Recipe: Marry Me Chicken

Today I want to share one of our favorite meals, lately. It’s called “Marry Me Chicken”. We make this dish with whole wheat penne pasta. It’s so delicious and satisfying!

Here’s a the recipe we use, adapted slightly from this link.

Ingredients

3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 

Kosher salt 

Freshly ground black pepper 

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 

1 Tbsp. Dried thyme leaves 

1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 

3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth 

1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan 

1 can of sliced mushrooms

Directions

Step 1 - Preheat oven to 375°. In a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Generously season diced chicken with salt and black pepper and cook, turning halfway through, until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a plate. 

Step 2 - In same skillet over medium heat, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Stir in garlic, thyme, mushrooms, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in broth, tomatoes, cream, and Parmesan; season with salt. Bring to a simmer, then return chicken and any accumulated juices to skillet. 

Step 3 - Arrange chicken on a platter. Spoon sauce over. Transfer to oven. Bake chicken until cooked through 10 to 12 minutes. 

Serve with whole wheat penne pasta. 

Let me know if you try this recipe! We love it!

Baseline Habits

In case you missed the news, we are going to be traveling to visit my sister in Missouri soon! I haven’t yet had to plan for a long road trip with little kids. This is the first time we’ll all be driving for a full day of travel with our kids in the back seat. We are actually going to break the trip up, and sleep over at a hotel halfway to Missouri. This means we will be driving for basically two long 7+ hour days before we even get there.

We are all a little anxious and even more excited! My husband and I bought these seat organizers and we are stuffing them with lots of fun activities for the kids to do while we’re driving. 

In the seat organizers we packed a dry erase board with markers, notepads with pencils and gel pens, sticker books, activity pads with mazes and crossword puzzles, card games like Go Fish and Old Maid, travel bingo cards, coloring book with crayons and more! We are going to install the organizers with all the goodies inside the night before we leave so it will be a surprise for the kids when they get in. We can’t wait!

The planning for the trip has been both fun and exhausting. A lot of my focus has been on planning for the trip lately, and buying all the things we need for the trip. Since my focus has shifted to something out of the ordinary my healthy habits went to baseline habits.

I notice my baseline habits for eating and healthy living aren’t as good as when I’m more focused on creating better habits. At my baseline, I don’t plan ahead meals or track my nutrition, and I don’t drink nearly enough water.

That basically sums up this past weekend when my trip planning was in full swing. This, too, is temporary. I will be able to focus on myself more again, soon. Now that I’m aware of it I can also do my best to focus on myself in the little moments right now. Like today, I am going to try to focus on drinking more water and plan out my meals better. I can still be intentional with myself even when things get more chaotic than usual.

We are feeling very blessed to be planning for this upcoming trip! I am so excited to make memories with our all of our families together soon! I’ll keep you updated!

No Loss No Gain

No loss and no gain this week! I am sticking right around 229 lbs. That’s okay! I’m not sure how much weight I will actually lose this month because I have some news!

Our family will be traveling to visit my sister’s family at some point this month! We are all looking forward to this trip! I know that it will impact my weight-loss efforts because the trip alone involves a 26+ hour car ride round-trip, and meals will be eaten out for the majority of our trip.

Life doesn’t stop just because I’m trying to lose weight, and live healthier. Vacations happen and I’m going to be realistic. I will likely come back with some weight gain but it won’t be permanent. I’ll try and hope for the best but I’ll expect to gain or maintain weight during this upcoming trip.

We are happy to be able to make this trip while my sister’s family is living so close. Prior to living in the States, they were in Japan. We know they may go overseas again someday so we’re grateful to be able to visit them while we can!

Values and Principles

Happy Friday! This was a tricky week to navigate but I ended up doing pretty well overall with staying on track with my goals.

I’m still working my way through the book “The Mountain is You” and it’s brought a lot of good things to light. Yesterday when I was listening (on Audible) they were discussing principals and values. I am going to share some of mine.

I value my long-term physical health, so by principle I will make healthy eating choices 80% of the time; or in other terms, more often than not.

I value my mental health, so by principle I will check in with myself by journaling daily.

I value my spiritual health, so by principle I will pray and ready my Bible daily.

These are just a few examples. By identifying values and principles, it helps avoid being led by feelings when making choices. I mention this because I’m not always going to feel like making the most healthy food choices, but I will because it’s a principle that I do most of the time. I do this because I value my long-term physical health.

