One Meal at a Time...

February 25, 2010 Got inspired to write in my food blog again, thanks to Debbie and Alex!  I can't believe its been about a month since I've posted.  Yes, I've been a slacker!  But I haven't been slacking on the diet.. maybe a little at the gym/exercising, but I haven't gone less than 3 times in a week, even when we went up North to my parents.  I've lost 19 lbs so far!!  :)  And Jarrod has lost 31 lbs!!!!  :) I'm so proud of my hubby! I had a training this week on violence and aggression for work.  It was a great class, I was amazed by how much the trainer knew.  I wish I had this training back when I was working at the group home, but I'm sure that I will benefit in the new job as well.  Work's been very busy, lots of deadlines, and challenging.  But I enjoy it :).  Hopefully when I know more, I'll be able to keep up better!  I hate being the newbie and making the little mistakes.  But I've been told there will always be some mistakes i

January 31st, 2010 It's hard to believe that today is the last day of the month.  Which means that Jarrod and I have stuck with our diet and exercise for 25 days!  Woohoo!  Yesterday, I went to the gym for an hour and 15 minutes in the morning, and another half hour in the afternoon with Jarrod.  I took the day off today.  It is Sunday afterall ;). Friday night, I made the most delicious Quesadillas with Cranberry Salsa.  I even was able to cut out more calories by finding some tortillas that only have 71 calories and 12g of fiber... they are called...Ole Extreme Wellness Tortillas, I've posted a link to their website so you can recognize them in the store: http://www.olemexicanfoods.com/OLEmenuTortillas.htm They taste very fresh and delicious!  I got the recipe from my new favorite website http://www.cookinglight.com/   I caved and got a subscription for their magazine too.  Yum Yum!  I was on the food network site (used to be my favorite), and the recipes I was lookin

January 25th, 2010 Still sticking to eating right and exercising.  Yesterday 3 miles on the elliptical in 35 minutes, Today 40 minutes on the cross training elliptical and was at 2.75 miles.  Already pretty tired tonight and thinking that I'm going to skip the gym tomorrow, but I know I need to go!!!  Last night, dinner was a whole 315 calories!  I made a Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup (thanks to CookingLight.com), and my new favorite grilled cheese made with Light Wheat Country Kitchen Bread (35 calories a slice), and the 45 calorie weight watchers american cheese slice. The soup was tasty but there was a bit too much acidity in it...  Soup was about 200 calories a serving...(it says 4 servings, but I made it out to 3).  Tonight I made a chinese kind of stir fry with chicken sausage, frozen veggies, wheat spaghetti, and soy sauce...  Check out both recipes below! Spicy Tomato and White Bean Soup 1 (14-ounce) can chicken broth divided 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspo

January 22, 2010 I went to the gym last night and this morning.  I did a total of 3 miles on the elliptical yesterday and 2 miles today, but I also did 10 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, and about 5 minutes on this strange machine today.  I don't even know what it was called but I felt my legs were swinging back and forth a million times a second.  Plus the machine wasn't quite wide enough, my legs kept brushing against the sides of the machine which made it a bit uncomfortable.  I got on the scale yesterday and it said that I had lost six pounds since January 11th when I started weighing myself!   :)  The other night I made a salad with Panko breaded shrimp.  I had bought the frozen shrimp and forgot to take them out to defrost, so I coated them in egg and then in the panko.  I then baked them.  They were too small for my liking, and since the shrimp were already cooked, they shrunk way too much.  Plus when I was cutting the tails off, I was afraid I might have missed

January 19, 2010 I finally got up early today to go to the gym (I hadn't gone in 3 days!).  So I made up for it, by doing 3 miles on the elliptical!  Apparently I burned 600 calories!  Work went well today, but I'm glad to be home relaxing :).  For lunch today I brought leftover soup that I had made, Pasta Fagiole!  I got the recipe from the Cooking Light Website, Yum!  And for dinner I made a stir fry, so good!  Recipes for both below! Pasta Fagiole ( http://www.cookinglight.com/ ) 12 oz Chicken Sausages (halved lengthwise and sliced)- I like the Al Fresco ones! 3 cups chicken broth 1/2 cup uncooked small seashell wheat pasta 2 cups chopped zucchini 1 (14.5oz) can stewed tomatoes (undrained) 1 teaspoon dried basil 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 (15oz) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained Asiago, Parmesan, or Romano cheese (optional) Heat a large saucepan over high heat.  Add sausage, cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.  Add broth and pasta; bring to a boil.  Cove

January 18th, 2010 I had the day off today in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.  I spent most of the day snowed in, afraid to go out on the roads, which meant no gym for me.  I went outside and shoveled the foot of snow from the deck and some of the backyard for the dogs.  I also played about 45 minutes of Wii Sports (hardly counts as real exercise, but at least I was moving).  Even with the whole day off, I didn't plan too far ahead for dinner, as I knew that I had Boboli Wheat Pizza Crust in the fridge!  I looked everywhere for some pizza sauce, but I couldn't find any, so I made something a little different.  Pepperoni and Mushroom Low Cal Pizza Boboli Wheat Pizza Crust Pesto Sauce (2 Tsp) 1 Tomato Turkey Pepperoni (17 pieces) 1/2 cup canned mushrooms 1/2 cup mozzerella 2 Tbsp Parmesan I spread the Pesto Sauce over the crust.  Sliced the Tomato really thin and spread it over the crust, then I added the rest of the toppings.  I baked at 400 degrees for about 10-

January 16th, 2010 Today we celebrated Christmas on Jarrod's side of the family... Jarrod's mom, Ginny, asked that I make my stuffed mushrooms and grape salad. So in knowing that most of the ingredients in both of these recipes were pretty high in calories, I did my best to make a few substitutions to make them healthier. I have added the recipes below. Stuffed Mushrooms 1 lb Turkey Sausage (casings removed) 1 Red Pepper 1 White Onion 2 cups fresh Spinach 1/2 cup Parmesan 3/4 cup Italian Bread Crumbs (I like Progresso) 6 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar 1-2 Tbsp Vodka Salt and Pepper Mushrooms (probably about 24) Clean mushrooms, and remove stems. Save stems to cut up and add to Sausage Stuffing in a few minutes. Cut the top of the mushroom so it will lay flat on a baking sheet. Line mushrooms on a greased baking sheet. Preheat Skillet. Add Turkey Sausage (casings removed), chopped white onion, and chopped red pepper. Cook until Sausage is browned. Drain if any liquid.