Wow, what a great day to spend outside!
Aaron and I moved some furniture around all morning to be able to accommodate our 2 new recliners that will be delivered soon. We really got a nice workout and after all the exercise, my back felt much better.
I had ordered some natural foods from Peapod.com which arrived this morning. So we tried Stevia sweetener for the first time in soda and it really was quite good. I also ordered some natural yogurts sweetened with honey and boy were they delicious.
I enjoyed spending time with my family for dinner and horror movies. We ordered out tonight since we worked all day and I didn't feel like cooking. So we splurged and had ribs from Jimano's in Gurnee. Ok, not the diet meal that I really needed to have, so back on track tomorrow.
Food For Thought:
I have a tendancy to munch more snack types of foods on Friday nights and Saturdays when we watch TV. I'm going to work on decreasing this behavior while I plan to munch on healthy snacks. Maybe I can do my floor exercises while we watch TV too. Hmmm, something to think about.
Have a great evening!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
We had a truly wonderful eating experience last night at Emilio's Tapas Bar in Hillside, IL. At 6pm they began the reception with 20 different Spanish wines to taste - some of which included: Rose Cava (sparkling wine), Albarino, Verdejo, Chardonnay, Garnacha, Monastrell and Tempranillo. During the reception, the wait-staff carried around platters of tapas which were sausages on little pieces of bread. The four different sausages were rabbit over garlic mayonnaise, venison on sweet carmelized onions and brown spicy mustard, elk made the same way and then wild boar with sweet red peppers. They tasted smokey, spicy, salty, sweet, yum!
We then were requested to take our seats at one of the 8 tables of 10. The first wine was poured for the first course - Ensalada de Rabbit with Thyme Champagne Vinaigrette. This was served with a Verdejo - a white wine. The second course was Grilled Quail with Sauteed Cabbage and Onion with Pistachio Honey Sauce served with a Garnacha - a red wine. The 3rd course was Cazuela of Boar Stew with Fava Beans & Autumn Vegetables served with a Monastrell - a red wine. The fourth course was Roast Venison Loin with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Forbidden Black Rice served with a Tinta de Toro - a red wine. For dessert they served a Puff Pastry with Carmelized Spaghetti Squash and Whipped Cream lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar along with a Cream Sherry - a dessert wine.
Throughout the dinner we viewed a slide show on the different vineyards and wine regions in Spain and learned many different interesting facts about Spanish wines from the speaker. At the end of the dinner Emilio brought out his cooks and we all clapped for their grand feast. On the way out Emilio held out his hand to me but I threw my arms around him and kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for a delicious experience!
We ordered 7 bottles of wine: 2 Verdejo, 1 Garnacha, 3 Monastrell and 1 Tinta de Toro.
Despite all the wine that was served and the 5 course meal, we did not leave drunk or even tipsy and we were not stuffed. I took my blood sugar before we went to bed and it was 138. I slept with a smile on my face.
This afternoon my Mom took us to La-Z-Boy and bought us 2 new recliners for our Christmas gifts this year. We were squealing with delight - the style is Gibson and they are a dark chocolate brown leather. We look forward to many years of comfort relaxing in our new chairs. They should be delivered in about 10 days. Thanks Mom!
We then were requested to take our seats at one of the 8 tables of 10. The first wine was poured for the first course - Ensalada de Rabbit with Thyme Champagne Vinaigrette. This was served with a Verdejo - a white wine. The second course was Grilled Quail with Sauteed Cabbage and Onion with Pistachio Honey Sauce served with a Garnacha - a red wine. The 3rd course was Cazuela of Boar Stew with Fava Beans & Autumn Vegetables served with a Monastrell - a red wine. The fourth course was Roast Venison Loin with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Forbidden Black Rice served with a Tinta de Toro - a red wine. For dessert they served a Puff Pastry with Carmelized Spaghetti Squash and Whipped Cream lightly sprinkled with powdered sugar along with a Cream Sherry - a dessert wine.
