bunchofheather

Tag: food

  • My first meal kit service

    I was such a bitch about these at first… why pay such a premium for a recipe and its ingredients. After all, I’m a good cook. But then, life has happened, and I was in a serious processed food rut. Basic, bland, and likely frozen.

    My review after four weeks of Hello Fresh with three meals a week?  Overall, I really like the concept. There’s about ten decent sized versions out there and so I’m thinking of trying Marley Spoon next – after all, I like Martha Stewart, lol. I’m sure I’ll try Hello Fresh again, for now we’re doing one more week of them… to use up my credits for missing ingredients in the second and this past week – I only ended up having to buy a bell pepper this last week, I was able to work around week two’s missing cheese (had some) and this past week’s missing sour cream (used 1/2 from another meal this week that had sour cream.) Nothing that will stop me from using them again in the future if I don’t try another I like better.


    It worked so well for me because I like to try different recipes & flavors… and pre-cancer M did too. He tries a bit of almost all of them after I make them, then takes more if it tastes okay to his ever limited food palate. I’d say he’s eaten a half serving of a third of them, a quarter serving of another third of them, and been a pass on the remainder. I then eat the leftovers as lunch so it’s actually working perfect for me. M then eats cereal, ramen, or hot dogs. If he gets real ambitious he’ll make chicken nuggets and/or french fries in the air fryer. Mac & cheese used to be in the fallback list, but it’s moved to the no column too, as have most things with cheese.

    I would look at a recipe, but the effort of making a list of meals, compile the shopping list, go shopping, just to make a meal that M would probably not like? Nope. Frozen nuggets or a pot pie is fine… But the convenience of clicking on a picture & description I like and all the ingredients just show up in a box? Perfect. The meal kit helps me to eat stuff I like & not give in and eat like a 10 yr old boy which is where M’s stomach is at.

    Hey, at least he’s still eating. We’re at quantity, not quality, stage for M. However, if I focus on quality, not quantity, perhaps I can have at least twenty-five healthy years more.

  • Why do I eat the donuts?

    This is not a facetious question… I don’t understand the thought process in my brain.

    Intellectually: eat donuts means get sick and consume too many calories, therefore don’t eat the donuts

    However, it appears Homer Simpson lurks inside my brain grunting, “eat all the donuts, nom nom nom”

    What prompted this post? I bought donuts yesterday and ate 2/3 of them throughout the day, then this morning before leaving for work I ate the remainder. I felt like I wanted to pull over and get sick all the way to work.  Hopefully I remember this experience the next time the internal Homer is being loud and obnoxious.

  • back on track.

    I had to be so crazy strict to meet that last 4-week Dietbet that as soon as I successfully weighed in I went semi-crazy.  I’ve kept at logging my calories and hitting 10,000 steps a day so the damage isn’t as bad as it could be.  I averaged about 1925 net calorie intake a day which is about my maintenance at this weight or a little above… Like I said, it could be worse.

    But today I hit my goals and I’m back on track.

    So, to review my last two Quest bars:

    Vanilla Almond Crunch. 190 calories, 20 grams protein, 18 grams fiber. Another “good, but nothing so awesome it makes my top three” list.

    Double Chocolate Chunk. 160 calories, 20 grams protein, 16 grams fiber. Yum. Yum. Yum! A definite add to the buy list!

    I am almost out of my protein powders and my husband is out of his vitamins so I see a Vitacost order including some Quest Bars happening soon-ish!

  • updates

    First, the banana oatmeal cake was good.  It stuck to the pan so the next day when I made it again for breakfast and lunch I thought, “oh, I’ll use my mini-muffin pan since it’s non-stick.”  Bad idea… instead of sticking to one big pan that could easily be scraped and washed it stuck to 24 little holes in a pan.

    Dietbet.  Yay!  I won $45 and that is pure “profit”.  It was close though.  During this 4 week / 4% bet I had really slacked off.  I was losing weight just not at a rate of 1% a week.  I had to weigh in Wednesday and happened to be off Monday and Tuesday for a four day weekend.  So I spent all four days eating next to no processed food so not a ton of sodium, then I limited to 1,000 calories, drank a ton of water, and made sure I got my 10,000 steps in.  I made my goal.

    Yes, I know, 1,000 calories is low but it was fine for four days.  I average about 1,700 – 1,800 normally so I am far from starving!

