Keepers

These are foods that I found in my pantry that may not be on the shopping list, but I think that they're okay. They include canned tuna, clams, condensed milk, refried beans, cherry pie filling (no corn syrup, just lots of sugar), corn flakes (has corn syrup, but, hey!), Cheerios, coconut, jam, and sunflower seeds

Snacks

These are some snacks that I've been munching on: air-popped popcorn, and grapes

Which one?

Okay, so I bought the fat-free mayonnaise for me, thinking that was a good thing, and the light mayonnaise for Jim, thinking he could deal with it. Well, guess what? The fat free mayonnaise has corn syrup in it. I guess that's what gives it flavor. Does that mean it's bad? If I'm not going to eat it due to the corn syrup, then I might as well throw it away, because I know that Jim won't eat mayonnaise that claims to be "fat free."

Ellen

Corn syrup foods

These are things I found in my pantry that have corn syrup listed in the ingredients: syrup, barbecue sauce, graham crackers, hot cocoa mix, and granola bars

In my pantry

Ellen

MSG foods

These are things I found in my pantry that have monosodium glutamate, or MSG, listed in the ingredients: beef broth, chicken noodle soup, ranch dressing mix, and bread crumbs.

Great week, not so great weekend...

I feel like I did really well this past week. I ate tons of whole grains, beans, and my daily green smoothie, not to mention lots of fruit and green salad. My digestive system thanked me and has been working like a well oiled machine! Ok, that's weird to share on the world wide web, but seriously I have been feeling great. I have been strict about not eating sweets and I haven't even eaten any meat and I really cut back on milk and cheese. I exercised really well Mon.-Fri. doing aerobics and some strength training mon., wed., fri. and some yoga and strength training tue. and thur. I have had lots of energy and just felt good. These are the positive side effects.
Now, for the negative side effects. I have felt hungry. I mean like it hits me out of nowhere, where I'm fine and then suddenly I'm starving and very cranky until I get some food. For instance on Wed. night I made my family some dinner and then I had a huge plate full of green salad covered in black beans. It was delicious and surprisingly filling and I felt great. For about an hour. And then it just hit me and suddenly I was starved! I ate a banana and was still hungry, so that night I ended up eating a bowl of cheerios before bed. By Friday night I was tired of eating all this healthy food and feeling so hungry so after the kids went to bed I made up a batch of banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and let me tell you, they were delicious! I ate quite a few, and you know what? I realized that I'm really not missing out on much by not eating so many sweets. The cookies helped me get over my little craving, but then my friend brought me some delicious chocolates today that I devoured, and then we had dinner with some friends tonight and I ate ice cream and cookies, and my body is screaming WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??? We were doing so well! Ok, so I don't feel too bad because today is my day of rest and tomorrow we will start again and it's all good. It's good to see how the junk food makes me feel after doing so well, because it makes me want to keep doing well, and it also shows me that in moderation, it was fine to eat some sweets. I just need to control myself!
The other negative I'm experiencing is my hip pain. The exercise has really irritated it to the point that I could hardly walk yesterday. It's feeling a lot better after resting it for two days, but is still very sore. This is really discouraging for me and part of the reason I have felt the need to eat a lot of sweets this weekend. It's frustrating when you love doing something so much, and the something you love doing is a good thing to do (like aerobics, basketball, etc.) but it puts you in so much pain to do it. I'm not trying to complain or get sympathy or anything because I know so many people have it so much worse, so I will move on. I'm glad I am turning to better nutrition because even without exercise it really helps me feel a lot better to be fueling my body with good stuff.
So, as if this post isn't already long enough, my goals for this coming week are to pretty much keep up what I already did this past week. Eat pretty much only whole grains, have some beans every day, continue with the green smoothies, no sweets, and not be afraid to eat lots of fruits and veggies when I'm hungry. Another goal that I made with my family is that we will try at least one new very healthy meal each week. Thank you so much Mom for the wonderful cookbook you sent me. We will be trying a meal from that this week and I'll post about it then.

Another Smoothie

Making smoothies at the Carters: Everyone was willing to try it, except Anthony. That's okay. It was pretty ugly. This one had red grapes and bananas mixed in with the spinach. Talena has high-powered blender that pulverizes everything within seconds.

Worst looking, best tasting

This moring I made the ugliest most vile looking smoothie you ever saw. It was dark greenish brown and I tried to take a picture for you but my camera is acting up. But it tasted awesome! So I wanted to share the ingredients:

Frozen rasberries

a banana

big spoonful of orange juice concentrate

about 1 cup of water

tons of spinach

and some ice cubes

Oh yeah, and some soy protein powder

This is the first time I've been daring enough to make a smoothie with water instead of milk or yogurt, and I actually liked it even more!

