Gardener's Pie and More

Friday was the day I finally got to take my BFF to lunch to celebrate her May 23rd birthday---a little late but the two of us are used to that.

She wanted to check out the Organic Baby Puree Cafe that I wrote about HERE. So we did.

Some of you know that my BFF is a personal trainer. She was running late because she was inflicting pain on helping a client. DoodleBug and Birdie went too so we went ahead and ordered.

DoodleBug couldn't decide between two items, so I ordered the cripsy veggie wrap and she ordered the most-amazing-salad-EVER and we shared---

Birdie went with the Spinach Pie- and two sides---EXCELLENT choice!

I forgot to take pictures of BFF's food because we were so engrossed in Birdie's tales of athletic training and soccer camp. Wow. How does a parent not know that their kid went off to camp WITHOUT his back brace? Really? Sheesh.

Anyway, it was just as good, maybe even better, than it was the first time we went. And the owners and staff? OVER THE TOP in the kindness/friendliness/welcoming area. Gosh, I just LOVE this restaurant!

And now for the Gerson Gardener's Pie recipe. I made this last week and it will be a repeat dish in our house!

Gerson Gardener’s Pie

Topping:

1 lb potatoes

12 oz celery root (or sweet potato or onion)

Peel veggies and cube. Boil til done and mash.

Filling:

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

8 oz carrots, sliced or diced

8 oz zucchini, sliced

8 oz leeks, sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

2 oz bread crumbs

Put prepared veggies in saucepan in the order listed. Cook gently. When done, stir in bread crumbs and pour mixture into pie plate. Top with mashed potatoes. Bake for 45-60 minutes at 350 degrees.

Of course you can change the filling to your favorite veggies if you want!

 This was SO YUMMY! 

Yesterday was the husband's birthday- I made him a Banana Cake with Chocolate Banana Icing. And then there was the Shrimp and Grits. Oops. Healthy smealthy. It was a birthday. I did use organic ingredients...and, with the cake, I used coconut sugar instead of granulated. The confectioner's sugar---well, it WAS organic.

I don't have the shrimp and grits recipe because, well...it's my own and I don't have it written down. I have a recipe that I use as a base but I do my own thing to the point that the base recipe is virtually unrecognizable. 

But, you can get the cake recipe from Donna at Just One Donna right HERE!

What's cooking in your kitchen?

 

Stupid Westerns and Food

I certainly haven't accomplished much in the last couple of days. We are still waiting on Knology to get up and running in our area- which should be only another month- so I'm still hating watching Netflix from time to time. I'd like to hook up Birdie's XBOX 360 and take advantage of Hulu but I don't know how and everyone else keeps forgetting about it. ANYWAY, I'm stuck with Netflix for now.

All that to say, I ran across the Lonesome Dove series (Comanche Moon, Return to Lonesome Dove, Lonesome Dove...) and decided that I would watch them. And that's just about all I've been doing. Shameful, I'm aware. But how I do love that series- especially Lonesome Dove. I mean- Rober Duvall AND Tommy Lee Jones?! Swoon.

Of course there is uncontrollable sobbing are tears that accompany the watching of these shows. It's that dang music. Cursed violins. And I really hate it when they kill off my favorite characters- like Deets (Danny Glover) and Gus (Robert Duvall)...I would NEVER have made it in the old west. Never.

Even with all that sobbing television watching going on, I did still manage to tear myself away to try a couple of new recipes-

This one started with a big pot of garden fresh veggies-

And ended up being Swiss Chard Rolls--

For dessert, a Rhubarb Crumble-this was my very first rhubarb anything. It turned out delish!

Swiss Chard Rolls
(a Gerson recipe for 2--I more than doubled it because we had the gang over)

4 leaves green chard
2 carrots
1/4 head broccoli
1/4 head cauliflower
2 small zucchini
1 cup corn
1/2 cup uncooked rice

Sauce:

1 1/2 tomatoes
2 cloves garlic

Directions: Put chard in hot water to soften. Cut other veggies in small pieces and simmer til done. Drain water. Make sauce in blender and pour over top of veggies and uncooked rice. Place some mixture in center of each leaf and roll up. Put in baking dish with a lid and bake at 250 degrees for 1- 1 1/2 hours.

