23 lbs down!

Unsure how but I am still losing weight! This morning I weighed in at 142 which is almost a healthy weight for my height (even though now I am a size 6 which I consider a healthy size)

Not going to complain but basically makes no sense as I am not strict anymore and have been eating ice cream (lowfat) and candy... weird.

Last night I made this for dinner.. but replaced the heavy cream with skim plus and instead of butter used Smart Balance Light... Lets just say it was not as rich or creamy as it should have been. You do what you gotta do.

A glimpse into my week of food...

Lunch one day: 

Lettuce, tomatoes, cukes, grilled tofu (soy sauce, Sriracha, and spices)

Low Fat Caesar dressing

Sliders (!!!) Finally ordered these from Chickies in Teaneck.. UNREAL.

Thanksgiving themed lunch at work. 

Hard to say no to brisket and mashed sweet potatoes w/caramelized onions

Caramelized onion pizza @Mikes Pizza on UWS 

Looking at these I realize I pretty much live at my desk at work.. note to self: Must get out more!

Yummer

Butternut Squash Quinoa 

Recipe

And then I made this (x3)

My version of this

Sandwich for Breakfast?

Today I had this yummy goodness on Low Fat Trader Joes wheat bread with blackberry jam. Yum.

Trader Joe's has hands down the best low fat bread, it still tastes and feels awesome not like Arnolds "light" which are airy and lame. I would have taken a pic of my actual sandwich but it was gone before I had the chance... Maybe next time.

Birthday Dinner

Steak seasoned with Bone Suckin Sauce Rub, Trader Joes South African Spice Blend, S and P and grilled

Green Beans w/roasted garlic and soy sauce

Homemade dinner for the Hubs bday!

Yikes

Apparently it has been almost 3 months since I last blogged! I think this is due to my most boring food habits that have led to maintaining my weight loss (coffee, banana, cottage cheese, salad, then a dinner- Boring)

So as of this week I have lost another lb! So now that I am 143.5 (!) I plan on getting back into the habit of cooking and eating awesome things again.

And I have a new iphone so picture uploading could be better again!

So for all you (non) readers out there.. I am back!

Chicken Wings!

This week on Monday I weighed in at 145.5 which means I am just .5 lbs away from 145! Which is huge. But when I logged into WW I saw that the ideal weight for someone my height is 131-141. SO my goal has been lowered to 141. Unsure if I will be able to do it because my love for food has taken over again, but I have been consistently losing .5 lbs a week for awhile now so hopefully even with the reintroduction of awesome food back in I will still lose.

Enter Chicken Wings:

I love chicken wings from restaurants but they are always fried which adds tons of points, so I found a recipe online and baked them!

This recipe  was delicious and to avoid pan scrubbing I just used a foil pan and threw it away at the end. Problem solved.

Next time when I make them (possibly tonight for a dinner guest) I will lower the cayenne pepper just a bit!

Oh .. I have a blog?

I don't know where I am at these days.. maybe because  I just live the plan in a boring way and weight kind of drops off I am not as excited about food. Sad day.

BUT this past weekend was amazing and full of food:

Friday night was an awesome BBQ with hamburgers (on a sandwich thin for me), hot dogs (turkey dogs- less fat), and grilled chicken!
Shabbat lunch was a chulent made with brown rice, tomato sauce, potatoes, onions, spices, and a turkey frank. It was pretty lame without meat. Not doing that again. And out guests brought a brown rice salad, roasted veggies, and some other healthy food!

Sat night was a bit of a downfall with a snack of tortilla chips w/melted low fat cheese and salsa. Everyone on WW says that chips are a big no but I find that it is ok once in awhile. The only fail was the pizza outing after.. But I only had 1 slice and a handful of fries.

Sunday at 12: 1 slice french toast, 1 hungry jack pancake made from mix, and a small egg white scrambled w/onions and cheese.
Lunch at 3:30: delicious sushi rolls from Simply Sushi Cafe in Monticello, NY. Highly recomend the Black Dragon. YUM.

After that and an extra ice coffee I knew dinner was out of the question so by Monday I had lost another .5 lbs!

So total lost is now 18.5 and I have been pretty good this week so hopefully will lost another 1 lb by Monday!

just an update

This week has been nuts but on Mondays weigh in was down another .5 lbs so that brings me to a total of losing 18 lbs!

BBQ tonight so lunch today was cottage cheese and fruit. Lame I know but Gotta conserve points!

Weekly Weigh In

After a week of not really paying attention to much but sticking to the plan I have lost 2.5 more lbs!
Which means only 2.5 more to 145! When I weigh myself I am so surprised because I don't see a difference in myself but the scale does change so I guess somethings are shrinking?

A movers lunch

As we are moving there have been several meals out recently. Last night I knew we were getting chinese takeout in advance so I hopped on over to the WW site to see what they recommended.

They have this "eating out" section where you scroll over the items you want to eat .. its basically nauseating and makes your eyes roll weirdly.. cannot figure out who thought that was a good idea!

Anyways they recommend brown rice and chicken chow mein. I thought sure that sounds great.. but i have never had chicken chow mein. It is weird and white. But I ate it. Bc that is how I roll.

I also had a mooshoo pancake w/veal, a bit of fried rice and chicken chow mein.

Today's lunch was leftover with some brown rice, chicken chow mein, and some duck sauce:

looks hot, I know.

I have noticed that I have not been sticking to the "Good Health Guidelines" over the past couple of days .. and wouldn't you know that that is on my this week you should homepage!

