This week

Monday.

Breakfast: Turkey Sandwich w. avocado & Sprouts on whole wheat bread coffee, orange mango juice

Lunch: I think it was ww pasta w/ broccoli and some cheese but can't remember

@ 3:30 air popped pop corn w/ smoked paprika (AWESOME) not sure how much it really as but it started out as less than 1/4 cup of raw kernels because the machine only holds that much, made maybe a little more than 2 cups of popped corn

Dinner; at friends house for Adam's show: SOOOO 

Probably 8oz hard cider ( i shared a bigger bottle)

1 slice meatball pizza

1/2 slice white pizza w/fried eggplant, spinach broccoli & tomatoes

3 chicken wings

1 piece of celery

more than a few handfuls of the greatest popcorn ever that this guy brought from Royal Tavern, I believe it had chives, garlic, parmesan cheese and truffle butter on it. It was fantastic. I had to cover it up with paper towels to keep myself from eating it.

Tuesday

Half honey nut cheerios half multi grain unsweetened squares type cereal w/ 1% milk &  glass of orange mango juice

Lunch. two pieces of chicken & 3 stalks of celery

Dinner w/ Mary & Christain..GOBAMA!!!!!!!!!!

Cut up celery , orange pepper & cut up tortillas  sprayed with olive oil & herbs w fab LOW LOW fat dip:

0% greek yogurt 1 cup

1 cup diced cucumber

1/2 cup cilantro & mint leaves mixed

juice from 1 lemon

1 small of half large garlic clove

2 scallions chopped

1 tsp olive oil

Salt & pepper

split the cucumber into two portions,, puree everything but half the cucumber, them stir that in and let it sit (double the cucumber and you will have soup)

Lamb roasted with pomegranate no actual added fat, but cooked in green pan & drained

Rice w/ saffron & pistachios & cashews (1tbs added fat)

SPICy Indian style veg (1 tsp added fat)

I'm thinking prob 1/2 - cup rice, 5 oz lamb, cup of veg + extra yogurt dip  on top

2 glasses white wine]

1 glass red

sliced orange (maybe half an orange) some fresh pomegranate, few grapes, 2 or dates, maybe 5-8 candied almonds ( I made them, sugary but no added fat)

Tea w/ tsp honey & 1 small homemade bergamot sugar cookie

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Left over rice & veg 1 1/3 cup total all mixed up w a fried egg

Lunch at Amada: petite butternut squash soup w/ tiny scallops and little balls of green apple FABULOUS!!!

Salad w/ spinach, serrrano ham , cabrales cheese , dried figs. Ate most but not all of it

a few of Adam's fries

3 ham croquettas (gift from the kitchen)

a whole bunch of  truffle oil soaked roasted mushrooms

to my credit wanted to soak everything up with bread but didn't

1 glass of wine

@ 6 : Kashi cholate almond snack bar w/ cup of coffee

Dinner @ 8:30:

turkey sandwich on toasted whole wheat w/ 1/4 avocado, sprouts, 1 slice bacon, 1 slice cheese 1 tsp low fat mayo

few celery sticks few pieces orange pepper

TODAY

Breakfast : 1 half grapefruit, 1 small glass grapefruit juice

most of an egg white omelet w/ spinach feta & tomato

few bites hashbrowns

 1 slice rye toast w/ 1/4 of a little butter tub on it

2 cups coffee each with half  a  half & half thing in it

Thinking about lunch. Prob. some left over lamb slices and some salad or some thing like that.

oh yeah forgot on Saturday night also ate a crab cresent roll thing

Party food etc.

Saturday.

My morning was dominated by a large cake... actually as sort of difficult decorating job and I by about noon my head was swimming and had to eat something that was relatively easy to to take a bite,  out it down and return in a few minutes..so oatmeal was out.. had a PB&J on whole wheat light on the J and had some coffee.

X's mom picked us up at 4:30 , at 4 I ate a half a stale cookie with magical powers..which hit very hard about 45 minutes later thank you very much.

