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.