Hi! Remember me? I post here.
Sometimes.

This week’s recipe – and on Friday too!

Lemon and Herb Crockpot Chicken

Click the link for the recipe.
This one seemed simple and looked pretty to start with.
My only modifications were to use a sliced yellow onion (cuz I love me some onions) and to add a third and fourth lemon.

I checked the time on the microwave -

turned the crockpot on for 10 hours on low (as I was leaving the house for my birthday lunch of boneless buffalo wings and baby holding)

I returned to my crockpot at -

Just over eight hours on low.

Looks a little suspicious…

But I gave it the benefit of the doubt, as MOST crockpot food looks a little…iffy, if you will

So I pulled that puppy out — and it fell into a million billion pieces….

Even after skinning the chicken – look at all that fat!!

Verdict

I tried it and my husband tried it.

BLECH.

Too much lemon and almost no other taste – possibly because I used jarred garlic and dry rosemary?
AND — DRY. Overcooked, mealy YUCK.

Apparently, in my crockpot, 8 hours on low was just waaaaay too long.

So I slung all the meat bits back into the crockpot and put the lid on it. I unplugged it and I left it sit until the next day that wasn’t my birthday.

No nutritionals on this one because I refused to eat it. I just threw it away. Which is bad because I’ll eat almost anything!

Disappointed? I was. I will likely have to try this again – I really like rotisserie style chicken but don’t like the price tag or the added fat and sodium….

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on how to make it not suck?

Place Name                     
Ag Div/Tot  S No.   Time    Pace 

===== =========================
== ======== = ===== ======= =====

   38 KELLY ROWE               
29   7/7    F   410   31:45 10:13

Out of 78 runners, I was 38. So in the top 50% overall.
But I was last in my class!

Boogers.
I hate being last!

Oh well.

My pace isn’t bad – it’s just about 45 second per miles off of where I wanted it to be!

It was chilly (around 47 degrees Farenheit at the start) and hilly (and I haven’t run or trained on hills). So, if I’m going to actually be pushing for time – I need to speed train (in addition to endurance train) AND train over hills and in the actual weather (since I usually do climate controlled gym and prefer to run on the treadmill RIGHT in front of the fan!)

Thanks for the birthday wishes and 5k wishes!

Sadly, 31 minutes and 45 seconds is my unofficial time. So – close but no cigar. We’ll see what it looks like when my official time is posted – hopefully this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

Happy 29 years to me!!!

I’m up and getting ready for my birthday 5k….
my goal is 30 minutes or less – cross your fingers for me!

I would like a copy of this sign to hang on my refrigerator.

Two entries in one day!

I had a rough week – Tuesday I ate far too many crackers, Thursday I ate far too many homemade bean tostadas and then Friday I fell hard into a bag full of Taco Bell. Saturday was a pre-scheduled lunch at California Pizza Kitchen which I enjoyed greatly – Club Egg Rolls and an entire Buffalo Chicken pizza (and all of that after a bacon and egg breakfast with REAL pig bacon – not turkey bacon). I also skipped Friday and Saturday’s workout.

I’m back on the wagon as of today – eating good and did my run (4.8 miles of running in about an hour as well as walking 1.2 miles as a warmup/cooldown – total of 6 miles traversed in about one hour and twenty minutes). We (Joshua and I) did an outdoor run on a route near our house. It was a nice run and I will be doing it again, hopefully faster. I really need to learn to pace myself better. Tomorrow’s weigh in will not be pretty though – if nothing else, not eating my veggies and fruit for two days in a row really puts a crimp on my bowels! I think I’m full like a sausage with poo….

Oh well, I try not to overly judge myself by numbers – except when I see reason to celebrate. I am back eating healthy. I am back exercising. And I did run for an HOUR straight. Which, even if I don’t ever lose another pound, is fucking awesome!

Crockpot Turkey and Wild Rice Soup
This recipe is from here but I modified it a bit.

20oz of extra lean turkey breast (I used the 99% lean Jennie-O stuff)
8 cups of chicken bouillon
1c of uncooked wild rice
1 medium yellow onion chopped
1c of chopped celery
1c of chopped carrots
1t sage
2T red wine vinegar
2c of spinach leaves

Cook the turkey (I used my wok which is the best meat cooking pan I’ve found) and then put the turkey into the crockpot when it’s done browning. Add the bouillon, the veggies and the rice. Then stir in the sage and the vinegar and top with the spinach leaves (they will wilt down nicely)

Cook in the crockpot on high for 4-6 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. Soup is done when the veggies are as tender as you want them.

Verdict

I like it. I was surprised. I thought it would be a bit boring, there aren’t many ingredients and I usually prefer my soup to be bean-y. But, I have wild rice in the pantry and thought I’d give it a go as I’m still also eating last week’s Taco Soup.

The sage tasted good, the rice was nice and chewy and it was overall very satisfying.

As usual though, it really doesn’t look very good.

Nutrition Information
I made 8 servings from this – they’re about 330g each (1.5c to 2c probably).
Calories: 163.6
Fat: 0.9g
Fiber: 2.6g
WWpts: 2.8 (I’ll be rounding it to 3)

A link to make you think.

I do wonder why I (we) seek such standards as the BMI – for me, it’s partially because otherwise, how do you know what you should aim for? I needed a goal – and hence my choosing the arbitrary 25 or less BMI number. But at the same time, I also take into account my physical health – I do exercise and I definitely will continue to do so. (5k on February 21st!). As well, one of the other measurements that they refer to – waist size – still categorizes me as obese, I think (not just overweight). I should go look that up – I’ve got a 34″ waist (I’m a damn apple) and as a woman, I think 35″ or less is the generally accepted “healthier” but – that’s not terribly specific, is it?

I’m at work and don’t have my full spreadsheet of data analysis (and there is a lot of data analysis, including 10 day weight predictions and accuracy checks and all that jazz which is what happens when a science nerd and computer nerd live together and make spreadsheets to analyze their weight data together….I’ll probably do some more number crunching eventually) but I wanted to report that I am down 1.2 pounds for this week’s official weigh in. You may notice that my little sidebar weight doohickey changes regularly (and is currently at 153 something or another) but my weigh in today is 154.2. I only report out my weekly changes, since tracking my daily weight changes on here would be insane. Well, for all of you at least, I kinda like the number crunching… but the sidebar is a tracker of my lowest weight — to date not quite to my lowest on weight watchers ever (152.2) but getting close. I’m a little nervous about getting below 150. I haven’t been there since college days…

 

 

**** Edit below

 

I wonder if it’s possible to eat too many fruits and veggies?
Today so far I have eaten – a tomato, an orange, a kiwi, 1/2c of strawberries, 1c of roasted broccoli/broccoliflower, 3/4lb of carrots, celery and mushrooms as well as the vegetables in my taco soup (tomatoes, corn and beans if you count beans as a vegetable). I also plan to eat an apple, an ear of corn and a baked sweet potato. Possibly another kiwi f I’m hungry and want a sweet. I think that’s pushing 10 servings? Eeep….I was thinking about a salad too but maybe not.