Recipe Box

Because I haven't posted is soooo long, I have a couple new low-carb recipes to share!

Parmesan Herbed Chicken
2 chicken breasts
3tbs real mayo
1tbs grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian herbs
1tbs butter
Mix mayo, cheese and herbs in a small bowl and set aside. Melt butter in a large skillet. Cut chicken breasts into small strips and place in the pan, cooking on medium until cooked through. Dip cooked chicken pieces into the cheese sauce, covering all edges and return to pan. Cook pieces until outer edges slightly brown.
Serve with vegetable of choice.

I chose brussel sprouts as my vegetable side. I had never had them before, but sauted with a little butter and some sea salt.....holy yummy!

Red Pepper Chicken Stir-fry

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

1 cup snow peas

3 chicken breasts

1tbs Teriyaki marinade

In a large skillet, mix marinade with 1 cup water. Cube chicken and place in skillet, cooking on medium until cooked through. Add snow peas, pepper and onion to chicken and cover skillet. Allow vegetables to steam until soft, between 5-10 minutes. Remove lid and turn up heat to high. Allow water to cook off and sauce to thicken, stiring often so the chicken and vegetables don't burn, about 5 minutes.

This dish is a little higher in carbs due to the sauce. If possible, a low-carb sauce or a sauce with less sugar would be better. Even with the high carb sauce, this dish was only 5.6 carbs per serving and it was delicious and very filling...no rice necessary!

Still Blustery

I really did mean what I said about winds of change....I am working on getting my life in order, but life got in the way a little bit...let me explain.

I started out with the Atkins and Wii Fit just like I had stated; things went perfectly well for the first couple weeks. At my first measurement I had lost 7lbs, 2 inches from my waist and 1 inch from my hips. Shortly there after, I went on a long weekend trip to the U.P. with Chris to meet his family and some of his friends....it is REALLY hard to stick to a diet and exercise plan on a vacation.... When I arrived back home, I was feeling pretty punky for the next week and finally went to the doctor...yup, I was sick..with a great big ol' sinus infection. Ugh. All excuses aside, I am restarting my plan with the same vigor as before and hopefully I won't be derailed as easily. Currently, I have lost 9lbs. I have started my workouts again and I have been eating like I should. I will keep you updated.

Along with life changes, I have also decided to make some blog changes. I have created a secondary blog for photos only....Belle's Photos at http://bellephoto7861.blogspot.com. I will continue to post on this blog, with a few of my favorite photos for each post. However, the rest of the photos, ('cause you know I like to take lots), will be posted to my other page. We'll see how it works, and if I don't like it, I will go back to the old way.

Now, for the more interesting stuff...more info about my trip up north with Chris. We left on Thursday and went directly to his parents' house. He had told me quite a bit about them, but I pictured them differently than he described. His mom was really funny and sarcastic and his dad was quiet and funny in a slightly corny way....in short, I really liked them, a lot. We stayed at the house that night and the next morning, made our way up to Houghton to visit Michigan Tech and check our their Winter Carnival.  We met up with some of his friends and took a scenic drive up to Copper Harbor. The lake was gorgeous; I couldn't believe how blue the ice looked! That night, we all went out to dinner and went our separate ways. Chris and I stayed in the area so we could wander around the campus and check out all the ice sculptures the next day. The sculptures were incredible...so much detail!

(http://bellephoto7861.blogspot.com/2010/02/winter-carnival.html for more photos)

We wandered around for a while and noticed that the Mineral Museum on campus was open, so we decided to stop in for while to check it out and to warm up. The room was quite large and had so much to look at!

After the museum, we headed back out to the car and decided to go to the frozen waterfall in Munising. It was a bit out the way , but worth it. We hiked back into the woods a bit and took some pictures in front of the falls.

Nobody was around, so we hiked a little further and were able to make our way under the frozen falls. It was gorgeous. The outer water was completely frozen, but inside the ice, you could see, and faintly hear, running water.

(http://bellephoto7861.blogspot.com/2010/02/munising-falls.html for more photos)

After the falls, we went to dinner and headed back to his house. The next day, we went to breakfast with his mom and then came back to pack and make our way home. I couldn't believe how much we were able to see in just a few short days!