Computers and Food

are not friends. That cookie just disappeared. Rats.

Start overs

One philosophy from Weight Watchers I really appreciate is the concept of starting over each new day. It doesn't matter if I had a weekend that wasn't as healthy as I would like (not as much time to exercise and family dinner party), I can get right back on track today. There's much more hope in looking forward to what I can do this week than in looking back. Healthy plan for today: do the elliptical in the late afternoon because I have a meeting tonight and won't be able to do it at my regular time. What's your healthy plan for the day?

It's all about the food...

Right? Some people in my family have this philosophy, but we're also interested in overall health. Simple healthy food I enjoyed one day this week for lunch:
I drained some liquid from leftover homemade chicken tortilla soup and heated it in a pan with 1/3 c. brown rice.
I took some applesauce I froze last summer from the freezer - I like to buy cooking apples and make them into applesauce, freeze with no sugar. Then I just sprinkle enough cinnamon sugar over to offset the tartness when I get ready to eat. I freeze the applesauce in small portions.
This lunch described here is 4 or 5 weight watchers points and very filling!
Dinner last night:
shrimp cooked with a little (1/2 tsp.) butter and lemon juice
stir fry vegetables
homemade crusty bread (very easy recipe!)
I think this dinner was 9 or 10 weight watchers points and also satisfying.
Tomorrow, our Chinese fun!

Great reading

While doing a bit of research for the novel I'm writing, I stumbled on this great link for foodies.

http://www.foodtimeline.org/

Family dinners

They're as much fun to plan as to have. There is the enjoyment of looking forward to having everyone come. And, having people--anyone in addition to the two of us who live here--means I get to cook! My first step is to decide menu, with input from the others. We took a vote last night and the birthday girl was the tie breaker, so we're having Chinese. What fun! Today I'm thinking about which dishes we'll have and making grocery lists on scraps of paper. This is all healthy, trust me. Long lists of vegetables. :-)

Tentative menu:
P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps
General Tsao chicken
fried rice
chow mein
stir fry vegetables
Haven't decided yet if I want to experiment with fried shrimp.
Dessert will not be Chinese, since we're celebrating a birthday and Easter. We'll have lemon cake with strawberry filling (the birthday request) for the gluten-free/dairy-free people, and apple pie for the guys.
I'd better start saving my weight watcher points now!

Another salad creation

Some time ago, I may have mentioned a favorite salad I make based on a salad I enjoyed at a restaurant. Last night I made another such salad, loosely based on something I tried a few years ago. I wasn't sure I remembered correctly, so I did look up some ideas on the Internet. But I think my end result still doesn't really follow a specific recipe. I'm using combinations I like, and I'm keeping it simple.

Pear Slaw
pears, sliced thin or diced
raw carrot, grated
dried cranberries
cabbage or lettuce

Arrange the first three ingredients on a bed of cabbage (preferred) or lettuce. Drizzle with dressing.
Dressing:
1 T. orange juice
1 tsp. white wine vinegar
caraway or dill to taste

I used one pear last night, a couple of T. of carrot, 1 T. cranberries, and about 1 tsp. of dressing with caraway instead of dill. For me, it made about 1 1/2 servings of salad. Individual tastes will vary.

Recreating favorite dishes

One of the things I started to do last fall was reduce grains. An all-things-in-moderation approach. And I've experimented with more whole grains -- in small doses! Recently, I've had some brown rice I cooked earlier and froze. To make spanish-style rice (think paella) at lunch, I'm using only 1/3 cup rice and an equal amount of vegetables (peppers, mushroom, olives, celery--since I shouldn't have green onion) with seasonings and just 1 T. cheese sprinkled over top at the end. Yum. Still filling, but lighter than versions with more rice. I didn't have any bacon or ham for it today, but used a bit of bacon grease for flavor. Last week I had some bacon. Today's version, only 3 weight watchers points! With a banana, a filling enough lunch.

Spring traditions

We're still a week away from our spring family dinner, but as I mentioned in the last post, I've got a pretty good idea of the menu, provided everyone wants our traditional dinner again. We'll have ham and potatoes and vegetables and salad. My favorite parts of the dinner are not so healthy: the rolls and dessert. Our traditional desserts are apple pie (for the hubbys) and apple cranberry crisp for the gluten-free folks. This year, the crisp will be replaced by gluten-free birthday cake. :-) Tonight I'll ask the birthday girl for her request. In the meantime, I thought I'd share our family recipe for crescent rolls. I first had these rolls at my sister's bridal shower over 25 years ago. They take a bit of planning ahead for the rising, but they don't take much effort. This recipe makes about 32 rolls, but I've found I can set half of the dough aside to use another day. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and/or a plate, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature and shape before baking.

