Homemade Veggie Broth (better than a can)

We have used both a can or made homemade. If in a pinch we use a can from Swanson however i do not like worrying about sodium.

You made it yourself Veggie Broth

Makes about 2 quarts

What you need

2 Large yellow onions, coarsely chopped skins included

2 Large carrots peeled and coarsely chopped

2 Leeks, washed and coarsely chopped

1 parsnip, peeled and coarsely chopped

1 slice of lemon

Handful of parsley sprigs

Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients with 9 cups of water in a large stockpot and slowly bring to a simmer over low- medium heat. Partially cover and simmer for 2 hours. Strain the broth through a mesh strainer and press down on the veggies to get all the liquid out. Freeze in ice cube trays or 1 quart container for up to 3 months or store in the fridge in a covered container up to 4 days.

I adopted this recipe from Healthy Vegan book from library.

Sweet Potato Hash..Not everyday!!!- Ya'll

Another special day dish...Not everyday!! We had sweet potato in the Bistro Md meals. We made this for New Years Eve morning. Because Daddy was home. But went for a nice family walk. - Another vegan meal.

Sweet Potato Hash with peppers

What you need:

2 pounds sweet potatoes peeled cut into ½ pieces

¼ cup of veggie broth

3 garlic cloves

1 small onion

1 small bell pepper chopped

1tablespoon of paprika

Kosher salt to taste

                                                      Ground pepper to taste

1. Place sweet pot. with water to cover in a large sauce pan. Simmer potatoes for about 15-17 minutes

                                       Until tender drain and set aside

2. Heat broth in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic, onion, and bell peppers for about 4 minutes. Add paprika, salt, and pepper and continue to cook for 5 minutes, until veggies are soft. If necessary, add 1 to 2 more tablespoons of broth add the sweet potatoes and cook to heat through.

Mushroom crepe

Let me stress this again, we would not normally eat crepes everyday. We usually have a protein shake for breakfast with fruit. and Patience has her egg with veggies or veggie sausage. But let's face it a crepe is alot healthier than biscuit and gravy. This would be made on a holiday and when we are not eaing bread products for the rest of the day.
When we had the Bistro Md meals they had mushroom crepe's in the meal. I obtained this recipe from a Healthy Eating Vegan book. We are trying to go with vegan recipes.
Since Jerry hours have changed for the holidays i will try to make cooking videos with Jerry and Patience.

Recipe:

Green Chile and Oyster Mushroom Crepes

What you need :

1 tablespoon of Egg re placer

½ cup of soy creamer plus 2 tablespoons

1 cup of unbleached all purpose white flour

Vegetable cooking spray

2 cups of chopped oyster mushrooms

1 tablespoon of fresh sage

Black pepper

2 to 4 tablespoons of canned roasted diced chilies

1. Mix the Egg re placer with ¾ cup of water. Combine this with the soy creamer and salt. Quickly wisk the flour

Into the wet ingredients until completely smooth. The Batter should be thin. If it is not thing add another 1 to 2 tablespoons of water.

2. Heat pan over medium heat. Coat lightly with the spray. Pour ¼ coup of the batter into the pan and quickly tilt and rotate the pan until the crepe batter is spread thin. Cook the first side for about 2 minutes until lightly browned at the edges and then loosen the crepe with a spatula. Flip it and cook the other side for about a minute. Set finished crepe aside and repeat with the remaining batter. 

3. Sear the mushrooms over high heat in 2 tablespoons of water for 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 Tablespoon of the sage and black pepper for taste. Cook for 1 more minute until mushrooms are cooked through. Add the green chiles to the mushroom mixture and mix to combine.

4. Load about 2 tablespoons of the filling toward to one side of the crepe, spreading it along the length

Roll the crepe closed until they are  filled

Patience the O'ryan...pictures :)

Maintaining and then some...

So proud of Patience she has managed to lose a few more pounds. Actually home school has helped with her health. We have more quailty time to go on our walks and excerise. And there is no candy dangled in front of her at school.

Patience and Jerry ( Daddy)

When they told us they would help Jerry lose weight, I had no idea he would lose so much!!! Although he works alot he still manages to work out.

A fun thing...

One of the fun things we have been doing to come up with meal ideas. Is what ever book we are reading we create a meal that is like the book.

A healthy version of course I will try to post pictures soon of some of the book creations. It makes reading fun and eating healthy fun.

Patience hard at work...

This is Patience little art project she did of the Mayflower..

Pretty good for her age. I love that im able to spend time with her and watch her learn.

Turkey wrap with apple

Patience has maintained her weight and managed to lose a couple more pounds

since home school. She does that by eating protein, veggies, fruit. For lunch half of a wrap and fruit or sandwich. I'm so proud of her. For Breakfast we try to stay away from bread. However some days she may have a whole wheat bagel or waffle. It has really surprised me how she is losing weight while doing home school. I think she is more active because we are able to walk everyday.

Whats happening

Sorry I havent blogged, my computer is down. Since my last post I lost a little girl @ 10 weeks. Due to her having a extra chromosome. :( I decided her name would be Love.
With Patience daily we are making sure she stays active. Nightly before the sun goes down she walks 2 miles with me. Pretty good for alittle girl. Her weight is staying off with Dr. G's plan. And her skin is so pretty. When i get my computer fixed ill post photo's.

One of the things we do for her is make her fave's but modify it. Meaning for strognof we dont add the noodles. We make mixed frozen veggies, no strachy veggies. Add the cream sauce then add shredded grilled chicken or ground turkey. With a small dab of sour cream. In others words we take all the recipes that call for noodles and replace with veggies. We compromised by giving her the cream sauce. Like lasagna we replace the noodles with eggplant. Its all about the yummy veggies and protein. Im amazed how she keeps her weight off. And Jerry. Im sorry this has no photos i will be back at it when my computer is working. With photos.

