31 items in 31 days continued ~

Opps, got a little behind as we went out of town for Spring Break, trying to catch up now.  Here it goes.   Now working on week #4.

Week 2:  

S - Day #8 - Donated a bag of old bras.  Now someone else can fill them up!  I can't anymore, after having babies they are no more. 

S - Day #9 - Shredded 3 old credit cards I had sitting around.  Yes, I know, not very wise but now it's done.  Just found another one ~ UGH, but now it's shredded (Day#31).

M - Day #10 - recycled 4 bags of paper (school papers, newspaper, junk mail etc.), it's out of here!

T - Day #11 - Put a pink little girls lamp on on f.b. s & s -

W - Day #12 - Put kid roller skates on on f.b. s & s - SOLD $10.00

TH - Day #13 - Put a blue teddy bear boys lamp on on f.b. s & s -

F - Day #14 - Put a dress up stand on f.b. s & s -

Week #3:

S - Day #15 - Put a 18" bike on f.b. s & s - SOLD $25.00

S - Day #16 - Put another 18" bike on f.b. s & s -

M - Day #17 - Put a My Little Ponies Ferris wheel w/3 ponies on f.b. s & s -

T - Day #18 - Recycled 7 old cards, taking up space in my office.

W - Day #19 - This is really sad but recycled 26 old Christmas envelopes from 2012.  Wanted to make sure they were in my spreadsheet.  YIKES!

TH - Day #20 - Put a cars rug on f.b. s&s - SOLD $10.00


F - Day #21 - Bella Dancearella, bar, mat & video on f.b. s&s -SOLD $10.00

St. Patty's Day Fun!

Well we were on Spring Break and had to take the fun with us.   Here's what happened on March 17th, in Red River, New Mexico in our condo. 

The kids woke up to green eggs and green pancakes.  

My silly birthday boy (photo bomb!) The leprechaun left some beads, hats, 
a picture, jokes and a snack for later.
We all wore green beads while on the slopes today!  

St. Patty's Day Lucky Charms with Corn Pops cereal for the gold.  Elf cookies as the Leprechauns.
We did this at preschool I work at, for the kids snack before Spring Break.

My 3 Joys ~ sitting down to eat their St. Patty's Day breakfast.

Family Spring Break Ski Trip!

 I love my 3 kiddos and my husband.  Thank goodness, since we've traveled 13 hours to New Mexico and 13 hours back home.  That's a lot of car time and book reading time (check out Love to Read!)  Our spring break trip was fun filled with skiing for 3 days and then checking out the surrounding area and shopping on the 4th day.  We went to Red River, NM and skied at the Red River Ski Resort.  Here are some pictures of our week.  If you are a beginner skier they have great instructors.  It's also not a huge resort, so not as crowded as other places we've gone skiing before.

We made it to the 2nd state we have to drive through,
 to get to our destination of Red River, NM.

My hubby & I 

Beautiful Colorado Mountains!

We made it to New Mexico!

A much needed pit stop.  We decided to check out the Great Sand Dunes.
If you're ever out this way, they are very neat.

The boys made it to the top!

My kiddos and I at the top ~ Yeah!  That was a great workout.  Going down was much easier.

We walked all of that to the top of a big sand dune, not just the first one either.

Thank goodness for the Sand Dune break, back in the car and still getting along.

We made it to our condo/cabin we will be at for the week!!!

St. Patty's Day morning.

Make sure you check out St. Patty's Day Fun, for all the details. 

1st day of skiing - Jordan on the ski lift

1st day of skiing -  John and Jaden on the lift

1st day of skiing - Jamie

1st day of skiing - John

3rd day - Jaden's Birthday!

2nd day of skiing - John and I

2nd day of skiing - We hit the hot tub to
celebrate Jaden's birthday, and relieve our sore muscles.

Wildlife right outside the back door of our cabin.

Birthday dessert after a scrumptious supper at Capo's.  Delish!

3rd day of skiing - Jordan

3rd day of skiing - Jaden

3rd day of skiing - Girls on lift

We headed out for the day at 10am and didn't get back until around 4pm after all our stops.
Lot's of neat landmarks to see around the Enchanted Circle.

Our first stop was the Rio Grande Gorge.
There were a lot of merchants on the side of the road selling their wares.
Of course, the kids and I all had to get something.

The beautiful Rio Grande Gorge.  

We ate lunch in Taos a bigger city than Red River.
These are the house styles we saw everywhere.
We don't have this where we live.  Very neat to see!

Checked out the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
We just happened upon this, great tribute to our fallen hero's and the
ones still with us.

Leaving our condo and headed back home.
Another 13 hours on the road and lots of book reading for me.
Check out Love to Read!

We stopped by the Garden of the Gods Park to check out The Amazing Balanced Rock.
Located in Colorado Springs, CO
God is definitely amazing!!!  

Balanced Rock

Wow, they are some strong kids!

Last stop at the gift shop before getting back on the road.

Level Up!

Another, great workout at the gym.   I started off by riding the stationary bike, I normally ride at level 5 or 6. After riding outside with the kids the other day on the hills around our area I decided to kick it up a notch. WOW, I moved up to level 9 and 10, which is more like being outside and doing the hills.  Very sweaty workout, along with no pain, no gain!

Cardio time:
Stationary Bike - 20 mins. at level 9 & 10 random
Row machine - 3x 500 meters, approximately 2:16 min. each time (hands are so sore today after doing this, need to invest in some workout gloves.)

