NO MORE EXCUSES.

Was it fear or excuses?

“There is no fear, There is no failure, There is no excuses! “

Regardless NO MORE!!!

Proclaim and take action!

Here is my story, (feeling vulnerable)

When I was 13 I had back surgery for spina bifida and scoliosis. This was devastating for a Jr. Higher that just wanted to fit in.  Fit in was something that I never seem to accomplish.  Always shy and a follower wanting to be part of the “IN” crowd. Although I knew I would never find that with staying in my room reading a book every waking moment, that was my comfort zone. I could put my self into the book and become the characters I was reading about. After having my surgery I was told that I would have to wear a full body brace. Oh it was ugly!! Full plastic body with metal up the front and around my neck, bolts in the back, sides would bleed not stop! Had to wear this 23 ½ hours a day for all of Jr high and High school! Didn’t that make me the cool kid!!

So here I am now 42 years old. I have now had 29 years of fear and excuses. “I didn’t take gym any after my surgery”, “I wasn’t allowed to do physical activity”, “I cant do that it might mess up my back..” “If I do that could I damage my back more?” and on and on and on….. Some very valid fears that I have let paralyze my life but a WHOLE lot of excuses that have been just as paralyzing!

Now I am tired of whom I have become! I am tired of the FAT, OVERWEIGHT, UNHEALTHY, UNMOTIVATED, UNFIT, UNCHALLENGED Mother, Wife, and Grandmother. Who’s fault is it? MINE, MINE, MINE!!!

A year ago July 1, 2013 I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life, 238 lbs! I was embarrassed of how I looked to my husband and my family, but most of all I was embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I made myself a goal of losing 100 lbs.  I so wanted to lose this by July 1, 2014 but unfortunately although I made great progress and lost 67lbs I GAVE UP!!! Yes I said it! I GAVE UP!!! I got comfortable again with the life style, I moved, I didn’t have time to exercise, I drove over a hour to work and never had a free moment. EXCUSES, EXCUSES, EXCUSES!

So here I am! I am down 67 lbs I am picking myself back up. I am not a failure.  I have set myself a new goal. I will lose the remainder 33 lbs by my 43 birthday July 28, 2015.  I did cross one thing off my bucket list this past year. I did an amazing 5K color run with my friends. Although I did not run it I did complete it in a decent walking time.  So my Goal this year is to TRAIN, I want to train for an Ironman half triathlon, this consists of 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bicycle ride and 13.1 mile run. I say Train because honestly speaking this is huge and I would have to seek medical advice on actually doing this, but I know that I can at least train and attempt to better myself. This may actually be a couple years of training I don’t know. 

But the key is that IF I PROCLAIM IT I WILL DO IT!!

So I am asking, Are you ready to join me on this next journey?

Sick Supplies!!!! What a Great way to get Organized!!!

SICK SUPPLIES!! What a great idea !! Keep stocked up on the basics. Include your Tylenol , Cold Medicine, Alka Seltzer, etc.. Keep it seperate from your daily supplies so that when that time comes you will have it! You never know when it's going to be you sick, the who will go to the store and get you the RIGHT thing?? Just don't forget to restock if you use it! This is definitely going to be part of my Get Organized in 2014!! I will Keep a spot on the pantry just for this! 

CROCK THOSE RECIPES

The Most UnOrGaNiZeD Person

Determined to Make 2014

ORGANIZED!!

CROCK THOSE RECIPES

Kristi's Corner

Freezer Meals

Crock those recipes

● Looking to save time and money
● Lets do both!
● With a little preparation in researching your recipes, you can determine your families favorites can be prepared ahead of time and frozen till ready to use!
● Create your shopping list to buy in bulk and save you money.
● Prepare freezer meals in 4-5 hours for several nights of dinners
● Are you tired of walking thru the grocery store and still having no idea what your fixing that night for dinner?
● Plan your meals for the week or month in advance.
● When doing your shopping be smart! Use coupons, bargain shop, research your sale ads.
● We have a store here in Lynchburg called Super Dollar. Now I am not much on a lot of generic brand foods but they have the best meats in town. They also cut and package them there . You can get 5 packs mix and match for $20 . I get better meat there than Food Lion ,Kroger or Walmart!

