Trying to keep up with the weight loss wagon......yet again (new title, same journal)

[pjlla]

Pamela--I can't believe you read the whole thing! Were you bored to death?

Yes and no. I needed something to read, but I really enjoyed your journal!!

Thanks for the offer on the tuna recipe. I think I saw that you posted it on the recipe thread. I don't eat anything with eyes, except potatoes.

Oh.... couldn't remember for sure.

I made two new recipes this week. They were both in the March 2012 issue of Vegetarian Times. I looked online for a link, but couldn't find one.

The first was chili-lime glass noodles w/tempeh. I made it with red beans instead of tempeh. And threw in carrots instead of sprouts. We did not find the exact noodles but found similar ones. You soak them in hot water and then stir fry. It was really, really yummy and even reheated well. I bought a couple of different versions of the same kind of noodle at Whole Foods that I am looking forward to trying.

The second was leek hash w/ polenta and goat cheese. Yum, yum, yum! It used sliced polenta (premade) and was supposed to have fresh thyme, but I used dried. It reheated great too! And was so tasty! I had never cooked with leeks before. It was pretty easy, but man the leeks were dirty. We had to take them apart in order to get them clean.

Both recipes sound good.... especially the leek hash with polenta. My biggest problem with cooking is accommodating the MANY different food issues in my house. Obviously I am eating lower fat, lower carb WW type meals. DH is eating virtually NO carbs (pretty much Atkins phase 2), DS has the food allergies and picky issues, and of course my lovely DD won't eat ANYTHING from the ocean (including seaweed and anything labeled SEA SALT!) and hates beans. So both the noodles and polenta would be an issue for DH. The tempeh or beans would be a problem for DD.

I love leeks but I hate cleaning them as well. We have grown our own before and no matter what you try, they are still filled with dirt when you harvest them.

So the cooking is going well. Before we went to WDW I got pretty glutened and that was the kick in the pants that I needed to get my act together. My weight is up a little bit and it's time to get things back in order.

Sorry to hear that that happened right before you left. Do you have an idea of what/where it happened? I agree.... time to get things back in order for me too.

And on the physical therapy front--I am working with someone new to figure out what triggered an itbs flareup at the Princess and I think we have figured out what is going on. Not sure exactly why it happened, but we have a plan and hopefully a way to keep it from happening again. I really like this girl because she really listens to what I tell her and I am feeling very optimistic that it can be fixed--hopefully for good this time!

WOOHOO on finding a new therapist!

I still have plans to do some kind of trip report from the race. We have a couple of good g-f food pictures. I am just feeling lazy.

My plan is to get my meal planning done today for next week and to actually be ahead for once!

I need to plan for next week's meals too. I need to do some thinking about what I need for meals as far as my weight loss goes. Probably been making too many meals that are hard to work around for ME. Who knows.

Love to read more of your trip report! More pictures please!
TTYL...................P

 

[Rose&Mike]

P--why won't your dd eat sea salt???? Maybe I don't want to know this.... I have enough food issues. No, go ahead and tell me. I can take it.

I would not like cooking for that many different needs.

fwiw my weight is up a little too. Part of it is leftover disney weight, but really it's been a week and a half since we got back, so I can't use that excuse much more....

Yep, I am sure what glutened me. Or what I think glutened me. I looked online and some other folks have issues with some of these products from this manufacturer as well. And in retrospect the more of these "convenience" lunches I was eating the more symptoms I was having. Feeling much better since I stopped. Sometimes I feel obviously sick and sometimes it sneaks up with a bunch of annoying little things.

Now to just get rid of those couple of extra pounds!

 

[Rose&Mike]

I made these cookies last night. I used chunky pb and skipped the added peanuts. For the chocolate, I used ghiradelli chocolate chips. They were really tasty. And not full of a lot of complicated ingredients. I had everything in my pantry. I added a little bit of vanilla and I put the dough in the freezer for a few minutes before rolling. Be careful not to overbake.

Not sure if a year ago I would have been that excited about them--I was missing my flour and regular baked stuff. But this is a pretty good substitute if anyone is interested.

Flourless peanut-chocolate cookies
http://www.marthastewart.com/318109/flourless-peanut-chocolate-cookies

 

[Rose&Mike]

I really, really, really want some good pizza. I have been fixated on it for about a week now. That's all I have to say today. I feel like that pretty much sums up my mood.

