Okay who took 1/2 of January already

Good Morning,

I have a meeting to go to but I'll be back shortly.

Pssssssst... I made LindaT's Pumpkin Chili recipe yesterday and its wonderful, I brought a big ol bowl (not that big) for lunch today .... *giggle* can't wait to try it today because it gets better the longer it sits (I did have a bowl yesterday mmmmm).

Whats happenin in the Med world ?

Hi Leens and those to come,

Lovely morning in California. Great workout, good breakfast, nice commute. can't get much better unless I was still asleep at home.

Told ya it was good chili Leenie. Oh ye of such little faith!! I have cottage cheese roast sandwiches for lunch. Suzanne, I posted the recipe in our recipe section. I hope you'll try it. Start out with half a recipe so in case you don't like it you haven't wasted a ton of ingredients.

The weekend was nice, but Sunday was far too busy. This coming Sunday should be easier. I over scheduled things yesterday. Sigh.

How is everyone doing on their exercise commitment? I'm doing great. but I want to geta new video.

What's the weather like in CA, Linda? In East TN, we're having a warm spell with highs in the low 60s. I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Thanks for posting the recipe! I'll make half this weekend and see how it goes. I like interesting foods Oooh, I like your idea of making sandwiches with it. I could slap it between a couple of slices of Italian bread and cook it on the panini grill. Yum! Have you ever tried to freeze the loaf?

My exercise committment will improve later this week, when my treadmill finally arrives! I really can't wait, and hope it will be as enjoyable as I remember. It's the only time I can spend daydreaming without feeling guilty about all the other things I should be doing How are you doing?

I'm still trying to get used to wine. Every sip takes me back to my teenage years, and I get visions of blacklight posters and the Eagles or Pink Floyd playing in the background! (and some funny smell in the air) I'll buy more this weekend, and this time I'm going to ask for assistance.

Good Morning,

Oh Linda, I don't have little faith, I just don't trust ya ROFLMFAO!!! jk jk jk jk

Yes the chili recipe was wonderful, I will make it like that every time now b/c I am hooked. Cottage cheese loaf mmmmmmmmmm I'll have to work up enuf nerve to try that one. Better yet, I'll wait until Suzanne trys it

Suzanne, wine and pink floyd ROFL.... reminds me of beer and the Doors The only wine I can drink is peach flavored gut rot. The cheaper the better LOL. Honest, I just can't drink the stuff and if I do, its gotta be COLD!!! ice cold.

My exercise is coming along nicely, walking during lunch is my saving grace. But tonight I'll be adding in upper body weights as well.

Okay chicks, gotta go b/4 that boss of mine pops his head out of his office and see's what I'm doing LOLOL !!! he is cute

TTYL

Morning Med ladies,

It's a cold and stormy day today in California, Suzanne. I'm in the SF Bay area, so I'm not getting mudslides, but it is plenty damp. Enjoy the 60 degree temps. I cannot wait for a nice dry warmer day!

I am glad you are going to be brave enough to try the Cottage Cheese Roast. I took a look at the recipe the first time and thought, what? Then I looked at it again and thought.. okay maybe. The only thing I would like to change is to eventually use maybe a more whole grain cereal than corn flakes. I have frozen this before and it still tastes yummy. It does seem to be more crumbly after it is frozen so I would suggest slicing it and then freezing it.

My exercise is going peachy keen, thank for asking. This is one area that I rarely have a problem with. I get up and exercise before work at 4:45 so I won't have excuses not to work out after work. I would come home tired, cranky.. etc and the exercise wouldn't get done most of the time. Now if the noshing monster would quit coming to my house .... :P

I had to laugh at your wine reminising. I think back to Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill, Boston and yes The Eagles and Hotel California (saw them at my very first concert so it proves I am old ) Yeah that funny smell.. sorta sweet. Wonder what that stuff was? Good luck with the red wine. let me know if you find a way to drink it so it doesn't taste awful. :P

Today is starting just fine. I got my 46 minutes of step aerobics, had a yummy Linda McMuffin a commute to work that had some cool lightening and now am enjoying my iced mocha. Last night was a new tofu dish that I now am in love with. I'll post it later. Eons ago I met a Chinese lady who told me the secret to cooking with tofu, since I had tried and tried and gotten paste. She always cooked hers with a little bit of meat since the tofu picks up the flavors of whatever it is with. Well my tofu dish has some lean pork in it and it tasted wonderful!. Lotsa veggies and I did a very un Chinese thing and served it over bulgur wheat. Tonight is chicken tacos made with a roasted pepita sauce. Don't ever buy roasted pepitas.. they are just wonderful straight from the bag and very easy to eat a billion of them!!

I got my new aerobics bras in the mail yesterday from JMS. My girls are happily snug in their new home. I didn't really notice that my other bra was too big until I notice I was umm err bouncing a lot more. Can't have that happen as gravity is already enough of a problem.

So what's shakin in everyone else's world? Where are all the NYE Med Chicks? I know someone out there had to start this last week!

