Ship Shape Mama

How to make Chilaquiles !

2012-01-13T12:01:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite recipes that I admit is high in carbs for me but yet so delicious is my Chilaquiles. The recipe is so simple but just a little time consuming when frying your own tortilla chips. But everything done right with a dash of love on the side is all worth it, especially when you have a toddler like mine who loves mommy's cooking.

So, lets start what you will need for this fantastic recipe !

Ingredients:
1 frying pot ( soup pot in preferred)
1 wooded utensil for lifting fried chips
1 large bowl to set your chips to cool after frying
1 stack of corn tortillas (about 2 inches in height when stacked)
1 can of pure tomato sauce or if you prefer a hint of spice (El pato sauce)
1 large egg
1 small bowl for your sauce
1 teaspoon of freeze dried mince garlic (fresh garlic optional)
1 teaspoon of freeze dried mince onion ( fresh onion optional)
1 cup of vegetable oil
1 table spoon of sour cream
1/6 of a slice of quesco fresco cheese

Okay ! Lets start with grabbing your soup pot and placing your oil inside. Your going to place your pot on the stove to heat on low (low/medium). Once this is done, your going to grab your stack of tortillas and cut them all in half, then your going to cut each half's into 3 pieces. All together you should have 6 sliced stacks of tortillas.

Next, your going to start frying pieces of tortillas in your fried oil. Your pot of oil should have heated enough to fry. If not, turn up the heat so you don't place your tortillas in oil that will make them soggy. When your chips look golden brown, your going to scoop them out with your wooden utensil and place them in your large bowl to collect and cool off. I usually place a paper towel inside my bowl to soak up any excess oil that falls into the bowl.

Once you have completed frying all your tortillas and then have a large bowl of chips to cook with. Your going empty your pot of oil into a safe container. You will no longer need oil any more.

After you drain your pot of oil and wipe it off with a napkin, your going to place it back on the stove.

Next, your going to grab your small bowl and open up your can of tomato sauce and pour into the bowl. Then this is when you add your mince garlic and onions into your bowl of sauce. Once this is done, your going to next crack open your large egg into the bowl of sauce.

After placed all your ingredients into your bowl of tomato sauce. Your going to use a fork or whisk to scrabble it all together.

Now! your going to than turn on your stove onto medium/ high. Place your pot on the heated stove, pour all your chips into the pot. Even all your chips out!

Next, your going to pour your bowl of sauce into the pot and let it stand for about 2 minutes. After 2 minutes have past. Your going to use your wooden utensil to mix your chips and sauce all together. Don't dive into the pot and crack your chips. You want to start swiping the the edges and turn it over easy to the center of the pot. Your going to continuously do this through out the whole cooking session.

Your Chilaguiles should take about 20-25 minutes to complete.

Be sure to properly check that your chips have mixed well with the sauce and the yoke inside the pot is getting cooked all the way through.

I usually like to cook my Chilaquiles until some of my chips are crisp at the end but some others like it soft. So cook until you see what texture you prefer your food to be.

Once your done cooking, your going to serve your self a bowl or plate of Chilaquiles. Then next, add your slice of quesco fresco cheese and crumble it up on the surface of your food. Add your dash of sour cream on top.

And Waw La ! Your all done and ready to eat!

Thanks for reading !

Bon Apatite !

Check you Mail Box for Free Restaurant Coupons ! & Save !

2012-01-08T02:28:00.000-08:00

Hey there ! Hungry Customer !

You know its important for Ship Shape Mama to eat healthy but everyone deserves a day off on a weekend. And a burger sounds mighty tasty, especially when you have a buy one get one free coupon. (B.O.G.O.F)

Do you ever check your mail box and find free coupons to local restaurants? For example Burger King and Carls Jr. You can save your self money every time you purchase a combo meal by receiving another burger for free or side item for free !!

Don't waste your money on full priced items of food with your free coupon can pay for ! Just take a few seconds to glance at what you might like. You don't even need scissors these days, they come pre-cut !

You can find great deals like:

*1$ off combos

* Buy 1 get 1 free burgers or combos

* Free sundae ice cream with any purchase

* Free small drink and fries with a purchase of a 6 dollar burger

* Free coffee with any breakfast purchase

* Free order of tacos with any purchase

* 2 Carl's Jr. burgers for 3 $

* Free breakfast sandwich with a purchase of any breakfast combo

There are many restaurants that mail free coupon books without online registration. So stop throwing out coupons that are close to being real money that can get you free food. lol

And if you have a big family, think how much money you can save with B1G1 free coupons?

