Monday, July 2, 2012

My Grocery List

I use to eat out a lot, spending a lot of money on food that was not good for me. I hate grocery shopping because I hated to cook food. Until I started to get healthy and found a bunch of great recipes. Let me just say I am SO proud of my grocery shopping this week. Let me tell you my list and some great recipes!

- 7lbs of Lean Ground Turkey
- Lean White Turkey Burgers
-Whole Wheat Burger Buns
- Tropicana 50 OJ
- Liquid Wheat Grass
- White and Green Asparagus Salad
-Spring Mix Salad
-Fat Free 1000
- Watermelon
-Peaches
-Green Beans
-Broccoli
-Artichoke Hearts
- Garlic, Red and White Onions
-Sweet Potatoes
-Carrots
-Avocados ( I made homemade Guac)
-Fat Free Milk
-Strawberries
-Tilapia
-Special K Chocolate Delight
- Pretzel Sticks
-Hummus
- 2lbs of Lean Beef Cubes (I am making a Sichuan Beef Bake with Green Beans and Baked Potatoes)

How AWESOME is my list! Here's to being healthy!!!!!!

Dinner you will never regret.

Ok, I found a cool new app on my Iphone its called Spark Recipes and it has been the most epic app for healthy recipes that I have come across. You can narrow down by dietary needs and it shows the calories and fat of each entree. I am a cheeseburger lover and lover is an understatement.

Now I made this recipe tonight, the title caught my eye in a second. So I made this tonight for dinner. IT WAS SO AMAZING! Joe LOVED it and could not shut up about it! And the funny part was, Joe hates cottage cheese and he had no idea!!!

Lowfat Cheeseburger Pie

 
A lighter version of an old classic. .
Number of Servings: 8

Ingredients

1lb extra lean ground turkey
1 cup Nonfat Cottage Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Clove Garlic (chopped)
3/4 Cup Kraft 2% Shredded Cheddar Cheese
2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 roll of Reduced Fat Crescent Rolls



Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 8
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 163.5
  • Total Fat: 4.5 g
  • Cholesterol: 57.9 mg
  • Sodium: 292.1 mg
  • Total Carbs: 10.2 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g
  • Protein: 20.6 g

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Motivation, Hello It's Me, Sarah.

Wow, Being self employed and having time to go to the gym is easy! Your self employed, you make your own schedule. Well ladies and gents, I am employed with corporate america. I am now a bartender at PF Changs. It has been awhile since I have been in the service industry, a little over a year. I am use to the hustle and bustle of being a server in a high volume restaurant but man, when you take a year off, you slowly loose your flow. The location of my job is in the heart of downtown Portland in the Pearl District, we are busy ALL the time. Yesterday I opened at 10am and walked out of their at 9:30pm. I got a sneeze of a break and by the time I got home I had no motivation to do anything, let alone go running. My feet were throbbing so bad. 

So this has been my past two weeks, running my lil tail off and coming home. This has made me lose complete motivation, being so busy that I am tired. I am sadden that I have lost motivation until I found this article.


This is a great read to help stay motivated and stay in the right mind set to reach your goals! 8am gym tomorrow here I come!!!


http://exercise.about.com/od/plateausmotivation/tp/motivation.htm

Friday, June 15, 2012

Julia Anne Hinson Weight Struggles

I didn’t know that I had that much weight to lose. To be honest, I didn’t look that big. But I was big enough to be unhappy, miserable, and ashamed about the way I looked. I had deep rooted emotions and feelings about my weight that tied back to my mother. All mothers and daughters talk about weight, I’ve discovered. They do it in different ways and at different times, but every girl I know has had some version of the “are you sure you want to eat that?” question occur between their mother and their mouth.

I hit 100lbs in sixth grade. I distinctly remember realizing that my weight was no longer two digits, but three. Three numbers wide. It was also in my middle school years that my breasts and other womanly features started coming into play. I think I skipped training bras and went right into the Olympic bras. I don’t remember being an A, B, or C cup. I developed fast and I was coming to the conclusion that I was different than other girls in my grade. Middle school boys have the social decency levels of a piece of lettuce, and the IQ of a crayon, so they had no idea that they were staring or that trying to shove things down my shirt was rather tramatic. They just saw boobs.

