About Moi

About Moi
My Name is Brittany, and I'm 23yrs old. I was diagnosed with Lupus when I was 15, and then diagnosed with RA, when I was 18. I also got married when I was 18, and I'm enjoying my happily ever after with my hubby! When I got married, I was slim and trim...But not for long. After getting married, I started to gain a LOT of weight! In 1yr, I gained 50lbs! Finally, I went to the Doctor, where I discovered I have low thyroid. After being put on medicine, my weight gain slowed down, although over the next 3yrs, I gained an additional 26lbs. When I was 20yrs old, I got yet another diagnoses of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. That's 4 diagnoses in a 5yr period, if you lost count. They all effect my weight, in one way or another. Add on top of that, my love affair with food, and every 1 of those 76lbs gained was accounted for. Being 76lbs over weight is unhealthy for anyone, but it was especially unhealthy for me, and my health issues. Since starting this blog, in Jan-2010, I have lost 40lbs! I'm a new, slimmer, and healthier me! Before losing weight, I was told I needed knee replacements. Losing weight was the ONLY tool I had to help me hold off on that life changing surgery. Since losing 40lbs, my knees have never felt better! My husband and I are also trying to start a family, but my PCOS was not going to make it as easy as 1,2,3, as I didn't have periods on my own. My doctor had told me if I wanted a baby, I HAD to lose weight. Since losing 40lbs, I've had regular cycles for the first time in my life! Which is very important when trying to have a baby ;) This journey of mine is more than me simply wanting to wear skinny jeans. It has been a quest to becoming :Deliciously Healthy, so ALL of my dreams can come true! I'm almost half way there! With each new day, I get closer and closer to my goal of 120lbs, and becoming :Deliciously Healthy!
Showing posts with label Sides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sides. Show all posts

Friday, November 19, 2010

Easy Apple Dumplings, and my :Deliciously Healthy Thanksgiving Menu

The one and only Pioneer Women has this amazingly delicious apple dumpling recipe. It involves 2 sticks of butter,
1 1/2 cups of sugar, and 2 cans of mountain dew, among other things.

It's so good...but you know that's going to go
straight to my hips
.

I also love her recipe, because it's very, very simple and quick. The prep time is seriously like 10 minutes.

Simple + Delicious = It has to find a place at my Thanksgiving table this year.

I just had to figure out how to lighten them up a bit.
A little less heart-attack in a casserole dish, and more Deliciously Healthy.

And I think that's exactly what I did.

I cut out some of the sugar, cut the butter in half, and used
apple cider in lieu of mountain dew
.And it tastes exactly the same.
That always amazes me.

(because I was experimenting with this, I cut the recipe in half, making only 8 dumplings, instead of 16. I've listed the full recipe, but my pictures are of half the recipe)


Deliciously Healthy Apple Dumplings:

What you need:
  • 2 granny smith apples
  • 2 cans of Pillsbury crescent rolls
  • 1 cup apple cider or apple juice
  • 1 stick of smart balance buttery spread (it's half butter, half margarine... and half the cal.)
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • cinnamon
What you do:
Preheat your oven to 350. Butter a 9x13 baking dish. Peel and core apples, then cut each apple into 8 slices, so you end up with 16 apple slices. Roll out the crescent roll dough. Then roll up an apple slice into each of the crescent rolls. Lay them side by side in your greased baking dish. Melt 1 stick of butter in sauce pan over low heat. When butter is melted, add apple cider, sugar, vanilla, and just barely stir together. You want it to be lumpy. Poor the mixture over the top of the dumplings. Sprinkle cinnamon over top, and bake for 30-40 minutes. Then get ready for some warm gooey goodness.
My husband may, or may not have screamed like a girl when he had one.I added a little low-fat whipped cream. It would be divine with vanilla ice cream.

info:
servings: 16
serving size: 1 dumpling
calories per serving: 230
How many calories are in a traditional slice of apple pie? 410!
I nearly cut the calories in half.
I'm making these apple dumplings in lieu of apple pie. Because by the time you're done eating your turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and everything else, there's just no room to eat 5 different kinds of pie. You always hope there's going to be, but there never is. These apple dumplings are going to be the perfect solution, to the too many pies problem. A slice of pumpkin pie, and one of these, and I'm
good to go
.

What other Deliciously Healthy yumminess is going to be on my table?
Funny you should ask:
  • Turkey, of course ;)
  • Mashed potatoes
  • Gina's stuffing
  • Whole wheat rolls
  • Cranberry sauce out of the can. Thanksgiving isn't thanksgiving to me, without a can shaped mold of cranberry sauce on the table.
  • And pumpkin pie. This is going to be this Monday's kitchen adventure. Wish me luck, and tune in on Monday to see how it goes!
I hope everyone has a very happy, and healthy thanksgiving!

