Found a New Vegetarian Recipe

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

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

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

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.

Confessional

I‘m not sure when I officially “started” dieting – but by 2009 I had lost a net total of 30lbs. And since then… I’ve managed to gain every one of those pounds back.

I can you tell you my laundry list of excuses: busy work schedule, difficult times with my husband’s job, selling our house, moving out of state, more difficult schedules, etc. etc. I have at least one excuse for every pound I lost and then gained back. But that doesn’t make them go away. What I’m left with is being completely disgusted with the way I look. Again. Overweight – I can see it in my face. I’m ashamed of the folds where there didn’t used to be folds. I’m out of shape. I hate it.

After a lot of false starts, I’m hoping this time it will stick. I’m back on myfooddiary.com, I’m taking Zumba classes two times a week (starting in the new year, I’ll bring that up to three). They’re not at the most convenient times – but I’m trying to make it work. I’m also trying to eat less meat overall – less chicken, beef, fish. I’m not trying to be a vegetarian, but I’m trying to keep our meat meals to just once a week and do vegetarian dishes the rest of the week. We’ve been reading a lot about how much a meat-focused diet is so bad for the environment.

Anyway – hoping that putting this out here, will maybe give me some accountability to stay on track.

Puppy Blog

Once upon a time, this blog might have been considered a typical “mommy-blog”, then it was a “TTC” blog… now? It’s a puppy blog. Give in to the cuteness!!!

The first picture is of the three we like the most. In order of preference: The chocolate, then the black, then the cream. The second picture is a close up of the black puppy. We love his cute little white chin. He also has a splash of white on his belly. Decisions! Decisions! Truthfully though, they’re all WAY TOO CUTE. When we meet them later this month, we’ll be able to see what kind of personalities they have. That will really be the deciding factor.