 

[lisah0711]

I am sorry. Hope you can find something that will help that craving soon! I'm sending good thoughts your way.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I am sorry. Hope you can find something that will help that craving soon! I'm sending good thoughts your way.

Thanks Lisa! I am hoping by whining about it a bit I will get it out of my system.

There is a place in town that is supposed to do pizza crust from scratch. You have to call a day ahead to ask them to have it ready. I can't decide if it is worth the effort or it will just be a disappointment. Then there is the whole cross contamination issue/concern which I seem to be having a lot of problems with lately...

Probably will skip it for now and just stick with my udi's crust which tastes better if you pile on a lot of cheese!

 

[lisah0711]

Probably will skip it for now and just stick with my udi's crust which tastes better if you pile on a lot of cheese!

Oh yeah gobs of melted cheese can make a lot of thing better for sure IMHO!

 

[dragitoff]

Thanks for having my back last week on the attack by a certain poster! I know it was more "words of encouragement" but I'm just glad someone else saw it the way I did. I thought maybe I was just reading into it too much. Anyways. Just saw this was your journal and thought I'd comment on it. Feel free to check mine out too. It's "My journey.....so far". Not too many post on it anymore, but I've been keeping it going if for nothing else than personal reflection for myself and accountability.

 

[Rose&Mike]

dragitoff--no problem.

*****
So, struggling, struggling. I feel like a broken record. Nothing major, just same old same old. I think having to go back to physical therapy was more than my brain wanted to deal with at this time. Stress really seems to bring out my food burnout.

I was going to post all the blah, blah, blah why I am struggling. But I feel like I have talked it to death in my brain, so I'm going to try to focus on the positive.

Ok, positive.

I am running with very little pain at this point. If things go well, next tuesday will be my last day at physical therapy. She told me I may end up with some chronic lower back issues, but that we would deal with that if I do. The lower back issues are causing all kinds of other issues which are leading to itbs. Anyhow, I have been going to piyo twice a week and while I still don't like it, I am feeling stronger and much more flexible. Once a week I am going to strength class for upper body work. The girl who teaches that class is great and happy to let me skip some of the stuff that messes with my legs/back.

My weight is still not back to maintain, but it is holding steady. And I am happy about that.

And we are going to take a trip in May to celebrate our anniversary. It should be fun. One night driving down. One night at wdw. Three nights in the keys. Two nights at disney. One night to see ds. And then home.

I've already heard from one restaurant I emailed in the keys--that they will do g-f veggie. So that's exciting.

Life is good. I just feel like I have been spending too much time faking it lately--hoping that I will get back that all is right with the world feeling. Sooner or later it will work, I hope. Cause life really is good.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Still faking it. But I had a good 4 mile run today. Hard and sweaty and a reasonable time, considering the temps and the hilly route we ran. Still a little nervous about my itband, but so far so good.

We signed up to do a 10 miler in 2 weeks. It seems every time I register for a race I get injured...there is no paranoia going on here. Hopefully the injury streak is coming to an end!

So today at work we had an ice cream party for someone's 10th anniversary. I read the label and the vanilla was safe so I had a bit. Someone commented that I was one of the most disciplined people she has ever seen. I told her that was only so I avoided getting sick. We talked about that for a minute and she told me she never would have told me before, but she thought I was looking good and that for a while I was not looking so great. I really needed to hear that. I think she felt funny saying that, but I told her I appreciated it because I have been struggling a bit with the food, and it was so nice to have a reminder that being healthy and looking healthy is a good thing even if the food stuff is a challenge on occasion.

Hoping to see something at least close to my maintain weight tomorrow.

 

[dragitoff]

Still faking it. But I had a good 4 mile run today. Hard and sweaty and a reasonable time, considering the temps and the hilly route we ran. Still a little nervous about my itband, but so far so good.

We signed up to do a 10 miler in 2 weeks. It seems every time I register for a race I get injured...there is no paranoia going on here. Hopefully the injury streak is coming to an end!

So today at work we had an ice cream party for someone's 10th anniversary. I read the label and the vanilla was safe so I had a bit. Someone commented that I was one of the most disciplined people she has ever seen. I told her that was only so I avoided getting sick. We talked about that for a minute and she told me she never would have told me before, but she thought I was looking good and that for a while I was not looking so great. I really needed to hear that. I think she felt funny saying that, but I told her I appreciated it because I have been struggling a bit with the food, and it was so nice to have a reminder that being healthy and looking healthy is a good thing even if the food stuff is a challenge on occasion.