Patience is now 7. And this year she will homeschool. Im glad she will no longer go to school and deal with seeing the other children eat sugar. I plan to expose her to many dishes of culture this year and expand her apperation for a healthy life style. With her Pe I plan to keep her active by walking, exerise tape for children, and meeting with a homeschool group @ the park. A couple times a month i will take her to a community center to swim indoors. A small update for whats happening in our very small town in our corner of our life :)

Eating right during pregnancy....

A few weeks ago I found out I am expecting. My due date is my son Kaplin's 18th birthday.  ( 1- 10- 2012 )I will almost be 40 years old.
In the past few weeks I have given in to terrible cravings. Not awfully bad but things I haven't ate since we started our health journey. 

Last week I received the news my Dr. wants to start me on insulin shots. So I just got to take this very seriously.
Lately I have been failing at walking also. Because all i do is sleep. After watching biggest loser last night I dealt with my conscience with the way I have been eating. And I realize pregnancy isnt a excuse to eat what i want.

And i realize I'm not just eating for me I'm eating for my baby.
The baby is so loved just as much as i love any of my children on earth. So i have got to clean up my act and eat right.

Is it possible....

That since Patience has lost weight I have bragged to much?
It could be.
However in Mother's defense this is my little girl. And she has come so far. Wearing jeans for Patience was something she did at 3 years old. And it took two more years later till she could wear kids clothing. What came natural for other kids was a struggle for her. So yes i bragged my heart out. Bragged with JOY.

For people that still look at Patience they still see a little girl who is a little over weight. But she is no longer in the obese range. I see my butterfly that changed.

I know for adults that lose weight there comes a point that posting photo's could come across as being vain. But in all honesty as A mother all I was saying is I'm happy I'm daughter has her life back. She isn't stuck in women's clothing. Patience enjoyed taking the photo's.

I don't know... oddly enough a comment was made it was weird how i posted so many photos. But the person who said that gets paid to get their picture taken.

This is my blog, yes I wrote it. This blog is about our life things we encounter on our weight loss. My feelings, Patience feelings. I figure if the wrong person reads this blog to bad. You didn't know us or how far she has come. You didn't know she couldn't wear a child's ring for two years. You didn't know on picture day she had to wear a ladies shirt.
When I post so many photo's it's because I'm happy my daughter is healthy.

So until you walk in someones shoes do not judge. A kind word is sometimes enough to make someones day. If posting to many photo's of my child makes me a bad parent. Then so be it.  But the one thing  you can never say is I dont have a right to be happy.

End of the Year cook out at school.....

Patience teacher wrote me a note saying they are going to have a cook-out.
Would I like to let her participate or bring her lunch. She has only participated in the Valentine Party and Christmas Party. Every other event she has no thank you.

So that was a easy answer....I'm not thrilled with the cook-out food.
Regular hot dog, white bread bun, and chips, and cookie!!!!!

How our family would modify the meal would be
100% beef hot dog or veggie dog (meat hot dog with no nitrates)
Whole wheat bun
And fresh fruit

However I know the school cannot afford to feed that many children with those food choices.  Patience has done so well later that evening I will make sure for dinner she has fish/veggies or a protein  with green veggies.

That day the children will play outside most of the day so she will have exercise.
On a rare occasion we have went to a gathering and they have white bread, chips, cookies. Patience will whisper "Momma this isnt so great for me"

And I will just smile and say shhh. She truly knows the difference.

One snack.....

Almost every day I will pack fresh fruit in Patience backpack for her snack.

Every now and then I will pack low sugar dried apple chips.

Trip to Walmart....

We shop at Walmart often and some of the employee's have noticed Patience transformation. One day a employee had inquired what her diet was. Her time was limited because she had to return to her cash register. We spoke briefly.

She explained to me her own son was 9 years old and weighed 210. My heart was troubled by this because she had named her doctor's it was the same doctors Patience was going to before.

Anyway at a later time I gave her my phone number and email. Told her I would email her Patience sample meals. She told me her son had gained more. Later that week I seen her purchasing soda.

And she had said it is diet, my son will not drink water.
I have yet  to hear from her. I don't know....
That little boy has really been on my heart and hope some how she is lead to the proper doctors and she receives a good plan for him.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

Like any child Patience still loves peanut butter or almond butter and Jelly. We do put that in her lunch sometimes. Instead of Jelly we use Spreadable fruit. The main reason is it all natural and no high fructose syrup.
The sugar free jam has chemicals or Hfc. With the spreadable fruit it has fruit pectin. ( fruit juice)
In the past we would have thought sugar free was doing "the right thing" just another added tip we have learned from Dr. Goglia. :)



The brand we use Polander. When we put peanut butter and jam in her lunch we usually had carrot sticks or celery. Not another fruit. Or a fruit such as apple because of the fiber. Using only whole wheat bread. And all natural Almond Butter or Peanut Butter. I really shutter to think of the weight she would gain using white bread, regular jelly, and regular peanut butter. And the most important thing how good it would be for her.

Turkey Enchilada

Although I have been going with my vegetarian diet.
I plan on making the girls Turkey Enchilada.
Patience loves Mexican food so I do make turkey whole wheat enchilada's for her occasionally.

