"All I Want For Christmas Challenge" week of October 16th

Hi Everyone!!!!! Hard to believe it's almost Halloween!!!

It's time to think about the coming week, examine where we were last week and see where we want to go this week.

Set your exercise goals today and let's fly at them together. I haven't had a new volunteer to provide us with the exercise of the week so I am hereby naming Dano as the man to do that job for us this week Oh! you were just stretching Dano? I thought you had your hand up ) So Dano...think of an exercise we can all add to our daily routine that most of us will be able to accomplish without having to buy fancy equipment yet will give us a bit of a challenge It can be something as simple as bicep curls with a can of alphaghetti ! (and yes, I have actually done those..hehehe)

And as per HN's wonderful suggestion, this is the week to post your favorite thanksgiving low carb friendly recipes...so get thinking!

Here's to a great week of everyone feeling better and posting often!!!! Geesh..post lots if for no other reason than to make sure Sherry digs her way out of all that chicken mess successfully! We may have to send in rescue teams

you all...Mandy
xoxox's

[HorseNutt]

CHEESY BROCCOLI CASSEROLE
14-16 ounce package frozen broccoli florets
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
4 green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper, to taste
3 pieces bacon, chopped and fried until crisp

Cook the broccoli 4-5 minutes or just until tender-crisp; drain very well. Put in a greased 2-quart casserole. Mix in the cream cheese, cheddar, green onion, salt, pepper and bacon. Bake at 350º for 20-30 minutes, until bubbly.

Makes 4-6 servings

Per 1/4 Recipe: 278 Calories; 22g Fat; 14g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs
Per 1/6 Recipe: 185 Calories; 15g Fat; 10g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs


This very good and is Just Like Stuffed Baked Potatoes made with broccoli instead of cauliflower. I cut back on the cream cheese and cheddar because the broccoli florets I bought came in a 14 ounce bag instead of 16 ounce. Unlike the cauliflower version, you don't want to overcook the broccoli so it will hold its shape and not turn to mush.


Frome Linda's Low carb Menu's and Recipes.... I just love her site!!!!

[HorseNutt]

[IMG][/IMG] [IMG][/IMG] It's so beautiful this time of year with the leaves changing. It's finally starting to cool down here in Georgia and soon the horses will be growing their winter coats.

What are everyone's plans for the upcoming holidays? Would love to hear about everyone's traditions and plans if they are already made. This year is my turn to put on the Thanksgiving dinner for my husbands side of the family. He is the 4th of 5 children so we will have a full house this year. I hope that you all post plenty of goodies and ideas for Thanksgiving, I'm looking forward to all of your ideas.

Jeanie

[Melly]

I am just doing a fly-by but I will post a recipe tomorrow....I actually made it tonight....and it was yummy.......just got thru walking and am headed in to watch the rest of the Houston and Seattle game........BBL

OK..I'd better put my money where my mouth is, eh?

Exercise for this week:

Monday-Friday: 20 minute run/cardio + the weekly reps of our crunchers

Here is one of my Thanksgiving recipes that suits us low carbers

TG Brussel sprouts

6 slices bacon cut into 1" pieces
brussel sprouts, cleaned, trimmed and cut in half
1 well drained can of sliced water chestnuts

In large skillet, fry bacon until crispy..remove from pan but leave bacon grease in the pan. Add brussel sprouts and toss to coat with grease. Add salt and toss again. Reduce heat, add a wee bit of water and cover, stirring occassionally. Cook until tender but not overcooked. Remove lid and stir in sliced waterchestnuts and reserved bacon and sort of stir fry for a few minutes to heat it all through. Season to taste.

I forgot to work out the carb counts ahead of time..I'll post them tomorrow.

See ya tomorrow

Mandy

[goalinsight]

Down to the last 68 chickens to butcher...YEAH!
Did all my crazy excercise before company got up! YEAH!
My list now goes like this:
60 modified crunches am/pm
50 wallies - 3X or 4X/per day
10++ pelvic lifts (next week's excercise as long as I do not have to demo it! hahaha)
2 sets of upper body reps am/pm
40 upper body stretches pm
set of chair excercises am/pm
40 per side of mandy's butt crunches am/pm

Gotta run and can my chickens....and think about my recipe. Which one shall I choose?? Coconut custard or apple dessert? Our church's annual apple recipe contest is Sunday afternoon and I want to make this one a GF low carb winner! Gotta find time to experiment...
TTFN!

[goalinsight]

BTW -
Dano glad to see you back!
Melly - you gotta post more!
Impy - how are you feeling? Any better?
Where's Sinny and Gettenthere? Lala? Who else is MIA?

