Hubby in the Kitchen: Spaghetti and Meatballs

This will be a quick post. Tonight is my night "off." That's right, friends. It's another edition of...

Hubby in the Kitchen!!!

Mr. Myers decided to make Spaghetti and Meatballs. Instead of purchasing the pre-made ground turkey meatballs at the store, he decided to make them. (Did you guys know we don't eat red meat?) Anywho, when I got in from class, the house was smelling realllllly good. Hubby had decided to cook up some italian sausages in the case that I would allow him to put it in the spag (I don't really love italian sausages). After a quick taste test, I approved and off he went. Since the dinner was a bit higher carb than my typical fare, I split the difference by steaming some cauliflower and zucchini. I filled the majority of my bowl with the veggies (kinda hidden in the pic) and topped it with a little pasta, a bit of sausage and one meatball. Delish!

Do you know what the best thing about the meal was? I didn't make it. :)

The rest of the day was just fine. Lunch was particularly spectacular today. I knew I wanted some of my carrot-ginger soup, but when I pair it with a salad (which was the plan) it's never enough to fill me up. So I cooked up some brown rice in coconut chicken stock. I poured my soup over about a half cup of rice and voila, a very tasty, filling soup!

Along with my salad (w/strawberries), I also had a couple pieces of turkey rolled up since my meal was low in protein.

Later, I did about 5 miles during my little break from work, which ended up being more like 2pm instead of 1 as I'd planned. Of course, the sun chose that particular time to come out from behind the clouds. Despite my sunscreen, I still got a tad sunburned and man, was I hot!!!

Afterwards, I had a fairly big snack: whole wheat english muffin w/almond butter and low sugar jelly and a peach. I was kinda starving.

I also had about 4 ounces of soy milk when I got home from school (we did 45 minutes of circuit training).

And, that's all folks... I was planning to walk over to Costco after dinner (for grapes and bananas), but they close at 8:30 and it's already 8pm, so... that'll be a tomorrow thing. I'm about to curl up on the couch with the hubby. If he's lucky, I might even consider helping him with the dishes. ;)

Have a wonderful Tuesday night. Tomorrow is humpday, and you know what that means... Two days till Friday!!!

xoxo

-j

Tuesdays with Mrs. Myers

It's Tuesday! That means we're one day closer to the weekend. It's another dreary (but cool) day here in SD. The sun is trying to peek out as I write this, but its yet to achieve its goal. Today started busy, but I'm feeling good. Thank you for your wonderful posts and emails to last night's blog. It's always a little uncomfortable to put yourself out there, and it feels good to be able to share those moments. Also, I think it's safe to say that yams were a bigger hit as flavor of the week than strawberries. :)

My job now has many facets. Today, I work on one project until 1pm. Then, I'm going for a run. I'll come home, clean up and work on other projects until around 4. Busy bee, that's me. Oh, here's a picture of my office, which is finally getting some good use (other than blogging).

I started off this morning with PB&J oatmeal with some fresh strawberries.

And around 10am, I had a snack. A half-sandwich using my cute mini bread, a half slice of pepperjack, a schmear of hummus and some deli turkey. And a clementine. Yum.

Well, that's it for now. Back to work. Have a beautiful day, guys, and I'll talk to you tonight.

Currently Listening to: Rehab by Rhianna

xoxo

-j

Flavor of the Week: Strawberries

Hello Beautifuls,

I'm feeling very inspired today. I wonder if you all realize how much your blogs motivate me. It's a constant source of joy to see other people who do what I do and succeed at it each and every day. It's positivity breeding positivity breeding positivity. Today I was lucky to get to talk to a couple different people about weight loss and it always touches my heart that I can do even the smallest thing to help them on their journeys. I'm often approached about my story. I've had emails from desperate, anguished people, in some cases heavier than I ever was. And, it's a humbling, honest experience to remember I was once that person. I get questions about my food intake, my exercise regimen, loose skin from large weight loss, etc. People are always so surprised at how willing I am to share, which in turn surprises me. To me, it's simply "paying it forward." I am so grateful, so grateful.