Crescent Rolls

Dissolve 2 pkg. yeast in 3/4 c. warm water.
Stir in:
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 c. butter
2 c. flour
Stir together. Stir in another 2 c. flour.
Scrape dough from sides of bowl. Cover with damp cloth. Let rise until double (1 1/2 hours). Divide in half. Roll each half to 12" circle. Cut into 16 pie shaped pieces. Roll, starting at wide end. Put on pan poin down. Cover, let rise 1 hour. Brush with melted butter (optional). Bake at 400 for 12-15 min.

Enjoy!

Shopping

I watched a humorous video today about a woman who sent her husband to the grocery store. It wouldn't be so funny if it didn't hit close to home for many. For the most part, hubby and I shop together. I guess we both have a vested interest in our food. Often, we eat different food, so we want to make sure we get it right. I heard the video not too long after I had texted my son with a question about his plans this weekend. We're not having a big Easter dinner to my knowledge, but our text reminded me I wanted to get a ham for our family dinner next weekend. The video reminded me I'm out of shortening, referred to as "lard" by the speaker. This time, I plan to actually get lard. It keeps fine in the refrigerator and I don't have to use as much in recipes, which may result in low-fat baking? Worth a try, anyway. So now I have a grocery list for this week started. Thinking of the non-Easter dinner reminds me that we'll need to shop on Saturday instead of Sunday, our normal routine. These posts just show that routines are made to be broken. That said, I think our family dinner, when we do have it, will be pretty traditional. With a few tweaks. Healthy, for those of us who want to eat healthy. With some gluten-free dairy-free dishes for those in the family who have allergies. We've found combinations that keep everyone happy.

Maintaining

The numbers say I've reached my goal. But a goal is about more than numbers. What happens once a person reaches a goal? (a number on a scale, a number of reps, a level of resistance, an amount of time spent in cardio, etc.) In some cases, we set new goals, perhaps to reach the next level of fitness. For example, I've reached my goal in minutes on the elliptical. Now I'm working on speed. The last week or so I see my average speed gradually increasing. That tells me I'm getting in better shape. Eventually I'll probably add some resistance. (months down the road!)

In the case of eating, numbers on a scale are not static -- have you noticed? They move around so that a person has to shoot for average, or look at trends over time to really make sense of it. One thing I do know, maintaining a desired goal requires maintaining new habits. So far this week, I haven't started any new baking. We've run out of chocolate chips and I don't plan to bring any more chocolate in until next weekend. Not sure I'd want to keep it out forever! :-)  Again, if I look at it as a line graph, there are times with less chocolate in the house and times with more chocolate, but overall there should be an upward trend in healthy eating.

The weather is even cooperating today -- stir fry vegetables for lunch actually sound good on such a gray day!

The unexpected

I knew my exercise routine would be a little different over the weekend. I had expectations of how it might look. Weather changed the reality. Yes, we walked outside - and on the beach.

Day 1 we walked in 30 mph winds. I asked dear Shoe how that might correspond to resistance on an elliptical. He thought maybe 4. Correct or not, I felt that workout all weekend.

Day 2 we took an evening walk on the neighborhood streets since the wind was still blowing. My walking partner insisted we find - and climb to the top of - every hill in the neighborhood!

Day 3 we had less wind. :-) I got in an afternoon stroll of about 30 minutes and then a walk on a different beach of about 45 minutes. Each morning we walked 45 minutes, wind or no wind.

All that walking helped offset my "vacation" treats!

Changing it up

Yesterday I got back to my light weights/workout routine. To treat myself, I took last night off from the elliptical. Not such a bad trade off. Does quilting count as exercise? That's what I did in the evening instead. A few days of beach walking is in my future... with my husband, which will be a nice change of pace from walking around the neighborhood by myself. Even my midday walks have changed this week, as I mentioned earlier, in that we have Sun! so I've been walking outside instead of on the treadmill. We seem to thrive on variety--even those of us who dearly love our routines. I can keep the routine of walking, but add a little variety within the routine. What are your favorite tricks for adding variety while keeping a routine?

