o REAL FOOD o NO CHEMICALS o NO PROGRAMS o REASONABLE EXERCISE o HEALTHY WEIGHT LOSS o BATTLING PCOS NATURALLY

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

A note

I wanted to share an absolutely wonderful new recipe we happened to create, but I realized it is so simple, that a picture would have to be included.  I plan on making it tomorrow and will report then.  :o)

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Campechana (Mexican Shrimp Cocktail)

After eating a week full of vegetables, which are so very delicious and good for you, Ben and I were craving something Mexican. We had a favorite local Mexican restaurant that we use to frequent specifically to eat this because they made it so well. When they closed shop, we found that no one else makes it as good so I was thrilled when I saw this on allrecipes.com It's just as good and you can save money by making it at home.

Wanting to save money by eat in, we decided to make this last night.  The shrimp all together cost about $10 and by the time you add the rest of the items, you'll be pushing $20 (unless you already have some of the items already in the fridge).  So for $20, Ben and I had large bowls of this, which is beyond filling, and we will also have the remainder today for lunch.  That's $5 a serving.

It's also low in fat and high in flavor.  Believe me when I say you will crave this once you have had it.

**Various pictures (including this one), nutrition information and the recipe can be found HERE.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds cooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 1 tablespoon crushed garlic
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
  • 1 1/2 cups tomato and clam juice cocktail
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste
  • 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
  • salt to taste
  • 1 ripe avocado - peeled, pitted and chopped

Directions

  1. Place the shrimp in a large bowl. Stir garlic, red onion, and cilantro. Mix in tomato and clam juice cocktail, ketchup, lime juice, hot pepper sauce, and horseradish. Season with salt. Gently stir in avocado. Cover, and refrigerate 2 to 3 hours. Serve in one large bowl or ladle into individual bowls.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Zucchini

For those who grow gardens, it's that time of year when you start seeing a lot of zucchini.  We have learned the biggest thing you can do to prevent zucchini overload is to keep ahead of it.  The best way to do that? 

DON'T LET THEM GET BIG!  

Check your plants daily and pick them while they are small, about an 1 1/2" - 2"  in diameter.  I have never seen anything grow as fast as a zucchini and if you miss a day, WATCH OUT!  I have gone to bed with small zucchinis on the vine only to find big boats by lunch the next day.  Don't believe me?  Grow some zucchini and you'll see for yourself.

Another thing we are doing this year is to get creative with it.  Often we get sick of them, quickly.  This is easy to do if you only make one thing with them.  So if you only have that favorite zucchini dish you make over and over again in vain efforts to get through your surplus, you need to get out there and research new recipes. A new recipe I'm going to try is: Zookies  (Highly recommended by a fellow zucchini growing gal: Michal)

A wonderful thing about this vegetable is that it's versatile.  Just the other day I had them for breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert and I'm not even sick of them.  Why?  Because we got creative in our cooking this year. They can be a main part of the meal as in Zucchini Scramble (recipe below) or as a filler in pretty much everything else.  The other night, my hubby chopped them up super fine and snuck them into our Sloppy Joes.  He felt so sneaky and he reveled in the deception.  The kids didn't notice until almost the end of the meal when they saw yellow chunks.  Had he stuck with the green zucchinis, no one may have guessed.

The last and marvelous thing about zucchini is that they are filling.  You can stretch any recipe with zucchini.  Adding greens and fiber will help you feel full after eating.  This means, less calories while feeling full.  Can't argue with that when you are trying to shed some pounds.

Zucchini Scramble
(This is a recipe I have been enjoying a lot lately)

3,4,5 Zucchinis, shredded (use as many as you want to eat at the meal)
3-4 Eggs
 Montery Jack cheese, shredded
Olive Oil
Season to taste (I use salt,pepper, coriander and pepper flakes)

I don't have any measurements because this is the type of recipe where you literally just throw it into the pan and "eye ball" it.
  • Warm up olive oil in fry pan.  
  • Shred the zucchini using a cheese grater and cook until done.  (As the water cooks out of the zucchini, the amount will shrink.  Use more zucchini then you think you'll eat.)
  • Add the eggs and scramble together until eggs are done. 
  • Season the scramble
  • Top with grated cheese and turn off heat.  When cheese is melted it's time to dish up.
In case you are still wondering about my zucchini filled day, here's the daily menu:

Breakfast: Zucchini Cake (Yes, it's technically a cake, but I made it with whole grain flour and organic eggs.  The only questionable ingredient is sugar.  I know, it's a far stretch, but it's a dense cake)

Lunch: Zucchini Scramble

Dinner: The deceptive Sloppy Joe's 

Dessert: Zucchini Cake with Butter-Lime frosting


Saturday, July 17, 2010

Garden Dinner

This is what was picked from the garden today.  All we needed for tonight's dinner was some chicken. 

Chicken: Ben cooked it in a fry pan with a tad of oil until brown.  Then topped it with fresh pesto he made from the basil we grow.

Beets: I boiled them until they were tender.  Since there is always a lot of oil in pesto when cooked, we decided to use what came off the pesto and chicken and I used it to make an Italian vinaigrette to marinate them in.

Beet greens:  I cooked them with olive oil and garlic.  When it was wilted and finished cooking, I seasoned it with salt, pepper and some coriander. (Our favorite spice-we use it on everything)

Eggplant: I sliced, sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with salt & pepper. (My son and I love it best prepared this way)

Tomatoes: They are so yummy from the garden, we just sliced and ate them with a dash of salt & pepper.

