COMPUTER & HEALTH ISSUES

This is a quick post to apologize for not being here on a regular basis as I'd hoped.

We spent the month of October in talks with the bank about a loan. Things were a bit chaotic as I tried to keep up with work and deal with them. October 25th my beloved gateway computer crashed. While I didn't lose everything, per-say, my new system does not accommodate my graphics programs and other things I use for business.

November 3rd, we broke ground on what will be my new office and art studio. Two days later I got hit with a serious sinus infection that kept me out of commission - and off the computer - for six weeks. For the first time I developed vertigo. The cursor on the screen was enough to make me nauseous. Ten minutes on the computer was about all I could handle... and not long enough to take care of business.

I am finally getting back to 'normal', the outside construction of the studio is complete and the holidays are here.

With that in mind, I am taking this blog on hiatus until January  12, 2015. That is only about 5 weeks. The time down will let me enjoy some minute sense of our holiday, get business stuff on track and get some things ready for posting here.

Wishing all of you a Merry Christmas, a Blessed New Year.

Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

RECIPE WEDNESDAY

I am not a 'food first thing in the morning' kind of person. Though I do know I need something to kick-start the metabolism.

So my kick-start usually consists of a cup of fluffy with either 2 fig newtons or a Belvita soft cookie. Banana is my choice there.

By 10 a.m. or so I am ready for real food. And must be loaded in protein. My go to of choice right now is this easy wrap. 1 large flour tortilla (though I'm thinking of dropping down a size) with a T. of Thousand Island dressing (you know, 'special sauce') 4 or 5 deli slices of smoked turkey, sprinkling of shredded Monterey Jack/ Colby cheese and 3 strips of bacon. If I drop down to the smaller tortilla, I can pare down to 2 strips of bacon. I'd also like to add tomato and lettuce but I didn't have any on hand.

Share your 'filling' ideas. I'm always looking for new twists on my favorites.
Enjoy the Journey!
~Kelly

WEEKLY PLAN - October 6-12

I love this shot. This is from Fort Drum Army road. I just want to start walking.

Which is something I've determined I HAVE to do more of. Right now a regular exercise routine is just not in the schedule. But I can walk. I love to walk. So whether I walk on the treadmill, on one of the walking trails in the area or in front of the Wii... I WILL WALK EVERY DAY.

Strapping on the pedometer and away I go....

Enjoy the Journey!

PLANNING FOR THE WEEKEND - September 29 - Oct. 3

I'm still on the hunt for apples. I would love to find a 1/2 bushel. That would give me plenty to make apple butter, apple sauce and apple pie filling.

In my honest opinion, nothing you buy in the store compares to homemade. And making apple butter or apple sauce is not difficult. With a slow cooker, the task is not even really time consuming. Put the mushed apples in to cook down and go do something else. Though I prefer low and slow in the big roasting pan in the oven.  I like to use apple sauce in place of oil in a lot of my baking and is good on top of low carb pancakes - which are almost like a crepe in consistency.

Bob and I like apple crisp as oppose to apple pies. Not big on the crust. Though Bob would prefer I did not put oatmeal in the crisp. I made THIS peach crisp and turned out great so thought I'd try the same with apple pie filling instead.

Okay.. off track.. Planning for the weekend.
I need to go to Springfield (2 hrs away) for a writers meeting tomorow. I think I'm leaving early enough to go by the Farmer's Market. I'll stay in town overnight which means eating out. I have coupons for my birthday from various restaurants. My favorite is going to be Applebees. I like their 2 for $20 menu... especially since they've added the Wonton Taco as an appetizer option. I can pick 2 light entrees. Eat one for supper and bring the other one home to put in the freezer to eat during Nano. I also get a free shooter dessert. Oh yeah, and Sat. night supper will be crab legs at the chinese buffet. Lots of protein in the crab legs and the mussels in black bean sauce.

I hope your weekend goes as planned..
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

RECIPE WEDNESDAY

I purchased our FoodSaver last night. I'm looking forward to putting the new addition to our kitchen to use. I've been wanting one for a couple of years. Having one would allow me to take advantage of bulk meat sales and package fresh venison, rabbit and turkey when hubby goes hunting.

