Chili and jogging...

Intriguing title huh?! I'm quite inventive these days! We all try to eat healthy and exercise right? Or am I the only one in the universe? {ps...duh, I know everyone always is saying I'm trying to eat better and workout}

So every Sunday I go to the grocery store with great hopes of buying wonderful things and cooking every night of the week meals that are amazing and healthy. I end up with a basket full of good stuff...and then it more than likely rots in my fridge|pantry. I have great ambitions to do wonderful things with the food...but I usually end up tired and not wanting to cook. Plus my darned kitchen is TINY and by tiny I mean TINY!! Like even with me and my one dog in it, there are too many bodies and I'm constantly kicking him out of the kitchen, ha! So anything that's intensive to cook is literally that, intensive. I generally end up making enough for the week and then it doesn't sound good the rest of the week! Again, am I the only one this happens to? It's flippin' hard to cook for one person, and I'm not a big fan of leftovers!

This week, Sunday was COLD and windy!! So I decided to make my mom's chili...I have been making it with ground turkey to make it healthier and this time, I didn't just use kidney bean, I used a can of kidney, pinto and black beans. It was DELICIOUS!! The added beans really made the texture different and wonderful!

Below is the recipe, it's super simple and not at all complicated. I've eaten it every night this week, except tonight, I had crawfish and it was amazing!!

Momma B's Chili:
2 large cans of Diced Tomatoes ( I use the ones with less sodium)
1 pkg of Ground Turkey
1 Onion (diced up, I cheated and bought already chopped onion)
1 can of beans (kidney, black, whatever you want)
Chili powder
-Brown the meat in a large pot
-Throw in onion and let it cook
-Don't drain the tomatoes and bean, put them in the pot.
- Put Chili Powder, salt, any other spices into the chili as desired...I don't measure anything, just dump it!


Simmer Chili until heated through!

Now for the Jogging part...my friend and I are thinking of signing up for the Color Vibe that's here in Arlington on April 26. Let me preface this by saying I HATE RUNNING!! Like hate is a strong word, but it's what it is...It's a great workout and I really envy those who run and enjoy it!

I have several friends who I believe enjoy running...at least I think they enjoy it b/c they run, and not just let's go for a jog, but they run...10ks, half marathons, marathons...honestly I think they're nuts!

The weather here has been great and I want to take advantage of it and at least be able to go out and jog for 30 minutes without dying! So yesterday I re-downloaded the Couch25k app...and did Day 1...and DIED! Like the last two jogging sessions I wanted to give up, and quit, but I didn't. I had ACL/Meniscus surgery in 2009 and 2010 and my left knee is not my favorite, and it doesn't like me very much most of the time. BUT I wanted to run, so I did.

I plan on doing it again tomorrow.

I'll keep y'all updated on my progress! It's gonna be a slow progress but I'm planning on keeping it up!

xoxo,

SamanthaDiane

Getting Back.

When the school year started this year, I was lost and broken... then I listened to the quiet voice of God telling me it was time to move on and start a new venture. This was one of the most compelling/scary times of my life thus far, and the closest I've been to my Creator. You see, I was clinging to His word and every whisper I heard, I learned what true faith was. Hebrews 11:1 never rang truer...I knew that everything that was happening was happening because it was God's will for me and that made it not so scary! I knew without a doubt in my heart that I had to jump and trust that God was going to catch me! Boy did/has He!

This has been a favorite of mine for a while and I love how it's the perfect definition of FAITH.

So from September-November I trusted, prayed, obeyed and rejoiced as one by one His promises rang true for me and new doors opened at the right time.

This verse was sent to me by a sweet friend that was in my bible study and knew how long I had been struggling at my job.

I loved the verse when she sent it, but it wasn't until I came to a church here in Fort Worth that this verse came back up and I decided it would be my 2014 Verse! I love it and 2014 is truly all about new things and relying on God and seeing where He's going to take me!

