Beautiful Flowers

We had extreme weather again last week which changed some of our plans.  On Thursday evening we were going to the zoo as it was Friends of the Zoo Night and since Jan and I are members we invited some friends to join us.  As the day went on the weather kept getting worse and by the time it was ready to go it was so bad that we thought better and didn't chance it.  Our friends, Chad and Michelle, who live a few blocks away thought it would be a great pizza and movie night so we went to their place instead of the zoo.  The pizza was great, the company was wonderful and the movie was so so, Frank and the Robot, at least I got a nap when it was movie time. 

Friday, Horses of Hope had a Spirit Horse program for women at their Baxter Springs, Kansas facility so Jan picked up Holly and Julie and drove to Kansas (2 hours away) in the morning.  The weather turned bad mid afternoon and the end of the program was cut a little short so everyone could get home safely.  The ladies loaded up and headed home and by the time Jan made it to Holly's house it was so bad that she had to take shelter at Holly's for about 4 hours.  It was raining so hard there Jan said that you could hardly see in front of you and then it started hailing quarter size hail.  While that was taking place here at home the tornado sirens were going off and Abby and I were sitting in the hallway for a while until it stopped.  By the way there was no tornado and Jan finally got home safely. 

With all the rain it seems like I have to mow the lawn twice a week, but there is one benefit I want to share with you, flowers.  Isn't it amazing how our Heavenly Father can bring us such beauty after such a scary time for some, these are some flowers in our back yard.

Green thumb, NOT! just mother nature at her best

I was a happy camper at weigh-in this week as I was down .4. I think I have maintenance worked out and it never felt like I was missing anything this week.  Jan was down well over a pound and was excited to see her success for her efforts this week.

Never sacrifice what you want most,

for what you want in the moment

Since summer is right around the corner, hydration is very important! I know many of you have a very hard time drinking just plain water, so here are a few different recipes for you to try out to jazz up your water!!  Try and make these the day before so you can leave them in the refrigerator overnight.

1) Lemon/Cucumber:
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cucumber and a lemon, thinly sliced + 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped basil leaf + 1/3 of finely chopped fresh mint leaves.

2) Strawberry/Lime or Raspberry/Lime
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 6 strawberries / or Raspberries and one thinly sliced lime + 12 finely chopped fresh mint leaves.

3) Fennel/Citrus
First: infuse 1 to 3 grams of dried and crushed fennel in 150 ml of boiling water for 5-10 minutes. Allow to cool.  Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + lemon juice (put the leftover lemon in the mix) + a small thinly sliced orange + 12 fresh chopped mint leaves + the infusion of fennel seeds.

4) Blackberry/Sage
Note that apart from the berries, sage leafs is the herb that has the highest antioxidant content.  Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cup of blackberries that have been very slightly crushed + 3-4 sage leaves.

5) Watermelon/Rosemary
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cup of watermelon cut into cubes + 2 rosemary stems.

6) Pineapple/Mint
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cup of pineapple cut into cubes + 12 fresh mint leaves finely chopped.

7) Apple/Cinnamon
Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water + 1 cup of apple cut into cubes + 2 cinnamon sticks + 2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon.

8.) Ginger/tea
In advance: heat 1 teaspoon of ginger in two cups of tea, let it cool down.  Mix in a pitcher: 10 cups of water with two cups of the ginger tea + 4-5 pieces of fresh ginger cut into cubes.


For something nice and easy just freeze fruit juice in your ice cube trays and use as ice cubes in your water.

I love this weeks food find for just a quick sweet treat, I get these at Walmart.

Here is this weeks recipe, enjoy.

Grilled Pesto Shrimp Skewers

Servings: 7  Serving Size: 1 skewer • Calories: 180 • Fat: 8.5 g • Protein: 25 g • Carb: 0.5 g • Fiber: 0 g

Ingredients:

·         1 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped

·         1 clove garlic

·         1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

·         3 tbsp olive oil

·         1 1/2 lbs jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (weight after       peeled)

·         kosher salt and fresh pepper to taste

·         7 wooden skewers 

Directions:

In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing.

Combine raw shrimp with pesto and marinate a few hours in a bowl. Soak wooden skewers in water at least 20 minutes (or use metal ones to avoid this step). Thread shrimp onto 7 skewers

Heat an outdoor grill or indoor grill pan over medium-low heat until hot. Be sure the grates are clean and spray lightly with oil. Place the shrimp on the hot grill and cook until shrimp turns pink on the bottom, about 3-4 minutes; turn and continue cooking until shrimp is opaque and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes

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