Then I saw THIS on Pinterest. I followed the website link to Paula Rhodes'  Salad-in-a-jar If the process works as well as Paula claims, I'll be able to enjoy salad or lettuce in a variety of dishes throughout the week without any waste.

I need to purchase the canning lid accessory sealers shown here: http://www.foodsaver.com/accessories/T03-0006-02P.html#start=9

They have them for the Regular and Wide mouth lids. None of the places I checked locally had them in stock. I'm going to look at Bass Pro on Saturday. I may wind up ordering from Amazon where they are less expensive.

I just imagine the healthy foods I can store longer. Vegetables in single pouch servings. And no more freezer burn! Most excited about that, I think.

Do you use a FoodSaver? If so, share your tips and recipes. I'd love to hear from you.
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

WEEKLY PLAN - September 22 - 28th

I love Fall. I also love the foods of fall.. you know, Turkey, stuffing, pecan pie, LOL But one of the things I love most about fall is that the weather is finally at a comfortable temperature to get outside and do something.

Bob and I have been hard at work around the property trimming back trees - he cuts I haul. I also need to dig a trench to move my day lillies into and start thinking about stocking up firewood for winter heat. The point - I get more exercise in the fall. Shame I can't have those temps year round.

I'm not really focusing on anything in particular where the weightloss is concerned right now. Too much going on here on the homestead. We have a major change coming in the next couple of weeks. I can't say anything right now except that the change will hopefully help my blogging/ writing organization a lot!

One of the last times I posted I talked about how the detox was helping my energy level. Well, that is all it helped. I lost 1 pound the entire week! Seriously?

For the remainder of the year I'm focusing on more home prepared meals with portion control in mind and less eating out. You know, where all the chemicals and bodily fluids have been added to what may have once been the idea of a healthy meal. We are eating bread again, but I'm making the bread from scratch. I miss bread sometimes and food in general is not bad for us. What is bad is all the crap that gets added before making the journey to our table.

Next month we are going to purchase a Food Saver system. I'm looking forward to buying lettuce and storing a weeks worth in glass jars in the fridge. Maybe I'll get to eat more salads. Living in the country as we do, lettuce in the off season for growing isn't an option. The stuff purchased at the local market has been on a truck so long, I'm lucky if a head lasts 2 days in my fridge. Just not worth the expense. With the food saver, I can vacuum seal the cut up romaine in pint jars for a whole week. Even if I don't use the lettuce in salad but say on tacos or something else, I can keep the produce longer. So that's my goal.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

When I posted last, I did not realize my new editor would be handing me edits on my novel as quickly as he did. Nor did I know that three weeks later my book would be on Amazon.com.  Suffice to say things have been a bit crazy around here. And although I've not been posting, the journey is a daily progress- and battle.

The protein shakes with the fruit turned out really well... until we went on two mini -vacations back to back and got away from our schedule. We tried a variety of frozen fruits. One I was sure I would enjoy tasted AWFUL! Through this I discovered I may not like Mangos. This bag had a mixture of pineapple, peaches, strawberries and mangos. The mangos left a nasty aftertaste. So I'm either sticking to just strawberries, or at the very least using the fruits individually.

One thing I did discover is that I was more apt to make a strawberry protein shake than a chocolate shake. As much as I love chocolate, I found that interesting.

What is your fruit of choice as you enjoy your journey?

DRINK UP!

Yes, I'm starting today's post with the same picture I used last week. Partly because as I wrote last week's post I decided I needed to make the post two separate pieces and the pic was already in place. And it looks yummy.

To help add some fruit into my diet and not bottom out my sugar, I've been adding fresh fruit to my Protein shakes. If I use the strawberry powder I add strawberries. Don't suggest bananas go well - ewww. I'm not a banana person unless I have a taste for a fresh banana or it comes as an ingredient in bread/ muffins.

My husband also has a container of vanilla whey powder. By the time you read this post I will have tried adding other fruits to the vanilla such as peaches, pineapple or blackberries. Not sure how the blackberries will do with the seeds but I'm going to give them a try as soon as they start getting ripe.