Eating Healthy and Enjoying It

Yes, I do like my food. :-) Here's a sample of great healthy food (yesterday's menus).
Breakfast
"my" hot chocolate (1 cup 1% milk, 1 T. Ghiradelli hot chocolate -- doesn't take as much of the good stuff!)
1 T. whipped cream (courtesy of Prince C.) (total 5 weight watchers points)
banana
Lunch
tuna salad (made with 2 tsp. mayonnaise, celery, green pepper, and dried cranberries, used for 3-4 servings)
lettuce
broccoli
almond roll (homemade - delicious!) (I think these are 3 or 4 weight watchers points)
Snack
granola bar (homemade, 5 weight watchers points)
Dinner
one of those healthy taco things with a bit of beef and 1 flour tortilla, a bit of cheese, vegetables
I was going to put apple slices with that but never quite got around to it.
Before dinner I had a few sweet potato chips

I'll change it up today a bit by having yogurt instead of tuna, salad of some sort, and we're going to try fried chicken in the cast iron skillet tonight with reduced fat.

Sun, glorious sun!

In honor of, I dug deep for a yellow shirt today. I walked in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon and will walk outside again today, depending on when the clouds roll in. My midday walk is a win-win situation: if I'm on the treadmill I can read. Outside I can enjoy spring flowers. Either way, I can often talk to Mom as I walk. Evenings on the elliptical is my time to listen to music. I haven't figured out yet how to put the fun in a light weights workout routine. What are some ways you make exercise fun?

Coming and Going

That's what I've been busy doing. I did manage to walk at least 30 minutes a day, much to my surprise. And I was able to balance treats with salads and fruit. It's encouraging to learn how to manage vacations or other times away from our routines.

On a different note, I read some labels at the store in the last couple of days. Sigh. I need to get busy baking. While some of my homemade items have sugar in them, at least I can identify all of the ingredients! One brand of yogurt had one or more ingredients I couldn't pronounce. I found another brand. Another product lists preservatives right on the ingredient label. I have to admit, I guess it's good they identify the items we can't pronounce: they tell us they are preservatives. But I'm not dead so I don't need preserving - quite yet. In truth, I like to think with a healthy lifestyle I have many years left!

Time for exercise

Sometimes all the "stuff" of the day crowds out exercise. I probably *have* time for most of my regular routine today, but I have other things I'd rather be doing. So much of the healthy life is about balance -- when to exercise, when to enjoy the breaks in routine with the good stuff that comes our way, when to eat healthy, when to take a break and enjoy a treat with a family member or friend. The next few days I'll be practicing balance -- a little more on the enjoyment side, most likely, and a little less on the routine side. Here's to good times!  :-)

Healthy? Tasty!

Some of you may have seen my post on facebook yesterday as I was getting ready to take homemade cinnamon rolls and almond rolls out of the oven. The almond roll experiment was a success! All the taste of those I had tried at a bakery in Lincoln City, and probably almost half the calories and fat. I realize many people don't always have time to make homemade, but there are tricks to make it easier. A basic homemade bread dough is pretty forgiving -- it can be stirred together while making dinner, allowed to rise for 30 minutes or so while eating dinner, then covered with plastic and put in the refrigerator until needed. For breakfast, as an example, break off some dough and set it on the counter to rise/warm to room temperature as you shower. Quickly assemble into something resembling a roll shape (one needn't roll out nice and smooth to roll up as a cinnamon roll, sprinkle with cinnamon / sugar to taste and knead lightly to mix in) and put in oven to bake while you get ready for the day. (I use the toaster oven when baking small amounts like this) 15 minutes later, fresh hot breakfast on your way out the door!

For those desiring more detail:
Basic Bread Dough
Stir together:
1 c. warm water
2 1/4 tsp. (1 pkg.) dry yeast
1-3 tsp. sugar (depending on what you'll use the dough for)
Let sit 5 min.
Add and stir to blend:
1 T. oil (canola or olive)
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. flour
Stir in:
1 1/2 c. flour, kneading toward the end as necessary.
Let rise 15 min. for pizza dough; an hour for lighter breads and rolls.
Shape into desired end result. Let rise 30 min. (skip this rising for pizza dough)
Bake 15 min. at 420. Check depending on oven and desired degree of doneness.

For the almond rolls, I melted 1 T. butter and added 1/4 tsp. almond flavoring and some brown sugar to make a paste. Roll dough out to rectangle and spread with almond butter paste. Roll up and slice
to make rolls. Top with sliced almonds and bake.