Leftover Easter Eggs

I am growing tired of hard boiled eggs.  I only had 3 dozen but my mom did 4 dozen of her own and has shared.  I'm tired of them.

They are an easy snack and since I don't like the yolk, it is a very low calorie snack for me.  But I'm tired of them.

We've had potato salad, egg salad sandwiches/wraps, deviled eggs, plain hard boiled eggs.  I've put them in my tuna noodle casserole (I actually liked the addition there) and on salads.  I'm getting tired of them.

Am I repeating myself?

So when I found the following recipe, I was intrigued.  Good reviews even though it sounds yucky.  The best part ... you aren't even supposed to realize you are eating Easter Eggs!  Fabulous.  So I made them.

My verdict ... yum.  Yum, yum, and yum.  They were easy.  They used up some of those Easter Eggs.  You can't taste the Easter Eggs.  You can eat the dough without worrying about salmonella because there are no raw eggs!  And, because I made 60 little cookies instead of 12 giant ones, I can eat three for less than 300 calories. Score!

If you still have a plethora of eggs and having cookies around won't hurt your healthiness plans, give it a try.  I doubt you'll be sorry!  Oh, and I cut the number of chocolate chips in half ... two cups would have been overkill for me and mine.  I also substituted a third of the white flour with wheat flour to grain these puppies up a bit.

Hard Boiled Egg Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients

• 2 3/4 cups flour
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), cut into small chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 hard boiled eggs, peeled and diced finely
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour and butter in a food processor and process until mixture is the texture of small crumbs. 
3. Add the salt and baking soda and process until just combined.
4. Add sugars, vanilla, and boiled eggs. Pulse again until mixture comes together.
5. Add chocolate chips and combine by hand using a wooden spoon or clean hands. Egg whites may still be visible in the dough but will disappear as the cookies bake.
6. Make golf ball sized balls of cookie dough and place them on parchment lined baking sheets. Flatten balls of dough slightly with your hand.
7. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until the edges of the cookies are lightly browned.
8. Remove cookies from oven and let them sit on the cookie sheet for 3-5 minutes before transferring them to a cooling rack.

*Disclaimer: Although we aim to keep this website about health and exercise and good nutrition, I'm not sure that this recipe follows that premise.  To try and remedy that, the entire batch makes about 4100 calories.  Divide that by the number of cookies you made and you'll get your per cookie calorie count.  There.  Does that make this post qualify now?*

Last Night on the Biggest Loser

Here we are at Week 17 of the Biggest Loser already.  You can see the episode Here or below.



***SPOILER ALERT***

This week was Favorites Week, when favorite former contestants come to visit the Ranch.  If I'm remembering right, this became an official week just last season. 

Anyway, the contestants got to meet and do a workout with Ali Vincent, the first ever female Biggest Loser, and Sam Poueu, a fan favorite from a few seasons ago.  They all went to the gym and did a workout together.  Since it was the first week after being in New Zealand for so long, the contestants had some realizations hit.  First, they've come a long way since their first circuit workout 16 weeks previously.  And second, seeing the former contestants that have gone on and kept themselves in order even after their season ended seemed to put a little more fire in some bellies.  One of the remaining seven people will be this season's Biggest Loser.

The third favorite to visit was Tara Costa, aka the Machine!  The woman rarely lost a challenge during her season and she had some incredible people she competed against.  She should've won the show, but Helen won instead.  Helen, the woman who threw her own daughter under the bus, but that's just my humble opinion.

What did you think of Tara competing in the car pull challenge?  At first I wanted her to win because she's an amazing competitor, but it didn't take long until I was cheering for Rulon.  He never got on the Wheaties box?  After all the commotion of him beating the unbeatable Russian?  Crazy!  I wanted him to get that.  But Tara is, after all, a machine.

So we get to the weigh in. 

*Sigh*

During the last chance workout Rulon made some comments about being within 15 lbs of his goal weight and not being sad about leaving.  Also, he had made the comment about Sam bowing out gracefully when he was at his goal weight.  Wish I could remember those circumstances a little better.  Anyway, he got up on the scale, announced he was leaving the show for personal reasons, tossed around a few hugs and walked away.