Hoping to see something at least close to my maintain weight tomorrow.

It's always nice to get that affirmation from someone else when you know you've been working hard but maybe not seeing the results on the scales or on the track like you've deep down expected and wanted. Keep up the great discipline and the results will come!

 

[Rose&Mike]

So as I am typing this there is a pizza hut commercial on tv....tonight we tried Gillian's gluten free pizza dough. It's frozen. You take it out of the freezer the night before and then you roll it out and bake with your favorite toppings.

So I had it in my head that this was going to be like a yeast dough. It looked like a frozen hunk of yeast dough. But it wasn't. It had the consistency of play-dough in my opinion.

The biggest issue I think is that I really liked baking. I loved making yeast doughs. And flat bread. And home made pizza dough and strombolli. Ok, so I am comparing everything to that.

We loaded the crust with toppings. I even had pepperoni. Yes, I have been in a bad place this week. We had onions and tomatoes and banana peppers. It looked good when it was done. The toppings were great. The crust was yucky. I thought it was yucky. Mike thought it was ok--good even. I can handle the gluten free bread now. And really most gluten free baked goods and pastas are ok--even tasty. I really like gluten free pancakes. But I just can't find a good pizza dough. We have a mix that says you can add yeast to it, and maybe I'll try that to see if it gets closer.

I guess it's really good that I can list all the things I really like.

I had a great workout today. Strength class for an hour. Piyo for an hour. 25 minutes walking on the treadmill, and a mile on the elliptical. Still not quite back to my maintain range, but getting there.

And just wanted to say--thank you Turkey Hill for doing such a good job marking which ice creams are gluten free.

I feel like I am getting a handle on things again--for the 100th time. I've been told this is all a process. So I am trying to be patient.

 

[Rose&Mike]

I made this for dinner tonight and it was YUMMY!!! Did not put the cilantro in. I think you could do a lot of spice combos. Only used a tablespoon or so of olive oil--did not need as much as it called for. And we used fresh orange juice (from oranges, not a jar.)

quinoa with carrots and raisins

I have a great meal plan this week. Last night we made a carrot riccotta quiche with a premade gf pie crust. I'm on a carrot kick this week. It was ok. The filling was good, the crust was so/so.

Here's the plan for the rest of the week:
udi's pizza!
Gluten free mac & cheese and broccoli
sweet potato burritos
leftovers
cornmeal crusted tofu and cole slaw

I had cornmeal crusted tofu at Narcoossees when we were there in February and it was delicious! So I am excited to try this.

***
We are going to run a local 10 mile race on Saturday so I am going to take it easy this week--or at least try to. While I still don't like yoga, I am seeing a huge benefit--less back pain! And I might even be a little calmer.

I think part of my frustration the past couple of weeks has been dealing with the realization that I am really reacting to even small amounts of gluten/cross-contamination and that I need to (for now at least) avoid things that were even produced in factories that produce stuff with wheat. I had been eating all those frozen dinners for lunch that I thought were ok (and are listed as g-f/no gluten ingredients) and slowly developing symptoms. Now that I have been avoiding those products again, I am doing better. The symptoms just kind of creep up on me.

Anyhow, things are good and I'm looking forward to a busy, but good week!

 

[Rose&Mike]

I made this tonight:

Gluten Free Macaroni and Cheese

It is not low fat. I used Bionaturae macaroni, skim milk, parm cheese instead of gruyere, and local white cheddar cheese. And it is so tasty! Yum! Just as good as the real thing.

I am really enjoying the leftover quinoa and carrot dish cold as a salad for work lunches. I think I like it better cold than warm. I am getting excited about trying new things with qunioa. I am thinking something with coconut milk, curry and mandarin oranges. For some reason that sounds good to me.

Today I went to Whole Foods to stock up on some stuff and the cashier was g-f too. We were talking about hair falling out and she suggested I try g-f shampoo since the one I use is definitely not (I did not know this.) Anyhow, I don't think my hair is falling out anymore, but it is coming in so slow and my scalp is very itchy after I shampoo--like crazy itchy! So I bought the conditioner and shampoo to try--and she gave me one free since I am trying them out! They smell like coconut. My scalp has been really bothering me, but I have been ignoring it, so I am hoping this does the trick.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Having an "I don't want to be gluten free" day. They are coming fewer and further between, but they still stink. I don't even know what triggered it today. I am trying to figure out where we are going to eat when we are in Charleston. And it is such a pain in the butt. Then I get stressed that I will end up not eating much over the weekend, so I guess I am just practicing being cranky.