The guidelines are:

1. Eat at least five servings of vegetables and fruits each day, (nine servings if you weigh over 350 pounds.)

2. Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice and oats, whenever possible.

3. Include two servings of milk products – low fat (1%) or fat-free – each day. If you’re a nursing mom, teenager, over 50 years old, or weigh more than 250 pounds, you should have three servings of milk products each day.

4. Have 2 teaspoons of healthy oils (olive oil, canola, sunflower, safflower or flaxseed) each day.

5. Ensure that you are getting enough protein by choosing at least a serving or two of lean meats, skinless poultry, fish, beans, soy products, and lentils.

6. Limit added sugar and alcohol.

7. Drink at least 6 8-ounce glasses of liquid a day. Water is the best choice.

8. Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement each day.

I have definitely not been eating as much dairy as I used to with my yogurt smoothies and cottage cheese, or that many veggies for that matter! Once we move.. oh didn't I mention that we are moving? well we are. So once that's over I will definitely get back in the swing of grocery shopping and plan on eating more dairy and more servings of veggies!

Yummy dinner

I haven't posted food pics in awhile because I haven't been making much of anything. Very busy times right now in the personal life so food (although I am still on WW) isn't all that new and exciting. Neither was last nights but it was so good that I decided to take a pic:

This was leftover Beef Shish-Kabobs cut up and grilled Yellow Squash from Hapisga Steakhouse in Queens, NY (Really good kosher meat place!) over a cup of Rice Pilaf- Spanish Rice flavor.

It was delicious and filling! And we all know how much I love beef so this was a win!

15 lbs down!!

YAY!

When I weighed myself this morning I had hopes of losing another 1/2 lb because I had ice cream cake and Carlos and Gabbys last week..

but today was 150!

Which means 15 lbs down! and only 5 more to go ..

Weekly Weigh In- AC Style

Soo After a weekend on the Jersey Shore (not the sleezy one) but the AC one and the Deal one I am back! We stayed at Harrah's Resort in Atlantic City, aka the most random mix of people ever. I only sat outside for 1 hour on Shabbat and then on Sunday after applying tons of spray on sunscreen burnt my entire back and both shoulders!
So Burnt:

Might not look like much.. but it hurts!

I weighed in this morning after a not so strict weekend (as usual) and I am back to 151.5 which I am happy with. I ate constantly and even had 2 bites of a Ben and Jerry's sunday which is essentially as many points as a meal.

This week I will be much more strict with eating and hope to lose btw 1 and 2 lbs again!

Back From California

We were away on an amazing vacation for a week and it was my first vacation while on Weight Watchers. While I wasn't really logging in and noting all my points I definitely didn't just let myself go (at least until the last day). I missed my weekly weigh in and decided to just not weigh myself until the next week.

With all the Coffee Beans and yummy food I am pretty happy that I only gained back a 1/2 lb which means that this past Mondays weigh in was 152. Now I am back on the plan at full throttle and hopefully will continue to lose..

Here are the food shots from our Cali trip:

Cheesy Jalapeno Bagel at Coffee Bean
 (I know this is a gross pic but I had to document my first bagel in at least 3 months!)

Side of the road corn!

Fish Grill in Malibu - Grilled Fish Tacos
Not as good as it sounded or looked so I only ate 1 and the salad and snacked on a couple of fries

Hubs Grilled salmon on a bed of pasta - ate some of the salmon - delicious!

Falafel platter - split with friends

Crazy Amount of Chinese Food Consumed

Now back to losing weight!

Weekly Weigh In- Tuesday Edition

Every week I step on the scale and just hope that I have lost more weight and it works! (that and actually sticking to WW)

Weigh in this week: 151.5! Total lost: 13.5 lbs!

Woohoo! I also went on the stationary bike last night for the first time in FOREVER. I got to 4 miles in 30 minutes. Which is great because usually after 10 minutes I die.. weirdly once I got past the 10 minute mark it was smooth sailing and I just kept going (while watching MasterChef- I love Gordon Ramsey)

Hopefully I will stick to eating properly this week because on Thursday I head over to LA for a friends wedding and just may want to go to the beach!

Postponement

After a weekend away at my in laws my weekly weigh in is postponed until tomorrow because I want to weigh in on the same scale every week!

This weekend was a bit much on the eating front. I definitely feel like I am getting way more lax on the weekends just because I am so busy but hopefully this week will show some more lbs down! I have gotten a ton of compliments that I am looking thinner so hoping for the best!

Fathers day I ate:

Huge Egg White Omelate w/ sauteed mushrooms, peppers, onions and some cheese.
2 pieces of smoked salmon w/lowfat cream cheese (I love bagels but they are just not in the cards for me these days)
Reg coffee and then ice coffee later..

Weight watchers ice cream bar as a snack (I did not need this!)

Dinner was a BBQ:

• 1 Hamburger on a Sandwhich thin 
• 1 Turkey frank
• Lowfat coleslaw 

Today's salad was a huge mix of leftover weekend salad:

Spring Mix
Spinach
Canned Corn
Edamame
Diced Red Pepper
Red onion
hunk a hummus
Grilled chicken
Coleslaw

It is so nice outside I just walked around my office for my break! 

Salad City

It has been salad city over here this week:

Monday

• Spinach
• tomatoes
• canned corn
• canned black beans
• roasted sweet mini peppers
• cuke
• hardboiled egg white
• Balsamic, EVOO, and Mrs. Dash

Tuesday 

 Mendys Kosher Deli on 34th street:

• Romaine
• Turkey
• Portobello mushrooms - blechy
• Hearts of palm
• Tomatoes
• Cukes
• Edamame beans
• Honey mustard dressing

My dressing was full fat but i figured the 4 points was worth it because low fat Italian is JUST GROSS.