Allowing her to have one Taco size with veggies or salad on the side.
We do not do the rice, chips, and other carbs all at once.-

Just turkey, whole wheat tortilla, cheese, and sauce. I always try to find a sauce with lower salt content. And bake.
(I will post a photo later this evening)

I cannot ask Patience to give up everything. And we don't but we do try to encourage her to have more protein and veggie over carbs. Since she is a child she cannot give up carbs completely.

In the past before we knew she had a insulin problem we would buy whatever was on sale. Have rice, corn, chips with it the typical American meal. - After awhile that contributed to the weight gain.
It wasn't that Patience was being over fed it was what we had fed her. :( The very sad thing about it was she would still be hungry.
Her little pancreas was given out. Anyway...I'm so thankful now we know the reason and know what will work. :) This is about 4 oz. of protein for Patience in a meal.
And with the veggies we do not ask her to hold back.

A Economical lunch box treat.....$2.00 for all this fruit

One of the fruits Patience loves in her lunch box is Pineapple.
Pineapple is good for digestive system and loaded with Vitamin C.
( I had to get a photo of her and her pineapple. She was so excited we were getting a real pineapple instead of a can) Does not take much to make her happy :)

Whole Wheat Brownies

Since Patience eats so healthy 99% of the time. I made the girls a treat. This is a every now and then treat. Honestly Patience ate one serving size brownie and did not ask for more. And she runs in the afternoons and jumps on the trampoline. So I'm not to concerned about a weight gain. She is maintaining everything so nicely. And even went down another size in shorts recently!!! ( she is growing taller) I have taken her sugar a couple times and it has been right on track. - She asked me to take it because she seen me taking mine. Bless her I hope she never has to.

3/4 cup of butter ( we use the better brands, I cannot believe its not butter, country crock light) anything with no hydrogenated oils

1 and 1/2 tsp of vanilla

1/2 cup of cocoa

1 cup of brown sugar ( we use light)

3 eggs ( or you could use egg beaters)

1/2 tsp of baking powder

Blend all together and then add 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour

Cook for 40 minutes at 350.

These are fluffy texture and the girls still enjoyed the brownie experience. In the future we will use recipes with Carob powder.

Asparagus, Black beans, Tomato.....

Asparagus, Black Beans, Tomato...Black beans are a starch.
So we try to limit the intake on beans. And aim more in eating the green veggies. I realize beans are protein also and high in fiber but they are also starchy according to our dr.

 This is a very filling side dish. And so tasty. I usually buy fresh asparagus and steam it. This could be more of a cold side dish.

So good!!! And a economical dish for busy people.

Pasta Salad..

We really try to stay clear of noodles, bread, crackers. And if we do have them we be sure to make sure to eat the correct portion. And they are whole wheat noodles with fiber.

Patience bless her heart almost everyday will eat a sandwitch on whole wheat bread with her fruit. Or salad with grilled chicken. Or a wrap. But today I switched it up and put a cold pasta in her lunch with fruit and  small piece of grilled chicken.

Whole wheat pasta
Diced can of tomato
Diced peppers
Diced onions
A few diced olives
A sprinkle of basil

This photo is quite a few servings...But to be honest in the past I could have ate the whole thing. When we give Patience a pasta we usually pack it full of veggies and she knows once that serving is eaten that's it.

We all measure our pasta servings now. Like i said we really try to stay clear but every now we will have whole wheat. Maybe once a week if that. Making sure veggies are the main items on the plate. Any other veggies would be great: cucumber, carrots, spinach, broccoli. I just made it simple. Because Patience talks alot at lunch...LOL I would never want to buy those pasta kits because those are loaded with soduim. I like to make it because fresh veggies are so good for you.

I'm so proud and amazed how she has maintained her weight. :)

The Egg without the Roll....

One of my favorite not so good for me foods is Egg roll. So I have found a way to get that same flavor without eating something deep fried in oil and batter.

I scramble a egg and let it cook till it covers the whole bottom of the pan. Flat. Then I stir fry my cabbage and carrots. Or you could purchase a bag of Cole slaw mix the veggies.

Cook those up. Then i put the veggies in the egg and roll it up like a real egg roll. And either dip it in Chinese hot sauce or put the hot sauce on.  Alot less calories and not so bad for you. Patience has eaten this for breakfast even. Of course without the hot sauce...LOL
She does not like very spicy things. I so wish I had a photo of the face she makes when something is to spicy.

What you Believe....

The one thing I'm really starting to believe is true if I believe Im a healthy person then that is what I become. No I haven't reached my goal weight just yet. But when I make healthy choices in each meal. It's amazing how the rest just falls in place.

I bought a new pair of Capri's a couple weeks ago and they were Little snug now they are baggy... Yes there are times I am tempted. But for the most part I am a healthy person.

What you believe is what you will become. At first it was just me imitating what I wanted to be now I am becoming what I believe.

Creamy Cucumber Soup

Personally I love soup sometimes when I do not feel like a large meal. I will sip on soup. This may be eaten warm or cold. I even eat soup in the summer time.

1 cup of onion
2 garlic cloves
1 and half cups of veggie broth
1 Avocado
3 cups of cucumber
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lemon
1/2 cup of plain yogurt

Heat chopped onion and garlic gloves , add lemon juice and heat for about one minute. Add broth, and cucumber, Add all in a blender or food processor. Be careful. And puree. Add avocado. And yogurt.

You may add a pinch of cayenne pepper . This soup can be served warm or chilled. Its healthy and a wonderful snack or nice with a salad.

Makes 4 servings one cup

Sweet Treat..Yogurt with fruit

One of the sweet treats we all love is plain yogurt with berries or fruit. Greek Yogurt is excellent for you. The yogurt in the store that is already sweetened is not so good. The fruit gives the yogurt a sweet taste. It's like eating McDonald's yogurt at home.

