet again we've had a busy week, I should be cleaning right now, but I will take a minute to update! Its been going good! I am plugging along learning the steps to the new dance I'm learning 'called eating right and exercise'. I have officially lost 10 lbs now! YAH! I live in a perpetual state of sore muscles, but that is a great feeling of accomplishment!

Dancing with daddy! 

 During this process I can't help but think of my dad. A couple of years ago he took up dancing: ballroom, salsa, rhumba, line, your name it and he has learned it...with the exception of exotic, lol! I went with him a couple of times and I was so surprised at the wonderful talent that he possessed (I defiantly didn't inherit the talent of rhythm from him), he knew all the right steps but not only that he made it look so easy and good!!  With this new lifestyle I can't help but liken it to a dance. First you must learn all the new steps, what you should and shouldn't eat and that
 exercise is important. Then you must be sure that those steps are in the right order, watch what and how much you are eating (again this is where I stress livestrong.com) and how to exercise right. Then you must put it all together and practice, practice, practice to eventually produce a beautiful dance. My dad didn't just start one day and was good, he put may hours and even money into learning to dance right and making it good! The same is with eating right and exercising, you have to make time for it you must make it fit into your life and sometimes sacrifice for it. Another important thing is be sure that you are dancing the right dance. If I thought that I knew how to ballroom dance but had never been taught or made a effort to learn it would be a disaster!  You must ensure that what you are producing is in step with the rest of you the dancers around you, you can be beautiful and float across the floor with your stunning ballroom dance but if its what your idea of ballroom is you'll be crashing into everyone around you and causing chaos!  This where I was before the start of my journey, l had these preconceived notions about health and what was good for me, but the 'dance' wasn't producing the results I wanted I was still 30 lbs overweight! I would start off across the room and step on toes and hit 5 people on the way and eventually come crashing down! I came to realize that I needed to learn the correct steps and start from square one. I'm still practicing and there are times that I slip and fall, like my restaurant disaster last week, but I can get up and try again and slowly it will come together. So I urge you consider your dance and if what you are dancing right now doesn't work and you aren't achieving your health goals then maybe it's time to learn a new dance and maybe get some dancing lessons!  

I'm a slacker!

WELL I've officially been a blogger slacker this week! Sorry! Its been a very busy last week, I am coming to realize that I just live a busy life! My usual time to blog is around midnight because it is me time but I have been tired because of working out so I've been going to bed earlier, a little bit anyway! 

 Lets see what to talk about first...my workouts. They have been going good! I've been doing three days of weight training, Julie (my sister in-law and also health mentor) emails me every Monday a workout schedule for the week. I break them up with two or three days of cardio, I use the elliptical or I have been walking/jogging with some friends at the park. Its been fun meeting, between the three of us there are 7 kids so we let them play while we circle them on the outer rim of the playground. We do intervals of walking for a minute and a half then jogging for one minute, we do eight intervals for a total of 25 mins so including the cool down it's a 30 min workout. It works great because I HATE running but it is just enough to get your heart rate up without killing you! 

 Here are my meals for the week, I know it's Thursday and a little late but better late than never!

 Mon- Spicy chicken and squash soup (a made up recipe, I had leftover chicken from my baked rosemary and okra the week before the chicken was really good! On a side note the okra was GROSS!! it had the consistency of snot! I seriously had a hard time finishing dinner because it made me so queasy! I have tried and liked fried okra but that isn't too healthy so if you have a good okra recipe that keeps it from becoming something that mimics a product out of your nose, let me know! :P )

See the NASTY snot strings!!! BLAH! 

Tues- Grilled burgers outside they were half ground beef and ground lean turkey. The weather here is so nice!!  We set up our pool and I planted some flowers with the kids. It gets HOT here in the summer like in the 110s so spring is our time to enjoy the weather. Surprisingly this actually 10 degrees coolers than our last city, Lake Havasu the record high was 128 and last summer we reached 122 on one day! Good thing I love the desert because God keeps putting us there! 

S'mores..enjoying the wonderful weather! 

Wed- Crockpot BBQ pork. I actually had a spinach salad with chicken because I was really close on my calories. My family had the sandwiches and said they were good!

Thursday- Tilapia with cauliflower. I am going to have my husband grill the fish and I'll steam the cauliflower  (mmmmm....)

Friday- Leftovers...I have a lot in my fridge and need to use them up. 

Sat- Easter Dinner with a couple in church. I am in charge of dessert and I am going to make a very healthy carrot cake...I'll feature this next week! 

Sun-Chicken, Broccoli and potato. I usually keep this one pretty general because if we end up going out or having leftovers I can move it to another day. 

Alrightly gotta go, but I will post about my Eggplant lasagna that I made last week later! Asta!  

Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado

Part of living in Southern California is the citrus trees, they are in abundant!! We have a lemon tree in our front yard and many of our neighbors have oranges and grapefruit trees as well. We went on a walk and there was a great big tree laden with fresh grapefruit, we asked the neighbor if we could pick a few and were told to help ourselves! They were beautiful and smelled and tasted even better! 

I am subscribed to a blog called skinnytaste.com and came across this lovely recipe... Spinach and Quinoa Salad with Grapefruit and Avocado  it looked so yummy and with the grapefruit we decided to try it! It is a simple recipe and we pretty much stuck to the original the only change is we added some strawberries to it. 

Ingredients

4 oz baby spinach

2 ruby red grapefruits, peeled and fruit separated, reserving 3 slices

1 haas avocados, diced

1 cup cooked quinoa (1/3 cup dry)

For the Citrus Vinaigrette:

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 tbsp champagne vinegar (we used whit vinegar)

2 tbsp chopped shallots (we used onion)

salt and pepper to taste

grapefruit juice from 3 reserved slices of grapefruit

Rinse quinoa well under cold water and cook according to package directions. Drain and let it cool. 

Peel the skin and white membrane off the grapefruit and separate the pieces.Reserve three grapefruit slices for the vinaigrette and squeeze the juice; set aside.Cut up the remaining grapefruit into small pieces for the salad.

In a medium bowl whisk the olive oil, grapefruit juice (from 3 slices of grapefruit), vinegar, chopped shallots, salt and pepper.

In a large bowl toss spinach, quinoa, avocado, grapefruit and vinaigrette.

 We divided the grapefruit and strawberries between the plates first then tossed each plate individually. 

Picture from skinnytaste I added so you could see how beautiful it is! 

Obviously my photography isn't as good as hers! 

It was very tasty and refreshing! The only change I would of have made would be to add  a little less grapefruit juice for the dressing because it made it a little too tart for my liking.