I haven't gone to church the past two weekends and almost didn't go this weekend. Bad weather yesterday and then having to work today which meant I'd have to go to the 9:30am service...ICK! But I went and am so glad I did! We just started a new series on Pneumatology, which is the study of the Holy Spirit. I'm excited to see where Pastor Jeff takes us! So many Christians balk at talk of the Holy Spirit, but let's face it He's around to stay. Our Pastor said something today and I loved it! He said that when we accept Jesus into our heart, the Holy Spirit is there tapping us on the shoulder saying, Hey! I'm here to help you from now on! How cool is that!?! It's His voice that we hear and it's Him who helps us out on behalf of God the Father and Jesus...even though they are all one person...hard to wrap your head around I know! :)

So I've been basically word vomiting because since I moved up to Fort Worth, I've become distracted and have fallen away from God. It took me a while to find a church I loved and now that I have I need to get back into the swing of things. I need to be praying daily, digging into the Word and listening to and following what He has in store for me! When I worked at the school, I'd spend my commute praying every morning for my day, the kids/coworkers I would come in contact with and for friends that were in need of prayer. Now, I'm on the road the majority of the day, in traffic...and I'm doing anything but praying. I'm grumbling, waving my hands {not in praise} and frustrated most days. I'm going to start using the beginning of my days to pray again and make sure I'm focusing on God and my relationship with Him daily above all else! I need to involve Him in my daily doings. Looking back, it's strange to see how many situations could've been different had I prayed about it/listened to that quiet nudge!

This has been lengthy and I'm sorry, but it's been on my mind and I needed to get it out!
Hope y'all have a had a great weekend and have a wonderful week!

Don't forget to take time to look for the little blessings and rejoice in them!

xoxo,
SamanthaDiane

Yummy Dinner

Today the weather was BE-A-UTIFUL!! There is currently a cold front blowing in and by blowing in, I mean blowing in right now!! Like the wind is HOWLING!! So, I took advantage of the warm evening and grilled up some chicken breasts. BORING right? WRONG!! A friend of mine makes this and it seriously so yum! He takes chicken breast and puts Cajun seasoning on them then throws them on the grill. Once they're done, you put swiss cheese {I'm guessing you can use whatever kinda cheese you want} on to melt. You then top it with a tomato and drizzle balsamic reduction over it. Holy cow it's good!! I also made broccoli that I usually throw in the oven, but tonight I threw it on some foil and put it on the grill. Y'all...it was ah-mazing!!! I love it in the oven and now on the grill...I'll never steam broccoli again! EVER! To round out my delicious meal, I made fingerling potatoes in the oven until they were perfectly crisp! I should've made the potatoes on the grill too. I love love grilling but have a hard time with chicken...but tonight I got it perfect! Love that the weather is getting to where we can cook outside! It was nice to have the dogs romping around the backyard while I "wo-manned" the grill!

I decided to put the tomatoes on the grill tonight to warm them up and it was a great idea!! I'm definitely going to experiment with different cheeses this summer. I've seen some recipes for caprese chicken on the grill. And I love me some caprese!! I'm planning on planting some basil again this year and could use it in said recipe!

I tend to stick to the same recipes and really need to branch out! I cook this and this quite often. But there are so many recipes I have pinned that I need to try! I'm going to try at least one new recipe a week! Y'all hold me to it! Do y'all have any go-to recipes that are different!?

Follow my food board on Pinterest or follow all of my boards!


xoxo,
SamanthaDiane

Well Hello there Weekend!!

I've seen this on my friend's blogs and decided it would be fun to do! Hope I can come up with Five things!

Link up here!

~Uno~

I've had a rather easy-peasy week...not a lot of surgeries so I've been doing a bunch of pickups and now I have a lot of machine cleaning to do this weekend! I'm hoping to knock most of it out today so that I can enjoy my weekend!

~Dos~

Speaking of the weekend, I feel like I haven't had a weekend where I have NOTHING to do in a while...so hopefully this weekend will be a leisurely one! I am going to watch and old athlete's baseball game tonight. His mom and sister will be there and I'm pretty excited to see them all! I may even hit this fun event up with some friends! I LOVE perusing antiques and art...but I can't buy anything, b/c I have NO room in my apartment! :) I also need to do some spring cleaning b/c of said limited space issues!

~Tres~

Every year when I get my tax info back I immediately do them! I haven't even come close to having time to do them this year! I need to work on them this weekend!! Starting a new job makes it a little tricky b/c I have several new deductions so I'm hoping I can easily do it. I use Tax Act and it works pretty well for me!

~Cuatro~

This one is random, but happening at the moment... my Yorkie, Canton has become such a snuggle-bug. He's currently in my lap, chin on computer. He's always been my snuggler, but geez he's constantly in my lap these days...which I'm okay with. Love some puppy snuggles! Jackie on the other hand, would rather have a blanket all to herself!

 Exhibit A

Exhibit B

~Cinco~

I've recently splurged and decided to take the Lululemon plunge... I had a Visa gift card and decided to use it to make my first purchase...ummm, while I LOVE my capris I got and the sports bra and top, I'm not sure I can justify spending that much of my own money on them! I'm a Nike junkie and love all their stuff. But my LuLu stuff is pretty sweet! I'll just watch for the sale items! :)

Hope y'all have a fabulous weekend! If the weather is going to be nice, get out and enjoy it and enjoy the people around you!

xoxo,

SamanthaDiane

Working out hard, or hardly working out?