Wednesday

Romaine
Egg White
Tomatoes
Cuke
Canned black beans
Sauteed tofu
Light Ranch Dressing
Yellow and orange pepper


What! What!

Weekly Weigh In

This past week was a bit harder than usual because of the Jewish Holiday of Shavuot. A holiday where we commemorate the giving of the Torah by eating tons of dairy food. We were at my in laws so the first 3 meals (Tuesday night, Wed lunch, and Wed night dinner) were controllable. Thursday lunch we ate by my friend where she had made:

Penne A la Vodka
Blintz Souffle
Greek Salad
Spinach Cheese Souffle (lowfat!)

Dessert was a lowfat-ish cheesecake.

Then we went away for Shabbat to friends where food was abundant and I was a snacker  (sad face).

On Sunday I had a somewhat cleanse where we woke up and eating was:

Coffee (obviously)
Egg white omelette w/ sauteed onions, skim milk, spices and topped with a bit of cheddar cheese
Movie theater popcorn ( By the time I got to X MEN (!!) at 6 pm I was starving and 3 cups of popcorn was 4 points so better than chocolate)

Side note: Why do they show how Professor X got in his wheelchair in 1965 when in X Men the Last Stand they show him walking "20 years ago"??? I was very upset by this and if anyone knows where they explain this let me know!

Dinner at 9:45 pm was a Taco Salad made up of:

• Romaine lettuce
• Shredded iceberg
• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Hearts of palm
• Canned corn
• Canned black beans
• Cuke
• Roasted mini sweet peppers
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Dressing:

• Light mayo
• Salsa
• dash of Taco sauce

I was trying to avoid gaining back 3 lbs and it (kinda) worked. This mornings weigh is was at 154. Which means I only gained back a 1/2 lb in the last week. So now onto a super strict week!

Weekly Weigh In

So this week I thought for sure I wouldn't lose any weight because I have been eating out a ton. While still trying not to eat AS much as I would have Pre WW (haha looks like Pre- World War but don't worry things are not that serious) I still enjoy my meals out.

I ate out this past week at an amazing Asian Fusion restaurant in the city:

YUMMY Sushi and Crispy Rice Appaetizer

Hazelnut and Coffee Creme Mousse

Caramelized Banana and Crepe with Nuttela inside

Yum!

So even with tasting things like the above last week I still lost 2 lbs since last week! What What! Bringing me to a royal (?!?) 153.5 lbs this morning. I didn't believe the scale but I weighed myself 3 more times and still 153.5 so I guess this thing is working!

We did walk yesterday in the Israeli Day Parade so I probs walked around 3 miles yesterday just wandering.. but I think you can tell a difference in my face? Maybe or maybe I am just psyching myself out:

April 2011

June 1, 2011

Any difference?? Maybe it is in my head after all

Also I have noticed that I am much more in tune with my hunger levels. Like this morning I ate:

9:30am- Coffee with creamer (Fat Free obvi!)

10am- Banana

11am- Watermelon 

Full Full Full

2pm- Lunch:

Base: Eggplant/Parmesan Quinoa
Sauteed Green Beans w/Red Pepper
Roasted Beets w/honey and Balsamic Vinegar

Heres to a week of better blogging and more pound losing!

Bad Blogger

I have been so busy that I have been neglecting my blog.. and I guess my boring food choices have really been holding me back too.

We had a family packed weekend so eating was super difficult eating-wise but there were some good eats that I hope to share some pics of!

Todays lunch was this sandwich:


-Arnolds Bakery Light bread - only 1 point per slice!
-Morningstar Veggie Burger
-Edam Light yellow cheese
-little dollop of balsamic vinegar for some extra taste

As I was eating this I was not so enthused but it made the hunger go away and now I have 20 points left for dinner tonight at my favorite Carlos and Gabbys!

Summer!

It is so nice outside today!

I met some good high school buds for a little lunch out and got this:

(yes the worst picture in the world)

It was my salad made up of:

• Romaine lettuce
• tomatoes
• tuna
• egg whites
• shredder mozzarella
• roasted corn
• pickles

Yum!

Weigh In Monday

So just in case you didn't already know.. the weather is still gross!

My weekly weigh in was this morning and it was a sad .5 lbs again! I mean at least we are consistent but 1/2lb a week is nothing to write home about.

I am still doing crunches at night and upped it to 110 last night! I definitely felt the last additional 10 last night..

Here is my routine:
50 normal situps
20 with right leg crossed over left and facing right knee
20 with left leg crossed over right and facing left knee
20 with legs in air straight up

Also I am getting pretty good at "Healthy Cholent" Cholent is usually a staple at Jewish tables at Shabbat lunch meals and can get pretty fatning!

I have so far substituted:
Brown rice instead of barley
Splenda instead of sugar
and last week put in some soy dogs for added oomph!

Soy Dogs cook weirdly.. just sayin.

Today was a weird day foodwise. I just finished lunch and it is 4pm!! Food was:

Coffee at 9:30 am
Nonfat Cottage cheese w/pineapple at 12:30

This insane salad at 3:30:

• romaine lettuce
• tomatoes
• persian cuke
• grilled eggplant cubes
• beet salad
• grilled chicken thigh
• mini scoop of hummus
• EVOO and Mrs. Dash

Now off to the gym?

