A few more recipes....Italian style!! :)

I love the eggplant parmesan and eggplant lasagna!  If you like eggplant you will love these, because they add something different to the diet rather than fish, chicken, salad, blah blah blah lol

Eggplant parmesan

Peel an eggplant and slice into 1/4 inch slices
dip in eggwhites and then in lowfat parmesan cheese and garlic powder (mixed together)
bake for 20-25 minutes until crispy
cover with marinara (I use the low sugar Prego brand) and bake a little longer to warm sauce

Eggplant lasagna (this takes a little longer to make but is worth it cuz you have meals for the week once you do it)

Slice the eggplant the same way and bake on a cookie sheet for 5 minutes
spray bottom of baking dish with pam
mix 1 container of FF cottage cheese with two eggs (yolks and all) and pepper
cook ground turkey in marinara sauce (season how you like..I add onion, bell pepper and garlic to mine)
put meat/sauce mixture as bottom layer in the baking dish
eggplant slices are the next layer
put a layer of fresh spinach
cottage cheese mixture next and top with LF parmesan cheese
repeat layers
cover and bake for 45-1 hour

This is yummy and very filling!

Sausage and pasta (cycle 3)

Get turkey or chicken sausage links (I love the Johnsonville spicy chicken sausage), slice it up and brown in olive oil in a big pan
add whatever veggies you like...the more the better because they work as "fillers".  I use mushrooms, bell pepper, onion and zucchini.  Brown sausage and veggies together.
Add 2 cans diced tomatoes (I like the Italian style)
simmer together

serve over any whole grain pasta
top with LF parmesan if you like

Some yummy salads

Ok...so salads are a staple of cycle 1, and I still try to eat salad a few times a week even now, so here are a couple favs of mine:

Greek Salad
red leaf or romaine lettuce
artichoke hearts
tomato
red onion
cucumber
low fat feta cheese
add grilled chicken if you want or turkey pepperoni (which is ok on c3)
I use a salad spritzer which is a balsalmic vinegarette, but you can use olive oil and balsalmic vinegar as well

My version of a chef's salad!
lettuce
green onion
tomato
cucumber
hard boiled eggs
fat free cheese
butterball turkey breast
salad spritzer ranch flavor

Taco salad
ground turkey or shredded chicken breast with taco seasoning and green chilis (ortega canned)
lettuce
tomato
FF cheese
onion
FF sour cream
salsa

Couscous salad (ok on C2)
1 box far east couscous cooked in chicken brother instead of water (try to find whole grain)
dressing is 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup balsalmic vinegar
mix in dressing while still warm...you may have to break up the clumps
add whatever you like...I like cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion, edamame (sp?), grilled chicken, FF feta cheese.

This is a great salad to take to a bbq or potluck, because you will have something you know you can eat there! :)

What I've learned about food.

The #1 thing that I've learned about food through this diet is that it is wayyyy too important to me. Food consumes my life...still.  I'm working on that though, and I have seen improvement.  Before, I would never turn down a food I liked, because I felt like I would be depriving myself of something that I deserved. Now I know that what I deserve is to be healthy and in control of my life, which means I CHOOSE when I want to eat something and when I don't, and it doesn't have anything to do with my happiness...or at least it shouldn't.

I have also learned that food can be satisfying in small quanities. I don't need 4 pieces of pizza to be full.  I don't need 2 helpings of spaghetti to be content. I listen to my body now, and when it tells me I'm done...I'm done.

Catching up!

I haven't posted in here for a while, but now that it's summer vacation I hope to be a little more consistant. :)

Update on my weight loss:  I'm down 15lbs!!  I'm on cycle 3 of the 17 day diet and loving it!  I feel great, and I rarely have "bad" cravings anymore.  It's so true that sugar is an addiction!  The less you have, the less you want it, and the better you feel.

I weigh 154 now, which is the lowest weight I've been in about 4 years. I'm mad at myself for getting rid of all my size 8 and 9's, thinking "I'm never going to be THIS small again!"  Oh well, if not having clothes small enough is my biggest worry...I'm in good shape. lol

I have found some recipes that I really like on this diet, so I'll share a few of them on here for those of you who are interested.  Keep watching...

Day 4 of the diet

I'm still hanging in there!! It hasn't been too difficult really.  My biggest challenge came last night.  It was DJ's birthday, so we made cupcakes (didn't even lick a finger), and he wanted breakfast burritos for dinner...which is a joyful mixture of potatoes, sausage, eggs and cheese all wrapped in a tortilla.  I dutifully cooked that dinner for my family and prepared for myself a tilapia filet and some broccoli. 

I suppose tomorrow will be equally as hard, because we are taking the entire 9th grade on a field trip, and we are feeding them pizza and snacks all day.  I plan to pack some acceptable snacks in a backpack...maybe a chicken breast for lunch.

My motivation is the scale.  I lost 3lbs in 3days.  If I can continue at this pace I won't be tempted to cheat! 

17 day diet

Ok...for those of you who are trying this diet, here is my menu for this week.  I'm looking for ideas or suggestions as well.  If you have tried something  you really like let me know...

I'm replacing coffee with green tea in the mornings.

Breakfast is a grapefruit (one of my two servings of fruit for the day) or greek yogurt with some berries or two hard boiled eggs.

Lunch will be a salad (lettuce, cucumber, carrots, red pepper and green onions) with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing or tuna in lettuce wraps or cut up fresh veggies and hard boiled eggs (if I didn't have them for breakfast) Crystal light or green tea to drink.

snack: other fruit serving if before 2pm.  Veggies if not.

Dinner:  turkey burger, chicken breast or tilapia or salmon filet with some veggies.

My Dad

This month is crazy for me!!  We have four kids doing a total of five sports. Every 9th grade student is responsible for a huge Renaissance project and paper, and we take them all on a field trip to the Renaissance Faire. It's DJ's birthday.

I'm grateful to be so busy right now, because if I wasn't I think I'd drive myself crazy worrying about my dad.  He is still having health issues related to his pacemaker.  Next week, he is traveling to Salt Lake City to have a procedure done called an Abilation (sp?).  Apparently, if this works he could feel better than he has in years.  If not...I'm not sure he'll be able to continue working like he does.  Those of you who know my dad know that this will kill him....slowly.  He works harder than anyone I know.  He works hard because his joy is found in visiting his grandchildren, and in providing things for them that they wouldn't otherwise have.  He loves to take them on special outings...camping, fishing, riding the 4-wheeler, etc.  He gets so much pleasure in coming to Boise and taking all of us out to eat!  These are the things he lives for, and he told me once without those things his life wouldn't mean a thing.

Growing old is a part of life, and it's something I'm sure my dad knows he has to accept and adjust to, but he's just not ready...we're not ready.  He still has so much to share...so many lessons to teach. 

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, because I'm not sure I have the strength to do what I need to do in life without him by my side.