Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Stuffed Turkey Breast With "Good" Grains.

  Life is busy for many of us. I know that it can be a lot easier to stop off at the fast food place, or order in. Believe me, been there done that. But here is a quick and easy healthy dinner for you and your family.



Before I begin, I will say that using a Turkey breast is not the most optimal choice in meat when you want to create a rolled, stuffed dish for dinner.. Chicken breast is a better choice. But for this I was going for fast.


My grocery store carries many organic and yummy items. Seed of Change have great side dishes that you can microwave in a matter of seconds for a healthy side dish.


Ingredients:

3 to 4 lb boneless, skinless Turkey Breast.
1 package of Seeds of Change Quinoa & Brown Rice with Garlic, I love me some Garlic, so I added a bit of fresh to it.
3 to 4 slices of Canadian Bacon, to add a bit of flavor, and to "entice" my kids. Haha!
1/4 cup of low-fat cream cheese
2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp. Oregano, Basil, Rosemary

                                                                        

Roll it as best as you can, secure with toothpicks.
 What I did was put the Turkey breast between two sheets of parchment paper and used my rolling pin to pound the breast as flat as I could. (I could not find my meat tenderizer hammer thingy.)

-Cook your package of grains as directed.

In a bowl, I mix the cream cheese, and spices. Once mixed,  lightly spread it onto the turkey breast. Place the slices of Canadian Bacon on top of the mixture. Then you add your cooked grains
                                                                                                             
Taking the long side of the breast, roll it or as I had to do fold it. Secure with toothpicks. Lightly bast the breast with the olive oil, and roll it up in foil. Place the breast in a baking dish. Because I wrapped it in foil, I did not have a messy baking dish to clean either! Bake for about 25 minutes or until meat is cooked.

Slice and serve with your favorite vegetable. We served it with fresh blanched green beans, and a fruit salad made from mixed berries.

                                                        Easy! Healthy! Yummy!



Monday, January 21, 2013

"It Is That Time Of Year!"

Can you guess from my title what I mean? No, it is not a reference to the arctic weather we are having in Ohio. Nope, it is not about Publisher's Clearing House ads. Let me give you a hint:

Cute, adorable girls offering you their delicious sugar-filled goodies in a box...

Yep, you guest it! It is Girl Scout Cookie time! Now if you are fortunate enough to skim by this sale, good for you. For me I have a Girl Scout in my home. The first order had to go in today. So as of now I am safe. The problem will arise when the boxes actually arrive.
For the past few weeks I have had this order form and managed to NOT add an order to it. Good for me you say? Well, I thought so. As we were getting a tally of all the cookies my daughter sold, she realized that she was a few shy of her goal. *Sigh* what is a parent to do? Well I will tell you. They become weak, they break down, they talk themselves into buying the difference. How could I not? Have you seen my daughter? Alright, maybe I am hiding behind her cuteness. Sure I could of ordered the boxes and had them go to the troops overseas, but I was weak. But I have until February 9th to work up my will power.


But then there is that "other" thing that is coming. The Hallmark holiday of Love! Valentine's Day this year will be blown since I will have probably ate all the Girl Scout Cookies five days before, (hey I am being honest) I have some ideas. My first idea is to just make a healthy dinner here at home. Candles, music, you know create the ambiance. But then again, because I ate all the cookies I will probably be so sore from working out, burning those little buggers off, that I will be too sore to do anything. Just kidding...maybe.

My other idea, one that will require my hubby to do (Hint, Hint dear) is to have him create this. My friend, Kate at Farm House 38 created a beautiful arrangement in a heart shaped candy box. She evens gives you a step-by-step tutorial. Fun!


No candy, only filled with roses. Ah, I can smell them! How beautiful is that? And NO Calories!

As much as I love flowers, I was even thinking I could make it easier on my hubby and he can even buy me vegetable seeds. I love to garden and it would make a great gift for my mental and physical health.
 
I think I have this covered, well except those Girl Scout Cookies, hmm...

 

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Why did I do that?

Well I got a bit sassy yesterday. It has been a week in on my journey. I weighed myself. Guess what? I LOST 8 POUNDS this week. WAHOOOOO!!!!

