Category Archives: recipes

I’m trying…

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Ive spent the better part of this morning looking through old cookbooks and online for food ideas for next week.  I know I don’t want to settle for the weight I’m at.  I still have LOTS of work to do and I can allow a week of wallowing but then I HAVE to get back to work.  The month of July was really a doozy for me and I think if I can just acknowledge that and move forward then maybe I won’t be lost at sea forever.

On the menu for next week are some of my old favorites from my Dr. Phil diet days…I am going to be making his Refrigerator Applesauce Bran Muffins and his Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry.  The muffins are awesome and you make a whole bunch of batter that can be refrigerated for 3 weeks so you just make a few muffins at a time so that they’re fresh.  They are only 100 calories per muffin and I usually eat two for breakfast for fiber and carbs and then make an egg or something for protein.  The Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry is just your standard asian stir fry dish but one serving is only 176 calories with 21g of protein.  And its delish!  I might share his recipes here when I make them, we’ll see.  If not you can always pick up the cookbook on Amazon.

I also had the chance to talk with my dad last night about ideas for marketing myself so that I can bring in more clients.  This would eliminate the need for a second job and trying to completely overhaul my schedule and care for Preston.  That makes me feel a little bit better.  Having a plan is always calming to me – even if I don’t execute the plan as I wrote it, its more the idea that I have a road map to follow that really helps me feel at peace about my life.  So food plans and work/marketing plans are a good place to start.

The weather in Chicago today is right around 75 degrees.  It is a wonderful break from the heat we’ve had all summer.  The skies are overcast so that isn’t helping my gloomy mood but I know that getting outside, maybe chasing after Preston on his bike, will help lift my spirits and my energy.  I only have one client tonight (down from three scheduled) but I will be home early enough to possibly start working on organizing my living space.  I am going to have to push myself really hard to get to work but I know that having a clean and orderly living space will help me feel calmer on the inside.  Maybe I’ll even go to bed a little bit early tonight so I don’t feel like a zombie tomorrow :)

I am looking forward to a few things in the coming months and focusing on those things are sometimes helpful when I feel so blah…

This weekend Preston and I are heading into the city (a place that always gives me life!) to help my aunt with a few things.  My two amazing friends, Heidi and Liz are going to be hanging with Preston while I work and then we will hopefully all spend some time together. Social and out of the house are my main goals for my weekends and it appears as though I will be accomplishing both :)

Next week Monday Pres and I have his orientation for Pre-K 4 :)  He is attending our parish’s preschool program again this year.  He went two mornings a week last year and really loved it so this year its 3 mornings a week!  I’m hopeful that I can successfully use that time to exercise and meal plan so that I’m not taking any time away from him and both of those things are easier without him.  I also just signed him up for his fall activities – he’s taking a ballet/tap class and a hiphop/jazz class.  He took ballet this summer and dancing seems to be the only thing he wants to do.  I plan on encouraging him to try several different sports and activities so that he can get a real sense of what it is he likes to do but for this fall we are sticking with dance.

I’m also excited about school starting because that means fall and that means cooler temps, raking leaves, jeans, sweaters, apple picking, pumpkin carving and all those fun fall activities.  As far as seasons go, fall is my #1.

Thank you to those of you that left me encouraging comments, even just one comment helps to redirect my focus and remember that I don’t have such a bad deal going on.  It helps me remember that I deserve to fight for what I want even if it feels like I’ve been fighting for a very long time.  I trust that God has a plan for my life and I need to be patient and present for the challenging times as well as the easier/happier times.  I’m trying…

Diet Dessert?!?

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Today was quite the day!  An afternoon at the pool (preston is SO close to being able to swim) and then a trip to the gym – burned 810 calories :)  Now I’m fed, showered, Pres is in bed, and I’m watching TV, life is good!  I was actually thinking today I am starting to really transition into the “i actually like exercising” part of this journey.  My body is responding well to being pushed some but not so hard I’m having any pain or anything.  I did two bike rides over the weekend.  First was with my sister, Meredith, she was in town for a brief visit.  We biked 7.64 miles on Saturday.  On Sunday I went riding with my dad for about 6.2 miles.  Both rides felt good and are getting me closer to my June goal of 10 miles!

