Weigh in

I've been sparse round these parts.  Haven't had electricity, therefore haven't written. That really throws a wrench into things when you're getting used to eating better, using fresh ingredients, and bam - no fridge, no stove... so, it was grill if it was nice out, or out to eat if it was rainy - and the last week has been pretty rainy.  We tried to make the best choices possible, but still, it's hard with no real idea of how your meal is being prepared (i.e. I had to fight tooth and nail to get vegetables without butter sauce on them at Friday's... then they could only find me green beans that were over cooked...ugh.)

But... we survived this week.  And none of us perished.  I drank some beer, too...and had about six cheese curds (they didn't even taste good!) (The beer did, though! Bad Lisa!!)

And in the end, the number on the scale is all that matters...

Dun dun dun...

Really hard to see, but the number says 211.8.  A loss of 4 lbs!

Confession: I weighed in both yesterday and today and kept the lowest number.  Shuddup - it's motivating! ;)

Ketchup and weigh-in x2

Pun intended.  I've been MIA for a little bit... just some things going on in my personal life, and not having the time and/or desire to update because I get all mopey and feel like no one reads so why bother? Yeah, life's been a pretty big pity party lately and I need to snap out of it.  I'm bored all.the.time. My emotions are all over the place as it is, then I had a near "run-in" with my ex-best-friend of 12+ years that I haven't seen nor spoken to in a year...I was a little messed up about it, and we happened to have a BBQ/bonfire that night which led to tequila, and Crown Royal, and some beer and oh yeah, vodka. 

Margaritas...(made with that knock-off Crystal Light lime-margarita mix meant for water bottles, ice, a bit o' water and some tequila...lots of tequila...and P.S. Skinny Girl Margaritas are HORRIBLE!) ...Crown/Redbulls, vodka jello shots and Grain Belt Nordeast....what a combo...

And if you know me, you know what vodka does to me...so to add insult to injury I was a doofus-face and got drunk and drunk dialed/facebooked/texted said ex-best-friend. No response, of course.... but yeah, it was enough to mess with my head and slash any bit o' happiness I was feeling.

But, that doesn't mean I've given up on the weightloss efforts.  Oh no.  I've still been hanging on there.  Still not exercising, at all - SHAME ON ME! But the scale has consistently gone down.  I need to kick it in to hyperdrive and get my arse out of bed in the morning to wake up, but when you are mopey, it's hard.

So, the weigh-in for June 5th, I lost 3.8 lbs from the previous week which brought my weight to 218.4.

My hungover ass couldn't take a picture of the scale with me on it, it was not working...lol

And then this week's weigh in, a loss of 2.6 lbs, bringing me down to 215.8 and a total loss of 24.8 lbs since May 1.

Pardon the tampon box.  I have a feeling I will be hard-pressed to see a smaller number on the scale this Sunday.  This week has already been full of stress and disappointments, and I know I don't lose as well when I'm under this much stress.  Plus, we have to start all over food-wise, since our elecricity was out for almost 48 hours, rendering all of our fridge/freezer contents disgusting and gross. Therefore, today I will be eating lunch AND dinner out some where. 

I keep cheating and standing on the scale almost daily and I need to knock it the crap off because man, it is depressing not to see it go down every day.  To hover at one weight and stress over why it's not as low as Sunday's sucks.

The ketchup thing...well, see, I have this love affair with all things tomato, especially ketchup, which I doused my turkey burgers in both Saturday and again last night...thing is, is I'm highly allergic to tomato.  My lips break out and itch like a beast.  I'm certainly a sight for sore eyes.  But I can't stop.  I love my tomato products... I'm going to the allergist this afternoon, and hopefully he can offer me some relief, because all bbq'd food is better with ketchup! (And it kind of hides the fact you're eating a turkey burger/brat/hotdog and makes it taste like the real thing for only 20 calories a tablespoon!)

Recipe: Spicy Thai Peanut Chicken with NO CARB Noodles!

I tried thick “fettuccini” tofu shirataki noodles a few years ago in a Hungry Girl recipe and was totally disappointed – but since hearing about them all over again, I decided to try them again, this time in a thinner version, and folks --- we have a winner! These no carb, 20 calorie per serving noodles were a fantastic addition to this spicy meal.  Peanut chicken is one of my favorite dishes, and now I have it guilt-free!  This recipe is a bit spicy – if you don’t appreciate spicy thai flavor, well, this probably needs to be modified for you.  Maybe try 1/2 the chile sauce with an extra TBS of PB2… 

I thought this was delicious, it was a winner in our house!

3 tablespoons reduced-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon chopped fresh lemongrass

2 teaspoons Thai chile-garlic sauce/paste

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

2 tablespoons PB2 reconstituted with an additional tablespoon of low sodium chicken broth (visit Bell Plantation’s website for more info – you can use regular PB but the calorie/fat content will change!)

