I'll keep it short and sweet.
Amazon.com has some awesome specials on Kindle books. I snagged The Spark (the sparkpeople.com book) and also the Biggest Loser 30 day Jump Start.
One of the recipes in the BL book that caught my eye is this one for Pesto Pizzettas
I also wanted to give you a quick heads up on a sweet protein-riffic giveaway from my friend Shell @ Eggface. My favorite protein powder and an awesome blender bottle. Sign up for your chance to win--if you hate protein powder, you can always give it to me. I love it for protein shakes, jazzing up SF pudding mixes and baking yummy guilt-free options.
Our family will be heading close, so we are meeting them. Can't wait to see them and our pretty goddaughter. Have a great weekend you guys!
~K
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Heads up: Giveaway @ Eggy's
My favorite blog gal Shelley is doing a sweet giveaway on her blog click here. To celebrate the many milestones in her life around the month of June, she is doing 5 awesome giveaways. This time, it's one of my favorites: Sugar Free Torani syrups. If you follow Shell's blog for any length of time, you will quickly amass all kinds of things to make post-op life easier and more delicious. Torani is one of those things for me. I have a whole lazy susan full of SF Toranis. I use them to jazz up protein shakes, SF pudding, lattes (especially iced!), and of course for the tons of recipes on Eggy's blog. Another easy fav: fresh strawberries with a splash of SF Torani to give it a sugary Strawberry shortcake topping kind of vibe without the guilt.
Go check her out, follow her, leave her some love & learn something while you're there. She has been hands-down my best post-op resource and I say a little blessing of gratitude every day for all that she does/shares/creates.
Thank you Shelley!! :)
~K
Go check her out, follow her, leave her some love & learn something while you're there. She has been hands-down my best post-op resource and I say a little blessing of gratitude every day for all that she does/shares/creates.
Thank you Shelley!! :)
~K
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Super Yummy Spring Rolls
1/2 cup shredded daikon
1/2 cup shredded carrot
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 T rice vinegar
1 small fresh jalapeno, finely chopped
1/2 t sesame oil
1/2 cup cucumber, cut into thin strips
2 T fresh cilantro
1 T soy sauce
Rice papers
1 1/2 cups boston or curly leaf lettuce
They have you make 2 separate marinades and chill your ingredients for 2-24 hours...too much work, so, this is how I roll:
On my big cooking day, I shred the daikon and carrots. I don't measure it. I use a "chunk" of daikon and about 3 carrots. I don't freak out if I have more carrots or more daikon and you shouldn't either. :) I chop up my cucumbers, but don't worry about thin strips. I also use 3 (or more!) jalapenos diced finely and some fresh grated ginger. All of this goes into plastic ware (one with a good lid!). I shake on some soy sauce (or Tamari) + some rice vinegar + some fish sauce and put the lid on and just shake it. This mixture goes into the fridge until Spring Roll day rolls around. If I happen to be rooting around in the fridge for something and I see it in there, I give it a shake for good measure, but this is not required. :) I also chop up A TON of cilantro and put it in a separate container. (and since I'm already chopping, I chop extra for Shrimpo de gallo)...seriously, you will want to do it my way and include extra cilantro. I <3 Cilantro! And for the record, I use Spring Mix vs curly leaf lettuce.
*In case you couldn't already tell, I'm not an "exact measurements" kind of gal. Please do not hold this against me and please feel free to follow their recipe exactly. I'm just kind of "a little bit of this, a little bit of that" kind of cook.*
The other variation that I do is I add protein to mine, always in the form of leftovers. When I'm grilling up my goodies on a sunny day, I'll throw extra on there in case the mood for spring rolls strikes. If it doesn't strike, I make bites or omelets or soup or salad or whatever else sounds good that day.
Leftover Grilled Chicken tenders--pork, shrimp, fish or tender cuts of beef would also work...I'm thinking rotisserie chicken would work great, too.
Throw them in the Ninja to chop the meat up (or use a knife!)
The carrot-daikon-jalapeno-ginger-cucumber mixture (squeeze extra liquid off and mix it in with the chopped meat)
Lots and lots of fresh cilantro...smells so fresh and yummy. Keep this in a separate container for now.
These are the rice papers or "Spring Roll Skin". I get mine at Cash-n-Carry, which also stocks loads of SF Torani syrups and sushi supplies for a steal. :)
Now, here is the part where people freak out a little. "ACK--spring roll wrappers, they are so hard to use. I can't get mine to stay. They fold up in a big clump." Don't worry, I'll help you with that too. Start off by finding a long stretch of space and lay down 1 clean dishtowel for every 4 spring rolls you want to make (I made 8, so I put out 2 towels) and get yourself a large bowl of warm water.
Submerge your spring roll paper in the warm water...do it! It will be okay, I promise. They will be nearly invisible when they are wet.
Take the wrapper out of the warm water and lay it flat on the clean towel. It will stick slightly to the towel, which helps you fold in all of your yummy ingredients. I am an assembly line kind of girl, so I do all of my wrappers first, then move on to my "guts".
Put on a scoop of the meat & veggie mixture. My rule of thumb:, fill them with what your pouch will hold...unless you don't have a pouch, then use about a cup of "guts". You can use more or less guts depending on how big or little you want your rolls to be. I try to position my guts more towards one edge of the wrapper, so I have more room to tuck my guts in tight...do what feels good to you. (FYI, the original recipe has you put in only 1T of guts...whatever!)
