Whoa, I have no idea where this weekend went!!  It was a whirlwind of shopping, activities, parties, late nights and craziness!  All fun, though

I want to thank you guys so much for your support with my last post.  You always help me realize that I’m not alone in this journey and that we share so many of the same struggles.  Life isn’t perfect, but we want to always strive to be better.  The older I get, the more I am looking at the small, positive changes as being a success rather than the big, “end result.”  If we’re doing this for a lifetime, I think it’s the way to go!

***

Although I didn’t get to bed until waaaaaaay past my bedtime, I got up early with the husband and headed out for a run.  It was freezing, but felt so good to be out there!  I missed running this week!  I’m easing my way back into some mileage and my knee/IT band is feeling fine so far.  I finished up 3.22 miles using 5:1 intervals on the GYMBOSS (my BFF )…

The chilly weather stoked my appetite!  Oddly, I was craving a cold breakfast, too…

Mmmm… a compact yogurt bowl!  Packed full of goodness…plain non-fat Chobani, 3 drops liquid vanilla NuStevia, banana and a sprinkle of Grape-Nuts…

Dig in…

My mini-bowl held me over well enough that I had a late lunch.  I picked up a new find at Trader Joe’s – Udi’s Gluten Free Whole Grain Bread …

Even though I’m no longer doing the Gluten-Free Experiment, I am still intrigued by some of the gluten-free food items and recipes out there!  One of the hardest things when I tried being gluten-free was not being able to have a good ready-made bread available.  I eyed this up very carefully in TJ’s and thought it looked promising…

It did not disappoint!  I used it to make a grilled cheese and turkey sandwich…

The bread was light, airy and almost rustic tasting.  There was also no “off” taste and texture that is often found in gluten-free breads.  At least the ones I’ve tried!  It’s a  nice find (although pricey – $4.69 for a small loaf)  if you’re gluten-free!

Served with bean chips and an apple…

Delish

Dinner was inspired by Cabot’s website again.  Their Macaroni and Cabot Cheese  looked like the perfect “comfort food” weekend meal.  I decided to change it up a little.  The star (and sneaky) ingredient was beans!

Star due to the protein and fiber;  sneaky because I pureed it so none of the haters would know!  Cannellini beans are a great choice for this since they are a neutral tasting bean.

Here’s my version…

Baked Macaroni and Cheese
adapted from Cabot

4 cups cooked whole grain elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
8 ounces Cabot Sharp Cheddar, grated (about 2 cups)
15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup skim milk
3/4 cup light sour cream
1 large egg, slightly beaten
2 tablespoons grated fresh onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tsp.  melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a food processor, puree beans with milk until mixture is smooth.
3.  In large bowl, stir together macaroni, cheddar cheese, bean puree, sour cream, egg, onion, salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.
3. In small bowl, combine butter with breadcrumbs. Sprinkle mixture over macaroni. Cover with lid or foil and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Uncover and broil until golden.

Sneak a bite from the corner…

Served with a simple side salad…

No beans to be seen…

And the family was none the wiser! 

Uh……..oops.

The husband just sat next to me and saw me write this.

He’s going into beanaphylactic shock.

Busted.  

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you find a way to “hide” healthy foods into a dish?  Do you tell??

When I woke up this morning, I still felt full from yesterday!  Sheesh!  Instead of eating breakfast anyway, I decided to wait it out and see if I would actually get hungry at all today! 

Sure enough, late morning I got a growl.  Ready for this exciting breakfast?

Corn Chex and skim milk.  Yawn.  But honestly, it was light and about the only thing that sounded good!

At lunchtime, we headed over to my parents’ house to hang out with Dad for his birthday.  While everyone dug into pizza, I raided the fridge for leftovers.  I had the perfect lunch in mind, inspired by Cabot’s website.  I saw the Turkey, Two Potato and Cheddar Hash  recipe and it looked like a great use for our leftovers.  My version included a bit of stuffing and broccoli rabe, too.  Might as well get all the goodies in there…

I just heated it all in a non-stick pan along with a few tablespoons of gravy and garnished with fresh parsley.  Thanksgiving in a heap!

Not quite as pretty as the recipe’s photo, but very delicious.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon in a Wii bowl-a-thon!  I forgot what great exercise the Wii is, besides being fun.  Plus, it kept me busy and away from the chocolate chip cookie dough balls!

