Greek Food, Confessions, and Celebrations!!!

Well, it's been a while since I've blogged.  Life is keeping me super busy and by the time I get home at night, I have slim to no brain power left...hence no blogging.  I sorry...  :-(


BUT...This one is full of different stuff, hence the title!!  :-)


First things first...new recipe!  Greek style!  I LOVE love love Greek food.  I found this McCormick brand recipe in a magazine a few weeks ago and have been meaning to try it, but just got around to making it today.  It's really easy and pretty quick too. 


Ingredients:
1lb extra lean ground beef (I use 93/7, but you can use which ever ratio floats your beef boat!)
1/2 cup chopped onion (I like onion, so I used one whole cup)
2 tsp. oregano leaves (I used only 1tsp--I'll explain why in a second)
1tsp ground cinnamon (1/2 tsp would've been plenty, I think)
1tsp garlic powder
1 can (14.5oz) reduced sodium beef broth
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, undrained (I bought Italian style with oregano & basil which is why I only used 1tsp of dried oregano leaves)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 cups UNCOOKED whole grain penne pasta
1 1/2 cups of frozen chopped spinach, thawed (I used 4-5 cups of fresh baby spinach)
3/4 cup crumpled feta cheese

Directions:
Spray pan with cooking spray and preheat over medium heat.  Chop onion.  Cook onion alone for just a couple of minutes to get it just softened. 

Add ground beef.  Cook until meat is done.  Drain excess fat.

  Add oregano, cinnamon, and garlic powder.  Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes.

Stir in broth, tomatoes and tomato paste.

Bring to a boil.  Stir in the uncooked penne pasta.

Reduce heat, cover and cook for 7 minutes.  Stir in spinach and feta cheese.

Cook about 2 more minutes and then turn the heat off and cover the dish.  Allow to stand about five minutes so the carry over cooking will finish the pasta. 

Serve in whichever way works for you and your family~!!  Since I am single, I divide all of my big dishes into 1 cup containers and pop them in the freezer or refrigerator.

Verdict:  Its good and it has pretty great stats, but I would use just 1/2 tsp of cinnamon next time.  Just a personal preference of taste.


Okay, moving on.  I need to confess something.  I have been messing up lately.  Remember that slippery slope I talked about before?  I managed to find my way back to it last week.  It started when I went to breakfast at McDonalds with a friend.  I could have made a better choice, but I decided to get the chicken biscuit combo.  :-(  Shame on me.  Then, before I knew it I was stopping for fast food just about daily.  I was eating a bunch of junk too.  Chips, candy, and snack cakes.  Clearly, not the greatest choices.  HOWEVER.  Today is a new day and I am not going to beat myself up about it.  I am back to eating healthy and making good choices.  I am struggling to get in enough calories today (and I was having the same issue before I went on a junk food binge), but I know I have to listen to my own advice and take it one bite and one choice at a time.  Obesity is going to be a life long battle for me and I REFUSE to let it beat me anymore. 


Moving on again... to something totally awesome and exciting~~!!!

Guess what I did this past Friday?  I took the Zumba Basics Level 1 training class and I got my license to teach classes!!! 

Yippppppiiiiie!  I absolutely LOVE Zumba and can't wait to start teaching my own classes.  I still have lots of work to do before I get my own classes up and running, but I am working on it!  I am so grateful to have made so many new friends in the Indy Zumba community!  It still seems surreal to me that I am a LICENSED FITNESS INSTRUCTOR...!!!  What, who?  Me?  Really?  Who'da ever thunk it?  Definitely, not me!  But, I am so happy about it and looking forward to what Zumba is going to bring to my life!!

Live, Love, ZUMBA~!!!!!

Till next time....

Lots of Love,

Autumn

Me, a runner....?

No, I am not, but I am trying to be!!!

I have started the Couch to 5K running program...see this link...

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/index.shtml

I learned about the program from Michelle over at http://www.sangriasisters.com/

She is one awesome chick! 