PS Hi Leens.. we were posting at same time. Not trust me.. well HRUMPH!!

Good Morning,

Boss is away, so Leenie can play But first I need coffee and oatmeal.

Doing okay w/the veggies and food selection Exercise is coming along

Weather today is supposed to be 60 - 64 degrees...whoohoo talk about a mental break.

Whats shakin w/you all ?

I thought you looked familiar! Oh Boone's Farm, like champagne to high schoolers in the 70s! Hey, my first concert was Emerson, Lake and Palmer! Old? I'm turning 43 this month!

Leenie, it's nice here! It got up to 69 degrees here today. Loved every minute of it. It's pouring the rain now, though. But I'm happy inside because my treadmill was delivered today! It's the quietest treadmill I've ever used, I won't even have to turn up the tv. I got a great deal, too. I had planned to purchase an Endurance 8K for 999. They had one a tiny bit smaller next to it, the 5K model, for 799. The differences were negligible. Unfortunately, they didn't have any in stock and the guy could tell I didn't want to wait. He offered me the floor model at $100 off, so I paid 699 for a great treadmill. Normally I would avoid a floor model of anything, but this shop has only been open for a month or two and no one knows they are there yet , so how much could it have been used! It has a lifetime warranty on everything - frame, motor, electronics, belt, etc. So I'm a happy camper today


Does anyone watch "Everyday Italian" on FoodTV? It's on a couple of times a day, and the chef has a cookbook coming out in February. There are a lot of recipes on their website, too. Not everything she prepares is suitable for someone watching their weight, but she does have many unusual vegetable and seafood recipes that are perfect for us. Everything she makes looks so good. I think I'll copy some of them to our recipe section, it's good stuff. I could live on good, fresh Italian food.

Well this just sucks. Of thr three of us who post here the most often, I am the OLDEST!! Not by much, Suzie Q but I am.

I am at work and have a lull so I thought I'd pop in. Please excuse typoes as I am on a laptop and this keyboard is tiny for my big fingers. Friday is always a great day for me. I don't exercise on Friday mornings so I can sleep in until 5:30, commute is usually lighter and most importantly Friday is donut day at work. Once a week I allow myself this delectable totally non nutritious treat. It's my one crap meal a week out of the 21. When I was laid off, I was in donut deprivation mode and it was awful. I only like one type of donut and if those aren't there, I don't eat em. No place near my home carried these donuts, so I did without. Of course my teeth feel like they are going to fall out of my head from all the sugar. ;lol:

I made up m menu for next week: Asian salmon that I ran out of time to make last week, Lemon chicken (chinese style made with splenda), eggplant rounds, quinoa and black beans, cauliflower fixed some way, calabacitas and work lunches will be ww pasta w spinach pesto and a couple of the new LC Spa meals. I've had two f those so fafr: Chicken Pecan and Salmon wit Basil. I'd give the Chicken Pecan a C and the Salmon with Basil a B+ or A-.

So what is everyone doing this weekend, cooking this weekend... etc?

Suzanne, you still enjoying your new toy? How often/long are you doing it for? I Love Love LOVE Food TV. Man O man. I leave that sucker on almost all weekend. My favorite is 30 minute meals. I also like Paula's Home cooking, Semi Homemade, Good Eats, Sara's Secrets, Bobby Flay (gosh is he CUTE) and I've seen a few of\episodes of Everyday Italian, i think. Is that the show with the abolutely lovely young lady, skinny, pretty and with a sexy accent? I hate her.. just a little bit. But the few episodes I've managed to catch do look yummy. When Food TV had their message boards, I could swear I saw your name there Suzanne. Am I right?

Leenie Beanie, what's shakin? I have pumpkin chili for lunch today, the same as you. Leenie is unintentionally spamming me at work. She sent me this funny mpeg and one of our companies mailers is going nutso. I've gotten the same file over 30 times now and it keep coming. I think one of needs to go find the culprit computer and just yank the cord out of the wall.

Well time for me to go do soemthing with some files and read the journals. Happy Weekend ladies.

Hi Girls,

Why do the weekends go by so fast? Lets see, my menu for the week is 2 chicken dishes, 1 will be a light version of chicken parm, baked and not fried, I have a general tso's chicken sauce from the Iron Chef's I wanna try, so I'll make that. Some grilled pork chops, and a rice dish, either jasmin rice or brown/long grain. Of course there will be oodles of veggies at each meal

Linda that email is like the energizer bunny its so strange that your company is the only one that keeps getting it..... makes ya think huh

We are expecting 3" of snow tonight, ick.... DD is sick so tomorrow might be a day at home, not sure. I hope not, I hate using my days in the winter.

I went grocery shopping this morning already, the store opens at 7 am and you can bet your bootie I was there at 7. I hate crowds and people who have no manners, not to mention the mom's who let their kids run all over the place LOLOL !!! or the old farts who leave their carts right smack in the middle of the isles. Yeah I'm cranky when I go lololol. I picked up some pasta, rice, ckn, diced tomatoes, lean pockets, veggies, paper towels, ww english muffins, black olives and some other stuff.

