Restaurant Tip

I love Lisa Lillen, aka Hungry Girl. She has amazing tips for weight loss and great ideas on substituting other ingredients in recipes to make them less calories!

So the next time you get to go out on a nice date with your husband, or just out dinner, use some her recent tips at different types of restaurant's:

Mexican-
You might think the salad is the healthiest option here. But HG says most taco salads are smothered in fatty toppings and served in greasy shells. Go with chicken or shrimp soft tacos for about 200 calories each, pass on the sour cream and pile on some salsa. Spicy food helps you feel satisfied and may even boost your metabolism.

Chinese-
Broth based soups fill you up, so have a cup of egg drop or hot and sour soup for about 80 calories. Then share an order of steamed shrimp dumplings about 50 calories per dumping. Then get beef with broccoli. It will be plenty of food, as most Chinese entrees are meant for two. Order any entree steamed with sauce on the side to cut the fat.

Italian-
Order an appetizer as soon as you're seated, such as minestrone soup or side salad with vinegar and oil, so you won't be tempted to devour the entire bread basket. If you want pasta, ask for it as a side to grilled chicken or fish dish get the taste you love but in a smaller portion. Just be sure to skip the creamy Alfredo sauces, choose a tomato based sauce instead.

Japanese-
Start with the super light miso soup, edamame, or seaweed salad. Then steer clear of rolls with the words tempura, crunch, dynamite and spider in them. Those are typically stuffed with fried shrimp and crab or covered in globs of mayo. Instead, share a variety of more traditional fish or veggies rolls, like salon or yellowtail and some sashimi.

American-
Start with the ultimate guilt free appetizer, shrimp cocktail. An order usually has less than 100 calories and hardly any fat. Next, take a look for petite sirloin or filet mignon with veggies instead of spuds. Don't like steak? Try a non fried app and a salad instead of an entree;. Ad those trendy mini desserts, go for it.

Hide Your Veggies

I love making things and then telling my husband what is in them after he eats them. I don't poison him, silly, I mean making it healthier. Like, substituting low fat applesauce for oil. In Redbook's May 2011 issue they had some great vegetable purees you can add to your cooking and baking, and no one will ever know!

Purple Puree:
6 cups raw spinach
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, slightly thawed

Puree all ingredients with 2 tablespoons of water in a food processor until smooth. If necessary add another 1 to 2 tablespoons for a smoother consistency.

Use it in:

• brownies-substitute for half of the oil the recipe calls for.
• Taco Meat-Add 1/2 cup per pound of beef.
• Burgers-Use 1/4 cup per pound of meat.

Green Puree:
2 cups broccoli florets, fresh or frozen
2 cups raw baby spinach
1 cup frozen sweet peas

Steam broccoli and spinach over 2 inches of water for about ten minutes or until very tender. Add peas for last 2 minutes. Drain; add to food processor with 2 tablespoons of water. Puree on high till smooth.

Use it in:

• Guacamole, use in place of 1/3 of the avocado
• Lasagna-substitute for 1/3 of the sauce with puree
• Chili-stir in 1/2 cup per batch

Orange Puree:
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced into chunks

In a medium pot, cover potatoes and carrots with water and boil for about 20 miutes until very tender. Drain and place in food processor with 2 tablespoons of water. Puree on high until smooth.

Use in:

• Banana bread-substitute for half of the the oil or butter the recipe calls for
• Mac & Cheese-add up to 1/4 cup to a box of prepared mac and cheese

White Puree:
2 cans(15 ounces) if white beans, like great northern, navy or canneillini

Rinse and drain beans, place in a food processor. Puree with 2 tablespoons of water until you get a smooth(not wet) puree, like the consistency of peanut butter. If necessary, thin with 1 teaspoon of water.

Use it in:

• Coffee cakes, muffins or chocolate chip, oatmeal or sugar cookies-substitute for half the butter the recipe calls for.

Sugar Sugar

If I'm going to consume some sugary goodness, I want in the form of something peanut butter!!! But some common everyday foods, that you would think that would be good for you, aren't, because the sugar content is SO high!

1. Yoplait Fat Free Harvest Peach Yogurt-26 grams of sugar!! That equals the same of amount of sugar in 2 chocolate frosted doughnuts!
2. Quaker Instant Oatmeal Strawberries and Cream-12 grams of sugar!! That equals 1 brown sugar cinnamon pop-tart!
3. SOBE Energize Green Tea-61 grams of sugar!! That equals one bottle of regular Sierra Mist or Sprite.
4. Mott's Original Apple Sauce-25 grams of sugar!! That equals about a cup of Beyer's Natural Vanilla Ice Cream.

Truth of the matter here is that you need to read labels. Don't judge a book by it's cover, READ labels! It may seem super healthy, but read the label!!