Throughout the dinner we viewed a slide show on the different vineyards and wine regions in Spain and learned many different interesting facts about Spanish wines from the speaker. At the end of the dinner Emilio brought out his cooks and we all clapped for their grand feast. On the way out Emilio held out his hand to me but I threw my arms around him and kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for a delicious experience!
We ordered 7 bottles of wine: 2 Verdejo, 1 Garnacha, 3 Monastrell and 1 Tinta de Toro.
Despite all the wine that was served and the 5 course meal, we did not leave drunk or even tipsy and we were not stuffed. I took my blood sugar before we went to bed and it was 138. I slept with a smile on my face.
This afternoon my Mom took us to La-Z-Boy and bought us 2 new recliners for our Christmas gifts this year. We were squealing with delight - the style is Gibson and they are a dark chocolate brown leather. We look forward to many years of comfort relaxing in our new chairs. They should be delivered in about 10 days. Thanks Mom!
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Weigh-in Results
Just a quick post today...
Good Morning, I wanted to share with all of you that I am now down to 195.5 pounds. 4 pounds down, 56 to go! I'm so excited that my efforts are continuing to pay off.
Tonight we have our wine / game dinner at Emilio's Tapas Bar in Hillside, IL. (Yes, Emilio's is spelled with an i and not an e. I'm learning!). I know we are going to get home late so I wanted to share my good news with you now.
Our menu tonight includes rabbit, quail, boar and venison followed by a puff pastry dessert. Stay tuned for tomorrow's update with a full review of all the tantalizing flavors.
Food For Thought:
"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels!" Ok, this is going to be a struggle tonight...
Good Morning, I wanted to share with all of you that I am now down to 195.5 pounds. 4 pounds down, 56 to go! I'm so excited that my efforts are continuing to pay off.
Tonight we have our wine / game dinner at Emilio's Tapas Bar in Hillside, IL. (Yes, Emilio's is spelled with an i and not an e. I'm learning!). I know we are going to get home late so I wanted to share my good news with you now.
Our menu tonight includes rabbit, quail, boar and venison followed by a puff pastry dessert. Stay tuned for tomorrow's update with a full review of all the tantalizing flavors.
Food For Thought:
"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels!" Ok, this is going to be a struggle tonight...
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A Little Help From My Friends - And Family!
Good Evening! I have some tips from my good friend Joyce, from my Mom Sue, and from my Aunt Liz.
From Joyce:
I substitute olive oil spray for drizzles, and I find I use much less oil and still get the flavor. It works well on garlic bread, oven fried potatoes, chicken and fish, and all vegetables. It’s not as messy as drizzling and tossing either. Give it a try sometime! You might just love it!
For oven fries, use good baking potatoes. Slice lengthwise into wedges, place on baking sheet, spray with light coating of oil, and sprinkle with seasoning. I use Mrs. Dash (table blend) and a little paprika for color, and just a tiny sprinkle of salt. Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes, turning once. Time varies according to thickness of wedges. Delicious!
From Sue:
I love this website. Anything you want to know about food...
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
From Liz:
For years I used sugar substitutes. We found it caused a lot of problems with my joints. Once I returned to sugar use, in small amounts, my joints improved. I also try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, this has been substituted for sugar in many products. (cheaper)
In the 70's we didn't eat at fast food restaurants, we ate at home. We also didn't watch as much TV and never ate while watching it except an occasional popcorn for a ball game.
Just wanted to share what I have figured out. Eat slower, and a little less; substitute vegetables for 2nds and move more. I use sugar, butter and anything that isn't man made.
More on sugar substitutes:
Well, as my very wise husband reminds me, the internet is a place where you can second guess everything and drive yourself crazy going in circles. So my research on sugar substitutes has led me to find out a few things. If I'm understanding everything correctly...Aspartame was created by a Searle employee over 20 years ago and it took them almost that long for the FDA to approve it. Despite controversy that it was thought to cause some brain cancers in lab mice, it was pushed into being approved with a GRAS stamp. GRAS means Generally Regarded As Safe. McNeil stumbled upon a new sweetener by adding chlorine to chemically alter a derivitive of sugar, which they call Splenda, from sucralose. Eventually the creators of Aspartame sued the creators of Splenda for false advertising and they've been battling in the courts and through the Better Business Bureau for years. In the meantime, the Sugar industry was losing money so they began creating websites and other alerts to discourage people from consuming Aspartame and Splenda. Politics, Drug Companies, Lawyers, the FDA are all involved and are all making a huge profit from this controversy and from sales.
