C’mon Spring

So, I have decided today to update on the diet front. In the past month, I have lost another 3.2 lbs. This means I am back down to the normal for my height according to BMI. Yet, I do not feel light enough and so will continue down until it feels right. A basic part is that I am 148.8 this morning. It was close to where I was the entire time I was in Toledo. I find myself happily eating much closer to how I did there and slowly reducing stress with school gone. I am planning on taking a little longer to recover sleep and may add a part time job into get some more money to save. This could reduce more stress, though add back to the sleep debt. But, if I do it, I will enforce the max hours at said part time job. I have learned my limits in that regard.

So, back to diet. I have been taking care of what I eat on all days. On two days, the calories really are resrticted. Yet, I am attempting to hot as properly as possible a steady ratio between carbs, protein and fat. I am eating more vegetables again, which seems to keep me full. Also, after a long mental battle from the one diet I did that said they were too sugary, I have been adding in fruits. My loss has steadily fallen eating like this and I actually feel stable when eating like this. Something I have also noticed is that I can’t always eat all the food I had planned to eat just because I am stuffed! It makes me smile because the app I’m running it all on has me going down 10 calories every week as I lose weight.

Fruit bowl

A light snack or a premeal, if I am late getting up for work and miss my new habit of smoothie is a fruit bowl. The one above is a mix of blueberries, kumquats, and blood orange. With everything able to be grabbed while working, it makes it much easier to grab a piece while I work. It also is healthier than grabbing something from the vending machines to eat on the go. And by controlling how much of the fruits I add in, I also control how many calories I eat from the fruit. That bowl ended up being around 100 total.

Does anyone else have ideas on grab and go snacks they like to eat? Would you like to see more of these? I plan on having a simple recipe this week for National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day.

Sweet potato chips/crisps

It is spring here. I seem to not quite trust the weather since it still says winter morning temperatures. Yet, I currently sit outside in a long sleeve shirt and am not cold. The weather is a less bold blue but not the blue grey of winter. I now can see that the outside of the house is a cream and not simply white. It confirms to me that white flowers will be best, especially since the door and frames are white with the rest a deep brown. I chuckle over keeping out the Halloween not so welcome mat. It definitely has our sense of us, so it stays permanently.

So, with the weather begins my checking of food supplies. I have been slacking apparently on sweet potatoes, so I have a small stash that needs made. Since I am the only one here who eats them, I will be mixing them more in upcoming for me meals. I think I may try a mini pot pie with crescent rolls using a couple, along with making baked chips or crisps. This will go great with sandwiches this week. Even better is that I control the seasonings and sodium content.

Sweet Potato Chips

Serves 1

1 sweet potato

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp brown sugar

4 cranks sea salt

Peel sweet potato if desired. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slice sweet potatoes 1/4 inch thick or to desired thickness. Lay on baking rack. Mix together remaining ingredients in small container. Sprinkle over potatoes. Flip to knock some seasoning off. Flip back over leftover seasoning. Bake in oven approximately 50 minutes or until dried out. If remembered, flip after 30 minutes. Remove and let cool. Place in air tight container. Enjoy.

 

Sandwiches

So, lately it seems with this crazy weather, I am craving sandwiches so very much. All last week, I was discovering different ways to make them outside of the normal peanut butter. Of course, the weather went from cool to warm days and now back to not quite sweatshirt season. This is the season where nothing is warm enough or cool enough. It is a state of transition. This time of year seems to make me want sandwiches. Why? It is because they can be hot or cold. They can go with so many different options, from soup to salad or chips (of either kind). See? They work like a transition food.

All week, I kept on forgetting to photograph my sandwiches, but they ended up the same play on the same one. When I went to Panera, I would always end up getting the same sandwich: the veggie one. But, it always got soggy from the dressing. I couldn’t keep it for a while, so I wanted to figure out my own how to make one that I could build and take that would hold up.  This seems to be the best.

Lunch sandwich that tasted good.

The normal bread I had been buying is not easy to buy. I ended up finally breaking down and paying for Dave’s Killer Bread. I may have gotten a messed up loaf, but I don’t like it as much. Big reason: I keep getting pieces with air holes in it. This makes it harder to spread on and smaller ingredients fall out quite easily. I may try one more, but if it does that a second consecutive time, I don’t see myself buying again.  I did that with other brands, so I am still a little picky.

Veggie Sandwich

2 slices bread

6 slices cucumber

1/4 Cup spinach

1/4 Cup alfalfa sprouts

3 cherry tomatoes

1 slice vegan cheddar cheese

2 Tbs Here Beet Garlic White bean dip

Instructions:

 

Place one piece of bread on the plate. Spread half of dip on top of bread. Top with remaining ingredients. Spread remaining dip on other slice of bread. Place on top of samdwich, dip side down. Cut if desired. Enjoy.

