An Oldie But A Goodie

Some of you have already made this and so for you I am sorry that you are suffering through a repeat... but for everyone else I cannot stress how good this is. Seriously. We eat this once a week. It takes about 17 minutes from start to finish and only 2 minutes of that is prep time. It is so simple and you can have it on the table faster than take out with just as much ease. For real. If you haven't tried it out yet you should.

Tomato and Meatball Soup

1 -32 oz carton Organic Creamy Tomato Soup (or 2 cans Campbell's tomato soup)

3 oz elbow noodles (dry)

12 mini party style meatballs (frozen)

1/2 c water or chicken stock


Dump the soup, the noodles, and the meatballs in a sauce pan. Pour the water or stock in the soup carton and shake to dislodge any remaining soup and add to the pot. Bring this to a simmer and continue simmering for 15 minutes. Be sure to stir occasionally while heating! Once the meatballs are heated through I cut them in half in the pot to make them easier for Kid to eat.

makes 4 - 1.5 c servings for 263 calories each

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Cooking Notes:
You could easily extend this by adding 1 c chicken broth, 3-4 meatballs, and 1 oz of noodles for each additional serving! If you are adding more than 2 extra servings just double the original recipe (obviously... right?)

Also if you have a Trader Joe's their Tomato Soup is the BEST and it's cheaper! I also use their brand of mini party meatballs.

If using Campbell's soup omit the extra 1/2 c or water or stock and prepare the condensed soup following the can's instructions.
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Mrs F Food TV... You can watch me make it!

In Case You Are Wondering...

"Several Times a Week" has just taken the lead with 25% of the vote in my ongoing sex survey. Seriously people?!? Seriously?
Interestingly "What? I don't know what you are talking about" is following closely behind in second place with 23% of the vote. I'm not really sure which I am more surprised by... but I certainly know which one I am more relieved by ;)

This Week The Plan

Okay... I"m a little discombobulated after having my Dad in town. FYI...Mr F is home for MLK day too and you all know that completely throws me off!
So here is how everything went down:
We ended up getting everything clean and picked up... VICTORY!!! Our basement is currently kicking total ass, although I have no idea what Mr F did with all the stuff and I kind of fear that our storage rooms are potentially filled with random shit... but oh well we'll deal with that later. It is almost child safe now too.... NEAR VICTORY!!! I managed to keep my desk cleared off for two straight weeks.... VICTORY!!! I did not, however, have time to clean out my cubby of shame and that is on the docket for this week.... TOTAL FAILURE.
Menu wise I think I stuck on target. I try pretty hard to be prepared yet flexible... a delicate balance... when entertaining. In the end it usually means I spend more money on "junk food" and drinks and what not but I'm just one of those people who likes to always have something coming out of the oven to snack on and stuff when people are visiting.
Exercise?!?... well lets just say it didn't pan out for me this week. You can watch my video confessional but the short end of it is that with company and Kid's fevers I kind of scraped the last few... okay 3... workouts. I was disappointed because I really wanted to join in the challenge and help motivate everyone to give it a try. But life happened. I really did want to workout everyday but I felt it was rude and infringing on the "family time" so I wasn't able to fit it in. The lesson learned from this is that everyone has things that come up that can mess with their best intentions. Today is a new week and the opportunity to start fresh.

Okay this week's plan:


Menu

Monday - Tomato & Meatball Soup

Tuesday - Pork Tenderloin w/ rice pilaf & green beans

Wednesday - Kid's Date Night

Thursday - Brown Sugar & Ginger Salmon w/Asian veggie stirfry & spring rolls

Friday - Take out

Saturday - Creamy Chicken Pasta

Sunday - Sweet Potato & Molasses Beef Stew


Cleaning and Chores

Monday - Laundry & vacuuming

Tuesday - Grocery Shopping & sheets

Wednesday - Grocery Shopping & vacuuming

Thursday - Clean out Pantry

Friday - Put Away All Laundry


Exercise
Okay so I want to be a role model for the "Crazy Cardio" to help you all see that it can be done. But here is the deal I've moved past working out for weight loss and I need to put more into my Pilates training to help both get stronger and to help manage my pain. So here is my plan...

