The Working Mom » food

Found a New Vegetarian Recipe

Jennifer — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 06:20:10 +0000

Ok, I’m back on track after the holidays. I fully expected xmas and new years to be flops diet wise – I wasn’t going to try and fight it and really just wanted to have fun. My plan was to just get back on track as quickly as possible which I have done. Zumba is back on track. The gym is nuts at the moment though. Everyone’s there for their New Year’s resolution. =sigh= So the class ends up being super crowded with people who don’t understand the whole personal-space thing. I think the worst offenders are the ones who don’t even do it on purpose – and especially those same ones that have no grace at all and flail like a crazy person in the class – always missing the cue when the entire class moves to the right or left… It’s dangerous! LOL!

In any case – I found a GREAT vegetarian recipe. I made it for dinner tonight and it was really yummy and filling and just awesome. The recipe is Quinoa and Roasted Pepper Chili. Sometimes I have to modify the recipe, short of just using more zucchini than the recipe probably called for, I followed the directions almost exactly. I had some extra calories to spare today so I threw 1/3 of a cup of shredded cheddar cheese on top. Yum!

One thing I’m on the hunt for some good lentil recipes. I tried a curried lentils and paneer recipe a few nights ago but it was a big flop. I really like lentils – they’re healthy and filling, but I need some flavorful recipes! I’ll keep hunting.

Vegetarian Recipes

Jennifer — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 06:41:37 +0000

I’ve been trying to eat more veggie based dishes – initially fueled by a paper my daughter wrote for school. It started with some research from that Food, Inc. book – and as we dug into the issue more and more, I wanted to do better too. It’s not a change that can happen overnight – so my goals are simple – try to limit our meat-based meals to once, maybe twice a week. Buy organic when possible. Buy local when possible. I’m not going to be die-hard about any of this – but I figure any small effort will help. And as we do more and more, we’ll become more “green.”

I am of course also trying to lose weight – so when I found a bunch of diet vegetarian recipes on eatingwell.com – I was really happy. Here are a few from there and a few other places I’ve found:

Acorn Squash stuffed with Chard and White Beans.
This was really tasty – but rather than just filling the acorn squash, I’ll probably scoop it out – mix it with the “stuffing” – and then either serve inside the acorn squash shells for appearance – or just serve in bowls. I personally liked to have it all mashed together.

Chickpea Stew
I love chickpeas – but unfortunately my kids do not. So this is one I’ll make when I’m just serving myself and Sam. It was really good though.

Quinoa and Black Beans
I really love quinoa – mixed with the black beans in this dish is a nice alternative to rice and beans.

Roasted Red Pepper Stuffed with Kale and Rice
I actually substituted quinoa in this dish and it was really good. I also wasn’t so thrilled with the whol red pepper stuff thing – same as the acorn squash dish… I know it “looks” prettier that way – but I’d rather have everything sliced up nice and easier to eat.

Roasted Vegetables Galette with Olives
Ok this one was really good – and I did not expect to like it nearly as much as I did. Looking at the ingredient list I was expecting not to like it all actually. It’s not like I often eat parsnips and beets. But the mixture was great and tucked in the bread like that it was really good. I will probably use less goat cheese next time. For starters, I think that will help the calorie count of the dish – but also my daughter was not a fan of the cheese.

Chiles Rellenos
There’s a restaurant in our town that makes the best Chiles Rellenos I’ve ever had. In an effort to try and save money, diet, etc. I was determined to make this at home. They have you frying the chiles in this recipe, but I’ve been trying to use less and less oil to see if I can still have these taste ok. Maybe I’ll try just using PAM and a tiny bit of oil. The recipe takes a little practice, and I have to watch how much cheese I put in the peppers (Also I found BIG Pasilla peppers to work the best) – but this can be a decent diet dish if modified a bit. I dare say my Chiles Rellenos give the restaurant in town a run for their money!

