My Homemade Chili

My husband and I made a New Year's Resolution, and it was to cook all our meals on Sunday's rather than throughout the week, when we are tired and exhausted. It has been a huge success!

This week I made my chili.

What you need:
1 16 oz can of kidney beans
1 16 oz can of black beans
1 16 oz can of turkey chili mix
1 20 oz can of tomato sauce
1 4 oz can of tomato paste
1 package of ground turkey or ground beef
1 package of chili seasoning

Brown the turkey or beef, then add 1/2 the chili seasoning.
Drain the kidney beans and black beans of the extra juice, then pour them into the crock pot along with the turkey chili, sauce and tomato paste. Add the browned meat, and pour the other half of the chili seasoning into the crock pot. Stir the yummy goodness.

Cook for ~4-6 hours on low. Then consume! I will usually add cheese after it has been cooked. It is also delicious with corn bread!

9 months to gain it, 9 months to lose it!

The first week of January 2012, I found out I was pregnant. I was overjoyed! I definitely let myself go! I did continue to workout, but I ate whatever I wanted! I loved ice cream a lot. I gained 47 pounds at week 40, and I went till 41 weeks- so I know I gained more. Not the most I have heard of, but still quite a lot. I should preface- I am a working, breast feeding, loving mom, and have still been able to lose the weight! There are a few steps I have taken to help me lose the weight!

2 weeks after labor, I had only lost 15 pounds, which was not a lot! That is when I started paying attention to what I ate. I was breast feeding (and still am), so I had to be cautious of under eating. Before the six week mark I counted calories to make sure I was eating enough, and still able to lose weight. Especially since I couldn't work out.

At six weeks I forced myself back to my crossfit gym. It was tough! After having a baby, you just want to sleep. Also, the first workout back was all running - seriously! But I set my mind to it, and went back! Now, my daughter is incredible the gym because she is used to the routine! I am so thankful I went back when I did.

Starting in January, my husband and I started a goal with each other, to make our weeks meals on Sunday. It has truly saved us so much money, and our waist line! We do not go out and get fast food meals when we are exhausted. It has saved us time as well, we are much more free to cuddle and spend time with our daughter during the week. I could also stop calorie counting because I knew I was eating healthy!

These three simple things have helped so much! I have 7 more pounds to lose, and more than three months left to lose it! I do not have a personal trainer, or a cook. It is just hard work! I know the things I have learned and continue to do will teach my daughter a healthy active lifestyle!

Update: I am now three pounds away from my goal, with less than 2 months left! Here are a few updated pictures from the Schmall's Work out - dedicated to a hero who lost his life in Afghanistan. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:
4 Green bell peppers (that can fit a lot when scooped out)
Olive oil
10 white Mushrooms
~2 lbs Ground turkey
Mozzarella cheese
1 cup Wild rice or quinoa

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Scoop out bell peppers, and rub with olive oil
Put bell peppers into 8x8 pan.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until peppers are soft
Cook rice (1 cup rice, 1 cup water).
Brown meat, add spices as you want.
Dice mushrooms, and sauté them.
Combine all ingredients into a bowl and add cheese as you feel necessary
When the peppers are done, put the ingredients into the peppers.
Then, sprinkle cheese on top of the peppers.
Broil the peppers for ~5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

Pizza to Drool Over

Recently, I have found out that I am allergic to gluten. Since my daughter was born I break out in hives whenever I eat gluten. It is just nuts!

One of the things I missed the most was pizza. I am an avid crossfitter, and giving up gluten, meant I was closer to being paleo. But, I cannot seem to give up dairy. I cannot get used to coconut or almond milk. You could easily make this recipe paleo if you substitute the cheese. I just love cheese so much!

Ingredients:
Coconut oil
3 eggs
1 cup coconut milk
Small spoonful of minced garlic
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tbsp baking soda
Sprinkle of garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Cover a cookie sheet with wax paper.
Spread coconut oil on the wax paper.
In a bowl combine, eggs, coconut milk, and garlic, whisk until the ingredients are combined.
Add coconut flour, baking soda, and garlic powder to the bowl.
Whisk until the ingredients are combined.
Spread the, soon to be, crust unto the wax paper.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.
During this time, prepare another cookie sheet with wax paper and coconuts oil.
When it comes out of the oven, let it cool, the, flip the crust onto the new wax paper.
Peel the old wax paper off the crust.
Add whatever ingredients you want onto the crust!
Then broil on low for 10 minutes.
Your pizza will then be ready!

Love Notes

As a 5th grade teacher, I personally feel like Valentine's day cards are overrated, and mean nothing. Also, they are annoying because they are all about candy - which our district is trying to avoid. Thankfully, I have a friend (same friend who helped design the crossfit for kids - she is awesome) who taught me her wonderful way of "love notes."

The first thing I do is create envelopes with my students names on them. They are decorated nicely, and I hang them up before they kids get to school, about a month before (usually after MLK Jr holiday).

Then I explain my feelings about Valentine's Cards, and the point of Valentine's day (to actually show someone you care). So, I tell them that we are going to do something different. We are going to write love notes to each other. I usually get gasps, and ooohs. Then I explain the different types of love, and how we can love someone even if they are just our friends.

Then, I explain what love notes look like. They are compliments to each other. I also tell them that they are going to choose two people at random (I put everyones name twice into a hat). I love when people get someone they just don't like very much, and are forced to find something nice about them. Once they have written to their two people, they can write to whomever they want to. It's fun to see the kids who want to write to everyone.

