It's Kimchi day!

Current Weight: 118.8 lbs
Difference from last week:  -.6 lbs
Waist measurement:  27.25 inches
Difference from last week: -.75 inches


Goal Weight: 115
Goal Date: June 2nd, (Kay's birthday party)


Well, it's a start I guess.  I weighed myself earlier in the week and I was down to 117.4.  I was super proud of myself hoping I'd get to my goal weight by today but, no such luck.  I've figured out the only way to lose weight is for me to do about an hour of heavy duty exercise a day.  But, I'm happy with losing .6 lbs.
I was pretty active today.  I went for a 40 minute bike ride and took Baye to the pool for about 30 minutes.  When I bike I pull Baye around in a trailer.  I've always wondered how many extra calories I burn biking with that.  I found this equation online.


(My weight + bike weight + trailer weight + kid weight) x 0.28 = calories burned per mile


Okay if that equation is true then I burned


(118.8 + 46 + 29 +26) x 0.28 =
220 x 0.28 = 61.6 calories per mile
61.6 x 6 miles = 369.6


According to SparkPeople.com I only burned 150 calories.  That's a huge difference!

I got one of the greatest things in the mail today.  My mother-in-law sent me kimchi!!!  I wanted to kiss the UPS guy when he came to the door.   She didn't send me a trivial amount of kimchi.  She sent me 31 lbs of kimchi!!!

The label from the box.  31 POUNDS!!!

I am addicted to kimchi.  I'm actually a Korean food addict.  I would love to move to Korea but, I also know if I moved there I would gain all 80 pounds I've lost back and then 100 more.  


Of course I set some out for dinner.  (The UPS guy had perfect timing.  We were about 30 minutes from dinner when he arrived.)  I also made tuna burgers and mahi bugers for dinner.  Unfortunately I don't have a picture.  I'm hoping I can start to remember to take photos of all the meals that I want to include on here.  I always remember AFTER dinner that I needed a picture.  They were really delicious.  I know I overdid my fat intake at dinner due to the fact that I didn't pay attention to the buns I bought.  My dinner totaled around 10g of fat.  I can only have a max of about 5g without getting horribly sick the next morning.  


Anyway, here's the recipe.


1.5 lbs fresh (or frozen) firm fish filets or steaks (I split mine and made 2 tuna burgers and 2 mahi burgers)
2 T garlic
2 egg whites

1. Roughly chop fish and put it in food processor
2. Add garlic and process until fish is finely ground
3. Mix in egg whites
4. Form into 4 patties
5. Place in panini press and cook for 5 minutes.  Or place in heated and oiled sautee pan and cook for approximately 3-4 minutes on each side 

I'll leave you with a picture of my fridge after my husband put all the kimchi in jars

On the middle shelf is radish kimchi and the bottom shelf is 31 lbs of cabbage kimchi

What ethnic food can you not live without?

Lazy Sunday

I <3 lazy Sundays.


I have been wanting to take the girls to play tennis and I finally got to do it today.  We have a tennis court about a mile from the house.  Kay is a natural.  I swear she's going to be my sports star.  Mo does well with gymnastics but not with other sports.  We got about 45 minutes in.  Kay actually got good enough that she and I could hit the ball back and forth a few times before missing it.  I'm not that great either.  I play because it's fun.  I find I do better at racquetball then I do at tennis.  But, I play for the exercise and the enjoyment rather than the fact that I'm good.  
Mr. Amazing got a call this morning telling him he could have the day off so we all packed up and headed to the beach.  I packed some sandwiches.  I normally don't eat lunch but, I find when we're sitting at the beach and everybody else has a sandwich I can't help but want one too.  Note to all my readers:  PB&J sandwiches and gorgeous beach weather do not mix.  You end up covered in melty peanut butter and drippy jelly.  (BUT, it still tastes good)
I love spending time at the beach because there are so many different ways to burn calories.  It's crazy.  My kids don't realize that they're getting their daily exercise in while they are playing around.  Here's a link to how many calories you can (atleast to me) effortlessly burn while spending a fun day at the beach.  10 Ways to Burn Calories at the Beach
I'm hoping I can get back to swimming soon.  It just seems like I get in the groove of exercising every day and something comes in (hello life, how are you?)  to mess it up.  


For dinner tonite I made spaghetti with homemade sauce.  The whole family enjoyed it.  I have never made homemade sauce.  Normally I just open a bottle and heat it up.  I found the recipe in the Betty Crocker Basics book.  This is a great book.  It's written for complete novices.  I love it because it's a great goto guide.  When I can't remember how long to cook carrots, I open it up.  Want to know how to broil a steak?  Open it up.  Need to know how many minutes per pound your Christmas ham needs to stay in the oven?  Open it up and you'll find that too!  It also has some great recipes like the spaghetti sauce.


