Random Thoughts for Friday

Grandma's Fig Tree:

Been missing my Nana lately.  There are certain smells and tastes that trigger wonderful memories of the summers I used to spend in Mexico with my Nana.

Something made me remember climbing up the fig tree in her back yard and picking as many figs that I could hold without falling out of the tree.  I'd sit in her kitchen eating them while she'd be at the stove making fresh, homemade, flour tortillas.  *Closing eyes and imagining the smell......*

Vacations:

As a child, the only vacation we'd take every year was to Mexico to visit family.  My dad always made sure we'd get a FULL day at the beach.  We'd go early in the morning and my mom would pack us sodas, water, pan bigote (yummy Mexican breads), and corn chips.  That's all we'd eat all day but I didn't care.

I have joyous memories of being at the beach with my family.  The beach brings me happiness and peace and I love making those kinds of new memories with my sons.  I hope they'll feel the same that I do and I hope they'll be left with wonderful memories once I'm gone.





New Dishes:

So my hubs has been on my case lately about our almost 19yr old dishes.  He said the design is outdated! LOL! Seriously? I'm all self-conscious now about my granny plates.

I thought they were so pretty and colorful when I bought them!

But, plates are plates right?  Really? Does the plate make your food taste better?  Okay so I can see how it might "present" the food better...  Darn, time to go shopping!

This is a recent pic I took of a dish I made.... Is the plate that hideous?

Do I have OCD?

I just realized that I only use the white hangers to hang my clothes.  The boys and my hubs have a mixed mess of colored hangers but when I'm hanging my own clothes... I only choose the white ones.

"Hello, my name is Sasha and I'm a white hanger addict"

Not normal right?

Baubles and boobs:

I was super obsessed with buying a bauble necklace.  I thought, wow what a great (huge) statement necklace right?

Here's the thing... they are so big and heavy, that they drown in my cleavage.  And yes this is a problem.  They get all caught in there and clank against each other and to me they sound like freakin' cow bells.  MOO.

I even modified to make it shorter... but still feels huge.  So there, hangs my pretty bauble necklace... waiting to be worn... someday bauble, someday....

Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend xoxo

The "Weighting" Game

I was just thinking about when I was a teenager, I used to think eating was a waste of time.  I didn't want to sit and eat.  I loved my mom's cooking but I'd rather be doing something better like yapping on the phone, listening to music, hanging with friends or making up songs on my electric keyboard!

Now, I love to eat.

I love to eat when I'm happy... I love to eat when I'm sad... I love to eat when I'm angry... I love to eat with friends and family... oh no, wait, that's drinking... same difference... (Oh gawd did I say that out loud?)

I love to try new foods... I love to make new foods...

I.Love.To.Eat.

I jus' wuv it.

Unfortunately, I blew my opportunity to have an endless stomach and eat as much of whatever I wanted and not worry about gaining an ounce like my sons!

My eating went from almost non-existent to being introduced to all kinds of yumminess thanks to my boyfriend (who is now my hubs!).  First it was all nice and dandy... got curves in all the right places.

Ba-da-bing-baby!

Okay, okay... so maybe I didn't look like this so much...

First comes love, then comes marriage, next come the babies...

and then the stretch marks and the food cravings and 

tasting baby's food and eating baby's left over food

and Halloween candies and Valentine's candies

and birthday cakes and, and, and...

and the never-ending yo-yo dieting...

I eventually ended up 40 pounds over weight.  I tried EVERYTHING!!  Stupid cabbage soup diet, Slim Fast, Tried the gym, never went to the gym, Dexatrim, Weight Watchers, Nutri-System, Tried the gym again, never went to the gym again, Body for Life, Envy, Herbal-Life, Weight Watchers again, Dr. Atkins...

I committed myself to three years with Jenny Craig.  And yes, it took me three years to lose the weight because I was stubborn and didn't want to have to do the hard WORK that it takes to succeed!  The key is, eating right and working out... That's what I learned, eventually.

So where am I now?  I'm at a point in my life (and age!) that I've noticed I have to work even harder than ever!  I've been on this kick since January.... trying to figure out what to eat, what not to eat, how to lose weight but staying tone.  I heard protein is good for that.  Yup, protein.... So what did I do?

Started eating protein like CRAZY!  I'm gonna get so fit and so awesome and I'm gonna have so much energy and I'm gonna run a freakin' marathon baby!

Okay, maybe not so big...

Oddly enough, I crave red meat it all the time now! It's not even that I'm hungry cause really, I feel full all the time and it's probably because I'm ridiculously bloated and uncomfortable, I'm miserable!  Time to lay off all the protein!  Seriously though, this sucks!  Staying fit and healthy shouldn't be this hard!

For now, I'm going back to my wonderful fruit smoothies again... 380 calories of heaven!

...And heck no I'm not giving up my foods!  I'd rip my eye balls out if I deprived myself again!  Everything in moderation... oh yeah, and exercise!!! Mucho, mucho! :) 

What's For Dinner? Red Chili Chicken Enchiladas!

Last night's dinner...

I usually make Green Chili Chicken Enchiladas but my hubs has been begging me for red ones for some time now.  I stopped making them years ago because my sons didn't like them... but, after last night , I'd say they were a hit and I'll be adding these back to my menu plan!

I'll share this super easy recipe with you! This is just my version... I'm sure there are many other ways but this is just the way I make them and my family loved it :)

(Here's the not so great and healthy part)

Run each (white) corn tortilla through oil first until they are soft.

You can spray with olive oil instead of dipping them in the oil,

it's just a bit more time consuming and the tortillas don't get as soft.

If you'd like you'd like to skip the oil all together,

you can use small flour tortillas instead!

They are just as yummy!

As I run each tortilla through the oil, I pat off the excess oil

with a paper towel.

I'm rolling these, not stacking them, so I'm

only making two enchiladas each = 8 total

I cooked up some chicken earlier and shredded it.

(I always save the broth!!)

I used about two and a half small chicken breasts for

8 enchiladas.

I love colby jack cheese and tend to use it for almost all my recipes!

I diced up about 1/3 of a small (yellow) onion

In a baking dish, I have poured a little bit of red

enchilada sauce on the bottom and started to fill

each tortilla with a bit of chicken, cheese,

a sprinkle of onion and a little drizzle of sauce...

 roll and tuck!

(I know how to make my own homemade red sauce but I started dinner too late and had to use canned red chili enchilada sauce instead.  I have used Las Palmas or Macayo's brand.  I think the canned sauce is too runny so I used a little chicken broth from the chicken I made earlier and added a little flour to thicken it.)

After you roll all the enchiladas, pour as much sauce

as you'd like all over them and sprinkle some

extra cheese on top.  You can sprinkle more onions

and even some black olives at this point if you'd like.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes

(cheese melts and sauce is bubbly hot)

I served them with some homemade Spanish rice, shredded lettuce,

and some diced tomatoes

Top off with a little dab of sour cream if the sauce comes out too spicy.  Also serve with beans... I just don't love them, so I didn't make any last night!

ENJOY! :)