Rejuvenation vacation! And a salad

Who is the most responsible office worker - it's my last day in the office for a whole glorious week, and I'm typing a blog entry. Not good!

I'm approaching the week as a time for rejuvenation. On my list

• Weed my GD yard. I loathe weeding. Have roped in the husband to a full day on Sunday, so we can just call it good. Planting shrubs, laying down mulch and building a fence for the tomatoes. Fun!
• Creating my new menu for jump starting weight loss. I am so good about exercising. I mean really good. Its not an issue to work it into my day, the issue is telling myself that the exercise justifies extra snacks. Although that's a lie! It does not. Must start restricting extras. Bleh.
• Reading in the hammock - the weather here has been pitch perfect - high 70's. I could even take a wee bit hotter. Please don't let typing these sentences call forth rain.
• Purging clutter. I can tell my eating is in discord partially because I am on my cycle, I am worn out and tired, but also, the disarray - I need to clean up my environment - too too messy!
• Visiting friends - I hope!
• Eating watermelon. Making watermelon popsicles. And possibly a watermelon mojito. In the hammock? Oh yeah, baby.

I also made myself the most delicious salad this week. Cobbled together from what was in the fridge, and modified from a recipe I saw elsewhere. Make it. Make it now. It is delicious - creamy and crunchy and fresh, but if you mash up the garbanzo beans, I'm told it could sub as a mock chicken salad filling in a pita pocket. However you eat it, you'll be glad.

Garbanzo bean salad - serves 2

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Garbanzo Beans
1 cup Celery Hearts (about 3 stalks)
1 cup Savoy Cabbage
1 cup Cabbage, Red, Raw
1/2 cup Orange Bell Pepper
2 tbsp Sour Cream
1 tbsp Mayo
1 tbsp Lemon Juice
1 tbsp dried Dill Weed

1. Rinse and drain well, 1 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, or cook enough dry to yield 1.5 cups.
2. Crush the garbanzo beans a little with a potato masher, or your hands. Or leave whole, the mashing is best for a sandwich filling.
3. Dice celery, and bell pepper
4. Shred cabbages to equal 2 cups
5. Mix beans and veggies together in a large bowl
6. In a small bowl, cream together sour cream, mayonnaise, lemon juice and dill. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Pour dressing over salad, stir well.

Serve chilled or at room temperature. Yes, I used high fat dressing ingredients - I was out of plain yogurt. And fat, she satiates me.

Nutrition facts:

Amount per Serving
Calories 314
Calories from Fat 95.0
Total Fat 10.55g
Saturated Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 12.5mg
Sodium 276.25mg
Total Carbohydrate 37.56g
Dietary Fiber 6.66g
Sugars 13.07g
Protein 11.81g

What I'm Eating, and What I'm Not

I cannot eat oatmeal for breakfast any more. I am putting my foot down. I know it is high in fiber, I know it is cholesterol lowering, I know it is filling and mostly delicious. But not even with applesauce, with raisins, with dried apricots, nor with nuts, can I enjoy it anymore. I even considered making it in a savory fashion with soy sauce and green onion, like a Chinese pancake, as I read about here but alas, we’ve been together every weekday morning for about 8 months now, and I’m done. I think what I’ll miss the most is that nothing is cheaper for breakfast than steel cut oatmeal, bought in bulk, and cooked with apples that I chop myself. I am now spending my mornings with the high falutin' and very expensive fresh blueberries and yogurt. They are a creamy, tart, and sweet dynamic duo! Antioxidants, fiber, protein and calcium, not too shabby on the nutrition front. I cannot stress how important it is for me to enjoy what I’m eating. I cannot eat purely for fuel. I want to eat the best fuel I can, but it also has to appeal to my palate. Has anyone else broken up with a healthy food because they were simply tired of it?

I haven’t posted a recipe in a while, so here’s what I ate for lunch this week. Because I loves me the fiber, that I am now missing from my oatmeal, I am having delicious black bean and sweet potato cakes for lunch this week. With lime sour cream. They are awesome, cheap, easy and I would make them again in a heartbeat.

Black bean and sweet potato cakes

2 TBS vegetable or olive oil
1 cup dried beans, cooked according to directions or 2 14.5 oz cans, rinsed and drained
1 medium sweet potato, scrubbed and grated – about 2 cups
½ cup rolled oats (quick cooking is fine)
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg, beaten
1 TBS chili powder
2 tsp cumin
salt
pepper

Lime Sour Cream

½ cup sour cream
Juice of half of one lime
Salt

Mix everything together, add more lime juice as necessary.

Set the oven to broil. Spray a broiler pan with non-stick spray.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onions until soft, about 5 minutes. Add sweet potato shreds, and cook for 2 minutes more. Add garlic and seasoning, cook for 1 more minute, then remove from heat. In a large bowl, mash up your black beans a little, leaving them mostly whole. Stir in the potato mixture, oatmeal and add salt and pepper to taste. Allow the mixture to cool a bit before you add the egg. Stirring will help. When it is not so hot that it will cook all the egg, pour the egg in, and mix well with your hands. Shape into 7 patties – they are gonna be a little messy, just move them nice and gently to the broiler pan. Spray them with cooking spray, and place in the oven. Broil for about 7 minutes, and then gently, gently turn them over to cook the other side.

Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream, and fresh cilantro. Delicious! I estimate these to be about 250 calories a pop. I have a salad on the side, and a happy tummy. I made this according how I like it - but the original recipe that inspired me was on Allrecipes.com - but it has a lot more spice than I can normally handle. And I made one less cake, because I wanted bigger ones for lunch.

Happy weekend!

I Loaf You

As the day turned unseasonably and irritatingly rainy and cold last Sunday, (my calendar still says August but in Seattle, it is apparently October) it was clearly meat loaf weather. There are many comfort foods in the world, but none so quintessential for me as meat loaf, with sides of mashed potatoes and green beans. This meal embodies Sunday night dinner around the family dining table, talking about the week to come, and squirting ketchup, much to my Mother's chagrin. All the while anticipating The Muppet Show to come on after our baths. There is also something very satisfying about getting your hands in the bowl and mixing everything together. You have to be gentle, but thorough, much like we want our lovers to be, yes?

My Safeway recently had a buy one get one free sale on ground turkey. It was time to lighten up my Mom's classic recipe. This recipe is decidedly lower in fat and tastes really good! I used both pounds of turkey, so I could freeze some.

Sara's Mom's Lightened up Turkey Loaf

2 pounds ground turkey
16 oz frozen spinach, thawed
2 cups finely diced onions
4 cloves minced garlic
1 and 1/4 cups diced green peppers (or any other color you like)

3 eggs

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (sodium, I know, but soooo good)
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 - 1 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a non-stick muffin tin with cooking spray or your favorite non-stick agent.

1. In a large bowl, crumble the turkey.
2. Squeeze dry your spinach. I like to wring mine in a clean dish towel - there's a lot of water in there that you don't want in your loaf! Break up the spinach with your hands (it will clump) and sprinkle over the turkey.
3. Dump in the onions, garlic and green peppers
4. Lightly beat the eggs, adding Worcestershire sauce, peppers, salt and thyme, pour egg mixture over all.
5. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs over the whole mixture, and get in there and get dirty! Mix everything together with your hands, gently so as to not toughen the meat.
6. Add more breadcrumbs if you don't think it will bind well. I can't think of a great way to describe this, but you just have to grab a handful, squeeze it, and see if it holds its shape.
7. Now, if you've over breadcrumbed, add more Worcestershire, or you can add a little vegetable oil.
8. Grab your greased muffin tin, and start grabbing balls-o-meat. Press them into the pan, mounding them tall a little bit, until you've filled the tin.
9. Whatever you have left, shape into a little loaf, and place in a suitably sized baking dish.
10. I prefer a browned loaf, but of course you can add the traditional tomato sauce or ketchup to cook on top.

Bake for 35 minutes, and check to see if it is browned, and the internal temp is 170 degrees. Your meaty muffins will most likely be done, but your full loaf may need some more time.

Allow your mini loaves to cool in the pan completely. Then fish them out, wrap in foil, and freeze them, for a meat loaf muffin any time. I've been weighing mine, and they come out to about 4 ounces apiece. A perfect portion, I think.

Steam some green beans, toss them with a little olive oil and roasted almonds, and mash up some taters, get your ketchup bottle ready, then dig in with someone you love, or just wait for The Muppet Show.

my new friend Raab

I ordered Broccoli Raab (pronounced rob) from my produce box people this week, and was a little stumped on what to do with it. Finding recipes proved to be tricky because it operates under a number of aliases as well. Rapini, Broccoli Rabe, broccoletti di rape, broccoletto, broccoli di foglia, cime de rape, or rape, or Chinese broccoli or Chinese flowering cabbage. Yeesh.

Here's what it looks like, fresh from the salad spinner: Purple and leafy, and firm. I found a couple of ways to use it, but settled on tweaking this recipe from Allrecipes.com. Whole wheat pasta, chicken sausage instead of pork and no 1 cup of Parmesan. The key to using this stuff is boiling and then dunking in ice water, to stop the cooking process. This removes the bitterness of greens, and it tastes like broccoli!

Has anyone else discovered chicken sausage? It is brilliant. It has the texture of sausage, but way less fat, and if you get an Italian flavor, you really don't feel as though you are missing out. Such a great thing! Basically, its ground chicken with spices. Neat. According to the package I bought, has only 100 calories per link, and 3 grams of fat. Yippee! I made a double batch, to freeze some, so you can cut this recipe in half if you don't want to eat this for a week..

Sara's Pasta with Greens and Sausage

2 bunches raab, cut into 2 inch pieces

1.5 lbs hot Italian chicken sausage

12 oz whole wheat penne

1 TBS olive oil

1 red onion, diced

1 large shallot, diced

28 oz quartered artichoke hearts

28 oz roasted peppers (I used canned)

8 oz sundried tomato halves - not packed in oil - reconstituted in hot water

5 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp Parmesan cheese per serving

1. Pour hot water over your sundried tomatoes just enough to cover them, and soften. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with ice cubes and water to make a water bath. (More ice than water). Set aside.
4. When the water is boiling, add the broccoli raab, stir and boil for about 4 minutes. Drain, and plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
5. Bring another large pot of water to a boil - keep hot until you are ready to cook the penne.
6. In a large skillet, squeeze the sausage out of its casings into the skillet over medium heat. This will brown quickly, and not leave a lot of fat. Remove from pan, set aside.
7. Add olive oil to the hot pan, and saute the onion and shallots until they brown a little - about 5 minutes.
8. Add the penne to the boiling water, cook until al dente, about 7 minutes
9. Add artichokes, roasted peppers, broccoli raab, drained tomatoes and sausage to the pan, heating through, for about 4 minutes. There is a lot of water in the veggies, so I like to let them sweat out their liquid.
10. When everyone is sweated out, add the garlic, thyme, basil and oregano.
11. Stir in the penne, and sprinkle with parmesan.

