I Eat Real Food

For as long as I can remember I have been on a diet.  It has been a whole lot of counting, measuring, weighing, and good and bad foods.  It has been a lot of restricting and worrying about what I can and cannot eat.

To be honest, it has been a whole lot of needless misery and anxiety.

One of the hardest things about Intuitive Eating has been changing my long standing mindset of good and bad foods, of attaching a moral value to food.  It has been very difficult to change.  For so long I have been constantly worried about what I am eating.  In that diet mentality life, I cannot even remember the last time I had butter on my toast!

Intuitive Eating has brought so much freedom into my life.

I have toast with butter...and jam!  The anxiety surrounding food and meal times has slowly decreased.  I cannot describe what a HUGE blessing that has been.  Shopping is so much easier.  I buy food I enjoy.  I no longer hang out in the reduced fat, reduced calorie, health food junkie aisle.

I eat real food.

I am not caught up in the latest health food trend.  If that is what you are looking for, sorry.  After all, they will change next week anyway.  I eat what I like.  Usually that is fresh fruits and vegetables, but I eat pie and ice cream too!  (Lest you think I ONLY eat fruits and veggies, I assure you, I do not.)  And I don't feel guilty!

These days there is more variety in what I eat.  I ENJOY eating!  I eat food that tastes good!  At first I thought it was too good to be true.  Is it possible to eat food, real food, that tastes good and lose weight?  Is it possible to lose weight without really focusing on losing weight?  Yet, that is what is happening for me.   My body is feeling so good!

It has been very hard work, but it has been so worth it. 

Below are some of the meals and things I eat.  Yes, there is butter on my toast, I had syrup with my french toast, and I eat rice and bread.  I love it!  I love that this is working for me.  I am grateful for the people in my life who help and support me in this.  What an incredible journey this has been.

No Bad Food

No bad food.  Sounds too good to be true, right?  Turns out, that may be the case.  This is a new concept for me.  How many times have you eaten a decadent brownie, rich cheesecake, or any other high calorie, sugary treat, and felt guilty or even rebellious?  Any of these sound familiar?

"I am going to be bad and eat this brownie."

"I am going to sneak another piece of chocolate."

"Good thing I had a salad so I can eat this cookie."

"I better eat vegetables the rest of the day so I can eat this piece of cheesecake."

Many times we make up our own rules and decide what  SHOULD be off limits.  What if we quit "should'n" ourselves?  What if all foods were really okay to eat?  What if there were NO bad foods?  Kind of hard to wrap your brain around, huh?

This concept was introduced to me this week and I have put it to the test.  This is what I have found:

First, it is extremely hard to change my mindset and let all foods be available and okay to eat, with no moral value attached.  It is a struggle and I am still working on this one.

Second, I find that I enjoy my food much more when I allow myself to have what I want.  It is quite amazing.

Third, I am finding that cravings for "bad foods" have actually decreased.  I do not crave and eat nearly as much "junk" when I do not make it off limits and do not assign it a moral value such as "good" or "bad."

It is a work in progress.  All in all, I like this change.

Stuffed Avocados

Avocados are amazing.  Not only are they a good source of fiber and heart healthy fat, they are delicious!  I found a recipe HERE and made some modifications.  Here is the recipe I came up with:

Ingredients

1 large ripe avocado

1/2 cup bread crumbs (mind happened to be Italian style)

1/2 - 1 tsp garlic powder (to taste)

1/4 tsp basil

1 T lemon juice

2 tsp olive oil

1 T red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper, to taste

2 roma tomatoes, diced

Directions

Mix tomatoes, garlic powder, basil, lemon juice, olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Add bread crumbs and continue to mix.  

Cut avocado in half and throw away the pit.  Place half of the tomato mixture in each half of the avocado.  Place filled avocado halves on a baking sheet.  Bake at 450 degrees for 6 minutes.  Then turn your oven to broil on high.  Cook an additional 5-8 minutes, or until the top is slightly browned.  

Avocados will be hot when get them out of the oven, so be careful!  You might want to wait a few minutes for them to cool before you dig in!

