Not Bad…I Can Live With This….

The phrase that was music to my ears tonight after I fed FabHubs this:THIS being a totally vegan, organic meal consisting of kale sauteed in EVOO with some garlic and sliced onions; baked sweet potato fries AND a portobello mushroom “burger” (portobello mushroom marinated in EVOO and balsamic, cooked on the Foreman grill).  Ole’ George was thrilled to be pulled out and put into use again!

The ‘shroom burger was topped with homemade guac (avocado, cilantro, onion, tomato, and lemon since I was out of lime juice) and a thick slice each of tomato and onion.  I  served it on one of FabHubs  homemade vegan English muffins!  (yes..he figured out how to make them vegan  and still quite delicious!

Truly I sure wasn’t expecting that…yes, I was expecting The Look!

Leftover guac…I found out that putting the pit in when you store it is not an old wives’ tale…IT REALLY WORKS!!!

FabHubs had two burgers, I had one…and I piled on the kale  and sweet potato fries for both of us.  He wasn’t thrilled with the kale but said (another happy dance from me!) “I will probably get used to it.”

OH YEAH!!!!!!!!!

This  follows up a pretty amazing weekend of fruits and veggies for us. 

FabHubs and I were all alone this holiday weekend…he worked on Friday but  was off Saturday and most  of the day today (all Fabkids are off with their other parents’ for the weekend).  So I  warned him that it was up to he and I to make sure the tons of organic produce from Monday’s box didn’t go bad and we would be spending the weekend pounding the produce!

Saturday FabHubs and I slept in until nearly noon….and then woke up to this yumminess as I strived to use up the berries in the fridge:

After breakfast I plopped him on the couch and popped the DVD Eating in so we could watch it together.  I have already seen it, but I wanted him to see it!

I expected a lot of skepticism from him….but he actually enjoyed it and learned from it, enough to even email his parents info about it!

After the DVD I made us both  Green Monsters to try and stave off the hunger monsters…but soon we were both FAMISHED!

I knew I had to make something really satisfying for him if I am going to keep him close to this healthy pathway…so I whipped out all the salad type veggies I could manage to find in the fridge and made this:

HIS:

MINE:

Both had organic romaine, carrots, daikon, tomatoes, cukes, and scallions.  I made these salads HUGE!  (FabHubs commented that we weren’t eating from bowls, they were troughs, and indeed I served these in huge tupperware-like containers!)  To add a filling factor, I opened a can of kidney beans and put at least a cup on his…only about one-third cup on mine!  I was determined that there was no way he was going to walk away from this salad complaining he was still hungry!

I topped both with nutritional yeast…and gave him hummus on the side.  We used my lemon/garlic dressing on top. I also added some cilantro dressing and crumbled some Mary’s Gone Crackers on top of mine.

It really did the trick and he was satisfied for hours!  We ended up actually just snacking through the night, never being hungry enough to eat the grilled mushrooms, which were originally planned for dinner last night!

After dinner we watched Morgan Spurlock’s SuperSize Me, which further added fuel to our Eat Healthy fires!

I am so glad to see FabHubs alongside me on this!

Today we continued on the fruit theme, eating unpictured mango, crenshaw melon, and other fruits all from the box, all day until dinner time when we had the kale/potatoe/portobello dinner.

Now I am sad because FabHubs has to go off and work at a fireworks shoot and I can’t be with him! 

I will be off in the audience with some friends though, watching.

 

WISHING EVERYBODY A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY!!!!

A Power Breakfast and Lunch For My Boys

Today my two sons, 18 yo Fabteen and 12 yo FabStepson, (along with a few hundred other Boy Scouts) walked 13 miles, from downtown to the southern portion of our county.

Getting off this morning was chaotic…we were given tickets last night to the NASCAR championship races at the Homestead Speedway and got in rather late…..then the boys had to leave the house by 6 a.m.

I got up at 5:45 (YUCK) and in 15 minutes worked like a maniac to make them a satisfying breakfast that would support walking, and get them a filling and healthy lunch.

I was pleased that I was able to draw on a lot of the good nutrition practices I have learned over the past few months to to help fuel them.

First came breakfast (no time for pictures this morning!).   Breakfast was 1/3 cup of oatmeal cooked with 1/3 cup almond milk and 1/3 cup water.  I also sliced up a banana, splitting it between the two bowls.  I micro’d the oatmeal (they loved the bananas cooked…I do too!) and put it in a to-go cup for each one of them.  I knew between the time they left the house and the time they started walking, they would have time to digest the oatmeal so it wouldn’t be sitting like a lump in their tummies….but at the same time it should stave off the hungries for a while.

To supplement the oatmeal, I also made them each an Amazing Grass Amazing Meal shake.  I have had two huge unopened tubs of the Amazing Meal, which has more protein than the Superfoods, which is what I normally use…but today I broke out the big guns and opened the tub thinking that the extra protein would help fuel their muscles. 

I made them each an Amazing Meal shake with one scoop Amazing Meal, one cup almond milk, half a banana, and a few huge handfuls of spinach.  The spinach also adds a lot of staying power to the shake….I know it keeps me full for a while!

They had to drink these on the go too!