You could save up to 50 % off your receipt !

Thanks For Reading !

SOME Questions about What Exactly is Yoga ?

2012-01-04T01:06:00.000-08:00

So what is exactly is Yoga ?    Some people ask some obvious to odd questions about it..so I will answer some now.   ;-)    I will try to keep it short and simple .

1. What is Yoga ?
        Its is the physical and mental health of ones body.

2. Where did Yoga come from ?
       Yoga came from India and it has been around for over 5, 000 years.

3. What is the most important thing to do while practicing Yoga?
      Practicing Breathing techniques while staying focus is very important.

4. What is Ujjayi breathing ?
         It is (vigorous) breathing practiced through your stomach rather from your chest with concentration and focus.

5. What are asanas ?
      It is poses that are used in yoga.

6. Where does your posture start from?
      Posture starts from the top and it is important to be mindful of ones body when practicing yoga to prevent injury or aches.

7. What are the 3 main parts to protect while practicing Yoga ?
      The lower back, neck and knees are most important to protect.

8.Whats the main action of my spine while doing Yoga ?
    Keeping the spine, muscles, tissues and bone straight at all times when the pose calls for the spine to be straightened.

9. What are proper and improper alignments?
     Hunching your back is a improper alignment than keeping it straight.

10. Why do people say Namaste and what does it mean?
     Namaste means from the soul of great honor and respect to the teacher to student and student to teacher. We say it to have a great and peaceful day.

11. What do you do after a back bend?
        You do a forward bend to loosen the tension in you back.

These are some examples of yoga positions (asanas) for beginners to start off with. ;-)

Thanks for reading !

Yummy ! How to make Meat Loaf by Scratch !

2011-12-19T01:52:00.000-08:00

Wondering how to make Meat Loaf ? Well, wait no more ! Ship Shape Mama can tell you how !
So lets start what will you need to make you fantastic meal for yourself or family. Personally, my family loves it. I love to see my son eat mommy's cooking and hear him say yum yum yum lol

Ingredients :

* 1 pound of ground beef
* 1/4 of a medium size onion cut into mince style pieces
* 1/4 of fresh minced garlic
* 1/2 cup of saltine crackers or animal crackers ( smashed into small crumbs )
* 1 large egg
* 1/2 of a medium size green pepper cut into small even pieces
* 1 tablespoon of Lawry's all season salt
* 1 cup of pure tomato sauce
* 1/2 cup of mixed vegetables ( type of vegetables are optional )
* 1/4 cup of ketchup
* 1 teaspoon of black pepper
* 1 can of non-stick spray
* 1 large mixing bowl
* 1 square like baking pan

Okay people ! So lets start by grabbing our large mixing bowl and adding in our fully thawed out ground beef. Than we are going to set this to the side so we can grab our onion, garlic and green pepper to cut into small even pieces. Once you have diced your vegetables into even pieces, you can go ahead and add this to the bowl of ground beef.

Than your going to add you seasons like your ground pepper and your all purpose Lawry's season salt. Once you have accomplished this. Your going to grab your crackers and put then into a separate bowl or into a napkin folded and start smashing them into pieces with a cup. For example laying your crackers flat and start smashing.

Next, once your complete with this process, your going to throw your crackers into the bowl. After this, crack open you egg and add this to your mixture.

Next your going to add your tomato sauce and 1/8 cup of ketchup. Your going to use the rest of your ketchup later on. By this time, all your ingredients should be added into one large bowl. Your going to next wash your hands and use which ever hand preferred and start hand mixing your mixture of meat very well in your bowl. You want to make sure that everything is mixed properly.

Your going to next set your oven on 400 degrees Fahrenheit, while your oven is per-heating. Your going to grab your square baking like pan and spray it lightly with your non-stick spray. Once you've done that, your next step is adding in your meat loaf mix into the baking pan.

Then, with you hand, your going to even out the meat through out the whole pan.

By this time your oven should have pre-heated, so your going to throw in you meat loaf into the oven for about 30-35 minutes.

After 30-35 minutes have past, your going to check on your meat loaf. It should look pretty close to looking well done. Your going to poke the center with a tooth pick or knife and check the center for pinkness. You should see just a little, like if you only need about 15-20 minutes more.

You can also drain your meat loaf of any excess oil if you used a high in fat ground beef mix, you can take the pan out and slightly drain into a cup or your sink.