We always buy the big bag of frozen strawberries each week and use it for smoothies and shakes or this. It is only like $7.00 at Walmart and it last all week. I defrost the berries and put in Patience lunch sometimes at school. This is a treat food for Patience I have no guilt about. She likes a sprinkle of cinnamon on her yogurt.

Very low carb snack: Deviled Lettuce Leaf

I have not yet give up eggs. And since we are watching the carbs.
I make egg salad on lettuce leaves.

Boil about 4 eggs
Chop 1 celery stalk
About 1/2 cup of onions
And any other veggies :bell pepper, carrots (a food processor chops everything in nice bite size pieces)

After the eggs are boiled and cooled peel and put in the food processor. And pulse about 6 times. You do not want mushy egg salad.  Then I add about 3 Tablespoons of Mayo
And one teaspoon of mustard. And all the veggies. And a sprinkle of dill weed.

This is a snack when you miss having dip. The lettuce leaf is lot lower in carbs than chips. This makes about 4-5 generous servings.
This is a snack I make for Patience and it is Patience approved.

All the more reason....

What I have noticed is when I take extra money with me out it is so easy to buy a indulgence food. If you have been watching our diet for the past few months you know it has been pretty healthy.

One of our treat foods is fruit bars. All natural fruit. Today Patience and I were waiting for her sister to do Chorus.  That is a hour so while we were waiting we went to Walmart. I had not eaten much today so I thought I have to have a snack. And naturally my brain starts to say your hungry, you have the extra money with you.

Just go ahead and buy a sugar free candy or some pita chips and dip in gucamole. After all you did not have lunch. Instead I got a peach from the produce. And some almonds. Because while were walking and I was trying to talk myself out of binge eating..

I seen this lady smile at Patience I had asked Patience to go get me a small carrying basket. And the lady said to me how cute Patience was. It reminded me how hard Patience works to be healthy.
And how i needed to be a good example.
And it made me feel so good that Patience received a compliement.

If I had purchased the pita chips and dip it would not have been a awful bad snack. It isnt forbidden. But the fruit would have been the healthier choice for us both.

Having the lady give me a complienment about Patience had really brought a smile to my face and reminded me to keep things up. And it reminded me to never go out without a healthy snack and a pocket full of extra change.

I guess my point of this post is say there are items that would be labeled healthy snacks. I mean pita chips are ok but with me being so hungry i would have over ate the whole bag. The better choice was the fruit with the almond pack. And today was a reminder we have worked so hard, we dont want to give it up.
I'm truly thankful for the lady and her kind words. It reminded me of how far we have come.

We had a visitor

Taking a nap this afternoon
And the kids wake me up and tell me we have a pig in the yard. I laughed and said yea sure.
Sure enough this little piggy came to visit. It was a neighbors down the street. I cannot get over how he wagged his tail and followed the kids.

I was eating a nectarine
and decided to give it to him, he didn't want it :) He tried at first but then gave up.

Jerry made Breakfast...Asparagus-Zucchini Frittata

Recipe from Diabetic Living suitable for Everyone

I had to swipe this photo from the net because Simplicity new puppy had chewed the cord to the other computer that i down load photo's. Luckily the photo was from the magazine he got this from. Jerry's turned out just as pretty and it was so good.

11/2 pounds fresh Asparagus trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium yellow pepper cut into strips
1/3 chopped onion
1/4 cup bottled roasted red sweet peppers drained and chopped
1 small zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
10 eggs or 2 and 1/2 cup or frozen egg product thawed
1 cup of soy milk or fat free milk
1/2 teaspoon of dried dill

Preheat oven to 350 Coat baking dish with non stick cooking spray.

In large saucepan bring about 1 inch water to boiling add Asparagus, sweet peppers strips, and onion. Return to boiling reduce heat. Simmer covered about 1 minute or until crisp. Drain well . Stir in roasted peppers from a jar. Evenly spread asparagus mixture in prepared baking dish.

Layer zucchini slices on top.
In a large bowl beat eggs. Beat milk add dried dill, 1 teaspoon of salt and 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper. pour veggies in baking dish. Bake uncovered 40-45 minutes.  Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This is a very pretty dish to take to a brunch.
Patience loved it and ate every bite. Veggies and all.
Btw I survived my week of just eating vegetarian and plan to stick to it. There are so many veggie recipes I want to learn and the scale dropped 4 pounds this week :) My mom had given me some of her old clothes And I was able to wear a beautiful dress she had given me to church.(my mom looks so young for her age, she always wears the latest styles) To be honest people have always thought I was the mother and she was the daughter!!!
 I'm not used to wearing hip clothing. Im used to wearing dresses that look like potato sacks. That are huge.
So today im starting to feel  more my age. And feel like going shopping. ;) I wasnt even aware that I could fit into the dress!!!

Steak and Potato? (mushroom and Cauliflower)

Don't get me wrong I always loved a good steak. Since our health plan we haven't ate beef in a year. I really don't miss it. But i do miss the hearty flavor.

I promise you though a portabella mushroom has the same flavor cooked in olive oil. And my potato was pureed cauliflower with a small amount of yogurt and cheese.

This was so yummy!! And half the calories this was just a small meal i could have very well had a huge salad also and grilled
onions just like a steak.It was so good. On this Patience knows it is a mushroom the funny thing is she would love it just as much as steak and potato. :)

Bok Choy, Eggplant, Mushroom, Carrot, Stir Fry..

Instead of Green Cabbage I thought Jerry and I would try Bok
Choy Which is in the Cabbage family.

It tasted alot like Spinach. Very filling. We added our own spices.

