Some Christmas pictures and Thursday happenings!

A while back when it was Christmas I meant to show you some pictures of my presents that I got and I just forgot soooooo here you go! 

My Keurig tea/coffee pot LOVE LOVE LOVE! 

                                                     
      My PRIZE the I have dreamed of this forever gift. My beautiful RED Kitchen Aid mixer! I cried yall! There were tears!                                                                

            Pink 3ds! Love and yes I am addicted to it! 

                                     
  3 pre-seasoned iron skillets! LOVE!

 Today I went to the grocery store to get the next week's worth of groceries... got to say I like shopping for 7 days at a time versus two weeks. Anyway wanted to show you how I do some things to help cut down on time in the week. First of all I have a menu that I plan so I know already in advance what we will be having for dinner every night and what is available for lunch and breakfast if wanted. I want to get in practice so when we have children this will just be routine for me. 

I also chop all my vegtables up like my peppers, strawberries, and ect..... that way I can grab and go. I always buy two roasted chickens and de-bone them for quick recipes or soups through out the week.

I buy spinach raw and organic half and half mix salad which has arugula, spinach, red lettuce and a few other kinds in it. This is really good. I just slip it into a zip lock back and as I close I squeeze all the air out of the bag. It helps the lettuce last longer. 

It just makes it easier for you to fix dinners and less excuse for why you can't make some at home. Also if you like salt you fine grade sea salt it is much better than regular salt but still don't go crazy with it either! 
Tonight for dinner we had chicken burgers and baked sweet potato fries. Recipe is below the picture but man they were good! Excellent tast and trust me you won't miss the beef! Try them once before you decide! 

 Sassy chicken burgers (my title)

1 pack of ground chicken 
seasonings(salt,pepper, soul seasoning, red pepper flakes, garlic power and onion power)
***use as much of the seasoning or as little all up to you****
2 sweet red bell peppers either in jar or fresh chopped little
1 garlic cloves chopped fine
1 egg
1/4 cup panko seasoning i  use whole wheat
Mix all this together NOTE it will be loose and sticky so don't be alarmed. Be sure to add the egg and panko to this mixture as well! 
Form your patties and wrap in tin foil and put in freezer for about 20 mint so that get just a little firm. 
Take out of freezer and pan fry or bake. I pan fry mine with a little olive oil. Till done but still juicy and tender.  
We add spinach, tomato's and thin slice of mozzarella cheese as well as light may, mustard and a little ketchup. 
Whole wheat bun. 

We usually do all sweet potatoes bake fries but we only had one sweet potatoes so i did it with 2 red potatos as well. Everything on my plate there is around 10 pts for all of it! 

Now on to something else I did my workout for the first time tonight and I was excited to get through it! Little baby steps folks little baby steps. I hope that you are all having a great week and looking forward to a good weekend. Looks like we may be getting some freezing rain tonight. Curious to see what actually happens. 
Much love to you all! 
Francine 

Hey Y'all! How's it going??? Everybody had a pretty good week??? Did you exercise and eat healthy? Just checking on ya! Yesterday and today were my day's off.. yeah I know my work schedule stinks! Just trusting God will open another door soon and just thankful for right now I have a job! So yesterday I was really excited because typically when I wake up I am sluggish and tired and have 0 energy! Yesterday I woke up and I had some energy. I cleaned my whole house and it felt great! I was just go go go all day long. It has been a long time since I did that! Last night I made Shrimp Quesadillas ww points of 10 for two with 2 tbl of sour cream and salsa.. they were delish.
I have been asked for the recipe so here it is:

Shrimp Quesadillas:

4 med whole wheat flour tortillas
3/4 lbs of shrimp deveined ( i buy the frozen ones at Walmart for like $5.00)
2 cups of spinach (raw)
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 onion chopped
mozzarella cheese

Directions :
Take the shrimp and cut in half than put in a pan with a little E.V.O.O like a tbs  let heat up a tad and than add the shrimp. With the shrimp add a pinch of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and Cajun or soul seasoning. This can be as much or as little as you want. We like things hot so we went a little hotter you may not. Let that cook, tossing often till shrimp is done. Put into a bowl and set to the side.

Next add the garlic and onion to the pan and let cook till onion is tender and done and garlic is smelling. Than add the spinach and let cook down be sure to lower the heat as you do not want to burn the spinach.
Once that is cooked down than turn set aside.

Pull out a flour tortilla be sure to put a little spray in the pan to avoid burning or sticking than add a spoonful of shrimp and spinach mixture and a tbl of mozzarella cheese on one side. When one side is done flip to the other side till done.

You can add 2 tbs of reg sour cream and some salsa to this if you like.

10 pt  for two with salsa and sour cream. ENJOY!

You will be surprised how filling it is! I loved it and chad did too!

OK that was it for last night!
Much love to you all!
Francine Howell

I am currently sitting in my office looking around thinking to myself there is A LOT of stuff that I need to do. Have you ever felt like you new what you wanted to do but you just weren't sure how to do it? Or is that just me...I am seriously hoping not! Anyway I had a chat/phone call discussion with my cool cuz Sharon and I might add one of my dearest friends about "depression and feeling over whelmed" we are both currently dealing with a lot of things in our lives and at a phase where we feel like we just aren't happy with the way everything is. Yes i do realize that change takes time I just did a post on that but that does not mean that I jump up and down and get all excited about feeling uncomfortable it just means that I am trying really hard to deal with this the best way I can BUT I still get times of frustration. Anyway another dear friend of mine sent me some reference verses and I thought I would share them here with all of you in case you amazing people ever have down times or need a word to lift you up. So here we go.

