Practicing Vegan

I find myself getting obsessed with certain things.  Well, recipes in particular.  First, it was Danica’s Cheesy Bacon and Bean Stuffed Pepper recipe.  I couldn’t get it out of my mind once I saw it!  Now, it’s the Fat-free Pumpkin and Raisin Biscuits from Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen!  Why the vegan recipe?  Well, I’ve always been intrigued by vegetarianism and veganism.  I even tried on the vegetarian lifestyle for a while, but started getting lazy about cooking and ended up eating lots of junk instead of healthy foods.  Anyway, this past week Michelle from Eating Journey asked if I would like to join her and other bloggers in going Vegan for a Day on Thursday.  I thought it would be a fun challenge, so on Thursday, vegan I shall be!

To “practice”, I whipped up these biscuits for breakfast.  They were so easy;  no mixer required…

They baked up nice and high…

I had a couple of the little guys with some coffee…

Extra tasty with a little Earth Balance…

Then it was off to church to give thanks and praise :) 

Lunch had to be quick because I was starving and we wanted to head to the park  to enjoy the beautiful day!  I remembered there was some  White Pizza with Zucchini and Broccoli in the freezer, so I heated that up pronto…

Then, it was off to the park for a 2 mile walk and some B-ball …

Dork.

I planned a lovely, healthy Sunday dinner of roasted chicken, roasted butternut squash and broccoli.  No one eats the squash except me, (sigh)but I keep trying…

I didn’t have any bread in the house, (why do I always feel like I have to serve bread at every meal?!) so I broke out these crackers from the Anniversary basket …

and crunched on this x3…

Sad to see the day end.  Love these gorgeous days!  Hope you had one, too!

ONE GOOD THING:  Trying new recipes really satisfies my creative needs!

AND THE WINNER IS (thanks to Random.org cuz I would love to pick everyone!)…

Chelsea said...

I love your positive attitude and he that that you never give up! You are truely an inspiration to so many people! Thanks for the giveaway! cmdrayer@comcast.net

Chelsea, please send me your address and I’ll get the goodies right out to you!  Thanks to all who entered and thanks again for celebrating my One Year Blogiversary with me!

A Do Over

So glad that’s over!  Anyone else feel that way about Halloween?  The influx of candy had been building all week, then big daughter got sick with the flu and my stress/emotional eating spell began.  Friday and Saturday were a blur of chocolate, sugar, cheese, bread, pizza and chips.  There was no semblance of health involved in any of the choices I made.  Actually, there were a few meals that I attempted to pull together something healthy, but ended up eating other things because eating something healthy didn’t even taste good.  I even ditched the exercise.  I have to say that I was scared for a minute.  I thought that I had gone completely off the deep end;  you know, that slippery slope that sends you back to old eating habits and 70 pounds heavier in no time flat.  *insert horror movie scream*.  Terrifying.

Saturday afternoon, I was doing some cleaning of clutter and came across a few pictures of myself.  There aren’t very many of me during the “fat years” which was a span of 10 years.  I was the one usually behind the camera.  I often joke to the husband that he could easily “off me” and there would be no evidence that I existed because most of the pictures of our family vacations and outings with the daughters are just of him and the girls!  I did happen to come across a few while cleaning out a bookcase and I was stunned to see the pictures of myself.  In the pictures, I had a smile on my face, but I knew that I hated the way that I looked…

  I realize while looking at these, that there is no going back for me.  I cannot be that person again.  I won’t do it.  But, when I have gone this far off the deep end this weekend, it is so hard to get back on track.  How do I go back to trying to eat intuitively when I dropped it like a hot potato?  A fried one?  There was only one answer…

Nike knows their stuff :)

That brings me to today.  I am stoked for a new month!  It’s gonna be a busy one and I’m going to think long and hard about how I will manage the eating season.  I know the issue is not the food, it’s how I react to the emotions and stress in my daily life.  I haven’t quite figured that part out yet, but I will keep on keepin’ on:)

First thing on the agenda was to fill up this guy…

I’ve been really slacking on my water which is weird since I’ve always been a huge chugger.