 

And it is less carbs. I know the picture doesn't make the meal look to appealing. But it tasted wonderful. And once again no guilt...LOL


If you make Bok Choy it is very important to wash thoroughly.
And remember it retains water. In the future i hope to make a Bok choy soup. And start to expand my ventures in using spices.
We ate a salad with the stir fry and was stuffed. ( Jerry ate chicken)

I'm really loving eating vegetarian. :) When I say vegetarian I mean all veggies and fruit, nuts, dark beans. And not rely so much on breads. When I was a teen I was a vegetarian and I lived on pasta and breads. Now I'm older and with my diabetes i would gain weight If i did that. My moms nick name for me was Victoria the Vegetable Vampire...LOL when i was a toddler.

I'm hoping   being a vegetarian will lead me in living more a vegan lifestyle. But Im not ready to do that just yet!!!...LOL It's to tough...

 But hopefully it will lead me into making more vegan recipes in time.
(I'm not going to ask my family to do that) They have been so committed in being healthy. I'm so happy with Patience you really wouldnt believe how many times a stranger has tried to give her a candy or treat and she has said No thank you. That is true will power.

Eggplant...Lasagna

Very simple Lunch today.

I took a eggplant and cut the ends off. Then cut the eggplant across. In rounds. I put a tiny bit of sea salt on the rounds (lightly) and let the egg plant sit in a colander for about 30 minutes. It makes the eggplant less bitter.

Then I poured all natural Tomato sauce in the bottom of my pan. And layered the egg plant with sauce and eggplant. And sprinkled mozzarella cheese. I added basil, parsley, oregano. And after the eggplant had cooked about 30 minutes. I put whole slices of mozzarella on top about 3 slices And sprinkled grated Parmesan cheese and broiled it till the top was brown.

And we grilled some onions and bell peppers for the top after it was cooked. And ate a nice salad. I know this looks like alot of cheese but I want to say this would be my higher calorie meal for the day. I'm watching my cheese intake. We are eating plain good ole veggies also. I hope to eventually eat more vegan.

I could have made eggplant with the bread crumbs but this was yummy without. No noodles.  In the future i plan to make eggplant similar to this with a spinach feta filling. When I put the cheese on this dish i mainly put it on the top. And added more sauce than cheese. I don't know I feel Little guilty if i drown veggies in to much cheese. But this was our higher calorie meal for the day.

I cheated and used Ragu all natural sauce but in the future Jerry and I plan to start making our own sauces. This dish could have had grilled mushrooms, shredded carrots, any veggies really. We just made it simple. :)  If  Patience eats a meal like this we do call it Lasagna but as in the past we always tell her it was made with veggies instead of noodles. She understands the difference. And most of the time it is "Patience approved" ;)

This meal was more economical than a traditional lasagna. I think a lot of times people will say Yikes A Eggplant is $3.00 but in the long run eating veggies does not cost more. It is easy to be intimated but if you plan your meals eating healthy is more economical. Plus No guilt.

In the past I would have spent a good 25 dollars on a meat meal with noodles. And we would have felt sleepy afterwards after eating the noodles.

So far still good....

Fourth day of  No meat. And im doing great. No weakness at all. Trying to eat veggies that are the colors of the rainbow. And this new plan is really given me a whole new apperication for veggies. I'm actually looking up different recipes for salads of all things. It's amazing of how many combations there are.

This plan to eat no meat isnt bad. I found this interesting quiz in


Diabetic Living. Hidden Carbs Quiz. ( I'm type 2 ) in case I have not said that yet.

Which has more Carbohydrate?
A. 1/2 of fruit flavored low fat yogurt
B. 1/2 cup of regular vanilla icecream

Answer A 1/2 cup of fruit flavor low fat yogurt is 26 g carb. low fat sweetened with sugar has more carbs than the ice cream at 18 carb.

What has more carbs
A. 1 oz of whole wheat pita chips
B. 1 oz of baked tortilla chips

A. 1 oz of Baked tortilla chips 24 carbs. thte pita chips were 17 grams.


Which has the most carbs
A. 1/2 cup of cooked green peas
B. 1/2 cooked pasta (white)
C. 6 whole grain crackers

Answer 1/2 cup of  cooked pasta
(white)

Reading labels are so important !!!


On a side note Patience had her Girl Scout Meeting. I really should not even show up at snack time. Because it only makes me sad. The snack was Little Debbie Zebra's with Red juice drink!!!!

I add the complaint about this because in the future if I refer another parent to my blog I really want them to know I empathize with their journey. To be commited to myself and my family The words being Healthy are not just words I say now. They are becoming REAL. :) Healthy is a true commitment.  It is asking myself will this food help or hurt me.

Patience took her all natural yogurt with water. It did not phase her she is now playing with a bubble necklace she got at Walgreens. :)  And dancing around the room singing her Taylor Swift songs. Blowing the bubbles. Words could not express how moments like that fill my heart with joy and smiles. 

Coming up this summer in June...

Patience Girl Scout group is going on a outing to a Water Park.
A couple summer's ago I had a very difficult time finding a suit that would fit her. At that time she was wearing a Ladies Large shirt.  So all of the bathing suits were made for a lady on top. And she wanted to be like the other kids and wear I Carly or Hannah Montana suits :( It was tough.

Yes Patience is still larger than the other girls but it is so much easier now. At first I admit I was thinking oh no swimming. And in the past we did hear rude comments. :( ( mostly from teens) I remember a time in particular.