So where does that leave us? It will take some time to figure it all out. Nonetheless, I am still horrified by the articles I am reading and scared about consuming any more sugar substitutes. It would appear that Splenda is the least offensive. However, there are other new natural sweeteners out there such as Stevia, Agave Nectar, and Honey (watch the calories!). Peapod.com sells an organic/natural carbonated soda that is sweetened with Stevia, which is a natural plant derivitive, but it is very costly. How long has Stevia been tested? What are the side effects? Are there any long term statistics? You can go on and on with this topic and eventually drive yourself over the edge. At the end of the day, I really don't feel comfortable making a recommendation to you on what to do. I think it will have to be based on your own research, experience and gut feelings.
Aaron and I even disagree on Aspartame. I don't want it in my body any more and Aaron reminds me that when we first went on Weight Watchers several years ago, that's all we ate and between the 2 of us we lost almost 80 pounds and neither of us have a tumor or brain cancer.
However, the 80 pounds has been found again! But that's another story for another day.
(10:05pm)
From Joyce:
I substitute olive oil spray for drizzles, and I find I use much less oil and still get the flavor. It works well on garlic bread, oven fried potatoes, chicken and fish, and all vegetables. It’s not as messy as drizzling and tossing either. Give it a try sometime! You might just love it!
For oven fries, use good baking potatoes. Slice lengthwise into wedges, place on baking sheet, spray with light coating of oil, and sprinkle with seasoning. I use Mrs. Dash (table blend) and a little paprika for color, and just a tiny sprinkle of salt. Bake at 425 for about 20 minutes, turning once. Time varies according to thickness of wedges. Delicious!
From Sue:
I love this website. Anything you want to know about food...
http://www.nutritiondata.com/
From Liz:
For years I used sugar substitutes. We found it caused a lot of problems with my joints. Once I returned to sugar use, in small amounts, my joints improved. I also try to avoid high fructose corn syrup, this has been substituted for sugar in many products. (cheaper)
In the 70's we didn't eat at fast food restaurants, we ate at home. We also didn't watch as much TV and never ate while watching it except an occasional popcorn for a ball game.
Just wanted to share what I have figured out. Eat slower, and a little less; substitute vegetables for 2nds and move more. I use sugar, butter and anything that isn't man made.
More on sugar substitutes:
Well, as my very wise husband reminds me, the internet is a place where you can second guess everything and drive yourself crazy going in circles. So my research on sugar substitutes has led me to find out a few things. If I'm understanding everything correctly...Aspartame was created by a Searle employee over 20 years ago and it took them almost that long for the FDA to approve it. Despite controversy that it was thought to cause some brain cancers in lab mice, it was pushed into being approved with a GRAS stamp. GRAS means Generally Regarded As Safe. McNeil stumbled upon a new sweetener by adding chlorine to chemically alter a derivitive of sugar, which they call Splenda, from sucralose. Eventually the creators of Aspartame sued the creators of Splenda for false advertising and they've been battling in the courts and through the Better Business Bureau for years. In the meantime, the Sugar industry was losing money so they began creating websites and other alerts to discourage people from consuming Aspartame and Splenda. Politics, Drug Companies, Lawyers, the FDA are all involved and are all making a huge profit from this controversy and from sales.
So where does that leave us? It will take some time to figure it all out. Nonetheless, I am still horrified by the articles I am reading and scared about consuming any more sugar substitutes. It would appear that Splenda is the least offensive. However, there are other new natural sweeteners out there such as Stevia, Agave Nectar, and Honey (watch the calories!). Peapod.com sells an organic/natural carbonated soda that is sweetened with Stevia, which is a natural plant derivitive, but it is very costly. How long has Stevia been tested? What are the side effects? Are there any long term statistics? You can go on and on with this topic and eventually drive yourself over the edge. At the end of the day, I really don't feel comfortable making a recommendation to you on what to do. I think it will have to be based on your own research, experience and gut feelings.