Lunch and snacks were PB&J on Arnold Sandwich Thins (one for FabStepson, two for FabTeen).   Two little crimson apples for FabStepson and two large organic Honeycrisps apples for FabTeeen.   One of Oh She Glows Glo Bar for each as a healthy energizing snack.  And of course plenty of water.  Our troop had a water truck that met them at certain points along the way for refills.  I was so glad I packed them lunches…those that didn’t got the opportunity to buy hot dogs, hamburgers, and sodas. 

Both of them said the food carried them through the day very well and they were very happy with their lunches….I think the junk sold didn’t appeal to them at all. 

Both of them completed the whole walk and I am very proud of them.

Next year I want to do the hike with them!

Today I Am Glowing!

I just can’t believe it!  I am sooo excited!  When I logged into my email this morning I received this comment on my blog:

Oh She Glows has left a new comment on your post "English Muffin Recipe":
Check out my blog tonight...have a surprise for you!

First I felt surprised and honored that Angela was writing on my little blog!  And then I wondered what she was going to write about English Muffins…after all, this was on my English Muffin page.

So I clicked on through and read today’s post and was astounded to find out that I won all this!

Among all of the fantastic, organic new treats our tastebuds are in for over here…I am really excited that she is putting some of her own Glo Bars in there!  I have wanted so much to try those for a while now.  YAY!

I can’t believe it!!! I know…I said that before…but I have never won a blog giveaway before…and my comment was waaaaaayyyyy down the list too!

Now if you have never read Beautiful Angela’s blog, Oh She Glows  before, it is so worth taking some time to go through it and make sure you read her story.   I only found her a couple of months ago…but since then it is one of the three or four blogs I check religiously, daily…sometimes several times a day!

She has been a great motivator for me to transition myself and my family to this healthy lifestyle and I have learned a lot from her.  Her writing is very real and down to earth, and even though I am a 45-year-old mom with three kids, not a 20-something, she is one of the few younger healthy living bloggers I feel I can relate to.   She has taken healthy living to a different level, an overall balanced level, and includes a lot of inspiration not just for taking care of yourself physically, but mentally as well.  She shares from the heart and shows she is human…and how hard work and passion can lead to great success.

And…for all of you who always comment how awful my yummy Amazing Grass drinks look…they come from Angela!  Yep…the inspiration for adding spinach came from her Green Monster website.

Thanks Angela!  You made my day!!!

A Healthy Cooking Frenzy

Sunday lots of cooking went on in my house….and luckily for a change I didn’t do any of it!

FabHubs traditionally has cooked weekend breakfasts and for those he goes all out!  Bacon, sausage, waffles, eggs, grits, pancakes, english muffins, omelets, homemade biscuits and sausage gravy…you name it, he would make it.  Is it any wonder I had weight issues????

To his credit, he is at least open to trying a healthier way of eating…and this morning asked if he could make me us whole wheat pancakes.  And I said YES (even though I am not a huge fan of pancakes) and I asked him to add bananas and superfood walnuts to them.

And so that is what he did and what we had!  With no smoked meat in sight either!  I had one and a half pancakes, and a cup of my yummy daily espresso.  I also had a small sugar seckel pear while I  waited for my brekkie….I hadn’t eaten much protein the night before and I was starving!

A little while after that, I made everyone a Green Monster!  So far everybody is a fan around here except the FabPreteen…who was at her dad’s this weekend..and who is the president of the “Judge A Food By Its Cover” club.  Yes…she completely judges everything’s taste by how it looks and is the most difficult eater I have in my house….in a sea of difficult eaters (with FabStepSon and FabHubs being next, in that order). 

Now…no pictures of breakfast….but I was good about the pictures the rest of the day and boy do I have some gorgeous meals to show you!

After working  for a while, (yes…catching up with work  on a Sunday…one of the other sides of self-employment) I realized I still hadn’t had enough food at breakfast and I was hungry! 

I  made myself a snack of tomatoes, carrots, and tzatziki I had made for dinner the other night.  It was good, but didn’t hold me over.

So I pulled out the juicer and made everybody and myself a glass of my usual healthy yumminess….carrot/apple/beet/ginger.  Again…everybody loves it except for the FabPreteen, although FabHubs complains that it is not cold enough for him and I won’t let him stick it in the fridge to chill down (you have to drink it right away or it loses a lot of its vitamins and health benefits!).

After juicing, the real cooking began! 

FabHubs decided to re-create the English Muffin recipe for my camping website, in pictures.  I will be loading that up today and will come back here and make the link live for the recipe as many of you asked me for it.

FabTeen decided he was going to make some healthy cookies!  AND….he told me this weekend that he would start doing more of the cooking for dinner.  Since we have switched our way of eating our cook (FabHubs) has gone on cooking strike!  He will eat it but he won’t cook all those funny things I bring home now! 

So, all I had to do was pretty play director last night and the food appeared!

Starting with the cookies.  These are a recipe from my kids’ dad’s side of the family called “Special Cookies.”  They are a really rich and yummy chocolate chip cookie.   What?  What do you mean there is one missing???