Where did the sassy part come in? Well, I had read somewhere that it is good to give yourself a "cheat" day. Why not? I deserve it. Remember I said I am a all or nothing gal? Here is what I ate:

Breakfast:
     A cream filled long doughnut, I actually could only take 2 bites out of it, it was horrible. Then I stopped at my Mom's and she had homemade teeny cinnamon rolls, about the size of a fifty cent piece. So I popped two of those buggers into my mouth. This was at about 9:45 a.m

Lunch:
           I did not eat until about 2:30ish because I was on the road taking our two Roosters, (I have chickens) to my friend's farm. By this time I was getting loopy. Lunch from a local Chili hot dog place called Rudy's. I had one chili dog with cheese, a small fry. When I dropped my mom off at her house, I popped another one of those cinnamon things into my mouth.

*Note by 4:30 p.m. I was in La-La land and had to take a nap.

Dinner:
     When I woke from my crap filled coma, it was 7:30 p.m. By this point I was hungry, but was starting to fill very sick. For dinner my hubby made the meal I planned of Stir-fry chicken and brown rice noodles. I ate that. Not bad.

Around 11:30 p.m when I should be going to bed, I made two small plates of nachos. My chips were organic sweet potato tortilla chips, which is fine, but I was not within the serving size. Plus I decided I wanted real cheese on them. Topped it with salsa and jalapenos. For some reason I am really into jalapenos.

So, was this a good day? HECK NO! and I am paying for it now. I am physically ill. I have major stomach "issues" (putting it nicely not to offend.) to the point of being incapacitated,  headaches, tired, my thinking is way off,  I feel like I have the flu.

Honestly, this is pretty close to how I use to eat before my journey. Not enough calories, not enough veggies/fruit, and no water. No wonder I am a fat and unhealthy.

Moral of the story: 
Old habits die hard, and this kind of cheating is not good for me. If you want to cheat, have at it, I do not judge. But I cannot go through this again.


On a brighter note:
I did force myself to work out this evening. It was really hard to get there, but I did. One hour of cardio between the bike and treadmill.




Sunday, January 13, 2013

Clean No Cheese Nacho Cheese Nachos

 No, I have not lost my mind, nor is my title a typo. Continue reading...

I love Mexican food! Everything about it. But it is not always the most "healthy." Sure fajitas can be done, but what about Nachos? A few months back a friend of mine posted her nachos. She is totally for eating clean and healthy. She is one of my inspirations. I knew that I had copied down her recipe somewhere, but could not find it. So I ended up scouring old Facebook pics of hers. Yes, Monica, I was stalking your page. But it was for a good cause.

I wanted to make a dinner that would be healthy and fun for the family. A Nacho Bar! Granted the biggest issue was finding nacho chips that would be the best for me. Low sodium and clean. Sure there are great chips out there, but I needed less salt. So I made my own chips. I took clean corn tortillas and made my own. I cut them up into triangle shapes. Granted I did fry some of them, but I did it in organic olive oil. Some of them I baked, and they turned out just as yummy. Instead of salting them, I squeezed lime juice over them.

Now the no cheese part. There was no way my kids would eat nachos with out cheese. This is where my friend comes in. She rarely eats dairy so she found a recipe for Nacho Cheese, that is not made with cheese at all. Now do not stick your nose up yet, it was actually a success. My cheese obsessed husband actually loved it.

Our nacho bar had all the fixings. Black beans, salsa, corn, jalapenos, fresh guacamole, and organic sour cream. (just a bit for me) and the no cheese nacho cheese. To make this is quite easy.


Gosh, it was so yummy! If you think you would like to try this, here is the recipe: 


No Cheese Nacho Cheese


1 cup of cashews
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of red bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic
Favorite hot sauce to taste
Kosher salt, which I did not add gotta watch my salt intake 

Directions: 

In a blender add the cashews and blend to a fine mixture. Add the water and continue to blend. Next add the rest of the ingredients. Continue to blend to a nacho cheese consistency. Voila! Healthy Nacho cheese! 

Note: you may heat this up, but do not over heat, it will get lumpy. 

I doubled the batch, so I can freeze it and use it on snacks. So with the batched doubled it made about 2 1/2 cups or so.


Friday, January 11, 2013

The last few days

I am still here, plugging along. I know it does not sound promising. But it is! I have been doing great considering life has threw me some curves. Sick children. Enough said right?