And that was it.

Not even a "Where they are today" moment afterward.

What?

I highly doubt Rulon left because Tara beat him out of getting on the Wheaties box. Cara said she thought he was exhausted from always competing.  Maybe.  Josh and I were talking about it and I can't help but wonder if now that his physical is in order and his mental game may be exhausted, did he need to focus on the spiritual aspects again?  He just spent 4 months away from any spiritual elements he always had surrounding him.  There was a determination on Rulon's face as he left.  "Other things to take care of."  I'd like to think that his determination was to continue to better his life in every aspect and he couldn't do it there at the Ranch.  Of course, this is all just my own wondering.

Then the rest of the weigh in.  Irene, the touted Biggest Loser on campus, was the first woman to hit the 100 lb mark on campus.  However, she still fell below the yellow line.  Olivia and Hannah surprised everyone with great numbers and making the top two spots on the leaderboard.  Kaylee, on the other hand, gained weight (again) and went below the line with Irene.

Anyone else not really sad to see Kaylee go?  She's been yo-yoing for so long that it will be good to see some of the others make the final four.  Although, she was Austin's final ally and if he goes below the yellow line at all, he'll be gone.  And then I'll really be sad.

I wish Rulon the best in his journey. I hope he is able to get himself all together again.

***More on Rulon****

After I finished writing this I found this article from the Deseret News which contained this quote from Rulon:

"Once I reached my goal and started feeling like my old self, I felt compelled to return home and support my wife, Kamie, in the ongoing management of our personal and professional affairs. ... Another exciting outcome is that I am strongly considering a return to competitive wrestling."

Sounds like Rulon has a lot more he'd like to do than sit at a Ranch and try to win a quarter of a million dollars.  Go Rulon!

Weekly Goals

How did your Easter eating go?  Candy, chocolate, deviled eggs, ham, side salads, dinner rolls, you name it I most likely taste tested it.

I did try to prepare for Easter dinner.  I saved my calories for dinnertime and worked out a little extra Friday.  It truly felt like a Good Friday (I ran 3.25 miles and did my strength training class, whew!)

I'm switching things up a little this week.  My weigh in days have been Monday mornings.  However, I've begun justifying why my weight may not be where I want it to be:  "I didn't drink enough on Sunday.  "I didn't get a work out in on Sunday."  "I could be retaining water."  So I'm switching my weigh in days to Tuesday.  That way I have no excuses.  What it is, is what it is.  Plus, I get a sort of Last Chance workout on Monday and maybe I can boost my self-satisfaction a little more.

As for my goals from last week, I did okay.  I didn't overeat except on the day we got some Papa John's pizza.  I think it would've been easier to not eat three pieces of pizza if it had been cheaper pizza that doesn't make my mouth water just thinking about it.  Oh well.  Next time I'll try to listen to my body better.

This week I plan to go to the gym 4 to 5 days.  I'm watching my nephews a few days this week and I'm not sure how that's going to play into my routine.  I'll keep up on my food journal and drink plenty of water.  And I'm going to try to be in my bed (teeth brushed, prayers said, etc) by 10:30pm.  Earlier, if possible.  My food and exercise are becoming habits.  But my sleeping is suffering.

What are your goals and how did you do last week?  (All Easter-eating-related confessions welcome!)

Meal Plan Monday

I admit it.  I ate way too much yesterday.  I felt it last night, too.  Oh, well, today starts a new week!

One more week of crazy dinner-times because of swimming lessons then things will get back to normal - or at least our version of normal.

I often have so much to say that I mutter to myself all day long, but today I'm not feeling so chatty.  So, the short and sweet on what I'm planning on for dinners this week.  Enjoy!

MONDAY:  Easter leftovers via my mom

TUESDAY:  Tin foil dinners

WEDNESDAY:  Tuna Noodle casserole (this counts as a fish dish, right?)

