Absence

They say absence makes the heart grow founder... So is your heart fond? Sorry for my absence. Nothing super blog worthy has happened recently!

One thing that did happen was Jonathan & I joined a small group at our church! We have only met with the people the one time but so far we are really excited about it & can't wait to see how things turn out! It's always exciting to make new friends & one of my favorite things about being married( other than the fact that I'm head over heels in love) is the fact that we get to meet people as a married couple. I don't know why & you'd think that after a year of marriage I would be used to this but I love meeting new people & they don't know the "before marriage" KellyAnne. All they know is J & I being married & of course our little angel pie is always there to make things interesting. If you know me you know how painfully awkward I am when meeting new people but thankfully I married a guy who would go up & talk to anyone about anything, anytime. I love having him there to break the ice!

Other than the small group I have just been running my butt off & doing my Jillian DVD's religiously. I love how I feel after an intense, fall on the floor bc you're breathing so hard work out. It's an incredible high that nothing in this world could compare to! Plus I love seeing results. It's amazing.

Also i can't wait for The Color Run. If you haven't heard of it you need to YouTube it. My friend posted it on my wall because she knew I was into races & I seriously can't wait to do it. Running, while getting messy, having fun, & burning calories? What could be better??? I will be sure to post tons of pictures. It's gonna be amazing.

Now I'll leave you with some pictures of my little angel pie

Until next time
Mrs. K Scott

Super delicious green smoothie

Ok so I am NOT a morning eater at all! I hate it & have to force myself to eat because I just am not hungry in the morning. I've read everywhere that it is vital to weight loss to eat first thing in the morning so I've been researching green smoothies to really jump start my metabolism & get some veggies & fruit into my diet first thing in the morning! I've tried green smoothies before & have always hated them but I finally made something that was so yummy even H drank some & she kept calling it "canny (aka candy)". So if a 21 month old thinks is delicious then you know it's good!

Ok here's what you'll need:

This is for 2 servings

1 cup of kale
2 cups of spinach leaves
1 Banana: (I like to cut them up & freeze them- makes your drink cold too!)
1 Granny smith apple (or any flavor but I think the granny smith gives it tartness to hide the kale & spinach flavor
1 light yogurt- any flavor you like
About a cup or more 100% juice (any flavor) with no sugar added

So the whole blender which makes 2 big cups is about $3-$5... Which is pretty awesome! For a healthy, filling & delicious smoothie!

Ok so I just chopped the kale up into bite sized pieces just so it would blend completely. Then put in the cored & diced apple (leave the skin on) put in the yogurt, banana, spinach, & juice. Blend that up all the way!! I can't stand bits of anything in my smoothie so I blended it super fine & add juice as needed. I like my green smoothie a little thin just do its easier to drink. It's seriously delicious, healthy & a great way to start your day! It gives you such an energy boost!

Until next time-
Mrs. K Scott

Skinny (ish) chicken parm

Hey guys! Ok so this recipe isn't exactly the healthiest thing ever but J & I both LOVE chicken parm & this is a easy & delicious way to cut some calories but still have a ton of flavor!

What you'll need
-Chicken- 2 breast but "cut them in half (making them thinner but still the shape of chicken (not like tenders)) 2 chicken breast makes 4 servings
-Basil pesto (again the jar stuff is great but if you want to make your own go right ahead!)
- bread crumbs(enough to coat the chicken- a cup or 2)
- italian seasoning
-salt & pepper
-marinara sauce (I buy the cheapest & jazz it up with fresh garlic & Italian seasoning & salt & pepper- also a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar really intensifies the flavor)
-Mozzerella & parm cheese

Ok cut the chicken breast like you are butterflying it but cut it all the way through.

Get a bowl for the bread crumbs & add about 1 tbsp of italian seasonings to the breadcrumbs & a dash of salt & pepper.

Then instead of dipping the chicken into like egg or butter which is added calories-- spoon some pesto on one side & lay that side into the breadcrumbs then coat the other side with pesto & flip the chicken & make sure it's evenly breaded.
- then just put the chicken on a baking sheet & bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes!

Take it out flip the chicken over & make sure the chicken is cooked thoroughly then top with a spoonful of sauce & then sprinkle Mozzerella & parm on top & put it back in the oven for 5 minutes just to melt the cheese.

Serve with pasta & sauce & enjoy! It's SO yummy with the pesto- it really adds a ton of flavor!!

(also my brilliant husband came up with the idea of using the pesto- I love being married to a man who can cook!)

Until next time!
Mrs. K Scott

Little fingers

Anyone who knows H knows she is not the most touchy feely child. She is loving & will give kisses but as far as hugs & snuggling goes she's not the biggest fan! So when I get a snuggle it's a rare treat. Something I love & cherish every moment of the 2 times it happens every 6 months.
Well today was one of those rare days & she woke up from her nap needing a cuddle! So as we were watching a movie & snuggling I noticed her sweet baby fingers. So little & tiny. Sometimes I forget that she's still just a baby. I need to cherish this time (as hard as it may be with her temper tantrums & fall out crying episodes) because she will only be this little once. Soon her tiny angel fingers will be big & dirty. I will love them no matter what but what is sweeter than angel fingers? As I was laying there admiring her sweet fingers the unthinkable happened! She actually fell asleep on me! She looked up & said mama? & I said yes baby & she laid her sweet head down & closed her eyes. This hasn't happen since she was an infant. Oh my heart. I love her so.

