Food Journaling

In order to assist me in my weight-loss goals, I have come to the conclusion that I MUST journal. I kinda suck at journaling, but I'm going to use technology to assist me. So, I might not always "write it before I bite it", but I can at least snap a pic of it, send it to my food journal blog and learn from my mistakes. :-) It's better than nothing and a step in the right direction.


My food journal blog is also on blogger, and can be found here: Divas Have to Eat Too. My first entry is today's brunch - PB & J Oatmeal, inspired by Kath.


I am going to start posting my Mindful Menu Challenge Weekly Menu plans over on that site too....keep it all food-related.


Now, back to my Saturday evening, already in progress! :-)

Mindful Menu: week of 14 March - 20 March

I think I need to start snapping my menu and loading via email upload from my phone to blogger so that I can get this up on Sunday nights - then revise/annotate when can after! lol.

Sunday:  to decode "F4Y" = "Fend for Yourself". Hubby took leftovers to work and I ended up grabbing a sandwich at a local joint with a friend. (Grilled Chicken, smidge of Miracle whip, lettuce, tomato, poppyseed challah roll. shared order of homemade curly fries)

Monday: Grilled Cheese and Apple didn't happen. I at Friday Night's sloppy Joe leftovers instead. (93% lean beef, 2 slices potato bread)

Tuesday: I made the meatloaf the other day, so i guess it's technically leftovers too. (93% lean, liberal dose of oatmeal, 2 eggs, ketchup and spices)

Wednesday: Happy St Pat's! got a corned beef brisket, a head of cabbage, a block of swiss and a loaf of pump! ;-) (just got a big bag of taters last week) (smidgen of beef, LOADS of cabbage and some taters and carrots)

Thursday: we'll probably still be eating on corned beef, unless we've shared it with friends. I'm not 100% sure what's happening Wednesday night, so it's a possibility.

Friday & Saturday: I'll be house-/animal-sitting for friends, so I'm not exactly sure what will happen these days for meals. They usually have quite a stockpile of foodstuffs in their place, so I'll prolly mooch and make it up as I go along. ;-) If they don't have anything that tickles my palate, I'll hit up the salad bar at the Price Chopper down the road.

Mindful Menu: week of March 7 - March 13 & a POST!!

So, again, I didn't get up the motivation to blog my menu last week- BUT I did plan it! :-) This week, I'm actually blogging my menu! :-) Here's my "old-skool" planning board:

Today, I made Chili - SO easy. I open a few varied cans of beans, a can or two of Ro-Tel toss in some Williams Original Chili Seasoning and simmer away. Today, I decided to add some extra zest to it - and I was kinda worried about how it would turn out at first!

I liberally shook in crushed Red Pepper flakes, garlic powder and black pepper. I added just the smallest dash of Chinese Five Spice. (Afterwards, I realised I didn't add my newest favorite secret ingredient - Sriracha!)

What worried me about the concoction is that as it simmered, I could smell the faintest trace of anise in the air. I really, Really, REALLY dislike anise. In fact, that is only the 2nd time I've ever used that overpriced jar of spice because the first time I used it, I discovered *just* how much I don't like anise: the other 4 spices couldn't help mask or tame it at all. (I prolly oughtta throw it out since it's a couple years old now...)

The good news, the flavors blended really nicely together in the finished product. There was just the slightest afternotes of cinnamon and cloves - and most people would probably never even notice it if they didn't know it was there. :-)

Tomorrow, I'm spending the day with my mom followed by trying out a Step class with a girlfriend and afterwards seeing Alice in Wonderland! (Hopefully in 3D!) I don't know what dinnertime will bring - but I'll be more than likely spending it with my momma. :-)

Wednesday's Orange Chicken is such a strange creature to me; sometimes I like it, and sometimes I really don't care for it. At my bridal shower, we played a "newlyweds" style game through which I learned that at that time (early 2003) this Orange Chicken was the hubby's favorite dish of my culinary repertoire! I wonder what he would say his favorite dish (of those I cook) is today!?

Saturday is a busy busy day! I am taking a PRAXIS exam from 7.30 - 9.30 that morning (to be on the way to being certified to teach High School English!), followed by visiting the Kansas City Gem and Mineral Show (Beads! glorious Beads!)