DELISH! This seems sort of labor intensive, but it really is just a lot of ingredients. I think it would be good with just the sausage and greens, but I love artichokes and sundried tomatoes together too. It is sooo good - I have yet to work out the nutritional information, so I am entering it on FitDay as pasta with meat sauce, about .5 per serving, just because even though I heap 1 cup, it is more veggies than meat, and I have to find a way to represent that in FitDay.

Here's what it looks like when finished: Happy Eating!

Back in the kitchen, woman

Oh my goodness I am feeling better! It is a fabulous feeling. To be able to breathe through both nostrils, and to be able to keep my eyes open for several hours. True test of how I'm feeling, I'm back in the kitchen. I made a fabulous dinner and a great lunch to take to work on Sunday.

There is a salad bar in my office building, and whenever I go there, I end up getting the same thing, so I decided to make my favorite salad - not at $5 a pound.

Marinated Broccoli Salad

6 cups broccoli florets

2 cups diced carrots

2 red peppers, diced

half a red onion, thinly sliced

10 ounces roast chicken breast

1/2 cup vinaigrette

Bring 2 qts water to a boil, add broccoli and cook for one minute. Remove from the water, and immediately place them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Add carrots, peppers, onions and chicken to broccoli, toss with vinaigrette. Yum! Warning, after a day, the broccoli will be discolored from the vinegar, but it is still good. Here's a poorly lit photo:

And for dinner we had a lovely roast pork tenderloin, roasted root vegetables and asparagus. Roasting vegetables at a high heat is my favorite way to eat them, I think. If I can't have them in cheese sauce, of course. The outside gets crispy and caramelized, while the inside gets soft. I use this recipe from allrecipes.com. I used butternut squash, garnet yams, new red potato, parsnips, and onions.

For the pork tenderloin, here we go.

2 1 pound pork tenderloins

6 slices bacon

2 TBS olive oil

1 TBS black pepper

2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Rub the tenderloin with the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Wrap 3 slices of bacon around the pork, barbershop pole style. Secure with toothpicks. Bake for 40 minutes, until pork is 155 degrees.

It looks like this!

No Chew Recipes

I am surprised that I have gotten such positive response to the idea of a motivational list, and to make it public, no less. I'm working on it, and will share it of course!

Oh I kill me with my own post titles. Of course you have to chew these things - but not a whole lot. I promise that this isn't going to become the Sara's mouth blog, but my choppers won't be healed until February 1st - oy, the suffering! Here are some things you can eat when your dentist tortures you and tells you that you can't chew anything crunchy. (popcorn - oh how I miss you - we are going to get down and dirty when this whole teeth thing is through!)

Tortelloni Salad
But Sara, tortellonis are high in fat and carbs! I can't eat that! Au contraire mes amis, you can eat this! Here's how:

1 8 oz. package Barilla Ricotta & Spinach Tortelloni (tortelloni? Not tortellini? Yes, tortelloni.)
1 bag baby spinach - how much is that - 8 ounces? A whole bunch
2 7 oz jars of roasted red peppers - less if you like
2 3.5 oz jars of marinated artichoke hearts
1/3 cup of Pesto sauce - homemade or jarred.
Balsamic vinegar (optional)

Prepare tortelloni according to package directions. While pasta is boiling, slice the roasted peppers into strips. Drain the artichoke hearts - but reserve the marinade liquid. When pasta is cooked, drain, and then toss with the pesto - you may want to reserve some of the cooking water to use to thin out the pesto, and to help it coat the pasta. Also, you can use the artichoke marinade too. A little pesto goes a LONG way in this!

Once the pasta is coated, add remaining ingredients and toss. This is sooo good. I also splash a little balsamic vinegar on top because I love it. You could also add the artichoke marinade now too. Now you're going to have lotsa leftovers, so when you pull it out of the fridge, I nuked it, spinach and all for 30 seconds, just to take the chilly edge off. I like this recipe, because even though I only get 3/4 of a cup of pasta, I can have all that other flavorful stuff. You could add tomatoes and red onions, olives and even carrot shreds if you were feeling super veggie oriented - and you had choppers to chew it with.

Steel Cut Oatmeal breakfast

Oatmeal is one of the most heart healthy and figure friendly things we can do for our bodies. (Can I sound MORE like a commercial?) And Steel-Cut oats are better than rolled oats. But they take at least 20 minutes to cook. And I am not the kind of girl who makes oatmeal from scratch every morning. I am lucky if I make it out the door with matching socks. Also - plain oatmeal, not so appetizing. And I don't want to pour on a bunch of sugar, so here's what I discovered.

Make a batch of Steel Cut Oatmeal - one cup will yield 3 cups cereal. Then, mix it with unsweetened applesauce. Brilliant! Add cinnamon, and you're eating apple pie for breakfast, I swear. I found a great recipe for homemade applesauce - super easy.

Homemade Applesauce

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 sugar (optional)

Place all ingredients into a large saucepan, stirring to coat. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 or 20 minutes. Mash to desired texture.

