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.