 I'll be wrapping up the day with a Football Game! My brother (#52) plays for the Missouri Mustangs which is part of the Central Plains Football League and the owner of the team is a friend of Hubby's. We go to games whenever we can - and this year we have season tickets!  We're not big into sports, really, but we're big into supporting family and friends. :-D

Now, on to prepare myself for the week! Check back with ya later! :-)

Mindful Menu: week of February 28 - March 6

Mindful Menu 21 February - 27 February

Sunday: Biscuits & Gravy

Monday: Potato Soup (from the freezer)

Tuesday: cheese and onion enchiladas
(I don't slip the tortillas through hot oil like my mom and grandma always have, I slip mine through hot FF chicken broth instead.)

Wednesday: Veggie Stir Fry w/ brown rice

Thursday: pork chops with oven-roasted green beans (my favorite way to eat green beans now!)

Friday: scallopy pasta (didn't get around to it last week)

Saturday: have a late lunch planned at Red Robin, so will prolly be just snackies at night if either of us get hungry.

Mindful Menu: week of February 14 - 20

I skipped a week posting my menu here- but I DID do my menu and posted it on a dry erase board in the kitchen. ;-)

This week's menu:

Sunday - chili. (I didn't get to eat it last week, cos someone took all the crackers to work with him)
Monday - Burgers & sweet potato fries.
Tuesday - Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (love this recipe!)
Wednesday - Parma Rosa Pasta w/ Scallops
Thursday - Meatloaf
Friday - Soup & Sandwiches
Saturday - TBD. I think I'll be eating at my mom's - hubby works.

as I get a little more inspired and a little better at this meal planning thing, I'm going to start uploading more info about my recipes - such as pics and nut. stats. until then, it's gonna be just bare bones posting! :-)

bon appetit!

Black Chickpean Burger Cakes.

I'm not staying very committed to my blog here now, am I? I think my problem is that I'm over-thinking it and feeling "tied" to it - totally not my original intent when I started it! I need to let it be fun and non-judgmental again. ;-)

With that having been said (i so love ablative absolutes!), I hereby BREAK my commitment to my blog and engage to only have some fun! :-D

Now, for some fun - well, I kind of had fun doing it! I decided to attempt to be creative in the kitchen tonight. I didn't have anything thawed and I was just preparing a meal for myself, so I didn't want anything that was too much work, either.

Without using any sort of recipe, rather utilizing things I've learned in cooking other things, I decided to try my hand at creating bean/veggie burger things. I'm not exactly sure what these might be called - perhaps black chickpean burgercakes?

I started with 2 cans of beans: 1 can of Black Beans (from Aldi) and 1 can of Chickpeas (on sale at Price Chopper).

I drained them, rinsed them and threw them in the food processor. The draining and rinsing was good, but I don't think I should have put them in the food processor - they ended up looking like this:

Total Mush. (the color was because I used my phone to take the picture - I was charging the batteries for the camera) Next time, I'll probably just lightly smoosh the beans - cos I'm not going for refried bean texture here.

To my mush, I added:

• 2 egg whites & 1 whole egg (I had the whites leftover from another dish)
• a handful of chopped fresh spinach
• 4 white mushrooms, finely chopped
• probably about 1 cup of breadcrumbs, give or take. (I didn't measure)
• 1 whole green onion, finely chopped
• about 1 Tbsp of prepared horseradish
• garlic salt - liberal dose
• ground black pepper
• Italian Seasoning blend

I then formed them into patties and started to grill them with some organic EVOO.

I was kind of afraid of them not being cooked through, so I put a couple on a cookie sheet and threw them in the oven with the Rosemary-Garlic potatoes was I was roasting. 

About ten minutes later, I deemed the potatoes and the cake done and plated them up.

that ugly pinkish stuff in the little bowl is a mixture of horseradish, Smart Balance Omega 3, and ketchup. I slathered it on the patty.

Overall, this was OK. I think had I actually eaten it like a burger, it could've been pretty good. I'm going to freeze the rest of them individually, so I can make quick meals for myself in the future.

P.S. (from the future) I ate one like a burger for dinner Monday night, and the texture was awful. hopefully it was the fault of not having been cooked well. I have a few more to experiment with...

Mindful Menu: week of January 31 - February 6

I'm posting much earlier than I usually do! woo hoo!