Watermelon: Weren't sure if they were ripe yet or not.  By looking at the anemic piece on the plate, you can tell they need a few more days out in the sun on the vine.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

It's a journey, right?

I was going to avoid such a post, but I thought I would be honest.  In a journey, there are the typical highs and lows, right?  Well, I'M-IN-A-RUT! 

I have wanted to keep all the posting on this site positive, because no one wants to hear negatives.  But I thought I would keep this real.  Every weight loss journey has it's downs and if I didn't share mine, how would I learn from it?  How would it be obvious that I am actually doing this journey, not just talking about it?

Now I'm not admitting to completely falling off the wagon.  (It certainly happens, but not this time) I am just having a hard time getting exercise every day.  I have been overly tired and that makes it hard. (Probably because I haven't been regular with the exercise for a couple of weeks.) I did it last year, from January 1st to December 31st, every day.  I know I am capable to do it again.  But this time, it's been a little harder and I am not finding the same success.  I am human.

I can say this, by not working out every day, I can feel it.  Physically, emotionally, with my appetite, I can totally tell that I'm not regularly exercising.  This shows me just how important it is and how much our bodies depend on us to find time to squeeze it in everyday, not just once and awhile.

I am currently working on a routine for our entire family and you can bet I'm setting a specific time to workout.  It's a must if you want to be regular with your exercise!

Monday, July 12, 2010

83/365: Monday - Twitter Workout

When I workout, I need something to distract me.  TV used to work well, but it just doesn't hold my interest any more.

I really enjoy reading, but if it's a new book, I can't stand chopping it up in 15 minute increments.  I LOVE reading books in big chunks, breaking them up makes me crazy.  Now with a book I have already read, I can break it up no problem and it works fine.  But I'm behind in my reading so I don't have time to re-read something right now.

Talking on the phone is nice, but finding someone available to chat at the same time is a challenge, and heavy breathing while talking isn't very nice.

So today I Tweeted while working out. The time passed beautifully, it was guilt free tweeting and I did the best workout so far this year!

What I did today:
Elliptical Trainer: 30 min @ level 15
Push-ups: 25

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Day 82/365: Sunday

The journey has moments were you just don't care.  I started off the week not feeling 100% and I just didn't care about my weight loss efforts.  Does that every happen to you?

It always amazes me how much working out makes a different to your body, and often times you don't realize just how much until you haven't been working out for a few days.

I'm back to the elliptical tomorrow.  I don't enjoy feeling like I'm falling apart, which I do after a week of no regular exercise.

What I did today:
50 crunches

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Day 82/365:Tuesday-Bad, bad blogger

Yes, that would be me.  I'm a bad, bad blogger.  I completely neglected my blog over the weekend.

Not only have I neglected my blog, I have neglected my body.  I haven't workout out, I have allowed the busy and the tired side of me to win.  It's all about choice, and for the last few days, I have made choices that bring me farther from my goals.

Does that make me a failure? NOPE!  Does that give me reason to feel guilt?  NOPE!  Should I just let it pass and then move on, YOU BET!!

I am human, so I guess I am just keeping it real, right?  I have to admit I do feel an inkling of guilt for letting things slide on my blog.  As for myself, I understand this is a journey.  A journey without a destination, and with bumps along the way. Accept the bumps and move on.  Don't let them be stumbling blocks that put you on a path that takes you even farther away from your goals.  Don't let a couple of days off the path keep you months from the path.

I am grateful for what I have learned on this journey.  I know that I need to work out daily to keep my appetite and weight in check.  I have also learned that there are times where I rebel and like to sabotage myself.  Learning to understand yourself is so important.  Be real with yourself and then you can stop playing the games.  I've played games for years, I have gained many pounds because of it.  Now, understanding this, when I find myself slipping back into that game mode, I can get out of it a lot faster, because I have listened to myself. Learned to understand and forgive myself.  Forgiveness is a huge thing on this weight loss journey.  Without forgiveness, it's hard to move on and easy to punish.

Day 82/365:Monday

Day 82/365: Sunday

Day 82/365:Saturday

Friday, July 2, 2010

Day 81/365: Friday - New Idea

Today I was thinking about something I could do on this blog that would be different and may be interesting.  We are a family of 6 and I always find it a fun challenge to see how little we can spend on food each week. 

We don't buy many processed foods and it always surprises me how much a difference it makes when you do include them in your cart.  I wish I had more time to make our own snacks, I would buy even less packaged foods then.  (I usually buy crackers, bars and pretzels for the kids to snack on)

So I was thinking, would it be interesting to post a weekly menu and then show how much I spent on getting everything?  It's just a thought that could help me while things are tight and then I would share.  We'll see.
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What I did today:
Elliptical Trainer: 15 minutes @ level 15

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Day 80/365: Thursday - Hubby's Birthday

Today is my hubby's birthday and I promised I wouldn't be on the computer tonight, so I only have a few minutes to put something together.

It was one of those days where you are going the whole time and your normal routine is non-existant. It's an "exception" day where I make the best of it.  You can have a day like this once and awhile when you have normal days most of the time. What I mean by normal is that you are eating like you plan and you get to work out like you expect.

We celebrated today by going out to lunch after a movie.  (Yes, we all shared a popcorn)  We had Vietnamese food and it was so yummy.  I had a noodle dish with lots of meat, lettuce and rice vinegar.  Very fresh and healthy, but it was a large portion.  (Looks like picture minus the egg rolls)

My strategy was to enjoy the meal.  It's never good for seconds because the lettuce gets soggy and gross.  So, I ate the whole thing for lunch and then for dinner, I will have something light.
*Photo Source: www.yelp.com


What I did today:
50 crunches