Another fall Saturday

Hello friends, another Saturday whoo hoo!!!! Exciting things are happening hubby and I got pre-approved to buy a house. We are relieved hubby did a number on his credit in his early 20's and we have run into some problems with it. Thankfully he paid off the money he owed several years ago and now it's been long enough that his credit is good, hallelujah!!! We started looking at houses online, I love being able to take a virtual tour with the internet. I don't know exactly when we will get into a house hubby doesn't have a lot of time between work and school.

On the school front hubby is doing well but, dealing with financial aide can get a little frustrating. Hubby registered for financial aide late so we were told to pay for school out of our own pocket and we would get reimbursed in Sept or Oct, hubby recently found out that we will not get reimbursed until August 2012 :(  Same thing for the next quarter, so we are thinking we will get a student loan and when we get reimbursed from financial aide pay it off. So, we have hit some bumps in the road, once hubby's schooling is all said and done it we will appreciate it even more.

On the food front we have been plugging away. Last night for dinner we had tri tip roast I made in the crock pot, mashed cauliflower, sauteed mushrooms, asparagus and broccoli. All I really had to make last night was the cauli I had sauteed the veggies the night before. I need to do that more have things already made in the fridge for easy dinners and lunches. Sometimes I hate having to cook and clean every night because hubby is in school and too busy to help. I plan on looking into bfc friendly crock pot recipes and I will share any keepers I find.

Well, I guess that's all for now I just wanted to share what's happening over here. We plan on bundling up and getting another nice fall walk in this weekend the leaves are almost off the trees. A co-worker said we might get snow as early as Nov 10th BLAH :( I'm not ready for snow, I'm ready for a vacation someplace warm I don't think we are too young to be snow birds lol. I hope everyone has a wonderful Saturday :)

Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash

Hello everyone and thank you for the nice comments. I glad to share that I am back on the exercise train, man it's hard to get back into it. I hope that eating good this week and exercise will help combat my cheats over the weekend....I guess weigh in, measure and pic day Sunday will let me know if it worked or not. Hubby is done with the fast track he told me on Sunday that he needed some real bread, I got a big laugh when Dawn said her hubby said the same thing. I will have to share pics of him with everyone if he doesn't mind he has lost around 10 lbs and three inches from his belly

 I made Martha Stewarts Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash the other day...yum. I think I am going to bring this to Thanksgiving as an alternative to all the carbs, I am also thinking about bringing mashed cauli as a substitute for mashed potatoes, and almond flour biscuits.

 Quinoa Pie with Butternut Squash
 Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled, havled crosswise, and seeded
• 18 fresh sage leaves, plus 1 teaspoon finely chopped sage
• 1/2 onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Vegetable oil, cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush 2 rimmed baking sheets with 1 teaspoon oil. Cut five 1/4-inch-thick rings of squash; cut remainder into 1/4-inch dice. Place squash on sheets. Toss with 1 teaspoon oil; sprinkle with 12 sage leaves. Bake until tender and just golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely. Keep oven on.
2. Heat remaining teaspoon oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring, until translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. quinoa and stock; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat. Simmer until liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 2 minutes.
3. Stir together quinoa, diced squash, chopped sage, Parmesan, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.
4. Coat a 9-inch glass pie plate with cooking spray. Arrange 6 sage leaves face down in plate; top with squash rings. Press quinoa mixture on top.
5. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving platter. Serve wedges warm or at room temperature.

http://www.marthastewart.com/313442/quinoa-pie-with-butternut-squash?czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&czone=balance/stressfree-cnt/holiday-eating&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/turkey-free-mains

Hello friends, I can hardly believe it's Wednesday already where did the weekend go? Hubby and I went on some beautiful fall walks, drank coffee and wine, slept in, went out to dinner, had dinner at the in-laws, watched college football (sadly our college team University of Washington lost to Stanford). Needless to say it was a full relaxing weekend. We didn't weigh ourselves this weekend because we didn't end up going to my folks, but I feel good and my MIL said she can tell I've lost weight since I saw her last two weeks ago.  :)

I cheated a little this weekend on the ft, I had a little mashed potatoes with last nights dinner, and half a wrap as a lunch/snack. Today hubby and I went out for Mexican and I had some chips and two small corn tortillas. I'm not really sure if that will put a hitch in the ft giddy up or not. I do plan on starting to exercise again tomorrow, I've been lazy and gotten out of the habit of doing it. I need to exercise I've been cranky, anxious and hormonal lately.

