Week 2 Standings & Winners

Sorry about the late post.  We had a couple point stragglers today.  The numbers are combined week one and two and the cc's show whether or not the person cheated once, twice or not at all for week 2.  I have also added the week 2 winners onto the bottom of this post.


Chelsa Johnson          165
Nikki Holbrook          165  cc
Jessica Bastian            161  cc
Kristi Marshall            160
Shea Nixon                 159  cc
Katie Wight                158  c
Cami Lane                  157  cc
Rebecca Peterson       150
KayeLynn Bastian       149  cc
Ashley Graves             148  cc
Chairl Miller                148  cc
Amy Bybee                 145 c
Amanda Peck              142 cc
Ashley Ericksen          139  c
Cristy Shields              135  cc
Dela Ashby                 131  cc
Jen Hanson                  131 cc
Emily Koons                129  cc
Lauren Goff                 129  cc
Merilee Mckay            127  cc
Michelle Gillette           127  cc
Jen Chandler                124  cc
Amy Anderson            123  cc
Britney Ericksen           122  cc
Gaylene Burbidge         120  c
Cheryle Mounteer        120  cc
Darhyl Kerr                  119  cc
Bri Bastian                    106  cc
Bri Anderson                101  cc

And the week 2 gift certificate winners are

Amanda Peck

and

KayeLynn Bastian

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

1 1/2 lbs chicken breast; sliced
1/8 cup vinegar or red wine vinegar
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 green onions; chopped
2 cloves garlic; minced
1 tsp oregano
tortillas
toppings

Saute chicken till cooked through. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, onios, garlic and oregano. Simmer about 10 mintues. I also added about 1/3 of a diced jalepeno for more 'heat' while it was simmering. Then I shredded the chicken a little more. Serve in tortillas with tomatoes/salsa, lettuce, monterey cheese etc.

I ate this without the tortilla and made it into a taco salad. I didn't even need dressing because the flavor of the chicken was so good. A couple of my kids said they like the 'regular' tacos better but these were good too. :)

~Dela

Pumpkin chili

I made This pumpkin chili tonight. It was simple and delicious, you can let it cook in the crockpot which is always a fabulous thing. I didn't get it pulled together that fast today since I worked all day and Simmered it on the stove for about 45 min instead. I think the crockpot would've given it more time to bring the flavors out but I thought it was still great, my kids liked it too.  I added a scoop of cottage cheese to cool it off, boost the protein, and I like the creaminess it adds like sour cream would.  We added some butternut squash on the side and everyone else got yummy cornbread, that I had to pass on. :)

Oh and I used ground turkey and one serving has 250 calories and 24 grams of protein (without the cottage cheese)

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium sweet yellow pepper, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
2 cans (15-ounce each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 1/2 cups cubed cooked turkey or 1 pound round steak, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 can (15-ounce) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (14-1/2 ounce) diced tomatoes, undrained
2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a large 12-inch skillet, heat the oil until hot and rippling over medium or medium-high heat. Add the round steak (if using already cooked turkey, proceed to adding the vegetables) and brown the pieces lightly. Transfer the meat to a 5-quart slow cooker, leaving oil in the skillet. Add the onion and yellow pepper to the skillet and saute until barely tender, 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook one minute longer. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.

I also made these little quinoa patties last night that I thought were great.  I used coconut oil instead of olive oil, and I got 13 patties, coming in at around 110 calories per patty.  

-Nikki

Winners!! week one

So we decided to do 2 $10 gift certificate winners per week.  I think this will help everyone to stay motivated.  You can win more then once also.  We don't want someone thinking they are out of the running for everything and then not getting the benefits of the challenge.  So if you win we will contact you and let you choose from the gift certificates we got.  Also we did choose to go with certificates.  Mainly because we felt like you needed to be rewarded.  We don't want you handing over your $10 bucks to one of your kids or have it magically disappear into your grocery budget.  (Does this only happen to me and Amy) 

Week One Winners are...

Cami Lane 

and

Jen Hanson


Keep up the good work everyone!!

If you missed the standings they are in the post below this one.  

WEEK ONE

So after week one I need to clear a few things up.