We go to the party @ 7ish..and I was pretty hungry. I really don;t think I can properly catalog but lets try: ( this was within 4 hours, and I did try not to mindlessly shove food in my mouth)

5 scoops of mango salsa w/ chip (It was really really good)

2 grilled chicken skewers, 1 with dab of blue cheese

10 pieces of celery

5 mini carrots

3 scoops guac w/ chip

3 scoops cheese dip w/chip

1/3rd of a keilbasa w/ sauerkraut (it kind a sucked)*

1 scoop spinach dip on a butterfly cracker*

1/4 cup baked ziti*

3 small thin slices of cheddar cheese w/ mustard

3 bites of my cake

handful gum drops

possibly a bottle of red wine

1 shot of expresso vodka

* I ate these to be polite because the people who made them asked me what I thought and I had to tell them it was good, also I was drunk

hours and hours later@ 4:30 am after a long journey home , much drama X woke me up with a cheesesteak  which I ate then passed out again.

Sunday.

Breakfast;

Grapefruit ( I have perfected my technique and now get almost all the pieces out and about half cup juice!! secret is a sharp paring knife)

I have been dying for an egg sandwich..so I made one like this:

1 tsp butter

2 slice whole wheat

1 egg

1 thin slices cheese

1 pieces canadian bacon ( BTW cannot believe how low the calorie count is for this stuff!!)

 Heat the bacon in the pan w. pam

fried the egg

put the ham egg & bacon on the bread and toasted them in the pan with the butter like a grilled cheese.

It was v. satisfying and had I not been being fat conscious I would have used reg bacon and at least 3 times the butter, two eggs and more cheese

No lunch

@ 7ish handful green grapes

Dinner ( x made Dinner!!)

four mini potatoes roasted  garlic & shallots in @ 1 tbs olive oil

Brussel sprouts (see above)

@ 4-5 oz lean steak grilled on THE GREEN PAN!!! with about 1 tbs spoon on sauce made from brown bits from teh pan ( fat poured off)  reduced wine, veg stock garlic , wostershire & hoisin

2 glasses wine

1/4 cup chocolate sorbet, 2 small bites caramel cone Ice cream.

now have to eat some thing...think I'm going to have a turkey sandwich with sprouts for breakfast.

Up days and down days!

So...the last post was Thursday. Well, I took 2/3 of a pizza home from Tacconelli's so that has been breakfast , lunch and snacks for some time. I had it for breakfast and dinner on Friday. Lunch was at Copa - 2 mojitos and I split fajitas (no tortillas though) with my friend. That was about it for the day. REally need to start drinking more water. My workout was with Danny and it was the hardest workout I've had in a really long time!! He definately beat me up. But, I managed to stretch a ton so I don't hurt too badly.

Saturday, I had a banana in the car and some acai juice on my way to bethlehem. While at the store, I had a fantastic Grilled Chicken Salad with Balsamic. Then off to work a Rack and Roll house party. I was early, so I stopped of for two Blue Moons. At the party, I had a 1/2 a fresh daquari and 1 piece of spinach stromboli. Oh yeah, and a bite of beer bread with bacon bacon dip...YUM!! On the way home, met up with some friends for 2 more Blue Moons. I'm noticing that I definately am not getting enough water and juice. Gotta focus on that!

Sunday...Can you say CHEAT DAY! Yup...Tacconelli's for breakfast and picking on Football food the rest of the day. Wings, LAsagna soup, cheese and pretzels, cheese and proccuitto, more wings, more lasagna soup. 3 glasses of wine throughout both football games.Ahhh...and a crazy ice cream sundae. It was SOOOOO worth it! caramel, fudge, chocolate and mint covered cookies, crushed nuts and vanilla ice cream!!! I'll do an extra few minutes of cardio for that :)

Now it's monday, time to get back on track. Getting a late start cause it's a holiday. But, I'll work out by 11:00! And, I'm gonna start off with either paella with a fried egg on top, or oatmeal with fruit, however I feel when I get downstairs!

Friday night..not so light

Lunch yesterday @2...two teeny tiny grilled cheese using cocktail rye, goat cheese & leftover redwine braised onions..grilled with pam and a salad w/ mesclun radishes cucumbers lemon juice & olive oil..the salad was left over from the night before, i grabbed a handful (pre dressing) and put in in a plastic bag..when time came to have it again opened the bag squeezed in some lemon juice a bitof Olive oil ( thank you "fucking rachel ray now I can't call it EVOO)..any way shook it up in the bag saving an additional plate to wash while still having it perfectly dressed....

