CORRECTION: Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts!

DAY SIXTY FIVE- Healthy Eating Journal

It was such a beautiful day I just had to jump in my car this morning and go see if there was a yard sale somewhere. My daughter and her husband and little Rello came with me. The first yard sale was right in town, but nothing we needed. It did get the heart going just to see a yard sale sign though. I decided to drive out into the country to look for a house that people at church have been telling us about, but we didn't find it. The little town we went to is only a few minutes from where I live, but it's out in the country and it reminds me of an Amish town. As we were driving through it we noticed a sign that said Auction. We stopped at the church and went inside. I think the whole town was there. Everyone was eating biscuits and gravy and browsing the tables of auction items. Some things were pay and take and we quickly made our way to the baked goods. Purchased some homemade zucchini bread and the pregnant daughter got some nobake cookies. I also had to buy an old dresser cloth with tatted lace. I love old stuff. I love small towns too.

From there we headed toward the city and actually found a few yards sales. It's always funny when women leave men in charge at a yard sale. Boy did we get some deals and some ever-so-needed grandkid toys. Rello was loading up faster than we could stop him. they had a little car station and a helicopter that talked AND a nerf football. Oh, and a small transformer and those expensive learning cards in the cute box. We loaded up both car stations and all the obove mentioned and took it to the "dad" cashier who glanced over our overflowing arms and said "hmmmm $1.00?" We all looked at each other in disbelief and I handed him $2.00. So we didn't find a dresser, which was what we really needed, but my $2.00 at the bottom of my purse was a gold mine for the grandson. And.... I'm sure that means that yard sale season has officially started. (My husband will be grumbling as he reads this :D).

On the way back from the yard sale we sung through another little town and I took everyone to an ice cream shop that I found last summer. Great cones for $1.00. And, I had the baby scoop so 1/2 cup max. Their tables had checkerboards painted on them and a little box of checkers in the middle so you could play. That was pretty clever. Rello loved the ice cream and the checkers. The shop also had a sign hanging on the wall that is very fitting for this blog: Stressed spelled backwards is Desserts!

So I had the dessert before my lunch, but since I just had yogurt for breakfast, I was fine. For lunch I had the 15 oz. Healthy Choice chicken and rice soup (240 calories). I dumped some of the broth out so I probably lost a few calories, but it fit neatly in a cereal bowl that way and I warmed it up. Then I chopped up some fresh cilantro and sprinkled in it. It was very good and very filling. I had an orange with it and that was it. Once I ate my soup, I started painting. The paint never quite looks the same as it does in the store or on the paint strip you pick out. You'd think I'd learn. Always go lighter than what it says. Well the princess room is more like army princess now, but I think I can make it work because I'm not redoing it. I added some stripes to lighten it up and once the trim is painted white, I'm sure it'll be fine. The good news is... painting is definitely exercise!

Bob and Jackie came over for dinner and I made them the chicken spinach lasagna. We had a green salad to go with it and I fixed the sugar-free angel food cake (premade from the store) with blackberries and lite coolwhip for our 100 calorie dessert. All total dinner was about 600 calories including dessert. Later on in the evening we played some dice games and I had them try out the 100 calorie Jolly Time Kettlecorn. They liked it. They said they liked the lasagna too and I'm going to believe them because my brother had seconds. It was fun having them over and remember... laughing burns calories... so smile often and focus on the good.

I am going to go scrub the paint off my toes (I always paint barefooted) and get to bed early tonight. Church tomorrow.... and a day of rest. YES!!

CHICKEN SPINACH LASAGNA

(320 Calories per serving) I'm going to the crockpot again to get this started. You can grill your chicken instead if you'd like. I just throw it in the crockpot and cover it with water and garlic (not garlic salt) and let it slow cook all day while I'm gone. You can do this with skinless chicken breasts or with a whole fryer (innards removed of course).