First - the sleep thing.  We will not be making any changes to the points.  The majority of the comments on this voted no.  Many of you believed that this should be a personal goal.  I think that is a great idea.  If that is something easy for you then make it your personal goal and get a for sure point.  Even though a few of you said you still got the points for babies and bathroom breaks it is still too subjective.  Wanting to sleep 7 hours and actually sleeping 7 hours are two different things.  So for ease of our spreadsheets there will be NO changes to the point system.  Hopefully we are all doing our best on this one anyway if we are also getting up early to exercise.  I know I am wiped out by the end of the day.

Second - I am going to post the rules somewhere on the blog.  Many of you have had questions about them.  They are on the initial post but that is now at the bottom of the blog.  I will try to get them where you can see them.  Biggest question was the cheat days.  You get one entire cheat day for sugar or soda, not both.  You have to choose between the two.  You can eat all day if you want.  You still get your point.  Same goes for the cheat meal (singular).  Cheat days are optional.  You don't have to take them. 

Third - I apologize if I freaked any of you out about the water.  I just threw out a round about number without using any math.  Obviously.  So you are fine to stick to your 64oz.  Also related to this, sorry for confusing the two Cristy/Kristi's.

Fourth - A couple of you asked about Sundays.  I use Sunday as my rest day and gave myself 0 points for exercise.  This is your choice.  Another asked about fasting.  If you need to do so you will get full points for healthy meals and water.  You will not be punished for fasting.

Fifth - I mentioned that we may have to use the cheat days to break a "possible" tie in the end.  There have been a couple comments and emails asking for a coin toss.  I know there are a couple people who have already made the decision not to cheat.  AT ALL.  For the entire time.  If that's not will power I don't know what is.  So, there will be no coin toss.  If it comes to a tie in the end and one person cheated and the other didn't, the non cheater will win.  They earned it.  Most of you I have chatted about this with have felt the same way.

I hope I haven't missed anyone's questions.  That's all I can remember right now. 

I really wanted to somehow bring my spreadsheet into the post but its not working.  So here are the week one standings.  I am missing a couple who haven't sent in points.  I'll add them when I get them.  I will try to fix it for next week.  The format is driving me crazy but I know a few of you have been patiently waiting for the scores. Sorry about the a's, they are check marks on my actual spreadsheet.  They show who cheated and if they took sugar or both sugar and meal.  You get the picture. 

		Week 1	Cheat
1	Shea Nixon	84	a
2	Chelsa Johnson	82	aa
3	Nikki Holbrook	81	aa
4	Kristi Marshall	81
5	Jessica Bastian	79	aa
6	KayeLynn Bastian	76	aa
7	Katie Wight	75
8	Cami Lane	75	a
9	Rebecca Peterson	74
10	Chairl Miller	74	a
11	Ashley Graves	73	aa
12	Ashley Ericksen	72	a
13	Amanda Peck	72	aa
14	Amy Bybee	70	a
15	Jen Hanson	68	a
16	Cristy Shields	68	aa
17	Emily Koons	67	aa
18	Cheryle Mounteer	66	aa
19	Dela Ashby	65	aa
20	Jen Chandler	62	aa
21	Amy Anderson	61	aa
22	Merilee Mckay	61	aa
23	Michelle Gillette	60	a
24	Bri Anderson	57	a
25	Gaylene Burbidge	56	aa
26	Bri Bastian	54	aa
27	Britney Ericksen	51	aa
28	Lauren Goff
29	Darhyl Kerr
30	Tannie Flammer

Jillian Michaels recipe for healthy fall breakfast

I LOVE Jillian Michaels. I receive weekly emails with exercise tips and recipes. This is one of her recipes. I substituted all purpose flour with wheat pastry flour.  You could also use whole wheat flour with 1 1/2 TBSP vital wheat gluten. My kids loved these too!
 - Cristy

Harvest Pumpkin Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 egg
• 1 cup pumpkin, packed solidly
• 1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

Preparation
In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg; set aside.
Using an electric mixer, beat butter until light; beat in honey, egg and pumpkin. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until just blended; stir in walnuts.
Spoon into 12 greased or paper-lined 2-1/2 inch muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan to wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Makes 12 servings
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 45 mins
Nutrition Facts
Number of Servings: 12
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 226
Total Fat: 10 g
Cholesterol: 10 mg
Sodium: 251 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 32 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 5 g

Recipe ideas

My sister just sent me a new website to check out.  omWww.skinnytaste.com.   It is beautiful and has lots of ideas plus it has the nutritional info.   Also if you want a website or app for charting things. Check out spark people.com. It's great.
Merilee