Even though I still have improvements for myself to make we have all decided to go as a family to the water park. I don't want deny Patience her fun.  Patience would like to wear a bikini like her sister but that is just something we tell her maybe when she is older.
And I usually buy her a new beach towel or something to make up for it. Or flip flops. I feel a small amount of guilt she cannot be like her sister. But I also tell her Momma cannot wear those type either. And I try to make over what ever one she gets and say it is way more fashionable. It's just a fact Patience inherited my big girl genes. All I can do is work with her on being healthy. Doing this together. To me she is always beautiful.

I never want her to look back on her childhood and think it was terrible because she was larger. I want her to remember I tried to help her. I was chubby as Little girl and when I became 13 my mom tried putting me on diet. It wasn't easy at that age.

And oh Ugh when we were going to doctor's trying to find out the reason for Patience weight gain. (3 doctors here in Tn at a well known research Hopstial.) They would make it seem like I was obsessed with her weight. One actually wrote in Patience file mom was over weight as a child seems obsessed!!!! Uh well yeah my child is gaining 30 pounds in a year. I really have to wonder why they did not think to check her insulin. Makes me mad thinking about it. Telling us to feed her baked potato for dinner. And those fat free products that were making her gain.

Anyway...we found help and Patience is going to her outing. We plan to have a fun time.

Day 1.... Veggie week

I have not decided yet if I am going to give up eggs/dairy but I'm going to slowly try to in the future. Depending more on fruits and veggies for food. I take multi vitamins also. In many of my meal plans your going to see stir fry, stir fry, and probably think. Is that all they ever eat. Well its one of my favorite things to eat. I feel like I'm eating at a Chinese restaurant without the guilt. So I guess my thoughts on that are if you really enjoy eating veggies in a certain recipe it doesn't matter if you eat it every night. It's OK. Because your supposed to enjoy what your eating :) But I will try to include new recipes we have adopted from our vegetarian cookbook.

Breakfast- whey protein shake, 1 tablespoon of all natural peanut butter,  ( almond butter is good also)1 Banana, and 3 frozen strawberries.

Snack- Apple

Lunch- Salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrots, And I have decided to not yet give up cheese. (a limited amount) Banana peppers. And Homemade yogurt dressing.This looks alot like one of Jerry's salad without the chicken.

Snack - Plum with 12 almonds


Remembering to always have a water bottle by my side. Water is the key to weight loss.

Cabbage, yellow peppers, mushroom, carrots, And hot sauce.

Yep I plan on eating this whole plate for dinner!!!!

 It was stir fried in a small amount of olive oil.

No guilt in this meal. This stir fry is not something we buy from a package. And we used our own seasonings. Onion powder, garlic, chili powder.

All veggies :)

This coming week....

My goal for myself is to eat 100 % vegetarian. Besides the fish and chicken our diet contained mostly
veggies.
Of course for the protein I'm going to keep my protein shake, and natural peanut butter. And I will add dark beans to the diet and nuts. And i love using my juicer.


For Patience of course I'm not going to do this. Her diet is mostly veggies fruit protein. I feel like she needs
 the fish and poultry to give her energy. We just  got a vegetarian cookbook so it gives me a reason to
learn a new recipe. And like i said Jerry and i want to start doing more with tofu.


We  only use soymilk. I have so much respect for the vegetarian lifestyle and would really like
to adapt in most of our menu's. From Saturday to Saturday is my goal. Im hoping to see a good move on the scale also.

Starting to make Juice for Patience...

This is a image of the Juicer we got at Walmart for alittle of nothing last year.

This morning Patience seen me making my celery, tomato, apple juice. And wasnt to keen on the

celery. So I made her  apple. Of course it didnt look or taste like the apple

juice from a store but she liked it.

So to make sure she is eating enough I am going to start to make her homemade juice.

Since she has been eating healthier I can tell her skin shines. :)

Spring Break And a preview of The store aisles

The girls are on spring break this week :)

I had Jerry pick up some food coloring so we could color some eggs. We eat hard boiled eggs for snack anyway. So Jerry will be eating pink/purple eggs at work...LOL

Thought it would be fun, and keep them busy. We may plant a herb garden in the window also. Patience has planted some parsley and it is growing so nicely. I want to teach her the beauty of growing your own herbs and using them in recipes. I used some of her parsely for a dish and she had the biggest smile. And we will probally get a topsy tervy for Tomatos for her to do.

And about the store aisle,,,If you go to the store this is what you would see. A nightmare for a child with a insulin problem.

Thankfully Patience goes straight for the little dolls, bubbles, books, pens, Easter clothes. As I go along I am slowly getting little trinkets

For the basket. We have decided to maybe put a few pieces of sugar free candy but no big bunny.

Patience loves clothes... and loves to collect different flip flops. So im not to concerned she will be disappointed. It has become a second nature to her now.

Mock Mac and cheese

Cauliflower cooked or steamed, after cooked chop to resemble mac noodles, Add  2Tablespons of Mayo, 2 Teaspoon of mustard,(small amount of butter)
Monterrey jack cheese and cheddar, and Little grated Parmesan cheese on top and put under broiler till top is browned.  I never have been crazy about mac and cheese but Patience and Jerry love it. And we all loved this. Just a small replacement that saved our family the calories.

At a later time i will post a photo of mock potato salad, very close to this recipe. Using Cauliflower also.
We always explain to Patience not every mac and cheese is good for her and we used veggies to make it. So she will not be confused. Kids adapt so much easier than adults. :)

My dh made us lunch, Tofu

Shredded Cabbage, carrots, onions, celery, cauliflower, Broccoli. And Tofu.

I never thought i would like tofu but it wasn't bad. With added seasomgs. Chili powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes. Jerry ate the tofu steaks and really did not care to much for them.  In the future we will just dice them.

