Wealth of Health

A Little Behind

2012-01-30T18:31:00.000-08:00

Sorry I'm a little late!! Friday night was good stuff... kinda. It wasn't super delicious but I had to use up the mustard greens.
2 cups fresh mustard greens
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup chopped white onion
salt pepper
coconut oil
put it all in a pan and saute until tender ~20 minutes.

Saturday, lunch was DELICIOUS but oh so bad for you. Church's fried chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, biscuits, oh my oh my! It tasted so yummy!!! But we all (my parents visited this weekend) felt like taking a nap afterwards because it was heavy.

Saturday dinner was about the same as Friday dinner except with spinach and in a sammich.

Yesterday, Sunday, dinner, we ate leftovers and grilled cheese sammiches.

Today, I again tried some new stuff and this time it turned out pretty terrific! Red Potato Stir Fry again from last week because it was so tasty. And also a spicy carrot salad. I got it from a website that I visit often and changed some stuff.
Spicy-ish Carrot Salad
1 cup shredded carrots
2 minced fresh garlic
salt & pepper
1 sweet apple, cored, not peeled
water
lemon juice
olive oil

Put the carrots and garlic in a microwave safe bowl and put your water in (just enough to cover the carrots). Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until the carrots are kinda soft (you still want them to be kinda crunchy too so not too long!). While you're waiting for the carrots, core your apple and cut it up thinly into 1/4 inch slices. Once the carrots are done, drain them and mix in with the apples. In a separate container, mix 1 part lemon juice and 1 part olive oil. Add salt and pepper. (I also added cayenne pepper and onion powder). Toss the carrots and apples in the lemon juice mix. Put in the fridge for 10 minutes or so to serve it cold.

That's all folks!! I hope you enjoy!

Destruction and Simple

2012-01-26T16:39:00.000-08:00

Last night, was destruction of all things delicious. Okay, maybe not all things delicious, but it was destruction of the delicious things on my stove, at the very least!
I attempted to make veggie wraps. Here was the supposed to be recipe:

2 large mustard green leaves
2 cups of cooked and seasoned rice
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup of dice tomatoes
1/2 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
some cheese

spread out the mustard greens. place the rice down first in a line in the center. then put your veggies on, then the salsa, then the cheese. roll it up like a burrito and enjoy.

sounds good, right? WRONG! the greens tasted more bitter than i anticipated, the rice was dry and awful because i have yet to find all the parts to the rice cooker so i made them the old fashioned way in a pot. the salsa was terrible and i ran out of tomato. so instead of trying to fix it, which would have been the better option, we went to an asian buffet. yes!! we went out to eat, stuffed ourselves with fried things and sweet things and a few green beans (to make me feel less guilty). then, to make it worse, we stopped by mcdonalds and got ICE CREAM!!! gah! i couldn't sleep a wink last night! i felt so heavy, and so slow, after only a week of eating right, one night of eating poorly affected me greatly. so tonight, to keep it simple, i made an old stand by: SAMMICHES!! it doesn't really need a recipe, so i'll just tell you the order i put things in :)

bread (top)
avocado
spinach (kale for jason)
white onion
cucumber
tomato
spinach (kale for jason)
avocado
bread (bottom)

it was basically delicious and it gave me energy rather than making me groan and wish i were laying down to sleep! well, i learned my lesson. even if i screw up dinner (which will happen again, i'm sure), try and try again because an asian buffet is never a good idea.

til next time!!

Deliciousness

2012-01-25T10:34:00.001-08:00

Last night's dinner was just as excellent as Monday's and perhaps a little more healthy because it was more raw!

Pimento Spinach Salad

2 cups of fresh spinach
2 tablespoons of jarred pimentos
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese

toss it all together until the olive oil covers all the spinach. the pimento is heavier than the olive oil so it might be better to put it on top after you've plated the salad. very simple, my favorite kind of recipe!

Red Potato Stir Fry

coconut oil
3 medium sized red potatoes (or 5 small ones, or 2 large ones)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped red and yellow bell peppers
1/4 cup chopped red and white onion
salt and pepper to taste

melt your oil in your sauce pan until it covers the bottom. add salt and pepper. quarter the red potatoes and stir fry them until you can easily stick a fork all the way through. they're already pretty soft before you cook them so it shouldn't take long. after you can stick your fork in the potato, add your bell pepper and onion. mix them around some just to get them sort of soft. you want them to still be their fresh color in order to keep the crunch and nutrition. plate it and enjoy!

again, the lunch and breakfast are nothing fancy so I won't bore you with those!

I'm back!!

2012-01-24T12:01:00.000-08:00

After a long, long time of not blogging, I have returned to my faithful followers (which include myself and Jason) to share the wealth of health that I am discovering through mostly raw foods!! First up, lemme tell ya just how sophisticated my dinner was last night :)
Alaskan Salmon
1 lb fresh Alaskan Salmon
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
olive oil

just grill it! cover the bottom of your skillet with olive oil. put it flesh side down on low heat until it is about 1/2 way cooked through then flip it skin side down and wait until it's finished. move it every now and then to keep if from sticking. squirt a little lemon juice over the top and enjoy! (I didn't do the lemon part because I didn't have any. It was delicious anyway!

Creamy Spinach
1/2 cup fresh spinach
1 tablespoon coconut oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup sliced or chopped mushrooms

melt your coconut oil in the skillet. add your salt and pepper and stir. add mushrooms and stir fry until cooked through. add spinach and stir fry together with the mushrooms until dark green. do not cook too long or it will be wilty. you still want some crunch in it. take it off heat and place on a plate. using a paper towel, soak up excess oil. add a tiny bit of parmesan cheese. and stir up.

Of course, to make it more sophisticated, we had a glass of pino grigio to go with it. unfortunately, we're not wine folks, so it kinda went to waste!! oh well. dr. pepper or tea is good enough for me :)

well, that's all for now!! the rest of my meals this time around have been usual: veggie sammiches and green smoothies :)

til next time!!

Leftovers :)

2010-11-29T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ya for another post! Horay!
Last time I said something about cornbread. That I had never made it from scratch. Well, my wonderful cousin Jodi corrected me. She gave me the recipe and I made it and it was delicious and it was easy.
1 cup flour 1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup of sugar more if you want it sweeter
1 tsp salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
4 tsp baking powder
Mix the dry ingredients first. Cook it at 425 until it is done.

Now for Thanksgiving things. I have never cooked a Thanksgiving meal before this year. I have to say, I think I did a pretty wonderful job. I cooked a 10 pound turkey. Yes, a whole turkey, not turkey meat from the store that's already made. I actually took a frozen turkey, took out the what-what and baked it. Lemme tell ya how :)

What you need:
a turkey
some apple juice
an injected
an oven bag
an oven

I took the apple juice and injected the meat with it. Then I poured and rubbed some on the outside and under the skin. Then I just followed the directions on the oven bag. It was pretty easy. I also made a very unique gravy type thing. It ended up being more of a sauce than a gravy but it complimented the turkey very well.

What you need:
2 large, ripe tomatoes
1 cup apple juice
2 medium sweet apples (peeled and cored)
olive oil
honey (to taste)
Worcestershire sauce (to taste)

Cut up and then puree the tomatoes and apples until very very smooth. Heat up in a sauce pan with your apple juice, olive oil, honey, and worcestershire sauce. You might want to add a little bit of salt but I wouldn't put much. Once it's nice and warm, turn it down to simmer and let it cook until nice and thick. I had to keep adding honey and apple juice because I didn't think it was sweet enough yet so you might want to taste it often and add things until it's just right for you.

I also made a veggie thingy ma-jig that was pretty tasty and extremely easy to make. I'm sure it would be more tasty with fresh veggies but canned is just plain cheaper this time of year.

1 can corn
1 can string beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can green beans

Just put them all in a pot and add a little rosemary and thyme. There's already plenty of salt in the cans, so don't add any.