And now for a bonus recipe… I made a big batch of gazpacho to have for lunches. This recipe comes from a coworker of mine from like 14 years ago. I have no idea where she got it:

“Regina’s Gazpacho”

Ingredients:
1 Garlic Clove
4 cups V8
2 or 3 Tblsp Olive Oil (Min 2 – if it’s still not the right taste, add the third. I think you can get away with just the two though and save the calories)
2 Tblsp Lemon Juice
1 Tblsp Lime Juice
3 Tsp Sugar (I used splenda)
black pepper
1 or 2 big cucumbers (I love cucumbers so I use lots)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup scallions
1-1/2 red peppers diced
Cilantro
Oregano
Tobasco
1 or 2 tomatoes peeled and seeded (Again, I love tomatoes, so I add the second one)

I actually just dumped it all together in a bowl and put it in the fridge. But here are the specific directions if you’re not as lazy as me:

Cut garlic in 1/2 and rub bottom and sides of bowl. Add V8, olive oil, lemon juice, lime juice, splenda and pepper. Beat and chill for 1 hour. Beat again, then add remaining ingredients.

I’m not sure why you’d beat and chill and then mix… when you dump it all together it’s just as good.

I have a bowl of this with 1/4 of an avocado. Depending on how many calories I have available for the day, I may also throw in a few tortilla chips with it. I’m also planning on throwing a few black beans in there today to add some protein.

Cuppa Dessert

Jennifer — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:19:10 +0000

I ran out of calories yesterday and went to the grocery store after dinner to find some veggies to snack on. I know veggies are not calorie free – but I think their benefit both health-wise and snacking-need-satisfaction-wise outweigh the calorie cost. So if I have to snack – I’ll snack on raw celery and green beans. (Another good one is cauliflower, sprayed with “butter flavored PAM” and then roasted in the oven for when I’m craving buttery popcorn.)

In any case, I started browsing the aisles – looking for anything low-calorie that would make a good snack or meal… I’d been craving chocolate – but it’s hard to get around the calories for that one. Then while in the tea aisle I found this:

Chocolate… Tea…?? Not really sure that sounds appetizing. I pictured something like hot cocoa – but really runny/watery. I put it down… I picked it back up. Really?? Chocolate tea? I put it down… I picked it back up… I bought it. Actually it’s really really good. It’s NOT hot cocoa – but that’s probably a good thing. (re: runny/watery hot cocoa = yuck) But it has enough of a chocolate taste to make it feel like a dessert. And under 5 calories for something that resembles chocolate… I’m happy. They also had other flavors too. Red Velvet. Strawberry Chocolate… I’ll be going back soon to try them all!

In other news, I’m down another pound this morning. (again, I’m sure this is going to slow soon – my guess is it’s just bloat weight I’m losing right now) I planned out the food for the day – with my Zumba class planned for tonight, my calorie count is REALLY low. I may be able to sneak in chocolate of the real-kind variety tonight!! So feeling pretty good about things at the moment. I can still see the fat on me – but I’m also feeling better – healthier – just a wee bit skinnier. Success is the biggest motivator.

Keeping with the program

Jennifer — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:18:27 +0000

I’m going to do Zumba 3x a week (after the holidays, because one of the classes won’t start again until January) – I’ll do it this week though – I went Monday morning, last night, and I’m on the schedule to go again tomorrow night. Wednesday and Friday nights are the classes at 24 Hour Fitness. The Monday morning class is one that another mom in Rachel and Zach’s school goes to. I was telling her how frustrated I am to have to be starting over like this – she too lost a bunch of weight and put some of it back on – but I’m trying to take on her attitude. When I started complaining – she said “Well, the thing is I lost it once – so I know it’s possible. I know how to do it again – it’s not like I can say ‘I can’t ever lose the weight’. I did. I’ll do it again. So will you!” (I love her attitude! She is very cool!)

I’ve been trying to keep those words in my head. I’ve been pre-logging my food in MyFoodDiary.com so I know precisely how many calories I have for the day – I’ll leave snacks open for what I feel like in the moment – but checking the calories first before I eat it.

I have lost a few pounds this week – probably mostly water bloat from eating more than I should previously… (although I won’t complain if I continue to lose 3 or more lbs a week from now on) LOL! I’d also like to take a before picture. That’s one thing I didn’t do the last time and that would have been nice to be able to compare to.