FabTeen decided to doctor up the cookies and make them healthy by substituting ground flax meal for the egg and for the 1/3 cup of shortening.  shortening.   By far, he is the one who has taken the most to this healthy way of life! There was still 1/3 cup of butter left in the recipe and we decided that next time we sub flax meal for that too and see how it turns out.  We also used semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies and I would like to check out a healthier alternative for those as well, or at least organic.

The recipe ended up making 33 cookies at 2 Weight Watchers points each and lots of added health benefit from the flax meal.  Flax seed, should be ground to get the most benefit from it.  I remember my ex-MIL making us Red River cereal and adding extra flax seeds…which would come out looking the same as how they went in!  Now I have been researching and I see why!  Our bodies do not break down the husk, so you need to grind it before using…and you need to store it in the fridge so the nutrients and oils do not break down.

Flax is very high in dietary fiber, which helps to relieve constipation (but make sure you drink your water with it!), high in vitamins E and B, and is the richest source of Omega-3 fatty acid, you know, the one they tell you to eat salmon and other fish to get in order to help prevent heart disease.  Flax meal is also high in lignans, which are antioxidants, and can help reduce your cholesterol.   This little seed sure is a power house!  I put a tablespoon in our daily Green Monsters to make sure we get some…but this sure is another painless way!

If you want to read more on the mighty flax seed,  this dietary fiber site has some great information.

Boy these were GOOD!

Now on to dinner…yes!  We made the cookies before we did the dinner!  And sampled too :)

I will put dinner in a Part 2 as this is getting long!

Heading In The Right Direction

Both scale-wise and family-wise I think!

Okay…..no pictures in this post and I am soooo disappointed!  I was so rotten about remembering to take out the camera at all when we ate!

Friday we went to Naples overnight, about two hours away.  The FabTeen was giving a speech for a Toastmasters convention.  18 years old and he got up and gave pretty much a flawless, motivating, incredibly inspirational speech that ROCKED THE ROOM!  This in front of hundreds of strangers….many professional speakers, many others the best of the best in their speaking clubs.  I was so proud of my son!

For the drive I packed tons of yummy healthy snacks.  I was trying hard to prevent a McDonalds stop!  And succeeded. 

Dinner was at the banquet Friday night….of course I forgot my camera in the room….I don’t know what I am going to do try trigger my memory when I am out of the house! 

I ordered the fish but ended up giving one-third of it to FabHubs.  I ate all my veggies though!  He ordered the pork though….sigh…..

I did eat the dessert, a small cheesecake, dome-shaped type thing…and I really didn’t feel guilty at all for that.  I had eaten so healthy the rest of the day I knew a small treat would be fine.  I also had coffee with it, and a couple of glasses of Merlot later on in the evening.

Breakfast was a first for me….we went to the hotel restaurant and it was the first time I have ever ordered oatmeal in a restaurant.  I have always been a bacon and egg type girl.  If you had told me six months ago I would be ordering oatmeal for breakfast in a restaurant I would have asked you what you were smoking!!! 

I wished FabHubs would have ordered healthier.  He ordered an omelet and bacon and potato and toast.  BUT at least in his omelet he ordered all of the veggies, even mushrooms, along with cheese.  He didn’t have ham or extra bacon in it!  It is the small steps that count towards the long journey, right?

My oatmeal actually turned out to be rather disappointing, especially for the price.  It was to come with mango and berries.  I knew the mango was out of season locally, but I figured it would be imported and ripe at least.  It was hard, crunchy, and SOUR!  My oatmeal was mushy!   The berries were a little sprinkle of blueberries…and there was nothing to sweeten it up.  There was nothing at all served on the side….I had expected a little tray of fun toppings to put on it.   At home I use a little peanut or almond butter, agave syrup, bananas…but here all that was on the table was the sugar envelopes from the coffee  and I didn’t want to use that.  I was surprised it didn’t even come with a side of brown sugar! 

I decided after that, from now on when we travel I am going to be packing our breakfasts too….oatmeal packets, granola packets, almond milk, almond butter, fruit.  Most hotels now have mini fridges in them….otherwise we usually stay in places with kitchens and take a cooler anyway.  I will not be paying $6 for lousy oatmeal anymore!

I was also sorry I hadn’t packed my miniblender and the ingredients to make a Green Monster.  I really really missed one of those!

But very impressive to me is how my tastes are starting to change.  I can’t say I will never eat eggs and bacon again, although I would like to never eat them again, but at least for now I have no taste for it.  My body is starting to naturally crave, good, whole, clean foods! 

For the drive back we stopped at Fresh Market…I don’t have one close to me so I had never been.  It was great and I sure wish there was one close!  FabTeen and I had some brown rice sushi.  FabHubs had an Italian wrap.  He will be a hard one to change, that guy!!!!  I also got us each a square of Ghiradelli chocolate, mine dark chocolate, okay to eat in moderation, and filled with antioxidants.  Oh Yeah!

