Pigging Out in Moderation

Frozen pizza is a good/evil for me; it's easy to make, my picky kids eat it, and clean-up is next to nothing. Unfortunately, it's also one of my binge foods. It's not unusual for me to eat 8 or more pieces (whole pizza). But, I found a compromise; I eat a few pieces along with health choices. Yes, it's fattening, yes it's high in calories; but not as bad. "Everything in moderation, including moderation."

Whole Pizza:

870 calories

52g fat

Three slices:

327 calories

20g fat

Bentos Every Day and Every Meal: Part 2

Kashi Sweet and Sour Chicken. It was much too sweet for me, but I'm very picky about sweet and sour sauce. I've only found one restuarant that had awesome sweet and sour sauce, but they are now closed. :(


Turkey and Quinoa Soup Recipe (sort of)
1/2 lbs. ground turkey breast
Chicken broth
Baby carrots
Celery
Yellow summer squash
Zucchini
Eggplant
Chervil
Lemon thyme
Arugula
Sage
Swiss chard
Quinoa

This is more of an ingredients list then a recipe. Feel free to substitute/leave out herbs. I rarely ever measure when I make soup; I usually just chop and toss. The key is to taste the broth and herbs as you go; start with a small amount and slowly add more until you like the taste. Remember, the flavor gets better the longer it cooks. Enjoy!

Low-fat Mock Hollandaise Sauce Recipe (Ready in 10 minutes too!)

1/4 c. plain low-fat yogurt

1/4 c. light mayo (with omega-3 fat)

1 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. dijon mustard

Optional

1/4 c. skim milk

Yellow food coloring

Combine ingredients (except sugar) with a wisk in a small sauce pan. Heat over a medium/high stove, stirring often. Slowly add sugar, tasting as you go. Remove when warm. If the sauce is too thick, thin with a small amount of milk (no more than 1/4 cup). As is, it will be cream in color, add food coloring if you'd like a yellow color. Enjoy!

Makes 1/2 c. sauce = 4 servings of 2 tbs.

1 serving has 60 calories and 5g fat (Using 1/4 cup skim milk).

(Total sauce contains 240 calories, 20g fat, 4g monounsaturated fat, 2g saturated fat)

Authentic Hollandaise sauce: (2 tbs) 174 calories, 19g fat, 11g saturated fat!

Before and After - Sort - Dreaming

Weight Loss Simulator curteousy of Prevention Magazine

Wow I'd be hot! LOL j/k

Writing, writing... oh man, I'm buried under books...

....and paper and binders and laundry! LOL

I've been neglecting my blog, but for good reasons I promise! I have several writing projects going along with planning my homeschooling year. Public schools use an Individual Education Plan (IEP) for special needs kids to plan goals, track progress, etc; I'm creating an IHELP (Individual Home Education for Life Plan). It will be similar to an IEP, but customized to homeschooling (if you're interested in more info contact me). It's a very time consuming process, but necessary for me to keep track of everything.

Every year for Christmas my parents give my siblings and I (I have four), a "weekend away." Meaning they babysit for us. Since I'm broke, I decided to take mine in my parent's camper, parked in their backyard. LOL I know it sounds strange and everyone in my family had a laugh about it, but I got a large amount of writing done so I'm happy.

With the financial situations my family is going through right now, I'm trying to focus more attention on starting my freelance writing career. Unfortunately I'm a painfully slow writer. :D

I really want to help my family though, and I'm hoping to start a 2nd shift, part-time job next month. It will last only through the first week on January, but it'll be enough money for my kids and I to get an apartment. I figure it'll help my parent's if my kids and I become more independent. My parents aren't to fond of the idea though.

What I want to do, is move to the town my son's therapy is located, which is about an hour drive away. The major problem with this plan though is, right now, I share a vehicle with my mom. With a very tiny income and bad credit I'm afraid buying something is impossible. Especially considering the cost of wheelchair accessible vans.

But, on the upside; I am doing good with my eating and exercising again. Today I tried taking my kids to the gym in the afternoon instead of waiting until after they go to bed. They had no problem there and my daughter didn't want to leave (that's a good sign). So, I think from now on, I'll exercise in the afternoon and write in the evening. Theoretically, that means I'll be posting more often now!

Bentos Everyday and Every Meal

I'm starting over again. Every day I find myself eating more and more and exercising less and less. So, I'm going to follow my own advice - I will eat all my food from a bento until I get my portion perspective back.

I don't recommend eating a bento for every meal, everyday, for the rest of your life - it'd be impossible. But, it's a great way to retrain your eyes and mind as to how much you should be eating.

Bellow you will find my bentos for yesterday; I also had a power bar and some popcorn.


Breakfast



Speghetti and veggies - I know a strange breakfast, huh? :D


Lunch

Quiche, arugula salad, carrots, and blueberries with yogurt, honey, and wheat germ. The quiche was made with swiss chard(*CSA), green onions (garden) and feta cheese.

Supper

Grilled chicken, broccoli (CSA), peas (CSA), beets (CSA), beans (CSA), new potatoes, and cucumbers (garden).


Creamed Cucumbers

For the cucumbers I used an old recipe from my grandma and tweeked it a little.

4 medium cucumbers
1 c. sweet cream (heavy whipping cream)
4 tbs. sugar
2/3 vinegar (I used 1/3 rice and 1/3 apple cider)
Salt and Dill to taste

1. Slice ends off cucumbers.

2. Thinly Slice cucumbers.

3. Place cucumbers in a large bowl or large ziplock bag; add remaining ingredients. Allow to chill in fridge 2-4 hours before serving. You can also place weights on top to help cucumber release water. Enjoy!

Garden Bounty

My mom and I worked hard stringing our pole beans up yesterday. Normally we only have bush beans, but I think my dad bought these by mistake - a new garden lesson. :D

I'm really happy how this turned out, the pictures don't show how beautiful it is. It reminds my of a bridge in a way. I just hope it'll produce some beans! LOL

Garden Death

The squash vine borers returned while I was on vacation. This will be the last year we try to grow squash - too many problems.

I'm going to try to save this little squash though and with luck it just might live!