What I do when I have a day off....

1. Go to Bikram yoga and sweat my brains out
2. Get groceries
3. Bake
4. Cook
5. Go to dance for 3.5 hours

Things I made today:

A.Beef stroganoff ( I just took some random box of hamburger helper and used leftover steak, hot dogs and ground turkey).



B.Rice Ghoulash

1. 3 cups of mix of brown rice, suchi rice, chia seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds
-bake at 400 for 40 minutes with 4 cups water
2. Boil chicken until cooked through
3. Steam brocooli and carrots
4. Chop 2 green peppers, portabello mushrooms, celery
5. mix all veggies with 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of celery soup, 1/2 cup salsa and 1 cup water
6. Chop up chicken and add to mix
7. Mix everything with the rice and bake at 400 for 10 minutes
8. Cover with cheese and bake at 400 for 10 minutes

Serve immediately



C. Pumpkin Protein Cookies

my changes: I used 1/2 cup sugar instead of splenda, I used almond flour instead of soy flour, I used olive oil instead of canola



D. Protein peanut butter balls



my changes: I used vanilla whey protein instead of chocolate

E. Bird Seed energy bars



my changes:
instead fo 1/2 cup flax seeds I used 1/4 cup
instead of 1/2 cup sesame seeds I used 1/4 cup
instead of 1/2 cup sunflower seeds I used 1/4 cup
I added 1/4 cup chia seeds
I added 1/4 cup chocolate covered candied sunflower seeds I got at a health food store
I added 1 cup dark chocolate m & m look alike I got from a health food store

This weekend....

I made:

Monkey bread ( not bad...not as good as the real deal,but tasty nonetheless)

Applesauce Oat muffins (minus all the added fruit...Andy would gag if I put it in...literally)

Seitan (it smells yummy...now it just needs to be cooked for reals)


New plans...

I have gained 6 lbs in the last month...I am blaming stress, and emotional eating....but I am not freaking out...Why? Because I have a new plan....I did some research on Insulin resistant problems and I may be eating too much (I know I am eating too much). So I am doing Southbeach...I started phase 1 today...I am not allowed sugar at all....which will be good...hopefully I can stick to this and not let my stress take over....btw...Southbeach is basically the same as the P90X diet plan...minus phase 1 of course....In P90x you gradually add in carbs and so does Southbeach so I am following that...Also The diet plan of 40:40:20 is great for people with my problems...so that will be my end diet goal.....I also planned my next three months of working out and I am so excited...I decided to go with a combo between month 1 and 2 of insanity with P90X so I am not doing overkill...this falls under the P90X doubles program if anyone is familiar with it...except I am replacing P90X's cardio workout with insanity.....( I will post that later). I am currently taking cinnamon supplements, adding lemon to my water, and upping my B and C vitamin intake...I highly recommend the B-stress vitamin supplement if you feel like you are lacking in energy...(but do not take these all the time...maybe go on for a month and then off...you do not want your body to become dependent on supplements)..another thing...I am taking small doses of caffeine in the morning and afternoon on an empty stomach. As much as I dislike caffeine and know the problems it can cause sometimes it is needed. My sister and I both struggle with similar problems. She went to see a doctor and they straight up told her to start drinking coffee or something with caffeine because her metabolism was so bad. The result...she now weighs only 10 lbs more than me...maybe less now...and she is 7 inches taller than me. This was of course coupled with a very healthy (vegan) lifestyle and exercise...and she lost this weight over 9 months so not fast....she went from 220 lbs to 153-ish...was down to 149 but went up a little and is probably back down again....anyways....I am giving it a go...I desperately need some energy....another thing.....Has anyone heard of the term "effective carbohydrates"? I totally forgot about it myself until I was looking up insulin problems the other day.... What this means is when you look at the nutrition facts you look at the carbs and the fiber. If you eat something that has 22 g of carbs but also has 13 g of fiber than you are actually only consuming 9 g of carbs (beans are like this). The reason for this is because fiber does not get broken down in the body. It is the equivalent of eating bark...what it does do is help you be regular and expel waste from your body....so there you go...that might help us in getting our 40:40:20 a little better right? It explains why the menu given by insanity seems off on those ratio's as well....whole grains and such are packed with carbs...but also fiber which just gets expelled without getting broken down...Awesome right?!

I just realized how healthy beans are...so I made a huge pot of them fresh (no canned stuff for me) on Saturday.

Also I can't believe this is my last week of month 2...and then on to recovery week...So I will be off phase 1 by the time I start weight training (weight training is also supposed to boost metabolism fyi).

Goal for the evening is to fry up some Tempeh for later use....and to cook up the Seitan I made on Saturday...assuming I get home at a decent hour


Random....I will be going dark brown in the hair department this weekend...keep your eyes peeled for new hair updates....

Also I am so excited! I bought a 5 time pass for pole dancing for only $25.00 this weekend and I have a year to use it!!! And it is located very near to my house!

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....

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....

MMM mmmm...Shrimp mac and cheese.

I made this last night.