Rainy Days

It is May18, 2011 and I am wearing corduroy pants and a THICK cable sweater over a long sleeve shirt. Unacceptable  Spring, Summer? COME ON!



My lunch was a steak wrap:

• Whole wheat tortilla
• Steak
• Cherry tomatoes
• Spinach
• Yellow pepper
• Roasted eggplant - I found the eggplant in my house going bad so quickly sliced and roasted!
• BBQ Sauce

This was awesome and really filling and only around 5 points?!

STOP THE RAIN!

Crunch and Munch

Mondays weigh in did not go as planned.

After a weekend of eating food that wasn't the best for me (not my own fault I did what I could with the circumstances) I have only lost .5 lbs this week. Tear.

I knew it was going to be a bad weekend as we were invited out for Shabbat lunch which automatically means I cannot be in charge of the preparation or healthiness of food. I did what I could trying to measure with my eyes and eat as many veggies as I could. I then went on the stationary bike for 10 minutes to try and fight the food.

Sunday, after a day of lounging around Barnes and Noble, we went out with my father in law, his wife, their 1 year old daughter, my sister in law, to My Most Favorite Food on the UWS. I am OBSESSED with food so when I knew that I couldn't go my normal all out ways I was a bit stumped. I settled on this:

And it did not disappoint. 

The Salmon Cobb Salad consisted of:

• Poached Salmon
• Avocado
• Egg Whites
• Egg yolks- I took off
• Tomatoes
• Cukes
• Dijon Vinegarette

And of course I had to partake in a little of this:

Carrot Cake is 17 points on Weight Watchers... Good to know. Right?

I only ate a couple of small forkfuls hitting my max 29 points of the day at 7 pm.

When I got hungry later while catching up on some TV I ate some fresh cold mango.

And now on to a stricter week!

P.S. This post is called crunch and munch because for the first time in a couple of years I did stomach crunches. Hopefully I can keep up 100 a night.

This is what my life has become.

Nonfat cottage cheese with strawbs.

Last Night for Dinner

I ate:

-1 entire bunch of KALE CHIPS:

Then I realized that I ate Parmesan cheese (in Judaism Parmesan is considered a "hard cheese" where one has to wait 6 hours before eating meat) So I had to make a random mishmash of the following:

-Braised Red Cabbage (This recipe) I substituted 1 cup of sugar for Splenda and it was wayyy too Splenda like. In the future when I make this I think I will leave out most of the sugar and just use 1/2 cup Splenda maybe

-2 Oz Smoked Gouda Cheese- part skim!

-3 servings (aka 2/3 of the tin) of this. Now this is a classic example of marketing. I could have made this exact souffle at home! Why I bought it I have no idea!

 Its gone now though so no harm done :)

Keep On Trucking..

So Monday is weigh in day so todays weight check was on track! Since the Pesach scale tipper of 165 (I cannot believe I say that on my blog with all my real people friends reading but at least we know I am real)

Todays weight was 156.5! So at least we know this thing is working!

Yesterday was my first real Sunday on WW and I can account for what I ate!

Morning:
Whole Grain Vans Waffle w/ reduced calorie pancake syrup (2 points total)

Iced Coffee at Starbucks - Instead of the iced vanilla latte (4 points) I wanted I got this and put a bit of half and half and a splenda (1 point)

Lunch
Took out my grandmother to Sushi Metsuyan in Queens.. This was super hard because I LOVE SUSHI.

I ate:

• 1 1/2 steamed beef dumplings
• 3 pieces of a brown rice Kawasaki roll 
• 2 TBSP of my brothers mashed potatoes with beef (they served it in a cauldron!)
• Grilled Veggie Asian Salad 

The Salad ended up being great! Grilled portobello, red and yellow pepper, zucchini, with avocado, cukes, tomatoes, black beans (random?) tortilla chips (which I took out), lettuce with a miso dressing.

It was super filling and I finished the huge portion (while giving my brother and hubbs a plate each)!

Dinner was a Mothers Day BBQ for my MIL where I ate a hamburger on a whole wheat sandwich thin (w/coleslaw and ketchup)

I wanted to eat a hot dog sooo bad but I only had 1/3 one dipped in some mustard.. I am really noticing daily food opportunities where the old pre WW Jessica would just scarf it down and I am saying no! I really am watching everything I eat!

Also .. YUM

Easy Peasy

Getting used to WW hasnt been soo difficult because I had already been eating healthy for awhile now. The main differences are not snacking and thinking about everything before I eat it, aka is it worth it. Its also cool because I have to list every single thing that I eat so its good to keep that in check, but this seems to be affecting my blogging because I used to write everything I eat here.. Working on that!

Some random pics from this week:

In the above:

• corn
• tomatoes
• hearts of palm
• black beans
• green pepper
• red onion

I made myself this salad mixture after taco salad night.. its basically a bunch of leftover canned veggies that I brought with me to work covered in some apple cider vinegar, Italian seasoning, S and P.

It was my emergency stash on Wed just in case I got starving.. In the end I just had a couple of bites of it and then ended up eating it with lettuce for dinner on Thursday night (with some FAT FREE (GO WW!) Raspberry Vinegarette from Target.

PS Fat Free equals taste free with some dressings... They say on the WW site that you should have fat free bottled dressings on hand. It is a bit hard to trust all they say because in addition to being on weight watchers I also try and eat healthy and not processed foods as often as I can. So I don't like to buy any of their processed snacks etc. The only WW brand things I got are ice cream pops (Latte Bars to be exact)

Another dinner this week was Eggplant Parmesan:

Here is my healthier way of making it:

Slice 1 eggplant and soak with salt for a bit ( I have NEVER done this before usually because I don't have time) and it was really cool to see all the random moisture that came out of the eggplant!