Part of the Gerson plan is cooking food slowly. Sometimes I adhere to this standard, sometimes I don't. I didn't this time- I cooked it on 350 for about 30 minutes (everything was already cooked I just wanted to heat it through). I cooked my rice first and mixed it with the veggies and then rolled them up. When I realized I had forgotten the sauce, I just poured it on top of the rolls.

Rhubarb Crumble
(from Koko's Kitchen)

3 cups rhubarb, chopped
2 TBS orange juice
3/4 cup raw honey
1 TBS spelt flour (I was out of spelt so I just used gluten free all purpose flour)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 TBS coconut oil

Topping
1/3 cup honey
1/2 cup spelt flour (I was out of spelt so I just used gluten free all purpose flour)
2/3 cup oats (I used the gluten free ones)
14 cup coconut oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease an 8 x 8 baking dish. In a bowl, stir the rhubarb, orange juice, honey, flour and cinnamon. Put mixture in dish and dot with the tablespoon of coconut oil. In a separate bowl, combine the honey, flour, oats and coconut oil and mix until it resembles a coarse mixture. Put on top of the rhubarb mixture. Cook at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, cover with foil about halfway through cooking.

Happy cooking, y'all! And try to stay away from the TV! :)

Summer Sizzle- Week 2 Update; Week 3 Deets

It's time for the Summer Sizzle update for the end of Week 2 and the beginning of Week 3-

More like the summer fizzle stay the same.

I'm over it people. It's time for a drastic change. I think I've come up with it, but that's for tomorrow's post.

I'm staying under myfitnesspal's recommended daily calories. But I'm not staying at 1200. O, hell no. And I have no idea why it won't put 6/11 up there- the total that day was 1726. Today's is missing for obvious reasons.

I didn't have any trouble with the 7 hours of exercise- that was a cinch. Though, for the most part, it was just walking and/or running.

And except for today where I missed it by 15 minutes--- oh well...

Next week's weekly challenge is to try a new fitness activity or exercise equipment. I hope to do that via joining the senior center (you can read about that HERE) and/or a new DVD I just purchased- The Biggest Loser- cardio max.

I didn't stick to the menu that I planned last week for two reasons- a couple of those recipes were ridiculous with the prep time being all day long and part of the night AND, I didn't want to. Stubborn much? Oh yeah. Definitely.

Anyway, there's a big change coming soon. Stay tuned.

I'll leave you with this clip from The Cosby Show- love me some Bill Cosby! Now, you can watch the whole thing, but the best part begins at 6:45- where Cliff talks about his Father's Day gifts over the years and then about how mothers get better gifts because they are better at promoting themselves! Enjoy!

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Sizzle Summer Slim Down: Update- Week 1/Goals- Week 2

 Week 1 is a done deal. Our focus was to be on getting back into the habit (or getting into it for the first time) of tracking our food intake. This is not a problem for me- it's one of the few things that I can/will/do, do.

But the scale didn't move one iota.

I think it was due to too many of these:

Followed by too little of this:

Which didn't burn enough of these:

The caloric intake was under what myfitnesspal.com recommends for me. It was also under the 1500 that I was going to set for myself. But now I'm thinking that I have to go back to the 1200 daily calories if I expect to lose any weight at all.

The exercise has to change also (That day with no exercise? It was raining like crazy and not one time did I think to do the Shred--my brilliance astounds me at times.). It's going to have to go like this:

• walk either Tucker or Strider
• walk whichever dog didn't go the first time out (Tucker doesn't enjoy walking with Strider)
• go back out for a training run
• 30 Day Shred, level 2 OR Tae Bo OR Yoga Booty Ballet (will probs mix it up)
• Get myself over to the senior center and join (inner debate to come)

Yes. It's going to be a huge pain in the rear.
Yes. I have to do it anyway.
No. I've not lost my mind.

But I've also not lost any weight. And that sucks. Completely. Totally. Without a doubt. It sucks.

Water intake was fantastic! Wish that was all it took to get the job done!

