Photo book memoirs... birth, 6mo.,1yr.

One thing I thought I'd share tonight is something I do with our pictures of the kids. After birth I did a photo book of our daughter's hospital and coming home photo's because I had a coupon code from Shutterfly.com for a free one... seemed like an obvious decision to me! After that I did one again at 6 months (with another code) and another at a year. Since they worked out so great for my daughter I've done this with my son too, birth, 6 month annnnd... I just completed his one year book and might I add, I have not paid anything other than shipping and the cost of adding extra pages (if I chose to do so) on ANY of them! IF you haven't already join shutterfly and watch out for the emails, these make great gifts and memoirs also!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly photo books offer a variety of layouts and cover options to choose from.

My weight loss journey... and INSANITY

Wanted to share something for those who may be considering a work out plan, routine or however you would like to call it. After having 2 babies 12months apart (yes I know some of you are thinking I'm crazy and that's fine but I count myself VERY blessed) I needed to lose weight. When I say I needed to lose weight I don't mean 10 or 15 pounds I needed to lose like 55 to be where I was happy. Doctors didn't tell me to but there was no better time to get rid of the weight I had gained both following a miscarriage, the small period of depression afterwards and 2 following pregnancies. My body had left, and when I say that I mean I let it go, after the miscarriage I didn't really care about my body and my first pregnancy I ate ALL the time. Now, with my second pregnancy, my son, I didn't gain but about 15lbs which was right at the edge of not enough, they were telling me to try to gain which was a whole new territory for me lol. Both pregnancies ended in bed rest, my second was 12 LONG weeks of it and I was going crazy wanting to just go for a walk, something, not to mention I was so heartbroken that I couldn't be the "mom" my still baby girl (under 1) needed me to be. Long story short, my son was delivered via emergency c-section at 33 weeks so this was a time of worry and concern and I must say such a hard time watching him and leaving him in the NICU for a month straight hooked up to machines helping him breath and so on (this is a long story and so I'll skip the details and get back to the weight loss part). This threw another excuse up there for me to gain weight. At this point though, I was stressed passed the "don't know what to do" stage and so this time I took a little more control, for some reason I tend to do better under pressure in stead of the usual opposite. I started dieting the normal 6 weeks after delivery and following the release from my surgery I started workouts slowly. Starting with doing allot of the elliptical because that's something I enjoy (and I had one at home) to doing some home work out videos and things along those lines... A stay at home mom with 2 kids ages 2 and infant doesn't really leave time for gym's or what not so this was all on me, I had to figure out a way to do it from my living room.

I did several workout videos until they became easy (and I don't mean easy as in they didn't work just felt like I wasn't pushing myself anymore). Then there came INSANITY, my lovely husband saw a commercial and told me about some people at work he heard talking about it so I looked it up, and some times I wish he never mentioned it but other times (after I'm done lol) I LOVE IT! It is hard, and most definitely not for beginners as it says several times too but it is worth it! Never thought I would be able to even hang in there with it but I did, even had to get a rag to wipe sweat while I was doing it and I drank SO much water. Even purchased a heart rate monitor. But, again, it is WORTH IT! This was not the end of my weight loss but I can guarantee you I wouldn't be anywhere close without it. Within about 6 months (including the Insanity time period) I lost over 30lbs. I was so incredibly proud of myself, my determination, motivation, everything that helped me reach that point. Then, seemingly like one thing after another we had some life changes and I let myself get side tracked... blah blah blah, nothing that I couldn't have pushed thru had I worked even harder, but I didn't. 

Now, if you remember from the beginning, I needed to lose 55lbs and I had only completed 30... So, I am now feeling as if I'm starting over, which I'm not but it feels like that because I stopped for several months. Just a few days ago I started back with Insanity, not without my doubts creeping back up but I started. I am not a quitter and I WILL finish this goal. I have to lose this weight and FINALLY be able to say I am where I want to be not where anyone else thinks I'm good at but where I can look at myself in the mirror and feel confident about what I see. Never had a perfect body, but it was mine and I want it back! :)

I write all this now to hopefully encourage some of you who are considering a weight loss journey beginning or trying to find the motivation to NOT quit! DON'T, if your thinking about quitting before you reach your goal, just don't, I can tell you from experience you will not be satisfied until you reach your goal. However, never set an unreasonable or unhealthy goal for yourself, evaluate it, make it something that makes sense both for your health and for your confidence in appearance. And if reaching your goal compromises your health, then yes, stop and reevaluate! Health should always be first, do not compromise your health to reach a goal that is not right for you or to be skinnier. Being skinny isn't the goal, being healthy and confident is. Make sure you do that, I cannot stress enough that your health needs to come first, don't compromise that and as insanity suggests, seek medical advice before starting a routine as vigorous as it is.

