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Inspiring you to try Clean Eating

I know quite a few of us resolved to do something 'health' related this year. You may have resolved to lose weight, exercise more, or change your diet for the better. Well, something that I discovered through my new friends at Stroller Strength was 'clean eating.' Clean eating is NOT a fad diet. It is a lifestyle change. It is a practice of eating wholesome, natural foods. It eliminates the junk food, hydrogonated fats, preservatives, and pretty much anything that is man made!

I am no expert on the subject and my family and I are still working on completely cleaning out our diets because I believe that there is ALWAYS room for improvement. So tonight, I tried out a new recipe from the 'The Best of Clean Eating' cookbook. My goal as a mother and wife is to feed my family healthy meals. I can control what my children eat for the most part so I choose to make good choices for them, my husband not so much but when I make a healthy meal and he likes it we definitely repeat it as much as possible! So for dinner today my family and I ate Baked Chicken & Asparagus Casserole.

Before I give you all this awesome, super easy recipe I just want to tell you that it was super good! I also want to invite you to buy this book or look into clean eating recipes because it's not just 'rabbit food!' It's REAL FOOD! Here you go! Make it tomorrow for dinner & ENJOY!

Baked Chicken & Asparagus Casserole (The Best of Clean Eating cookbook)

INGREDIENTS:
1 can Campbell's condensed 98% fat free cream of broccoli soup (I couldn't find it so I got cheese & broccoli)

1 1/4 cups of cooked wild rice

24 asparagus spears

4 (4 oz) boneless skinless chicken breasts - (the single chicken breast the store gives you is more than 4 oz, split it half and you have 2 chicken breasts, save some $ and some calories)

4 oz low fat Monterey jack cheese- shredded

INSTRUCTIONS:

One: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together water and soup. (I eyeballed the water to about 3/4 cup)

Two: Spread rice in a 9x13 inch casserole dish. Arrange asparagus stalks lengthwise atop rice, then lay chicken breasts on top (I always season my meat eventhough the recipe doesn't call for it, a little Mrs Dash goes a long way). Pour soup mixture over everything and sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.


I hope you all enjoy this recipe as much as my family and I did!

Momentum

Anybody who plays sports competitively (and what other way is there to play?) knows the importance of momentum. Take the woman's college basketball team who broke the record for number of games won consecutively. They were a top notch, disciplined, talented team...but so are all the other teams. The difference is momentum. Playing a team that has so many win behind them is intimidating, and the opponents maybe don't really believe that they can win. The difference in the technical skills of the top tier athletes and the ones who are just really, really good may be very small. The difference is that the top tier athletes have momentum that makes them believe that they can win, and their opponents believe them too.
So there is something to be said for just getting out and doing it-like it or not. I have always been a person who likes to get out of the house a lot. I started going to the gym 9 weeks post baby, mostly because I just couldn't stand to stare at these walls another day. On the weekends, I find no value in relaxing all day when there is stuff going on outside. The last few weeks my daughters and I have felt like shut-ins, and everyday that we stay home the less I have wanted to get out. I started to dread going to the gym, the grocery store, and even tennis (which is one of my only baby free times, so I NEVER don't want to go!) I guess it has been a combination of a few illnesses, a little cold weather, and just exhaustion. My new normal was to stay home, and my momentum went from working out everyday to lay on the couch during naptimes. This weekend my husband was home so we did a lot of shopping, I ran a few times, and we took a few walks with the girls. This week, the plan is to make my momentum work for me instead of against me. Day 1 plan-don't let all of this rain ruin my day. :-) Have a good week everyone!

The Duty Day Blues

For you non-military friends this may seem weird but my fellow military wives & significant others know what I'm talking about. First lets clarify what 'duty day' is, for us Navy folk, duty day is when our sailor has to report for work at oh dark thirty and doesn't get home until the end of the next workday, unless its a weekend and they come home the next morning (pending nothing has gone wrong and they need to stay). So with that said, today was our duty day.

I took the kids to church as usual and well, didn't feel like coming home so we had a family duty day. We reported on the ship with nothing other than FOOD! Oh how that's like music to any sailor's ear who is forced to eat from the galley (GAG!!!). Their chicken cordon bleu isn't bad at all though, I will say that! We ate and hung out with our sailor until it was time for 'watch.' (Watch usually involved standing outside armed and making rounds or standing the quarterdeck.)

