Sept. 26: Countdown to Moving Day

That is not my neat tidy stack of moving boxes.

Nope, my moving boxes are all adult diaper boxes.  My next door neighbor works at a nursing home and has supplied me with hundreds of sturdy, uniformly-sized adult diaper boxes!  I'm sure the new neighbors will wonder who the heck is moving in, and whether or not they should allow us to sit down on the new sofa if they invite us over.

A couple of dear friends stopped by today to help me and it was great.  I still need to do the storage area of the basement, the linen closet and the pantry.  The bedrooms are basically done.  Life is going to be absolutely insane this week, climbing over and around the boxes in every room.

Eats are outrageously bad.  I'm having a lot of trouble getting on track and staying on track right now.  I'm not going to just cave but I'm also not going to beat myself up this week.  A week from tomorrow is soon enough to start pulling it all together again.  So far, my weight has been maintained fairly well, so I'm sure an off-week won't cause me to regain 20 pounds. 

I prepped some food today, but not as much as usual.  I made....

Roasted chicken breast

Roasted broccoli

Mexican ground turkey

Garden salad

Fruit tray

Hopefully this will keep me on the straight and narrow for at least some of the week.  If I can hang tough for everything but one meal a day, I'll be really pleased with the week.  Supper will consist of short cuts, drive thru and frozen pizza.  That's just how it is.

Once I get moved, I'll be cutting an hour out of my day by getting rid of my current commute.  I'll have more time to update - I know I've been lagging, so I really thank those of you who have stuck with me.  Starting next week, I'll be updating with my new weight-loss plan as the diet break ends and the dieting begins.  I'll also be creating more yummy recipes and meal plans, and I'm really looking forward to getting back to the gym!

Sept. 6: Meal Prep for the Week

This week's food prep included:

Baked Brown Rice  (shown above)
Balsamic Chicken Breasts (baked at the same time as the rice
Mexican Style Ground Meat (combo of x-lean ground beef and x-lean ground chicken)
Guacamole
Steamer bag of broccoli and cauliflower
Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad

This sets us up for all sorts of quick easy meals.

Tonight we had Mexican pizza ( refried beans, Mex Meat, salsa and a sprinkle of cheese on a pita)
This week we will also have
Chicken, rice and steamed veggies
Taco salad
Broc/Caul salad with diced chicken
BBQ Chicken Pita Pizza

I love looking at my prepped food in the fridge - it really starts the week off on the right foot for me, plus it saves a ton of money!

We've also got a nice load of fresh fruits and veggies, yogurt, granola, and Ezekiel bread.

There is no better feeling than having enough healthy food to last for the week.  I am blessed.

Aug 15: Food Prep

I was really kind of surprised when the timing for making my food for the entire week was an hour, almost to the minute.  I knew I spent approximately that amount of time, but it was interesting to document.

This week's menu:

Baked Chicken Breast

Turkey/Chicken Meatballs

Mexican Seasoned Turkey/Chicken Mixture

Broccoli/Cauliflower Salad

Garlic Roasted Cauliflower and Edamame

Garden Spinach Salad

Every week, when I have a day off, I spend time doing food prep.  Whenever I fail to do this, I end up going off my plan unexpectedly because I'm hungry, dammit, and there's nothing to eat!  Here's a little step-by-step of how I make a week's worth of food in an hour to heat and eat throughout the week.

STEP ONE

I always chop an abundance of onion, and I cheat and use already minced garlic - I hate when my hands are stinky.  If I actually liked peppers, I'd chop those right now too.  Then I sautee them in a bit of olive oil so they are ready for my recipes.

STEP TWO

I scooped out half of the onion and garlic mixture to add to my meatballs.  The other ingredients in the meatballs are: equal parts of extra lean ground turkey and extra lean ground chicken, whole wheat cracker crumbs (from the food processor), egg white, finely chopped spinach, and Mrs. Dash.

STEP THREE

I add the rest of the ground meat to the skillet containing the remainder of the garlic and onion and cook it on low, stirring frequently.

STEP FOUR

I cook turkey bacon for the salad in the microwave on a paper-towel lined plate for about four minutes, or until crispy.

STEP FIVE

I get the meatballs and chicken breast ready to go into the oven.  I use foil underneath so there is no scrubbing required.  (I forgot to snap a before pic of the chicken.)  Into a 350* oven goes the meat.

STEP SIX

Oops - I slacked on the pictures here.  Veggie prep time.  This week, I cut up cauliflower and broccoli.  I took half of the cauliflower and stirred it with minced garlic, olive oil and edamame, throwing it in the oven to roast while the meat is cooking.

STEP SEVEN

The rest of the cauliflower and the broccoli go into a yummy cold salad that also contains Kraft Pure Raspberry Yogurt dressing, finely shredded cheddar and crumbled turkey bacon.  (I accidentally took a pic of the French side of the salad dressing - the labels in Canada are French on one side and English on the other.)

STEP EIGHT

I season the now cooked ground meat with an organic ketchup sweetened with evaporated cane juice (it's better for you than refined sugar), chili powder, and sea salt.

STEP NINE

I prepare a basic salad with baby spinach and cherry tomatoes.  This salad can have any protein added to it during the week to make a super quick meal.

STEP TEN

I save last week's strawberries from certain demise by slicing them up and putting them in pre-measured servings in Ziploc bags.  These go in the freezer to be added to protein yogurt during the week.