Taking it slow

Things will be moving a little slow around the Osborne ranch for the next few days. My husband had surgery yesterday so I have assumed the roll of care taker, taxi driver, and pretty much anything else that is thrown my way.
Just after that we are off to Christmas vacation with the family in Arkansas. I will try to post as much as possible and show some fancy recipes.
In the mean time try to stay warm and frugal!

Today’s Blog hop!

 Its Tuesday and that means there is a blog hop going on somewhere :0)! Click on the image above if you want to link up.
If your here for the first time, Welcome and I hope you come back for some awesome recipes and tips on staying healthy on a budget.

Need a new printer?

I don’t normally do this but since The Pioneer Woman is my daily shot of blog espresso I thought it would be fun to share.
She is having her annual Christmas giveaways and today is an HP printer. This thing is amazing. If you would like to enter in this giveaway click on the link below to sign up.
Good Luck!
Click here to enter

My favorite meatloaf – skinny version

I love this recipe and it has become a house favorite. Again this is another one where I’m sure the regular version is melt in your mouth good and if I ever had the Pioneer Woman cook it for me I would probably swear off eating healthy all together! Since that is never going to happen I will settle for the lighter version of this. See below my conversions to make this dish a little on the skinny side:

Instead of:	I used:
Whole milk	1% milk
Regular white bread	Low calorie honey wheat bread
Regular ground beef	93/7 lean ground beef
Fresh parmesan	Reduced fat parmesan

Everything else remains the same.

The complete recipe and original version can be found on The Pioneer Woman’s website here.

Monday Menus

I am struggling lately to make a two week menu plan with my husband home. So I am just taking it one week at a time. This is what I plan for the week.
Sunday – My favorite meatloaf (original version here curtsey Pioneer Woman but see my lean version here), with mashed potatoes and green beans ~~ 2 pts (because of the bacon slices – otherwise it would be 0 points)
Monday – Leftovers ~~ same 2 pts
Tuesday – Grilled stuffed burgers (use lean ground beef) and baked fried potatoes ~~ 4pts (Crumbled bacon bits, Hamburger bun and shredded cheese)
Wednesday – Homemade chicken noodle soup with grilled cheese sandwiches ~~ 5pts (1/2 egg noodles and a slice of cheese)
Thursday – Leftovers ~~ same 5pts
Friday – Taco Night ~~ 1 pt for two tacos!
Saturday – Buffalo chicken wraps and onion potatoes ~~ 4 pts for flour tortilla and shredded cheese

Three cheese stuffed shells

So night before last I made my husbands newest favorite dish, compliments of The Pioneer Woman (Three cheese stuffed shells) but the “healthy version.  Click on the link above to get the full fat version. Below are the conversions I used to knock this down a notch!

Instead of:	I used:
Whole milk ricotta cheese	Part skim milk ricotta cheese
Regular parmesan cheese	Reduced fat parmesan cheese
Regular Romano cheese	Reduced fat Romano cheese
Regular Italian sausage	Reduced fat ground sausage
Regular sugar	Splenda
Regular mozzarella cheese	Fat Free mozzarella cheese

Some might say that this takes away from the ewey gewey goodness but I didn’t feel like I was missing out on a thing!
I also made a baguette loaf and some bruschetta Fresca and you can click here to get that recipe. It is also so yummy!

100~~Almost there!

 I know in the blog world many people have surpassed me but today is my adventure. I am almost to 100 followers woohoo!!! It is a major milestone in my blogging extravaganza. So please link up and join me today to blast through this number.
If you are here for the first time, Welcome and come back soon for some amazing recipes and tips on losing weight and saving money!

Yummy Enchiladas (3pts)

(printable recipe link)

Are you looking for a yummy dinner that is not loaded with fat.
Try Beef enchiladas with fat free refried beans and Uncle Bens Santa Fe rice.
The whole meal only ends up being 3 points.


This is a perfect example of how to take a perfectly normal recipe and turn it into a very healthy choice. 

See below for the adjustments:
Use Lean ground beef 97/3 (or the closest you can find to that)
Soft fry corn tortillas with either Pam spray or Olive oil.
Use Fat free or 2% shredded cheese
Use the Santa Fe rice from Uncle Ben’s that has a brown rice mixture.
Use Fat Free refried beans and top with the same cheese mentioned above.
Top with Fat free sour cream  and black beans if desired.

