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Weigh-In Wednesday: Week 20

September 18, 2013 by Sara- Words to Run By Blog

Weigh-In Wednesday Weekly Stats

Weight Watchers Week Number: 20

Lbs Lost this Week: + 2.6

Lbs Lost Total: – 12.2

WW Stars Earned this Week: None

Food of the Week

I am excited to say I made an effort to increase the amount of vegetables I ate this week and have conquered my fear of how-to-cook-eggplant! I made this old Native American Recipe (I found it online, but am not sure where) called Baked Vegetables of the Vine and it was sooo good!

How to Make It (a.k.a Be Creative, I adapted this recipe to suite my tastes)

You Need:

(Takes about 15 minutes to prep)

2 onions, peeled and chopped (I left mine in rings)
2 gloves garlic, peeled and crushed (I buy mine that way in Olive Oil)
2 cucumbers, zucchini and/or yellow squash, washed and sliced (I used a little of each, cut into rings)
1 large eggplant, washed and sliced (I cut mine into rings)
2 green, yellow, red or orange bell peppers, washed, cored and cut (I used red and green and cut into rings as well)
2 fresh from the vine tomatoes, washed, cored and sliced (again, rings)
Olive or other oil of your choosing
Salt, to taste
Black pepper, to taste (I use fresh cracked peppercorns)
Oregano, to taste
Cumin, to taste
Sage, to taste
Dill, to taste
Garlic Powder, to taste

Instructions:

(Takes about 1 hour, 15 minutes to cook)

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix all dry spices (enough to lightly cover all the vegetables) in a large bowl and set aside
Pour some of the oil and crushed garlic in the bottom of a large (enough to hold your vegetables) baking pan or casserole dish
Spread oil and garlic to coat bottom of pan
Place all of the sliced onions on top of the garlic and oil, in one flat layer
Sprinkle onions with dry seasonings and a touch of oil
Repeat with each vegetable (except the tomato), ensuring each vegetable has it’s own layer
Season and oil between each layer
Cover and bake in the oven for 1 hour
After 1 hour, remove vegetables and add sliced tomatoes to the top layer
Return to oven uncovered and bake for 15 minutes more
Serve hot and enjoy!

Activity of the Week

I did not run Pretty Muddy Central Ohio. I did not think it would be a good idea considering I have not run since I hurt my ankle several weeks ago now. I need to get back on track with something, though.

Personal Weight Loss Goals (crossed off when reached)

I want to lose…

~~10 lbs~~
20 lbs
30 lbs
35 lbs
40 lbs
45 lbs
50 lbs
55 lbs
60 lbs
65 lbs
70 lbs

Personal Fitness Goals (crossed off when reached)

I will…

~~Run a 5K~~ Read all about it here.
Run a Quarter Marathon or 10K
Run a Mud/Obstacle Race
Run a Half Marathon
Start Strength Training (again)
Backpack (more)
Start Biking

Reflections

I’m pretty disappointed this week, to be honest. I worked hard at keeping track of what I ate and it was much healthier. We didn’t eat out and I actually went to the grocery store with a planned out menu and left $120 later to avoid mindless eating on the fly! I especially paid attention to portion sizes and increased the amount of vegetables I ate. I even felt like I lost weight. I was actually feeling great until I got on the scale.

Reader’s Recap

Nothing to share since last Wednesday. Lately I feel like I am in a blogging slump (not to mention running, eating and weight-loss slump), but I am hoping Blog School helps with that! I am working on my first assignment this week and am already loving all of the ladies I have met through the community group.

Photo Recap

On Monday I made Cherokee Chicken, which consisted of fresh chicken breasts, onions, green peppers and cranberries. I wasn’t sure about the combination of flavors, but it was also very good. My husband ate his with Butternut Squash risotto. I skipped the risotto and had a peach after dinner.

Question of the Week

What vegetable to you avoid cooking because you don’t know how?

Until the next mile marker,

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Nutrition and Food, Weight Loss

Easy Shredded Crock Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos

August 2, 2013 by Sara- Words to Run By Blog

While I love peppers (the hotter the better), in the past, Chipotle has not been one of my favorite flavors of peppers so I don’t cook with them very often. I also have never made and then shredded meat for a dish. This Easy Shredded Crock Pot Chipotle Chicken Tacos recipe is changing my mind about Chipotle Peppers and shredding meat. It was super easy and so delicious!

In case you didn’t know, a chipotle comes from the Nahuatl (language of the Aztecs) word chilpoctli meaning “smoked chili.” It is a smoke-dried jalapeno (or chili) used primarily in Mexican and Mexican-inspired cuisines, such as Mexican-American and Tex-Mex. This recipe calls for canned Chipotle Peppers in Adobo sauce and you can find them in the Latin aisle of most grocery stores. I get the ones made by Embasa, which look like this:

I don’t find Chipotle peppers to be overly spicy, but they can be depending on the amount you use. Chipotles have a rich smoky flavor which forms the basis of flavor for this dish and it is enhanced by the additional smokiness of the Adobo Sauce. If you don’t like any spice, just use the Adobo sauce, but I suggest you use at least one or two whole peppers to add flavor to your meat. By keeping the peppers whole, much of the spice remains in the pepper anyway and you will get wonderful flavor.