1 medium onion
1 clove of garlic
1 green pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) whole tomatoes, undrained (I actually used crushed and diced)
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh
1/4 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle of pepper

1. Chop the onion, bell pepper, and garlic
2. Spray your sautee pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat.  Cook the onion, garlic and bell pepper for about 2 minutes.
3. Add in the tomatoes and their liquid.  Break them up by hand or with a fork.  
4. Stir in the seasonings
5. Bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
6. When it comes to a boil reduce heat and cover.  Simmer for about 35 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.

My only complaint about this recipe is that it doesn't make very much.  I doubled the recipe and there was barely enough for Mr. Amazing and I to have 2 bowls and for the girls to have one.  If either of them had wanted seconds then we wouldn't have had enough.
For dessert I melted some Traffic Jam and warmed some strawberries in it.  I tested out a "whipped topping" recipe that I found in a low-fat cookbook circa 1970 that my mom bought me at Goodwill.  (I am obsessed with old cook-books.  The older the better.  If you have any you want to get rid of you can send them to me.)  It wasn't horrible.  If I was stuck in the woods with only the ingredients for this and a hand blender I'd make it.  Or if fat-free whipped cream or Cool Whip disappeared.   

I just told you about my perfect lazy Sunday.  What's yours?

Chicken and Dumplings

          I went fruit crazy this week.  Watermelon, pineapple, peaches, and bananas.  I also picked up my Mother's Day dinner.  I got salmon, shrimp and corn.
          Yesterday and today I managed to wreck all my hard work.  Yesterday I made cookies for my neighbor's son because he had surgery.  Today I made my cookie cake for Mother's Day.  I think I'm going to ask Mother Nature to push beach season back a month.  My goal is starting to drift farther away.
          We're celebrating Mother's Day tomorrow. since Mr. Amazing is working all day Sunday.  So starting Sunday I'm cracking down.  I'm going to count every calorie, and exercise my butt off (no pun intended.)

I made a family favorite for dinner tonite.  Vegetarian "chicken" and dumplings.  I didn't want the dumplings so I made biscuits.  I was worried that the biscuits  wouldn't be very good but they were actually awesome (and fat free)

Since I didn't put in the dumplings it was more like vegetables with gravy.  The link to the original recipe (which is super delicious) is at the bottom of the page.

1 large onion, chopped
6 T all-purpose flour
3 T sherry cooking wine
6 c vegetable broth
1/2 c lowfat milk
2 t salt
1/2 t pepper
2 bay leaves
1 t fresh thyme leaves
3 c chopped mushrooms (10 oz)
2 c chopped celery (6 stalks)
1 c chopped carrots
1 c frozen peas
2 T minced fresh chives

Spray a large skillet with pan spray and heat over medium-high heat. 

Sauté onion until it begins to brown, approx 8-10 minutes. 

Add the flour and sherry.  Make sure to scrape the bits from the bottom of the pan

Add the vegetable broth, milk, salt, pepper, bay leaves and thyme. 

Let it come to a boil.  When it does add mushrooms, celery, carrots, peas and chives. 

Reduce heat, and simmer 35 minutes or until the vegetables are tender

I knew I wanted biscuits to go with it so I searched for a biscuit recipe.  I had some sour cream to use so I decided to try this sour cream biscuit recipe

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 T baking powder
3/4 cup sour cream
1 1/2 T water

Mix the dry ingredients together then add the sour cream and water.
Roll out and cut out circles.
Bake at 450 for 12 minutes

They turned out wonderfully.


Oh did I mention Baye got her own bag to take to the farmers market?  She even bought some stuff for herself.  All of them were small like her.

Links:
Vegetarian "chicken" and dumplings
Sour Cream Biscuits

Guess how much my watermelons weigh...

Go on.  Guess!!


Is that your final answer?


Well, you'll just have to wait to find out the weight of my melons.




Amount Spent: $54

I have no clue what I'm going to do with the brown mushrooms.  Do any of you have a good recipe for brown mushrooms?


Another sunny day at the market.  I got a phenomenal parking spot which makes my trip even better.  I went with a short list so I was really surprised when my vegetable bill came to $30.  I guess I picked up more things than I realized.  


In addition to all of these beautiful fruits and veggies I bought these:

60 pounds of watermelon

3 huge, yummy looking watermelon.  Sugar-free month has caused our watermelon consumption to skyrocket.  The girls and I go through a watermelon every other day.  I weighed these bad boys and there's over 60 pounds of watermelon.  That's only a little more than Mo weighs.  