Bob has said he would like to give this a shot when he comes home. See if he can kick start his metabolism. I'll add blueberries to his (another one of those fruits I do not like). But I love vegies and finding ones he'll eat is going to be interesting so it's a trade-off.

What fruits would you suggest?
Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly

DETOX UPS AND DOWNS

Yesterday I gave you a rundown of what I'm 'eating' during the week. Today, I want to tell you about how I felt that first week. I think you will be surprised. I was.

My normal work day starts around 7 a.m. I make my single cup of fluffy and spend an hour doing the 'fun' stuff I enjoy but seldom make time for - thus the early hour. I'm up at 6:30 a.m. during the week just so I can get this time in. By the time my coffee is gone, I'm ready to move into work mode. I spend the day using social media to send promos for country music artists, doing cd reviews, transcribing interviews and setting up a appointments for more of the previous two. Somewhere in there I fit writing short articles for magazines and hopefully having enough energy by about 8 p.m. to work on fiction. And all of this is done while multi-tasking household tasks (though don't look too closely at my house at the moment. It's been a long month hehe)

Normally by 3 p.m. I need a nap. Though I push through this only to gain a second wind and work until 10 or 11 p.m.

But here was the really cool part of the new program.
A) I didn't feel like I physically needed EAT something. What I was doing satisfied me. I never felt hungry.
B) I didn't need that afternoon nap. Instead, I could work steadily until around 5. I would do final email checks for the day while fixing supper and usually have the computer shut down by 6 p.m.
C) I felt GREAT!

And I noticed the difference over the weekend. By Sunday afternoon I wanted a nap. I felt tired, sluggish and just out of sorts. And to top it off, I gained 4 pounds! I still strove to watch what I ate, and gave into a craving for a cheeseburger and letting my guard down showed.
I was relieved to be back on program yesterday and already feel the difference. Psychological? Maybe. But does it matter? As long as my body is happy and I feel good then I'm okay with that.

While doing Liquid Detox does limit my food options, I do have a couple of things in store for the return of Recipe Wednesday next week. So stay tuned.

Enjoy the Journey
Kelly

DECISIONS DECISIONS

When I signed in this morning, my plan was to tell you I would be closing out this blog. Mostly because I am just so busy with work (with a new job prospect in the planning stages) that I don't get in here on a regular basis like I want to.

Then I check my stats this morning to see that although no one is leaving comments, people ACTUALLY are reading. Hmmm.

When you view, please leave a comment. Tell me what you do and do not like to see on here. What is helping? What can you do without? Your input is very much appreciated.

While searching for a garden picture on Morgue File to use this morning I came across this precious scene. I instantly thought of my oldest granddaughter. She loves to be in the garden with me. She also knows the fine art of frying green tomato chips (fried green tomatoes but sliced thin and fried crisp). Tootsie Pop lives far from me and my garden tasks just are not the same without her. 

Her favorite thing is fresh blackberries. She can be sitting in the living room playing and declare 'Grandma, I need a snack.' Before I can ask what she wants, she will be up and out the back door, headed for the blackberry patch. My blackberries are in full bloom now and with her so far away, I'll be enjoying snacks for both of us. 

So... what do I do here? I still need to lose weight. My daughter (Tootsie Pop's mom) has done well with various forms of detox to get to a manageable weight. Now she and Tootsie Pop walk almost daily. They are up to 5 miles! Both love to walk and this is good quality time for the two of them.

So I am doing a modified version of her Liquid Detox. Rather than liquids all day for 4-5 days I am doing liquids during the day then a sensible lean meat/ vegi early evening. 

I tried green tea. I just can NOT drink that stuff. So here's how I'm working this plan:

1 - 9 oz cup of fluffy 

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet tea

1 - protein shake

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet dieters tea

1 - 4 oz glass of V8 vegetable juice (low sodium)

1 - 20 oz glass of unsweet tea

Lean meat and vegies usually in the form of a stir fry or salad

1 - 20 oz glass of tea

If I need a snack throughout the day or at night I have a cup of jello. I sometimes have a second protein shake at night.

I lost 2 pounds the first week, which is fine since that is a good steady weight loss for long-term.