By 6 I was pretty hungry so I had 5 low fat ritz crackers because it was easy and a glass of wine

I had two more glasses of wine..then @7:30 we ordered pizza...I just could not stomach whole wheat pizza with veggies & soy cheese I wanted much more substance. Soooo I got yummy Buffalo chicken pizza..which has strips of grilled chicken (good) hot sauce (fine) & cheese (mebbe not so good) BUT this is how I augmented it on top of each slice I put a mound of arugula dressed with lemon juice and chopped cucumber and yellow pepper.

First added much need vegetables  and second offset the heat and richness (like carrots and celery would do), also had raw radishes and extra cucumbers along side

Small("personal size") pie has 6 uneven slices I had 4, one was pretty small. I had half a glass of wine with that.

@ 10:30 I had 2 eating spoons of caramel cone ice cream and 1/4 cup low fat chocolate sorbet  then I felt kind of sick.

Now its 10:45 I have a shit load to do before we go to the fatfood party at 4:30, am having coffee and going to wake up X ( have I mentioned this party..can you tell I'm not into it..its in West Deptford NJ. so we have to rely on others to get us there and back, I am just not in  the mood to party... esp like that, kegs, potato chips, mini sausages, people I don't really know that well  but do know are on the  far far right of my views of the world..sigh the things we do for love.

breakfast and cake

So was wanting savory and warm ( who are we kidding I wanted a breakfast sandwich with runny eggs, cheese and bacon in fact maybe I wanted two)..in my magical pantry I found  a package of nukable multi grain pilaf from trader joes...2 servings per pack...200 cal each, 5gr fat, 9g of protein, 4g fiber has millet(2 kinds), soybeans,cracked wheat, tomatoes, onion, garlic & chilies so had a portion of that with my remaining egg ( I was going to use it for cake frosting but I changed the recipe) a half a zucchini and a dollop of 0% greek yogurt..it tasted very Indian.

Still have to have that grapefruit and some water, also had at least 3 small tastes of frosting that was made of butter with sugar and more butter. There is a small slice of cake trim staring at me, but I told it to shut up and am saving it for Xtain, it is his brother's cake after all.

cranky and crabby

Don't know if it's the cold or the vanishing economy but I've been feeling pretty bleak and frustrated and am trying not to let that reflect on my food choices, because its just so easy to eat the day away with little food "rewards".

yesterday Lunch; Failed attempt at whole wheat tortellini with cauliflower, I was craving mac & cheese and I thought that would squelch it, but I was not paying attention, again, and I poured way way too much salt in the pasta water..so when i used that to make it all creamy and good without butter it was mouth stingingly foul. SO I pouted. 

Whilst making lunch I was also baking a cake for a Bday party on Saturday, which I am forecasting will prove to be diet doom, I doubt there will be one item without a super high fat content and lots and lots of alcohol. but I will make a sincere and hopeful total effort not to mainline potato chips and to have very small portions of whatever is healthiest at the potluck for a man who abhors vegetables. 

after a half hour of pouting and cake making (I did eat a few small pieces that fell off ..maybe like what would amount to 1/3 of a cupcake..it was pretty good too Spicy Dark Chocolate cake)

Anyway as I said I was pouting and didn't feel like making anything and just wanted baby typr food..soft, so I had a hardboiled egg on whole wheat bread.

Dinner...my mood is still foul and wanted to make something x would like since last nights dinner was a bit off.. I generally have a hard time cooking well when I am distracted.

Sticking with original plan to not randomly buy thuings but use what i had, I had portioned out the chopped meat I bought and had two burgers in the freezer, made from 1/3 of a lb..one was a bit larger than the other (which went to X)

So : Big salad..mesclun greens, yellow peppers, cucumbers (I have to say the smell of the cucumbers gave me a little lift...so fresh and clean) radishes with balsamic vin, lemon juice & bit of olive oil.

Oven fries: Split 1 large potato btw us, cut in to fries..sprayed with Pam and baked on a rack at 400 for 20 min...they get all brown and look like fries...they taste pretty good too, sometimes I cover them in chopped garlic and smoked paprika then they are awesome.

Burgers: i took the smaller one, and covered them in red onion braised in red wine with a spoon ( a regular eating teaspoon, not the measruing kind) of crumbled gorgonzola cheese

w/ ketchup on a potato roll.

In the past I would have toasted the rolls with Butter and put mayo and ketchup on my burger but I did not, also would have made much larger burgers and a potato each. ya me and teh portion control!

had two glasses of wine.