Sprinkle some fresh cilantro down the length of the guts. Feel free to use this abundantly. It gives them a fresh flavor. I always put in extra...seriously, how can they expect 2 measly spoons of cilantro to make it last through a whole batch of spring rolls?!
If you are not into salad, skip this next step. I always have to make 2 for my husband without the spring mix, because he is a wuss about salad. :)
Sprinkle on some spring mix. Seriously, put in what looks right. No need to measure, but if you are crazy about measurements, the original recipe has you put in 1/4 cup of lettuce. I personally think they are nuts and try to pack in the protein first and the salad later.
Assembly time!
More Ninja-ing. I tuck and roll and get my guts in tight as I roll these bad boys.
All done. To cut them in half, use a serrated knife, since the skins are so delicate.
Make extra for hungry co-workers...in my case I am swapping a Spring Roll for a breakfast burrito. YUM!
Now, here's the best part...dig in & enjoy! :)
I eat mine with homemade peanut sauce. Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.
Enjoy!
~KMonday, May 16, 2011
Vegas recap + cooking for the week
So, Vegas was fabulous. Aside from not getting to see my Eggy I had a completely excellent time. Lounging by the pool, manufacturing vitamin D, napping and sightseeing. I'm ready to go back already! Mom and I caught Love at the Mirage, which was really great. My uncle and I were able to keep the concert a complete secret until we were in the door! Caesar's didn't have any signage out on the strip or really anywhere in the Colesseum until right outside the front door. We both acted surprised and told her when the line thinned out we would go take a picture with the poster. We snapped her picture and then took her inside. She was so surprised and giddy and appreciative. It was really a fun surprise and fun to watch it all unfold. Stevie was awesome and her band could really rock. Nothing beats hearing the guitar riff for Rhiannon in person. Kinda makes me want to learn how to play the guitar...seriously!
We left Vegas and it was sunny and in the 90s. Returning home, uh not so much--cold, windy and rainy. Boo to that! I think the combo of no sleep, casino smoke, weather changes and traveling took its toll on me as I woke up completely miserable. Luckily, I had an extra day to recuperate and used it to do what I normally do on Sundays: groceries and cooking for the week. Grocery shopping was productive as I had coupons for half off of medicine (convenient, eh?) and lots of my favs were on sale like cucumbers, peppers, and Bob's Red Mill products. I am completely in love with Bob's Red Mill and @ 40% off, I used the opportunity to stock up my pantry. If you are a fan of Eggface (I love her!) and use her recipes, the Bob's Red Mill products work beautifully. I love his Multigrain pancake mix, almond flour and unsweetened coconut for her recipes. I have also fallen in love with his steel cut oats and grits/polenta. Seriously good stuff and the right kind of carbs.
I had 2 bananas and all of my lovely Bob's goodies, so I made a quadruple batch of Eggy's delicious banana mini muffins . In one pan, I added walnuts and in the other I sprinkled in chocolate chips (don't worry--2 chips/muffin is all). My kids (neighbor kids included!) absolutely go bananas (hahaha) for these things. The folks at work will be happy to see me tomorrow, too. I love sharing my goodies and I love when people love them. I also love that I am feeding them healthy, nutritious food and they have no clue it's pouch friendly as well.
Other items of the day: grilled chicken tenders, veggies (squash, zucchini, onions) and salmon for the grill. Can I just say Uber YUM?! . The leftover grilled chicken will be revamped into Spring Rolls later in the week. I'll do a post on that and include the recipe for you guys. These are one of my new favorites! While I was doing all of that chopping, I also made my standby shrimpo de gallo (just waiting for the avocados to ripen) and chopped extra onions for a batch of cottage cheese pancakes later in the week as well. I also used up some milk (to make room for the plastic ware full of goodness) and made SF Chocolate pudding w choc protein powder in it. So, I cooked just once and am loaded up with goodies for the week.
Meal planning keeps me on track nutritionally and cooking a big haul once a week keeps me on track sanity wise. It took me awhile to get my system down, but here's what works for me:
1. Stock up on containers--I got lucky and scored a TON of plastic ware at my local Dollar Tree. You can also save containers like from cottage cheese (which hold 2 cups by the way) or those take and toss kind. If you are early op, get thee to the Dollar Tree and stock up on those baby containers with lids and measure out the stage you are in i.e. 1/4 c or 1/2 c. Hit yard sales or hostess a Tupperware party. Buy the size that you will use. For me, I have a variety of sizes/shapes/depths. Get what works for you. It may be baggies, glass bowls, or cottage cheese containers...just make sure you have enough to store the amount of food you want to cook and that it will do what you need it to do i.e. use glass for red sauce so it doesn't stain or take and toss if it's extra stinky or you don't want to ever think about cleaning it. :)
2. The freezer is your friend--I love my recipes, but I am not a huge fan of eating the same thing day in and day out. I have learned that for me, I can cook a big batch and ration it out this way: enough for dinner that night + lunches the next day. The rest gets frozen into usable sizes i.e. enough for dinner or enough to grab and go for lunch. For example, if I make soup, I freeze containers with 1 cup if it's for lunch for me or 4 cups if I want to make it into an easy meal. Same goes with those muffins. No one needs 48 muffins in one week. I put a batch in my freezer for a quick snack later.
