Did you happen to catch the end of The Biggest Loser last night ? They had a man who lost over 400 lbs on his own at home, and he did it through diet and walking. I think he is my new hero- proof that you DO NOT have to join a gym, run, buy a lot of equipment or join exercise classes to get results. Simple walking will indeed get the job done. It did for me when I lost 110 pounds in the past , and it gives me renewed hope that it will work again ! Walking made up a lot of our day yesterday , and when not walking we would take out time to play Walk it Out for the Wii with the brilliant decision to place the nunchuck in our socks, sit in the chair and swing your feet to the beat instead of walking and potentially annoying the neighbors. Sort of an air walking fidget if you will that was a heck of a lot of fun.

These things helped me to discover one very important motivational saying that I have repeated to myself my entire life when faced with a challenge- it's easy to make lemonade out of lemons, but a sign of genius to turn them into gold. Anyone can do anything with the perfect environment and equipment , but many times in life the only thing you have is a desire and your wits. If you stop focusing on what you do not have and concentrating on what you have in hand, you can pretty much do anything. Where would we be without people like Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell - both of whom are men who wanted to accomplish something important and according to the voices around them could not do it. They took what they had and what they knew , used it to the best advantage and created something that changed the world.I see that kind of thinking involved with both my weight loss journey and overall life dilemma. Instead of pondering all those things I cannot do and all the restrictions, the only thing I can do is use what I have in my hand and make every possible moment count. Perhaps if the economic climate continues and less and less two car/two income households begin who have less and less ability to take children to numerous activities and events, people like my son , who has lived it, will be needed to show people how exactly to make fun and memories without external things. Perhaps.

Eats of the day were some goodies !

Breakfast was apple raisin oats with pumpkin seeds. I grabbed a pack of salted ones by mistake at the store, so I am stuck with them till we use them up. The salty and sweet does make for a good combo tastewise though !

Lunch was a mug of the current batch of 15 bean soup with veggies and hummus. My son seems to inhale this, lentil and minestrone soup. It makes me giggle- before we started this journey he absolutely hated soup, or an foods that contained multiple tastes and textures.

15 bean soup

1 bag 15 bean soup mix
1 lb pork product ( ham, sausage, ham hock, ham bone- highly flavored chicken sausage works as well)
4 cups chicken stock
2 cans diced tomatoes
3 carrots, sliced
3 onions, chopped

Wash beans and soak overnight ( I put mine in my crockpot overnight covered with water on low)Drain the beans and place with all other ingredients in a crock pot , cook on high for 4 hours

Dinner was something that has become a new favorite- Creole chicken with spinach and rice. This time I made it with rainbow chard instead of spinach because it was so good looking in the market on Saturday and on sale . Chard and Spinach are interchangeable in recipes, but because chard has a lower oxalate acid count, it has a slightly more mild taste. I used chard also because i had a craving for a spinach strawberry salad, which came along for the ride. So many greens....

Creole Chicken with Spinach and Rice

1 cup brown rice -- uncooked
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
olive oil (small amount)
3 chicken legs and thighs
1 1/2 cups chopped organic celery
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes -- (no salt)
10 ounces spinach or chard
1 cup chili sauce (low salt) or salsa
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 large green pepper -- chopped
2 cloves garlic -- minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Cook brown rice according to package directions, adding chili powder to cooking water.
Using a paper towelmoistened with olive oil, lightly coat a deep nonstick skillet and heat. Cook thin strips of chicken on medium high, turning occasionally, for 3-5 minutes until no longer pink.
Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium. Simmer covered for
10 minutes. Serve over seasoned brown rice. Serves 4.

So many choices, so few mealtimes !

I was talking to a friend yesterday about dinner and lunch ideas and a thought crossed my mind- life is too short to eat bad food ! We were talking about different recipes and several were things I would want to make and could make according to my new way of eating. Problem is there are only so many meals in a given week and I am afraid that I might forget some of these ideas before I can try them out. We all have the same problem in life. We eat three meals a day, seven days a week and there are a couple of billion different ways to combine healthy, flavorful ingredients for these. Why should we waste an opportunity on something that comes out of a can, is served at a fast food counter or is packaged after being altered for maximum appeal in color and taste ? Last I checked, nothing coming out of Hostess, Stoufffers or Chef Boyardee looks as remotely appetizing as mixed baby greens or a fresh cut ripe papaya.

Perhaps the thought was brought on by a moment of panic and freezing. We did several hallway walks yesterday and we were joking and being silly the whole time. Mynew goal is to get my son to love movement as much as he loves fresh fruit, veggies and whole grains, so there must be some amusement involved. For reasons I am not totally sure of, I decided it would be fun to make a quick dash between entrances on the outside while in our stocking feet ( and son without a shirt). It was sunny but an incredibly stiff, cold north wind was blowing. We got out, dashed to the other entrance, only to discover the lock was not working and we were temporarily stuck outside , freezing. The situation was remedied in less than a minute and we both laughed about how mommy had a dumb idea and we got rosy cheeks out of the day. It was bracing !

Breakfast was quinoa with frozen blueberries and walnuts. It seems if you put frozen berries in hot cereal it helps to cool the cereal, thaw the berries and the temp mix is just right.