So far, I am loving the running plan.  The first week has been relatively easy for me, I think because my trainer used to have me do that same thing...running in intervals.  It consisted of three 20 minute walk/runs (walk for 90 seconds, run 60; alternating for a total of 20 minutes).  This week is the second week...Let's see how that goes.  Running does something for my stress that I just love.  It can be hard to get through sometimes, mentally....but I do alright.  I am no where near being ready for any type of long distance running, but someday...I will be!

Anyhoo...

Today is my official weigh in day.  I have to admit, I have had some bumps in the road over the past month. Chocolate is my drug of choice...and well I need rehab.  I did not over do it, but I did have a gigantic chocolate cupcake on my birthday...and little pieces here and there.  I have managed to stay under calorie goal every day except for one...and actually most days I am TOO far under.  I need to be getting about 2030 a day, but I usually am between 1500 and 1700.  Sigh.  Even at two years out, I have those days where I just want to eat all the time and I have those days where I couldn't care less about eating...Lately...its been the latter.  I have been having to force myself to get the calories up there and I am still coming short.  Egh, it happens...this is a process!

So...for the results...I am a bit disappointed in this, but I am accepting it!  I know that my weight loss is going to be extremely slow now and I am okay with that...So long as its still loss and not gain!  

For my official monthly weigh in this morning... I woke up and weighed myself first thing, after my morning pee, having consumed nothing since dinner the previous night, butt naked (except for socks!) and....drum roll please....

231lbs!  That means 2lbs lost since my weigh in in January and a grand total of 181bs lost since April of 2009!!!  Still want to lose another 50lbs and I think I will be satisfied!  We shall see...

Alright, ya'll...I hate to be so short, but I gotta get going. 

Till next time....
Lots of love,

Autumn

Autumn's Sausage, Peppers, and Onions

This is one of my go-to dishes when I need something SUPER quick and easy...(you may have noticed that really, this is a theme in my cooking)!

Ingredients:
1 package (14oz) Oscar Mayer turkey smoked sausage
2- 3 packs tri-colored bell peppers
3 medium yellow onions
1 can (29oz) tomato sauce
black pepper, to taste
olive oil cooking spray

Start by pre-heating a skillet and a large pot over low to medium heat.  While they are heating, get started chopping/slicing the onions.  No need for perfection here, I just chop into bite size pieces (you can chop all of them and then add to the pot or, like me, add them one at a time as you get them chopped).

Before you add the veggies, spray the pot liberally with the olive oil cooking spray...

Add the onions and sprinkle them with pepper....to your taste.

As the onions start to cook, get to chopping the peppers; again in bite size pieces.  Of course, you'll need to remove the seeds and white membranes from the insides of the peppers.  As you get them chopped, add to the pot with the onions.  Continue cooking until the onions are soft and the peppers still have a bit of a snap to them, about 10-12 minutes, I'd guess (I didnt time it). 

Meanwhile, cut the turkey smoked sausage into coin shaped, bite size pieces.  Spray the skillet that you've pre-heated with the olive oil spray.  It should be sizzling hot!!!  Add the sausage and brown/char it on each side. You can skip this part if you want, but it really adds and extra layer of flavor to the dish that is soooo good!

Once the veggies and the sausage are done, add the sausage to the pot with the veggies and stir in the tomato sauce.  Simmer for about 10 minutes and BAM! It's done.

Mmmmm-Mmmm-Mmmm-Good!

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn

Pork...it's whats for dinner

I stopped at Wal-mart on the way home tonight to pick up a few things. 


Got some good lean meats....pork cube steak, turkey ham, turkey breast cutlets, and some lean roast beef deli meat.  Excited to try the turkey ham for breakfast...I bet that will be crazy good on the grill~!

Thinking about making Shelly's (Eggface)

Philly Cheese Steak Casserole with the roast beef---

it looks SO good!

http://theworldaccordingtoeggface.blogspot.com/2011/01/day-in-my-pouch_19.html

I've been cooking on my hamilton beach grill a lot lately...tonight wasnt any different.