So next ! Your going to next going to add the rest of you ketchup on the surface to your meat loaf. You can squirt a design of your own, I usually do an zig-zag line. After this step.

Your going to allow your meat loaf to cook for another additional 15-20 minutes more until its well done to your liking.

By this time, your meat loaf should be ready for consumption !

Dig in, eat up ! And thanks for cooking with Ship Shape Mama !

Bon Appetite !

Thanks for Reading !

Wow ! How to make Mexican Rice !

2011-12-16T18:44:00.000-08:00

Many people give great compliments on how good my Mexican pink rice is. So I decided to let out my cooking secrete and tell people how I make my yummy rice. So lets start what you will need to make this delicious recipe in just 30 minutes !

Ingredients

* 1cup of uncooked rice
* 2 cups of water
* 1 can of tomato sauce ( 1 cup)
* 2 teaspoons of chicken bouillon
* 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil
* 1 cooking soup pot with lid
* 1 wooden utensil
* 1 teaspoons of freeze dried mince onions ( fresh onion is optional )
* 1 teaspoon of freeze dried mince garlic ( fresh mince garlic optional )

Okay ! ... So lets start by bringing our pot to the stove and adding our vegetable oil in. Turn the stove on and set to medium heat so the oil can heat. Once the oil has heated, add your 1 cup of uncooked rice. Grab your wooden spoon and mix generously into the heated oil. We want the rice to cook a little bit until you see about 10 percent of the rice golden brown.

Once you established that the rice is fried just a little. Your going to add 2 cups of clean fresh water to the pot, mix well. Now, while the water is heating. Pop open your can of tomato sauce and poor into a separate bowl.

Next, your going to add your mince onion,garlic and your chicken bourbon. .... So Why? are we doing this instead of throwing all the ingredients in to the cooking pot. Well, we want to make sure that the chicken bourbon has correctly broken down and dissolved because if we through it in the cooking pot. This might cause someone to over mixing the rice, while trying to see if the chicken bourbon dissolved correctly.

Over mixing rice can cause soggy rice ! Eww ! No bueno !

Once you made sure your tomato sauce has mixed well with the other added ingredients. Your going to next add your sauce to the pot. By then, your water should have heated but not boiled to the point you see bubbles rising. Your going to mix your sauce clock wise or counter clock-wise about 4 times so your sauce has mixed well with the water and rice.

Next your going to cover your pot with your pots lid and let heat for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes has past your going to stir once more about 4 times again like you did before. Once you've done that, your going to keep the lid on the pot for 20 minutes on medium heat. If your stove has a dial that reaches 6, leave it on 3 or between 2-3. Over heated the pot can cause over cooking of the rice and the water evaporating to quickly before the rice gets a chance to soften.

After 20 minutes has past, check on your rice by softly tapping the surface with your wood spoon to see if it has soften. If you feel your rice needs to be a little softer, keep your lid on so the rice can steam. Be sure to check the side of the pot where the rice is on the edge, so you can see if you havent burned the rice.

If your rice just needs a little for softening but does not need more time on the stove. One trick is to crank up the stoves heat and let the steam rise with the lid on for a couple of seconds. Once steam has appeared. turn off the stove and remove the pot of rice from the stove to the side and let the steam sit inside the closed pot for 10 minutes. This can reassure than your rice has not burned and it can soften your rice perfectly.

Next, your rice should be perfect and ready to eat !

Dig in !

Thanks for reading !

Holy Moly ! Thats a Great Price for All Natural Baby Food !

2011-12-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Do you Have a Baby ? ... Do you want nothing for the best for him or her when it comes to Nutrition ?

Well if you noticed that baby food that is, all natural or in other words organic. It can be pretty pricey and when your baby gets a healthy apatite, that can also get pricey.

Some of the best baby foods on the stores shelf is Gerber, Beech Nut and Organics. But just for each of them a single 2 pack can cost a $1.50 and that's expensive compare to the leading store brands that offer the same amount for only a $1 a pack...but Wait no longer ! There is a better price out there that is much better in price and nutrition.

Most baby foods that are packed in plastic containers are high in sugar because it helps preserve the food much longer, giving it a longer shelf life. And anything in a can has high in sodium which is not good at all for a baby .

So to get the best food, that is closer to its natural state is organic food. But that's the most expensive of all and its usually Beech Nut that is nutritious.

