Image: Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Have you looked at the calendar lately?  If you haven’t, then you might be as shocked as I was last night to realize that Valentine’s Day is just FIVE days away!  While the big day may be right around the corner, there’s still plenty of time to find that perfect gift for that special someone in your life, or to give them ideas for gifts for YOU!

Given that February is also American Heart Month, I thought it would be fun to look at some Valentine’s Day gifts that aren’t chocolate, candy, or calorie-laden.  These are some gifts that will not only help celebrate the occasion, but can also help the heart of you or your loved one.  How cool is that?!

Image: Fitbit

The first gift idea I thought of was a Fitbit activity tracker which retails for $99.  This little gadget is a pedometer on steroids.  I have one of these and love it!  It’s a constant reminder to me to get moving which is great for the heart!  It tracks steps taken, distance covered, calories burned, and it will even display floors climbed in the new Ultra model which now includes an altimeter!  Free website access is included with the purchase (no additional subscription required) which can be used to set goals, track foods, etc.  You can even link it with some of the most popular smartphone apps like MyFitnessPal, LoseIt,  RunKeeper, Endomondo, etc.  Check out the one in the middle in the photo above.  To make it even more romantic, it’ll even display a flower each and every day to boot.

Image: Apple

For an idea a little more budget-friendly idea, how about an iPod Shuffle which retails for $49.  You can load it up with some great workout tunes for your favorite runner, cyclist, or even for them just to dance off some calories.  If you’re willing to shell out an extra $10 for expedited shipping, there’s just enough time to even get a custom message engraved on it for your loved one and still have it by Valentine’s Day!  The husband of one of my best friend’s got her a Shuffle a couple of years ago for Valentine’s Day and had something along the lines of “Candy for your ears” engraved on it.  I thought it was an awesome idea!

Image: Shrinking Kitchen

On a really tight budget?  How about making your Valentine a nice healthy dinner to celebrate the day?  There’s not rule that says a recipe has to have hundreds of calories to be appropriate for Valentine’s Day.  As an example, check out the lightened up Meyer Lemon Chicken recipe from our sister site, Shrinking Kitchen.  This chicken recipe is a great source of lean protein, comes in at under 300 calories per serving, but more most importantly for Valentine’s Day, look how beautiful it is on the plate!

So, those are some of my ideas for heart healthy gifts for the day of hearts!  Remember, if you must have some chocolate, grab a small piece of dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate contains antioxidants and flavonoids which make it a better choice for the heart than regular or milk chocolate.

Whatever you decide to do for Valentine’s Day, all of us here at the Sisterhood hope you’re able to spend the day with the one you love.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

OK Sisters, this one will be quick.  I am not feeling very wordy today : ).

Sundays here at Shrinking Jeans were the days we posted recipes and a weekly menu plan. However, that is all changing with the new addition of Shrinking Kitchen.  If you read regularly, then you already saw the post announcing this newest endeavor.  If not, then I’m letting you know now.  Shrinking Kitchen is our new site where we will post recipes and all things food related.

Have you checked it out yet?  If not, then go do it now, please.  We are SO excited about this- special kudos to Christy, Melissa and Heather for pulling it together- you girls ROCK!

Shrinking Kitchen-  Eat! Drink! Shrink!

P.S.- Today is Superbowl Sunday.  Maybe you know that and care and maybe you don’t know that.  Anyhoo, before you head to that Superbowl party or celebrate just because every one else is, you much check out Thea’s post about what the typical person consumes at a Superbowl Party and what it would take to undo the damage of just three tortilla chips.

P.P.S. Kelsey, you won the Attunes Gift Pack.  Please forward your mailing address to lisa@shrinkingjeans.net

Tomorrow is the big day!! Can you believe it! This one team is playing this other team and we are going to celebrate by stuffing as much food into our face as humanly possible!!

HURRAH!!

No, wait. Stop and think about it. Why would we celebrate watching other people being fit by stuffing crap into our own pie hole? How does that even make sense?

And yet, year after year, that’s exactly what we do. According to the USDA, Super Bowl Sunday is now the second largest food consumption day of the year (Thanksgiving is first).

Every year, Charles Platkin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in New York City and founder of DietDetective.com, comes out with a list of what he refers to as “Big Game Foods” and the exercise equivalent of what it would take to burn the calories off. Here’s a sampling of this year’s list:

• THREE PIGS IN BLANKETS = PLAYING CATCH WITH A FOOTBALL FOR 68 MINUTES (NONSTOP)
• SIX BOTTLES OF BUDWEISER BEER = DOING “THE WAVE” 4,280 TIMES
• ONE DEVILED EGG = 12 MINUTES OF CHEERLEADING
• FIVE TOSTITOS RESTAURANT-STYLE TORTILLA CHIPS WITH 7-LAYER DIP = 110 MINUTES CLEANING THE STADIUM AFTER THE GAME

You guys. I implore you. Have fun this weekend but STOP and THINK! Don’t let the festivities make you lose sight of your weight loss goals.