I opened the pork cube steak, beat the crap out of a piece of it, seasoned it with seasoned salt, garlic powder, and pepper.

Slapped it on the grill for 7 minutes...

while that was cooking, I nuked an individual serving of green giant broccoli and cheese and BAM...dinner was done.

Great stats and very yummy!

  Give it a try....its simple yet yummy.  There are so many other things that could be done with pork cube steak, too.  Play with your food---try new things and have fun!

Till next time....

Lots of Love,

Autumn

French-Honey Grilled Chicken Tenders

Quick, easy, good; low in calories, high in protein! My kinda meal~!


So, I bought a pack of fresh chicken tenders a few weeks ago.  One night as I was laying in bed watching tv, suddenly this idea hit me... I dont remember what inspired it, but it's definitely a keeper!


Ingredients: (one serving)
4 oz fresh chicken tenders
1tbsp sugar free imitation honey
1tbsp kraft free french style dressing

I put the chicken in a little 8oz tupper ware bowl.  Added the dressing and honey, stirred it up well.  Then, let it sit in the fridge until I got home later that night, probably about 8-10 hours.

Got home, heated the "foreman" grill (Hamilton Beach brand) for five minutes.  Then, put the chicken on and cooked it for about 7 minutes. 

The results.... it was good!  Very moist and juicy!

Yum!

Hope you try it, hope you like it!

Till next time...

Lots of Love,

Autumn

Scope Results

For those of you wondering... I posted previously about getting a scope done because we (my surgeon and I) thought I had an ulcer.  Allow me to tell you about that day.
My sister drove to the hospital and dropped me off.  For some reason, I thought I'd be there for a while, but it turned out I wasnt so she basically had to turn right back around to come and pick me up....well almost.  She had time to get home and shower and then she had to come back and get me. 


Any hoo---so I got thru registration and waited for them to call my name.  The nurse, Susan, came to get me and took me back to my "prep and recovery" room.  She got everything ready to go and another nurse, whose name I cant remember, came in and drew what seemed like a gabazillion tubes of blood from me (it was only 2 oz all together) for my two years labs.  I am still waiting to hear the results of those...


Then, I got wheeled to the operation room on the fancy hospital bed (that was fun, lol).  Once in there, I was hooked up to the oxygen and we waited for the doc to come in.  The nurse explained to me that they would give me meds to put me to sleep and one that would have an amnesia affect on me.  The last thing I remember is one of the nurses putting the mouth guard in.  The rest of the day was foggy, at best...lemme tell ya---that medicine works!  They tell me I spoke with the doc after my procedure....ZERO memory of that. 


So anyway...the results....I do NOT have an ulcer.  That's good and not so good.  Good that I dont have an ulcer because, well, that's just good.  Not so good because now I dont know why I have had chest pain (3x since surgery--almost 2 years out) and a burning sensation in my pouch every now and then.  I am waiting on my doc to follow up with me to see what he wants to do next.  I should probably call him, but truth be told...I dont want to and right now I dont have time to deal with it.


Here is a pic of what I was given from the procedure.  Due to the lack of memory, I am not totally sure what each view is or means, other than I dont have an ulcer....I will talk to my surgeon about this whenever I get to see him. Sorry if this is gross to look at for some of you, but for us post-ops and maybe even pre-ops it's cool to see what our "insides" look like post-op.

Weird looking, isnt it?

Who?What?When?Where?Why?Huh?

Sorry everyone, that its been so long since I posted.  I've been so busy lately, just havent had time or brain power to blog.  Plus I went on a bit of a slippery downward slope and frankly, didnt wanna talk about it.  But, I will soon--Lots to talk about... Just wanted to stop by real quick and drop a line (or a few of em) and give a quick update. 

Till next time...
Lots of Love,
Autumn