DIET!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!!

I have uttered the one word that I never thought I would ever have to utter-DIET!!
AHHH!! Say it isn't so-but sadly it is. Chloe will be 1 next weekend and I still need to lose another 30 lbs. of baby weight. The baby weighs 20 lbs now, so I can't keep up this facade! Enter the diet!
Step 1: Getting off my butt on my lunch hour and getting outside(weather premitting)or on the treadmill in our office gym.
Step 2: Giving up my beloved-that's right I gotta say bye-bye to my love Dr. Pepper! We've been through thick and thin-but I think you are keeping me thick so sayonara!
Step 3: Changing the way I eat. Now I don't eat horribly, I have the occassional fries from McDonald's, or have a piece of pie-but I gotta think heathlier. Enter the dinner that I "made" last night.
Now I warned Craig that I wasn't sure how it would taste. We had Chicken Tostadas-yeah they were okay but since I didn't put sour cream on them they were a little dry-and I forgot the black beans! But if you are brave, I am going to share this recipe with you. Maybe you can tweak it  and let me know how it works for you!

Chicken Tostadas

Ingredients:
Whole Wheat Tortillas
Black Beans-cooked
Brown Rice
Avocado-Chopped
Fire Roasted Tomatoes(heated if you like)
Chicken-chopped( I used a rotisserie chicken from my local deli)
Baby Lettuce
Greek yogurt
Cilantro-chopped


Directions:
Place the tortillas in a hot oven-I went for 450. Bake until crisp about 3-5 minutes.
Top your tortilla with 2 cups lettuce, 1/4 cup rice, 1/4 cup beans, 1/4 cup tomatoes, 1/4 cup chicken, 1/3 cup avocado, 2 tbsp cilantro and 3 tbsp yogurt.

Now yours might taste better since you won't forget to add the beans-I will attempt this recipe again sometime maybe with the beans mine will be better 2nd time around!
let me know what you think!!!


I am known for having a sweet tooth-so to satisfy those after dinner cookie cravings I like to have this little "treat" simple, easy and yummy.


Fruit "Parfait"

Ingredients:

Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt
Granola
Blueberries
Strawberries-chopped


Directions:
Spoon 1/2 cup of your yogurt into your favorite bowl top with 1/4 cup granola, and 1/4 cup of the berries and enjoy!

I have served this one for breakfast as well as dessert.

So off I go on my quest to lose my baby belly!
Wish me luck!

Party Time Preparation!

I cannot believe that my baby will be 1 in less than 2 weeks!!! Where did the time go???
She's toddling around and drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup!! Soon we can potty train and ditch those nasty diapers!! But first I must plan-and I am just about done!

First off I had to come up with a theme-taking from Chloe's nickname of Monkey I found a really cute 1st birthday website that had the perfect little girl Money themed decor. I highly recommend this website for all of your planning needs http://www.birthdayexpress.com/
They sent me a catalog with coupons and when I placed the order online I had forgotten the coupon codes, so I got on the live chat and was able to get the codes! They shipped out the package with an anticipated delivery date for this week-but I got the box last Friday WOO!HOO!

Check out the theme!

Cute right??!!

I picked up the streamers and extra plates in the pink color from Wal-Mart just in case.
Now I have been told the 1st birthday party is more for the parents than the child-a celebration of her turning 1 in 1 piece and Mommy & Daddy still functioning at 100%! So bring on the party!!!

We decided not to invite kiddos to this party-it will be close friends and Craig's Mom & Gram are coming down from Canada-so 10 people total! It will be a nice time with Chloe as the center of attention!!

I just have to order her cake, get balloons and wrap up her presents! I just keep thinking back to this time last year and March 5th couldn't get here fast enough, and now here we are a year later!! It flew by!! Sometimes I wish that I could just stop time!

Lasts stop on the party planning train will be food-I love a good party and enjoy making the food and planning out all the yummy nummy stuff.
Here is what I have planned so far-keeping in mind that 98% of the guests are adults!

Veggie & Dip Tray
Fruit with Fruit dip( I will share my yummy fruit dip recipe the closer we get to the party-it's not chocolate!)
Cheese and crackers
Mini twice baked ptoatoes
Chicken skewers with a sesame ginger dipping sauce
Bacon wrapped shrimp
Chive stuffed cucumbers
I might come up with a few more-but I think that is plenty along with cake and ice cream!

So more to come later!!

CHEERS!
Erica

Ahhh...the weekend!