My changes:

I used 12 oz semolina macaroni noodles
I used 14 oz of shrimp precooked and removed their tails
Used 8 oz of feta
My herbs were not fresh
I used rice chex cereal ground up instead of planko bread crumbs
I used 3 tbsp wheat flour instead of white
I used skim milk
I baked for 30 minutes

I am too lazy to calculate out the nutrition facts....

I would assume 6 large servings though

Husband was impressed.

Black Bean and Salsa soup.

Recipe of the day:
Black bean and salsa soup

6 servings
Nutrition facts per serving

calories: 125 kcal
fat: 1 g
sodium: 662 mg
carbs: 22 g
fiber: 7 g
sugar: 2 g
protein: 7 g
Vit A; 7%
Vit C: 5%
Calcium: 6%
iron: 10%

This was sooo yummy!!! My husband couldn't stop raving about it!

we of course added cheese, sour cream, homemade guacamole, cilantro and green onions

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

Coconut Thai Tofu Curry

Recipe of the day:

Thai curry tofu

I made this for dinner last night with rice....it was soooo stinking tasty!!!!

Nutrition facts for the Curry: 4 servings

Calories: 166kCal
Fat: 14g
Sodium:1676 mg
Carbs: 7 g
Fiber:0.5g
sugar:1.25 g
protein:10 g
Vit A:3%
vit C:4%
Calcium;19%
Iron;11%

Then add the nutrition info per serving of rice...super tasty...you can most definitely modify by decreasing sodium content....

Salad tonight!

I got carried away...


I made Salad dressing. guacamole and one tasty looking salad for dinner tonight...

Salad:
1 bag Spinach leaves
a few sprigs of cilantro chopped
1 cucumber chopped
4 green onions chopped
Handful of baby carrots chopped

1 tsp of pureed ginger
1 tsp of pureed garlic

1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lime juice

1 8oz package of boar's head feta cheese crumbled

The dressing:

honey garlic vinaigrette

I added a little lemon and lime juice and 1 tsp of pureed ginger
and a little sea salt and pepper

The guacamole

I just realized...

I hit 300 posts without even noticing...wow...I am so oblivious...anyways...I have plotted my dinner menu for the following week....

Tonight: Fried Tempeh with asparagus stir fry, rice and potstickers
Tomorrow night: Tomato soup and grilled cheese
Monday night: Pigs in a blanket with cheese and salad
Tuesday night: Coconut Thai curry with tofu
Wednesday night: Black bean salsa soup
Thursday: Taco salad with soy ground beef and soy chorizo
Friday: shrimp mac and cheese

I am also going to bake bread this weekend...I realized we ran out of bread and before I went to the store I realized I have everything to bake my own...plus homemade bread is so yummy and makes the house smell wonderful!

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!

Sigh...really winter already?

I love Fall....sigh

Weather like this:



Makes me want this...

2 new recipes...

As i have been trying to eat healthier I have been experimenting a little so here are a couple of recipes I came up with that taste really good!

recipe for vegitarian churrizo burgers:

I package soy churrizo (ground) has about 6 servings
1 package of soy ground beef has about 7 servings
onion flakes
garlic powder
ground peppercorn
celtic sea salt
a dash of parmesan cheese

mix all together and cook in frying pan at medium, covered with olive oil cooking spray. Brown each side about 5-10 mins

made 9 burgers at 140 cals per burger


Recipe for my super yummy protein shake:

1/2 scoop vanilla muscle milk whey protein powder 65 cals
1 tbsp healthy pb 95 cals
1 cup light chocolate soy milk 90 cals
1/4 cup frozen mango chunks 30 cals
1 packet of acai berry puree (frozen and slightly thawed, found at Sunflower market in the frozen fruit section) 75 cals
1/2 cup ice water

Blend well...total cals = 355, however you can split in half to make two servings at 178 cals a piece because it makes enough for two people for sure

March Summary.

Well it is another new month and what better April fools day then to have spring for a couple days and then a huge snow storm....I think this happens almost every year you would think I would just get used to it.

Goal Summary:
-Read the Scriptures all 31 days of March!!! Booya!
-Prayed 30 out of 31 days! woohoo!
-Went to the temple only 1 time
-Went to church only one time (i know I suck)
-Sweets....avoided sweets 22/31 days (bad month for some reason)

Other updates:
-getting ready to run some half marathons this year- so far I have gotten my miles up to 6 with a good pace...in fact my nike + keeps telling me I am running at a pace between 8 and 9 minutes...either it has a glich or I am getting faster due to P90X and losing weight
-I have worn my skinny jeans once in the last month...still a little tight but almost there about 5-10 lbs more and I will be satisfied
-still haven't weighed myself
- Getting excited to go to Vegas in 2 mos and then a cruise in August
- Have two bridal showers to throw this year and at least 2 baby showers to throw although I know probably 20 people who are prego right now (if not more)
-I am totally running the Red Rock relay in September with a friend from my lab! 15 miles here I come! I will get to see Zions national park and stuff and I am so excited!!!!


Well I hope everyone is ready for an awesome weekend of Conference which I am going to count as attending church...for my goals....cuz I suck...and then there is Easter on Sunday...i am planning on making lamb, but we shall see what happens as we no longer have a home of our own...living with friends and Family until Andy moves to Utah...so we can save some moneys....well that is all for now!!!