I think this blog is officially going into hiatus, at least for a while.  It is about to be summer break, and I don’t want to worry about trying to post.  [Although that obviously hasn't kept me from not posting has it?]

While I am on hiatus, let me again remind you about some of my favorite blogs you should check out:

Woulda Coulda Shoulda

The PigBear

Chookoolonks

I have so many I like, but when time is crunched, these are the three I always keep returning to and I hope you love them too.

If you miss me, find me on Facebook or as my business (http://www.amerinephoto.com/blog) or writing about the girls (http://www.dyarfamily.com/DyarGirls).

Have a great summer!

Check out Rock the Shot – it is a great place to learn more about photography and just to be inspired by others.

Check out Rock the Shot – it is a great place to learn more about photography and just to be inspired by others.

I asked Amelia to be serious for a photo and went to editing it to black & white – can I just say how much I LOVE this photo?  I went for high contrast in this one and I just am so happy with the results.  Though she looks so much older than 4 1/2!

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com

For the Rock the Shot February challenge – Love.

I ended up learning so much more.  The teacher pointed out, in a very nice way, that I was always asking Katherine to do things.  Like “Can you do this like mommy?” – when I was showing her blowing bubbles.  When she pointed it out, I had no idea I was doing it.  I didn’t realize the tone that I had, the Katherine is in charge, I’m letting her decide tone…. I’m in charge aren’t I?

Once she said it, I found myself asking and realizing it so many more times in our short little lesson.  So a goal for myself is to stop asking and just state what we are doing.  For example, ‘Time to get on the board and kick our footies!’ instead of ‘Do you want to get on the board Katherine?’.

Knowing is half the battle right?

How can I ever resist this face??

The best part is it is a mostly healthy meal, especially when served with a side salad and fruit like we did last night.

So here is my made up recipe.

Mostly Mexican Pot Pie

Dice approx. 3 cups of grilled chicken (this was 1 1/2 breasts we had grilled the night before – could be any cooked chicken)

Add a can of 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

Add a can of mild rotel diced tomatoes and chilis (depending on your spice preference – this was too spicy for girls, just right for me)

Mix all together in a oven safe dish

Use one box of jiffy and prepare as directed (one egg, 1/3 cup milk – we used soy it was what we had)

Cover top.  I used a round oven-safe dish that was probably about 8 inches in diameter and it covered the whole thing perfectly with one box.

Bake at 400 for 25 – 35 minutes.  Ours was about 30 to be the brown golden color I like for cornbread.

Dig in.

I used a recipe calculator to approximate one serving (assuming it has 6 – my husband ate half of the whole thing, but I probably had 1/6).

Calories: 315

Fat: 6 g

Fiber: 5 g

Protein: 20 g

So there you go – high in protein, and a pretty good calorie amount for dinner.

Have you made up anything recently?

I put out a call for apps people like on their iPhone and wow, there are many different favorites.  So I will try a few of them over the next few weeks until I find the one that works best for me, and I’ll review them here as well.

Up until now I’ve tried SparkPeople in the past, so probably nothing like it is now, and I currently use DailyPlate from Livestrong.  It doesn’t have a UPC scanner which I just found out is a possible feature in others.  So we’ll see.

The recommendations so far are:

SparkPeople

My Fitness Pal ( 2 recs, due to UPC mostly)

Lose It

Daily Burn (can use UPC, costs extra I think)

Daily Plate (by me)

Wish me luck!  I want to Burn, Lose, Count, Be Fit and Be a Spark.