Hubby and I are starting to brainstorm for the holidays. My in-laws are hosting Thanksgiving and my folks are invited so it will be all four parents, sis-in-law and her boyfriend, hubby's grandma and us. I am glad that is the plan this is our first holiday with all the folks, hubby's folks moved to Philly for several years before we got engaged. I found a recipe on Martha Stewart's website for a quinoa butternut squash sage pie that I want to try out and if it works bring it to Thanksgiving. The more I think about how to have a low sugar better carb bfc and ft friendly holiday season the less stressed I feel. I am getting tons of ideas for the holidays from pintrest with hubby in school we want to have a nice holiday season and still be able to save money.

A relaxing Sunday in the park with our coffee :)

Coconut pumpkin muffins take 2

Hello friends and Happy Saturday! Yesterday was a great day at work I got off early and was home by 4:30 whoo hooo! I got busy in the kitchen because I really enjoy it. I made another batch of the pumpkin coconut muffins I added more stevia about 10 packets of truvia, 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice, 1/2 tsp allspice...delish. I think the allspice was what we were missing. I am so thrilled to have these muffins as replacements for pumpkin bread. Regular pumpkin bread is sooo high in sugar and white carbs, last year I made tons of it with pumpkins we grew. As a result hubby and I got chubby bellies.

I have been using coconut oil for the past several weeks in all my coconut breads/muffins. It's really amazing and cheaper than using butter since a loaf of coconut bread calls for one stick of butter. I heat it up in the microwave to measure it out. I have also been using less than the recipe calls for instead of 8 Tbs I have been using 6 and I can't tell a difference.

Hubby told me last night that all the coconut, almond and flax things I have been making have helped him to stay on the Ft. I am really enjoying all these different things and I don't feel deprived at all on the Ft.

Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup

Hello friends dinner tonight was so good and easy because I made butternut squash soup last night. I have to share the recipe Spiced Butternut Squash & Coconut Soup from: Easy Soups. I modified it for the bfc and ft by taking out carrot, brown sugar and reducing a whole onion to a half.

Modified for Bfc & FT

Butter or olive oil
1/2 yellow onion                                        
2-3 garlic cloves
1 roased butternut squash
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry
2-3c veg stock
juice of whole lime
1/2c coconut milk
green onion and sour cream garnish.
S&P

Sauteed the garlic and onion, and added the spices, veg stock & squash, simmer, puree in food processor. Pour soup back into the pot and add the coconut milk and lime, season to taste. Delish.

Just pluggin away on the FT

Hello friends, I love it when the work week flys by. I have been having lots of fun in the kitchen. Yesterday I made the coconut pumpkin muffins, which are very tasty but need to be tweeked for my taste because I want a stronger pumpkin taste. I made lemon coconut bread on Monday but instead of lemon extract I accidentally put in maple (it was early in the morning and the bottles are similar) surprisingly  they didn't taste too bad and we ate them. I made two soups this week. a modified la ribollita from my book Easy Soups. With napa cabbage, zucchini, celery, little carrot, veg stock, garlic, onion, sage, rosemary, and thyme, and tomato paste....delish. It was perfect to come home last night and make reheat some soup. For tonights dinner I made spiced butternut squash and  coconut soup with roasted butternut squash, onion, garlic, veg stock, cumin, curry, lime, cilantro & coconut milk. I had to check if butternut squash is ft friendly and thankfully it is on the super carb list on pg 160.

I really think the ft is working well for myself and hubby. I don't feel deprived not eating grain carbs since there are so many alternatives. This morning I am eating a flax muffin with almond butter for breakfast. 1/4c ground flax, oil or butter I used 1 tsp coconut oil, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 egg microwave for 2 mins. I don't know the exact origins of this recipe but I saw it on minichicks blog several months ago.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day, whatever you are doing keep plugging away and don't give up.

Weigh in day

Hello friends today is a beautiful Sunday here in my neck of the woods and very productive...church, grocery shopping, laundry & dinner with the folks. My weight is up a tiny bit 134 lbs today, last Sunday 133.4 lbs but I'm ok with that. Last night we took pictures and we compared our start pics and last weeks pics side by side and I am happy to share that my belly/love handles are smaller... which is helping me not to feel discouraged about the number on the scale today.