My high school years were punctuated by ill-fitting clothes, no boyfriends or crushes, as well as eating. I would eat soft pretzels and chocolate chip cookies for lunch. After school, it was a large sugary coffee and raiding our pantry in search of bread, cookies, crackers, and chips. Dinner was a family affair where eating everything on your plate was a requirement. My dad is an incredible cook, and his brownies, cakes, and other delicious treats were regular occurances. My sophomore year, my parents told me (at Baskin Robbins, whilst in the middle of my mint chocolate chip) that they had signed me up for the cross country team. I was speechless and stunned (but not enough to stop eating my ice cream). I came in last in my first race. I went in the bathroom and tried not to cry.

My senior year, my sister and I went in for a check up at our pediatritions office. While we were there, I was ambushed by a letter my mother had written to our doctor about my weight and how she didn’t know what to do about it. I was told that I had a good 20lbs to lose. I remember going back to school, walking into the counselors office, and sitting down and crying because my mother told me that I was fat. No, she didn’t tell me. She told the doctor. I never talked to her about the letter and it wasn’t brought up. The counselor told me that I was not fat. I don’t remember her name, but I loved her for her compassion.

I went to college and gained about 10 more pounds in the dorms. I was aware of my weight and that I was unhappy. But I wasn’t unhappy enough to do something about it. I hadn’t hit that wall yet. But it was coming. The summer after my freshman year, I did nothing but sit around and eat and be around family. I didn’t see friends, I don’t think I even had friends yet.

My sophomore year of college was where I hit my wall. I stepped on the scale and it said 159.8lbs. I couldn’t breathe. At 5’2, 162 lbs was clinically obease. I couldn’t be obese. I couldn’t live the way I was living. So I vowed to go to the gym every day until I lost the weight. I wouldn’t eat junk. I wouldn’t be this way anymore. And when my alarm went off in the morning…. I hit snooze and went back to sleep instead of going to the gym.

That was my first wall. My second was coming to the conclusion that my mother wouldn’t love me more if I was thinner. All growing up, I thought my mother would love me more if I was skinny, and I didn’t want to face that reality. I couldn’t bear the thoguth that my mother’s love was conditional on the way I looked. So, if I never changed the way I looked, I wouldn’t find out if that was true. Now, I should say here, that my mother never said that she would do this. This was an assumption I had made based on her behavior and my insecurities and my feelings about her feelings about my weight.

My third wall was realizing why I was eating and in what kind of situations did I eat. I realized that I ate when I was bored and I ate for something to do. And I ate if there was food in front of me. It was compulsive. If there was food in front of me, and I was bored, that food had no other option than going in my mouth. If I wasn’t busy, I’d go get a snack. So I worked little by little to stop putting myself in situations where I would eat. I used to schedule classes around the lunch and dinner times in my sorority, and then I changed so that my school didn’t revolve around food. I missed lunches and dinners and would eat from the salad bar that was kept for us instead of the (rather camp-like) meals served. I started eating for fuel rather than comfort. I stopped drinking milk and started drinking water. I never drank soda or alcohol much, so I didn’t have to worry about those calories. I got busy with school, and my sorority, and stopped getting bored.

My junior year was focused on being the PHC VP of Recruitment, the biggest position in all of Greek life. I was insanely busy and had no time to focus on eating, or for that matter, school. My grades suffered. But again, I was busy and not putting myself in situations where food was readily available. Senior year was no different.
After graduation, I started working hours and hours on my feet at Nordstrom. This is another way to lose weight. Working at a desk job can be whatever, but working on your feet is like getting paid to work out. Retail and restaurant. The two R’s. Do it. I lost another 5lbs in a few weeks on top of the 20lbs I had lost over the last.

My last 10lbs that I lost came from heartbreak. I had my heart smashed by a guy who I had settled for in the first place. He was beneath me, but he said he loved me and I said it back, and as soon as I started to fall for him, he broke me. The stress from the few days that the break up took place was about 5lbs, and the few weeks after the breakup was another 5. I wasn’t sleeping well, I wasn’t eating, and I was working on my feet at a restaurant. I don’t suggest this method of weight loss, but it is effective.

I got down to 125lbs. A 35lb weight loss. I’ve gained about 8lbs of it back after being on vacation and having junk food around the house and eating as an activity rather than a necessity, but I have started running to get back down to 125lbs and possibly 120lbs. But by following the guidelines that I set for myself, I will return to my goal weight.