Deuteronomy 31:8- The lord himself will go before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. 

Deuteronomy 33:27- The eternal God is your refuse; and underneath are the everlasting arms. 

Ecclesiastes 9:4- Anyone who is among the living has hope. 

Psalm 62:5- Find rest o my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. 

Proverbs 12:25- Anxiety in a mans heart weighs it down (depression), but a good word cheers it up. 

Just a few of the verses shared with me.. there are more and if you would like those let me know and I will be happy to email all of them to you. It would be my pleasure. 

The fact is that as Christian Women we struggle daily to live up to what we think we should be, what our other half thinks we should be, what the world thinks we should be and so on and son on. When really and truly we should only live up to what GOD thinks we should be. Yes I know , I know that is a lot easier said than done I am right there with you TRUST ME! 

So my hope is that as I grow closer to the Lord this year (which is one of my New Year's Eve goals) and learn new and encouraging things that I can share them here with you all and that if you have something inspiring that you have come across or learned that you will share it with me. We are ladies learning together and growing together. 

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Before I close I did want to update with my info on weight watchers thus far. I started on it and have been actively doing it for about a week and thus far have lost around 10 lbs. NOT bad ! I am thinking a lot of this is probably water and fluids but hey I will take weight loss wherever I can find it. Also I am waiting on my Jillian Michael DVDs to get here so I can start them but I am going to do some basic exercises until than. I will share my exercise plan tomorrow for that. So I encourage you to continue on your healthy journey and come along with me as I learn and grow and share. 
The journey is just beginning and it is going to be so much fun! I hope you come along for the ride. 

Much love to you all, 

Francine 

It's a new week!

It is a new day and a new week! Praise the Lord for a new week! 

Although I am in a place in my life where I feel God is making me uncomfortable only because he wants me to stay alert "not get to comfortable" just yet because I have to stay on top of things in order for changes to continue to happen. I fight things everyday but every day I fight and GOD and I win its one less day I have to fight that battle again. I look at my life and I am so blessed...I live in a beautiful home, I have an amazing fiance, great friends and family, I have a job which in itself is huge in this economy, and I have HOPE for a brighter future and more. GOD has given me promises for a better life ahead and I am excited about where that will lead me. 

I choose to surround my self with different tools that will allow me to grow and learn as I go through this process of  "loosing weight" and "growing closer to God" 

Over the course of the next few days I will share some links, bible verses and more with you that you can also use if you like. I will also carry you with me through my journey and I hope you will stay and go along on the ride with me.. You are more than welcome to come! 

For today I am leaving this simple thought because it is what just continues to go through my head. 

IT IS NOT ABOUT ME and what I can do IT is about GOD and what HE can do THROUGH ME! 

I fail to many times for it to be about me...... I need God every step of the way I can not do this alone! 

much love to you all, 
Francine 

In the past I have had people ask me how to comment on my blog. I wanted to explain how that works for you so that if you feel led to comment which i might add, I DO hope you do because I want to hear from all of you who are reading this blog. 

So to comment on my blog you simply do the following : 

1) Click the comments section. 
2) write out your comment 
3)click publish 
4) it will ask you to probably sign in to your Google account if you have one if you don't  it should give you a second option. 
5) done 

PLEASE if you have any problems with this let me know... I want to hear from YOU and I want you to feel free to share with me your thoughts and feelings. 

I will be back in just a bit to post my "Sunday post" 

Much love to you all! 
Francine 

Change does not come easy....it is not something that will come without a fight and it is not something that will happen over night. Removing something from your life that has been there for almost your whole life requires fighting to remove it. It requires you putting forth all that is in you and laying all your faith in GOD'S hands that he can and will help you every step of the way....Change does not come easy BUT it DOES come! 

There are so many things changing happening in my life that at times I feel like I am ok and  at times I feel like I am fighting the battle of a lifetime. I don't feel that I will loose I just know I have to find a way to keep fighting to get where I so desire to be. If change does not come I will never be able to look at myself in the mirror and truly be happy and I will never be able to have that baby I so desire to have. Change is not an option for me CHANGE IS A MUST. No addiction to food of any kind is worth me loosing the opportunity to have a child. NONE! 

So this year I have made some steps towards really huge changes that include the following: 
1) I joined Weight Watchers (best decision i ever made)
2) I purchased the Jillian Michaels work out dvd's. 
3) I am plugging into my bible more. 
4) I am locking the door to my past and throwing the key away I do not have time for anyone that use to be in my life. 
5) I have accepted that I am a christian but I am not perfect....and unlike many "Christians" I know of I am OK with that and prefer to NOT act like I never make a mistake. FOLKS I mess up , I fall, I fail and I let people down BUT it doesn't change the fact that I am a christian and I love God with all my heart and I can accept that I am not perfect. Please don't ever think I am ! 

So I have decided to share my story of what will happen and include you in my thoughts and share my ups and downs of this journey. I do hope you will join me and share with me as well and that together we can all end up happier, healthier and closer to God. 

Love to you all, 
Francine