Daily Food - 5/30

Breakfast: I always make crepes when my little sister comes to visit. I even have a handy dandy crepe maker. It doesn't look very appetizing here, but fill it with some cream cheese and strawberry jelly and it's delicious. Or nutella! I had three of these.



Lunch: Went to Chili's after a fun afternoon at the science center. This looks unhealthier than it is. There was broccoli on the plate, and I had a side salad before that, too. And I didn't eat any of the fries because we decided they smelled like cows. Don't ask. But the meat here is chipotle-honey chicken fingers.

Snack: Had a little bit of sub that my mom left in the fridge, but I threw a good chunk out. I just can't eat that much lunch meat at a time anymore. It makes me feel sick.




Dinner: Dave made some burgers, with bacon, onions, mushrooms all on the grill, and then I added mayo, ketchup, and pickles. It was falling all over the place but it was really juicy and delicious.

The Good: no dessert! Burgers were homemade. hmm...

The Bad: Not a particularly great day. Got sucked into girls' weekend. Breakfast was a treat, so was lunch, and really so was dinner. Too many treats in one day.

Daily Food - 5/29

Breakfast: Steak and Egg Bagel, hash browns, and a coffee, from the evil place. I don't even know what prompted that decision.

Lunch: Skipped it. Started cleaning up the house and by the time I finished my family was here and they had already eaten and it was later so we just decided to go for dinner.



Dinner: Started with a salad - that's my mommy's hand there. Everything tastes better when you mom makes it. It was fun making dinner together in my new house. Anyway, salad had fresh leaf lettuce - my favorite, with grated carrots and radishes. I had a little French dressing.


Then we had some stir fry. All kinds of stuff in here - broccoli, squash, 4 colors of peppers, onion, and chicken. We just threw in some seasoning and a little soy sauce. And I purposely overcooked the veg because my teeth still hurt and my mom likes them that way.

Dessert: We bought some cake at the grocery store but it was only ok, so we decided to go to Twin Kiss for ice cream. I had a Cherry Coke float with vanilla ice cream.

The Good: I was so excited that we made the stir fry and salad, because usually when my family comes to visit, it's an excuse to go out to eat a lot. But cooking in was fun.

The Bad: Breakfast, period. And the ice cream. Skipping lunch was bad, but I really didn't feel it. I rarely skip meals, so I will let that go.

Daily Food - 5/28

Breakfast: Made an ambrosial smoothie from yogurt, milk, frozen strawberries, pineapple, and peaches, and a little stevia. Also had some toast with a little farmer's market butter and jam that was divine.

Lunch: Had leftovers from last night - chicken and zucchini from the grill. Very palatable.

Snack: Had a few pretzels at school. Grabbed a grilled chicken sandwich and an iced coffee on the way home. (I am reading a new book that says you should eat every four hours - carbs and protein. So I am going to try it out. That means "snack" is really just a second lunch.)

Dinner: We had some veggie pizza with Dave's mom.

Dessert: A succulent Rita's orange water ice. I think it is my new favorite.

The Good: Lunch and the smoothie for breakfast. The grilled chicken was ok, veggie only on the pizza was a good choice, although that was Dave's choice.

The Bad: I didn't really need the toast for breakfast. I bread with the grilled chicken probably wasn't the best choice and I didn't need the iced coffee. I told Dave as we were going to his mom's that I should have grabbed the salad stuff we have here to go with the pizza. I could have made a homemade smoothie instead of the water ice when we got home.

Another note: Dave says I use the word "yummy" too much on here and I agree. It makes me sound like an idiot but usually by the time I write this in the evening my brain is fried. So I am trying out some new words. Personally, I like ambrosial the best so far. :-)

Daily Food 5/27

Breakfast: Another turkey and cheese wrap. So yummy, and portable for the car!

Lunch: PBJ and yogurt. I also had 2 cokes before and after lunch. It was hot! They were cold!


Snack: Should look a lot like breakfast, except I added some asparagus. Also had a couple squares of white chocolate.


Dinner: Grilled chicken and zucchini, and a couple of margaritas. mmmm

The Good: Chicken and veg for dinner was good. Breakfast and snack are getting me some protein.

The Bad: Again, the white flour wraps aren't the best. Could probably do better with a homemade margarita instead of the mix. Jelly on the PB and the cokes. Ahhh, the cokes. But really, it is 90 degrees in my classroom. I was dying!

Daily Food - 5/26

I totally suck at blogging this week. It could be the 90 degree weather or the end of the school year frying my brain. Anyway, I didn't forget about Wednesday's blog, I just went upstairs to lay down in the AC for awhile and never came down. Anyway, it broke down like this...