Wednesday I had a follow up appointment with my doctor. I happy to report that my echo cardiogram looks fab, my blood work came back pretty good. My insulin/sugars are in perfect range! Wahoo! The Cholesterol is "eh." The total is right over the good area. My LDL is horrible, but the HDL is awesome. Which that is good. She wants me to continue on the Zocor for now, but I am sure eventually I will be completely off of it. I go back to see her April 11, the day before my birthday, so I am even more committed to my goal.

I am really rocking this clean eating. However, my body is in shock. Seriously, can we say gas, pain and bloating? I could totally do a commercial for a anti-gas product and I would not be acting. I do have a lot more energy just in this short time.

People have asked me how or what eating clean is? How I started it, how to get the family to do it. Well, here is the thing. I am a all or nothing kind of girl. Sometimes this is a positive in my life, and sometimes it back fires and bites me in my...well you know. For me, I had to just jump in and do it.

No, this is not Old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. It is mine. I started with removing everything out of my kitchen. Then I read the labels of what was in my food. Following the clean eating standards, which for me is only keep what was as natural as possible. NO Processed, NO chemicals, NO High fructose corn syrup, no junk basically. Drastic? You betcha! And shouldn't it be?

I am sure there are some that are balking at this. If you are not comfortable in throwing out food, start slow. Make a goal to whittle out the bad stuff. Or, you could always donate it to a food shelter/pantry. To me I feel no one should eat this junk, plus as I said I am a "All or Nothing" girl. I know me, if there is junk in the house, it will be in my mouth. Same goes for my family. If it is in there, they will eat it. Believe me I am getting a little resistance from the kids, but I am fortunate to have children that are not 100% picky. One of their favorite snacks is fresh hummus and veggies. Plus this not like they have not been down this "health" road before.


 I have even heard and used the excuse myself, "Eating better is time consuming." Sure it can be, but with the websites out there and oodles of good recipes, we have it made. I do not go into a grocery store with out a plan of action. This has helped me stay on the straight and narrow and saves a ton of time and money. When it is time to shop, I make a Meal Menu. I usually do two weeks at a time. From that Menu I make the list of items I need to shop for and just follow the list. Bam! you are in and out in no time. My list does include items for lunch, and snacks. Here is what I had for lunch yesterday. Quick, Easy, and yummy!

I posted it yesterday on my Facebook page. As I said it has been a bit hectic with having sick kids at home.


Daily Reminder:

This is not a diet, it is a lifestyle change. I want to be healthy.













Monday, January 7, 2013

Day #1, AGAIN!

Yes, again! I was fixing my breakfast this morning and suddenly realized just how many times I have had a "DAY 1." You know that could really make it or break it for me. Stinking thinking  crept in and I thought, "why even start? Here you go again, you are just going to fail." Then I realized you know, who cares? I will not know if I do not keep trying. So I decided to have a little laugh at myself, and go on about my day.

 DAY ONE:

My day started with downing a liter of water right off the bat. Oh, the refreshing taste of water. NOT! Since my body is used to it's first liquid of the day being filled with chemicals and caffeine, I felt like I was going to throw up. I had to immediately fix breakfast and eat.  I have noticed that I do better with a lot of protein right away. I fill up faster, and not get all shaky. Thanks wacky pancreas. So my favorite "go to" is eggs. I made 3 egg whites, I sliced up a whole Roma tomato, and had about a Tablespoon of fresh, clean hummus. It was a bit of sparse breakfast, since I have to go grocery shopping tomorrow, but it was delish. My next thing on the agenda, was going to exercise.

My Take on Exercise:

Oh, exercise! How I loathe thee! You hurt me, you make me feel less, you challenge me in ways that I do not really know if I want to be challenge. However...I know it is good for me, so I will do it. (grumble, grumble)

Exercise for me has to be fun. I am NOT a "get on the treadmill for an hour" kind of girl. I do better when I mix it up. For example, Circuit training. After my 3rd child, I joined a Curves fitness center. I had a neighbor that went with me. 30 minutes, cardio, resistance, bing, bam, done! I did not lose a lot of weight, but lost about 19 inches. I liked the constant movement. I am positive I have ADD, so keeping it moving and changing is the key for me.

Right after the holidays, a Planet Fitness opened up. They had an awesome sign up program. It was a $1 to sign up, and it is $10 dollars a month. I have had memberships before, heck, I use to work at a local YMCA, but because I am a "Domestic Engineer" aka House wife, when money is tight, memberships are the first to go! When that happens I bust out my Walking Away the Pounds DVD's they are by far one the best at home work out DVDs. But this membership is one we can handle! I am now a member of Planet Fitness! Wahoo!



