Good morning

<>Did I tell you I was going away for the weekend?  My sister flew here and we (Mom, Iz, sis and I) took a road trip to visit my brother and ogle their new baby.  Very cute.  Slept the whole time.  It was a great weekend and my sis and I got some good workout in.  We walked 70 minutes two days of the trip and yesterday we did the first workout of the couch potato to 5k.  I heart my sis!  I was also able to take Iz to the pool (LOVED IT) and to the playground and around the apartment complex.  My brother’s house was full of baby stuff that Iz was dieing to try out (like the baby swing) and was otherwise un-toddler proofed so we spent a lot of time outside.  Eating was ok, but it was a girly road trip so there was icecream.

I am excited about doing the  5k thing again.  It consists of three jogging workouts per week, the other days I will try to walk or go to the pool with Iz.  My sisters and I have two more weeks of an exercise challenge.  I am currently in the lead but only with a small margin so I need to keep it up these next two weeks.

<>I went to target last night and was happy to discover that they carry many of the vegetarian soups that I like (and usually have to take a special trip to a health food store to buy).  Sadly, their tofu and other “fresh” soy products are still lacking so I still have to go to the other grocery stores to be completely stocked.  I discovered last night that we have an organic CSA that serves this area so I am thinking of joining for the summer to see if I like it.

Today for lunch I brought a can of Amy’s black bean chili, a huge salad, and fresh watermelon.  YUM.

blisters

<>When I got home yesterday, I started digging.  About 2.5 hours later, I stopped.  I noticed a pain on my thumb and when I looked down, I realized I had both formed a blister and broken it, leaving a hideous piece of skin about an inch long unattached.  It is not make me a happy girl.  But at least we have a semi level place to put the play structure.  It should go into its permanent home later tonight.  If we can lift it, that is.

We went out for dinner (burritos, yuk!) but I still made smoothies last night and my lunch for this morning.  I made a big salad with the few ingredients we have remaining (lettuce, cucumber, tofu).  I brought some ginger soy dressing that is YuMmY.  Iopened another can of soup, this one is organic hearty vegetable.  Ipacked a huge bowl of berries, finishing up our blackberries and blueberries for the week, a banana, and some tea.

the play structure is killing me.

From an email I wrote my sisters this morning:

I am so tired and sore this morning.  Building this structure is so hard, and we only did about 6 steps last night  (that puts us on step 12 OUT OF 100!!!).  It takes SO LONG to do one step because we have to line everything up, pre-drill (sometimes, sometimes the holes are pre-drilled), then use a rachet to get the hex bolts in.  To get them in, everything has to be in perfect alignment so it can take 5 minutes to get one bolt in.  Did I mention it is going to take forever???  I hope it starts going faster after we get the main structure built and are just adding the flooring/walls/roof.  I think we add those with regular wood screws and most of the holes are pre-drilled. These hex bolts are killing me.

Our goal last night was to get it to a place where we could move it into the backyard (it is on the patio now).  We wanted to make sure we had it square, so we wanted to build up the structure as much as possible to hold it all held together.  Well, we got it held together enough, but it is still sitting on the patio for two reasons.  1) It is REALLY heavy now, we might have to have help to move it to the yard.  2) We still haven't dug out a place in the yard for it.  That will be my first job today.  I am going home at 3:30 and will immediately start digging.  Mike thinks we need to rent a little digger, but I think we can do it ourselves with shovels.  (I mean, it is only a 4'x8' area!)

Hopefully I will report tonight or tomorrow that the structure is in its permanent location and building can continue.

Meanwhile, I am also trying to watch what I am eating so I have been trying to cook/bring in my lunch.  As if building something isn't enough work!  Last night I just couldn't cook so we went to a local steak place and I had a salad and baked potato.  For lunch today, I opened a can of split pea soup and poured it into a glass bowl (hard!), cut up a big bowl of berries, and brought some hummus that I made over the weekend with carrot sticks.  It is light on veggies (unless split peas count as veggies, I always thought of them as beans) but low calorie and really quick to make.  Tonight I am going to try and cook something, or maybe just get Mike to make pasta.

I can’t drink from a bowl

<>After a very depressed Saturday morning, I pulled it together and had a fairly nice weekend (though rainy) with Mike and Iz. Iz took off this morning with Mom for a week and while she is away, we will be building a play structure in our backyard for her 3rd birthday. I can’t wait till it is done! Mainly because there are a bazillian pieces piled up in my garage right now with over 2000 screws, I can’t imagine how long it will take us to get it together.I went to the market last night and bought a lot of food to get us through the week. After reading VJ’s impressive bloodwork results, I am thinking of giving ETL another try. We loaded up on veggies (and more veggies, and more veggies) and fruit and beans. For lunch, I brought minestrone soup, hummus with carrots and cauliflower, a bowl of berries and a back of low fat microwave popcorn. I like having lots of little “meals” that I can eat separately if needed.

I just ate my soup and realized, as I reached the bottom of the bowl, that I can not bring myself to drink the dregs from the bowl. I will spoon as much of the broth as I can, but after that, I just have to leave it. The same goes for cereal.

walk and talk

I had a great walk and talk yesterday.  I walked the loop (somewhere around 2.8 miles) in about an hour, so I am no where near your 15 minute mile Cat!   I am just getting back into the groove of longer walks.  Mary and I made some decisions about Greece which is sounding cooler and more fun by the minute.  I am just looking forward to my vacay with my sis, it is something we don’t do often enough.