Finally, off to my mom’s  for dinner before we take FabSS trick or treating.   Mom made tater tots and salad, and we were to pick up chicken wings.  I was torn because I kind of didn’t want to eat the wings.  I ended up adding an order of sweet potato fries to the order of wings…fried, not baked, but better than tater tots!  I also ransacked mom’s fridge for veggies and came up with a red pepper, cauliflower, carrots, purple cabbage and celery…not bad!   So I went to work chopping and dicing and dressed up the plain lettuce with some colorful and crunchy veggies.  I put aside the salad bowl and piled a ginormous amount of salad on my plate, leaving very little room for anything else.  Then I took a generous amount of sweet potato fries…and only two wings.  One honey garlic and one coconut.   I couldn’t even finish the second wing.  I think I did okay there!

After that we ran home so FabSS could change and I got a nice hour and a quarter walk around the neighborhood.   I know I need to get out walking more!  It felt great!!!!!

I filched one dark chocolate mini bars bar from the candy bowl….and was sorry!  It was yucky sweet! 

Overall I think I did great this weekend!  Especially with all of the obstacles…banquet, Halloween, traveling.   I sure hope I can stay on this path!

Superfood Pumpkin Creativity

Don’t know why…but today turned into a pumpkin kind of day.

I started the day out with a Green Monster.  I was craving pumpkin in it…but was too lazy to deal with it so I just made a simple, regular drink….with spinach, banana, almond milk, Chocolate Superfood for a change, and 1 TBS flax meal.

I was pretty full after this and was thinking I could hold out until lunch….but that was not to be!   The hunger started creeping up on me by 10 and I knew I needed to eat something.

I started out with pumpkin oatmeal, and finally broke down and opened the can.  I put 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, and 1/3 cup water in a bowl with 1/3 cup pumpkin.  Remember, this is the pure pureed pumpkin, NOT the pumpkin pie filling!

I popped it into the micro for 3 minutes at 50% power ‘cuz I didn’t feel like dealing with the oatmeal pot to clean afterwards.   When it came out I dumped on top a whole bunch of pumpkin pie spice (not measured…just a lot),  1 TBS raisins, 1 TBS walnuts pieces, and  1/2 TBS Agave syrup.   The vanilla I had added to the pumpkin milk (see below) smelled so good, that I dumped a bunch in here too (maybe 1/2 to 1 TBS….a little more than I meant to!)

It was still missing something so I mixed up 2 TBS of Chocolate PB2.   I would have liked regular old almond butter in it, but I didn’t want to use the points and the Choco PB2 has only 1 points for 2 TBS.  That did it and my oats were perfect!

Now I have also been craving a pumpkin latte lately, and had been researching recipes on how to make it myself, naturally.  I had found some recipes that used pumpkin puree in them and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use up some more of the puree.   So using this recipe as a launching pad, into a pan went 1/3 cup vanilla almond milk, 1 heaping TBS of pumpkin puree, a large amount of pumpkin pie spice (again, a very very generous sprinkle…no measuring), 1/2 TBS Agave nectar, and 1/2 TBS vanilla. 

Even though I am not Latin myself, growing up in a Latin community I have learned lots of Cafe’ Con Leche tricks, and one of them is how easily milk will foam when it has been heated.  It works much better when heated in the micro and then whisked afterwards, but this  would do just fine.

I mixed all the ingredients together (and ended up dirtying the pot anyway that I had saved from the oatmeal!) and then when it was hot whisked until foamy.  I poured it into my cup and poured some good hot strong coffee in with it.   Aaahhh….pumpkin fix satiated.

Of course I still have this little guy to cook who came in my organic produce box on Monday.   I can’t decide what to make from him….kids want pumpkin pie (surprise!) but I was thinking of cutting him into wedges and roasting him for dinner.  I will see….

Total points for breakfast was high today though at 8.5 between the Green Monster, pumpkin oats, and pumpkin latte.

And finally for now I leave you with this:

FabTeen was eating her breakfast (which I had her make herself today as I was running late) and then apparently grabbed the camera I tend to leave lying around (handy), and snapped a picture of it.  She came running to me with the picture and said, “Mommy…this is a healthy breakfast, right?” 

Coming from Little Miss Queen of Junk Food I felt a glimmer of hope for her future eating habits bubbling inside!  I think I might be doing something right!

Dropping The Ball

Oh Yeah…that is me!  I have way too many balls in the air at the moment and I have dropped the ball that is daily food journaling!  A big  No-No!

Yesterday was a complete train wreck anyway as far as food was concerned.  At FabPreteen’s school it was Hispanic Heritage Day (She wanted to bring  in Greek or Jewish food to celebrate her own nonHispanic heritage LOL!).  I made plain ole rice which didn’t even get opened anyway because one of the other kid’s grandmother’s made a huge tray of Cuban roast pork (YUMMMMMM!) and another huge tray of rice.

But the spread was fantastic!  I was really impressed with how many parents sent in stuff to our class this year.  This is 7th grade!  Last year we would get very little!

I was going to be good…really I was!  I started off the morning with a bowl of Kashi U cereal with Almond Breeze, and  an espresso.  I also made a Green Monster to drink on the run.

They had tons of skits and a mariachi band that was great. 

Then we went inside to eat.   I was not going to eat any meat!  I haven’t all week since a little chicken Monday night.   But I broke down as usual.  My plate wasn’t too  bad…I had some roast pork (I left the skin over), some rice, a bunch of salad, half  an empanada, a croqueta (okay…those  are bad!), half a pan de bon (Colombian cheese bread),  three or four maraquitas (fried plantain  chips), Coke (ugh!), flan (OMG that was so good!).