So after weighing in yesterday and being excited about the loss and doing my 6 mile ride I decided that dessert for lunch was totally AOK!  I had been eyeing these mini graham cracker pie crusts I bought FOREVER ago.  So I busted them out and was thinking something chocolate peanut buttery.  I was going to use PB2 to make the peanut butter part but I thought since I could use the calories I’d use a TBSP of Skippy.  Then I took half a cup of Jello Chocolate Pudding to top it off!

Look at that!!  And it was DE-LI-CIOUS!  The pie crust was 110 calories, peanut butter was 95 calories and half the cup of pudding was 30.  So that’s 235 calories for a delicious little treat.  I paired it with almonds and called it lunch because the day was kind of weird in terms of timing of eating and like I said I wanted dessert for lunch :)  I was thinking adding a little marshmallow fluff or something would make for a fun s’more type dessert. Here’s another picture so you can see how big this thing is…

So its not super huge but with real peanut butter and some chocolate goodness it was pretty savory.  So that’s my Monday.  How was your weekend?  How was the start to your week?  Any good desserts this weekend??

Lunchtime Special

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Lunch has always been one of the harder meals for me to come up with when I’m trying to lose weight.  Breakfast is easy.  Dinner is usually a bit easier for me to decide on, but lunch can be a bit tricky.  I typically don’t want to eat breakfast food or dinner food for lunch.  I usually just want a sandwich and chips or something equally as easy to prep.  I’ve been doing a lot of wraps and quesadilla-esque meals lately.  So this one just came out of the desire to eat something more than a turkey and cheese sandwich but something still as satisfying if not more so.

Meet: The Crunchy Turkey & Cheese Wrap

I used reduced fat mayo on the surface of the whole wheat tortilla because I can’t imagine anything without a little moisture to it.  I have also used hummus and that is equally as tasty, just didn’t have any today.  On top of that I measured a single serving of low sodium deli turkey and one slice of swiss cheese.  Initially I thought I would just leave it at that, but then realized that it needed a bit more fluff and a crunch to make it even better and adding veggies are an easy way to get them in as well.  I added some sprouts (mmmmmm) and then took a cucumber (skin peeled off) and used my peeler to make thin strips of cucumber (a mandolin would also do the job but I don’t own one).  They are perfect in size and create the most perfect and refreshing crunch for lunch in the hotter months.  I paired the wrap with some PIRATES BOOTY – aged white cheddar.

I have been thinking that next time I will do an all veggie wrap.  I might include cucumber, sprouts, red pepper, carrot, not sure what else, maybe a little bit of onion.  I am not into mushrooms or tomatoes so those are out, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something.  With a veggie wrap I would definitely go for the hummus.  What do you like to put on your wrap?  What is your favorite food that you use to add bulk to meals?

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I’m currently dealing with some sort of allergic reaction on my face.  So not fun!  I tried using a new lotion on my face – trying to find something light for the summer – and two days later my face became puffy and a bit bumpy all over.  My skin is notoriously dry and sensitive.  I’m even allergic to Proactiv and the lotion I used was hypoallergenic!!  I think part of the problem this time was that I put it on just after working out.  I typically wait until I stop sweating to shower, otherwise I just end up sweating after my shower and then I feel like the shower was a waste of time.  Anyway the other day I decided not to wait because I had other things to do and put the lotion on right out of the shower.  My guess is that my pores were really open due to the hour long sweat session at the gym.  So here I sit with a puffy face, my eyes look like they’re being swallowed up by my face!  Hopefully the swelling will go down soon, the daytime Benadryl is making me pretty sleepy too!!!  Allergies in general seem to be really horrible right now for everyone due to the mild winter we had.  Any of you having your own allergy battles this week??

 

Sunday Funday!

