Meat & Veggie "Meat Cheats"

Friday for lunch I threw this together and it was so good! I use 93/7 ground meat and it came out really juicy! I call them Meat Cheats because it's how I've cooked meatballs for years ;-) I think next time I'll do the same thing with mushrooms. I wonder what other veggies would be good in them...

MEAT & VEGGIE "MEAT CHEATS"

1 lb 93/7 ground beef
12 oz frozen green beans
Seasonings (I used my homemade Greek seasoning)

Cook green beans until almost desired tenderness. Drain if needed. Pulse in food processor until chopped very finely. Add meat and seasonings. Pulse just until mixed.

Pat into a rectangular glass baking dish (mine's approx 8x10). Microwave, covered, for 5 minutes at 50% power. Remove from microwave. Cut into 4 equal pieces in pan and flip each over. Resume cooking at 50% for 3-5 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool for a few minutes then cut as desired.

You can also make the meat mixture into patties and cook like a burger.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you have a blessed time with family and friends, but don't forget the Reason for the season!!! :-D

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH (adapted from Taste of Home Two-Tone Fudge Brownies)

1/2 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. sugar
3 tbsp. cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. oat flour
1 c. (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

In a small bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in cream and vanilla. Gradually add flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

*This is meant to be eaten as is! It will not bake into chocolate chip cookies. It is, however, safe and yummy to eat by the spoonful or to add to ice cream or top brownies or... :)

Two-Pepper Mexican Pasta

TWO-PEPPER MEXICAN PASTA

12-16 oz whole wheat pasta
4 c. Rice Dream
1/2 c. cornstarch
1 small can diced green chiles, pureed
1 1/2 bell peppers, pureed
Heavy cream
Cumin
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Salt
Tortilla chips

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions.

While pasta is cooking, prepare sauce. Heat 3 c. Rice Dream over medium heat until hot. Mix remaining 1 c. RD with cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk mixture into hot RD. Cook over medium heat until thick. When mixture has thickened, add pureed vegetables, cream, and seasonings to taste. Simmer.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Mix in sauce. Adjust seasonings if needed. Top individual servings with crushed tortilla chips.

A Good Try...

... but I still can't get the taste of Mexican food I want without cheese :(

Breakfast - grapes
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Two-Pepper Mexican Pasta; chocolate chip cookie dough

I Have a Dream...

Off and on for years I've had these dreams where I'm running. Effortlessly. Almost like I'm flying. I had another one recently and a couple days later one of my friends posted something on Facebook about running shoes. I started looking around online at articles on shoes and running and looked at the C25k site. I REALLY want to work up to running! But again, it's a time issue.

I talked with Jesse about it and he's been wanting to train again - he did a half marathon a few years ago. We agreed that if he gets to have regular workouts, so do I ;-) We both need shoes and we need a watch that will time intervals.

I don't know how successful I'll be at running, but I want to at least give it a shot! And if running doesn't work out, I hopefully will have a consistent workout time to do SOMETHING!

Sunday

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - pumpkin waffles w/drizzle of syrup (1/2 maple, 1/2 cane)

Saturday

Breakfast - nothing :(
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Chili's - steak sandwich; fries w/ketchup; chocolate chip paradise pie minus ice cream

Creamy Mustard Rice

CREAMY MUSTARD RICE

1 box instant brown rice (I use Uncle Ben's)
1 bell pepper, chopped very fine
Butter
Mustard
Cream
Salt

Cook rice according to package directions. Cook bell pepper in butter until softened and mix with rice. Add everything else to taste.

A Little Sleep

Jesse watched Gabriel when he got up this morning so I got a little extra sleep. Not enough, but every little bit helps!

Breakfast - nothing (slept, then stayed in bed cuddling and playing with Ethan till lunch)
Lunch - Greek-seasoned ground beef (93/7) in usual salad w/a bit of packaged honey mustard also (didn't have enough of mine and no time to make any); Ghirardelli square
Before supper - few potato chips (running errands)
Supper - Creamy Mustard Rice; few double chocolate pancakes w/whipped cream

Thursday

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; few bites of apple later
Lunch - homestyle buffet incl. salad
Later - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual (was exhausted and needed the caffeine boost)
Supper - asparagus; piece of french bread w/little butter; Ghirardelli square

Wednesday

Trying to remember... Had two really busy days in a row and my brain is MUSH!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - plate lunch - seafood-stuffed chicken; turnip greens (w/ham?); potato salad; bread pudding
Supper - frozen burrito (vegan); leftover fries w/mayo and ketchup; chocolate-stuffed beignets

Food Today

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - rotisserie chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square; 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Supper - Simple Pasta; Chocolate-Stuffed Beignets

Mom's Night Out

The day kept getting changed but it ended up being tonight!

Breakfast - little bit of coffee w/usual
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Texas Roadhouse - rolls w/butter-like substance; few peanuts; sirloin; mushrooms; baked potato w/butter-like substance, cheese, sour cream; 1/2 sweet potato w/caramel and marshmallow
Later - little bit of decaf peppermint mocha

Today's Food

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later; few sips of dilute apple cider later
Lunch - Italian buffet; 1/2 cup coffee w/sugar and half and half
Supper - small piece of french bread w/little butter and salt; Ghirardelli square (wasn't hungry)

Happy Birthday, Gabriel!

My baby turned ONE today! We went out for lunch and had planned on going to the children's museum but ended up going to the park instead. We'll do the museum later this week.

Breakfast - nothing (planned an early lunch but didn't work out that way :p)
Lunch - homestyle buffet
Supper - salad (Romaine, tomato, bell pepper, w/usual dressing); small piece of french bread w/little bit of butter; Ghirardelli square

Church Christmas Party

Long, busy day today! But we all had fun at the party tonight :-)

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - BK - double cheeseburger; apple cake, chocolate pecan pie, whipped cream
Supper - potluck

Good Food Day

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - 93/7 ground beef (Greek seasoned) in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - banana (out running errands)
Supper - veggie po-boy (multigrain french bread, mayo, mustard, avocado (mixed with the mayo and mustard as a spread - YUM!), Romaine, tomato, bell pepper; plain chips; couple leftover pancakes w/whipped cream

Mommy Date :)

I ended up having a Mommy date with the boys for lunch today It's the first time I've brought both of them to eat by myself so it was an adventure! We also ate a bit late and I wasn't hungry at suppertime.

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - Applebee's - cheese sticks w/marinara; florentine chicken ravioli
"Supper" - piece of french bread w/butter and salt; piece of pumpkin pie w/whipped cream

At least the ravioli dish had a lot of veggies in it! And pumpkin is a veggie, right?! ;)

Back on Track!

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - asparagus; double chocolate pancakes

Another Healthy Cheat

Well, it was healthy till dessert :P

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Snack (running errands) - plain Pringles
Supper - burger (93/7 ground beef w/soaked sun-dried tomatoes, seasoned with Essence and onion powder, on whole wheat bun w/mayo and mustard); mashed potatoes (instant, made w/rice milk); apple cake, chocolate pecan pie, whipped cream

Sunday's Food

Jesse had extra worship team practice after church today (for the upcoming church Christmas party) so it was the usual lunch out after. It was later than usual so we ate close by - between church and home.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later
Before lunch - handful of animal crackers (just to hold me over, and easy on my stomach)
Lunch (late) - Italian buffet
After we got home - apple cake; chocolate pecan pie w/whipped cream
(nothing else)

This morning my stomach was upset after my coffee. It hasn't been normal since last Sunday. I've eaten out a fair bit since then, and I think the places I normally eat without a problem are bothering me on the heels of the MSG overload :( Tomorrow's our normal Mom's Night Out night. I kinda hope we don't have it so my stomach gets a rest...

Ladies' Breakfast

My church's ladies met for a fellowship this morning. At Cracker Barrel. There was no way I was just eating fruit ;)

Breakfast - Cracker Barrel - eggs over easy; turkey sausage; pancakes w/cherries; coffee w/stevia and 1/2 and 1/2
Lunch - rotisserie chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - broccoli w/butter and salt; fries (frozen, baked) w/mayo and ketchup; pumpkin pie w/whipped cream

Long Day...

Brought my mom to a doctor's appointment. Out for lunch. Back home to do a couple things. Back out to Walmart. Bring Mom home. Left at 9:15am, got home for the day at 8pm... Whew!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later
Lunch - Italian buffet (Ethan's choice)
Supper - Subway - veggie on wheat w/honey mustard; plain chips

The Last of the Leftovers

For me anyway! Jesse will finish them off (except for the turkey) tomorrow while the boys and I are running errands.

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - Thanksgiving leftovers
Supper - battered mushrooms (frozen) w/ranch; Ghirardelli square

I'm not getting breakfast or water consistently :( Need to rethink both...

More Thanksgiving Leftovers :-)

My stomach is almost back to normal from Sunday!

Breakfast - nothing
Lunch - Thanksgiving leftovers
Supper - canned peas w/butter; whole wheat frozen waffles w/butter
Later - homemade hot chocolate (made w/rice milk and cream)

No More Chinese Buffet For Us

I've had stomach issues since Sunday, and had a detox episode last night :( Jesse had bad acid reflux all night Sunday, and today Ethan's had yucky diapers. Ethan and I both had reactions last time we ate there too. So I guess that confirms it was the Chinese and not something else we ate...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - turkey breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Thanksgiving leftovers (everything incl 1/2 turkey sandwich)

More Thanksgiving

Breakfast - nothing (had 2 very fussy kiddos)
Lunch - leftovers - little of everything
Supper - turkey breast on whole wheat w/mayo; cream spinach; dressing w/cranberry sauce; Ghirardelli square

It Just Doesn't Taste Like It Used To

Add another one to the list - the Chinese buffet I used to like. It was okay, not great. And my stomach's a bit messed up from it tonight. But it was worth it for the time we got to spend with my best friend's family :)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; dilute apple juice later
Lunch - Chinese buffet
Supper - turkey breast on whole wheat w/mayo; little piece of each dessert from last night w/whipped cream

Thanksgiving Dinner (Part 2)

We did our big dinner today. Ended up with 8 adults, 3 little kids, and 2 babies! We enjoyed the time with our family and friends :-) Food was definitely a cheat and will be for a few days...

Breakfast - apple juice
Thanksgiving (ate a plate, dessert, then another plate later) - deviled eggs, turkey, cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes (baked w/butter and salt), cornbread dressing, cream spinach, cider green beans, onion soup bread; pumpkin pie, chocolate pecan pie, apple cake, whipped cream, 1/2 cup decaf coffee w/Demarara and cream

Thanksgiving Prep

I worked hard today! Cooked all day for tomorrow. I'll still have cooking and cleaning to do but hopefully I'll have enough time...