Today I showed my Mom my blog for the first time, she thought it was neat but didn't really say much else. I think I waited so long to tell her because I thought she would think it was stupid. Well I guess that is all for now, I am hoping to have a good cheat free week and hopefull see 133 lbs next Sunday. :)

Feelin hopeful for tomorrows weigh in

Hello friends and Happy Saturday!!! Thank you for the great comments concerning my dinner out. I don't know why I didn't think to ask for veggies instead of pasta, in the moment I felt like I would be missing out by not eating the pasta....I know that doesn't make sense and I need to purpose to not think that way. I put the leftovers in the freezer so I wouldn't be tempted to pick at them.

I just signed up for myfitness pal and I am excited to try it out. I am also very very excited to try the coconut pumpkin muffins Amber posted they look sooo yummy. Today hubby and I got hot americanos from our favorite coffee shop I wish I had made the pumpkin muffins before our walk so we could enjoy them with our coffee. A good cup of coffee is one of my favorite pleasures, hubby and I are BIG coffee drinkers.  We enjoyed our coffee during our walk to get out and enjoy the fall sun.

Tomorrow is hang out day with the folks/laundry & weigh in. I am hoping to see good numbers on the scale despite my Thursday cheat, I'm not really sure what to expect. I  hope everyone is having a nice weekend :) Big hugs to all my friends, I really appreciate all of you!!!!!

P.S. Last night I watched Bridesmaids and I was delighted to see these cherry canisters in Annie's kitchen. I love love love everything cherry, I just can't get enough. These are just so sweet I wanted to share them with my blogger buddies.

I cheated on the FT :(

Hello friends, I think I might need to get myfitness pal to help me calculate the s/c in recipes such as the pumpkin bread recipe I found yesterday. Sometimes I wonder what we did with ourselves before the internet. I love having this blog and meeting so many new friends I think this low-sugar lifestyle is one I will try to sustain for the long haul. I am enjoying having a little  more fruit on the FT, I have been putting around 1/4 pear or apple into my salads...delish! Hubby and I have been having stir frys for lunch the past several days, but I burnt us out on those lol....back to my old standby salads. Today I made a yummy one with tri tip steak, sunflower seeds, avo, blue cheese, kalamata olives, pear and pomegranate seeds...delish.

I am feeling pretty guilty right now because we went out to dinner for my MIL's bday and I was naughty. I had buttered garlic bread and some pasta with shrimp....FT bad. I brought home most of my pasta and I plan to freeze it for another day. I hope I didn't mess up any progress I have made too badly. The only things that were available without pasta were salads, and I don't usually get a salad at a restaurant because I can make my own bad ass salads at home. Tomorrow I am going to exercise before work even if I have to force myself to do it. I have been wearing the lazy pants on the exercise front and I need to stop it.

I am so thankful that tomorrow is Friday, I could use a nice weekend to re-group and plan. I heard the weather is supposed to be nice, I would love to drink some yummy coffee and take some nice walks to enjoy the beautiful fall trees. As for the no poo thing I did it on Sunday and my hair still smells like vinegar when it's wet, I'm not sure if I could get past that enough to do it some more. I guess that's all for now have a wonderful night friends :)

Hello peeps, thanks for the great comments I really appreciate all of you so much! Life is good, today my boss told me that my co-workers think I am doing a great job and they enjoy working with me :) :) :) Sunday I made the maple chocolate version of coconut bread...yummy although I baked it a little too long, next time I'll take it out sooner. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen these days while hubby is doing homework. The only downside is I have to clean up all my messes.

One of my co-workers turned me onto the site http://pinterest.com/, if you aren't familiar with it check it out it's filled with beautiful things. I searched low sugar pumpkin bread on pintrest and found a recipe from the comfy belly that looks promising using xyiltiol as the sweetener.