Then, I tackled the first meal of the day –breakfast.  Nothing was appealing to me.  I still had sugar coursing through my veins!  I was going to skip it altogether, but know that usually comes back to haunt me!

I decided on a tasting breakfast plate…

It got better from there!  Lunch was a bowl of black bean soup…

and a good hunk of cornbread…

The afternoon was long and filled with bowls of candy in every room!  I opted for some skim milk and a Ginger Apple Oat Breakfast Cookie…

Dinner was a family favorite – Chicken Cutlets and broccoli.  Instead of offering rustic Italian bread on the side, I decided to try out this Beer Bread mix from Trader Joe’s…

Just calls for a  bottle of this to make it…

I haven’t had much luck with Beer Bread before.  The husband and daughters have not been fans, so I held my beer breath on this one!  It baked up beautifully in only 45 minutes and I didn’t detect much of a beer smell or taste at all.  Everyone loved it!  It was a nice, dense and slightly chewy bread.  I think it would make for a great grilled cheese, too. 

I served myself  a small slice with dinner…

but dug into another slice before putting the remainder of the loaf away! 

JUST DO IT!!!

ONE GOOD THING:  I realized today that I can do this.  I can get back on track.  I can keep the weight off.  I can do it…for life :)

Super Simple And Shopping

Hey All! First I want to say thanks to all who entered my Larabar giveaway. It was so cool to see all you "lurkers" come out to comment! I am so glad to be able to share my favorite Larabar flavors and I wish I could send them to all of you! Unfortunately, there can only be one winner this time. I won't make you scroll all the way til the end! Random.org says the winner is..... Dee from My Journey! Yay, Dee! Finally, a win for the Canadians!!! Dee, send me your address and I'll get these babies out to you. Okay, let's get to the food...


Today was a day of simple foods. No fuss. Stress free. Mostly made by others, which is extremely simple for me! I started off with a 30 min. run on the treadmill, then a breakfast of blue balls. Heheh. I know that's not nice. It was another beautious bowl of blue (better, right?) for 3 POINTS...


Then it was out the door to pick up Gram for a day of mall shopping. Yippee! Sounds like fun, right? Wrong. I hate shopping. I'm not sure why. I used to love it, but now it seems like torture. I think the husband brainwashes me while I am sleeping. He must repeat over and over in my ear, you hate shopping. shopping is torture. spending money is baaaaad. So now I am brainwashed and the joy of shopping has been sucked out of me. I digress. Food. Oh,yeah. Gram and I stopped the super shopping for a quick lunch at Subway. I had the turkey on wheat with veggies, no cheese, no condiments and a bag o' apples for 6 POINTS...

When I got home, it was snack time! Uh, I mean drink time! Another Chocolate Strawberry Crackshake for 2 POINTS...

Dinner was from good old Trader Joe's...

Here's the facts ( and the ingredients aren't too "scary" either!)... click to enlarge...

I had 1 c. of the Mandarin Orange Chicken with sauce (added another POINT), 1 c. whole wheat coucous and broccoli for 9 POINTS...

I ended the night with 2 of these for 2 POINTS...

I was going to do some strength training tonight, but honestly, I have no strength for strength training tonight. It's early to bed for me ! That 81 year old super shopper whipped my butt today! Guess I'm no whipper snapper after all ;)

Nite everyone!

I Survived!

Today was a day of some cool non-scale victories! The first was my workout. I postponed my exercise until after getting the daughters off to school. It was such a beautiful, sunny morning(although 30*) that I thought I would head outside to "try" a run. I wasn't expecting much from myself. Running outside has not been something I have been able to accomplish. I barely could make it a block without feeling like I was going to have to call 911! Today, I decided to use the great advice given to me by fellow bloggers/runners which was go slow. I realized that the difference in running outdoors is that you don't have the treadmill to set your pace for you, so you tend to go a little faster and take greater strides. This in turn causes major breathlessness and a potential call for an ambulance. Well, at least for me :) So, I took my time, kept my strides shorter and really tried to focus on my breathing. The first 3 minutes were the hardest; I had to keep talking to myself, egging myself on because after 1 minute, I was ready to quit. My neighborhood is very hilly and I kept thinking that there was no way I was going to make it. But, I ended up making it around one time, then another and another. Before I knew it, 45 minutes had passed! I clocked the mileage in my car later and it was 2.1 miles! Holy Crap! I cannot believe I ran (well, really slow- jogged!) 2 hilly miles. Who am I????? I didn't used to like to even walk! I felt proud of myself for breaking that mental barrier. Now, I feel like a 5k race is within my reach. To be con't on that...