So every duty day seems like it comes too soon. Every 6 days is the usual, but during special occasions like stand down or any other reason they can go on duty every 3 days. So we rarely get to see our loved ones when this goes down. Hence the honey do list piling up and well, me being a bit irritable. Its like being a single parent all over again and sometimes you just need someone to back you up but for the love of God & country, they can't.

As I left my hubby today, he goes, 'thanks for the food,' gives me a kiss and then says, 'at least you didn't get a kiss through the fence!' Again, my military wives know that kiss. You know when the gate is closed and you come to take your hubby the late night food or Starbucks (for my high-maintenance husband) and you have to pass the goods through the very top of the fence and then have the ultimate prison like kiss through the fence. I guess its the little things that matter. We got to spend some time on cell block 99 today.

The infamous "Honey Do List"

We've all heard of them and chances are we've had to write quite a few....not sick notes, but 'honey do lists.' Mind you, my poor husband has had a crazy schedule at work with duty days in between so his time at home was very minimal, so in his defense these things added up but not by his own negligence. Either way, this list was lingering around the house for a few days before he had enough time to actually look at it and cross some things off the list. He wakes up Saturday morning, takes a shower and off he goes to tackle his 'list.'

Well part of me was beaming, 'wow, who knew a list could go such a long way!' I'm no longer the nagging wife, at that moment anyway, he has a list of tasks that I'd like for him to get done and they will get done (at some point). The other part of me is like, 'woah buddy, you wake up, shower and get ready to tackle your list of 7 things, while mine has 15 and, yea it gets put to the back burner!' So yea, I was beyond myself.

Here I am proud that, my husband and I have established an effective form of communication without arguing but it still forms a little bit of resentment on my part because well, he gets to knock some things off the list without anyone bothering him and my list is still there untouched. I guess we can't win them all ladies, but I sure do try!

Mom's Day Off

Today, I quit, I resigned, I went on strike! Yup I did. I refused to make dinner! I stood my ground!

Thus, we decided to go out to eat, because you know, pizza and chinese just didn't sound appetizing. Either way, I thought I was going to have a day off from cooking and daily chores. But going out to dinner with your kids is like trying to forget your problems with alcohol. The means only delay the inevitable. That should give you a hint as to how our evening went. The baby cried the entire time. We tried toys, milk, holding, feeding him dinner, even youtubing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on the iphone and NOTHING! I scarfed down my dinner, don't ask me how it tasted because I wouldn't even know. I will tell you this, thank the bartender for buy one get one get one Jack & cokes!

Finally the children are showered and the baby is sleeping. One down, one to go!

For those of you interested in my job status. I went for the 2nd part of my interview, you can say and I totally kicked butt! Once I get word from my babysitter I can start as soon as next week, and pretty much be on a commission basis but from the looks of today, this is really a no brainer! You get what you put into it.

Cool people

You know how God just seems to put you where you need to be whether you want to be there or not?! A year ago, I got pregnant, quit my job and drove my oldest and I to FL to be with my husband. Since then I've been a stay at home mom and now that we are finally used to where we live, its time for Mamma to make some money! I never thought I'd be a stay at home mom, and I actually liked it but now with the economy the way it is, well we need the money. The military doesn't pay that good, contrary to what everyone thinks.

With this said, I've been applying for jobs and gone on a couple of interviews. I'm not looking to make my next big move or anything just something steady to bring in some income and give me some stability as far as hours for my children and sanity's sake since my husband's schedule is pretty unpredictable at times. But if with this new opportunity to work, anything new is exciting and certainly welcomed.

My first interview was at a spa. I met with the owner who also owns a beauty school in the area. It was kind of interviewing for 2 positions at once. This lady had a lot on her plate and struck me as a bit of a disorganized over achiever. You know like someone who wants to do a lot, accomplishes these things but does all of them halfway? It was almost as if nothing she really put effort into flourished because she didn't pay it 100% attention to the task at hand. Either way one of the positions was a no go. This lady had an employee that was less than desirable to work with and for $10 an hour, I wasn't about to put up with that. The next position was for an admin position at her school as well as her personal assistant in running the school while she handled other endeavors. The latter, was interesting and caught my attention but for $10 an hour that was a lot of responsibility and not a lot of pay.