Roasted Lemon Thyme Asparagus with Sea Salt and Black Peppercorn

I never knew I liked asparagus until I was in my 20's.  I had never even tried asparagus until then.  The first time I tried it I thought, What is this amazing vegetable and why have I not discovered it until now!  From that moment I decided to learn how to cook it and make it as delicious as the first time I tried it.  This is my favorite way to eat it.  (And it is super easy)  I hope you enjoy!

What is your favorite way to eat asparagus?

Ingredients
Fresh asparagus
2 lemons
Fresh thyme (you can also use dried if you don't have fresh, but I like it better with fresh thyme.  You don't need to use as much if you are using dried spices.)
Sea salt
Black peppercorn, ground
Olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash asparagus and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spritz asparagus with olive oil.  Cut one lemon in half.  Squeeze the juice of both halves of the lemon over the asparagus.  Sprinkle sea salt and black peppercorn over the asparagus.  Places 4-5 twigs of fresh thyme on the asparagus.  Cut the second lime into slices.  Place slices on top of asparagus.  Bake for 9 minutes or until roasted, but not burned.

Intuitive Eating

Have you ever heard of the book, Intuitive Eating?  It has been around for a while, but I just barely heard about it.  I decided to give it a look.

I loved it.

The premise seems to be that your body knows what it needs to stay at a healthy weight.  It talks about being in tune with your body, eating when you start to feel hungry, and stopping when you are satisfied.

The thing that is unique about this is that there are no "restricted" or "off-limits" foods.  It talks about throwing out the "diet mentality."  That is scary concept for someone who has been dieting ever since they can remember!  No off-limits foods?  Seriously?  I can eat anything I want?  Crazy, right?  Sounds like a one way ticket to dramatic weight gain.

I decided to give it a try - as in I actually made a concerted effort to follow the principles outlined in this book.  It has been 2 months.  Remember that I do not have a scale.  Nor do you count calories and worry about weight with this program.  Miraculously, it seems to be working!  I cannot quite understand it, but it does.  I am losing an average of a pound a week.  (Don't worry, I didn't get my scale back.)

The great thing is that the anxiety is leaving in regards to food.  In the beginning I could not think of anything except how what I was eating was going to affect my weight.  However, as I have continued to work on it, the intrusive food thoughts have decreased.  In the beginning I could not tell when I was hungry or full.  Now, my satiety signals are returning.  I am able to stop eating before I am completely sick to my stomach.  It is a great feeling!

I love the freedom to eat what I want.  I find that my body actually loves and leans toward healthy food, with some play foods.  I am also remembering how much I love to move and get regular physical exercise.  It just makes me feel better.

I still have a long journey ahead.  But, I am excited to see where this takes me.

Have you read this book?  What were your thoughts?

Chicken Quinoa Fiesta

Today I wanted a light dinner, but I also wanted some protein to offset my workout.  I came up with this tasty dish.  I ate it more like a dip with tortilla chips, but you can eat it however you choose.

Ingredients
2 cups quinoa, cooked
1/2 avocado, diced
1 cup corn, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced
1 can diced tomatoes (you can also use Ro-Tel fire roasted)
1/2 cup shredded cheese (you can use whatever type of cheese you prefer.  I used colby jack)
1/2 to 3/4 packet taco seasoning (to taste)
Tortilla chips (optional)

Directions
Mix quinoa and taco seasoning.  After well mixed add all the other ingredients into the quinoa in a medium sized bowl.  Stir until mixed.  Enjoy!  I ate mine with tortilla chips, but they are optional.

Multi-Grain Bread

I love bread.  I love the smell of bread baking.  I have wanted to try my hand at baking multi-grain bread for a while now.  I scoured Pinterest for a good recipe.  I found one I liked, but it took way too long.  Who has 5 hours to bake bread?  I modified THIS recipe I found over on Pastry Affair.  Here is my modified recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2  cups white all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup vital wheat gluten flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
2 tablespoons flax seed meal
1 1/2 teaspoons active quick rising dry yeast
1 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups barely warm water

Directions
Mix all of the flours, oats, seeds, yeast, and salt.  I use my Kitchen Aid with the paddle mixer.  Then I switch to the dough hook and slowly add the water and mix it together until it becomes a dough.  If it is too dry add a little water and if it is too wet add a little flour.