I read someone's blog about traveling and restaurants and it made me feel a little better--that someone else thinks its a big hassle!

And I realized that aside from getting take out baked potatoes once or twice we have not eaten out since we got back from Disney--over a month ago.

On a positive note....I had a really great race on Saturday. 10 miles at a 10:16 average pace. Very happy. No major pain--at least nothing to worry about.

Ok, going to try being more upbeat and positive.

 

[liesel]

Rose- I saw this recipe yesterday and thought of you, I think I saw that you had a polenta recipe recently. Its from Sunset:

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/baked-polenta-with-zucchini-tomato-pepper-sauce-10000001547045/

I haven't tried it, but it sounds good. Just ignore the suggestion that a nice crusty bread would go well with it. Its snowing here so anything hearty is appealing to me right now. You could also make the polenta if you want, just cool it, shape it into a tube, refrigerate it, and slice. Another summer recipe I like to make with polenta is a grilled ratoutille. You can grill some veggies like eggplant, onion, pepper, or any of your favorites along with grilling sliced polenta. Then you can top your grilled tower of deliciousness with a tomato sauce, homemade or store bought. Even a little cheese if you're feeling really indulgent. Yum!


I think you should go out this weekend, even if you have to drive to eat out at a favorite GF place, it would be worth it. I hope your day gets better!

 

[liesel]

Sorry double post, better than getting poofed!

 

[Rose&Mike]

Thanks Lisa. I really like polenta. I have one of those tubes from pampered chef that you make bread in. I wonder if you could put polenta in there to form--but how would you get it out.....How do you form those tubes at home? Or do you just make a pan and cut it?

We are visiting Tom this weekend so we will be out and about. I don't know what set me off last night. Back on track this morning.

 

[liesel]

With polenta I shape it into a log, cover with plastic wrap, and throw into the fridge, just like compound butter or cookies.

I saw on the BL princess/tink thread that you asked about mushy zucchini. The only time I've noticed mushy zucchini when cooking is when my parents cook it. They peel it and then boil the living daylights out of it. So definitely leave the peel on. You can check it if its cooking to see if its at the consistency you want. Broiling the casserole instead of baking also helps keep it from getting mushy.

I think any chef worth anything wants people to eat well no matter the health restrictions and it sounds like Disney does a good job of hiring chefs with this philosophy. I can see why eating there would be a positive experience-despite the occasional misunderstanding and rude eye roll.

 

[Rose&Mike]

Haven't posted in a while. I have really been fighting some back soreness. I have been going to yoga/piyo 2 or 3 times a week and that is helping. And I feel like it is really helping with the toning which is great!

We went to Columbia/Charleston over Easter. We took along some quinoa salad and hard boiled eggs along with some other snacks which really helped with the food. One night we ate at a Brixx Pizza. It was ok. They had a g-f crust, which was frozen and then they cook it. It was under cooked but they had lots of choices for toppings which is great.

The next night we went to a place called Fish in Charleston. I had a tofu dish with tandoori sauce (I think). It was pretty tasty. And they seemed to get the whole g-f thing. The server had to be reminded a couple of times, but all in all a nice night. We had planned ahead for Brixx, but not for Fish, and that was a little stressful--finding a place for everyone to eat at and be happy, but it all worked out well.

Sunday we ate at a restaurant in Columbia. The one we wanted to go to was closed. It was not as positive an experience, but it went ok. They brought my asparagus out on DS's plate and we had to explain to them that they either needed to figure out if his fish was g-f or bring me new asparagus. That whole cross-contamination thing. Took a bit to straighten out, but it worked out in the end. And they were nice about the whole thing.

All in all a nice weekend. I still am at the point where I would rather eat at home, but at least I know if we travel, it is doable.

Last week i bought some g-f oreo type cookie. And ate way too many of them. They were crazy expensive, but a great treat.

Things are going pretty well. I had my last long run 14+ miles before my half at the end of the month. Hoping for a good race!