Sunday 31st: I don't know yet...I need to go to the store, so that will probably determine what I'll be having for dinner. Black Chickpean Burger Cakes and oven-roasted potatoes

Monday 1st: Chicken Finger Salad. Chicken prepared with Shake and Bake and then tossed into a spinach-based salad.

Tuesday 2nd: Burgers & homemade Spicy sweet potato fries!

Wednesday 3rd: Hubby's parents taking us to dinner for Hubby's 29th birthday!

Thursday 4th: Burritos.

Friday 5th: Salmon Patties.

Saturday 6th: I'm not sure yet...Hubby works, so it'll be something easy for 1.

Mindful Menu: week of January 24 - 30

so, I'm a little late with my post - but I'm still posting! :-) I won't bother posting Sunday or Monday, since it's past mealtime for both days!

Tuesday: Home made Pizza

Wednesday: Salmon Steaks

Thursday: Chicken Stir Fry

Friday: Pork Chops - either Shake'n'Baked or broiled.

Saturday: Potato Soup and sandwiches.

past, present and future

Let's face it - I need to change my posting schedule or start posting in the mornings. After hubby gets up in the afternoon (he works overnights) he's on the computer pretty much the whole time he's awake. If I'm on it, he lurks behind me acting bored and I feel rushed - not a good combo for attempting to post to the blog!

I'll not commit to days - but I'll continue to attempt posting 3x week - and always on Sundays. I have to post my Mindful Menu on Sundays, so I have NO EXCUSE for not posting some valuable content. :-)

Fitness
The going to the gym thing isn't working out so well for me...I obviously haven't tried hard enough to put it into my routine yet. Thursday we actually were going to go, but some things came up and didn't try to schedule it in around. Friday and Saturday and today, yeah, just didn't bother. TOMORROW I'm going. I promise myself that!

I did, however, rip open that Wii Fit Plus - SO. MUCH. FUN! After I finished and came upstairs, hubby asked what I was laughing about - some of the activities just really had me in hysterics b/c of how fun they were or how BAD I was at them! For example, I was REALLY terrible at the birdy-flying-landing-on-the-islands thing - but it was so much fun to pretend to be a bird! :-D

Food
I totally need to start tracking my meals again to keep me accountable!! I have a fabulous tracker, but I just haven't been using it. :-( *slaps hand*

I made a ton of seemingly healthy dishes last week - well, a few, maybe not a ton. I totally deviated from my meal plan, but I did use it to guide me and for grocery shopping!

Monday's Rainbow Pasta Bake turned out absolutely awful! This wasn't a fault of the recipe, rather a fault of using very old, very freezer-burnt veggies. It looked and smelled super-yum, so I'll be trying it again - maybe next week since Bird's Eye Frozen Veggies are on sale this week for 99c bag and pasta is also on sale! I ended up trying to eat it, but gave up and had a Yoplait Pear yogurt instead.

Tuesday & Wednesday we had black bean & corn burritos. Thursday was "ugly vegetable soup" - made from the leftover veg and pasta from Monday. The pasta went to mush, hence the "ugly", but it was actually quite tasty - good thing, cos I've got 2 bowls in the freezer! Friday was 15 bean soup w/ smoked sausage and corn bread - hearty and cheap! Saturday I finally made those Easy Salmon Cakes. Those were definitely a winner!

My goal with the meal planning is to create not only a weekly plan, but to establish a repertoire and to get really good at a few dishes. I also want to start making as much as I can from scratch rather than buying it. So give me your recipes for sauces, soups and whatever other "convenience" foods you make from scratch!

General Bloggy Stuff
I know that my actual blog site needs some help - and I'm starting to work on it, but it's slow going. If you have any tips/tricks/ideas whatever, please let me know! I never was very great at site design, but I've forgotten most of what I did know.

I've had a request to add features to my comments, but I just don't know how to do it. :-( I am limited at the moment to whatever it is that the wonderful people here at blogger have set up for me - but I'm totally open to learning more!

I'm also working on my website for baccantes jewelry design using Microsoft Publisher. I've just started and am playing around with it right now, but I don't really know what I'm doing!