So here I am on a Sunday night doing my usual....laundry, chasing after Chloe and attempting to cook something yummy-yet healthy for dinner. I think I have accomplished that goal tonight-true test will be in about 40 minutes when everything is cooked.

So tonight is my last night to eat and drink WHATEVER I want. Tomorrow I start eating super clean, no sodas and I intend on running starting tomorrow WISH ME LUCK-I'm gonna need it! So tonight even though I should be eating something fatty and greasy I am going for yummy and healthy. Join me won't you??!!

Tonight is lemon-herb roasted chicken with zucchini and squash saute with a side salad and cresent rolls(there's the fat & carbs).

So first the bird!!

Lemon and Herb Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:

1 roasting chicken

1 lemon

1tbsp mixed herbs(I used oregano, parsley, thyme and a little garlic with pepper)

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Pre-Heat oven to 375. While oven is heating prepare the bird. Remove the giblets, neck all the gross innards. Throw them out, use them for gravy whatever you want-just get them out of that bird.

Slice the lemon in half and place one half in the cavity of the bird. Squeeze the other half of the lemon into a bowl, mix in the olive oil and herbs. Brush the bird with the lemon and herb mixture. Place the bird breast side up into a roasting pan and bake for 90 minutes or until your meat thermometer reads 185 when placed in the thickest part of the thigh. Also make sure all juices run clear-not pink.

Once cooked take out and place a tin foil tent over and let the bird rest before cutting into it-this allows for all of the juices to re-distribute back into the meat-thereby preventing a dry chicken. I would suggest removing the skin before serving to cut down on some of the fat. YUMMY!

Zucchini & Squash Saute

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini sliced

3 medium squash sliced

1 tbsp olive oil

1tsp parsley

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp pepper and salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/3 cup part skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Saute the sliced veggies and garlic on a pan with the oil. Cook until crisp-tender. Stir in the hersb and reduce heat to med-low for 2 minutes. Remove from heat add cheese and cover until the cheese metls. Serve with your favorite main dish!

ENJOY-let me know what you think!!

CHEERS!

Erica 

VALENTINE'S DAY AT HOME

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!


So let me set this up for you. Even before the weekend we had already planned to have Valentine's Dinner at home, but without me cooking it!!! There is this fabulous catering company here in town that I use exclusively for work, and who also catered our wedding last! I knew they would have yummy food-so lucky for me they were running Valentine's dinner specials-take and eat at home. They were offering 3 different packages and after looking at the selections we went with the mouthwatering Tri-Tip and all the sides! We have had this Tri-Tip 2 other times so we knew what to expect and we weren't disappointed! So, funny enough Sunday Craig started feeling pretty lousy and was walking around in a Ny-Quil induced coma of sorts, so having this dinner at home worked out!!!


I went after work and picked up our full meal. They had it packaged nicely, along with re-heating instructions and even provided a taper candle for our table!


I was fully prepared and went out an bought a Valentine's Day table runner, nice candle holders and heart shaped floating candles! Along with the dozen red roses that Craig got for me our table looked great! I heated everything up, poured us each a glass of red wine and pulled the high chair up to the table while Craig threw a log into the fireplace!


Now it wasn't as romantic as I am making it sound. For one I had a husband who felt like crap, I had a headache and Chloe was sooo fussy that we spent more time entertaining her than talking, but we did toast to the meal so there is that!!


Craig bought a dozen roses for me, and a dozen pink roses for Chloe-very sweet right??!!


This year we went the sentimental route for gifts(no jewelry here!) Craig got for me a really beautiful Willow Tree figurine decpicting our family, and a nice pen with my name on it.
I went a different route for him. I bought a simple glass jar with a top and found 31 different love quotes, thoughts about marriage and love printed them on red and white paper, folded them and put them into the jar and tied it with ribbon. He took his first one last night and assured me the gift wasn't corny-it was sweet and very unique! But I did give him a picture of me from 2 years ago in a nice heart frame.


Chloe was a little harder to buy for-but I got slightly creative. I purchased a heart shaped basket and got a sweet little stuffed animal, a small Valentine's themed snow globe, a new rubby ducky with kisses written on it and a stretchy necklace and bracelet since she is obsessed with mine-she liked her gifts as much as an 11 month old can!!


All in all it was a nice Valentine's Day at home!!
How was your day of love??!!

A Simply Devine Sunday!!

