Meal Plan #5

Meals from 2/18/2015 - 2/25/2015

For breakfast my husband and I eat oatmeal and eggwhites with veggies. On saturdays I make protein pancakes and sometimes a casserole. The kids eat cereal but are wanting to eat oats and eggs to now (they are teenagers)

Lunches:
My daughter takes leftovers and so does my son, when he remembers to take a lunch. My husband makes a Salad to take and I eat a salad or leftovers.

Snacks:
I have protein bars, protein shakes, or cooked chicken with rice.

Thursday:
Balsamic Chicken w/Pasta and Zucchini

Firday:
Turkey Burgers, with Sweet potato Friday, and Zucchini Chips

Satuday:
We are going to the Faire so we are eating out for once.

Sunday:
Salmon, Brussel Sprouts and Rice

Monday:
Lentil Soup (Recipe will be posted)

Tuesday:
Fajitas in Lettuce wraps or gluten free Tortillas

Wednesday:
Eggroll in a bowl

Thursday:
Curry Stew

That's our menu for this week. :D

Saturday Musings on the past week...

This past week has been a bit rough.

I wasn't feeling so well on Thursday and Friday. I had a night mare on Thursday that I woke up from and I could not shake it and then in the afternoon I started to feel like I was getting sick, headache, runny nose and cold. I could not get my body temp right. I am wondering if it has something to do with my body getting enough Vitamin D now. As I was diagnosed to have Vitamin D deficiency.
I also noticed this is Week 3 now since I am taking it and I started to have dreams again and remembering them. Which is sometimes really cool, sometimes not so much.
So Thursday was also the day my legs told me that they would appreciate it, if we were not to workout. So I did a rest day. I also was in bed by 8:30pm.

Friday I woke up feeling better but still not 100%, but I made myself go for a walk once it was warmer and that turned into my regular 5K walk and I beat my best time as well I got it done in 57minutes.
The rest of the day wen't well.  Well ok I am lying I got on the scale in the morning and was not happy as I was at 266.2 I still had lost half a lb from the previous week. But instead of eating my weight in chocolate I went for that walk.
Then last night we had family for Dinner and I was content and happy.

Today my husband got up at the crack of dawn and ran a 15K, yes he is a runner and is running his first half marathon next weekend and I am very proud of him, but I got woken up and could not get back to sleep. But I decided to stay in bed anyways. Well I was futzing around to late to go to the Combat class at the gym. So I decided to workout in our driveway and modify the workout my trainer gave me to fit the equipment I have here at the house. It was not easy.

Then after that I got to do what I love the most, is hanging out with my husband and run errands with no kids. It's my favorite thing. And I got a new pair of Cross Trainer Shoes, I didn't know Under Armour makes shoes, but I tried them on, they fit like a glove and came home with me. I did have to buy a size 9, cause the 8.5 were to small. But I got them.

Then for Dinner we were supposed to have Chicken Gyros, well I forgot to take the chicken out of the feezer, so we had Sirloin Tip Steak and I made a killer creamy mushroom sauce to go with it.Gluten Free and Dairy Free.

I hope this coming week will be a bit better. I am really happy with this Journey so far and in two week I get to Hug Jared Padalecki :D cause my wonderful husband got me a Photo Op for Valentine's Day. How awesome is that?

Here is to a better week.

Week 6 started with a bang...

I started week 6 yesterday and boy did I start it with bang...

I broke my pinky finger on my right hand. Just a word of advise, don't try to be all Ninja when your weight slips on the rack. It is a stupid move and landed me at the Doctor's office. At first they thought it was just badly bruised, but then x-rays showed that I litterally broke the tip of my finger. *sigh, that means I am in a splint for the next 4, yes you read that right FOUR weeks.

My proud moment is, that this happened half way thru the workout, but guess what? I finished that suckers.

Also I found pictures on my phone that we took in August when I weighed in at 285lb. and I took pictures Yesterday at 266lb. I can see a small difference, but people tell me there is a pretty big difference. I don't know you decide, the top is from Yesterday and the bottom is August.

