Clean Eating

I tried a new recipe this evening from the Clean Eating Magazine, Pork Tenderloin with pineapple. It was a huge hit for the whole family. I will most definitely be adding this to our regular meal plan. Easy and doable, not too many ingredients and healthy.

Pork Tenderloin with pineapple serves 8

Ingredients:

1lb Pork Tenderloin

Olive oil cooking spray

1 pineapple, cored, peeled, and cut into 1/2 - inch pieces

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp real maple sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

One: Preheat Oven to 375F. Rinse tenderloin under cool running water and lightly dab dry with paper towel.

Two: Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and mist quickly with cooking spray. Place tenderloin in skillet and sear on each side until golden brown, about 3-4 minutes total. Remove tenderloin and place in baking dish.

Three: Immediately pour pineapple into hot skillet and saute for about 3 minutes, stirring once or twice as pineapple browns slightly. Meanwhile, stir together vinegar and maple syrup in a small bowl, and add to pineapple. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1 minute.

Four: Pour pineapple-syrup mixture over tenderloin;then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in preheated oven and bake for 40-45 minutes, until juices are only slightly pink in the middle.

Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into 1-inch slices and serve with roasted pineapples on the side.

Calories 290, total fat: 4g, Sat fat: 1g, carbs: 34g, fiber: 3g, sugars: 26g, protein: 31g, sodium: 213mg, cholesterol: 82mg

Little bit country

This kid is full of surprises. The flags were supposed to be for the flower pots, but the kids seems to think otherwise. This afternoon Lil T comes waltzing shirtless, undies hanging out of his jeans, camo hat and the flag...talk about identity crisis. Little bit country, little bit army, little bit YMCA? crazy kid.

I did manage to snap some eye contact, which is rare in our house!

So proud of the kids

Granted the kids have only been at this new school for 2 months. Today was report card day and they didn't dissappoint. It's no secret the kids have had a really tough time with all the changes at home unfortunatley it was showing at school. All three are thriving now and it helps that we as parents are in a much more stable envirnoment and are able to really focus on the kids needs.

Today was the last day of school, Yeah!!!! Rain or shine we are going to have a wonderful summer regardless of what Mother Nature has in store for us!

I gotta a feeling...

that tonight's gonna be a good night...

Hahaha, I love that song by the Black Eyed Peas!

I'm feeling great! We're finally in a better season of life. Much credit goes to getting back to a fitness routine and back to healthier eating. My mom passed on her past issues of Clean Eating Magazine and I'm having a blast going through some of the recipes. Some are pretty good, others, um mm not so much! Just like with all new recipes it's all trial and error.

Tonight's menu, roasted red potatoes, zucchini, bell peppers and onion with a little bit of balsamic vinegar. Grilled flank steak on the Kamado (ceramic coal bbq) and green salad.

Exercise for the day....long walk with the dog this morning, and another walk this evening. I would normally go to the gym, but since the sun is acutally out, I'd much rather get some fresh air and Harley needs at least one good walk a day. In this case, it's a win win for both of us!

I forgot to mention we have a new addition to our family....meet Harley. We found him at the humane society about 2 weeks ago. and fell in love. He's a 2 yr old lab mix. The kids are in love and he loves them right back. He's incredibily mellow and well behaved. He has one major issue, separation anxiety, BIG TIME. So bad, that he broke out of his wire crate, busted down the door on the crate, not once, 3 times! He's not a chewer, but he paws at the door to get out and cry and whines for us to come home. He's jumped over a 5 ft chain link fence, just to get to me on the other side (I was just going to get the mail). The only time he misbehaves is when we leave him alone.

We assumed since he was so cooperative the first few days that he was already crate trained but now we're rethinking that. At this point I'm working on crate training him. I have a lot of work with him, thankfullly it's summertime and I have the time. I'm also working with him on rewards when I leave the room and he stays put. Right now we're at 45 seconds up from 0.....like a said lots of work, the internet has a vast amount of information on separation anixiety so I'm hoping I can get this dog to his happy place!

Healing those broken wings

This week a huge weight has been lifted. Our foreclosure was the last of the big events in our perfect storm. As of this week we are legally done with the "B" home. While it's heartbreaking walk away, there were so many wonderful memories in that home, but also so many painful ones that remind us of a very tumultuous time in our marriage and it's healing to move forward.

The last few years I've been mending my wings but today, I feel as if those broken wings are mended. I'm ready for take off.

Kids start summer break next week. After living the last few summers in survival mode, I'm really excited to have an action packed summer with the kids.

Ballard Locks

I ♥ Washington! I've lived my entire life here and I'm continually amazed by it's beauty! Now having kids of my own, it's so much fun getting to rediscover places from my youth and discovering new places.

I'll post more photos from our last few outings (Ballard Locks, Des Moines Marina, Museum of Flight), I've somehow managed to misplace them in LR.