Here we are Sunday.....ugh! Only because tomorrow is Monday, but Monday is Valentine's Day and we have something great planned here at the house! But more to come on that later.
First we tackle Sunday!!! So this is normally our easy, lazy day but it was soooo beautiful here in Colorado Springs-unseasonably warm in fact it was in the 70's-so warm I had the sliding glass door open-CRAZY!!!
Craig looks to be coming down with the flu, and what started out as a trip out to walk in the beautiful weather with our new all-terrain child carrier ended with Craig & I sitting in our family room eating popcorn and watching stuff on the DVR while Chloe napped. As I write this entry he is asleep on the bed-and it's not even 6:30. He assures me that once dinner is ready he will come back downstairs-we shall see.
So since I am folding laundry, finishing up for tomorrow and keeping an eye on my little monkey I have dinner "cooking" in the oven. This is something I haven't tried before but when I found the recipe I thought it sounded yummy and bonus easy to prepare...did I mention it takes one bowl and a casserols dish-even better less dishes that I have to load into the dishwasher. I HATE DOING DISHES!! In case I hadn't mentioned it...that is why when our 20+ year old dishwasher recently made it's hasty retreat to appliance I immediately had to get another one-VOILA less than a week later and my new love was in the house!!
So back to dinner-yes I need medication for this self-diagnosis of ADD <J/K>

I present Busy Day Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

1 (10.75 oz) can of condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 oz) can of condensed cream of celery soup
1 cup water
1 cup uncooked white rice
1 (4.5 oz) can mushrooms-drained
1 pinch garlic powder
ground black pepper to tasts
1 (1 oz) pgk dry onion soup mix
8 skinless bonless chicken breasts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325
In a large bowl combine the soups, mushrooms, rice, water, garlic & black pepper
Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and spread on the bottom
Lay chicken pieces over soup/rice mixture and top with the dry soup.
Cover with time foil and place in the oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until done and chicken is cooked through.

Yummy!! I am making cresents roll and a light salad to go with our dinner!!

Cheers!

Erica

Sooo Yummy Saturday Night!

So hello all....Sorry again for being silent the last few days! Sadly, I haven't had much to share beyond the fact that for most of the week I was sick!! I truly figured none of you would be interested in my hospital like menu!
But I am back and cooking up a storm!!! So after running around all day-literally we are home and settling in for the night. I am making something, yummy, easy and good for you!

So tonight's dinner is Chicken Parmesan-but if you are like me I burn just about anything that I fry in my skillet-this one is baked in the overn. So it's easy, and better for you since you are cutting out the fat-greasy yuck!!!

Here ya go!!


Chicken Parmesan:

Ingredients:
1/13 cup bread crumbs(I like the Italian Style crumbs)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 egg whites
1/2 cup milk(we use soy and it tastes great!)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken bresasts pounded to 1/2 in. thickness
Olive Oil cooking spray
1 jar good quality marinara sauce(3 1/2 cups)
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp parmesan cheese
1 box of your favorite pasta

Directions:

pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Please the bread crumbs on a baking sheet and brown for 12 minutes

In a medium bowl toss the crumbs, oregano, paprika, garlic powder, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper

in another bowl whisk the egg whites and milk

In a third bowl  combine the flour, remaining salt & pepper

Dip each piece of chicken 1 piece at a time 1. into flour mixture 2. into milk & egg mixture 3. into crumbs shaking off the excess

Increase your oven temp to 400 degrees, place the breaded chicken into a glass baking dish and spray each side with the cooking spray.
Bake about 15 minutes until cooked through and the crumbs are browned.
Top with the marinara sauce and cheeses, bake an additional 10 minutes minutes until the cheese is bubbling.

Serve with your favorite pasta-tonight we are having a whole wheat linguine.
Top your pasta with a breast-spoon the excess sauce on top and enjoy!!

Tonight we are enjoying our's with some cheesy garlic bread and a great Red Wine from S. America!!

Until tomorrow!!

Cheers

Erica

Are you Ready for some Football??!!

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN-SUPER BOWL!!!!

We are hosting a small gathering here at the house, and I knew that I had to feed everybody something yummy, and filling since they will be here during the dinner hour! SOLUTION-Chili-YUM-O! Chili in the crock-pot, even better!!

I also came up with some light appetizers and snacks to keep everybody happy! First up-Veggies with an easy ranch dip-this is just a packet of ranch flavoring mixed with a tub of your basic sour cream-easy right?!

Next I bought 3 different kinds of cheese, in a block and a summer sausage. I cut the cheese up into little cube, sliced the summer sausage into discs and added some Triscuit Rosemary & Olive Oil crackers and voila-and easy and tasty appetizer!