Breakfast: Took some turkey and cheese in a wrap and nuked it for a few seconds. mmm


Lunch: I had leftover fajitas without the wrap - just the meat and peppers and onions and a little guac and sour cream. Also some yummy cherries from the farmer's market.



Snack: Strawberries with homemade whipped cream.

Dinner: We went to Hibachi and I was all excited to take pictures and then Dave and I realized we forgot when we finished our food. Bummer. I shared a sushi roll, and then had the standard soup and salad, mushrooms and veg, the steak, chicken, and shrimp combo with fried rice. mmm.

The Good: Hibachi was so fun and mostly healthy. We have been pounding the fruit this week. I am NOT a fruit eater, but I can't lay off the strawberries and cherries. Leftovers were good, and breakfast wasn't bad.

The Bad: Need to get some whole wheat wraps, I think I already said that. Could have skipped the sushi roll and laid off the sour cream for lunch.

Tuesday - Farmer's Market Loot!

Love this! At a stand selling plants. Those are definitely the kind of plants I need.


Was going to get a whoopie pie, but I decided on these instead. So pretty. Much better choice to treat myself.


Farmer's Market Loot! We have, from top to bottom...

1. Peach Jam
2. Strawberries
3. Cherries
4. Tomato Basil homemade pasta
5. Artichokes
6. Tomatoes
7. Mushrooms
8. Steak - Tbone for me and Strip for Dave
9. Ground beef
10. Italian sausage
11. Turkey and cheese
12. Spinach
13. Red and Green Leaf Lettuce
14. Zucchini
15. Onions
16. Red peppers.

Should be a good week! We also picked up some shrimp and catfish this week.

Daily Food 5/25

I sucked at taking pictures today. Just a warning.

Breakfast: I ate in the car. I made a turkey and cheese wrap and nuked it for a couple seconds and it got nice and warm and melty. It was really good.

Lunch: Had a half of a leftover porkchop with the zucchini and cauliflower.

Snack: Had a garlic pretzel dog at the farmer's market, with a coke.


Dinner: We cooked a sirloin steak on the grill with some peppers and onions...

And made it into fajitas. This was very tasty.

Dessert: I will probably be having some strawberries or cherries later.

The good: The fajita filling was great. Same with breakfast. Lunch was a good meal.

The bad: Should probably look for whole wheat fajitas. Didn't really need the hot dog or coke this afternoon.

Daily Food - 5/24

Breakfast: Horrible picture, but I had a small juice, yogurt, and toast with butter and jelly. I also made a really good coffee drink with almond milk, stevia, and a little chocolate syrup, but I didn't really drink most of it. Just not in the mood for coffee today.

Lunch: Had leftovers from last night. Porkchops, cauli, and zukes.

Snack: Had an appt after school, so I stopped for a cup of soup and a smoothie. I asked for half sugar this time so I thought that was good.

Dinner: We went to Hoss's, which is all you can eat salad bar. I had the brilliant idea to dump vegetarian chili on top of the salad with a little cheese and sour cream. It was yummy.
So yummy I had it again, this time with less cheese. lol.
Also had a cup of soup and some bread, and then I got a little dessert - just a few bites of bread pudding, and some chocolate thing that was to die for.

The Good: My coffee drink would have been a good creation. I just didn't want it today. Lunch was good. My smoothie was good, esp with less sugar. My salad with the veg chili and no dressing was good.

The Bad: Could have skipped dessert. Probably didn't need the soup after work. Breakfast was kind of a mismatch of whatever I found - probably could have found a better alternative than jelly and butter.

Daily Food - 5/23

Breakfast: No pic because my phone was dead and I went out. I was a racecar widow today and I love going to Gringo's and listening to the old people talk about God knows what. Anyway, without the picture, I thought about lying and saying I had a nice fruit cup with an egg white omelet. But that's not the point here. I had some delicious sausage gravy on biscuits and potatoes, with orange juice and coffee. I am sure it was homemade - that's about the only redeeming factor.


Lunch: I knew this was a mistake when I did it. I ordered a pizza and some breadsticks from Pizza Hut out of pure laziness and I feel like CRAP. I really regret this. Every time I eat pizza hut I feel like I have to drink a gallon of water to get all the salt out of me.





Dinner: Porkchops, cauliflower, and zucchini on the grill. This was delicious, especially the veggies.

The good: Dinner was pretty solid.