    Quest bars!  I’ve had two more since I worked Wednesday and Thursday.

    Chocolate Brownie.  170 calories, 20 grams protein, 19 grams fiber.  Ohhh! These are freaking incredible.  I can’t say enough about how much I liked these.  I think they may have moved firmly into first place for the bars (the peanut butter cups still hold the top spot overall).

    Cinnamon Roll.  170 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  These were good.  Nothing bad to say about them, I’d eat them again.  This is a flavor I might want to try warm since I’ve heard such good things about eating the bars warm.

    I don’t know which flavor I’m going to take for my morning today…  But for now, time to get up and get some steps in before work!

  • Are they really all that? Quest Bars. Yum!

    So, I recently discovered Quest Bars… OMG!  bars

    My November Foodie Penpal sent me a Coconut Cashew bar.  I left it on the kitchen table at work and it disappeared so I didn’t try them then.

    They seem to have a cult following!  So I decided to stop at GNC and buy three to try.  First off, the nutrition makes my day… so much fiber and protein!  Since I track calories, protein, and fiber, these are great!  I’m going to review them in the order that I’ve tried them.

    Chocolate Peanut Butter.  160 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  My first Quest Bar.  It was pretty tasty.  I would buy it again.  I was surprised at the softness of the bar, it is kind of malleable.

    Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough.  190 calories, 21 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  And this is the bar that made me into a cult follower too!  It was so good!

    Peanut Butter and Jelly. 200 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  Nothing special, I wouldn’t buy this one again.  It was tasty but not that amazing to be worth 200 calories and almost $3.

    At this point, after three days, I was now out of my initial three bars that I purchased…  so no more for a few days.  Come the next week, I stopped into a Vitamin Shoppe on my way home and spent almost $30.

    As I continued on my drive home couldn’t resist breaking into the bag and I ate a package of Quest Cravings Peanut Butter Cups.

    pbcups_bar_vba_300_01_1

    Oh My!!! 240 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  They are kind of an odd texture, they seem powdery and I found myself worried they would crumble away to dust but I really liked the taste.  Do they taste like a Reese’s Cup?  No, but they are good and I didn’t regret eating them 15 minutes afterward like I would have if I had eaten two Reese’s!!!  (I am so glad I bought two packages!  One is still in my cupboard for a later date)

    Lemon Cream Pie.  160 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  Not my favorite.  When I first bit into it I thought “Lemon Pledge.”  The second bite tasted better, then by the time I finished it, I thought it was okay but I don’t think this would go on my buy again list…

    Cookies and Cream.  180 calories, 21 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  Yum again!  Little chunks of things that taste like chocolate cookies.  Absolutely want this one again!

    Strawberry Cheesecake.  160 calories, 20 grams protein, 17 grams fiber.  Honestly, I don’t remember eating this one.  It was Thursday morning and that is an early day to get to work…  Mindful eating? Nope.

    Banana Nut Muffin.  170 calories, 20 grams protein, 16 grams fiber.  Pretty good.  Considering how many bananas I eat in general, I don’t think I’ll get this one again because really, more banana stuff?  No thanks!  But it isn’t going on the no list for taste.

    I still have five more bars and a pack of peanut butter cups in the cupboard.  Vanilla Almond Crunch, Cinnamon Roll, Chocolate Brownie, Double Chocolate Chunk, another bar of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, and one more pack of the Cravings Peanut Butter Cups.

    For sure these have entered my diet for now and the future.  I want to try all the flavors and then decide which ones I want to buy as boxes of 12.

    chocchipscncbarlargeimage_350_cpb_bar_1

    (Two posts, in one day?  Well, I started this one three days ago but didn’t finish it until tonight)

  • Banana Oatmeal… cake?

    I am in the home stretch of my current 4 week/4%  Dietbet…  so every calorie has to count this week because I don’t want to lose my money!!!  (I’m doing fine on the six month one because its percentage goals are easier)

    Breakfast this morning, I thought about another smoothie like I did yesterday:

    smoothie

    Then I thought about making the pancakes with 1 banana and 2 eggs, or banana oatmeal cookies.  Then I decided to just create.  So I threw a bunch of stuff into the blender.  It’s in the oven now.  It might be cake:

    cake

    I hope it’s good since it is breakfast / lunch.  The calories are a bit (!) higher than the smoothie but it is big enough to cut in half and eat half now and half in a couple hours.