At your local Big Lots store, there is Now Baby Food...and not only that. It is Beech Nut ! Usually one single jar is a dollar ! But at Big Lots you can receive 1 jar for 30 cents ! Holy Moly !...so for less than a $1..you can receive 3 jars for only 90 cents.

If you need diapers, wipes that are name brand and cheap in price...look no further ! Big Lots is the store that caries Pampers and Huggies.

And No !.. People!.. there is no catch and it is not going bad either. Sometimes stores like Target and Walmart get over stocked and have to sell there products at smaller local stores like Big lots. So go ahead and Google your local store and take a look see. Your baby will thank you for the great nutrition and your pocket wont burn a whole in your pants !

Thanks for Reading ! Muah ! ;)

How to make home made Pinto Beans in 1 day !

2011-11-23T05:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, let me tell you how to make home made Pinto Beans. This process is usually takes two days but I can show you how to make it in 3 hours ! ... And No ! these are not magical beans ! lol

So lets start by listing what you will need, for starters you will need patience lol

Ingredients:

2 cups of dried pinto beans
1 large bowl
1 measuring cup
1-2 tablespoons of Kosher salt
1 tablespoon of dried mince garlic
1 tablespoon of dried mince onion
1 large sauce pot with pot lid
1 good sturdy bean smasher and a medium/large wooden spoon
1 cup of milk (maybe optional)

Lets start ! Open your bag of pinto beans and measure 2 cups of beans to pour into a bowl. After your going to add 2-3 cups of cold water into your bowl so you can soak and rinse your beans for 4 minutes. While doing this, boil 7-8 cups of water in your large sauce pot on medium to high tempture.

When your your done rinsing your beans, drain your beans of any excess water. Next, check on your pot of boiling water, it is important to make sure that the water is boiling to the point you can see bubbles rising. Once you have checked and made certain your water is boiling, you can add your pinto beans.

Boil your beans for approximately 5 minutes ! No more than that. After 5 minutes has past, remove your pot from heat and cover your pot with a secure lid.

Now here comes the waiting game, you have to let your beans sit with a cover pot of course for 1 hour to soak.

After 1 hour has past, your beans should look a little soften and enlarged but yet still firm. Your going to drain your beans again and pour again into your bowl you had prior.

Next your going to measure 7-8 cups of water and to bring to boil in your large sauce pot. We have to make sure once again that our water is boiling like before. While your water in boiling, quickly rinse your beans again in 2 cups of room temperature water. Do not let your beans soak in cool water, we want this done quickly.

Now check your boiling water, once you have made sure its boiling. Add your pinto beans and stir gently with you wooden spoon or utensil. Cover your boiling beans with your pot lid and let your beans simmer on medium temperature for 1 1/2 - 2 hours. You may have to stir 3-4 times while your beans are cooking so they do not get stuck to each other or stuck on the pot.

So after a long wait ! lol your beans should look nicely plumped and soft. Now, here comes a little elbow grease. Your going to get your bean smasher, set your pot on low tempt and start smashing. You may develop your own smashing routine and that's perfectly fine ! Kudos ;-)

When your beans are almost smashed completly, you can add your freeze dried mince garlic and onions. Than your salt, if your beans look a little dry or too thick. This is when you add your cup of milk. This is how you get creamy smashed pinto beans.

Once you've added your ingredients, continue smashing until its the way you perfer your beans to be. Creamy or thick, its your beans and its optional. Continue to heat on low tempture for 5-10 mins and presto ! Your long mission of cooking home made pinto beans is complete! If you feel your beans need more salt, go ahead and add more to your liking. ;-)

Great Job ! And Cool Beans ! lol

Thanks for reading !

New Video ! A Sample of my Workout !

2011-11-17T06:24:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone ! I wanted to show my followers a sample of my workouts. I must admit that Im a little unconventional when it comes to my workouts. I really dont have a routine, for example. I dont have certain days or times that I plan my workouts. I pretty much squeeze time in my day or even better ! I often stay up to wee hours of the night and mess around my pull-up bar. As some of you know, I have a son and finding time during the day can be hard when you have a toddler to entertain lol

Anyway, I hope you like my video. Its been months since I made one and I got to say. I am pleased with myself, I am still amazed at myself with my physical ability's. When I watch this video, I smile and chuckle because I remember a time when I couldnt lift my own weight. And now ! Look at ME ! With hard efforts, anything can be possible when you put your mind to it.

Feel Free to find Shipshapemama on Youtube.com !

