Recap of 2010

Well, I'd say 2010 was a successful year. Sure, it had some downsides but you take the good with the bad- right? Here is what happened, both good in bad, in 2010.

Good

• Hit my 2 year anniversary with Court
• Graduated college with the degree I've been wanting since I was 12
• Graduated Magna Cum Laude and as the Psychology department's Outstanding Fall 2010 Graduate
• Got my wish of getting a dog- my loveable, goofy, smart, sweet, athletic 94 pound yellow lab
• Got back on the weight loss bandwagon after gaining back the 24 pounds I lost in 2009
• Made all A's my last semester of college
• Got my own apartment, even if it was just for a few months. The experience was awesome!
• I got better at my huge hobby, cooking!

Not-So-Good

• Gained back the 24 pounds I lost. I gained 25 pounds to be exact :(
• Lost my best friend because I learned she really wasn't a friend to begin with
• Realized that I need more female friends in my life
• Still having a hard time finding said female friends I need
• Spent too much money on people for Christmas and pretty much depleted my bank account
• Spent too much time wishing I was engaged instead of being thankful for the amazing relationship I'm in- engaged or not

What I Want to Accomplish in 2011

• Lose my remaining 25 pounds to get to my goal weight (lower than the weight I got to in 2009)
• Maybe even go lower than that goal if my body allows
• Workout at least 3 times a week, if not more
• Get into grad school
• Do well in grad school in that first semester (hopefully make straight A's since I am capable)
• Celebrate my 3 year anniversary with Court
• Save most of the money I earn from working
• Pray more
• Be a nicer person (I'm not mean now, but I have some shortcomings that are sometimes not-so-nice)
• Run a 5K

What were your highs and lows of the year? What would you like to accomplish in 2011?

Potato Butternut Squash Soup (YUMMMMM)

Tonight my mom made the most amazing soup you will ever put in your mouth. Seriously. This recipe was adapted from some sort of homemade cookbook. The soup was perfect on a night like this (cold and rainy). Absolutely 100% comfort food.

The recipe called for carrots originally, but my mom used butternut squash instead because of its buttery, rich texture (and we happened to have some at home so that's what was used). The recipe also calls for an onion, but my parents are both allergic to onions so we had to omit that. Too bad, because an onion would have really put this soup over the top. Lastly, we substituted ham instead of bacon because ham has less fat. Bacon would make this soooooo much better than it already is, though.

This recipe equals 8 Points+ values per serving and serves 10 (but to be honest, I think it serves more). You will have leftovers for a longggg time, unless you eat it all at once. It's that good.

It doesn't look fancy or gourmet by any means, but it is delicious.

Ingredients:

• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 1 pound of diced ham
• 1 cup of butternut squash, peeled and cubed
• 2 quarts water
• 6 T butter
• 6 T flour
• 1.5 C milk (we used 1% in this recipe)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• In a large pot cook potatoes and butternut squash in the water until tender (about 20 minutes).
• Drain and reserve the liquid
• Set veggies aside
• In the same pot, combine the butter and flour
• Add salt and pepper and gradually add milk
• Stir constantly until thickened
• Gently stir in cooked veggies
• Add one cup or more of reserved liquid until soup is at the level of thickness you want

 I hope you enjoy this as much as I did! I just realized that 3 out of 5 recipes on here are soup recipes. Y'all probably think I'm some sort of soup freak, but I'm not! haha

Ode to roasted butternut squash

Ok, so the first time I had butternut squash it was featured in the soup in the post below. Tonight, I had it in a way that will change my life forever. Seriously.

ROASTED.

Forgive me, I know I sound quite moronic right now. But seriously. Roasted butternut squash, where have you been all my life? I'm going to the store tomorrow to buy some more so I can roast some as an afternoon snack.

If you've never had roasted butternut squash, all you have to do is toss up a diced butternut squash in some EVOO, salt, and pepper and roast in the oven on 425 for 20-30 minutes, depending on how soft you want it. So simple, so easy, and SO FREAKING DELICIOUS.

Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup

I've heard a bunch of rave reviews of the recipes from Gina's Skinny Recipes but have never tried a recipe until this afternoon. My mom and I were craving butternut squash in some form or another and thought soup would be a good way to serve it. I remembered this website had two different butternut squash soup recipes, and this one looked really exotic and yummy! I didn't bother to take a picture of it (sorry), so the recipe and the photo will be courtesy of the source of the recipe. This soup was soup-er (I love puns!) easy to make and tasted really decadent and exotic. Delicious! You should try it immediately :)

One special note: instead of using 2 cups of butternut squash, I used 4 cups to make the soup thicker and to get in more veggies for the day! It doesn't affect the Points+ values, which by the way 1 serving is 3 Points+ values (the recipe says there are 4 servings total in the recipe).

