Tag: Cream Cheese

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General Weight Loss Tips

31 Recipes

This month I’m participating in FloCoIMo which is Floyd’s (and beyond) alternative to NanoWrimo. My idea first was to create an art journal, but after the first day of the year that seemed like too much work for me right now. I imagine I’d sit around the last week of the year hurridly putting something together, just because. And so I went back to my original idea, which someone told me would be too much, but that’s me, I’m doing it any way. 31 recipes in January.

So far I’ve made five and I actually want to do it, I look forward to each recipe. It goes along nicely with my resolution to cook more and I’m trying out new recipes that I’ve been saving up for way too long.

Yesterday morning for brunch I had another tandoori chicken burger served on naan. Recipes one and two of the month. I just love this recipe.

For dinner I made Black Bean and Sweet Potato Enchilada Casserole. I was scared that I wouldn’t like the mushy texture of the sweet potatoes in this, but I did. This recipe was a success, Josh said “I think this is even better than I think it is” as he is now battling the same sickness I had over the weekend. It was very good. Savory, spicy (but not too hot) and comforting.

I made a few minor changes to the recipe, which you can find here. I used kidney beans instead of black because my black beans were not done soaking. I used tomatoes with green chilis in the sweet potato mixture instead of just chilis. I added red onions to the layers. I didn’t use cream cheese. I used cheddar cheese instead and on top. I used beef broth instead of chili when making the green chili sauce, only because that’s what I had on hand. I served with avocados sprinkled with sea salt. I also made more sweet potatoes than that recipe suggests so I could put it in a bigger pan and make six servings. This will definitely be made again.

My fifth recipe is Five Ingredient Granola. I used pecans, oatmeal, chocolate chips, peanut butter, sea salt, honey+corn syrup.

These were good, but way too sweet, especially post Christmas. Next time I would use dried cranberries, more nuts and all honey.

 

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I Will Wear Anything

The day started with an Insanity workout, which was insane. I skipped Thursday’s workout meaning that I will have to exercise tomorrow, my usual day off , to make up for it. I’ve learned that morning exercise is the way to go for me, especially in the winter and Thursday just didn’t happen.

Insanity Workout Review

I drank tons of water and made a mental note to carry my water bottle with me where ever I went today.

 

I made a fruit smoothie for breakfast. Granola was an amazing addition.

And then I got dressed for the day and realized something that I need to share: I will wear anything. Even if I probably shouldn’t. I’m  sure there is some rule book out there for big girls in their late 20’s. You know the one about not wearing puffy vests, and bright colors? I laugh in the face of fashion rules! This is why I should never give fashion advice. I will try my darnedest to “make it work”. For real. Too old? no! too fat? no! too bright? no! Bring it! This is also why you should never take me clothing shopping with you. I will encourage you to buy anything that makes your heart pitter patter, even if fashion says otherwise. I will encourage and celebrate headbands on grown women, false eye lashes for the office and sparkly shoes that were trendy seven years ago. You’ve been warned.

Lunch was a big giant salad that I’m calling “fall salad”, because of the cranberries, of course. It was filled with other yummy things like goat cheese, pecans and ginger dressing. And then I hemmed and hawed over having baked spaghetti. Would the salad be enough? Do I really need the spaghetti? Will the salad keep me full? So I did was any rational person would do and ate the spaghetti. The cream cheese baked spaghetti that my bff Jasmine told me that I needed to “omg make right now!” because it was on pinterest and it’s delicious. So I made it with whole wheat noodles and vodka sauce and I’ll be darned if that didn’t come out to 530 calories per serving. That’s what happens when you put a whole block of cream cheese into your spaghetti. You won’t regret it. Luckily, I portioned everything out into single serving freezer cups to prevent it from tempting me too much.

creamcheesebakedspaghetti

For a mid-afternood treat I drank a mug of Tazo passion tea, unsweetened.

For dinner I made the most popular Fenn household dish. Are you ready? Vegetable and peanut stir fry! Not kidding, it’s the very best thing that I make. We both love it, it’s easy, it’s quick, it’s healthy, it’s bulky, it’s vegetables, it’s cheap, it’s everything I could hope for.

It’s so easy and fail proof, just vegetables, garlic, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, soy sauce, peanuts, rice vinegar, water and honey.

I had another tea right after dinner. This time it was caramel black tea with a little milk and sugar.

And then I succumbed to an after-after dinner treat while re-watching Mad Men. I really went back and forth on this. I rationalized heating a little cookie dough in the microwave. I really truly did. It wasn’t much, and I ate it slowly. Did I need it? no. Did it derail my day? no. Did I end up eating more? no. So I’m okay with that. I did have a real moment with myself when I wanted more, because I will always want more in that, more wouldn’t taste any different and would make me sick. I’ve been there. I just wanted a little. But, I’ve been here before with “just a taste” which has turned into a weeks worth of calories. I’m realizing that eating more of anything when I’m full is never fulfilling, I just need to keep reminding myself of that every day.

Stuff I liked about today: I had a plan with food, exercise and even my work. I got a lot done today and I feel good for that. I also feel good that I drank lots of water and had servings of fruit and vegetables at each meal. I net about 1,600 calories.

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Mini Food

Hors d’oeuvres, appetizers, finger foods…whatever you call it, I love them. For some reason, I think the variety, I love food served in bite-size portions. Last week I went to an event for a local women’s magazine and was just so smitten with the variety of single-serving food that I had to take pictures and share with you guys.

This plate is small, about 6 inches in diameter and check out those shot glasses! Here’s what was on my plate: blueberry salad which had some sort of vinaigrette mixed in. A slight basil flavor and tangy with olive oil. In the other shot glass you will find a bit of lettuce at the bottom, then a layer of egg salad topped with a few thin slices of smoked salmon and a sping of dill. A little cucumber and cream cheese tea sandwich wedge. It was light and crisp. A banana bread sandwich, right beside the blueberry salad. I loved this idea. Two thin slices of banana bread with a  layer of cream cheese in between. A couple of vegetable chips. And then a flaky almond galette. I tasted almond paste, which is one of my most favorite things in the world.

I made effort at this event to only eat what I truly wanted and to share dessert with my friend. But, what I really love is that it was a small sampling of really good food. It wasn’t a buffet gorge sort of thing, just nice little treats that were well executed and delicious. I want to apply this mentality more to my everyday life. Having a taste and moving on. It’s difficult for me because when something is really delicious, I want a lot of it, and then it isn’t special anymore. This food felt special to me like an indulgent treat and not in an unreasonable amount. Eating this plate of food in its white flour, sugar and cream cheese glory would not make anyone overweight. This plate is not the problem. It’s only when you multiply this plate, add guilt, and secrecy that it becomes a problem. And I want to learn this lesson over and over if I have to. Special food should remain special.

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