I'm freezing half to death down here in the basement and I have some cookbooks to work through while I have the time to do it - so I'm off. :-)

Mindful Menu 17 January - 23 January

Sunday: Pork Sausage Casserole (we never got around to it last week)
Monday: Shepherd's Pie, salad
Tuesday: Pork Chops, roasted potatoes, salad
Wednesday: Pasta, Salad
Thursday: Pizza, salad
Friday: Veggie Loaded Stir Fry, brown rice
Saturday: Baked Potato, Salad

Wednesday is the new Tuesday

On Monday, I said I'd post 'tomorrow' - we'll it's the tomorrow of 'tomorrow', so that counts for something, right? ;-)

So far NOTHING is going according to plan - but that might be a little more of my not really trying to go according to plan than anything else. Let's face it - I've been in quite a funky rut here lately. I must get out of this funky rut before I can succeed with my goals!

I do think that with my coming out and admitting all of this on the interwebz it's at least a little bit better than me just pretending that all is well and letting myself just slide right back into old horrible routines which have proven to NOT WORK in my best interest. it is, isn't it?

Okay, enough whining - and time to take my OWN advice: Tip #3: Don't make excuses.

Although it's already 22.31, I'm not anywhere near ready to go to sleep since I have put myself in the horrible up-all-night-sleep-all-day cycle. I am going to, once I publish this post, go into the other room and do something active. I'm thinking yoga sounds pretty good, or breaking out the Wii Fit Plus I bought a couple weeks ago but have yet to open.

Tomorrow, I'm totally headed to the gym - and I might even get hubby to accompany me.

the PRAXIS takeover

Why, yes, I did fall off the face of the earth for about a week - thank you for noticing. ;-)

I will fill you in on everything, so, humor me, will you? ;-)

pretend, for a moment, that it is Wednesday 6 January:

My week so far is on track! except for the fact I have to learn about 5000 years of human history and whatnot by Saturday morning! CRAZY! See, I'm taking the PRAXIS exam, and not only is it rather expensive (~$90), if I pass I can apply for certification to teach Social Studies at the Middle School level! Currently I'm certified for German and Latin K-12, but there really aren't *that* many positions available in my area - so this will open up a whole new realm of possibilities for me!

Anyway - Monday, I went to the gym and spent about 20 min on the elliptical. When I came home I made dinner and studied all night long!

Tuesday, I had a doctor's appointment at 11.00 - and I forced myself to the gym after. I was feeling lazy and didn't want to go, but I took a history book with me and spent about 30 minutes on the treadmill at an incline of 2 and a brisk-ish walking pace. I was driving right by the exit for it on my way home from the Doctor's office, and in an effort to "force" myself to go, I tweeted from the parking lot that I was there - I couldn't back out after that!