3. Waste not, want not--most of the time, my cooking gets inspired by what is on sale or what I have on hand that needs to get used ASAP. I hate wasting food/money, so I try to stretch every single thing I can and make the most of it. Small amounts of meat or veggies get chopped up and made into omelets or bites. If I can score an awesome deal on something, that comes into play. If a neighbor gives me some of their tomatoes, I will most definitely add that to the menu. This week, cucumbers were on sale 3 for $1. For $1 in produce, I was able to make: cucumber salad (cukes + balsamic + feta), sunomono, chopped cukes for the Spring rolls, and sliced cukes to have with hummus. They are also great with sour cream/greek yogurt & dry ranch mix or dill. Yum! Channel Tim Gunn and "Make it work".
4. Find your staples--There are certain things that I use a lot in my cooking: Bob's Red Mill products obviously, eggs, lean proteins, beans, cheese, pesto, cottage cheese, peanut butter, fresh produce and hot sauce. A lot of my favorite dishes use some combination of these ingredients. If there is something I'm really craving, I'll buy what I need for that dish and figure out a way to use the leftovers (see #3). Or, if I have something I need to use up, I can rely on one of my staples to help me out. Like that cucumber salad...totally just raided my cheese drawer and saw the feta and tossed it together into a quick salad. The same goes with your recipe box...find a handful of recipes that you can always rely on to make something healthy for yourself. For me, I can always find a use for leftover grilled proteins and veggies, so I make that nearly every week. I also always have some kind of soup in my freezer just in case. There is not a single fast food restaurant that can make anything as healthy as you can by reheating something from your stash.
5. Don't forget about breakfast--for me, breakfast has always been a challenge. Either I forget it totally, or (pre-op) I would pick something full of sugar and feel like crap the rest of the day. In order for me to make it out the door and to work on time, I need grab and go options. I always have protein powder for a quick shake, eggs, and cottage cheese. Sometimes, a warm breakfast is in order though. Every week, I also pick one "breakfasty" thing to make and freeze some servings of it. This week, I'll make cottage cheese pancakes...but in my freezer, you'll also find: breakfast burritos (low-carb tortillas + whatever guts you like, wrap in aluminum foil), protein powder pancakes, egg bites, and single servings of steel cut oats. I always eat a healthy breakfast this way.
6. Get inspired--nothing makes me want to cook quite like tasting something absolutely delicious and trying to recreate it...or getting my hands on a coveted recipe...or seeing a mouth watering food picture (food porn)...or going to Farmer's Market and seeing all of that gorgeous fresh local produce...or it being crab season...or it being fall (pumpkin + cinnamon!)...or it being sunny and total barbecue weather...or getting a great deal on something at the Grocery Outlet. You get the idea. Do what works for you. I am a total food dork, so I have a lot of tricks. I have a memo pad in my cell phone with ideas or my take on what I just ate (probably garlic and rosemary or try ginger next time or needs more cheese). I read a lot of food blogs. I taste a lot of things that other people make and ask (beg/plead/donate a kidney) for the recipe. I subscribe to magazines that help me: Rachael Ray, Sunset, Real Simple. I have an uncle that can cook, so I text him with questions. I swap secrets with other foodies. And the biggie...I take time to taste what I am eating. Pre-op, I was a "snarfer". (Snarfer (n): one who inhales their food without tasting it; one who eats like a ferocious animal; one who eats so quickly they do not chew. May also be used as a verb i.e. to snarf). I can now tell what is right (or wrong) with a dish. I can also figure out how to make it work for me (no pasta/no rice/no pre-packaged nastiness/no real sugar).
7. Good music always helps--I had an iPod dock radio thing in my office, which was really a waste since if I'm in my office, I'm probably on the computer and can listen to music on that. So, I moved said iPod dock radio thing to my kitchen and rock out while I'm cooking/prepping/cleaning. Good tunes also inspire small children to come into my vicinity and give me a much needed laugh or dance break. :)
So, that's it...the secrets to my success. Are there any other cooking for the week kind of cooks out there? Getting my stockpile has seriously saved my sanity on a few occasions and most definitely kept me from succumbing to a really bad (unhealthy) food choice too many times to count. It's hard to justify McDonald's when I can have a delicious bowl of Black Bean soup instead.
Take care of yourselves!
~K
We left Vegas and it was sunny and in the 90s. Returning home, uh not so much--cold, windy and rainy. Boo to that! I think the combo of no sleep, casino smoke, weather changes and traveling took its toll on me as I woke up completely miserable. Luckily, I had an extra day to recuperate and used it to do what I normally do on Sundays: groceries and cooking for the week. Grocery shopping was productive as I had coupons for half off of medicine (convenient, eh?) and lots of my favs were on sale like cucumbers, peppers, and Bob's Red Mill products. I am completely in love with Bob's Red Mill and @ 40% off, I used the opportunity to stock up my pantry. If you are a fan of Eggface (I love her!) and use her recipes, the Bob's Red Mill products work beautifully. I love his Multigrain pancake mix, almond flour and unsweetened coconut for her recipes. I have also fallen in love with his steel cut oats and grits/polenta. Seriously good stuff and the right kind of carbs.
I had 2 bananas and all of my lovely Bob's goodies, so I made a quadruple batch of Eggy's delicious banana mini muffins . In one pan, I added walnuts and in the other I sprinkled in chocolate chips (don't worry--2 chips/muffin is all). My kids (neighbor kids included!) absolutely go bananas (hahaha) for these things. The folks at work will be happy to see me tomorrow, too. I love sharing my goodies and I love when people love them. I also love that I am feeding them healthy, nutritious food and they have no clue it's pouch friendly as well.