-Know why you eat. I eat for something to do and for comfort and when I’m bored.
-Know the situations that stimulate you to eat. If there’s food in front of me, I’ll eat it. If there’s junk food in my apartment, I’ll eat it. If I’m around my mother, I eat.
-Know that you can’t lose weight for other people. You have to lose it for you and no one else.
-Know that it’s worse to eat food you love and live in a body you hate. When you don’t love your body, it affects your entire life. Even though I’ve gained weight back, I still love my body.

So my advice to you is not to diet or to work out or whatever, but to get to that place where you’re ready to live differently, and it’ll happen.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Off The Band Wagon

They don't call it Sunday Funday's for nothing! Joe and I got a little carried away on Sunday. Not OOBER BAD but still, when counting calories and you see how much FAT you consume its a tad crazy.

So Sunday I come home from work and Joe is brewing beer with a friend. I walk past our little bar (Its our alcohol we keep on the bookshelf, not really a bar.) We have Jameson, Johnnie Walker Red Label Glenfiddich, and El Jimador Tequila. Well a couple weeks ago Joe and I discovered this mix called Baja Bob's Sugar Free Mix. It has no sugar and no calories so we feel pretty good about ourselves. Welllllll that was a Sunday too and for some reason we associate  Sunday's with Margaritas for some reason.

So we made Sassypant's Margaritas we each had 6 of the delicious concoctions. 2oz of tequila in each drink! Wow!! So by the end of the 6th one, I was getting hungry. I am a guilty snacker and junk food eater when I drink. So I was on my computer when a Papa Johns ad popped up.

UH -OH.

I use to be a frequent guest of Papa Johns. So I logged onto my account, ordered a Large Pepperoni and Sausage pizza with Blue Cheese Sauce and extra Garlic Sauce. Joe and I DEVOURED the pizza. We went to bed full satisfied and drunk. The next morning was not pretty.

So Joe was hung over, I got to sleep in and we went to track out calories on My Fitness Pal (www.MyFitnessPal.com) and what we discovered was ridiculous!!

For dinner which is what I tracked the pizza and margaritas under which ironically is named "Healthy and Lite" I consumed:
Calories 1,480
Carbs 58g
Fat 60g

THAT WAS JUST IN ONE SITTING!!! Margaritas alone were 600 calories!

I ended up being 1,214 calories over and 59g of fat over my goal.

What is crazy is that before Joe and I would order 2 medium pizzas and eat a whole pizza each to ourselves. If 3 slices are 570 calories think about how many a WHOLE pizza is!!! It is crazy counting calories how much you consume. It puts a whole new light on food.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Mexican Food!

One of my favorite foods is Mexican food! I am a sucker for tortillas, salsa and margaritas!!! Being on a clean diet lifestyle Mexican food is not a really  big option for me.  Tear :'( Well I have stumbled upon some great Mexican food recipes that are taste tested and APPROVED!



Baja-Battered Fish

:  June/July 2005EatingWell Serves Two

Your rating: None Average: 4.3 (45 votes)
You may not think of fish as a taco ingredient, but the Mexican-inspired fish-taco craze is beginning to spread. Once you've had one, you'll understand. This recipe is a healthful version of the battered, deep-fried and crispy fish at Rossy's Tacos in Baja California.



READER'S COMMENT:
"Excellent batter for fish or anything you might want lightly fried. I spiced up the fish and batter a lot more than the recipe instructed but we like spicy (cayenne pepper, white pepper and a Cajun spice blend). Big hit and will make it...

Baja-Battered Fish Recipe
8 servings, about 1 1/2 ounces each
Active Time: 
Total Time: 

INGREDIENTS

  • 3/4 cup beer, preferably lager or pilsner
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1-1 1/4 pounds tilapia, or other firm white fish, sliced into 1/2-inch-by-2-inch strips
  • 3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
  1. Place beer, all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, salt, oregano, mustard, cayenne and pepper in a blender; blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Transfer the batter to a shallow baking dish. Add fish, turning to coat all sides.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Transfer one-third of the battered fish to the pan, placing each piece into a little oil. Cook until golden brown, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer cooked fish to a plate; keep warm. Add 1 tablespoon oil and half the remaining fish to the pan; cook as directed above, reducing the heat if necessary. Cook the remaining fish with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Serve immediately.

TIPS & NOTES

  • Make Ahead Tip: The fish is best when served immediately, but will keep, wrapped, in the refrigerator for up to 1 day. To reheat, place on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 375°F.

