Joy’s Healthy Lifestyle Log

Top of the Stove Cookies

This is not something that I could eat every day, but it’s proving to be my best answer to donut cravings. This is a serving of one. To fit in my plan, it would either be breakfast or it would take the place of both of my afternoon snacks.

Notes:
I’ve put butter back in this because I can use pastured butter from Whole Foods, which has natural omega-3s and CLAs. I have made it before without butter, just increase the peanut butter measurement by a little to compensate. Also, I keep adding oatmeal until it won’t get covered anymore.

1 t sugar
1 t butter
2 T skim milk
1 T peanut butter

2 t cocoa
a drop of vanilla
1/4 c oatmeal

Stir the first four ingredients into a small saucepot and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the cocoa and vanilla, mixing well. Add the oatmeal and stir until covered.

The original recipe says to drop this by teaspoonfuls on waxed paper and let it dry. My mother always spread it out in a cookie sheet to dry and then cut it like bar cookies. I like it warm and I’m impatient, so I usually dump it in a bowl and eat it with a spoon.

Filed under: Recipes on October 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

Guideline B: Try to wait until 9 to eat breakfast, even if I got up unusually early.

My calories don’t stretch out enough for a long day. I’d rather wait until 9 for breakfast than be hungry all afternoon.

Filed under: Rules on September 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »

Rule Number 5: There’s always enough to put away.

My mother used to pass around the last of a dish saying, “Somebody eat this; there’s not enough to put away.” This still plays out in my house, even though she’s gone. I make enough dinner for two, knowing that, if we’re not too hungry, there might be enough leftover for a bit of lunch. I don’t serve quite all of it, leaving some for seconds or leftovers. So far, so good. The problem comes if I want seconds and DH doesn’t. I’ll often eat all that’s left — IOW, my seconds and his seconds!

Probably the best thing to do, until I break this habit, is assume that if DH doesn’t want seconds then I don’t either and put it all away. Eventually, I might trust myself enough to take only half of what is left and put the last little bit away.

Filed under: Rules on September 18th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

I invented this tonight and it was really good, so I’m writing it down in the hope that I can recreate it! It essentially combines what I’ve learned making chicken stir fries (like Chicken and Greens) and Summer pasta and vegetables. It’s probably slightly healthier than the summer pasta dish because the chicken makes it satisfying so I used just a sprinkling of cheese for flavor.

Chicken and pasta
Serves 2

chicken breast (boned, skinned, and sliced into thin 1″ pieces)

Marinade
1 Tbl olive oil
1 Tbl spicy vegetable relish
1 Tbl balsamic vinegar (but next time, I’m going to splash this on at the end — it made my eyes burn when I cooked it!)
1 tsp honey
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp corn starch

1 cup green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 cup zucchini, chopped into about 1″ x 1/2″ x 1/4″ pieces
onions, minced
half banana pepper, minced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp oregano
1 tomato, cubed
basil, sliced
salt

3 handfuls of pasta (I used Campanelle)

Topping
freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated parmesan

Whisk together the marinade ingredients. Stir in the chicken slices. Refrigerate.

I cooked the green beans for 2 minutes in the microwave, but that’s because DH complains if green beans aren’t well-cooked. If you like tender-crisp vegetables, this step probably isn’t necessary.

Roast the zucchini and green beans in a rimmed pan at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Stir and roast for 5 minutes longer.

Start cooking the pasta according to package directions.

Meanwhile, sautee the onions and banana pepper in olive oil. When the onions are golden, add the chicken, garlic, and oregano. Cook until the chicken is opaque. Add the tomatoes, basil, salt. Bring everything to a boil.

Meanwhile, drain the pasta. Dump the pasta into the vegetable mix. Stir until everything is heated and the liquid reduces. Serve with parmesan and pepper.

Filed under: Recipes on September 17th, 2009 | No Comments »

This is a continual favorite — I switch the vegetables as the seasons change. Here’s the version that I’ve been making lately.

2 servings

3 handfuls of pasta (rotini or other shaped pasta)

small eggplant (or half of a large), cubed
one onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
tomato, cubed
2 T chopped basil
salt and pepper
olive oil
grated mozzarella cheese
grated hard cheeses (usually parmesan and aged cheddar)

Place the eggplant in one layer on an oiled rimmed pan. Roast for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Stir, and roast another five minutes.

Meanwhile, start the water for the pasta.

When the water is boiling, dump in the pasta and start the sauteeing.

In a large skillet, sautee onions in olive oil until golden. Add the roasted eggplant and garlic and cook for a minute or two.