I think I need to drink more water and obvioulsy move around more, I wish my damn latin cardio dvd would get here!

So far today have had coffee..and have the diet daunting task today of making icing for my cake, but whew! just sold a nice size job so I should calm down a bit about $$..what to have for breakfast? I want savory ..wonder what to do that does not involve eggs since I used them all up in the cake..AM going to start with pink grapefruit and go from there.

By the way Mary.. I love the left over fish/rice with a fried egg. YUMMMM! 

Loving Salads!!

I made another great spinach salad for lunch! Grilled shrimp and bay scallops. (so easy because they are frozen in a bag, I just pull out what I want of each, let them sit in water, throw them in the pan with some olive oil and seasoning and wala...we're done in minutes. I tossed it with some super strong cheese from spain that my sisters mother in law brought back. walnuts, avacado, strawberries, edamame (my new favorite), kidney beans (another staple I've been keeping in my fridge) and I think that's it. A little balsamic vinager, red pepper jam and olive oil shaken up in a jar and I have a yummy dressing. There was ALOT of fat in that, but it'a all good fat, and there really wasn't much cheese, so it's all good!! Oh, and a glass of red wine. Purely for the anti-oxidents..lol

I'm definately craving something sweet. I'd grab fruit, but I'm not actually hungry. And, I'm trying to equate hunger with eating (a concept that I've never seemed to grasp).

Dinner will be more wine and tacconelli's. The best Pizza!!! I'm going to have 3 pieces and I'm not even going to feel guilty!!

oops forgot the liquid calories

So, Add a bottle of wine to the list of stuff I ate and drank yesterday. Mind you, that bottle was over the course of lunch, dinner and being out at Public House. So, it certainly coulda been worse.

Great with Exercise and Food, the rest will have to catch up

So...Yesterday started with Tae Bo Cardio. And, the Flirty Girl Fitness routine that I totally love. I'm just gonna do that for fun when I'm bored. Not sure it'll burn any calories, but it'll sure tone the belly and make romantic getaway weekends a whole lot more fun!!! I ate the whole grain rice, beans and fish mixture for breakfast with a fried egg...YUM!! I made killer baby spinach and arugala salad for lunch with a friend. Grilled chicken (on the GREEN PAN of course...for those who don't know about the GREEN PAN, just ask, it will change your life! Ok, may be an egaggeration, but it will make you VERY happy!!) And we added goat cheese, edamame beans, cherry tomatoes and walnuts to the salad and a homeade balsamic vinagrette. So yummy, I will definately be making more of that. dinner was the rest of the whole grain and fish mix. It was actually very good cold.

Today, I woke up and did Advanced Tae Bo, a full hour and a much harder workout for me. I could feel a little soreness from yesterday. It didn't have a total stretching routine at the end, so unless I can get it together to stretch later, I'm gonna be hurting tomorrow, I think. Breakfast was my new favorite oatmeal. It's wholegrain and flaxseed. Sounds not so yummy, but a little crushed pineapple, blueberries and strawberries and you can't rip it away from me. Plus, it keeps me full for most of the day. And, I was careful to only eat one serving.

Now I need to put that same discipline and focus into gettting Rack and Roll off the ground for 2009! It's COLD and noone wants to come out shopping!

This morning

Despite agita from the Italians and the rather chilly temperature in my house... which totally made me crave warm melted cheese..@ 10ish I had 1 envelope of whole grain organic vanilla almond hot cereal stuff augmented with 1/2 cup of Uncle Sam and 1/4" of an apple..heated with water not milk and a cup of really shitty coffee (I must have spaced out while I was measuring it out and forgot 1 scoop)

waiting patiently for my Latin Cardio Dancing with the Stars dvd..and hmm do you think I can collection donations to buy me a Wii with Wii Fit, I could buy it myself but I hate spending money on electronic stuff that does not fit in my purse (I was referring to the iphone ok) also I fear it may be used to play video games as well and well the way the economy is going I should save that money for like rent and stuff. BUT I WANT WII FIT! Gonna have to find a way to get one.

