Wordless Wednesday

Rollie Pollie on Mushroom a photo by rkellywhite on Flickr.

Ethel and Portbello Weekend

This weekend was all about getting stuff done. It was time to get Ethel ready for summer, shop for groceries and prep healthy food for the week. Somewhere in there I had hiking plans.

Saturday we cleaned out, re-stocked and fixed Ethel, our pop-up camper. It took eight hours but the kitchen is restocked, we made a new shower curtain holder, cleaned the vinyl on the bunk-ends, washed the outdoor rug, oiled the pull-outs, fixed the frame on the dinette and tried and failed to fix the toilet paper cabinet door. The lid to the TP cabinet slaps shut after each use and at 2 a.m. that's an issue! My hike was put on the back burner. Eight hours on my feet was workout enough.

Sunday morning we made our way to the farmer's market and Costco. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE our local farmer's market! I picked up some amazing portobello mushrooms, which inspired dinner, grilled portobello mushroom burgers. These mushrooms were bigger than my hand.

Pre -heat the grill. Brush off any dirt on the mushrooms using a dry paper towel. Gently pull the stem off and then use a spoon and scrap off the feather-like membrane from the back of the mushroom. Do this gently because the spoon will go through the mushroom.

Place the mushrooms in a zip lock bag. Add 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 2/3 cup olive oil, 1 tablespoon minced garlic, salt and pepper to taste. Add a tablespoon each of chopped fresh thyme and oregano.

Squeeze all of the air out, zip the bag close, do a little shake and bake dance with the bag and put in the refrigerator. I marinated the mushrooms for a couple of hours but an hour would work as well. 

Grill both sides of the mushrooms until they shrink to half their size. I thought I burned them but thankfully they were perfectly done. I also grilled yellow, orange and red peppers along with slices of onions tossed in olive oil, salt and pepper.

To assemble your burger, spray the cut side of the buns with ICBINB and brown in a skillet. Place a grilled mushroom on the bun, add feta cheese, grilled veggies, fresh tomatoes and spring lettuce. I splurged today and picked up brioche hamburger buns from TJs. Because they were high in calories we saved calories, carbs and fat by having sauteed kale on the side.

Absolutely the best mushroom burger I've ever had. Even my carnivore lovin' partner said, "Wow, these are great!" My veggie daughter never looked up from her plate. She was busy!

Most of my Sunday was spent cooking food for the week. I made black bean burgers and butternut squash soup for lunches and quick dinners. I did make a trip to Costco but had no idea the store would be closed on Easter Sunday. Who knew? So, I made my way to TJ's and along with those amazing buns, picked up some staples for the week.

I have a confession. I have not exercised all week. My hike today was also a no-go. I am exhausted after my full day of food from raw to cooked form. I feel good the kitchen is stocked with healthy food and the camper is ready for summer fun! This coming week I'm back at the gym and downward doggin'.

On the heels of Reno

I weighed myself this morning and on the heels of my trip to Reno and all the tests I put myself through, I've lost three pounds. AMEN! Phew, I've finally made it to the 25 pounds lost mark. I don't know why that mark was important to me but somehow I put that in my brain as a major deal!!

And did I mention that we went to Reno to watch my daughter's team play volleyball? Yes, of course I did! What I didn't mention was that they won their division!

We're all champions this week!

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Wordless Wednesday

IMG_7016 a photo by rkellywhite on Flickr.

Volleyball, casinos, buffets and junk food... Oh My!

What a wonderful weekend we spent watching my daughter play tournament volleyball in Reno, Nevada. Three days of buffets, gambling, long days and healthy eating challenges. Luckily we planned ahead and were very well prepared physically and emotionally for the tests we faced throughout the trip.

I wanted to empower myself with lots of healthy eating options. For our breakfast meals, I prepared at home before we left, boiled eggs and homemade granola. I packed those items along with leftover ham, bagel thins and low-fat milk. For lunch we shopped at Costco and TJ's. From Costco, I packed frozen, cooked, tail-on shrimp, spring mix lettuce and a mozzarella-prosciutto roll. From TJ's, I packed healthy crackers, hummus, olives, grapes, bananas and air popped popcorn. Oh, and of course dark chocolate! We supplemented all required condiments from home, including homemade vinaigrette and roasted garbanzo beans.I also packed baby carrots, celery sticks and Cliff Bars (kid size) for snacks at the tournaments. Here's our lunch ingredients:

Our Lunch Fixin's From Costco and Trader Joes.

We created a beautiful side salad with shrimp cocktail, a couple slices of mozzarella roll, pretzel thins, hummus and olives.

Lunch is served!

What a huge success! We felt like we got one over on the casino-restaurant powers that be. The side of iced tea from Starbucks is my new bad habit.

For dinner the first night we decided to get the buffet out of our system. GASP! A buffet?! That's right! Face the challenge and conquer the BUFFET! I started with a bed of baby spinach and decided I could have anything I wanted on top of the greens but it had to be generally healthy, a tasting size portion and something I really wanted to have. The food at casino buffets, in general, isn't the best food so my choices were very easy. A spoonful of various mixed vinegar-based veggie salads, a ravioli here, steamed veggies there and one crumbled corn tortilla on top. No salad dressing because all of the stuff on top flavored the spinach. We shared one slice of roast beef, a serving of baked fish and turkey with sauces scrapped off. If I really liked the "taste" then I went back and served myself another taste. For dessert, again healthy taste size portions. A small fruit tart (3 pieces) and we split a piece of dark chocolate mousse cake. We were stuffed, walked away feeling very little guilt and never looked back. I truly feel that if we had avoided the buffet all together we would have thought about it all weekend. 