Other items of the day: grilled chicken tenders, veggies (squash, zucchini, onions) and salmon for the grill. Can I just say Uber YUM?! . The leftover grilled chicken will be revamped into Spring Rolls later in the week. I'll do a post on that and include the recipe for you guys. These are one of my new favorites! While I was doing all of that chopping, I also made my standby shrimpo de gallo (just waiting for the avocados to ripen) and chopped extra onions for a batch of cottage cheese pancakes later in the week as well. I also used up some milk (to make room for the plastic ware full of goodness) and made SF Chocolate pudding w choc protein powder in it. So, I cooked just once and am loaded up with goodies for the week.
Meal planning keeps me on track nutritionally and cooking a big haul once a week keeps me on track sanity wise. It took me awhile to get my system down, but here's what works for me:
1. Stock up on containers--I got lucky and scored a TON of plastic ware at my local Dollar Tree. You can also save containers like from cottage cheese (which hold 2 cups by the way) or those take and toss kind. If you are early op, get thee to the Dollar Tree and stock up on those baby containers with lids and measure out the stage you are in i.e. 1/4 c or 1/2 c. Hit yard sales or hostess a Tupperware party. Buy the size that you will use. For me, I have a variety of sizes/shapes/depths. Get what works for you. It may be baggies, glass bowls, or cottage cheese containers...just make sure you have enough to store the amount of food you want to cook and that it will do what you need it to do i.e. use glass for red sauce so it doesn't stain or take and toss if it's extra stinky or you don't want to ever think about cleaning it. :)
2. The freezer is your friend--I love my recipes, but I am not a huge fan of eating the same thing day in and day out. I have learned that for me, I can cook a big batch and ration it out this way: enough for dinner that night + lunches the next day. The rest gets frozen into usable sizes i.e. enough for dinner or enough to grab and go for lunch. For example, if I make soup, I freeze containers with 1 cup if it's for lunch for me or 4 cups if I want to make it into an easy meal. Same goes with those muffins. No one needs 48 muffins in one week. I put a batch in my freezer for a quick snack later.
3. Waste not, want not--most of the time, my cooking gets inspired by what is on sale or what I have on hand that needs to get used ASAP. I hate wasting food/money, so I try to stretch every single thing I can and make the most of it. Small amounts of meat or veggies get chopped up and made into omelets or bites. If I can score an awesome deal on something, that comes into play. If a neighbor gives me some of their tomatoes, I will most definitely add that to the menu. This week, cucumbers were on sale 3 for $1. For $1 in produce, I was able to make: cucumber salad (cukes + balsamic + feta), sunomono, chopped cukes for the Spring rolls, and sliced cukes to have with hummus. They are also great with sour cream/greek yogurt & dry ranch mix or dill. Yum! Channel Tim Gunn and "Make it work".
4. Find your staples--There are certain things that I use a lot in my cooking: Bob's Red Mill products obviously, eggs, lean proteins, beans, cheese, pesto, cottage cheese, peanut butter, fresh produce and hot sauce. A lot of my favorite dishes use some combination of these ingredients. If there is something I'm really craving, I'll buy what I need for that dish and figure out a way to use the leftovers (see #3). Or, if I have something I need to use up, I can rely on one of my staples to help me out. Like that cucumber salad...totally just raided my cheese drawer and saw the feta and tossed it together into a quick salad. The same goes with your recipe box...find a handful of recipes that you can always rely on to make something healthy for yourself. For me, I can always find a use for leftover grilled proteins and veggies, so I make that nearly every week. I also always have some kind of soup in my freezer just in case. There is not a single fast food restaurant that can make anything as healthy as you can by reheating something from your stash.
5. Don't forget about breakfast--for me, breakfast has always been a challenge. Either I forget it totally, or (pre-op) I would pick something full of sugar and feel like crap the rest of the day. In order for me to make it out the door and to work on time, I need grab and go options. I always have protein powder for a quick shake, eggs, and cottage cheese. Sometimes, a warm breakfast is in order though. Every week, I also pick one "breakfasty" thing to make and freeze some servings of it. This week, I'll make cottage cheese pancakes...but in my freezer, you'll also find: breakfast burritos (low-carb tortillas + whatever guts you like, wrap in aluminum foil), protein powder pancakes, egg bites, and single servings of steel cut oats. I always eat a healthy breakfast this way.
6. Get inspired--nothing makes me want to cook quite like tasting something absolutely delicious and trying to recreate it...or getting my hands on a coveted recipe...or seeing a mouth watering food picture (food porn)...or going to Farmer's Market and seeing all of that gorgeous fresh local produce...or it being crab season...or it being fall (pumpkin + cinnamon!)...or it being sunny and total barbecue weather...or getting a great deal on something at the Grocery Outlet. You get the idea. Do what works for you. I am a total food dork, so I have a lot of tricks. I have a memo pad in my cell phone with ideas or my take on what I just ate (probably garlic and rosemary or try ginger next time or needs more cheese). I read a lot of food blogs. I taste a lot of things that other people make and ask (beg/plead/donate a kidney) for the recipe. I subscribe to magazines that help me: Rachael Ray, Sunset, Real Simple. I have an uncle that can cook, so I text him with questions. I swap secrets with other foodies. And the biggie...I take time to taste what I am eating. Pre-op, I was a "snarfer". (Snarfer (n): one who inhales their food without tasting it; one who eats like a ferocious animal; one who eats so quickly they do not chew. May also be used as a verb i.e. to snarf). I can now tell what is right (or wrong) with a dish. I can also figure out how to make it work for me (no pasta/no rice/no pre-packaged nastiness/no real sugar).