WEDNESDAY

Day started funky...all phone all the time till 11:45 when I finally  had a tremendous headache and ate some thing:

3 eggs white, half a yolk (because I did not feel like fishing it out) with tomatoes & 1 oz hot pepper cheese & chives, used spray not butter, phone rang halfway through and it burned a bit n the bottom and smelled AWFUL..But it tasted ok also had a whole pink grapefruit...yum two bites of a tortilla before I decided I didn't want it.

Weird day had a pretty consistent headache, did some floor exercises  sit ups, donkey kicks leg raises, fire hydrant lifts..etc, felt a bit better afterwards.

Lunch @ 3 : 2 slices soy baloney ( I don;t know why I love this stuff) on whole wheat with lettuce and light mayo

Dinner: 

I had a plan I was going to try to make a low cal version of chicken Kiev. then changed my mind because I did not feel like whacking chicken breast..too noisy and messy, so I brined the whole breasts ( for too long, they came out kinda rubbery and salty, I should have taken them out after 1/2 hour but I forgot) then I was going to saute them with capers and lemon but I had no capers, I did have a can of artichoke hearts,  some green olives and a preserved lemon...so grilled it all them on my fabulous Green Pan, drained what little fat there was and made a quick pan sauce with chicken stock and lemon juice..it was ok but too salty.

Tried to make grilled potato slices but left them in the oven too long and they were all burnt up so nuked another potato an made a quick mash w/ 2% milk & chicken stock..meh.

also Sauteed swiss chard..it was ok not one of my best X didn't like it much either

Basically I had 1/3rd of a breast of chicken with about 5 artichoke hearts, 2 olive, 2 tbs mashed potato a 1/2 cup swiss chard..three halves on mostly burnt potato while i was making everything else and a half glass of cranberry pomegranate juice & a half a bottle of green tea vitamin water.. 

@ 11 pm I had half a frozen  sugar cookie 

oops

found some halloween  candy in the back of the pantry... 2 mini almond joys and counting, seriously no more they weren't that good.

Puttin' all out there on facebook

This our exercise in accountability for what we eat and when we work out (or don't). The structure is loose and  there are tips and recipes and shopping lists..and we need feedback (no pun intended) and if you want to join in please feel free to post comments.

eating better but no exercise

I don't know what it is but I can't get myself to work out...of course the minute I work out for the first time I get my period the next day...did Yoga Saturday Am, 

( did not mention that on Saturday for lunch had have 3/4ths of a 1/2 of a pastrami sandwich and half a small cup of matzoh ball soup... for dinner i had: 2 glasses of wine, 1 sidecar, 4 Kir royales , 3 small bites of cheese, 2 big pieces of wheat bread w/ butter, a miniscule oyster, 1 escargot, a few scoops of brandade and  few forkfuls of salad..then at 3 am we had cheesesteaks)

Sunday Am huddled in bed with a heating pad and the NYTimes and nursed hangover/cramps . Yesterday I meant to go to the gym but I didn't no excuse just didn't feel like walking over there. I wonder if I would be different about this if I was a driving around type of person? hmmm.

Its now 12:28 and I feel kinda sickish, just not right.

OK anyway here was last nights dinner:

Super Antioxidant Stirfry

Cubed extra firm tofu 

1 tbs canola oil

small sweet potato

1 cup shredded red cabbage

half orange pepper

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

1 shallot

1 small zucchini

2 scallions

3 tsp Thai Red Curry Paste

1 cup low fat coconut milk

this made 3 servings, we had exactly 1/3 left over

with brown rice (pre made frozen from the acme..super easy if a bit bland and mushy..the package had 2.5 servings which came out about right)

Salad made from;

Savoy cabbage

cucumber (3" cut in batons)

1/2 under ripe mango (cut in batons)

daikon radish (same amount as cucumber)

1/s shallot

Dressing:

Lime juice

2 tsp fish sauce nam pla

1 tsp sugar

1tsp dark sesame oil

2 shakes szechwan hot pepper oil

1 tbs roasted cashews

Fresh Chives

Should have taken a picture this was very pretty all reds and oranges and purple with green accents

I will say this all would have been better with cilantro & mint, but rule for this week is work with what I've got.

Water & about 4 sips of pomegranate /cranberry juice (No wine for me)

Later on I had half a bowl of honey nut cherrios with 2% milk &  golden raisins...X took the bowl from me and ate the other half AFTER he had non fat chocolate pudding cup ( can I say how much I love these!! 70 calories of chocolate & calcium)

So far this morning:

Coffee w/ 2% milk (I'm weaning X off whole milk next week i'll have 1%)

Scooped out multigrain bagel from Dunkin' donuts, toasted at home with mustard and 1 oz shredded jarlsberg cheese.