I figure that since I'm showing you the vegetables that I use for my dinners I should let you in on what I'm making.  (Warning: I have a tendency to not make the thing that I have planned on the day it's planned for)

Weekly Menu

Tuesday -- Grilled Cheese

Wednesday -- "Chicken" and Dumplings

Thursday -- Tuna Burgers

Friday -- Omelets

Saturday -- Quesadillas

Sunday -- Stirfry

Monday -- Red Beans & Rice

For dinner tonite I made nachos.  I used fat free cream cheese for my cheese sauce.  It was VERY uneventful boring and plain.  I seriously do NOT recommend substituting shredded cheese for cream cheese.    It didn't taste bad, it just didn't really have a taste.   I put it over sweet potato fries, sauteed mushrooms, onions and peppers.  I really wish I had just melted some fat free shredded cheddar over the top.  

Have you ever substituted something to meet your dietary needs and have it taste not the way you want it to?

Luck of the Irish Soup

Tonite I made Shamrock Soup.  It's a really delicious, filling soup.  I have to say though, this soup isn't a very photogenic soup.  

Shamrock Soup

 It's very low in fat and calories.  I doubled the recipe and got about 11 servings out of it.  So, the nutrition facts aren't quite accurate.  They are for 4 large servings. The total calories is about 184 if you get normal sized servings out of it.  
I adapted this recipe from Disney Family.  


Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup each: chopped onion, carrot and celery
3/4 cup dry split peas, rinsed and drained
1 can (13 3/4 ounces) chicken broth (I actually use vegetable broth)
1 1/2 cups fat free half-and-half
4 cups washed and dried fresh spinach leaves

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan, saute onion, carrot and celery in butter until onion is softened.
2. Add split peas, chicken broth and half of milk. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat to low. Simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until split peas are tender. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
3. In blender or food processor, puree split pea mixture with spinach.
4. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir in enough remaining milk to give desired consistency.
5. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture comes to a simmer.

I'm guessing that this soup has atleast a few servings of vegetables in each bowl.  It's a great way to get your kids to eat veggies.  I got lucky because all of my kids adore vegetables.  Baye even went through a vegetarian stage when she was about 15 months where the only things she would eat would be fruits and vegetables.  Luckily for my wallet it only lasted a few months.  I hadn't found the farmers market yet so, it got very expensive.

Do your kids like vegetables or do you have to sneak them in?

Easier than I expected

          Today went well....for me.  I only cheated once this evening.  I drank a caffiene free Diet Coke to curb my sweet tooth.  I figured a sugar-free soda would be better than eating chocolate or something of that nature.
          Mr. Amazing took Baye (and himself) to McDonald's for lunch.  So obviously he isn't playing by my rules.  Baye got a chicken nugget Happy Meal.  Have any of you seen the new mini fry boxes???  They're super cute!  But they STILL contain 100 calories per little tiny box.  There must have only been 10-20 fries in there!

100 calories and 5 grams of fat!  That's ridiculous!!

          I was very proud of Mo today.  Her teacher told them that they would be playing the M&M game tomorrow and Mo informed her that we were doing a sugar-free month.  I told her it was okay to play the game.  This shows me that they are taking it seriously. 
          I'm proud of myself too.  I finally swam my first mile!  I have been trying to do this for weeks and whenever I've tried either my body or the people at the pool has stopped me.  It only took me an hour and 5 minutes.  I used SparkPeople.com to calculate my calories burned from that swim and it was approximately 502!!  Hopefully I can keep it up.  If I can I'll be at my goal measurements in no time!

Hope you're having a great week!

Day 1

Happy May!!
After searching the house for a sugar free breakfast I have decided to make my sugar-free rules a little more specific

• No soda or drinks with added sugar
• No candy, cakes, cookies, sweets or desserts

My starting weight:  119.6

My starting waist measurement:  28

Day 1 went well.  I only cheated once.  Mr. Amazing brought me a Cherry Coke Zero from the gas station.  Even though it's sugar-free it's still on the "no" list.  I wasn't going to drink it but when I stepped on the bee, hornet, wasp, stinging bug, in my kitchen floor I needed something to "ease my pain".  Baye got a cookie when we went to Publix and the girls had Spam with out sushi tonite.  

I love sushi night.  I make a big pot of rice, cut up a bunch of different veggies, and {normally} cut up some lunch meats.  I personally use rice paper wrappers instead of seaweed like the rest of family uses.  Everybody sits around, chats and makes their own sushi.  I'll post a list of ideas for veggies and meats for sushi nite soon.

That's it for my update today.  Happy May everybody!!