January 2005


June 2009

Losing 200 pounds was the culmination of so many things and people in my life. There were the doctors, nurses and nutritionists, who encouraged me and reminded me gently (and sometimes not so gently) that weight loss surgery is a tool, and nothing more. And, a tool is only useful when you use it. There were those who stood by me in the worst of my rages against my eating demons, my lifelong disease. There were those who literally helped me re-learn how to eat, how to walk, how to live life in a way I'd never had the opportunity to live it. There are those today who motivate me, encourage me, remind me that who I was and who I am are two interdependent beasts that I must constantly reconcile in order to become who I want to be. Again, grateful doesn't cut it and words can barely say it, but I'm a writer, so I try (and that, my bloggy friends is where "the book" comes in).

I won't carry on any further, because, really, you're here to read about my food, but I'll say again, thank you for being my daily motivators by simply sharing of yourselves for all of us to read. It's a beautiful thing. :)

So, as you know, today was a busy day for me. I worked at the office until about noon. I came home and made a delish spinach-feta scrambled egg lunch with a side of maters and hummus toast. It was eggcellent if I do say so myself. ;)

When I went grocery shopping this time, I was shopping the sales. I ended up with this cute little loaf of miniature bread (very small pieces). It's really very tasty. I love that each slice is 50 calories and 5 grams of fiber. Perfect for a small snack.

After lunch, I had a boatload of work to do. I knocked it out and went straight through to about 3:30, when I realized I'd better have a snack before class. I wasn't that hungry, so I had a kashi bar. I love the pumpkin flax! Yum-o!

Class was good. I figured out how to turn the bikes up to a higher resistance last week and now I work up a pretty good sweat. Fun stuff. When I got home, I got straight to work on dinner. Hubby was starving after the gym, and I was ready to make a yummy dish with the flavor of the week. Yes, that's right. I'm like Souplantation, and this week is Strawberry Week.

On tonight's menu... Strawberry Fish Tacos

Holy Strawberry Poptarts, these were good! I used tilapia for the fish, which I browned with olive oil and some random spices from my cabinet. I made a sort of relish out of fresh tomatoes, frozen corn, chopped spinach and broccoli slaw.

I piled everything on whole-wheat tortillas and topped with strawberries, a tad of greek yogurt and a bite of salsa. Awesome! This was the best meal I've made in a while (well, since Yam Pancakes, right?!).

I even made enough fish for hubby's lunch tomorrow. Yes, I pack his lunch every day (I love doing that kind of stuff.) Am I a good wifey or what?! :p

Right now, the hubby is watching a Spanish horror film (with subtitles). Actually looks interesting, so I may go watch it (or should I say read it?). he he...

Much love to you all. See ya tomorrow.

xoxo
-j

Zzzzzzzzs, Crazzzzytrain and Zen

Heeeeyyyyyyyyy

Today is busy! Work work work and more work, then school. The hubby and I went to bed around 10:15 last night, but for some reason we laid there talking. I love those nights, holding hands, talking about random stuff. BUT! This morning, we were both scrambling around trying to get ready for work and feeling like zombies.

I had a very quick PB&J english muffin (sorry - no time for anything fancy smancy this morning).

And, off to work I went. I get here and its crazy busy. I haven't had any sort of break really, so I grabbed my baggie of pretzels and munched on those. I brought honey oikos to go with, but I haven't really felt like messing with it and I'm not that hungry.

I haven't had fruit or veggies yet today. Not cool. :( AND, I didn't hit the gym this morning. It's nearly impossible to get to the gym at 5am on a Monday morning. Every other day I do okay. Not Mondays. I have circuit training at school tonight. Afterwards, I may go for a jog. We'll see. It's raining here today, which means it will be cooler! YAYYYYY!

Note to self... load up on veggies and fruits later today, do something active after school, AND slooooooowwwww down, Crazytrain.

Here in a bit, I'll be heading out of the office to work at my home office. Maybe I'll light a few candles, get all zen or something.

See ya all after dinner.

xoxo
-j

So Hot You Could Fry a Cat on the Sidewalk

But I wouldn't... Because I like cats... But I also like Alf, which is where that little nugget came from. Anywho, let's suffice it to say it's HOT here in Cali, the land of mostly cool days and no air conditioning (atleast for us peasants).