Breakfast - 1/2 cup of coffee w/usual; apple
Lunch - sirloin in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Amy's burrito; avocado; 2 oatmeal cookies

Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Jesse's family's for lunch and decided to stop by my mom's before heading home. Ended up taking her out for dinner :) Jesse and I are both feeling the effects tonight of not just one, but two cheat meals today! And not exactly healthy ones either. Tomorrow I'll be cooking and cleaning for our annual Thanksgiving dinner Saturday. And I'm thinking after two turkey dinners today and one Saturday that we'll probably have steak for lunch tomorrow ;)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual (early lunch)
Lunch - turkey dinner #1
Supper - turkey dinner #2 (Shoney's)

Today's Meals

I'm going partly off my eating plan for the next week or so. I'll try to limit myself to 1 cheat meal a day though and go back on it after the leftovers are gone.

Breakfast - dilute juice
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Late afternoon - 1/4 cup coffee w/usual (I was tired and hungry and that took the edge off both! Yeah, my coffee's strong ;-) )
Supper - leftover rice and Cal veggies w/butter, cream, salt, and dry mustard; Ghirardelli mint square

Oh Well...

I didn't do any of my check-ins the past couple days. Suffice it to say it's been a really rough time emotionally and I just needed to take a cyber-break...

Breakfast - nothing (we were going to do an early lunch but that didn't happen)
Lunch - plate lunch out - shrimp stew w/white rice; Cal veggies (with butter or something like it); few bites each of bread pudding and cheesecake
Before supper - piece of french bread (wasn't gonna be home for about 20 mins and I was hungry and it was in the car)
Supper - can of asparagus; french bread w/butter and salt; piece of coffeecake (Bisquick recipe w/bittersweet chocolate chips)

Busy Exhausting Day...

...But no cheating :) I ran some errands, came home, ate lunch, went back out, and got home at suppertime.

Breakfast - dilute juice
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - veggie sandwich w/chips - multi-grain french bread, honey mustard, cherry tomato slices, Romaine, bell pepper, and avocado w/plain Zapp's (potatoes, oil, salt); 2 cookies

Healthy Cheat

It was chilly and damp this morning and the boys and I were out in it. We got back at lunchtime and I really wanted something hot and hearty!

Breakfast - nothing :( (was in a hurry to get somewhere at a certain time and forgot)
Lunch - Greek rice and gravy (93/7 ground beef seasoned w/Greek seasoning, brown rice, gravy - (no MSG) beef stock thickened w/dry roux); 2 Ghirardelli squares w/PB and sea salt
Supper - can of peas w/butter; brownies

Crazy Busy Day!

Got up at 6:30. Brought my mom to an appointment. There till noon. Lunch out. Brought Mom home. Got home in time for my friend to come so I could do more cleaning/organizing. Worked nonstop till after 8. WHEW... So tired now but a bit wired. I'm hoping it doesn't take long to wind down for bed!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; dilute juice
Lunch - Italian buffet
Late afternoon - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual (was so tired and needed the caffeine boost to be able to work)
Supper - dilute juice (lunch was a bit late and I wasn't hungry for supper but wanted to consume something)

Not As Busy

Good thing, because tomorrow will be another long one!

Breakfast - dilute juice
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - battered mushrooms (frozen, baked) w/ranch dressing; brownies

Dilly Corn Rice

DILLY CORN RICE

1 box Uncle Ben's instant brown rice, cooked according to package directions
1 lb frozen corn, cooked according to package directions
Salt
Butter
Dill

Mix rice and corn. Add rest of ingredients to taste.

Exhausted But Happy!

Always feels good to get some cleaning and organizing done! It's what I spent my afternoon and evening doing, thanks to a friend offering to watch the boys for me :)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Dilly Corn Rice; Twix

I'm realizing that if I don't prep my fruit or juice for breakfast at night that I'm not finding time to consume it in the morning. So before bed tonight I plan on getting some juice ready for breakfast tomorrow - I put a 10 oz bottle in my 24 oz water bottle w/straw and fill it the rest of the way with water. Then I usually drink half and save half for the next day. I need to buy another one that size so I can alternate and not have to worry about washing it so often!

Supper To Go

We ended up picking up supper tonight but I made fairly smart choices!

Breakfast - dilute juice
Lunch - sirloin in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - chips
Supper - Chili's - black bean burger on wheat bun w/avocado, lettuce, tomato, onion, little mayo and mustard; fries w/ketchup; broccoli/carrots; chocolate cobbler

Missing Meal

Food was good today till tonight. We met a friend at the park after lunch for his son's birthday. He had said they would have cake so I didn't eat any sweets after lunch. Well, for whatever reason, there wasn't any. So when we got home I ate what I really wanted - some bittersweet chocolate chips mixed in peanut butter. I wasn't planning on that being the last thing I ate today but that's how it ended up... Everything was crazy and by the time I got a chance to eat it was after 8 and I can't eat that late. I had some disappointing news tonight too so I wasn't hungry anyway.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; banana later; dilute juice later
Lunch - leftovers from yesterday's BBQ
Later - 60% chocolate chips w/peanut butter (Smucker's Natural) and sea salt

BBQ at the In-Laws

And it was yummy! Definitely a cheat. And they sent home leftovers. Which means I won't have to cook after church tomorrow :) Even though it will be another cheat.

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - BBQ - chicken thigh, baked beans, potato salad, bread w/butter-like substance, rice dressing, shrimp pasta, small slice lemon meringue pie
Supper - chocolate-stuffed beignets

Ideally I would have had some juice for this morning but I really need another straw cup! Mine was dirty and I didn't have time to wash it and I can't use a regular cup around the boys.

A Bit of Extra Sleep

I was so exhausted this morning! Jesse watched the boys so I could get a little more sleep :-) When I got up, Gabriel was hungry then it was time to start cooking lunch so no breakfast.

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - few potato chips
Supper - peas and pasta; chocolate cobbler

Another Busy Day

But I did good with eating!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; dilute juice later
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - California mix veggies w/butter; multi-grain french bread w/butter

Not a Good Day...

Major computer issues. No internet access. And when your only source of income is dependent on online access...

Lunch was on the run. Supper was not at home either...

Breakfast - nothing - computer issues and had to be somewhere at a certain time
Lunch - Burger King - Whopper w/cheese
Supper - Shoney's breakfast bar - after dealing w/computer all day, was too late to cook

Not a good food day or good day in general. I also fell this morning and have been really sore all day. Slid on a toy, landed on my knee, and crashed into the baby gate.

Like I said, NOT a good day...

What Do I Drink?

Few times a week - 1/2 cup coffee (not decaf) - usually dark roast (brewed w/ or w/o cinnamon). On Sunday, Dutch Chocolate Almondine flavored coffee (medium-dark roast)

Few times a month - tea - usually mix of decaf green and Mint Medley (both Bigelow brand) - very good for upset tummy! Sometimes sweetened w/Stevia, usually unsweetened. Occasionally, decaf black tea, occasionally w/Stevia, usually unsweetened

Most of the time I drink plain water. Well, Dasani. It's the only water I can drink a good bit of that doesn't make me nauseous. I think it's because of the purification process. Reverse osmosis is very good at removing un desirables from water! I drink an average of 48 oz a day. I would like to increase that though. I fill a 32 oz bottle w/straw and drink from it all day. I occasionally put a lime in my water but I have to be careful with that because I have a mild citrus allergy.

Very rarely I will have a soft drink or other sugar-sweetened beverage. Like a few times a year. I've never been a big soda drinker. And once or twice a year I'll have an alcoholic beverage. It's been at least a year and a half since my last one.

"Usual"

So what does it mean?

Usual coffee - w/Stevia and 1-2 tbsp heavy cream

Usual salad = a whole organic Romaine heart (approx 4 oz) w/homemade honey mustard dressing

Ghirardelli square - individually wrapped square of 72% aka Intense Dark Twilight Delight - .375 oz of pure satisfaction ;-)

Pancakes - made from homemade 100% whole grain mix - if chocolate, 60% Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips or bar (Intense Dark Evening Dream I think), chopped

French bread - multigrain (approx 50/50 unbleached white flour and whole wheat flour)

Any I'm forgetting???

Tuesday Meals

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee brewed w/cocoa powder w/usual; dilute juice
Lunch - Greek-seasoned ground beef in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - broccoli w/butter and salt; chocolate chip pancakes

Mom's Night Out! (Monday)

Breakfast - nada (purposely skipped - felt like partial day water fast might help my cold)
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Applebees - spinach artichoke dip w/chips; Chicken Florentine Ravioli w/breadstick; later - frozen decaf chocolate coffee drink

New Blog

I started a parenting blog today - Christian AP Momma's Spot http://christian-ap-momma.blogspot.com/ Go check it out!

Today's Food

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later; juice later
Lunch - chicken stew; Ghirardelli square
Supper - corn; fries (oven-baked) w/mayo and ketchup

Saturday's Food

Breakfast - diluted juice
Lunch - salad - rotisserie chicken breast, celery, Romaine w/honey mustard, mayo, and tarragon (only had a little honey mustard left so it ended up a cross between my usual salad and chicken salad); Ghirardelli square
Supper - Whole Grain Muffin Surprise

Friday's Food

Breakfast - diluted juice; 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Italian buffet

At supper Jesse really wanted to go eat a meal out with the boys and me but we didn't have much to spend doing it! Not the healthiest but we enjoyed the time together as a family :-)

Today's Food

No breakfast... Again... Tonight I prepped some diluted juice in a straw bottle so hopefully I'll find a way to drink it for breakfast!

Lunch - Greek-seasoned ground beef in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper (running errands) - multi-grain roll
Supper - battered mushrooms (baked) w/ranch; 1/2 chocolate muffin

Rough Night

Didn't get to sleep till 130am. Ethan fell out of bed soon after - rarely happens. Spent the next 4 hours with him waking up every 30-45 minutes. As soon as he stayed asleep, Gabriel woke up. Decided he needed to eat. I didn't get back to sleep for almost 2 hours... Then both boys woke up fairly early. By the time we did devotions and I fed the boys and made Jesse (and me) coffee it was time to start fixing lunch. We had somewhere to go so decided to grab lunch out.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - Greek buffet
Supper - canned biscuits w/butter and (rice) milk gravy; Ghirardelli square

Mommy's Night Off!

I unexpectedly got some time to myself tonight! I ate supper out and went to the mall. I've been looking for a new shirt but couldn't find anything I liked that fit at a decent price. But I found a cute shirt on clearance tonight! Very happy about that :-)

Breakfast - nothing - boys and I slept in
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Olive Garden - salad, breadstick, steak medallions in gorgonzola fettucine alfredo, black tie mousse cake

Not Like I Had Planned But...

Mom's Night Out got postponed till next week. And since I had already planned on cheating...

Breakfast - peach berry blend
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - piece of (white) french bread
Supper - tortilla chips and dip (diced hot dogs, cheddar, chile peppers, cream corn); piece of chocolate cake w/peanut butter

Mini-Vent

There's a long post coming about this sooner or later... But WHY is mental illness seen as different than physical illness?! I'm so sick of hearing about why psychiatrists are quacks. After all, "real" doctors are to be trusted 100%, right?! (Insert sarcastic eye roll here) Ugh.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple later; apple juice later
Lunch - roasted chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Spinach Pasta; chocolate cake (small piece)

I picked up the cake at the grocery store after supper. It was pretty good at first but by the time I took my last bite it tasted too sweet. Now that taste is just stuck in my mouth :P Can't wait for the hour to pass so I can drown it with water!