Hi gang!

So, you're tabbing me to be the exercise guru, eh? OK, here's one I do from time to time... if you have an exercise ball you can use it with this exercise, but it's not required. Get on the floor on all fours. Raise your right arm and left leg straight up and out and hold for 30 seconds. Lower them and repeat with your left arm and right leg. Do 10 or as many as you can. They're great for buiding your back muscles, and actually work most of your major muscle groups. If you do have an exercise ball, put the exercise ball under your stomach while you do these for added support.

Let's see... what else to tell you. It's just an absolutely gorgeous few days here, the October sun is shining but not too warm, the trees are starting to turn, the sky is cloudless and deep blue. The weekend weather was as nice as I can remember. Today I have to get some mowing done, my son is staying with me since they have fall break so he can help me out.

My goal this week is to jog Tuesday and Thursday and probably Saturday because on Sunday I head back to Turkey, Italy, and Spain. Apart from that I'm just trying to keep it together, I always go a little mental when there's a long trip ahead.

hang in there Elves! christmas is just around the corner! Oh, we're supposed to tell what we're doing for the holidays... I'm going to my friend's house for Thanksgiving, his parents and inlaws will be around and his wife is a very good cook. For christmas I'll have my kids and we'll be heading to my moms.

See you all soon!

Dano

[Pizzamama]

Hi Everyone!

Just jumping in to say hi cause I dont want to miss another day of not posting!

I really dont have alot to say ~ was a very busy weekend so wasn't around here much ~ sorry

Will be thinking about my exercise plan for the week and love the recipie idea! It's nice to keep things fun here!

Made a zillion cutouts today - made some for dd birthday this weekend (stars and hearts) and froze for later, bats and pumpkins! They really turned out cute now to risist them til they are gone got really sick of making them and froze the rest of the dough in disks for cutting out later

No exercise here Saturday, Sunday or Monday BOOOOHOOOO

Will post tomorrow when I have more of a plan okay? Til then to all!

Oh and in this weeks sunday paper there is a coupon for Brown Sugar (Splenda) - anyone see this yet? Probably like a half and half thing like that baking splenda they came out with could make for an interesting option if u can afford the xtra carbs while baking

[HorseNutt]

[IMG][/IMG]

Where are those recipes?

[HorseNutt]

[IMG][/IMG]

I saw this and thought of Sherrys Chickens going into the can.

[goalinsight]

The countdown is on...only 24 chickens left alive. The oldest children are sick of this so they want to finish even in the dark...(it is 7:30 here) but the younger say they want to QUIT now. So we will powwow and see what happens here.
The planetarium is tomorrow's homeschool field trip so....
24-23-22-21-20-19-18-17-16-15-14-13-12-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
I'll let you know...LOL!
And HN - they loved the screaming chicken!

Hope you've all had a great day!!!!

Sherry..glad to see you're wading through all that blood guts and gore

I have found that with doing three sets each day of our burgeoning number of weekly exercises, I was forgetting how many I'd already done each day by evening time so I made myself a handy dandy chart Now I can keep track of all my exercise and note each time I drink water and how much...it's a good thing....for my failing old mind

Dano! wow..more trips! We'll miss you when you are gone..and thanks for the exercise..we'll be doing them faithfully all week right gang????? Personally, I think you just like the idea of all us women on our knees

Here's another TG recipe

Pumpkin Pie the Low Carb Way

Spray a 9“pie plate with cooking spray or butter thoroughly. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

3 eggs
15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 C heavy cream
½ C gingerbread davinci syrup
4-6 splenda packets
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice.

In a bowl, whisk eggs well. Add all other ingredients until well mixed and smooth. Pour into pie plate and bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Portion control for me on this one is hard..at our TG, earlier this month, I ate the entire pie in less than 24 hours! !!!!!

Low Carb Cranberry Sauce

In medium saucepan combine 1 cup splenda, 1 cup water and 1 12 oz bag of fresh or frozen cranberries. Bring to boil, stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer until it thickens up to how you like it. Put into serving bowl and chill,

Personally I prefer this to regular cranberry sauce now..it's a little more tart and you really preserve the flavour of the cranberries without masking it with regular sugar. It's also nice if you stir in a wee bit of grated orange zest.

As for me today:

Did my 20 minute run, and am about halfway through my other exercises will finish them this evening I promise!

