17 March 2009

Dinner Discussion with a Side of Questions

Ah, my "diet blog week" is getting me some great feedback and making me evaluate EVERYTHING which I think will be benificial in the long run!

As I open my lifestyle up to your helpful comments, some of your comments have generated questions in my brain that I now need answers to...

  • If I were to get brave and decide to get on a treadmill, what settings would I use? Remember, back in January I completed a 5K in 34:10 so what speed would I use? What incline? What else should I know so that I don't look like a fool?

  • Does anyone have a good recipe for a "light" whole wheat bread? I would love to start making my own because I know it would save us even more money on the grocery bill.

  • What brand of ketchup tastes good and doesn't have any HFCS?
Okay, now on to our Dinner Discussion.

I don't mind eating the same thing over and over for breakfast and lunch but my family doesn't feel the same way. So, I try to plan our meals for our dinners a month at a time and write it on a calendar so that I don't have to answer the question "What's for dinner?"

Typical meal:

4-6 oz serving of chicken, fish, lean steak, pork tenderloin (grilled or baked with various seasonings) My new favorite way to season chicken is with Tiki seasoning! What is your favorite seasoning?

Always served with two vegetables/sides -> one is always green and one is usually oven roasted with some EVOO (extra virgin olive oil if you don't speak Rachael Ray) on it so that I can get in my healthy oil (can you tell I am a rule follower?)

my favorite 'green things':

sorry, still a mommy blogger and that picture was just too cute to leave out!

my favorite vegetables: black beans, roasted cauliflower, roasted sweet potato 'fries', canned green beans, mashed potatoes (made with skim milk, couple of laughing cow cheese wedges, and smashed roasted garlic)

My favorite "all in one" meal is my beef and broccoli that probably should be called broccoli and beef. I usually use about 8-10 oz of lean steak cut into strips and browned in very little EVOO. Then, I take the steak out, deglaze my pan with fat free low sodium beef broth and 1/2 cup of low sodium soy sauce. Then add in a big bag or two (I make lots to have leftovers for my lunches) of frozen broccoli florets, steam until done. Add beef back in and allow to cook on low heat to reduce the liquid some to be more like a sauce. Serve over rice. YUMMY!

We eat beans several times per week. I cook my beans from dried because they taste better than canned and they save me a lot of money in the long run. $1 for a pound of dried beans when cooked is approximately 4 cans of beans that would cost you at least $4. I also occasionally cook 1 cup of cornmeal with 4 cups of water and make what some people call polenta but us southern girls call it grits without all the milk and butter... we eat it as a side dish, often when I fix a white fish.

At least once per month I make spaghetti (my all time favorite). I make my own meat spaghetti sauce with lean beef, crushed tomatoes and seasonings (no sugar or added fat) and serve it on healthy harvest whole wheat thin spaghetti. I also mix in a whole package of cooked and strained spinach. (See, rule follower, even my spagetti has two veggies -> tomatoes and spinach.)

I have a feeling I am going to get some comments about changing the beef we eat to turkey, etc but I probably won't be doing that. If you don't know me in real life then you don't know that my daddy raises beef cattle for a living...and that means that my freezer is stocked with *free to me* lean organic beef that I trust 100%. My ground beef is more lean than the 93% lean I have purchased before because there is NOTHING to drain off of mine once it is cooked.

Are you thinking... she should eat salads with her dinner? I would love to...some days. There was a time in my life where I thought I would rather be fat than have to eat a salad. Well, it turns out that my digestive tract does not like raw vegetables. I have crohn's disease (I have not been on meds since giving birth to James!) but through several years of tracking my food I learned that my crohn's punishes me when I eat too many raw vegetables.

Also, if I eat pasta, rice, or potatoes at lunch time then I don't eat those things at dinner. We also rarely eat bread with our dinner. Although, this past Sunday I made these sweet potato biscuits and we ate them with a little honey for desert! I left out the nutmeg (yuck), used 1/2 c whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup ground oats and added flax!
Speaking of flax, have you entered my giveaway to win some *free to YOU* organic flax for your pantry?

This post is linked up with Wordful Wednesday over at Angie's place.

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15 comments:

tiarastantrums said...

I love fresh veggies and could eat that a just for a meal - I dont' like beef too much - and I hate fish - I won't cook it - LOADS of chicken - I would love to cook with beans more - but my kids won't eat them EVER!!!!!

Jen said...

I have the same problem when it comes to salads, I can't eat them, but for a different reason. Allergic to lettuce and have EE, which I'm sure you've read about on my main blog? Or have you? Have I ever sent you an invite to that? I can't remember! Anyways, I love coming here and getting all your great ideas! I'm really tired now and would love to leave you with some amazing ideas for meals, but I'm stumped! I'd love to get your mashed potatoes recipe though. That sounds divine!!

How is your 20 in 20 going? I guess I should just read on and find out myself eh? I've been AWFUL at posting, but it doesn't mean I've given up. I've even started the c25k program and hope to be able to stick to it!

ALright, this is a post in and of itself. I guess I should hop on over and post on my weight loss blog again. . . perhaps tomorrow when I'm not dead tired.

Love you're favorite green things! Too cute!

Unknown said...

First of all...you're so great!
Second...I have a "no knead" bread recipe that I've been using. It's not super light...1pt for 1pc, 3 for 2 if you cut them thin and make 6 loaves. :) But I use EVOO in it...so get my oil.
Third...on the treadmill, I warm up on 3mi per hour, walk brisk at 4, jog at 5 and am starting to work into running at 6. If you did a 5km in just over a half hour...you were probably going about about 5.5 or so. That's awesome!
Fourth...my grandpa was a cattle farmer, so we kinda came from the same stock...kinda, sorta, hey? I wish I could still get the free beef. :)
Fifth...I've been wanting to add more beans into our suppers, but I'm struggling with that one. Beans aren't a big thing up here in Northern Canada.