Also, yesterday I made some 100% whole wheat pretzels. It's the first time I've made something with all whole wheat before and they turned out very yummy. To me anyway. My kids for some reason won't really touch them. I was hoping they would love them. So the search is still on for a high fiber snack they will love (besides apples). I used this recipe here. If I do happen to make these again, I will use water or almond milk in place of the milk, and olive oil inside them in place of the butter. They weren't exactly super healthy except for being packed with whole wheat.

You would not believe the lengths I went to for tonights dinner!

Holy smokes, I'm exhausted! I told Wayne tonight that if eating healthy takes this much effort for one dinner, we are only having one healthy meal per week!(and of course he's totally cool with that) Ok, so maybe I went a bit overboard tonight, but at least it turned out delicious. I'll explain.

I was thinking I would make some enchiladas tonight so I started last night by putting some black beans in a bowl to soak. Then this morning I put them in the crock pot and had them going on low all day. I wish I would have thought to season them, but that's ok maybe next time. Anyway, then this afternoon I made some homemade whole wheat tortilla's that turned out wonderfully! I have tried whole wheat tortilla's before using a recipe that called for shortening, and they came out tasting like pie crust and crumbling to bits. Well, who knew that making them a bit healthier (with olive oil) would actually make them tastier too!? This recipe I found today uses olive oil and they turned out fabulously and were seriously easy to make, I think you all should try it! I'll put the recipe here too:

2 cups whole wheat flour (I used freshly ground hard white wheat)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1/2 cup warm water

mix dry ingredients, then mix in the olive oil. Add the warm water a little at a time and mix into a kind of sticky ball and knead a little bit. Put it back in your bowl and cover with a cloth and let it rest for 15 min. Separate into 6 balls and roll out as thin as you can (on a very lightly floured surface). Grill on high heat until bubbles start to show, then flip over and do the other side for a little bit. The only problem with this recipe is that it makes only 6! Next time I will be doubling.

Ok, so my next step in my dinner process was to put some brown rice in the rice cooker. I also added a spoonful of vegetable broth powder to the water for some flavor (and I'm so glad I did. It was awesome!) Then, for the enchilada sauce I wasn't quite sure what to do. I was thinking of just using a can of cream of chicken soup mixed with salsa, but after scanning the ingredients on the cream of chicken soup I changed my mind. It's full of all kinds of yucky stuff, including msg. So, I went for this recipe from simple. healthy. tasty. only I didn't have any rice milk on hand. I did however have homemade almond milk on hand (crazy, I know) So I used up that. Then I mixed some salsa into the cream of something soup and called it enchilada sauce. So, using a homemade whole wheat tortilla I put on some rice, beans, and cheezy sauce then rolled them up and put them in my baking dish. Then I poured the sauce over the top and added more cheezy sauce on top of that as well as some green chile's. Then I baked it for a bit and can I just say these were hearty and filling not to mention tasty! I was so relieved they tasted good or else after all that work I might have cried.

I knew my family would not appreciate all that good stuff so I made a separate batch of enchilada's for them. I used the rice, then chicken, then cheese inside of theirs but they got my sauce poured over the top and they got real cheese sprinkled on top. Wayne seemed to like it (he ate 2, so that's always a good sign) and I will just say again that it was a relief it all turned out to be edible!

Now, for your viewing pleasure I actually took a couple pictures of the food:

Now I realize you can make healthy dinners without going through all that, but once I get my mind on something I just keep going. I realized that it's best to prepare ahead if you really are going to make everything from scratch like this. I was glad I had the vegetable broth powder, almond milk, and cheezy sause on hand for this so I could at least try an animal/animal product free meal. I still have a lot to learn but I'm feeling good and moving forward!

My Goal This Week

Okay, I think I'd better set a goal this week as well. My goal is to keep on planning my meals the night before, as far as when and what I'm going to eat. I was reminded this morning that when I don't do that, I suffer. I ate breakfast around 7 a.m., and then went off to choir practice from 10 to 11:30 or so, and realized that I should have had a snack before I left. In our efforts to eat before church, I just didn't eat enough, and halfway through sacrament meeting I actually left and went home and had a second lunch, and came back in time for Primary. I knew if I didn't eat something, I was going to be feeling weak and tired by the time the three-hour block was over. And I don't like feeling that way. It seems like on the weekend our routines get changed up, and we may forget to do what works. And I believe that a big reason why I've felt as good as I have this past week is simply because I've been eating often and regularly. This coming week is a potential challenge because I won't be in my own home, so I need to take extra care to plan what and when I'm going to eat ahead of time, so I don't get stuck hungry, weak and tired.