I don't want to seem like I'm asking for a lot but when the going rate for daycare is $200 a week for my soon to be 11 month old....I need to make more than just $10 an hour to make ends meet. Did I mention, the $200 a week doesn't even count before/after school care for my oldest. You know what I'm saying?!? :-)

Ok so for today's interview and cool people update! I interviewed at a small gym today. Its up and coming and it struck me as interesting because its tailored to the customer. The gym is not all that lavish & grand like your regular chain, but here you have a face with a name. A smiling face at that. The people that work there, want to be there! The first guy I met with should have been the spokes model for like a large muscle chain or something! The guy was HUGE, I mean ARNOLD huge! Some people find that intimidating, me? Not so much, the bigger they are the harder they fall right? So I smiled and knocked that bad boy's interview with my quick wit, smile & charm! Oh yea I'm that good! The owner, is a lady who has been through it all. She went from being top dog in sales in the fitness industry to being done wrong by some big wigs...not once but twice! Even after that, she still hasn't given up on the business and is now doing it on her own. With this said, the position I was looking into is pretty much all commission and well after I expressed my NEED for some kind of hourly wage she sympathized and invited me back to see how they worked and well I'll be back on Friday.

Now....here I am. Stuck in thought. What do I do? Do I give this a go? It's such an amazing opportunity and she's trying to teach me all she knows but can't pay me hourly? Kind of?

I just thought that the two interviews I've been on are with powerful women. They have their businesses and are doing it! Inspiring. Some women better than others but, hey we can't all be Oprah Winfrey.

Today would have been a perfect day to have a 30 minute Jackie workout or some devotional time, but it didn't workout that way. I feel good telling you all about it, now I'll be watching a movie with the hubby who is for once awake!!!

Black or White

If you're a Mom with small children, you will appreciate these small victories.

1. Got both children in bed by 8:15 pm on a Tuesday just in time for Biggest Loser.
2. Got my Daily Devotion in twice today!!
3. Got a 30 minute Jackie Warner workout while my 10 month old crawled all over me and used me for support as I squatted.
4. I'm coming to grips with a possible life changing decision that needs to be made, have to pray on that some more.
5. Its 9:30pm and I'm laying in bed, in silence (a side from the tv).

I hope you all had some small victories today too! So much of our days are consumed with things we HAVE to do and everything else that is for us, seems OPTIONAL. I just want to inspire you all to make time for yourselves. This little bit of time you take throughout the day to center yourselves makes all the gray areas in life go away! Things are either black or white and when they seem like they're turning gray PRAY!

Creating memories to last a lifetime

In truth a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit. - Marge Kennedy

Today was a family kind of day. We laid in bed together. I did yoga with my 6 year old. I cooked a great meal for my family, and I rocked my baby to sleep. Although our day's events were not very exciting, I want my family's memories of me to be more than the pictures I leave behind. I want them to think of the smells in my kitchen when I cook their favorite meals and the touch of my lips and the warmth of my embrace when I put them to bed at night. Creating memories with and for my family is what I'm living for this year.

Take control of your life and be conscious of the memories you're creating with your family. Pictures fade, but memories last a lifetime.

Cristina

Starting Over

101 Ways To Live Your Life To The Fullest

Im not one with words just yet, Im in the process of "starting over", finding myself. The past few years of my life have led me down a path I truly can not say I am proud of. I am done living in sin. Today is a new day, a fresh start, the first day of the rest of my life. Today I let go of the past and live in the present. I have done things in my past that I am not proud of, Im letting go. My goal this year to to find a better relationship with God. I have always know Him but never truly let him be in my life. There are certain things in my life that have make if "difficult" to truly let him in. I want to say that all things are going to be different from this day on but I know the reality is it will take time. I have always been a person that wants things NOW or just not at all. I know that finding myself and my true self is going to be a long road. I pray that God will be by my side as I start this new life. I want my children to grow up happy, healthy and with God by their side. Its up to me. Up to me to change. Up to me to give my children the best life they can have! Today I start over. I have been blessed with so many things in my life. I am so thankful to have an amazing wonderful and supportive family and amazing friends! So, as I may not be the best Blogger, this is me. I just say what im thinking....I posted a link above, 101 ways to live your life to the fullest, It was quite an eye opener for me! Hope you take the time to read it!!! I wish you all a wonderful and blessed day!