1 teaspoon cornstartch

8 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed in 3/4” pieces

1 package of tofu shirataki noodles (Slim Noodles, Miracle Noodles, etc…can be found by tofu, which is in the produce section of my grocery store…don’t let them scare you!)

1 package of steam-in-the-bag mixed veggies of your choice (if they come in an olive oil sauce like mine did, just rinse it off)

1/3 cup crushed peanuts

Whisk together broth, lemon juice, fish sauce, lemongrass, chile sauce or paste, honey, ginger, garlic, reconstituted PB2 and oil in a small bowl.

Place cubed chicken and small amount (about 1/4 of sauce, just enough to coat chicken) of sauce in Ziploc bag.  Reserve remaining sauce. Allow chicken to marinate for 30-60 minutes.

After marinating, stir cornstarch into reserved sauce.  Coat large wok or frying pan with a healthy amount of Olive Oil cooking spray.  Heat on med-high. When pan is hot, drop marinated chicken  onto pan.  Cook, stirring/tossing frequently, until chicken is slightly browned on all sides and no longer pink.

While chicken is cooking, nuke veggies – reduce time by about 2 minutes so you don’t end up with mush at the end.

Rinse noodles according to package directions.

When chicken is cooked through, add veggies and noodles to skillet along with the reserved sauce, and stir-fry until sauce thickens and everything is heated.  Garnish with crushed peanuts.

Warning: This dish is spicy, but damn delicious!

Makes 2 large servings. Per serving: 261 calories; 7 g fat, 30 g protein.

Recipe: Almond Crusted Salmon & Broccoli Cheese Sauce

Another “serves 2” recipe. I love fish, and I love nuts, so why not combine them?! I’ve also subbed walnuts for the almonds and added other herbs in place of the cilantro – it’s a recipe that’s easy to play with!

2 – 4oz. wild caught salmon filets

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of almonds

2 tbs. fresh cilantro

1 TBS +/- olive oil

½ tsp. kosher salt

Dash of pepper

Season salmon filets with salt and pepper, place on foil lined baking sheet.

Toss garlic, almonds, and cilantro into a food processer until well ground and blended.

Drizzle olive oil and process until a thick paste forms.

Spread equally on salmon filets

Bake at 450 for 20 minutes or until fish is flakey.

2 servings. Each serving has 350 calories, 20 g fat -heart-healthy Omega-3, 6 g carbs, 27g protein.

(The bread that is on the plate in the picture is just a half Sandwich Thin with I can’t believe it’s not butter spray and garlic powder broiled for a few minutes – fish & bread have to go together in our house! 50 calories.)

Pardon the crappy picture, but this was the walnut crusted salmon (the bread was baking):

The broccoli cheese sauce was fantastic! And low in carbs, full of protein, and it made the broccoli more than edible! (I'm still not a huge fan of broccoli, but it was pretty tasty with the cheese sauce!)

3/4 cup Westsoy Organic Unsweetened Soy Milk

2 wedges Light Original Swiss Laughing Cow

1/2 c. fat-free Cheddar Cheese

1/2 tsp cornstartch

salt and pepper to taste

Wisk cornstarch into soy milk in medium saucepan.  Add Laughing Cow and salt and pepper, heat on medium heat, stirring near constantly until wedges are melted and mixture begins to thicken.  Add salt/pepper if desired, and fat-free cheddar – stir constantly until mixture is melted and desired thickness is achieved.  Quick, easy, and man, does it make broccoli awesome!

4 servings (about 1/4 cup each).  Each serving has 62 calories, 3g fat, 7g protein.

Recipe: Thai Mango Chicken with Broccoli

I adapted this recipe to have a bit more sauce – to cover up the broccoli (I’m still getting used to it) and to serve 2 people because leftovers go bad in our house.  Feel free to double or mess around with it as you see fit, but this is my version and man, this was a divine meal! The serving was pretty big, too, for not a lot of calories!

2 tablespoons fish sauce

Juice of 1 lime

1 1/2  teaspoons cornstarch

1-2 teaspoons Splenda brown sugar blend (less if your mango is ripe…more if it is not)

2 teaspoons Olive Oil, divided

8 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1” cubes

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1- small red chile pepper, stemmed and chopped (you could use 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes if you wish)

2 1/2 cups bite-size broccoli florets

1/4 cup water

1 mango, peeled and sliced

1 bunch scallions, cut into 1/2” pieces

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, preferably Thai

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1 lime for garnish

Combine fish sauce, lime juice, cornstarch and Splenda in a small bowl.

Heat a teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over med-high heat. Add chicken; cook, until just no longer pink.

