Chicken Chili

YUM!!! Being that my meals are supposed to be under 300 calories I have been searching for yummy, low calorie recepies. I made this one tonight and it's a keeper. You can make it in bulk which is nice for hubby and the kiddos to have left overs while Mommy is stuck with her APEX shakes for breakfast and lunch. Just thought I'd share this with y'all.


Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili

There is nothing like a lazy Sunday when you have a meal cooking all day in the crock pot and the aroma of food is in the air, or coming home from work on a weeknight and having dinner ready when you get home. I love my slow cooker and this chicken chili is a delicious, low point, high fiber meal. It's so easy to make and it is great over rice, with multi-grain chips, topped with low fat cheddar cheese or low fat sour cream. This makes a lot and it is even better the next day for lunch!


Servings: 10 • Size: 10 oz • Prep Time: 5 minutes • Calories: 202 • Points: 4 ww points

* 1 onion, chopped
* 1 16-oz can black beans
* 1 16-oz can kidney beans
* 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
* 10 oz package frozen corn kernels
* 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/chilies
* 1 packet taco seasoning
* 1 tbsp cumin
* 1 tbsp chili powder
* 24 0z. (3) boneless skinless chicken breasts
* chili peppers, chopped (optional)
* chopped fresh cilantro

Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker. Place chicken on top and cover. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Top with fresh cilantro. Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream (extra points).

Pink Team Cheer Leaders!

"You can do it Mommy!"

So the whole Winters gang is on board for the healthy new lifestyle. Jason is interested in the fresh, organic foods and the new recipes I am trying. Nevaeh and Trinity want " big muscles." They even had their very own workout today...

Cardio Warm Up

Stretch!

Push Ups

Sit Ups

Wyatt wanted in on the action and pulled off some amazing squats!

Teaching our kids about nutrition and exercise is so important. I want the best for my girls, this includes me setting a good example. Go PINK team! And a special thanks to my kids for being supportive and for tagging along to the gym with me everyday!

It's Official!!!

R.F.C's Biggest Winner competition began today! Pure Energy aka Pink Team weighed in today and are pumped to get this competition going. We are competing for fun but are loosing weight to live a happier, healthier life. As promised I will be updating my blog a couple times a week starting with this entry.

Today is Day 1 of the competition

My starting weight is 192.2 lbs- Goal weight by April 16th is approx 170
My Staring waist line is 43 inches- Goal waist line is approx 36 inches


Biggest Winner is just a jump start to my ultimate goal weight of 150 by June 1st 2010 and waist line of approximately 33 inches.

Here is my awesome team
Me, Karissa, Michelle, Lacey & Jessica


Our competition is...( Pictures to follow)
Us and Chuck Norris- Led by Jessica Winters
BA Crew- Led by Nicole Jauregui
Missfits- Led by Suzanne Middlebrooks
Aging to Perfection- Led by Nikki Ferguson
along with 42 other teams who registered

Good Luck Everyone!

I am super excited about this contest, $2500 grand prize would be nice but hitting my goal weight would be even nicer, stay tuned for more updates...

It's Countdown Time

In less then a week I will officially be weighing in for the competition. We got our custom Biggest Winner Pink T-shirts today, I ate at La Cocina for the last time, said my fairwells to the snack table at Bible Study and and now trying to mentally prepare for the adventure I will begin on Monday! Sounds so dramatic... not really. I want to loose weight and this competition is the perfect incentive to get my "booty" in gear. To reiterate, my goal is to loose at least 20 lbs during the 6 week competition the old fashioned way, diet & excersize. I will begin posting pictures of me and the team on Monday 22nd and will update my blog every Friday with my progress. Tune in to see the Pink Team aka Pure Energy in action!

Me Trying to be Artsy...

My amazing Hubby bought me my dream camera just before our cruise. I had fun playing around with the settings on our trip and am looking forward to attending the Nikon School in June! Here are a few shots from the trip...

Catalina

Birds of Paradise

Mandolin

Pelican on the Pier in Catalina

Guitar Jammer

La Bufadora Market

Day at Sea

My beautiful Grandma Ina

Carnival Paradise

Jason and I set sail on the Carnival paradise Cruise line on February 8th for 5 days for a much needed getaway. We traveled with a Bluegrass Club where in addition to the normal Cruise activities we had jam sessions, where the musicians gathered together and played bluegrass music.


We made the drive up to Long Beach, boarded our luggage just before the huge rush of people, breezed through the check in, got set up in our room, enjoyed dinner and set sail.


For dinner you were assigned a time and a table. The people at our table were so much fun and treated us like family. It was so much fun. And best of all you ate whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted and you didn't have to pay a thing!



Activities on board included Las Vegas style shows, Mini-golf, pool/spa to name a few. They also had a day spa, casino and other activities that cost extra money:)

Our first port was Catalina, we made a quick visit to some friends of our from Campus by the Sea and were hooked up by our buddy with a free underwater tour. It was really neat and the water was surprisingly clear, being that it was a rainy day.

Our second Port was Ensenada Mexico, where we opted to take a tour bus to La Bufadora for the Habana Banana Jam with the bluegrass group. We learned some interesting things on our tour... Did you know La Bufadora means buffalo Snout? They have a blow hole off the coast that they are famous for and when the water passes through it, it makes the sound of a buffalo snorting. Also 80% of their agriculture is shipped to California and they are the tequila capital.
We made the trek through a local market place where we picked up a hammock swing for our girls and some nice big Mexican blankets. We had a blast at the Hana Banana restaurant where over 20 musicians played music. I just took pic's, that was my contribution.


Thursday was our day at Sea where Jason and I took advantage of the on board activities. We played Mini-golf, watch a "Newly Wed's and Not so Newly Wed's" game show, ate a fabulous lunch & Dinner then a Musical show called " SHOUT."
It was nice to get away for a couple days, I HIGHLY recommend taking this cruise. It was affordable and the service was INCREDIBLE! We plan on going again next year with our kids and hope that a bunch of our friends and family join us. We have connections to get the group rate;)

Update: Pink Team Don't Be Mad

So I'm on this whole healthy living kick and am taking baby steps in the process. I am working on a new diet, or eating lifestyle, to get back to the way nature intended my diet to be. I made the grocery switch to organic and am working my way out of the Mexican Food/ Fast food market ( my weakness) and trying to eat at home more. I also, with the help of friends, have adapted the weight watchers point system into my diet. Even though I haven't gone full force in my diet/workout routine I've managed to loose 5lbs since Jan 1st 2010! 1 lb a week is good, my goal during the contest is 3lbs per week. We'll see:) I am now 35lbs away from my ultimate goal of 40lbs by June 1st 2010. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

Making the Switch

Jason and I watched the movie Food Inc. last night and now view food differently. I have always known that processed foods are bad for you but the main reason they are created are because they are cheap. The problem being that instead of our demands being for healthy, fresh foods we are making them for cheap, high calorie foods, making the fresh food market more expensive and less desirable. Another big problem which caught my attention is the meat market. Our beef and chicken are raised primarily on corn, it's cheap and helps them bulk up faster... doesn't sound bad at all right? Problem is the E Coli virus is spread because of this unnatural diet and contaminates our food. Even the run off from these cattle farms get into the water supply and contaminate our produce. This is serious stuff and it's happening now! I was seriously freaked out from this video. I am going to do some serious research on where to farm raised, grass fed meats. We are going to try and do our part by buying from local Farmers Markets and cut out fast food consumption. Chipotle, a "fast food" chain prizes themselves in buying fresh farm raised, grass fed meats. I'm going to look into other "healthy" alternative places. I recommend watching the movie, it's an eye opener!