To accompany all of this yumminess I am putting out a bowl of olives, salted peanuts and pub mix. Nothing fancy here folks it is after all the Super Bowl!

But you can't eat all of that and not have dessert, so I am making 2 different desserts. trust me they are easy peasy!

Keep in mind all of this will work for any day of the week!

Enjoy!!!

Chunky Beef Chili

Ingredients:

4 lbs of your favorite cut of beef-cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 tbps chili powder

2 cans tomato paste

1 container beef broth

2 cans tomoato sauce

2 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 can black beans

1 green bell pepper cut into chunks

Directions:

Couldn't be any easier then this are you ready???

Throw it ALL into your crock pot! That's it-turn that puppy on low and slow for 4-6 hours and get ready to enjoy!!

We like our with a little shredded cheese on top, Craig likes to scoop it all up onto a saltine cracker! However you like it I know you will enjoy this one!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold butter

1 pouch Betty Crocker oatmeal chocolate chip cookie mix

3 eggs

2 pkgs(8oz ea) cream cheese softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Heat over to 35o degrees. Spray bottom of a 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray

In a large bowl, cut the butter into the cookie mix using a fork and stir in the egg-stir until the mixture is crumbly. Spoon 3 cups of the mixture in the bottom of the pan and press. Bake for 15 minutes

In a small bowl beat the cream cheese mixture with the 2 eggs, sugar and vanille until smooth. Pour over the baked cookie  crust and spoon the remaining cookie mixture on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch. Cool for 30 minutes and refrigerate at least 2 hours or until chilled. Cut into bars and store in the refrigerator! ENJOY!!

Lemon Creme Bars

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cold butter

1 pouch Betty Crocker Oatmeal Cookie mix

1 egg

1 can sweetened condensed milk(do not use evaporated)

2 tsp lemon peel

1/4 cup lemon juice

Directions:

Heat oven to 350. Spray bottom of an 8 inch backing dish with cooking spray

In a large bowl combine the butter, cookie mix and 1 egg. Mix until crumbly.

Press half of the cookie mixture into the bottom of pan, and back 15 minutes

In a samll bowl combine the condensed milk with the lemon peel and lemon juice. Stir until smooth. Spread over the baked crust and crumble the remaining cookie mix on top. Bake an additional 25 minutes or until golden brown. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until set. Cut into bars!

YUMMY!!!

CHEERS!

Erica

SATURDAY NIGHT-SWEITZER STYLE!

Well it's Saturday night in the Sweitzer house-and man did we have a B-U-S-Y day...all while trying to stay warm and dry while the snow was falling!
We did manage to get a few errands done before the biggest part of the snowfall started! We did get Chloe's ears pierced today, it was tough to know that we were causing that pain, but I did give her some Motrin before we went in, and the girls pierced both ears simultaneously-she cried but not for very long! She looks even cuter than before!!!
So we are hosting a small Super Bowl party tomorrow night and we had to get all the fixins to feed our friends during the big game!! Mission Accomplished!!
One the menu tomorrow will be a big serving of chili from the crock-pot with all the fixins'!
Also, veggies and ranch dip, cheese and sausage with crackers, chips and guacamole, all kinds of little snacks and to finish it all off 2 different desserts! 1 is a lemon cookie bar, the other is an oatmeal-chocolate chip w/cream cheese brownie!!!
I knew that I would be busy tomorrow getting the house cleaned up soo I did all the prep this evening, and have the second dessert in the oven as I am typing this!! Of course I will provide the recipes in my next post!
But tonight's post is what I made for dinner-it's super yummy, is a teeny bit spicy but it is sooo easy to make you just can't resist!
Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. Now I am a diehard cheese with red sauce enchilada kind of girl-but this is sooo good you can't help but change!
So without further adieu!!!

Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas:

Ingredients:
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken(I get a savory flavor one from the deli and take the skin off before I shred it)
1/12 cup shredded cheese(your choice) divided
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup sour cream
1 can (19oz) green chili enchilada sauce
4 10-in flour tortillas, warmed

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
In a bowl combine the chicken, 3/4 cup of the cheese, ranch dressing, and sour cream.
Stir until well blended. Divide the mixture evenly into the tortillas and place seam side down in an oiled 9 inch baking dish. Pour the sauce around and on top of the tortillas and top with the remaining cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese ifmelted and bubbly. Once cooked let set for a few minutes before serving.

Accompaniments:
Spanish, Mexican Rice. Re fried black beans and OLE!!


CHEERS!!
Erica