It's sort of hard to keep this blog new and interesting.
It's obviously just as hard to keep my diet new and interesting. I need to find a way to jazz things up a bit. When I was a Nutritarian, I was on an actual plan, and it was pretty easy. I think I have given myself too much freedom. I need to find a new plan to share. I should be showing you a picture of some great low calorie dish that is worthy of Patti's plate. But, I will be honest with you. Most nights are
really difficult to keep low calorie and exciting. Take tonight for instance. My husband worked most of the day from home, and then we went to an afternoon movie. When we got out, we tried to decide what to eat for dinner. We had leftovers from the last few days, so I knew we had food to eat. He had the fattening spaghetti, and I made another boring salad with the same old chicken I had a few days ago. I was too lazy to add colorful vegetables to my salad, so my green salad and the green chili chicken look the same. I need inspiration.
Today, my daughter texted me when I was on my way to
church and informed me that tonight we are having family dinner at 6pm at our
house. Family dinners are what we used to do for years every single night. Even
when the kids were involved in sports, plays and orchestra recitals, we almost
always managed to sit down together in the dining room and have a lively
dinner. That all came to a pretty abrupt end when Anne left for college. Sure
we would still have family dinner now and then, but the boys were often busy
and slowly it became just my husband and I eating dinner in front of the TV.
Recently, we somehow have managed to have a full house again. Family dinner is still pretty much
a thing of the past or resurrected on a holiday or special occasion
celebration. I miss it, and to be honest I think our family misses it
too whether or not they realize it. So this afternoon, when deciding what to
make for dinner, I settled upon a family favorite, "spaghetti in a pot". It is
definitely not diet friendly, but it is a traditional comfort food that I know
everyone likes. I'm making a choice again. It's only one meal and I will
continue my diet tomorrow. To be honest, I am going to add a salad and I may
just have a small enough portion of spaghetti that I will be fine anyhow. The important thing to me is I will have my family around me, eating a meal that I have lovingly prepared. I just miss Ted.
I did not have one chip tonight! That is really pretty
big for me. I copied everything that my sister ordered. I had one glass of red
wine instead of my usual double margarita. We had a white meat only chicken
tostado with boiled beans and no tortilla. (Shouldn't that just be called a
salad?) Honestly, it wasn't really that hard to eat this way tonight. I am not sure if it was because I promised myself before I went that I was going to be good, or if having someone else at the table eating the same way made me feel less alone. Whatever the reason, it worked! If I ate with her very often I think this blog would be out
of business pretty darn soon!
My sister and I thought we would both go to dinner
tonight with Mom. Of course my husband always likes to take advantage of the
proximity of my Mom's house with Lucy's El Adobe. If you read last Saturday's
post, you know that it presents a problem for me. But rather than avoid the
restaurant, I have decided to tackle the problem head on. I should follow my
"skinny" sister's example and eat what she eats. I know she will stay
away from the chips. I will try to also. Wish me luck. To be continued...........
There are so many types of food to choose from when I go out to eat. I could easily go out for pizza, tacos, enchiladas, spaghetti, or
even just a plain old hamburger and French fries. I tell you this to try and
get you on my side before I tell you what I ate. I know I am not going to wake
up any thinner than I did today. But.......there is a slight chance I won't wake
up any heavier either. I've had a pretty good day. I had high fiber cereal,
blueberries, and non fat milk for breakfast; a honey crisp apple for lunch; and a cup of homemade chicken soup as a snack when I
got home from work. For dinner, I went to a restaurant that had a roasted chicken Friday night special on their menu. I ate a chicken breast, green beans and baked potato
for dinner. Should I tell you what I
didn't eat? No, I didn't have wine with dinner. I did not have sour cream with
my baked potato. And, I definitely did not have dessert! Not at the
restaurant, and not when I got home where I still have left over Halloween
candy. Do I deserve to wake up thinner? I think so. Will I be satisfied if I
wake up the same weight? Yup. It was a nice night and I didn't have to cook.