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Weeeeeeeee!!!!   I lost 4.8lbs this week!!!!!!!  I am totally ecstatic.  This brings me to a total of exactly 13lbs lost in 3 weeks!  I am really starting to feel a change in my body and at some point the changes will be noticeable to other people and that is really exciting to me!  I’m also looking forward to busting out my clothes from smaller sizes.  I currently have one pair of work pants – I ironically busted the button on one pair the week before I started exercising and eating better – the work pants I’m left with are cut a bit larger than the ones I broke and they are hanging on for dear life around my waist.    It feels really good to see those things happening.

I’m well aware that I won’t be able to keep up a near 5lb weight loss every week but it feels good to have a few here and there.  I exercised 4 times this past week.  I used the elliptical twice, both times for one hour.  One day I doubled up and did the elliptical in the morning and rode my bike for 20 minutes in the evening.  Another day I just rode my bike for about half an hour.  And yesterday I cut the grass and cleaned all day long so I count that as my calories burns for that day.  I tried to focus on just enjoying the activity and not feeling forced to do anything.  WIth the weather being nice I’m not wanting to be at the gym every time I need to exercise and I love getting on my bike and riding around the neighborhood.

As far as food goes I stayed pretty close to 1200 calories a day.  Last Sunday I am sure I went way over that as I shared last Monday I decided to join the family dinner instead of eat my own stuff.  There were two days I fell a little bit short of 1200 calories, which I really don’t like to do it just happened and hopefully next week I can have 7 days of 1200 calories consumed each day.  My main goals with food are to get 35g of Fiber every day, always include fruit and/or vegetable with every meal, and try to use them as snacks as well, try to get as much protein as I can, keep the sodium as low as I can by purchasing Low Sodium products and not adding salt to most things.  My breakfast was typical two servings of Fiber One cereal with a bit of Truvia and Fat Free Milk with some fruit like an apple or cantaloupe.  I’m on a cantaloupe kick right now.  Mmmm.  For lunch this week I had some leftover White Chili and I also made some wraps with a large Whole Wheat Tortilla, plain Hummus, Swiss Cheese, Black Beans, and thin sliced Cucumber.  MMMMMMM.  So good!!  Dinner this week I also had some of the leftover White Chili, I had the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad from Panera twice, and my sweet potato and asparagus dinner one night.  I snacked on Apples and String Cheese, Almonds, and had Jello Sugar Free Chocolate Pudding a couple of times as well.

I always try to drink 96oz of water a day and some days were better than others.  I would say 4 days I got all 96oz and the rest it was closer to 72oz.  Sleep is another big factor in weight loss and this week was kind of a crap shoot.  The week started off horribly.  Preston was sick – really just suffering from horrible allergies – so I was up several times in the night with him coughing, puking, crying, the whole bit.  It was not fun.  We got him on some allergy meds to stop the cough and deal with some other things like a baby ear infection and then sleep returned to normal.  Starting Wednesday I probably got 8-9 hours a night the rest of the week.  I have to say getting enough sleep helps TREMENDOUSLY with not having cravings or feeling unsatisfied.  Yay sleep!

Today I’m planning to go for a short bike ride this morning, head to Mass, then hang out with my Aunt all afternoon :) Tomorrow I have a workout date with a friend to start the week off right!

How did your week go?  Did you have any two-a-day workouts this week?  Did you discover any new recipes or meals that you didn’t think would be a great as they turned out to be?

Crockpot White Chili

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I LOVE using a crock pot.  I am all about eating yummy food that is easy to prepare.  If it takes me an hour to just get the meal in the oven or prepared it will probably rarely be made again.  Crock pot cooking is so quick and simple and can create some pretty tasty fare.

I have been using a vegan chili recipe for the past few months but red beans aren’t my favorite and I was getting tired of it, so I decided to look around for a white chili recipe.  I stumbled upon several different variations of white chili and created one of my own that turned out seriously yummy.  If I add or tweak this recipe I will be sure to update this post with changes.