Thanks for watching !

An Old throw back Video ! ... lol

2011-11-12T03:58:00.000-08:00

I recently came across an old video that I made a couple months back. This is when I discovered I could make videos easily on my Kodak camera and down load them on to YouTube. With technology today, its so easy to share your journey through an online video diary.lol

But this video is my favorite for the week. I crack a smile sometimes when I watch this video because you wouldn't believe how long it took me to get to the point where I can physical support my own weight and do a inversion. Being able to support your own body wait isn't a over night thing. This process took me a year and than I had a baby, which took a one year break followed by another year gaining my over all body's strength. So, so far this has taken 3 years and still counting. If I don't practice weekly. I can fall out of practice being able to do stuff like you may see in the video.

But over all yoga has kept me on track, I look forward to making yoga videos in the future followed my instructional yoga pictures.

But right now at the moment, life has become very busy and I'm in the middle of packing for a move to a new home. Wish me luck !

Thanks for watching ! ;-)

Wow ! Thats a Bargain on 2 pairs of Shoes !

2011-11-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

Wow ! I got one heck of a bargain at PayLess shoe store !

Now every couple weeks Payless has a fantastic shoe sale. They usually have a BOGO sale, which is buy one and get the other half off of equal or lesser value. Well, my son has been growing pretty fast and it was time to buy the little man some new shoes as well myself. Just two days prior of the shoe sale, I went shopping around to compare prices of children apparel. And I found these cute Sponge Bob shoes that light up when you walk and these pair of shoes where the ones with the straps, not the one with long shoe laces that cause some kids to trip over. But unfortunately at that time the cute pair of shoes where a whopping $ 22.99! ..I don't know how other parents shop but that was way to much for a two year old pair of shoes. And the shoes I had my eye on were the same exact price as well. I definitely left the store disappointed on the prices because I always thought Payless had affordable shoes, but I was soon to be mistaken.

The day I heard about the shoe sale was on a weekend, the moment I heard. I got myself and my son showered and ready in the morning to finally get his shoes. At the time, I was just thinking I would only buy him shoes but when I arrived at the store and went searching for his shoes and the shoes I had in mind for myself. I was stunned to find that they went on sale for a dramatic price of 7$ for my sons shoes and 8$ for mine. Wow !

I could not believe my eyes, I had to buy them with the great sale going on. So of course my son being the cheaper pair, his shoes was slashed in half by 50% ! His $22.99 shoes came out to $3.50 OMG ! Of course I paid full price fore my shoes but lets not forget. My shoes where the same price and brought down to $8.

So to make a long story short, I received two pairs of shoes priced at 45 dollars in total several days prior for 12 $...sorry to repeat but Wow ! I saved 33 dollars, that is amazing !

I recommend anyone to take a drive down to Payless to check out their fantastic deals.

Thanks for reading !

How to cook home made Hamburger helper ! lol

2011-11-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

How to make home made Hamburger Helper ShipShapeMama style! lol

Now, I'm the type of person that I believe you don't have to make food from out of a box, food is much nutritious when you cook all your ingredients fresh !

Now lets start what ingredients you will need!

* 2 pounds of ground beef

* 1 whole garlic clove or 1 tbsp freeze dried minced garlic
* black pepper
* 1 tbsp of Lawry's all purpose season
* 1 cup of mix vegetables/ variety is optional (can veg. optional)
* 4 medium potatoes or 3 large
* 1/4 of a onion or 1 tbsp of freeze dried mince onion

40min-1 hour cook time !

Now for the cooking part, lets start by finding a suitable pot to cook in. I prefer a large sauce like pan because its perfect to fry and steam potatoes. Lets preheat our sauce pan on medium, what is medium? Turn your dial on your stove to the center. If you dial is like mine, it goes to 6. So I would set it to 3 for medium. Wait until your pan gets warm enough before adding in your ground beef. You don't want to add your meat to a cold pan. why? Well, a cooking pan must be evenly heated to evenly cook food inside of it. If your pan is unevenly heated, some bits and pieces of food like potatoes will not cook properly.

Okay ! ..When your pot is nice and warm, add your meat. While your meat is slowly cooking, this is a opportunity to skin your potatoes and dice them up into even pieces. This is important because if you have bits of potato bigger than others, your food will not cook evenly. You can end up with over cooked bits of potato with under cook ones. I would suggest to cut your potato in half and than cut the half's into half's again, you should end up with four pieces from one potato. From there you can cut your four piece pretty easily and evenly. Now make sure you check on your meat while slicing and dicing.