I didn’t eat the brownies or cupcakes.  See..I  showed some restraint!

Back at home later on I juiced up all the grapes for FabTeen.   It was pretty good (I had a sip!).  Then I juiced up my energizing apple/carrot/ginger/beet combo.

Around 7ish we were hungry and FabHubby was working late so the FabTeen and I decided to try out a new restaurant near our house that has stone-fired pizza. 

We ordered the  one that has Ricotta, Fresh Mozzarella, Fresh Basil, Homemade Sauce, and I didn’t realize it had prosciutto on it until it came.  Also, I had eggplant added to it.  I looooovee ricotta and eggplant on my pizza.

It was good…we were hungry.   I had THREE slices.  Yes, three (head hung in shame).   FabTeen kept telling me that this isn’t like regular pizza as the crust is extremely thin, almost cracker-like, so it wasn’t so bad.   He is so cute!  He had three slices too…but he is a teenager and a guy.  They can do that!

We brought  the leftovers home for FabHubby.

Today better be better!

The Very Hungry Lady

Yes….today I am like The  Very Hungry Caterpillar!  I must be off in my intake of something (protein?  carbs?) because all of a sudden, about 20 minutes ago, I nearly instantly became ravenously hungry.   It started as a little nag but I can’t believe how fast and furious the stomach pain and frustration and irritability and feeling  BAD set in!

I quickly fixed it with a sandwich of Arnold’s Whole Grain Sandwich Thins, a staple in my diet that goes with almost everything for only 1 point!  On this I piled some salad and 2 Tbs of  baba ganoush.

Up until then, today I have had:

An original Green Monster, my favorite actually.   Just the Almond Milk, flax seed, spinach, banana, and Amazing Grass today.

Then I finished off the tub of Fage yogurt with the mix-ins.  It had:

5 ounces plain yogurt

About 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin

1 TBS honey

1/2 banana

1/4 cup of Kashi  U cereal

A bunch of cinnamon

 

I thought this would hold me until lunchtime!  But it didn’t.  So around 10:30 when I started getting hungry I pulled out the juicer and had a glass of carrot/apple/beet/ginger (my favorite!).  Today’s was particularly sweet…don’t know why.  Maybe ‘cuz I tossed a Gala apple I had that nobody was eating in there instead of the usual Granny Smith.  Definitely have to make that again…it was really really great!

And then about 11:30 or so is when I had that unexpected ravenous attack!

Now I am trying to decide if I am still hungry or not.  I feel “yes”…but I am trying to give my body some time with the sandwich to see if I can get away without eating for a few more hours.

Not Quite Pumpkin Pie

By 11:30 I was starting to feel a little hungry but I didn’t want to stop working quite yet for lunch  so I had my Green Monster of the day.  

Since I had an open can of pumpkin in the fridge I decided to experiment a little and turned this into a Superfood bounty!  Into the blender went the Almond Milk, 1 TBS ground flax seed, 1 scoop Original Amazing Grass Superfood, big handful of raw spinach (from the organic box!), some crushed ice, and I dumped a whole bunch of pumpkin pie spice into the blender as well.  I had brought out a banana for sweetness, but decided to save the extra point and didn’t add it in.

Not bad!  Not quite pumpkin pie filling, but sweet and very good as far as these green powersmoothies go.

Best of all, full of super health goodness with pumpkin, spinach, and cinnamon (in the pumpkin pie spice) all from the Superfoods list…plus the big benefits of the flax seed and the Amazing Grass. 

All for only 1.5 points!

Speaking of pumpkins…while the rest of the country seems to be breaking out into fall, here in South Florida we are SUFFERING through a heat wave this week!

In my house we have not had A/C since last fall.  Not so bad when it was cool last winter but this summer in our house was brutal for our family.  Since right now we don’t have $$ means to replace it, we have eagerly been anticipating the arrival of October, which, while we don’t cool down as much as the rest of the country, is when the humidity breaks and normally we get some relief from the brutal hot and sticky temps in the 90s. 

Yes…normally in October we make it down to the 70s, but all this week will be record highs for South Florida.  OH JOY!

On the Menu For Today

I do track my meals religiously in the online WW planner but I can see in the (not too near) future at some point canceling that monthly plan and I want to have a permanent record of my daily meals. 

Once I cancel I lose everything, so I have decided if nothing else, to try to consistently journal my daily meal plan here…photos when I can but at the very least, just writing it out.  I had bought the three-month  tracker from WW, but keeping the online tracker, doing the written journal, and blogging (along with work, kids, house, my camping website) has proven to be too much for me and I have been a major slacker in the writing it down journal department.

Since I am blogging anyway, this seems an ideal combo!

So without further ado, here would  be my eats so far today!

Started off this morning with a Green Monster.  A scoop of chocolate Amazing Grass superfood, half a banana, 1 TBS ground flaxseed, a few BIG handfuls of raw baby spinach, a cup of Vanilla Almond Milk, and some crushed ice.  I made a double batch and the Fab Teenager took one with him for the ride to school.  He is loving these every day as well.  Funny…he saw me making mine last week in the afternoon with the spinach and asked me to make his the next time the same way…..when I told him I had been putting the spinach in there the whole time he was pretty surprised….he had no clue!  Told you that you can’t taste it in there!