The bad: I KNEW I shouldn't have ordered from Pizza Hut and I seriously feel like crap. Breakfast wasn't much better. Honestly, I ate like crap all weekend and I can FEEL it. I just feel tired and sluggish and miserable and bloaty. Plus I need to get rid of that spray butter.

Why my mind was blown this morning

I told you I was going to read this Jillian Michael's book and have more interesting things to share. I went to the Mexican place this morning for breakfast, and took it along to do a little reading.

She basically totally blew my mind with three little facts that I think are the opposite of what most people think.

1. Don't eat soy! I actually have learned this recently in my research about the thyroid. I think this is crazy because I think most people think soy is so good for you. But it is really not good for your thyroid. Fermented soy like miso is good, but other forms block the absorption of selenium which is vital to thyroid function. And because soy is so cheap, many processed foods are using soy as fillers now, which might point to why the increase in thyroid problems has been so drastic lately.

2. Don't eat flax seed! This really blew my mind. I thought flax was a miracle food. I LOVE my flax and fiber bread and also Trader Joe's flax seed tortilla chips. But flax seed contains exogenous estrogen, which in kind of dumbed down terms is "outside" estrogen. The imbalance of estrogen throws off your blood sugar and insulin levels. From what I am reading now, flax is recommended only in extreme moderation.

3. Don't eat your broccoli raw! Or any other cruciferous veggies like Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, kale, bok choy, etc. This one really blew my mind because they always tell you that the best way to get the maximum nutrients from veggies is to eat them raw! But these veggies contain a chemical group that disrupts cell function in the thyroid. BUT this chemical group is also a cancer fighting antioxidant. If you cook the veggies, you lose most of the chemical group, but keep enough that it is beneficial without damaging the thyroid. Who knew? Fortunately, I prefer my veggies cooked! They also say if you already have thyroid problems, you should eat these types of veggies in moderation. Good to know because when I lived alone, I could easily eat broccoli every night for a week.

Daily Food - 5/22

Breakfast: Raisin bread with some homemade butter. Also had some cheese and crackers. lol. It was a weird breakfast - I wasn't really in the mood for anything.



Lunch: Went to Houlihan's with my friend Katelyn. I was excited that there was one up here because this was one of my favorites in Newark, too. We started with the spinach dip because you MUST have that when you go there.



Then I had a chopped salad. This had corn, bleu cheese, bacon, and croutons, with honey mustard dressing. mmmm.
And I ordered the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and string beans. I figured I should get a bigger meal since Dave had to work tonight and I wasn't sure when dinner would be happening.

Snack: Had a headache on the way home and realized that I didn't have any coffee today, so I hit up Folklore and had got some organic homemade red velvet cake, and their special drink of the month - a spicy frozen mocha. It was definitely interesting.


The night went downhill from there. Ended up with a migraine, which I am still fighting, and it is 9pm and Dave is still at work when he was supposed to be off at 6. So good call on the big lunch. I figured I would do the blog now and if I feel like eating anything else, I will edit this later.

The good: ummm... I had a salad?

The bad: Houlihans is big on making everything from scratch, but lunch was a bit indulgent. I could have done without the cake. Basically I could have done better with pretty much everything I ate today.

ETA: Had dinner at 11:30 when Dave got home. It was a BLT. mmm

New Recipe - White Bean and Tuna Panzanella

I made this earlier in the week so I wanted to post a recipe. This is truly one of my favorites to make in the beginning of the week and just eat all week at work for lunch. It has a lot of protein so it really sticks with you through the afternoon.

This picture isn't that great... You can also check out the recipe and a better pic at Real Simple, which is where I got this recipe.

Ingredients
1/2 baguette or a couple Portuguese rolls
4 T Olive oil
1 19-oz can cannellini (white kidney) beans (Italian brands like Cento will have the 19 oz size, or sometimes I just get two 15 oz. cans and make it extra bean-y - more protein and fiber)
3-4 whole pickles or several slices (I like pickles so I always add more), chopped
1 small red onion, chopped (If you really want to cheat, get them off the salad bar).
2 T red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
2 6 oz. cans tuna

1. Break the baguette or rolls into pieces and toss with 1 T of the oil. Toast under the broiler 3-4 minutes. (If I am making this for my lunch during the week, I will do one serving in the morning before work each day. Otherwise, the bread gets kind of stale and chewy.)

2. Mix the beans, chopped pickles, onion, and tuna together in the bowl. Add the remaining 3 T of oil, and the vinegar and salt and pepper.