If you can go into that party and eat and not feel guilty on Monday, go for it. Enjoy yourself and move on. But if you think they’ll be any amount of guilt, disappointment, shame, or anger on Monday morning, listen to your gut! Don’t stuff yourself! Have fun but also stay focused!

Don’t let this one day determine your success this week!

Because, seriously? Who can do the wave that many times? My limit is about 2500 TOPS!

We have some very exciting news for you! Today marks the launch of our incredible new website, Shrinking Kitchen!

What is Shrinking Kitchen, you ask? It’s a brand-spankin’ new website brought to you by the co-founders of The Sisterhood, and we’ve added Heather to the menu as our Editor-in-Chief! The site is devoted entirely to healthy foods, cooking, and tips and tricks to spice up your kitchen life. Whether you are looking for a healthy dish to serve the family for dinner or need to know what the hell flambé means, the Shrinking Kitchen will be your go-to source for everything you’re cooking up!

Delicious, shrink-your-butt recipes? Check.

Handy-dandy conversion chart? Oh, yes we did!

Common food weights? MmmmHmm.

Cooking dictionary? We’ve got you covered.

Beautiful photos that will have you drooling at first sight? Put on a bib, Sisters and Brothers. You’re going to need it.

Along with fun weekly features, the girls of Shrinking Kitchen will be bringing you fresh, healthy recipes several times a week while utilizing the ZipList format.

ZipList – Organize Your Recipes, Plan Your Menu, and Always Have Your Grocery List On Hand

Make sure you have all the bases covered…

It hasn’t really been very wintry here in west/central Texas this year, but nonetheless, I still LOVE soup in the winter time! This week I’m going to give you 5 tasty soups to try. Make one or make them all. Double the recipe and freeze some for later. Soups are great!

Corn, Bacon, And Potato Chowder from Weight Watchers. It says that it’s a summer corn recipe, but soup is soup. I think it sounds amazing for only 6 Points Plus per serving.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup is my favorite! I found this recipe and I just know I can make it lighter. I can sub in fat free half and half (did you know that existed?), reduced fat cheddar and Colby cheeses, and skim milk. I’ll even use lower sodium chicken broth to make it even better. The best thing? I have broccoli growing in my garden! It’s a total fluke since I planted the seeds last spring, and it was too hot over the summer for it to produce. Apparently it’s also a winter garden crop, because we have a bounty of it!

Heres a great recipe for a Thai Coconut Soup. I have some light coconut milk sitting I the pantry, and hopefully my trip to Whole Foods this week will net me a stalk of lemongrass. I can’t fin it in my usual grocery store. Fish sauce is pretty easy to find though.

This Vegetable Soup sounds very warm and comforting! It also appears to be vegan, or at least vegetarian if you use vegetable stock.

And to round it out with some Mexican spice, here’s a super-simple Taco Soup we’ve featured here on the Sisterhood.

And because I’m really loving lemons right now, I’m going to make these cookies Chewy Lemon Cookies, eat one or two, freeze a few, and send the rest to school with my son!

And these Cheesy Quinoa Bites sound so yummy! You’re welcome!

Link up with your menu plan for the week below, or leave a comment telling us about your favorite soup (or cookies!).

I was spending an hour or two on my latest addiction, Pinterest the other night. Raise your hand if you are hooked too. The last thing I needed was something else to keep me on the computer, but boy am I hooked. I love that site. I can’t believe how many new recipe sites I have found.

One of my new favorites is Gina’s Skinny Recipes at SkinnyTaste.com. Just the pictures are enough to keep me looking at the site, but the recipes are awesome too. There is everything from appetizers to dessert with all the courses in between.

One of my new favorite recipes from this site is Pineapple Bliss Cupcakes with Pineapple Fluff Cream Cheese Frosting. Talk about easy and so yummy. You really need to try them. She gives you all the nutritional values and even the Weight Watcher points.

I tried using our fancy dancy recipe program on the SJ site, but I got half way through it and it disappeared. I couldn’t find it anywhere. I have the flu at the moment, so I just want to get this posted and get back to bed. I’ll try using it next time.

In the meantime, head over to skinnytaste.com and look it over. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Here is what you need:

1.5 lb of beef cubes (or you could buy a roast and cut it into cubes)

5-6 Russet potatoes, cut to your preference (just so you know, Russet potatoes are the best)

1 lb bag of petite baby carrots

1 large onion, cut to your preference

1 Swanson Flavor Boost packet (or any type of chicken or beef stock)

Additional seasonings as desired.

Here is what you do:

Cook beef on high for one hour. Add the potatoes, carrots, onion, flavor packet, and just enough water to cover everything. Cook on high for one hour, then turn to medium until done.

This is a delicious healthy alternative for those who LOVE beef stew but don’t want all of the extra calories that you have when you use a gravy. It’s just as filling and yummy and much less calories. (and did I mention, it’s easy?) :)

Enjoy!

TUESDAY: Enchilada Casser-Ole!

WEDNESDAY: Chicken Breasts with Tomatoes and Olives.

THURSDAY: Shrimp Sandwich Wrap with Curry Yogurt and Spinach.