I am also greatful that my Trainer Gabriel from HOLYFIT in Austin has my back, when he found out about my finger, he said we will modify the workouts so that I can still train, cause guess what doing Cardio for 4 weeks is not happening. 

Now comes the part that messes with my head, so I have done so well for 5 weeks and then this happens. First I feel stupid that it happened, second, how can a 12lb. weight fucking break your finger? and 3rd why? 

Also today was weird, I went to the gym and did cardio, then came home and cooked and took 2 Ibuprofen, casue I was in pain, it knocked me out, I took a nap till 1pm. So I haven;t taken any more since I do have work to do, but that didn't happen much cause I was in pain. I really hope tomorrow will be better. I did get some stuff put a way in the house, but that was pretty much it. *sigh

But I came up with a pretty yummy eggplant recipe which I will share with you tomorrow.

Stuffed Bell Peppers (Gluten free and Dairy free)

I found a recipe to stuff bell peppers with Quinoa, ground beef, spinach and mushrooms a couple of years back. Today I made it to fit my new eating clean habit. Everybody loved it. I made peppers for the family with Quinoa and I left it out for myself, as I don't eat complex carbs after 3pm.
Also finding a Vegan "Cheese" that would work was hard, but Go Veggie Brand Mozzarella Shreds seem to work and taste pretty g

This makes about 6 stuffed peppers

Ingridients:
6 bell peppers
1lb. ground tukey (I used 93/7)
3-4 Cups of Spinach
8 white mushrooms
1/4 cup and some to top Go Veggie! Mozzarella Shred
half an onion
1 cup cooked Quinoa
Salt and Pepper,
Oregano and Basil
1 tbsp Olive Oil

Preheat oven to F350
Chop the onion and sautee in Olive oil, then add the mushrooms, let them cook for a minute or two, then add the spinach, once the spinach is a wilted, put that aside. Brown the ground turkey until no more pink, season with Salt, Pepper, Oregano and Basil. Then put the Turkey into the veggie mixture and add the Quinoa and Go Veggie. Mix. (for me, I mixed everything, but the Quinoa and stuffed my pepper, after I took my portion out I added the Quinoa)
Cut the Tops off the Bell Peppers and take all the seeds out then fill with the mixture. Sprinkle with a little bit of Go Veggie. Set the peppers into a baking dish and bake for 35mins.

Nutrition:
320 Calories,  12g fat, 2g sat. fat, 19g carbs, 6g fiber, 3g sugar, 31g protein

the one on the right is the one without the Quinoa

Enjoy !!!

Week 5, take 3 on getting this written

This is the 3rd time I am sitting down and start to write this blog entry.

Things are going well, I survived Thanksgiving by actually loosing a lb. and I made it gluten and dairy free. The kids loved the food as well, which is always a plus.

I will add the links with the recipes to the list as I write them. Some I made up some I can just link up. :D

Our feast had the following dishes:

Turkey Breast
Mashed Sweet Potatos
Caramelized Rosmary Carrots
Green Beans with Tomatos and Pine nuts
Roasted Cauliflower
Crockpot Cranberry Chutney I used only 1/4 cup of coconut sugar and I left our the raisins and nuts.


Apple Crumble I used this Recipe for the filling, but only 1/4cup of Coconut sugar and this recipe for the topping.
Pumpkin Pie this was a little tricky, I didn't have enough walnuts so I used almonds and it made it a bit greasy. It was delicious. But it could have used less coconut oil.

I hit the gym on Thursday and it felt good, especially after hurting my knee on Tuesday. Then Friday we went to the Renaissance Fair and I was so happy that a corset I bought the year before finally fit me. My fitbit went off at noon with my walking goal. And then it messed up and didn't read right. But I was so tired the next day. I didn't get to the gym Saturday or Sunday.

But here we are, week 5.
So far I am down 8lb., 8,8 inches all over and dropped my body fat by 4%. That is amazing in 4 weeks. I thought going gluten and dairy free would be hard, but it's easier than I thought. Also I noticed my excema on my hands is almost gone. I haven't had a flareup since I started this journey.
I am also a full pants size down, I fit in a pair of Jeans I haven't worn in two years, so this makes me very happy.