 So this week we are supposed to focus on exercise. We are to try to get in 6 hours for the week. I'm hoping this won't be a problem since I have to change what I'm doing so drastically.

Also this week, I am going to try a little menu planning. I'm going to try a few new RAW recipes. Here's the menu for this week:

MONDAY: Zucchini spaghetti (gluten free)

TUESDAY: Sweet n’ Creamy Tomato Soup (RAW) and RAW Fajitas

WEDNESDAY: Portobello Mushroom Burger (Vegetarian/gluten free)

THURSDAY: Spinach and Raw Mushroom Quiche

FRIDAY: RAW Tacos

SATURDAY: Baked Broccoli Burgers (Vegetarian and gluten free)

I'm setting up a page tab for a list of all the participants in case anyone would like to visit and throw some much needed encouragement their way- there's no doubt in my mind that any and all encouragement is more than welcome and greatly appreciated!

Have a great week y'all! 

Stupid Sleep Cycle

I have discovered that one not-a-good-idea eating habit I have is eating to stay awake. How silly is that? Pretty darn silly.

I think I already knew this but have only recently allowed it to be recognized. And, of course, once recognized, something had to be done. So, I started going to bed earlier. The problem is, I'm ready for bed now around 7:00 pm.

Seriously, I make myself wait until it gets dark before I go to bed. I don't have any trouble sleeping but I started getting up way too early. If the first number in the time is a 3 or a 4, it's way too early to get out of bed. Tucker won't even get up that early.

Basically, the problem is, when I stay up until 10 or 11, I eat to keep myself awake.  When I go to bed as soon as I am sleepy, I awaken at one of those ungodly hours. When I awaken at one of those ungodly hours, I get sleepy earlier.

See what I mean?

I've had to call my will power into play, but it is so unreliable. It works sometimes and doesn't work other times. And I never know whether it's going to be on or off on any given night.

This is much better than a few years ago when I would wake up in the middle of the night and go into the kitchen. While there I would eat something sweet, usually, like ice cream, and then go back to bed. How stupid.

When I go to bed too early and awaken at 3 or 4 something, I just stay in bed and try to make myself relax or go back to sleep--which is not that easy since I've already had 7 hours of sleep at that point. At least there is no more getting up and going into the kitchen for something sweet to eat. As a matter of fact, I'm never ready for food of any type until after my run/walk.

I suppose I'll have to take the good with the bad here, again. It's good that I don't get up in the wee hours and eat but it's bad that I have to eat something to stay awake when I am sleepy. 

Any ideas/tips/tricks on breaking this vicious cycle will be greatly appreciated!

Anyone? 

Tools, Lists, and Feats

There is no Hodge Podge this week. Joyce's 17 year old niece, Anna, passed away. If you have a minute, stop by From This Side of the Pond and share some love with Joyce. And please keep the family in your thoughts and prayers.  

Since there is a break in the Hump Day HOPS, I want to share a new-to-me website. It's called DailyFeats and I'm loving it. What a fantastic tool for keeping me accountable for---everything.

There are challenges that you can check out and join. The site then creates you lists and, as you complete a feat (or task) it is moved to the 'done today' section of the lists.

You may be saying, "But I can make my own list." Sure you can!

But who's keeping you accountable for completing your tasks? What's motivating you to get it done?

That's what I really like about DailyFeats! AND, they give you points for completions and these points are redeemable for GIFT CARDS! WHAT?!

I headed over there and joined just yesterday. I've already entered a couple of health and fitness related challenges as well as a pet care challenge and, since I'm working on my mental 'Zen', a challenge that focuses on positivity. 

No, I don't get anything for posting about this site. They don't even know I'm doing it. I'm just sold on it!  And, when I'm sold on something, it's easy to get behind it!

I've been having a few motivation issues lately and this is one tool I'm using to get me out of my funk. My exercising is going well with the 30 Day Shred but I'm getting slack on my running.

The running has turned into walking Tucker. Who stops after about half a mile to be carried. It's hot and humid so I don't blame him. I would rather be carried too.