2-3 cups of cooked chicken
Creamy Garlic Alfredo Sauce Packet (McKormick)
2 cups of Skim Milk for the Sauce (see packet for instructions- I added a cup)
Lasagna Noodles (whole wheat)- Boiled 10-15 minutes in water
Large container of Low-Fat cottage cheese
1 package of shredded no-fat Mozzarella cheese
fresh spinach

After cooking and draining the lasagna noodles, spray the cake pan with 0 calorie Pam spray. Layer 1/3 of the noodles on the bottom of the pan followed by 1/3 of the cottage cheese, layer of spinach and chicken, layer of alfredo sauce, cheese. Repeat this two more times ending with the cheese. Bake at 350 degreese for 35-40 minutes.

** Pre-made Alfredo sauces in jars have 700-800 calories compared to 350-400 calories to make the sauce yourself with a packet and skim or low-fat milk.

DAY SIXTY FOUR- Friday, March 5, 2010

It was definitely a spring fever day. The weather was great... our FFA group sponsored a BBQ at lunch for students and staff... and it was Friday. My husband cooked me the eggs and spinach omelet for dinner and I was thinking "he's really getting this" but then he came over to eat lunch with me and brought me lunch. He had gone to a drive-in and brought back fried finger steaks (800 calories worth as we later discovered) and french fries. There was a "salad" in the container as well but it was jut the shredded iceberg lettuce they use to put on the hamburgers and a few thin slices of tomato on top (a.k.a. not a salad). He had bought himself a hamburger so I traded him and had him eat the fingersteaks instead. We didn't look up the calories until later and when he saw them, he felt bad. He just didn't know. Anything deep-fried is going to be a killer. Batter is another thing. If you eat chicken shrimp, steak, etc. even veggies fried in a batter, the batter adds to those calories as well. Needless to say, I didn't eat the fries and I was still the most grateful for being able to eat lunch with my sweetie even if he was trying to fatten me up. :D

Jackie came over for dinner and my husband cooked me that lobster we've been saving. He wanted to look up the calories before he cooked (he was still traumatized from the finger steaks) and was shocked when it said 100 calories. He happily ate his lobster at dinner-- guilt-free. We also had green salad and a baked potato. Once again though, the company was more important than the food. We had a great discussion around the table and one of the topics was of course what we've been eating since Jackie has been trying to do this as well. We talked about extreme diets with cleansing and carb cut-outs and the evils of wheat, etc. We shouldn't be extreme about everything. I watch my calories, drink mostly water as my drink, and make sure I get veggie and fruits every day. I do avoid fried foods but I have found other ways to cook those foods and once in a while I even eat some. I have to be happy and real with what I eat. I eat my bread, but I make sure it's multi-grain or whole wheat. It's not that hard. I have either potatoes, rice, or pasta every day and I'm still losing weight every week. I think if we just figure out the food we like and see how that food reacts to our body (white bread is a glue ball that sits in your stomach for example) and pay attention to our calorie intake for the day, we learn to coach ourselves. That is the main goal at the end of this experience for me: to learn to coach myself.

Jackie and I also talked about exercises because her back hurts. I showed her how to do the squats, lunges, and bed crunches. She tried them and saw that they are easy and won't hurt her back. We also discussed keeping a water bottle on hand. I'm excited to see how it goes for her. Plus... Jackie is always a ton of fun to have around. Tomorrow, (Saturday) I'm going to cook her my chicken lasagna. Well my husband has to leave at 4am in the morning, so we are going to bed early. I need the sleep anyway. Sleep is as necessary to your health as the food you eat. Wrinkles are another topic we need to discuss some day. :D

DAY SIXTY THREE- Healthy eating journal

Is it Friday yet? Some days it's nice just to stay home... but we're lucky to have jobs... so I shouldn't complain. The weekend is almost here. When we start feeling like life is running us instead of us running our lives, we let the food do the same thing.

