Blueberry BLAST!!!!

Have I already told you about the best trail mix??

Good Sense Blueberry Blast! Ow!

Sweet blueberries!Yum!

An yogurt covered raisins:

Hello!

There are nuts and cranberries too.

They sell it at the little convenience store in Coffman Union. Where else do they sell it?!?

New friend! Opa!

Several nice friends encouraged me to try Greek yogurt and I trusted them, thankfully!

Meet my new best snack friend:

Fage!

They sell it at SuperTarget near the normal yogurt; I am sure at other places have it too.

Even a favorite artist, Gary Baseman, sold out to Fage:

I add some Bob's Red Mill 5 Rolled Grain Cereal to mine sometimes. In fact, I JUST did, that is why I had to hurry here to tell you this.

The little snack version comes with a few different sides. I like honey and cherry the best. I also like to add frozen raspberries and blueberries on my own.

Why didn't I bring more to work?

I wish I would use the bigger size with less packaging. I am working on it. I put blueberries in a little to-go cup with some plain and for some reason it was just not the same. It did not taste as good. I have the same problem with regular yogurt. WHY?!? Too much air?

Also, I bought the Stoneyfield Farms variation and I was not as pleased, though not utterly unhappy.

Meh.

ALSO (!) I have used it in cooking to make healthier sauces. Nice.

Thanks recommenders!

Macro Awesome!

Ok, so we have practically no food in our house. Honestly. Where does all the time go?

I'll tell you what, eating healthy takes time and budget management, so I am floundering right now. I hope to get my kitchen act together.

I have been trying to bring my own lunch, which is wonderful on so many levels, but I had to buy my lunch today and I bought Macro Vegetarian Thai Dumplings at the little store by the post office in Coffman Memorial Union.

Macro Vegetarian Thai Dumplings are not pictured here, but this is what their friends look like.

What a happy plate! Yum! Flavorful, hearty and smells delicious too!

Happy plate decoupage from this etsy shop.

Plus the dish is macro-biotic and vegan with pretty great nutritional value.

Healthy! And I have been weighing myself everyday for the study, it is odd to do.

The drag is that the meal cost $5.99. Not something to get everyday, but perhaps inspiration for meals to prepare at home. I guess that is less than the awesome salad bar at Coffman costs.

One other bonus is that if I took the stairs up and down to the East River Road to get to Coffman I burn some calories and build some muscle. How much money is that worth?

Soon these steps will be closed for the winter and I will watch people try to walk or slide cautiously down them from my office.

Goodreads review that I wrote pasted here for you!

The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook: Hundreds of Favorite Recipes Created to Combat Congestive Heart Failure and Dangerous Hypertension by Donald A. Gazzaniga


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
My 37 year old husband has had a rough year. He was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and then had a very damaging heart attack. Like the author of this book, he was told he may need a heart transplant. Of course he/we have been eating better and trying to find the most flavor bang for our buck AND sodium count. We love to eat out and try all kinds of foods and we wanted to keep that as a part of our life. I have loved this book because it reads like more than a cook book. I enjoyed sitting down and reading it, I looked forward to going back to it despite the fact that I was so bummed about NEEDING it in my life when I picked it up. I cannot say that about many of the chronic disease diet books I have been browsing!

In addition to the recipes, the book gives a great primer on low-sodium eating, where sodium is found, what it is used for, and how to live low-sodium all the time. The author goes to great lengths in his own life to be at around 500mg of sodium a day, super low, and it is inspiring to read his commentary. I also like the board of people he used to help write the book. Even better, my husband and I have enjoyed all of the recipes we have tried so far. I like how the recipes are not bland and all areas of dinning are covered (comfort food, holidays, potlucks, light snacks, dressings, salads, sweets). The nutrition information on each dish is included, which is helpful for other areas of diet that we are monitoring.

The book has me excited because it is helping me adapt my cooking and shopping to what I was hoping: that being low-sodium does not mean flavorless and boring.

View all my reviews >>

Psyching myself up for safety!

Ok, I am still making excuses for not getting to the gym. I am disappointed in myself and I am dreading the next call from my health coach.

One excuse I have for avoiding the gym is safety when walking or biking to the gym at night. It is only 7-8 blocks away, odds are nothing will happen, but I get nervous carrying any sort of bag with me or wearing a bulky coat.

I purchased these babies after I told myself I would make them myself for about 5 months:

Wrist Zips!

They have room enough to keep my keys and my gym ID. And I kind of like the fabric pattern; sort of a tribute to the Ska fashioniska I never became.

Sorry, The Specials. I love you but I never bought "the look" and I sold your CDs for a killing before the dawn of MP3s.

Also, I think they could be nice for safety if/when they are not covered by my sweatshirt(s). I need to get some non-black sweatshirts and some safety tape next. Safety tape is expensive!

The wrist zips have not gotten me out to the gym yet, but I have not given up on them!

I have given up on Ska, or out grown it. I will still skank when given the chance!

Healthy cooking in a rush.

I stole this quote from a friend's blog:

"My goal tonight was to use them up before they rotted."