Add the remaining teaspoon of oil, garlic, ginger and chiles (or crushed red pepper) to the pan. Cook, stirring, until it starts to smell really good - about 15 seconds. Add broccoli and water; cook 2 minutes, or until broccoli is of desired tenderness (I like mush, so mine was more more 5 minutes…). Add mangoes and scallions; cook, stirring, for 1 minute until heated through. Add the reserved sauce and chicken; cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and the chicken is heated through. Stir in cilantro, basil and mint. Serve with lime wedges.

Makes 2 servings.  Each serving has: 195 calories; 5 g fat; 20 g carbohydrates; 21 g protein; 4 g fiber; 531 mg sodium.

Alright, where is the real Lisa?

This is not me, I swear.  I know myself - 27 years later, I think I know that I don't like vegetables.  Especially those raw icky ones. God, gross..

My guilty pleasure this week has been not packing my lunch.  I take a few minutes and throw my breakfast and two snacks in a baggie, but not taking that extra time fiddling with lunch components has been my little break for the week.  So I've been "forced" to buy my lunch.

Oh shit, right? I work downtown Minneapolis, within walking distance of bars, and pubs, and fast food, slow food, street food....  I used to take advantage of it, hit the pub or the bar & grill on my long lunch break, get a burger, some sweet potato fries, a few beers....

So this week I've been frequenting one of the "fast food" places.  Alright, there isn't anything "fast" about this Subway, but I think it falls under that category rather than any other.   And here's the kicker - not even for a sandwhich.

I go and I get a spinach salad with the oven roasted chicken breast - 130 calories. (It's also the only meat option with a relatively low sodium content, which when I tell you my toppings you'll see why that's an important place to cut...)  Then I deck it out with cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and lots of pickles.  I accidentally got a banana pepper in there today and OMG so good - those will be a regular on this salad now! Then I get it with the fat-free Sweet Onion sauce (and I make sure I account for all the calories because I get it in a cup on the side, I'm a "dipper".)   I seriously look forward to this salad all morning.

I eat every bit of it. And I get full doing it.  I look forward to the next bite.  To the sweetness of the tomato, the crunch of the onion, the coolness of the cucumber, and everything - except maybe the rouge stem that hangs out my mouth from the spinach - I de-stem my spinach at home.  It's so STRANGE.  I don't like vegetables.

Or maybe I do.   I think my taste buds are slowly changing.  What damn near killed me to choke down a month ago is now something I can eat and enjoy.

And instead of that beer or two or three, I look forward to Propel Zero.  Maybe not the best thing -- since it is sweetened with sucralose (Splenda), but it's better than sucking down 200+ calorie beers or Diet Coke with aspartame (it's been about 7 or 8 weeks, holy damn!) or even jolting myself with energy drinks all day long!

I'm getting my monthly visitor by this weekend, and I can tell - I'm seriously hungry and craving things (namely protein lately, give me a hunk o' chicken to gnaw on!) so I've eaten a little bit more than ususal, and when I stepped on the scale - yes, I cheated mid-week and stood on the damn beast - yesterday, it hadn't budged from the 222.2 on Sunday.  I'm still within my calories, just not on the low end of things this week.  And I'm bloated and stressed, and I'm not expecting to see a miracle loss this week, but we'll get 'em back next week! I swear I'm going to get up in the mornings and start wunning. Yeah, wunning.  Walking running.  It's ugly, you don't want to see me do it.

Pizza Pizza!

I had this monster craving yesterday for my very favorite food, ever.  Pizza. So I set out thinking, “Hmm…how am I gonna do this?” I’m hungrier than a “pita pizza”… I don’t want to blow it, how am I going to make this work? 

One trip to the supermarket later, and bam, we have a plan for a pizza!

Was searching for a lower-carb whole grain flour, soy, oat…something… when I stumbled upon this:

Whole grain, low carb baking mix? Well alrighty, let’s give that a try. (If you’re gluten-free, this is barking up the way wrong tree, sorry.)  $6.50 for a small bag, but I figured I would spend triple that on a delivery pizza.  So I bought it.  It had a funny texture, but it wasn’t a big deal.  I got to work.

3/4 + 2 TBS hot water

1 tsp Splenda brown sugar mix

1/2 tsp salt

1 packet yeast (I used yeast that works especially well with whole grain)

2 Cups Low Carb Baking Mix

Olive Oil cooking spray

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a bowl, let rest for 5 minutes until the yeast is all frothy.  Dump that into the 2 Cups Low Carb Baking Mix.  When dough ball forms, remove and knead on a well-floured (baking mixed) surface for a few minutes.  Place dough ball in a large bowl sprayed with the cooking spray, cover and let it rise for about an hour or until roughly doubled in size.  *I was hungry and impatient, so I turned my oven to 200 degrees while I changed my clothes before starting, then promptly shut it off while I mixed and kneaded.  I stuck my bowl, covered with a towel in the warmish oven to rise.  Took about half the time.*

After dough has risen, punch down, cut in to 4 pieces, and go to town rolling it out.  It will be interesting, but don’t worry, just roll!