However, over the weekend I sabotaged myself. Apparently I bought the wrong tea bags and I could not get a glass of tea that was not bitter. If I ate out, I could get good unsweet tea. I also knew I'd be eating out so figured that would be my 'weekend'.  

Two things happened..... and I'll tell you about those tomorrow - promise ;-)

In the mean time

Enjoy the Journey!

WEEKLY PLAN - New Plan - New Week Track

Happy Monday!

Although I knew I would be starting back on the Wii this week, NOTHING motivates you more to shed a few pounds than the possibility of being on television. I had already been on the Wii for my 20 minutes when I checked my music business email. One particular email caught my attention and although I can't give any details until I know more, let me just say that I do NOT want to find out the hard way what they say about the 'camera adds 10 pounds'. 

Because I leave for Texas in a couple of weeks I have set my first goal on this new round of the Wii for 6 pounds in 2 weeks. I'll be sharing these screen shots with you at each 2 -week bench mark. 

Since I've not been on the Wii since pulling the muscles in my shoulders and collar bone last fall, I wanted to take it easy. I did a total of 20 minutes. I started by warming up on the Wii Fit by doing the soccer practice for two rounds. Then I did the down-hill skiing for two rounds to warm up my legs. From there I moved to my favorite exercise on WiiFit... the step aerobics. I did two rounds each of basic and advanced. I probably should have finished with 2 rounds of basic as a cool-down but I was 20 minutes on the mark so stopped for today. There is always tomorrow.

I also need to weigh on our bathroom scales. There is a difference between the scales and the Wii board. Bob and I will be using the bathroom scales for our challenges. So my signature line will reflect the bathroom scales - not the Wii board weight.

189/187/135

However you choose to travel... enjoy the journey!

Kelly

PLANNING FOR THE WEEKEND - Road Trip!

I think if I pay closer attention to this post on Fridays, my weekends might be less of a wash. Though I have decided I'm allowing myself one day a week to enjoy food. I don't over-eat but sometimes it's nice to enjoy the foods you love without thinking about how many calories something contains. This is where 'comfort foods' come in.

This morning I'm headed for Linden Texas. About five and a half hours as the crow flies. I'll be traveling through areas I've not passed through before so I don't really know what my food options are. One thing I do know - my nose has radar when it comes to locating a Chinese buffet. If I'm lucky I'll find one of those for lunch and have a nice Mongolian stir-fry. If not, I have coupons for Ruby Tuesday and they have a new chicken tender salad that looks yummy.

As I said in my Tuesday post, I'll be packing things like my morning glory muffins and plenty of bottled water. I'm sure there is a grocery store somewhere nearby that I can purchase Healthy Choice or Lean Cuisine meals for the microwave. Friday night I'd like to scope out the area and see what is available for local food options.

Saturday is all about prepping for the Texas Music Awards, which I'll be covering via Twitter. I'll also be conducting interviews with some of the artists and lots of networking with industry professionals. What that leaves me for food time, I'm not sure. Since I don't know what Linden has to offer, I will just have to wait and see.

Sunday I'll be back on the road headed home. I hope to do some shopping somewhere and eat what will probably be my first decent meal of the weekend then arriving home late.

If I can wake up at a decent hour on Monday, I'll let you know how things go.
Enjoy the Journey!

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Morning Glory Muffins

Once in awhile I go to Heroe's Coffee in West Plains, MO. With coffee readily available, music in the background and a kitchen table to work from, Heroes is a nice place to spend a day when I want to work 'outside' the office. I pick a table out of the way so I'm not interfering with the heavy lunch flow and they are kind enough to let me spend the entire day there if I choose.

One of my favorite items on their menu is the Morning Glory muffin. I've searched for months for a matching recipe and finally found one via Pinterest. I have found several recipes through Jamie, at MyBakingAddiction.

The only change I made to her recipe was to add Craisins to part of the batch. Hubby doesn't like anything resembling a raisin. As it turns out as soon as he found out they had zucchini in them, the raisins wouldn't have made any difference. I'll know next time to make them to suit me. 