Weight time:
Side squats - 1x15
Weighted squats -2x15, weight 20 & 25 pds.
Biceps with bar - 1x15, 30 pds.
Biceps with bar - 1x15, 20 pds., all the way, top and bottom
Overhead with bar - 1x15, 20 pds.
Chest machine - 3x15, each time went up 5 pds. - 50, 55, & 60
Single triceps each arm overhead with weight - 1x15, 5 pds. (My tricep muscle is weak, when doing them singly so have to use light weights on these.  I can do 10 pds if my hands are on the weight together.)  Tricep extension youtube video.

Abs:
Regular crunches - 2x25
Russian Twist - 1x25
Bicycle crunches - 1x25
TOTAL 100 

Smoothie time!

Trying to get back into the swing of things, after being gone for a week for Spring Break with the family = FUN TIMES!  More about that under Many Joys!

Had a great workout today!   Went home to have a healthy smoothie with Greek yogurt, to get protein in me.  They say, to have protein at least 30 minutes after a workout, especially a strength workout to help repair your muscles.  So that's exactly what I do. Today's workout will be under Joys of Exercise.

The other day I was at the store with my kids and my son asked me if we were going to buy any of the green stuff.   The green stuff would be SPINACH.  He is my kid that will try pretty much anything.  It really has no flavor, so when you throw it in with some strawberries, blueberries, banana etc. that's what you taste instead.  Of course the darker colored fruits help with the coloring as well. The shake doesn't turn green, and it looks more appetizing if it's not green.  This is what prompted me to share this on my blog.

Yummy, yummy in the tummy!  Here are a couple of healthy smoothies, that I like to make after going to the gym.  

The first one may not look very good but taste great!   It's actually a pretty color, light green instead of seaweed coloring which doesn't look as appetizing. 

SPINACH PINEAPPLE SHAKE

1/2 cup to 1 cup milk (I use vanilla soy milk or almond milk, as I'm lactose intolerant.)  Sometimes I use less sometimes more depending on the consistency I want for my shake.  I like to drink threw a straw so usually more.

• 1/2 cup or handful of spinach
• single serving of pineapple with the juice - put in the freezer for 1/2 and hour to get it nice and cold, then you don't have to add ice.  I prefer fresh pineapple but the individual containers work just fine.
• Dannon Oikos Greek Pineapple Yogurt

ENJOY!

Another great shake - Strawberry/Banana Shake ~

• 1/2 cup to 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup or handful of spinach
• 4 or 5 frozen strawberries
• 1 banana
• Not pictured, if I was having it I'd throw in some vanilla or strawberry Greek yogurt.  If I don't have any Greek yogurt to put in the shake my back up is vanilla protein powder, but only in my drinks not my kids.  I do put the yogurt in the kids shakes as well but didn't have any to go with this shake on hand.

ENJOY AGAIN!

It's always amazing how much I can stuff into the single serve blender.  I have a Cooks blender from JCPenny's that was only $25.00 and it works great.  There are many other blenders out there as well, to choose from.

Cheesy Chicken Rotel Soup

This recipe is delish!  I got it from a girlfriend (Amy) of mine about 12 years ago.  The original recipe was made on the stove. I've adjusted it to making it in the crock pot.  When making it on the stove it's usually really runny the first day and a lot thicker the 2nd day.  Leftovers the next day are always better, if you make it on the stove.  My husband and I love it and it's finally growing on our kids as they get older.   The kid are starting expand their palates and give different recipes/food a try, YEAH!   I'm sure most of you know, after slaving in the kitchen over the stove making a delicious recipe and then having this person and that person not like it, is so frustrating!  This one is starting to be a keeper with my children now.  Here's the recipe ~

Cheesy Chicken Rotel Soup!

From the Kitchen of:  Joni Fleck

Recipe for:  Cheesy Chicken Rotel Soup

 

Ingredients:

2-3 Chicken breasts cooked and cut up; use however much you want!

2 cups regular Velveeta or 1 pd Mexican Velveeta Cheese

1 Box Julienne Potatoes

1 Cup Canned Corn (15oz)

1 Can Rotel

2 Cups Water

2 Cups Milk

4 dashes hot pepper sauce (if desired)

Directions: 

• Boil chicken in water.  Dice chicken when cool.
• Cook up Julienne potatoes according to the box.   I do the microwave directions and after 5 minutes I add half of the cheese cut up into cubes and start melting that in with the potatoes as they finish cooking up.
• Put water, milk, corn, rotel & rest of the cheese cubed in crock pot, while the chicken is boiling and potatoes are cooking.  
• Only cook on high for about an hour otherwise the cheese will start to burn on the sides.  Then turn down to low for 4-5 hours. 

I just use plain Velveeta, as the Mexican Velveeta cheese is to hot for us (Rotel is plenty), and no hot pepper sauce either.  Just adjust the recipe to your liking. ENJOY!

  

Boiling chicken - Start your chicken first, as it takes the longest, about 20 minutes.

 

Microwaving Julienne Potatoes - after the first 5 minutes add half of the cubed Velveeta to help it melt up nice, and creamy.   The other half I cube up and put in the crock pot.  I've found that if I just cube up the Velveeta and put it all in the crock pot it's doesn't melt quit right and the soup isn't as creamy. 

Cut up chicken and put in crock pot with everything else.

Delicious!

Another way to eat this, is with tortilla chips the next day
 when it's a thicker.