I know I often talk about my crock pot, but I guess I
just can't say enough about it. Today I was craving a steak. Since beginning my
Nutritarian diet a couple of months ago, I have had red meat only once. I
actually was going to post about it a couple of weeks ago, but I got
distracted. Anyhow, I went to the store today to buy a steak for dinner tonight
and I just could not get myself to buy it. The price was almost $20.00 a pound!
Granted, I was shopping at Gelson's but even Costco is $12.99/lb. and you have
to buy almost $60.00 worth! So, I came home with a package of chicken breasts.
....again. Just how many ways can you make chicken? One of my all time
favorites is chicken breast fillets in the slow cooker. I rinse them and put
them in the pot on low. A couple of hours later I add Mrs. Renfros green chili
sauce. The ingredients are all natural, (no preservatives) and there are only 5 calories per tablespoon.
The chicken falls apart, and most of my family make tacos out of it. I took out
a few pieces, added a half of a sweet potato and an arugala salad. Delicious!
I bought 2 Pasilla peppers at Gelson's the last time that I
shopped. For those of you who don't know what they are, let me describe them.
They are large, dark green, shiny peppers with a mildly hot taste. I have had
them at Mexican restaurants stuffed with cheese and melted to a gooey goodness
that is delightful. I'm sure that was my attraction when I purchased them at
the grocery store. I looked at them and imagined them stuffed with cheese and
I bagged them before I could even think. Tonight, before they went bad, I decided
to cook them. I broiled them in the oven until they turned black and placed
them in a paper bag to steam. Then, I easily peeled the charred skin away and
diced the softened flesh. I added it to my vegetable chicken soup and it gave it
a spicy flavor that added another dimension to my low calorie dinner. The best
thing about watching my weight, is the satisfaction I get from cooking more
creatively.
Today, my daughter texted me when I was on my way to
church and informed me that tonight we are having family dinner at 6pm at our
house. Family dinners are what we used to do for years every single night. Even
when the kids were involved in sports, plays and orchestra recitals, we almost
always managed to sit down together in the dining room and have a lively
dinner. That all came to a pretty abrupt end when Anne left for college. Sure
we would still have family dinner now and then, but the boys were often busy
and slowly it became just my husband and I eating dinner in front of the TV.
Recently, we somehow have managed to have a full house again. Family dinner is still pretty much
a thing of the past or resurrected on a holiday or special occasion
celebration. I miss it, and to be honest I think our family misses it
too whether or not they realize it. So this afternoon, when deciding what to
make for dinner, I settled upon a family favorite, "spaghetti in a pot". It is
definitely not diet friendly, but it is a traditional comfort food that I know
everyone likes. I'm making a choice again. It's only one meal and I will
continue my diet tomorrow. To be honest, I am going to add a salad and I may
just have a small enough portion of spaghetti that I will be fine anyhow. The important thing to me is I will have my family around me, eating a meal that I have lovingly prepared. I just miss Ted. 
My sister and I thought we would both go to dinner
tonight with Mom. Of course my husband always likes to take advantage of the
proximity of my Mom's house with Lucy's El Adobe. If you read last Saturday's
post, you know that it presents a problem for me. But rather than avoid the
restaurant, I have decided to tackle the problem head on. I should follow my
"skinny" sister's example and eat what she eats. I know she will stay
away from the chips. I will try to also. Wish me luck. To be continued...........
I know I often talk about my crock pot, but I guess I
just can't say enough about it. Today I was craving a steak. Since beginning my
Nutritarian diet a couple of months ago, I have had red meat only once. I
actually was going to post about it a couple of weeks ago, but I got
distracted. Anyhow, I went to the store today to buy a steak for dinner tonight
and I just could not get myself to buy it. The price was almost $20.00 a pound!
Granted, I was shopping at Gelson's but even Costco is $12.99/lb. and you have
to buy almost $60.00 worth! So, I came home with a package of chicken breasts.
....again. Just how many ways can you make chicken? One of my all time
favorites is chicken breast fillets in the slow cooker. I rinse them and put
them in the pot on low. A couple of hours later I add Mrs. Renfros green chili
sauce. The ingredients are all natural, (no preservatives) and there are only 5 calories per tablespoon.
The chicken falls apart, and most of my family make tacos out of it. I took out
a few pieces, added a half of a sweet potato and an arugala salad. Delicious!