This morning, around 10am, I went for my run. I nearly turned back when I realized it was a million degrees out and HUMID. It's not supposed to be humid here! Darnit. Regardless, I did 4.2 miles, and really the sun kept me going because all I wanted to do was be home out of those killer rays. (Yes, I wore sunblock.) When I got home, I had a glass of milk and a kashi bar with a schmear of natural PB.

For lunch, I used the leftover ground turkey (from last night's quesadillas), threw in some chopped tomato and frozen corn and topped it all with some salsa-whole wheat batter to hold it all together. Basically a taco bake. My fevered brain forgot to take a picture of it, but honestly it tastes better than it looks anyway.

We were both sitting here in lethargy when Hubby suggested we hit up the air-conditioned book store. I heartily agreed and off we went.

I had an iced soy latte (decaf).

And, found two books I'll be ordering from Amazon (they were expensive!!!).

Afterwards, we went to the grocery store and spent a fortune like always. Eating well costs so much more money than junk. It's a crime.

I was hungry when we got home, so I had a mini-meal. Whole wheat english muffin with red pepper hummus, pepper jack cheese and a few grapes. Yum-o! Truly one of my favorite combinations.

Since I'm posting this at 5:30, we haven't had dinner yet. I don't want to heat the house by cooking, so we're just having chicken ceasar salad. Hubby will eat his in a whole wheat wrap. I'll probably just eat the salad since my day has been pretty carbilicious. We may have something on the side, but that's tbd.

I promise I didn't buy any yams at the store today. So no more yam concoctions for a while. But I did buy two pounds of strawberries... Speaking of yams... here is the Yam Pancake recipe from this morning's breakfast.

Yam Pancakes

(These measurements are approximate. I don't generally measure anything.)

1 cup mashed yams

1 egg (or 2 egg whites, if you prefer)

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Cinnamon to taste

Cooking Spray

Mix all ingredients together (including some cinnamon in the batter). Make sure there aren't any lumps, though the batter will be thick and that's ok. Pour batter into sprayed, hot skillet (cook at medium to medium high at first). One the first side browns, flip and turn the heat down low to medium until cooked through. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Makes 3 pancakes.

That's it for now. See ya guys Monday!

xoxo

-j

Yam Pancakes (No I'm not kidding)

I hate to waste food. If you didn't know that already about me, you soon will figure it out. This beautiful morning, I used the last of the yams from Hubby in the Kitchen to make (whole-wheat) yam pancakes. They were excellent. The handy thing about yams is that they're already sweet, so you don't need to add any sweetness to the mix.

Other Yam Foods you might have missed:

-A Smiling Sunny San Diego (Ground Turkey and Yam Quesadilla)

-Cooler than a Polar Bear's Toe Nails (Pork and Yam Bowl with Apricot Preserves)

-Hubby in the Kitchen (Pork Chops, Baked Yams, Kashi Rice)


When I woke this morning, I was surprised to see it was 7:30. Pretty late for me. The sun was streaming in the windows above our bed. It was gorgeous, but also a little warm. As much as I love the summertime, I'm not looking forward to the heat sans AC. Oh well. It will atleast become one of those things I can tell my children to remind them how lucky there. Kinda like the whole "I walked barefoot in the snow to school uphill both ways" thing.

Right now, I'm procrastinating. I'm feeling lazy and just want to lay around and do a big fat nada. If I do that, I'll feel like a wasted the whole day. So, it's off for a run.

Tootles,

-j

A Smiling Sunny San Diego Day

Guess what we got today!!? Our dining table! We finally have a place to sit and eat all my concoctions instead of the living room couch (I'm a big proponent of eating at the kitchen table). We bought our table like 2 months ago at Ashley's Furniture, but its taken this long to come in! Yay! Unforunately, it didn't come pre-assembled.

Hubby to the Rescue

We had to go pick up the table at the warehouse in Rancho Bernardo. It was lunch time by the time I was cleaned up from the gym, and I become extremely cranky if I go too long without food (anyone else get cranky like this?). So, I took a PB&J sammy and an (unpictured) apple along for the drive up to North County. It was a REALLY beautiful day here in SD. About 80 degrees. I loved it.