Flip

We ate our carb meal at lunch and protein at supper because I really wanted pancakes this morning! Actually, I wanted cinnamon rolls but made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes instead. I ended up getting hungry and shaky before supper was ready though.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; diluted juice
Lunch - Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
Supper - roasted chicken breast in usual salad

Today's Food

Breakfast - mixed fruit (1 lb each frozen peaches and berry medley, defrosted, pureed in the blender with stevia and cinnamon)
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - mushroom white sauce; crescent rolls; fun-size Twix

ETA Just to clarify... I did not eat all that fruit! I served myself a little of it and put the rest in the fridge :-)

Long Busy Day

The boys and my mom and I were gone for almost TEN hours running errands... That included lunch but still!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup of coffee w/usual; banana later
Lunch - homestyle buffet
Supper - nada

We ate lunch a bit later than usual and I wasn't hungry tonight. And after the tummy ache I had last night (still don't know what that was from), I didn't want to make myself eat tonight!

(Insert Interesting Title Here :P )

I couldn't decide what I wanted for supper and Jesse said I deserved a break so we did take-out. The bad news is I didn't eat smart. The good news is I found another old favorite that does not taste as good to me anymore!

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - Greek-seasoned 93/7 ground beef in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Chili's - appetizer sampler (southwestern egg rolls w/avocado ranch, cheese sticks w/avocado ranch, spinach artichoke dip w/tortilla chips); chocolate chip paradise pie (2/3 of it, no ice cream, little hot fudge and caramel)

So far I've eaten one of the apples I bought. It just didn't taste that good. Actually, it didn't have much of a taste at all! I need to find some organic ones I think...

Not What I Wanted But...

What I really wanted for supper was Chocolate-Stuffed Beignets. I didn't have biscuits though...

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - sirloin in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - peas (leftover, frozen, steamed, seasoned w/Essence); mashed potatoes (instant); cookie; Ghirardelli 60% Mint Bliss square

Chocolate-Stuffed Beignets

No, these aren't exactly healthy :-P But sometimes you have to treat yourself!

CHOCOLATE-STUFFED BEIGNETS

2 cans (10 ct) buttermilk or homestyle biscuits
Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate chips (yes, they're bigger than regular chocolate chips - nothing is wrong with your bag LOL)
Oil for frying
Powdered sugar

Heat oil to 350. Flatten each biscuit. Place 7 chocolate chips on each. Fold in half and press to seal edges. Fry a few at a time in hot oil. I drop in 3, turn them in order, then take them out in order with no time between and they're done perfectly! Dust with powdered sugar while they're hot. YUM!!!

What I Ingested Today

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; apple juice later
Lunch - Italian buffet
Supper - (nothing yet, may just drink some juice since lunch was late and I'm not hungry)

Double Chocolate Pancakes

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE PANCAKES

4 c. pancake mix
3 c. rice milk
Egg substitute equivalent to 4 eggs (2 tbsp. Ener-G + 4 oz water)
1/4 c. cocoa powder
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. vanilla Torani (flavoring syrup for coffee)
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate chips

Place chocolate chips in a bowl. Add about 1 tbsp. of pancake mix and stir until all chips are coated. Mix together remaining pancake mix, milk, eggs, cocoa, sugar, and Torani. Stir in chocolate chips. Cook on a hot griddle until done.

Just Meals

Breakfast - apple
Lunch - leftover chicken in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Double Chocolate Pancakes (more about this soon...)

Today's Food

Breakfast - nothing :(
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - chicken jambalaya; roll; cookie (all at a get-together); slice of cheesecake w/blueberry pie filling on top

Comfort Food

I had a really rough night Wednesday and it carried over some to today. Nothing healthy sounded good for supper...

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - frozen grilled chicken in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - canned biscuits stuffed w/bittersweet chocolate, fried (but I fried them correctly so they barely absorbed any oil), dusted w/powdered sugar

MIA

Yeah, I've been gone again... A lot going on emotionally, and I don't always feel like journaling my food lately. But I need to. I'm not going to try to catch up on what I've been eating, just starting over with today's...

Breakfast - nothing (slept in a little, then had hungry kids and stuff that had to get done!)
Lunch - roast beef in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - simple pasta; peas
Later - Pumpkin Spice Latte (will post recipe another day)

Friday's Food

Midnight last night I started craving a roast beef po-boy. I know my iron is low and I think that has something to do with it! A good brand of roast beef was on sale today so I ended up getting some and making my own.

Breakfast - nothing (but I did get some apples at the store tonight! nonorganic though)
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - roast beef po-boy - roast beef, tomato, lettuce, instant brown gravy, mayo on multi-grain french bread; sour cream and onion chips; biscotti

Anyone have a good biscotti recipe without nuts? I'd love to try to make it myself!

Thursday's Meals

My digestion is a bit messed up. I'm getting gallbladder twinges but also other places. I really don't think it's my gallbladder acting up... I highly suspect the emotional upheaval lately is the cause.

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - Greek-seasoned ground beef in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - sweet potato pasta; Ghirardelli square

I really wanted something fried and/or buttery for dessert but that didn't work out. I think I'm PMS'ing :-P

Planned Cheat Meal

I had planned a cheat meal for this week, just didn't know when I was going to take it. Well, today seemed like a good day. And since I was cheating, I went all out on dessert too.

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup of coffee w/usual
Lunch - Chili cheese dogs - beef hot dogs, homemade chili, cheddar, mayo, mustard on wheat bun; slice of cheesecake w/blueberry pie filling
Supper - apple juice (wasn't hungry)

I got tired of bananas for breakfast. Seems like I do that - eat one fruit for a while, then get tired of it and move on to something else. I had an apple earlier this week and it was yummy so I'm guessing that'll be the next thing. I need to find some organic ones though - they taste so much better! Plus I can eat the skin so it's less prep ;)

I'm Back...

It's been a really rough few days... Emotionally exhausting... I avoided Blogger until I was ready to blog in my personal journal about what's been going on. That happened late last night. So here I am.

Just a quick summary of my eating the past few days:
Saturday - ate on plan
Sunday - usual lunch out (cheat)
Monday - nauseous a lot of the day and ate all carbs at supper

Tuesday's meals:
Breakfast - apple
Lunch - chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - shroom pepper pasta; canned biscuits w/butter; Sno-Caps

Sweet Potato Pasta

SWEET POTATO PASTA

12-16 oz rotini (I used Barilla Whole Grain)
5 large sweet potatoes, cooked and peeled
4 tbsp. butter
1/2 c. cream
Salt
Cinnamon
Cloves
Nutmeg

Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

While pasta is cooking, mash sweet potatoes with butter and cream. Add seasonings to taste.

Mix together sweet potatoes and pasta.

Happy Toddler :)

I threw something together for supper and he LOVED it! We did too :)

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - ground beef seasoned w/homemade Greek seasoning (lost the recipe again!) in usual; Ghirardelli square
About an hour after lunch - <1/2 cup of coffee w/usual
Before supper - french bread w/butter (couldn't start supper till late and I was weak and shaky)
Supper - Sweet Potato Pasta; leftover chocolate chip pancakes w/butter and Reddi-Wip

Thursday's Food

Breakfast - nada
Lunch (little early b/c of Dr. appt) - chicken breast in usual salad;
Snack (3+ hrs later running errands) - multi-grain french bread
Supper - battered mushrooms (frozen, baked); "beignets" - canned biscuits fried w/powdered sugar; chocolate iced coffee

The beignets didn't hardly absorb any oil! I saved the oil after it cooled and for frying 2 cans of biscuits, there was only about 1/4 cup of oil gone!

Supper Out... Again

It just takes so long to get us all ready and out of the house, pick up my mom, run errands, etc. Seems impossible to do it all without eating out or coming home to eat!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Shoney's breakfast bar - eggs w/mushrooms and cheese sauce, potatoes w/cheese sauce, chicken tenders w/milk gravy, french toast sticks; Ghirardelli square w/peanut butter and sea salt

Dinner at the In-Laws'

Breakfast - nada - boys and I slept till 11!
Lunch - turkey stoup; Ghirardelli square; 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Supper - chicken nuggets (few small ones), spaghetti (homemade w/ground beef and white pasta) w/parmesan cheese; fried roll; peanut butter brownie

Mom's Night Out!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; banana
Lunch - turkey stoup; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - few fingers of Nutella; 1 peanut butter cup
Supper - Texas Roadhouse - a few steak fries w/cheese and a little bacon dipped in ranch; roll w/"butter"; house salad w/blue cheese dressing; country fried sirloin (only ate half the breadhng) dipped in cream gravy; bite of sweet potato

Something Else About the Farm Tour

I walked a LOT. Over uneven ground. In thick and fairly high grass. With Gabriel on my hip in the Moby. He weighs 18-19 lbs. If you add that to my current weight it's still less than I weighed before I got pregnant with him. About 20 less...

I really felt the difference of walking with the extra weight. It was probably worse because of the terrain, but still. At my heaviest I was carrying almost FIFTY lbs more than I am now. All. The. Time.

It makes me wonder... If I would've done the tour before I was pregnant, how hard would the walking have been? Would it have been easier because I was used to carrying the weight? Or harder because I weighed more?

I wore a new pair of tennies for the first time. I got them because the only shoes that fit me are my sandals and I knew there was no way I could do all that walking in them. Never mind with Gabriel. They're just a pair of Dr. Scholl's, nothing fancy. I wonder if some of my walking difficulty was from wearing the shoes for the first time.

When I was walking the last long stretch (I rode the hayride back instead of walking) the terrain was the toughest of the tour. I was getting tired, and was very thankful for my tennies giving my feet some stability. It may have been easier too if Gabriel had been in a more balanced hold but he hasn't tolerated any other hold since he was a newborn.

I wonder what the tour would've been like for me at my prepregnancy weight. Or 15 lbs heavier at my highest. Would I have been able to walk it? Or would I have had to take advantage of the hayride for the whole tour? Hmmm...

I'm really glad I'm speaking theoretically. And hoping by the time we do another tour I'll be carrying less weight - even with a heavier baby :-)

Yummy Lunch!

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - Turkey Stoup; Ghirardelli square
Supper - chocolate chip pancakes (my recipe) w/finely ground decaf espresso beans

Turkey Stoup

TURKEY STOUP

15 lb turkey - minus breast, wishbone meat, drumsticks, thighs (used them for salads)
1/2 lb frozen sliced carrots
1/2 lb parsnips, sliced/chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
Salt

Place turkey remnants in a stock pot. Add rest of ingredients and water to cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer until veggies are soft and meat is falling off the bones. Salt to taste.