We plan to eat more tofu instead of meat.

Dr. Philip Goglia Quick Start plan First Week

I thought i would share Dr. G book. This quick start plan is just to get you started. You should only do this for 3 weeks. It is extremely important to drink water. At least 7-8 daily.

Morning- 1 cup of oatmeal
                Orange or Banana

Morning snack- apple

Lunch- 1/2 cup of rice, 4 oz of chicken or 4 oz of fish, two cups of steamed veggies.

Snack orange

Dinner Fish only, 2 cups of veggies

Night snack, mixed berries

This plan is when you have a event planned and need to lose weight like 20 pounds in 3 weeks.
It is unhealthy to go cold turkey with bread/strarch. Dr. G had our family on a plan similar to this in the first few weeks. The plan will not work if you do not drink the water. If you have sugar cravings eat a few grapes or  a couple pieces of frozen banana or pineapple. 

This is only for 3 weeks just to jump start your metabolism. If you do not like orange or apple you may pick another piece of fruit. But do not over do it on the banana they make you retain water.

In our first month Jerry and I both lost 20 pounds!!!! Patience lost 9 pounds.

All in a day...

Breakfast: Whey Protein shake, with Banana.

Morning snack: apple

Lunch :  Chicken Breast, 1 Tomato,  1 cup of spinach.

Afternoon snack: orange

Dinner: Fish, Brussel sprouts, And roasted red peppers.

And

8 Water  Bottles of  water

Only three more Girl Scout Meetings..

Patience loves her meetings, but I despise the snacks. So tonight I had Patience bring her own snack.
The other moms know the snack is supposed to be Healthy. But I guess animal crackers dipped in icing are healthy?

Anyway...Tonight she brought her own snack. Sliced apples in cinnamon dip. Yea i know it sounds super sweet. But the product was not the regular yogurt. It was very low in sugar.
She was ok with being different. She is actually proud to be healthy.

We ordered Dr. G Book

The book is called Turn Up the heat. by Dr. Philip Goglia
And I plan to share information from the book on my blog. Although Dr. Goglia has helped us along and prepared a personal plan for our family. I had to have the book : )

Spinach chips?

Instead of potato chips for
Patience I  make spinach chips Heat the oven for 375 and place spinach on baking sheet
Slightly drizzel with olive oil. ( not drown)  then season and cook for about 15 minutes.

She loves these, and i dont have any worry . They are crispy. I am sure Popeye would approve. :)

Crock Pot Chicken

,

 Whole Fryer chicken, carrots, onions, celery, Cabbage.
Clean rinse chicken, take out the gross parts...LOL  And season. We used parsley, onion powder, chili powder.

And cook on high for 5 hours in crock pot. No it isn't the typical roast beef meal but it is Little more healthy.
I took Reynolds wrap and made a layer of small balls so the chicken would not lay in the chicken liquid.

After the chicken is done you could take off the fatty skin.  This is a meal Patience approves of.
We shred her chicken and put a Little bit of low sugar baraque sauce. She loves cabbage also. :)
And all the veggies :)

Little Red Riding Hood and the Happy meal...

Patience had a outing with her girl scout troop this morning.They went to a play at  to see Little Riding Hood. It was from money they raised with the Cookie sales.

Anyway after the play they were going to eat out at McDonald the cost of the lunch was included. I had sent extra money for her to be able to get a grilled chicken salad instead of a Happy Meal.

Gosh I wonder how it looked to the other moms. I hope it did not look like we were trying to stand out. I mean I could not see her eating a 300 calorie hamburger, fatty fries, and slurping down a coke.

Patience had no problem eating the Salad...I'm doing the right thing. Regardless of how it looks. I mean if  i sit there and let her eat the silly happy meal who would benefit?
Then other's would have a reason to say thats sad, she is overweight. Her parents should do something.

Sometimes its ok to be different and stand up for what you believe.

Tuna and Veggies

Very simple lunch
Can of Tuna, Tomatoe, cucumber slices, celery, and a hard boiled egg.
No mayo was needed. I put seasonsings such as pepper and italian herbs.
More than enough food  Veggie/protein

Starkist Tuna was on sale at Walmart for 60 cent per can. I just hate when i hear people say it cost to much to eat healthy. Eating healthy might mean eating the basic's and may require planning but I promise it can be done.

If your a mom and you think I cannot afford to buy my kids what they want to eat plus "healthy food" for myself. Start now in getting everyone eating healthy.  Kids will adapt. I promise. There has to be some veggies your kids will tolerate.

Roasted Asparagus

1 pound of Asparagus
Ground pepper
Drizzle olive oil

Rinse and clean the Asparaguss and cut the ends, Drizzle the oil, and pepper.
Put on baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes
Or until crisper. Sometimes we add  lemon.
Since it was March we called them Leprechaun trees and said that is what they build their house with. The girls loved them.

Asparagus is not alot of money. Just another reason to eat healthy and stay away from the pre packaged foods. We had this with carrots, and baked fish.
And the cost of the meal was very little.

Patience loves her Pita's

We always purchase Whole wheat, they are a brand called Joseph's and are only 60 calories. Very low carb.

Today she had spinach and grilled chicken with a sprinkle of feta cheese.
Carrot sticks and about 12 grapes. And about 2 Tablespoons of yogurt made salad dressing. With water.

White Bean Spinach soup.

Very simple.
White drry beans, tomatoes, spinach, onions, celery.
Seasonings. We make soup and freeze it and have it for a lunch along with a salad.
This is a large serving here. High in fiber and protein

White beans are high in starch, so this is not something you would want to eat a large amount of but its a low-cost soup. Something to eat along with a salad instead of meat.
Nice on a cool March day, still soup weather but nice enough to let the windows up in your home.