Right before driving the Fab Preteen to school, I had my dose of espresso.  Still not giving that up!

When I got back I was kind of hungry…originally I was going to juice but I decided to have that as a pick me up in the afternoon, and have a good breakfast for the time being.  

I had an awesome Superfood breakfast!  This was 3 oz of Fage 0% yogurt with 1/3 cup of canned pumpkin, 1/2 TBS honey, and one of the delicious Oatmeal/Flaxseed Raisin cookies we made last week crumbled over it.  I also dosed it with some pumpkin pie spice!

Out of this the yogurt, pumpkin, oats, flaxmeal, raisins, honey,  and cinnamon  are all on the Superfoods list (14 in the original book but he adds 10 more in his followup book).

Yesterday I joined a local organic produce buying club….getting lots of organic produce at great prices!  I am off now to get my first pickup and I am excited at the bounty that awaits me!  Tons of fruits and veggies…Ms. Fab Preteen and I will be in Heaven!

Twas The Night Before Weigh-In

Yessiree!  Tomorrow is a BIG DAY in Loserville…our first weigh-in!.

I personally have had a pretty crappy last two weeks and when I checked this morning (tsk tsk..I KNOW!)  I am up from Monday, which was up from last Monday.  Not good!

But I am really excited to see how great my fellow Losers are doing and looking forward to seeing the results.

Yesterday was overall a pretty good day point-wise, until we got to the potluck scout Court of Honor.   I had a plan…but you know what happens when you plan don’t you!

My good intentions were to take a piece of chicken (they always have chicken) and then load up my plate with a ginormous pile of salad.  They always have a great selection of salad.  Well guess what….NO SALAD AT ALL…and a paltry selection of veggies at that!

So I took a piece of chicken (ummm….a fried thigh) and a small taste of Shepherd’s pie.  And I took a nice helping of fruit, green beans (with nuts), and some carrot soufflé that I thought was sweet potato, but was still really good.  Although I am sure it was not as healthy as regular old carrots.  And that was going to be it.   I wasn’t going to have dessert.  No, not me!  But of course I caved…BIG TIME!  My daughter brought me back a dessert plate and I ate it all.  I had a brownie (a little one), and a cookie, and (gulp) a piece of carrot cake.  So much for good intentions.

Now today was a different story.  Today I ate really really well…and still came in with half a point leftover.  That was even after half of a Take Five bar I decided to taste since I had all  those extra points.

Today I decided to try and  forgo most meat and really load up on some nutrient  dense foods, especially veggies.   I kicked off the day by lugging out the juicer and making a glass of fresh juice before breakfast  while I was still getting kids ready to go (carrot/granny smith apple/a slice of beet/a slice of ginger).  That was so incredibly refreshing and energizing.  A great way to start the day…and I halved the amount from yesterday so I could enjoy it and not compromise my points.

When I came back from the school run I had a cup of Kashi  U with currents and walnuts (YUM!) with some almond milk.  About an hour later I had an Amazing Grass Green Monster.  I hadn’t had one with spinach for a while and I have been craving this.

Lunch was meatless and fabulous.   (It was pretty too but I was in a hurry and forgot to take a pic!) I put a bunch of spinach leaves in a bowl, cut up some red pepper, threw in some  grape tomatoes, 1 ounce of crumbled feta cheese, 1 tablespoon of walnuts, 1/2 cup of chickpeas, and 1 ounce of hot pasta.   I tossed this with a simple dressing of balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil.  This was so filling and so good and other than the fact it was a few more points than I had bargained for…it was really healthy so I felt good after eating it.

And then I decided for dinner to try to go meatless totally and cut up a half of an eggplant, sautéed that with some red pepper and Adobo seasoning, and my three corn tortillas that I love so much.  I made chicken Caesar salad wraps for  the rest of the family…and then I caved and stole 1 ounce of chicken tenderloin to add to my eggplant mix. 

After that I still had 3 points left and debated some almond butter…but went with the half of the Take Five.  It was just okay…I am glad I used the points on that so I know I don’t want one anymore.  There are plenty of other things I would much rather have.

So that is my day, part of yesterday, and look ahead to tomorrow.  Still failing in the photo journal  department.  I do have pictures of the juice but I will add those maybe tomorrow as it is almost midnight now and I am tired…and the computer is running kind of slow.  One day I hope to manage that much better.

Keep On Keepin’ On

 

Weight Thoughts

Today is a really weird, up and down kind of day. 

I have some frustrations that it seems the weight is not coming off,  and I have bounced back and forth between FEELING fat and then oddly enough, feeling like my tummy is a little down.  I don’t know!!!  AARRGGH!

I am avoiding stepping in the scale until Monday since I weighed in for WW this past Monday and then again for BL2009 yesterday.

I do know I have been working hard…this is Week 7 of Weight Watchers and for the life of me I can’t figure out why, with staying on program for all of these weeks now and even adding walking to the routine, I was UP this week or why my clothes don’t seem to feel any looser, or why it is going so sloooowwww!