I feel like this is the goal with way too much of my cooking with fresh vegetables! My healthy cooking challenge.

I am inspired by this:


to make something like this:


But I get busy or forgetful and soon the vegetables in the fridge are looking at me like this:


I am working on a better game plan right now and I have learned to accept my limitations, for the sake of food and budget waste. Living in a climate with a short growing season, the vegetables will soon be pretty pricy, like 99cents per green pepper. That always seems like a lot to me.

How much are green peppers in other states?

Future topic:

Food dehydrators!
Do you have one? Do you use it? Is it good for making low salt, low sugar food? Or are those a part of the process?

I have no clue- I just know that dried food is delicious for snacks but can be so expensive, like Just Corn and Just Raspberries. Those are freeze dried, so I cant afford that machine but I may be able to swing a dehydrator.

I am working on the gym. Anyone out there who would like to motivate me or tag along with me, please pipe up!

I brought my gym bag to work!

Tonight I will scuttle to the gym straight from work for Body Pump.

Check out this rad gym bag! Only $75! Sigh.

I cannot believe how difficult it is to get myself to bring a gym bag to work...it took like, 3 years! 29 years if you count all the years that I did not have a gym membership!

It is pretty lame because the light rail station is 1 block from my gym and totally easy to get to from work. Then it is just a brisk 8 blocks walk home with my friend who teaches the class and lives right by me.

It will be a super frigid walk tonight (it is -3 right now, up from -21!), but so worth it! I really am so pleased with myself when I get to the gym.

A friend who just joined my gym is part of my motivation, plus my other friend who teaches the class. Also, a doctor I see who was all, "Go to the gym straight from work. Seriously."

PS:
I went to the gym on Sunday even though I was not feeling 100% due to alcohol choices I made the prior evening. Thanks to a friend who called and invited me along to the gym.

I also went to the gym last night! Nice. Thanks to the same friend!

Zesty! (?) Santa Fe Style Chicken es así así.

Not the soup in question.

I just ate a can of Progresso (see website for $3 coupon) "Zesty! Santa Fe Style Chicken" soup. It was so-so.

First off, I thought it was filling enough, especially for 2 Weight Watchers points (thanks to the can and commercial partnership for that info!). It has 1 point per serving and 2 servings per can. How could anyone make it through the afternoon on 1 point?!?!? I would be hungry if I did not eat it all.

First.2, I am not certain that this is a low sodium soup, it has 28% of your daily sodium. That is still sort of high, right?

Second, there is not nearly as much stuff in the soup as the picture on the can shows or even the above picture shows. I enjoy Progresso soups and have found them hearty, but apparently hearty takes up too many points. Are black beans a lot of points? Or cooked celery?

This soup was seriously 96% liquid and 4% stuff. OK, maybe 86% liquid and 14% stuff, but either way I have had mojitos with more stuff in them.



Third, I am practically considering a false advertisement or unnecessary punctuation claim on the exaggerated use of the term "Zesty!" on the can. It is in a sassy, red font with an exclamation point, but this Minnesota girl had bored taste buds. There is Spanish on the label and I feel like it should say "Gringo Caliente" instead of "Caliente" to warn people more used to foods with true spice and zest. This soup is as zesty as chicken broth is hearty.


(I really should get a red pepper shaker for my office, this could be a personal problem.)

In conclusion, I have had worse canned soups, I have had better canned soups, and if you want to keep some "Light" soup around for when you forget your lunch this soup is OK. I am left again thinking, "If I got my act together, I could make something similar, with less salt and more stuff."

(I could make this...another recurring theme, I should read my own blog and these books.)

Product Review: Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken

Thanks go out to MtheP for recommending this frozen dish to me.


I enjoyed this dish very much. The lemongrass flavor is strong and satisfying. The coconut could have been ramped up a bit, but I am still loving it. As proof, I can honestly say that I could not wait until I was done eating it to tell you about it!

Being me, I would probably sprinkle some red pepper flakes on to make it spicy! Yum. If you do not like spicy, then you will be fine with this dish.

It is a hearty and grainy dish; it seems filling and mostly healthy. I love that it does not have cheese on it...I know Asian inspired food does not usually have cheese, but so many frozen foods do. I am do not miss cheese when it is not there, so I do not eat it much since it is sorta bad for you.

I was impressed with the amount of goods in the bowl. This is what it looked like:



So thumbs up to this frozen dish. It will be nice to add to my arsenal of frozen foods to help me overcome my eating out for lunch problem. It also adds to the growing Kashi addiction problem at our house. Buy some Kashi stock because Todd and I are keeping that company sailing!

Oh, the cost. That is kind of a drag, it was like $3.39. Still cheaper than eating out, but medium to high in the world of frozen meal costs.

Product Review: Weight Watchers Smart Ones Santa Fe Chicken somethin' Somethin'

I used to get a non-diet version of this meal a lot when I was in college. Frankly, I could not tell a difference in taste, so that is something, right?