Farm Tour

We took a group tour today of a local organic farm. We started at the tilapia ponds and ended at the garden. We also saw chickens, turkeys, and cows. One of the cows was so sweet! She came to us and let us pet her etc :-) It was so strange to see chickens running around the cows' legs like they owned the pasture! I guess you could say they co-inhabit it during the day ;-) I walked most of the tour with Gabriel in the Moby Wrap using the hip carry. It was a challenge over all the uneven ground! Jesse and Ethan opted for the hayride, as did I for the long walk to where it ended. It was neat getting to see all the animals just roaming within their huge fenced-in areas without a care in the world. We didn't scare them - they're perfectly used to people being around. The garden was smaller than I pictured it but the rest was bigger than I anticipated. I look forward to doing another tour sometime in the future :-)

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - turkey in usual salad
Supper - shroom and pepper pasta (only had a small bowl left); potato w/butter and S&P; iced coffee (what was left from last night)

Tired!

Been running errands with my mom today. Late night...

Breakfast - nothing - I forgot :-(
Lunch - turkey in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - "Sneaky" Pasta; iced coffee - decaf coffee, rice milk, cream, Hershey's syrup

"Sneaky" Pasta

"SNEAKY" PASTA

12-16 oz penne pasta
4 c. rice milk
1/2 c. cornstarch
1 lb. frozen green beans
Salt
Italian seasoning
1/2 c. cream

Make white sauce - Heat 3 c. rice milk over medium heat until hot. Mix remaining rice milk with cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk mixture into hot rice milk. Cook over medium heat until thick.

Cook pasta according to package directions in salted water. Cook green beans according to package directions.

Mash green beans with a potato masher or use a food processor. Mix green beans into white sauce. Mix together with drained pasta and cream. Add seasonings to taste.

NOTE: This got its name because I tried to sneak green beans - which Ethan doesn't eat - into something he likes - pasta with cream sauce. And it was a success!

Today's Meals

Nothing exciting...

Breakfast - apple juice; banana later
Lunch - turkey in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - baked beans w/brown rice; mint chocolate truffle

Shroom Pepper Pasta

Another real simple, thrown-together supper. Would be delicious as a side dish too :)

SHROOM PEPPER PASTA

1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1/2 big red bell pepper, chopped
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
Salt
12-16 oz angel hair (I used Barilla Plus)
Mustard (the spice, not prepared mustard)

Saute bell peppers and set aside. Saute mushrooms and add to bell peppers. Season to taste with salt and mustard. Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Drain. Mix pasta with veggie mixture. Add more salt and mustard to taste.

Starting to Feel Better

Still not back to normal by any stretch of the imagination, but better than yesterday :) And I'm feeling claustrophobic and a little anxious tonight. Wonder if my body's trying to detox something I ate recently?

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - turkey in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Shroom Pepper Pasta
Dessert - cafe au lait (1/2 cup decaf coffee, 1/2 cup rice milk and cream mix, stevia); lemon biscotti

Ibuprofen

I took 2 last night. I took 2 about noon. And I'll take 2 more before bed tonight so I can breathe.

I hate taking ibuprofen. I've had a few gallbladder twinges today that I suspect are from taking it :-( But it's either that or not breathe and cough from the throat irritation. Ugh.

I'm sure all the stress last week combined with rationing my supplements really took a toll on my immune system :-(

Still Sick

Should I really expect any different?! ;-)

Sick me + dirty kitchen + hubby offering to work a little extra to pay for me not having to cook supper = take-out

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - turkey in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Chili's - black bean burger on wheat bun w/avocado, mayo, mustard, tomato; fries w/ketchup; corn on the cob w/butter; piece of cake

"Uncle!"

I give up... I just took 2 ibuprofen :-( It should take out some of the inflammation and swelling. Everything is so swollen I can't breathe so I can't sleep despite being so tired :-(

The good thing is I've only used ibuprofen once in the past 8 months so it should hit my system pretty hard! And do what it's supposed to.

I'm so cold. It's the same temp in here as usual but I guess the combination of being tired and sick is what's causing it. I took my temp a while ago and it was normal. No fever :-) So I'm under my sheet, quilted blanket, Vellux blanket, and one other fairly thin one. Hope I warm up soon!

Poor Jesse had his first bout of horrible heartburn/reflux in a long time tonight. I think it's from that pizza yesterday. It's cheap for a reason ;-) He's sleeping now but I expect it to happen again tonight. I had some of my green/mint tea left so I poured it for him. It really helps digestive issues for me - hope it does the same for him.

Full. Blown. Sick.

Stuffy head, sneezing, sinus pressure, sinus headache off and on, nose like a constantly dripping faucet... But no sore throat or cough :-)

Last night when I did my neti pot the second time, I was so stuffy I had to be creative to do it. Tonight was better - and I actually flushed at least one thick glop of snot - but that was before I laid down. And of course it's worse when I'm laying down, despite being somewhat propped up.

Last night I ended up sleeping with a rolled-up piece of soft toilet paper stuck into one nostril. That constant watery, thin drip... I may have to do it again tonight. For now I'm just wiping it a lot. And I have VapoRub slathered under my nose. Ugh. Scratch that. I now have a piece of rolled toilet paper with one end in each nostril. Probably looks like a bull with a ring in its nose LOL Beats wiping every 30 seconds though :-P

I got the turkey cooked today! So we have lunches for a few days. I plan to make a turkey stew with the carcass after most of the meat is gone. Mmmmm...

Breakfast - banana (nonorganic)
Lunch - turkey breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - mashed potatoes (8 servings instant) w/butter, parsley, and garlic (5 cloves); Cal veggies; piece of cake

Wow...

Yesterday I had Gabriel in the Moby Wrap for the first time in a while. I started with him in the hip hold but when he got sleepy I decided to face him in so he was chest to chest with me. Last time I used the Moby Wrap I tied it in back and had to tuck the ends in toward the front. Yesterday I tied it in back, and had so much left I could tie a short knot in front! I was SHOCKED!

And the number on the scale STILL hasn't moved... Hoping with cool weather coming soon I can start walking again and lose some more!

Can I Whine?!

What was earlier hmmm-wonder-if-this-stuffy-nose-is-from-the-weather-change has turned into sneeze-blow-stuffy-and-swollen-sinuses-sinus-pressure-can't-breathe-can't-sleep :-( WAHHHHH!!!

After such a rough week and both boys having runny noses I should have expected it.

Mommies don't get sick days!

Wondering if the neti pot would help even though I did it 2 hours ago... But that was before all this really kicked in. Worth a shot I guess... Doubt it would make things any worse!

Cheap Pizza

Things yesterday didn't work out as planned and I didn't have time to cook the turkey that was supposed to be today's lunch! So instead we ate at a pizza buffet that is only $3.99 right now. We got water instead of soda and Ethan ate free so all 3 of us ate a huge meal for under $9.00!

Breakfast - nada
1/2 cup coffee w/demarara and cream
(Late) Lunch - pizza buffet (mostly veggie pizza for me)
Supper - apple juice

I bought some bananas this afternoon to have for breakfasts! I've been out and they're so easy - no prep required!

It's Been a Rough Week...

And we lost a special pet during the night :-(

Supper was the rest of what I started last night that got messed up.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - back to old faithful ;-)
Supper - peas; waffles (Bisquick recipe w/cinnamon and nutmeg); peach sauce - frozen peaches, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, butter, cream)

Frustrating Evening

I started cooking supper and it ended with fast food :-( Then when I was cooking some chicken breasts later, the oil decided to really start popping and got me quite a few times. So far I've only found one blister but I would be surprised if that's the only one. One of those nights...

But on a good note... I caught 2 great sales tonight! Boneless skinless chicken breasts for 1.88/lb, and Honeysuckle White whole turkeys (not frozen) for 1.69/lb! Guess what I'm planning on cooking tomorrow for Sunday and the rest of the week :-)

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - crockpot round steak; Ghirardelli square
Supper - mushroom swiss burger and fries from McDonald's; cookie dough pie from Burger King

Supper didn't taste that good and it made me feel yucky...

Thursday's Food

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - baked beans over rice; piece of cake

Today's Meals

All I'll say for now about today is I'm glad it's almost over! And I'm praying Gabriel doesn't have a reaction to this new formula...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - roasted chicken breast in Romaine salad w/1000 Island; Ghirardelli square
Supper - cinnamon roll pancakes

Ring Size

When we got married in 96, I wore a size 7. My engagement ring is also a 7. My class ring from 92 is a 7. My amethyst I got somewhere around 2000 is an 8 but I had worn it with a sizer for a few years. I never used to take off my wedding set and it wasn't uncomfortable so I never got it resized.

I haven't worn my wedding set since it fell off earlier this year (I wear my band on a necklace with my cross and the boys' charms). Today my mom was looking at rings at a store and I noticed the rings you try to see what size you are were right there. So I asked if I could use it while the saleslady helped my mom.

My ring size is currently... Between a 5 1/2 and 6! I thought my fingers were looking slender lately but WOWZERS! Now to have the rest of my body catch up ;-)

Tuesday's Food

Better day :-)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - roasted chicken breast in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Oriental pilaf; homemade white bread w/butter

Monday's Food

Had a long, rough day and food choices were pretty much out of my control :-(

Breakfast - nada
Lunch - McDonald's - double cheeseburger (no pickles)
Snack - banana
Supper - chicken and sausage gumbo - chicken, couple bites sausage, okra, white rice; Ghirardelli square

If You Thought Last Night's Supper Was Gross...

LOL!

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; banana later; apple juice later
Lunch - Italian buffet
Supper - white bun w/mayo, mustard, Romaine, potato chips (Kettle brand sea salt)

So the story with supper is... I needed to eat SOMETHING. I wasn't very hungry though. Bread sounded good. I opened the french bread. Moldy :-( Drats! Foiled again! Ethan noticed I was in the kitchen and asked what I was doing. I told him I was looking for something to eat. So, sweet and helpful boy that he is, he starts suggesting things I can eat :-) He suggested a few things before saying Potato Chips. Hmmm... That actually sounded good! And I had an unopened bag. Just basic thick chips - potatoes, oil, sea salt. I remembered I had the rest of a pack of hot dog buns. Those things take a LONG time to mold but that's another story for another time ;-) So what to put on it? I definitely needed a veggie. Nothing sounded good... Romaine... Yeah, I can put some Romaine leaves on the bun... A little mayo and mustard... And I'm one of those weird people who like to eat chips on my sandwich. Something about the combination of soft bread and crunchy salty chips... Mmmmm...

And now you know a bit more about the inner workings of my brain :-P

Mushroom White Sauce

MUSHROOM WHITE SAUCE

2 c. Rice Dream (rice milk)
1/4 c. cornstarch
4 tbsp. butter
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
Salt

Heat 1 1/2 c. Rice Dream over medium heat until hot. Mix remaining 1/2 c. RD with cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk cornstarch mixture into hot RD. Cook over medium heat until thick.

While RD is heating, heat butter and oil in a skillet. Saute mushrooms until tender and slightly browned.