I leave big chunks of apples, add in cardamom and cloves, and I only use 2 tablespoons of sugar, because that's how we roll in the Trisaratops Lounge. We likes it spicy and not too sweet! I mix it into the oatmeal, and I take it in a container to work, and nuke a portion of it each morning for breakfast. So easy, and really, super cheap. It will take you about 1 and half hours to do this each weekend, but it isn't active kitchen time, it is put it on the stove and go read blogs time. Peeling the apples is a pain, but I can watch TV, and it is so much cheaper (and better tasting) than storebought. You can thank me later.

All Purpose Veggie "Stretcher"

Okay, I came up with this because I had a lot of veggies to use up. I added it to an instant rice mix of Jambalaya (shhh, it's not organic!)- to stretch it out a bit, and also to add to my spaghetti squash lunch. You may look at it and say ewwww - and that's okay.

2 large onions, chopped
1 large green pepper, chopped
2 red peppers - or 1 large, chopped
3 handfuls baby carrots ( I didn't measure, sorry!), chopped*
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBS olive oil
1 can tomato paste
Salt and pepper
*I have a mini food-processor - it was a godsend - otherwise, chopping baby carrots is painful. You could buy the pre-shredded carrots too!

Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add onions and saute until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add peppers and carrots, and saute for 2 more minutes. Add garlic and tomato paste and stir to mix through for about 4 minutes. Salt and pepper and any other spices you like, to taste.

And voila - this will stretch out a rice, bean and meat dish, or is kind of a ratatouille of sorts for sauces or casseroles. Finely chopping the carrots made them sort of invisible, but still there in a high-fiber kind of way. Hurrah!

Spaghetti Squash lunch

This is a great low calorie lunch.

1 Spaghetti Squash - about 2.5-3 pounds
14 ounces pasta sauce
2 cups "Veggie Stretcher"
1 can beans of your choosing - cannelloni, garbanzo, great northern, whatever you like.
Add any veggies you like in pasta sauce
Parmesean cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Slice squash in half, scoop out seeds. Place cut side down on a baking sheet. Pour water onto the sheet until it rises up the squash's edge about .25 of an inch. Roast for 40 minutes. Pierce the squash with fork at 40 minutes, checking for soft flesh. If it is ready, then take it out, if it isn't - return to oven and check again in 10 more minutes. Fork should slide in easily. Allow the squash to cool until it is easily handled. Take a fork and scrape the inside of the squash flesh, tearing out the flesh into little strands. Like spaghetti, get it?

Toss squash strands with sauce and beans, and top with parmesean cheese if you like. Without the beans and cheese, this is a 0 point weight watchers meal. It's totally free!

Easiest crock pot recipe ever.

This is Mr. Black's favorite dinner.

1 32 oz. jar of sauerkraut
1 pound pork - you can use chops, shoulder, butt, whatever cut you like
Salt and pepper

Pour all the sauerkraut into the bottom of the crockpot - mysterious brine juice and all. Place the pork on top. Coat liberally with salt and pepper. A lot of pepper - I like to make a crust. Cook on low for 8 - 10 hours. The moisture from the kraut will make the pork so tender and fall apart on you.

Another easy pork recipe:

3 pounds Pork shoulder (super cheap cut!)
1 clove garlic
1 quart chicken broth
Barbecue sauce
Whole wheat rolls or hamburger buns

Cut pork into pieces, place in crock pot. Pour broth over the pork, and cook on low 8-10 hours. Drain pork, and shred with 2 forks. Pour in barbecue sauce and toss to coat. Now you have pulled pork sandwiches!

Happy Eating!

Snickety-Snacks

Oh, isn't this fun! All the Healthy You Challenge ladies getting to know one another? Yay, new friends!

I'd like some advice on snacking. I've been trying to keep my calories at 1600 a day, and this is so hard for me! Does anyone have any advice? Some snacks I've been having are fruit, almonds, beef jerky, baby carrots and hummus. I guess I'm just going to have to get used to eating these all the time in order to keep my caloric intake down. So I'd love some suggestions if anybody has a magic trick that keeps them from having a growly tummy.

In return, here are some of my favorite kitchen tools for losing weight.

Misto sprayer - I love this thing! You fill it with your own olive oil and you can use it to coat baking pans, skillets, or anything you like. I spray it on bread to make garlic bread that isn't too oily, and I use it when I want to season my popcorn, but don't want to use butter. This way, you get to stop buying non-stick cooking spray all the time! I highly recommend it.

Quick and easy lunch or dinner. I love to cook, and I try to avoid packaged foods, but sometimes a girl wants more time for blogging, er, I mean exercise. So I try to buy the "better" processed stuff I can. Like Annie's mac and cheese boxes. Here's a recipe:

Broccoli, Chicken and Cheesy pasta

1 6 oz box Annie's Shells and White Cheddar
8 oz frozen broccoli florets (or fresh, and use more if you want - I shake in a little more than half of a 1 pound bag)
1 cup chopped cooked chicken breast (or, you could buy these)
Salt and pepper

Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add pasta and cook according to directions on box. During the last two minutes of cooking time for pasta, toss in the broccoli so it can thaw. Drain, and then prepare cheese sauce per the directions on the box. Stir in the chicken, and season to taste. Voila! Green vegetable, cheese, and protein - and it doesn't take a whole lot of time.

Drink your water! I know for many of us this is hard. But, I found a couple of great tricks. Infuse your water with flavor.