The lesson that keeps on giving.

Tonight I shared my devotional time with my 6 year old. We read from the Bible together Matthew 6:1-18. I just want to put it out there that I am no 'expert' in religion. I'm still learning and doing what feels right for me and my family. (There's my disclaimer..moving on)

In Matthew 6:1-18, it talks about things that we do not need to make public to others because God already knows.

1. When you give to the needy, do so in 'secret' the Bible says. I'm paraphrasing here, do not let your left hand know what your right is doing. Then your Father who sees what you are doing in secret will reward you.
2. When you pray, don't just pray at church or any public place, pray in private where only you are there. God will reward you because you are doing it in secret.
3. When you fast, don't look depressed as if to let everyone know you're fasting. Clean your face and perk up, God knows your fasting and he will reward you.

As Christians it is in our nature to do things because they are right and it is how God wants them. We do not do things for any sort of public pat on the back.

As if the word of God is not powerful enough, here comes the double wammy! I mentioned I was sharing my devotional time with my 6 year old; who mind you 2 days ago prayed in private without me knowing ( even though I saw him). As I'm reading this part about prayer he says, "Mami I did that! When I was having a bad day at school, I went in my room and I prayed!" When we talked about giving to the needy, he says, "Mami I did that too! At Christmas when I gave at Walmart (the Salvation Army bucket)!" He goes on to say, "Mami I have like 2 stars with God, I need like 10 more!" I said, "honey I'm pretty sure you have more than 2 stars with God." How amazing!!! My child is inspiring me to be a better child of God myself. Amen!

How many stars do you have with God?

Blessings,

Cristina

A small victory!

I do not like doing things alone. In my opinion, all aspects of life should be a social event. There are a few exceptions though, like going grocery shopping and using the bathroom. But ofcourse as a Mom, doesn't it always seem like when you're finding those 5 minutes of peace in the bathroom, the world is going to collapse if you don't come out and find the 'thingamagig' that was on top of the 'whatsitcalled'?

Well today ladies and gents, I have a small victory to share with you. Exercise is my small victory that will hopefully lead to an amazing win at the Battle of the Bulge! Exercise is my 5 minutes of sanity, whether it lasts 5 minutes or an hour. Although I much rather do it with a group of girlfriends like my Swagger Moms or the ladies at Stroller Strength, at times I have to do it alone and that take serious effort.

One of my create goals for the year is to challenge myself in health and fitness. Challenge to me means, that even if I can't get out and meet up with some friends for a run, I will hold myself accountable to do some form of exercise. This is where my friends at Comcast come in, and really they are nobody's friend. They have Exercise TV on DEMAND! Wooohoo. My girl Jackie Warner is on there and she's all that and a bag of baby carrots! Check her out at www.jackiewarner.com!

Two days ago I got started with my personal trainer, Jackie Warner on TV with her total body workout. Talk about a but kicking! It was hard while I was getting through it, and even after I was done my butt kept flexing by itself! How's that for a mental picture!? When I woke up the next day my body was sore in places I never knew I had! It was great! So, I took a day off yesterday and today I was back on it. I decided to do a 20 minute upper body workout with Jackie.

So if you're wondering where's my small victory for the day is, here it is! I workedout for 20 minutes today while my baby took a nap! Yes, I did something for ME! It feels so good not to have to think about planning my workouts that I just follow along and before I know it, I'm done! I wish I could have gone for longer but my baby's 20 minute nap doesn't allow for much. Here's a bonus victory, for lunch, a mixed greens salad with chicken, red onions, tomatoes and balsamic ving dressing.

Oh yea! Who's on a roll today? This girl! Go me! I'll toot my horn, you know why? Because, I'm daring and challenging myself to create a better me, for me and my family!

In fitness & in health,

Cristina

Sometimes life's big lessons come in small packages.

I meant to write about this yesterday when it happened but I guess its better late than never. Yesterday my son came home with a not so good report from school. He got a 3 for the day, which means that he was warned at least 2 times about something. So after, we had a serious and stern heart to heart he says, "Mami, I need to go in my room and do something in private." I said, 'fine just make it quick.' He was gone for about 5 minutes when I decided to check on him. I had my 'mean' Mom walk going, my face was stern, my voice was getting ready to be as loud as humanly possible because I was certain he was up to no good. As I approach his door, I'm forced to stop myself when I see him reading his Bible and praying. I walked away, shocked, glad, and overjoyed. I said a silent prayer in thanks to God for giving me a child that knows that in times of need, even when Mom is being the 'punisher' he can always look to God for reasurrance and guidance, and called him back to the table for homework.