Stir together white sauce and mushrooms and salt to taste.

NOTE: I need to double this if eating like a soup as we did today!

Rice Dream White Sauce

RICE DREAM WHITE SAUCE

2 c. Rice Dream
1/4 c. cornstarch

Heat 1 1/2 c. Rice Dream over medium heat until hot. Mix remaining 1/2 c. RD with cornstarch until smooth. Slowly whisk mixture into hot RD. Cook over medium heat until thick.

Season as desired.

Yummy New Supper

I tried something new at supper - I made a white sauce from rice milk, cornstarch, and sauteed mushrooms. It was so yummy! It would be good over rice, pasta, biscuits, meat, even some veggies. I had a single pie crust in the fridge that was getting ready to expire so I cut it into wedges but left it whole and baked it. We crumbled the pie crust wedges over the sauce and ate it like a thick soup. Mmmmm... Jesse said he could eat it every week! So now I just need to figure out what to put it over next time :)

Breakfast - plum
Lunch - chicken salad in Romaine; Ghirardelli square
Snack - banana
Supper - Mushroom White Sauce; pie crust wedges; few leftover chocolate chip pancakes w/Reddi-Wip

Taco Seasoning

TACO SEASONING

2 tbsp. chili powder
5 tsp. paprika
4 1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

To prepare:
1 lb. ground beef, diced steak, chicken, seafood, etc
2/3-3/4 c. water
8 tsp. seasoning mix

Mix seasoning ingredients together. Store in an airtight container.

To prepare:
Cook meat in skillet until done. Add water and seasoning mix. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.

Today's Meals

Had a rough day with Ethan but I didn't let it affect my eating!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - taco-seasoned 96/4 ground beef and corn and green onions in usual salad
Supper - potatoes o'brien, french bread w/butter; piece of cake; small cup of cold decaf coffee w/cream and chocolate syrup

General Health Update

I am feeling pretty darn good :-)

My hormones are stabilizing! Woohoo! My emotions are less turbulent. My body has stopped having ovulation signs twice a month. My rosacea is getting better!!! My face is no longer pussy and painful. It's not clear by any stretch of the imagination. But it's definitely improving :-)

I have more energy! Despite being out of my iron for almost 2 weeks, I haven't felt like I'm dragging. It's still not easy to get out of bed, but I've NEVER had an easy time with that LOL I do sometimes still get tired in the afternoons. It happens between 230 and 4pm. Especially if it's been a fairly quiet day. And especially if I'm holding a sleeping baby ;-) I do occasionally take a short doze off and on but if Ethan notices, he makes a point of keeping me awake. I know part of my increased energy has to do with Gabriel FINALLY starting to sleep through the night a couple weeks ago. He spent about a week waking for a bottle about 6am but most nights now he sleeps through till he wakes up for the day between 730 and 830am :-) After a year (last trimester + 9 mths), I am so grateful to get some uninterrupted sleep! I don't always sleep through without waking up, but I almost always get back to sleep fairly easily. I think my body's still adjusting to the fact that I don't have a reason to wake up during the night ;-)

My weight still hasn't changed more than a pound or two since February. But things have been so stressful and that may be almost over with now. Plus I get next to no exercise. Not for lack of want... My clothes are still getting looser everywhere but my stomach. Which means I'm still disproportionate. That bugs me because of how I look, but mostly because of trying to find tops that fit. If it fits in the stomach, it's loose in the neck and goes down too low in front. Especially when I'm holding Gabriel. And if it fits in the neck, it's tight in the stomach. Empire waist shirts make me look like I'm well into my second trimester. Which wouldn't be so bad if I was pregnant but since I'm not... It doesn't help that most of the styles now are cut low in front anyway!

My hair seems to be getting thicker again. I can actually put in a ponytail with a barrette and have it not fall out immediately. I know that was mostly a postpartum thing but I'm sure the other issues didn't help!

So... I'm (mostly) keeping with my eating plan, taking my supplements, doing a sinus flush every night, keeping up my food diary on here, and looking forward to the opportunity to start exercising. Maybe once the temps get out of the 90s? ...

Never Again...

... will I use my tiny stove to make pancakes!

Our apartment has a tiny stove and oven. The stove has one big burner and three small ones. If I use my big burner and need a small one, I can only use the small one that is diagonal to the big one. Otherwise the pans don't fit. I don't have a griddle pan. When I make pancakes I use my frying pan on the big burner, and small skillet on the small burner diagonal to it. So basically my whole stove is taken up. I can make 3 medium-sized pancakes at once in my frying pan and 1 in my skillet. So 4 at a time.

I've been thinking I wish I had an electric griddle. The pancakes are awkward to flip in my frying pan because of the high sides. The ones in the skillet are awkward to flip because they're in the back corner of the stove and I'm only 5'2" and don't have long arms. I figured when I had time I'd research electric griddles and ask for one for Christmas from my family.

Well... It occurred to me recently that I already have one! My 3-in-1 wafflemaker has plates that are smooth on the other side. I've used it as a sandwich press for making Ethan grilled cheese sandwiches and it's great for that! But... The maker also opens flat. Part 3 of the 3-in-1 is that it's also a griddle! DUH :-P

So tonight I figured I'd try it out on my homemade pancakes. I was making a big batch so if the first ones I made didn't turn out good, no harm done. I'd just take out my pans and do the rest on the stove. No biggie.

I checked the manual and it said to put the maker on high.

Advantage #1 over the stove - The ready light cycled off when the maker was the right temp :-) No guessing involved!

Advantage #2 - They were so easy to flip! I could reach all of the pancakes easily and with no sides to contend with, flipping them was a breeze!

Advantage #3 - Instead of being able to cook 4 pancakes at a time, I could cook 4 slightly smaller ones (but not much smaller!) ON EACH SIDE! So even though they took a little longer to cook than on the stove, I could fit twice as many at a time. Which means start to finish it didn't take as long:-)

Advantage #4 - The temperature stayed more constant. On my stove I'm constantly having to tweak the temperature a bit. I think it's because the stove is old or maybe it was always like that. It definitely wasn't new when we moved in 8 years ago. But even though the maker cycled, I didn't notice a change in how fast the pancakes cooked. They didn't threaten to burn, they didn't decide to not cook as fast as the ones before. So no babysitting the dial :-)

Advantage #5 - Clean-up! Let me say I'm not a big fan of nonstick. I know it releases chemicals into the air, and likely into the food. But the maker on high doesn't get as hot as my stove on medium. And most of the harmful effects of nonstick surfaces happen at high temperatures. So I'm not as concerned about this one thing I have that's nonstick. So back to the clean-up. Nothing stuck! Normally I have to soak my nice tri-metal bottom stainless steel frying pan and skillet in hot water with Dawn for them to come clean easily after pancakes. At some point the pans get too hot (the aggravating temp problem mentioned above) and the nonstick spray I use burns to the pan in places. The only clean-up I'll be doing this time is a quick wipedown with a soapy sponge and a warm rinse. DONE. Even after it sitting overnight.

I wonder if I'll be making pancakes more often now? My guess is, probably not. It will just be a lot easier when I do ;-)

Today's Food

Breakfast - 1/2 c. coffee w/usual; banana later
Lunch - Chicken Salad w/Romaine; Ghirardelli square
Supper - my pancakes w/Ghirardelli 60%

100% Whole Grain Pancake Mix

I really thought I had this recipe on my blog somewhere but can't find it! So it may be a duplicate...

100% WHOLE GRAIN PANCAKE MIX

3 c. whole wheat flour
3 c. oat flour
2/3 c. sugar
2 Tbsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. baking soda

Combine all ingredients. Store in an airtight container.

To make:
1 c. pancake mix
3/4 c. milk
1 egg, beaten
Fruit, nuts, and/or chocolate chips (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cook on medium heat.

NOTE: These pancakes will be darker than ones made with white flour! I use egg substitute and rice milk and they come out good :)

Chicken Salad

CHICKEN SALAD
adapted from Ina Garten

4 split (2 whole) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin on
Good olive oil
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 teaspoons tarragon
1 cup small-diced celery

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, on a sheet pan and rub them with olive oil. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Set aside to cool.

When the chicken is cool, remove and discard the skin and bones and cut the chicken into 3/4-inch dice. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the mayonnaise, tarragon, celery, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper and toss well.

*** Jesse ate his on a whole wheat bagel. I ate mine with Romaine leaves.

Wednesday's Food

I realized as I was falling asleep I forgot to post my meals! Whoops!

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - homestyle buffet (incl salad)
Supper - Peas and Pasta; Ghirardelli square

Pizza Pasta

I was looking for this recipe while making my meal plan today and realized I hadn't typed it up yet! Luckily I found the piece of paper I jotted it down on :P

PIZZA PASTA

1 pk (12-16 oz) pasta
1 1/2 c. onions
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
Olive oil
3.5 oz sun-dried tomatoes
1/2-3/4 c. heavy cream

Cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, cut up tomatoes and cover with about a cup of boiling water. Let sit. Saute onions and seasoning in oil. Once tomatoes are rehydrated, puree in food processor to make a sauce, adding soaking water as necessary. Add onions and tomatoes to cooked pasta. Stir in cream.

Upset Tummy

I don't know why :( Maybe something I've eaten the past couple days didn't agree with me? It's not stuff I usually eat so hard to know what caused it. I've been sipping green/mint tea and it's helping :)

Breakfast - plum
Lunch - steak in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Quick Mushroom Rice; french bread w/butter; small piece of cake

It's All Greek to Me

Mom's Night Out was tonight :-) I hadn't had Greek in about a year and I ate too much - but it was so yummy! Ethan finished off my gyro meat when I got home LOL

Breakfast - canteloupe
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - lentil soup; fried kibbi w/dip; gyro plate - gyro meat, hummus, yellow rice, whole wheat pita, feta salad
Later - Starbucks - pumpkin spice latte w/whipped cream

A Normal Sunday

Ate lunch out. Could've done better. Could've done worse.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; banana later; apple juice later
Lunch - Applebee's - fried cheese sticks; spinach dip w/tortilla chips; spinach and ricotta ravioli w/alfredo sauce and grilled chicken and veggies; bread stick; chocolate chip paradise pie from Chili's - Yeah, it was a lot of food, but we waited FOREVER for a table and I was STARVING! I didn't eat all of both appetizers btw - both were shared LOL Then dessert was after we had sat around and talked for a while. I picked it up on the way home.
Supper - piece of multi-grain french bread w/a little butter

Essence

If you read this blog fairly regularly, you've seen me mention Essence as an ingredient I use frequently. But what is it?!

Quite simply, it's Emeril Lagasse's seasoning blend. I buy it at Walmart but if it isn't sold in your area, you can mix it yourself. Here's the recipe - http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-creole-seasoning-essence-recipe/index.html I've never mixed it myself. Why should I when I can buy the exact same thing already mixed? It may be slightly cheaper to do it yourself, but I don't pay a lot for it premade. If the stores around here stopped carrying it though, I would definitely mix it myself! Love that stuff!!!