You can freeze any unused dough for up to 3 months, just wrap it in oiled plastic wrap, and make sure to defrost overnight in the fridge and let proof at room temp for 1 hour prior to using frozen dough.

Then Lacy and I topped our pizzas with Contadina Pizza Squeeze (30 cal for 1/4 c.), fat free mozz, with the addition of 1 piece of low fat string cheese (cause the FF stuff never melts as nice), then turkey pepperoni, veggies (Lacy only, I had a strict pepperoni craving!), and fresh herbs from the garden.

Baked at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. (I was watching The Voice…when I smelled them, they were done. It’s not rocket science. Which is also why there are no "after baking" pictures, I was hungry! )

Deliciouso! HUGE serving size! (That cookie sheet is a professional baking sheet - it's ginormous!)

[If divided into 4 personal pizzas] the crust has :

200 calories,  4g fat, 22 carbs, 10g fiber (net carb = 12g!!!), and a whopping 28g protein.

So all in all, with all of our toppings, we had huge fantastic pizzas for under 400 calories and around 10g of fat.  Beat that, Dominos!

Weigh in: Red Team Win! (And other stuff)

Weighed in on Sunday at 222.2 - a 4.0 lb. loss, for a total of 18.4 lbs. shed during the month of May!

(My big fat toe coveres up the last digit, but it's .2)

I'm "borrowing" the wi-fi signal from one of the neighbors at home and with the weather all wonky this weekend, it was just not going to connect and be fast enough for diddly squat. 

The weekend the kid was at his dad's, so we had a wee bit o' fun, mostly cruddy weather, and lots of good food.  We accomplished eating out AND drinking, responsibly! Our waist lines thank us!

Friday evening I was coming off of a mighty hellish and stressful week (as this one is shaping up to be), so I made Happy Lemon Raspberry Swirl cheesecake bars. 

There were a couple minor variations in this recipe from the strawberry ones I made a few entries ago.  First, I used fat-free cream cheese for the filling and added a bit of lemon juice.  Turned out superb! I did this to compensate for the fact I used about 3 tablespoons of butter instead of the 1 tablespoon of light butter in the crust.  Why? Because these cheesecake bars not only make your waistline happy, but they got you stoned doing it.  I used cannabutter and was delightfully relaxed Friday evening.  A new, improved spin on your age old magic brownies ;)

I got my hair done, and helped my kid sister move on Saturday, followed by some shopping! New Mac make up and a new outfit.  And pants a whole size smaller! Woot!

Saturday evening we decided to venture out and about to our favorite bar/grill...  Andre the bartender was more than happy to hook us up with low calorie drinks! He made us lovely Skinny Tea vodka drinks.  They packed a punch and at only 60 calories a piece! (And $6.00...but the vodka makes that easier to swallow.)  We split the hummus and wheat pita appetizer...

Then we ordered a turkey burger, with spinach, not lettuce, cause lettuce is NAS-TAY! And fruit instead of fries...

It was honestly SO. GOOD!

I have to say, skinny drinks or not, it was hard to be in a bar that has "NO CRAP ON TAP!" (as their T-shirts say), and be surrounded by delicious hoppy and full-flavored craft beers and sit there and drink my vodka tea... Forever a beer lover at heart.  But, nothing tastes as good as being thin feels...

I missed updating for a whole week! I promise that won't happen again.  Get me out of this desk and home with a steady internet connection and I'll hook you up with fantastic recipes for things like

Thai Mango Chicken

Barbequed chicken with sweet potato fries (I finally got them CRISPY!)

And more! 

I haven't logged my calories in MFP for a few days, but I've been making good choices and I don't want to become overly reliant upon an app - I want to know that I can make healthy choices by myself! I'm back to sticking stuff in there now, but I'm not doing it live or die...

Watched Extreme Makeover Weightloss Edition last night - Really gave me extra motivation to shed these pounds!

Blue Team Win: Disappointing Weigh-in by the Red Team.

Weigh in this weekend was somewhat a disappointment.  I lost, but not much. I suppose it’s better than nothing though.  An official loss of 2.6 lbs.  Lacy won this round with an even 4.0 lb. loss.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t discouraged.  I have been eating well and drinking tons of water, and even began with ab workouts this week.  But I felt it coming as I have been under a tremendous amount of stress, and my body is very susceptible to the effects of stress.  And when under stress, your body feels run-down and exhausted, and therefore wants to keep, keep, keep anything you put in it.