Breakfast: egg salad with celery sticks for scooping
Lunch: sausage/egg/tomatoe and cheddar quiche and sf jello
Snack: 1/2 an apple with lc peanut butter
Dinner: 3 eggs and a large salad plus 2.5 hotdogs

Water has been passable but not great

OK..off to chat for a bit..see who's around

[goalinsight]

OKAY guys .....the chickens are done - except for the crazy one I am too tired to catch that's running around on the LCFBB...
Now we have to finish canning them all.
Next....
EATTING them.

LOL.....I have this absolutely bizarre image in my mind now of sherry cramming dead chickens into mason jars...it ain't pretty!

This would make an excellent easy lunch (if you cut the recipe way down) or as an appetizer for a crowd served with celery sticks

4 10 ounce cans white Chunk Cooked Chicken, drained
1 12 Ounce Bottle Franks Buffalo Wings Hot Sauce
2 8 Ounce Packages Cream Cheese, Cubed
1 16 Ounce Bottle Blue Cheese or Ranch Dressing
1 8 Ounce Package Shredded Colby Jack Cheese

Combine the drained chicken* and the hot sauce. Break up the chicken with a fork and combine well. Place into an oven-going (or microwavable) serving dish (approx 9 x 13 size). In a microwavable bowl, combine the cream cheese cubes and the salad dressing. Microwave until melted, stirring frequently, until the cheese is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour on top of the chicken mixture. Use the convection bake on your microwave for approximately 20 minutes or until hot through. If microwaving, microwave until hot through. Top with shredded cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is browned and dip is bubbly. Or microwave until cheese is melted. Serve hot with celery sticks. *(Note: You can substitute cooked, shredded chicken breast for the canned chicken if you wish.)

I may have to try that one out, Mandy lin! Oh, congrats on getting to be an admin on chat too, it's long overdue Geeze, I have to get up and around for work, I"ll post more later. Happy low carbing elves!

Dano

Thanks Dano

Just a quick fly-by from me too..have to leave in 19 minutes and the kids are all still in bed

Hope you all have a great day! I jsut thought of a name for Dano's exercise of the week..."Flying Dano's" hehehehe

Mandy

[Pizzamama]

For that cheese dip Mandy ~ how bout makin some lc tortillas ~

Cut LC tortillas into pie wedges
Fry in oil
Season while still warm ~ with your fav. seasonings

Serve with Mandy's cheesy stuff and Sherry........................ with this recipie how could the chickens even make it to canning

[Pizzamama]

OK almost went to the freezer and grabbed a couple cutouts! BUT instead got up and did my exercises!!!

50 Wallies
60 Danos Flyers (love them by the way)
50 Ab crunches on the ball (its been awhile have to work back up to 100)
Upper back thigh leg lifts (on ball)

Ok now I must admit the cookies don't sound good anymore!

Hey exercising DOES WORK!

[beachfires]

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!!

Happy Tuesday All!!!

I hope everyone is healthy and happy! Yesterday was soooo busy at work that before I knew it, it was time to go home...gotta love a day like that!!

Exercise, eating, water and generally everything is all good!

Still holding at 150 and quite happy to be there!! I find myself exercising at work about once an hour...either wallies, lunges, squats...something every hour just to get the blood moving and keep my body in motion...it feels GREAT!!!! Still doing everything at home that I have been doing all along so basically I am always working out...not too bad for an old lady!!!

Sherry....I am in awe of you and your family...absolutely amazing!! That's a lot of chickens...not to mention all the mess, smell, feathers and stuff!!! My kids would have been SOOOOOO GONE....I would still be looking for them come Christmas time....LOL

Ok...back to work for a bit...will try to pop in later or maybe even head to chat, gonna be a quiet day around here for a change!!!

[goalinsight]

Still cramming chickens in jars but headed out for a break/field trip to the planetarium.
All my am excercises done - I ache but pleasantly so - am I saying that???!! Mandy - you have created a monster! (YEAH!)
Will ba back later...
TTFN

[Melly]

Hey guys I have been really busy and have not even had a chance to read the thread. But I wanted to pop in and say congrats to Mandy on her New Red Dress a.k.a. Admin status in chat......I might mention that I have always kinda half joked that the reason Cheri made me an Admin was to make me behave in chat.....uh Mandy?

[HorseNutt]

Oh Darn!!!! Does that mean Mandy and I can't play in chat anymore?

[HorseNutt]

Pizza you stay outta the freezer woman!!!

[goalinsight]

Okay...I got on the scale again after 12 days. I lost another 5.5 pounds which makes for a grand total of.....drum roll please........44.5 pounds since day one of this challenge!
TA DA!


Thank you ladies and gent - for ALL your encouragement (and pushing and ordering and butt-kicking ) and incredible support.
And those horrid contortionist excercises I do so LOVE to HATE!!