Big G Hot Wheels Giveaway

Jennifer — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 23:42:13 +0000

My kids have an obsession with cereal. The would eat it three times a day if I let them. They would pick out new ones to try each week if I let them. I’ve put down a restriction, though, that they can pick out ONE box of cereal to have. When it’s gone, they can pick out another one. But we only do this one a time… well normally. Then General Mills and Hot Wheels®, through MyBlogSpark, sent me a great big gift pack with 5 different boxes of cereals. If that wasn’t enough to get my kids jumping for joy, starting back on January 24th, included in each participating cereal box (Cheerios® 14 oz, Cinnamon Toast Crunch® 17 oz, Lucky Charms® 16 oz, Reese’s Puffs® 18 oz, and Cookie Crisp® 15.6 oz), is a custom-designed collectible Hot Wheels® pullback racer. And, each car contains a code to unlock an exciting online racing game.

I thought at first, maybe we’d try to still maintain some order in the house, and open and finish one before opening the next. Yeah right. The fact that each one contained a Hot Wheels car pretty much trampled that idea. They were all opened within a few days of each other. Lucky Charms was the first to actually be consumed, and I think second place will be tied between Cheerios and Resse’s Puffs. Cookie Crisp has been eaten like it’s dessert, and cinnamon toast crunch, although still a favorite around here, will probably finish last.

Both Zach and Rachel have been having a great time with the cars too. Racing them across the downstairs (how nice that we have wood floors in this new house).

Giveaway

If you would like to receive a similar gift pack, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me which of the group is your favorite cereal (Mine is definitely the Reese’s Puff. How can you go wrong turning candy into breakfast!) For additional entries (up to 1 additional entry awarded per day) just tweet the following (and leave one comment on this post for each tweet)

GIVEAWAY: Win a Big G & Hot Wheels Gift Pack http://bit.ly/fnyG3a

Contest ends March 4th, 2011 at 10pm PST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winner. I’ll contact the winner via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, if I don’t receive a response, another winner will be chosen.

Disclosure: General Mills and Hot Wheels® provided me with the free product, information, and giveaway through MyBlogSpark.

Another reason for my weight gain from our vacation

Jennifer — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:00:52 +0000

One of many reasons for my weight gain over vacation

Jennifer — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:00:25 +0000

Could you make Oreos even more unhealthy??!!

Jennifer — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:00:55 +0000

Another reason for my weight gain from our vacation

Ladyfingers and Popovers

Jennifer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 23:51:58 +0000

No related posts.

Family Pizza Party Giveaway

Jennifer — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:57:31 +0000

There are a just few handful of foods I truly love, and would have to take with me on a desert island. Pizza is definitely one of them. Pillsbury makes a refrigerated pizza crust that helps you make your own home-cooked pizza even easier. Just roll it out, top with whatever you want, and only a few minutes later: fresh from the oven pizza. It’s so quick and easy, even the kids can get involved with minimal mess and it doesn’t add a lot of time to the whole cooking process.

We gave the home-made pizza making thing a try. I’m a fan of mushrooms – of course my kids are not – so we made half mushrooms, half pepperoni and everyone was happy.

Pillsbury, through MyBlogSpark, provided us with a free coupon to try their pizza crust. They also gave us a free copy of “Pictureka!” a fun “find it fast” game.

If you’d like to try making your own homemade pizza – visit this link for a coupon to save $0.40 when you purchase two packages of Pillsbury Pizza Crust!

I’m also giving away a “Family Pizza Party” prize pack like the one I recevied which includes a VIP coupon for a free package of Pillsbury Pizza Crust and the Pictureka! Game.

HOW TO ENTER THE “FAMILY PIZZA PARTY” PRIZE PACK GIVEAWAY

1) To enter the contest for the “Family Pizza Party” prize pack giveaway, please leave a comment on this post and share what activity you’d like to incorporate into your family pizza night. (Required. Value: 1 entry.)

Extra Optional Entries
2) Tweet about this post. (and leave a (seperate) comment here telling me you did). Click here to tweet now. (Optional. Value: 1 entry.)

3) If you have a blog or website, link to this post. (and leave a (seperate) comment here telling me you did) (Optional. Value: 2 entries.)

Contest ends April 28th, 2010 at 10pm MST. There is no purchase necessary to enter the contest. I will be using random.org to choose the winner. I’ll contact the winner via email, and he/she will have 48 hours to respond. After 48 hours, if I don’t receive a response, another winner will be chosen.

*Disclosure note: The VIP coupon, coupon link, information, and prize packs have all been provided by Pillsbury through MyBlogSpark.