Monday - 60 min Cardio

Tuesday - 45 min Pilates

Thursday - 60 min Cardio

Friday - 30 min Pilates

Saturday - 60 min Cardio

Sunday - 30 min Pilates

My goal is to workout for 5 days this week. I'm scheduling 6 days since I would like to reach that and I want to have as much in place to help me achieve that.... but.... I do realize that things may happen and I'll just do the workout for that day regardless of whether I skipped some days or not.


Cardio Confessional

Dinner Is Served

Everyone has got their childhood food favorites. For me that was my mother's Tuna Noodle Casserole. I love it so much I could eat it cold out of the fridge in the middle of the night. Yum. I have changed the recipe very little. The only thing I have changed is the main ingredient. I use canned (well I use it from a pouch) boneless skinless wild pink salmon. You know I'm a little nutty about things like heavy metals in my food so I changed it out for a much healthier fish... you actually can't taste the difference. I've been reluctant to post this recipe despite its near constant presence at our fall and winter table because I've been embarrassed to admit that I make something so... well... cream of mushroom soup reliant. But here it is. It is a cinch to make and is infintely flexible. I make it with just an ounce of pasta per serving so it is fairly low carb, low fat, and high in protein. You can get it ready in a few minutes the night before or in the morning and bake it when you are ready to eat. It reheats well in the microwave or eat it cold... it really is good that way! I have the recipe worked out for 4 servings but you can stir in an extra ounce or two of pasta and stretch it for a couple more servings. I stir peas into ours but you can leave them out if your family doesn't do peas. This is not rocket science... it is a casserole... and it is delicious.

Salmon Noodle Casserole

4 oz shaped pasta (elbow, rotini, etc)
7-8 oz canned salmon (no bones or skin), such as Chicken of The Sea in a 7.1 oz pouch
1 can cream of mushroom soup, Campbell's Healthy Request
1/4 c light mayo
2 T milk (2%)
1t mustard (dijon)
salt and pepper
optional:
1 c frozen peas

Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
Bring a pot of water to boil.
Stir in pasta, salt the cooking water, and return to a boil following package directions. When there is 7 minutes remaining on the pasta stir in the frozen peas if using and return to a boil.
Meanwhile in a casserole dish combine salmon, soup, milk, and mustard and mash with a fork to break up the fish.
When the pasta is finished drain the pot of pasta and peas and add to the casserole dish. Stir ingredients together and season with salt and pepper. At this point you could refrigerate the casserole until ready to use or pop it right into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

4 servings at 315 calories a piece (including peas)
add 2 ounces of pasta to filling to make 6 servings at 245 calories a piece


Cooking notes:
I use light mayo because it stays creamy even after baking and it keeps both the fat and calories down. You can use regular mayo and any type of milk for this. My calorie calculation is based on the light mayo, the 2 %, and the peas so adjust accordingly when you make your changes.
And yes you can make this the old fashioned way... with Tuna!

Mrs F Food TV... you can watch me make it!

I've Been Duped

Some of you may know that winter in Michigan is no walk in the park. It is cold... and not a little bit cold... it is freaking freezing cold. Today, right now, it is 11 degrees outside. It is so cold you can feel it in your teeth. But for me Michigan winters are harder to suffer through due to the lack of sunlight more than the frigid temperatures. Can we say "Seasonal Affective Disorder"?! I certainly can. This is the main reason everyone goes to Florida for Mid-Winter break. So I decided to get myself some "full spectrum" light bulbs. See how excited I am.....
Oh wait these aren't "full spectrum" after all. I was so excited that I apparently read what I wanted to read on the package and not what it really said. For Real. Has this ever happened to anyone? I swear I read "full spectrum". I read it several times... I showed it to my Dad and he read the same thing. I came home all pleased with myself thinking "jeez these aren't even that much more expensive". I looked at the package again... yep still reading it as "full spectrum"... take the dumb excited photo of myself to encourage the world to go out and get their own. Then I show Mr F and when I point to the "full spectrum" I read it for what it actually says "Enhanced Color Spectrum". Dumb founded I flip the carton over. What?!? "Enhanced Color Spectrum"?!? I get the other carton... "Enhanced Color Spectrum"... If I believed in fairies or leprechauns I would believe I had been duped.

