One Year Later

A lot can happen in one year! I can't believe i've neglected my little blog for that long! My last post was in the Fall (my favorite season!) of 2012 posting a delicious pumpkin bread recipe and now i'm back in the Fall of 2013 posting about one of our favorite soups.

But before I get to that I just want to say that I have missed this outlet! I have written here since 2008 and love to have a place to share things about my family, recipes, what we're up too and really anything that comes to mind. Which is a lot lately! ha!

I joined a health a fitness challenge this past Summer and made some new life long habits! I finally overcame something that has been SO hard for me for years! Dieting and calorie counting! I've done it for as long as I can remember. I am a busy mom and I would skip breakfast and just drink coffee, maybe a little lunch and then eat way too big of a dinner because I was so hungry and then probably a snack later in the evening. I have always exercised pretty regularly and ate pretty healthy but I always felt like I had that last 10 lbs to lose! No bueno.

So even though I am so busy I decided to get rid of all of my excuses and just commit to this 90 day challenge! Just wanted to see where it would take me! Through it I learned what clean/healthy eating really looks like! I committed to work out 5-6 days a week/ replaced one meal a day with Shakeology which is a Superfood drink that gives me tons of extra energy and helps curb cravings for sweets! Sweet!! I lost 17 lbs and a total of 17 in off my body but gained SO much more! I feel like I am supposed to feel! Strong, empowered and FREE! That really is an ultimate goal of mine, to be free to be who God made me to be and to help others feel the same way! I got so inspired by this process that I signed on to be a coach only 30 days in to lead others through the same exact challenge and I love it! I feel like I found my calling! I absolutely love helping people. Sometimes in the past it has come back to bite me but I am learning about how to help people in a healthy way through daily personal development.

It has been such an awesome journey so far and the sky is truly the limit!! If you would like to join me on my mission and in my team ~ Team FREE and Fit ~ leave me a comment and i'll be happy to get back to you! And stay tuned, i'll be sharing my before and after pics, healthy recipes, healthy eating tips and so much more for anyone who is on a journey to health and freedom!

Jen



Ingredients: 1c chopped onion, 1c chopped carrots, 2 cloves garlic - minced, 6c reduced sodium chicken broth, 4c chopped fresh kale, 2-3 boiled and shredded chicken breast, 1 small tomato - seeded and chopped, 1/2c dry lentils, salt and pepper to taste, 1 Tbl Evoo.

Put a little Evoo in a large saucepan and heat over med. Add onions, garlic and carrots. Cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 7-9 min. Next, add chicken broth and lentils and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, then cover and simmer about 10 min. Stir in the kale, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to a simmer another 10 min. Add the remaining ingredients. Simmer an additional 5-10 min until the lentils are done and the kale is tender.

I return with Pumpkin Bread

It's been almost 5 months since I last blogged. I needed a good break away to decide if blogging was still for me. After much thought about it I have decided that I love this way of recording the lives of our littles. (Well little and not so little anymore.) I absolutely love sitting down and looking through old posts and seeing the things that we've been up to and how much they've grown.

I started this blog when Andon was 4. He will be turning 9 in a month! He has grown and changed so much in that short time. So have I.. I remember when I first began blogging, I was so uncomfortable with the idea of putting information out there. I set it all up and Jared wrote the first post for me. My sweet encourager. I was also in a completely different place. Not that I am any where near having it all together now. I just know more of who I am now. That makes a big difference.

I thought I'd share a simple Pumpkin Bread recipe on here for anyone interested. Fall is my favorite time of year. So even though we live in Fl and it was smoking hot on the first day of Fall I had to stake my claim on that day!! I made this yummy bread and big pot of chili. And we sat in the AC pretending there was crisp cool air outside and the leaves were turning all sorts of reds, and oranges and yellows..



This recipe comes from my friend's hubby Mat. I only changed a few things about it and you can do the same based on what you have.

First Bowl~

3 1/2 C Flour
2 1/2 C Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Nutmeg

Second Bowl~

1 Can Canned Pumpkin
1 C Corn Oil
2/3 C Water
4 Eggs one at a time

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pan/pans. I used a bundt pan but you could use 2 9x5x3 bread pans. Mix/Stir the ingredients in both bowls. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the pumpkin mixture. Stir it just until the flour is moistened and pour into your pan. Bake for one hour.

This bread was so moist and delish. Too bad or maybe not so bad i'm the only one in my house who likes anything that has to do with pumpkin. I served it to company, ate my fair share and froze the rest. If you try it i'd love to hear how it turned out!