Cover it and let it rise in a warm place until it doubles in volume.  I put my dough in a glass bowl and but the bowl on a cookie sheet and place it in a 170 degree oven.  I let it rise for about 30 minutes.  It should be about double its original size.

After it has risen punch it down the dough and let is set for 10 minutes.  Now you are ready to shape the dough.  I roll it out into a rectangle.  Then I roll it up into a log shape and seal the ends.  Put the dough in a loaf pan.  Brush the top of the bread with a beaten egg.  Mix a few sunflower seeds, oats, and flax seed meal and sprinkle on top of the bread.  The egg should keep it in place.

Cover it again and let it rise in the warm oven for about 15-20 minutes.  Take it out and preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Bake for about 40 minutes.  I know you are supposed to wait until it cools to slice it and eat it, but I can never wait!  I love warm bread!  It also worked well as sandwich bread!  Yum!

Death By Chocolate Zucchini Bread

This is my first time growing zucchini.  I only planted two plants.  Little did I know that my zucchini would magnify its calling in life and produce more zucchini than I would know what to do with!  It is a good think I love zucchini!

Since zucchini bread uses a lot of zucchini I decided to experiment with chocolate zucchini bread. Because everything tastes better with chocolate, right?  I made some changes and adapted this recipe from the Lion House Cookbook I found HERE.

Beware:  Chocolate overload!  If it has a whole zucchini in it does it count as a serving of vegetables?  No?  Well, it does make a nice treat as we head into the Fall season!

Ingredients
3/4 C canola oil
2 C sugar
3 eggs
3 tsp vanilla
2 C shredded raw zucchini
1 C Softasilk cake flour
1 2/3 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1 bag chocolate chips
1 tablespoon flaxseed  (I add this for the health benefits.  It is completely optional.)
If you want you can add 1/2 C chopped nuts.  However, I did not add nuts to my bread.


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine oil, sugar, and eggs in large bowl.  After well mixed add in the vanilla and then zucchini.  Combine the flour, soda, salt, cinnamon, and baking powder and add to the wet ingredients.  Divide the batter into two greased and floured loaf pans.  Bake for 50-60 minutes, depending on your oven, or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Spaghetti Squash Casserole

This year I attempted my hand at growing spaghetti squash.  I have looked through many recipes containing spaghetti squash, but have not found one that I love.  This one was better than most.  I took THIS recipe and adapted it and enjoyed it.

Ingredients

1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeds removed 
olive oil
1 small onion, chopped  
2 cloves garlic, chopped or 1 tsp garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried basil  
2 plum tomatoes, chopped or 1 can mild diced Rotel tomatoes
1 cup (8 ounces) ricotta cheese 
1 cup shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese  
1/8 cup chopped parsley  
1/4 teaspoon salt 

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated parmesan cheese

1/2 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
1 pound chicken, shredded (optional)
1 packet ranch seasoning mix 

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Cut spaghetti squash in half, wrap each piece in microwave safe plastic wrap.  Microwave each half individually for 4-6 minutes depending on your microwave.  After it has cooled down, with a fork, scrape the squash into a large bowl.  

Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic, and basil. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the onion is soft. Add the tomatoes. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is not runny.  

To the bowl with the squash, add the ricotta cheese, mozzarella, parsley, salt, chicken, ranch mix, and the onion mixture. Stir to mix. Pour into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the Parmesan and bread crumbs over the top. 

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly and heated all the way through.

Chicken Taco Soup

Fall is almost here!  I love when the air turns crisp.  It is perfect for soups!

Taco soup is my favorite go-to soup.  My garden is producing a lot of fresh goodness.  I used some of the abundance to make this soup.  It made it so much better!  I am loving the fresh produce!  It was perfect for a rainy day.

Ingredients
4 ears of corn, cut off the cob (or 1 can of corn)
3 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 can diced tomatoes)
6-8 green onions, diced
1 pound chicken, cooked and shredded
1 can olives
1 can black beans
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
cheese
sour cream

Directions
Add all ingredients into a large pot.  Mix well.  Bring to boil and then simmer for 25-30 minutes, making sure all ingredients are cooked.  You can saute the onions before adding the rest of the ingredients if you like.  I didn't because I needed a quick meal.