Peas and Pasta

This couldn't get much easier...

PEAS AND PASTA

Whole wheat macaroni - cooked, drained, and rinsed in cold water until cool
Frozen peas - cooked and cooled
Green onion - sliced
Mayo
Essence or another seasoning blend

Mix all ingredients in desired proportions. I used about equal parts pasta and peas. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Today's Food

Breakfast - juice (mixed berry)
Lunch - 93/7 ground beef w/Greek seasoning in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Peas and Pasta; cookies

Friday's Food

The past few days are a bit of a blur... Jesse let me sleep in a bit and when I got up it was almost lunchtime and the boys were both fussy so I ended up skipping breakfast. And then I needed something quick and easy for lunch so I grabbed something out of the freezer.

Breakfast - nope :(
Lunch - gumbo - my dad's smoked chicken and andouille gumbo (homemade) w/brown rice; macaroni salad; usual Ghirardelli dipped in Nutella (yeah, it was RICH!)
Supper - homemade 100% whole grain waffles w/strawberry sauce - defrosted frozen strawberries, butter, maple syrup, demarara simple syrup (the strawberries were TART!), salt; cold decaf coffee w/rice milk, cream, and Hershey's syrup

Thursday's Food

Thursday was the funeral so food was kind of whack...

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/demarara and heavy cream
1ish - boudin
4ish - finger food after funeral
6ish - multi-grain french bread, macaroni salad, BK fries; cookies

Nonstop Day!

Ran errands with my mom today. Went to a wake tonight.

And I satisfied a craving I've had for weeks! Not the healthiest... Supper was technically a cheat but not unhealthy.

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - chili cheese dogs - beef hot dogs, organic vegetarian chili (the irony LOL but it's the only one I can find that doesn't contain MSG!), 2% sharp cheddar, white bun (store I was at didn't have wheat), mayo, mustard; Ghirardelli squares w/peanut butter (Smucker's Natural) and sea salt
Supper - 2 finger sandwiches at wake - roast beef on wheat, chicken salad on wheat

Emotional Day

But I didn't let it affect my eating too much!

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - BK onion rings w/mayo; Italian pasta

Potatoes O'Brien

Another of my made-up recipes. These are heavier on the veggies than any I've seen but they're so good! Just the right proportions for us :)

POTATOES O'BRIEN

5 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and chopped
1/2 large green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
Olive oil
Butter

Heat olive oil and butter in skillet over medium-high heat (5 1/2 on my stove). Saute bell peppers until tender and set aside. Saute mushrooms until tender and set aside. Add more oil and butter if needed. Brown potatoes, approximately 3-5 minutes, then flip and brown the other side. Add veggies back to pan and stir and heat.

Food Today

Breakfast - canteloupe
Lunch - rotisserie chicken in usual; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Potatoes O'Brien; canned biscuits w/butter

Today's Food

Rough morning. Out to lunch with my best friend's family after church. Didn't really care about following my eating plan :P I didn't eat awful, but not great either.

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - homestyle buffet
Supper - baked potato w/broccoli (lots), butter, salt, pepper; cookies

Mommy's Day "Off"

Well, a lot of it anyway! I still had to do the meal plan and grocery shopping but at least I didn't have to do it with the boys ;-)

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - mall - super steak - beef, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, cheese on a white bun (these suckers are huge!)
Chocolate iced coffee
Supper - pizza pasta; cookies

Frustrating Night

Time to fix supper! Only I had 2 fussy kids all day and HOW CAN WE HAVE ACCUMULATED 3 LOADS OF DIRTY DISHES IN 24 HOURS?!?!?! So nothing was clean I needed to cook with. Both sinks were full. The dishwasher was full of clean dishes. So before I even started cooking I had to empty and load the dishwasher, then hand wash what I needed to cook with and hope it had been soaking. Jesse offered to eat some food he had left. I had an organic frozen dinner Ethan could eat. And I could find SOMETHING. Well... I finally found something that sounded good - the last can of asparagus! I planned on eating it with a slice of my homemade bread and butter. Opened the can and IT WAS MOLDY! The can was unopened, the use-by date was Dec 2011, but it had yellow slimy spots on it. Grrr...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - Greek-seasoned hamburger patty (will post recipe later) in usual; Ghirardelli square
Supper - bread and butter; cookies

Another Quiet Day

But that's a good thing! Excitement around here usually is not the good kind :P

I made my Three-Pepper Pasta for supper tonight but I tweaked it slightly. I think it came out better! I'll have to update the original recipe soon.

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - usual chicken in usual salad w/usual dressing ;) BUT I sauteed a couple green onions while the chicken was resting and added them. Yummy!; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Three-Pepper Pasta; homemade (white) bread w/butter; Cal veggies w/butter; cookies

Another Thrown Together Meal

And it was yummy! I wanted a chili cheese dog or pizza for supper. But money's tight and I didn't have what I needed for either one. So I took some of the flavors from pizza and made them into a noncheat meal :-) I'll get the recipe posted soon!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - round steak in usual salad; Ghirardelli square
Before supper - cookie (I was weak and needed sugar! Didn't think about eating a banana :-P )
Supper - Pizza Pasta; homemade (white) bread w/butter; cookies

Mexican Rotini

MEXICAN ROTINI

12-16 oz whole wheat rotini
15 oz can black beans, drained
16 oz can refried beans
9 oz can diced green chilies
2.25 oz can black olives
1 Tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder

Cook rotini according to package directions. While rotini is cooking, put the rest of the ingredients in a food processor and mix until they form a thick sauce. When rotini is done, drain and return to pot. Mix in sauce.

Good News and Bad News on the AC

The bad news came in multiple parts:
1. The ac fan is going out
2. I have a slow freon leak in a hose
3. $200 for one problem, $250 for the other...

But the good news did too:
1. They showed me where to pop with a hammer to get the fan going when it stops. That should work for a while still.
2. The freon leak is not bad at all right now. They recommended I spend less than $20 every few months to get freon put back in until I can pay to get it fixed.
3. They didn't charge me to look at it! Seeing as how I spent $1000 on that stupid ac last month...

Breakfast - canteloupe
Lunch - steak salad w/my honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Mexican Rotini (new recipe); Cal veggies w/butter; bread and butter; chocolate chip pancakes; cookie

No AC again :(

The AC in my car went out again this afternoon! I called the mechanic and they said they couldn't check it till tomorrow. So I'll be up early to drop it off...

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - taco seasoned lean ground beef and carrots in Romaine salad w/my honey mustard
Before supper - couple bites of fudge (at my mom's - and it tasted way too sweet!)
Supper - the last chili burger - fixed same as last night; green beans (frozen, seasoned with salt and Mrs. Dash); cookies

A Craving Satisfied!

For months I've been craving my mom's recipe for chocolate chip cookies. I bought the ingredients last week and Ethan helped me make them today :) We ate too much batter and too many cookies but we had fun ;) And they were really yummy!

Breakfast - apple juice; few sips of coffee w/stevia
Lunch - steak in Romaine salad w/my honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
"Between" - Cookie dough and cookies
Supper - chili burger on whole wheat bun w/avocado, mayo, mustard; fries; more cookies

Today's Food

Breakfast - canteloupe
Lunch - chicken breast in Romaine salad w/my honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Quick Mushroom Rice; canned biscuits w/butter; mocha pie

Summary of My Eating Plan + Evaluation

Breakfast - fruit and/or juice ONLY
Lunch (noon or after) - 1 protein and veggies
Supper (before 8) - carbs and veggies
Snacks - fruit

Other - must eat at least one salad a day

Forbidden - pork in any form - not sure why other than it has a lot of toxins...


How I do realistically...

Breakfast - I do pretty well just having fruit. Although I do have 1/2 cup of coffee w/Stevia and a splash of heavy cream about twice a week...
Lunch - I almost always have my salad here. A HUGE one! I eat a whole Romaine heart a day or 3 big handfulls chopped. And about 6 oz of lean meat. Any less than that and I get hungry and snacky later and am more tempted to cheat.
Supper - I frequently mix my carbs. I had beans a lot at the beginning but am eating them less often now. I'm feeling more satisfied with just grains and veggies although I still eat beans some days.
Snacks - I tend to snack on carbs if it's not long till supper.
Salad - I have a salad every day, except sometimes on days I cheat.
Pork - The only time I've had it is if it's seasoning a veggie when I'm not eating at home.

I allow myself 1-2 cheat meals a week - usually lunch. That way my body has a long time to digest everything before bed. I try to eat just a salad those nights, although sometimes I'll have a small portion of my regular supper.

Tuna and Heartburn

For years I would get heartburn whenever I ate tuna. It didn't matter how I ate it - tuna helper (even organic ones), tuna salad w/lowfat mayo or yogurt, w/lowfat crackers... But I haven't had heartburn ONCE after eating tuna lately! The difference? I'm only combining it "properly" now! I'm not eating it with carbs, and no heartburn :-)

To me this is more proof that I'm following the eating plan that works for my body! And I'm very happy to be able to enjoy tuna again without regretting it later :-D

Today's Food

"Breakfast" - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - sweet potatoes w/butter; chocolate chip pancakes (1/2 homemade mix, 1/2 Bisquick, Ghirardelli 60% chips)

(3 oz chocolate per 1 c. mix)

Fairly Quiet Day!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - lean ground beef w/red and green bell peppers and onions and Essence in Romaine salad w/my honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Supper - chili burger on whole wheat bun w/mayo, mustard, avocado; fries w/ketchup and mayo
Dessert - leftover chocolate chip pancakes

Long Busy Day

The boys, my mom and I were gone almost 9 hours today! It was a productive day at least!

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - Italian buffet
Supper - creamy tomato pasta

A Bit More Energy!

I think the hormones are leveling out a little! I had more energy today than I have. The cravings have been less, and I'm wanting to eat on plan :)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual, canteloupe later
Lunch - usual; Ghirardelli square
Supper - mashed potatoes (instant), corn cooked in rice milk and butter; spice cake

Recipes

Just curious if anyone has tried any of the recipes I've posted? Let me know! And if you changed them up a bit, tell me what you did!

Creamy Tomato Pasta

CREAMY TOMATO PASTA

1 pk. (12-16 oz) macaroni
Salt
4 c. rice milk
1/2 c. cornstarch
Seasonings - mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, salt
1/2-3/4 c. heavy cream
12 oz tomatoes, chopped

Cook macaroni in salted water, subtracting a few minutes from the normal cooking time. While macaroni is cooking, heat 3 c. rice milk over medium heat. Mix the other cup with cornstarch until dissolved. When milk is hot, whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Continue to cook over medium heat until thick. Add seasonings to taste.

Drain macaroni and return to pot. Add rice milk sauce and boil until desired thickness. Stir in heavy cream. Gently stir in tomatoes.

Zzzzz?

Two nights in a row I've had strange, vivid dreams and haven't slept good :( And overnight we had a bad lightning storm go through so that didn't help! Hopefully I'll get better sleep tonight...