NUTRITION


Per serving: 120 calories; 6 g fat ( 0 g sat , 3 g mono ); 33 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 11 g protein;0 g fiber; 112 mg sodium; 180 mg potassium.

Crispy Turkey Tostadas

:  November/December 2008

Your rating: None Average: 4.6 (39 votes)
Shredded leftover turkey tops homemade tostadas in this Tex-Mex favorite. Making your own tostada shells from fresh corn tortillas is easier than you might think—crisp them up in the oven while you prepare the toppings. Choose either regular petite diced tomatoes or those with added jalapeƱos, depending on your inclination for spicy food. Serve with black beans, rice and extra salsa or hot sauce on the side.



READER'S COMMENT:
"Really great and really easy! My only complaint is that they were a little hard to eat--once you bit the tostada shell, it was difficult to keep it together. However, that is just the nature of tostadas! "

Crispy Turkey Tostadas Recipe
4 servings, 2 tostadas each
Active Time: 
Total Time: 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 14-ounce can petite diced tomatoes, preferably with jalapeƱos
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 3 cups shredded cooked turkey, or chicken (12 ounces; see Tip)
  • 8 corn tortillas
  • Canola or olive oil cooking spray
  • 1 avocado, pitted
  • 1/4 cup prepared salsa
  • 2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
  • 1 cup shredded romaine lettuce
  • 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

PREPARATION

  1. Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375°F.
  2. Bring tomatoes and their juice to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Add turkey (or chicken) and cook until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, coat tortillas on both sides with cooking spray. Divide the tortillas between 2 large baking sheets. Bake, turning once, until crisped and lightly brown, about 10 minutes.
  4. Mash avocado in a bowl. Stir in salsa, sour cream and cilantro until combined.
  5. To assemble tostadas, spread each crisped tortilla with some of the avocado mixture. Top with the turkey (or chicken) mixture, lettuce and cheese.

TIPS & NOTES

  • Tip: To poach chicken breasts, place boneless, skinless chicken breasts in a medium skillet or saucepan. Add lightly salted water to cover and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer gently until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, 10 to 12 minutes.

NUTRITION


Per serving: 397 calories; 15 g fat ( 5 g sat , 7 g mono ); 86 mg cholesterol; 34 g carbohydrates; 33 gprotein; 8 g fiber; 621 mg sodium; 709 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Vitamin A & Vitamin C (20% daily value), Iron (15% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Exchanges: 1 1/2 starch, 2 vegetable, 4 lean meat, 1 1/2 fat

Tijuana Torta

:  July/August 2008

Your rating: None Average: 4.1 (93 votes)
A Mexican-style torta is just like a burrito, except the “wrapper” is a hollowed-out roll instead of a tortilla. Here it's filled with mashed spiced black beans and a quick guacamole. Take this vegetarian version to another level (and add calcium) by melting Monterey Jack cheese onto the bean side of the sandwich. Serve with: Grilled corn on the cob or Spanish rice.



READER'S COMMENT:
"I absolutely LOVED this. I'm definitely going to try it with melted cheese next time. It was delicious, filling and I love that this doubles as an excellent addition to a salad (I took the leftovers, tossed it together with some spinach,...

Tijuana Torta Recipe
4 servings
Active Time: 
Total Time: 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 15-ounce can black beans, or pinto beans, rinsed (see Note)
  • 3 tablespoons prepared salsa
  • 1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeƱo
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 ripe avocado, pitted
  • 2 tablespoons minced onion
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 16- to 20-inch-long baguette, preferably whole-grain
  • 1 1/3 cups shredded green cabbage

PREPARATION

  1. Mash beans, salsa, jalapeƱo and cumin in a small bowl. Mash avocado, onion and lime juice in another small bowl.
  2. Cut baguette into 4 equal lengths. Split each piece in half horizontally. Pull out most of the soft bread from the center so you’re left with mostly crust. Divide the bean paste, avocado mixture and cabbage evenly among the sandwiches. Cut each in half and serve.

TIPS & NOTES

  • Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the bean mixture (Step 1) for up to 3 days.
  • Note: While we love the convenience of canned beans, they tend to be high in sodium. Give them a good rinse before adding to a recipe to rid them of some of their sodium (up to 35 percent) or opt for low-sodium or no-salt-added varieties. (This recipe is analyzed with rinsed, regular canned beans.) Or, if you have the time, cook your own beans from scratch.

