I
made a crockpot cabbage soup from a recipe I found on Facebook. It
turned out pretty good and I wanted to share
Here
is the original recipe.
Polish
Sausage and Cabbage Soup Crock Pot
2
cups potatoes, cubed and peeled
4
cups cabbage, shredded it fine
1
carrot, shredded it fine
1
large onion, chopped
2
teaspoons caraway seeds, crushed (optional)
1-1/4
lb Polish sausage, cooked, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/2 inch
slices
4
cups fat free chicken broth or you can just use water
black
pepper and salt to taste
Directions:
Place potatoes, cabbage, carrot, onion, caraway seeds, sausage,
pepper and salt in crock pot. Pour broth over all. Cover, cook on low
for 10-12 hours or high for 5-6 hours.
I
made it easy on myself and used Oreida frozen homestyle hash browns
that were already cut up. I also used a cajun style sausage for more
flavor. I left out the caraway seeds because I didn't really know
what they were nor did I have any on hand.
I
also used a crockpot bag for easy clean up. Have you seen these yet?
I love them and it makes clean up a breeze. You can find these near
the Ziplock bags at your local grocery store.
My
whole crockpot of soup was 14 PPVs. I thought I would have two
servings for 7 PPVs each but that is a lot of soup. I also scaled
down my recipe adding four cups of broth, two sausages, 190 grams
frozen potatoes, three carrots, and a little bit of onion. I used
about ½ to ¾ of the head of cabbage. Mine also only cooked on high for about 3.5 hours.
Our
Colonel at ISP developed a fitness challenge to encourage employees
to adopt a fitness routine. The challenge is to walk, run, swim,
bike, or weight train over the next 10 weeks. You could pick one area to focus on or a mix
of percentages. I decided to walk 120 miles over 10 weeks.
Under
normal circumstances this might not be a huge deal for me. I have
enjoyed getting out for walks more since I hurt my back so committing to
100% of the walking challenge sounded like something right up my
alley. The week runs from Sunday to Saturday so I will be checking
in on Sundays with the previous week's walking mileage totals. I am
aiming for 12 miles a week but know that some weeks could be more or
less depending on how my back feels. I am going to give it my best
shot!
So
here is Week One of the 120 mile walking challenge.
Sunday:
7 miles
We walked
all over Vegas and my friend Danielle was wearing her FitBit so we
actually know how many miles we accumulated. It is amazing to
realize how much walking you actually do. I debated if I would count
this or not but it is walking and so it counts!
Monday:
4 miles
More
Vegas walking. Since we were headed home this day we didn't quite
walk as much as the days prior. I am still surprised we walked as
much as we did.
Tuesday:
No Activity
I
needed some rest!
Wednesday:
2 miles
I
went for a walk on the treadmill while I watched some TV. I also did
PT today. 3 APs earned.
Thursday:
No Activity
I
was feeling store and a bit depressed after seeing the orthopedic
doctor.
Friday:
4.6 miles
I
split up my activity into two different walks. I was tired of
feeling sorry for myself so I went for a 3 mile walk. Later in the
day I walked to/from Albertson's and Walgreens for a little extra
mileage. 5 APs earned.
Saturday:
No Activity
I
need to rest today. I have a 10K walk on Sunday.
Total
Miles for Week One: 17.6
This
was an unusual week of activity since I am counting the Vegas
walking. I don't expect the weeks to be this high but hey, I'll take
it!
I
am in a pretty bad funk this week and it reflected on the scale.
Actual weight was 180.4
I
received some bummer news from the orthopedic doctor on Thursday. I
will explain further after I talk to the PT on Monday. I am letting
it control my moods and I feel like I am on a roller coaster.
I
need to get myself out of this funk before I dig the whole deeper!
I told myself I would get on the scale Saturday after my return from Vegas. Even though I didn't want to, I needed to. I am up 2.6 pounds from the WI before going to Vegas.