I came up with a new meal tonight. Definitely a keeper!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - the old usual ;) w/homemade honey mustard
Before supper - bread (from Outback) w/butter
Supper - Creamy Tomato Pasta; mocha pie

Today's Food

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual; banana later; apple juice later
Lunch - rotisserie chicken (breast + wings); broccoli w/butter
Supper - waffle (Bisquick recipe) w/butter and grade B maple syrup

BTW, real maple syrup is allowed in moderation! Honey too :)

The Beginning of Relief?

The past couple days I've felt a little better. I've had a bit more energy. Which is surprising considering last night started a new month for me...

So I'm wondering if the hormone treatment is starting to work? I've still had my symptoms but they seem to be less intense. Having more energy means I'm getting some stuff done which means I'm less stressed out which means I'm not using as much energy... A pleasant cycle compared to the spiral everything has been recently! I just hope it continues in this direction...

Another Favorite Kitchen Toy

A few years ago I was telling my mom that I wish I had a wafflemaker with removable plates so it would be easy to clean. For Christmas that year she gave me this -
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Black-Decker-3-in-1-Waffle-Maker-Indoor-Grill/2684038

In the words of Weezie from Dragon Tales, LOOOOOVE IT! (And if your kids are fans, you just heard her voice say it in your head LOL)

Here's what I like about it:
Ready light - no more guessing if the waffle is done
Adjustable temperature - the correct range for waffles is marked on the dial - light to dark
Yummy grilled cheese sandwiches quick
Consistent quality
And the best thing... Super easy to clean!

The only thing I wish was different on it is I wish it had a cool-touch exterior. Especially considering Ethan bumped it tonight while watching me cook and burned his arm :-( George's Aloe to the rescue again!

Busy Day!

Busy busy day today! I got up at 8:30 and relaxed for the first time at 6! Then did more. Seems I barely put a dent in what I needed to do though :( At least I made progress! I was looking forward to ending the day with a long, hot shower - wash my hair, shave, etc - but it was too late. I'll get it in the morning but it will be quick.

Breakfast - banana (nonorganic)
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - chili burger on whole wheat bun w/mayo, mustard; fries (frozen, baked) w/mayo and ketchup; 1/2 Twix

Friday's Food

I suspect an MSG reaction is what caused my upset stomach Thursday night. When I ate the Blooming Onion there was something about the taste that I couldn't put my finger on. I wonder if I'm starting to taste the MSG? That would be nice! Sure would help me avoid it!

I wanted a mixed meal for lunch. That's been happening the day after I have an upset tummy. Don't know why. This time I wanted a plate lunch from the health food store though. I tend to crave organic food immediately after an MSG reaction.

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - plate lunch - shrimp etouffee w/brown rice, kale, zucchini/yellow squash, romano beans; mocha pie
Supper - McDonald's - grilled chicken Caesar salad (minus cheese) w/ranch; Ghirardelli square

All Fried Onions Are Not Created Equal

Frozen? Yuck
Chili's? Good
Logan's? Yum
Outback? Yucky tummy...

Nighttime Routine

Here's what's working for me:

1. Feed/water birds (pets) - they eat and settle in for the night while I do the rest
2. Take vitamins; prep bottle
3. Neti pot - any residual comes out while I do the rest
4. Hormone balance - I keep it in the bathroom since I count drops that go under my tongue and need the mirrow
5. Brush teeth
6. Update this blog and BLC
7. Make bottle
8. Change Gabriel for bed
9. Go to bed and start feeding Gabriel while Jesse changes Ethan and brings him to bed

Food Today

It was a busy day, full of dirty dishes, so we smorgasbord'ed lunch. No salad prepped so none eaten...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - steak w/honey mustard/worcestershire/liquid smoke dipping sauce; carrots w/butter and salt; Ghirardelli square
Supper - homemade pancakes w/Ghirardelli 60%

Meat Sale!

I'm so happy! We were running really low on meat in the freezer and I caught a good sale today! I picked up boneless skinless chicken breasts, eye of round steaks (buy a pack, get TWO packs free!), and 93/7 ground beef :) After I go to Walmart and buy more freezer bags I'll get everything in the freezer.

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - steak salad w/homemade honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Bloomin' Onion, slice of mocha pie

The mocha pie uses instant pudding. I found out it doesn't set up as good with rice milk... Next time I make it I'll do the crust separately and just crumble it over the top.

(Okay, big brain fart - I misspelled separately and had to look it up in the dictionary :P Very unusual for me...)

I Really Should Be Sleeping...

But that chocolate did something to me... I can't remember the last time I felt this relaxed! I bet that hormone balance stuff is starting to kick in too. But what a coincidence that this happened right after I ate the chocolate ;-)

Blame It On the PMS!

Breakfast - plum - it was the size of an apple and sooo good!
Lunch - rotisserie chicken in salad w/homemade honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Quick Mushroom Rice - added a can of water chestnuts
Dessert - bittersweet Ghirardelli w/coconut - melted a 4 oz bar, added sweetened shredded coconut, then let it set up - I ate about 3/4 of it - I ate some, put it away, then went back and ate the rest

I didn't have a sugar high after, just this intense feeling of well-being... Google the effects of dark chocolate on brain chemicals to see why this is ;)

ETA Here's an interesting article explaining chocolate's effects on brain chemicals http://www.livestrong.com/article/121084-effects-chocolate-body/

Monday

Just now getting around to posting meals... We were at my in-laws' last night so it was a cheat.

Breakfast - OJ
Lunch - rotisserie chicken in salad w/homemade honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Snack - donut
Supper - rice and gravy, green beans, smothered potatoes, very small piece of pork (few bites), bar cookies

Today's Food

Breakfast - 3/4 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - Italian buffet
Supper - Amy's black bean and veggie burrito; Ghirardelli square (first one in 2 days!)

Saturday's Food

My mom, the boys and I ended up going to see my uncle in the hospital again. Mental note - McDonald's does not fill me up enough! I was STARVING by supper :-(

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - McDonald's - grilled chicken caesar salad (no cheese, ranch dressing)
Supper - hospital cafeteria - rotisserie chicken (breast and wing - kinda small), green beans, new potatoes, onion rings, 1/2 Twix

Today's (Better) Food

Breakfast - banana, 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - peas w/butter; monkey bread

Today's (Awful) Food

I dreamed about donuts... Then I mentioned it to Jesse when I got up. Guess what we ended up with for breakfast :P Lunch we planned on Chili's before bringing the boys to the movies since I had a coupon.

Breakfast - donuts
Lunch - Chili's - chicken fajitas; fried cheese; chocolate chip paradise pie (very little ice cream)
Supper - Three-Pepper Pasta; donut

And I just gotta mention it here - my baby said his first word today! I left the room and heard a very pitiful "Ma-Ma" as he called after me...

Hormonal Therapy

I started on a natural hormone treatment last night. It's some kind of extract from wild yam - the same one they make the creams from. It's in an alcohol base and I put a few drops under my tongue. I start with twice a day, then go to once a day. They said my symptoms may get worse for about a week but they'd get better after that. So we'll see how it does. I expect it to help a lot!

Creamy Three-Pepper Pasta

CREAMY THREE-PEPPER PASTA

1 pk. (12-14 oz) pasta (I used Healthy Harvest angel hair)
6 tbsp. butter
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped
1/2 large red bell pepper, chopped
6 tbsp. flour
4 c. rice milk
Salt
Pepper
Heavy cream

Cook pasta according to pasta directions. Melt butter over medium heat. Add bell peppers and saute until tender. Stir in flour. Cook for one minute or until slightly browned. Slowly add milk, stirring until smooth. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Combine drained pasta and sauce. Stir in pepper and a couple splashes of cream to each serving.

Another Yummy Brainstorm

I came up with something new at supper tonight and it was yummy!

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - ground beef (seasoned w/Essence, garlic powder, onion powder) in Romaine salad w/homemade honey mustard; Ghirardelli square
Snack - chocolate chip pancakes (my recipe)
Supper - Creamy Three-Pepper Pasta; bittersweet truffle

"Coincidence"

The more I feel like my hormones are messed up, the more I'm craving pizza and chocolate...

Tuesday

The boys and I left about 930am and didn't get back home till after 8pm! I was so exhausted I didn't post my food from yesterday. So here it is.

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - Italian buffet - usual
Supper - granola bar - I was on the road and knew I wouldn't make it home in time to eat :-(

Better :)

Not normal yet, but better! My cold that is! Last night was the first time since last Saturday I didn't have to use Cepacol before bed :) The hormones are still kicking my butt :P Hoping to be able to get the hormone balance stuff tomorrow!

Breakfast - watermelon
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - rice w/parsley, oo, butter; lima beans; roll w/butter; oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Update on my cold (TMI warning)

I've been a bit better the past couple days. Still not close to over it though! I got the sore throat last Saturday and this is Sunday so it's been 8 days I've been sick. I know I'm not sleeping enough and therefore my body doesn't have as much opportunity to heal, but REALLY! The past few days I've wondered if my cold was turning into a sinus infection. Even if it did, I'm getting better so it doesn't matter I guess.

So here's the TMI - I'm going to talk snot here. The last half of this sickness, when I would blow my nose sometimes, especially during the night or in the morning, it would be a fluorescent yellow-green color. I've had some drainage of that color when I've done my neti pot too, but usually just from the right side. The left side is the one that's been more stuffy, the side my throat gets the tickle, and the one that the neti pot goes so slowly through. I also get a tickle in my sinuses sometimes lately when I flush that side. But this morning... I watch what's coming out when I do my neti pot Especially when I'm fighting a cold. Well, as much as I can. This morning my right side flushed some of the fluorescent mucus. But my left side... I really wish I had the sink plugged to get a good look. I felt the tickle and then I saw a HUGE, thick clump of dark green mucus come out! I don't think I've ever seen mucus that ominous looking come from my body! So I wonder if that was a pocket of infection that I was able to clear out!

I'm anxious to see how I do tonight...

Hormonal Imbalance?

Sure seems like it... I know my hormones are still fluctuating but this is the second month in a row that things have been bad. And they're not getting better. Last month and this month I've had the following symptoms:

Insomnia (usually when I wake up during the night to feed Gabriel)
Mood swings
Anxiety (including OCD - it usually kicks up right before my period but I notice it other times too)
My usual ovulation symptoms twice a month, about 5 days apart
Rosacea getting worse - painful actually :(
Carrying extra weight around my stomach - despite losing everywhere else (don't get me wrong, I've lost there, just not nearly as much as everywhere else - if I could lose a bit more in the waist, I could go down at least one more size!)

The 2 weeks I was on the zinc should have helped my rosacea and my hormones a bit, but I can't tell any difference. Which is unusual! I always react well and quickly to the mineral treatments.

I'll be going this week and getting a natural hormone balance formula. One of the ladies that works at my natural health place has told me the past few years it might help with some of the problems I've had. I don't remember if it's herbal, mineral-based, or a combination. I'm just anxious to try it!