NUTRITION


Per serving: 354 calories; 9 g fat ( 1 g sat , 5 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 60 g carbohydrates; 17 g protein;17 g fiber; 682 mg sodium; 639 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Folate & Vitamin C (29% daily value), Potassium (18% dv), Iron (15% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 3
Exchanges: 3 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 plant-based protein, 1 fat

"Fajita" Burgers

:  May/June 2008

Your rating: None Average: 4.2 (64 votes)
This spicy burger is served on an oblong roll, slathered with a spicy chipotle mayonnaise and topped with roasted Anaheim peppers and a delicious slaw.



READER'S COMMENT:
"These were no ordinary burgers. Absolutely delicious. Everyone wanted more. "

"Fajita" Burgers Recipe
4 servings
Active Time: 
Total Time: 

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound 90%-lean ground beef
  • 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
  • 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 1/4 cup chopped scallions
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder, preferably New Mexican
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, preferably Mexican
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon chopped chipotle chile in adobo, (see Ingredient Note)
  • 1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
  • 4 French rolls, preferably whole-wheat, split and toasted
  • 2 roasted Anaheim or poblano peppers, (see Tip)
  • 1 cup shredded green cabbage
  • 4 slices tomato
  • 4 thin slices red onion

PREPARATION

  1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
  2. Place beef, 1/4 cup cilantro, onion, scallions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, pepper and salt in a large bowl. Gently combine, without overmixing, until evenly incorporated. Form into 4 equal patties, about 1/2 inch thick and oval-shaped to match the rolls.
  3. Combine the remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, mayonnaise, lime juice and chipotle in a small bowl.
  4. Peel the roasted peppers, halve lengthwise and remove the seeds.
  5. Oil the grill rack (see Tip). Grill the burgers until an instant-read thermometer inserted in the center registers 165°F, about 6 minutes per side. Top with cheese and cook until it is melted, about 1 minute more.
  6. Assemble the burgers on toasted rolls with the chipotle mayonnaise, half a roasted pepper, cabbage, tomato and onion.

TIPS & NOTES

  • Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate the chipotle mayonnaise (Step 3) for up to 5 days.
  • Ingredient Note: Chipotle chiles in adobo sauce are smoked jalapeƱos packed in a flavorful sauce. Look for the small cans with the Mexican foods in large supermarkets. Once opened, they'll keep up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator or 6 months in the freezer. You can also find them dried with other chiles or at melissas.com and ground in the spice section of many supermarkets.
  • Tips:
  • To oven-roast peppers:
  • 1. Preheat oven to 450°F. Place a wire rack on a large baking sheet. Arrange whole bell peppers on the rack.
  • 2. Roast peppers in the center of the oven, turning occasionally with tongs, until blackened in places, 30 to 40 minutes.
  • 3. Transfer the peppers to a large bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let steam for 10 minutes. Uncover and let cool.
  • 4. With a paring knife, remove stems, skins and seeds. If serving as antipasto, combine accumulated juices with peppers.
  • To oil the grill rack: Oil a folded paper towel, hold it with tongs and rub it over the rack. (Do not use cooking spray on a hot grill.) When grilling delicate foods like tofu and fish, it is helpful to spray the food with cooking spray.

NUTRITION


Per serving: 416 calories; 19 g fat ( 7 g sat , 6 g mono ); 82 mg cholesterol; 34 g carbohydrates; 30 gprotein; 7 g fiber; 695 mg sodium; 628 mg potassium.
Nutrition Bonus: Zinc (47% daily value), Vitamin C (35% dv), Iron (30% dv), Vitamin A (25% dv), Calcium (20% dv).
Carbohydrate Servings: 2
Exchanges: 2 starch, 3 1/2 medium-fat meat



Eating Well is one of my favorite food magazine and online forum for healthy recipes!!! Also what goes well with Mexican Food? Margaritas!! I have a great healthy margarita recipe!! 
Sassypant's Margarita
Ingredients:
Baja Bobs Sugar Free Margarita Mix- Sugar Free and Zero Calories.
El Jimador 100% De Agave Blanco Tequila
1 Lime and 1 Orange
In a glass fill 1/4 with ice 2 lime slices and 1 orange slice. Muddle until ice is crushed and fruit is muddled. Add 1.5 oz of El Jimador Tequila and 4oz of Baja Bobs Margarita Mix. Cap with Shaker and shake for 10 seconds, fill the rest of the glass with ice and serve!