I’m happy for Lacy’s 4.0 lb. loss, I can really see the changes in her.  I’m just concerned about things from here on out.  My focus is on a doable, sustainable lifestyle change that will result in me losing the weight and keeping it off.  Her focus has shifted from getting healthy, to doing anything and everything in her power to get her weight and measurements down in time to ship out to basic for the Guard in October. She’s got at least a good 40 lbs. to go, maybe more.  So, she’s given up all carbs and wants to stay well under the 1,200 calorie mark, and basically bust her butt and throw her body through the wringer so she can just get rid of the weight by October.   It really throws a wrench in things because I do all the cooking and it’s time consuming to make one meal, let alone two or “alter” my meals to avoid all carbohydrates. Yes, even the complex ones.  I refuse to get roped in to her “quick fix” style.  Healthy and sustainable for this chica!

I have to say, I couldn’t handle the 2.6 lb loss, so while that is my official weigh-in, I stood on the scale this morning and was down to 224, which would make it a 4.6 lb. loss, which I can handle.  Between water retention and the fact I finally had a BM last night, I feel less discouraged and like I could have a super loss next weigh in!

On to the amazing food!  One day I promise I’ll find time and a decent internet signal and spend time getting the recipes up here!

Friday night we had orange chipotle chicken, omg! It was so good! I think it would have been better grilled even, but we had to broil because it was raining.

Saturday I made turkey and balsamic onion quesadillas.  The soaking of the red onion in balsamic vinegar gave it a really unique and delicious flavor! Then I used the balsamic vinegar, added some Stevia and garlic and make a lovely dressing for our spinach salads.

Saturday evening, after searching high and low for Sea Bass, I finally went to a high-end specialty market and even they didn’t have any! I asked what would be comparable, and I bought some really freaking expensive Halibut.  ($24.99/lb?! Holy shit.)  Made ginger herb halibut filets on a roasted tomato and garlic coulis, and for the first time in my life I had swiss chard.  I really liked the flavor of swiss chard, but I can’t do the creamy texture this recipe had.  Perhaps not so cooked in the future.  I sautéed some green beans with a dab of seasame oil, some garlic and almond slivers as well.

Sunday morning Lacy insisted on making breakfast.  This is her version of a “green monster” even though it’s purple and so thick we ate it with spoons out of fancy martini glasses! Keepin’ it classy!

Why is she making that face?  Dorkus put alphalfa sprouts in the smoothie.  The flavor over powered everything! It was kind of gross at first, but we got used to it and finished them up.

Lunch yesterday was thai coconut curry shrimp.  Low carb Lacy asked if we could eat it on a bed of spinach, rather than on rice as planned.   I agreed, thinking the sauce would make an excellent dressing.  I was wrong.  We both loved the shrimp, but agreed the warm coconut curry sauce on cold spinach leaves did not really please the palate.  So while it looks pretty, if you attempt this one, make sure to put it over rice!  Let me stress the shrimp was DEVINE!! So yummy!

And last, but not least, another for the WIN column.  Veggie lasagna with turkey meat sauce! The turkey could absolutely be left out for a vegetarian meal!  No noodles- made with zucchini in their place, some red pepper, and ricotta cheese made this creamy and delicious! I have leftovers for lunch today! Om nom nom!

We ate it with roasted beets! I’d never come near a beet in my life until yesterday. And while I have some purple parts today, it was worth it, they were pretty good!

It rained all weekend, tornadoes ripped through Minneapolis yesterday, and while my garlic is loving it and coming up nicely…some of the other babies in the garden aren’t fairing as well.  Our cukes are nearly destroyed.  My herbs are drowning.  And we’ll see what happens to our squash, it’s looking wet and sickly… the broccoli and tomatoes and jalepenos seem to be doing alright, minus a few damaged leaves.  We shall see!

Nemo's in trouble...

Weigh-in is just around the corner again, and I have to admit, I'm a wee bit nervous.  I cheated and stood on the scale on Wednesday and there had been no change... I'm eating well, really well, compared to before.  Coming in at or slightly below my 1,300 calories a day - and I'd eat more, but I'm seriously not hungry!  It's also been a challenge to make it through the week without hitting the grocery store- we're running low and eating up what's in the fridge.  Shopping tongiht or tomorrow, for sure! 

I'm coming close to my 40, 40, 20 ratio for carbs, protein and fats.  I often times go over on my carbs slightly or am closer to my goal than I am on protein and I feel like I don't eat many carbs - and the ones I do are complex and whole grain.  Maybe an Enlish muffin or pita pocket or occasionally whole grain brown rice or taboule...

And my girlfriend has decided to make it her goal to get her weight down and body fat below 32% so she can enlist in the National Guard.  Her recruiter, who is also trained in diet and fitness, told her to up the protein and basically cut out all carbs...and start running.  But one thing at a time.  I'm not willing to cut out all carbs, no siree Bob! I'm never going anything near that carb-free zone again.  Once you throw your body out of ketosis, you gain it all back.  But, I will agree to up the protein, especially as we thow strength training in the mix.