Dip eggplant slices into eggwhites (I bought a bottle of this stuff and its basically been getting me thru the week and now I just pour a bit instead of cracking a whole egg)

Dip eggplant w/egg into seasoned bread crumbs
Bake at 350 for 45 min
Take out eggplant and make little towers with marinara, mozarella, and parmesan (2 x)

I tried to use as little sauce and cheese that I saw necessary and in the end it was delicious! Didn't taste too differently than normal eggplant parm and I never fried mine anyways so not such a huge change!

Re Cheese:

WW says we should only be eating nonfat or low fat cheese and Kosher cheese is not so easy to find (if any of my random readers out there know of any please let me know!) I find that Shoprite carries a random kosher brand where some of their cheese is part skim. So I have been eating that muenster cheese on just about everything (its still points but so is everything).

Will be posting more pics and posts about my new WW dinners and healthy way of life :)

Back! and the beginning of Weight Watchers Online!

I was away for the holiday of Passover in Israel and as i have stopped watching what I ate my weigh in today was a whopping 165 lbs.. which means we are in crisis mode.

When I had lost my 8 lbs previously I was overweight still but this is just not healthy. I started Weight Watchers yesterday so bear with me while the blog changes a bit.

I am just adjusting my food into weight watchers points and this all should definitely take some time!

Yesterday was:

Breakfast:
Coffee with Creamer
1/2 a banana

Lunch Salad:

• Spinach
• red cabbage
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• low fat feta cheese
• EVOO w/spices - This was before I found out that EVOO was points so I am still ok and apparently I am supposed to have healthy oil every day so there was my daily intake!

At around 3 I was starving so ate a red apple.. that barely contained my hunger though :(

Dinner:

Whole Grain Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce - I made my usual meat sauce recipe and the ingredients were all the same and I even had leftover points at the end of the day!

Heres to losing over 20 lbs! 

Wish Me Luck.

Still Sore

I am raging sore from my run on Monday night... Its a great feeling but also promotes lazyness on not going to the gym at all..

I have tons of food pics but I have been way too busy preparing for Passover!!

Chag Sameach to all!

I am a jogger?

A bit delayed but things have been hectic with all the pre Passover planning going on!

Monday Morning Smoothie:
-Frozen mixed berries
-Stonyfield Organic vanilla lowfat yogurt
- 2 Bananas
-Pyure (Healthy Splenda)

Coffee w/white chocolate cafe latte creamer

Mid morning I went over to the new open Crumbs by my office (kinda by my office) and obviously my 11 am hunger kicked in and I just NEEDED a Crumbs Cinnamin bun

Lunch around 2 was:
Asian Chicken breast (leftover from Shabbat recipe below)
Roasted Kale (wayyyyy too salty!)
Roasted potatoes and garlic

After work it was so gorgeous I couldn't fathom just going on the elliptical so I texted my runner friend Rachel and hijacked myself onto her run. We walked down to the Riverside Park jogging/bike path. This was my first experience running so I was just jogging at my own pace and walking every 5 minutes when my body would cramp up.. I kinda liked it though.. maybe I'll stick with it.

After the run I met up with hubs and we went to Soom Soom an AWESOME falafel place on the UWS. On Mondays it is 2 for 1 so extra awesome for us!

They give you your falafel in a pita and then you fill it with all the salads and sauces you like :)
The only annoyance is the extra 50 cents for Hummus!

Caffeine Kick

Yesterday was the usual food during the day and a night out at Ariels in Englewood.

I went halfsies with my brother:

-Fish tacos (tilapia lightly breaded with a cabbage slaw in a soft tortilla)
-Whole wheat thin crust pizza with roasted garlic, caramelized onions, portabello mushrooms and ricotta cheese!

I would have taken pictures but we were with some family that I didn't want to freak out with my food pics!

Smoothie this morning was

1/2 frozen peaches
1/2 frozen strawberries
2 not so ripe bananas :(
vanilla lowfat yogurt

Lunch:
A- Israeli Brunch @ 11am

1 roasted egg

slices of Edam Cheese

1 slice feta cheese

2 cheese berekas

bowl of Israeli Salad

Israeli pickles

Lunch B @ 2pm:

• Romaine
• red pepper
• corn
• feta
• craisins
• English cucumber
• grape tomatoes
• Balsamic, Dijon mustard, safflower oil

Now its 4 o'clock and I just might pass out at my desk.. drinking a Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry to perk up!

Sushi Metsuyan Addiction

Yesterday was packed.

Morning Breakfast Smoothie:

Frozen Strawberrys
Frozen peaches
2 bananas
Vanilla Yogurt

Lunch:
Leftover Kitchen Sink Pasta with Tofu on top

I made tofu a new way this time:

• Tofu cubes
• onion  powder
• garlic powder
• salt and pepper 
• BBQ Sauce just a bit smothered all over

I baked in a grill pan on 350 for probs around 30-45 minutes until they weren't smushy anymore

I have been throwing tofu into everything since then!

Also I went out to dinner with my sister in law in Queens at Sushi Metsuyan our favorite sushi place ever..

I got a small Udon soup (my first time trying believe it or not)
Ume Tuna Roll- mock crab (kosher style), salmon, avocado and cucumber w/tuna and little black things (Ume??) on top!

Its still winter...