Interesting....

So what you are saying is that I have to actually write something for you to be engaged over here.

Hmm... okay... I'm putting a poll up on my sidebar.

Last week's joke post started me thinking. Then after talking with a friend it appears that everyone wants to know one thing about everyone else. So check out the poll. It's anonymous so feel free to submit your truthful answers.... ONE time only please... don't go skewing the answers. The poll is now a two part poll... on the second poll please check all answers that apply to yourself and your family.
I will be very interested in the results.

It's Weight Loss Saturday

Mrs F talks about food rewards


Mrs F talks about her treadmill routine... on the treadmill!


and if you haven't seen this yet...
Mrs F Motivates... her weight loss story

Keeping It Real

Mrs F's Green Cleaning Tips

Hey just because I don't like to clean doesn't mean I don't know how!

For all of you who are trying to switch to "Green" Cleaners here are my recommendations. We've tried them all so you don't have to! These products work just as well if not better than their toxic counterparts. I promise!

Toilet Bowl: Earth Friendly Products™ Toilet Kleener (what?!...that is how they spell it)

Dish Soap (I use this to clean the stove too): Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid, or Method™

Dishwashing Detergent (hands down best we've ever used Green or not!!): Ecover™

Tile Floor: Method™ All Floor Cleaner, I don't use their special mop... not necessary

Wood Floors/Furniture: Method™ Wood For Good, I just use the spray even on the floors and wipe it with a rag

Scrubbing Powder (skins, bathtub, counters): Bon Ami™ Cleaning Powder

Daily Shower Spray: Method™

(Yes I am a big fan of the Method™ products they smell great and they really do work...plus you can get them at Target!)

Something's Gotta Give... Right?

So today's post about cleaning has really gotten me thinking. It is so interesting how different everyone's take on my plight is. From empathetic allegiance to... I'm sure... frustrated "how many times does she have to go through this!?!" disbelief. But here is the thing. I'll go through it 100 more times, 1000, one freaking million. Because... because.... I don't want to change. Not because our chaotic house doesn't stress me at times. Believe me it does. But because something has got to give. Having a clean house isn't more important than the choices I make inside this house on a daily basis. My mess, Kid's mess, Mr F's mess, and even little Baby's mess signifies how important our other choices are to us. Sometimes I lose sight of this.

But today, right now, I see it clearly and I am SO proud of us, of our strengths, and our convictions, and by God our cluttered shit hole of a living room. Because that pile of books and Kleenexes that are falling of the side table are from the HOURS that Kid sits in that chair and reads to herself and is read to. And the dirty dishes and pans covering our counters and table by the end of the day are because I cook thoughtful healthy meals three times a day... EVERY day. The toys all over the playroom and dragged throughout the house are because the kids were having FUN and entertaining themselves so I could blog about it. The laundry sits clean it it's basket because I only have one hour to myself and I choose to exercise and that means I can clean it but I don't have time to put it away. The bathrooms and kitchen and good God the basement hardly see a bottle of cleaner because on the weekends we are a FAMILY and we choose to spend time together eating Mr F's favorite apple pancakes, and making an even bigger mess, and dancing to inappropriate music.

So those of you who don't understand why we don't just pick up after ourselves... it is because we choose not to. And honestly we will always choose not to. Because one crazy stressful day is a small price to pay for what we get on all those other days filled with meaningful choices. I choose not to let my kids watch TV (for real), and to exercise, and to pay our bills in full on time (not easy), and plan healthy meals and prepare them, and to laugh, and to share it with you. And something has to give. I cannot do all that and be a neat tidy organized person. And if I was.... I wouldn't be me. And Mr F wouldn't be Mr F. And Kid wouldn't be Kid. And even that little crazy baby wouldn't be Baby. But that's not gonna stop me from complaining about it!

Paralyzed

So you may all recall that I had a lot of cleaning on tap for this week in preparation of my father's arrival TOMORROW. This is where I am at with all of that:
Playroom DisasterGuest room... yeah not exactly presentable... YETClean laundry... from LAST WEEKKid's Tornado AftermathBasement aka TV viewing room... um... I'm speechlessJunkie Basment Landing... unchanged worse than usual
At least I have managed to keep my desk cleared off. That counts for somthing right?... RIGHT?!?!

