Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Cabbage is Delicious

Okay, first of all happy last day of November.  How did that happen?

So true.
I am happy to report that I am about 95% finished with Christmas shopping.  Of course I started at the beginning of October, so I have been working on it for a while.  Don't judge (or be jealous).

After the Thanksgiving feast that lasted and lasted I began feeling a little vegetable deprived.  Let's face it most of the delicious Thanksgiving sides are carb heavy...at least my favorites are.  Anyway this week I have felt the need to go veggie crazy so hopefully I can get back to feeling fabulous.  Last night for dinner I made cabbage.  Yes, cabbage for dinner...like a big salad...but this would also make an awesome side.  Here are the details....

Cabbage with Turkey Bacon

  • one large cabbage cut into large bite size pieces
  • one onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
  • 8 pieces of turkey bacon cut into slices
  • olive oil from a Misto or cooking spray
  • sea salt
  • pepper
Spray the bottom of a large stew pot or dutch oven with cooking spray or olive oil.  Saute onion over medium heat until translucent and then add turkey bacon.  After the turkey bacon has warmed and cooked a little, add cabbage.  Turn the heat down to low and cover.  Stir cabbage every 10 minutes or so and cook until the cabbage is tender.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste.  The cabbage takes about 30 minutes on a low heat.

As a meal this made 4 servings that came in at 4 weight watchers points +, as a side the recipe is closer to 8 servings which are 2 points + each.

Have I mentioned before that I love my yellow dutch oven?

Pretty.
I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday!

Tell me...was your turkey day carb heavy?  Are you also craving vegetables this week?  Which ones are you loving?

Monday, November 28, 2011

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

I am thankful for all the fun and family time I got to spend with everyone over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I am not thankful for all the food I chose to eat...which is why I skipped the scale this morning.  I will be back on track this week and on the scale next Monday.

The family time was great!  There was sidewalk chalk.


And popsicles...


The Neal's dog Mo loves to be in the back of their suburban...I think he feels nervous like he might get left behind if they decided to suddenly leave.

There was one evening that is was cool enough to light the fire outside.  It was warm and cozy and we enjoyed some red wine.


We had no shortage of food for Thanksgiving dinner.  Everything was delicious.


I will say I didn't have some of everything, which was smart.  I did however have seconds, which was probably not smart.

My sister Audrey and her hubby John went antiquing on Westheimer on Sunday.  They have moved into a new house and needed a few things.  We went with them to pick up their goods and happened on these awesome end tables.


I love them and they had a pair!!  I was so excited.

To finish out the weekend, some of the Christmas decorations started to appear!


Coffee tastes better in a Christmas mug...at least I think it does.

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Lazy Wednesday

This morning Sammy and I spent a little extra time in the bed being lazy before getting moving.


Short work days are hard work.  Especially for a pup.  Ha!  The husband and I both only work half days today and I am counting down the minutes until noon.  I am ready for family fun time.


So is Sammy...I mean look at the excitement on her face.

I hope everyone has a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Family Time

As I mentioned yesterday, my nieces and my sister are already in town for Thanksgiving.  Love it!  Last night we had some fun family time.  The sister, Audrey and I went to Academy and got the kids some new shoes.

I made my baked tilapia for dinner and we enjoyed a glass of white wine while it cooked.  We also had salad with awesome balsamic dressing.


After dinner we watched football and the kids played, so of course I harassed them with pictures.

Courtney
Chelsie and Lindsey
Over the weekend my Mary Engelbreit daily calendar had one of my favorite pictures on it.  Yesterday it got cut out and pinned to the bulletin board above my desk.

It's true.
Today the pen color will be yellow, since it just seems right.  Have a fabulous Tuesday!


Tell me, do you have family time planned for Thanksgiving?

Monday, November 21, 2011

Weigh In

You can find the weekend recap in a separate post...I didn't want my pity party to take away from good news.

Let's start with the weigh in.  I started not to get on the scale this morning and just post that I had gained.  I knew I had, I stopped tracking about Wednesday last week and I knew there was no way I hadn't gained, plus (skip ahead to the next paragraph if you wish to avoid TMI) I was PMSing like a crazy person and I am still feeling bloated this morning.  Anyway, I thought it would be better to just face the music, put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

And what did I find?  Well, that I am dealing with a 6 pound gain.  Awesome.  I have considered that some of that is probably water weight, and I am sure it is.  Great.  It doesn't change the fact that I did not listen to my body or my mind for that matter last week.  I was lazy, my workouts were not super strong and they were not as consistent.  What makes it worse?  I knew that moving more would make me feel better; but that didn't get me off my butt for a workout.  It is SO frustrating and discouraging to me...I know that working out makes me feel good, but I was still lazy.

Then there was the eating.

