Mondays… Are awesome!

Yep, that’s right. I said, err, typed it. Mondays are awesome! Personally, I choose to not dread the beginning of a new week, but instead embrace it. It is a chance to start over, to get back up and try again, work off that weekend bbq indulgence, or that night out on the town. For me however, it’s just another day. We’re not weekend party people. We just chill, or not, around the house. Whether it’s cleaning, yard work, whatever, we just stay home.
I’d have to say that the hardest part of my Monday is waking my son up for school. He does not enjoy waking up early. To be honest, it wasn’t that long ago that I didn’t like it either. That’s all changed now, though. Don’t ask why because I have no idea. Sleeping past 8am on Saturday is huge these days! I guess I’m finally growing up. 🙂
I was very proud of my daughter this morning. She’s almost 14, and sometimes it can be tough to get her to eat breakfast before school. (I’m sure next year will be harder… high school) So I tend to keep quick and easy options around to help entice her like breakfast bars along with the normal breakfast staples such as cereal, eggs, bagels, etc. and always fresh fruit. When she got out of bed and came into the kitchen I went into my normal ramblings, listing all the things I can think of, including but not limited to oatmeal to go square thing, granola bar, cereal… hoping that one of them will sound good enough for her to eat. None of them did. But, as she was walking back to her room she stopped! She turned and asked, “Would you make me some actual oatmeal with strawberries?” I laughed… “actual oatmeal”. I was thrilled, though! I’ll make that girl “actual oatmeal” everyday if it means she’s leaving here with some nutrition in her! I felt victorious, and so did she when it was time to eat and she pointed out how I was leading her to making a not-so-healthy choice and she chose oatmeal and fruit. That’s my girl! 😉

My son had poptarts that he bought and has stashed in his room.

My Monday breakfast was a new smoothie! I purchased some baby Georgia peaches from the little produce place down the street last week and decided I was going to try a peach and banana smoothie. As it turned out, I sliced too many strawberries for the “actual oatmeal” so I ended up changing my Monday smoothie to a peach, banana, and strawberry smoothie. I have to say that this was by far the tastiest smoothie I’ve made to date. Everything blended perfectly!
I have to apologize, I did not get a photo of this one. It was so tasty that I just drank it up without thinking! I did get a photo of the ingredients in the blender, though. 🙂

Peach Banana Strawberry Smoothie
4 ice cubes
3/4 cup banana slices, frozen
1/2 cup Dannon Oikos nonfat Greek Yogurt
3/4 cup sliced peaches, fresh, with skin
1/4 cup sliced strawberries, fresh
1/2 cup Silk Original Soy milk, Light
1 packet Stevia sweetener

Nutrition Facts:
Calories 265
Fat 1.6g
Cholesterol 7.5mg
Sodium 104mg
Carbohydrates 53.5g
Fiber 6.7g
Sugars 35.5g
Protein 16.9

Besides having an amazing breakfast, I rode my bicycle to the dollar store for a little shopping. I needed to pick up a couple things and of course bought more than intended. I did get a great workout, though! Round trip to the dollar store is 5.28 miles with a combined time of 31:49. I burned off almost my whole smoothie and got to go shopping. That’s a win for me!
I’m sure you can imagine that I was starving for lunch by the time I returned home. Next to smoothies, my favorite meal includes eggs with onions and bell peppers. Sometimes I make an omelet, but more recently I’ve been having it as a sandwich with 100% whole wheat toast and a little (not butter) spread. It’s been a great lunch for me, keeping me full and helping me to snack less between lunch and dinner. (Today I chose a bagel thin over the bread and had 1/2 cup cantaloupe on the side)

The recipe goes like this:

3 small eggs, beaten
approx 1-1 1/4 tbsp chopped onion
approx 1 tbsp chopped green bell pepper
approx 1 tbsp chopped red bell pepper
1 Thomas’ Bagel Thin, Everything or 2 slices 100% whole wheat or whole grain bread
1 tbsp spread (I only needed 1/2 tbsp for the bagel thin)

Heat small pan on medium(ish) after spraying with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix onion and peppers into eggs.
Once pan is heated pour egg mixture into pan.
I let it cook briefly then I start moving it around to make it small enough for the bread or bagel. I don’t really want to scramble it because all the veggies fall out of the eggs once they start cooking.
While the eggs are cooking you should be toasting your bread or bagel.
After spreading the spread, and your eggs have reached desired doneness, place eggs on bagel or bread.
312 calories
Enjoy!

My First Recipe Post: Pineapple Strawberry Smoothie

Let me start by wishing everyone a very happy Sunday! I weighed in today with a loss of 1.4 pounds. That’s a total of 23.9 since January 2, 2012! I bet you’ve guessed that I’m feeling pretty amazing. 😉 My diet was questionable this week, again, so having a loss like that was unexpected and very welcomed.
Today I wanted to share with you a super easy Smoothie recipe.