Doing this value/principle exercise was helpful because it reminds me of why I’m doing what I’m doing, and why I have set goals in the first place.

Full Day of Food - Wednesday 4/9

I kind of feel like I’ve been hanging by a thread this week. I’ve barely been keeping my eating within my calorie range. I haven’t been drinking all of the water I planned to each day. I have barely been able to wake up as early as I want in the mornings, and I haven’t been journaling each day. My walks have been few and far between, too. 

I realized all of this on Wednesday. So, in effort to help motivate me to stay on track I took a picture of everything I ate, I went for an afternoon walk, and I made sure to drink 120 oz of water. It’s not too late to turn this week around!

Breakfast: French Vanilla Cappuccino; Rye Toast; Ham Omelette (570 calories)

Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Coke Zero (220 calories)

Dinner: Life Group meal - salad, spaghetti and a plate of seconds (750 calories)

Exercise: 15 minutes of walking

Evening Snack: Premier Protein Shake (160 calories)

1700 total calories consumed, which is within my desired calorie range.

Slipping into Old Habits

I’ve been slipping into some old habits that I noticed would often contribute to overeating.

A couple of our friends recommended a new show for my husband and I to watch called “Severance”. We really enjoyed the mystery of it, and would sometimes stay up until 11:30pm watching the show.

In the past, staying up late watching shows also meant eating a late night snack. It became a paired habit. Watching the show late at night was triggering to the habit that was often paired with it. Eating late at night is clearly a habit I want to break, as well as watching shows late at night.

I do know that watching shows late at night will sometimes happen because life is full right now and evenings are often the only chance we get to relax. So, I am going to be aware of not staying up so late but more importantly, if I do stay up late, I will avoid habit pairing with a night snack. Being aware is half of the battle!

Short Term Goals Feed the Long Term Goals

Last week, while we were on a walk, my husband and I talked about making a more long term weigh-loss goal for the next 5 months. We both want to lose 30 pounds by September.

Short term (like monthly goals) are helpful, but when paired or tied in with a longer term goal, I believe that is even more helpful. It helps to know that what I’m doing today isn’t just for this month’s goal, but will contribute to my goal weight for September. 

Since I am around 230 pounds now, my goal weight for September is 200 pounds. I would absolutely love to see that happen, and I’m going to stay focused on this goal, with the help of this blog, and my husband.

When I think of losing 30 more pounds (I lost 10 pounds last month) I get excited! I think about how it will feel physically. Even more important, I think about the health that I will gain from shedding this unnecessary weight. The weight that is holding me back, and putting my God-given good health in jeopardy. I don’t want to risk my health any longer. I want to treat my body well, and appreciate what I have been gifted by taking better care of it.

Week One Weigh-In - April 2025

Today is my first weigh-in for the month of April! I will be weighing in every Friday this month and will likely be reporting in on Mondays.

April 4: 229 lbs.

I have a goal of losing somewhere between 5 - 10 pounds in April. If at the end of these four weeks I end up weighing in at 224 lbs I will be happy! If at the end of these four weeks I end up weighing in at 219 lbs I will be even happier! The nice thing about working within a goal range of weigh-loss is that I’ll be happy either way!

For those of you who have been around since before I started this new chapter in my weight-loss story, you may remember that my lowest weight of my adult life was met a few years ago when I was down to 224 lbs. I really would love to beat my all-time lowest weight of my adult life this month! I know it will feel amazing!

Last week I was struggling with temptation and barely kept my eating within my healthy calorie range. I did it though! I also worked out for 15 minutes, 3x last week! I didn’t meet my goal of drinking 90-120 ounces of water daily, which is something to work on more this week! I did journal every day, which helps me mentally and to stay more aware overall. All of these things I’m working on this month, and I’m so grateful to be doing it!

The Right Action = The Right Feelings

I need to be honest, this was the first week since being back on track with my goals that was a true struggle for me to stay on track. I did it, but it was hard.

The other night I had to hold myself back from eating a late night snack, which usually turns out to be equivalent to another meal in calories and macros. My usual night snack craving is nachos. I really wanted to make some, but I refrained.

Here’s a pic of the tacos I had for dinner this week :)

I am trying to stay aware of not blindly acting on my feelings. I am learning that taking the right action will usually produce the right (good) feelings. 

I am glad that I didn’t blindly follow my feelings the other evening. The reality was that I was feeling tired and wanted a night snack to soothe myself. Since I took the right action by going to bed instead of having a night snack, the next morning I woke up feeling empowered and good.