Monday consisted of:

Breakfast Smoothie for 2:

• Vanilla Yogurt
• 3 bananas
• frozen peaches
• frozen mixed berries
• 1 packet of pyruvia (or whatever the healthy splenda that I have is)

Once I got to work:

Coffee w/white chocolate latte creamer

Mid morning snack:
nature valley bar

Lunch nachos consisting of :
Trader Joes Yellow Corn Chips
Trader Joes Mild Salsa
Sliced muenster cheese melted onto chips (key)

After work I hit up the gym.. it felt like forever and after 25 minutes on the elliptical I was ready to pass out :(
Must work on stamina again.. I am even sore today as a result.

Dinner was my first ever attempt at KALE CHIPS!

I have been following Kath Eats Real Food for awhile now and I always wanted to try these!

They were so delicious and I ate the whole thing.. Hubs isn't into my healthy meals so much :(

So for the main I made Kitchen Sink Pasta.. aka every veggie I could find:

(worst pic ever award)

Sauteed:

• Red Onion
• Red Pepper
• Box of frozen baby Brussel sprouts
• 2 handfuls grape tomatoes
• 2-3 handfuls fresh spinach

Mixed with whole wheat spaghetti and topped w/Parmesan cheese!

We watched the The Romantics last night. I read the book and wanted to see the screen adaptation. Wasn't a huge fan of the wannabe artsy book.. also not a huge fan of the movie.. All great actors but things I can't get over:

a- Whenever I see Anna Paquin all I hear is "Sookie"- in creepy Bill voice 

b- Katie Holmes is married to Tom Cruise

The End.

Skipping Failday

Onto Yesderday!

Coffee w/White Chocolate Caramel Latte creamer
Nature Valley Bar

Lunch was the usual salad:

• romaine
• craisins
• feta cheese
• tomatoes
• yellow and red pepper
• dressing-balsamic vinegar, safflower oil and dijon mustard

Last night we went to get hubby an eye exam and us both new glasses at Lenscrafters. This is what one looks like when they get new trendy glasses, have been sitting in Lenscrafters for 3 hours, forgot to put even a stich of makeup on in the morning, and is soooo tired:

When we got home at around 9:30, I made a wonderful dinner for Eitan - I had a TCBY Shiver (white chocolate mouse, chocolate chip cookie dough, Reeses pieces, and chocolate sprinkle) for dinner at the mall- Dont judge me.

Instead of forcing myself to eat dinner I just made this awesome sesame seared tuna in the rockin Grill Pan and ate my portion for lunch on Friday.

• Sesame Seared Tuna
• Sliced fresh tuna
• Hoisen Garlic sauce 
• Terriyaki sauce
• toasted sesame seeds

I mixed all together and seared in pan constantly turning over so all was evenly cooked and the middle was still pink!

My lunch today was a couple of these bad boys in a whole wheat wrap with some tomato and pepper slices

Yum. 

Shabbat Shalom!

Gym Slump

I don't know what it is but I just do not want to go to the gym. Last night I just could not go after work and it was Tuesday which meant I missed my fave yoga class!

I have 2 theories:
a- the gym I go to is too far and I always need to travel further to get there at least 15 minute walk or a subway ride
b- I am just in a slump because it is STILL WINTER!

So I am not forcing myself to go anymore, for my insurance payback I have t to go 2 more times before April 7th,  which I know for sure I can accomplish and after that I will just keep on trucking.. while looking for a gym that may be closer to my work and/or home.

Tuesday I ate:

Breakfast:

• Coffee w/mix of fat free vanilla creamer and last drops of peppermint mocha
• Nature Valley Bar at 11:30 pm

Lunch:
Morningstar Veggie Burger (Mexican variety- there was yellow corn and black beans in this guy) w/melted mozzarella on a bagel



Dinner:
 Yummy leftover sweat and sour meatballs over couscous (herb and olive oil variety)

Sauteed Asparagus w/EVOO, Garlic, and lemon juice in my new grill pan!

Also I got something pretty awesome for my anniversary present! Cannot wait for it to come!!!

Weekends don't count?

I essentially eat what I want on the weekends and don't blog .. which means I don't lose weight at all and the really good food I eat doesn't even make it onto this blog.. I need to work out a system where it's not annoying to blog aka put pictures on ..  Anyways this weekend was great fun and food with family Shabbat at my in laws with most of my sibling in laws (including 2 munchkin nephews).

For the first time I can document exactly what I ate on Sunday.. usually its too much to remember :(

Breakfast:
Grande Vanilla Latte from
Sunday was our close friends babies first birthday brunch so I had:

Sesame bagel w/cream cheese, lox, and tomato
mimosa
slice of strawberry shortcake (sooo rich and sweet but delicious! Highly recommend Stop and Shop cakes!)

Dinner was Carlos and Gabbys (the best Kosher Mexican place around!
Nacho Grande Platter w/steak
1/2 chili burrito (the other half will be lunch!)

Then we went home and watched Never Let Me Go .. a really great/ really weird movie.. Andrew Garfield is just an entirely different role than Eduardo in The Social Network.. Kudos to him!

Amazing Salad

I had to stop what I was doing and blog about my salad today for lunch!

It consists of

• Boston Lettuce - I am liking this much more than Romaine these days and at Costco its 2 big heads (lasts me 4 salads about) for $2.99!
• Craisins
• Feta cheese
• 1/2 avocado
• Persian cucumber
• Grape tomatoes
• Canned corn (other half leftover from the chili)
• EVOO and Mrs. Dash

It may not look so great but its def delicious!