Here is my t-shirt and cool new gym bag! Oh, by the way I did work out today. Just under an hour. A mix up of cardio and weights. Oh, and guess what? This place has a 30 minute circuit work out, just like Curves! Sweet.
 
I did pretty well. My problem is once I get the endorphins going, I am like a horse out of the gate, GO, GO, GO! So I have to really watch my pace so I do not end up on the as the latest news story: "WOMAN HAS HEART ATTACK WHILE AT NEW FITNESS CENTER" that would not be good. There was also this resistance machine that I have now dubbed it as a medieval torture device. I cannot think of it's proper name, but it basically makes you use your weight, while pulling in with your upper body, and up with your lower body. It works the abs. At first I just sat there, and then I started laughing. My dear husband says "Are you just going to sit there and take a break?" I look at him and through laughing tell him, " I am doing it!" Yeah, that good. Looks like the "Abs" need a bit more work.

The Eating

Today as I previously said, I had a pretty good breakfast. Because grocery day is tomorrow, I was not a diligent as I could be. Lunch, I had a six inch Veggie sub on wheat from Subway and a banana. Dinner I did  3 egg beaters Garden veggie omelet and fruit from Bob Evans. Normally I would eat 3 meals and 3 healthy snacks to keep my blood sugar from dipping up and down. I may eat the other half of the Veggie sub I have in there since I am a bit hungry at the moment.

Trying to detox off of Diet Pepsi and cigarettes is hard. I did great in my mind today. I only had about 4 cans of soda. Which is low for me. Even with that low amount, I am having withdrawal. I had to take a nap to get rid of the headache. The smoking today. I normally would be almost through a pack, which is 20 cigarettes. Today I have only had 5. I am sure I will have another one before bed, dang habit. But I am being honest.

I found a cool little gadget at the store today. It is a Blender Bottle. I have never seen one. So the hubby and I bought two for our protein shakes. It is BPA free too. I am such a sucker when it comes to gadgets, I love the little mixer ball!




Well that is Day #1 off the list. On ward!


Sunday, January 6, 2013

I got the know how!

I find it funny that a lot of people cannot believe I am as fat as I am. What do I mean you ask? Well the thing is I have done my homework so to speak. How can you not? The diet industry is alive and kicking. What is so hilarious to me is with all the diets, low fat foods, no trans fat, fat free,  medical weight loss procedures, we are still such a fat, obese country. Look at me I am living proof! I admit it, I have rode the diet roller coaster. Let's see, hmmm...

  • I have been in Weight Watchers a total of 5 times. Great program, not always in my budget, and I found myself staying with in the points, however, I only lost 12 pounds ever!
  • I have tried Atkins, helped with my blood sugar, but I am not a big meat eater, and got bored.
  • I have tried South Beach, pretty good, but never was serious.
  • I have tried The HcG diet, sure I lost weight anyone would eating 500 calories a day. Plus the hormone made me break out with dark pigment spots on my face. Oh, Hell no!
  •  Not eating. Does not work by the way.
Now I am sure many out there have tried more diets then I have. You are more of a go getter then I am. In between my diets, I just didn't care, or had moments of false acceptance telling myself " I am accepting my big girlness!" Yeah, whatever. 

I am a hypocrite too. I am not stupid. I read a ton on health and wellness. Dr. Oz, he is my man! I love herbal remedies and am semi-educated on the use of herbs, essential oils, vitamins and the like. I "get" the human body. My sister teases me and says "every time I come over to your house, you always have good food, why are you so heavy?" or something along that line. Well, probably because I do not eat all the good food. For example today. Oh, and for the record, I start tomorrow.

What I have fed my mouth today:

Mornings start with a nice ice filled glass of Diet Pepsi and a cigarette, every day. (Habitual to say the least)
I ate a Totinos frozen pizza about 11:30 with more Diet Pepsi. Diet Pepsi is one of my addictions. I will crave this before I crave food, or a smoke. I kill a twelve pack a day. Gross I know.
I then put about 20 Dove chocolate covered almonds into the mix. Not norm for me, candy and sweets do not come into play until it is time for "EUNICE" to rear her wicked, nasty head. EUNICE is my pet name for that time for the month. 
Dinner will be a 3 ounce pork chop, about a cup and half of mashed potatoes, and two cups of green beans. That is it for my day. If I get the munchies, I may eat some popcorn or salsa and chips.