Pumpkin Bread: http://comfybelly.com/2011/10/pumpkin-bread/#more-6927

Ingredients

• 1 cup of pumpkin puree*
• 1 cup of honey (or other sweetener; I used maple syrup)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil (optional)
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice (or cloves)
• 2 cups of almond flour
• 1/2 cup of walnuts (optional)

* Pumpkin Puree

1. Slice the pumpkin (or other squash) in half (from stem to bottom), take out the seeds (and make toasted seeds).
2. Roast the pumpkin for about 1 hour (at 350 degrees F), face down, in some water that covers the bottom of the dish. You can also steam the pumpkin. Alternatively, you can dry roast it by wrapping it in foil and placing it in the oven. That would also reduce the moisture in the puree.
3. Cool the pumpkin, peel the skin off, and puree it in a blender or food processor.

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Combine all the ingredients (in the order listed) in a bowl and blend well.
3. Bake in a bread pan (I used a Pyrex glass dish, 5 inches x 9 inches) for 60 minutes or until the outside is very brown. The darker you go, the better it tastes (in my opinion). It might take a longer or a shorter amount of time depending on how moist your pumpkin puree is. When it’s done, a toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean.

Thank you Dawn for sharing your decision to go poo free and why peanuts are a no go on the FT. I guess when I read that part it just didn't sink in. I hope everyone is having a great week, whatever you are doing bfc, ft, ww keep it up, don't cheat and don't give up. If life is good and you are happy share it, if you are discouraged with your life/weight share it. The blog community is a wonderful place to seek support and encouragement. We only have one life and no one can live it for us, so we better make the best of it. :)

Fast Track Weigh in Day :)

Hello friends, hubby and I have been on the FT since Monday Oct 3rd we weighed ourselves yesterday and big drum roll..... hubby lost 8 lbs & I lost 1.4 :) :) :) I think I am even more excited than hubby about his weight loss he just looks so good. Making food ahead of time has been the key to our success. Before starting FT I thought it would be strange and a big departure from what we usually eat, but it's really not. We have eaten salads, stir fry's, chicken soup, coconut bread, nuts & seeds, chicken, breakfast turkey sausage, eggs, baby bell cheese, and a little steak.

Yesterday I woke up feeling like I wanted to make a treat everything on Lauren's healthy indulgence's blog looks so amazing and I often have the ingredients on hand that she uses the most. I made grain free chocolate zucchini bread, and it was yummers. Instead of flour I made an nut meal by grinding up some almonds and pecans, a little almond flour, and a little flax meal. I also used coconut oil and zucchini from last years garden. It was so delicious and other than grinding up some nuts it wasn't any more work to prepare than a regular zucchini bread. I am wondering if pumpkin bread would work well with almond or coconut flour and xylitol. As the weather changes I am craving pumpkin bread!!!

Since doing the bfc/ft I have lost 3 inches from my waist and 2 from my hips and around 10-15 lbs. I feel good about myself I hope to continue to lose fat and tone up my poochie and hips. I also hope to not gain it all back during the Fall/Winter/Holiday Season, I'm sure everyone can relate to that. I want to be able to navigate all the sweets and breads that are full of sugar and white carbs, that make us feel like we need to eat them because they only come out at the holidays.

4th Day of FT

Hello friends in blogger land, boy howdy today was another busy busy day at work. I am not used to working 12hrs, but I'm a team player and sometimes things just work out like that. I am grateful to have a job, if I didn't we wouldn't be able to afford hubby going back to school. He is starting out really strong he has 103 % in his math class and he feels really good about himself. I am glad he agreed to do the FT with me I can tell in how his clothes fit his belly is getting smaller.

Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 turkey breakfast sausage, black coffee
Snack: coconut bread
Lunch: stir fry with chicken, asparagus, mushrooms, celery, broccoli,  baby bok choy and cashews. 1 baby bell cheese
Snack: Greek yogurt with hemp seeds and pumpkin seeds
Dinner: chicken soup

3rd Day of FT

My Wednesday was also gray and gloomy and very busy. Work is busy my co-worker who had surgery did not come back this week as originally planned. Today was my Dad's bday we went out to breakfast just the two of us. I was mostly good I had an omelet with sausage, ham and bacon but I ate some hash browns...oops not FT friendly.

Last night hubby and I took pictures and measured ourselves. I hope the FT is just the little boost we need right now. I don't know if I feel any different doing the FT except I am craving mac'n cheese, nothing like being told you can't eat something to make you crave it lol.