Aaron and I even disagree on Aspartame. I don't want it in my body any more and Aaron reminds me that when we first went on Weight Watchers several years ago, that's all we ate and between the 2 of us we lost almost 80 pounds and neither of us have a tumor or brain cancer.
However, the 80 pounds has been found again! But that's another story for another day.
(10:05pm)
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
What's In Our Food?
I'd like to begin tonight by sharing a recipe on Tyler Florence's website:
Broccoli, Parmesan and Lemon
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Trim about 1 inch off the ends of the broccoli stalks and peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler. Then cut the broccoli lengthwise into spears. Arrange the broccoli on a non-stick cookie sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and season with a little bit of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.
Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake until the cheese melt and forms a crisp shell over the broccoli, about 10 minutes. Lift the broccoli out onto a platter with a spatula and hit it with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Mmm, I'm having such a taste for broccoli. Gosh, I thought I would never hear myself say that! My mother makes the best broccoli and I'm sure Tyler Florence's comes in second to hers. Tyler roasts his broccoli rather than boils or steams it because the flavor and vitamins are lost in the water.
For dinner tonight we had light hot dogs on whole grain buns, topped with reduced fat cheese, green onions (also known as scallions and as spring onions), yellow mustard and Hormel fat free turkey chili with beans. A light but filling meal that we crafted in our early Weight Watchers days. We are following the Weight Watchers Points plan even though I am concentrating on Mediterranean foods and cooking and watching my sugar intake. (Weight Watchers Points are directly related to calories, total fat and grams of fibre. You can learn more about this at www.WeightWatchers.com. )
Which leads me to a subject we all need to talk about - artificial sweeteners. I am horrified by the articles I am reading about most artificial sweeteners but especially Aspartame. Aaron says before I ban it from our home forever I need to do a little more research and then inform all of you too. So please note that I will be delving into whatever I can find on Aspartame and other others to make an educated decision. After looking in all of our cabinets and refrigerator tonight I'm finding it in many things including our fat free yogurt, our diet pop (obviously) and even our diet tonic water. In my preliminary reading on this subject last evening, I found that agave nectar as a natural sweetener has been discovered to actually be beneficial and stevia is from a plant and is regarded positively. In thinking about this I realized that we've always had sugar as a sweetener until our society advanced to the point where we could determine that it was causing us problems. So we came up with an alternative, saccharin, and that was found to have caused cancer in some lab mice. So we kept looking and developed some others and now that we've advanced a little further, we're finding that our current artificial sweeteners are causing us more problems than sugar was. We need to keep searching and researching and testing so that we can all have some healthy alternatives. I pray the drug companies and the FDA seriously consider what they are doing to the health of the population in order to make their millions. People need to eat, we'll buy the food, make it healthy!!!
In the meantime, I welcome you all to take a look at some articles on the controversy of Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. See what you come up with, let me know and I'll make a reference to the information in some of my upcoming posts.
Food For Thought:
Haven't you often wondered why Americans are overweight and it's (unfortunately) a socially acceptable norm? When I see movies that were made prior to 1980 most people were in shape and healthy. What were we eating in the 1970's? Many people that I've asked this of have answered along the lines of "Oh, we never had fast food restaurants that we visited or all these restaurants in general. We ate a home cooked meal every night and only went out on special occasions." That's true for the most part. But how have our grocery stores changed over the past 30 years? Why are many people paying thousands of dollars annually to be on a diet? I want to know what is in our food that is making us fat? Why is diabetes taking over so many of our bodies? People today are consuming more and more diet sodas, the diet version of many different packaged foods, low fat or fat free foods, and SUGAR SUBSTITUTES! If many people are constantly "on a diet," then why are all of these people so fat? Myself included.
I want to know, don't you?
(9:50pm)
Broccoli, Parmesan and Lemon
Preheat the oven to 400˚F.