What I Am Eating

As far as my meals today, I have gone a little “pointier” than usual.  I like to keep my breakfasts during the week around 3, no more than 4 points.  But today I opted for a bowl of cereal which included one cup of Kashi GoLean Crunch, one cup of mixed berries, one cup of Almond Milk, and one espresso for a total of 5.5 points.

I didn’t have the Green Monster for breakfast today and I noticed by 11:00 I was fighting a nap.  I had a ton of work to finish, today is run around and pick up kids day…and all I wanted to do was go to sleep! 

So for snack I made myself a GM, along with 3 fresh figs that were just calling my name.   This came to a total of 4 more points and I haven’t even had lunch yet.  I know I can’t make it to dinner without eating something either so I will need to have a low-point lunch along the way now, or dip into my weekly allowance points later on. 

But now I already feel less tired and have more energy…so this concoction seems to be working well.  I  have committed myself to having one a day for 30 days to see if I have noticeable benefits…and so far so good.

BL Blogs

Finally, over the next couple of days I would like to spend some time going around to the BL2009 blogs and getting to know some of the other BL ladies.  So far I am thrilled that I have figured out how to add them to my blog list…heck….I even figured out how to make a blog list!  But all of that takes time and somewhere in there I am expected to actually get some JOB work done!  Imagine. 

YUM and EWWW

So as not to gross you out and lest you think I don’t eat real food (how do you think I got into this situation to begin with!) I will first show this absolutely delicious, definitely repeat recipe I made for dinner last night.

Aside from having to buy a few ingredients I have never bought before (a tube of anchovy paste and a bottle of clam juice…which I hid from Hubby as he would never have eaten it had he seen those!) it was incredibly easy to make and was such a treat.

Plus big bonus points for being low in points! I love those!!!

This is Drunken Shrimp from Gina’s Weight Watcher recipes. If you haven’t been there, this is a goldmine of delicious recipes that everyone in the family can eat too. Just because I am on Weight Watchers doesn’t mean I am going to cook to separate meals…everyone else can eat healthy too. But I do like to find yummy recipes they will enjoy.

This was perfect with a piece of Hubby’s homemade “Just Like Macaroni Grill But Better” bread to sop up that garlicky wine sauce. Definitely a keeper.

BREAKFAST

Now on to this morning. First was a cup of espresso with a tsp of sugar. Next was getting the kids off to school. Once that was done I was home and ravenous so I grabbed a few fresh figs.

I couldn’t decide between a bowl of cereal with the blueberries I bought on Sunday or the Green Monster…but since I am loving the energy I am getting from these Amazing Grass products I decided I really really wanted a shake. This time I did take pix…but they really do look gross. Believe me....it tastes much much better than it looks!

I used 1 TBS of flaxseed meal, one packet of Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion, half of a frozen banana (not in photo, already in blender), 1 cup of Almond Milk (I like the sweetened, only 1 point), and a few big handfuls of baby spinach.

Yea…that looks just gross.

But it is amazing how filling it is and how well it keeps me going. I am on Day 2 of not feeling sluggish and draggy and having to fight going back to bed. That makes it completely worth it!

Finished blend…..

And I am sipping now as I blog. Today’s is a little “spinachy” but not overpowering.

Biggest Loser 2009, Day One

I have signed up, sent in my $$, sent in my scale picture and today is Day One for the BL challenge.

Since I have been following Weight Watchers now since July 20 I don’t feel like it is a Day One sort of thing…like I did my first day on WW. But I am excited for extra motivation to push to lose some weight. This has really been going slow for me….especially with the two 1-pound “up” weigh-ins.

Now the scale picture…that was hard. Not even Hubby knows how much I weigh! I have never shared that with anybody…except the doctor…and then only ‘cuz I have to! Besides…he still has to read the chart to know.

Funny thing about that scale…when I am sneaking onto it for my weekly weigh-ins, that digital number seems to take forever to disappear once I get off…and I am always sure Hubby is going to walk in and see. But today..when I was trying to get my scale picture…with the pen and without my feet….that number would disappear as soon as I hit the camera button. I tried repeatedly…until I finally gave in and took while still standing on it….feet and all!

Sorry…that picture will NOT be posted here!

Finally, I am loving this Windows LiveWriter except for including pix on the blog…that has been a real ordeal. I am trying to figuring out the uploading….Help! Is there an easier way???? Anyone?????!

A Hungry Day

After my delicious and energizing Green Monster this morning, and a walk (in 90+ degree heat and 60% humidity…YUCK) I was pretty good until around 10:30 a.m.  I held myself off until about 11:30 when I finally had a package of dried pear crisps….0 points but I never believe it when something is 0 points.  It has to count something. 

I was hoping the pear crisps would hold me off until at least 12:30 but no such luck.  The hunger monster was driving me nuts!  So I fixed a veggie burger (4 points) on one of the 1 point Arnold Sandwich thins.

YUMMY….but I was still hungry.  What is going on here????

I waited about an hour hoping to feel satisfied at some point but that didn’t happen.  Finally around 1:30 I fixed another Amazing Grass smoothie.