Well, I wish I could say that I've been working out hard...but I've been hardly working out. HOWEVER, I have been going to the gym more than I had been! I joined 24 HR on December 09 and I've been a whooping SIX times since then...yeah I've been basically supporting them by my monthly dues...you know a donation some may say!


I have since found two classes I love! Pound and Pilates Reformer. The reformer class is FO FREE! Say what?! I've never been to a gym where the reformer classes are free, so you can find me every Saturday morning in that class! And then Pound...I'm a horrible dancer and have no rhythm to speak of, but I LOVE this class! It's on Tuesday, Thursday and Sundays. I can't go Tuesdays because that's my busy busy day at work, so I try to go the other two days. Here's the description of Pound from their website :

Pound is a full-body cardio jam session, combining light resistance with constant simulated drumming. The workout fuses cardio, Pilates, isometric movements, plyometrics and isometric poses. Burn calories, strengthen and sculpt infrequently used muscles, and drum your way to a leaner, slimmer physique – all while rocking out to your favorite music! Through continual upper body motion using lightly weighted drumsticks, called Ripstix™, you'll turn into a calorie-torching drummer. Rock, rap, pop and old school music fuse to create the Poundtrack series.

It is SO.FUN! And extremely hard and boy are you sore after! It's a mix of pilates, yoga, cardio and abs. It's awesome!!

I also belong to Revolt Now Fitness. I had seen it on a couple other blogs last year and decided that since I was moving to a smaller place and prob wouldn't get a gym membership right away I'd join! It's $50/yr and you get a meal plan and workouts. I have been seriously slacking on this...mainly because my small apartment has no room to do the workouts. So I have to go to the gym to do them...and I like to go early so that I'm not dealing with a million people watching me {I know that more than likely they're not watching me, but still}. And seeing as I've been digging this whole sleeping thing, getting up early to hit the gym isn't on my list of things I want to do. But I need to get over it and start going at 6am. Maybe even 5:30 and then I could come home and shower and grab a power nap if need be! :)

Not living near my parents{and their pool}, I need to get my butt to the gym and eat healthier because I'm going to have to be amongst people to get some sun and in the past I could be in the comfort of my parent's backyard with fencing to shield the neighbor's from going blind haha!

I've seen this on Facebook lately and crack up every time!

Are y'all gearing up for summer by working out/eating healthy? I pin a bunch of great recipes/workouts on Pinterest so maybe I should go check them back out!

Lately!

Hello there! Hope y'all had a wonderful weekend! We had GORGEOUS weather on Friday and Saturday...Sunday, whole 'nother story! It was 80 on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday it iced/sleeted/snowed. I'm not even kidding...I know it sounds like a joke but I would never joke about something like this! It's miserable! I barely got above freezing today!

Saturday I got to see one of my former athletes pitch against UTA (University of Texas-Arlington) and he did fab and his team won! I love love love seeing my kids succeed! It seriously makes my heart happy and reminds me why I was an Athletic Trainer for 8 years!! Sunday, I skipped church, skipped my workout class I've been going to, more on that later this week, and went to the grocery store before the weather took a turn for the worse and then hung out the rest of the day!

My friend and I have been sewing scarves and her nine-year old son was so intrigued yesterday so we put him to work! #childlabor He really enjoyed it and we're going to get him some Super Man fabric so we can teach him to make a pillow case! Hey! Boys can learn how to be domestic, nothing wrong with that! And this particular boy is just the sweetest soul there ever was! He's ALL boy, loves playing baseball, riding his bike, and getting dirty! But he's got a soft side too, loves giving hugs, cuddling on the couch and just being freaking sweet! So I had to capture him sewing and he was perfectly fine with my taking a picture/video/more pictures and posting them on Instagram! What you can't see is how much he was concentrating{his little tongue was out and everything}, he was so wanting to do it correctly! The fact that the sewing machine has a pedal like a car also scored cool points.

And this little one is VERY OVER this weather! His sweater hangs on hook by the door and he was nudging it yesterday so I guess he was cold and needed his sweater! I can't handle his cuteness sometimes!

Are y'all just as ready as I and everyone else in America for summer?! Or really just some steady warm weather would be nice!

Hope y'all had a wonderful Monday!

xoxo,
SamanthaDiane