On to the food...
After my "run", I made myself an egg sammie using a Weight Watchers Petite Bagel, 1 egg white cooked with a handful of baby spinach, a slice of 2% cheese and a slice of center cut bacon. Delish! Another 3 POINT beefy breakfast winner...




I had a haircut appointment at lunchtime today, so I decided to wait until afterward to eat lunch, but, to keep my hunger in check, I had a Weight Watchers Berries and Cream Yogurt and a Kashi Fruit and Grain Raspberry Chocolate bar. A filling 3 POINT snack...


Good thing I had a snack. My appointment ran a little long and then, I had to squeeze in some errands before I got a chance to get home. When I got home, my long awaited (it's only been a week, but has seemed like an eternity!) shipment of PB2 came! YAY!!! Oh, how I've missed it! I didn't waste a minute ripping open the box and fixing up a PB2 and sugar free jam sammie on a store brand light english muffin. I slice up and apple and chowed down on this yummy 3 POINT lunch...

Since I ate so late, I really didn't want an afternoon snack. I just made some Coffee Cocoa and sipped on that while I did some housework.

My second non-scale victory came at dinner. It's Friday. It's Pizza Night. Do I avoid it like the plague? Have visions of it "falling in the toilet" -eww? No, tonight I will meet this head on! I will show this pizza who's boss! Right? Right! I had the crusts prepared, made the sauce earlier in the day, now I only had to grate the cheese. Wonderful mozzarella cheese. As I grate, some large pieces break off, too large to plop on the pizza, but too small to grate without shredding my fingers along with it. Normally, these pieces find their way right into my mouth. But, nooooo! I will not let it, tonight. I go into my handbag and grab a piece of super minty gum and pop it in my mouth. Mint + mozzarella is gross, so this worked out great!! I was able to prepare the pizza without doing major cheese damage before the pizza was even ready! Cool! When, the pizza was ready, I cut 2 small slices for myself, made a big salad for everyone and I also, threw some leftover broccoli on my plate. My plate was overflowing with food which made me happy and my eyes were already "satisfied" before I even ate the food. I loved every bite of this! I ate pizza with the family and I did it without being piggy. It was a good feeling. Also, a good 10 POINT dinner...

I can't believe I am saying this, but I could have gone without dessert again, tonight! But, I decided to eat it anyway because in my shipment of PB2 came a sample of CHOCOLATE PB2!!!!!! OMG! I had to try it immediately. I mixed it with a tsp. of fluff and topped my Deep Chocolate Vitatop with the chocoPB2/fluff icing...

Oh. my. greatness. Life is too short to not eat dessert :)

Hope everyone had a Happy Friday and had some non-scale victories of your own today!

Meat and Potatoes

I went with a good old meat and potatoes dinner tonight, but with a healthier twist. Instead of mashed potatoes with gravy, I had a sweet potato with some ICBINB spray. The roast beef was lean eye round and I had 4 oz. of that. Then a heaping serving of fresh broccoli with evoo and garlic. Hearty and comforting; all for 8 Points...



I had 3 Points left for dessert. Yay! I had 1/2 c. Breyers Fat Free Double Churn Caramel Swirl Ice Cream and 1/2 of a huge Nonni's Biscotti...


I finished off the night with a cup of Celestial Seasonings Gingerbread Tea and quickly ran upstairs. I have sequestered myself here so that I will not be tempted to dig into anything else in the kitchen. Hooray for my first on program day of the new year!!!!