There was some that was thoughtful fabulous indulgence, for example Daniel and I had dinner at Canopy on Saturday night.  I ordered the herb seared scallops with asparagus and butternut squash risotto and balsamic reduction.  It was delicious and worth every calorie.  I ate until I was satisfied, but not too full and then stopped.  It was great and I felt good about it.

There was some eating that was thoughtless and useless, like a stop for fast food after a party (and a few too many cocktails) on Saturday.  Did I enjoy it while I was eating it?  No, not really.  I was actually thinking about how I wouldn't be happy with myself later.

Now, what do I take away from this?  On the positive, I am learning.  I was right about how I would feel about the fast food...I felt terrible Sunday morning.  Not from a headache and hangover, but because my stomach was so unhappy with me.  I can walk away from the experience knowing that once I make the connection to actually listen to my head and my body that I will have made leaps and bounds of progress.  Right now I am still at baby steps, but at least in my mind they are steps in the right direction.  Now just to master the listening to myself.

What's my plan for this week?  I plan not to be intimidated by Thanksgiving.  I do not have to overload my plate and there will be healthy choices to make.  I plan to focus on my family.  My nieces are in town, there is a lot of opportunity for activity points to be had with three energetic gals.  I plan to take it one day at a time.  I am heading for yoga at lunch time, I am excited...yoga always makes me feel good.  Tonight I am making my baked tilapia for dinner.  It's easy, delicious and HEALTHY!

Here is how the weigh in broke down.

Previously: -8.6
This week: +6.0
Total:          -2.6

All I can do is move forward and continue to improve, right?  Right.

Weekend Recap

We had great fun with great friends this weekend.  Friday night we had dinner and drinks with Rebecca, Liz and Diaz.  Then Saturday we got awesome news.  Liz and Diaz got engaged!

Happy Couple
We went to a party Saturday night to celebrate this awesome news.  I am so excited and happy for my Lizzy Lou!!  Diaz you are a lucky, lucky man!  I wish you both all the best!!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Dinner Parties

Friend and workout buddy Rebecca had me, Daniel, Liz and Diaz over for dinner last night to break in her new plates.  It was a great time.

Rebecca, Liz and me

Daniel and Diaz
Rebecca made an awesome chicken and rice casserole with a blend of wild, red and white rice.  She also steamed green beans.  It was delicious.


Thanks, Rebecca for a great evening with great food and great company...and a little wine.  I would like to make this a regular occasion.  Do any of you have regular dinner parties?

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Dishes and Beyond

Yesterday was a great day.  I got a great gym workout in and I am still feeling my Monday yoga class in my abs...in a good way.  Last night I went with friend and workout buddy Rebecca to Bed, Bath and Beyond.  I did a little Christmas shopping and she got new dishes.

Pretty, can't wait to go over for dinner.
Another thing Rebecca picked up were drink markers, to mark which glass is yours.

Aren't they cute?
We felt like we needed to break them in, so we did.  I chose the little blue guy who looks like he is doing jazz hands and Rebecca chose to use a little devilish red one.

Vino!
Leo was excited so he got dressed up for the occasion.

LOL
We had fun having a glass of wine and unpacking new dishes and packing away old ones.  Rebecca was very excited about her new dishes.  And I was very excited about jazz hands.


Today the pen color is blue.  I hope you have a fantastic day!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Accomplishments

Last night I made a small accomplishment.  I jogged for 10 minutes straight.  I know it is harder to run outside, this was inside running (around my house to be exact), but I still felt fantastic about it.  It felt great to jog.

We did our grocery shopping last night and had dinner with my mom.  I knew we were having Chinese so I planned my breakfast and lunch knowing my dinner would be higher in calories.  I got the chicken with vegetables, it was delicious and I stayed on track.  Another accomplishment.

So I mentioned in recent posts that I worked last Saturday.  Well, sometimes there is down time while we work on the upgrades since the computers are working.  I took a break and sketched Sammy.  I am silly, but I enjoyed it.  I sketched this picture.


And it turned out a lot like a child drew it.


But for me it was pretty good.  I will keep my day job.

In other picture news...how sweet is this?  My brother-in-law, John, with my nieces for the father daughter dance.

Love.
And my sister-in-law is on top of things this year.  How cute are Jett and Leslie with Santa?

Heart.
Today the pen color will be red.


What accomplishments are you celebrating these days?

Monday, November 14, 2011

Weekend Recap and Weigh In

I worked on Saturday, so there is nothing interesting to report about it, but our Sunday was a lot of fun.  We went down to Surfside and took a walk on the beach.


This is why I love living near the coast.  The temperature was in the 70s in the morning and there was a nice breeze.  We had to watch our step since there were jellyfish everywhere.  Yuck.  We did get to see a squished one that had been run over by a truck.  I didn't take a picture of it because I didn't think you would want me to gross you out.  You are welcome.