Lunch was the last of the lentil soup, the last of the celery, more carrots than normal , rye crisp crackers and hummus. I am oing to have to make another batch of lentil soup this coming week, and to do so I need a ham bone. Good thing ham is dirt cheap this week due to Easter !Lentil soup seems to be our favorite, with minestrone coming in a close second.I may make a batch of each to stock the freezer with.

Dinner got a little out of hand , due to a need to use up some veggies that have been sitting in the fridge for a little while now. The meal was 15 minute garbanzo salad ( garbanzo, tomato, celery and fresh herbs on a bed of salad greens) , Sesame Orange Kale and Chard, roast rutabega, carrot and sweet potato and a pork loin chop seasoned with ginger , tumeric and garlic. Somehow I bought too much of a couple of things two weeks ago and rather than toss them I determined to find a way to use them up. We go shopping on Saturday where a new stock comes in so I am kind of pressed to use it up. It happens some times !

Someone's in the kitchen, working

Yesterday it seems that the entire day revolved around food in some way- and not in a fun way ! It was spent cooking, cleaning, chopping and then repeat.Some days are like that , and I hate them. Not because I hate cooking, but rather it is a sign that I did not think out my plan well enough in advance to make it workable. On those days there is nothing for it but to push through and know that things will be different the next day .

We started out with a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit, and then Bob headed off to sing at services. I sat down to plan the week to come school wise, and I remembered we were having something new for lunch so I stopped to check the menu and remembered about 15 other food related tasks I needed to accomplish for the week ahead, so I stopped to do those first. And in that process I discovered about 5 other things that needed to be done Saturday but I had run out of steam to accomplish. So add them. In the meantime the sink got filled up with dishes so did them, noticed the counter was filled with debris so deal with that, go back to the tasks and notice it was almost lunch time so speed through those and do the lunch prep and....it was just non stop in the morning! Lunch was a little latter than normal because of rehearsals, which was a good thing in a sense because it gave me a little more time to try to catch up.

Lunch was a Portabello and red pepper sandwich on a whole wheat pita with tahini spread and arugula. Served with carrot and celery sticks and fresh fruit salad. Yummy ! Our market had several varieties of berries on sale this week and I took full advantage of that fact.

If the morning did not provide enough fun, the afternoon certainly tried to make up for it. The original plan was to head out for a walk after lunch but I was still knee deep in must do things and behind on other no food tasks, the income taxes needed to get filed and I was really achy from the morning and the day before so we declared a rest /catch up day. I finished the food related things ( and the clean up ) and moved on to lesson planning, my own studies, reiki work and then something new and novel- more cooking ! Dinner prep needed to be done. This was a delicious but fiddly sort of meal. At least it felt fiddly after a day of so many other food related activities.
Baked Apricot garlic chicken thighs with Doubly Delicious greens - really turned out delicious !

Baked Apricot Garlic Chicken Thighs


4 apples -- quartered
2 oranges -- quartered
1 onion -- peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons fresh thyme
20 fresh sage leaves
6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/2 cup apricot spreadable 100% fruit
2 teaspoons Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
3 teaspoons Spike seasoning (no salt) or other no salt seasoning
6 cloves garlic -- pressed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut apples in quarters and slice core out leaving flat.
In baking pan arrange apples, oranges, and onion close together. Lay herbs on top of fruit.
Place tenderloins on top of fruit, onion, and herb mixture. If using turkey scallops, fan out
three scallops on top of each other and place over apple, orange, onion and herb mixture,
and do the same for the remaining three. Mix apricot spread, liquid aminos, Spike and garlic.
Generously spread turkey with sauce. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30-35 minutes until
turkey juices run clear when pricked in center with a fork. Serves 3.



Doubly Delicious Greens

1 large bunch bok choy -- chopped
1large bunch Swiss chard -- chopped
1 medium onion -- coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic -- chopped
1 can diced tomatoes (no salt) -- (15 ounce)
2 cups shiitake and/or baby bella mushrooms -- sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian herb seasoning

Place bok choy, Swiss chard, onions, and garlic in a large steamer and steam until almost tender,
about 10 minutes. In a large pot add tomatoes, mushrooms, steamed greens mixture, and seasoning.
Simmer over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serves 8.

Come evening we were all kind of tired and spent the evening watching tv. Caught the next episode of Ruby , and it kind of struck a weird place in my head because of the connection with her father.Fathers indeed have a lot to do with deep issues of any woman, and it reminded me of several of the issues I confronted in my own journey to lose 110 lbs in the past. My father was responsible for most of the skewed food messages I had, through no ill intention of his own. Then we watched the season opener of Gene Simmons Family Jewels to watch Shannon go through a potential breast cancer scare. Oh thanks TV for the mental disemboweling of the evening ! My father died of breast cancer in 2004, and the subject evokes really strong feelings in me. Watching these two programs left me feeling like I had a whole lot of clean up to do in my head ! The evening was redeemed by the premiere of Kirstie Allie's Big life. I think I really, really like her !I don't agree with her motivation to lose weight, but I think she is going to make the whole journey a heck of a lot of fun to watch !

Back to the grind today, and I STILL have cooking things to accomplish ! In my mind I am working on creating something like The Domestic Workout where your household equipment becomes your gym. Presses with a broom while sweeping, vacuum squats, toilet scrubbing with weights and so forth. I think I could create it, package it and sell enough to hire a personal chef and housekeeping staff and chauffeur with limo so I could just get up, head to a real gym, eat healthy foods prepared for me and do all those other things I really want to do and are also good at !