But the eating has been horrific. Not bad food just too much of good food. Remember, even if you're eating healthy, you must sill count calories if you want to lose weight. 

My hope is that these lists will hold me accountable for completing each health and fitness feat that I need to continue with as well as help get my mental 'Zen' up and running...HA! running--LOL

There are lists for so many different things- not just health and fitness. There are challenges for finances, saving the world, ebay, spring cleaning, politics, quitting smoking- and much more! 

If you check out DailyFeats, let me know. Maybe we can help each other over there! 

You

This post is about YOU.

YOU women out there who take care of everyone else except yourselves. I know YOU because I'm one of YOU. Or, I used to be.

There is nothing in the world I wouldn't have done for the lovelies when they were growing up. No one single thing. Heck, I'll still do for them now. But I was so busy paying attention to their extracurricular activities, school, friend connections, etc. that I completely failed to pay attention to me.

I never said no to anyone. Only to myself. Sound familiar?

Am I sorry? Not really. I mean, I wouldn't change most of way I did. However, I would add some time for me in there. Time that would have kept me healthy. And fit. And slim&trim. Time that would have made me a better role model for the lovelies. At least in the area of health and fitness. I'll just have to settle for the fact that they are still watching. And still learning. And still willing to follow my lead.  

I guess it comes down to this-

• do YOU want to see your kids/grandkids grow up?
• do YOU want to be a health, fit model for your kids/grandkids to follow?
• do YOU want to enjoy your life?
• do YOU want to walk up a flight or ten of stairs and live to tell it?
• do YOU want to stop being a spectator?
• do YOU want to walk from your house to your car without becoming short of breath?

Then please realize that:

• YOU are a worthwhile human being!
• YOU are important to those around you!
• YOU are awesome/fabulous/terrific!
• YOU are a treasure!
• YOU are loved!
• YOU are strong!
• YOU can do whatever you set your mind to do!
• YOU ROCK!  

This is the twenty-fifth day of the A-Z April Challenge. I thought I might try a theme this year and focus on my personal journey to health and fitness, including weight loss.

Today's letter is Y and my word for the day is YOU.

Stop Shooting Yourself in the Foot

I'm referring to triggers. The emotional kind. The ones that make it difficult to stay on the healthy path and to lose weight.

I had TONS of emotional and physical triggers during my first attempt at weight loss and during the first part of this last attempt.

Triggers kept me from traveling the healthy, fit path. Or, rather, I allowed them to control me.

If I ate sugar, that triggered me to eat more sugar. TONS of it. I could eat, in one day, the amount of sugar most people eat in a week. Or so I'm assuming. And the other carbs- pasta, bread, potatoes--all YUMMY and all TRIGGERS to eat moremoremore! There were the times that frustration, anger, boredom, irritation, being sleepy, etc. would trigger an eatanythingyoucangetyourhandson fest.

Seriously, you just don't get this much overweight without being ruled by triggers. 

For nearly one year now, the triggers have been virtually nonexistent. I attribute this to the change in my mindset from merely being about losing weight to taking the steps to living a healthier lifestyle, the steps towards getting fit- the exercising, the food choices, the food prep, the oil pulling, the dry skin brushing, the smoothies- everything altogether, has made all the difference. Oh, those nasty little triggers still show up and give it the old college try. But it doesn't work anymore.

I'm glad their control over me is pretty much all gone. I like being in control.

How do you shoot yourself in the foot? 

This is the twentieth day of the A-Z April Challenge. I thought I might try a theme this year and focus on my personal journey to health and fitness, including weight loss.

Today's letter is T and my word for the day is TRIGGERS.

More Freaking Lessons Learned

No matter how long I stay on this weight loss journey, I'm always learning something new.

