Procrastinating much?

Yes. I have been procrastinating updating....mainly because I am working 10-12 hours a day and 7 days a week...I am thoroughly exhausted....I have been doing a little bit of research and I think I may be insulin resistant...I have been diagnosed with borderline type 2 diabetes before....and so I can only assume that every time I gain weight it is because I am consuming too much sugar and refined carbs in my diet....now I have not been doing that much lately...however...it looks like I might want to up my protein intake and decrease my carbs....I am going to start South beach I think on Monday...I eat only protein and veggies for 2 weeks...hopefully this will jump start things...as I have only been gaining weight during month 2 of insanity....I am thinking I will couple this with cinnamon tablets (helps counter insulin resistance) and lemon juice (cleans the body and out and helps with a variety of things) in my water as well as a little caffeine (increases metabolism) to get my metabolism going.....sigh....why do I always have to gain my weight back....my goal is to consume no less than 1500 cals a day...which if you know me I usually eat 1200 cals a day to lose weight....and then I never increase my calories.....Anyways....I have been cooked a bunch more of the recipes in my goal list...


Fruit yogurt and granola parfait/ apple pie parfait

(it really is super tasty!)

Lightened up Broccoli and cheese soup

(not bad...def low sodium...btw I always use veggie broth when broth is used....my soup wasn't homogenous either)

Curry Coconut chickpea soup

Italian Wedding Soup (this is most def my fave soup now!)


Garlic Chicken Gnocchi

(so yum!)

Crockpot chicken and broccoli

(so not yum...it did not taste good at all)


Orange ginger tofu

( I of course added more veggies...it was yum and I ate it with Quinoa)

Vegetable and turkey burger- I call these my power patties

(and yes I used turkey instead of tofu...I also used a nature burger mix instead of bread crumbs that I purchased in bulk at sunflower market...I served this with baked sweet potato fries...mmm...mmmm)


Low calorie pizza crust

(this turned out excellent...I highly recommend this blog...she is so creative!)


I currently want to make my own Seitan....it doesn't look too hard

Today. Frustrated.

I gained 2 lbs this week. I do not think that is muscle. I am going to assume this is do to me finally getting rid of my smooth move tea and my colon filling back up. Still...not happy. Andy didn't believe I had gone up either. So I have gone up 2.6 lbs in the last 2 weeks. I am giving it 1 week and then if I still haven't gone down I am going to eliminate wheat and dairy like the article Sarah C. posted recommended. I don't really like dairy...I have only been consuming it to increase my protein intake lately.

Anyways....


I baked a lot again :)

I made....Sushi pizza (southwest style)

My changes:

I used sushi rice instead of brown rice (I have a lot of rice to use up) and added flax seed, chia seed and sesame seed and cooked in my rice cooker. I used the rice vinegar and added a splash of stevia (u are normally supposed to add sugar to sushi rice).

Then for the first layer instead of cucumbers I made kind of a salsa (Andy hates cucumbers so I have to sneak them in)...I used:

-1 chopped carrot
-1 chopped cucumber
-handful of mushrooms chopped
-handful of cilantro chopped
-2 green onions chopped
-1 tbsp ginger

Placed in a blender or food processor and chopped finely

Scooped this layer into the bottom of a square 8x8 dish

The next layer I used fake crab instead of the vegan salmon

then the rest is the same!



I also made oatmeal wheat bread again :)

I made more protein waffles and scrambled tofu for the week/next couple days.

Then I made the three treats Sarah posted :)

I made the raspberry truffles....word of advice use a small small dish for the chocolate so you don't lose it all in surface area....

I made the raspberry fudge brownies 1 serving is super small.

And I adapted the Chocolate crinkle cookies

my changes:

I used 1 cup brown sugar and 1 cup white sugar
I used 1/4 cup coconut oil and 1/4 cup olive oil
I added 1/4 cup applesauce
I used egg whites instead of eggs
I used 1 tsp vanilla extract and 1 tsp almond extract
I used 1 cup oat flour, 1 cup almond meal, and 1/2 cup vital whet gluten

I only got 23 cookies...I couldn't get the dough to become more solid so I didn't roll them into balls...I baked them like normal cookies with powdered sugar sprinkled on top.

What a weekend.