The rest of the dinner was from other people bringing food. We had sweet potato pie, green spaghetti, mashed potatoes, rolls, and cranberry sauce. There were plenty of leftovers. This was for the ASL class I teach. For my family Thanksgivings, I didn't cook nearly as much. Actually, I didn't cook at all. For my step mom's family, I forgot to bring something but everything else was delicious. For my dad's family, I made salad (lettuce, cheese, and croutons). For my husband's family, we went to Luby's. I did take leftovers from my family Thanksgivings so my fridge is full of food. Not healthy food, like the kind this site is dedicated to, but food. Starting later this week, we'll get back to the recipes I normally make :)

Healthy Yummms

2010-11-17T16:04:00.000-08:00

So I am definitely a slacker blogger. When I didn't have a life, it was easy to post every other day or close to it. Now it's every few months. Eep! We are eating healthy, mostly (we had mac & cheese on Monday) and allowing cravings daily (we have a cheese snack with lunch) I'm just not posting new recipes. I'm gonna do better! Probably. Maybe. We'll see....
For dinner tonight:

Pepper Onion Rice
1 teaspoon habanero pepper
1 teaspoon jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon red bell pepper
1 tablespoon red onion
1 tablespoon white onion
1 teaspoon green onion
2 cups rice
some sausage :)
salt and pepper to taste

Finely dice all your peppers and onions. Cut up your sausage into however big you wanna (I like slices but you can do chunks). Throw it all in while your rice is cooking and add your salt and pepper. The flavor of the peppers and onions will cook into the rice and sausage so you don't really need other spices. If you'd like to add them, I'd go easy and only use the basics like rosemary and thyme.

Jalapeno Corn Bread
I make a lot of things from scratch and it ends up being just as easy to make and is more delicious but corn bread is just plain easier from a box. It's the taste I grew up loving and honestly, I'm not that great with bread things from scratch. So to make jalapeno corn bread, you get a box of corn bread and follow the directions. The you slice up some jalapeno. Pour the juice into your batter. Put your batter into your pan and stick the sliced jalapeno into it where ever ya please. Bake and enjoy :)

When everything's ready, put a slice of cornbread into a bowl and put the rice on top. It's delicious. Save left over corn bread for breakfast in the morning. Here's the recipe for the best cereal ever. My daddy made this for me often growing up and I'm hooked.

Corn Bread Cereal
Put cold corn bread in a bowl and crush it so it's a big pile of crumbs. Add a splash of milk and sprinkle some sugar. I haven't tried this for jalapeno cornbread but it sure is tasty with sweet corn bread. Guess I'll find out tomorrow morning!

Well, that's all for now. I'll update ya tomorrow, perhaps. Or next week. You never really know with a lazy lady like myself :)

Apologies

2010-05-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

I must apologize. I have failed fairly miserably at this wealth of health business. When I was staying home always, I had the time and energy to make food every night but slowly I was given more freedom. Slowly we started eating out. Slowly we stopped eating healthy. We have made a few feeble attempts at healthy food but really it's just pretend. The kind of healthy that looks good but really has no nutritional value whatsoever. Not that I'm particularly making excuses for myself. Being busy is certainly a lame excuse anyway. I'm simply explaining my downfall.
Now I'm explaining my climb back up. I'm currently back in the hospital. Sick. I'm tired of sick. So I'm done allowing myself to get sick. If I ate an orange every day for breakfast instead of Jack in the Box, I would have a heck of a lot more vitamin c. If I ate salads for dinner instead of TGI Fridays, I would have more fiber. Maybe, just maybe, with vitamin c and fiber, I could have fought off this bug without having to spend a week in the hospital. Maybe.

My first step in my climb is realizing that my poor diet choices has caused a poor response from my body to infection.
My second step is realizing that continuing the way I am will continue a slow deterioration of my body.
My third step is choosing the appropriate method for gaining health.
My fourth step is setting reasonable goals for diet and exercise.
My fifth step is realizing that this is a lifestyle change, not a diet. This is also a continual process. There is no peak of the mountain. I will never arrive at a point where I do not struggle with lazziness or a desire for unhealthy food. I will however grow stronger and resist with more force.

My climbing shoes are prayer. Constantly getting a foothold. Never ceasing.
My rope is Christ. Holding me up. Anchoring me to solid ground.
My power bar is the Word. Fueling me. Giving me strength for one more step.

I can do this. I will do this. I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Olive Oil Sandwhiches

2010-04-08T11:03:00.000-07:00

2 slices of bread
2 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt
black pepper
garlic powder
lemon pepper
rosemary
thyme
slice of cheese
slice of salami

place olive oil in a sauce and ass seasonings to taste. using a brush, smother both sides of bread slices with olive oil. place on hot grill. once the first side is golden brown, flip. add your cheese and salami to one slice. flip second slice on top and grill both sides to golden perfection. enjoy :)

Chicken and Rice

2010-04-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

1 whole chicken, boiled & deboned
1 cup rice
1 can pinto beans
1/2 cup lentils
3 medium carrots
2 large celery stalks
2 cups water
oregano
sea salt
rosemary
thyme
garlic powder
onion powder
lemon pepper
black pepper

Boil the chicken, covering in water, for an hour. Place chicken on a plate to cool. Pour chicken broth into the crock pot. Add rice, beans, & lentils. Add spices to taste. Add two additional cups of water. Using a potato peeler, peel carrots. Cut carrots and celery into 1/4 inch pieces and add to crock pot. Debone chicken, adding meat to crock pot. Turn on lowest setting and let sit for 6-8 hours. Do not remove lid until ready to eat.

Our Stew

2010-04-05T18:45:00.000-07:00

1 gallon water
2 tablespoons salt
6 large cloves garlic, sliced
1 small yellow onion, coarsely diced
1 heaping teaspoon ginger, minced (use a grater)
6 stalks celery, sliced
7 large white mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon dry oregano
1/2 tablespoon ground sage
1 tablespoon dry thyme
1 tablespoon ground rosemary
1/2 tablespoon dry basil
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
handful of parsley tops
mushrooms & potatoes first. carrots & celery last. throw everything in a pot and boil.

Sweet Casserole

2010-03-08T22:52:00.000-08:00

Sweet Casserole
1 sweet potato
2 gala apples
2 red pears
cinnamon
agave
brown sugar

Slice all fruit thinly. Layer: sweet potato, cinnamon (sprinkled), apple, agave (drizzled), pear, brown sugar (sprinkled).
Serve with a ceasar salad and dinner rolls to balance out the sweet. I was told that it would be better as a dessert rather than the main dish.

Monday Dinner

2010-03-01T15:37:00.000-08:00

5 Bean Salad
1 can pinto beans, drained, rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained, rinsed
1/2 bowl spring lettuce
1/3 cup grapenuts
1/3 cup feta cheese
cucumber, diced
red bell pepper, diced
green onion, diced
red onion, diced

Throw everything into a bowl and enjoy!

Behind!!

2010-02-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

Mk, so at the end of my last blog, I noted that plans usually fail. My plans for this week failed. Although, I can't say I mind. I rather prefer the way this week has turned out :) Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've made some pretty incredible things since my last entry. The reason I've been putting off posting is because, I'm ashamed to say, I've neglected the visual part of this site. I made awesome dish after awesome dish and didn't take a single picture! THE SHAME!! Alas, I still want to share my recipes and the epicness of my food this week.
Monday night we went to Chili's for dinner. I was sorely disappointed in Chili's. I ordered a small shrimp salad. Their small salad is fairly large and their large salad is fairly massive. So I ordered a small only to discover that ::gasp:: it's actually small! There were four measly shrimp on the whole salad. Three tiny chunks of pineapple. Washed out green tinted lettuce. Not green lettuce, mind you, white lettuce with green tint. Disgusting. I kindly, politely sent it back, explaining that if I pay $10 for a salad, I should receive $10 worth of salad. At least $7 worth of salad, I think. I ate the chicken off of Jason's salad. By the way, his salad cost less than mine, had more meat, lettuce, and veggies. Why? I don't know. Thank you waitress, for being kind about it.
Tuesday night I made Black Bean Burgers! They were amazing! I gotta brag on this. They were the best black bean burgers I have ever tasted. Notice I said burgers because Mrs H made black bean patties last week that were pretty stupendous. We had cheesy grits over her patties. I made actual burgers. Sort of. I couldn't bring myself to spend $15 on a package of burger buns (The same people that make Genesis bread make these buns) and I wasn't about to buy white or wheat which are mostly bleached flour. Side note: If you're going to switch to whole wheat or whole grain breads, read up and do your research first. It may not be worth it. Producers know how to trick consumers with words and stamps like "organic" or "whole grain." My preference is Genesis bread. It's a very meaty bread, if that makes any sense at all. So I went ahead and toasted Genesis bread and called it a hamburger bun. Here's the recipe:

Black Bean Burgers
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 small onion (coarsely chopped)
1 medium red pepper (chopped)
4 medium cloves of garlic (minced)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1 can black beans (drained)
1 cup cooked brown basmati rice
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, red pepper, and garlic. Cook while stirring frequently until soft and onions are translucent. Stir in cumin, turmeric, and cook for an additional minute. In a food processor, combine beans, rice and onion/pepper/garlic mixture. Transfer to a large bowl. Add breadcrumbs and mix well. Season with salt and hot pepper if desired. Flatten 1/4 cup amounts of mix into patties and they are ready for the grill. Cook about 3-5 minutes each side. Save some of the mix (enough for two patties) for the next recipe. If you've got plenty of mouths to feed and you're not worried about left overs, go ahead and make the last two patties :) Sidenote: My mama always told me that cooking's messy. When you're adding in the breadcrumbs, dig those hands in and mix that way then just make your patties from there :)

Wednesday was spent at the H home as usual but I made enchiladas for lunch for Jason with leftovers from the burgers.
Black Bean Enchiladas
2 patties worth of black bean mix
4 flour tortillas
1 small can enchilada sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar

Warm enchilada sauce slowly. Meanwhile, toast the tortillas until slightly brown. Once sauce is warm and slowly boiling, add black bean mix and stir. Season to taste. Spoon mix into the center of the tortilla in a line. Top with cheese and roll up. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas. Place in oven safe bowl and pour remaining mix on top. Top with the rest of the cheese. Cover with tin foil and warm at 325 for 10 minutes. Send him to work with a fork, the dish, and lots of napkins.

For lunch on Wednesday, I have no idea what I ate. All I can remember is the Rhubarb Crisp. The H family is from up north and they eat northern things on occasion. Typically, I am one to not eat northern foods but this stuff is spec-tac-ular! I am going to keep my eyes peeled for some rhubarb.
Dinner was Mrs H's pizza. She made one meat lovers, one veggie lovers, and one cheese. I had several slices of the veggie and it was pretty fantastic. I can't make crust like that :/ I've tried several times now to make some sort of crust and it just never turns out quite right. You'll read more about that in a minute.
Thursday for lunch, I had a grilled chicken sandwich. Bread, garlic mayonnaise (it was organic and had actual garlic in it!), left over chicken that Sharon made Wednesday, Roma tomato, mozzarella, spring lettuce. It was pretty tasty.
For dinner, it was Dad's birthday so Jason and I cooked dinner for him. I made pesto salad and warm apple pie. Jason grilled steak. I juiced some orange carrot apple juice and Sharon made tea. It was a very lovely dinner. Jason is a fantastic steak cooker! I didn't save the recipe that I used but that's alright because I'm planning to use a different one next time. The pie crust I made wasn't too fantastic either so I'm not even going to bother posting that recipe either.
Friday was a pretty good day as well. I made pesto tacos which are basically pesto sandwiches except in a tortilla instead of bread slices. I baby sat and drank lots and lots of water as well as a glass of tea. For dinner, Jason, Ethan, and I went to Jason's Deli and ate soup and salad. I only had one helping of pudding! Woo!
Tomorrow, we are celebrating several birthdays. Me, Jason, Dad, Sharon, and Casi all have January/February/March birthdays so we are celebrating all together for the second year in a row. I do believe this is a new family tradition. I am making ceasar dressing to go on a salad.
I'll try to get back on that picture taking part for my next post. I'll also try to keep the posts more frequent so that they're not super duper long like this one.
Til later!!

Menu for this week:

Tuesday Dinner
Black Bean Burgers

Wednesday Lunch
Black Bean Enchiladas

Wednesday Dinner
Pesto Salads

Thursday Lunch
Pesto Sandwiches

Thursday Dinner
5 Bean Salad

Friday Lunch
Veggie Salad

Friday Dinner
Casserole

Saturday Lunch
Grilled Cheese

Saturday Dinner
Cesar Salad

Sunday Dinner
Tomato Sandwich

That's the plan at least. We all know, plans fail :)

Epic Salmon

2010-02-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

Epic Salmon
1 to 1 1/2 lbs fresh salmon
1/4 tsp course sea salt
1/2 tsp course black pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp basil
1 Tblsp lemon juice
1/4 cup white wine
2 Tblsp Olive Oil

Heat olive oil in skillet until almost smoking. Sprinkle salt and pepper on fillets and sear on both sides on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes until darkened.
Warm olive oil, wine, lemon juice and remaining dry spices. Remove salmon from skillet and place on a plate and pour sauce over all. Enjoy!!

So as it turns out, salmon comes with some skin/scales thing on the bottom of it. It completely freaked me out. Jason had to prep the fish for me. This is the first time I've ever cooked fish and I don't know how I will ever get used to that gross bottom part. Eeeek.
I also made a a salad that went with it and used the dressing from earlier today. It was pretty tasty. But it did not compare with the Epic Salmon. I adore the sauce. Here's the original recipe.

Friday & Saturday

2010-02-20T12:27:00.000-08:00

I stole this idea from Mrs H but edited a few things, as usual. Mostly because I didn't have all the right ingredients. This is a personal salad. Make for yourself for a snack. All the amounts would be doubled, if not tripled for two.
Tomato Salad
olive oil
1 Roma tomato, sliced
10 black olives, pitted
1 tbsp green pepper, diced
1 tbsp white onion, diced
1 tbsp mozzarella, cubed
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp agave nectar
sea salt
dried oregano
dried thyme
dried rosemary
fresh garlic, minced

In a mason jar, combine olive oil, vinegar, and agave. Add salt, oregano, thyme, rosemary, and garlic to mix. Seal and set in freezer.
Saute diced onion and diced pepper in cast iron skillet. Slice tomato and arrange in bowl. Add mozzarella and olives. Top with sauteed veggies. Pull dressing out of the freezer and pour on top.
Place remaining dressing in refrigerator. Enjoy :)

Of course, for breakfast, I had a bacon egg taco. For dinner last night, I had a veggie salad (all of my veggies diced and thrown together). For lunch yesterday, I had a grilled cheese sandwich.

Grilled Cheese
4 slices of Genesis bread
2 Roma tomato
1/4 cup red onion
1/4 cup green onion
1/4 cup green pepper
Spring lettuce
mozzarella
olive oil
Dice one tomato, red onion, green onion, and green pepper. Saute in olive oil. Drizzle bread with olive oil. Slice remaining tomato, and mozzarella. Grill bread on cast iron skillet. After you flip the bread, add the cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Place sauteed veggies on top of lettuce and add second slice of bread on top. Leave on skillet for a few more minutes to let the cheese melt.

Tonight, we're supposed to be grilling salmon. We'll see how that goes.

Wednesday Thursday

2010-02-18T10:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Mrs H made black bean patties. EPIC! She got the recipe off of Food Network. She also made some cheesy grits to go on top of the black bean patty. At first, that sounded gross to me, but if Mrs H thinks it's good, I'll give it a try. It was not only good, but it was grrrrrrrrrrreat! I'm putting it on the menu for next week. There are a few things to edit to make it vegan, but I can make it work, hopefully. To my few and far between readers, if you have yet to visit Mrs H's blog yet, go now. She's great. For lunch, we just ate here and there, like usual. For breakfast, I had a bagel with eggs and a banana. Today for breakfast, I had another bagel. Dad wouldn't buy me the donuts that I really wanted because "They're not on the diet." From the man that tells me everything needs meat. For lunch, Dad took me to a neat little burger joint. I worked there a few summers ago and I trust the meat. It's not healthily cooked but it's not from testosterone pumped cows. They buy their beef from local farmers. I appreciate that. For dinner, we're either gonna do a Fiesta Salad again (Jason really liked that but I didn't care too much for it) or we'll do my new Grilled Cheese. I haven't decided yet what I want to fix.

Veggie Salad

2010-02-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

So my dinner guest for the evening rearranged plans. But then Sharon's mom decided to show up and again, we had a full table. I made a simple veggie salad set up in a buffet kind of style. The bed is made up of spinach leaves, spring lettuce, cilantro, and broccoli top.
The cheese is mozzarella, provolone, and feta. The veggies are red onion, green onion, cucumber, tomato, green bell pepper, celery, and black olives. The bed was tossed in my Italian dressing.

