As soon as the ball drops in New York City, every one's New Year's resolutions start to kick in. A lot of people resolve to quit smoking, be nicer to people or to even stop swearing. But, the number one promise for the new year, is to lose weight. (This is how places like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers stay in business.)

Personally, I have learned from past experience to not even attempt making a resolution. I never stick to them and it almost sets me up for failure. So I continue to try and eat better without setting a goal for myself.

If you have read my blog in the past, you know that I am trying to follow Weight Watchers (WW). One particular website that has been my beacon of hope against the tyrants of chocolate cake and peanut butter straight from the jar is Hungry Girl. Her recipes are simple, and more importantly delicious.

Apparently, I am not the only one who feels this way because Cooking Television (a sister station of the Food Network) has decided to give her a show.

She had her first episode last Saturday at 4 p.m. and was all about pizza. Pizza while being one of the favorite foods of dieters everywhere, is often loaded with tons of fat, calories and carbs.

One recipe I really loved involved flour tortillas.

Ingredients:

1 large flour tortilla (around 100 calories)
Pizza Sauce ( I really love the kind that comes in the squeeze bottle)
String Cheese
Turkey Peperoni (It tastes like the real thing and at only 70 calories for 17 slices it is a calorie bargain)
Any spices you like (I use fresh ground pepper, oregano and garlic powder.)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Put tortilla on a cookie sheet and place in oven for three minutes, flip, bake for another three minutes.
3. Pull the cookie sheet out and top the tortilla with your pizza sauce and other goodies.
4. Pop back into the oven for five minutes.
5. Slice and enjoy.

Like I said you can put whatever you want on top and have a delicious yummy pizza for around 200 calories. Add a side salad and you have a delicious lunch full of pizzeria flavor but not full of the fat.



This recipe is courtesy of Hungry Girl. Go to hungrygirl.com for more yummy recipes.

Wordless Wednesday

Must Be Santa

I have a secret.

I still believe in Santa Claus. Not, necessarily as the man in the big red suit with the bowl full of jelly, but I believe that there are plenty of Santa Claus out there.

Think back to one of the Christmases that you had when you were a child. How excited you were, how the days leading up to Christmas were full of anticipation and how your heart carried so much Christmas spirit it might just burst.


As I am typing this I am watching a DVD of when I was two-years-old on Christmas. I was so excited to open my presents, and I was constantly flinging my arms around my parents to give them a warm hug because I was full of the Christmas spirit.

But, as we get older, we somehow lose this spirit. Not, to sound like Linus, but we become obsessed with the over commercialization of Christmas that we forget the real meaning.

In my almost 28 years on this beautiful planet of ours, I have learned that the "Christmas Spirit" that everyone talks about is actually love.

We buy presents for people because we love them, we send out Christmas cards to let people know they are loved and God sent His son because he loves us.

Santa Claus was brought to life from this love.

This is why I still believe in Santa Claus. His spirit is all around us.

This year, I have seen him in the form of many different people.

I saw Santa in the form of a man by the name of Dan Martin, who year after year organizes our local Toys for Tots drive. If it wasn't for him and all of his "elves" then 1,500 children in our area wouldn't have toys on Christmas.

I saw Santa in Stephanie Tomasic, the director of Overly's Country Christmas, a beautiful light display and Christmas village that collects money to donate to local charities. My family and I, along with about 4,000 other people, visited the light display last night.

Santa can also be seen in the simplest of gestures, like a woman who let me go in front of her in Target, through the person who works extra hours to buy their children presents on Christmas or a stranger who gives you a smile and wishes you a Merry Christmas.

So, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. You better believe I will be setting out cookies and milk on Christmas Eve.

Little Things Mean a Lot

There is a book titled "The 5 Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. Inside the book, the author discusses how everyone has their own "love language." It is through this love language that they often show love or feel love. For example, for some people it is through touch, so they show their love through hugging and when they are hugged the feel the love. For others it might be through words.

For me, I think my love language is "acts of kindness." I often show my love to people by doing nice things for them or helping them out and I feel the most loved when someone does something nice for me.

I just realized this last evening.

We had just returned home from a really fun and beautiful bridal shower for one our very good friends and I was pretty tired and feeling a little hungry. After making a trip to Target on the way home, I thought grilled cheese and a little tomato soup might be the best meal to be had on the chilly and snowy evening. Knowing how tired I was, my wonderful husband said he would make the soup and sandwich for me so I could change my clothes and relax on the couch. I didn't have to beg, I didn't have to barter, he just did this because he loved me and he knew how much it would mean to me.

This isn't the first example of him doing things for me. He often gets me something to drink when we watch a movie, he does the laundry and sometimes he will make dinner and insist that I just watch TV because I make him dinner all week. (Believe me ladies, I know I am one lucky woman.)

With the holiday season, and all of the craziness that seems to creep in with the impending day of December 25 coming as fast as a bullet train, take sometime to do something nice for someone that you love. It doesn't need to be a grand gesture of you writing out I love you with Christmas Lights in the snow or even trying to pull a George Bailey and lasso the moon, but maybe just clean around the house a little, or take a little extra time in the kitchen to create something special. Just keep in mind, that little things mean a lot!