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 9 & 10

Okay... so these two weeks haven't been perfect.
Bob and I made a weekend trip to Springfield, which usually involves food. While it is possible to eat out and stay on target, sometimes you just choose not to. I'm not saying we went overboard - okay one night. And by myself I could have done without but sharing dessert was better than the alternative other than just not ordering one at all.

We ate at Red Robin. I have fallen in love with this place. They have THE BEST burgers. Their Campire sauce is amazing. I'm allergic to Heinz Ketchup - which sadly is what most restaurants offer and why I don't eat a lot of fries. But this Campfire sauce is a blend of Ranch and Catalina dressing. Yum!

Then this dessert - the Mountain High Mud Pie-  is the cherry on top.

Bob saw one delivered to a neighboring table and decided we needed to share one. I'm not big on ice cream - I've determined this is a 'guy' thing. But the oreo cookie crust and the caramel sauce was reason enough for me to help him eat this cold and creamy mound of calories. 

Thanks to their handy dandy Customizeable menu & nutrition calculator I know the Whiskey River Burger came in at 1408 calories while the killer dessert rounded out at 1372.  I did eat a few fries, though I'm not a fry person either. I eat maybe 5 or 6 then I'm done. But their sauce is what makes them the best. There are 

With their customizeable menu calculator you can find out what your items total based on whether you add or leave something off. 

Over the course of days of eating out I only gained 1 pound so wasn't too upset. Bob and I only do this kind of thing once a month - sometimes only once very 2 months. The rest of the time we eat at home and keep each other on task.

This next week will be interesting. I'm on the road to Linden Texas where I'm covering the Texas Music Awards. I love my job! I will be trying to curb spending as much as possible. Since I will have a microwave in the hotel room I plan to stick to my Lean Cuisine meals whenever possible. I have Morning Glory muffins (Recipe coming tomorrow) as well as my coffee and plenty of bottled water. Though I will have to try some local foods. I hope to do lots of walking so that will help.We'll see what happens. 

188/189/135

Enjoy the Journey

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 8

I'm jotting this in on Saturday night. We are under a Winter Weather Warning which could bring some ice our direction Sunday and Monday. The power companies across the state are prepared for wide-spread outages.

I am prepared as well. I've stocked up on the necessities, have emergency supplies on hand and have enough to keep me occupied even without power.

I weighed on Friday at 186!

If I can get on Monday, I'll show you one of the items I've added to my daily regimen. Otherwise, it will be an added bonus for next week.

I am also not seeing a food post on Wednesday. I tried something tonight I was not happy with at all so guess that means I need to make something healthier to share as soon as power is available.

In the meantime, keep Enjoying the Journey

Kelly
188/186/130

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Sweet & Sour/ Teriyaki Chicken

This looks really good... and an idea of what my plate will look like tomorrow when I go to my favorite Chinese place. Though more vegetables and a lot less noodles. I've discovered I really like rice noodles.

I found a recipe for Sweet & Sour Chicken on Iheartnaptime  The recipe turned out great. Her recipe was spot on, which I often times not the case. No tweaking needed here. I made it first with her Sweet and Sour recipe but added some chunked pineapple. The next time I made it using Teriyaki Glaze instead and was also very good.

The only thing - and this is just based on individual oven, I think. I did not have to bake mine as long. As you can see from the 'baked' picture, they are quite dark. Over-baking them will dry them out so something to watch.

After frying. 

After baking/ glazing

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 7

Okay... something didn't go right last week. And I'm betting the challenge came with eating out twice. I did not over-eat mind you, just the hidden fats and salt in those restaurant prepared foods.

So this week is all about detoxing to get rid of the gunk. More fruit, more vegies, protein and none of the garbage.

Living the Journey
188/190/130 

Weekly ReCap - and a correction

Okay.. I've not done as well as I'd thought. I'm glad hubby wrote down our beginning weights. I did not weigh 189... but 188 - which means I've only lost a pound.

I also discovered that when I don't take my vitamins (like my Chromium) that I seem to want to eat more and thus not lose the weight. So I'm trying to be more diligent about taking my vitamins. Odd how something so simple can make such a big difference over all.