7. Good music always helps--I had an iPod dock radio thing in my office, which was really a waste since if I'm in my office, I'm probably on the computer and can listen to music on that. So, I moved said iPod dock radio thing to my kitchen and rock out while I'm cooking/prepping/cleaning. Good tunes also inspire small children to come into my vicinity and give me a much needed laugh or dance break. :)
So, that's it...the secrets to my success. Are there any other cooking for the week kind of cooks out there? Getting my stockpile has seriously saved my sanity on a few occasions and most definitely kept me from succumbing to a really bad (unhealthy) food choice too many times to count. It's hard to justify McDonald's when I can have a delicious bowl of Black Bean soup instead.
Take care of yourselves!
~K
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Mother's Day recap and upcoming surprises
Don't you hate when computers "glitch" and it eats your post? I sure do.
I'll quickly recap what I've typed twice: My mother's day=fabulous. iTunes + Coffee gift cards, a super delightful hike in the forest plus $250 winnings at the local casino. I joked with my mom that she is my good luck charm and that I should take her to Las Vegas.
Little does she know that this is exactly the plan. :) We are leaving for Vegas tomorrow and she has NO IDEA. How I have managed to keep it a secret is beyond me. I made the plans 3 months ago. Her brother is meeting us there for her bday. I told her we were going to see him, so we'd have an excuse to travel, but she has no idea that we are meeting him in Vegas. We also threw in a few extra lies just for fun. Like for her bday present, we said we got her tickets to a cowboy museum with over 300 varieties of horseshoes. God love her, she is so gracious and said it would be fascinating. hahah. We actually got her tickets for this super secret bday present.
So I'll be heading out Thurs and coming home Sunday. Happy Mother's Day, Mama. I hope you enjoy your surprises. :)
~K
I'll quickly recap what I've typed twice: My mother's day=fabulous. iTunes + Coffee gift cards, a super delightful hike in the forest plus $250 winnings at the local casino. I joked with my mom that she is my good luck charm and that I should take her to Las Vegas.
Little does she know that this is exactly the plan. :) We are leaving for Vegas tomorrow and she has NO IDEA. How I have managed to keep it a secret is beyond me. I made the plans 3 months ago. Her brother is meeting us there for her bday. I told her we were going to see him, so we'd have an excuse to travel, but she has no idea that we are meeting him in Vegas. We also threw in a few extra lies just for fun. Like for her bday present, we said we got her tickets to a cowboy museum with over 300 varieties of horseshoes. God love her, she is so gracious and said it would be fascinating. hahah. We actually got her tickets for this super secret bday present.
So I'll be heading out Thurs and coming home Sunday. Happy Mother's Day, Mama. I hope you enjoy your surprises. :)
~K
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Cinco de Mayo=Shrimpo de Gallo
Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!
Had an awesome potluck at work filled to the brim with healthy protein-riffic choices: tender beef and pork verde, beans and yummy toppings. After work, I went to zumba with my girls or as Colette calls it "channeling your inner Shakira". :) Love her..and love zumba. The hour goes by so quickly and when I wear my body bugg, I can burn over 700 calories in one hour. Sweet!
If you remember earlier in the week, I did my prep work for Shrimpo de Gallo, which is my favorite go-to recipe these days. I swiped it from Ree aka the Pioneer Woman and you can snag your own copy here from P-Dub.
What better way to celebrate than with protein packed shrimp, healthy fats from the avocado and a fresh punch of lime juice and cilantro. I am absolutely in love with this dish and seriously eat it almost every week since I have found it. I hope you enjoy it too. And if you get a chance, stay awhile and check out Ree's blog or her cookbook. I was cracking up while reading it and thoroughly confused my hubby (insert head scratch as he ask "you're reading a COOKBOOK?").
Anyway, here is the awesome food porn picture. Enjoy!
I always make a big batch of this because everyone goes crazy for it. It's almost like some kind of memo goes out that I have some and suddenly I'm surrounded by hungry friends. I usually make mine without the tomatoes, just because they tend to not hold up as well. I also have the best luck (leftover wise) by putting the lime juice directly onto my avocado chunks. Seriously delicious!
~K
Had an awesome potluck at work filled to the brim with healthy protein-riffic choices: tender beef and pork verde, beans and yummy toppings. After work, I went to zumba with my girls or as Colette calls it "channeling your inner Shakira". :) Love her..and love zumba. The hour goes by so quickly and when I wear my body bugg, I can burn over 700 calories in one hour. Sweet!
If you remember earlier in the week, I did my prep work for Shrimpo de Gallo, which is my favorite go-to recipe these days. I swiped it from Ree aka the Pioneer Woman and you can snag your own copy here from P-Dub.
What better way to celebrate than with protein packed shrimp, healthy fats from the avocado and a fresh punch of lime juice and cilantro. I am absolutely in love with this dish and seriously eat it almost every week since I have found it. I hope you enjoy it too. And if you get a chance, stay awhile and check out Ree's blog or her cookbook. I was cracking up while reading it and thoroughly confused my hubby (insert head scratch as he ask "you're reading a COOKBOOK?").