This weeks goal: Eat more whole grains

I know this isn't necessarily the next goal in the 8 steps from that blog, but it's our next goal around here. For the past 4 years, and especially for the past week I have felt like a failure as a mom. I have a very constipated child and it's only getting worse. I used to fool myself into thinking that I have tried everything I know how, but I know that isn't true. Her favorite things to eat are bagels with cream cheese, and cheese quesadilla's (I still don't know how to spell that!) on white tortilla's of course. I have just been kicking myself wondering why I didn't do better at only offering her whole grains at a very early age, then maybe we wouldn't be where we are now. And where we are now isn't good. Her poops are the size of my forearm, not to mention bloody and painful. She is taking prescription miralax and that's what makes me feel like a complete failure.
So, that is what brings me in desperation to trying to improve my family's diet. And that is why this week I am throwing out all the bagels, white tortilla's, and cream cheese. I found some recipes I plan to try so I'll post about them if/when I use them. In the meantime if you have any super high fiber recipes that you think might appeal to a picky almost 5 year old, please send them my way. Like I said, I'm desperate here. This has been a discouraging week, so hopefully this next week I can find at least one high fiber food my daughter will gobble down willingly and beg for more.
As for my goal for myself, I just plan to keep up the green smoothie drinking this week. I did very well last week, only missing 1 day. I didn't do so well on the exercise but I think I am completely over my cough now so without that excuse I hope to exercise 5 days this week. So, exercise, smoothies, and whole grains. What's are your goals?

Homemade Granola Bars

Here's a recipe for homemade granola bars that I just tried:

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup coconut oil or other oil

1 cup oatmeal

1 cup combination of things like coconut, sunflower seeds, wheat germ, dried fruit, and maybe even chocolate chips

Melt peanut butter, honey and oil in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add the oatmeal, then stir in the rest of the ingredients. Spread in an 8x8 pan and refrigerate for 2 hours or more, then cut into bars.

I just put it together, and it is quite tasty. For the 1-cup combination of other ingredients, I used coconut, sunflower seeds, raisins and wheat germ. Some of my ingredients have been in the cupboard for a while and taste a little old, but it is still good. Oh, and I stirred in a few chocolate chips as well. It works for me!

Ellen

Another small baby step

Well, the day before yesterday I made the recipe from Simple. Healthy. Tasty. for vegetable broth powder. It was super simple to make, as well as cheap. I found all the ingredients (except the turmeric, I can't seem to find that anywhere so I just left it out) in the bulk section at WINCO including the nutritional yeast, all for quite cheap. The broth powder smelled delicious and I used it in our sweet and sour chicken recipe for hawaiin haystacks the other night and couldn't even taste the difference between it and the usual chicken broth powder I use. Now, you might think it's weird that I used vegetable broth in a recipe that called for chicken. That's why this post has baby steps in the title. I wasn't ready to cut out the chicken (although I only used 2 small tenders for our whole family) but I was ready to cut out the msg filled chicken broth powder. I'm so excited to have found a tasty substitute! It feels empowering when you are able to make your own things from scratch and know exactly what went in them!
I am still doing quite well at drinking my green smoothies, although I haven't made the time to exercise. I will do that today though. Oh, and I wanted to say that left over green smoothie+left in the refrigerator=DISGUSTING! So I wanted to share what I did yesterday, although it's nothing original. I poured my leftover smoothie into popsicle freezing molds and made green popsicle's. They tasted quite good, and even Rylen walked around eating them. As some of you know he is addicted to popsicles and it's so nice to see him walking around eating a spinach popsicle in place of colorful sugar water!

Spinach on Steroids

I ran out of spinach today, so I stopped at the store to get more, and decided to try chard instead. This bunch of chard costs the same as a bunch of spinach, only there's about four times more of it, I think. Tomorrow after I try it I'll let you know if I notice any difference in flavor. Hopefully any flavor will be masked by whatever I put with it, just like with the spinach.

Ellen

My daily serving of leafy greens never tasted sooo good!!!

I have found my very favorite smoothie combination. Frozen banana, milk, peanut butter, honey, ice cubes, and of course tons of spinach. No one in my family cares for it much but I LOVE it! For me it tastes like a peanut butter milk shake. My favorite! Anyway, I had that for breakfast along with a half of a whole wheat english muffin. Mmmm!
I also wanted to report that last night I used some of Simple. Healthy. Tasty's cheezy sauce on my cassadilla in place of cheese. It was very good. I used some mashed white beans, and some cheezy sauce and grilled them on a tortilla. Then of course I smothered it in sour cream and salsa. I honestly didn't even miss my cheese though and I was a bit surprised because that's my favorite part. I think I might be able to give up dairy for a bit after all.
So, I feel like I am doing pretty well with my goals this week. I bought us a new Brita water jug and I have been drinking more water than ever. I went roller skating yesterday and I am counting that as a workout because I feel sore today. And I have drank a green smoothie every day but yesterday. But my goal was to get at least 3, so I am ok with having missed one day. I still have my awful persistent cough though, and even drinking a cold green smoothie sets me into a coughing fit. Hopefully by next week I'll be past it...