Tween Girls

As the mom of three girls, I know the teen and tween years are going to be rough. The other day I read an article that sums it up pretty good. It's called The 7 Completely Baffling Personalities of Tween Girls. It was an article from the Huffington Post. It's funny but so true! I hope those of you with teen/tween girls can relate as much as I did.

What to Wear

I have never been a fashionista. When it comes to clothing, I stick with the basics. I'm not good at mixing colors and prints. I'm not up on all the latest trends. Now that I'm losing weight I've decided I want to improve my wardrobe too.

One of my favorite things to do is look for ideas on Pinterest. The other day I found an outfit and looked at the blog it originated from. The blog is called J's Everyday Fashion. This lady is incredible! She creates outfits for the everyday woman on a budget. She finds outfits from celebrities, magazines, etc. and recreates them with items anyone can find. She posts the original picture along with herself in the outfit she created. She also gives information about each piece she is wearing and links to similar items so you can recreate the look yourself.

Let me just say, this is one of my new favorite blogs! There are ideas I would have never thought of. It's great to have one place to go for inspiration. Check it out when you get a chance! Where do you get wardrobe inspiration from?

What's For Dinner?

This week I gave my kids a week off from helping cook. We have several things going on and having dinner as a family every night this week will be difficult. Last night was one night we could be together and I decided to try something new. A while back, I found a recipe on Pinterest for a chicken enchilada casserole. Of course it had all the yummy ingredients that would not help me with my weight loss. I needed to make some adjustments.

I wanted this to be easy. I started off by cooking up some boneless skinless chicken tenders. After they were cooked and shredded, I began assembling. First, I poured a little bit of red enchilada sauce on the bottom of my dish. Next came 2 and a half fajita size flour tortillas. (I used the half tortilla to fill the gap between the other two.) Next came a little more sauce, a small sprinkle of shredded mexican blend cheese, and then the shredded chicken. I drizzled a dab more sauce on top of the chicken and sprinkled a tad more cheese. Continue the layers ending with cheese on top.

I baked this at 350 F for 20 minutes. I wish I had pictures to show but I forgot. Our family ate it up! I was going to put onion in but forgot that too. (Didn't sleep well the night before and I think it was affecting my brain.) I think next time, I will cook the chicken in the crockpot with some onion and peppers.

I divided this into 8 servings. Based on my ingredients, there were only 234 calories per serving. Not bad. I think this will be one of our new staple recipes.

Hot Dog Pizza

My kids love pizza! Have I mentioned that? Of course, who doesn't love it? This weekend a friend shared a simple idea for making pizza and I just had to try it. After it passed the kids taste test, I decided to share it with you all. It's so simple, and it all begins with leftover (or new) hot dog buns.

Simply cut the buns in half and lay them out. Add some pizza sauce, cheese, garlic powder, italian seasoning, and whatever toppings you want. (pepperoni, ham, veggies, etc.). 

Bake at 435 F for 10-12 minutes. It's that easy! I chose to let mine cool after baking and then stick them in a gallon size freezer bag.

I put them in the freezer for the kids to eat for lunch this week. All they will have to do is heat them in the microwave! Thanks for the great idea Christy. Quick, easy, tasty, & cheap! I have a feeling this will become a regular at our house.

Losing Weight

Last year I began a weight loss journey. I decided it was finally time to do something for me! As I've mentioned, I have 3 beautiful daughters. I wouldn't trade them for the world. What I didn't mention is the time frame in which I had them. The oldest and the middle child are 23 months apart. The middle and youngest are 11 months apart. That's 3 kids in just under 4 years! Needless to say it took a toll on my body. It was difficult to lose weight from one child, let alone 3 that close together. Now that the kids are older I knew it was finally time to focus on me.

In January 2013 I began my journey, mainly by just counting calories and watching what I ate. I began using My Fitness Pal. I love it! If you are not familiar with it, you plug in information about your height, weight, how much you want to lose, and how much you want to lose per week and it gives you a weekly goal. It tells you a calorie limit, fat, carbs, protein, etc. All you do is plug in what you eat each day. You can use the website or mobile app. The mobile app even has a barcode scanner. You simply scan the code on the package and it enters the item for you - no searching. The database has just about anything you can imagine! You can create recipes and store them as well. I highly recommend it if you have not used it.

Anyway, from January to April last year I lost 20 pounds. I was so excited because weight loss has always been difficult for me. I don't have a very active job - lots of sitting. I also am not a runner and never have been. I made excuses about finding time to work out. My goal was to lose 75-80 lbs, so I felt I was off to a decent start. As the year went on, I found it harder and harder to maintain my motivation. I ended up gaining 10 lbs back by the end of the year.

I decided to try again this January and was determined to stick with it. In February, my husband and I knew if we were going to keep this up we needed to get more active. We didn't want to pay for a gym membership, so we decided to buy a treadmill. My husband was worried that we would eventually stop using it but we went for it anyway. We decided to put it in our bedroom so we could use it first thing in the morning or before bed without the kids around. One thing that has helped is we put a TV in front of it. We will get on and watch a 1 hour show (either on TV or Netflix) and it helps take our focus off of how things.

