TGIF

I am sitting here, moments away from the weekend and completely beside myself. We have family fun planned tonight, a yummy dinner up ahead, a trip to the library tomorrow, some great yoga for me and golf for Mitch tomorrow with church on Sunday. What I'm most excited about? Getting a jump on my chores; there is trip to Costco this afternoon.

First, I want to say Thank You to everyone who has wished me good luck for the American Crafts Contributing Design Team Call via the blog, Facebook, Twitter and IM. You give me warm fuzzies with all your compliments. Thank YOU. Some are wondering when the announcement will be made. The new members will be notified via email in August and announced on the AC blog. There were so many beautiful projects submitted that I've seen in Blog Land that I know the new members will be fantastic!

In other news, I survived yesterday's personal training session. I've started with a new trainer this week, the first one left to have a baby, and I could tell she was going to be tough. Last night I got to the session early so I hit the treadmill first. In retrospect perhaps that wasn't the wisest choice. I ate a high protein dinner immediately after but my stomach still got upset & a bit sick. I was worried I wouldn't be able to move today but suprisingly its not a problem! I suppose my muscles are getting used to this!

I had a loss last week, which is good but what is even better is I'm feeling strong & energetic. I actually have been looking forward to working out & have been naturally making good food choices. Here are two recipes that we think are keepers:

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Ingredients
12 oz uncooked egg noodles
12 oz water-packed tuna fish, drained
2 cup(s) button mushrooms, sliced
1 cup(s) frozen green peas, thawed
16 oz fat-free sour cream
1/2 cup(s) fat-free mayonnaise
2 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tsp parsley, fresh, chopped
1/2 tsp table salt, or more to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper, or more to taste
1/2 cup(s) shredded reduced-fat Monterey Jack cheese, or reduced-fat Swiss cheese

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Cook noodles according to package directions without added fat or salt; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
Fold in tuna, mushrooms and peas.
Whisk sour cream, mayonnaise, mustard, parsley, salt and pepper together in a separate bowl; fold into noodle mixture.
Transfer to a 4-quart casserole dish; top with cheese.
Bake until top is golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
Yields about 1 cup per serving.

POINTS® Value: 6
Servings: 8
Preparation Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 30 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy

Stove Top Chicken Oven Bake

Ingredients
1 lb skinless boneless chicken breasts
1 can Cambell's 98% Fat Free Cream of Chicken Soup [sm can]
1/3C Fat Free Sour Cream
1 package Stove Top Dressing [small box has one package]
OPTIONAL: frozen mixed vegetables

Instructions
HEAT oven to 400 degrees
MIX the dressing with hot water until moist, set aside
CUT chicken into 1-inch cubes
THOROUGHLY mix soup and sour cream together
PLACE chicken in a 9 x 13 baking dish, cover chicken with soup/sour cream mixture, cover with moistened Stove Top Dressing.
IF using frozen mixed vegetables, cover soup with the vegetables before applying the Stove Top Dressing
BAKE: 30 minutes or until chicken is done

POINTS® Value: 4
Servings: 6

I weigh in again tomorrow and am hoping for another loss. But honestly, I'm just stinkin proud of myself for doing this. The truth? I wouldn't be able to without the support of Mitch and he absolutely rocks in supporting me on this. My goal is to lose 20lbs by Christmas and I'm beginning to think I can do this!

Have a wonderful TGIF!!

lovemon