What I Ate Wednesday: 2011-09-28

Internet-monkey see, Internet-monkey do.*

Breakfast

Beans (on Spinach) on Toast, Half Grapefruit, Tankard (half) filled with Pumpkin Spice Latte a'la Chocolate-Covered Katie.

Morning Snacks

Grape Tomatoes, Snap Peas and Carrots (guess who forgot to snap the picture straight away) and a Pear.

Lunch

Zippy Yams with Bok Choy... but combined with barley, broth and some left-over broccoli slaw I had into a soup.  Was feeling soupy that day.

Afternoon Snacks

 Banana with tea, some grapes, GG Bran Crispbread and Soy Crisps (1 serving)

Dinner

Chunky Ratatouille Sauce, over farfalle and covered in cannellini beans (got that idea from Vegan Crunk.

Dessert

Ended the day the way I began it:  Chocolate-Covered Katie and her Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake ...

It was my version, I dared to dream!

I did modify the recipe to my tastes and to what I had.  This was dreamy, so here is the recipe I used!

Chocolate Fudge Goodness

Inspired by Chocolate-Covered Katie's Raw Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients:

80g Banana

4 Tbsp Almond Butter

4 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

Scant 1/16th tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Maple Syrup 

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients until smooth.

Portion out into tiny square dishes.

Top with 1 almond.

Place in the fridge overnight or freezer for a few hours.**

Serve garnished with raspberries and a The Husband grown mint leaf.

Enjoy!

(**If you freeze, take them out for 20 minutes to thaw before serving)

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*Tee-hee.  "Monkey Do".  (Yes, I am immature.)

A Waffling Obsession...

It's high time I started making waffles, but it's been a while since we've had an iron.

It'd be fun if I could get an iron in this shape

As deliciously seen in Pocahontas Pancakes in Virginia Beach, VA

I'm just finding it impossible to find (I get heart, I get round... just not the cool petal shape).

Are my interweb skills failing me?  Likely.  If you have any thoughts or suggestions, let me know!

The quest continues...

So Diem!

Beautiful and Meat Free!  Thank you, Tofurky!

Once upon a time, I was a big fan of salt.*  I would put salt on everything that wasn't ice cream (and trust me, I was tempted).  I think I would have eaten a salt lick if I could...


Until the day I did.  A mushy, creamy salt lick.


The Husband was making Jambalaya (as he was want to do) and for some reason he used salted Cajun spice mix (that had salt) and also used salt.  I would have thought this was heaven... until I had a taste.  Two thoughts then occurred:


1)  There is such a thing as too much salt.


2)  I would never, ever have Jambalaya again.


(Let's add this to the list of nevers... never lose the weight, never get healthy, never give up meat, etc...*)

Do you see the creaminess?  This was gorgeous!

This would be until I came across a recipe for Jambalaya in my new cookbook Peas and Thank You.  pea daddy's jambalaya!  (This one is also available online).  I'm not sure what drew me to it (other than I'd been cooking from the book and find the book an enjoyable read and the recipes delicious so far).  I figured maybe a meat free version, not calling for so much salt or meat, might actually taste good.  


Also, it made me think of the love of my life, The Husband.  He was really a big fan of the Jamalayas.  Maybe another try was in order.


Let me tell you; lesson the first turned out to be a very true one.  Without salt overpowering/killing the flavor, what you are left with is a wonderful, subtle play of flavors from the veggies, broth and seasons.  The rice was creamy and delicious.  This was my first Tofurky experience and I thought they were heavenly delicious.  The Husband thought the fakey-sausage okay, but it did at least start a jumping board for more meatless ideas.  In my mind, that's a good thing.


So, creamy and dreamy enough for me, delicious and not too spicy for The Father-in-Law (who was our very special guest that night), and for The Husband?  A wonderful conveyance of the much salt he added afterward.


He hasn't learned lesson the first yet.


Give it a try, I think you'll likey!

Unchanged?  The way I always walk around saying
Zatarain's in my most gravely voice, whether the product
had anything to do with the meal or not...

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* Of the non-pizza foods and/or spices.


* Why did not ever "never" being a millionaire?

The Last Straw

Tonight's Weight Watchers meeting was about motivation; what one can do to keep going when the will to keep going keeps going away.

This was the last straw.
If this didn't work... then nothing ever would.

I've been there, though folks seem to believe I haven't.  There were plenty of times during my weight loss journey and even afterward where I felt a complete lack of motivation:  to eat right, to track, to exercise.


(To blog, yes...)


One of the things we talked about in order to keep motivation was to trigger our faulty memories.  Recall the why.  


We proceeded to talk about what our "last straw" was, and let me tell you, there were some amazing stories.  I think many folks were very inspiring and motivational themselves.


I did share my story there, and I'll share it here with you.  What my last straw was.