Until next time
Mrs. K Scott

Creamy Mexican Chicken Soup

Ok so I know I already posted once today but I made this new recipe for dinner & holy guacamole it was DELICIOUS! (& easy.... As all my recipes seem to be?)

Anyway this is what you'll need:
(I got the base of this recipe from Rita's Recipes but I tweaked it to make it my own. & I'm sorry but I haven't figured out how to link her blog to mine)

I used everything with no salt or reduced salt

2 cans of tomatoes with juice (I used petite diced)
1 can corn with juice (I used white because its what I had)
1 can black beans- drained & rinsed
1 can tomato soup & fill can with water
Chicken (can use frozen breast but obviously it will take longer to cook) I used meat that we had from a baked chicken I did earlier in the week & just shredded it into the crock pot
A palmful (like those technical measurements?) of cumin
A palmful of chili powder
A half a palm full of Cajun seasoning (or anything to give it a little heat)
8 oz of fat free cream cheese


Dump all of it in. If you are using frozen or raw chicken then put it on top of all the other ingredients then top the chicken with cream cheese. I used cooked chicken so it only took about 2 hours on "warm" for mine to be ready but if you aren using raw or frozen then it'll take about 6-8 hours on low for the chicken to cook & 4-5 on high. When the chicken is done just shred it & put it back in there.

Can serve with tortilla chips but honestly it doesn't need it & we didn't eat them because it was added calories that aren't necessary. You won't believe how awesome this soup is. & all that is "bad" in it is the fat free cream cheese- but hey it's better than regular cream cheese! SO good & Jonathan said he can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow - which is always a good compliment!

Hope you like it as much as we did!

Until next time
Mrs. K Scott

Its official!

I have OFFICIALLY lost some baby weight!! YAHOOOOOO!!!! Seriously guys I have been struggling with this weight since Hazel was born almost 2 years ago. My body just wouldn't let go of the weight no matter how hard I tried & dieted & worked out. So I would give up after a week or 2 of no results. Well NOT anymore. Since Thanksgiving I have lost 15 lbs people!!! Granted after hazel was born I put on 12 lbs but that doesn't matter anymore. When I had Hazel I was 233. I am now 230.4. The ONLY reason I am posting how much I weigh is because I KNOW that next week it will be smaller. I will NEVER again be 230.4 but for now I am thrilled about it because I am FINALLY smaller than when I had Hazel!

Now a little about my back story. I was always told that "as long as you breast feed you will lose weight & you need to make sure you eat enough because if you don't you will dry up & won't be able to produce milk." Well you know what? that's bull crap. Or maybe not and I probably (definitely) used it as an excuse to shove everything into my mouth. I am the opposite of most mothers. I only gained 30 pounds when I was pregnant (Hazel weighed 9 of those pounds) but after she was born (when most ladies lose weight) is when I packed it on. Ugh. I promise you my next pregnancy will be completely different. I am not gonna use it as an excuse to shove my face all day long. Losing this weight has been one of the biggest struggles of my life & I do NOT want to have to do this again. I know that I have only lost 3 pounds of baby weight but y'all don't even understand how long I have waited to see a number smaller than 233. Finally!!! I KNOW that I can lose the weight. Now here's to 40 more! :) my new mini goal is to lose 20 pounds by my half marathon on March 18. That's 2 months. That's 10 pounds / month! woo hoo I can totally do that! Another mini goal is to drink at least a gallon of water a day. That's only 4 Nalgene bottles full. I have been doing this during the week for a while now but it always seems like the weekend I just can't drink as much. I find that drinking barely cold water with no ice is the best for me because I can drink it fast & not get brain freeze. Do you want to join me in any of my mini goals? I would love to have some support & company with this! Today for my exercise I am doing level 1 of Jillian & running for an hour!

Until next time-
Mrs. K Scott

New Car!

Well The Scott's have had a big year!!! Jonathan got his first big boy job- started a year ago, we have moved twice, bought our first house & now our first car!!! If you know us then you know we have always had hand-me-down cars (that we have graciously and very thankfully taken) because our families are pretty much the best. Butttt they haven't always been in the best condition! Our 2 most recent cars we were driving both have 250,000+ miles & were over 12 years old. One is having transition problems & the other one just plain blew up! Needless to say we needed a good, reliable, family car so we can stop borrowing my mom's every time we needed to visit family out of town. We have been car searching for a while now & we finally got it! It's a 2010 Honda CRV. It's beautiful, it's new, & it's ours! :)

Hazel & I have been stuck in the house during the day since before Thanksgiving. We are SO excited to have a car to go places! I never realized how much just going to the grocery store or running errands keeps me sane. I love my family to death & wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world but sometimes I need some other people interaction! Even if I don't speak to other adults... just being around them during the day makes my day go by faster & it makes watching Rapunzel 15 times, reading the Little Red Hen 75 times & chasing around my crazy 21 month old all day not so bad. I love this little life of mine. I am happy to be able to share in with the craziest, smartest, & most beautiful little 21 month old & my amazingly sweet & handsome husband.