Steps of Action

● Get excited!!!
● Determine how many meals you would like to start with.
● Research your recipes (start with your own or research the web. I love Pintrest it is world of information and fun new adventures!)
● Make your shopping list ( I will give some tips to assist you in this also)
● Clean your kitchen! You do not want to start with a messy kitchen. You will need counter space to work.
● Clean out your freezer. Is there items in there that’s been there WAY TO LONG?? Throw them out!! If you don’t know when you put it in there then you probably
shouldn't eat it.
● Stock up on freezer bags or aluminum pans.
● Buy a sharpie!! This will allow you to mark you bag with name of meal and date, as well as basic instructions that will be needed for day of cooking.
● Cut up all your vegetables, meats etc prior to filling bags, this will make it so much easier to just go thru the recipes and load the bags.

Freezer Recipes Round1

(All these recipes are from different Pinterest post or blogs. I will try and go back and find the ones that I pulled from so I can reference them for you. )

 

● Crock-Pot BBQ Spareribs

2lbs of pork ribs
1 ½ cups ketchup
1 ½ Tbsp seasoned salt
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white vinegar
● Place pork ribs in gallon sized ziplock. Mix remaining ingredients together in a separate bowl and pour
over ribs. Seal bag and place in freezer. (OK time to be honest :) I didn't mix in separate bowl... I just
put it all in the freezer bag and then squished together ) I have already fixed this meal and they were
wonderful!! So mixed in a bowl vs. squished together I don’t think it makes a difference !! Thaw in
Fridge overnight. Cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-7 hours 

***Beef Spareribs - these were amazing ! We would not change a thing ! 

● Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff

4 cups of cooked ground beef
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
1 cup chopped onion
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 cup water
1 cup sour cream
2 T Minced garlic
1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix
Chopped Mushrooms (optional)
Egg noodles (to serve over the day you cook)
● Cook meat and let it cool. Add all ingredients to a gallon size freezer bag except noodles. Seal and
place in freezer. Thaw in fridge overnight. Cook on low for 4-6 hour. Serve over egg noodles.

** After trying the Stroganoff the only thing we would change is adding 2 cups of water instead of 1 cup of water.

● Orange Chicken

2 cups carrots sliced
2 cups bell pepper chopped
1 lb chicken breast
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
8 oz orange juice concentrate
● Combine all ingredients in freezer bag Place in freezer. Thaw over night in fridge. Cook in crock pot
on low 4-6 hours serve over rice.

 

● Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Potato & Broccoli

2-4 Chicken breasts ( you can leave as full breasts or cube , I cubed mine)
1 large green pepper chopped
2 cups broccoli chopped
1lb red potatoes sliced then
1 tsp. Paprika
2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
4 oz Velveeta cheese cut into ½ inch cubes, 4 oz Velveeta cheese saved for later to add after you
cook (8 oz total)
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley -(I used dried parsley)
● Add all ingredients except for 4 oz of cheese into gallon freezer bag. Place in freezer. When ready to
use thaw overnight in fridge. Cook 6 hours low. Add 4 oz cheese and cook on high for 5-10 min Stir
melted cheese in.
** this was not a favorite of mine but James did like it. You never know till you try it! 

● Ham and Pineapple with Rice

2.5 lbs ham
2 cans Pineapple chunks in juice
Rice
● Slice ham into serving sized portions and put in gallon
size bags. Add pineapple chunks with juice. Freeze.
Thaw and cook in crock pot on low 6-8 hours or high
4-5 hours. Serve with rice.

● Crock- Pot Nacho Chicken

2-4 Chicken breast
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 package taco seasoning
● Place all ingredients in freezer bag. When ready to
use thaw in fridge overnight. Cook on low 8-10 hours.
● Shred Chicken, Spread Nacho chicken over tortilla
chips and top with your choice of toppings. (shredded
cheese, green onions, black olives, lettuce, tomatoes,
sour cream. )

● Beef Stew

2.5 lbs beef stew meat ( a little more or a little less would work , too ) I bought this already pre cut.
6 slices of bacon
3 T melted butter (or olive oil, if you would prefer)
1 large onion chopped
4-5 garlic cloves , minced
1 cup carrots sliced
1 t salt
1 t black pepper
1 can tomatoe paste
¼ tsp thyme
2 cups beef broth
● All ingredients except broth in bag, freeze, add to crock pot with broth cook on low for 8-10 hours 

**We added a can of green beens and used 4 cups of broth instead of two . We will probably add a can of corn next time also. 

