Super Saturday

Today was great! I started off the morning by doing my second day of the 30-day Shred, a workout program with Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser. I highly recommend this to anyone that wants to lose weight. It's 20 minutes of circuit training. There are three circuits that include three minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio, and one minute of abs in each circuit. There are three different levels in the program. You go from Level One to Two to Three within the 30 days. I think I'm going to do Level One for 10 days, Level Two for 10 days, and then Level Three for the last 10.



I did it a few months ago and didn't even do it daily like you're supposed to and noticed a difference pretty quickly. I am going to try to stick with it daily for at least 30 days to see how I feel. I gained a few pounds back of the weight I lost a couple months ago because the PA told me not to do any serious exercising because my ovaries could have twisted when they were enlarged. I have learned that I have to exercise to maintain the weight I want. So since the cysts are basically gone, and the ovaries are back to normal size, I am going to get back on the program. I am definitely in major pain after only doing it two times so far, so I know it's working!

This evening, I tried two new recipes. One was a hashbrown casserole that sounded sooooooo good but wasn't that great when I made it. It's probably because I used all "light" ingredients instead of the full-flavored ones. The second recipe was a new one that I really enjoyed, but Ry said he wasn't too crazy about it. Here's a picture:

It's called Strawberry Pretzel Dessert. I used a sugar/artificial sweetener blend, light cream cheese, sugar-free Jello, and light Cool Whip instead of the full-on ingredients. Yummy! (Again, Ry wasn't too crazy about it and basically asked for me not to make it again, but I would recommend it!)

After making this dessert, I decided that it was time for a new blender. The one I have was cheap cheap cheap. It looks like it has several speeds, but it only has two---reallyfast and reallyrealllyfast. I can't remember if I registered for that or bought it as a cheapie myself, so if you bought this for us, please don't let your feelings be hurt! :) I've been using it so much lately that I have noticed it's flaws and felt that it was time to make an investment in my cooking/baking future. We went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought this beauty:
It's the Kitchen Aid 9-Speed Mixer. I went in the store wanting the same thing but 7-speed, but they were out of them. Of course, I had a 20% off coupon. There was also a $10 rebate on the 7 and 9-speeds. I went ahead and got the 9-speed but might get the 7-speed sometime this week from a different BB&B. Do I need 9 speeds? No. Do I even need 7 speeds? Probably not. I wanted a nice hand-mixer, though, and that is what I got! I'm hoping I won't have to buy another one for the rest of my life. I actually can't wait to use it. Okay, off to mix up something good! haha..just kidding--off to bed! Nighty night!