I’m sharing this as the weekend begins to remind myself to not blindly follow my feelings, and to be more aware as I make decisions. I hope this helps you, too.

Reminder: Keep Going

I don’t have a nice full size mirror at home. I took a picture of myself the last time I was at work because there is a nice large full size mirror in the bathroom there. I was feeling good about my progress and wanted to document it.

It felt good to be in jeans, which is not something I can usually say is true. Losing just 10 pounds has made such a difference and I wanted to share this as a reminder, and motivation for myself to keep going.

Full Day of Food - Monday 3/31

On Monday, I took a picture of everything I ate to help keep me motivated and to help get me back on track after a weekend of eating out a little too often. Mexican food was planned, however, we were invited over to eat with family one evening and friends another and they both treated us to take-out pizza. 

It was great, but it was also too much eating out for my own good. This week, it’s back to cooking at home and I’m glad for it!

Breakfast: Spinach Ham Omelette + Premier Protein Coffee (270 cal)

Lunch: Ham and Turkey Club Wrap + Coke Zero (340 cal)

* I added pickles after taking a bite of my wrap and realizing it was missing something. The pickles made it taste so good!

Afternoon Snacks: Chips + Vanilla Latte (465 cal)

Dinner: Leftover Pizza + Salad (400 cal)

Evening snack: (2) Andes chocolates (80 cal)

At 1,555 calories for the day, it was a great day of eating within my calorie range while still being totally satisfied!

April 2025 Goals

Happy first day of April! It’s time to plant some seeds, and tend to the garden; preparing it for the season ahead. This is one of my favorite hobbies! It takes a lot of time and energy but it’s always worth it. I learn new things in the garden every year. 

We also have been raising baby chicks since February. It’s almost time to move them out to the coop! Spring is an exciting time!

Since it’s a new month, I wanted to share my goals and intentions for April.

April Weight-Loss Goal: 5 - 10 lbs

Last month I lost 10 pounds. That had a lot to do with shifting away from some bad habits and starting new ones. Most effective, I tracked my nutrition 5/7 days each week and drank 90-120oz of water each day! As my body gets used to my healthier new habits, I am sure my weight loss will slow down a bit. This is why my weight-loss goal in April is in a range of 5 - 10 lbs instead of a firm amount.

April Intentions:

• Journal every day, before bed.
• Track nutrition 5 - 7 days/week.
• Drink 90-120 oz water, every day.
• Wake up between 5:45-6:30 on the week days.
• Walk for 15 - 30 minutes 3x/week.

I haven’t really added anything new to my intentions for the month of April that I wasn’t already intending on doing in March. This is because I know I will be adding more to my plate this month as the weather shifts and the garden will demand more of my intention. I just know it’s going to be a beautiful month, and I can’t wait to share how it all goes!

10 Pounds Down in March

It’s the last day of March and so today I will be sharing my last weight-loss update of the month!

Weigh-in’s 

March 1: 240lbs. 

March 7: 237lbs. 

March 14: 233lbs. 

March 21: 231lbs.

March 28: 229lbs.

I reached my goal of losing 10 pounds in March! I am so excited and proud of myself! I did it without any intense restriction in my diet. I just balanced my meals to stick within calories and macro nutrients most of the time! I’d say I tracked my food every 5 out of 7 days a week this month.

I have already noticed some nice changes after losing 10 pounds. I went for a walk at the park with my daughters the other day. It was chilly so I put on my coat and when I went to zip it up I felt less bulky in general. I could tell there was more room than before. That was a nice feeling! My jeans are also fitting much nicer than before.

This weekend, I enjoyed my 10 pound weight loss reward. I treated myself to a spa pedicure! I’d like to continue to reward myself for every 10 pounds lost.

Tomorrow begins a new month, and with a new month comes new goals! I will be sharing more about my April goals in my next post. See you then!

TGIF + Weekend Plans

Thank God it’s Friday! We have no plans tonight but we are thinking about going swimming as a family at the YMCA this evening.

Tomorrow, I’ll probably start a loaf of sourdough. I typically do that on Saturdays. I am also scheduled for a spa pedicure! I finally decided that this will be my reward for losing 10 pounds in March! My last official weigh-in for March will be posted on Monday.