It has been a very productive weekend I must say.

Yesterday:

Got up- tidied and worked out....made grocery list and weekend to-do list....went to work for 4.5 hours and then grocery shopping....got home and started making stuffs (Squeaky clean Brownies (super fudgy and tasty- remind me of a cliff bar...and only 100 cals a piece- heck yes! I think I might add oats and mini choco chips next time to give it more texture), Vegan Mousse (This tasted way bitter the evening I made it, but the next day it was a lot better...letting it sit overnight is highly recommended), Rainbow jello (basically just layers of different flavors of jello- I have all this jello I need to use...make sure each layer is completely settled before adding another layer)).....went and hung out with my favorite person :) Kimmie. Got home at 3am...went to bed around 4 or 5 probably.

Today:

Woke up at 9am. Weighed in and took measurements...disappointed about weight but happy about measurements....Made Protein Waffles (make sure waffle iron is greased or you will lose your waffles....these are super tasty...I also used 1 packet of apple cinnamon oatmeal because I was just short of the required amount of oatmeal....I may try this with silken tofu as that is a good replacement for cottage cheese), English muffins, Sandwich thins, Tortillas (I got 25 out of this...I have decided that anyone who makes tortillas on a regular basis doesn't need to work out...holy cow.)(all whole wheat of course), yogurt, 7 ingredient chili ( I added some jalapeno slices), and jalapeno cheddar corn bread ( I personally used a corn bread mix and just added 1 jalapeno and 1/3 cup cheddar cheese). Packed lunches. Did 2 loads of dishes and 2 loads of laundry. Updated iPod..and completed all of this before 4 pm.


I am changing my diet up....I will now be doing breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and then having a protein shake for dinner because my evenings are so busy and I don't want to be eating dinner at 9pm. Hence all the preparation I did this weekend....

Seitan!

Has anyone out there tried Seitan?

If you haven't you should. I am too lazy to make my own right now so I buy the already made stuff from Sunflower Farmer's market. Here is what we had for dinner!

Seitan Stir Fry

1 box Seitan strips
1 bag frozen green bean stir fry
1 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger

Mix together and fry over medium heat until Seitan becomes crispy. we had this with rice...Basmati rice to be exact. I love my rice cooker....I also like to add seeds to my rice...last night I added flax, chia and sesame. Gives a little nutty flavor and added fiber to the rice.

Then we had the pudding parfaits I made up from the night before...I think tonight we are going to try it with lemon pudding...too bad I don't have a lemon I could zest to add to the top....here's hoping it turns out...I have to use up this bitter vegan chocolate pudding....

Dinner anyone?!

I made something really yummy for dinner...

Sweet and sour Tempeh with roasted veggies.

Sweet and Sour Tempeh

1 package 5 grain tempeh
1/4 cup sweet and sour sauce
1/2 sliced onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger

1-Half the tempeh and cut into strips.
2-Mix in the sweet and sour sauce, garlic, ginger and soy sauce.
3-I allowed it to marinate the whole day.
4-Warm oil on medium high and add onions.
5-Once onions are caramelized (about 10 minutes) add the tempeh mixture and fry for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Roasted veggies

1 lb green beans
1/2 sliced onion
1/2 cup mushrooms
dash of garlic
dash of ginger
dash of seasoning salt
2 tbsp olive oil

1- Preheat oven to 450.
2-Mix ingredients together and bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Something else I tried last night...homemade pudding

My changes....

I used 1.5 cup coconut milk and 2.5 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
I replaced the sugar with Stevia in the raw cup for cup

Then....

I had a cheesecake pudding mix so I made that as directed.....

I crumbled 1/2 of a low fat graham cracker and placed that in the bottom of a small dish or cup...then I dolloped the chocolate pudding until it covered the graham cracker. After I dolloped the cheesecake pudding to cover the chocolate pudding and lastly I sprinkled some unsweetened coconut to top it....this was so tasty....I need to play a little more with the chocolate pudding recipe....mine turned out bitter and noticeably vegan in flavor....so for now I will be mixing it with other things so the hubby (and myself)doesn't notice. Maybe if I got some fat free whipped cream...hmmmm....

Meals for the week.