Get Rid of Dinner Time Stress

Imagine if you will: It is 4 p.m., time to start making dinner. As you look through your cabinets, refrigerator and freezer, you really don't know what to make or you don't have enough stuff to make a complete dinner. Out of frustration you either order out food or you go out to eat at a restaurant.

If you have a weekly food budget, you might have blown it with this unexpected purchase. I am so guilty of this because I can find tons of coupons for side dish items and pasta, but sometimes I forget the most important part of the meal: the protein.

I was really excited when I came across a Website called E-Mealz. The site, founded by Jane DeLaney, helps take the guess work out of what's for dinner.

The site provides meal ideas for dinner for five days each week with an accompanying shopping list.

When a person registers with the site, they have to choose from different meal plans. There is a huge selection including family meal plans for Wal-Mart, Alidi, Kroger and even specialty meal plans like vegetarian, low carb and Weight Watcher points.

Kev and I decided to sign up for the two person Points menu for Wal-Mart (since I am still trying to do Weight Watchers.) Each week, we will get a list of five dinner recipes. Each dinner will have an entree as well as sides. The recipes will also come with a shopping list that includes how much each item will cost since we picked the Wal-Mart plan.

You can go here to see a sample of the menu.

Since we just signed up for it last night, I haven't had a chance to try it out and I probably won't until next week. But, I am super excited to give it a whirl!!! I will let you know how it goes!

I am not being compensated by E-Mealz in anyway. I found the Website and I thought it was interesting and I wanted to share my find with other people. This is only my opinion.

It Should be Called Black and Blue Friday

After the last popcorn ball and chocolate bar have been passed out to Trick-or-Treaters, it is now time to look forward to the next holiday:

BLACK FRIDAY!!!

I know many of you were thinking I was going to say Thanksgiving, but I think the turkey and cranberry sauce can be put on hold here while we look ahead to saving money and the big holiday rush that will soon be upon us.

There are many people, myself included, who agree with the blanket toting Linus that Christmas has become to commercial. If you need proof of this, I am sure that many of you saw the battle between Halloween decorations and Christmas decorations that were taking place in your local big box stores. As a society, we show our love by decorating our homes and finding the perfect gift. It is hard not to get wrapped up in everything. Just last year, I was reduced to a weeping mass because we could not put half of our Christmas decorations on our Christmas tree because our new cat was into climbing the tree and I didn't want them broken.

My theory is, you know you are going to have to buy gifts, you know you are going to have to decorate, so why not make the most of it by saving your pennies and having some fun!

A really great Website that gives a preview of Black Friday ads is Black-Friday.net Right now, the site has copies of the Toys R' Us toy catalogue, Target Toy Book and even information about Wal-Mart's pre-holiday sales. If you visit the site and decide this is something you are interested in, then you can sign up for email alerts where they will tell you when they post something new.

Another key to saving money on Christmas shopping is to have a plan. It is easy to get a little out of control when you are just aimlessly buy gifts just because you like them. My husband and I come up with a budget on how much we want to spend on everyone including ourselves. We then, take out cash and place the appropriate amount into envelopes labeled for each of our "giftees." This really helps control the money situation. Once the money is gone, then we are done shopping for that person. No ifs, ands or buts. This way we are not in debt over our heads after the holiday season.

My last tip, is to start shopping now. I already bought one of the hubby's gifts on Amazon because it was a good deal. Plus, you can't beat painless shopping on the Internet when you just have to click a button and it comes delivered to your door.

Keep in mind, because of our not so awesome economy, stores are competing against each other to try and snag your dollars. So make them work a little for your money, and try to find the best deals possible. Believe me, they are out there.

So if you are going to be like me and the rest of the crazies out there in the cold a 3 a.m. hoping to snag a great Black Friday deal, remember; eat a good breakfast, come with a plan and try not to trample anyone!

Happy Shopping!!

Hello, Stranger!

I am sure a lot of you thought that I had just disappeared off the face of the planet!

But, I am here to say that I am back from outer space. Well, not really. However, I am back from an amazing western Caribbean cruise aboard the Disney Magic. I plan on doing a trip report in a later blog, but I am still trying to settle into my routine again.

To hold you over until I get back into the hard and heavy blogging, here is a quick, easy and cheap recipe for you try!

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Quarters

This recipe is super easy to make and easy on the budget.

Chicken Quarters (How many quarters you put in depends on your family. We used about 4 lbs. of quarters and we plan on using the leftovers to make BBQ chicken sandwiches for dinner tomorrow.)

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ Sauce

Crock Pot

Place chicken quarters (fresh not frozen unless they are thawed first) into the crock pot.

Dump the whole bottle of BBQ sauce over the tenders.

Cook on high for four to six hours or on low eight to ten hours. (I prefer the low setting because it really makes the meat nice and tender. But, the shorter amount of time will make the dinner yummy as well.)

That is it! Throw some sides together like french or sweet potato fries, a veg and you are done!

The approximate cost of the entire meal including sweet potato fries and a can of veggies is about $6. The price will vary depending on how much meat you purchase and use.