3. Serve the mixture over the toasted bread (that's what makes it a panzanella).

I have also just eaten this over lettuce and it was also delicious. Also, the longer this sits the better it tastes, I think.

Real Simple says to just serve the tuna on top of the rest of the mixture, but I think the tuna soaking in with the pickles and vinegar makes it amazing.

I thought this recipe looked a little weird when I first made it, but I highly highly recommend it!

New Cookbooks!

I am in The Good Cook book club and I just got two new books in the mail. (If you are looking to buy a bunch of new cookbooks, I recommend joining. They have great deals.)

The first I got is The Master Your Metabolism Cookbook by Jillian Michaels. It is great so far. She has all kinds of information about different foods that help and hurt different hormones. I think I will be posting a lot more information as I read this book more. And she has a recipe for ketchup which I am totally making soon, plus some other really delicious stuff. Plus she is my hero - I think she is gorgeous and I want her to kick my ass on Biggest Loser one day until I look like her.

The second I got is Back To Basic - Traditional Kitchen Wisdom.This book is very cool. It has every bit of information you need to create simple, sustainable food. It starts with tips for starting a garden, even if you don't really have a yard, and gets into how to store the food, how to compost, and then canning, preserving, drying, pickling, making jellies, etc. It even has a part on making flavored liquors, cheese, wine and beer, sodas, and how to raise your own chickens! It definitely looks pretty neat!

Also exciting - Dave's aunt is getting rid of her cookbooks, and apparently her collection includes some of his grandmother's cookbooks. I guess she can't find anyone who wants them, so she is boxing them up for me! Sounds like I might be doubling or tripling my collection soon!

Daily Food - 5/21

Breakfast: I promise tomorrow's breakfast will be more interesting! Steel cut oats with brown sugar and walnuts and apricots. I also decided to make an iced coffee drink since it was so warm today, so I took some ice, leftover coffee, almond syrup, chocolate syrup, milk, and a little stevia and mixed it all together. mmmm
Lunch: Yes, miracle of miracles, there is actually a picture. Leftover sausage, peppers, and onions from last night, with a banana and PB.


Snack: Had a hefty snack today because we were planning for a late dinner. Stopped at Tropical Smoothie and got a yummy Chicken Cordon Bleu and a Strawberry Lemonade smoothie.

Dinner: Burgers! mmm! Dave mixes up the best combination. We had a little Farmer's cheese and some bacon on these.

We also had potato wedges and mushrooms on the grill. Oh, and Dave cooked up some garlic on the grill and it makes a nice paste if you mash it up, and I spread it on my bun. I already had some may, but next time I think I could forgo the mayo and just have that as my condiment. Also, see all that ketchup on my plate? Evil red HFCS. I have plans to make my own, but I am going to get myself a food processor first.

The Good: This might be one of my BEST days since I started this. The meat and veg for dinner and lunch were great, breakfast was great.

The Bad: Besides a few little things, like the chocolate syrup in the coffee, the roll and ketchup at dinner, the PB at lunch, I pretty much went all natural.

Daily Food - 5/20

Breakfast: Steel cut oats and raisins, brown sugar, and nuts. Also some coffee. I told you I get on breakfast kicks. lol.

Lunch: My tuna panzanella stuff again but I had it over lettuce instead of over the bread today. Also a banana with PB.

Snack: Later I had a another piece of the whatever someone left in the planning room that is so good. I wish they would get rid of that stuff. I had some chips and salsa when I got home, and then a piece of foccaccia, and a yummy iced coffee drink that I made.


Dinner: So yummy Italian sausage with onion and peppers and garlic on the grill, and also some corn on the cob. It was actually pretty good - I wasn't sure how it would be since it is kind of early. But I enjoyed it. I ate three ears anyway.


Dessert: Sliced up some of my strawberries and mixed them with some melted white chocolate. This was sooo good.

The Good: My meals were great. Even replacing the bread with the tuna stuff and fruit for dessert made everything even better. And I am not a big fruit eater so that was a big deal for me to eat fruit instead of ice cream!

The Bad: My snacks. Keep in mind I eat lunch at 10, and we don't eat dinner until 6-7, so I definitely need some snacks when I get home, but I need to plan them out instead of just picking at junk. I am pretty sure I said that before.

Daily Food - 5/19

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with apricots and pecans and brown sugar. Also had a little raisin bread with the homemade butter from the farmer's market. Oh and then I got to work and had a piece of some pumpkin bread cake thing someone made. lol. I don't know what it was but it was good.

This is my breakfast buddy. He has his own chair. He likes to sit at the table with us when we eat.