Add cheese and sour cream to top it off.  I didn't have any sour cream on hand, so I used plain Greek yogurt and it still tasted delicious.

Cafe Rio Copycat Chicken Salad

I love me a good Cafe Rio salad.  However, with over 1,000 calories (yikes!) it has to be a special occasion.  I decided to see if I could make a copycat with fewer calories.  Here is the result.

Ingredients
1/2 Cup Cafe Rio shredded chicken (I used THIS recipe and it was delish!)
1 Package Wholly Guacamole 100 calorie serving
1/2 Small tomato, diced
2 Teaspoons fat-free sour cream
10 Tortilla chips
2 Tablespoons shredded cheese
1/2 Cup cooked black beans
3 Cups shredded lettuce (I used romaine)

I found that this recipe cut the calories about in half when I logged it on Lose It!  Not entirely the same as my Cafe Rio salad, but it was still pretty amazing without all of the calories.

Fiesta Lime Chicken

I am all about easy these days.  I do not usually have time to spend hours cooking at a hot stove.  I use my George Foreman Grill A LOT!  Especially in the summer when it is hot.  The good ole George has been a lifesaver this summer!  This is one of my go to recipes on a hot summer night.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
4 Tablespoons lime juice
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
Onion salt
2 Tablespoons shredded cheese
2/3 Cup red, yellow and green bell peppers, diced
1/4 Green onions, diced

Directions
Place each piece of chicken in separate sheets of tinfoil and wrap.  (You can put them together in the same piece of foil, but I think it cooks better if you do them individually.)  Pour 2 tablespoons of lime juice on each piece of chicken.  Sprinkle Mrs. Dash and onion salt on each piece chicken to your taste.  Warning: Do not overdo it.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese on each piece of chicken.  Place half of the peppers and onions on each piece of chicken.  (I dice up my peppers and onions in bulk and freeze them.  That way I can just pull them out of the freezer to use for recipes like this one.)  Wrap and fold in each side of the tinfoil around the chicken to make a nice foil packet.  Poke a small hole in the top of each packet with a fork for the steam to escape.  Place in the George Foreman grill and close the lid.  Grill until chicken is cooked through.

That is it!  Super easy, super delicious summer dinner!

Zucchini Boats

Oh my goodness!  I have so much zucchini.  And I was worried about not getting anything to grow!  I have been scouring Pinterest for zucchini recipes.  I found one I LOVE.  You can find the recipe over at Our Best Bites HERE.  They are so good! (It seems I usually only have my cell phone around when I am making dinner!)

Fresca Salsa

My friend was so generous and gave me some fresh produce from her garden.  I made this salsa with some of it and loved it!  Much better than the stuff in the jar.  Another bad cell phone pic...sorry!  The measurements on this are approximate.  Feel free to add them to your own taste.

Ingredients
2 Anaheim peppers, diced
1 small onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1 dash of cumin
1 tablespoon lime juice

Instructions
Combine all ingredients and mix.  Refrigerate 1 hour before serving. 

Southwestern Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I have always loved a good stuffed pepper!  I had some fresh green bell peppers and some quinoa I needed to use.  So, I threw these together.  They were delish!  Here is the recipe.  I know this is a bad cell phone picture, but you get the idea.

Ingredients
4 medium bell peppers
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 can corn
1 can black beans, drained
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup shredded cheese
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 lb. 96% lean ground beef if desired
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
Cut off tops of peppers and clean out the inside.  Boil peppers for 2-3 minutes.  Set aside.  Cook 1 cup quinoa according to directions using 1 1/2  cups water and 1 can of tomato sauce.  Brown ground beef.  In a bowl mix ground beef, corn, black beans, cheese, onion, cooked quinoa, and salt and pepper.  Fill peppers and top with shredded cheese if desired.  Cover with foil.  Cook at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through. Remove foil and cook for another 5 minutes to melt cheese.  Enjoy!

Summer Produce

I love summer produce.  I am happy to report that my garden is surviving!  I am so excited! 

