BLTs - Bites Licks and Tastes, plus a quick weekly menu

 

I have noticed that what really gets me, are BLTs. Bites, licks, and tastes. A bite of my child's cookie, a taste of my husband's dinner and lick- okay a tablespoonful of ice cream, 3 cheetos, and 4 chips... after a while they start adding up. I think if I avoided all BLTs, I might not even need to diet. I think a lot of my calories are coming from that. My goal has been to track everything. My goal now is to track everything and avoid BLTs.

 I do really well with my exercise. I am even working super hard to cook healthy.  I have tried diligently to add more vegetables and I've come up with some delicious dinners.  But I really think that one of the biggest changes I need to make is a small change- the BLTs.  That's the goal.  Wish me luck. :)

  How about you.  What small changes could you make to get healthier?

So here is a quick list of the dinners that I made this week.  I'll get recipes up soon.  

Sunday -- Pork Sirloin Roast with mashed potatoes and salad.  I almost always serve salad. It's so filling and good for you.

Monday -- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Quesadillas. (I made some with whole grain tortillas and some with white tortillas.  My kids loved the whole grain tortillas!) They were amazing. and Salad.

Tuesday -- Very Veggie Lasagna Casserole.  You can find the recipe Here. and of course, salad.  We also had whole wheat garlic bread

Wednesday -- Grilled Cheese (on whole wheat, of course) and Tomato Soup for the family.  I had a left-over quesadilla.

Thursday -- Lower Fat Stroganoff, fresh veggies with dip and green beans.

Friday -- Husband cooks-- will probably be burgers.  I will most likely eat mine bunless with yummy avocado added.

Saturday -- oh Saturdays are always a toss up.  so Free day.  :)

 Here is a list of Breakfasts that I made this week. Recipes soon.

Sunday -- I didn't eat breakfast.  :)

Monday -- Whole grain Breakfast Burrito

Tuesday -- Whole Grain Breakfast Burrito (what can I say- if I like it, I'll eat it 2 days in a row)

Wednesday -- 1 egg

Thursday -- 1 egg, 1 buttermilk, dollar sized pancake

Friday -- 1 egg, 1 pancake

 Okay so breakfast hasn't been exciting this week.  However, I will get the recipe for the breakfast burrito up soon.  It really is tasty, fast and low cal.  

If You Do What You've Always Done. . .

. . . you will get what you've always got. 

I've been thinking about this phrase a lot lately.  It's true.  If you don't change your habits, you won't change your life.  But I exercise, and I try to eat right.  So why is my weight still a little more than I want it to be?  Why do I lose and return to the same weight?  I started thinking about what it was that I needed to do differently.  To do that I had to look at what I have always done.  Guess what?  What I have always done is obsess about what size I am 'supposed' to be.  That hit me so hard.

I suddenly realized that I have held myself back, because I have talked negatively to myself.  I have allowed my size to decide what I would wear and how I would feel.  I kept myself at a size because I felt I didn't deserve to be anything else.  OH MY!  I did that!

I am a pageant coach.  I teach others to talk nice to themselves, but I didn't do it for myself.  Seriously? So I spent the weekend telling myself what I tell others.  "I am enough."  "I am important." Nobody else really cares what I weigh.  They care about how I make them feel.  They care that I love them.  They care that I am kind.  In heaven, no one is going to ask my BMI.  There is not a scale to enter Heaven.  But there might be a scale that measures my heart and how much and how well I loved my brothers and sisters. 

This weekend I ate what I wanted and refused to feel guilty.  Guess what?  I ate less.  I didn't care about the food as much and it didn't taste as good. 

There was a time when I was really little, as in 108 lbs little. During that time, I don't remember ever once feeling guilty about eating a cookie.  In fact, I don't remember even thinking about my weight.

So I am going to do things differently and I am hoping that I will get different results.  I am going to eat healthy for the sake of being healthy, but I am going to live.  Because in my life, a piece of cake is a must.  And I am not going to feel guilty about that.  I am simply going to be enough, because I am. 

I would really love to hear from you.  What will you do differently? Let's start a conversation.