The fact of the matter is, there was a teeny-tiny spark in the back of my head that was desperate to keep me from going down the long dark tunnel of nothingness.  I'd given up on weight lost many months prior to that voice shrieking.  During those days, I'd given up on me.


I put absolutely zero effort into me.  I didn't care what I ate.  I didn't care what I wore.  What my hair looked like.  What I smelled like.  It didn't matter if I groomed or practice more than bare minimal personal hygiene because I was fat and stupid and there was no hope.


So I was pleased to live that way, stuck in my house in front of my PC with my  my lo mein and my pizza and my chips and barely live.


When I saw the ad at work for Weight Watchers, familiar faces peered out at me.  And the voice latched on.


"Come on!  Your doctor has been recommending this for years."


"She seems to think I'm healthy otherwise, she's not told me I have diabetes or high blood pressure.  My weight just runs in the family, there's no ho--"


"You have nothing to lose!  Prove me wrong!  Try it, please!"


"What if I do?  What if I fail?"


Silence.  And then, "Then I will give up too."


Probably the best summation of the thoughts that went into my head.  All I know is that after years of recommendations and half-hearted thoughts about it, I decided to try one last time.  And this would be the last time, to prove once and for all... I cannot lose weight.


That was the last straw.  And that was my turning point.


It would be one of the rare, precious times I'd thank a voice in my head... the voice that kept me from going further down a dark, lonely and dangerous place; a place where I'd find that I was not as healthy as I thought my doctor was leading me to believe.  


So please, if you lose your way, go back and remember why you're on your path.  Also know this... it is possible.  It may take much patience and time... but it will happen.


We will do this.  All of us together.

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If you were even ever vaguely interested in Weight Watchers, I'm a big fan and I'd say give it a try.  Doctor Oz could possibly give you big money if you do, check it out!

(Self) Satisfied (Git Maybe?)

It just so happened that just the other day, I was in my car.  This is already cause for alarm and panic.

The athlete I like to think I am.

We add to this I was on the road in Short Pump, on a Saturday during shopping prime time #1 (when the stores are just opening).


We also throw in (just for good measure) the fact that there was weather occurring.  A cloud in the sky!  Oh no!  Where is the bread, the water, the generators!  How does this car thing work again?!


A long sigh escaped my lips, and then...  I paused in my thoughts, a little shocked at the sigh.


Not the fact that I sighed.  It was the type of sigh... not the weary sigh of hating driving in Central VA during any type of non perfectly blue skies and non-working (or non-existent) turn signals. 


It was a sigh of deep and pure contentment.

The athlete I actually am.  A blur of gasping and poor posture.
I know I'm not cool!

I guess I was due, but I'm not sure from where it came from.  My life (at that moment in time or just in general) was far from perfect... and yet right then and there I feel deeply satisfied.  


Everything is starting to click a little more.  Bit by bit each day really.  Getting more comfortable with sense of self, with life and with circumstance.  Feeling stronger, healthier, and happier than I've felt in quite some time.  Stress was still stress... but not nearly as stressful.  Which makes no sense at all.

However, this is me where this is all coming from.  Deep from within my soul.  I learned a very long time ago, never expect any sense to come out of me!

Certainly not as cool as The Husband and
his fancy moon boot.

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Once upon a time, I studied abroad "Across The Pond", as they say.  The very first meal I enjoyed there (and I did enjoy it) was breakfast.  Good to start with breakfast.  It's one of the three most important meals of the day.

As with all quality foods, you must start
with a quality ingredient.

The elements of said breakfast involved the familiar (fried egg), the surprising (what do you mean this is bacon), and the "What the... ?"


In all of my not-many-years-at-that-point on the planet, I'd never thought one would have beans for breakfast.*


Yet, it did become one of my friends and constant companions (along with pints of Heineken for for a pound, Cadbury Crunchies, black coffee so that money for sugar and cream could instead go towards more Heineken and some light cigarettes.  


No; I really wasn't a healthy soul.


But I do believe in the  "What the... ?" piece of that breakfast.  It was simple, satisfying, and it stuck to the ribs.  It was also something I never thought I could re-create at home (and why do that when I could order some pretty bad pizza and wash it down with Miller and light cigarettes that from then thought were slightly inferior, as was any of the chocolate I could get...)


So when I saw a familiar-looking can at my local World Market, I knew two things straight away.


1) I would, once again, have proper, proper, vegetarian and simply scrumptious Beans on Toast.

With practice, precision, time and care,  you too
can enjoy a quality, blurry breakfast.

2)... I would totally add some spinach to it.

I warned you not to expect any sense from me.  

In any case, if you have a World Market or an internet, I'd encourage you to try this some time.  The ingredient list and cook time may seem intimidating... but the end result?  Utterly worth it.

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*  To be fair, I never thought to have beans ever.  I was not quite the eater I am today, which I always find ironic.