Be sure not to cook your meat all the way through, we only wanted cooked half way. Meaning, you should still see pink or redness in your meat.The time your done cutting your potatoes, your meat should be cooked half way. So, this is the time to add you diced potatoes. Be sure to mix your meat and papas well in your pot once you added them. Cover you pot with your lid so it can steam for a few minutes.

While your meat and potatoes are steaming, this is the time to dice up your fresh onion and garlic clove. Be sure again that they are cut evenly ! But if your deciding to use freeze dried garlic and onions, this is fine and good because you know already they are cut evenly.

After your done cutting up your onion and garlic, check on your meat. You should still see pink and remember your heat temperature should still be set to medium.

You next step after checking you meat will be to add your Lawry's all purpose season, black pepper(amount optional), mince onion and garlic. Be certain that once you have added your seasons, to stir your mixture properly. Never cut into the meat with your cooking utensil, be sure to gently start by swiping your cooking tool by sliding it through the walls of your pot and work your way to the center. You don't want to mash up your potatoes because you will end up with soggy mashed up food in fatty oil. Eww ! lol Be gentle with your food !

Now for the important part, once you mixed your mixture well. Cover it again with your lid to the pot and let steam for 6 more minutes. Its important to have the lid closed properly for this process.

After 6 minutes have past, check on your mixture. Your potatoes should be cooked half way through, which means the outside potato bits maybe a little soft but still slightly firm in the center. When you have made sure you are on track cooking, this is the best time to add your frozen/can mix vegetables in your mixture.

If you are wondering why we add our vegetables last..its because they cook very fast and sometimes your store bought vegetables might of been cooked before but just not all the way through.

Once you have added your last ingredient, be sure to mix your mixture well.. but remember ! Gentling mix, so your potatoes do not fall apart. Cover your pot once again and let steam for another 10 minutes. You can slightly turn up the heat at this point but this is optional. Some stoves get hotter than others and gas stoves cook faster than electric stoves. I'm working with a electric stove.

After you 10 minutes have past, your food should be ready ! Be sure to check that your potatoes are cooked all the way through, if not..steam for another 5 minutes. Once your food has finished cooking, this is the most important part in my opinion to reduce the fat.

Be sure to drain your food from excess oil from the pot, do it while your food is still warm and not cooled. When oil cools, it sticks to your food and maybe hard to remove. You can drain the fat from your meat by keeping the lid on the pot and carry your pot to the sink and slowly tip your pot to drain the fat. I keep the lid on while doing this so my food does not spill out into the sink. lol

Once you have done this, you are ready to eat !

Now you may ask your self, what can I eat with this? Well, I enjoy eating 2 tbsp of light sour cream with mine with 2-3 small corn tortillas. Yummy !

Bonn Appetite !

Thanks for reading !

New ! Printable Coupons !

2011-10-30T03:46:00.000-07:00

New Printable Coupons !

Help Support Ship Shape Mama !

Thank you for Coupon.com for accepting my application to join our new partnership!

Look up on your left top hand comer and you will see a coupon tab next to the home tab and see instant coupon savings !

Groceries!

Baby food !

Medicine !

and More !.......

Thank you for your support ;-)

Its been a two year journey !

2011-10-18T16:48:00.000-07:00

Its been a long two years since I gave birth to my son but I have over come many challenges. In the matter of two years, I have grown very independent. In just two years, I had moved three times, got my first car and license, gave birth, divorced my abusive ex-husband, gone to court, had several job opportunities, survived a concussion which I lost complete eye sight for couple days, lost my hearing for couple weeks, lost weight several times through the poor mans diet. I can write book with the many things I had to go through these past two years but after all that. I held my ground, stayed through rough patches and continued to be a great mother and continued to work on my blog.

Times where very tough for me, but I guess in essence it worked out for me by working out my body. These past couple weeks I have been on a lean protein diet. I will later on continue to post my meals to my menu tab.