Sorry I missed the recipe for this week. I made a couple things and took pictures just so swamped with work that I did not get them written up and scheduled. Will take care of that this weekend so they'll run on schedule.

Have a great weekend and Enjoy the Journey!
188/187/130

Weekly Plan - Week 6

Yeah, I know I skipped Week 5. The week happened - including Bob's final week home and a 2-night stay in Springfield where we shopped and over-indulged in food. The scales showed the results last Monday at 189.

As Bob left for work last Tuesday, we began another round of 'who can lose the most in three weeks?' challenge. Winner gets an extra $50. This will be my last opportunity to pocket spending cash for my first trip to Texas.

But more important than that are basic health facts. 1) my knees are complaining when I go up and down the stairs 2) my back isn't wanting to completely recover from that pinched nerve 3) skin issues on my inner thigh aggravated from constant rubbing together. I HAVE to get the weight under control.

I find this easier to do when Bob is not home. I was raised that as a wife, I am suppose to cook for and take care of my husband. A bit of a challenge when we eat differently... aka I will eat a wide variety of vegetables whereas he limits himself to 3 - canned peas, canned green beans, and occasional corn.

When Bob is gone I do a lot of stir-fry combinations with more vegetables in the wok than anything. The Protein is more for flavor than anything. This style of eating helps insure that I am getting my vegies in. I also like to add chunk pineapple to the wok which gives me a fruit.




I have discovered when I am home alone, I will get busy on the computer and not think about food until about 1 or 2 in the afternoon. To combat this I make sure I have Jimmy Dean Meat Lovers breakfast bowls or IHop breakfast sandwiches in the freezer. They are quick and I can eat them at my desk. For the IHop sandwiches, the flatbread with applewood smoked bacon is my favorite.

I have a yogurt mid morning then by 1 p.m. I am ready for a more substantial meal while I watch the recorded news.
Since Bob’s been gone, I’ve lost 2 pounds.

189/187/130

Enjoy the Journey

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Pot Roast /w Stout

POT ROAST WITH STOUT GRAVY

This week's recipe comes from Tide and Thyme. 

Pot Roast is one of Bob's favorite foods. Ranks right up there with  Pasta and KFC Original Recipe Chicken for him. After 30 years of marriage he has about burnt me out out pot roast. But when I saw variations on Pinterest I thought I'd give a couple of them a try. This recipe gave me an insight into what I do and do not like about Pot Roast, which I'll share in a minute.

Best thing... all done in one pan. So clean up (which Bob took care of) was a breeze. LOL

The recipe called for a STOUT beer. The closest I had was AmberBoch... which in my opinion is a good ale so I went with that. If it's good alone, it has to be good combined with something else, right? 

I did two things different. I added slices of Baby Portabella mushrooms when I added the potatoes and I did NOT remove the roast from the pan to place the potatoes on the bottom when their time came. I put them on top of the roast. As they cooked, they got this lovely caramel color:

We are also not fans of cornstarch as a thickening. I used a milk and flour mix. The milk always adds another level of flavor to a gravy. If you've not used milk and flour as a thickening, I use approx 3-4 heaping T of flour to approx. 1.5 cups of milk. If you can use whole milk, that's even better. Either use a drink shaker like for protein shakes or beat the two in a bowl to eliminate all the flour clumps then slowly pour into BOILING broth, stirring while you do so. I use a whisk. 

The gravy for this was packed with flavor and velvet smooth. Out of this #3 roast and 4 potatoes I had enough to put 1 meal in the freezer plus potatoes and gravy left over to go with steak on another night.

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Creamy Mushroom Pasta /w Spinach

CREAMY MUSHROOM PASTA /W SPINACH

I am enjoying playing with the recipes I find on PINTEREST. This one came from a blog called Julia's Album.  Although multiple steps were involved, I pulled out my trusty wok and got to the task.

Caramelized Onions in Olive Oil

Added sliced Baby Portabella Mushrooms. These are my favorite and most accessible mushrooms (other than white button which I feel have no flavor)

Fresh spinach. I placed a lid on for a few minutes to let it wilt down

Although I thought the dish came out a bit oily I enjoyed the combination of flavors. I think the Portabella mushrooms might have contributed to the 'oiliness' because they are a buttery flavor. But needing the EVOO to cook the onions, there really isn't any way around this. The other thing is this recipe called for Parmesan cheese (which may take up some of the oil) but I don't care for Parmesan except in Alfredo sauce so left that off. 