Monday: Salad with Baked Tofu bites
Tuesday: Steamed Green Beans with Fried Tempeh
Wednesday: Steamed mixed veggies with Sauteed Seitan
Thursday: "Beef" Stroganoff with soy ground "beef"
Friday: v8 recipe
Saturday: probably leftovers
Sunday: Another V8 recipe

Things I want to cook in the near future.

Home-made sandwich thins

Whole wheat pita bread

English muffins

Whole Wheat Tortillas

Here is a great link on how to make any bread recipe whole wheat

Applesauce oat muffins

Breakfast pizza

Fruit yogurt and granola parfait

Berry Coconut Steel cut oats

Single Serve monkey bread

Protein waffles

Curry Coconut chickpea soup

Lightened up Broccoli and cheddar soup

Kung Pao Shrimp

Just Mushroom soup

Sushi Pizza or sushi in general (which btw if you live in the salt lake area there is a new Sushi restaurant galled Red Ginger on 3300 and State that is selling 2 rolls for $5.00 sushi)

V8 recipes

Italian Wedding soup

Spicy Squash and peanut soup

Garlic Chicken Gnocchi

Crockpot chicken and Broccoli

Chocolate Pudding

Apple Pie Parfait

Vegan Chocolate Mousse

Orange Ginger tofu

Baked Tofu bites

Vegetable and tofu Burger

10 minute pizza

Low calorie pizza crust

Homemade yogurt


protein shakes

Groovy green smoothie

Don't Stop Beleivin'!

I have that song stuck in my head today.....so anyways...

Last night I made:


Spinach

No changes.


Mashed Cauliflower

I used low sodium Vegetable broth and light butter.

And then I made Borscht


I had canned beets I needed to use..so I drained and added those....I didn't shred anything...just cut....I didn't have any cabbage so I used Kale...I didn't add the stevia...I added shredded ginger....garam masala....and I added a protein substitute soy chunks....I am trying it for lunch today...wish me luck!

Things I made this weekend.

Lava Pudding

Sift together in a bowl:
1 cup flour, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 tbsp cocoa, 2 tsp baking powder, 3/4 cup sugar.
Stir in:
1/2 cup milk, 2 tbsp melted butter, 1/2 cup walnuts.
Spread the above mixture in a 9" sq pan.
Mix: 1 cup brown sugar, 4 tbsp. cocoa.
Add: 1-3/4 cup hot water and pour mixture over batter in pan
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. During baking, cake mixture rises to top
and chocolate sauce settles to bottom. Invert squares of pudding on plates, dip sauce
from pan over each. Serve warm or cold with or without whipped cream or ice cream.


Texas Sheet cake

For both of the above recipes I used dark chocolate cocoa powder. I didn't add marshmallows and added coconut to the Texas sheet cake...super tasty i must say!

Blueberry bars

Curry Spice noodles

I made a few changes....no lemon grass (couldn't find it), used whole wheat spaghetti, used sesame seed oil instead of peanut oil and added some sesame seeds...easily feeds at least 4 but hubby ate it all...and I had 1 serving.

I haven't had time to calculate nutrition facts but I am sure it isn't more than 3-400 cals per serving....

Next weeks menu...

Saturday: Rice and chicken casserole
Sunday:curry Spiced Noodles
Monday:Russian Borscht
Tuesday; Spinach and soy chunks or nutrella
Wednesday: Green Bean casserole and chicken
Thursday: Veggie burgers with mashed cauliflower
Friday: spicy West African Braised Kale and Tofu

Oh and...

I made this tasty dish last night....

Thyme roasted carrots

I added corn because I needed to use it up, I also used cheddar cheese instead of goat cheese and prepackaged thyme that I had in my cupboard...

Weekend leftover cheesey mashed potatoes.

I have foods I have been trying to use up...my crazy concoction of the weekend is as follows;

1 cup instant mashed potatoes cooked with 1 cup water
3 red potatoes peeled, boiled and mashed

Mix potatoes together....

Add 2 tablespoons butter, some salt and pepper

Garlic cloves...about 3

Onion

1 container of whipped cream cheese

1/2 to 3/4 cup whipping cream


Mix, mash and whip thoroughly and then add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese...mix only slightly to help melt the cheese...

And now you have cheesey mashed potatoes!