Thursday

Boring catchup day:

Coffee w/Banana Bread (this is the bread that never ends really.. more like cake)

Lunch Salad:

• Boston Lettuce
• craisins
• tomatoes
• Persian cuke
• feta
• Dressing: Balsamic, Safflower Oil, and Dijon mustard.

Dinner:

Turkey Chili that was made in a crock pot all day!
In the morning I threw in:

• 14 oz can of diced chili ready tomatoes
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can kidney beans
• oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper
• 1 can of corn

Mixed it up and then it cooked all day on low..

 I cannot believe I forgot to take a picture! As I was scarfing down my chili w/guacamole and sliced peppers on whole grain hard tortilla shells I must have forgotten....

I actually had 3 mini tortillas..I was hungry after I FINALLY went to the gym and going on the elliptical for 30 min.

I was stressed that I had so much to do that I hopped off before the cool down 5 min.. whatever thats ADD for ya.

Went home and prepared some green olive dip for Shabbat. Its sooo good on Challah and super easy to make:

Olive Dip

• 1 normal sized jar of green olives w/pimento (drained)
• 3-5 garlic cloves
• onion powder 
• mayonnaise

food process it all and add mayonnaise till desired consistency.. YUM!

Shabbat Shalom!

Dont wanna be an American Idiot

Its been a super hectic week for me so I'll do 2 days in one post..
Tuesday :

Coffee and Banana Bread (homemade by my SIL)

Lunch Salad:

• Boston Lettuce
• red pepper
• craisins
• feta
• tomatoes
• persian cuke
• Awesome dressing: balsamic vinegar, safflower oil, dijon mustard

Dinner:
After going to see my grandparents for a quick visit we met up with my brother in Kew Garden Hills for some chinese food. I know it is actually horrible for me but mannn do I love a good hot and sour soup!

Annies Kitchen (sister of Annie Chans which is further along on Union Tpk - if any of you people out there know Queens) was yum and somewhat affordable.

I got the Fon Wong Mai - Bad mistake ..sounded good in my head but it was chicken breast around pastrami and fried. Blech. So I just ate:
Hot and sour soup
egg roll
mixed vegetables and fried rice

Sooo that was enough for me ..

The reason for the title of this post is that last night we (me and hubs) went to see American Idiot on Broadway!

We love rock/alternative music so this was super fun! Highly recommend and i would say it is like Rent but hard rock? Most shows in March are $39 which is quite a good deal for Broadway!

Yesterday was:

Coffee and Banana Bread

Lunch was a cheesefest.. and not in a good way:

• Leftover Mac and cheese 
• Steamed broccoli w/melted smoked chedder

Snack was surprise Berrywild yogurt from my boss!
it was a bit not to my taste but i ate it anyway

Coffee/Banana side by side covered with:
strawberries
cinnamon toast crunch
granola

I probs would have left out the granola .. but all the same I ate around it..

Dinner before the show was meant to be cheaper than it was... because we live in Riverdale it didn't make sense to go all the way home after work just to come back down into the theater area.. so after walking into Kosher Deluxe ( a gross-ish kosher establishment) and seeing that they didn't have asanitary grade on the window - which is now required by law.. we crossed the street to Mr. Broadway.

 I got a White Bean Soup (eh) and a California and tuna avocado sushi rolls. I have this bizarre need to order sushi if they offer it in a resturaunt and most of the time its not so good! Must stop.

Then we saw American Idiot!

And now this blog is caught up on my life :)

Post Purim Fatty

Purim was super fun and draining so yesterday was boring with:

Breakfast:
coffee
hamentaschen (apricot and rasberry)

Lunch:
Salad w/

• romaine lettuce
• craisins
• feta cheese
• tomatoes
• cucumbers
• red pepper
• EVOO and Mrs. Dash

Dinner:
Publix brand mac and cheese w/steamed broccoli

I tried to be healthy with the steamed broccoli but really the Publix mac and cheese is just not good for anyone.. but it was so easy and delicious!

Heimishe Tuesday

Coffee for breakfast

Lunch:
Salad w/

• Romaine
• tomatoes
• 1/2 avocado
• craisins
• feta cheese
• cucumber
• EVOO w/Mrs Dash seasoning (fyi they sell a big one for only $3 at Costco!)
• 
  

Dinner:

Split 5 sushi rolls w/Hubs at Sushi Meshuga in Boro Park, Brooklyn. I love cheap sushi and this place was definitely cheap (ish)! As soon as I saw the A grade for sanitation I figured why not!

We attacked:

• 2 Dragon Rolls (California roll topped w/avocado)
• Meshuga Roll (salmon, cucumber, avocado topped w/spicy tuna)
• Mexican Tempura Roll (spicy tuna and spicy salmon deep fried )
• Tokyo Roll (Spicy salmon and mock crab deep fried) 

Also go us for not finishing the deep fried rolls and ordering another Dragon roll instead

We were in Boro Park last night to get some things for our Purim costumes.. Purim is the Jewish Holiday where we dress up and have a jolly day.. we like to get into it so our costumes usually take some planning.. and tons of shopping.

I will definitely post pictures because I am proud of this years costume :)

Purim is in T minus 4 days!