THURSDAY:  Pumpkin Pancakes

FRIDAY:  Fast food night

SATURDAY:  Pizza

SUNDAY:  Ham and Potatoes in the crock-pot (since I haven't actually made it the last two times I put it on the menu)

The Biggest Loser in New Zealand, Weeks 1 and 2

Once I realized how late I was posting last week's Biggest Loser update, I figured I'd wait and just combine the two total weeks in New Zealand.  So let's have at it......

New Zealand, Part 1.  See it here or below.




New Zealand, Part 2.  See it here or below.




***SPOILER ALERT***

There seemed to be a lot of fluff in these episodes.  Maybe there was a lot less drama than usual?  I'm not really sure.  But both episodes highlighted a lot of extreme sports: cliff swinging, bungee jumping, and the likes.  I'm not really sure what the point of showing all of that was, except for maybe the point of overcoming fears.  I loved watching Bob prepare to jump off the building.  I laughed so hard!  And the bungee jumping with Rulon in the second week.... hello?  The exact anniversary of his plane crashing into Lake Powell?  Can we say, "Holy cow"?  And then to see him actually hit the water was great.

So, the challenges.  Week one had a 5k along the vast and rugged terrain of New Zealand.  Man, that's a beautiful place.  Josh and I have agreed that when we get a summer home in South Africa, we'll have to zip over to New Zealand every so often.  Anyway, the sand cliffs they had to climb to get to the finish line were insane!  I'd love to try that.  So the Blue Team won and the girls agreed to let Moses take Kaylee on the aerial tour of the island.  With the two of them having familial ties to the area, it was very nice that they got to go together. 

In week two the challenge was to body board half a mile down river.  Most of them figured out how to use the currents to propel them downstream.  Smart.  I'm afraid I would've been like Austin and floundered around behind everyone else.  It still would've been pretty cool, though.  Really, I think doing anything in New Zealand would be pretty darn cool.  Olivia won and got immunity.  Everyone began expressing their fear of Rulon.  Yeah, I think he could easily win the whole thing, but I still like him and want him to succeed.  There was some recurrence of victim mentality.  Give me a break.

Some other highlights: Ken and Cara had it out during week one.  Ken wanted Cara to give him more training and began thinking he needed the experience of Bob and Jillian.  I can understand a bit.  At the gym the trainers wear shirts labeled either, "Certified Personal Trainer" or "Master Trainer."  I'm sure either trainer is good, but if you had your choice, who would you pick?  Anyway, Cara gave Ken her full attention and he had some good results.

In week two, Brett came back.  Yay!  I was so happy to see him.  I was happy to see everyone move to individuals and even happier to see everyone get to use any and all of the four trainers.  And I was happy to see the four trainers work with each other.  Finally.

Weigh ins: Week one the Blue Team fell below the yellow line.  There were several people with bad numbers, all attributed to traveling.  Moses ended up offering himself so Olivia could stay.  Everyone but Kaylee and Rulon voted for Moses.  That just fueled the fear of Rulon all the more. 

Week two the individuals below the yellow line were Hannah and Ken.  Ken said he wanted to stay and the vote wasn't nearly as close as it had been the previous week.  With Victim Hannah rearing her head again, I would've been fine with her going home.  But she stayed and Ken went home to paraglide with his kids, which is amazing considering his previous fear of heights.  I would've loved to see him go to make over week.  But as long as Austin makes it, I'll be happy.

Listening To Your Body

Several years ago a book came out called "French Women Don't Get Fat."  I haven't read the book, but I saw several interviews with the author and read several articles based on it.  I was totally intrigued. 

The idea is that if we are sensible and listen to our bodies, there is no need to diet or worry about our weight.  If we eat a chocolate pastry for breakfast, eat a vegetable-based lunch and/or take an extra walk.   Food isn't something to be denied or to feel guilty about.  We should satiate those desires sensibly and then make other wise choices. 

I've tried to keep this mindset as I've worked on my own own weight loss.  There are very few things I deny myself.  So, imagine my delight, when I read this article earlier this week.