For those of you who can't get enough Mrs F reality TV...

The Evidence

Someone asked how my long cardio sessions toned my stomach. Here is me now:

If you want to know what I looked like before you can look at this:


This was taken in July at the start of my cardio training. I weighed 21 pounds more and was 31% body fat. And NO I am not sucking-in in the top picture.





Here is my progression shot montage if you missed this one before:
Go HERE to read the accompanying post. These shots track a four month weight loss.

Mrs F talks Cardio

Cardio The Mrs F Way
Some of this is based in science some comes from trial and error and some is just plain common sense. This is what I do. I'm not saying you need to do it or that this is the only way to do it. All I'm saying is that this is what has been working for me. If you are already working out more than this or harder than this... well.... use your head and keep doing what you are doing.There is some background information about why I am doing this workout in the video and you all can watch that to get the full scoop.

This is what I'm doing now (this is not where I started so keep that in mind):
I am WALKING on the treadmill for 60-80 minutes in one stretch.
I am walking at what I consider to be a purposeful pace, as in I've got to get to an appointment and if I get going I'll be on time... not I'm late and I need to jog!. For me this is 3 mph (I'm serious). Keep in mind I am short so this maybe slower than a purposeful pace for you. I chose this speed because it is about .75 mph SLOWER than if I was at my top walking speed. I want to be at a comfortable but PURPOSEFUL pace so I can focus on my incline.

While walking 3 mph I do incline intervals. On my treadmill I can go up to a 12% grade incline. Right now I'm doing short intervals (about 1.5 minutes) alternating between 0% incline and 8% incline. If I am doing a shorter workout I alternate a double interval at 0% with a single interval at 12%... believe me I need more of a recovery after the 12% incline. When I'm working out I feel like I'm working at about an 8 out of 10 exertion level. Could I work harder?.... yes.... but could I work harder and keep doing it for 60 minutes?.... no. You will burn more calories by uping your incline rather than your speed (fact). Also when doing intervals it is my understanding that you want to change it fairly dramatically so that your body has to work harder since it can't acclimate to the workout. This means 0% to 8% not 7% to 8%... this is one instance where overachieving might actually hold you back.

This is not my first go round at working out. I have done lots of different things in the past, but this has gotten me thinner than I have ever been. My thighs are literally thinner than when I was a TEENAGER! I am absolutely positive that working out at a slower pace while walking "hills" has allowed me to tone my legs and butt in a way that no previous cardio ever has (not even my pilates training!). Also I think keeping at a slower pace for a longer duration allows you to reach fat burning mode and stay there for a longer time. I started doing this workout (I change the incline % periodically) in July when I had hit a weight loss plateau. At that time I was 31% body fat. I started doing this cardio workout 5-6 times a week (consistently) and in 4 months I had lost 10% body fat. I am thinner than I have EVER been as an adult... probably even as a child! I truly believe this can help anyone burn fat faster than shorter more *intense* workouts. I'd love to find out. If you do give this a try PLEASE let me know how it has worked out.

And... People... the endorphins you get from the long cardio make it all worth while! Trust me.

It's Business Time

"Do you think there are any married couples who have sex less frequently then we do" Mrs F ponders
Mr F thinks for a moment and then responds "Paralyzed people."


Oh we had a good laugh at that one!

On a related note....
If you haven't ever seen THIS do it RIGHT NOW.

Mrs F tackles Portion Control

Okay this is going to be the first in a series of "In The Kitchen With Mrs Furious" video posts. These videos are a little longer so keep that in mind. I am really looking forward to doing more cooking and cooking related videos so keep your eyes open for those.
For those of you at "the office" who can't watch this right now I will paraphrase my rules below.

In The Kitchen With Mrs Furious: Portion Control


I was talking about portion control with my mom the other day and it got me thinking about the ways in which I have built this into the Furious Family diet. I'm no longer calorie counting but I haven't thrown everything out the window. I still carefully monitor our portions.
Here are some of the ways that I do that:

#1 I make enough food for the meal. In our house that typically means cooking three portions. That's it. No leftovers, no seconds, just enough. And it is enough.