Keep fighting...
Claudia

Creamy Tuna Curry with Cauliflower

When I was a kid, we didn't have a lot of money and my sister and I used to go to a neighbor for lunch. And this neighbor used to make Tuna on a white sauce that had curry added and served it over rice. It became one of our favorite meals.
So sometimes, when I am homesick, or just a bit blue (well dealing with depression will do that) I cook comfort foods that remind me of home. But now with my new healthy eating habits, I have to change the recipes.
So yesterday, I was not feeling great, and there was not a lot in the pantry, as the groceries were delivered later in the evening. Steve said there is Tuna and a light bulb went on in my head. I had to try and make the Tuna Dish gluten and dairy free.
So here is the recipe, I hope you like it.

Ingridients:
makes 4 servings
2 cans of Tuna
1tbsp Coconut Oil
1tbsp brown rice flour.
one can of light coconut milk ( I had this in the fridge, so it was thick)
Curry Powder
Salt and Pepper


Heat up the Coconut oil and then add the rice flour. when it has soaked up all the oil add 2-3 tbsp of curry, depending on how hot/spicy you like your food. Then add the coconut milk and whisk out all the clumps. Simmer till it thickens.
I served this over steamed Cauliflower as I don't do starches in the evening, but you can serve it over rice.

En Guete!!! (as we say in Switzerland)

Nutrition:
200 calories, 11g fat, 9g carbs, 1g sugars, 19gr protein

Warrior smoothie -- Non Dairy

My after workout shake:

1 scoop of Vanilla Warrior Blend Protein Powder
8oz of Water
1/4 Cup of So Delicious Vanilla Yogurt
1/2 Cup of frozen Berries

Stick it all in a blender and blend. I use a bullet blender cause then my smoothie is already in a drinking ready glass.

Nutrition info:
205 Calories, 4g fat, 19g carbs and 22g protein.

Day 3 is the worst to keep going...

It's day 3 of my Journey that seems to be ongoing forever now. But here I am. I woke up this morning with legs so sore, I could barely walk. I even took a hot bath last night and that apparently didn't help much. But I digress.
So here I was day 3, hurting. In the past I would make it to day 3 and then stop working out, cause I was to sore, and I made excuses, that I would go back the next day and then just never did.
Well NOT TODAY, I went to the gym and I workout. I even got on the Elliptical for my warm up and Lo and behold I didn't die. Actually my legs felt better after I got off it. I did most of the workout my trainer gave me, but this time I was proud to actually almost do all the exercises. I didn't feel like a failure, cause I looked on the bright side. I beat DAY 3. I went to the gym and worked out instead of sitting at home.
Then I got home and made a delicious protein smoothie. I am going gluten and Dairy free. There will be challenges. I bought the recommended Protein powder, but it came in Vanilla instead of Chocolate. I will remedy that later today. The vanilla was good and I will post the recipe today.

The best part of my workout was, when on the elliptical, I actually was lipsynching to the Supernatural Parody of "Shake it off" and I had a blast doing it. Music is so important for me to workout, it sets my Rhythm.

I am ok with this....

I got this... or so I think...

I am no writer by any means, but I decided this time around I will do my best to keep up with writing this. I am mergin this blog and my ramblings cause they all tie in together. Healthy cooking, working out, my obsession with Supernatural and this Journey.
It's been 5 years that I packed on the 80lb. I lost in 2006. plus and extra 20. Thanks being over 40. I thought I could do it again by myself, but I realized this is not happening this time. So a friend of mine had amazing results with Holy Fit in Austin and the great thing is Gabriel does online clients. I also talked my beloved husband into doing with me. Except he wants to loose only a little bit of fat and gain mostly muscle.
So here we are on Day 2. I was given the task of doing 30-40 minutes of Cardio. Well one Episode of Supernatural on Netflix is 41minutes long. So I watched that and then added 4 minutes of cool down to it. Having a Trainer makes the differnce, even thou he is not there, I am still accountable for everything. I wear my HR monitor and that way I track how many calories I burn.
On day 1, I got the workout and at first it didn't look to hard. Well when I got to Circuit 3 halfway I wanted to puke and I felt dizzy, so I called it quits. I texted Gabriel and then called my husband. I was close to crying cause I failed, I didn't finish the workout. Then my husband told me, you went to the gym, you did workout, you didn't stay home, this is a victory. He always knows to tell me the right things. Then Gabriel called later in the day and told me that I got a lot farther then he thought. And that I did good. That put a smile on my face for the rest of the day.
So yeah, I need to re learn to focus on the positive and don't dwell on the Negative.
I also made this edit for a group. These are not Jared's words, but he just puts a smile on my face every day.