Had an English muffin for breakfast. I like them. I know they're not wheat, but I still like them. Do they make them in wheat? I need to find out. I had a sandwich on wheat for lunch, baked chips, one of my husband's homemade choc. chip cookies, and a banana. Attended boys state basketball games with the husband then watched our married sons play basketball in an adult league. It's nice to have a spouse who enjoys the same things. We're so easily entertained. For supper I had chinese food: orange chicken, rice, broccoli and green beans. It was good but I'm sure that chicken had some calories I shouldn't have been eating. I drank water with everything today, so no added calories there. I am starting to crave lemonade though so it must be the change in weather.

I've also been thinking about how soon I can plant a garden now that I'm in a warmer part of the state. Everyone should have a garden. It's not about the money. I always hear (and I have said myself) "It's cheaper to buy it." While that may be true about some things, it's not as healthy and it's also about the skills of self reliance and the natural benefits of being outside and enjoying the psychological and physical benefits of nature. I need to plant some flowers too. I love spring. I love spring break. Okay.... I have cabin fever. I'm going to bed.

DAY SIXTY TWO Wednesday, March 3, 2010

What a busy day. English muffins on the brain... I've added them into my food list for both breakfast and toasted oven sandwiches. I had spaghetti and salad for lunch along with fresh fruit and veggies for snacks. My daughter made some crockpot chicken and we had cottage cheese and baked potato with it, so we're saving the lobster for tomorrow (and the menu with a few changes since I posted it so late). Sorry again. :) Just always get in your grains, fruits, greens, and some protein. Remember one of the biggest places we add pointless calories is in the drinks we add to all our eating. I've also learned that it's both better for you and lower in calories to make things like homemade cookies and muffins than it is to eat a candy bar. Do your crunches every night in bed too.

It was grandkid night again. We didn't do the Wiggles Workout this time (see the side column under "exercises") because we took them to see the "Frog and the Princess" at the movies. One of them always falls asleep. Sometimes I look at my grandkids and it's a surreal moment because you just think "these are my grandkids... that woman sitting with them is my baby." It just goes so fast. Sometimes, in my heart, I am still 16... just for a moment and I can't believe where I am today. I am very blessed. My husband made it home safely and will be making "Papa Kiester's" cookies for our last team lunch tomorrow. I will splurge and have one (especially since it's Thursday... which means get up early and do my 20 minute shoot around at our gym). I know I'll work it off. He also brought my bike down with him, so I'm looking forward to trying it out this weekend. Life is good and I need to get to bed.

Cranberry Muffins

Topping
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup of cranberries
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds (optional)

Muffins
1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
1 egg
1.5 cups of whole wheat flour or unbleached white
1 cup of quick-ooking oats
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. grated orange peel
1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cup of skim milk

190 calories

Heat oven to 400. Spray bottom of 18 muffin cups or use liners. In small saucepan, combine all topping ingredients; cook over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Divide topping equally into bottoms of prepared muffin cups. Next, mix flour,oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add milk, butter, and egg. Stir until moist. Sppon batter over cranberry mixture. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes. 18 muffins.

DAY SIXTY ONE-Tuesday, March 2, 2010

My apologies for being late with the post (all two of you :) I was working on the end of the season basketball picture DVD for our upcoming banquet and didn't realize how late it was. I went to bed at 2:00 am and woke up this morning realizing that I didn't post. Hey, at least I wasn't thinking about food so much that I had to write about it! I remember it was Raundee yesterday so I had a spinach omelet for breakfast and sandwich on wheat with baked chips for lunch. I also remember eating cottage cheese. The rest is blur quite frankly, but there wasn't any chocolate or hidden treats, so it was good.

I was reminded that a single event can cause a domino effect in your life. It can affect where you live, who you'll know, what you'll spend most of your time doing, and maybe even a change in your career or prioties. A decision like what food will I eat today or how much will I eat today is such a minor decision in contrast to other life-changing decisions, but at the same time, I think a lot of our food decisions are made because of how we feel about our relationships, our jobs, our communities, and talents and dreams (or lack of). The more I do this, the more I see the connection.

