April 2009

It’s been warm, FREEZING, warm again, then cold again. I’m sure we’ll be complaining about it being too HOT soon, though!! One thing that it’s always the right temperature for: SANDWICHES!

On Monday we had Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs (45 cals, 260mg sodium each) with baked sweet potato wedges and a side spinach salad. I decided to have mine on 2 slices of Martin’s 100% whole wheat bread (140 cal) instead of the hot dog buns which were 130 cal and 200mg each. So, the slices of bread served the same exact purpose and saved me twice the calories and sodium. Win, win and yum, yum!

I preheated the oven to 425F, washed the sweet potatoes and then cut them into large wedges, then put them in a large bowl and coated them with EVOO. I put nonstick foil down on a baking sheet and sprinkled a little garlic salt and black pepper on them, then baked them for 30 minutes; I flipped each wedge over 16 minutes into the bake.

My side salad was fresh baby spinach, tomatoes, reduced fat blue cheese crumbles and Lindsay low sodium black olives tossed in Bolthouse Farms blue cheese dressing and red wine vinegar and topped with about a TBSP of sunflower seeds and a little drizzle of honey.

With a spicy mustard and Heinz no salt added ketchup on my turkey dogs, this was an excellent post-workout meal. I estimate the calories to be around 650-700, give or take.

On Tuesday I made a very big bowl of salmon salad with Bolthouse Farms blue cheese dressing and EVOO. So, later on I made blue cheese and light gouda salmon melts on Matthew’s whole wheat English muffins (130 cal) with a few slices of tomato and some no salt added bread & butter pickles:

Oh, and a handful of Snyder’s unsalted mini pretzels

Weird cheese combo, but OMG, SOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUDA! hehe I popped them under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese was all ooey gooey and luscious… MMmmmmmmmmm!

We went shopping today and I came home with some great stuff, but my favorite was a loaf of Le Brea bakery French sourdough bread because I was planning to make paninis on it. On mine I had: goat cheese spread on both sides of the bread, a layer of tomatoes, 1 slice deli turkey and fresh baby spinach. I preheated the indoor grill and sprayed it with Pam olive oil cooking spray, then grilled each side until I could see the goat cheese oozing out. *drools*

On the side I made a bag of asparagus stir fry veggies and I didn’t realize until I was making it, but it had noodles on it. I thought it was all veggies, so it was a pleasant? surprise lol. They’ve been in the freezer foreverrrrr. I’m trying to use things up, too much goes to waste! So, I steamed the bag in the microwave; drained them, then tossed all of it with some butter, EVOO, Mrs. Dash garlic & herb, and crushed red pepper flakes.

DEEEEEEELICIOUS!! The goat cheese was absolutely fantastic. My husband loved it, too. I can’t wait to have this again. YUMMMMMMMY!

I haven’t done any exercise other than walking, but I dusted off my weight bench yesterday… back on the grind! I can’t wait to have my fruity, tropical trail mix tomorrow. I’m so excited about it. hehe I like to think of it as an incentive to work up a sweat.

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I have not felt like cooking AT ALL! The entire week we ate Easter leftovers, sandwiches, frozen meals, canned soup and of course, takeout. The weather has been beautiful, so I decided to use the time off from the kitchen to do some spring cleaning and get some work done. My sodium intake has been through the roof. Ughhhhhhh. I don’t think I’ve had a day under 3000mg in a month!

This is what many of our meals looked like over the past week; I didn’t want to bore anyone with my boring meals lol.

I bought a package of Jennie-O turkey pastrami and used our food slicer to make it deli-style. It tastes great, but very high in sodium. I’ve been loving fresh baby spinach on my sandwiches lately, too.

Le Brea bakery French sour dough bread with turkey pastrami, a slice of swiss cheese, spinach and yellow mustard. Plus a handful of chips and a can of HFCS

Delicious. Of course the ham we sliced on the food slicer was even saltier and boy, did I eat that several times. I hate to admit this, but I think I’m a salt addict. I crave salty things way more than sweet or savory. It sucks because these things aren’t that high in calories, but the sodium makes it like eating 5 lbs of butter.

I finally decided to cook something on Sunday night. Low fat ravioli (partially whole grain) with homemade low sodium tomato sauce (tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, onion, fresh garlic, spinach, herbs) and a side salad made with baby spinach and butterhead lettuce tossed in Bolthouse Farms blue cheese dressing, red wine vinegar with black olives, tomatoes and blue cheese crumbles:

Yummy!

I replanted my Aerogarden this weekend. I don’t have any room for it in the kitchen anymore, so I put it on my desk!

I can’t wait for the fresh herbs. YAY!

Then last night I decided to make banana puree from a bunch of overripe bananas:

I’m thinking this will be delish with yogurt, in smoothies or on cereal. Or maybe even some ice cream!

I’m working on a new design for my blog, I hope to have it done this week or next week.