We've also been discussing our protein options.  We both agreed we wanted to stay away from red meat, mostly...and yesterday cemented that with her recruiter telling her to nix the red meat.  Which, is a shame really, financially anyway... as my dad raises Circle A cattle and fills my freezer often.   Matter of fact, we've discussed eating more vegetarian options.  I think I'm getting to the point where I could do it, but I think I'd also struggle with getting enough protein.  So, we're keeping fish on the menu, twice a week...one other seafood option once a week, and chicken stays and so does turkey, although I am not much of a turkey fan unless it's turkey bacon.   Basically, we're upping our veggies, increasing our heart-friendly fish and focusing on lean protein sources from the dairy department such as greek yogurt and such. 

Last night was an "eat whatever is left in the fridge" night.  And we didn't have much in the way of vegetables.  So I made some broiled talapia filets with fresh herbs from our garden and crushed garlic, cut up a yellow bell pepper and tossed some zucchini with parmesean cheese and baked it.  It was delicious!

You know what? I found out I love raw yellow pepper! It's mild and sweet, with just the right bite! Hey, vegetables aren't so bad afterall! Not all of them, anyway! I've come a long way on the vegetable train since I started this journey just 20 days ago!

I am nervous for what Sunday morning holds! I feel like I am always stuffed, and I haven't been exercising - shame on me! And I've been so stressed, I'm sure its taken its toll on my body.  And Lacy might have a temporary advantage over me because it seems she's not very good at actually eating.  I've busted her on more than one occasion coming in at only around 500 calories, and several others shy of 1,000.  Tsk tsk tsk! We shall let the scale determine this week's victor on Sunday! Stay tuned!

Salad Queen has a lot on her plate

Salad Queen.  Yeah, never thought that would be me.  But I'm getting there.  And I'm actually almost starting to enjoy it! Biggest Loser tells all of us at home trying to lose weight to eat at least one salad a day.  I don't always do that but I'm getting there.  I've been on a salad kick this week because it's easy to take to work, leave at work, make slightly different everyday, and well, the fridge is getting to a point where it's getting scarce in there and salads are a great way to dress up the produce that's left before your next shopping trip.

Now, we buy spinach by the bulk, or we would if we could! We usually go through 4-6 bags of it per week between the two of us.  Work pays for a Costco membership - I have had it for 4 years and never activated it, but I think I might because the amount of fresh produce we go through is insane.   I put it in everything.  It's one of the vegetables I actually liked prior to jumping on this bandwagon.  I think lettuce tastes bitter and is honestly one of the vegetables I cannot stand... I detested green pepper and now I'll eat those, but still not the lettuce.  So my salads are all spinach-based. 

Yesterday's lunch was a simple salad with spinach, navel orange and blackberries with just a bottled fat-free raspberry vinegarette.  I had some peas, too, but I ate half of them on the way to my desk!

 Today it was spinach, green apple, jicama and blackberries with a homemade raspberry-lime vinegarette dressing.  (You can see my afternoon snack sitting on my wallet.  I'm short on protein, ok on carbs and have plenty of fat calories left, so a bag of habanero bbq almonds it is!)

You can put just about anything on a salad.  I have to find a dressing I like or research some recipes for some homemade ones that aren't fruity... I bought a balsamic vinegarette one and I just think it tastes like feet!

And yes, I'm drinking a Monster. My attempts to cut back to < 1 per day are being foiled this week. I have lots of stuff on my plate - figurately and literally - and I'm barely finding times to eat and sleep - and once this week I have foregone my lunch in order to rest for an hour.  Unhealthy!

I'm going to try to "reset" myself this weekend and then have a bit of relaxation and find time to meditate and destress next week.  Even if it means one or two things on my plate don't get dealt with when they should.  In losing weight, stress plays a large part, and of all the hurdles I have to overcome, none are going to matter if I can't get over this one first and find a way to balance myself and my life!



Stevia and the Strawberry-Swirl Cheesecake Bars

I came across Stevia back when I lost weight the first time.  Now it's exploded and it's everywhere! I can grow it in my garden, I can buy it in a bag as a cup for cup replacement for sugar! And it's zero calories... I abhor artificial sweetners, but I love Stevia because it's a freaking plant! It's sweet and delicious - I love to just gnaw on the leaves of the plant! I picked up a bag of the cup-for-cup stuff and went to town when it came time to bake goodies for my meeting today at work.

One of my favorite things in the world is cheesecake.  Who doesn't love cheesecake, right? Right.  So let's take this sorta-slimmed down recipe and slim it down some more - lower the glycemic index on it... even my diabetic grandfather could eat this treat and be peachy keen! And all my co-workers who think they're "splurging" on a decadent desert filled with fat and sugar...well, they can just keep on thinking that, cause it tastes just as good!