● Meat Stew

2 lbs Meat ( beef, pork, whatever is on sale) cubed
2 onions, chopped
5 carrots, sliced
3 zucchini, sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 red bell peppers, chopped
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 14 oz can Canned tomatoes (I used with Garlic and Basil)
1 can Tomato sauce
● All ingredients in bag, Freeze. Thaw bag and add contents to slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 . Stir
occasionally Serve with warm cornbread.

● Pineapple pork

1.5 lbs cubed pork loin or tenderloin
½ red pepper, chopped
½ onion chopped
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
3 Tbs corn starch.
● Mix in bag. Freeze. Thaw in fridge over night. Place in crock-pot. Add one 20 can of crushed
pineapple. Cook on high 4-6 hours or low 7-9 hours. Serve with rice

● Teriyaki Chicken

4 pieces boneless chicken breast
½ red pepper chopped
½ cup honey
1 cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp minced garlic
● Mix in bag, Freeze, When ready to use thaw in fridge overnight. Bak at 350 degrees covered 20-30
min. Uncover and bake 20-30 min longer until juices run clear. Serve with rice and vegetables.

So that is the end of my Round 1 of Freezer meals. I

hope that you enjoy these recipes. At this point we

have tried several of them ourselves and they are

wonderful !

● Please let me know how they turn out for you and stay
tuned for my next round!

Shopping List for Round 1

(All of these were for one meal)

● Bacon -6 slices
● Beef – 4 cups cooked ground
● Beef stew meat 3.5 lbs
● Beef Broth 2 cups
● Bell Pepper Red 2 cups chopped
● Bell Pepper Green 4 cups chopped
● Brown Sugar 3 cups
● Broccoli 2 cups chopped
● Butter
● Carrots 4-5 cups chopped
● Chicken breasts 8-10 lbs
● Corn starch
● Egg noodles – 1 bag
● Garlic Minced (about 8 cloves or you can get a jar already minced)
● Ham 2.5 lbs
● Honey small bottle
● Ketchup 1 ½ cup
● Orange juice concentrate – 8 oz
● Onion – about 8 cups chopped
● Parsley ¼ chopped
● Paprika
● Pineapple 2 cans chunky 1 can crushed
● Pork Loin or Tenderloin 1.5 lbs cubed
● Pork ribs 2 lbs
● Red potatoes 1lbs sliced
● Rice
● Sour cream
● Soup – Lipton onion soup mix 1 pack
● Soup – Cream of mushroom – 2 cans
● Soup – Cream of Chicken – 2 cans
● Soy sauce
● Taco seasoning – 1 pkt
● Tomato paste – 1 sm can
● Tomato sauce 1 can
● Tomatoes- Rotel – 1 can
● Tomatoes – diced – 1 14 oz can
● Velveeta cheese – 8 oz
● White vinegar – ½ cup
● Worcestershire sauce -1 bottle
● Italian seasoning, Salt, Pepper
● Tortilla chips

● And don't forget the

freezer bags!!!

Fast Forward 12 months and still I'm in the maze!

Twelve months have past, holidays are over again. It's January 2014!! This past year and half was hard but we made it. God provided all that we needed, brought us closer together, and closer to him. We are still a one income household, with my husband able to pick up a few side jobs here and there. His disability application had now been denied three times and we are waiting for a hearing with a judge to be scheduled. All that bringing us up to date! It's 2014 and we are determined to find a way out of this maze and make some BIG, WONDERFUL changes this year! (You will have to continue to follow my blog to hear what they are!! ) But first things first...2014 is the year of change and for that to happen I have to get organized!  Organized with finances, my household, time, work, family , okay you get the picture my whole life!! So this is what my Blog is about , getting me and my husband out of the gerbil maze and organized so that new and exciting adventures can happen this year ! I hope you follow in our journey. 

Running the Rat race of life and trying to find my way out of this Gerbil maze.

The story continues .. (You can read my intro under About Me in my profile) ... January 2013 life is about to get back to normal, Holidays are over and my Husband has been released by the Dr to go back to work. Little did we know that this was only going to last less than two weeks! Going back to work after double knee replacement was difficult on him. Working long hours , back on concrete floors and up ladders all day. After 20 years of service with the company they told him that he was fired , he couldn't do the work they didn't need him. Now the real reality sets in because for the last six months he has insurance, short term, long term disability as well as Aflac with his company so we still had income coming in. Now down to just my income and adding him to my insurance.  Stress begins!