FRIDAY: Homemade pizza night! I don’t have our recipe (yet!), but here is a yummy, health(ier) version to try out!

SATURDAY:  leftovers!

SUNDAY: Crockpot Easy Beef Stew.

SNACKS: POM-Banana-Strawberry Smoothies! Skinny Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones.

DESSERTS: Jdogg’s Birthday is coming up, so will try the Makeover Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake!

Follow our menu plan, or link to yours down below! Have a great week!

The first time I had any of  the cereals from Attune Foods was at Fitbloggin 2011. It was served at breakfast one day and man, was it delicious!

I had the opportunity to do an *official* review of several of their products recently.

Uncle Sam Honey Almond Cereal, Erewhon Crispy Brown Rice with Mixed Berries, and New Morning Cinnamon Grahams.

So you might be thinking- what’s the big deal?  There are lots of healthy food products on the market.  Well, yes, there are, BUT these taste good, yummy, delicious, and as an added bonus they are filling, low fat and made of the good stuff (whole wheat, fiber, protein, no transfat, organic stuff).  The ingredients list on each box is short and made of things you’ve heard before, not some weird make-up of ingredients that you could never pronounce nor understand.

I shared all of these with my three kids (ages 8, 5.5 and 3).  All three LOVED the Crispy Brown Rice Cereal with Mixed Berries and the Graham Crackers. While I very much enjoyed the Honey Almond Cereal, my kids were not in love with it.  To mix it up a bit, I used the Honey Almond Cereal as an addition to my Greek yogurt and it was da ‘bomb! I had to literally pry the box of grahams out of the three year old’s hands- I don’t blame him for not wanting to let them go. They taste light, crunchy and have just the right amount of flavor in my opinion.

Ya’ll should really go out and try these products.  I really like them.

Would anyone like to win a gift pack of the products shown above?

To enter:

• Leave a comment answering the following question- what’s the one thing you look for/at when shopping groceries?  Low fat/protein/fiber/no HFCS/no transfat/etc?
• For extra entries, follow Attune Foods on Facebook and/or Twitter.
• For one last entry, Tweet about this giveaway, then leave a comment with the link. Be sure to mention @shrinkingjeans and @attunefoods in your tweet.
• Open to US residents only.
• Giveaway will end Saturday January 28, 2012 at 11:59pm PST.  A winner will be drawn via www.random.org and notified by email.  You must leave an email address in the comments section in order to be eligible.  If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, then a new winner will be drawn.

Disclosure: Attune Foods sent me a gift pack for review purposes only and will be sending another pack to the winner.  I did not receive monetary compensation for my review and all opinions expressed are my own. 

Happy Sunday!! Here is a delicious meal plan I put together just for you….well, just for me to share with you! Choose the whole plan and just print out the handy shopping list (you’ll have nothing to think about!), or just pick and choose a thing or two. All of these recipes sound great, so you can’t go wrong.

Link up below in the comments and share you own menu plan with us!

This Week’s Meals:

Monday, January 16th – Red Lentil Soup with Turnip and Parsley. It just sounds simple, clean and easy. And after the weekend I had, I really need simple, clean, and easy. IJS.

Tuesday, January 17th – Soy-Ginger Salmon –  We all need a little more salmon in our lives. It’s so amazingly good for you. This recipe says it serves 2, but to lighten it up, divide it into 4 servings, add some brown rice or quinoa, and a ton of steamed veggies and maybe these yummy sweet potatoes.

Wednesday, January 18th – Asian Ground Beef, Mushroom, and Broccoli Slaw Lettuce Cups. That’s a mouthful of yumminess. I haven’t made these before, but from the comments left on the post, everyone was really happy with the recipe! (I wasn’t sure what coconut aminos were, so I googled it. It looks like it’s a soy-free type of soy sauce….)

Thursday, January 19th – Leftover extravaganza!

Friday, January 20th – Ground Turkey with Potatoes and Spring Peas. This just sounds amazing. And pretty easy. Since I’m not sure I’ll find spring peas fresh, I will opt to use frozen peas. I think it’ll be fine! And this is a one dish type of meal, so no need for side dishes in my opinion (and maybe room for a little dessert?).

Saturday, January 21st – Kitchen’s Closed! Time to take Mama out for dinner.

Sunday, January 22nd - A good old fashioned pot roast. Nothing fancy here. Just a huge hunk of delicious beef (with visible fat trimmed), chopped onions, smashed garlic, new potatoes, and carrots. Toss it all together in a pot (or crockpot) and voila. As an added extra bonus, your house will smell divine all day long.

Snacks:

• Chobani Apple Cinnamon Yogurt. Seriously to die for. My kids and I fight over it.
• apples – Honey Crisp are my favorite
• Clementine oranges – I keep a big bowl of them on the table for quick snacks – they are so easy to peel.

Dessert:

THESE lemon bars. I bought some beautiful meyer lemons (I love lemons!) at Whole Foods, and I think this is a perfect way to use a couple of them.

Have a tasty week!