We also picked up some much-needed chocolate when we were getting gas. He got a Kit Kat and I got Reeces Pieces. Hit the spot. Saved the wrapper for you. :)

After picking up the table, we thought we'd hit up downtown. We parked at Horton plaza and walked around the Gaslamp. We walked it literally from one end to the other. Maybe 2 - 2.5 miles total. It was warm, but so nice to see the sun smiling. We talked future talk. Careers. My school. Babies. The weather. All the important stuff. ;)

Thanks to giving into our candy craving, we were starving when we got home. It happens. Afternoon snack was a bowl of cheerios, a banana and a cheese stick.

Dinner was awesome blossom. Since we ate our snacks late, dinner wasn't until nearly 8pm, which I don't usually like to do. It's Saturday. We can make an exception. I still had leftover yams, so I made ground turkey and yam (whole-wheat) quesadillas with peach-mango salsa.

Hubby doesn't like yams (or weird concoctions), so I made him ground turkey, grape tomatoes, and onion quesadillas.

It's a Quesadilla Sauna

They were verrrry tasty and will definitely find their place in Jasmine's Cooking Concoctions. lol.

Salad on the Side

Nothing else on the agenda for tonight. We're just hanging out trying to beat the heat of the day, which is still hanging around the house even though it's now 9pm. Hubby is chillin' on the couch listening to music and waiting for me to finish this post. So, that's my cue. I'm outtie.

xoxo

-j

Savory Saturday Morning

Good morning. I've been up for about an hour eating breakfast and reading bloggy blogs. I have a personal training session in an hour and a half. It's quiet, since I'm the only one awake yet, and the birdies are chirping. I'm really excited because the sun is supposed to shine all day today. In San Diego, we have what's called Gray May and June Gloom. It just hangs over us and while the rest of the country seems to be getting excited with the warm, sunny days of Spring, we're all dealing with blahs. Since we get the sunshine in December when alot of people have snow, I guess it's what we deserve!

I'm hoping I can convince the man to go hiking or atleast walking somewhere beautiful. Last weekend at the beach was so gloomy. It's only a high of 70 in San Diego according to weather.com, which means a little warmer here in East County -- so it's a perfect day to be outside.

This morning, I made a really wonderful little mix of whole oats, cooked with fresh spinach and a little shredded cheese. Amazing! I'd been getting bored with normal oatmeal and this savory concoction was truly a breakfast treat. I highly recommend it.

Here's wishing you a California Sunshine kinda Saturday.

xoxo

-j

Letting the Words Lead Me

I am so backwards. I've been sitting here for the past five minutes trying to think of a title to sum up this day, and it occured to me how ridiculous that is. Why can I never let things be what they are and tell their own story?

I'll tell you why. Because I'm a writer, but I'm not just a writer, I'm also a control freak. Its an inherent need in me to control the direction of my life, my work, my words. I was in a writing class once with a group of talented writers of all ages, but one man, a little older than the rest of us, had that quiet sort of genius that doesn't strike you; instead, it sneaks up on you like a tap on the back. Part of the class requirement was peer critique. On the day it was my turn to be critiqued, I was eager to hear his take on my work. He said all the usual things. Good command of language, interesting juxtapositions, etc. But, then he said something that I didn't quite understand at the time. He said (ok, I'm paraphrasing, but you know), "You can tell this writer knows where she wants to go before she even begins. I would love to see what would happen if she just let the words lead her."

I think at the time I was annoyed, but I realize now that he was exactly spot-on. I tend to be one of those people you look at and think, "Wow, she's really got it together." And, I do. Until life gets messy, and then, my smooth exterior crumbles and I scramble to keep the pieces of my world in order. When, in fact, I know that order is just cleverly crafted illusion anyway.

Anywho, all that is to say, today was a series of unfortunate events. At the office, our software quit working, so I came home to use my own software because we had deadlines, only to discover my internet wasn't working. So, while I could complete the task, I couldn't deliver it. It was a maddening appearance of Murphy's law, and I wasn't appreciating the humor. I found myself snacking on pretzels to "get control." Finally, things worked out, as they inevitably will, and I pulled myself together to go meet a friend for coffee. And, there my story changes (as it also inevitably will).