Equal parts vinegar and olive oil. 2 tablespoons agave nectar, minced garlic, minced red onion, rosemary, thyme, and sea salt. It was pretty good. I've made better dressing but the salad itself was pretty awesome.

Monday Dinner

2010-02-15T21:41:00.000-08:00

Pesto Samich
Genesis bread, grilled
Pesto
Roma tomato, sliced
Mozzarella cheese, sliced

Monday-
Dinner-Pesto Samich

Tuesday
Lunch-Leftovers
Dinner-Veggie Salad, pudding

Wednesday
Lunch-H home
Dinner-H home

Thursday
Lunch-Sandwich, finger veggies
Dinner-Fiesta Salad, applesauce

Friday
Lunch-Leftovers
Dinner-Grilled Cheese

Saturday
Lunch-Tomato Salad

Sunday
Lunch-out to eat/veggie salad
Dinner-Leftovers

Yesterday Today

2010-02-15T08:00:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was absolute magic. So superbly amazing I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of the day! I am not going to pretend I even tried to eat healthy yesterday. It was too perfect to feel guilty about.
For breakfast, Jason bought me a kolache. It was the perfect breakfast. I was so hungry and I was craving something warm and filling and then he showed up with a warm, filling kolache. Superb, Babe :)
For lunch, we skipped because we planned on an early dinner. Around 4, we showed up a Red Lobster. Around 4:30 we sat down. I had the New York Strip Lobster and Shrimp Oscar. It was AAAAAMAAAAZIIIING!! Absolute perfection. I am finally allowed to eat steak again. (I've been allowed to eat steak but it had to be cooked well done. That's not a steak, that's a burnt piece of meat.) It was medium rare. It was juicy and tasty and delicious and oh my gosh! Then it was topped with shrimp and lobster meat sauteed in a garlic butter sauce. All over garlic mashed potatoes. My mouth did a little dance. Jason had one of their specials. I don't remember what it was called but it had lobster, scallops, and shrimp. We had the lobster artichoke dip for appetizer (big surprise, right? haha) and that bread! Oh! The bread. We ate far too much bread but how can you stop eating that bread? You can't. We took some to go. Oh ya, and we had ceasar salads too. They were alright but the croutons were few and far between. The dressing was watery. And the lettuce was iceberg. But it satisfied that little twing of guilt. "But, Conscience! I ate a salad! Geez! Leave me alone for now!" Haha. I meant to take pictures of the food but I ate it too quickly. I was concerned with eating, not blogging. Lol.
Today, I start anew. I am going to eat a salad for lunch, then a salad for dinner. We are going to do our weekly shopping that we skipped last week and then we are going to be good for all time. God help us.

The Rest of the Ugly Week

2010-02-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Wednesday ended pretty well. Baked potato with chives and butter. The rest of the week was incredibly horribly ugly. Fast food, burgers, sodas, pizza, YUCK! It made my taste buds scream for joy but my stomach and my energy level and my resolve feel just awful. The bad part is, I can't fix it right now. Jason is out of town on a men's retreat (I don't feel like cooking single servings: just for me). My bestie is coming over tonight (we don't eat too well when we're together)Tomorrow morning is church (we all know how well I eat there). Tomorrow night is Red Lobster for Valentines Day (Yes, I'm getting tasty food. It's friggin Valentine's Day). So the best I can do right now is say that I'll start healthy again on Monday. Juice and salad and fruit and all sorts of tasty things that make me look and feel wonderful. For now, I'm going to go eat cold pizza.

Tuesday Wednesday

2010-02-10T11:38:00.000-08:00

For dinner yesterday, we ate at some Vietnamese place. It was not to my liking. Jason enjoyed it but I did not. I can't tell you what I ate. Not because it's a secret, but because I can't pronounce it, spell it, or even remember it. Haha. Jason assures me that it was not alive when I ate it. It was not alive within the hour before I ate it. I assure him, that I will not eat it again. For breakfast, today, I had orange juice and grapes. For lunch, Mrs H and Sarah made an awesome fruit salad. I've got one meal left for the day. Can I make it? YES I CAN!
Mrs H and Sarah's Fruit Salad
Strawberries, quartered
Apples, diced
Oranges, wedged
Coconut, shredded
Lemon juice
Honey
Mix lemon juice and honey together. Combine everything else together. Toss in lemon/honey.

Tuesday - Breakfast

2010-02-09T09:27:00.000-08:00

I created this morning. It was completely on a whim. I mentioned to Jason that we might have avocado sandwiches and leftovers tonight. He said "Ooo! Let's put some of that mozzarella on the sandwiches!" I thought Hmmmmm.... That's a nice idea. But grilled cheese is a better one! So I decided to make grilled Genesis bread mozzarella cheese sandwiches. But oh my! That wasn't good enough. I needed onions. I need peppers. I needed taste and flavor and pizazz! Viola! New awesome sandwich has been created!!
Grilled Cheese
4 slices Genesis bread
4 slices mozzarella cheese
1 slice red onion (4 or 5 actual rings)
1/4 cup green bell pepper (diced)
1/4 cup green onions (diced)
1/4 cup portabella mushroom (diced)
extra virgin olive oil
Brush the bread with olive oil. Cover pan with thin layer of olive oil to grill. Place bread on skillet, once hot. Saute pepper, green onion, and mushroom together in separate skillet. Set aside. Flip bread and place cheese on each slice. Grill onion. Put half of the veggies on one side of bread and cover with opposite bread slice. Use other half of veggies for the second sandwich. Enjoy!

Monday

2010-02-08T21:31:00.000-08:00

Last night was the Super Bowl. Way to go, Saints! We went to the party at Khon's where we ate bratwurst, jambalaya, and various other non-healthy foods. So today, I did much better (until the ice cream sandwich after dinner). For lunch, I had some epic vegetable juice. For dinner, I made Sweet Potato Casserole. Dessert was banana chocolate pudding. I tried something new with that. It wasn't as good, and I probably won't make it ever again. I think but it may be because the sweet potato was so amazing and sweet and wonderful. Even Daddy liked the casserole. Jason and I watched a movie after dinner (Zombieland = awesome) and then went to the corner store for some ice cream. Not terrificly healthy, but definitely terrificly tasty.
Epic Juice
1 lb carrots
1 gala apple, peeled and cored
1 large orange
Throw it all into the juicer. Seal it up in a mason jar and put in the fridge for an hour or two. Enjoy the epicness.

Sweet Potato Casserole
4-5 large sweet potatoes
2 cups almond milk
1 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon Celtic Sea Salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
olive oil
Scrub the potatoes and stab repeatedly with a fork. Wrap in tin foil and bake at 425 for 60-70 minutes. Unwrap and peel. Slice potatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Cover your baking baking dish with olive oil. Layer sweet potato slices into dish. In a bowl, whisk together almond milk, maple syrup, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Pour over potatoes and bake in a 400 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Serve and enjoy!

New Less Awesome Pudding
3 tablespoons Greek pudding
4 bananas
1 avocado
1 tablespoon raw cocoa
1 tablespoon flaxmeal
2 tablespoons agave nectar
Blend everything together in a food processor. Pour into bowl and chill.

Birthday Weekend

2010-02-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, was Jason's birthday! He turned 29. He is now one full year away from the big three ohhh. We celebrated with some friends at Benihana's. Jason really likes Japanese food and we all really enjoyed the hibachi grill and show. Afterward, we all wanted Starbucks. Jason enjoyed his regular caramel soy machiado and I tried the apple spice latte. I like the apple spice latte. We then went to Khon's to celebrate with some more good friends :)

Today, I finally got to make my Fiesta Salad
that I edited from hacres.com. It was super tasty! We spent the afternoon at the park enjoying the sunlight and the warm weather. Tonight, we made homemade pizza! This is my first time to make dough. I'm pretty proud of myself. Here's what I've learned about homemade pizza:
-use eggs, not a substitute.
-do NOT put pizza on the bottom rack.
-mozzarella cheese is greasy. very, very greasy.
-follow instructions to the letter.
-do not kneed dough after it rises.
-do not be discouraged. next time will be better.