Roasted Corn and Veggie Chowder

Every once in a while I like to play a game called 'how many veggies will fit in one dish?'  This is a game that gets mixed reviews at my house. As long as the family can't see anything offensive they will probably eat it.  If however, the zucchini is distinguishable, I'm in trouble.

In the past, I have not peeled the zucchini before putting it in the brownies.  The family was very suspicious of the green flecks.  When my boys were little they accused me of "feeding them worms" when I tried to use spaghetti squash in place of noodles.  They have warily eyed the "orange" french fries, and they have questioned me in depth over why carrots were in the spaghetti sauce.  Apparently I am not very sneaky.

This time, happily, they didn't ask, and they ate, and ate, and ate.  It was fabulous! So enjoy this chowder, and feel good knowing that your family members are getting their vegetables. :)

This is going to make a very very large amount of soup.  This will feed a crowd.  I had 7 people at dinner, mostly adults. Everyone had seconds and I still had at least 1/2 of the soup left.  I did this on purpose so I could freeze some for a future meal.  However, you can halve or even quarter this recipe and it will be just fine.

If you make this and put it in a slow cooker on warm you could feed the tailgating crowd at the next game.  Serve it with some yummy soft pretzels, and you are tailgate ready.  And if you make your pretzels with whole wheat flour, you have two healthy options, that your friends and family will love.

All of this is going onto the grill

This will be going directly into the broth to boil

just set the veggies right on the grill

yup- 4 slices of bacon. 

4 cups water plus 4 chicken bouillon cubes or 4 cans chicken stock
3-4 cups water
3 cups milk
4 corn cobs (cooked in boiling water and patted dry)
2 large baking potatoes peeled (you can use 3-4, but I try to avoid too much starch)
4-5 large carrots peeled- 3 will be grilled, but chop 2 and set aside- put in the soup pot when you add  the grilled veggies
1 large zucchini peeled, and seeded
1 head of cauliflower chopped
2-3 cups broccoli chopped
2 large stalks of celery chopped
4 slices of bacon (you will think it's not enough.  It really is and you don't need to add more for flavor, so why have the extra fat?)
1 large or 2 small white or yellow onions
1 whole clove garlic
(I didn't end up using the peppers- so they look pretty, but don't really end up in the soup)
4 slices low fat swiss cheese
2 cups cheddar cheese grated
1 8oz package cream cheese
3 teaspoons Old Bay
2-3 bay leaves
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste (I also like to add some white pepper, but it's not strictly necessary.)

Heat your grill to medium low, and place the corn, onions, zucchini, potatoes,carrots, and the garlic on.  I also cooked the bacon on the grill, because the fat drips away, and it's less clean up.  Put the celery, water, bouillon, cauliflower, broccoli and 2 cups of the extra water in a large stock pot and turn it on to simmer.

Once simmering, add the cream cheese and whisk it in so its smooth.  It will look milky in the water.  If it starts to look like it's cooking down too much, add another cup of water.

Once your veggies have nice char marks, remove from grill. Cool for a few minutes so you can handle them, then chop the potatoes, carrots, onions, and zucchini.  Peel and smash the garlic and cut the corn off the cob.  Add all of this along with the carrot slices that you set aside, to the stock pot.  Add your spices and the bay leaves and bring everything to a simmer.  At this point you may need to add 1-2 cups of water.

Let simmer for about 10 minutes, then add your milk and your cheeses.  It's going to start to thicken.  If it doesn't thicken enough, you can add some potato flakes.  You can also use flour or cornstarch, but I figure, since you already have potato starch in the soup, it makes sense to stick with it.

There you are. 

Re-Do the Fridge

It's hard to eat healthy.  This is what we hear, what we tell ourselves and each other.  When we were kids, we didn't have a choice.  If we wanted dessert, we ate our veggies.  Dessert wasn't more than once a week and likely not even that frequent.  Snacks were carrots, oranges, apples and graham crackers.  Because that is what was available to us, that is what we ate.  We had to ask for a cookie, and mom said "no" more than yes.  Why is it that when we grow up we toss these lessons out the window?  Why are we so much more permissive with ourselves?  Is it because we are adults and should be able to do what we want?  Of course it is. But just because we can, doesn't mean we should!