• Peel and chop up a cucumber and let it sit in a gallon juice container with the water for at least 6 hours, at room temperature. Remove the cucumber and chill the water. Delish!
• Do the same but use melons, berries or orange peels.
• You may want to strain the water if your flavoring is pithy or seedy

Beans are our friend. Vegetarian refried beans are really good, and I remember from weight watchers that a whole can is 3 points. They are very filling and full of fiber and are good for you! Hummus is our friend, pureed beans can make soups "creamy" without adding fat, and black beans in a scrambled egg burrito with salsa - oh, it is so good.

Whattaya got? Give me your best snacks!

Down with stress eating!

So that was a rough couple of weeks. I feel so detached and like I have a lot of catching up to do - seeing what everyone has been eating and losing or gaining or thinking about. I'm coming, I promise! And I promise to post here again too. I am so lucky to have the friends in my life that I do.

Drunk co-worker has been given an ultimatum. Her excuse for smelling like alcohol was that she was on hormone therapy. Unless her hormone therapy involves copious amounts of Pinot Grigio, I think she has a drinking problem. So, HR has instructed her to get a note from a doctor or get enrolled in a treatment program by December 14th. She is really a sharp woman - even when she is drinking - so it is very sad that this problem is surfacing. But I can't continue to work with her with one ear to the ground, waiting for her to screw up, and trying to evaluate her work capacity each day. And what if she drives around like that? And her kids? I really hope she gets help. Luckily, my boss and HR are also concerned about she and I being able to work together in a healthy way, so I know I have their support. On the other hand, she is fascinating to watch. Who can drink wine all day and still function? Not I. Also, my husband stress has alleviated itself as well. Hooray!

In this stress salad that I've been marinating in, I had several days where I actually didn't feel like eating. Who, me? That is so not my style. And I actually got to a point where I felt nauseous from not having had anything to eat for several hours. But don't fret, my old overeating self was right behind my supermodel-esque appetite. I bought a bag of potato chips - and ate all but the one chip I offered to Katie. Oh I am a kind and generous soul, I know. Potato chips are a gateway food for me, man. They invite chocolate and ham and swiss sandwiches and french fries and my old friend peppermint bark over for a party and I'm too weak to say no. And before I know it, they are spending the night and we're all blissfully not counting calories.

But now I'm back and back on track. Will it always be this way, I wonder? Will I always have low fat waves followed by high fat ones? Like I always say, the biggest difference in my lifestyle now is being able to catch myself and put my feet back on the right path.

So I present to you - Super Easy Fajitas. Did you know that vegetarian refried beans are naturally lower in fat, and really low in weight watchers points - yay!

Super Easy Fajitas

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Juice from 2 limes
Juice from 1 lemon
2 TBS Taco seasoning - or 1 packet
1 TBS grill seasoning - or salt and pepper and garlic powder to taste
2 red peppers, sliced into strips
2 green peppers, sliced into strips
1 large red onion, sliced into strips
1 TBS olive oil
Your accouterments - tortillas, salsa, sour cream, avocado, cheese, what have you.

Slice chicken breasts into 1/4 inch strips, place in a bowl, or glass roasting pan. (This is so much easier if you do it while they are a little bit frozen) Combine citrus juices and seasoning, pour over chicken, and toss to combine. Allow to marinate for 2-3 hours - any more than 3 hours and you start "cooking" the chicken with the citrus juice. Freaky!

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat - toss in just the onions, saute until soft. Turn heat down to medium, add chicken and marinade. Saute for 7-10 minutes, stirring to cook evenly. Add peppers near the end of the chicken cooking time, and heat for 4 more minutes. Serve with your good stuff! Yummers.

recipes and such

I promised some recipes, and now it is already Sunday, and everyone has probably already planned their menus. But here are a few to save!

Alternatives to traditional recipes:

The ubiquitous Green Bean Casserole = 215 calories per serving, and 16.4 grams of fat
Green Beans with caramelized pearl onions = 89 calories per serving, and 2.9 grams of fat

2 TBS olive oil, divided
2 16 oz packages frozen pearl onions, thawed
1 TBS sugar
1 tsp salt
2 lbs. green beans
1/2 tsp black pepper

Heat 1 TBS oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pat onions dry with paper towels, add to pan. Increase heat to medium-high, saute onions 5 minutes. Add sugar and 1/2 tsp salt, saute 15 minutes or until onions are tender and golden brown. Place in bowl.

Heat remaining oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add beans, saute 8 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add onions, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper, cook 2 minutes or until mixture is thoroughly heated. I love this recipe, and make it several times a year.

Traditional mashed potatoes = 222 calories and 9 grams of fat - if you only use milk and butter - and don't we all sneak in a little cream or cream cheese on Thanksgiving?
Weight Watcher's Mashed potatoes = 132 calories and 0 grams fat

Boil your potatoes, and before draining, take out 1 cup of the starchy cooking water, set aside. When mashing, add in the water instead of milk and butter. I've done this several times, but I usually add butter, but not milk. You really can't taste a difference!

I'm hosting Thanksgiving for the first time this year, and I am so excited! And nervous. I want to make something wowie-fantastic, but I don't want to go all Iron Chef and make everyone turn their nose up. So, here is our fat-laden, butter filled menu. I'm relying on portion control and sending leftovers away to keep me "safe."