Rebook May 2011

Goal Getting

You need to eat right and exercise to lose weight, it's no joke and we all know it. But if you don't believe in your self, you will never achieve your goals.

So, stay positive, sometimes when you think about something over and over you start to believe it. Every time you think about something negative change it to an upbeat thought.

You need to have a clear image of what you want to achieve. So close your lids and see your self 10 pounds lighter.

Write down what makes you happy. You'll see what you have all to be grateful for, it will make you more willing to go after your goal.

What's Healthier?

Shape had a great article in their February 2011 issue. It was called What's Healthier?

Basically, we all know that food is not created equal, so they paired some common items together and picked the better of the two.

Glazed doughnut or bagel with cream cheese:
The winner is:
Glazed doughnut.
A medium bagel has 320 calories and that's not even including the cream cheese, while the doughnut has 260 calories and 2 grams less of fat then bagel with cream cheese. If you want the bagel, then use some low fat peanut butter instead of cream cheese.

French toast or pancakes:
The winner is:
French Toast
They are pretty equal calorie wise, the french toast has 150 calories per slice and the pancake has about 175 calories, both 7 grams of fat, but the kicker here is that the french toast has an egg coating, which is protein, which also gives it more moisture, which means you probably won't add the extra 100 calories of syrup either.

Nuts or dried fruit
The winner is:
Nuts
They are higher in calories and fat, but nuts are packed with vitamin E, fiber and protein. Most of the fat is non-saturated healthy fat.

Chicken thighs or pork chops
The winner is:
Pork Chop
While chicken would seem to be the answer here, only chicken breast is the leanest meat. If you eat a lean cut of pork like a loin for a 3 ounce serving is 100 calories, while a 3 ounce chicken thigh is about 177 calories.

Soft pretzel or hot dog
The winner is:
Soft pretzel
While they are both equal in calories, the hot dog has 21 grams of fat and 1,000 MORE milligrams of sodium. The pretzel has 4 grams of fat and 557 milligrams of sodium.

Some Awesome Easy Freebies

All For You Magazine had some great ways to snag some easy freebies:

1. Calls on your smartphone-If your cell phone has Wi-Fi Access, download the free Skype App to call any friend in your network without using the minutes in your plan.
2. Editing photos-you don't need to get expensive programs, use Picnik.com to edit your photos, you can crop, re size, rotate, and add special effects, fonts and more.
3. Faxing-use Faxzero.com, you can fax an online document for free to any fax machine.
4. Do you need to file your paperwork or electronic files need to be organized, visit box.net, where you can safely store up to 50 GB. You can access the files from anywhere, with a touch of a button.
5. Need stationary? Type "free printable stationery"into Google images and search and get a dozen of designs. Find more at freeprintablestationery.net and squidoo.com.
6. Use shopittome.com, searches for your favorite stores daily for on-sale clothes in your size and then emails it to you.
7. Pandora.com, let's you create your own radio station and listen for free.
8. Can't get out to a gym, use exercise TV on demand! Free workout programs!
   

Kiley is 9 Months!

Kiley 9 months old already! I can't believe how fast time really goes when you have a baby.


You are doing SO many new things and it's all happening so fast! The biggest milestone this month is that you are CRAWLING, like really crawling, Mommy has to post a video of it. No more of your silly belly flop, army crawl. You've got it down pact and everyday you are getting faster. You have also discovered you can stand and find it quite fun to do it every chance you get. You are really interested in walking and getting the hang of it on your walker. It's so funny to look at you because you aren't this little baby anymore, your this little person! You love to wave, you wave when when say Hi and Bye, you're so smart! You love to pull your self up on things, it takes a lot of concentration, but you can get it. You just started this new thing this week, where you do the downward dog Pilate pose, not sure if you are tying to a head stand or what =)

Mommy is still trying to get you to say "Mamama" but you are still stuck on saying "Dadada." Our conversations have been going like this, Mommy say's "Mamama," Kiley says "Dadada", Daddy days "Mamama" and Kiley responds, "DaDa, then blows raspberries" It's so stinking cute!

You are eating a lot of new things, like big people crackers. You tried some pasta. You are loving all of the home made food Mommy makes for you. No teeth yet, but we are just enjoying that gummy smile a little longer. You love Puggie and her doggie tags, that's your favorite thing to get after. You are no longer interested in any of your own toys, you want everything but them!

I don't have your official 9 months stats, but we go to the pedi this week, so I'll update the post with that information!

Daddy and I love watching you grow so much everyday Kiley bug!

Freebie Tips

It's so easy these days to get freebies from the big old internet, here are a few tips:

On Twitter:

• Use the hashtags #free, #freebie, #freebies and #freestuff.
• If you really like something, tweet about it.
• Follow these handles @HeyItsFree, @FreeStuffROCKS

On Facebook:

• "Like" company pages, including stores and restaurants, they often have free samples/products or printable coupons.