I would make this recipe again.  

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 4

The month of January is behind. That's 1 month down and 11 more to go.

Actually, I'm looking at 1 month down and 2 to go since I'd like to be down a few pounds to be able to wear jeans comfortably when I attend the Texas Music Awards in Linden Texas the end of March.

Bad news for the past week I was up to 189. Good news, by the time I weighed in this morning, I was down to 187. Geez! The stupid part is I've not done anything different...

Except...

Drank water instead of ice tea. I love water and it really sucks that my body wants to keep it around whereas I can enjoy iced tea (no sugar) and I make more trips to the potty than I care to throughout the day. But if those trips mean the difference in what the scales have to say then I guess iced tea it is!

I've been making some really good recipes the past few weeks and will have one to share on Wednesday. I apologize for last week but I had pinched a nerve in my back so was on the computer only what had to be done for work. Unfortunately, this blog counts as 'extra' so got pushed to the side.

So at the end of Week 4 -
185/187/135

Enjoy the Journey!

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 3

Well, the 2 pounds I gained while Bob was gone have disappeared. Yay! Of course that means unless something magical happens by the time he gets home on Wednesday, I'll be the same weight he was when I left. Man! Aside from wanting to be down 2 or 3 pounds, I really could use the extra $50 for my trip to Texas I'd win if I lost more weight than he has the past 3 weeks.

Good news is I have a fresh stock of vegies and of fruit. I seemed to do better when I was eating more of those. So Salad for lunch it is. Though I might have to add a bit of chicken salad with craisins and some fresh pineapple chunks for good measure :-)

As I said, Bob comes home Wednesday. I will continue to push fruit or vegies at every meal. I also want to get us back in the habit of having fish in some form two times per week. I have lobster tails in the freezer (that counts, right) as well as Tilapia. Albacore Tuna in the cabinet. I wanted to add some shrimp but shrimp has gone up almost $2 per bag and they are high in calories so will hold off on those for a week or so.

Fruits and Vegies here I come!

185/185/130

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Chicken Yakisoba

My focus with Recipe Wednesday is to serve two purposes:

1) Try some of the many recipes I have on Pinterest Food board 

2) To try to showcase healthy - or at least quick - meals. 

This week I went strong on the vegie's for my 'incorporate more' challenge and went for this recipe Chicken Yakisoba recipe at Alicesweettooth.com  The recipe incorporated multiple foods I love into one pan (with the exception of precooking the ramen noodles)

I had everything but ginger and fresh carrots. I had some baby carrots in the freezer I need to use up (very few were actually usable) so I tossed those in just to add 'flavor'. I'm not a cooked carrot kind of person anyway so this worked... and one more 'old' thing out of the freezer. Yay!

The recipe in general looks like it will make a lot - and it does! But only 1 Chicken Breast. Nope.. If I'm going to eat on this for 3 or 4 meals I want chicken in at least every other bite. I used two. I also added some fresh button mushrooms sliced (would have preferred Portabella but local grocer didn't have any) and half of a green pepper julienne. If there is onions in a stir fry in my opinion green peppers are a must.

I also passed on the hot sauce. I'm not a 'heat' gal. But I don't think the recipe lost any flavor due to the lack of the hot sauce.

Loved this! In fact, I've ate out of it twice and I'm seeing more enjoyment today. Like a lot of foods, the more you reheat them, the better the flavors. 

Enjoy the Journey! 

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 2 - Oops!

That's the only way to describe the 2 pound gain. I have no clue what happened except that I don't have fresh fruit so I stopped incorporating that into my daily meal plan. I'll make adjustments and see how the week plays out.

I've already scheduled my Wednesday Recipe post. A yummy wok full of vegetables and SOOOO easy!