Breakfast: 1/2 a big omelet with ham, sausage, and bacon, jack cheese, several bites hash browns, coffee
Lunch: big spinach salad with last night's leftovers, hamburger, broccoli, mushroom, moz cheese, cashews
Dinner: rest of omelet, coconut bread
After dinner red wine

2nd Day of FT

Hello peeps, first of all I want to reassure all of you that I did eat enough yesterday. I made a big hearty spinach salad with protein and fat from pork chop, cheese, nuts and seeds and a little fruit. My soup was hearty with roasted chicken, celery and green beans. I usually eat more in the morning but I worked early and I was in a hurry. If I had taken pictures you would have been able to see that it was plenty of food.

Today was a good 2nd day of FT for both of us. Hubby had hard boiled eggs, turkey breakfast sausage, coconut bread, Jay Robb chocolate protein shake with almond milk, baby bell cheese, almonds and a hamburger to eat from the time he left he house early in the morning until he came home from work.

What I ate today:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs, 2 turkey breakfast sausage links, roasted zucchini, broccoli and mushroom.
Snack: coconut bread
Lunch: hamburger patty, spinach salad with pear, fig, blue cheese, cashews, olives, pumpkin seeds
Snack: cheese stick with a little peanut butter
Dinner: sauteed broccoli, mushroom and ground hamburger, & a spinach salad.

Tomorrow is my Dad's bday and I am taking him out to breakfast. I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

1st Day of Fast Track

Hello peeps, thank you for  such nice comments yesterday. I am feeling so much better today whoo hoo!!! When I woke up on Wednesday with the yuckies I took some airborne and continued to take it several times a day I think that helped me to get better quickly. Yesterday I made my chicken soup, but I didn't get around to making almond flour biscuits because we went to costo and did our grocery shopping.

Hubby and I started the FT today, it feels a little weird because it is so new. I have a feeling that hubby will do really well because he eats a lot of the grain and starches that we have to give up. He is especially disappointed to give up potatoes for awhile lol. We are finding our groove in our new schedule. Hubby goes to the gym before class, after class he goes to work and the goal is for him to get off work around 6. He is doing really well in his classes and I am proud of  him.

I don't think we are going to stick strictly to the 14 day menu that Jorge has provided, trying to get in halibut, salmon and steak would be a little expensive for us especially now that hubby is working less while he is in school. Yesterday at costco we bought a bag of chicken tenders, and some tri tip steak (we will portion the steak out, foodsaver and freeze it to make it last).

Today I ate:
Breakfast: 2 fried eggs
Snack: almond milk
Lunch: homemade chicken soup (no noodles) 1/2 spinach salad with pork chop, blue cheese, hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, cashews, figs, newmans dressing
Snack: the rest of my lunch salad and a square of dk chocolate
Dinner: chicken soup and coffee.

I think tomorrow will be a good day, I made lemon coconut bread, hard boiled eggs, cooked some turkey breakfast sausage links, and made hamburgers. I hope everyone has a wonderful day :)

I've got a case of the sniffles

Hello friends, I'm still feeling a little under the weather I have a case of the sniffles. There is nothing like being a little sick to make me appreciate feeling good. The work week was long and we were short staffed because a co-worker had gallbladder surgery and was out for about a week and a half. Hopefully she comes back to work on Tuesday as planned because another co-worker has surgery on Friday.

I am thinking of making chicken soup today, I've had several cans of progresso but at $2.49 a can I know I can make a better soup myself. I didn't feel up to it the other days but I think today would be a good day for that. I've been drinking lots of tea, hot water with lemon and taking airborne. I really like a lot of the traditional medicinals teas, and I especially love the cold care tea right now.

Wednesday is my Dad's bday and the following Wed is my MIL's bday. I really don't know what to get my Dad, I asked him what he wanted and he said we could bring over a bushel of money LOL. My MIL will be easy probably a gift certificate for a pedi/mani, even though she said no presents. Getting your feet and nails done is so relaxing and enjoyable I know she would love it, and she doesn't do stuff like that often because she doesn't work.

Thank you Beth for putting the almond biscuits in your food tracker. I plan on making some more to go with my chicken soup at 6g carb, 1g sugar and 3g fiber I think it would be totally worth it.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend. Cheers to a new month, may we have lots of success despite all the candy temptations that October has to offer.