The next Paula Deen...

Ha! I wish! I sure do love cooking though!  Maybe since I am starting to cook more and experimenting with my cooking, I might be half as good as Paula Deen when I have great grandchildren (yes, I said great grand).  Since the lifestyle change I have been trying to cook more, although they may not be the healthiest meals, they sure are delicious!  Two of the meals I made last week I felt were "bloggable."

One night I decided I wanted to cook something with the okra that we picked up from the farmer's market.  After looking through our collection of cookbooks, I came up with my own idea on how to cook okra and tomatoes.  Then I had to decide what I could cook to go with the okra and tomatoes...I settled on baked chicken.  It turned out pretty darn good! 

The start of the okra and tomatoes...bacon always makes everything taste better!

The yummy okra from the local farmer's market

add in the tomatoes and few other key ingredients

then add the okra and voila...okra and tomatoes!

Dinner is served- baked chicken with okra and tomatoes served over rice! Delish!

The next "bloggable" meal started when I decided to cook some pork chops.  I usually smother pork chops in some sort of gravy, but this time I didn't want to.  So I turned to one of my favorite food blogs, Annie's Eats, and found a recipe for parmesan crusted pork chops.  The recipe was very simple and the chops turned out great!  My next decision was choosing sides...so I went with what we had...sweet corn and asparagus.  I remembered another recipe that I had flagged on Annie's Eats, where you topped asparagus with tomatoes and feta, so I tried it out.  I love tomatoes and feta cheese so I knew I couldn't go wrong!

seasoned pork chops (I took it upon myself to add the seasoning I prefer)

dip chops in parmesan cheese, then egg, then bread crumbs

then drop them in the skillet (P.S. I LOVE cooking in a cast iron skillet!)

asparagus with tomatoes and feta

Another yummy dinner!
(Please excuse the poor picture quality...1 I am not a photographer and 2 they were taken with my iphone.) 

Since the lifestyle change that I previously mentioned, the hubby and I have completed week 1 of Couch to 5K! Woohoo!  We were supposed to start week 2 yesterday, but my crazy sleeping habits/schedule didn't allow me to get out of the bed until after lunch.  We don't like going to the gym after lunch because it's a mad house.  So week 2 of Couch to 5K will start on Wednesday.  

Hope you have a great first week of AUGUST!

Lifestyle Change

DIET...it is most definitely a four letter word, if you know what I mean! Something always motivates me to start a new diet, but never fails, I do not stick with it.  I'm not good at counting calories or skipping sweets or following the diets where you can have this food on a certain day and this food on a different day.  It just doesn't work for me.   I do like to see immediate results when I do something, and dieting never has an immediate result, so that must be why I get discouraged.  I don't feel that I am obese or even that overweight, but I am definitely out of shape.  My clothes don't fit quite like I want them to.  I wasn't super comfortable in my bathing suit at the beach.  I would like to wear one size smaller. You get the picture.   And I will be the first to admit that I eat terrible.  I am infamous for picking up Wendy's breakfast on my way home after work (and of course I don't get fruit or anything remotely healthy).  My biggest weakness is ice cream.  I can't say no to a juicy cheeseburger or a piece of fried chicken! But something has got to give!  I have been having terrible acid reflux.  I eat Tums like they are candy.  I took a round of Prilosec (which I must say did help!)  But the reflux is still happening and it is causing awful nausea.  I should probably get it checked out by a specialist, but the nurse in me wants to try to fix it myself before having to pay an outrageous bill (because the insurance I have now is pretty terrible).   I have decided that instead of a diet I need a lifestyle change.   I need to be more conscious of what I eat and how often I eat.  I love vegetables, so I need to eat more of them!  From this day on I am making a promise to myself to make all efforts to eat right and exercise.  Speaking of exercise...that word is like a foreign language to me these days.  I have a membership at a gym that I can guarantee you has not been put to use in at least 10 months.  I find it very easy to make excuses not to exercise, and being tired is the #1 excuse.  Well heck, maybe if I exercised more I would have more energy and then I wouldn't be so tired all the time. Much easier said than done.  Along with my eating lifestyle change, I have decided to make exercise part of the lifestyle change as well.  Jon has agreed to start the Couch the 5K workout program with me (I always need a side-kick, someone to motivate me and make me go!)  So this Couch to 5K program lasts for 9 weeks.  You work out 3 days a week for 30 minutes each day.  I have downloaded the app, and I'm all geared up to get started.  I have heard great reviews so hopefully by September 24th I'll be able to run a 5K without any problem!  Maybe if I'm lucky I can run in the Race for the Cure 5K on September 17th and actually run the whole time!  Wish me luck!  This lifestyle change can only be a good thing...

Here are a few quotes I read that I had to share...


"People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. "


I've decided that perhaps I'm bulimic and just keep forgetting to purge.  ~Paula Poundstone


"That's not sweat, it's my body crying!"




Here goes nothing...