This recipe is really simple and can have many variations in how you serve it, but just remember the simplicity is what makes it so good.

What You Will Need

1.5-2 pounds chicken (I used thighs with skin when I made it because that is what we had, but you could use whatever!) Note: You can use more chicken for more servings or leftovers
1 medium to large sliced red onion
2 cloves minced garlic
Ground black peppercorns (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
2 canned chipotle peppers (or to taste – I used the whole can) and Adobo Sauce
1 cup diced red onions
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro (dry will not work for this recipe)
Corn (or flour) tortillas

How to Make It

Generously season your chicken with the salt and pepper.

Place chicken in a crock pot. Add sliced onion, garlic, chipotles with sauce and enough water to just cover the chicken.

Cover crock pot and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4 hours on high (until chicken is cooked through and falling off the bone).

Remove chicken from cooking liquid, and set aside until cool enough to handle. You can either choose to keep or remove the skin before shredding, depending on your personal preference. My husband likes the skin so I left it and in my serving, I ate the pieces with no skin to reduce some of my fat intake.

Shred chicken with a fork and place shredded pieces on a serving dish/plate.

Spoon some of the liquid from the crock pot (onions included!) over the shredded chicken.

Remove the peppers from the crock pot and chop, set aside to serve (if you want extra spice on your tacos)

Assemble Your Tacos

Grab a corn or flour tortilla and fill with chicken

Top with diced red onions, chopped chipotles and cilantro

Enjoy!

This recipe is really limitless in the possibilities so feel free to be creative with toppings and assembly, although the simplicity of it is part of what makes it delicious! The combination of sweet (from the red onions, tortillas), spicy (chipotles) and smoky (Adobo) is perfect just the way it is prepared – fresh, simple and elegant just the way it is.

Going Paleo? Try making it with Cauliflower Tortillas instead, you can find a great recipe here from We can Begin to Feed.

Until the next mile marker,

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Nutrition and Food

Weigh-In Wednesday: Week 4

May 29, 2013 by Sara- Words to Run By Blog

I know a lot of us health and fitness bloggers talk about weight-loss, sometimes it is all we talk about, it seems! I certainly don’t want to bore anyone, but one of the reasons I started running in the first place was to get healthy and then I started blogging about my accomplishments as a means to share them while encouraging others as well as holding myself accountable. Since I got sick/injured, I gained back the weight I had worked so hard to lose (and then some). As I continue to recover, I have also started to realize it is up to me to lose weight in order to decrease my chances of having a second blood clot (as well as other health complications) and get back to the active lifestyle I miss so much. I joined Weight Watchers Online about a month ago and have had success with the program, just like before and just like my mother did. However, I know weight-loss and commitment to a plan gets harder as you go along, so I have started Weigh-In Wednesday as a means of holding myself accountable to my activity and food plans and to hopefully help others with their weight-loss journey as well. With WW Online, you do not have the support or accountability of meetings and although it is a thousand times more convenient (especially with the mobile app), I have found that simply putting the information out there for others to read, see or hear is one of the best motivators. So, here it is for all to see – and it’s not easy, but hey, is anything that’s worth it?

Weekly Stats

Weight Watchers Week Number: 4

Lbs Lost this Week: + o.6

Lbs Lost Total: – 1o.8

WW Stars Earned this Week: None

Food of the Week

As you may know from reading my blog, I have worked really hard to greatly reduce (if not eliminate) grains from my diet because I believe they are unhealthy, especially for me and my specific blood clotting disorder. You can read more about it in my review of It Starts With Food by Dallas & Melissa Hartwig. My favorite meal this week was indeed paleo and consisted of a perfectly grilled ribeye (also my treat for the week) and grilled vegetables.

How to Make It:

Just season meat and vegetables of your choice with a bit of olive oil and seasoning (I used a Sea Salt blend) and grill to perfection.

Activity of the Week

My favorite workout this week was treading water for about 20 minutes (before winter returned to Central Ohio) and it was so refreshing and kind of fun (but hard work, especially for my still recovering lung).

Personal Weight Loss Goals (crossed off when reached)

I want to lose…
~~10 lbs~~
20 lbs
30 lbs
35 lbs
40 lbs
45 lbs
50 lbs
55 lbs
60 lbs
65 lbs
70 lbs

Personal Fitness Goals (crossed off when reached)

I will…
Run a Quarter Marathon (Emerald City; Dublin, Ohio; August 25, 2013)
Run a Mud/Obstacle Race (Pretty Muddy Women’s Mud Run 5K; Columbus, Ohio September 14, 2013)
Run a Half Marathon
Start Biking

Reflections

I am trying to spend more time learning about and observing nature – I happened to observe this while working in my garden this week. I title it “Babies need mamas no matter what the species”. These mallard chicks were very interesting to watch as they tried to eat, walk and talk just like Mom.