Anonymous said...

ahhhh you and me and the beef and the meat :)

and Im also one who could eat the same stuff forever and not care (so IM no help there) and so is my husband.

THE TODDLER? It remains to be seen :)

Anonymous said...

Yes, they generally do say to cut way back on the beef in a diet.

Hootin Anni said...

That photo IS too sweet. Glad you shared it.

My Wordful is all about "Sister's Day". Come join me if you can. Happy Wednesday.

Claremont First Ward said...

I am very similar to you. I always have a shake for breakfast. I always have a frozen meal for lunch (Lean cuisine like) and for dinner always meat a veggies. Usually isn't chicken or beef with brocolli(steamed) and a salad. I like fruit in my salad so it's usually lettuce, pears, strawberries, etc, gorgonzola cheese and pecans. But you can't eat that. Your sweet potatoe rolls sound divine.

Christie O. said...

wow! it sounds like you are on a roll and your family is eating quite healthy! good for you! i also eat very lean, organic ground beef. i do eat turkey as well, but i do like my beef and when i eat it, i eat it lean. we do a lot of crockpot chicken (broth, glass of red wine, one onion, a little spanish seasoning) and it makes a yummy spanish dish with brown (or yellow sometimes) rice. and I do chicken enchiladas with whole wheat flour tortillas, also yummy and even yummier as a leftover. very cute picture too!!!
as far as the treadmill, i'd just start with a warmup on 3.3 (0 incline) for 5 minutes. then as you warm up, you can start at a 4.0 with a very very light jog and keep pressing the arrow up until you find a pace you like. you can always speed up or slow down. the 34 minute 5k was probably around a 5.4 on the treadmill, but keep in mind that running on a treadmill is a little harder because the pace stays the same, and when you're running out in real life the pace speeds up and slows down depending on how you feel. feel it out though, you won't look stupid! no one's watching you, trust me!

Gretchen said...

Hey, do you remember Lisa from the Blogger dinner? She was the short-ish blond lady at our table. Well, she does all kinds of organic cooking and also does NO HFCS. (Now, that's not my game but I know she's on board with it.) Anyway, I have been told there is a non-HFCS ketchup at Krogers but she could probably tell you more. (She will undoubtedly tell you to go to Whole Foods - no where near our houses!) I know Kroger's carries a lot of special stuff that I can't find anywhere else (like soy yogurt for my baby who can't do lactose in milk). Try the specialty food aisle. They also carry gluten-free breads and wheat-free breads (NO idea how they make that!) Good luck.

I have no suggestions for dinner. We don't eat lean, just kinda watch our portion sizes.

The only suggestion I have to get you over the hump you are not gonna like: be EXTREMELY strict with yourself and deprive yourself for like, one week. Maybe that will be like a shock to your system and give it a kick start. Maybe have only a banana for breakfast. Maybe switch to only having water for drinks all day. Maybe cut your portion sizes in half for one week. I have NO idea but you could try it. certainly it wouldn't cause you to GAIN and if it's only short term could it really hurt?

Me, I am not a good person to ask but it's just an idea.

Kamis Khlopchyk said...

I don't believe in giving up beef either Natalie, and if it's organic and your dad raised it, it is likely 100% healthier than chicken/turkey you would buy in the store that if full of hormones and who knows what else.

You are doing everything right, seriously. You eat much healthier than me. I am ashamed. *hangs head*

As for the bread, do you have bread machine? That's where we make our bread and I can give you the recipe but it would only work in a bread machine.

Treadmill? I am horrible at figuring out the speed to use on a treadmill. I would start at 4.0 miles per hour and see how you feel with no incline. You should be able to run that without coughing up a lung for 30 min or more. If you are dying, slow down. It's probably a trial by error kind of thing.

Juice said...

Kudos to you for figuring out what triggers your Crohn's disease. I had stomach issues myself (food intolerances) and had to cut a lot of "healthy" stuff from my diet. I'm pleased to report that after 10 years my body has changed and I have been able to incorporate many of my previously forbidden foods back into my diet.

If you are trying to mix up your menus, perhaps check some healthy cookbooks out of the library and get some new ideas. Aim for something reasonable - like trying 1 new recipe per month.

Sandra said...

Crud... now I'm hungry... lol!

Love the kids!!! they are beautiful!!!

Dianna said...

Trader Joe's has a really good organic ketchup with no NFCS. I just saw at Whole Foods yesterday that Heinz makes an all natural ketchup too, but I don't know about the taste.

Anonymous said...

natalie. .I have fallen in love with the treadmill and running on it. If you were to do the intensity training I commented about, I would suggest starting at 4.0 or so for the first mile and then doing 5.0, 5.3, 5.7 and 6.0 for the .25 mile segments. This helps keep off the bordom of the treadmill too. The 6.0 will probably push you. If it doesn't, boost to 6.2 or more-the push is great because you can see what your body can do. The good news is that after doing that last segment, when you get to the new mile, you drop back down to 5.0 which will feel like a crawl. by the way, there are several 5Ks coming up in April if you are interested in running another one. I would love a running buddy. When pushing, I run about a 30 minute 5K.
-Pauline Medlin

Anonymous said...

I almost forgot. . my hubby said he almost didn't recognize you. I told him about your blog and he replied. . I don't know where she would lose any more weight from. She looks amazing. There's a warm fuzzy for you!
-Pauline