Monday, May 31, 2010

My Deliciously Healthy Memorial Day

Today I made chicken, fruit, and dessert shish kabobs for memorial day!
They were delish! I was able to escape memorial day, without hamburgers and ice cream cones!For the fruit shish kabobs, I used srawberries, watermelon, and blackberries (I had a sudden craving for oranges, and wish I had bought some to add to the mix).

Then, for the dessert shish kabobs, I dipped strawberries, and marshmallows (cut into 1/3) in dark chocolate (I dipped the strawberries, and marshmallows half way into the chocolate)! It started out with strawberries, marshmallows, and bananas, but I wasn't feeling the bananas, so I left them out.
They were yummy! :
On a side note: I think it would be cute to put strawberries, marshmallows, and blueberries on a skewer for 4th of July!

Later on in the evening, the hubs took me shopping to get some workout gear!
Why do I need workout gear you ask?

Because I got me one of these! :A gym membership to Bally Total Fitness!

I've wanted to join a gym for forever but didn't because, A. with my RA I thought I wouldn't be able to really do much there, and so I was worried it would be a waste of money. And B. because I was/am horrified to go!

Now, after losing 35+ pounds, my knees have been feeling a lot better! I think I may actually be able to incorporate working out, into my weight loss plan! That's so exciting and rewarding for me! I've come so far (a tear;)! I'm proud of myself for facing my fears, and taking the first step: Getting the membership! Tomorrow I'm going to take the second step, and actually go workout!

My original plan was to get a gym membership, just so I could use the pool to do laps. That's still my main plan, as I think it'll be a great workout, and easy on my joints. Although while I was taking the tour of the gym, I saw some workout machines that I may be able to do with my arthritis. That would be a great bonus, if I'm able to take advantage of those spiffy little things! ;D

I'm still pretty darn nervous for tomorrow, but I'm working though it...
I feel like I'm in 1st grade, and tomorrow's my first day of school, lol!


I'm mostly nervous to swim. I can swim, but I don't know how to do the professional kind of swimming. I feel like a complete armature, and I totally don't know what I'm doing! You get a free session with a personal trainer, so I'm wondering if I can ask them to teach me how to use swimming as a workout. I feel stupid asking for that. I'm going to try talking to someone about it tomorrow. Hopefully I'll get it all figured out soon.

I also did my weigh in, on this Memorial Day.
171.
That's a 1 pound loss. I did pretty darn good this week, so I'm kinda confused. I know that the further you get in your weight loss, it tends to slow down a little bit. That's why it made me nervous that my weight loss started out at about 2 pounds a week. I thought, "Oh great! What's it going to slow down to?!" I feel that after losing 36 pounds, my weight loss has slowed to 1 pound a week. Although thus far, I've had little to no exercise. I'm hoping working out will give me the boost I need, to get back to a 2+ pound loss each week!

Well, that's it for me!

Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Hope you all had a great Memorial Day!(Flickr)

**Workout Update!**

I just got back from the gym! I survived!
It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Everyone didn't stop what they were doing to watch me enter the building, or pull up chairs to watch me workout, like I thought they would!
That's good ;D

I did 10 minutes on that thingy... what's it called? The elliptical?
And 10 minutes speed walking on the treadmill (well, at least speed walking for me)
I had planned to do more, but by the end of it, I seriously thought I was going to pass out! I have to take baby steps, to get to my goal... I'm not sure what that goal is, but I know it's more then 10 minutes on each machine, lol! I'd say for the first time working out in years, I did pretty good! It felt good to work up a sweat, and feel my heart racing!

I'm pretty darn proud of myself!

Friday, April 2, 2010

My Deliciously Healthy Easter Menu

It's almost Easter!
Can you believe it?!

Sadly, my father-in-law isn't going to be here for Easter. My husband and I learned the hard way that you should really look at the calendar, before booking a flight! For some reason, flights going out April 4th, were $100 cheaper...so we decided to be cheap. It wasn't until a couple weeks later that we realized we were making my poor Father-in-law spend his Easter in an airport! I still feel really bad... So, we're going to try and make up for it, by doing some Easter festivities on Saturday. We're going to go to the Butterfly Pavilion, eat a Deliciously Healthy Easter dinner, and paint Easter eggs!

This is our Easter Menu:

Chicken with Sugar Snap Peas & Spring Herbs
Glazed Mini Carrots
Smashed Potatoes with Sour Cream and Chives
And
Carrot Cupcakes for dessert!

There's only going to be 3 of us, so I think this should be enough. There are so many mouthwatering healthy recipes out there, I wish I could make more!

Recipes like these! :

Savory Peach Chicken

Minted Peas and Rice with Feta
Roasted Spring Vegetables with Arugula Pesto

Meringue-Topped Strawberries & Rhubarb

Raspberry Fool
YUM!!
These are definitely on my list of things to make this Spring!!

If you don't hear from me before Easter (hopefully you will. I mean you should, but just in case...;) I hope you all have a great Easter!!