    I am trying to make sure I eat at least a banana a day because I have been having horrible leg cramps.  Mostly in my left calf but also my toes, and then last night, after having a calf cramp, a couple hours later, a weird ankle cramp too.  So, potassium and making sure I increase my water too.

    Speaking of potassium, I saw the demo of the new food label where potassium is going to be required not optional.  I like that part of it.

  • soup warms you from the inside…

    soup

    Every so often I like to make a big pot of soup for the weekend.  It goes on the stove in the morning on Saturday, by afternoon it is ready.  Whenever I get hungry I’ll have a small bowl or a coffee mug full of soup.  Sunday morning, put it back on the stove, get hungry, eat soup.  Maybe add a different veggie into it or some rice or pasta around dinnertime to change it up a bit.  Monday, take it for lunch for work then have it for dinner.  Tuesday, dump the leftovers off the porch for any animal that wants a taste (three days is my limit for eating the same things over and over!)  Two, three months later, do it again.

    Extra awesome side effect?  Two days of rather low calorie consumption.

    My average calorie intake is about 1700 calories a day when “dieting”.  About 1400 if I’m being really strict.  So two days of mostly veggie soup dips way below that.

    The soup isn’t from a recipe per se.  Today’s version has cabbage, celery, carrots, onions, and green beans in beef broth and I am getting ready to have my first bowl!

    Nutritional breakdown, per cup.  It made about 24 cups but I rounded down to 20 just because…

    soupdetails

  • cookies again

    I call them cookies, but really, it’s like breakfast in indulgent baked form.

    This is the second one I’m getting ready to eat today:0125cookie

    Today’s recipe:

    • 1 banana
    • 4 oz applesauce
    • 1 cup quick oats
    • 2 tblsp PBSlim (vitacost’s version of PB2)
    • 2 scoops (45g) Aro Lean Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Diet Shake

    350 degrees for 12 minutes.

    Yum, yum, yum!!!    Often I put them in the mini muffin pan but today I just glopped it onto the cookie sheet so it made an odd number of 11 cookies.

    Nutritional Info (I track what I try to make sure I get enough of (or in the case of sodium what I try not to get too much of…) so no carb or fat info):

    0125cookies

    My husband suggested a version with pineapple instead of banana…  I may try that when these are gone (Monday?).  I don’t think I’d add the chocolate or peanut butter powders to that batch though.

     

  • 12 weeks and more pizza

    12 weeks from today will be my first real 5K! Timed and everything. I am going to work towards being able to run the whole thing. While I did do The Color Run last October, I pretty much walked it, have no idea how long it took, and from everything I’ve read it might not have even really been 5K. I am excited!

    I posted my favorite pizza the other day, using the Flatout flatbreads. I absolutely love them and could eat a pizza every night if it was just me. I decided to try a low carb tortilla in place of it though because the tortilla is less calories with more fiber and more protein. So last night I made pizza with a flatbread for the husband and a tortilla for me.

    pizza-before

    before and after baking

    pizza-after

    I definitely prefer the taste of the pizza done on the flatbread than on the tortilla but nutritionally the tortilla wins. The only difference between the two was the base:

    flatbread: 345 calories, 17 grams protein, 5 grams fiber

    tortilla: 285 calories, 20 grams protein, 14 grams fiber

    Either way, it’s pizza so it’s a win to me!

  • mmm cookies!

    Not only tasty, but no guilt whatsoever!

    cookie

    Today’s batch was actually made at work for a friend but I brought home a couple.

    • Three bananas
    • 3 & 1/2 cups Quick Oats
    • 1/2 cup applesauce
    • Almonds

    350° for 12 minutes

    This made 39 cookies (I used a tablespoon dough for each.)

    Normally I use one banana & 1 cup of oats for a smaller batch.

    Tonight was the first time I used applesauce and I think it was an improvement that I’ll incorporate.

    You can leave out the nuts, add some mini chocolate chips, or add some peanut butter… all depending on your preferences.

    Like I said, no guilt!  (well, if you add peanut butter and mini chocolate chips you will want to be cautious because then you are getting into higher calorie levels… but when it’s just bananas, oatmeal, and applesauce? awesome)