A total of 6 ingredients thrown into the blender for a delicious meal replacement or just as a refreshing treat.
I’m going list brand names in my ingredients because different brands may offer different nutrition facts. Here they are in the order I place them into the blender:

4 ice cubes
1/2 cup fresh sliced strawberries
1/2 cup Dannon Oikos nonfat Greek yogurt
3/4 cup fresh pineapple chunks
1/2 cup Silk Light soymilk
1 packet zero calorie sweetener (your choice and optional, I use a stevia sweetener from Walmart)

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until thoroughly blended. 😛

I usually let it run a few more seconds after that. It seems to make it a little more frothy.

Next step:
Enjoy your delicious and nutritious Smoothie! Here’s the nutrition facts:

Calories 178 (my lowest calorie smoothie so far)
Fat 1.1g
Cholesterol 7.5mg
Sodium 104.6mg
Carbohydrates 32.1g
Fiber 3.9g
Sugars 22.7g
Protein 15.2g

This was my breakfast this morning, along with my normal two cups of coffee. Smoothies have become my breakfast of choice lately for their staying power and energy boosting abilities. The first time I drank one for breakfast I spent 3 hours straight cleaning my house. I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy a drink for breakfast, but I absolutely do!
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and if you do decide to try it you should leave a comment telling us all about it!

P.S. I have made this recipe using Cabot lowfat Greek Yogurt instead of Oikos nonfat, and Silk Light vanilla soy milk. I’m not sure about all of the nutrition facts except that it had 198 calories instead of 178.

Dawn has started a new blog!

So here I go again… A new blog.
Since losing my computer to the computer gods in December my photography journey has been put on hold. Yes, December. No, we still haven’t purchased a new one. Finances are not allowing for that expense just yet. Work has been slow, we recently moved to a home that we are renovating while living in it. With everything going on and no computer my other blog, D.M. Photography, has fallen to the wayside. At least until I’m able to pick up photography again.
That brings me to this blog, MDPIE. It stands for Motivation, Dedication, Perspiration, Imagination, Education. All the things I’ve needed to get me through to today.
In January I began a new journey; to lose weight. After quitting smoking in September I spent the following months extremely inactive and completely careless with my food choices. Guess what? It showed, and in many ways. While I felt better after becoming an ex-smoker, I also felt lazy, overweight, and bored. I finally made a decision to do something about it. I joined a site called Lose It!, set a weight loss goal, and began tracking my calories. This was the first time I’ve ever done anything like this. I’ll tell you, it’s shocking to see how many calories you’re actually taking in.
The first week I didn’t try to cut calories too much, just tracked them so I could get an idea of where I was. It seemed so easy. All I have to do is eat less! I can do that! I even thought I could eat whatever I wanted as long as I stayed within my calorie budget. Yeah, that mindset didn’t last very long.
Over the course of the last few months I’ve lost 22.5 pounds. I’ve learned a lot about food choices. Shoot, I’m still learning a lot about choices. I love food! Dieting has opened my eyes to different foods. It has gotten my whole family eating more fruits and fresh veggies, whole grains, and trying new foods all the time. Some we love (especially me) and some not so much. I’m not a wife and mother that forces everyone to adopt my diet, but instead I encourage them to just try new things. And I feel it’s definitely working. 🙂
Along with dieting comes the exercise. When I first started this journey I used my daughter’s Wii Fit to exercise, plus some walking and occasional bike rides. While the Wii was fun, and a great way to kick off my new lifestyle changes, I quickly realized I needed to do more. I started researching, downloading apps, using On Demand to do all different types of workouts. So far it has been a great (non)program for me. Most recently I downloaded an app called Workout Trainer, the free version. I’m currently on week 2 of their freebie program. I feel that with less than 10 pounds to my goal weight I need to incorporate some actual scheduled workouts into my weeks. If not, I know I’ll stop short. It’s time for some structure. I am liking the app and I might just go Pro. 🙂 I’ve also just completed week 1 of the Hundred Pushup Program, along with my husband and kids! I’ve fallen in love with tabata style workouts. My preferred place for tabata interval workouts is bexlife.com. So far #7 is my favorite!

My plan is to use this blog to share recipes, ideas, stories, etc. To motivate others to try new things. To share my progress, up and downs, and just about anything I feel like sharing. It is my blog after all! All I ask is that you bear with me. I am doing this 100% from my EVO. My EVO that I cannot help but to hit the period instead of the space button often, which means a LOT of proofreading and editing. I’ll try to correct any errors, but I can’t promise perfection.

Veggies for my 1 egg and 1 egg white omelette.