Anyway, here is the awesome food porn picture. Enjoy!
I always make a big batch of this because everyone goes crazy for it. It's almost like some kind of memo goes out that I have some and suddenly I'm surrounded by hungry friends. I usually make mine without the tomatoes, just because they tend to not hold up as well. I also have the best luck (leftover wise) by putting the lime juice directly onto my avocado chunks. Seriously delicious!
~K
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Sunday = cooking for the week
I'm going to warn you, this is a long one...
One of the things that I do to help myself succeed is to make as much of what I eat myself. I like knowing exactly what is going into my meal, which equates into knowing exactly what is going into my body. I have tried a bunch of variations on meal planning, only to perfectly map out my meals on Sunday and have an emergency appointment on Tuesday or to be running behind and settle for fast food--which in a post-op's life usually limits me to a grilled chicken sandwich minus the bread--which, when you have to do that very often gets very old very fast--or to get to Wednesday and just not be feeling like whatever was on my Wednesday slot.
In order to make this plan actually work with my life and my schedule is keeping things flexible and using what I have on hand combined with what is on sale for that week. If I see something I know I will use, I stock up while it is cheap and keep it in my pantry...AKA my "store". I also do as much as I possibly can one day a week (for me, it's almost always Sunday, but being flexible it could be any day that works for me that week). So, here is what I had on hand that needed to be used: leftover ham, a bag of coleslaw mix, grapes, a red pepper, a gallon of milk, a sleeve of English muffins, a tiny container of chopped pecans, 3 onions, some carrots, bacon, a pre-marinated pork loin and 18 eggs...random, right? I swear I made use of all of it...details below.
I was smart enough to think ahead and do my grocery shopping on Thursday after work, so that I could avoid the supermarket at all costs during the rush of the 1st of the month. I hit Grocery Outlet, which always means remaining flexible for what I will make that week because their stock changes depending on what they can get for cheap. This usually results in really great deals, but really random meals depending on what they have, but I usually spend half of what I would on groceries by shopping there 1st. I also like them because they give you 50 cents off your shopping bill for bringing reusable bags. At grocery outlet, they were having a dollar bonanza, so for $1 (each) I got: strawberries (I bought 4), jalapenos (a giant bag), limes (5/$1...I bought 10), cilantro (2 bunches for $1) and those pre-cut apples (8 pkgs for $1). And because they had it in stock and I knew I would use it, I bought: pesto, Sabra roasted garlic hummus, cottage cheese, taco seasoning, shrimp and single servings of plain Greek yogurt. And because I had a new recipe from Tina to try, I bought 2 bags of dry lentils for 69 cents each.
So on Saturday, because I was ahead of the game (having already bought groceries) and the weather was GORGEOUS, we used the barbecue. I made: the pre-marinated pork loin, some of the shrimp (kebab'd style) and Ashley's jalapeno poppers (recipe below). Also on Saturday, I found a delicious looking recipe for a baked berry pancake that just seemed to scream out Sunday morning breakfast. I ripped it out of my Sunset Magazine, but you can find the recipe here.
Jalapeno Poppers:
Jalapenos
Cream cheese
Bacon
Cut the stem (top) off of the jalapenos. Carefully scoop out the seeds and fill the empty jalapenos with cream cheese. Wrap each popper with bacon and secure with a toothpick (or make a big skewer of them). *You'll get the best results with thin bacon, but I have yet to meet a bacon that I didn't like*. Grill on the barbecue until the bacon is crispy and the jalapeno is slightly soft. Yep, it's that easy. If it's not barbecue weather, you can also bake these bad boys. Delicious.
If you're following along at home, make sure you get the Berry Pancake recipe and let's fast forward to Sunday where all the magic happens. I wanted to serve the berry pancake for breakfast and I still had leftover bacon, so those got top billing in terms of how I prioritized my cooking. Since I had gotten so many strawberries at G.O. for cheap, I used straight up strawberries vs. raspberries in the recipe. So into the oven went: Berry Pancake + bacon. Yep, I bake my bacon because: 1. everyone in this house likes it extra crispy and I don't have the patience to babysit it while it fries and 2. I absolutely hate when I get popped with bacon grease splatters. I also whipped up a fresh fruit salad with strawberries, grapes and oranges. And since the oven was on, I baked a dozen eggs in a muffin tin to use for my take on the Egg McMuffin (So if you're keeping track, I used: 16 of the eggs, the remaining bacon, 2 1/2 cups of the milk, and 2 containers of the strawberries plus a use for all of the English Muffins. This also left me with one lemon that had been zested for the pancake).
The pancake takes 30 mins to bake, so while that worked it's magic, I got 2 big soup pots started to make Creamy Cabbage Soup and the lentil recipe I scored from Tina. I also reserved 2 glasses of milk for the kidlets to have with their pancake, which was absolutely beautiful when it came out.
I think next time I will try adding protein powder to the milk to beef up the protein content, but my kids had no complaints. :) We sliced this into 8 pieces and served it with SF whipped cream and a sprinkling of Super Secret Squirrel Granola (which is so secret I can't give you the recipe...I still have the scar from where they took out my kidney so I could get my hands on it.)