Trim about 1 inch off the ends of the broccoli stalks and peel the stalks with a vegetable peeler. Then cut the broccoli lengthwise into spears. Arrange the broccoli on a non-stick cookie sheet, drizzle with some olive oil and season with a little bit of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground black pepper. Toss to coat evenly. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10 minutes.
Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake until the cheese melt and forms a crisp shell over the broccoli, about 10 minutes. Lift the broccoli out onto a platter with a spatula and hit it with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Mmm, I'm having such a taste for broccoli. Gosh, I thought I would never hear myself say that! My mother makes the best broccoli and I'm sure Tyler Florence's comes in second to hers. Tyler roasts his broccoli rather than boils or steams it because the flavor and vitamins are lost in the water.
For dinner tonight we had light hot dogs on whole grain buns, topped with reduced fat cheese, green onions (also known as scallions and as spring onions), yellow mustard and Hormel fat free turkey chili with beans. A light but filling meal that we crafted in our early Weight Watchers days. We are following the Weight Watchers Points plan even though I am concentrating on Mediterranean foods and cooking and watching my sugar intake. (Weight Watchers Points are directly related to calories, total fat and grams of fibre. You can learn more about this at www.WeightWatchers.com. )
Which leads me to a subject we all need to talk about - artificial sweeteners. I am horrified by the articles I am reading about most artificial sweeteners but especially Aspartame. Aaron says before I ban it from our home forever I need to do a little more research and then inform all of you too. So please note that I will be delving into whatever I can find on Aspartame and other others to make an educated decision. After looking in all of our cabinets and refrigerator tonight I'm finding it in many things including our fat free yogurt, our diet pop (obviously) and even our diet tonic water. In my preliminary reading on this subject last evening, I found that agave nectar as a natural sweetener has been discovered to actually be beneficial and stevia is from a plant and is regarded positively. In thinking about this I realized that we've always had sugar as a sweetener until our society advanced to the point where we could determine that it was causing us problems. So we came up with an alternative, saccharin, and that was found to have caused cancer in some lab mice. So we kept looking and developed some others and now that we've advanced a little further, we're finding that our current artificial sweeteners are causing us more problems than sugar was. We need to keep searching and researching and testing so that we can all have some healthy alternatives. I pray the drug companies and the FDA seriously consider what they are doing to the health of the population in order to make their millions. People need to eat, we'll buy the food, make it healthy!!!
In the meantime, I welcome you all to take a look at some articles on the controversy of Aspartame and other artificial sweeteners. See what you come up with, let me know and I'll make a reference to the information in some of my upcoming posts.
Food For Thought:
Haven't you often wondered why Americans are overweight and it's (unfortunately) a socially acceptable norm? When I see movies that were made prior to 1980 most people were in shape and healthy. What were we eating in the 1970's? Many people that I've asked this of have answered along the lines of "Oh, we never had fast food restaurants that we visited or all these restaurants in general. We ate a home cooked meal every night and only went out on special occasions." That's true for the most part. But how have our grocery stores changed over the past 30 years? Why are many people paying thousands of dollars annually to be on a diet? I want to know what is in our food that is making us fat? Why is diabetes taking over so many of our bodies? People today are consuming more and more diet sodas, the diet version of many different packaged foods, low fat or fat free foods, and SUGAR SUBSTITUTES! If many people are constantly "on a diet," then why are all of these people so fat? Myself included.
I want to know, don't you?
(9:50pm)
Monday, November 2, 2009
It's Important to Plan
I apologize - I hate typos just as much as you do! In reading my post from yesterday, I found that I spelled Tapas incorrectly.
Quoting from my cookbook, "Mediterranean Cooking:"
"In Spanish, "tapa" means a lid and it was the custom of bartenders serving glasses of sherry covered with a slice of sausage or ham which evolved into the most fascinating and imaginative selection of "little dishes" served today. Tapas bars, particularly abundant in southern Spain, serve a variety of such dishes. In these bars you can enjoy pre-dinner tasters or thoroughly indulge yourself with a selection of dishes as a main meal. Fried new potatoes, chorizo sausage in olive oil, garlic prawns and empanadillas are tapas classics."
