Revisiting the Rest of Yesterday

Since I never had the chance to come back on yesterday and finish off my meals, I wanted to quickly log in what I had the rest of the day:

Lunch was an awesome salad with my fresh organic produce topped with half an ounce of feta and 4 Kalamata olives from the Middle Eastern store.  I put a splash of red wine vinegar on top, although I didn’t need this…the feta gave enough flavor.

On the side I also had a TBS of baba ganoush, a TBS of hummus, and an Arnold Sandwich thin for the dips.   I originally had brought out a piece of the whole wheat pita I bought at the Middle Eastern store the day before…but to my great disappointment it was moldy!  I will take it back to exchange…but I had to settle for the Arnolds.

Dinner was on the run…as it always is on Tuesdays.   Not only do wee have scouts on Tuesday nights but we have to pick up two of our kids from two different places (one from his mother and one from her father) and they do not live close.   For tonight’s dinner on the run I mixed up the rest of the avocado and made some more of that delicious homemade guac (chopped up scallion, grape tomato, and a huge amount of  cilantro…then a sprinkle of lemon juice and salt).  I put this on an Arnolds again with a bunch of lettuce.  This was Heaven!!!

I also took along a Honeycrisp apple but I was too full to eat it!

When I got home I still had 5.5 points left!!!  So I snacked on two  of the oatmeal/flax/raisin cookies and indulged myself with 2 tsps of almond butter…I rarely have enough points extra to have that treat.

I ended the day using exactly my allotted 22 points!  Not bad.

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!

Kicking Off The Day

Today started the same way I start most.  FabTeenager asked for juice this morning instead of a Green Monster, so that is what I had as well.   His was carrots and Granny Smith apples, mine was the same with a little bit of beet and fresh ginger thrown in.   A very refreshing and energizing way to start the day.

After the school run I was really hungry!   I forgot to put the oats in the fridge last night and originally I was going to have a yogurt mix-in (fresh fruit and cereal mixed with the yogurt) but I was so hungry I decided to pull out the Egg Beaters I haven’t had in a while and make myself some Egg Tortillas.  I used two corn tortillas heated up, on each I put one cooked Egg Beater, 1 TBS reduced fat shredded cheddar, and 1 TBS salsa.  That was really filling.  I also had a shot of espresso with 1 tsp of sugar along with this.

This came to a total of 6 points.

End of The Day

The produce was a HUGE hit with the FabKids today!  They tore into the strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, kiwi berries, and apples, and I had to YELL AT THEM TO STOP EATING FRUIT!  Seriously…that is what I always tell them to get when they want a snack….but I sure didn’t want the whole box of fruit to be gone by tonight!  I really would like some berries with my breakfast tomorrow!!!

For dinner I just reheated the chicken enchiladas I had made on Friday to use those up, plus I made a ginormous salad with the organic red leaf romaine, red bell peppers, two of the mushrooms (these were soooo sweet!), scallions, grape tomatoes, carrots, cukes, and that is all I can remember at the moment.  FabTeenager was impressed by how much flavor the lettuce had!  He didn’t know lettuce had flavor!

After our Girl Scout meeting tonight, FabPreteen and I shared a bowl of berries with a squirt of whipped cream. 

And now I am tired and done eating for the day.  Although I may have to throw together this yummy looking recipe for overnight oats that I found. 

Moving on With Today’s Lunch

I picked up my beautiful bounty of fruits and veggies and then popped over to the Lebanese store nearby my produce pickup place (hee hee say that three times fast!) for some Greek feta, Kalamata olives, whole wheat pita, and a container each of the best homemade baba ganoush and hummus.

Back at home I unpack all the goodies and just can’t decide what to eat for lunch!  It doesn’t help that by this time I am famished.

I finally settle on a plate of homemade guac (I have to use up the cilantro and avocado I bought at Publix on Saturday).   I take 2 ounces of the avocado (I want more but don’t want the points!) and mash it together with about 1/3 cup chopped cilantro, 2 diced grape tomatoes, 1 scallion, and some juice from the organic lemon I picked up today.  I put this on half of an Arnold Sandwich Thin with a whole mess of spinach leaves underneath it.  YUM!

Then I decided to forgo the feta and olives for now (yeah…I  wanted at least a spoonful of feta and a couple of olives but I will save those points)…and took a tablespoon each of the baba ganoush and hummus, along with some baby carrots, more grape tomatoes, and some red bell pepper slices.  All of the greens, oranges, and reds look so pretty on the plate.

I realize I am also incredibly thirsty and can’t seem to suck down my water fast enough! 

After that delicious lunch I licked up one of the organic Honeycrisp apples from my produce box and ate it with 1 TBS of almond butter.  I should have taken half a TBS because a whole one is 2.5 points…and I had plenty left over after my apple.  The apple, by the way, was unbelievable on its own!  It was incredibly crisp, tart, and sweet.  I know the FABKids and I are going to be fighting over these. 

While sometimes it is a pain that FabHusband isn’t into all  of these fruits and veggies when it  comes to cooking and planning meals….when  we get all of these delicious fruits the FabKids are happy to deal with the “More for Us” part of it!

OH!  I almost forgot!  The box had these Kiwi berries.  I thought they were just kiwis and that is what they called them…but no, they are something completely different.  They are about the size of grapes.  I had never seen these before and I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about all sorts of fruits from all over.  I couldn’t help it and I had to taste.   THESE ARE INCREDIBLE!  OMG!  I tried one…then two…then three..then a couple  more, and then I had to stop myself to make sure I leave plenty for the fruit-loving FabKids to try!  Then I had to look them up to see exactly what they were!  They are really high in fiber too!   The whole container is only 2 points.   I sure hope to see taste these again!

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!

Great WI Today!

Today was WW weigh-in day and I did a whole lot better than I did for BL weigh-in day last Thursday.  I had been sort of hovering up and down for a few weeks, unable to get down past a certain point, ready to cross a zero but  never making it.

As of last Thursday though, I have been trying to lean more towards a plant-based diet with less meat products.  (more on that later) I did have chicken on Friday night, and I did eat a hot dog at the pumpkin unloading Saturday (and felt ridiculously guilty after that!)  but otherwise since Thursday a.m. that is the only meat I have eaten.

Well TA-DA! That seems to have been the boost my needed to get over the hump it was struggling with! This morning’s weigh-in was a surprise!

Down 3 pounds from last Monday….and last Thursday.  Across a zero (YAY!) but down one point in my Weight Watchers food points as well (BOO!) 

And I am feeling great to boot!