On Sunday, we are likely purchasing a new washer and dryer. The washer has been getting stuck in the middle of its “wash” cycle for weeks now, which is very annoying. I have to switch the mode to “drain and spin” in order to finish the load. Our dryer has recently gotten extremely loud and so it looks like they are both at the end of their life cycle. It’s unfortunate because the washer and dryer are only 5 years old. Our current set is Maytag. We are looking to switch to Samsung, possibly. We still have a few days to decide!

All week we have been looking forward to ordering Mexican for dinner sometime this weekend. We were ordering Mexican weekly for a time this winter, but we haven’t ordered out Mexican in a while and so it feels really special now. We can’t wait!

These are all of the exciting things we have planned for this weekend! How about you? I hope it’s great and I’ll catch up with you on Monday!

Sausage Mushroom and Caper Omelet

I came up with a new recipe for myself at breakfast yesterday. I couldn’t think of anything that sounded good to eat, so I was just looking around in our pantry and fridge trying to decide what I wanted to eat. That’s when I saw the capers that I had bought for dinner and had an idea to incorporate them into an omelet.

I love capers but I’ve only really had them in chicken piccata or a lemon caper fish dish. I wasn’t sure if they would be good in an omelet but, I gave it a try and I’m really glad that I did!

I started by adding a couple tablespoons of mushrooms and crumble sausage to the pan. After I heated that up and tossed it around a bit, I added one scrambled egg and one egg white. I sprinkled a tsp of capers on top of the eggs and cooked it like you could an omelet. 

The flavor combination was exactly what I was hoping for! I am glad to have a new reason to make capers a regular pantry staple in our house!

Nutrition info: 150 calories; 11 grams protein; 2 grams carbs; 10 grams fat

Date Night Recap: Bridge Street Tavern

It’s mid-week and I’m thinking now would be a good time for a date night recap. My husband and I try to go on date nights as often as we can, usually on Friday nights.

Depending on how much time we’ve gotten together as a family, we will sometimes use Friday nights for “family date nights” and will include the kids. Most of our family date nights have been spent swimming indoors at the YMCA this winter.

Last Friday was a date night for just my husband and I. We went back to the harbor in Ashtabula, and we tried a new restaurant. We are hoping to try as many restaurants on the harbor as we can this year!

This time, we went to the Bridge Street Tavern. We were in a snacky mood so we ordered a pub pretzel, onion rings, and chicken wings. We split the wings and got 6 orange Thai chili, and 6 maple bbq. Everything was amazing!

After dinner, we walked over to the coffee shop before they closed. Nick got an iced matcha and I got a king cake latte.

Since the coffee shop was closing, we drove around the area and found the cutest beach with a beautiful view of the sunset.

It was the best way to end our evening!

Recovering from the Stomach Bug

Happy Tuesday! Yesterday was all about getting back in the swing of things after being down with the stomach bug on Sunday. The sickness lasted less than 24 hours, thankfully.

Even though my eating wasn’t completely back to normal yesterday I still tracked what I ate and worked on getting a gallon of water in. Hydration is always important but especially after having a stomach bug!

My husband got me a Bai water to help with my hydration, which was so sweet of him! Bai waters are great for hydration but they are a little too sweet for my taste. I still love them! I just pour half of the Bai water into a cup and add equal parts water. By doing this I essentially get two drinks in one, and they aren’t as sweet this way!

I mostly snacked throughout the day on crackers and bread because I knew that my stomach could handle it. My first real, balanced meal was dinner last night and I was so happy to be eating good food again.

I didn’t go for a walk yesterday since my energy was still low, but I hope to start incorporating walks into my days again sometime this week! I’ve noticed all I need is 15 minutes of walking in the afternoon and it gives me a wonderful second wind to get me through the day!

With April being one week away, I am starting to think of what goals and actions I want to prioritize for the month. I do believe walking will be something I prioritize more in the month of April. I wasn’t completely consistent with my walking in March, but I did it often enough to know how much better I feel when I complete a walk and I know it’s something I want to keep doing in April!

Nobody Wants to Lose Just 1 Pound

Nobody wants to lose just one pound, until they’re just one pound away from their goal! That’s where I’m at, and with plenty of time to spare.

Weigh-in’s 

March 1: 240lbs. 

March 7: 237lbs. 

March 14: 233lbs.

March 21: 231lbs.

I know I’ll be reaching my 10 pound weight-loss goal anytime now. The new goal now is to keep the weight off for the remainder of March, and to not lose steam in April. I want to keep losing!

Sunset from date night on Friday - I’ll hopefully post about it soon!