What began as a horrible day, turned into a wonderful and unexpected evening. I met my friend around 4pm. We grabbed iced coffees and a couple comfy chairs to sink into. I also treated myself to a riced krispie treat. (Forgot to picture - sorry.) We covered the gamut of topics. Politics, racism, travel, careers, eating disorders (speaking of control), and so on. What felt like 20 minutes later, I checked my phone and nearly felt out of my chair to see FOUR HOURS had passed without either of us giving a thought to the time. We said our hurried goodbyes and went our separate ways. Walking to my car, I realized how rare an occurance it is in my life to sit with a friend without any sense of urgency to be somewhere else, to simply get lost in the conversation, to actually relax and let the "words lead me." (Yes, I'll admit. I kinda knew where I was going with that.)

Want to know something ironic? This morning, I was thinking that I wanted to write a blog about the affects of stress on your health and suggestions on how to manage it... I guess I just did that. :) Funny how that works.

Now, without further ado, I give you my food...

AM Snack: Starbucks and Pretzels

Lunch: Ginormous Salad with Almond Butter and Jelly toast

PM Snack: Organic Vanilla Yogurt, Raspberries and a PB Kashi Bar Crumbles

Dinner: BBQ Asian Chicken mixed with some Broccoli Slaw,

Served over a Bed of Greens with a Side of Grapes

Well, goodnight, my sweets. I'm going to go spend some time with the hubby I've been neglecting as of late.

P.S. My girl Charlene wrote a good blog about Protein today. Check it out.

xoxo

-j

Cooler than a Polar Bear's Toe Nails

Good Evening Boys and Girls (Mostly Girls),

Do you know what's totally cool to me? Tomorrow's Friday!!!! Woooooooo!!!!

Today was a busy day. Between the gym, work, school and socializing, I haven't spent a moment at home! That's ok. It was a fun one. I'll give you a quick run down of the pre-school food and then get to tonight's feature presentation (that would be book club... I know... Am I exciting or what?!)!

As you know, today I had a soy latte that was to DIE for. The first of many, most certainly. Along with the Starbucks, I had a Kashi bar (unpictured) and a twizzler. I haven't had twizzlers in YEARsssss. Now, I remember why. They aren't good.

Lunch was fantabulous. I used leftovers from last night's edition of Hubby in the Kitchen to make a Pork-Yam bowl and topped it with a dollop of Apricot Preserves.

My afternoon snack was organic vanilla yogurt with fresh raspberries. I was too lazy to put the berries and yogurt in separate containers, so it just looks like yogurt with globs. Those were mighty tasty globs, though! I also had an apple.

School was fun today. We did circuit again, and we're all finally getting the hang of it. I was able to figure out how to up the resistance on my bike so I'm actually getting my heartrate up a little. It was the first time I actually felt like I was getting a workout in class. Oh! I almost forgot! One of my classmates, Sheree, is also a nutrition major and a fellow food blogger! Funny story: As we were discussing her story of going from vegetarian to vegan, I was pulling out my bag so I could write down her blog and she says, "Ya, I went from vegetarian to vegan. I don't even buy leather or anything like that." We both look down and there I am, holding my leather school bag and my leather wallet. It was a funny moment and we both had a good laugh over it. :)

After school, I had a quick snack to hold me until book club. (I heart raspberries.)

This month, book club met at Casa De Pico, which happened to be less than a mile from my house! Dee kicked off the night with a Tequila shot.

This month's book pick was Leah's. She chose The General's Daughter by Nelson DeMille. It was a tough book for me. I wasn't wild about his writing style and I tend to avoid Army-type books. That said, Leah seemed to really like it. :)

Regardless, I really enjoyed discussing the book anyway. It's an interesting and, at times, emotionally-jarring read and we had a really good discussion about motives, human (sexual) nature and Army life in general. We have a group of fun, intelligent women so its always time well spent. Thanks girlies!!!

For dinner, I ordered the Black Bean Burritto, which the menu said was 661 calories. I ate about 2/3 of the burrito, a good portion of the rice and a few tortilla chips with salsa. A carby night, for sure.

When I arrived home, I was glad to see Hubby did some bonding of his own... boy-style. He and the roommie played video games the entire evening (still playing as I type this). So, all is right in the world of Mrs. Myers. :) And on that note, it's time for this little woman to shower and hit the hay.

Night Night