I thought about this for a while, and after talking to a friend, decided that food should not be a power play.  Not for kids and not for adults.  With that in mind, I redid my fridge.  I went to the store, and I bought what I know I should be eating.  I came home and cleaned out the fridge.  I loaded the good food in the fridge in such a way that I see it first.  I also promised myself that I would have 3 healthy snacks before a sugary snack.  The first day was an apple, a carrot, and some grapes.  By the time I got to the brownie, I took one bite and I was done.  Success!!!!!

So here is the challenge:  Clean out your fridge.  Repack it with healthy food.  Allow yourself a treat, but only after 3 healthy snacks.  Follow the rules you followed as a child.  I'm hoping to find my childhood metabolism. lol.  :)  Then send me a photo of your newly re-done fridge! 

On a side note- my grocery bill was actually smaller and I didn't use coupons!

Rochelle's Pumpkin Cowboy Cookies

I firmly believe that everyone needs a treat every once in a while.  For me, it's the "once in a while" that does me in.  I really really like sugar.  Such a hard thing to give up.  Now that I am not diabetic anymore, it is really hard to make myself stay away from the sugar.  I keep trying, and trying, and trying.  I'm doing really well with exercise, averaging 8-10 miles of walking or running a day, but the sugar . . . I do love it.  

You probably think this post is going to be for a low sugar low calorie treat.  I'm sorry.  You're wrong.  This is about one of my favorite yummy treats.  I know.  Cruel.   How about this.  I promise that I will produce some nice, healthy, low calorie, diet friendly, diabetic friendlier recipes in the next few weeks.  :)  For now, enjoy this fun treat, but only eat 2 and then give the rest away.  Your neighbors will like you, and you will still get to enjoy a little bit of the sweet life.  :)


Here it is. Rochelle's Pumpkin Cowboy Cookies
1/2 c butter (do not sub margarine)
1/2 c shortening. (Can use all butter but will stay softer with the shortening)
1 c sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 large eggs
2/3-3/4 cup pumpkin purée. (I used fresh so don't ask me the can size but its probably that amount that is always left over after you make a pie. Lol). You could also sub a jar if baby food sweet potatoes or yams.
Cream and beat everything til it looks silky like creamed honey butter

Add
1/2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 T vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice
Pinch of ginger

Cream until light and fluffy

Add

2 1/2 c flour ( go ahead and make the 1/2 cup whole wheat. Then you can pretend these are healthy.)
3 c granola type cereal. I like the great grains pecan).
Or
2 c old fashioned oats

Also add 1 bag butterscotch chips
1 bag semi sweet chips.

Or
1 c craisins
1 bag white choc chips.

Bake 350 for 10-12 min.

Cheeseburger Salad

Cheeseburger-Salad

A fun recipe for you.  I have some friends who have tried it, and their boys now ask for it.  Yup!  That's boys asking for salad.  I'm telling you, this is good stuff, and sooooo easy!

Seriously, this is more a guide than a recipe. Its sort of 'a little of this, a little of that' in nature. I'll tell you how I did it, and you can make it work for your family. :)

1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 small or 1/2 large yellow or white onion
cook together in a frying pan

When the meat is done add:
About 3 Tbl. Ketchup
about 1 Tbl. Mustard (yellow prepared mustard, just the plain stuff)
about 1 1/2 tsp pickle juice (Dill)
Cook and stir and taste. If it needs more of anything add it. don't get it too wet though.

To your lettuce add:
3-4 pickles chopped
1 large tomato chopped
1 avocado chopped (I LOVE avocados! I use them for everything!)

Put your hamburger (or turkey) mixture on top. Add about 2 cups of Med. cheddar cheese grated.

You can serve with some home-made croutons.

I served with Ketchup on top, but you can use thousand Island or Ranch or nothing. The meat has plenty of flavor. I actually think some french fries or potato chips would be tasty, but I am not advocating it. lol.

Cheeseburger-Salad