So here’s what you’ll need:

  1. 3 Cups Low Sodium Chicken Broth – I used Imagine Organic Free Range Chicken Broth Low Sodium, it was the lowest sodium I could find.
  2. 1 Chicken Breast – I threw a frozen one in the crock pot in the am for a couple of hours with some broth to cook it through so that I could shred it, then added it to the mix with everything later.  You could even make the shredded chicken ahead of time and freeze it and then just throw it in with all the other ingredients.
  3. 2 cans Cannellini White Kidney Beans – drained and rinsed off (you can dump the can with liquid if you want it to be super easy, but the syrupy liquid in the can creeps me out)
  4. 1 can No Salt Added Whole Kernel Corn – drained – you can use frozen if you prefer, I just find it ends up being mushier than canned corn in crock pot recipes.
  5. 4oz. can of Mild Diced Green Chilies
  6. 1/2 White Onion chopped
  7. 2-3 Cloves of Garlic minced
  8. 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
  9. 1 1/2 tsp Cumin
  10. Salt and Pepper to taste

Chop and mince the onion and garlic and dump everything else into the pot and set on high for 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 hours.  I chose not to add any salt to keep the sodium down and it tasted ok to me but if you like your salt I’d definitely add some.  I added a little shredded mozzarella, you could also top with some tortilla strips for a little more crunch.

This recipe makes 6 – 1 cup sized servings.  Here is the nutritional breakdown based off of the ingredients I used (not including the cheese on top)

So pair that with something green, a side salad, or broccoli or something and you have yourself a really tasty and fulfilling meal.  Enjoy!

First official recipe post!

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Things are going along swimmingly.  My hamstrings started to feel sore yesterday afternoon and I had no idea why because I hadn’t done any exercise that I could remember that required my hamstrings.  Today it dawned on me!  (And it’s kind of embarrassing to admit this…) Over the weekend when I was working I did do a little exercise move a few times that must be the culprit.  In walking back from the bathroom every half hour (bc I’m really trying to drink a lot of water) I decided to kick my legs way up and touch my toes, a few times on each leg – just to get the blood moving since I was sitting a lot.  Haha.  I know, I’m ridiculous.  And that’s why I did it when no one was around.  But apparently I worked out my hamstrings a bit, bonus?

Anyway, moving on.  :)  So I made a big deal about ensuring I had a meal plan in place before starting this journey because I didn’t want to start making excuses that I didn’t know what I should eat.  Well even though I have a plan I’ve been shooting from the hip a little bit.  And I feel like that’s fine, because this isn’t my first time around the ‘dieting’ block.  So tonight I was craving one of my favorites, super simple: Roasted Sweet Potato & Asparagus.  mmm.   You could definitely add a piece of chicken or other meat to this if it doesn’t feel like enough but it is really quite filling.  Wanna see how pretty it looks?

Yea, that’s where it’s at!  It’s super easy to get this on the table.  I prepped it while Preston was having his dinner and then threw it in the oven while I was putting him to bed.  I’m spoiled and he’s generally in bed around 6:30pm, at the latest 7pm (and sleeps at least 12 hours).  So its not too late to eat dinner after he’s in bed.  So how did I put this glorious plate of food together you ask??  Let me tell you!

  • What you need: 1 Med/Large Sweet Potato, 10 stalks of Asparagus, 1 TBSP Olive Oil, Sea Salt, Pam Olive Oil Spray
  • How to prep it: Wash off and peel sweet potato.  Cut sweet potato into one inch or smaller cubes.  Pour olive oil over cubes and mix till all are covered.  Put on cookie sheet.  Sprinkle a little salt.  Cut off ends of asparagus lay out on separate cookie sheet spritzed with a little Pam Olive Oil Spray.
  • How to cook it: Heat the oven to 385′ put the sweet potatoes in, set the timer for 40 minutes.  When 15 minutes are left, flip sweet potatoes and put asparagus on the second shelf in the oven.  When the timer goes off take them both out and ingest :)

So good!  And so much better than a salad or some other typical diet food but really good in terms of calories (300 ish) and nutritional content.  Only downfall…asparagus pee…

What’s your favorite go to meal?  What is your favorite veggie and how do you prefer to prepare it?  Am I the only one who thinks a sweet potato and some asparagus is the best dinner ever?