I'm Ba-a-a-a-ack!

  So, after a whole weekend of silence, I'm back. Have you ever had one of those days where you have all of these plans and you accomplish none of them? Yeah? Well, that was my entire weekend. That's not to say it was a bad weekend. Far from it! But, I accomplished nothing I wanted to.

 Friday evening was fine and all. I made this awesome chicken and stuffing casserole. You cut up raw chicken into bite-sized pieces and cover the bottom of a casserole dish with them. Then you take a can or two of either Healthy Request cream of chicken or mushroom soup and spread over the top of the chicken. The recipe actually calls for you adding 1/3 cup of fat free sour cream to the "cream of" business, but I always skip that step. This time I actually mixed cream of chicken and mushroom together. Ok, in the meantime, you take a box of stuffing and pour it into a bowl with 1 and 2/3 cups of very hot water and let that stand about 5 minutes. You spread the stuffing all over the top of the "cream of business" and bake it for about 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees. Super yummy, super filling, super low fat! Heats up well the next day too.

  I also sliced a zucchini up and "fried" it in some Pam. Actually, I took some Pam for baking (because it has flour in it) spraying the slices front and back, dipped them quickly in some flour (it stuck because of the spray) and "fried" in some Pam. Good eats!

 Enter: Saturday. Well, the mom and grandma came to town to take me to Red Lobster for my birthday (which is today). I didn't go overboard at all and walked away very proud of myself. I didn't feel over-full at all and that's saying a lot because, well, IT'S RED LOBSTER FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. I have no recollection right now of what I had for dinner Saturday night, but I did not end up having time to make any squash recipes because of said visit from the folks and the light shopping that followed.

 Enter: Sunday. Ok, so we had the best of intentions, right? Get up, go to church, come home and read the paper. I still needed to secure some spaghetti squash for my squash-fest so I would go to the grocery store, come home, and start whipping up some squash-tastic recipes. (heh heh) Well, Saturday night Lainie fussed on and off until after 2 in the morning. So, her exhausted parents skipped church (whoever those hethens are- tisk tisk- ok it was us) and lounged about all morning. Robb ran to get a paper and some breakfast from Hardees. Yes, I said Hardees. Yes, I did have biscuits and gravy. Yes, I also had hashrounds. Yes, I felt very guilty about said biscuits, gravy, and hashrounds. Well, Robb said because he is starting the healthy eating adventure with me as of Monday (yesterday) morning, he wanted to go out with a bang. (Yes, feeble attempt at a justification, but there you have it.) This is about the time that he concocted dinner plans that included Cracker Barrell. My knees wobbled and I accepted. I got ready and went to the grocery store (securing said spaghetti squash- finally!) and got home in the knick of time to go visit Bella. We left her house and went to CB, which was fan-flippin'-tastic, if I did splurge so myself. Again, I did not eat until the button shot off my pants and injured someone, so I felt a bit victorious. I picked up a few presents in the gift shop and we went home, the thoughts of a new day before us.

  Enter: Monday. The plan of action was to spend the morning cleaning whlie Robb was still at home to keep an eye on the Lainie-bug. Then I was going to spend the entire afternoon in my squash laboratory, experimenting with new recipes. Well, most of the cleaning got done. I fed Lainie lunch and was going to get her down for a nap while I started working on the squash. I picked her up from her high chair and she was burning up. I took her temp and she was running a fever. She was also getting a bit fussy. So I sat down and held her and rubbed her head and she slept on and off for about 4 hours while I held her. I wanted her to rest and knew she wouldn't if I laid her down. She woke up around 5:30 and seemed a relatively happy, if not still half asleep, baby and began to play. Well, by that time my plans were shot and I didn't even cook dinner. Actually, I have to back up slightly. Around 11, I was starving and decided to make a Home Run pizza (best pizza ever) and I figured on having 2 slices for 4 pts each and then having a feast of squash for dinner. Well, 2 slices turned into 3. Then 4, as if maybe I was a bottomless pit of hunger. After Lainie woke up I started cleaning a bit more and had a slice of pizza while I worked away. At 7, when I realized I had given up all hope of making any type of dinner, I ate the last 3 pieces. Yes, I consumed an entire pizza (frozen pizza so not ginormous or anything- sad attempts to justify here, no?). So, 8 slices of pizza at 4 pts a pop and I was over my daily points. Of course, there are always flexers available, but it still disheartens me so.

 But, today is a fresh start for me. So far, so good. As of today I'm 29 years old (oh, yes I am- granted it's like the 3rd anniversary, but I'm still 29) and this is my year. I just know it. And that squash fest will happen this week, have no fears. I will report back!

 Happy Tuesday! Tommorrow is Weighs-Day. Expecting another gain, but maybe in the spirit of my birthday the scales will decide not to be cruel to a heart that's true. If only.