Let´s Get This Ball Rolling....

Ok, my final attempt at losing weight the good ol´fashioned way is started. I really feel motivated but I have felt motivated before. I think what is different this time is I am prepared to run into obstacles. I am prepared to have to battle myself in this fight, because I know that I will be the one who will try and sabotage things as I go. My greatest enemy in this fight is myself and I finally realize this and acknowledge this and am ready to deal with this. I´m prepared and I´m going to do my best. It´s going to be slow going because I really would like to eat whatever I want just smaller portions and exercise. No hocus pocus, no diet shakes, no surgeries, nothing but plus and minus...and the less I put in and the more I burn off the quicker this will go. With that said though I choose the slow and easy road. Hopefully it will be more stabile and allow me to cross the goal line someday. 


I love to make food, I love to bake and I want to keep doing these things but I´m going to focus on healthier alternatives in the weeks ahead. I´d like to share some recipes with you to get us started....the first is a cod recipe I got HERE. 

Made this the other day when Sarah´s boyfriend Pål was visiting and we all liked it but agreed the fish is so good it really doesn´t need the prosciutto. I liked the tomato compote, the kids not so much and the bread stuffing??? Hmmm....again, the fish is so good on it´s own, I don´t think I would go to all this trouble again to serve such a beautiful fish. With that said, perhaps you are wanting to WOW someone and this is a beautiful dish and isn´t bad, so definitely give it a try and decide yourself :-)


I found some old photos from when I was on the Scandinavian version of the Biggest Loser. Here is one from when we first got to Estonia where filming took place:

And here is at the final show:

If only I had seen how far I had come...but my mind wasn´t with me on that journey....and that´s how I ended up back like this again:

But ok...enough dwelling on what was...now we will make this journey again, more prepared for what we will face along the way and more prepared to accept what we find when we get to the end....if we ever get to the end...because I really feel this journey will never end, even if I cross the goal line...I´ll have to always keep going....keep moving, keep working at this. So back to healthy eating....


I remember when I lived in the USA bran muffins were a "healthy" alternative to breakfast...yeah, we Americans eat lots of interesting baked goods for breakfast. In contrast Norwegians also eat a lot of baked goods but mostly bread. I found a great recipe I decided to try out. It looked really interesting and you can find it HERE. Now, I have no idea what happened. If it was the altitude or something the recipe´s originator forgot to include in the recipe or what, but I followed the recipe to a T and ended up with this:

It was still pretty good though. I used Havrekli here in Norway for the bran. My two youngest didn´t want to touch this...too healthy looking for them. My oldest tried it though and she liked it. Never the less there were a lot of muffins left from this and I wasn´t sure if I could freeze them. Anyone know about that one? So we ended up feeding the birds....going to be some healthy birds around here with very healthy digestive systems...hehehehe...


Today I decided to make a chicken soup because it´s cold and it´s been snowing and ugh...I don´t enjoy the snow and cold right now...I want spring and warm and blue skies....but I live in Norway so I accept that I have to live in cold and with snow right now. Nothing, absolutely nothing tastes better then a warm soup on a cold day. I looked up some chicken noodle soup  ideas but they just didn´t tempt me. So I found a recipe I got one year when we were on a Color Line Ferry at Christmas. It was a very blasé recipe...just the ingredients, not really how much or the process. So I had to wing it and used the recipe from colorline kind of as a base. So here is what I did for my chicken soup. 


First I cut up 3 carrots and put them in 1.5 liters of water along with 2 chicken bullion cubes and 1 vegetable bullion. 


Next I cut up about 3 stalks of celery, 1 small yellow onion, 1 small whole garlic, about 1 cup of mushrooms (more or less...if you like mushrooms add more, if not add less...I love mushrooms), 4-5 tomatoes( remove the mushy inside). After chopping all this up I put it in a frying pan with about 2 tbsp olive oil. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over (I used garlic pepper) and I sprinkled a little Spicy curry over...let this sauté slightly before adding to the carrots and broth. Let these veggies simmer together as long as you feel like waiting. The longer they can cuddle together...the better they taste :-)))) 

Next, using your blender- puree the veggies and broth and then run through a strainer. I kept out about 1-2 cups of pureed veggies to put back into the broth that was left after straining the veggies off. Put this all back in the pot, add about 1tsp corn flour blended out in a little light cream. I added 1 tsp garlic chili sauce, 1 tsp sriracha sauce, a little more spicy curry powder and about 4-5 tbsp light cream. Let this slowly cook up while you warm up 2 chicken breast. I cooked them on a low heat under a lid until they just looked cooked through, then tore it apart and added it to the soup pot. At the same time I cooked up enough rice for 2 portions and once that was done I added it to the soup. Let this all simmer a few minutes more and then serve with a good whole grain bread....so delicious with just the right amount of kick...

Oh, one more note,  I thought a little corn might be good in here, so I added a half of a can of corn niblets and the soup seemed a bit thick so I added 2.5 deciliters of water and 1 more chicken bullion cube. 


Next time I blog I´m going to try and share with you my hiking route...where I´m walking. It´s really a gorgeous walk. I think you´ll like it :-) Oh, I´m having a tupperware party on Friday, any suggestions for something healthy to serve instead of cake? Please leave your suggestions in my comment box and THANKS!!! 


Finally I have to share this photo of Nanna Banana...I bought a bed for Cookie and Nanna has been squeezing into it every night....while Cookie sleeps on my bed....hehehehe....she´s so funny this silly Swede! 

Just want to thank you all for your encouragement and kind words at the start of my new journey. Hopefully with your help I´ll be successful at this once again and this time understand how far I´ve come and stay that way! You guys are the best! Aunt Vickie, it was so cool you left a comment! That made my day! Oh- one more share....I´m using this website to find inspiration and motivation in my journey. I highly recommend anyone wanting to join me on this journey to check out Peertrainer. You´ll find support groups, teams you can be a part of, tips, advice, you can log in what you eat, and find ideas for activities. 


Until next time my friends....