It’s also time to start thinking about what I want my weight-loss reward to be. I mentioned earlier in the month that I want to reward myself for every 10 pounds lost. I’m still thinking on what the reward will be.

Meal plan for this week:

Sunday: Chili + Sourdough

Monday: Egg Roll Bowls

Tuesday: Chicken Sausage + Roast Veg + Potatoes

Wednesday: Slow Mexi Chicken

Thursday: Lemon Caper Fish + Pasta + Salad

Friday: OTE

I actually didn’t eat or make dinner last night so the Chili that was scheduled for Sunday can wait for next weekend or be used as a fill in on a day when I’d rather have that for dinner than what’s on the menu.

The stomach bug that has been going through our house finally caught up to me, Sunday morning. My husband joked that now I’ll really meet my weight-loss goal. Truth be told I usually either gain weight or stay around the same weight when I’m sick and recovering. I think it’s because I eat a lot more carbs than I’m used to since that’s typically accepted by my stomach during and after having the stomach bug. Time will tell! All I care about right now is feeling better and getting back some of my energy!

Every Day is a Treat

Happy Friday! It’s date night with my husband tonight and so I will not be tracking my nutrition today. I’m also not going to use date night as an excuse to go too overboard with my eating. I’m just not tracking what I eat today.

Although I’m not tracking my nutrition today, I will still be tracking and aiming for a full gallon of water. I will also be walking for 15 minutes on the treadmill (or outside, depending on how the day goes).

My goal in general is to track my nutrition for 5/7 days a week. This doesn’t mean that I undo all of my progress in those two days off from tracking just because I don’t have to track what I eat.

I also should mention that I don’t like to call these days off from tracking nutrition “treat days” because I actually enjoy treats every day.

It might be more accurate for me to say that every day is a treat! I don’t limit treats in my every day diet, I just eat in moderation and take balance into consideration more often than not. 80/20.

Thanks for stopping by today! Stop back on Monday for my weigh-in results from this morning and my thoughts about it all!

What I Ate: Tuesday 3/18

Happy Thursday! Today, I’m sharing everything I ate on Tuesday because I actually remembered to take photos of everything I ate that day.

My daughters were home from school and so I had some extra time that morning to make bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast.

Breakfast: 254 calories

We had one of Laney’s friends and her mom over for lunch and a playdate on Tuesday, so we kept the meal kid-friendly with mac-n-cheese and chicken tenders.

Lunch: 333 calories

After the play date, we needed to go into town to visit the optometrist office to get Piper’s lenses swapped out in her glasses. It’s about mid-way through the year when we like to take advantage of the free lens replacement. Piper said everything looked so much more clear afterward. That was nice to hear!

We stopped by Tim Horton’s while we were out and got ourselves an afternoon snack. The girls each got two Timbits and I got myself a medium vanilla cream cold brew with cold foam.

Afternoon Snack: 410 calories

For dinner, we had chicken sausage links with leftover mac, cottage cheese and some raw bell peppers. This meal was super filling, and decent on calories and macro balance.

Dinner: 359 calories

Evening Snack: 160 calories premier protein shake + 140 calories (2) Tagalong cookies

Tuesday’s total: 1,656 calories

I stayed within calories on Tuesday and felt satisfied! I also got in a full gallon of water! I haven’t had my own water bottle for quite some time now. So, I bought myself a new $4 water bottle from Walmart the other day and I love it!

Water Intake: 120 ounces 

I believe my new water bottle is giving me more incentive to drink water more often. Sometimes it’s the little things that help the most!

The Little House on the Prairie

If you remember a few posts ago I mentioned that my husband and I stayed up too late watching The Little House on the Prairie. I am surprised that we both equally enjoy the show, but I don’t think I should be surprised because we are both enjoy the simple things in life and that’s what the show is mostly about.

My oldest daughter, who is now 10 years old, watched the first episode with us. Now, we’re reading the book together each night before bed. She is an excellent reader and could definitely read this book by herself, but it’s been more special for us both for me to read it out loud to her.

There’s something about having a 10 year old that has made me so keenly aware of how fast childhood goes by. Motherhood in this regard is bittersweet. 

Having our children grow up is the goal, but it’s hard to know these days are so fleeting. Especially when they are so beautiful. We’ve been savoring these days, and reading together before bed is one of the ways we do that even more.

I hope she always remembers when I’d read to her before bed. These are some of my most cherished memories, and they’re currently in the making. God is good.