This was my dinner tonight.  Not the best pic, but you get the idea.  Italian zucchini with a little salt, pepper, and garlic salt sprinkled on top.  I spritzed a little olive oil in the pan and voila!  Goodness in a pan.  I cannot wait until my garden starts producing!

Kabobs

It is summer.  It is hot.  I hate using the oven in the summer because I can't even remember the last time I had air conditioning in my house.  I was at the store the other day and they had a sale on kabobs.  Loved them!  I used the George Foreman grill and voila!  No heat, almost no mess, and healthy goodness. 

If you haven't grilled kabobs this summer you might want to give it a try!

Pintrosity

Okay all you pinaholics.  This one is for you.  Come on, you know you've tried something on Pinterest at least once that did not turn out exactly how you had planned or like the beautiful picture you pinned.  This, my friends, is one of those stories.

Let me begin by showing you the picture from Pinterest.  It looks amazing, right?  100% whole wheat bread.  I've been wanting to try some new bread recipes and this one one looked like just the ticket!

http://www.redstaryeast.com/our-best-recipes/whole-grain-healthy-breads/100-whole-wheat-bread?tid=105

It was a disaster from start to finish.  I am not exaggerating.  The recipe called for 1/2 cup of molasses.  Have you ever tried to work with molasses?  Have you ever smelled molasses?  Blah!  At any rate, I made through the molasses.  Through more painstaking struggles I finally got the bread in the oven to bake.  I'm sure I did it all wrong.  And, well, I'll just let you see the picture.  This is the bottom of the loaf.  I have pulled a piece off so you can see the inside that is somewhat...I don't even know what it is.  So, chalk this one up to epic fail.  I'll try again another day...with a different recipe.  Maybe I'm just not a bread baker. On a lighter side note, I told this story to a colleague and she said, "Well, duh.  That's what Great Harvest is for!"  Yes, I think I will take myself down to the Great Harvest tomorrow!

15 Minute Zuppa Toscana

As a carb-lover the Olive Garden is one of my faves...LOVE the soup, salad and breadstick meal.  At any rate, my favorite soup is the Zuppa Toscana.  I have found copy cat recipes, but who has hours to spend in the kitchen?  Not this girl  Here is my quicker version of it.

1/2 - 3/4 bag potatoes o'brien hashbrowns
1 bag Jimmy Dean turkey sausage crumbles
1/2 bottle Hormel real bacon pieces
1 small onion, diced (Wal-Mart sells already diced onions)
8 C water
4 cubes chicken boulion
1 tsp garlic powder
3 - 4 leaves kale
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

I mix everything in a pot except the kale and whipping cream and bring to a boil.  Then simmer.  When the potatoes are almost cooked I add the kale and heavy whipping cream and cook for 5-10 more minutes.  That's it.  Easiest soup ever!

Rollercoaster

Okay, seriously folks.  With all the craziness...I don't know where to start.  Needless to say the last few weeks have been a slight setback as I've had to eat out quite a bit.  However, things are getting fixed and put back together!  Hooray!

So yes, it was a slight setback.  But, like my favorite quote from Batman, we pick ourselves back up and do better today.

 

With that I had a low-cal, protein packed breakfast of egg whites and canadian bacon on a slice of sourdough.  Yum!  

This afternoon I threw this in the crockpot.  LOVE the crockpot in the Fall.  For real, ya'll should invest in one if you haven't yet.  Or break it out of storage.  With Reynold's Slow-Cooker Liners it makes cleaning up virtually non-existent!  How did I not know those existed until a few months ago?  I started out by using THIS recipe, but I never can stick to a recipe very well.  Here is my modified version.  So tasty and super quick and easy!

White Chicken Chili

3 chicken breasts

2 cans black beans

1 can corn undrained

1 can fire roasted tomatoes undrained

1 can diced green chilies

1/2 cup salsa

1/2 cup diced onion

1 package ranch seasoning

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

8 oz. fat free cream cheese

Place chicken breasts on bottom of the crockpot.  Put the rest of the ingredients except the cream cheese in the crockpot and mix together.  Place the cream cheese on top and let cook.  6-8 hours on low or about 4 hours on high.  Shred chicken with a fork.  Salt and pepper to taste.