As of today, my overall weight loss is at 49.6 lbs. I'm hoping to hit 50 lbs any day now! People that haven't seen me in a while tell me how good I look. I get compliments from family and coworkers. The best part is buying smaller clothes! It's difficult when my size keeps changing but I love it! Last week I ordered a new pair of pans in a size down hoping I would be able to wear them soon. (In a brand I already knew) They came 2 days ago. When I tried them on they were already a little big!

I'm over halfway to my goal and hope to keep this up. Support and encouragement has been a major key in this journey. My husband is on board. My kids have even begun using the treadmill without us suggesting it! We are on our way to being a healthier family!

How about you? Have you tried losing weight and failed? For those who have succeeded, what was your key? Let's encourage each other!


*** Please note, that my opinion of My Fitness Pal is strictly that - my opinion. I have not been paid or reimbursed to endorse it. 

Get Organized!

I used to dream of having a perfectly organized house. Everything in it's proper place. Nothing left out. Ready for company at any time. Then I had kids. From that point on it was just hoping the house looked "okay" for visitors. I tried many things to keep the toys, books, stuffed animals, etc. organized. None of it seemed to work no matter how hard I tried. I'm sure many of you have felt the same way.

A couple of years ago I found something that has helped. One of my favorite blogs ever is IHeart Organizing. Jen has so many great tips and ideas! You may have seen some of her posts on Pinterest or in magazines like Better Homes & Gardens. I wish I was as creative as she is! She also has guest posts from other bloggers and an occasional giveaway. While not everything she comes up with will work for me, I do get some great ideas. Check it out. I bet you'll find something that works for you too!

Time to Eat!

So yesterday I told you about how I'm making my kids help out more around the house. Last week I decided that each kid was going to be responsible for cooking dinner one night. Dinner has always been an event for our family. My middle child is extremely picky! I always said I wasn't going to be one of those moms who cooked dinner and then made something different for the kids to eat. Yeah, I was wrong! Over time it became much easier to let the middle child fix herself something to eat rather than have WW III to get her to eat what I cooked. Now that the kids are older, I've decided it's their turn to help. I thought that maybe if they have a hand in cooking it they will be more likely to eat it.

We gave it a try last week. Needless to say the kids were excited but also nervous. They chose things that were simple (and probably not the healthiest - but you've got to start somewhere!). The oldest decided to make beef tacos. The middle child made pizza grilled cheese sandwiches. The youngest made what we call biscuit pizzas where you make mini pizzas using flattened biscuit dough as the crust. (Can you tell my kids like pizza?) All in all they did a good job. And more importantly, they ate.

I told them that this week they each needed to try something a little more complicated. Monday night, the youngest made homemade chicken nuggets with tater tots. I simplified this for her by using shake n' bake seasoning for chicken as the coating. This allowed the chicken to be baked in the oven instead of on the stove. She still had to cut the chicken up and coat it with the seasoning. She did a fantastic job! There wasn't a single piece left at the end of dinner.

Last night the middle child was supposed to make waffles. She is the pickiest eater, so she has a little more time to ease into this. Unfortunately, when it came time to cook, we could not find our waffle iron. We think it got tossed when we moved last year. Guess we'll be needing a new one! Instead we used the batter and she made pancakes. They were so fluffy and tasty! She was able to mix the batter, scoop it onto the griddle pan, and flip them. I could see the pride in her eyes as she realized she could do this. She even went ahead and made chocolate chip muffins & blueberry muffins for them to eat for breakfast this morning!

Tonight, the oldest is cooking chicken alfredo. She loves this dish and is excited to make it. I'm excited that all I have to do is supervise it! This kids cooking dinner thing is off to a great start. I know it will get better and better as time goes by. Maybe one day they'll be able to have dinner ready when my husband and I get home from work!

Do your kids help cook? Do they like it? What are your strategies for dealing with picky eaters?

Summer

It's hard to believe my kids have been on summer break now for 6 weeks. For them school starts back the first week of August. One thing I decided this year was that they were going to have to take some responsibility over the summer. Because my husband and I both work full time, we don't have a lot of time to do work around the house. The kids are old enough that they can help now. They have two main things they have to do each day. #1 is they must read for 1 hour. My oldest and youngest enjoy reading. However, I knew this would be difficult for my middle child. Luckily, she discovered a new book series just before summer break. She loves it and has had no problem doing her reading every day. #2 is they each have a chore to do every day. Chores can be anything from laundry, to cleaning their room, to cleaning the bathroom. Each day is something different. They each do their own laundry (which helps tremendously!) and have their own specific day to do it. During the summer, they are also responsible for washing towels and bedding.

Surprisingly, the kids have done well with their new responsibility. They have not complained (much) and don't whine when I remind them. They have even called/text me to ask what their chore is if I forget to post it. With only 4 weeks to go before school starts, I better start working on a plan for them to continue this during the school year!

What do you think? Do your kids help out around the house? How do you keep things running smoothly, especially if you work?

Welcome!

Welcome to A Busy Mom's Diary. First, a little about myself. I'm a wife and a mother of three beautiful girls. I love my family with all my heart. Between school and extracurricular activities the kids keep us busy. I also work full time outside of the home. Sometimes there never seems to be enough time in the day. I love music, a good book and a good bargain! I'm also teaching myself to sew and am trying to become a better cook.

This blog will be about me and my life. It will include things I love like crafts and new recipes. It will include ways to save money and be more organized. Basically, there will be a little bit of everything!

Feel free to comment on things you like, make suggestions, anything!