Oh, I can't wait for Thursday night's wine dinner with Aaron at Emelio's as we celebrate his 47th birthday. It's going to be very difficult to enjoy everything this dinner has to offer and not totally go overboard, blowing the diet and getting an upset stomach - or worse! Aaron and I very diligently discussed our plan this morning. In looking at the pre-set menu for the night, we know there will be 20 wines to sample with appetizers or Tapas; 5 courses of game all with different wines paired with each dish, and dessert paired with a dessert wine. Wow, what a feast. Luckily Chef Emelio stresses quality and authentic Spanish cooking instead of quantity! I know that every bite entering my mouth will be a memory I will have for a very long time and my mouth is watering just anticipating the adventure. We plan to sample only wines we've never tried before and only 1/2 glasses with the dinner courses and a sip or 2 of the dessert wine. We plan to concentrate more on the food and try a little of all of the flavors. I think we'll be ok.
It's important to pre-plan what you are going to eat so it fits in with your diet and you don't get out of hand. In fact, this may sound a bit crazy, but I keep a list of everything that is stocked in my 2 freezers. We have a freezer chest in the garage to hold larger items such as a turkey, ice for parties, and stock up items when I see a sale. Keeping a list helps me control my menus during the week, and then I don't over buy or impulse shop when it comes time for grocery shopping. It's hard to impulse shop on Peapod.com so I try to stick with ordering groceries. You can really get some great deals and they take manufacturers coupons.
My back is feeling somewhat better and I managed to walk 1/2 mile with my DVD today. By the way, the DVD is by Leslie Sansone. She has a great collection of walking at home DVD's. She also includes low-impact aerobics which is great for beginners.
Dinner tonight consisted of 1 pork chop each and 2/3 sausage for Aaron, 1/3 for me. We enjoyed a garden salad and 1 glass of white wine. I also made ratatouille - a vegetable dish from Provence. I sauteed some Spanish onion, red and yellow peppers, zucchini (also called courgette along the Mediterranean), garlic cloves and black olives in some olive oil and sprinkled the mixture with a small amount of salt and some crushed black pepper. Absolutely delicious.
Food For Thought:
In trying to unravel the mystery of what I am doing in this overweight body, I began thinking about my history with food. My earliest memory is when I was 2. My Dad was eating a pizza and drinking a beer. I was very curious what that would taste like so I wandered over to where he was sitting watching TV and asked for some. I think it was more like pointing and whining. I bit into the pizza and grabbed hold of it. My Dad just started laughing then he offered me some beer to wash it down. I think that's when it all started going south!
(10:48 pm)
Quoting from my cookbook, "Mediterranean Cooking:"
"In Spanish, "tapa" means a lid and it was the custom of bartenders serving glasses of sherry covered with a slice of sausage or ham which evolved into the most fascinating and imaginative selection of "little dishes" served today. Tapas bars, particularly abundant in southern Spain, serve a variety of such dishes. In these bars you can enjoy pre-dinner tasters or thoroughly indulge yourself with a selection of dishes as a main meal. Fried new potatoes, chorizo sausage in olive oil, garlic prawns and empanadillas are tapas classics."
Oh, I can't wait for Thursday night's wine dinner with Aaron at Emelio's as we celebrate his 47th birthday. It's going to be very difficult to enjoy everything this dinner has to offer and not totally go overboard, blowing the diet and getting an upset stomach - or worse! Aaron and I very diligently discussed our plan this morning. In looking at the pre-set menu for the night, we know there will be 20 wines to sample with appetizers or Tapas; 5 courses of game all with different wines paired with each dish, and dessert paired with a dessert wine. Wow, what a feast. Luckily Chef Emelio stresses quality and authentic Spanish cooking instead of quantity! I know that every bite entering my mouth will be a memory I will have for a very long time and my mouth is watering just anticipating the adventure. We plan to sample only wines we've never tried before and only 1/2 glasses with the dinner courses and a sip or 2 of the dessert wine. We plan to concentrate more on the food and try a little of all of the flavors. I think we'll be ok.