Todd and I pledged to bring our lunch to work this week (and hopefully more weeks), so I grabbed a couple of these in case I was too lazy to make my lunch (which I WAS on day1!). As a back-up plan this worked well and it was on sale for like $2.50 at Super Target.

I thought this was satisfying and maybe a little salty. It smelled of garlic while it cooked, to the delight of my office mates. I did not taste the garlic as much as I smelt it. I could easily make something similar at home and leave off the "cream sauce" and cheese. I might add some baked chicken too if I felt wild!

Tonight I will be making some pasta up and packaging it for the rest of the week. I got some ground turkey, spinch, broccli, green peppers and onions for that. Oh and garlic! Yum. I usually make pasta without meat, but it is just that meaty time of year.

C and K are back from India, I hope they will let me buy the bike and I hope that they will help encourage me to get to the gym too! I am way off on that goal.

Cross-post

The blog People Reading caught a rather buff personal trainer reading this book:



Is it just me or Are Sit-Ups a Waste of Time? by Graeme Hilditch

Apparently he is big in the UK.

Here is a description:

Trying to keep ourselves fit and healthy is a challenge at the best of times. It seems that there is always someone ready to give us a piece of advice on how to exercise, lose weight, or have a more nutritious diet. But how much of what you are told can you believe and how do you know which pieces of advice to take seriously? Every day, top personal trainer Graeme Hilditch is asked just these kind of questions and, in this intriguing and informative book, he uses his extensive expertise in fitness and nutrition to explode some of the most common myths. His explanations are light-hearted and accessible to everyone and his no-nonsense advice will tell you everything you need to know in order to live a fit and healthy life.

Might be something to check out....or not!

Keep moving people! Do it for yourself!

Diet goods on Etsy

I spend more time than I should perusing arts and crafts on Etsy.

I thought I would post some cute and funny health living/dieting items. Important struggles inspire, right?

Here

Here

Here


Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Here

Weighing in with celebrities!

I am thrilled to share that my sister gave me a scale for my birthday!

A celebrity scale!

Instead of numbers, it has various celebrities, so I can see how I size up to icons rather than numbers! Nice.

The scale runs from Baby Jesus to Prince to Chuck Norris to King Kong!

Now I can track my changes in weight without stressing over numbers.

Our cat weighs in between Baby Jesus and Gizmo.




I am somewhere between Dolly Parton and Stone Cold Steve Austin, so I have some work to do!

Eat this not that!

I saw this book at Kinko's the other day:


You can see inside some of the book on Amazon.

I enjoyed flipping through the book because it basically breaks down how to eat at fast food chain restaurants and save some calories.


It is not a diet book, it is just a book saying "Actually, a plain hamburger has less fat than an overloaded grilled chicken sandwich, so consider that when you eat fast food."

What is great about the book is it has lots of pictures and fun facts and tips. Very visually stimulating.

The other thing that is great about the book is it is realistic: most of us eat fast food or go to a chain coffee shop sometimes, so we might as well learn how to order somewhat better.

The sad thing is, the cover of the book shows that a Whopper from Burger King has more fat than a Big Mac, so of course I craved a Whopper for the rest of the day!

D'oh!

Product review: Healthy Choice Paninis

Now I am not a big fan of microwave food, but in an effort to control my portions and my budget, I decided to try a couple Healthy Choice products.


I bought two flavors of the Healthy Choice Paninis, they were both great. I tried the Smoked BBQ Chicken and Smokehouse Apple and Chicken.

With a skeptical attitude, I followed the instructions to cook the panini. It looks like this when you cook it:

Then you squish the two sides together and enjoy.

They only cost $2.30 each on sale at SuperTarget. That is less than any sandwich that I could buy on campus and they were easy to grab and go in the morning. (Making my own lunch is a whole 'nother battle to win.)

They are about the size of a sandwich that I would make at home. They took 2.5 minutes to cook, fast!

I found them to be flavorful and satisfying. I had some yogurt as a snack later in the day after one of them, so I guess they did not pull me through until dinner. They cooked well; they were not soggy at all and the bread did not get all tough.

They have about 310 calories, 40 calories from fat. They use 6 weight watchers points. They have about 25% of your daily sodium, which is a drag, but again if I did not have one to eat today I probably would have bought a sandwich with more sodium.

My husband really likes some of the microwave meals, so I will have to try those next. Or maybe he can write a review?

Also, I found this site with other "diet food" reviews. called I ate a pie. Sounds like something I would do if no one was watching! They reviewed a third flavor of these sandwiches, which I did not try.

Well done, Kettle Chips.

I discovered these lovelies at lunch today:
You see, I have been craving a naughty burrito Loco BBQ Chicken Burrito for days, but I have been fighting it. Today I went to Coffman Union in search of something light with vegetables.

I found these babies to go along with my little 1/2 sandwich and curb my BBQ craving.

They are crisp and flavorful. They even have 15% of my daily value of vitamin C!

Here is yet another new sport drink product

with a cool bottle shape:

From here.

I am not a huge sport drink person, I like plain old water. I do like inventive design though. How many calories do I lose for that?