The second night, the volleyball team decided to go to Claim Jumper for dinner. If you're not familiar with Claim Jumper, the portions are ginormous. We remained calm, ordered a steamed artichoke each and split a tri-tip meal with a baked potato and grilled veggies. All condiments omitted and/or on the side. I had a fourth of the corn muffin and left the rest for the bus boy!

The next night dinner wasn't until 11:00 pm because the tournament ran very late. We had no restaurant options so we ended up at the hotel diner. The smell of french fries was overwhelming. My emotions went wild. I reminded myself repeatedly what my goals were (to live healthy) and ordered a plain hamburger with ketchup and veggies only. I ordered a side salad but didn't eat it because I enjoyed eating the burger. I was so proud of myself when I walked out of the restaurant. In my mind I flipped off the french fries. Ah!

Our last day in Reno we had to get up early and be at the convention center for the last day of the tournament. So we ended up at Mimi's Cafe which is an upscale version of Denny's. Thankfully, there were lots of options so I had an egg white frittata with fresh veggies, fruit and turkey sausage on the side. It was delicious and very satisfying.

For a late lunch after final tournament play we found a restaurant that served fresh food and open at 4:00 p.m., Silver Peak Brewery. We split the ahi tuna salad, a turkey reuben sandwich, fresh steamed clams and a fantastic cup of a tomato bisque soup. Again, really great choices and we were so happy when we walked out of the door.

I learned so much over the long weekend. Thinking mindfully was my biggest accomplishment and overcoming those french fries was huge. I really have to remember that I'm retraining my mind to speak to my food emotions. Portion size is another new lesson. When splitting meals it's easy to think that I'm not getting all the food I should be getting. In reality, there is always plenty to eat. My eyes have to communicate different thoughts to my mind. A hard thing to do. Being prepared is another big one. Bringing healthy food and snacks was key. We also exercised at the hotel gym. Something I've never done. A new and wonderful experience.

We had a fabulous time! We ate healthy! I could write all day about the volleyball tournament, people we met, girls on the team and friends who were also there but this post is long enough.

Wordless Wednesday

IMG_6980 a photo by rkellywhite on Flickr.

My Everything Doth Protest

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Well, actually I can. Everyday I think about posting and everyday for the last 12 days I've procrastinated and it has not gone well, obviously.

I find that when I'm not getting lots of personal kudos that I tend to procrastinate. I easily lost 20 pounds but am stuck at 23 pounds. I easily ran my way through the first two weeks of C25K but hit trouble during the third. I transitioned from the treadmill to the road and started having pain in my knees. I gave day three of training two more tries and with each attempt "my knees doth protest" even more. Lots of rest, ice, compression, elevation and Advil did not improve my knee pain. So, I've taken a break from training for the last five days.

During my pouting, I mean respite, I went camping. We decided to take Ethel, our 1998 Coleman pop-up, on her maiden 2011 voyage. With rain in the forecast, freezing temperatures and tick warnings we traveled 30 minutes away from our house to Coyote Lake. Saturday morning we set off on a three mile hike along the shore of the lake. One mile down the trail we started seeing ticks on the dogs. We turned around and high-ticked it out of there. Once back at camp we stripped off our clothes and groomed the dogs. We found over 15 ticks. We stayed in the campground for the rest of our walks.

We also invited some friends to join us at our camp site. I decided to bust out my dutch oven and cook lamb stew, perfect for the chilly weather. I've wanted to cook over a camp fire for years but have never been brave enough to try. I had all day Saturday to mess around with the wood, coals and my pot. Actually it's my dutch oven that my Father gave to me when my Grandfather passed away. I grew up watching my Grandma and Grandpa fry fish in this pot. Now I take it camping with me. It was a lot of work but a huge success. Unfortunately, once my friends arrived for dinner I learned they both didn't like lamb. Luckily they brought their own dinner and we all ate very well.

Healthy eating and camping don't mix. When we camp we enjoy the great outdoors with a pop-tart in one hand and a beer in the other. It was very difficult to sit in my lounger gazing out at the lake and wildlife and not munch on something. So much time on my hands. I knew this was going to be an issue so all of the food I brought was healthy; apples, almonds, oranges, flax seed chips, hummus, egg white salad, and salsa. There was no junk food in sight. So whatever and whenever something was in my hand it was healthy. It was difficult, but overall I maintained.

Sunday, we woke up very early, broke camp down quickly, grabbed a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, dropped the camper off at home, showered and headed to an all day volleyball tournament to watch my daughter play. I was tired and very hungry. My resolve for healthy food drained right out of my body. We left the tournament and headed to our favorite Malaysian restaurant for lunch. Thankfully, my partner saved my hips because if it had been up to me, I would have snorted satay sauce and fried bread right up my nose. We ate more than our normal portions but we ate healthy seafood soup, steamed spring rolls, green curry chicken and sauteed vegetables. Throughout the meal, we kept saying that we were not going to eat dinner and that made eating a large and late lunch okay. However, later that night we hit Chipotle and had our normal bowls for dinner.

I learned a few things yesterday. Some days I'm not going to be as vigilant as others. I do have a full point and I want to listen to my full tummy. If I don't listen and continue eating then my brain forgets that I'm full and for the rest of the day I don't feel full. I don't know if that makes since but that's what happened.

This morning I woke up and still do not feel my resolve. I weighed and only gained one pound which helped me feel better about my lack-luster eating choices. I just got back from a six mile hike, which felt really good. I always feel better after a good hike. I am going to try and run again this week. I will definitely hit the gym. 

Wordless Wednesday

IMG_6942 a photo by rkellywhite on Flickr.