What's for dinner? Pizza night!

The other night we tried something I found on Pinterest (yes, I'm addicted to pinterest). It was a great concept but for some reason the amounts did not turn out just right for us. My husband tried it and I tried it also, both came up with about the same thing but still more flour than the recipe I found had. SO, this time around I measured it out and here is our recipe we used for Pizza dough, SUPER SIMPLE 2 ingredient pizza dough that is!

1c plain greek yogurt

2c self rising flour (a little extra for dusting your hands and surface also)

Yep, that is all!

(roll out to about 1/4 inch)

Now you can top it with whatever you like, it being our daughters favorite we used mushrooms and pepperoni and cheese!

 

And as it goes most times when we are cooking, here is our little helper who found her way to the counter!

 

 

Brush on some garlic butter at the end and you are done!

 

ENJOY! 

Whats for dinner? Croissant roll-ups

This is from the other night, nothing difficult to do but we needed a simple and quick meal so these were it!

First there was the simple pizza rolls,

lay out the croussaints on pan as directed by packaging. Spoon a small amount (about 1-2tbsp) of pizza sauce onto the croissants.

 

Add some cheddar cheese, (or mozzarella if you prefer) and some pepperonis if you want.

 

Roll them up and bake as directed on packaging.

And then there are the Roast Beef ones, again, unroll and lay out croissants as directed on packaging place 1/4 slice of provolone on the croissant, then lay on roast beef (i shredded mine up one slice per croissant). Then lay another 1/4 slice of provolone on top of roast beef. Saute 1/2 small onion in small amount of olive oil and about 2 tsp garlic salt until transluscent. Divide these onions onto the cheese.

Roll up and bake as directed on packaging.

 

(the roast beef ones after being baked... I didnt get a picture of the pizza ones sorry)

Simple dinner for those busy nights!

ENJOY!

Loaded Chocolate Cookies

Loaded Chocolate Cookies

3/4c white sugar

3/4c dark brown sugar

2 sticks butter (softened)

1/4c cocoa

1tbsp vanilla

2 eggs

2c Self rising flour

1c mini marshmallows

1 1/2c semi sweet chocolate chips

(ok so everything is pictured, BUT apparently I forgot to add the vanilla into the picture so lets just ignore that mistake lol)

My daughter, Annabelle is just over 2 years old and aside from being miss chatty, she LOVES to help me with anything, cleaning, taking care of her little brother, any chores but most of all she loves to cook or bake so every now and then we forget the things that need to be done and simply enjoy things together. Today, Cayden (little brother) was happy playing with his toys and she wanted to bake so instead of our usual chores this morning we made some cookies together. This, well this is one of my all time favorite parts of being a stay at home mom! Yes, I take care of the house, the kids, the meals and all that BUT, the little moments that we can laugh and play doing things together and making memories with one another... That is the BEST part.

Here is miss Annabelle (her messy hair and all) using the mixer all by herself...

So, on to the cookies...

In a mixing bowl, cream butter and both sugars together. Add vanilla and cocoa and mix again. Add flour and mix well on slow speed, then add eggs and continue to mix on low speed until well blended.

Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon cookies onto greased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart then place 2 or 3 marshmallows on each cookie. Bake at 350 for approx 7-8 minutes. Let stand on pan for about 3 minutes to firm up some and then transfer to baking rack to finish cooling.

 

(Annabelle Rose... so proud of her baking skills :)

YUMMMMMM... 

And most of all, they are kid approved... Little brother likes when we bake.

This is a recipe we threw together today, but I wrote it all down as I went so I'd be able to remember it all and they turned out great! Extra chocolate and yummy bites! Maybe this recipe will make it into your kitchen making memories with your family!

ENJOY!

Whats for dinner?... Stuffed portobello, Easy glazed carrots & rice with gravy!

So, what's for dinner? Last night we had one of my husbands (and my daughters) favorites, stuffed portobello mushrooms! Now keep in mind, this is one of my own recipe/creation so there is no exact science to my cooking. I don't generally measure things but I am going to put down what is in it and the amount I try to stay around I trust you can use your judgement if it needs a little more or less. I LOVE to cook, and so these post's will be ideas and things we came up with or recipes we use to create the meals we enjoy. If you have any questions on anything you can surely ask!

Teriyaki Stuffed Portobello

4 large portobello mushrooms

1lb hamburger

1bag mozzarella shredded cheese

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt

Garlic salt

1 medium onion

1/2c teriyaki (see bellow for brand but any will probably do)

1/4 c soy sauce

4tbsp minced garlic

1tomato diced

First off, I washed the mushroom and pulled the stems out (save them for the gavy) then in an 11x13 pan I drizzled some olive oil and used a pastry brush to coat the bottom of the pan. Put the mushrooms in the pan stem side up.