• Whatever type of journey I am on, it's always hard. Until it's over and then it seems like it was so easy.
• Buying Russell Stover sugar free toffee squares is a BAD idea. I ate them all in two days.
• The same applies for the Russell Stover sugar free coconut candy. And the mints. 
• Changing our daily diet is time consuming. Everything is made from scratch now. 
• Those Orville Reddenbacher 100 calorie pop corn packs are only 100 calories if you eat just one bag.
• Changing to a gluten free/sugar free diet does not mean I get to stop counting calories. 
• Turbinado and Coconut sugar have more calories than Splenda. But they are probably less likely to be a factor in contracting cancer. PLUS when I eat things sweetened with the Turbinado or coconut sugar, I don't crave more and more and more and, before I know it, have eaten 5 lbs of sugary goodness! In other words, these sugars are NOT saboteurs. Refined sugar is a saboteur.
• Eggs are not eggs. God only knows what gets injected into them.
• Beef is not beef. Same as above.
• Even some natural, less processed/not injected meats spark in my microwave. ALL 'regular' meats do. WTH?!
• If I don't go to bed when I get sleepy, I will eat to stay awake. I get sleepy around 8:00 pm. Again- WTH?! (In my defense, I do wake up around 5:30 every day).
• When buying new underwear (because it's no fun when the old underwear slides down and the only thing keeping them from hitting the ground are my pants) make sure to measure. I went down one size. Should have gone down two sizes. 
• Based on the above underwear fiasco, I bought two sizes down on new yoga pants. Won't it be fun holding those up while walking or not doing yoga? Should have gone down three sizes. 
• I have given myself several time consuming projects to complete and am hoping they keep me so busy I don't fill the emptyonceagain nest with bad eating habits of old. I shouldn't, but I never know with me. I can be quite unpredictable. 

Don't think that I am almost home on this journey. I am not. It's going to be, at the earliest, Christmas this year before I reach that point. And that's IF I don't fall off the wagon. There are saboteurs all over the place out there- I just ignore them. My family and friends (and that includes every one of my most wonderful bloggy friends-all of you) are the ones who encourage and support. The rest of them can go suck an egg. A big, fat, rotten one.

Yes, it's a long, boring, drawn out, sometimesIthinkIwillnevergetthere kind of journey. But it's the one I'm on and it's one that I plan on finishing. Do I still get frustrated? Yes, but not very often. I just try to take it one day at a time.

What kind of journey are you on right now?

Comfort and FOOD

My mother has been staying with us since her surgery on Friday last. It hasn't been bad but I am here to say that I have gained a much greater appreciation for anyone who works in a field that involves caregiving.

I can also say that I now know why it is a really good thing that I did not go into one of those fields.

Providing care and comfort to others is not an easy task. I might go as far to say that it's annoying. Bothersome. Tedious. And that's from the perspective of the care giver--(me- I doubt qualified folks feel the same way). I can only imagine how it is for the person in need.

Maybe that's why I used food as a means to comfort myself all these years. It's so much easier to just pop something in my mouth than to actually get up and take care of something or deal with a troubling issue.

I've gotten away from---what would you call it? Food abuse? Seriously. I'm not sure there's much difference between food abuse and drug abuse other than the object that is abused.

For me, that was food. And it hasn't been pretty. At all.

There were times when I would wake up in the middle of the night and go grab a bite (or five) of ice cream and go back to bed. If I was upset- I ate. Angry- I ate (this one was accompanied by some yelling, maybe). Sad- food to the rescue. Bored- eating took the edge off. Get the picture?  Not pretty.

The good news? It's over now.

If I'm upset---well, I don't really let myself get upset BUT, if I feel it coming on, I deep breathe. If I get angry, I might still yell (I really prefer to call this venting) but mostly, I write my anger out. If I get sad, I let Hubs or Tucker help or I write it out. If I get bored- I do something like knit or write, but I do not eat.

I've redirected my responses to my emotions.

Funny thing is, once I started letting others help or dealing with things in a more productive and constructive manner, the reliance on food disappeared. Also not appearing so frequently are the emotions themselves. I seem to have gotten them in check. Who knew?

Don't misunderstand. I still enjoy eating! It's just not my number one hobby anymore. It's not the one thing I turn to for comfort anymore.

The pay off? A healthier me? Yep. A more food savvy me? Yep. A calmer me? Oh yes indeed. A more energetic me? Definitely. A more...spirited me? Yessiree.

A word of warning to the lovelies, however. After this next 30 pounds is off, you might want to knock before you come in the house instead of using your keys...