There
was some weight gain after Vegas and a little of that has dropped
off. I was successful in getting my WI done for September but I am
coming to terms with having to pay for October. It is okay. I won't
stop going to my meeting just because I have to pay $9 a week. I would like to at least keep my weight under 180.
I
don't quite have a plan in place. I am still processing and here
soon my inner fighter will come out again.
Our
flight didn't leave Vegas until 4:35pm so we still had a little bit
of time to enjoy the remainder of our weekend. Danielle was able to show me a side of
Vegas I have never seen before: the spa.
We
headed to breakfast at Planet Dailies. We were both wanting something yummy like a cinnamon roll or waffles so we split an omelet with home-fried potatoes and ordered a cinnamon roll. It hit the spot!
We had
an awesome waitress and when I asked for cream and a lot of Splenda
for my coffee she delivered. Nothing says morning like an overdose
of sugar substitute.
Our
resort fee at the hotel included use of the fitness center and the
spa facilities. I have never been to a spa for anything other than a
massage so Danielle was happy to show me the ropes. We checked out
of our room and into Spa by Mandara. We put on some robes and sat in
the steam room and the jacuzzi. It was heaven and after all the
alcohol I consumed my body feel good to sweat a bit. Since it is a full spa they also have all the amenities for showering and getting ready. The products provided for use smelled so good. It was a really relaxing
experience.
We
ventured on foot to Bellagio so we could see the decorations in the
conservatory. They change the decorations about four times a year.
It was all decked out for fall. The need to photo-bomb everybody
taking photos around me was huge...but I resisted. I think I have
created a monster!
Inside the Bellagio is also some amazing artwork by Dale Chihuly.
For our
final meal in Vegas we headed to Paris in search of yummy french
pastries. We found a little restaurant called Cafe Belle Madeline
which had the most amazing looking dessert case.
They also had
prepared salads at a decent price. I ordered the tiramisu and Danielle ordered a cheesecake so we could have a little of each. I
liked her cheesecake best.
It was
time to say goodbye to Las Vegas, at least for this trip, and we
hailed a cab to the airport. We arrived about an hour and half
early. We joked it was the only time this weekend we were early! I
was again made fun of on the plane ride home when I ordered my
special drinks. The flight attendant was hilarious! I had a mix of
orange juice and cranberry juice and rum this time instead of vodka.
Our
drinks on our return flight were compliments of two people we didn't
know. When I was printing my boarding pass for the flight I saw
there were two separate free drink coupons that were unclaimed. The rules
of the drink tickets are that they cannot be sold, bought, bartered,
or traded. Nothing says they can't be stolen. Thank you to whomever
gave us our free drinks!
With
all good things...it came to and end. I had so much fun with
Danielle and I am so happy she was willing to travel with me. I look
forward to other travel opportunities in the future.
If
you missed Part One about my Vegas Ladies Weekend you can find it
here.
Danielle and I were having so much fun that I had to split up the posts. I took this
week off work as a bit of a stay-cation so my post is a little late
again. I am not on the computer as much when I am home vs at work.
Sunday
was devoted to a trip to the Premium Outlet Mall so I could visit the
Coach Outlet. We didn't get up and moving really early and since we
had found out during our trip to BurGR for dessert that 11am was the
best time to try and get a seat. We really wanted to try these
amazing looking burgers we saw the night before.
I
had an apple and granola bar with peanut butter to tide me over.
Danielle and I went to Planet Dailies, located in the hotel, for a
quick bite for her. I opted for just coffee since it was going to be
only a few hours until our early lunch.
Our
early trip to BurGR paid off and we were seated right away. I would
like to also add that the service at BurGR is top notch! The hostess
and waitstaff were very friendly and accommodating. You didn't have
to wait for a refill on water. There are many reasons this is such a
great place to eat I can understand why there is a long line.
It
was a tough decision as they had many delicious looking burgers.
Danielle and I decided to order two different ones and share half of
each. We also knew we had to try a serving of their Parmesan truffle
fries. And, what goes better with a good burger then a beer? I had
a Blue Moon. Yum!