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup with Roasted Garlic and pancetta
Herb roasted turkey
Mashed potatoes
Cranberry Sauce
My Mom's sausage stuffing
Aunt Marcia's corn pudding (she's bringing it)
Elise's green beans with almonds and thyme
Gravy
Pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce
Dutch apple pie
Pumpkin pie

Ooof. We always have at least 3 desserts at family gatherings. And everyone can have a sliver of each, or a lot of each. I'm finally understanding why some people say Thanksgiving is their favorite holiday. You spend one day eating, and then 3 days off. Not too shabby.

Oh! I went back to Pilates on Thursday. There was a different instructor and he doesn't use the ball, so I didn't fall off of anything. Yay! I think if they want prisoners to talk, they should give up waterboarding torture, and make everyone do Pilates. Hard. But it hurts so good!

This week I may skip a few nights of exercise in preparation for Thanksgiving. Probably just Wednesday evening, and we must walk the Ding on Thursday so he doesn't spend the day begging and getting into trouble.

Happy short week to everyone!

Ouch. and Yum!

Okay, so in the spirit of mixing it up, Workout Buddy Katie and I tried a Pilates class Tuesday night. I own the DVD and have done the Winsor Pilates DVD 20 minute work out in a former lifetime. When I was enrolled in weight watchers and also using the very retro, very hip Sweating To The Oldies series. Richard and I used to get down! Where was I? Oh yes. Pilates class.

For trying something new, this was in the most stressful possible situation. We walk in - and being the big girl that I am in a sea of size 6s, I notice that the only places in the room available for us to set up in, is dead center. Normally I don't care that I'm the biggest girl in the room, because I could spend every waking minute of my life doing that, and I have better things to do, but dead center when trying something new? Hard. Everyone has their mats and balls and straps and blocks all set up and so I get our instructions from the instructor and we go fetch our supplies. The instructor is lovely, but talks a mile a minute and I can hardly keep up. The sweat I am producing, my god, you'd think I was on the elliptical. And the best part, she asked us to bounce on our balls as fast and as high as we possibly can. I fall off of mine. Twice. So she kindly trades balls with me. And then some of the moves, I just had to stop. I couldn't sustain them. And I hear her say "If you need to do this with your knees bent, that is okay, or okay, you could just stop too, that's okay too." Clearly she saw me poop out a couple of times. And today, the soreness! My quads were already mad from the squats on Sunday, so they hurt, and my obliques - oh la la - they smart. But overall? I loved it. Seriously! I loved feeling the way my body moved, and how strong I actually am. It also reminded me of my theatre classes when we would do movement exercises. So falling off the ball or not, I talked to Katie about it tonight, and I'm going to continue once a week. It's not the right class for her, but we'll still be water aerobics and elliptical friends. There's also a bellydancing class that Katie wants to take, that is up by her house. So she might do that without me.

In yum news - I have two new favorites! Broccolini! It is so good. I steamed some the other night and splashed it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Fabulous. It is tender like asparagus, and sweeter than Broccoli. Awesome. I highly recommend it. I would never put balsamic on regular broccoli, but this just seemed right.

And sweet potato fries. I could eat these all the time. Sweet potatoes are supposed to be really good for you, too.

1 large sweet potato
2 tsp olive oil
Bacon salt! So bad, but so good.
or
salt, pepper and paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Slice the sweet potatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Toss with olive oil to coat. Sprinkle with salt and seasonings to your liking. Bake on an ungreased cooking sheet for 25 minutes, turning halfway through. Sooo good.

at least I got an extra hour of sleep

Oh weekend, why do you go by so quickly? We're hanging out and enjoying each other's company, and then bam! It is Sunday night and I've got to get myself ready for the week. Sigh.

Friday we went to a gathering, and it was somewhat awkward. People we haven't seen in a while, and someone I don't enjoy spending time with. And a bunch of people I don't know. Slices of baguette dipped in spinach dip, balsamic and olive oil and herbs, and hummus beget pita dipped in all those, beget little toasts, beget 2 handfuls of potato chips, and 2.5 slices of pizza and a root beer. And veggies from the veggie tray. Hi, stress eating! Normally, I can handle myself at a party where I don't know anyone, but this was more difficult for me, and so I went a little nuts. Is it that it is something to do? Or is it nerves? Anyway - I didn't get too out of hand, but I wasn't focused on being reasonable either. Whatever - we admit our mistakes and move on. This week I'm lunching on black bean soup. Love it! I tried coconut oil this week - it allegedly has more nutrition than other oils.

Black bean soup
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS olive or coconut oil
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 ribs celery, diced
2 zucchini, diced
2 14.5 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 14.5 oz can tomatoes
2 4 oz cans green chilies (you could also just use 2 cups salsa)
1 14.5 oz can vegetarian refried beans
1 14.5 oz can chicken broth or stock
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper

Saute the onions and garlic for 4 minutes, or until clear, add remainder of ingredients and simmer until hot - adjust seasoning to taste. I also added some diced roasted squash that I had in the fridge - fiberlicious!

I love smothering black bean soup in sour cream and cheese. But, to be nice to my figure, I am using yogurt cheese instead. Take nonfat plain yogurt, and place it in a fine sieve that has been lined with a coffee filter. Place the sieve over a bowl and leave in the fridge overnight. The yogurt will be much thicker, and spreadable, almost like cream cheese. Delish! So I'll be adding that along with cilantro and a little bit of cheese.

The Satsumas are here! I love little satsumas! I'm not much of an orange person, but those little mandarins are the best. And tonight I'm having a few gingersnaps with a cup of tea. Yum! Here's to another losing week...