#2 I don't weigh everything anymore... but I always weigh our pasta. A "G.I." (gylcemic index) portion of pasta is 1.5 ounces. That is what I serve each of us. Pasta is calorie dense and should be a side dish. This really didn't take that long to get used to. It helps keep our dinners under 500 calories. No one goes hungry... and no one is getting fat either!

#3 I eat a half a sandwich. That's right ONE piece of bread. This is a hold over from the diet. There is just no way to have a whole sandwich and not be going over 300 calories for lunch. This is an easy way to keep your lunch in control. Now I've gotten a few comments about this one. I will clarify that yes it is humanly possible to eat two pieces of bread with some small amount of filling and come in UNDER 300 calories. The point I am making is that more often than not you won't... and even if you do MOST of your calories will be from the bread... aka... carbs. I'm suggesting that one piece of bread is a proper carb portion and that you can have nearly a whole sandwiches worth of filling on it and shave off 100 calories from your lunch.

#4 I measure rice. 2/3c of COOKED rice is a serving. I generally serve a 1/2 c of cooked rice. To make this step really easy I use a 1/2 c measuring cup as my spoon when I serve the plates out of the pot. Again grains are calorie dense. 1/2 c of cooked rice is 100 calories.

#5 Use serving bowls or glasswear that help you control your portions. If I am having ice cream I eat it out of a small juice glass which perfectly holds 1/2 c of ice cream. If I have cereal I use the bowls that fit one serving. You get the idea. This really does help and it is easy to do.

A basic Furious Family dinner for us is 3-4 ounces of protein, 1/2 c rice (1.5 oz pasta), and 1.5-2 c veggies. This is almost always around 400 calories and looks something like 1/2 plate of vegetables, 1/2-2/3 protein, 1/3 -1/2 starch.

This Week The Plan

Last week went pretty well considering my mental state and over all exhaustion. I mostly kept to my menu and cleaning projects. I did not do all that crazy working out... I was just plain too tired and something had to go. Triumphantly I did keep my desk cleared off ALL week.
This week is going to be a little crazy. My Dad is coming in town for the weekend and I'm going to have to do a more thorough cleaning before then! I'm going *easy* on the food prep this week to compensate and using more freezer and pantry staples to offset the additional expense of entertaining this weekend.

Here we go...

Menu:

Monday - Spaghetti & Meatballs, steamed broccoli & carrots

Tuesday - Cornflake Crusted Tilapia (from freezer), sweet potato fries & green beans

Wednesday - Kid's Date Night

Thursday - Salmon Noodle Casserole, "fried" apples

Friday - Pizza Night

Saturday - Potato & Leek Soup, homemade bread, salad

Sunday - Vegetable soup, leftover bread


Cleaning:

Sweet Jesus... what do I not have to clean?!?!

Monday - make Guest room presentable (ie no storage bins everywhere!), vacuum

Tuesday - vacuum upstairs

Wednesday - clean stove & Kitchen floors

Thursday - vacuum, make basement presentable

Friday - clean bathroom & kitchen


Exercise:

Anyone up for a serious cardio challenge?!? Heather and Robin are in and are going to try and workout the Mrs F way. I've been slacking off with the holidays and then Baby's crazy late night torture sessions.... but it is time for me to kick it back up.
This week I'm going to do 6 cardio sessions of 60 minutes (or MORE). If you all want to know how I dropped 10% body fat in 4 months this is how I did it. Seriously people I have ONE hour in the day to myself.... ONE!!!... and I use it to workout. It isn't what I WANT to do but more days then not it is what I do. You can find one hour to do this. I'll write more on this coming up this week. I'm not saying strength training isn't important ... it is... but if you've got fat to lose you are going to lose it MUCH faster with LONG cardio sessions. You can always add strength on top of that or add it back in place of some cardio training when you start seeing the fat loss results you are looking for. This is just my opinion folks and what worked for me!

Okay so I'm pumping out 6 days of cardio this week. I'm doing it! Check my sidebar for proof.


Special Cleaning Challenge:

#1 keep desk cleared off all week

#2 empty out "cubby of shame"

YES!!!!