Today, I've spent the day studying, feeling a bit of a reprieve as far as the gym goes since I went yesterday! :-) I've spent the day studying!

~~~~~~~~~
Now, let's jump a little into the future - it's Saturday the 9th now:

I didn't make it to the gym yesterday - was in panic freak out study mode. The test this morning was rough - but not horrible. I feel about as confident about it as I did about my German PRAXIS, really. I did get some very valuable info from my studying though. :-)

Stuck to my Menu Plan pretty well, the only changes to be made was Thursday we had leftover meatloaf, soup and Elephant Souffle (which I made Wednesday b/c the eggplant was about to expire), so we had pasta and salad Friday night.

This week has been a crazy one - and I hope that through better planning in the future, I won't have to repeat it! Now, off to my friend, Peige's, "Kegs for Legs" fundraiser!

Seeing as this has become a rather long post, I'll not continue on at the present time - I'll chime in tomorrow. :-) maybe i'll even have some pix to share! :-)

Mindful Menu Week of 10 January

This week is going to be interesting as to what I pull out of the cupboards and freezer to throw together!! I want to use up what we have - and I will, danggit! ;-)

Sunday: BLT. choco-raspberry Yo-plait for dessert.
Monday: Rainbow Pasta Bake
Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner!!
Wednesday: Salmon Cakes
Thursday: Pork Sausage Casserole. (I know, not too healthy...but all in moderation, right?)
Friday: Vegetable Stir Fry
Saturday: Vegetable Bean Soup

Mindful Menu Plan: 3 Jan 10 - 9 Jan 10

I'm a little slow in the posting of my menu for Jenna's Mindful Menu Challenge she's hosting over on her site Chive Talkin' - but here it is nonetheless.

Sunday: Taco Salad - light on the taco, heavy on the salad. (93% lean burger)

Monday: Meatloaf (rest of pkg 93% lean burger). I don't like leftover meatloaf overly much, so I will probably leave it all for hubby and have baked potato and salad instead.

Tuesday: baked acorn squash and salad.

Wednesday: soup from the freezer! from scratch: Chicken Noodle or Potato.

Thursday: Simple Pasta - plain tomato sauce with whole wheat penne. with salad of course.

Friday: Salmon, rice and salad.

Saturday: Probably dinner with my family for baby bro's birthday

So it begins...

I can't put this off any more - the holidays are officially over and it's time to get serious!!

I wanted to write up a little post to tell you exactly what it is that you're in for as you follow along with me on this life-changing journey of mine!

To start, I will be posting 3x/week - Sundays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, to be exact. On Sundays, I will be posting my intentions for the week in the form of my Mindful Menuss meal plan, my exercise plan for the week as well as any other personal goals I might have.

On Wednesdays, I will more than likely talk about what's been going on for the week and how much on track I've been. I will also probably post links to articles and websites I've come across and found helpful.

Saturdays will be a reflection of the week gone by as well as a bit of self-analysis.

Now, with that having been said, since I've just posted my blog plan and I've already posted my meal plan, I just have to post my exercise plan!

Monday: spend some quality time at the gym. 20 min on the elliptical. also spend some time at home doing yoga.

Wednesday: hit up the gym's elliptical bank again. more yoga.

Friday: let's go 3 for 3 and hit the gym.

so boring! I know, but I get overwhelmed by trying to do too many different things at once. I'll vary the "routine" - but for now, I've just got to get it started!

I'm really not feeling very creative and rather luckluster - so I know already that this week is going to be a mega-challenge for me!

New Year, we meet again.

Happy New Year!

So, last night was all about partying like it was 1999 or something like that, right? and what does that partying entail? well, I don't know what you did at your NYE party, but at the one I was at, beer, drinks and wine were flowing, the noms were tasty and 2 lovely people became affianced to one another. (did i use that word correctly? i'll have to research it)

I, like so many other people, have a list of things I would like to see accomplished by myself in the coming year. I refuse to call them my "New Year's Resolutions" (see the post I made exactly one year ago today) - New Year's Resolutions are made to be broken. I am trying to think of them as promises to myself.

So, what are these promises and why am I telling all of the interwebz about them? Well, they are things I want to do in order to make me happier, healthier and wiser. What I want to get out of posting about it is a sense of accountability. I find that if I am not held accountable, then I will not be successful.

The thing you will probably see me posting about the most is diet and exercise - if i'm not physically sound I have no foundation on which to build my mind and spirit. I have joined together with some friends of mine to form an accountability group - but because we live all over the city and have very different schedules, we're going to do it primarily through facebook and probably text. In addition to that group, I have decided that I needed to use this poor neglected blog of mine...I think that it will be a fantastic tool for me to meet my goals for 2010.

In a similar vein, I have also joined The New Year's Mindful Menus Challenge started by Jenna on her blog, Chive Talkin'. I really hate menu planning, and honestly I really suck at it - i think it's because I get so overwhelmed by trying to plan out so far ahead and try to keep things interesting. I know, however, that menu planning is a great way to ensure to always have healthy meals and follow a budget - therefore I have joined the challenge. Thanks for putting out there, Jenna! (for those interested, I will be posting my menu plans here - so keep me accountable!)

I will continue to write about topics other than just health and fitness - you'll see posts about my trying to get baccantes, my jewelry biz, up and running, as well as house & home, organization, education - all of those things I promise in the little banner at the top of the screen. Well, sort of. I will not be writing about ADHD here anymore - I will be the KC ADHD Examiner for examiner.com! I'll be writing little articles for that website, but I will post links to them here, too, so you won't miss anything. ;-)

I didn't intend to write such a long post - more of a "hey!! I'm still here knocking about - look for me around more often" kind of thing, so apologies for its general lack of order and cohesiveness.

I look forward to writing more frequently (my goal is 3x week)and to reading your comments!!

xdanix