Lentil Recipe:
Here it is verbatim straight from her message to me:
One of the things that I do to help myself succeed is to make as much of what I eat myself. I like knowing exactly what is going into my meal, which equates into knowing exactly what is going into my body. I have tried a bunch of variations on meal planning, only to perfectly map out my meals on Sunday and have an emergency appointment on Tuesday or to be running behind and settle for fast food--which in a post-op's life usually limits me to a grilled chicken sandwich minus the bread--which, when you have to do that very often gets very old very fast--or to get to Wednesday and just not be feeling like whatever was on my Wednesday slot.
In order to make this plan actually work with my life and my schedule is keeping things flexible and using what I have on hand combined with what is on sale for that week. If I see something I know I will use, I stock up while it is cheap and keep it in my pantry...AKA my "store". I also do as much as I possibly can one day a week (for me, it's almost always Sunday, but being flexible it could be any day that works for me that week). So, here is what I had on hand that needed to be used: leftover ham, a bag of coleslaw mix, grapes, a red pepper, a gallon of milk, a sleeve of English muffins, a tiny container of chopped pecans, 3 onions, some carrots, bacon, a pre-marinated pork loin and 18 eggs...random, right? I swear I made use of all of it...details below.
I was smart enough to think ahead and do my grocery shopping on Thursday after work, so that I could avoid the supermarket at all costs during the rush of the 1st of the month. I hit Grocery Outlet, which always means remaining flexible for what I will make that week because their stock changes depending on what they can get for cheap. This usually results in really great deals, but really random meals depending on what they have, but I usually spend half of what I would on groceries by shopping there 1st. I also like them because they give you 50 cents off your shopping bill for bringing reusable bags. At grocery outlet, they were having a dollar bonanza, so for $1 (each) I got: strawberries (I bought 4), jalapenos (a giant bag), limes (5/$1...I bought 10), cilantro (2 bunches for $1) and those pre-cut apples (8 pkgs for $1). And because they had it in stock and I knew I would use it, I bought: pesto, Sabra roasted garlic hummus, cottage cheese, taco seasoning, shrimp and single servings of plain Greek yogurt. And because I had a new recipe from Tina to try, I bought 2 bags of dry lentils for 69 cents each.
So on Saturday, because I was ahead of the game (having already bought groceries) and the weather was GORGEOUS, we used the barbecue. I made: the pre-marinated pork loin, some of the shrimp (kebab'd style) and Ashley's jalapeno poppers (recipe below). Also on Saturday, I found a delicious looking recipe for a baked berry pancake that just seemed to scream out Sunday morning breakfast. I ripped it out of my Sunset Magazine, but you can find the recipe here.
Jalapeno Poppers:
Jalapenos
Cream cheese
Bacon
Cut the stem (top) off of the jalapenos. Carefully scoop out the seeds and fill the empty jalapenos with cream cheese. Wrap each popper with bacon and secure with a toothpick (or make a big skewer of them). *You'll get the best results with thin bacon, but I have yet to meet a bacon that I didn't like*. Grill on the barbecue until the bacon is crispy and the jalapeno is slightly soft. Yep, it's that easy. If it's not barbecue weather, you can also bake these bad boys. Delicious.
If you're following along at home, make sure you get the Berry Pancake recipe and let's fast forward to Sunday where all the magic happens. I wanted to serve the berry pancake for breakfast and I still had leftover bacon, so those got top billing in terms of how I prioritized my cooking. Since I had gotten so many strawberries at G.O. for cheap, I used straight up strawberries vs. raspberries in the recipe. So into the oven went: Berry Pancake + bacon. Yep, I bake my bacon because: 1. everyone in this house likes it extra crispy and I don't have the patience to babysit it while it fries and 2. I absolutely hate when I get popped with bacon grease splatters. I also whipped up a fresh fruit salad with strawberries, grapes and oranges. And since the oven was on, I baked a dozen eggs in a muffin tin to use for my take on the Egg McMuffin (So if you're keeping track, I used: 16 of the eggs, the remaining bacon, 2 1/2 cups of the milk, and 2 containers of the strawberries plus a use for all of the English Muffins. This also left me with one lemon that had been zested for the pancake).
The pancake takes 30 mins to bake, so while that worked it's magic, I got 2 big soup pots started to make Creamy Cabbage Soup and the lentil recipe I scored from Tina. I also reserved 2 glasses of milk for the kidlets to have with their pancake, which was absolutely beautiful when it came out.
I think next time I will try adding protein powder to the milk to beef up the protein content, but my kids had no complaints. :) We sliced this into 8 pieces and served it with SF whipped cream and a sprinkling of Super Secret Squirrel Granola (which is so secret I can't give you the recipe...I still have the scar from where they took out my kidney so I could get my hands on it.)
Lentil Recipe:
Here it is verbatim straight from her message to me:
Thursday, April 28, 2011
The easy way out...
I was asked by my friend Khrysti to start blogging. I have had this blog for a long while now, but haven't ever written anything important. After all, I am just a girl that deals with life...not an author or a writer or an expert for that darn matter. But I feel compelled to write after something on Eggy 's FB page made me a bit pissed. Someone anonymously e-mailed her to tell her she took the easy way out by having gastric bypass surgery.
So, I feel compelled on behalf of Eggy, and myself, and Khrysti and all of the people that I personally know that have had some type of surgery to offer some education. Bariatric surgery is not an easy way out. When I hear a person make this statement, it immediately raises my red flag. If you can find the "easy" part of my decision, clue me in because I certainly can't find it.