For lunch today, another salad, this time topped with tofu.  I found another brand of baked savory tofu at the store last night and it actually has nutritional information on it.  It is 3 points per (large) serving and will be great in our salads.  Black bean soup and berries on the side.  No extra steamed veggies today.  I need to stop by the market and pick up more veggies and avacados for another taco night.

yummy yummy

I love it when Iz has a positive reaction to “good” food.  When I make my black bean soup, she rubs her tummy and chants “yummy yummy” and it makes my eyes water.  Since her normal diet consists of mac and cheese and yogurt, any healthy offering that is warmly received is celebrated.

<>Her new thing is to eat frozen pinapple and mango.  She has been helping me make smoothies for a while by dumping the frozen fruit into the blender.  Then she started picking out pieces of the fruit before putting it into the blender.  Now, she skips putting it into the blender altogether and just shoves it right into her open mouth.  So cute.

Last night I made tacos.  I use the ground soy stuff with all the traditional taco fixings, it turns out really well.  Iz ate the shell with cheese and a little soy, then topped it off with strawberries.  I brought the leftovers in today for a salad.  These leftovers make the best salad ever, taco “meat”, guacamole, and salsa on a bed of salad greens, tomatoes, and cucumber.  I am rubbing my tummy and chanting yummy yummy too.  I had the salad with black beans soup, a few steamed veggies left over from last night’s supper,  and a bowl of berries.  It is a lot of food for 6 points.

My sis and I have a walking date tonight.  I am going to do the 2.5 mile loop while chatting with her on the cell phone about greece!  Why haven’t we thought of this before?  Other than irritating the other walkers, it should be fun.

small steps

I brought my lunch into work today.  Taco salad fixings with a salad base, black beans, crumbles with taco seasoning, cheese, sour cream, and salsa.  I also brought in some very nice looking blackberries (yay!  Berries!).

Period watch in effect.  Due on Thursday.  I can’t think of anything else right now.

naked burrito salad

Everything went as planned and we had our naked burritos (the last item in the post) last night for dinner. Today the leftovers make up my salad toppings. Our normal salad base (salad greens, tomatoes, cucumbers) were topped with:

• 1/4 cup corn salsa
• 1/4 cup regular salsa
• 1 ounce guacamole (oh, how I love thee)
• 2/3 cup warmed black beans

What a yummy salad these toppings make! No added dressing needed, the salsas do a great job. I like to warm the beans a little which kind of wilts the lettuce and reminds me of a taco salad, minus the chips.

I did my “fat girls” yoga last night. This yoga stuff is hard! There was no impact, no cadio, but just standing in poses for “5 deep breaths” wears me out.

I worked out with Ann this morning. I always intend to get to the gym early enough to do cardio for 20-30 minutes before working with Ann, but it never happens, I am always running in there late and just hopping on a cardio machine to warm up. I need to plan a little better.

I found the biggest loser workout yesterday at the mall, but didn’t want to try it out last night because I had already eaten supper. Tonight is the night. And it is a perfect day for indoor exercise, gloomy and rainy outside.

Fantastic Salad

I packed my lunch last night. We made the salad base and for topping I put together:

• 1/2 ounce almonds
• 1/2 cup mandarin oranges
• 1/2 cup water chestnuts
• 4 ounces baked tofu, cubed
• 4 Tbsp Newman’s Own Ginger Sesame dressing

It was fantastic! A total yummy salad that I can’t wait to make again. I am planning to make naked burritos tonight for dinner, if all goes well it will be naked burrito salad tomorrow.

I wanted to buy the biggest loser workout dvd yesterday, but couldn’t find it at target.  My sister has tried it and gave it a good review and I need something new to do inside on cold days.  I am going to try the place in the mall tonight.

Fusilli with Tomatoes and Corn (6 cups)

Just made pasta salad for school lunch tomorrow.

I make this quite a lot in varying proportions. Sometimes just for me. Sometimes for feeding a crowd. It tends to be a crowd pleaser and kid-friendly. It’s from Sue Spitler’s 1,001 Low Fat Vegetarian Recipes.

• 8 oz dry fusilli or other small pasta shape
• 2 cups chopped tomato
• 1 cup yellow corn
• 1/2 cup minced green onion

For dressing:

• 3 tbs chopped fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tbs olive oil

Cook pasta and drain. While this is happening, prep veggies and mix dressing. Combine everything together and toss.

NUTRITION FOR 2 CUP SERVING:

 

Calories: 446
Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 1 g
Carbohydrate: 78 g
Fiber: 6 g
Protein: 11 g

WW POINTS: 9

EXCHANGES:

• 2 grain
• 1 veg

Here’s how I’ve packed it for lunch 10-31-06 — I’m trading it with Carla tomorrow at school.

• a vanilla soy pudding
• organic cranberry juice
•  raisins and dried cranberries
• cinnamon graham cracker sticks
• pumpkin dip
• fusilli with tomato and corn