It's important to pre-plan what you are going to eat so it fits in with your diet and you don't get out of hand. In fact, this may sound a bit crazy, but I keep a list of everything that is stocked in my 2 freezers. We have a freezer chest in the garage to hold larger items such as a turkey, ice for parties, and stock up items when I see a sale. Keeping a list helps me control my menus during the week, and then I don't over buy or impulse shop when it comes time for grocery shopping. It's hard to impulse shop on Peapod.com so I try to stick with ordering groceries. You can really get some great deals and they take manufacturers coupons.
My back is feeling somewhat better and I managed to walk 1/2 mile with my DVD today. By the way, the DVD is by Leslie Sansone. She has a great collection of walking at home DVD's. She also includes low-impact aerobics which is great for beginners.
Dinner tonight consisted of 1 pork chop each and 2/3 sausage for Aaron, 1/3 for me. We enjoyed a garden salad and 1 glass of white wine. I also made ratatouille - a vegetable dish from Provence. I sauteed some Spanish onion, red and yellow peppers, zucchini (also called courgette along the Mediterranean), garlic cloves and black olives in some olive oil and sprinkled the mixture with a small amount of salt and some crushed black pepper. Absolutely delicious.
Food For Thought:
In trying to unravel the mystery of what I am doing in this overweight body, I began thinking about my history with food. My earliest memory is when I was 2. My Dad was eating a pizza and drinking a beer. I was very curious what that would taste like so I wandered over to where he was sitting watching TV and asked for some. I think it was more like pointing and whining. I bit into the pizza and grabbed hold of it. My Dad just started laughing then he offered me some beer to wash it down. I think that's when it all started going south!
(10:48 pm)
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Extra Hour To Relax!
We really appreciated the extra hour today. I used the time to relax and try to get rid of this back pain. No exercise again today.
For dinner, Dolores made Pasta Fagioli and brought some upstairs for us to try. She really does a great job. I made a simple Spanish dish of boneless pork chops and hot sausage browned with onion, tomatoes, garlic, white wine, bay leaf and parsley. I served it with a garden salad. I took my blood sugar 2 hours after I ate and it was 81!
Food For Thought:
Just thinking about the holidays coming up and getting a little concerned about over eating. I'm going to plan out my menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Also in November we celebrate Aaron's birthday and Dolores's birthday each with special meals. Aaron's birthday is the 17th but we are going to celebrate on Thursday with a wine dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - Emelio's Tappas Bar - in Hillside, IL (where we used to live). It's a Spanish restaurant serving Tappas and other regional dishes. This dinner will be very special and I'll write all about our experience on Friday.
I think the best tomatoes to eat are home grown. If you can't get home grown over the winter, then select vine ripened or heirloom tomatoes. Other tomatoes - if not organic - tend to be forced to turn red so they are not really ripe and, therefore, the flavor is compromised.
(9:04pm)
For dinner, Dolores made Pasta Fagioli and brought some upstairs for us to try. She really does a great job. I made a simple Spanish dish of boneless pork chops and hot sausage browned with onion, tomatoes, garlic, white wine, bay leaf and parsley. I served it with a garden salad. I took my blood sugar 2 hours after I ate and it was 81!
Food For Thought:
Just thinking about the holidays coming up and getting a little concerned about over eating. I'm going to plan out my menus for Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. Also in November we celebrate Aaron's birthday and Dolores's birthday each with special meals. Aaron's birthday is the 17th but we are going to celebrate on Thursday with a wine dinner at one of our favorite restaurants - Emelio's Tappas Bar - in Hillside, IL (where we used to live). It's a Spanish restaurant serving Tappas and other regional dishes. This dinner will be very special and I'll write all about our experience on Friday.
I think the best tomatoes to eat are home grown. If you can't get home grown over the winter, then select vine ripened or heirloom tomatoes. Other tomatoes - if not organic - tend to be forced to turn red so they are not really ripe and, therefore, the flavor is compromised.
(9:04pm)
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