Checking in!

ALRIGHTY. So I purchased Just Dance 3 - it's awesome! Super fun. Still trying to convince Jeff to play it with me. That's alright, though... I convinced him to do the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. We both thought we were about to die the other night. I know it'll be rough but I'm looking forward to pushing through and getting the whole 30 days done.

We went home this past weekend. It was really nice to spend some time at home with my mom. I got to go shopping with her and just be there with her and Dixie. I'm not as homesick as I was before so that's good. I still can't wait to go back, but I'm not as upset as I was.

While we were home, we went to a Blackhawks game. That was my Christmas present and it was AWESOME. We expected them to lose since they played the NY Rangers (and they're just good... and the Hawks kinda suck lately) but they won and it was fabulous. The whole day was awesome but that made it more awesome. Before we went to the game, we were super busy. I had an appointment with my cardiologist in the morning as a check-up... I ended up leaving with a 30 day event monitor. Love those. My heart has been racing on and off so he's having me record those moments. Now that I have the monitor it HASN'T been racing. Typical. But anyway... the appointment took a lot longer than I expected. I also had to go vote since we aren't going to be in town during the primary for Illinois. Got that done! After that we headed up to Des Plaines to check out a place that was on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. It was called Paradise Pup... it's a small walk-up burger/hot dog place. It. Was. AMAZING. They use Merkt's spreadable cheese on their burgers. Ah-may-zing. That's all I can say. Awful for you, but incredible. After that, we had some time to kill before the Hawks game so we drove around downtown Chicago. I love that place, but I could never live there. Too much going on. After the driving around we went to the Bill Goat Tavern for drinks before the game. Fun fun fun! Then the game... then we went to our old place for drinks afterward. The bartender saw us walking up and got excited, haha. It was nice to go back there and it's nice to have a place where they know you and know your drinks and all that jazz.

Wow, I talk a lot. Now we're home and the weather is BEAUTIFUL. I ate like crap while we were gone but I'm trying to be good... taking advantage of the nice weather to spend time outside and go for walks and such.

OH OH OH good news... I have two interviews today! Both with Menards. One is for an accountant position and the other is for an auditor position. I'm hoping they both go well. I would love to have a job... and it doesn't hurt that you get to wear jeans there :) haha.

I wrote WAY too much just now so I think I'm good for a few days.

Just Dance 3

I decided that I'm going to get Just Dance 3 for my Wii... it'll be fun and an excuse to get up and move. What up.

Yay Me!

I'm sure it's water weight since I'm just getting back into it, but I'm down 3.6 pounds since last Monday. Woooo I'm awesome. It's nice to see the scale move... it's motivation to keep going. I can't wait until my clothes start fitting a little better.

Off mood.

I haven't been sleeping well and I think it's getting to me. I mean, I know I'm frustrated about not having a job but I think that's affecting everything. And I'm mega bored. And I'm pretty sure Jeff is tired of me. I can tell he just wants to have some time to himself but there is nowhere for me to go. Perhaps I'll have to figure something out.

On a good note, I've been pretty good and I'm proud of myself. Just need to keep this up.

Mini Bean Tostadas

Alrighty, another delicious meal. Again, nothing fancy, but still pretty yummy. This is what I made for lunch today and just had to share!

Mini Bean Tostadas

2 high fiber tortillas, quartered (Mission brand is what I use)
1 cup fat free refried beans
1/2 cup black beans
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salsa, for dipping

Take your quartered tortillas and place them in a toaster oven (or under a broiler) until they are slightly crispy. While those are toasting up, combine the refried beans and the black beans. Take the tortillas out of the oven and top them with the bean mixture and a sprinkle of cheese. Place them back in the toaster oven/broiler until the cheese is melted. Done! I dipped mine in some salsa, but you can top them with whatever you would like.

They were super yummy and delicious. Since the tortillas and beans are full of fiber, you stay full extra long. The entire recipe is 12 Weight Watcher points if you cap your fiber at 4 grams. The original program let you count unlimited fiber... that's the slider calculator that I have. If I calculate points using unlimited fiber, the whole recipe is 6 points. The salsa is all vegetables, so that has 0 points; the tortillas I used had 120 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, and 13 fiber so that would be 2 points if using limited fiber, 0 points if using unlimited fiber; the beans are all relatively similar and are 1 point per half cup regardless of the point method; the cheese is 3 points regardless of the point method.

I like coming up with different, healthy things to eat. Jeff doesn't like it so much, haha.

Sloppy Joes

Last night, Jeff and I whipped up some healthy-ish sloppy joes. We didn't really have a recipe for the sauce so we came up with one... nothing fancy, but it was delicious!

Too Legit Sloppy Joes

1 pound 90/10 ground beef
1/2 cup onions and green peppers, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup Open Pit barbecue sauce, Original style
salt and pepper, to taste

Brown the ground beef in a skillet. Once the beef is almost done, drain the fat. Put the onions and peppers into the skillet with the beef and cook until the beef is done and the vegetables are soft. Mix in the ketchup and barbecue sauce and cook on low for 5 minutes to let the flavors meld.

There you go! Pretty simple and straight forward. The entire recipe is 21 Weight Watcher points, with the 90/10 ground beef being 1 point per ounce and all of the sauce being 5 points total. I used about a quarter of the recipe as a serving and called it 5 points... I rounded. Sue me. We used regular white bread (I know, bad) and that was 3 points for two slices, so I had an 8 point sandwich. For dinner, that's not too bad. If I had gone grocery shopping, I would have purchased some whole wheat buns. There are some that are only 1 point per bun, and that would make it a 6 point sandwich. Not too shabby!

A little bit of everything.

While I wasn't perfect last week, I still ate relatively healthy and I lost a pound. Wee! The goal this week is to eat even healthier. I'm looking forward to that. I have to get measured for a bridesmaids dress by the end of March for a wedding happening in November. I'm hoping to be a little more fit by the time I get measured, and while it will be expensive I'm hoping to have to get the dress taken in by the time the wedding happens.

We're going home next weekend. I am SO excited. I've been up here for about a month and while I love my Jeff, I miss my family... aka my mom and my dog. Hahaha. I guess I miss everyone else, too. I think I will have a really hard time coming back once I see them. I didn't realize how hard it would be to leave my little Dixie dog! She's the sweetest little nugget.

Still no luck on the job front, so that's disappointing. I'm hoping to get one soon, especially if my car continues to give me trouble. It wouldn't start last week and I ended up replacing the battery. Luckily that wasn't too expensive. Now I have oil leaking onto my engine block and when I have the car running it smells like burning oil. It's a lovely smell, let me tell you. I have to find a legit auto shop in the area because I don't think I want to drive 330 miles home with leaking/burning oil.

Ohhh well. Things could be worse! Gotta be happy with what I do have!