Here's what you need:

1 cup or about 7 low-fat graham crackers, crushed

2 TBS light butter

2 8oz. packages of reduced fat cream cheese (You can sub 1 for fat-free if you wish, just bake a few minutes longer, if you use all fat-free it gets a goopy weird texture)

1/2 cup of Stevia cup-for-cup  (you can use sugar, or Splenda if you wish, just remember the calories will change)

12 oz. fat-free plain greek yogurt

5 large egg WHITES

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 tsp. vanilla

2 TBS all-purpose flour

1/2 cup low sugar jelly/jam (I used Smuckers Low Sugar, which has no artificial sweetners)

Heat oven to 350°.

Coat a 9x13-inch baking pan with non-stick spray. ( I prefer glass over metal)

Melt the butter a bit in the microwave, about 20-30 seconds.  Mix together graham cracker crumbs and butter with a fork until evenly moistened. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan.

Gently beat cream cheese, stevia and vanilla until smooth using an electric mixer. Gradually beat in fat free yogurt, egg whites, lemon juice, and flour. Do not over beat. Pour over graham cracker crust.

Heat the jam for about 30 seconds in the microwave. Stir well. Drop spoonfuls over surface of filling. Using a knife, swirl jam gently through filling to create marble effect – be careful not to go down too far and drag crumbs from the crust through your filling!

Bake for about 30 minutes, depending on your oven.  Bake until the center is almost set and the sides begin to pull away from the pan.  Mine took 34 minutes.  Keep a close eye on them!  Let cool down to room temp and then store in the fridge.

Cut into 18 squares.  Each serving yeilds: 126 calories, 11g carbs, 6g fat and 5g protein.

The ones that are missing from the pan, my son ate for breakfast this morning. Whoops :)  They were a hit and everyone loved them, and no one is the wiser that they're not as sinful as they seem at first glance!

Next up, the zucchini-pineapple cake I made with cream cheese frosting!

Red Team Wins Another Weigh-in!

That's right! I busted booty this week with a 5.8 pound loss!  Down from 235.0 to 229.2!  11.8 pounds lost since May 1!

Lacy lost 4 pounds this last week, so it's still a very close race!

We are doing really well with the healthy eating.  The working out though, not so much. I'm going to make it a priority next week, for certain.  I've just been so stressed and busy that as hard as I try, getting up at 5AM is not happening.  I can barely drag my arse out of bed at 6AM!  Notice the lack of blogging - and I love to blog.  There's just been no time!  I really would like to spend some quality time with the computer, carrassing it, making sweet love to it, wait - that's my girlfriend, not the computer...stress does funny things to a person.  I would really like to spend some time, awake, alive, and uninterrupted with the computer to get my recipes up here, because we have truly eaten some amazing food!

Beware, food photo dump ahead!

On Saturday, I made kale chips.  I was skeptical - kale is bitter and not really all that pleasing to the pallate.  But I'm game to try anything at least once.  So, I got out my stuff and went to town.

I had half a bunch of multi-colored kale and a whole bunch of regular green kale.  A bit o' EVOO and some kosher salt, and my brand new knife (heart!)... easy as 1,2,3...

It's sure puuuuurty....

Wash the kale...dry it really, super duper well (I used about nine kajillion papertowels...a salad spinner would be a more economical choice if you have one...)  Remove the thick part of the stem.  Tear or cut into "chip size" pieces.  Toss with a bit of EVOO (I used about a tablespoon total for the entire head of kale), and a dash of kosher salt.  Lay chips on a parchment lined baking sheet...

Bake in a 300* oven for about 10-12 minutes until edges start to brown and kale is crispy.  Times may vary...Some of my batches ended up closer to 15 minutes.

That's pretty much it. 

Even my picky-eater six year old loved it, and kept coming back to sneak more! That whole first batch right there...he ate it all!

The haul.  It's delicious (not bitter any more!), a bit salty, and good-for-you!  Eat it like chips, or crumble over popcorn for a tasty treat.  I used it crumbled in my beef stew over the weekend in place of salt. 

Each serving of 1 cup yeilds 56 calories, 7g carbs, 2g fat, and 2g protein.

Lacy had been having a hankering for beef-barley stew...so, I decided to do it up by knocking the calories down.  This stew had TONS of veggies in it, lean stew-meat stright from my dad's farm, I used low sodium broth and NO SALT in the stew...it was flavorful and the serving size is HUGE!  I'll post the recipe for this and link it up on the tab bar later - I'm a wee bit pressed for time!

Before...

After...

Mmmm!!!

"My girlfriend makes the best noms!"

And because I officially start work in 60 seconds, I'm just going to give you a teaser of all the other wonderful food we ate this weekend and that I will post recipes for later on! (More hours in the day, please?)

