New Year's Resolutions

Every January, I try to start blogging again, but life gets busy and it doesn't last for long.  So for this year, I just want to get my New Year's resolutions down.  Even if I don't write another post all year, I at least want to have this one. So without further ado, here are my resolutions:

1) Read 100 books


2) Go through all of the boxes in my house and garage, at least one per week


3) Exercise regularly and walk the dog regularly


4) Cook some new recipes


5) Spend more time taking my little animals (guinea pigs and leopard geckos) out of their cages




What are your resolutions this year?  Do you usually stick to them?

Cheesy Cheddar Quick Bread

I really enjoy making quick breads.  Because I made a resolution to cook a new recipe every week, I went searching for a recipe for one, and this one from Crafty Cooking Mama looked delicious.

Cheesy Cheddar Quick Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar
1 cup milk
1 large egg beaten
2 tablespoons butter melted

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350°
Grease/spray a loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, garlic powder and salt. Stir in shredded cheese. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, and butter.
Add liquid ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients. Stir until just combined. Do not overmix. Spoon/pour into loaf pan.
Bake for 45-50 minutes. Top should be a golden brown.
Cool on wire rack.
Remove loaf from pan, slice, and serve.

The dry ingredients

The wet ingredients

The batter all mixed up

The finished product! :)

I am bringing this to work in the morning to share with everyone, so I haven't tried it yet.  It looks really good, and I hope it tastes as good as it looks!

Back to Blogging / New Years Resolution / Two Recipes

I love blogging, but I seem to do a bad job of being consistent with it.  But...my New Year's resolution is to cook at least one new recipe per week.  My blog seems like the perfect way to hold myself accountable to that while sharing good recipes with everyone!

This week I made Easy Cheesy Chicken in the Crockpot from Go Grow Go blog and Lemon Cake Cookies from A Cowboy's Wife blog.

Easy Cheesy Chicken in the Crockpot

Ingredients: 
4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken breast halves
Salt and pepper to taste (I only did pepper because the soup is salty)
1 Teaspoon of garlic powder
1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 can of Cream of Cheddar Cheese Soup (I couldn't find this so I used Campbell's Cheddar Cheese)
8 oz Sour Cream

Preparation:
Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place the chicken in the crock pot. Mix together the three cans of soup and pour over the top of the chicken. Cook on low for about 6-8 hours. Stir the sour cream in right before you serve.

I forgot to take pictures while cooking, but you can see how the chicken just falls right apart.

Lemon Cake Cookies

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
2 eggs
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon lemon extract
⅓ cup confectioners' sugar

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 375
Mix cake mix with eggs, oil and lemon extract until well blended.
Drop dough by the spoonfuls into a bowl of confectioners' sugar.
Roll them around until they're lightly covered.
Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.
Bake 6-9 minutes, til golden.

I only tasted one because I am bringing the rest to work tomorrow.  They are delicious and lemon-y!

What are your New Year's resolutions?  Have you kept to them so far?

New Year's Resolution - Going Strong

As we all know, New Year's Resolutions are normally broken by February.  I am so happy to say that I have kept to mine.  Since December 26, I have managed to lose 7.5 pounds.  That is just about right on track for my 1 pound per week goal.

The last time I lost weight I lost more like 2 pounds per week, but I also basically ate fish or chicken every night, with a veggie and plain pasta or potatoes.  I was pretty miserable food wise.  I also wasn't exercising.

This time, I have manged to still eat yummy foods that I love, and I am walking almost every day, sometimes twice a day.  It is so nice that my clothes aren't tight anymore and I do notice things like my knee socks getting looser LOL

Now I want to do 2 things to step up my game....I want to introduce something new into my workout routine like Wii Fit or jump roping.  I also want to cut out carbs one or two days a week.  So, who can help motivate me to do some new exercises?  Who has an idea for some "carb free" meals?  I love bread, pasta, potatoes, etc so this is a big challenge!

New Year's Resolution - 3.5 lbs lost

How is everyone doing so far on their New Year's resolutions?  I am actually sticking to mine...so far.  Since December 26th I have managed to lose 3.5 pounds.  Yay, that is actually more than my goal of 1 pound per week.

So far I am basically doing a few simple things to achieve my goal.  I weigh myself every morning.  I know you're not really supposed to do this, but I know I have to cut back a bit if my weight has gone up for some reason.  I try to walk for at least 30 minutes a day.  This isn't much, but it's a lot better than nothing!  I am also trying to eat less and healthier.  I have drastically reduced my sugar intake.  I used to have dessert after lunch and dinner and now I don't even have it every day.

My trusty bathroom scale that measures by the 1/2 pound.

Do you have any tips for me to keep me headed in the right direction?

New Year's Resolution

Last year I only did okay on my resolutions.  I wore earrings daily for about 3 months...but then it kind of ebbed.  I think I did fight somewhat less with people...but it didn't make me like them more LOL

This year, I really just want to lose weight.  I know a lot of people say that, but I have done it before so there is no reason I can't do it again.  I actually decided to start the day after Xmas because I knew I would be eating very unhealthily that day.  My (I hope) realistic goal is to lose just 1 pound per week until I am satisfied.  I think this is a very reasonable goal.  Maybe if I blog about it weekly or monthly it will help to keep me on track.

What are your New Year's Resolutions for 2012?