Through my hard work, I went through some rough emotional moments and finding the structure to workout was very hard but I had to do it. I found myself depressed and lying in bed and I refuse to live a sad life like when I was married. I hated the feeling of staying at home and doing nothing. So now, I'm living life a little more like I should. I have made some great friends these past couple of months, people who have helped me see my true value. And I thank them for that because that gave me the motivation to continue my blog because I must focus on the fact that this will be my future business. I helped people like my horrible ex-husband get to were hes at with his weight and helped in other areas that eventually landed him on television. Sadly he never shared those moments with me. But it truly does not bother me because I see how easy it can really be with hard work to get to the point of creating your own web site and possibly being chosen to be on television.. it was a true wake up call that I am good candidate to show young woman around me that even after a child and failed relationships. That you can have the will to believe in your self and you can give yourself all the motivation you need to succeed. I'm on a rode with high expectations for my self to make my blog worth wild. I have full plate on my hands with my personal life being a complete single parent but I still feel the fire burn inside, that I must not stop what makes me happy and busy at times.

So through my hard work effort, I have continue my yoga regime. I must admit because of some bumps on the rodes I was not consistent doing 30mins of yoga at least 4 times a week but I manage to do 5-10 mins here and there. It may not seem much but at the end of the day or week the minutes add up to my yoga work out. I also bought a pull up bar for 20 bucks at walmart which was fantastic because I can do static holds on it and thats even better. When I have the extra cash in hand, I'm going to get some straps for my pull up bar so I can practice inversions hanging in the air... I like to play around..I call my self a monkey lol.. but I truly cant wait to purchase in the future a dip bar..it is something I really want because I'm a fan of gymnastics and that's where I get the majority of my ideas of what I can do physically.

Now these past couple weeks or better yet this month, I have some personal drama but that has motivated me to stay focus on my future of what I want to do with myself and my future. Now I am interested in becoming a personal trainer, I personally feel that this will fit into my life style. But this is not something I would consider my career, I am still continuing the goal of going to college and sticking to my biology major. I have many hobbies but this is something that I want to definitely pursue.

So this past month, my protein diet has consisted with the following foods: beef, eggs, beans, string cheese, fiber bread, low fat milk, low fat string cheese, low fat sour cream, mixes veggies, grapes and most importantly I have consumed more water than soda or any other sugary drinks. I must admit that the majority of my calorie in-take has been liquids. And so my major weight loss has been because of what I drink more so than what I eat. Now, I'm the time of person that I cannot kick out carbs. I know people say that tortillas, bread, pasta and fries make them fat. Well I personally think they eat to much of it or even better they dress up their food with to much condiments that add more calories that probably worth more that the food it self.

Now to people reading.. lets start small. Let go back to the basics.. Cut out the most obvious thing in you daily food intake. Like chips, cookies, ice cream and the over indulging on breads and pastas. Start eating to feel satisfied ,not full as if your eating your last meal in your life. We must remember that food is a every day necessity and its not going away, so you don't need to eat as if its your last.

Now water is most important but for people like myself that are not use to drinking water like they should. Start by crystal lights..please cut out sodas and juices. If this is difficult..start by consuming light color sodas that are caffeine free like sprite and juices that 100% real juice. Now one important thing to remember if food is your problem than drinking your calories are.. you should concentrate on portion control. I started out by using a measuring cup but that seem to much for me at the beginning..its not a problem now but I would recommend buy frozen dinners first that are of course high in protein. This will also give you a good idea how much you can eat and how much calorie's you are consuming in one sitting.

Now one last thing..exercise people. you don't have to join a gym to be active. Please! that is unnecessary. You literally sit on you but and watch TV and still move your limbs. lol Of course I rather u move your whole body lol..but if your going to dedicate your money to something..try WII fit..its not bad..there are many games you can play that can get you to exercise which is fantastic. But start taking walks around the park..than work your way to power walking..or my favorite..try out yoga people ! It is wonderful and it fits all ages.

Now take these ideas in mind and let it simmer in your mind.. I will continue my food menu to help my followers what are good ideas of food to cook and eat.Thanks for reading !

Planning a Last Minute Birthday party without burning a whole in Your Pocket ! ;)

2011-10-03T02:33:00.000-07:00

So today is my son's birthday, he has turned 2 years old. Wow! time has past ! I had some high and lows with in the coming weeks before my son's birthday weekend. Money was tight but I had to do something for my baby, hes not turn this age ever again and I knew that I could manage to to plan something on short notice. My sisters good friend shared with me about two weeks prior with the thought of maybe Chuck E Cheese was a good spot to celebrate. But I will honestly admit that the few Chuck E Cheese's I have been to has been a horrible in my experiences, torn down looking business with messes in countless areas inside.