In January 2009, I made a resolution to get healthy. I weighed 296 pounds and had diabetes and asthma and felt like crap. I had no energy to chase my kids or do anything fun. I was very determined to lose weight "the right way". I joined the gym and worked out 5-6 days a week. I saw a nutritionist every week and kept a food log of everything. I ate 1200 calories a day and avoided carbs like the plague (I kept it at no more than 30/day). I was taking 5 pills a day, plus 2 injections of Byetta every day along with up to 4 fingersticks a day (plus co-pays for testing supplies). I saw my medical provider every 4 weeks and checked in with her, my nutritionist, my trainer, my support team. (In case you haven't put together the pieces, being obese is effin expensive).
I did this for 9 full months and guess where my hard work got me...I lost a whopping 8 lbs during that time. My A1C did NOT improve. (I was faithful to my medication regime btw and did fingersticks up to 4 times a day.)
Because my A1C was not improving and my fasting sugars were not improving, my doctor informed me of my options: insulin or bariatric surgery. I sort of felt like I picked the wrong curtain on Let's Make a Deal because neither option to me seemed doable. And for the record, neither option was easy. I did research and met with a ton of specialists. I learned a lot about obesity, eating, diabetes, RNY, gastric banding, protein, nutrition and options.
So after exploring my options, I decided to have Roux en Y (RNY) gastric bypass surgery. Prior to my surgery, I continued meeting with a nutritionist, my doctors, trainers and exercising. I also added protein supplements and bariatric vitamins. So, my work did not get easier, it actually became more challenging. Next comes the surgery itself, where I was cut open and had my guts rearranged. (Stealing Eggy's words here because that's what they do and it's not easy).
I followed my team's instructions...protein, fluids, vitamins, exercise, and no grazing. And guess what folks, it never got easy.
But here's the difference:
The girl on the right did all of the same exact things that the girl on the left did. The only difference is the girl on the right became healthy because of her decision.
I am now a year and a half post-op and down 111 lbs. I still work out. I still watch what I eat. I am careful about my protein, water, grazing and vitamins. And...(guess where this is going)...it never did get easy. I work at this every single day of my life. I analyze my choices and my actions and my own feelings about things. I have yet to ever think my decision was easy, but for me, it was the correct one.
If you or someone you love have been hurt by ignorance, send them my way. (That came *thisclose* to sounding like one of those weird attorney ads). I will never get tired of defending my choice because it saved my life and perhaps my story can give others some insight into the situation.
Take home message: it is not the easy way out. It is a lifelong decision that I work at every single day. Nutrition and exercise never go away, so how is one person's journey any "easier" than another? Easy way out?? I don't think so.
~K
So, I feel compelled on behalf of Eggy, and myself, and Khrysti and all of the people that I personally know that have had some type of surgery to offer some education. Bariatric surgery is not an easy way out. When I hear a person make this statement, it immediately raises my red flag. If you can find the "easy" part of my decision, clue me in because I certainly can't find it.
In January 2009, I made a resolution to get healthy. I weighed 296 pounds and had diabetes and asthma and felt like crap. I had no energy to chase my kids or do anything fun. I was very determined to lose weight "the right way". I joined the gym and worked out 5-6 days a week. I saw a nutritionist every week and kept a food log of everything. I ate 1200 calories a day and avoided carbs like the plague (I kept it at no more than 30/day). I was taking 5 pills a day, plus 2 injections of Byetta every day along with up to 4 fingersticks a day (plus co-pays for testing supplies). I saw my medical provider every 4 weeks and checked in with her, my nutritionist, my trainer, my support team. (In case you haven't put together the pieces, being obese is effin expensive).
I did this for 9 full months and guess where my hard work got me...I lost a whopping 8 lbs during that time. My A1C did NOT improve. (I was faithful to my medication regime btw and did fingersticks up to 4 times a day.)
Because my A1C was not improving and my fasting sugars were not improving, my doctor informed me of my options: insulin or bariatric surgery. I sort of felt like I picked the wrong curtain on Let's Make a Deal because neither option to me seemed doable. And for the record, neither option was easy. I did research and met with a ton of specialists. I learned a lot about obesity, eating, diabetes, RNY, gastric banding, protein, nutrition and options.
So after exploring my options, I decided to have Roux en Y (RNY) gastric bypass surgery. Prior to my surgery, I continued meeting with a nutritionist, my doctors, trainers and exercising. I also added protein supplements and bariatric vitamins. So, my work did not get easier, it actually became more challenging. Next comes the surgery itself, where I was cut open and had my guts rearranged. (Stealing Eggy's words here because that's what they do and it's not easy).
I followed my team's instructions...protein, fluids, vitamins, exercise, and no grazing. And guess what folks, it never got easy.
But here's the difference:
I am now a year and a half post-op and down 111 lbs. I still work out. I still watch what I eat. I am careful about my protein, water, grazing and vitamins. And...(guess where this is going)...it never did get easy. I work at this every single day of my life. I analyze my choices and my actions and my own feelings about things. I have yet to ever think my decision was easy, but for me, it was the correct one.
If you or someone you love have been hurt by ignorance, send them my way. (That came *thisclose* to sounding like one of those weird attorney ads). I will never get tired of defending my choice because it saved my life and perhaps my story can give others some insight into the situation.
Take home message: it is not the easy way out. It is a lifelong decision that I work at every single day. Nutrition and exercise never go away, so how is one person's journey any "easier" than another? Easy way out?? I don't think so.
~K
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)