Yeah, really a healthy way to live don't you think?

Alright enough of the negative, how about some positive? Let's look at my plan for getting better!

Back in March, I found on a friend's Facebook page about Clean Eating. Well, I had to check this out. Basically it just means eating as close to natural as possible. No chemicals, no preservatives, no sugar, no processed foods etc. So, I cleaned out my kitchen and started eating most of my food as natural as possible. Ate small meals, fueling my body, rode my bike, walked, I had acupuncture to stop smoking, took vitamins, juiced and guess what? I lost ten pounds and felt awesome. Maybe I was on to something. I think I was. Why did I stop? Simple. I got sick with the flu and coming out of it fell back into old habits. The smoking did stop, but as I was entering my 3 week mark of quitting, my father-in-law passed away, and I smoked from stress thinking I had a handle on it. Oh, Boy. Can't fool me.

Tomorrow begins the "official" day. I will begin the process of clearing out the crap in my body, and replacing it with health.

Here are some of the things that inspire me:


http://www.integralnatmed.com/food-matters-the-dvdhttp://www.funcrunch.com/tosca-reno-6255/

Let it begin with me...

I am not a doctor, I am not a nurse or any health care professional for that matter. I am not a fitness guru. What I am is 40 years old, knocking on the door of 41. A forty something woman that has ate my way to become a fat, out of shape and most importantly unhealthy woman. A woman who has ate her way from all things that make her a "Goddess", physically, emotionally, and spiritually. You see I believe that if one thing goes, the others will. I have learned how important balance is.  Now before I really get into it, I am not looking for sympathy, or someone to tell me "Oh, you are not that fat." What I am doing is becoming accountable to myself. How? Well, by putting it ALL out there. See I figure if I put the good, the bad, and the ugly out there, I will have to do something. Maybe, just maybe, others will be inspired to do the same...  

Let me just tell you that as I write this, my heart is beating out of my chest, I feel my anxiety growing and all I want to do is hit delete! This is one of the hardest things I have ever done. It is embarrassing, it is admitting that I am human. Honestly, I just want to vomit, I am scared.  Breathe in, breathe out. O.k, here goes.




We all have a story, here is mine:


I am 5 foot and 11 1/2 inches tall. Weight was never an issue with me, until about 14 years ago after the birth of my first child. Up until that point I actually was hassled from friends and family for being "too thin." In my late teens and early 20's I was a part time model. I weighed 135 to 140 during that time. Right before I had my first child I weighed about 185. For the last 14 years I have become obese and unhealthy. I have issues with Insulin Resistance, Depression/Anxiety, high cholesterol, allergies, skin issues, and right before the holidays, found out that I have atrial narrowing of the blood vessels in my eyes, which is indicative of high blood pressure. Genetics do play a part in my health, but I will only give it so much credit. My health is due to MY OWN lifestyle choices, bad food, chemicals and not living clean.
 I smoke. Yep, I smoke! EWWWW, go ahead you can say it, I do. I am not proud of this. I loathe smoking, I hate the smell. So why do I do it? I smoked socially for a few years before I had my first child and stopped as soon as I found out that I was pregnant. I never touched it until about 4 years ago, I was dealing with some crappy life stuff and took a puff off of a friend's cigarette and started smoking. That is all that it took. If you do not smoke, don't! It is the most addicting thing and it is killing me. But I am committed to quitting.


This blog is not about a New Year resolution, it is not about me whining about how bad my life is. It is my way of getting healthy. Do I think I will be a size 8 and weigh 135 pounds and model again? Heck, no! Don't get me wrong, I would love to be that, but today I am a realist. This is not the first time I have entered into the "getting healthy" zone. But it is the first time I being completely honest with myself and others. It is time.



I could not find a better pic, since I usually delete them or crop them out!
My Stats:

Today January 5, 2013:


I am 5 foot 11 and 1/2 inches tall.
 I weigh 263 pounds.I wear a size "big girl", no I wear a 24 pant. My waist is 46 inches, and good Lord have mercy! my hips measure 55 inches!  Yes I am a walking heart attack. My chest, Hahaha, I joke and say this is the only good thing about being fat, I have a chest now! Under the ever sagging breasts it is 42 inches.


Well here it is, the beginning of my journey to health. I quote the Nike, and say "JUST DO IT!"