Pita breakfast pizzas...  160 calories for TWO! They were awesome!

No recipe really needed here, but it was the perfect lunch (on the fine china, lol) to eat in the sunshine on Sunday!  The melon was sweet and delicious and the cucumbers were crisp and fresh and cool... ahhhhh!

This meal was one of my absolute favorites so far!  New Orlean's rubbed chicken, apricot mustard sauce and a spinach/arugula salad with apples, jicama, blackberries and a raspberry-lime poppyseed vinegarette.  OMG... so....good...and so good for you!

Weigh in is just around the corner!

And I wonder how we'll fare this week... I've wanted to step on the scale the entire week, and I often look for it in the bathroom, but to no avail.  After weigh in on Sunday I handed Nathan, my 6 year old son, and told him "Hide the scale where Mom and Lacy won't find it...but remember where it is!" I haven't been able to find it...let's hope he remembers where he stuck it! Although if it's in that child's room, well you'd have better luck finding a needle in Tsunami stricken Japan.

Yesterday as a whole was a disasterous day.  Filled with anger and tears and downright emotional madness.  And not for any specific reason. I just went a bit haywire.  But after I let it all out, I got up and made dinner... it was pretty fab.

Almond crusted salmon filets.  A first in both the making of salmon and the eating of it (that counts anyways).  Lacy loves salmon and she said this was phenomenal!  I thought it was pretty good too...though when it comes to fish, nothing beats fresh-caught beer battered bass at 5AM.

It was easy - I ground up the almonds, fresh cilantro, some garlic cloves and olive oil, spread it on the salmon and badda-bing...delicious fishness!  Carrots, zucchini, tomatoes and yellow peppers - I cheated, they're Green Giant, I just microwaved them.  The bread is half of a whole wheat sandwich thin with a bit of spray butter, garlic powder and parmesean chese on it baked...you need some bread with fish.  It was filling, and good for us!

No idea what's on the menu for tonight.  I just ate mushrooms for the first time in my life (willingly, anyway...)

Our weigh-in is on Sunday and I think that Lacy will probably beat me this go-round simply because she has had some really intensely low calorie days, skipping meals, etc... At least I take comfort in knowing that I am doing this for sustainability and I could win the weigh in if I didn't eat, but come on, the food is so awesome, I've gotta eat! And I want to, because this is a lifestyle change, not a diet, damn it!

Under calories. Maybe it's all those paper punches I've been nomming on?

I never thought I would hear myself say this, but I'm never hungry, and I'm not eating enough calories!  I'm sure I'll fin the balance, but for the time being, it's hard! I'm actually eating under 1,200 calories a day, when my goal is to eat 1,300.  And as handy as myfitnesspal.com is, it yells at me a lot.  I did some research and approximated my percentage of calories I should have coming from carbs/fats/proteins and I get pretty close to hitting my marks pretty equally.  Although days like today are weird.  I have a negative amount of fat left, a few carbs, and a decent amount of protein. I am usually way under on fat but today involves homemade almond crusted salmon filets for dinner.  So I have these calories left to eat so I go above 1,200 but what in the hell is around 200 calories, fat free, low carb and suber high in protein? Mystery foods. 

Speaking of... come find me on myfitnesspal.com, friend me, and lets support each other!  Under the "Community" tab, click "Find Members" and enter my email address: istoleyourgoat@yahoo.com

(Don't ask where I got the email, I don't have an explaination for you...it just popped out of my head one day.)

I'm still struggling hard core with finding time to get work outs in and have resigned myself to the idea that the only time I'm going to have is going to be before work, getting up earlier, and extending my already long day by about an hour.  It's going to mean sacrificing relaxing time at night and most nights it will mean sacrificing intimate time or shared time with Lacy...but with the life I lead, something is going to have to give, at least for now, and that's the only place I can take it from.  Go to bed earlier, eat up earlier.  I have no motivation or desire left after about 6PM, so doing it after the kid goes to bed is out of the question.  I have mixed feelings on this subject.  I fear it may improve my health, but it may hinder my relationship and cause even more stress than there already is between Lacy and I if I am back to going to bed at 9-10pm.  There just aren't enough hours in the day!

Last night we had a late dinner of chicken satay with peanut sauce, roasted green beans and cottage cheese (I was low on protein but ok on everything else).

Today has nothing remarkable food-wise yet, high hopes for the almond encrusted salmon later.  For breakfast I ate oatmeal and mashed banana out of a red Solo cup while driving to work, and a pita with mustard, turkey, spinach, cherry tomato and fat free cheese with an apple for lunch. 

It's been a frustrating day, I'm feeling low, tired...and to fill you in just on how my day is going, so far, I think this picture says it all:

I was eating my mid-morning snack of greek yogurt, peaches and granola....and paper punches.  Friday? I'm ready for you!