Dinner was super low-key.  We were all feeling tired of every type of food,  but I finally got a consensus of breakfast for dinner.  Sounded good to me, too!

Cheese omelets, Ezekiel toast and a side of shredded sprouts…

Yawn.

Boring is the best way to get back on track!  I find that keeping it simple helps me reel in the overeating after a food-filled holiday.  Along with guzzling a ton of water and a good night’s sleep.

Off to bed…. *slosh slosh*

Have a great day, everyone!

What’s your favorite Thanksgiving leftover dish?

Hi Everyone!  How was the weekend?  Mine was so relaxing in every sense of the word!  I relaxed with the family, didn’t do any formal exercise and let loose with the food, too.  I snacked a whole lot and ate things I don’t normally – pizza, caesar salads, Chinese take-out and dug into some bites of sugary treats.  My body was saying “stop the insanity”!!!

I noticed something different about this weekend.  Every food I was eating, I enjoyed.  I did overeat for sure and wasn’t listening to my body’s hunger cues at all.  In fact, there wasn’t much hunger involved because I kept munching all day!  But, the difference in this weekend was that I didn’t care!  I don’t mean the “I give up” kind of not caring.  This was different.  It was more of a thought process that I am eating the food and yes, I am overeating, but it’s okay because this is not forever.  I learned from prior forays into these type of weekends that I cannot stay long  in overeating mode anymore.  My body really hates it and feels sluggish, tired and blech.  However, this time my mind didn’t match up with my body’s feelings.  I didn’t beat myself up,  I didn’t worry that I would gain 5 lbs., I didn’t obsess and start to conjure up ways to undo the damage.  For the first time, I ate and overate guilt -free.  My body may be paying for it, but my mind is free!!! 

It’s a great relief and getting to this point has made it so much easier for me to get right back to the healthy way I like to eat.  Today, it’s back to making my body happy, too

It loves this breakfast – egg and cheese on an Ezekiel english muffin…

I broke out some old school workout DVD’s after breakfast.  I did Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away The Pounds – 3 Mile.  It brought back memories of my early days of weight loss.  Walking was about all I could do at 234 lbs. and being able to do it in the privacy of my home was a benefit!  I used that DVD 4 days a week and remember how hard some of it was for me!  I enjoyed revisiting it today and seeing the difference in my endurance – it was definitely much easier!

It took me a long time to feel any twinge of hunger during the day.  The heaviness of the food I ate over the weekend was still with me and made it hard to choose for my lunch options.  I finally decided on a yogurt bowl.  It was all that sounded appealing!  Hit the spot…

My cooking mojo came around late in the afternoon!  I’ve been lacking inspiration the past week, but looking through my bazillion recipe binders got  it going.

I whipped up a batch of Smoked Salmon and Parmesan Omelet Muffins to snack on during the week, then got to work on dinner – Black Bean Chipotle Cheddar Burgers and Zucchini Coleslaw.  The bean burgers were inspired by a recipe I found on the Cabot cheese site.  I changed it a bit due to what I had on hand…

Black Bean Chipotle Cheddar Burgers

• 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 ounces Cabot 75% reduced fat Cheddar, grated
• 1 chipotle pepper in adobo, diced fine
• 1/2 cup dried breadcrumbs (made from 2 slices toasted light bread)
  
• 1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
  
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro or Italian parsley
  
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  
• 1 tablespoon mild chili powder
  
• 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic
  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
  

1. In medium bowl, mash about half of beans with  a fork;  add rest of beans, cheese, chipotle, breadcrumbs, red pepper, cilantro or parsley, egg, cumin, chili powder, garlic and salt.

2. Shape mixture into four 3/4-inch-thick patties. Bake on  baking sheet  coated with cooking spray at 375 degrees for about 8 minutes per side.

This is a pretty hearty burger, so I served it sans bun with guacamole and fresh salsa…

Spicy and delicious!

The Zucchini Coleslaw was not so yummy…

It has potential though!  I may try it again.

Time to clean the kitchen (boo) and pack!  I’m off with the daughters to spend a couple days with friends at their beach house.  Hope to blog the shenanigans if the WiFi cooperates!

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you try a recipe again if you didn’t like it the first time?