When the pasta is about two minutes until finished, add the tomato, basil, and salt and pepper to the vegetable mix and turn down the heat.

Drain the pasta and then dump into the vegetables. Turn off the heat. Stir in the mozzarella cheese.

Serve the pasta and vegetable mix and top with the hard cheeses and more pepper.

This makes two servings if we’re hungry. Sometimes we have a small amount of leftovers — it makes a good pasta salad for lunch!

Filed under: Recipes on September 14th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

First, of course, is pizza crust. I make my own following this recipe on the Sourdough Home site. But that’s a pretty big hurdle if you aren’t already using sourdough. Buying a crust, like these from Boboli, is certainly an option. You can also buy pizza dough in the refrigerator section of the grocery and roll it out yourself. Or, pizza dough is the easiest form of bread to make, so why not give it a shot? Here’s the recipe from one of my favorite cooking blogs, 101 Cookbooks.

I make crusts in large batches and size them for individual pizzas. A doubled recipe of the sourdough pizza crust makes about 8 crusts. I bake them for 5 minutes at 450 when I first make them. Then, I freeze them to use on pizza night. With pre-made and partially baked crusts, pizza comes together rather quickly.

Next up, the tomato sauce. If making sauce sounds like too much, start with a jarred or canned tomato sauce, but when you’re more confident try making it with a can of plain tomato sauce like I do. I made this up on the fly, so no exact measurements. I saute some onions in olive oil. Then add some crushed garlic and stir in an 8oz can of tomato sauce. Then, stir in about two teaspoons of honey (I use local, unfiltered honey for the health benefits), about a tablespoon of oregano, and salt and pepper. I bring it to a boil just to make sure everything got cooked a bit and then turn it off until I’m ready. This makes enough for three of my individual pizzas. Since there are only two of us, that means every third time, I can make pizza using leftover sauce in the fridge.

Then toppings. In the winter and early spring, I used artichoke hearts from a can (I might try frozen this winter), spinach, pesto, and fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that come in little balls). For summer, I’ve been using roasted eggplant (cube and then bake for 10 minutes at 400, stir and return for 5 more minutes), chopped basil, and chopped tomatoes with a sprinkling of mixed cheeses (whatever I have in the fridge). The main advantage to home made pizza over commercial pizza is that you can get by with a lot less cheese than you might imagine. So try a light touch and see what you think.

To assemble, spoon some tomato sauce on the crust, add the toppings and then the cheese. Bake for 5 minutes at 450 (or as hot as your oven will go).

Let it rest a few minutes before slicing, otherwise everything slides right off the crust!

I serve this with a tossed salad.

Filed under: Recipes on September 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

Today, I went with my brother to a doctor’s appointment to play secretary and take notes for him. It was a second opinion and didn’t agree with the first opinion and I came home all kind of discombobulated.

I got home just as bread finished in the bread machine and I ate two pieces. Then, I took a walk. Not too bad, but I would have preferred eating only one piece and maybe some fruit. And, I knew I was eating emotionally. I don’t want to make a rule about bread, but I do sometimes over eat with it. Had I not been so focused recently, I might have eaten four pieces. So, no rule, yet, but I want to keep an eye on it.

And what could I have done better? Take the walk first. Maybe write here or on the forums.

Filed under: Rules on August 24th, 2009 | 1 Comment »

Rule Number 4: Rice is only to be eaten with vegetables.

I have a rather bad habit of eating rice with mayo. Or peanut butter. Or both. And, as bad as that is, it’s triggering, so I eat more and more.

Filed under: Rules on August 22nd, 2009 | 1 Comment »

It will be a whole lot easier to follow Rule Number 1, about what I do and do not eat after supper, if I don’t have fresh bread coming out of the bread machine after supper!

Guideline A: Start the bread machine before 4pm

Filed under: Rules on August 17th, 2009 | 3 Comments »

Rule Number 3: No eating in the car.

I love eating in the car, especially with a good novel (well, when the car’s not moving, of course). It’s peaceful. No one bothers me. No one expects anything of me. I don’t expect anything of myself.

Come to think of it, I love to eat in the car when I’m driving, too. Easy things that I can pop into my mouth. I’m not as clear about what it is that I get from that. But I do enjoy it.

However, I commit my worst diet blunders eating in the car. I eat things that I would never eat anywhere else, especially no where that any one I know would see me. I eat quantities of things that I would never eat anywhere else. There’s just no way to justify that when my goal is permanent weight loss.

Filed under: Rules on August 16th, 2009 | 1 Comment »