Fiesta Salad
2 cups frozen corn kernels
1/4 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped)
1 cup scallions (chopped)
1 green bell pepper (chopped)
2 ribs celery (chopped)
1/2 cup carrots (shredded)
1/4 cup roma tomatoes (chopped)
Place all ingredients in on a bed of romaine lettuce, spinach leaves, and red cabbage leaves.

Italian Dressing
equal parts extra virgin olive oil and apple cider vinegar
agave or other sweetener
rosemary
basil
fresh garlic (minced)
fresh sweet onion (minced)
sea salt
Mix together in Mason jar and shake well. Chill and serve.

Margherita Pizza
1/2 lb. plum Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed and finely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded
6 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
6 fresh basil leaves cut into julienne strips
extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese
1 package gluten free pizza crust
2 tbsp flax seed meal
6 tbsp water
yeast packet

Preheat oven to 425.
Combine 2 Tbls. olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, and salt in bowl.
Allow to marinate while making dough.
Combine water and yeast.
Combine flax and 6 tbsp of water together. Let sit for one minute.
Combine yeast/water, flax/water, and oil together and blend.
Add pizza crust and whisk until thick
Cover and let rise for 20 minutes
Bake 7-9 minutes
Brush dough crust lightly with olive oil.
Top with cheese, then tomatoes.
Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for 8−10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and cheese is bubbly.
Remove from oven and top with feta cheese, then basil.
Cool on a wire rack for 2−3 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving.

Best 6 Doctors

2010-02-06T10:39:00.001-08:00

The best six doctors anywhere
And no one can deny it
Are sunshine, water, rest, and air
Exercise and diet.
These six will gladly you attend
If only you are willing
Your mind they'll ease
Your will they'll mend
And charge you not a shilling.

Wayne Fields

Wednesday and Thursday

2010-02-04T19:45:00.000-08:00

Wednesday wasn't too good. I ate semi healthy at Bible Study in the morning and semi healthy at the H house for lunch. Then! Oh, then... Pizza and soda at Synergy. Oh my my my. ::shakes head::
Thursday was worse. For breakfast, I had Shipleys. Two kolaches and a dozen doughnut holes. Lunch was awful. Macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese sandwich, and a Subway sandwich. For dinner, I was full and didn't eat anything.
We went shopping tonight. Two days after we planned to. I've got groceries through to Tuesday. No more going out to eat! We've got to plan on better things and actually follow through. After shopping, my tummy started rumbling. So we pulled out the buttermilk and made some pancakes! I left the kitchen to leave Jason to pancake making. I requested silver dollar pancakes. They feel more like a snack than big pancakes.
Then when I wasn't expecting it at all, Jason walks over to the table where I'm sitting and puts a plate down. I say "thank you" without really looking at it. Then I double take and realize that it said my name! How neat is that?! A heart soon followed. Then the very last was a flower. I was so blown away. It was amazing.
Afterward, I felt fat but very, very loved.
Friday is Jason's 29th birthday :) Some friends are coming over and we're eating Fiesta Salad! Woo! Happy birthday, my love!

Tuesday

2010-02-02T21:18:00.000-08:00

Today went fairly well, I think. For breakfast, I had an orange. For lunch, I had left overs. For dinner, Mrs H made spaghetti and meat balls. I attempted to resist the meatballs by bringing my own tomato sauce. But it just wasn't as tasty. Jason said that my sauce had definite potential. We could play with the spices and such and make it killer. But choosing between a tried-and-true meatball sauce that everyone was chowing down on and a its-got-potential raw sauce that I attempted to make in a hurry... I just couldn't say no to those amazing meatballs. Then, we had ice cream. Then, we had popcorn. Oh man. This popcorn was probably the best popcorn I've ever tasted. It was Ohioan. It was popped in a popcorn maker thingy. It was big and white and fluffy and crunchy and salty and oh so perfect. Seriously... awesome.

Its-Got-Potential Raw Sauce

3 vine-ripened tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
oregano
basil
rosemary
cayenne pepper
2 medium scallions
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste

I wish I could give you exact measurements on how much of each spice to use but the original calls for fresh herbs but I don't have an herb garden and I didn't want to spend $5 on every single herb. So we used dry herbs. When I asked Jason to put everything in, he used his best judgment instead of measuring it out so I don't know how much went in to ours. But hey, what else is a Sicilian going to do?

On the Menu

2010-02-02T08:46:00.001-08:00

So it's shopping time again! I have now learned how to link it up so expect more links. I am still going to post what I do but now ya'll will have the original recipe to compare :) I'm pretty excited about that. Here's the menu for the week. I'm going to be trying lots of new things this week so wish me luck!

Tuesday
Lunch- Left over Avocado Soup
Dinner- Fettuccine Not Alfredo
Wednesday
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- at the H Home
Thursday
Lunch- Sandwich
Dinner- Caribbean Salad, Peaches Sunday
Friday
Lunch- Left over Caribbean Salad
Dinner- Fiesta Salad
Saturday
Lunch- Left over Fiesta Salad
Dinner- Margherita Pizza
Sunday
Lunch- Out
Dinner- Veggie Wrap, Pudding
Monday
Lunch- Left over Veggie Wrap
Dinner- Sweet Potato Casserole
Tuesday
Lunch-Sandwich
Dinner- Left over Sweet Potato Casserole, Veggie Salad

Monday - Dinner

2010-02-01T20:53:00.000-08:00

Jason and I ate at Sandy Magee's last week and I had some Chilled Avocado Soup. I searched high and low for a recipe. I came across several but I really wanted to find one from a trusted source rather than just another online blog. Finally, my uncle's niece (She's not my cousin. I may be getting our relation mixed up somehow. We're family. That's what I know.) emailed me her chilled avocado soup recipe. I adapted this recipe from hers. I posted what I did but put in parenthesis the original.

Chilled Avocado Soup
5 avocados, peeled pitted and mashed (4 avocados)
2 cucumbers, diced (3 cucumbers)
3 garlic gloves, crushed (2 garlic cloves)
4 cups buttermilk
1 cup plain yogurt (2/3 cup yogurt)
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cayenne (1 tsp tabasco)
1 tbsp sea salt
2 tbsp dried basil (1 cup fresh basil, chopped)
(1/2 cup red onion)

Blend everything in a food processor until smooth.

I also made stuffed celery tonight. Except I didn't have an extra avocado so it didn't turn out quite right. It was still pretty delicious. I'm just going to post the original recipe and promise to do it correctly next time.

Stuffed Celery
5 celery stalks
1 avocado, peeled pitted and mashed
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 roma tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
1/4 cups green chilies, finely chopped
seat salt to taste

Combine everything except the celery sticks. Cut celery sticks into quarters and arrange on a plate. Stuff the celery and enjoy!

We drank more Arnold Palmer with dinner and we were all over proud of ourselves. Then we watched a movie and they ate ice cream. Then we really, really craved ice cream. Then we went to the store and bought ice cream. We came home and ate ice cream. After doing sooooo good with dinner, we messed it up with ice cream. Tomorrow is Fettuccine Not Alfredo. We'll see how that goes.

This Weekend

2010-02-01T09:26:00.000-08:00

Saturday morning I had eggs, fruit, and yogurt.
Veggie Egg Delight
1/2 cup Green bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 cup Red onion, finely diced
1/4 cup Portabella mushroom, finely diced
1/2 cup Roma tomatoes, finely diced
Shredded cheese to taste (I prefer mozzarella but in the picture, I used cheddar)
3 farm fresh eggs
Rosemary
Thyme
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
Fresh basil, minced
Smidgen of milk
Olive oil

Heat up your skillet. Pour enough olive oil in to cover the bottom. Break the eggs into a bowl with the milk. Whip with a fork until frothy. Add your spices. Set aside. Throw all of your veggies into the skillet. Add a smidgen more olive oil to keep it from drying out. The tastiest way to cook them is let them simmer on low heat for about 8 minutes. The healthiest way is to flash sautee. Turn the heat up and stir them in olive oil for a few minutes. When you bite into the veggies, they will still crunch this way. Add your eggs once the veggies are cooked to your liking. Scramble at medium heat. I prefer hard scrambled so I usually leave them on the stove for about 5 minutes. If you want soft scrambled (more runny), it takes less than 2 minutes. You have to keep stirring them so they don't burn to the bottom of the pan. Turn off the stove and remove pan from heat. Sprinkle cheese over top and let sit while you prepare your yogurt.