Sunday pep talk

When I decided that I was going to change my lifestyle and lose the weight that has plagued me, I knew I couldn't do it eating salads every day, or using Atkins, or anything that severely limited my eating choices. I know those alternatives work for others, but I would be petulant and feeling left out. I wanted to learn how to eat like a "normal" person, and keep the weight off. It's been eye-opening to discover how my body burns and stores fat. Guess which one I'm better at?

However, this week, I'm going the salad route. Salads are somewhat dangerous for me, in that they justify a lot of over eating in other areas. "I had a salad for lunch, I can eat these 3 cookies" - that sort of thing. So in order to satisfy myself, I have to make what I call busy salads. A lot of stuff going on, so I am happy and in control. I'm adding chicken to my salad this week, in a great marinade.

Sara's Busy Salad

10 cups spinach leaves
2 carrots, shredded or peeled in curls
1 large cucumber, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cups red cabbage, shredded or diced
1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
4 TBS sunflower seeds

Your favorite salad dressing. I love Red Wine vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Chicken marinade

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
3 TBS Dijon mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
Pepper and Salt to taste

Marinade breasts for 2 hours. Broil breasts with the oven rack in the second highest position, about 6 minutes per side.

Delish!

Saturday was another overindulgent evening, so hopefully my salad daze will get me back on track. I didn't make squash rolls today, too sleepy. I'm making a beef dish for Mr. Black who is craving it like crazy. And mashed potatoes and broccoli - but I'm going heavy on the broccoli, easy on the tatos. One day at a time, man! Oh, and had my first free weight work out on Saturday - I did 30 wall squats with weights. Just about killed me, and my thighs are still burning. I seriously better be able to jump around, and not only get off the toilet when I'm 80!

Baker's holiday

Fall makes me want to bake like crazy. I make a mean cheesecake, but butter cakes are where it is at for me. And what about spice cookies? Last year I discovered Pumpkin Bread Pudding with caramel sauce. Soooo good. Ooh! And pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting! And apple pie, and oh wait, isn't this a weight loss blog? Sigh.

I will attempt Winter Squash Rolls this weekend. They look wonderful, but the shortening and sugar are not so good for the losing of the weight. I'm going to attempt to cut back on both and hope they are still tasty. Yeast proofing and I don't get along sometimes. I think I repel it with my neediness (please rise, please rise, I'll do anything, just love me!) but I'm going in confident this time! They'll also be a dry run to see if I can make them for Thanksgiving. Super fun!

Back on the FitDay Bus

Okay, it is ridiculous that I haven't made it to the 50 pound mark yet. So, I have armed myself with tasty and high fiber recipes this week, and am back on bloody FitDay. Agonizing! But, necessary. Come with me! Have some healthy soups and only dream of bacon. This week only. We can do it!

My friend Lezlie at work gave me this recipe, I made it this weekend for Mr. Black and I. It is virtually fat free, so you can have corn bread muffins with butter along side! I love butter as much as I love bacon, and that's saying alot. Side anecdote - Mr. Black and I buy our meat in bulk at the Costco. Wrap it up and freeze it, and use it as we need it. Currently, we're out of meat, except for a few chicken breasts. When I made this soup below, Mr. Black said "mmm. this is good. But you know what would be good in this? A steak." Oh he cracks me up! Poor guy - a Costco trip is on the agenda soon. Lest you think I'm married to a steak and potatoes misogynist - he loves everything I put in front of him, and is always kind about my cooking. Okay, on to recipe roll!

Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced medium size
2 red onions, diced
2 TBS olive oil
1 TBS Cumin
3 cups corn kernels
1 red pepper, diced
1 green pepper, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp salt
pepper to taste
1 quart chicken broth or stock
Chopped cilantro for garnish
Lime wedges for garnish

There are two ways to make this. If you make it using steps one and two, omit the olive oil. For a slightly more complicated recipe - read all the way through.

1. Throw everything in the crock pot, cook on low for 8 hours, or high for 4.
2. Puree half the soup in the blender - careful, only do small batches, only filling the blender half way before blending. Hold your hand on the lid while blending. Something about the heat and the whir of the blades will cause your soup or authentic enchilada sauce spew out of the blender and all over your kitchen and cabinets, and into utensil crock when you are trying to cook an authentic enchilada meal for your New Mexico born boyfriend while he is at work. Not that this has ever happened to me.
3. Mix the blended soup back in the crock pot and serve hot topped with cilantro and lime juice squirted in. Yum!

Variation -
1. Preheat the oven to 425. Toss the potatoes and onions in the olive oil with the cumin, salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes, before adding to the crock pot. Then proceed as listed above. I like the carmelization the roasting gives the potatoes and onions.

And for breakfast, here's a fabulous trick I read about somewhere. Mix applesauce in with your oatmeal!! We all know that oatmeal is supposed to be the best fuel for the morning. And steel cut oats have the most powerful cleansing ability, I understand. But it isn't the most palatable. Some homemade applesauce makes a world of difference!

And for lunch I'm having some White Bean and Kale soup, out of my cooking light cook book. It has a whole head of roasted garlic in it. Yum! I don't really dig kale, but I can do it for a week. A similar recipe can be found here.

TGIF

Fall has fallen, as Mr. Black likes to say. The week has been rainy, windy and we even had thunder and lightning. Today was a perfectly gorgeous Fall Day. Blue skies, dry, and crisp. I came in from walking at lunch with roses in my cheeks, and that perfect chill that makes you want a hot cuppa. I also want to curl up on the couch with my book, a steaming bowl of soup, a loaf of french bread, and an endless supply of butter and roasted garlic. Ooh, and some wine occasionally. Won't you join me? We can be garlic-stinky and cozy together!