You could add a small amount of grated parmesan cheese. (small) or spicy red pepper flakes.

Chicken Spagetti ( squash)

Instead of feeding Patience pasta, and have her say may i have more.

Of course we have used whole wheat. Another healthy alternative we use is spagetti squash. Alot lower in fat and she is eating her veggies. We purchase a spagetti squash cut in half and cook  according to direction i think it is about 20 minutes in the oven. Then shred her chicken and add marnia sauce. Cheese is optional. Squash is just as good as noodles

This could be made without meat and use many of

your favorite veggies.

Chicken and peppers And Salad

No it isnt cottage cheese it is Jerry's Home made Salad Dressing with alittle feta cheese.
Orange bell peppers and onions.  Yes it looks like a huge amount of food for lunch.
But Dr. G's food plan is a No fail. Veggie/protein for lunch.

Like I said alot of days Jerry will eat only vegtable salad. So I hope this recipe does not offend anyone who does not eat meat. We did get some tofu at the store and plan to start cooking that also. Jerry does a very labor type job so he wanted chicken.

I just feel so sad when I hear people say: It costs to much to eat healthy. Nope, you buy a bag of apples, almonds, and any other fruit you have all your snacks for the week.
Even if you cannot afford a fancy meal, make it simple. Then when you have alittle extra make a special meal once a week. It's all about health and Simplicity in cooking.

I'm really baffled...

Patience has a classmate that has a parent that is a teacher.
Not saying which parent here. Because I do not want to say to much.

Anyway it just surprizes that the parent eats lunch with their child everyday and they inquire about Patience lunch. At first I thought it was just polite conversation. But then it got to the point the person would say wow you eat fruit everyday. You really eat healthy Patience. And Patience response was : Arent we supposed to?

All the while their child is sitting there eating cookies, chips, candy bar.
It just surprizes me the parent is a Well educated person!!! I mean they have a degree in educating children. And feed own child junk!!!

I could understand if they lacked education. Anyway...trying not to say to much. I think it is perfectly legal to add tibits of Patience life and her reactions without getting sued...LOL

I just love the fact Patience said :Arent we supposed to. Like it came natural to her.

Patience spent the night with Memaw

OK let me say this : My parents have alot of junk food at their house!!!!
The typical American cupboard though. They buy soda, they buy chips, they buy
ice cream. But my parents really do not have a weight problem so their belief is
Eating in moderation will not hurt her.Their misconception is if it is labeled "Diet"
Then it should not hurt!!! Saying it once more,The stuff is garabage!!

I called to see how the girls were and My mom said they were fine. Patience had just
gotten finished with a snack half a apple and cheese slice.
Which is a OK snack. Then she said she offered her some crackers. But Patience refused. My moms idea of a cracker is ritz, yes the buttery kind!!!

I let it slip out of mouth when I said Good girl Patience...LOl
My mom was silent. Of course wheat cracker would have been fine, but we just try to get her used to the idea of having a fruit for snack with almonds or maybe cheese every now and then.

I just think my mother is sursprised at Patience devotion . I could tell she may have been alittle annoyed that Patience refused the cracker . Annoyed with me. Thinking we are strict or something. But I have to say WTG Patience.
Its not about moderation, its about how her body will react to the food.

Anyway I love my parents, this is about how Patience reacted Good job my girl
The lessons she has been taught at home carry her when she is away from home.

Girl Scout cookie time

Patience is a Girl Scout. Her attitude has been so awesome about this. Of course she is obligated to sale the cookies. But not once has she said mom can i have some cookies.
When Jerry came home from work he said oh no cookies, the two cases that were worth $100 sat on our Kitchen table.

And Patience being the sweet upbeat, bubbly, girl she is said Dont worry Daddy I just sale them. Im not going to eat something like that. Then she said Daddy if that kind of thing isnt good for you then why in the world do I try to sale them.

Good point Patience. Good point. This post is in no way trying to cut down girl scout cookies. Or the Girl scouts. Im so proud of our little Daisey. I just wanted to share how sweets will always be there no matter what in our world, in her world.

I did order one box of Thank you Berry much. The box is still there....So I have to say WTG to everyone in our family for handling this.

Deep Dish Pizza (caliuflower)

I really do not want to give the impression we are feeding Patience alot of meat and cheese. To be honest she has veggies 95% of the time. And fish. We do not want trade in a insulin problem for a heart problem



But I try to make them fun. I do not want her to think veggies have to be drenched in cheese. Alot of times she eats steamed veggies or raw veggies.

Anyway

1 cup of Cauliflower
Spices such as oregano, basil, parsley
1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese
1 egg
Pizza toppings
Sauce
You steam the cauliflower, cooked but not all the way then rice it in a food processor.
Shred it

Then you mix, cheese, egg, spices and cook for 12 minutes on a greased cookie sheet with olive oil
That makes the dough.

After the dough has cooled make just like a regular pizza and cook until crisp. Add any pizza toppings even turkey pepperoni. Or make it veggie. She was sursprized and happy. :) The more you shredd the caliuflower the more it will be more of a dough. Like I said please do not think this is something she eats everyday. Just a instead of pizza. We do this.

Even my Simplicity said pretty good mom. This recipe was seen on Dr. Oz. and this photo here is not Patience serving. Jerry, Patience and Simplicity ate this and there was some left to eat.  It could even make nice bread sticks.
Of course we tell Patience it is a healthier pizza. Not real pizza. Because if someone offers her real pizza we do not want her to think it is ok. We explained to her we use veggies to make the dough.