Sweet Vanilla Yogurt
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
4 tablespoons agave nectar
vanilla extract to taste
1/4 cup grapenuts

This is a variation on a recipe I used earlier this week. I made this one pretty and didn't stir it up together until I sat down to eat it. If you want pretty, follow these instructions. If you want just regular yogurt, follow Thursday or Friday - breakfast lunch. Although, I made both of those pretty too.
Scoop the yogurt into a pretty bowl in a nice round plop. Using a the back of a spoon, make a shallow lake in the top. Pour the agave into the lake, allowing it to spill over the edges. Pour the vanilla into the lake. Most if it will stay in the top, making it darker. Sprinkle your grapenuts over the entire bowl like tiny, leafless trees. Viola! You've got a bowl of yogurt that looks like a snowy hill in the winter! Not my winter, of course. I live in Texas.

The last part is mostly up to you. Choose your favorite sweet fruits, cut them up, and enjoy! I used strawberries, bananas, and grapes. Grapes don't fare too well with the sweet yogurt but they taste wonderful by themselves :)

By now, your cheese has melted. Slide the entire egg creation onto a plate. Don't scoop it out, slide it, so the cheese stays on top. Serve it all together and you've got a delicious, mostly healthy*, filling breakfast!

*Yogurt gets an 8 on a scale of 10 for healthiness because it's a dairy product and those aren't too good for you all the time. I wouldn't recommend eating dairy daily. Fruit gets a 10, as long as its fresh. Frozen fruits only go down to a 9 though. In deliciousness, frozen fruits get a 6 and fresh gets a 10. The eggs get a 5 because they aren't healthy but they aren't detrimental. The longer you cook the veggies, the less healthy they become. I recommend flash sauteed.

Saturday for lunch was pizza. I did not cook because we went out antique shopping. I know what you're thinking. Pizza isn't on the diet! Oh, my friend, you are wrong! It may not be incredibly healthy, but it sure was close! Its called a Margherita Pizza. No, you can't drink it. No, you won't get drunk. Yes, your tummy and taste buds will scream in delight! We ordered it from a local pizzeria that operates with a stone oven. They claim to have all fresh ingredients and their crust is whole wheat. No, it didn't taste like whole wheat. Yes, the ingredients tasted like they were over nighted directly from Sicily. I have yet to try to make it myself but I can almost guarantee it's on the menu sometime in the next week or two. I have yet to decide on a specific recipe but here's the basic ingredients (I've gathered this from looking at several online recipes: parsley, garlic, oregano, tomatoes, fresh basil leaves, fresh mozzarella, Parmesan, feta. I've seen some that has onion, some that adds chicken, and various other things. Basically, tomato, mozzarella, and basil give this pizza a superb, one of a kind taste.
Saturday snack I had some cut up fruits with agave drizzled over it. Dad cooked chicken breast for dinner with avocado toast. Tasty.
Sunday breakfast was again very difficult for me. I ate chips and drank a root beer about 10 AM. Lunch was a little better but still not fantastic. It was fend for yourself at the Hochstettler home. Which always ends up a tasty meal, regardless. I had a croissant with some very delicious, very soft cheese. I also ate part of an apple and some macaroni. Last night for dinner was semi healthy. We ate at Olive Garden. Spinach artichoke dip for appetizer. We both had creamy soups for starters, and way too much bread. I then had the stuffed chicken with mushroom garlic mashed potatoes. Jason had the seafood fettuccine. To be honest, though, I don't entirely remember what he had only that it was noodles and seafood. He added cayenne to it. Who's surprised? Not I. No, that's not a picture of the dip from last night. That's a Google image. We ate last night's food too fast to capture it on film... er... SD card... I am currently searching for the perfect spinach artichoke dip online because Jason absolutely loves the stuff. It is our appetizer where ever we go.
This morning, I woke up a bit late and decided to eat lunch for breakfast instead of the other way around, which I have been doing the past week. I had left over bread and stuffed chicken from Olive Garden with a homemade Arnold Palmer.

In conclusion, weekends are not very healthy for me. I slip easily and blog lazily. Oops.

Tonight is the chilled avocado soup I've been itching to make and a small veggie salad with avocado dressing.

Til' 'morrow

Friday - dinner

2010-01-29T16:32:00.000-08:00

Tonight's dinner was a veggie salad. I usually just take all of the veggies we have in the refrigerator and chop and dice it all up. From top left (clockwise) celery, red onion, cucumber, cauliflower, carrot, green onion, bell pepper, broccoli top.

The darker dressing is Balsamic Mustard Vinaigrette
7 Tablespoons Balsamic
6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Tablespoons Mustard

2 Tablespoon Agave Nectar
Pinch of Black Pepper
Mix it all up together
adapted from Andrea Sylve

The lighter dressing is Italian Dressing
6 Tablespoons Olive Oil
6 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tablespoons Agave Nectar
a dash or two of Italian seasoning, oregano, garlic salt, sea salt, thyme, rosemary
Mix it up.

The lettuce bed is made up of kale, red cabbage, and romaine.

I was strong enough to resist full on bad mac and cheese today, but I wasn't able to say "no" all the way.

I used buttermilk instead of whole milk and olive oil instead of butter. I also added a bunch of spices. Don't ask which ones because I have a habit of looking at the texture, deciding if it'll work, and adding it without looking at what it actually is. But it tasted rather good :) I should write things down more often.

Jason made cake for dinner. He found the recipe on Google and modified it to healthy-ness. It tastes like sweet bread to me. I spread butter over it.
Jason's Yogurt Bread
3/4 cup cane sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup Greek yogurt
Mix the eggs and sugar together until its nice and frothy. Set aside. Mix the dry ingredients together. Add to egg sugar mixture. Stir in buttermilk, vanilla extract, and yogurt until smooth. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.

Friday - breakfast lunch

2010-01-29T09:29:00.001-08:00

This morning for breakfast lunch (It was about 11 before I actually got out of bed) I had yogurt! I used the same recipe from last night with the greek plain yogurt, agave nectar, and vanilla extract. Then I diced up some strawberries and added some grapenuts. Viola! Strawberry yogurt! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thursday

2010-01-28T21:10:00.000-08:00

This was dinner tonight. Doesn't it look magnificent? Assorted fruit plate with fruit dip in a fruit bowl. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. I am amazed.

Healthy Vanilla Fruit Dip
1 cup plain yogurt (I used the Greek. I've heard it's healthier than other plain yogurts but I have no actual proof outside of word of mouth. It was definitely drier than most yogurts which made it perfect for this recipe)
3 tablespoons agave nectar (The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons of brown sugar. However, since agave is healthier, I choose that. Also, I have a sweet tooth so I opted for extra, especially since brown sugar is sweeter than agave.)
vanilla extract to taste (The recipe called for 1 teaspoon but again, I have a sweet tooth so I added more. Unfortunately, I didn't measure, I just plopped some in until it looked right to me.)
If you use a wetter yogurt, drain it for a while and the refrigerate. This will make it thicker. The longer you drain, the thicker the dip. I did not drain or refrigerate. I simply scooped it from the tub to the bowl. It was delicious but I plan to try the drain thing next time to see how that goes. After you drain and fridge, mix all three ingredients together. Set aside.
Cut a large naval orange in half. Scoop out the inside guts. Slice a smidgen off the bottom of each half so that it will sit flat like a bowl. Divide up the dip between the two orange halves. Enjoy!

The Assorted Fruit Plate contains a wealth of health and tasty. The outside ring contains 1 mango and 4 strawberries. The middle ring is 2 bananas. The inside ring is 2 kiwis and 4 strawberrys. The center is seedless red grapes (I know, they look black.) The grapes are not superb dipping fruit, it turns out but they were magnificent all the same. The bananas and kiwi were my favorite to submerge in the dip. The strawberry and mango were best with a dip rather than a submerge.

Back up to lunch. I ate my avocado sandwich, a veggie baggie, and a fruit medley. The veggie baggie had about a fourth of a cucumber, half a celery stick, and half a carrot. I need to find a good replacement for
ranch dressing because that's all I could think about as I chowed down on the veggies. The fruit medley had a pair, a few strawberries, a banana, a few grapes, and a small orange. Back up one more meal. I had a small orange for breakfast. Fast forward to afternoon snack. I slipped up once today and ate a kolachi today at the local coffee shop.
I also drank a sweet iced tea. Oops. But it was only two kolachis (did I mention I had to have a second after the first? It was delicious.) and one sweet iced tea. Fast forward to after dinner snack. I bragged about the kolachi to Jason so we went back and split one. I had a vanilla Italian soda. It was very good to my taste buds. Very bad to my diet. Tomorrow night, veggie salad with a balsamic mustard vinaigrette I want to try.