This weekend I'm cooking and baking with a vengeance. I'm going to bust out my roasting pan and roast a chicken with herb butter. Yum! And also make a fat free corn and sweet potato chowder for my lunch next week. My friend at work had nearlyt 300 apples fall off her tree in a wind storm last weekend (I'm not kidding - she has 6 bags - not grocery bags - large shopping bags) so she's been bringing them in for us. I swiped a dozen and will make applesauce, and then I found a recipe for Apple Cardamom cupcakes with salted caramel sauce. I'm salivating just thinking about them. To save myself some calories, I've vowed to bring them into the office on Monday. Promise.

Happy weekend!

What do you do with...

I have that song what do you do with a drunken sailor running through my head. Because I have to figure out what to do with the 4 pounds of sunburst squash I apparently ordered from our Organic Produce Delivery service. I don't remember ordering that much, but it is here, so here we go.

So what do you do with 4 pounds of squash? My New Mexico-raised hubby immediately suggested squash and green chile casserole. Which involves a lot of cheese and crushed crackers, and too many calories. To keep calories down I'm going to try something else. I'll post the recipe tomorrow. Our grocery store also had a BOGO on eggs, so I made mini quiches for our lunches. Crustless, of course. The recipe is delish! It worked out to be 24 mini quiches - I imagine one could eat 2 per meal. Today I had just one with a side salad, and it was pretty good in the satisfaction department. Also, I made so many because they freeze beautifully, then you can pop them in the oven, or thaw and nuke in the microwave. 113 calories each!

Crustless MIni Quiches - 113 calories per mini quiche.

8 Large Eggs

32 oz. Part Skim Ricotta

4 oz. Feta cheese

2 TBS Olive Oil

1 medium yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 Sunburst squash, diced

8 oz. sliced crimini or button mushrooms

2 TBS freshly ground black pepper

2 tsp salt

1 TBS thyme

16 oz. Frozen chopped spinach, drained and squeeze dry

4 roasted red peppers, chopped (you could use fresh too)

1 large bunch fresh basil, chopped (or 1 TBS, dried)

24 slices of tomato (optional)

Heat the oven to 450 degrees, and grease the muffin tins, or line with papers.

1. Heat olive oil in saute pan, add onions and saute for 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, and if they are really large, I like to break them up with my wooden spoon or spatula. Add squash and garlic, and continue to saute about 5 minutes, until soft. Add salt, pepper and thyme.

2. In the largest bowl you have, beat the eight eggs until fluffy. Fold in cheeses.

3. Fold in spinach

4. Add veggie saute, and red peppers and basil

5. Divide mixture into your muffin tins.

6. Add sliced tomatoes on top, if using

Bake for 25 minutes, testing with a toothpick - if it comes out clean, we're done.

I stole the best idea ever from the Barefoot Contessa - to fill muffin tins when you're making cupcakes, muffins or quiches, use an ice cream scooper with a release arm. It is the perfect amount of batter to fill the cups. And you don't have to worry about dribbling all over the place. Brilliant! When I made this this weekend, I was testing out my new silicone muffin tin, that you really don't have to grease, but then also used my regular non-stick pan, and forgot to grease. Luckily everyone came out okay, but take it from me, don't be a hero. Grease your pans.

So it begins

Welcome to the Trisaratops Lounge. I'm your host, Sara - a woman determined to obliterate 150 pounds - and I have 41 gone so far. The road is long and hard and I am easily tempted to pull over and set a spell with a plate of cheese bread and creme brulee on the side. Driving me forward are the rewards I believe in: a longer and healthier life, a stronger body that can keep up with the munchkins I hope to have one day, and to be honest - looking beautiful and shopping in a "regular" size store. Oh, to be a size 12!

The easiest part so far is the cooking. I love to cook as much as I love to eat, and so I'm working on ways to keep myself satisfied with the pleasure of eating, as well as acheiving my weight loss goals. Adding fiber with veggies and especially beans, is great way to fill up and be healthy.

Summer is probably one of the easier times of year to lose weight. The produce is gorgeous and delicious, the weather is nicer (well, usually - I'm in the Pacific NW, so it can be unreliable) so walking is easier when you know you won't get drenched. And if you're hot you're drinking more water! Hooray! Which is not to say I am never tempted by backyard barbecue fare. Oh, Mr. Cheeseburger and I have a long and sordid love affair. And his cousin, pork ribs, well, a girl's gotta live! But to be able to enjoy my full fat friends - I regulate my breakfast and lunches and snacks.

Here's a favorite lunch recipe of mine:

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow pepper, sedded and chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can vegetarian refried beans
1 cup cooked brown rice
1 cup salsa - or more, if you like
.5 cup cheese

Saute the onion in olive oil until translucent. Add zucchini, and saute for 1 minute, add garlic and peppers and saute for 3 minutes. In a large bowl combine sauteed vegetables with rice, beans, salsa and cheese. Voila! If you're not watching carborhydrates, this is a great burrito filling - but I like to eat it just as a rice bowl. It packs up easily to keep in a fridge at work, and I heat it in the microwave. Delish! And you can add whatever you like to it, super adaptable.

I'm off to get some exercise in - have a great week!