Today's Food

After church we ate with my best friend's family. We went to Cracker Barrel which we NEVER go to! I briefly considered being good but quickly decided against it :P

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/Stevia and whipped cream; apple juice later
Lunch - Cracker Barrel - chicken fried chicken w/white gravy on the side; hashbrown casserole; green beans; turnip greens; apple dumpling dessert (split it)
Supper - nada - still full from lunch since we didn't finish eating till 3:30

Long Day

My Mom and the boys and I took a day trip an hour away to visit my aunt and uncle. They live about 2 1/2 hours away but my uncle is in the hospital so that's where we saw them. He's waiting on test results but it looks like cancer :-( It was great to see them (and my cousin and his family) but I wish it had been under better circumstances...

I did good with food today till supper. We went to Picadilly and I planned on getting the veggie plate. But almost all the "veggies" had meat or milk in them. So I ended up just eating a standard meal.

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - McDonald's - grilled chicken salad (mixed lettuces) w/ranch
Supper - Picadilly - fried cod w/tarter sauce; broccoli casserole (broccoli, rice, cheese, mushrooms, ?); carrot souffle; few bites roll w/butter; few bites pie

Slowly But Surely...

I'm getting better! It's just taking me a long time to get over this! But I feel better today than yesterday so that's a start!

Breakfast - watermelon
Lunch - back to my old usual :) - chicken breast cooked in oo w/Essence in Romaine w/homemade honey mustard dressing; Ghirardelli square
Supper - leftover fries (frozen, baked) w/mayo and ketchup; sauteed mushrooms; 1/2 Twix

Sick/No Energy + A Really Dirty Kitchen =

Pizza for supper :P I'm not as stopped up today but everything that's been stopping me up is draining down my throat. So I have that constant tickle that makes me cough. Which irritates my throat more. Which makes me cough more. Actually I haven't coughed a whole lot. If I start, I'll use the Cepacol spray during the day too. I'm using more of it at night than it says to but I have to for it to numb my throat like it's supposed to. I wish I could suck a Cepacol lozenge but they make me nauseous :(

Breakfast - watermelon (yellow-skinned organic from farmer's market)
Lunch - tuna salad salad; Ghirardelli
Supper - (ordered but not here yet) pizza - veggies + extra cheese; cinnamon dessert (might be too sweet)

Tuna Salad Salad

TUNA SALAD SALAD

2 cans tuna, drained
Mayo
Dill relish
Pepper
Bell pepper, chopped
1 Romaine heart, cut up

Combine everything except lettuce. Mix well. Add lettuce and mix together.

Air-Fried Okra

AIR-FRIED OKRA
adapted from Food Network

Egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs
1/2 pound okra, sliced
1 cup bread crumbs
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 450.

Pour egg substitute into a medium bowl. Add okra and toss to combine. In a large resealable plastic bag, combine bread crumbs and seasonings. Shake to combine well. Add the okra and egg substitute mixture to the bag and shake until coated.

Place a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet. Arrange okra on rack and bake until crisp, 10-20 minutes.

Note: I used coarse bread crumbs I made from stale multi-grain French bread

I Forgot...

... Just how miserable it is to have a cold! The stuffiness started last night, let up at bedtime when I took a couple ibuprofen, and came back as soon as it wore off. I was so congested this morning that my neti pot did nothing but barely drip! I did it again this afternoon and it was a bit better. I took an Aleve a while ago. I'm hoping since it's an anti-inflammatory like the ibuprofen it'll help the swelling and congestion, but that it will last a lot longer. I've also taken my natural anti-viral so that should help too.

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/Stevia and heavy cream (new usual)
Lunch - pancakes (my recipe) w/bittersweet chocolate and butter
Supper - leftover rice, air-fried okra, lemon biscotti

Lunch didn't even taste that good to me... Supper did though :-)

ETA Forgot to mention... I did two carb meals on purpose today. The thought of a protein meal did not appeal to me at all! Maybe because it takes more energy to digest and my body is using extra energy to heal? I can hope :-)

Off to Bed

It's been a roller coaster kind of day and I'm just ready for it to be over...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - tuna salad in salad; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Rice w/oo, butter, parsley; corn w/butter; brownie cake

Monday's Food

I woke feeling a little better and I was hungry! At lunchtime I felt like my body needed a balanced meal so we ended up getting plate lunches from the health food store. Then I had Mom's Night Out so cheated again but supper definitely was not a healthy cheat like lunch was! I was a bit nervous because the last time I ate at the Mexican restaurant we went to last night, I ended up with a gallbladder attack :-( But I didn't have so much as a twinge last night! Last time I ate the tortilla soup and it was extra salty. Wonder if it was extra MSG-y and that's what caused the attack?

Breakfast - apple juice
Lunch - smothered chicken w/brown rice, eggplant, cookie
Supper - Posado's - appetizer sampler - steak fajita quesadilla - fajita-seasoned steak and cheeses in flour tortilla (delicious!); 2 each beef and chicken flautitas; queso; nachos - tricolor tortilla chips w/melted cheeses and seasoned ground beef; guacamole; tomatoes; sour cream. Sopapilla w/honey sauce

Sick :-(

My throat is swollen and sore. I feel awful! I took a 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon. I've barely eaten anything. Nothing tastes good to me. I'm trying to listen to my body. Eating very little usually throws me into a mild detox so I'm hoping that'll help me get better faster! At least I'm not stuffy!

Breakfast - applesauce
Lunch - nothing
Supper - instant mashed potatoes (made with rice milk)

OUCH

I woke up this morning with a slight sore throat but nothing big. Tonight it started really hurting :-( It hurts to swallow. It hurts to talk. It hurts to whisper. I made some I Love Lemon hot tea and have it in an insulated mug by the bed. Right next to the Cepacol spray that I've already used once tonight.

Okay, on to happier things :-) Ethan and I went to the farmer's market this morning. It was really hot so we didn't stay real long. But we came home with red and green bell peppers, watermelon, okra, and home-canned figs (all organic), along with homemade bagels (3 kinds) and homemade oat chocolate chip cookies w/nuts. We'll definitely go back!

Breakfast - banana (nonorganic), coffee w/usual later
Before lunch - cookie
Lunch - homemade mushroom swiss burgers - ground chuck seasoned w/Essence and onion powder, mushrooms sauteed w/butter, swiss cheese, mayo, whole wheat bun; fries w/ketchup, cookies
Supper - salad - baby Romaine w/honey mustard; onion bagel (from this morning) w/butter - so yummy!

Will the Zinc Work?

I started the zinc for my rosacea a week ago. It's better! But it's also the time of the month where it usually is better - right at the end of my period. I should have about another week's worth of zinc in the bottle so I'll re-evaluate when I'm near the end of it. If it isn't working as well as I hoped, there are some natural hormone supplements that I'll try next. But I'm holding out hope that it'll work once it's built up in my body!

I had a rough morning and wanted to cheat so bad! But I didn't :) I got past it! I have my car back from the shop too! I'm so thankful that God provided the money to get everything fixed...

Breakfast - banana (nonorganic)
Lunch - leftover crockpot round steak; leftover broccoli; Ghirardelli square
Supper - Amy's burritos - beans and rice (vegan, no soy); 1/2 avocado; cookies - Pillsbury refrigerated dough - oatmeal chocolate chip

My cookies didn't taste as good as I had hoped. Might be a good thing. I've been wanting to bake a batch of my mom's chocolate chip cookie recipe. Next grocery trip maybe?

Crockpot Round Steak

CROCKPOT ROUND STEAK

5 lb. round steak
1 carton (32 oz) beef broth
1 lb. mushrooms, sliced
1 huge onion, cut in half and sliced
Heavy cream

Place all ingredients except cream in a large crockpot. Cook until meat is tender. Stir in cream just before serving.

(The cream makes it creamy w/o cheating - it's considered a fat, not dairy!)

Food Today

Back on track! Again...

Breakfast - banana
Lunch - crockpot meal - round steak cooked in beef broth, mushrooms, onions, heavy cream; carrots w/butter and cinnamon
Supper - salad - baby Romaine w/honey mustard; multi-grain pasta w/butter, oo, fresh parsley; 2 cookies

Two Meals of Ordering In...

Yep. You read that right... Circumstances were such today that I couldn't cook :-( And I didn't have a way to pick up anything. So we ordered in twice. I didn't do great but I didn't do horrible.

Breakfast - nada :-(
Lunch - grilled chicken in salad (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers) w/organic ranch; Ghirardelli square
Afternoon - 1/2 cup coffee w/usual
Supper - pizza - mushroom, onion, bell pepper; piece of brownie cake

I had the choice at supper between Chinese and pizza. I've been having a slight MSG reaction after Chinese food lately. So my choices were Chinese that would technically be on my eating plan but cause a reaction, or pizza that wasn't on my plan but that I likely wouldn't react to. I think I made the right choice!

Sleep?!

Gabriel woke up at 4:30am for a bottle and I never got back to sleep :( I don't feel too bad considering. I was able to stay on track though!

Breakfast - banana, apple juice later, banana later
Lunch - tuna salad in salad LOL - tuna, mayo, dill relish, pepper, bell pepper in baby Romaine, Ghirardelli square
Supper - peas w/butter, biscuits (canned) w/butter, small piece of brownie cake

I missed eating Triscuits with my tuna :( Especially since Jesse ate his on a toasted whole wheat bagel! The bell pepper was my attempt at adding the crunch I missed. It helped :)

Back on Track...

For today at least :P We had an exhausting few days so the boys and I relaxed today. Well, I did as much housework as possible considering Gabriel spent almost the whole day eating on me or sleeping on me! Smorgasbord for supper tonight - whatever leftovers you could find were fair game ;)

Breakfast - watermelon
Lunch - baked cod (w/lime juice and Essence), broccoli w/butter and S&P, Ghirardelli square
Supper - baked beans, fries w/mayo and ketchup, french bread w/butter, few bites broccoli/carrots, chocolate pancakes

What Eating Plan?!

So I totally blew it today :P When we got home last night I was so tired! Today's lunch was supposed to go in the crockpot before bed, and, well, it didn't happen :( I was going to pick up a rotisserie chicken after church but Jesse suggested eating out and my best friend and her family were eating out so we all went together. We had a great time! I could have made healthier choices but I didn't totally blow it either. Till "supper." I wasn't hungry but I wanted a piece of birthday cake (darn AF!) so I ate a little piece instead of supper. Tomorrow's another day...

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/the usual, banana later, apple juice later
Lunch - Italian buffet - seafood pizza, veggie pizzas, dessert pizza (topping only)
"Supper" - brownie cake

Party!

Today was Ethan's birthday party! I didn't get a lot of sleep but what I got was really restful! Usually happens when I'm taking all my supplements...

Breakfast - 1/2 cup coffee w/the usual, apple juice later
Lunch - same as yesterday
At party - piece of brownie cake
Supper - Chili's - onion rings, veggie burger w/usual, few bites fries, few bites broccoli/carrots, few bites molten chocolate cake sans ice cream