This time I used the berry Green SuperFood packet and instead of a banana I used half a nectarine that I had salvaged by tossing it in the freezer a couple of weeks ago when it was on the verge of going bad.   I added my yummy almond milk, a TBS of the flaxseed meal, and two more big handfuls of spinach. 

It was good….not as good as the ones with the bananas in them.  The bananas sure do add some sweetness.  Also, I don’t think I will get the berry flavor.  It just doesn’t sing to me!

Still trying to figure out whether to get the Amazing Meal or the Green Superfood.  I called the Amazing Grass people and left a message but haven’t heard back from them yet.

And while I was supposed to be working I downloaded Windows Live Writer which I had read about on another blog as being something to make it real easy to blog.  I had never heard of it before.

The download took forever and sure ate into my work time…but she was right!  This post sure is much easier to edit!  I can already see just by looking at the tools available how much easier it will be to insert links, fonts, and more.  And maybe if pix are not such a pain with this I will start adding some.  I just may be a blogger yet!

Week Seven Begins....BAH HUMBUG!

THE WEIGH-IN

OH this is so frustrating! I THOUGHT I had a really good week!

I walked three days and earned myself 7 activity points

I didn't eat my activity points by the end of the week...and I even had weekly points leftover. While I usually do try to eat all my weekly points, I didn't want to eat just to eat them up.

I finished my TOM early in the week. I even had a smoothie for breakfast yesterday morning...a healthy one! And ate really healthy all day...well except for the Tiramisu I had for #1 son's birthday...but I had plenty of points for that.

AND.........on WI this morning I was UP ONE POUND FROM LAST WEEK!!!

HELLLOOOOO????? How did that happen? Because I didn't eat enough maybe? I am still motivated but this sure is frustrating! Six weeks completed on plan and I have had two with 1 pound gains. Not fair!!!

THE BREAKFAST

So with all my Amazing Grass samples my plan is to try one every day and see what I like the best before I order. Maybe. After two days, I am loving this stuff! And I don't want to run out so I may be ordering today.

This weekend I tried two flavors of the Green Superfood in almond milk with some banana and they were both delish.

This morning I jumped onto the Green Monster bandwagon. I threw some fresh baby spinach in with a packet of Amazing Grass, just the wheat grass packet this time, not SuperFood or Amazing Meal. I also put in the almond milk, a TBS of flaxseed meal, and some frozen banana. It was good...not as good as yesterday's Green Superfood smoothie, but still good.....BUT...

THE WALK

Was it because I rested my muscles for four days?

Was it because I had a good sleep?

Was it the flaxseed meal?

Was it the fresh spinach?

Was it the wheat grass powder?

I don't know what it was but let me tell you...as I started to walk I could feel some incredible energy that I have not had in a long time! I was amazed! I felt so good! I am going to keep taking the Amazing Grass products and see if this keeps up.

I personally have never been so in tune with my body so as to be able to follow the nuances in energy I have throughout the day that other people seem to be aware of. For me I am hungry, I am not. I am tired...I am...well I can't say I am not here because for the past couple of years it seems I am always tired.

I have been so fatigued, sluggish, and lethargic for a long time....it had gotten to the point where I was kind of frightened for my future, I could barely move. This is why I have started Weight Watchers and am pushing myself to walk.

But today's walk was something else. It was the best I have had in years. I was so energized, I could move, and I felt powerful. Powerful for me anyway.

Right now I am sold. I will order some Amazing Grass today and keep track of what I eat and how I feel over the next 30 days. I sure hope this wasn't a fluke...but I am thinking not.

Amazing Grass

I recently was looking at wheat grass juice and I stumbled upon this product called Amazing Grass. I started to research it a little bit more and apparently I am the last to know about it...it is all over the healthy blogging world!

It looked good...and I am looking to revamp our diets now and take it to another level while still following Weight Watchers of course, so I decided to order their sample packets.

This morning I made myself a "smoothie" and I am going to try to keep track of the different flavors so I can decide which I want to order. Too bad they don't have a combo pack as I sure wouldn't mind a variety and they are a little pricy.

First up this morning was the original flavor Green SuperFood. Into the blender went a chunk of frozen banana, the packet of SuperFood, and a cup of sweetened vanilla almond breeze. Later on I will try it with unsweetened...but I was not that brave yet!

This was really good! It went down with no problem at all and I could definitely have this often.

DH, shockingly enough, was disappointed I didn't split it with him....and it was gone already, so I made him one as well, only I used the chocolate flavor Green SuperFood. Right now I only have one packed of each kind!

I sipped it and it was YUM-O! He liked it as well and said he could drink this daily too. I am kind of surprised he is showing an interest...after he drank it he started asking questions about growing wheat grass and juicing it. For now though I think I will make us these as I have had wheat grass juice and it is YUCK-O!

So...thumbs up on both the original and chocolate Green Superfood flavors.

Later this week I want to add spinach and starting making some Green Monsters for breakfast, but today (A) I didn't have any spinach, and (B) I want to try the flavors on their own first to see what I like.

Now if only I can get the PreTeen to drink the kids version we are in business.

Great nutrition here we come!!