But! I found one that was the opposite of all my experiences, in the city of La Mirada. It was about a 40 min drive and traffic sucked but it was well worth the experience. I booked a reservation in advance. It was optional, I could of grabbed a free table but I was coming on a Friday and that would mean I would have to come hours in advance to hold down a table. That was way to much for me, especially with the birthday boy with me waiting for everyone's arrival. And I had a long day at school earlier that day...lol

So reserved 4 kids and 4 adults ...the package consisted..

STAR Package $12.99 Per Child

2 hours of reserved table space
Ticket Blaster experience for the Birthday child
Medallion for the Birthday child
Inflatable crown with 8 tokens for the Birthday child
Chuck E. Air-walker 3ft balloon for the Birthday child
Star recognition in our Birthday show
20 tokens per child
Soft drinks with free refills per child
2 Slices of one-topping pizza per child
Festive tablecloth and plate-ware
Party host/hostess
Email invitations powered by Evite

And to top off all that, I got a limited time offer by receiving a Bonus 100 tokens for booking the party on a Friday and I also had a birthday coupon for 20 free tokens. Let me just say 4o tokens can cost 15-20 dollars and tokens go fast. lol And ...lol I had a party hostess specificly for my part. She was awesome, she threw in 4 extra cups to my package and a scoop of ice cream with 2 lit candles on top ;-)

Now I thought when I would receive pizza slices per child...it was specifically for kids, but nope ! I received my eight slices in a whole large pizza and my drinks+ bonus drinks where unlimited refill. Yay !

So again, my party package came with a crown, medallion, tokens, plus 120 free tokens(40+dollar value) a child life size chuck-e balloon and ice cream..etc

All this came to 55 dollars with tax... I cant believe I reserved 8 seats, got large pizza, 8 cups of soda and all the tokens I received for free with coupons that you can receive online or in your local newspaper. lol

The birthday cake was added at the end ! Thanks to my sister Angie, for buying my sons birthday cake. Thanks sis ! ;-) It was a lil korny , but hey we had fun! Oh, dont let me forget that our 2 hour reservation at our seats were free for the rest of the night. So my 2 hour stay got pushed to me staying 3 hrs...lol Another bonus lol

And to add, the tokens spent on games won my son 2 toys! My son was running around like a wild child, with sugar from his cake in his system lol He had a blast !

thanx for reading ! ;)

A simple scrabbled egg sandwich ;)

2011-09-28T00:51:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, so I thought it would be a good idea to put up a cook menu. Nothing big just something I might start small cooking ideas for easy recipes to do at home.. So here goes....

Simple Egg Sandwich

2-3 medium egg
mince onion
freeze dried mince garlic(optional)
pinch black pepper
1/3 cup of milk
dash dried or fresh parsley(optional)
shredded cheddar cheese or 1-2 slices
2 bread slices

Now when I making eggs, I like to add milk to my scrabble egg mixture. About three shakes of the mince onion bottle. That's about half a tablespoon. I like allot of black pepper so add as much as you desired. Now, with freeze dried garlic and parsley. It might sound a little too much but you can easily go to your local 99 cent store or BigLots store and find name brand seasons that have the cost marked down by half. If your familiar with some season like I am, you know Weber and McCormick are kinda pricey for such a small bottle of season that weighs very little..lol;-)

Now add all these things together in a mix, heat your medium size pan on medium heat or set your dial to the center. Make sure you heat your pan before adding your scrabble egg, I usually use Pam non-stick spray but every now and than I will put half a teaspoon of real un-salted butter. Melt the butter in the pan, throw in your egg mix. Before you start to scrabble your egg, wait until the egg heats to the point you can see slight bubbles rising from the center. Start scrabble by sliding your cooking utensiel along the edge of your pan and than work your way towards the center. When the the egg is about 4 minute in cooking time, I like to add some cheese. I continue to scrabble the cheese in to assure it is well mixed with the eggs. Continue to cook for about 5 minutes and your set to go..

While your eggs are cooling, that's when I toast my bread. Fresh bread is also optional, I usually choose a low calorie bread like Wonder bread. Now, sometimes I add a little mayo on my bread but I learned to eat my sandwich without it because I weigh out the thought that I will add ketchup. I also weigh out, that I will add another slice cheese to my sandwich...

When its all put together, it should look a little like this..

thanks for reading ... ;-)

Coming Soon !

2011-09-26T18:29:00.000-07:00

Coming soon! Some of my homemade recipes that help me keep in shape. Recipes that you can easily make your self at home. ;-)