Maybe if I have a grapefruit I'll feel better. going to do that, 

Lunch is going to be chicken soup, I have some homemade in my freezer.

X is making dinner tonight..because I am going to help abandoned cats.

He wants perogies...I asked him to make them with some sort of vegetable and we settled on cabbage &  onions...

we usually have them with greek yoghurt & hot sauce..By the way 0% greek yoghurt totally passes for sour cream..

Mary... I have veg chili in the freezer for you...It's good and loaded with good things black beans, tomatoes, whole wheat berries

 ALSO

I'm putting this on facebook, like now, we need accountability.

Damn Alil!!

I got my exercise on track. I've been working out every day. (Although, I don't see where it will fit today, and I either have a stiff neck or a pulled muscle, so sounds like the appropriate day off) But, the food....ugh, not so much, I think it's just tooo cold to go to the store. So, I'd prefer to skip meals. Yes, I know, not the way to go. I'll get there. Lunch yesterday was a small chicken cheese steak with tomato and fried onion. But, I didn't get the cheeses fries and there were no chips. So, nutirionally, I was a little lacking yesterday, but my calorie count was good. And, here is the silliest irony. We sat in front of the Oprah show watching her and her trainer talk about how to get back to healthy. As, we shovelled cheese steaks. LEt's not forget, I worked it off with a kick boxing workout. And, I just skipped dinner, talked to the new potential beau for a while and went to bed. So, exciting....ugh....big plans of getting up at 6:30 to Tae Bo.

Fast forward to now when it is 12:12 and I just finished my first food for the day. A serving of whole grain oatmeal with crushed pineapple. I can't believe I'm gonna say this but YUMMMMMM! I'm having this a few days a week. maybe mix up the fruit a little. Sadly, I know I have a sushi date in 90 minutes. It's gonna stink not being hungry enough for scallops and salmon.

OK...back to work.

Back on track????

Well, If you sent this blog link to me last week, Ali, I may have had something better to say, but since yesterday was "Football Sunday," it's not gonna be pretty. In no particular order I managed to fit all of the following into my body...1/3 can of cheesy pringles. (And, only because I had to share the other 2/3 with my nieces and nephews :( ) It wasn't will power that kept me from eating the whole container. I had 2 servings of taco pie. More than my share of the london broil. But, this stuff is just YUUUUMMMMYYY!!! A little pasta. This rediculously yummy, but greasy, fattening concoction of cornbread, spinach balls, sausage and cheese. I got 2 new pimples just from looking at it, but boy was it good. Let's see, throughout the day, there was scattered picking at chips and chocolate and the occasional cracker with cheese and or pepperoni. And, a handful of fun beers. It was a mix of micro brews. Can't imagine the calorie count. And more importantly can't imagine the ratio of fat and less than nutritional ingredients. I'd write about the rest of the weekend, but I'm not sure I remember all of it - Although there was a pretty pink ribbon on my mantle piece at the end of the weekend!! So, I must have won something good :)

Back on track ish today. I ate breakfast, which they say is a healthy step. Of course it was fried egg with porkroll and cheeseon a bagel. With a side of scrapple. I had a half grapefruit to make myself feel a little better! 6:00 appointment with the trainer, so hopefully that'll make up for it.

Deep-fried Cupcakes with a side of Bacon

I feel as though from my last post on I have subsisted on cheese, fried chicken and cookies washed down with copious amounts of wine and salted caramel lattes (damn you Starbucks).  I have 45 potato pancakes, a half pint of bourbon chocolate ganache and some egg nog granita in my freezer to remind me of the holidays. So now I'm just too fat, my knees hurt and I feel teeter-y on my high heels, as though they cannot support my weight.

SOOO what do I do about it? Duh, excerise and eat better....and blog so I am accountable for my actions:

Also I have decided to do a bog food shop once a week instead of running to the store all the time (except when I make fish,  then I will go to FISH Store, not Acme and certianly not Whole Foods).

This should not only force me to be creative and cook the tofu instead of being tempted  by the ready made fried chicken but save me some cash. In the month of december I spent over $1200 on food & alcohol and that's just too much, mind you a chunk of it was gifts and party food but still, freakin stupid. I could have taken a vacation or bought a fabulous coat.