Adapted from Gina's Skinny Recipes

• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp garam masala
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1/2 medium onion, minced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 16 oz (about 2 cups) chopped peeled butternut squash
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• salt and fresh pepper to taste
• chopped fresh cilantro (optional) 

Add oil to a medium soup pot, on medium heat. When oil is hot add onion, garlic and sauté. Add roasted cumin, garam masala, and curry powder and mix well cooking another minute. Add broth, light coconut milk, butternut squash and cook covered until squash is soft, 12-15 minutes. Remove cover and using an immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. Season with salt and fresh pepper and serve with fresh cilantro.

Photo courtesy of Gina's Skinny Recipes

Reflection

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I was in the final stretch of school and I just graduated COLLEGE yesterday! I graduated Magna Cum Laude as well as the Psychology department's Outstanding Fall 2010 graduate. Woot woot!

Since then, I've lost another 1.8 pounds, which puts me at 6.2 pounds lost in 5 weeks! However, this week I have not been motivated to eat well at ALL. Christmas treats are putting a damper on my intentions to eat, but I will overcome them tomorrow!

Well, this whole week I have been a nervous wreck. I've been up, and I've been down. I would be lying if I said I didn't cry a few times this week. Thankfully I have a wonderful boyfriend who was there for me through each breakdown and was there to pick me back up. My wonderful family and friends were there to celebrate my big day with me yesterday and that is all I can ask for! Here are a few pictures from the day.

My boyfriend of almost 3 years. I met him at that wonderful school I just graduated from.

My wonderful daddy! 

My awesome mom!

Getting ready to turn my tassle...

Just graduated!! Woohoo!

Now comes the part you really don't need to read. This part is for me to later look back on and reflect on the
reflection, so to say.

I always knew in my heart that Tarleton State University was the college I was meant to attend for my undergraduate career. I have killer intuition, and it always steers me in the right direction. My intuition steered me here. As I was about to graduate high school, I couldn't wait to get out and "be an adult" independent of my parents and free of rules. Little did I know, right? As my time to actually move there was approaching, I found myself becoming really, really, REALLY scared. I cried my second day there as I was barely making it through band camp (yes, I did marching band my first two years there). After I pulled myself together and started meeting people, the anxiety quickly subsided and I met my boyfriend. He played tuba and I played bass drum in the drumline. The first thing he ever said to me was when he was standing behind me in a line to get band t-shirts when I was wearing a shirt I got when I went to Hawaii the previous summer. He said "did you go to Hawaii?" and I remember thinking what a dork he was for asking such a stupid question. Apparently he thought I might have been from Hawaii because I was so tan at the time LOL! Little did I know he would become someone I love with everything I have and dream of marrying someday (when we're ready, of course!).

Enter classes starting. I remember how high school was SOOOO easy and I didn't have to actually put forth any effort to succeed. When my midterm grades came out I had an F, 2 D's, 2 C's, and an A (in marching band). Yeah, pretty bad. That was my rude awakening and I got my grades up, no worries (they weren't great, but I only got 2 C's and the rest were B's and the A in marching band). It was then that my parents said they weren't paying for C's so don't worry- no more C's after that! I remember looking at that set of midterm grades and thinking I needed to find a job that didn't require a degree quick because I thought I wasn't smart enough to make it through college. Funny how that all turned out, right?

My boyfriend and I were friends during that first semester (he was the one who took me home after my first drunken experience, haha) and quickly became closer over the Christmas break. I got his phone number on Facebook and sent him a random text saying hi and it was all history from there. He told me he liked me in January 2008 and I said I liked him too, but he was always too shy to make a move. Finally, he worked up the courage to hold my hand and we became official on February 10, 2008. Being with him actually made me a better student, friend, daughter, overall a better person.

As the years progressed, I learned how to get in my "groove" and make mostly A's in my classes. Psychology (my major) has always been something I've been passionate about, and I believe that really made a difference in my grades. I found my calling and it showed. Now I'm applying to grad school for Fall 2011 admission to hopefully get into the School Psychology program :)

Yesterday is still a blur to me. I've been trying to piece together the moments leading up to graduation as well as the moments during the ceremony. After the ceremony is no problem recalling because my heart was able to get to a reasonable rate again, haha. The reason I chose the pictures to put up on this blog is as simple as this: these are the people that helped me get through it all. My dad was always there to remind me to never give up and to give 110% into everything I did. My mom was always there to listen to me vent about the bad days I had and to offer support and compassion. My boyfriend showed me strategies to be better student. He also was there to hug me and kiss me when I had a bad day and when I needed someone to help me get through something. Lastly, myself. Why, you ask? Because I can have the help of other people, but in the end you have to WANT something and work hard to achieve it. Nobody can do your accomplishments but you. I had the catalysts to push me in the right direction, but I chose to go in the right direction.

