My First Post

I have been a stay at home mom for a long time, my oldest is 13. I am guilty of putting everyone else's needs above my own and there fore I have ended up over weight, okay let's be honest, obese. Well, not any more. My youngest went off to school full time this year giving me a lot of free time. I decided that with that time, I was going to finally focus a little more on me and getting healthy. I have tried diet and exercise over the years but quickly became overwhelmed. For this weight loss journey I chose to break up the two and first focus on exercise and then add in the diet part when I felt I was able.

Me running the race!!

I am happy to report that on Thanksgiving day (2011) I ran in my first 5K. I completed the run with a finishing time of just under 45 minutes which was my goal. I was elated and overjoyed to reach my goal of running a 5k. I finally felt like I had exercising down, it was becoming enjoyable,and it didn't hurt all the time so I decided I needed to add in the diet portion to a healthy lifestyle. I have chosen to do the P.I.N.K. Method for my diet plan and am currently on my 4th day or reset. I am down 4 pounds and feel great! I have found that eating on this plan can be tricky just because it is a new diet plan and there are not a lot of resources out there. So I thought blogging one of my meals that I came up with might be fun and help encourage others.

Turkey Meatballs with Marinara Sauce over a Bed of Roasted Vegetables

Marinara Sauce (made enough to serve 6

1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatos (I used Hunt's 100% natural)

1/2 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic crushed

1 1/2 TBSP Italian seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

To make sauce, saute onions and garlic until they soften, add can of tomatos and Mrs. Dash and let simmer for 30 minutes or so. Near the end add a dash of balsamic and stir. Add your cooked turkey meatalls and  let simmer about 5-10 more minutes.

Turkey Meatballs (made enough for 5, 4 ounce sevings)

1 package 97% fat free ground Turkey (20 ounces)

Few Shakes of Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb seasoning

Dash of Balsamic Vinegar

Dash of pepper

To make meatballs, mix everything together and form into little meatballs. Saute in a pan with a little spray of canola oil until cooked through or mostly cooked through. They will cook in the sauce a little more so they don't have to be completely cooked.

Roasted Vegis (I ate the entrie amount, but eat what you want.)

1 small zuchini

1/4 red onion

1 cup brocolli

Mrs. Dash any flavor you like

To make the vegis, heat overn to 375, spread vegis on a cookie sheet, mist with olive oil or canola oil, whatever you have and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash. Roast about 20 minutes or until vegi's are tender.

To serve, lay roasted vegis on your plate and divide up the meatballs into five equal portions that way you know you are getting about 4 ounces since we used a 20 ounce package. Spoon sauce over meatballs and vegi's and Enjoy!

Edit: I should add that this is another family friendly meal if you add a tweak.  My family ate this also except instead of having it over roasted vegis, they ate it over whole wheat spaghetti noodles.