Until next time
-Mrs. K Scott

Running

I am convinced that running is by far the best exercise. I can be having a stressful/hard day & I go for a run & everything is better. It also works your entire body! & does amazing things in your mind as well as for your body.

Every haggard breath, every fast heart beat, every swing of the arms & every single step is a making me a better mom, wife, sister, daughter, & friend. I am so thankful that I have the ability to run. Without running I would not be me. Today I ran for the first time in the rain. Usually I make that excuse of "oh it's raining I can't get my run in... Guess I'll just take a nap instead." I am proud that today I took that (very hard) first step out the door & ran 6.25 miles even when I wanted to stop at mile 2. It's funny how my mind plays tricks on me & tries to get me to stop. I am thankful that my body keeps going even when I come up with 100 excuses to stop while running.

It's still weird for me to call myself a runner. I started running about a year ago. But I am not "a runner". I still have a lot of extra weight. I don't have the best form. I don't have cool running outfits or a good iPod & headphones. I don't have all the bells & whistles you think of when you think of a runner. I go out with my iPhone in hand, my $3 headphones, an old pair of yoga pants & a big t-shirt & lace up my shoes. I am not running to impress all the cars that pass me. I don't want to be hollered or honked at. I run for me. & I am thankful for that.

Here's a picture of my Friday night run. The sunset was simply breath taking & this picture does no justice. God can paint a beautiful picture.

Until next time-
Mrs. K Scott

Hate it, hate it, hate it!

Don't you hate when you're counting your calories and you're doing really well & then you eat something "small" just to get you through to the next meal & it turns out it has about a billion calories? Yeah that happened to me today. O.k really it was my fault bc my "little" thing was sausage (I know I know- but i was CRAVING it!) well turns out the little to no sausage I ate was 520 calories.... 520 CALORIES... In a snack? Oh my gosh. I was BLOWN out of the water! I had NO idea until after I had already eaten it & was logging it into my fitness pal. I wanted to throw up... Literally. But I didn't & that just made me workout twice as hard... & then eat half a piece of grilled chicken with salad with fat free dressing for dinner.... (which I love- but I usually eat it for lunch.. Not dinner!) anyway... Enough of my rant! How bout a recipe!? Have ya'll tried any of the ones I've posted so far? What are your favorites?


Pesto Marinate Chicken.

This is one of our favorites... Bc it's so easy & delicious!

Ok what you'll need (don't laugh)

A jar of basil pesto (you can make your own if you have that much time... I don't)
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breast
Salt & pepper

Ok people. All you do is get a zip lock & put the chicken in & dump in the jar of pesto... & mush (technical term) around the pesto so it gets all over the chicken. Put it in the fridge for 8 hours (I've done it the night before & cooked it the next day dinner & it was good! I say the longer time the better!) Then dump all of it (including pesto) into a casserole dish & make sure the chicken is laid out evenly so it cooks evenly. Sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes (depending on the size of your chicken breast- just cook it all the way through). Some people top it with Mozzarella cheese for the last 10 minutes but I don't because i think it's wasted calories.. But if you want to then cheese away!

We usually serve this with pasta & let the left over pesto be the sauce for the pasta... SO yummy & as you can see- SO easy! :) I hope you enjoy!

Note: I've also done this with the sun dried tomato pesto (that is right beside the basil pesto in the grocery store) & it was really good... But not quite as flavorful- but still a quick fix for chicken!


Until next time-
Mrs. K Scott

New Year- New me!

I am SO excited about 2012. As most of you know I have been exercising & being active for a while now- but with little results. When I started exercising mildly in September I've only lost about 12 pounds. My main flaw is my eating habits. I LOVE food. I LOVE LOVE LOVE sweets. I just can't seem to control myself sometimes! Sad I know! BUT! I am a firm believer in never giving up- so here is to a fresh start. I am DETERMINED to lose this stupid weight & to keep it off. Since I am running a half marathon in march I am now "in training" so that means I have to step up my mileage. Thankfully I have an amazing husband who doesn't complain when I leave as soon as he gets home from work for about an hour. Ok so this is going to be my schedule:

On the days that I am keeping little J I will do my Jillian DVD (I'm getting a new one this week) during the day & then do my long runs at night... 4+ miles- depending on what my training schedule says that day. On the days that I only have H I am going to get up & run first thing (as long as it isn't too cold) & then to my Jillian DVD when she naps. I will rest on Saturday's. I'm also hoping to incorporate swimming in there somewhere just to give my legs a break & because we live across the street from an aquatic center & i could run there! If you guys want to do the half marathon with me I would love to have a training partner & someone to keep me in check! I can let you know my exact training schedule (how many miles) & which days. Just comment below & I hope you join me on this journey. I can't wait to start tomorrow! :)


My two favorite quotes

Until next time-
Mrs. K Scott