Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Asian Ground Chicken with Lettuce Cups

The diet continues and I think I am doing a nice job. I am keeping track of calories on SparkPeople. I was 10 calories OVER for the amount I should be burning a week. I don't think I went over my daily calorie allowance, well Saturday doesn't count. I figure I'll give myself one free day a week.

Last nigth I created this little recipe for myself. I am excited to have leftovers for my lunches, but think I'll keep it as a "dinner meal." One change in my routine is that I am NOT bringing dinner leftovers for lunch. I think that just messes me up. So dinner leftovers will be consumed only at dinner.

Recipe:
Serves 4
1 pkg Swanson Ground Chicken
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 cup chopped cabbage
1 can waterchestnuts, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup soy sauce
2T teriyaki
1/4 cup Gyoza Dipping Sauce (Trader Joes) or another stirfry sauce
1T cornstarch with 1T water (slurry)
1t vegetable oil

In wok or saute pan, heat oil and then brown the chicken. Add first three vegetables, garlic, and chicken broth, soy, teriyaki, stirfry sauce. Simmer about 10 minutes to soften vegetables. Add waterchestnuts and cabbage. Combine well, adding more soy or broth if needed. Let simmer 10 minutes, then add slurry to thicken the sauce. The longer it simmers, the better the sauce!

Serve over rice or in lettuce cups. According to sparkrecipes.com, this is approximately 330 calories, and 12 grams of fat per serving.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Caffeine and the Blog

Wow Monday's post sucked! Call that a result of too many things bouncing around in my head, along with about 3 cups of coffee. And I had 2 extra hours at home due to FOG! Yes, scary scary fog.

For Clarity:
If you didn't follow the link, my sudden comment about Feminism causing obesity probably sounded insane! The previous blog mentioned, and I think even SHE was quoting someone else, women working is making it harder for families to eat healthy because they aren't at home cooking healthy meals (icky word icky word!). Honestly, grilling some chicken, steaming some vegetables, baking a potato would be considerably easier than the concoctions I put together! And weren't stay at home moms the ORIGINATORS of the meatloaf and casserole? Super healthy there! So no. I don't think working moms/women causes obesity.

My food allergies do not stop me from eating those things! I just don't eat a lot of them. And I don't eat them on a completely empty stomach. I had a Dairy Queen Blizzard for dinner once (so many things wrong with that statement!) and I felt like a huge pile of crap! Damn Dairy. I had a whole meal (icky word icky word!) of seafood, including tuna, lobster bisque, fish, calamari, and awoke in wicked cold sweats.

Progress Report: I had cereal for dinner last night. NOT following the elimation diet there! But it was the only wheat I ate all day! And it was within my calorie counting, which I am using sparkpeople.com for that task.
For example, today's lunch of vegetable soup with a whole wheat tortilla with hummus and feta cheese in the middle, along with a yogurt is 346 calories.

If I was home right now, I'd make an egg beater omelete and an english muffin. Instead, apple and peanut butter. Sigh.

Monday, September 10, 2007

Why We're Fat...or at least I'm Fat.

One of my guilty pleasures is reading blogs; generally, they are mom blogs, written by moms. I am not a mom. And I read to get a taste of what all that craziness will be like. There is one blog I have followed, and they have recently moved to Korea...just like my friend Achilles! (And Achilles is so NOT a mom.) I read this recently, which I thought went along well with my weekend.


My second year teaching, I had a pretty brutal asthma attack one morning after the day before I was pulling ragweed out of my garden. I am allergic to ragweed. Duh! So I got tested for foods, at the same time as some other allergens. I learned I am allergic to wheat. And dairy. And oats. And oranges. And corn. And "fish mix", sounds like cat food. I blame my vegetarian diet for 6 years (Sophomore year H.S. to Junior year College). During that time, there was a lot of cereal, pasta, and orange juice. Perhaps I used up my lifetime quota. The doctor suggested an "Elimination Diet". For two weeks, I did not eat any of those things, and I lost 11 pounds. IN TWO WEEKS!

So this week, I am doing another elimination diet, maybe a little modified, but close enough. But seriously, I was just eating significantly healthier. I was eating unprocessed things. I ate a lot of fiber and vegetables. And avoiding corn and corn starch and corn syrup cuts out some serious sugars. And I need it. I was in the copy room today, and a teacher thought I was ANOTHER teacher who I think is significantly larger than I. I blame the hair. My back was to her. I am wearing a non form fitting skirt. I swear my ass is not THAT big!

Do I blame feminism, like the above linked blog mentions? No way. I blame my love for food, but also the expense of good food. My grocery bill yesterday, chock full of fresh vegetables, is evidence of this! Yesterday, I cleaned, did laundry, and of course, cooked a bunch of stuff. All after I spent almost 90 bones at the grocery store, and I am SINGLE people! I didn't even buy booze! But I did buy oatmeal.

So I made
Vegetable Soup, modifying an old Weight Watchers recipe I had.
Salsa, using the salsa recipe I have posted here before.
Grilled Vegetables, including zucchini, onion, red pepper, mushroom.
Brown Rice
Boxed Banana Muffins, "Just add Milk!" (I was craving, literally made this just so I could eat ONE. A waste of money, perhaps?)
Chicken Broth, which is currently chugging away in my crockpot as I type.

And I am going to quit my latest addiction at the same time...Vitamin Water. Wish me luck. There will be progress reports.