We
ordered one burger with three different kinds of cheese and another
with mango chutney and arugula. I am a lettuce and pickle person
with my burger so I got some on the side to add to my cheese half.
It was sweet pickles though. Not the same.
One
we had food in our bellies we boarded the express bus to the outlet
mall. The bus system in Vegas is great. Our previously purchased $8
pass was good for 24 hours and included the express bus to get to the
mall.
It took about 30 minutes to get to the outlet mall. After walking around the mall for
about two hours I left with a new Coach purse for me and one for my
sister Jenny. I got Katie a Coach purse at the outlet mall in New
Mexico earlier this year so I needed to also get one for Jenny. I
hope she likes it.
We boarded the express bus and headed back to our hotel room. We didn't have much time to primp before we had to head out for our second show of the weekend. Shopping
is tough stuff! We stopped at Heat Bar in our hotel to grab a drink
and get checked in for our flight. The 2 for 1 drinks only included
Sky vodka so I had a mix of pineapple and cranberry juice.
There was a sale associate at one of the outlet mall stores that asked what hotel we were staying at. He said the popcorn shop is a must try when visiting Vegas. We had smelled popcorn the day before so we set out in search for it. We found it in the Miracle Mile Mall. Garrett serves fresh warm popcorn in a variety of flavors. It tasted so different then other store bought popcorn and was hard to stop eating. I got a mix of cheese, buttered, and caramel. I was still munching on this bag as we waited for our flight at the airport. Delicious!
After we were late to Carrot Top the day before we knew we wanted
to have extra time to grab a bite to eat and not be late...again. I
think we had bad karma this weekend because as we were riding the bus
to Mandalay Bay I got out our tickets to make sure the doors opened
at 7pm. It turns out our show was at 7pm and not 7:30pm as we
thought. So there went our window of having extra time!!!
Thankfully we were not late. We had just enough time to grab
something quick. I had a pretzel sandwich but forgot to snap a
photo.
Our
show for the night was Michael Jackson One Cirque de Soleil. You are
allowed to take photos before the show started but not once the show
begins. Funny story: at Carrot Top I knew you couldn't take photos
during the show but I thought I could snap a photo as he was finished
and of the set once we left. It turns out you can't! I was promptly
met at the door my security and told to delete my photos immediately.
Don't worry, I confirmed I could take photos before the show began
on Sunday night!
As
usual, the Cirque show did not disappoint. It was fun music and
great costumes. It was neat to see everybody dancing in their seats.
The old lady next to me fell asleep! That was an expensive nap and
quite impressive the noise and lights didn't wake her. If you are
ever in Las Vegas any of the Cirque shows are worth the extra money. What I loved about Michael Jackson One is that you could almost feel MJ's there with us. It makes me sad that future generations will not know what an amazing performer he was.
Since
our show was early we boarded the Duce and headed to Fremont Street.
It is a covered area in old town Las Vegas with a light show every
hour on the top of the dome. The light show was about Queen with music
and photos. After a few drinks, it got us dancing in the street!
This was a Malibu Rum, coconut rum, and pineapple juice. Delicious!
And much cheaper then drinks on the Strip.
We
had the some fun “photo-bombing” people.
This might have been the highlight of the weekend. Photo-bombing is
where you jump into the photo with somebody else while they are
having their picture taken. I guess I'll blame it on the alcohol
giving me courage to do it!
We needed food so when we spotted a Tony Roma's and knew we HAD to stop in. We don't have any in Idaho anymore and we both love their potato soup. We both had a bowl of soup and a side salad.
We
had hoped to do some gambling at the $3 blackjack tables but had
trouble finding one. So we boarded the bus towards Circus Circus to
see if we could find their $3 tables. We ended up on the wrong bus
so we never went by Circus Circus. Vegas is quite scary when you get
off the Strip! We headed back to our hotel but all the tables were
$15 and $25 so we just called it a night.
Hard
to believe but there is just a little bit more fun to be had!