I haven’t had “full fat” enchiladas in a long time but I bet your bottom dollar that these taste just as good if not even better. By the way, this was my dinner last night~~ yum!

When the new year rolls around

In January, everyone will make their new year resolutions and on the top of that list will be loosing weight. I’ve been there and actually did that!
Now that my life is back to normal for a while I am going to dive back into posting menu plans, shopping trips and daily tips on keeping you thin and saving you a buck or two (or three or four) along the way. Stay tuned for new things in the new year!
In the mean time, enjoy the break from traditions and the random postings of my chaotic mind of the times.

When to start over on a diet?

This seems to be the biggest question I get asked and the biggest question I ask myself. This year I’ve struggled more than last year to stay on top of being in control of eating. I’ve let parties and pies get the best of me. Each week I say “This is it. I’m gonna make it the whole week” By Wednesday, I say fagettaboutit and chuck the food tracking paper in the trash.
Tip of the day:
No matter how many times you “start over” just do it! Its a struggle to lose weight and keep it off believe me but I am here for ya. Just have faith in yourself and know that you deserve the hard work and effort you are putting into it and it WILL pay off.

Today's Blog hop brought to you by…

Its Tuesday! Time for another blog hop. If you are interested in finding awesome blogs, click on the image above.
If your here for the first time, Welcome and I hope you come back often.

Two Christmas parties and a pear tree…

I had two Christmas parties this weekend. Party #1 I was a guest. It was great, amazing, fun, relaxing and the food was good (but the wine was better!). My husband and I were both there and his duty was to take pictures. It was his camera that we took so of course he would take the pictures. He also is a camera hog. Once you give it to him you ain’t gettin it back. So, I thought great idea. He loves to do this and we will get some great photos. Annnnnnt. wrong! Not only did he not take any good photos, the only ones he did take were of the interior decorations of the house! Not one, not one photo of the guests, the host or even the Christmas lights! I was speechless and shocked to say the least.
So we come to Christmas party #2 which I was hosting at my house. Again another night where my husband has the camera and is sure to take lots of pictures because, um well we are at our house. Again, epic failure! He did snap 4 (FOUR) photos and one looong video of the gift exchange game. Despite the lack of proof of the event, it was a major success. Everyone had a fabulous time and the food was superb. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
I was able to snap one photo of my furbaby after everyone left and the house was clean. To say the least, this is what I wanted to do after I realized that the day was over and there were no pictures of the entire weekend ~~ curl up and try to remain incognito!

Manic Mondays

Good Morning Blog Hoppers :)! I love finding new blogs to read. If you would like to join this blog hop click on the image above.
If you are here for the first time, well then Welcome, take your coat off and stay for a while!

Friendly Friday

Happy Friday to ALL! Today is a great day. Its the end of the working week. Its one day closer to Christmas and its FUN FOLLOW Friday! YaY. If you want to jump on the blog hop click on the picture above.
If your here for the first time, Welcome and stick around to find out some tips for eating and saving money!

Take me by the hand…

I am very excited to start the beginning stages of taking my experience to a whole new level. I want to reach out and help more people on a personal level. I am going to offer a new program to anyone who really has the desire to loose weight with the added bonus of learning how to save money at the same time. There will be a fee for my service but it will be worth every penny.
I get so many people that ask me on a consistent basis about how I lost weight and successfully keep it off (giving myself a pat on the back for two successful years). You will get a special 3 hour session with me to personally show you step by step how to get started down the path to loose weight and save money once and for all.
If you live in Central Florida and are interested in getting more information and setting up an appointment please email me at skinnyonadime@yahoo.com or leave a comment with your email address.

Bloggers block!

What do you blog about when your mind is blank?
I wish I had words of wisdom today but all I hear is **crickets**.
I wish I had a great shopping trip to tell you about but my wallet is empty.
I wish I had a good recipe to share but we had homemade soup for dinner.
This morning is dragging for me so hopefully the afternoon will be better but it isn’t looking pretty from here.
I am only thrilled about one thing today and that is that I have Thursday, Friday and Saturday to look forward to!
Hope you have better luck with your day today.