How's your weekend?

Maybe we should have monthly chat threads instead of weekly

Linda, I tried two of the new LC meals, the salmon and the lemongrass chicken. I dont eat chicken, so I just tasted the veggies and sauce, and I thought it had a very overpowering artificial lemongrass flavor. I gave it the 3 bite rule, then tossed it in the bin. The salmon was ok, it was kind of bland and dry. I probably would have it again. I still have a pecan chicken in the freezer, but I'm scared to fix it, lol. I'll offer it to Jennifer when she comes for lunch this week

I love foodtv, Linda! And yes, you saw my name on their forums I didn't post in many - mainly the ones about equipment and food substitutions, etc., and of course a Cooks' Tour. I couldn't understand why they closed down, until my friend Ginger decided to open a foodtv fan forum and enlisted my help. After considerable expense and hard work getting it going, it lasted all of 3 days. I found out exactly why foodtv chose to close, it was due to the massive amount of abuse coming from the "fans". Ginger buckled under after two days, and I shut the doors after the third day. WOW is all I can say, and I couldn't wait to run back here and be with my friends! I didn't realize just HOW friendly and supportive this community was until I was subjected to that kind of abuse. I guess foodtv belongs on tv I am still so in love with Anthony Bourdain, though!! I just have to go to eGullet now for my fix

Leenie, how's the weather? Last week was so gorgeous here, but now we are down i the 30s. We had snow flurries last night, but fortunately nothing came of it. 3 inches? That's enough to clear the supermarket shelves for sure! I'm not sure what it's like where you live, but if we have a forecast of one inch of snow over one day, and clear the rest of the week, our supermarkets will still get bombarded. We rarely get the kind of snow you see up north. When I was a kid, we had snow all winter long. We were always building snowmen and having snowball fights. It started in November and snowed all the way through. Now we never even see snow flurries until January, and usually get 3 or 4 snows all winter Maybe I should move up north.

I also shop in the wee hours! I hate crowds, lol. I'll set my alarm for 4am just to go to walmart! I am going to make the rare 9am trip out today, lol. Jennifer is coming for lunch and I'm going to grill portabello mushrooms and make sandwiches. I need buns. I'll marinate the mushrooms in sweet balsamic vinegar and either olive or walnut oil then cook them on a george foreman grill, and top them with roasted red bell peppers and spinach leaves on the bun. Yum

:sman: :sman: :sman: I feel like this today. Brrrr. One negative thing about losing weight is the constant cold, especially in the winter. I remember thinking it was so funny to hear women whine about being cold all the time. I felt so smug because I never was. Well , we become what we sneer at as the saying goes.

Weekend was nice. I did a little shopping. I returned a sweater to Macy's and got a new pair of dress pants. They are a size 10! It makes me happy to see that, but the rest of my pants are all still size 12. Just this style is cut big. I won't be happy until all of my pants are a 10. They were on sale to boot, so when I returned the sweater I got the pants and $7.00 back. Next was Bath & Bodyworks. I got some clearance Vanilla Bean Noel Shower Gel, 50% off. Last stop was Target, where I got myself a new pair of adjustable ankle weights. They are neat. They adjust from 1-5 pounds each so there is room to grow with them. I exercised on Sunday, did my weights, cooked and did chores. Christmas also has been put away!

I cooked everything this weekend. The salmonw as good last night. I also made some baked fried zucchini and some butternut squas with onions and pecans. It was a nce change of pace. Most butternut recipes seem to be on the sweet side. This one wasn't.

I got some more of the LC meals over the weekend. They were on sale here for 16.62 a pop! I coulsn't resist. Aww, sorry to hear your salmon wasn't good. It's true that it doesn't have as much sauce as some of the other meals. You might like the chicken pecan one.. never know. My gripe with it was that it had too much rice and the rice was very bland. Not nearly enough sauce for all that rice and the rice tasted like it was just cooked in water w/o any seasonings. Also, the carrots were these weird little mechanical pieces. The chicken was fine and the peas were fine. The sauce was fine.. it just needed more and I think I would have liked this one better. I have four other flavors to try in the next two weeks: lemongrass chicken, rosemary chicken, chicken in peanut sauce and another one that I cannot remember what it is. I know it's not the pork because I don't care for cherries. Sorry to hear that the FoodTV fan forum exploded. I remember reading all sorts of posts about this forum or that forum and I remember smarmy flaming posts about the new forum even before the old one had closed. You are right Suzanne. Those foodies were vicious!!

Leenie, glad you planned your meals. It one less thing to worry about. I only got the email nine more times over the weekend. You are right. it's like the Energizer bunny. What's wrong with Miss G? She got a flu bug or the sniffles?Fever? Take care of the munchkin.. screw the office. I am guessing you are home today since I haven't heard from you yet. Get some rest while you are taking care of G. Dirt wil wait.

Well I need to get busy, or pretend I am busy at least. Happy Monday ladies.!