Then on Valentine's day they get to open their notes - in silence. I make sure they absorb how their classmates view them. Then we discuss how they feel, and which notes made them feel really good. It really is fun to see how the students see their classmates in a new light.

School Adapted Crossfit for Kids

Just so we are clear, I am not a crossfit for kids instructor, but I have been doing crossfit for 2+ years. I am a certified gymnastics coach, and have taught PE for years. Before the beginning of the year, my friend (who also crossfits) that I taught with previously sat down and thought, how can we get our 5th grades in the best shape ever before their physical fitness test. It was a short conversation - Crossfit! Duh! She has been crossfitting for the last year, and together we sat down and made a crossfit program for our 5th graders. Below is the program we created:

Week 1:

Warm-up: 1 lap, 10 Jumping Jacks, Stretch

Skill: Push up with Hand release

WOD:

5 min AMRAP

5 push up with hand release

5 Jumping Jacks

Week 1 Challenge:

100 Jumping Jacks unbroken

Week 2:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Toes to Bar, Pull ups*

WOD:

1 mile for time

*if the whole 5^th grade is here: one class runs the mile the other does the skill, and we switch

Week 2 Challenge:

50 Toes to bar in one session

Week 3:

Warm-up: 1 lap warm-up, Stretch

Skill: Squats

WOD:

10 min AMRAP

10 squats

Sprint across bball court

10 hand release push-ups

Week 3 Challenge:

100 Squats

Week 4:

Warm up: 1 lap warm up, stretch

Skill: bear crawl, broad jump, lunges, and sprint

WOD:            

Team of 4 “The Box”

Start at each corner, first person bear crawls to broad jumper. BrJu to L, L to Sp. Has to go straight to bear crawl

Challenge Week 4:

Run a mile during recess

Week 5:

Team Warm up: 100 meter run, Squats, Push ups, Sit ups, 10 minutes

Skill: Plank hold, Burpees

WOD:

Every minute on the minute Burpees, Plank hold during rest

Week 5 Challenge:

2-minute plank hold

Week 6:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Handstands

WOD: Mile Run for time

Week 6 Challenge:

100 push-ups

Week 7:

Warm up: 1 lap, stretch

Skill: Wall Ball

Partner WOD:

20-30-40

Push ups, sit ups, wall ball

Week 7 Challenge:

50 Burpees

Week 8:

Warm up: 1 lap, stretch

Skill: Yarn Overhead Squats

WOD:

2 Min. AMRAP 1 min. rest between sets

Overhead squats

Push-ups

Sit-ups

“Box” jumps

Week 8 Challenge:

100 Sit-ups

Week 9:

Warm up: Wall ball, plank, “box” jumps, 200 meter run, 10 minutes

Skill: Review push-ups and sit-ups

WOD:

1 minute AMRAP with partner

Sit-ups, Push-ups

Week 9 Challenge:

3X 1 mile

Week 10:

Warm up: Skipping, High Skip, High Knees, Butt kickers, High kick, Lunge

Skill: Pull ups, Toes to bar testing
WOD:

1 mile run for time

Week 10 Challenge:

5 pull-ups unbroken

Week 11 Challenge:

50 box jumps

Week 12 Challenge:

50 inclined push ups (feet up)

Week 13 Challenge:

100 single jump ropes unbroken

or

20 double under jump ropes unbroken

Week 14 Challenge:

50 wall balls

Week 15 Challenge:

Skip around the entire field without stopping

Now you are probably wondering (if you crossfit) what are these challenges? Well, our schools only have so much time to teach PE, and we wanted our students to get out and work out on their own. So, we created a challenge for the week. The students would do this challenge on their own, and either two friends would witness at recess, or their parents could witness at home. This way they are getting an extra day of working out! Pretty smart huh?! After 5 challenges are completed, I give them a reward. 

Now, if you don't crossfit, you are probably wondering what all the acronyms, and half these work outs are. This is my answer - YOUTUBE! Most crossfitters have posted how to do the workouts on you tube. 

What I learned:

After doing the 15 weeks, these are the things I learned: kids HATE AMRAPS, they want to stop and just give up (at least the first couple of weeks until they get what this crossfit thing is). After about week 4, they get it and like AMRAPs a bit better.

Also, it is a lot easier to put running in between movements, for some reason they like that. So if the work out says: (like week 2) 10 squats, 10 hand release push ups. I found that putting running between the squats and push ups broke it up for the kids, and they liked the workout better. Not sure why, but they did. 

 They are HORRIBLE at squats!!! I found that putting them up against a wall - nose facing the wall, helped them a bit. Or if you have a handball court, have them practice the wall sit, and have them sit to the wall sit, then stand up. 

Now that my kids know what they are doing, they really love the program. They have become much stronger! It really is awesome!!

Arts and Comprehension

This year our district has a new leader, and he is amazing. After only a few months of being here, he organized an entire district run buy back day, where every teacher and classified staff met together and were able to "Celebrate each other." Different staff members volunteered and presented on their topic of choice. I was able to attend 3 different presentations, and was able to bring back one idea right away.

This year I am working at a Visual and Performing Arts school, so I decided to go to a presentation based on using the arts to increase comprehension. The basic idea was that we focus on an artist each month, and use different sentence frames that focus on comprehension strategies. I think it helps the students understand comprehension strategies on a level that is easy to talk about. Everyone can discuss a picture.
I am so thankful our district did this!! WAVE!