So Took my beloved BF with me to the market this time ( he help[s me spend less) and here is our working pantry for this week:

Protein: (Spent $17.50 at all natural organic stand at reading terminal chicken , eggs, bacon ground meat)

10 Eggs

1/2 lb Bacon

1 lb Chicken breast

Extra Firm tofu

Black Beans

In the freezer:

1/4lb ground sirloin

1/2 lb ground bison

1 small boneless leg of lamb

Italian style turkey sausage

1 portion mahi mahi

(2) 1/4lb burgers ground sirloin.

Vegetables ($29 at Iovines for most of this..normally I would by at the farm stand, but I'm being frugal)

2 orange peppers

1 yellow pepper

1 bunch swiss chard

2 large red potatoes

2 medium russet potatoes

1 head savoy cabbage

1 bag lemons

2 cara cara oranges

1 bunch red radishes

1 daikon radish

fresh dill

Italian parsley

grape tomatoes

1 bag salad greens

2 zucchinis

4 red onions

4 yellow onions

2 heads garlic

4 shallots

2 poblano peppers

(below is stuff i already have)

2 large beets

1 sweet potato

1 med butter nut squash

carrots

parsnips

romaine lettuce

3 pink grapefruits

1 pomegranate

In the pantry I have kind of everything:

Last Night for dinner we had:

Grilled Veg Bruschetta 

Grilled zucchini & radishes., chopped with grape tomatoes, lemon zest,parsley, basil (from a tube) balsamic vinegar & Wisconson parmesan cheese on grilled thin cut  whole wheat bread rubbed with garlic.

Lightened up Spagetti & Meatballs

here's what i did, and I think it can be refined to be even better

Meatballs:

1/4lb Ground meat (I used beef , would work great with turkey, possible even textured protein or half turkey half tofu?)

1 cut swiss chard julienned & nuked with the onion & garlic for 1.5 min. the squeezed dry

1 egg white

1/2 cup bread crumbs (next time I would whirr some oatmeal in the Magic bullet and use that)

3 tables spoons diced red onion

1 large garlic clove smashed

1 tbs 2% milk ( thats what we have right now)

1 tbs grated cheese

1 tbs toasted pine nuts ( I wanted to put these in but X is nut a huge nut fan)

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Mix it all up very well, this made 12 small meatballs, if you dip  your hand in cold water its easier .

I baked them in the oven on my GREEN PAN!!! poured about 1/2 cup red wine over them before the went in the oven, because it was there.

SAUCE:

1 half orange pepper (diced)

1 have med red onion (Diced)

1 small carrot peeled & diced

1 small zucchini (diced)

3 cloves garlic Smashed

1/2 Large can whole tomatoes with juice

1/2 cup red wine

1 bayleaf

basil in tube ( fresh is better)

Salt & pepper

Same as any tomato sauce I tried to up the veg content, if I had eggplant,  mushrooms,sundried tomatoes and/or artichoke hearts I would have added them too.

Heat pan , add olive oil , add diced veg & bay leaf season w/ salt an pepper, cook till soft, ad wine, let it evaporate a bit, and juice from tomatoes, cook down, add tomatoes ( I put then in a measuring cup then stick a scissor in there and chop away) and tube basil if you are using it. Cook down for as long as you want to, you can just heat it or let it cook on low for an hour two.

Made this with reg. spaghetti because I didn;t feel like opening a new box of whole wheat pasta when I already had one box open. and put grated cheese on top. Nd had a glass of Malbec.

So that was dinner, half way through the golden globes I had a 100 calorie chocolate pudding

So far thing morning

 

@ 9am 

 Coffee with 2% milk

1/2 cup 100% juice pomegrnate/cranberry, blended with ice 1 cup fresh blueberries & lemon juice

11:30 Hard Boiled egg sandwich...1 egg , 2 small slices ww bread, 1 tsp light mayo

in about 15 minutes I'm having the left over pasta with extra zucchini added

Dinner tonight:

Tofu veg stir fry -Tofu, Red Cabbage, Carrots, Orange pepper & squash w/ red thai red curry & brown rice

Cabbage, shallot, carrot salad   

DARN I wish I had cilantro... but I don't and buying it will break my rule.