I just wanted to share this with you because it put in perspective for me that if a 6 year old can sneak away for 5 minutes and read the Bible and pray with God then so can I. God has a funny way of talking to us, and he spoke to me through my son. Create- a relationship with God, make time to pray & read the Word. You will see how it will change your life.

Blessings,

Cristina

Create a better, care free YOU!

For my lady friends out there. I just want to know if I'm alone on this one. I had the 'appointment' with 'THE doctor' today, and as I'm getting ready I shower, take the time to shave my legs and dress in anything other than workout clothes to look nice, I wondered, why am I doing this?

My doctor is not a male and I don't really see them that often to consider her a friend so my question is, why do we do this? Is it out of courtesy that we shave our legs so they don't think you're a slob? Do we take showers before hand in the event something goes wrong 'down there'? Are we afraid to be judged by the contents of our insides?

I'm not sure but I do know that we are always afraid of others judging us. Betty Sue and Joe Shmoe don't pay my bills so how I look, or what I drive is none of their business. If my hooptie makes them feel better about their $500 Lexus payment then by all means stare!

I can go on to say the reason why I dressed nice for my doctor's appointment was because I had a lot of errands to run afterwards but I really didn't have anything else to do afterwards. I would have loved nothing more than to go in the office with my usual attire, but some social norm didn't allow me to. On any given day I walk out of my house in workout pants and a sweatshirt and I'm good to run all errands. Heck, I even think the workout gear gives me a bit of an advantage as I zoom past the old lady at the commissary, dri-fit pants, hoodie, and light weight running shoes! But like I said, the fear of being judged by my doctor or anyone in the waiting area, well scared me a little.

But there is something about appointments that we as women, just don't take lightly. Unless its a workout meet up, where you know everyone will be at their most natural. When you schedule a coffee date with a friend, you're like, 'which top, what shoes, what jeans'? It doesn't matter what you wear! Your friends like you for your company, your humor, your brains, not by what new shoes you're wearing, although they may be a great topic of conversation at some point.

My point is that we as women, moms, friends, are too hard on ourselves over everything! We are too afraid to be judged and while at home we are ok with not having it together. We have to feel the same way when we walk out of our door. I'm not saying, don't take any time to look pretty when you leave your house, but if by chance you dont have the time or just don't feel like it, then DONT! It's ok not to have to impress every Betty Sue you bump into at Target. As a woman its important to take care of you and sometimes it comes in the form of putting on your most comfortable clothes going out to run errands and saying, 'here I am world, take me the way I am or look the other way!'. It's empowering trust me! Create- a better, care free, YOU!

Creatively yours,

Cristina

Create- Day 1

Thanks to Whitney I've been introduced to the word 'create' and forced to think about how I want to 'create' my life. That's powerful! So here are my goals for 2011, notice how I said 'goals' and not 'resolutions'....resolutions are overrated and never really happen for me. So here goes a new perspective.



1. To create a fulfilling relationship with God by making time to pray, read the Bible and journal.

• How hard is it to steal time away to pray, meditate, whatever you do, make time for it! It makes you a better parent, mom, wife, human, whatever your role is in life, you will be better at it because you took the time to center yourself.

2. To create a respectful, happy marriage.

• Not to say that we do not have respect for each other but between deployments, duty days, and the daily frustrations of work, kids, finances and life, sometimes we forget what we wanted or expected from our partner when you married them. Does that make sense?

3. To create confident, strong, and healthy children.

• I am overprotective and expect a lot from my 6 year old, but I want him to believe he can be and do anything he sets his mind to. I want his talents to shine and give him every opportunity to share them with the world!


• I want to teach my children to eat healthy, but not obsess over food.

4. To create a better version of me.

• By continually challenging myself in all aspects of life. (love, relationships, health, fitness)


• I want to be completely transparent and not be afraid to show that I'm not perfect, I do break down and that I don't have it all together.

I hope to use this blog as a way of being accountable for my goals of 2011. What are your goals for the new year?

Wishing you creativity this new year,

Cristina