Sometimes if we're super happy, we want to reward ourself and we think mmmm lobster, eating out, steak, rootbeer floats, chocolate, etc. Other times we're disappointed and we think ice cream, hot chocolate (for some they turn to other beverages), etc. And in even deeper emotional times, we aren't hungry at all. It's definitely all connected. I think the key is to #1) just accept that they're connected and that as long as you don't go overboard in any of these emotional eating approaches, that it's perfectly normal to do this once in a while. If you "need" ice cream (and sometimes, we just eat because we like it, so don't forget that), you just need to have an ice cream cone-- not a pint. If we're not hungry-- don't eat too much that day, but don't carry that to the extreme. If you want to eat out-- go ahead, just make healthy choices (and make sure you can afford it of course).
On a happier note, I do remember that one of my co-workers gave me a piece of homemade cranberry bread yesterday that was really good and I am posting the recipe for you. Apologies for slacking last night.

DAY SIXTY- Healthy Changes Journal

So this past weekend I felt like I really pushed my eating style on the husband and I was feeling a little guilty about it last night, but this morning he e-mailed to tell me that he lost 2 lbs. this weekend. I thought he was teasing me (making fun of my little 2 lb, loss each week), but turns out he was very serious. I'm speechless and upset all at once. So he did in 3 days what I did in 7. I could be selfishly jealous or supportively elated. I choose to be happy. He supported me all weekend AND he lost a couple pounds in the process. How Sweet!

I ended up eating string cheese and 1/2 a yogurt cup for breakfast as I had to grab it on the go. Remembered to take my Lean Cuisine frozen dinner-- beef stir-fry (260 calories). I also had a banana. Had my almonds for a snack and splurged by having a dum dum (25 calories). For dinner I had a very small (no bone or fat) grilled pork chop, small baked potato, and cooked spinach. Later, while watching a certain show I like on Monday nights, I had a mini-pouch of the Jolly Time 100 calorie popcorn (Kettlecorn flavor). I also did the advertisements=exercise thing during the show. If I'm going to sit around and watch a show (and there's nothing wrong with doing that as long as it doesn't happen every day and/or hour after hour), then I could use advertisements as an opportunity to exercise. Just throw in whatever fits your speed and actually requires you to move your arms and legs. Don't forget your bed exercises too. Crunches and cycling. I swear by it (in a non-swearing way).

DAY FIFTY NINE- Healthy Eating Journal

Long Day! Just got home and unpacked 1/2 an hour ago. Long trip. Started the day with the manly breakfast (and my stomach survived.... barely). Went to church and saw many wonderful friends and neighbors that I haven't seen for a while. They are all so kind. The talks were good and certainly caused me to reflect in my own life. Even people who don't believe in God could benefit from attending a church just for the sole purpose of retroflection (yes, I made up the word). When we get to the point that we know it all or don't need anyone's help, we start boxing ourself in with walls that restrict both our minds and hearts.

Okay, so after church I warmed up the elk steak- veggie stir-fry from last night and we still had green salad with shrimp left as well. Had the stir-fry on rice and baked one of Greg's favorite desserts-- upside down pineapple cake (240 per serving). It was 2:00 before we ate so we didn't eat dinner... just lunch and cake so plenty of calories anyway! Greg did make his Sunday cookies so we could do our "cookie walk" and it was a nice day for a walk. After the cake we needed to walk! Cookie walks are something we started a couple summers ago and really enjoy doing as a couple. We just randomly walk around (or sometimes drive around) and hand out ziplocs of cookies to our neighbors and sometimes we have someone specific in mind. It's great to visit others and it's fun to walk hand-in-hand. That never gets old.

Well it's late and tomorrow's MOnday... ugh. Good thing I have coach Jackie (a.k.a sunshine girl) for tomorrow. I'll need it!