Overnight oats for stress days

I have a bad habit during the week of trying to sleep as long as I can .Mainly, this is because I get both automated calls and then either schools calling about kids or friends of mine, both forgetting I sleep during the day. So, I usually get fitful sleep even with my phone is on vibrate. This, in turn, makes me less likely to eat breakfast. So, I try to make sure that I have some overnight oats for at least one or two days. For that, I do try to prep them over the weekend. But, sometimes I find out the morning of and can throw a batch together with rolled oats. My big fallback with it is to use chocolate almond milk and then do peanut butter and jelly. Yes, my current obsession about them is comfort foods. It really does remind me of a sandwich with a glass of chocolate milk. Oatmeal has been a bit of warmth for a start on cold days. As it warms up, I have a feeling that I will be eating it less. So, I’m making today’s recipe my favorite of oatmeals and how I make it.

I really am looking forward to spring and summer. But, our outdoor area is nonexistant. As in, all we have is the concrete slab. I’m planning on doing a bunch of white annuals in containers. I want to find a small table with a couple of chairs to have a conversation or just relax at. The boy has planned on getting a grill, so we will need space for that. I’m looking into getting a couple shepherd’s hooks and making a couple hanging backets to go with the container annuals. Plants I want are snapdragons, alyssum, and petunias. I may consider some ivy to fall over the sides, but may want that more for hanging baskets. I figure that doing the white will be easier against the brown of the underside of the house. We shall see as spring progresses.

Recipe PB&J Overnight Oats

Serves 1

1/4 C steel cut oats

1/4 C chocolate non-dairy milk (could use dairy also)

1 Tbs peanut butter (creamy blends easier but crunchy adds chew)

1 Tbs jelly (my main ones are either Ikea’s lignonberry or a black currant jam)

1 Tbs chia seeds

1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Three days before you plan on eating it, prepare the oatmeal and chia seeds in the container you are going to use. In a liquid mixing glass, measure out the milk. Next, add the peanut butter and the jelly. Mix until blended. Add to dry ingredients. Add maple syrup if desired. Cover. Place in refrigerator. Do not forget it though.

When you are ready to eat it, place in microwave if you want it warm for 2 to 3 minutes. It depends on your manufacturer and the wattage. If you decide that it is too thick, add more milk. Enjoy.

Is this thing even on?

Yeah, hitting the reset button while keeping old posts on. Sounds like a recipe for disaster. Perfect, since this is how all of us can be at times. I have dropped out of college after going for a year, due to finally getting constantly sick and not getting sleep, yet am working full time and then some at work. The kids and I are now renting a house around where they have been growing up. I miss Toledo a lot; plan on moving back when I can after the youngest finishes high school.

We recently had our pipes freeze for the first time. It lasted a few days and no ill effects. We were lucky that time. But, it made me look at the fact that I have quickly gotten used to having easy access to cleaning dishes and pots and pans. That almost week, we ended up doing all eating out. But, I have been cooking quite a few recipes. I have now discovered some new favorites. I have a few more in the works.

I’m doing a diet, so I have been tracking my calories. This goes along with the week of the frozen pipes in that I didn’t have the dishes to clean at home to do normal prep, so I ate more than I would have over the past few months. Not in bulk, but in calorie did I eat too much. In fact, many times I kept eating more because I couldn’t fill up on the higher calorie foods. I may talk about the diet later, but for now, I am on a forum about the diet and will be there also. I do find that I want to talk about certain things there, yet do not want to sound down so much. Until last week, I was down 17 pounds eating pretty much normally but following this. This week, I shot up 6 pounds, which I lost almost all of in the past two days.

This week is St Patrick’s Day. My big plan is to make a soda bread and stew. I also plan on roasting cabbage for everyone this year and buying them some bangers for banfers and mash. I just cannot see them eating a proper Jiggs dinner ever. I will bring a stew recipe soon.

Today, though, I bring forth my version of different brunch. Over the next few weeks, I will add recipes on how the items are made, but will start with the full meal and a simple way to make a couple items. Yes, the recipes are simple, but we don’t always need elaborate when making meals.

Sunday brunch

Serves 1

2 slices multigrain or whole wheat toast

1 serving Tempeh Bacon

1 serving Scrambled Tofu

8 Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

2 oz. Sliced Mushrooms

 

Recipe Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

1 sheet pan with parchment paper

Cherry Tomatoes (as many as desired)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spread cherry tomatoes on pan without touching. Once oven is ready, place tomatoes in oven, making sure they do not touch. Set timer for 10 minutes. Flip tomatoes so opposite side is up. Continue in oven until all tomatoes are wrinkly. Some tomatoes may be burst already, but they will still taste good. Pull from oven and let sit until slightly cooled. Enjoy.

Recipe Toast

Serves 1

2 slices of whole wheat or multigrain bread

1 Tbs butter of choice

Place bread in either toaster or toaster oven. Alternatively, preheat fry pan on medium or setting 5 to place bread in. Choose proper setting for desired toasting. Start. If heating on stovetop, place bread in and stay near. Check bread occasionally for desired color. Flip bread and repeat process. Remove bread from device. Add butter to one side of bread. Place on plate. Top second piece of bread over first. Cut either diagonally or down middle if desired. Enjoy.

Did I miss anything? Is there something you would like me to add here? Yes, I will be adding oatmeal recipes again, too. Along with my plants and maybe some bouquets.