I have a long Journey ahead but each step that I take will take me closer.

Spaghetti Squash with Chicken Marinara Sauce

I love easy recipes... so here it goes...


2 Chickenbreasts
1 Jar Marinara Sauce ( I use Central Market organic)
1 Spaghetthi Squash
Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper, basil and oregano


Preheat oven at 350F.

Cut Spaghetti Squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Then put face down on a cookie sheet. I put foil on the sheet. Bake for 40 mins or until fork tender.

Sauce,

Heat about a tsp of olive oil, cut the chicken breast into half inch pieces and cook in the heated olive oil. Once cooked thru, add Marinara Sauce. Season with salt and peper and Basil and Oregano to your liking. Simmer for 15-20mins.

Serve with Parmesan Cheese.
This is low carb, low fat.

5 Spice Turkey Lettuce Wraps...

This is an altered version of the recipe I got from weigh forward.

Ingridients for 4 Servings:

1lb ground lean turkey

1.5 cups cooked rice

1tbps sesame oil

1 red bell pepper (diced)

1/2 red onion (sliced)

2 med. carrots (peeled and shredded)

1/2 tsp 5 spice

2 tbsp Hoisin sauce

2 hearts of Romaine Lettuce

Brown the Turkey, once fully cooked add rice, pepper, onion, carrot, hoisin, 5spice and stir. Let it heat for about 2-3 minutes. 

Use the Romaine Lettuce as wraps.

Nutrtion per serving:

247 Calories, 9.2gr fat, 2.5 Sat. Fat, Cholesterol 90mg, Carbs 13.8gr, Fiber 2.5 gr, Sugars 4.1 gr and Protein 21.6gr.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole...

I found this on Instagram, but changed it to my families size in a 9"x 9" glass dish.

Ingredients: (6 servings)
Corn Tortillas, I used 6 of them
1 can red enchilada sauce
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
2 chicken breasts cooked ( I had a roasted chicken and used that meant I had leftovers for other lunches)
1.5cups of Mexican Mix Cheese

Prep:
Pour 1/4 of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of the dish then use 3 tortillas to cover it. Use half of the corn and half of the Beans and half the cooked and shredded Chicken, use a half a cup of cheese.
Repeat that layer again and then cover with sauce, tortillas sauce and cheese.
Preheat oven to 350F, cover dish with Tinfoil and cook for 30mins. Take off tinfoil and cook another 15mins.

And voila.
You can put some avocado on top and season with Cilantro, I am not a fan of Cilantro. But I made this the day before and it turned out great.

Nutrition:
305 Calories, 9g fat, 34g carb and 22g Protein

Overnight Oatmeal Parfait...

I like oatmeal, but I don't like to cook in the morning... So when I found this Overnight oatmeal recipe on Pinterest I thought "Self let's try this"

I changed the recipe and here it is:

Mix all these in a small Tupperware container or bowl.

1/4 c. of oats
1/4 c. of Vanilla Almond Milk
1 tsp. Chia Seeds
Cinnamon

Cover and put in the fridge overnight.

This morning I layered the following in another Tupperware container...

1/2 c. of Fage fat free yogurt
1/2 tbsp of natural Peanut butter
1/2 c. of fresh sliced strawberries.

It was delicious and I am definitely going to make it again.