This is one of the best mornings I've had in a long time. I am so freaking excited and elated! Seriously.
Here is the deal(for those of you who don't want to watch the videos)all this time I've been taking my videos with my little Canon PowerShot digital camera. This meant that the files were HUGE... I mean like 300MB. So when I went to upload them to YouTube it would take 15-20 hours (FOR REAL). This was obviously quite frustrating and often times I'd lose my connection at some point and have to start all over. Well last night Mr F figured out how to drag them into iMovie and convert them to smaller files. The result? I just uploaded these files in... get this... ONE SECOND!!! I can't believe it. If only I had known about this last week I could have saved myself a lot of grief!

Mrs F and Heather the video recap

Thanks To Heather...

Not that I"m obsessing on my new haircut or anything....
But this is my hair today after using a little styling product Heather brought me. And drying it with a diffuser...and... pin curling the left side (your left that is). Oh and trimming that long left piece a bit (again YOUR left)

It Was A Meeting Of The Minds...

So yesterday I met Heather, live and in the flesh, right here in Michigan. It was everything I hoped it would be. #1 Heather looks exactly like her pictures... no bait and switch... and her hair is as perfectly coifed as you imagine it to be. Mine, sadly, was not.#2 Heather's personality is just like her blog persona so there was absolutely no awkwardness... which of course there is always the potential for when meeting someone for the first time. Heather will have to weigh in here but I think we are both a lot like what you imagine us to be. We had a great time and you would never have guessed that we didn't *really* know each other.

It so happens that Heather was staying in my hometown. This was a fairly good turn of events because I was worried about picking a restaurant to meet at if she was staying somewhere I wasn't too familiar with. Anyway fear not I knew where to go and we had a great lunch. Now what was really funny is that we happened into having one of the most talkative waiters I have ever encountered. As soon as he seated us I had a feeling about him. There was something in the way he quickly and confidently commented on our conversation (I don't like to think of this as eavesdropping per se... but you could call it that) that reminded me of someone... I know... me!... and so he was immediately endeared to me.

Now there are somethings I should note. I have two ways of dealing with social situations #1 be a total wallflower #2 be slightly kooky. When I was a waitress I relied mostly on #2... because people love a little kook and lets face it... it brings in more tips. So when our waiter, Justin, chimed right in on our conversation about postpartum hair loss (he's 24) I knew he was a kindred spirit. This kind of brought out what I like to call the over-the-top kook in me and I started asking him extremely personal questions and telling him my psychic impressions about him. Oh God it was hilarious (for me... maybe slightly annoying for Heather... and at times maybe uncomfortable for Justin). So here are the things that we learned about Justin during lunch: his birthday (yes!!! I guessed the right month and was only one year off... see?!?! I am psychic!), how many siblings he has (NINE!!!! WTF?!?!), where he grew up, went to college, currently lives, all about his ex-girlfriend who is clearly toying with him (trust me Justin), his East coast/West coast preferences, his hair texture, and MORE... much, much, MORE!!

So at some point Heather and I want to talk to each other... and not about Justin... but what to do? I mean he was practically pulling a chair up to our table... and really it wasn't his own fault. So kind of awkwardly we just had to shut him out about half way through and I fear it may have been a bit of a slap in the face... I mean I was practically mapping out his next 5 year plan only moments before. You all do this... right?!? RIGHT?!?! It's not just me?!?! Oh even thinking about it makes me laugh. If I lived there I would totally go hang out with him while he was working lunch and take him under my kooky wing... he could be like my kook protege! Before you know it he'd be starring in a whole bunch of my YouTube videos... turns out he has break dancing experience! Okay anyway back to the stuff at hand....

Heather and I had a great time.... really. I mean it was just as if we had known each other for years. We went shopping and found her a dress we both loved, sadly it had a tear in the sleeve... but no matter... the crazy-skinny-anorexic-salesperson knew what to do and within minutes the on-site tailor had it mended and ready to go! We talked about ADD, hair, weight loss, and chakra tuning (of course... who doesn't talk about that?). Heather learned that it really is true... I have *expert* knowledge (or at least think I do) in every facet of life!!! The only downside is that I completely forgot to take a picture or video with her (damn it!!!... I even had my camera in my purse!!).