Enjoy the Journey!
185/187/120

RECIPE WEDNESDAY - Bennigan's Chicken Platter

Several years ago when my daughter worked in downtown Peoria, I met her at a local pub for lunch. Bennigans Restaurant. Bennigan's is a quaint 'Irish' pub with really good food. As I peruse the menu on their sight, I see my favorite is no longer offered.

The platter came with 2 chicken breasts on a bed of rice. The plate was rimmed with a ring of broccoli florets on the outside then a ring of grilled shrimp. A velvety smooth tomato- based bechamel sauce. For $8 and change, you could walk out of there with 2 meals from the one platter. My kind of eating out!

I have since created my own version with a little help from the following ingredients:

I used 3 chicken tenders I had left in the freezer, the last of the broccoli head, and a bag of shrimp I needed to use up. The only thing I did not use that I normally would is to saute diced green bell pepper and a small onion or large shallot. Alas, those items are not in my pantry so I made do.

You start by making the bechamel sauce with equal parts of butter and flour ( I used about 2 T. each). If I'd had the bell pepper and onion/ shallot, I would have sauted them in the butter first to translucent before adding the flour. With a nice rue in progress, add the Carnation milk and continue to whisk until smooth. As you're whisking, add 2 T. of Tomato Paste. (The leftover paste will freeze okay if you're going to use it within a month. So you might want to plan a marinara dish for the leftover) I had to add a bit of water to thin it down. Over kill on the butter/ flour I guess.

With the sauce finished, I moved it off the burner and browned off the chicken tenders, then let them simmer covered til they were done through. This creates a nice steam and keeps them moist.

In a small non-stick skillet (my omelet skillet), I melted a Tablespoon of butter then added 8 of the shrimp. (I'll be using the rest of the shrimp over the next couple recipes.) I just moved them around in the butter to coat and warm through as these are pre-cooked tails. Then I added about an 1/8 C. of Velvet White Wine (I love the wines from St. James Winery in St. James MO) This adds a level to the dish you do not want to skip. Trust me.

Since I eat alone most of the time (and for quantity control) I've taken to buying the single cups of Minute Rice. 60 seconds in the microwave and you have your carb. (when I add one cup to a stir-fry, I can usually stretch that cup 2-3 meals) I took the rice out of the micro and steamed the broccoli for 3 min on 70% (I seldom cook anything at 100%)

When all the components are ready, place the rice in the center of the place and spread it out. Put a little sauce on top of the rice (that layering thing) Add your chicken breast/ tender and the shrimp. Add more of the sauce. Ring the platter with the broccoli florets.

Putting this meal together took me about 20 minutes from start to finish and is plenty for a main meal. 

If you are not a tomato person, you could make this a cheese bechamel sauce just as easily. I'd recommend Velveeta but you might want to plan ahead. According to twitter there is a cheeseapocolypse in progress ;-)

I don't have a calorie count. I do know the portion was kept reasonable and I've added a vegetable. The most fat/ calories in this comes from the bechamel. But out of the whole can of milk, you're only using about 1/4 C of the sauce. I think I'm going to use more of it as a pasta sauce with the left-over shrimp.  When you spread the sauce recipe out over 3 or 4 meals, the calories are manageable.

Enjoy the Journey!

~Kel

WEEKLY PLAN - Week 1 - Starting from Scratch

A new year, a new plan, a new way of thinking. Sounds good.

And I'm off to a good start. By making sure I include fruit and/ or vegetable into every meal I am down one pound from last Tuesday. Bringing my current weight to 184.

As you'll see on the side bar, I am dropping to only three days a week here. Since I don't have a lot of comments back I'm going with my Monday - Weekly Plan, Friday - Week in Review and then Wednesday will be a recipe share.

I'm getting a lot of what read like really good recipes off Pinterest. So I'm going to start getting them off my Foodies Board and on a plate.I had multiple ideas but every one called for onion. Wouldn't you know, I used my last onion yesterday and like everyone else, we're under a deep freeze and I'm not planning on venturing out at least until the weekend.

So for this week, I'm going the crock pot route: http://foodpinsnow.com/?p=6311
I think I have just enough tortellini in the freezer to do this recipe in half. If not, I guess Wednesday will be a surprise.

Enjoy the Journey!
Kelly
185/184/130