Lunch: Had leftover foccaccia and pasta with turkey from last night. mmm.

Snack: Had another slice of the pumpkiny bread stuff at school, then had a piece of foccaccia when I got home.






Dinner: We went out to Prudhomme's Cajun in Columbia. Started with some rolls and a half bucket of crawdads. Then I had a yummy salad with Bayou Ranch Dressing, and Shrimp Sunny, which is a bed of crab meat with a piece of blackened cat fish on it, all covered in crayfish etoufee and topped with breaded shrimp. Yes, it is as awesome as it sounds.


Dessert: mmm Strawberry ice cream, along with a few actual strawberries from the farmer's market.

The Good: Breakfast, lunch, and dinner were not bad. It was all the extras in between.

The Bad: A lot of carbs for lunch. I felt the food coma later in the day. And I could have done without the raisin bread for breakfast. Should have skipped the rolls at dinner. Did not need two pieces of whatever my co-workers left in the planning room.

Daily Food - 5/18

Breakfast: Steel cut oats with nuts, raisins, and a little brown sugar. Also some coffee and a small cup of juice.

Lunch: Leftover Chinese from last night and a banana.

Snack: Fries at the farmer's market.


Dinner: This was delicious - Turkey breast cooked in tomatoes, mushrooms, and onions, in the crockpot, all shredded up and served over homemade pasta (not made by me - that was from the Farmer's market last week). We also had the foccaccia bread from the farmer's market and that was probably one of the best things I ever put in my mouth. Holy Cow. It was too good because I had three pieces. Also had a simple salad of fresh lettuce and radishes. I don't eat very many vegetables raw, so I don't do a ton of salad, but I do LOVE radishes and fresh leaf lettuce. Also had a glass of wine.

Dessert: Haven't actually eaten this yet, but I plan on splitting this with Dave. Pumpkin Whoopie Pie.

The Good: I think most of the day was pretty good! Love that we planned for dinner and made something in the crockpot. Even though the whoopie pie isn't great, I got one to split instead of two, or a whole box.

The Bad: Chinese food isn't great but I knew that yesterday. Also I could have done without the fries.

Tuesday - Farmer's Market Loot!

I am really excited about this week. Lots of good stuff. And I made a key for my picture. haha.

1. Chicken legs
2. Cauliflower
3. Yes, that is CORN ON THE COB!!!
4. Ground Beef
5. Frosted Raisin Bread (It's a small one!)
6. 2 types of lettuce - Leaf and Boston
7. Pork Chops and Italian Sausage under there.
8. A Pumpkin Whoopie Pie
9. Radishes
10. Strawberries - (side note - I know a lot of people love strawberries, but this is the only time of the year I will eat them. I think greenhouse strawberries picked to early and trucked across the country taste gross. These are what strawberries should taste like!)
11. Turkey and Farmer's Cheese
12. Focaccia. I will talk about this later OHHH MYYYYY
13. Mushrooms
14. Farm Fresh Brown Eggs
15. Green peppers
16. Zucchini
17. Broccoli
18. Asparagus
19. Bacon
20. Eggplant
21. Sirloin Steak

All that for less than $75. And I really don't think we need to go to the store this week.

Daily Food - 5/17

Breakfast: This is one of those things where you aren't sure if it will be a good idea or not but you go for it anyway. Well, it was a good idea. A very good idea. Steel cut oats with brown sugar, peanut butter, and banana. This meal had a lot of staying power. I wasn't hungry at all until lunch.


Lunch: Hey! I remembered a picture. Ha, actually I took this when I got home because I forgot again. This recipe is one of my favorites - White Bean and Tuna Panzanella. A panzanella is basically some kind of mixture served over toasted bread instead of pasta or rice or something. This one has tuna, pickles, beans, red onion, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. I LOVE this stuff. Also lots of protein.



Snack and dinner: Dave and I slept maybe an hour last night between the two of us. So cooking was NOT happening when we got home. I picked up Chinese on the way home. Crab rangoon was my first course, then I waited until Dave got home for the rest. Beef and broccoli, egg roll, and won ton soup. I love Chinese take out.

The Good: I made breakfast and lunch for the whole week. Healthy breakfast and lunch!

The Bad: Chinese. Not beating myself up for that one. We had a horrible night of no sleeping last night and I am totally ok with getting take out once in awhile. I probably should not have eaten a whole order of rangoon by myself though. And we decided that we would have a crockpot meal tomorrow instead of getting farmer's market goodies for dinner, so this kind of took the place of that.