End long rambling :)

Today is Thursday- that means...

Weigh-in day! I lost the 1.6 pounds I gained over Thanksgiving! I wanted it to be more for the fact that I would have done more than simply even out, but I'll take any loss I can get! Granted I hadn't "gone" yet at my WI time so maybe next week's loss will be even bigger!

This makes a total of 4.4 pounds lost in 4 weeks. That's an average of 1.1 pounds a week so far. Not too shabby. Sometimes I wish I could lose 10 pounds a week like they do on The Biggest Loser, but this is reality. I don't have Bob and Jillian kicking my ass in the gym and I don't have all the perfect foods to eat on a beautiful ranch. I'm too poor to afford a trainer and I have the daily stresses and temptations that come with life. I figure as long as I deal with it productively, a loss is good no matter how big or small.

On a side note, today is my LAST day of class as an undergraduate student. Wow. What am I feeling? Excited, scared shitless, anxious (good and bad), bittersweet, happy, weird, confused. Why confused, you ask? I have been going to school since I was 3 (pre-school) and now I'm 21. The last 18 years of my life have been nothing but school, really. I plan to start grad school in August 2011 so I'm going to have 9 months off of school. What will I do with my time? I have a good job lined up to start after graduation, but it's only a 20ish hour a week job (but pays insanely well- seriously $19/hr). I guess what I can do is spend a lot of time in the gym since I won't have school AND work to balance. At least for a while I can really, really focus on my weight loss and get together an exercise routine (in addition to my almost daily walks with my dog).

One more side note. I'm either in a funky sort of "bitchy" mood or some people I've come into contact with this morning ate a big bowl of stupid for breakfast. LOL! I suppose we all have days like that sometime, right?

Oh, and I already have only 7 points left for the day LOL! I ate a huge 22 point breakfast to celebrate it being my last day of class as an undergrad. It was delicious and worth it. I probably won't be hungry again until dinner, and I can definitely just eat 7 points for dinner. Not to mention I need to fill up on more fruits and veggies this week!

Have a great rest of the week!

Taco Soup!

So, the weather has been very cold lately (ok fine, maybe it's just been about 40ish degrees on an average Texas day here- gimme a break, we Texans get cold easily!) and it seemed like perfect weather to make one of my favorite soups in the whole world- taco soup!! Everybody has their own favorite recipe to make, and here is my revised recipe to make it more points-friendly and overall more healthy :)

Sorry there isn't a picture of this awesome, tasty soup. While making the soup, clumsy me cut my left index finger with a knife and it was bleeding nonstop (hooray for my boyfriend coming to the rescue to finish the soup!). Seriously, it took about an hour of clotting that cut before it was able to hold a band-aid. Sorry for the TMI!

Now that I've thoroughly grossed you out, here's the recipe :)

Stephanie's Healthy Taco Soup

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (I used 93-7 this time, but feel free to use it as lean or fatty as you want)
• 1 (10oz.) can of Rotel
• 1 (15.5oz.) can of black beans
• 1 small can of chopped green chiles
• 1 yellow onion (but feel free to use any onion you want)
• 1 packet of Hidden Valley Dry Ranch Mix
• About 1 T cumin (I don't measure spices much, I just season to taste)
• About 1 T cayenne pepper (same applies from above seasoning)
• 1 (15.25oz.) can whole kernel corn (I used the no salt added kind since the Ranch mix has some salt)
• 1 cup water

Directions:

• Brown beef in a nonstick skillet.
• Slice the onion in however big or small you want the pieces (but don't slice your finger like I did!)
• Combine onion with the beef and let both brown until cooked through.
• Combine meat, onion, spices, water, and all cans into a large pot (big enough to make soup, anyway) and mix well
• Bring to a boil for about 5 minutes.
• Reduce heat and let soup simmer for at least 30 minutes (it gets better as you let it simmer longer).
• Serve with desired toppings of choice. My personal favorites are a dollop of low-fat sour cream, a little cheese (any kind you want), and some crushed up tortilla chips (my favorite is the Baked Doritos).

This makes about 8 servings and comes to 5 Weight Watchers Points+ a serving (it will be more points depending on what you top it with if you desire to do so). I also enjoyed this with a piece of cornbread. Perfect combination!

If you have never tried any version of taco soup, this is a great place to start. I hope you love this soup as much as my boyfriend and I do!