Final things: I believe I promised a story about the dip. I have had sweet fruit dips before. They were delicious. I even felt good about dipping my fruit in them because I figured nothing served with healthy things could be unhealthy. Boy, was I wrong. The traditional sweet fruit dip has cream cheese and marshmallow creme. That's it. Equal parts cheese and creme! Seriously, that's terribly unhealthy. So, I began a desperate search for a healthy dip. I found a few that were pretty promising at first only to find out it was the same thing with a twist. I looked for what felt like ages (It was only a few hours). Finally, I stumbled across a recipe on kaboose.com All I had to do was sub out the brown sugar for agave and I was good to go! Even that substitution wasn't necessary, just preferable. Jason was a bit unsure about this dip because who ever thought of dipping fruit in yogurt? Haha. Well, Yoplait is on to something. Plain yogurt, something sweet, and some fruit is a rather delectable mixture. Glad I found this little secret!

'til 'morrow!
Vegggggg out

Wednesday

2010-01-28T00:17:00.000-08:00

Today was a good, on-track day. I grabbed an orange on the way out the door this morning. I resisted the cookies at Bible Study and ate the fruit medley instead. At least for a while, I resisted. I did give in and eat two. Then for lunch, I drank a glass of V8 juice. I nibbled on some chicken that Mrs H cooked. It was tender, straight off the bone chicken. Mmmmhmm! Then for a mid afternoon snack, another glass of V8. For dinner, I had a delicious small salad. I had a few slices of homemade bread. At church, I had Dr. Pepper and then at Sonic afterward, Jason and I split a chili cheese tater tots. Maybe not terribly on track, but partially. Here's my salad:
spinach leaves
shredded carrots
diced bell pepper
crumbled cauliflower
sliced vine tomato
sunflower seeds
parmesan cheese (not the best choice but not the worst)
Mrs H's homemade Italian dressing

As soon as I get a copy of that amazing homemade bread, I'll link it or post it or something. I adore Mrs H's kitchen. It smells like a slice of heaven.
Lunch tomorrow is going to rock. Sandwich, fruit, and veggies. I'm pretty pumped about it. I'm also pretty thrilled about dinner tomorrow night. The sauce is gonna be amazing! I searched high and low for a sweet dip for my fruit. I will tell that story tomorrow with the pictures.
G'night pretend followers! I don't think anyone reads this, oh well. (Julie said something similar on Julie&Julia and then she started getting comments and followers and such. I'm hoping the same happens for me.)

This Weekend

2010-01-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

So this weekend wasn't very healthy. I made a few good decisions: salad at dinner on Friday, salad with dinner Sunday night, awesome sandwich last night. I also made some not so good decisions: spinach artichoke dip on Saturday,

bacon with breakfast on Saturday, steak, bratwurst, and pork on Sunday evening for dinner. Mostly, I ate poorly this weekend. We have allowed ourselves far too many cheats. So we are back on track! Tonight, Attempt #3 at Italian dressing. The salad is all of the veggies in the fridge mixed up together in a bowl. The bed is made up of red cabbage, kale, and romaine lettuce. We are shopping tonight for food through Monday.
Wednesday:
lunch - sandwich, left over salad
dinner - at the H house
Thursday:
lunch - sandwich
dinner - fruit medley
Friday:
lunch - fruit medley
dinner - veggie salad
Saturday:
lunch - stuffed celery
dinner - avocado soup
Sunday:
lunch - out to lunch
dinner - salad
Monday:
lunch - salad left overs
dinner - fettuccine not alfredo

I'll be updating with recipes and ratings all week. Keep an eye out for more deliciousness coming soon!

Friday -- breakfast and lunch

2010-01-22T13:36:00.000-08:00

For breakfast, I had leftovers from last night and a large orange. The stuffed tomato tastes even better the next day! For lunch, I had the best peanut butter and jelly sandwich I have ever eaten (except for ones my daddy had made for me in the past). Genesis bread with natural peanut butter and organic blueberry jelly. Oh boy! It was so tasty! Next time I'm going to try a version of Dad's Special PB&J. His includes peanut butter, jelly, butter, syrup, and a secret ingredient. He mixes them all up together and then spreads it on the bread. I'm going to try peanut butter, jelly, agave nectar, and the secret ingredient. My secret ingredient isn't near as awesome as Dad's but I'll give it a shot :)
Yes. That is a Hercules plate. It says "I'm a meat and potato kind of guy." Ironic much?

Thursday -- dinner

2010-01-21T15:33:00.001-08:00

Stuffed Tomato
4 large ripe tomatoes with stems
2 cups sunflower seeds, soaked (6-8 hours) and drained
1/4 cup cucumber, chopped
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup ripe red, yellow, orange, or green bell pepper
1/2 cup fresh basil, minced
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 tsp paprika
sea salt to taste

cut of tops of tomatoes, leaving the stem in place and set aside. scoop out the pulp and seeds leaving 1/4 inch around the outside edge and bottom. blend the sunflower seeds with 1/2 of the tomato pulp and paprika until smooth. mix remaining pulp, green onions, bell pepper, basil, and garlic into the blended mixture.
stuff tomatoes to the top, heaping over a bit. Replace tops.

options: add fresh corn kernels, shredded carros, chopped celery, or chopped nuts (in place of sunflower seeds)

Banana Pudding
4-5 bananas
1-2 avocados
1 tbsp flax seed

put everything together in the food processor except for one banana. blend until smooth and thick. set aside. cut extra banana at an angle to create long ovals. set aside. pour pudding into bowl and decorate with banana ovals. sprinkle chocolate powder over top.

I doubled the stuffed tomato recipe because there are people coming over tonight. The recipe above will feed 3-4 people easily. Last time, I accidentally put too much paprika. This time I didn't put enough. I think its better to have too much. Tonight's stuffing tastes a little bit bland.
The banana pudding goes quick. Everybody loves it! Small portions are the key. This pudding is a lot more filling than the pudding we're used to out of a box so you only need about half the portion. The more flax seed, the thicker it will be. You can vary this recipe by putting raw cocoa or agave nectar or honey. The avocado gives it quite a bit of body. Leaving it out is not the best idea, in my humble opinion. The recipe above should feed about 4 people for dessert.

Thursday - Breakfast and Lunch

2010-01-21T11:09:00.000-08:00

For breakfast today, I had a banana and Mrs. H's pumpkin bread. It was delicious. For lunch, I at a veggie sandwich and a pear. It was also delicious. The sandwich was Genesis bread, avocado (peeled, pitted, and mashed) spread, romaine lettuce, vine ripe tomato (sliced), cucumber (sliced), red onion (sliced), romaine, avocado spread, and Genesis bread. I usually make two sandwiches at a time because of the avocado. Half of one avocado will spread easily over four slices of bread, or two sandwiches. I put the other half in a plastic bag for later. Also, I use 3 slices of cucumber and 2 slices of tomato on each. This is just how I prefer my sandwich. Jason prefers his sandwich with kale instead of romaine. He likes the bite kale gives it. I think the red onion is plenty of bite for one sandwich. My step mom prefers her spread with black bean and avocado. She mashes up half of an avocado with about a 1/4 a can of black beans (drained and rinsed) until it's smooth enough to spread. It's really delicious but then you have 3/4 can of black beans to deal with. I prefer to just dump em in a salad. It's better than storing them and then forgetting them. My mom prefers hers with cheese. She thinks it's too dry without it but in the sandwich's defense, the avocado was under ripe on hers that she ate for lunch today. Tonight, I'm making stuffed tomatoes! I am so thrilled! Eep!

Veg out!