You know what goes great together? Mondays breakfast:

• 2 homemade Hamentashen - apricot and rasberry and Coffee = YUM

Lunch:

• Chicken and pastrami whole wheat wrap w/pickle and coleslaw (obvi) from Mendys w/some buds (shoutout)

Dinner:

• 3 bowls (I know.. portion control!) of unstuffed cabbage soup.
• 1 piece of leftover Squash Kugel 

This soup is basically delicious tomato soup with cabbage and meat. I usually make it for only small Shabbat meals with close family or just me and the hubs because not everyone is as huge a fan as I am... and for all out there who don't have this yummy recipe:


Squash Kugel (recipe courtesy of friend Rachel)

• 1 large squash cut in half and baked for 1 hr OR one package cut up fresh squash boiled til mashable

• 1/2 stick of marg
• 1/2-3/4 cup sugar (sweetness preference)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup non dairy creamer
• 3 eggs
• cinnamon

 

Boil or bake the squash until mashable, mash in the margarine while still hot so it melts in. then add sugar, flour, eggs and creamer and mix til smooth. pour into greased pan (9 by 13 is a little big, try and find a bit smaller so its thicker - i use one of the white corningware dishes) - sprinkle with cinamon and bake for 45 min or til brown and bubbly.

There has been lots of preparation for Purim in my house but I still had time to go to the gym for 35 minutes on the elliptical! I am at that place where I need to step up my time to 45 .. but I just get so bored :(

Tuesday will not be a gym night.. as Boro Park is calling my name but tomorrow I'll step it up!

Weekend Edition minus the Hamentashen making pics!

This time change really did a number on me.. since the dreaded switch my eye has not stopped twitching... maybe partly to blame on me only sleeping 5 hours sat night but what can you do?
PS Take Me Home Tonight was great!

Saturday night midnight pizza slice may have not helped either :(

Sunday was just a continuation of more pizza (which is funny because I am not usually a huge pizza person)

1 slice as an early lunch and then went to my friend "Bean"s for a homemade pizza dinner (whilst making the Hamentashen- picture post to come)

We also rocked Costco and Trader Joes.. I am pretty sure I spend more on food than anything else (except maybe gas)

Exercise on Sunday:
33 minutes on the elliptical.. had to get off then because I found out we were locked out of our apartment and my husband had to go to the bathroom so it was time to go!

I need 2 cups of coffee this morning

Yesterday was a cold and rainy fiasco involving:

Coffee w/Peppermint Mocha creamer

A lunch at my desk made up of:

• Pita Crackers w/roasted red pepper spread from Trader Joes :)
• Gouda Cheese
• Roasted almonds

I walked all the way to the gym in the rain and then was so tired and worn out I just left :(

Went home and cooked for Shabbat :

Whole Wheat Challah
Cabbage Soup w/meatballs
Sweet potato Kugel
Popcorn Cauliflower
Gefilte Fish w/Spinach and onion loaf
Marinated the London Broil (will review the new recipe and post if its good because it is much easier than my usual)

To make today:
Honey Mustard chicken
Chulent
Asparagus

Because I was cooking all this my dinner was:
Takeout white bean soup and homemade nachos (chips w/melted smoked chedder, salsa, light sour cream)

I cannot wait for a restful Shabbat reading my True Blood/ Sooki Stackhouse novels.. I know they are a bit trashy but I am really getting into them I am on #6 right now (Definitely Dead) and may need to get the 7th so I can read and relax all Shabbat with them!!

Gym Rush

Yesterday was:

Coffee w/ Peppermint Mocha creamer -its ok not as good as lovely Starbucks though :(

Salad w/ dressing that may have gone bad:

• Romaine lettuce
• tomato
• avocado (1/2)
• yellow pepper
• feta cheese

Snack: 

• roasted/salted almonds
• green grapes

Dinner:

(must work on background and pics)

• Steak w/some BBQ sauce and seasonings (eaten w/my fave Heinz 57 steak sauce)
• Roasted Pine Nut Couscous
• Steamed Broccoli

Dessert (MUST STOP):

2 Chipsticks 

Exercise:

I went back on the elliptical for the first time in over 2 weeks and made it to 30 minutes before my calf muscles started spazzing.. So off I went!

In order to get back $$$ from my health insurance I need to go to the gym 11 times before April 1, 2011. I must go ... so here's hoping I make it!

Smoothies are back!

Smoothie for 2 made of:

• 2 bananas
• Stonyfield 0% fat french vanilla organic yogurt 
• 6 frozen strawberries
• handful of frozen blueberries
• 1 packet truvia

Salad with

• Romaine
• mozarella
• tuna
• tomatoes
• corn
• pickles
• Balsamic Vinegarette  

After picking up the new spiffmobile we headed out to my inlaws and nothing there appealed to us so we ran out and quickly grabbed some pizza and garlic knots!

For me:

1 spinach slice 

1 tomato and red onion slice

Hubs had 2 plain slices = Boring

and we split the knots!

Priorities are on hold!

On Friday we found out that our old car was either going to fail inspection or we would have to put over $1,000 dollars into it to save. We chose to give this car to my brother (so he can drive it locally where he is) and he will put the money into it himself.. We know that we drive a ton as my husband commutes to school and we drive all over the place, and with the rising gas prices we definitely wanted something that was gas efficient. Even though I really wanted this guy:

2011 Hyundai Tucson 

I don't have kids or any reason to be wasting gas on this guy... sooo behold our new spiffmobile:

We got a brand new 2010 Hyundai Elantra so it came with the rocking warranty and gets some good mileage (26/34mpg)

So because of all of the stress and business that goes along with a car purchase, my eating and exercising has been way off.. Culminating in last nights 9pm all you can eat Kosher Chinese and sushi buffet that we found near the dealership. 

Back to pick up the car tonight so I have to miss my Vinyasa Yoga.. sad but what can you do?