Brainless Meals: Chicken Stroganoff (and weight loss update)

So, I have been a little recipe-heavy with my posts lately...I have some crafty things to share soon but I discovered a couple great recipes in the past couple days that have immediately won a spot in our menu rotation.  One is this great, EASY (seriously, less than 5 minutes to prepare) dish which is a nice change of pace from your traditional beef stroganoff (and a little healthier too).  And scoff if you will about the canned cream soup and onion soup mix--I don't even care.  My husband said it was one of the best things I've ever made.  (by the way, I used reduced-fat cream of mushroom, and light sour cream.)  Serve it with the standard egg noodles, or if you're a fellow dieter you can substitute brown rice or steamed veggies.  I LOVED this over steamed broccoli.  Enjoy!

Chicken Stroganoff (from Faithful Provisions) 

1 pound frozen chicken breasts (I didn't thaw them and it still turned out great)
1 container (8 oz) sliced mushrooms
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 packet onion soup mix
16 oz container of sour cream

Place frozen chicken breasts in bottom of a crock pot (I greased mine).  Place mushrooms on top of chicken, mix remaining ingredients and pour over mushrooms and chicken.  Cook on low for 5-7 hours, stirring hourly.  Shred chicken or cut into chunks right in the pot before serving. 

Mmm...I want some right now.  So yummy! 

In other news, I wrote about Spark People a few days ago, and though I still agree that it is a great program, I have actually gone back to Weight Watchers after realizing that the issue was my computer (rather, Firefox) and not the WW website.  I do like Spark People, but for whatever reason I seem to be more motivated with Weight Watchers...I still think it's the $20 per month.  Plus, I've found it's a bit easier to use if you cook at home most of the time and need to figure out the nutritional information of a particular recipe.  I'm slowly getting back on track after the disastrous spell I had during and around Easter (I gained about 3 pounds in a little over 2 weeks...yikes!) and now I'm more motivated than ever.  Plus, there have been some fabulous weather days lately (until last night, at least) so I've been able to get outside more.  Yay!

Weight Loss on a Budget

So, I've been actively trying (with some success) to lose baby weight over the past several weeks.  I've lost a little, but still have a long way to go.  (By the way, anyone who ever told me I'd lose 20 pounds right away in the hospital, and then the rest would just 'fall off' when breastfeeding...you lied.  Just saying :) )  I decided that the best way to motivate myself would be to pay to lose weight...as in, the longer it takes, the longer I keep paying.  So I joined Weight Watchers Online.  I will say, it is a fabulous program, very easy to follow, and pretty affordable at about $20 per month.  Plus I've lost about 10 pounds so far. 

HOWEVER.  I am very frustrated with the technical side of the website.  For some reason, every few days, without reason and without me changing my cookies or whatever, I can't log in.  I type in my username and password, and every time it takes me right back to the home page.  And I'm paying for this (non-) accessibility.  Very frustrating.  So I canceled my subscription.

Enter Spark People.  A completely FREE way to track calories and weight loss online!  I learned about this from one of my best friends a couple of years ago, but was honestly never really diligent enough to enter in every single thing that I ate.  Now that I'm used to doing that with Weight Watchers, I think this will be a smooth transition.  It really is simple to use, and from what I can tell (it's still day 1) it has similar features. 

So if you're looking to lose weight but really don't have it in your budget to pay for a diet plan, check it out!  I'm also planning on featuring several weight-loss-on-a-budget ideas and tips.  And if you think this topic is about as exciting as staring at a wall, forgive me.  Hopefully it helps someone out there!  :)