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Whoa, I am in a sugar coma today. We ate so much candy this weekend! Since our SQL server crashed the other day I haven’t had time to do any updates between the holiday, shopping, work and restoring the blog. So, let’s recap starting from Thursday…

I was feeling totally uninspired in the kitchen Thursday morning/afternoon (whatever! lol), but I was starving. We were a little low on fresh foods because we planned to go shopping on Friday and Saturday in an attempt to keep things as fresh as possible for Easter. So, I started taking things out of the cabinets and fridge and decided to make a soup of sorts. I made a small saucepan of quinoa earlier, which I planned to have for dinner later on, but that didn’t go as planned but I did include it in this eclectic soup:

Made of:

• 1 box Trader Joe’s low sodium butternut squash soup
• About 1.5 cups cooked quinoa
• 3 cups frozen spinach
• Grilled chicken breast cut into chunks
• About a cup of frozen peas and carrots
• About 1/4 cup golden raisins

I topped it with Fage Total 0% plain yogurt and crushed red pepper flakes and had 10 saltine unsalted tops crackers with it.

It was very, very good! It covered every taste: sweet, savory, crunchy, mushy, sour, and with the crackers, a little salty. I was a little skeptical at first as to if it would taste good, but I was pleasantly surprised. My husband ate all of his, too! So, it HAD to have been good and not just my biased opinion lol. After I mixed in the crackers, it became extremely filling. I could definitely eat something like this everyday. With the crackers, I’d estimate it to be around 500 calories, give or take 50 calories.

Friday we were busy, busy, busy. We went grocery shopping and ran a bunch of errands on top of our usual workload. So, we pretty much just ate simple things like sandwiches and leftovers. Before we went out shopping, I made a batch of chicken salad using the grilled chicken that was in the fridge. I had mine on 2 slices Martin’s 100% whole wheat bread (140 cal) with Bibb lettuce and tomato, plus a side of Kettle Bakes white cheddar baked chips:

Yum! I love lettuce so much. I’d seriously eat an entire head on top of a sandwich if I could fit my mouth around it LOL. When I was little, I used to get a side of lettuce on my lunch tray. I love the crunch of Iceberg, but alas, there are healthier versions to be eaten more often. *sniff* lol

Saturday we went to the mall to buy Easter candy and presents for our baskets. First we ate at Friendly’s. I had half of a burger and a few fries and didn’t want ice cream at all! Not that it matters anyway. I ate enough sugar/candy/junk this week to make up for it tenfold. Then hubby and I went in separate directions to buy things for each other. I was shocked that every store we went to was completely sold out of Easter candy, basket grass, etc. I always thought stores had a surplus of that stuff but people were grabbing every last bit they could find. Geez! It’s really hard to believe these times are being compared to “The Great Depression” when you see shopping carts overflowing with candy, toys, and everything else that stores are selling. It was the same way at Christmastime, the shelves were empty and people were complaining that there wasn’t enough to buy. And prices are going up, waaaaaaaay up. Hello, inflation? Ouch. I noticed a stack of Ramen noodles in the grocery store, the cheapest food in existence, is now $2.09 for a 10 pack or whatever when it was $1 just a few years ago. It’s only going to get worse, too. *sigh*

So, we did manage to get some candy but the selection was limited. I guess next year we’ll have to buy it in February when it first comes out lol. Hubby did a great job on my basket though!! I couldn’t find all the things I had planned to get for him, so I improvised. Then the Easter Bunny came on Easter morning!

Dustin got me Suzane Somers’ book Breakthrough that I had been wanting. YAY!! A huge box of Godiva chocolates, a Godiva stuffed bunny bearing more chocolates, and shampoo and conditioner.

Dustin’s basket:

! There were vampires in my basket !!

That was SO CUTE! Knowing how much I adore the Twilight series, hubby picked these up in FYE:

Awesome!! <3 Hubby and the Easter Bunny did an excellent job on my basket. Loved it!

My cousin joined us for Easter dinner. We started with appetizers around 3:30PM:

Deviled eggs, fresh mozzarella pearls with sun dried tomatoes and EVOO, and black olives

Then around 5:00PM we had dinner:

• Ham with pineapple and brown sugar glaze
• Lamb chops with a balsamic reduction sauce
• Candied sweet potatoes
• Mashed potatoes
• Asparagus with EVOO, lemon juice and lemon zest
• Rolls from the bakery
• Mixed vegetables that weren’t in the picture
• Kedem grape juice!

And then the desserts:

Lemon cake with powdered sugar glaze and Nanaimo Bars made from this recipe: http://www.joyofbaking.com/NanaimoBars.html

OMG! The Nanaimo Bars were heavenly! So rich and decadent. We substituted butterscotch pudding for vanilla because that’s all we had in the pantry other than pistachio. Unfortunately, the lemon cake did not turn out so well. That’s ok though, we had plenty of sweets to go around LOL. The lamb chops also didn’t come out right. My mother made them well-done, she isn’t accustomed to cooking lamb and neither am I, so, that was practice lol. By the time we ate, my stomach was feeling a little queasy, so I only ended up eating a very little bit. I did have leftovers though! Holiday leftovers are THE BEST!

I have a food hangover today, so we’re taking it easy. I want to be back on track tomorrow with exercise and healthier food choices. Ironically even after all the junk and calories I ate this weekend, I dropped 3 lbs. We did a LOT of walking this weekend though, so I’m sure that helped. I think that happens every holiday. We always do a last minute dash through the stores and I end up losing weight because of it. So, I guess our procrastination pays off sometimes!

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Happy Easter, everyone! Update coming at the end of the day

 

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