The author lists 5 ways to keep weight management simple.  I laugh at that last word ... simple.  There is a major learning curve that some would not consider simple.  But I think she means there are no numbers to count or charts to follow.  You just listen to what your body needs and wants.  Simple.  Right?  Ha.

picture borrowed  from the aforementioned article

 Here are her five ways.  (I'll refer you to the article if you'd like more depth to each step)

1.  Eat what you want.  Don't make any food off limits.

2.  Let your stomach decide.  Listen to your body's hunger signals.

3.  Make feeding yourself a priority.  And try to eat at regular (the same) times each day.

4.  Get enough slumber.  Inadequate sleep is associated with higher weights.

5.  Follow your passions.  Being involved in something you love makes eating less attractive.

There you go.  I don't know if those are simple or not.  I think it will take a lot of practice to understand my body's hunger signals.  Just something else to think about along this journey I call weight loss.

Easter Candy

Easter approaches.  This is a good thing.  What a wonderful time of year.  The time to reflect on the resurrection of the Lord.  The time for spring and renewal.  The time for new changes.

There was an article I read this morning that talked about being healthier this spring.  One thing it warned about was the Easter candy.  Oh, that dreaded candy.  How I love it.  I've heard that more candy is sold at Easter than at Halloween.  And why wouldn't it be?  Chocolate bunnies are so much yummier than stupid Tootsie Rolls. 

Here is a break down that the article included of popular Easter candies.

• Speckled Jelly Beans, Jelly Candy, 9 pieces, 220 calories
• Bunny Mix, M&M's Peanut, 1.5 ounces (1/4 cup), 220 calories
• Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Miniatures, 5 pieces, 220 calories
• Palmer Happy Hopper Bunny, 13 ounces, 1,100 calories
• Cadbury Creme Egg, 160 calories
• Cadbury Mini Eggs Candy, 12 pieces (40 grams), 190 calories
• Russell Stover Marshmallow Rabbit, 2 ounces, 230 calories
• Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs, 1 piece, 170 calories
• Pez Hippity Hoppities, 1 roll, 35 calories
• Bunny Peeps, 4 bunnies, 110 calories
• Jelly Beans, 4 calories per bean
• Hershey's Hollow Milk Chocolate Egg (570 calories for the shell alone) with 4 candy-coated milk chocolate eggs inside (90 more calories)

If you want the Full Article, click the link. 

So, if you're going to choose, choose wisely,  for while calories will bring you life, too many will take it from you.  Okay, bad line.  But it is good to realize exactly what you will be eating this weekend.  I don't think any of us have to give up the chocolate bunnies, just be mindful of them.

Weekly Goals

This week my goal is to be much less naughty than last week.  Just because my oldest daughter turned double digits, doesn't mean I had to eat like I did and drink soda (gasp!) for the first time in weeks.  Stupid me.  I shouldn't have.  I worked hard all week at the gym and ended up only losing half a pound.  I'm hoping that most of that is due to retaining water.  The Naive Shelly would like to believe that.

So this week I'm going to go to the gym five days, drink lots of water, NOT eat pizza or drink pop, and very carefully chose if I will eat Easter candy, specifically which candy.  It's gotta be worth it.

How about you?  How did this week go?  Any changes you'll be making this week?

Meal Plan Monday

I must admit that I have not been following my meal plans very closely this month.  We have swimming lessons for the two oldest boys right at dinner time each Monday and Wednesday.  It is throwing a big kink in my meal prep and we have, gasp, grabbed take-out more than once!  Not only is that bad for my budget and my taste buds, but it is not helping in my weight loss.  I'm doing what I can and still planning in the hopes that it will work itself out.

Here is what I'd like to do this week.  What really will happen is anyone's guess.


MONDAY:  Sesame Chicken and rice

TUESDAY:  Pasta and vegetables

WEDNESDAY:  Baked Ziti

THURSDAY:  French Toast and fruit

FRIDAY:  Freebie Friday (either we get fast food or I'll fix something from a night earlier in the week when we grabbed fast food ...)

SATURDAY:   Anybody want to guess?  Yup.  Pizza

SUNDAY:  Easter dinner with my mom and family.  I will probably be making a Frog Eye Salad and rolls.