Nutrition Facts:
257 Cals, 7.3gr fat, 31.6g carbs 17.8gr protein.

Mug Cake for your sweet tooth.

Yesterday I had a hankering for cake and I didn't have any and I know you can bake with the cellucor protein powders so I went on pinterest and found a recipe.
I changed it slightly and I tried it twice with different flavors of Protein Powder, also the cake is pretty dense, so half a serving was enough for me and I shared it with the hubby so it's like dessert for two.

Alright here it is...

2 TBSP Coconut flour
1 TBSP Protein powder (i used Cor Fetti and Molton Chocolate from CelluCor)
2 egg whites
1 TBSP Greek yogurt ( I used fat free)
2 TBSP vanilla almond milk
1/2 TSP baking powder

mix all the ingredients, put into a creased mug. cook on high for 2 minutes in the micro wave.

Icing... mix 1/4c. of Greek yogurt with 1/2 scoop of protein powder, pour over the cake.

I didn't take a good picture of the cakes, but you can follow me on instagram swissmom8873

Enjoy!!!

Sunday Breakfast Fritatta...

I love cooking and I love breakfast, so finding yummy healthy breakfast foods is always a plus. I found this recipe years ago when I lost weight the first time. Yeah, I've done the yo yo thing.

This is a family favorite at my house and it also great if you serve it at a brunch...

Fritatta Recipe:
8lg eggs (you can do this with egg whites)
2 ripe tomatoes
1/2 cup of Italian Cheese grated
fresh basil, salt & pepper to taste
1tbsp Avocado Oil
1tbsp of milk

Heat the Avocado oil in a frying pan that can go in the oven.
Crack the eggs, season with salt & pepper, mix in the milk and whisk. Slice the tomatoes and basil leaves.
Pour in half of the egg mix into the pan and then layer the tomatoes, basil and cheese, pour the rest of the eggs on top. Then turn on the broiler and put you pan in. A little higher than the middle rack. Leave it for 7mins. Take it out and slice it.

1/4 Fritatta Nutrition:
230 Calories, 17.1gr of fat, 5.5gr. sat fat, 3.7gr carbs, 16.7gr of protein.

On the side I served a bowl of berries, drizzled with raw honey and a dollop of Greek yogurt.

Bon Apetit

Easy yummy Breakfast for on the go...

I love being able to grab something really fast out of the fridge if I need to head out. So this Chia Pudding is amazing and yummy. I prep like 4 of them at a time, I got these awesome screw lid tupper wares and they are perfect for this.

Chia Breakfast Pudding:
2 1/2 Tablespoons Chia Seeds ( I got mine in the health food section)
3/4cup vanilla Almond milk
1/2 scoop of Protein Powder
Mix all put in fridge after 30mins mix again, so it doesn't clump and you get all the seeds from the bottom as well. This is IMPORTANT... if you don't do this it gets clumpy and just not really good.

Then close up an fridgerate. I put berries on top when I eat it.

Nutrition:
239 Calories, 9.3gr fat, 0.8gr sat. Fat, 23gr carbs, 15.1gr protein.

Enjoy!!!!

Eggplant Parmesan Strips Gluten Free

Ingridients:

1 eggplant, peeled and cut into strips about 2"long and 1/4" wide
1 cup eggwhites
1.5 cups corn meal
3 tbsp Parmesan
Dried Basil, salt Pepper

Preheat oven 375F

put the eggwhites in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, in a second bowl mix cornmeal, parmesan and about 2 tsp of dried basil.
Take your egg plant and put them in the egg whites and then roll them in the cornmeal mix. Put on a cookie sheet that is lined with foil and some cooking spray.
Put in the oven for 10mins then turn them over and cook another 7mins. And voila, they are nice and cripsy on the outside and soft on the inside.
I heated up a jar of my favorite tomato sauce (garlic and basil from HEB) and served that with it.
As side dishes I made tomato cucumber salad and garden mix salad.

One eggplant made about 20 pieces... Nutrition for 1 piece:
28calories, 0.4g Fat, 5g Carb, 1.4g Protein

Enjoy

Claudia