We did see a very cute baby seagull, he is in the center of this picture...he was very fast and hard to photograph.  We picked up a few shells and discussed the joys of living in the south and being able to walk barefoot on the beach in mid-November.


I love the beach.

We had lunch on the beach at Pirate's Alley Cafe. I had a bacon cheeseburger because I had the points and that's what I wanted.  It was good.


Pirate's Alley also had a cat.  We called him beach kitten and it was fun to watch him chase sand crabs.


He was very sweet.

After lunch we went from Surfside to The Strand in Galveston to visit La King's Confectionery. I napped on the way over...so unlike me, I know.  La King's is a fabulous candy store that Daniel's grandmother used to take him and his sister to when they were kids.  They would always have white chocolate.


I think La King's feels a little like stepping back in time with their soda fountains and homemade ice cream.  We had a scoop of ice cream and then got Daniel a little white chocolate and me a couple of chocolate covered pretzels for later.


So much candy.



And now for the weigh in...

Previously: -2.8
This week: -5.1
Total:          -7.9

Yay!  Proof that if you track your points and eat smart you can still have bacon cheeseburgers in your life.  In other weight watchers news...my weight watchers online weight tracker says I am down 8.6 pounds from the start, so I am guessing that somewhere along the way in the blog I have done some bad math.  I will go with the weight watchers total loss since they have graphs and can do math.

New Total:   -8.6

Deal?  Deal.  Okay, awesome.


The pen color today will be lavender.




Happy Monday, I hope it goes by quickly for everyone.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Some Cute For You

Yesterday and today my office is working on multiple upgrades, so it is a little crazy busy, but that doesn't mean I don't have time for a little cute.  Look what friend and workout buddy Rebecca sent me yesterday.


Puppy Sammy totally passed out in my arms.  She was so tiny.  Squeeee.  Here are some more puppy pictures of Sam by the fabulous Kasey Marsh of Monkey Tree Photography.




I hope I didn't overload you on cute for the day.  Have an awesome weekend!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Big Dave's Rice and Leftovers

My sister had a neighbor and his name was Dave.  For whatever reason they called him Big Dave and he made a great rice dish.  They called it Big Dave's Rice.

Big Dave's Rice

(source)
2 bell peppers, chopped (I usually use one red and one green)
1 onion, chopped
5 chicken bouillon cubes, 4 crushed, 1 whole
lots of garlic, minced
2 tsp olive oil
1 cup rice
2 cups water

Add olive oil, garlic, bell peppers and onion to a large non-stick pan and saute until tender.  Sprinkle the veggies with the crushed bouillon cubes.

While the vegetables are sauteing cook your rice adding the whole bouillon cube to the water.

Once the rice and vegetables are done, combine them and enjoy!  The weight watchers points + for a 3/4 cup serving is 5.

This rice makes an excellent side dish for seafood, last Saturday I made it alongside my hubby's smoked chicken.  It was delicious.  Then last night, I turned the leftovers into vegetable fried rice!  I was so pleased with how this turned out since I have been making Big Dave's rice for a while now and never thought of this.

I put the leftover rice (about 2 cups) in a nonstick skillet and let it heat while I thawed about 3/4 cup frozen peas in the microwave.  When the peas were thawed I added them to the rice and seasoned with a little low sodium soy sauce (about 1 teaspoon).  When the rice was hot I pushed it to one side of the pan and added 4 egg whites to the vacant side.  I let the eggs cook most of the way before incorporating them with the rice.  The result was a great 7 points plus dinner.


It was so easy and really hit the spot.  I love it when you can make leftovers into a whole new dish.


My daily calendar has an awesome quote on it today.

One good wish changes nothing.
One good decision changes everything.

On that note...have a wonderful Thursday!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Awesome Artichokes

I don't know about you, but I love artichokes.  I put artichoke hearts in salads, I make a "stuffed" artichoke heart casserole, I will admit I like the full calorie stuffed artichokes and every now and then I love an old favorite...boiled artichoke.

It doesn't sounds fancy because it is not.  You take your artichokes and rinse them, then you trim the stem and pull off any tiny leaves from the bottom.


You take a serrated knife and carefully cut off the tops, which removes the thorns from most of the leaves and then you take kitchen scissors and clip all the remaining leaves so they are also thorn free.


You then place the artichokes in boiling water with some lemon slices and cook them for 30 - 40 minutes until they are tender. 


When they are done, remove them from water with tongs (hold them upside down over the pot to let most of the water drain from them) and then place them on paper towel on a plate to let them finish draining.  I serve them with some melted smart balance light margarine (2 tablespoons per artichoke) and enjoy.  That's two weight watchers points + for the artichoke with the margarine.

Delicious!  I ate two last night...poor hubby only got one.  That brought my point total to 5 points + for the extra margarine.  Worth it.  Do you also love artichokes?  What is your favorite way to eat them?

I hope you have an amazing day!