Wednesday -- dinner

2010-01-21T00:12:00.000-08:00

I had dinner at the Hochstettler home this evening. We had carrot raisin salad. There was also turkey noodle stuff but I only ate a little bit of that. Mama H made the greatest pumpkin bread! She gave me the recipe and I am most definitely going to give it a try with a few variations for the hallelujah diet :) She is a fantastic cook. http://www.familychowhall.com/ Check her out sometime.
I hate to admit it, but I am not very strong behind the snack bar. I had a can of root beer and a bag of chips. I do believe I worked it all off laughing though. Jason and I went shopping tonight. Tomorrow evening, we're eating stuffed tomatoes for dinner! Eep! We're also going to have pudding for dessert and a small salad for appetizers. I'm pretty thrilled! I love sharing food with friends.

Wednesday -- lunch

2010-01-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

So today, I had pudding for lunch. Last week, I had to freeze like 5 bananas because they hadn't been eaten and they were gonna go bad. So today, I defrosted them, found them to be mush, and blended them. Then I added some flax seed, agave nectar, and raw chocolate. It was delicious. But it was way too much for just one person so it looks like I'm having pudding again for dinner :) Ya, that's right. I sometimes have pudding for meals. Chocolate pudding on my diet. Aren't I snazzy?

Tuesday

2010-01-19T16:32:00.000-08:00

Jason made homemade soup for dinner <3 He ate some dumplings. For lunch, I ate some left over salad from last night and he had left over sweet potato. Still got plenty of salad left for lunch tomorrow too :) I forgot breakfast this morning, which isn't good but I didn't anything bad at all today! Woo hoo!

Monday -- dinner surprise!

2010-01-18T21:36:00.000-08:00

So Jason and I planned to eat dinner at Olive Garden this evening and then catching a movie. However, when Jason arrived, I had other surprise plans :)

I baked some sweet potatoes and then mashed them up, skin and all. I added a dash of vanilla and a pinch of sea salt.

I also pulled out every veggie in the fridge and made a delicious salad. The lettuce is made up of red cabbage, kale, and romaine. The veggies are cabbage, broccoli, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, and tomato. I sprinkled grape nuts over it all.

I made Italian dressing. This was my second attempt at Italian dressing. It was better than my first, but still not quite right. I think it needed to be sweeter but Jason thought it was perfect. I got the recipe from cooks.com

After I had finished preparing a fantastic meal, I set the table runner (it's actually a scarf) and a few candles on the table. I used the pretty blue plates. Jason was thrilled! It was a perfect evening.

Veg out!

Monday -- breakfast, lunch

2010-01-18T11:02:00.000-08:00

In am currently eating breakfast/lunch. It's breakfast food and I'm gonna call it breakfast because I only woke up a couple of hours ago. But it's lunch because it's after 1 PM. Haha. It is very tasty. 2 large brown organic eggs, diced red onion, diced green onion, diced cherry tomato, diced green pepper, cheese (the only thing not good for me), sea salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, italian seasoning, and lemon pepper. I beat the eggs together in a bowl then added the veggies in with the eggs. Then I scrambled them on a cast iron skillet. I had soft scrambled them so that some of the nutrition in the veggies would be there. After the eggs were done, I put them on a plate and put the cheese on top to melt while the whole wheat toast sat on the skillet. I admit, it wasn't the healthiest breakfastlunch, but it sure was good tasting! Tonight, we're going on a date to Olive Garden then off to see the Princess and the Frog. No popcorn or soda for us!

Veg out!

Sunday - Dinne

2010-01-17T22:20:00.000-08:00

The Indian food was interesting. I forgot to take pictures before we ate it because I was anxious to try so many new things. I did however, take pictures after we picked through it a bit. We didn't eat vegetarian but it was healthy. We had samosas, chapati, tandoori naam, goat buriyani, and roti. I'm not sure if I spelled everything correct so I hope none of those words are bad words in Indian. My favorite item was the samosas. It was very tasty. We got three dry samosas and one wet one. I thought the wet one was disgusting and awful, although Nuke and Jason ate it all up and said "yummy." Here are the pictures of the half eaten food :)

Veg out!

Sunday - Breakfast & Lunch

2010-01-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

My breakfast this morning wasn't all bad. It could have been worse. I forgot to eat before leaving the house this morning, making every doughnut shop along the route to church seem like a sanctuary. I resisted, however, mostly because Ethan wouldn't pull over. I ate a bag of Fritos at church and then resigned myself to nothing more than juice and water the rest of the morning. After church, I went to Subway with some friends. I ate a 6 in veggie delight. I did have pepper jack cheese, but I ate the whole grain bread, didn't toast it, and had the red wine vinegar instead of honey mustard like I used to get. I added all veggies except for the banana peppers and jalapenos. It was very tasty and surprisingly crunchy, despite the lack of toastedness. Although I was able to resist the deep fried chips and the sugar coated cookies, passing up free refills on soda was just too much. I drank 3 full cups of root beer before the afternoon was over. I felt a bit of a sugar rush but I crashed quickly. Now, I'm waiting on Jason and Nuke to pick me up to try a Indian Vegetarian restaurant I found online. I don't know if I will like Indian food or not but I believe it's worth a shot. I'll let ya know.

Veg Out!

Dinner -- Saturday

2010-01-16T21:00:00.000-08:00

Tonight I had a baked sweet potato. Normally, baked sweet potato means loads of butter and brown suga. Tonight, however, being the healthy person I am, I added a dash of vanilla and some sea salt. I mashed it up real good, skin and all. It was delicious! I drank some water with it. The sweet potato was rather big so I was completely full afterward and wasn't even a little bit tempted to sneak some mac and cheese that everyone else was eating :)
Tomorrow will be a challenge at church. There is tasty food there but no healthy food. Prayers, please!

Veg Out!

Hallelujah Diet

2010-01-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

Sixteen days ago, my fiance (Jason) and I began a new chapter of our lives. We decided that this year, two thousand and win, would be a healthier, happier year. I researched and read and read and researched. Finally, I settled on the Hallelujah Diet, mainly because I know people who have tried it and love it. So on New Years Day, we cooked healthy. We have been eating salads and trying new recipes and over all, enjoying the challenge. Some meals have been scrumptious, like the stuffed tomatoes. Some have been disasters, like the cold sweet potato soup. Some quickly became a staple in our meal planning, like the black bean salad. Here's what I've learned so far:
*food is expensive. you have to plan ahead.
*a meal from my kitchen probably wont look or taste as good as it sounds in the recipe.
*always make extra. if ya don't eat it tonight, it'll make a good lunch.
*clean as you go. it makes the meal tastier because you dont have to worry about cleaning after you're done enjoying the food.
*food goes bad. quickly.
*healthy food can taste good. really, really, good.
*use the energy the food gives ya. go for a walk, do some home yoga, run in circles, dance around the room, something! it feels great!
*eating healthy is not easy. at all. nobody does it.

I've been posting my food on Facebook, but I thought it might be more efficient to have a food diary. It will keep me more accountable, I think. I have not been very good the past two or three days. So here is it! Wealth of Health. To catch ya up to speed a little bit, here's some things I've made so far.

This is the sandwich Jason takes most days to work. Genesis bread (toasted), avocado and black beans (mashed and run through the food processor), kale, tomato (sliced), cucumber (sliced), and then more kale, more spread, more bread. It's my favorite sandwich.

This quickly became a favorite salad. I call it the Caribbean Salad. It has black beans and oranges and grape nuts in it as well as diced broccoli, cucumber, green pepper, chives, and tomato. I use Romain lettuce.
The dressing is 2 avocados, juice from 1/2 a large orange, juice from 1 lemon, salt to taste. The salt is necessary because the orange and lemon make a very sour mix.

This is what I usually eat when Jason isn't coming over for dinner. The dip is a version of the dressing from the Caribbean Salad. I added green pepper (finely diced), parsley (minced), and cucumber (finely diced). I also added a few obscure spices that I thought might be tasty. It worked well.

This was a disaster. Sweet potato soup. It was a cold soup. I didn't even finish eating it. Jason added a bunch of spices to his and heated it up and enjoyed it enough. I won't try this again.

This is my favorite thing I have ever made! Stuffed tomatoes! Oh my goodness! I will post the recipe later. This meal is worth it's own post.

Finally, this is another meal for just me. Its just some cut up veggies. The crackers in the background aren't super healthy but oh well. The dressing I used was okay but not super great. I followed a recipe I found online that called for vinegar, oil, and some spices. It was supposed to be a homemade Italian sauce but it certainly didn't taste like the Italian dressing from the store.

That's all for now. I'm planning to update daily to keep myself accountable. 'Til 'morrow!

Veg Out!