 

Next, in a large sauce pan, saute 1 onion and the 1lb hamburger meat together with 2 tbsp minced garlic and 1 tbsp garlic salt. (Portobello mushrooms are great as the "meat" of a meal, but, husband is quite the fan of meat so most meals will include necessary or not lol... oh, and we are ALL lovers of garlic so you can expect to see that in most every meal)

Once the meat is browned and the onions translucent add in approx. 1/8c Soy and 1/4c Teriyaki sauce (this kind pictured has a GREAT flavor and we use it quite often but if you have one you like I'm sure it'll do the trick). Then let simmer for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add salt to taste.

 

While the meat, onion mixture simmer top all of the mushrooms with about 1/8c chz per mushroom

Once the meat mixture is thru simmering spoon mixture onto mushrooms. (it's ok if a little of the mixture is left in the pan, you'll use the same pan to make your gravy)

Let the mushrooms sit aside for a few minutes. In the same pan as the meat mixture add approx. 4c water and 2 bullion cubes.

Cut up the stems that were pulled from the mushrooms and add them to the pan as well. Add approx 1tbsp salt, 2tsp garlic salt and 2 tbsp minced garlic. Once the bullion is dissolved good add 1/4c teriyaki sauce and 1/8c soy sauce then mix 1c cold water with 2tbsp corn starch and add to the mixture, bring to boil and cook until thicken slightly. Add more to your preference of "thickness" for gravy.

Once the gravy is to your preference (you may need to add a little salt, I tend to under-guess my salt allot due to I need more salt then most people so I dont want to tell you too much and it be too salty). At this point, spoon a small amount of gravy on each mushroom and top again with cheese.

Top the mushrooms and cheese with the diced tomato.

Bake at 350 for approx 15minutes or until you can see the mushroom side soften and start to fall a little.

We served with rice and extra gravy and some easy glazed carrots.

2 cans sliced carrots (mostly drained)

1/8c brown sugar

1/4 c teriyaki sauce

Cook the carrots approx 5 min and then add teriyaki and brown sugar, cook an additional 5 minutes. Voila!

 

ENJOY!

DIY Christmas Wreath "Joy"

A DIY wreath. Just some Christmas tree picks, a basic wreath for a base and a glue gun. All the items were bought at Hobby Lobby ( only my favorite craft store :)). I purchased 2 red leaf picks that had a hint of lime green, 3 bunches of green picks that I seperated to add the green hints in around, 2 bunches of gold spiral picks that I also seperated out around it, blank wooden letters quickly transformed with some craft paint and lastly some ribbon to add the final touch! All held together with the great hot glue :)

 

Since I only recently started this blog I apologize since this is in fact a Christmas wreath... But, I'll be making a more neutral one soon hopefully so please check back. Enjoy!

Products I LOVE!

Flaunt jewelry roll! Great product for traveling and keeping it separated and organized... and I love organized!

My story, my life.

This being my first post, first time blogging, I believe the time is appropriate to tell my story. Without my story there is no " me" today because I'm a firm believer that each day, each moment ( the good AND the bad) make and mold you to whomever you are. That being said, above ALL, my God, my salvation is the true reason I'm alive in every sense of the word. My life has been blessed, and that, well that is a true understatement. However, I believe that's the best way to put it because a blessing is a gift from God, and there is no other explanation for all the good in my life.
    Being blessed in life doesn't mean a life without heartache. ( And a note to those hurting for whatever reason, be patient with those around you, they may not know how to handle your problem but chances are you don't know how to handle theirs, heartache, hurt and trials are all unique and even more so in everyones individual lives. We all have them in some sort even if they aren't well known). Ok, back on track here, I've not been thru everything but I believe I've been thru enough to have earned my " grown- up" title even when I think I don't want it. Truth is, even when we don't understand, and may never, God has a plan. Hardest times in my life for me to accept that would have to be my pacemaker at age 14, our miscarriage ( and the brief period I couldn't conceive afterwards), and most recently, last year when we got the call my mom was being air lifted to the hospital with a head injury. Those are several main events, and like all of us there are other times when, even when we know better, we doubt the plan in store for us. Looking back I still don't understand it all but I've accepted it and I'm working each day to learn to accept it sooner rather than later.
   Onto a more positive note, which is what I plan for most of this blog, I have 2 amazingly beautiful children who are in every way our miracle babies and a husband who is always by my side.
    This is me, in a nutshell that is! And this blog, well we will see where it goes. I invite you to follow me, a mom and a wife as I plunder through life's journey learning as I go. This is meant to be a fun outlet, a log for my crafts ( I'm big on trying new things), recipes as I love to cook and a little bit of everything in a woman's way of life. It may take a little time to get acquainted with it all but I hope to share my explorations and life with you all!

Enjoy!
Elizabeth "ellie" Brewer