Need to Lose 100 LBS -Robins Thread !

kah68

@Robin~You could still give baked goods to your neighbors. I know it isn’t ideal, but you could buy cookie dough at the grocery store and make the cookies from that. The peanut butter or chocolate chip would be really easy, rolling out sugar cookies and decorating would be therapeutic. Another idea: almond butter cookies. You could also use this same recipe and substitute peanut butter, cashew butter or any type of nut butter. They are super simple (i.e. fail proof ) and gluten-free.

Almond Butter Cookies

1 cup almond butter (I use Justin’s almond butter, try the maple)
6 tablespoons raw sugar (i.e. Turbinado sugar, I use Sugar in the Raw)
1 large egg, slightly beaten (make sure this egg is room temperature)
Cooking Spray

Preheat the oven to 350°F and place the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven. Spray two nonstick baking sheets lightly with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix the almond butter, sugar and egg until well combined. Spoon 1 level tablespoon of the mixture about 1 inch apart onto baking sheets. Flatten the mounds with the tines of a fork, making a crosshatch pattern on the cookies.

Bake until golden around the edges, about 10 minutes, switching the position of the sheets halfway through baking. Transfer to racks to cool.

mountmary84

Hi everyone,

@Kaye First and foremost, I hope you are feeling better Kay. Being sick is just NEVER fun and probably worse now with so many things going on for the holidays.

@Skinny Glad to hear negations went well yesterday. I hope they continue that way and come to a speedy satisfying conclusion soon. Let us know how that tortellini soup turns out. I for one am always up for a new soup recipe.

@Robin How about a hobby that didn’t involve food? . There are so many and often you can’t eat because your hands are into something else. Kaye knits, I like to bead and do wire work jewelry, one lady I know recently took up origami to keep her hands busy, and of course there is always a good book. I do love to cook, but try to keep that away from the baking part and focus on interesting salad and veggie preps.

AFM: Dumb, dumb and dumber! After I finished my calorie day under but near goal I heard DH rattling a pretzel bag! Darn! Of course you know what I did….followed my ears right to his side and had several BIG handfuls of the darned salty things. I hope that doesn’t show up too badly when I weigh in tomorrow. Yes, it could have been worse than pretzels, but still~~~

Last night DH gave me an early Christmas gift of a nice new pressure cooker. Remember I blew the old one up last week. I hope to find some good new healthy recipes to use with it. Just now I have black beans soaking for black beans and rice that I am hopeful will be tasty and not too bad on calories….probably pretty high on carbs though. LOL

December Challenge:

Calories under goal: 11/31 I backed this down after the “pretzel attack” last night.
Salad a day: 10/31
Exercise: Dismal


Thanks every one of you for being here.

Barbara
Mountmary84

NK1112

@Mountmary … I wish I had all the wrapping done, I only got the gifts wrapped that have to get to the post office … there are still the local gifts to wrap and that won’t happen until Sunday. Thanks for the cooking encouragement …. guess I’ll have to pick up another chicken to roast.

@grandmakaye … Hope today is better for you. Tea is wonderful for that kind of tummy. So are bananas, applesauce, and rice.

@skinnyjeans … There is a tortellini soup I make that is very similar to the one that’s been going around on FB. Mine had spinach and diced tomatoes in it, and is one of my favorites. I love the colors of it and it tastes good too.

Like you and Robin, I switched to HH due to diversity in the work place, plus so many of the people I knew practiced non-religion that it was an insult to them and some would strike out verbally at the MC greeting. Now-a-days, I tend to use both greetings ... depending on the situation and person I'm adressing.

@Robin … The secret to my mom’s soups were the three vegetables that go into a Mirepoix —celery, onion, carrot.

Have you thought about those ‘in a jar’ food gifts? Just Google “In a Jar” or “Mason Jar Recipes” … and you’ll get loads of ideas. I have some recipes for them that I’ve collected over the years. The nice thing about these gifts is that you don't do the cooking and the recipient doesn't get overloaded with ready to eat food all at one time.

AFM … I seem to be back on track with the way I feel and eat. My glucose reading this morning was in a better range than it has been the past week and I just generally feel more ‘like myself’ this morning. Must be all that chicken soup and sleep I've been getting.

My Calories Goal is 13/15 but the housework goal is shouting at me for attention. Guess that saying about ‘A stitch in time, saves Nine” doesn’t apply to me and my nemesis. When it comes to housework it seems that it’s now “Why do today what can be put off until the morrow?”.

Good Tuesday everyone. Hanukkah begins tonight and there are only 15 days left to 2014.
Niki

grandmakaye44

I was terribly sick about 10 last night, but seem to be better this morning. I just ate 1/2 cup Cream of Wheat with a bit of honey and milk. We'll see how that goes. Thanks for all your well wishes. At least it kept me out of the peanut brittle yesterday.
Onward and downward. Kaye

mountmary84

@Niki OOOH, can you share that tortellini chicken soup recipe? Please. I would love to give it a spin. I agree about the mirepoix for seasoning just about everything. Tend to also throw in garlic...and parsley and thyme also much of the time.
Yes, definitely buy a chicken. It is the best thing going just about as you can do so much with it.
Can you tell I am avoiding doing some housework? My ankle hurts today and I would just as soon sit here and write. It doesn't help that this is the 4th straight day we have been enshrouded in fog.
Enough of me!
Barbara

Morgori

Good morning everybody.

Happy National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
Date When Celebrated : Always December 16
Chocolaholics rejoice! Today is National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.
Its a great day to indulge, binge, "pig out", and otherwise consume to excess, your favorite food....chocolate. We believe the timing of this day, during the holiday season, couldn't be better.
Today, we get to enjoy our beloved chocolate by covering something...just about anything... in a generous amount of chocolate. Pour, spread, or drizzle chocolate over cakes, cupcakes, pies, pancakes or waffles, nuts, raisins, even ants (yes, some people actually eat chocolate covered ants!). We will let you decide what is too extreme, and how much is too much, if any.
As chocoloaholics, we shouldn't need any added incentive to enjoy our chocolate. In the giving spirit of the holiday season, make sure to give or share some of your favorite chocolate covered treats today.

“Failures are like skinned knees, painful but superficial.” ~H. Ross Perot

Tom

MrsMorgori

The TRUTH is.......mmmmmm sure wish there was something chocolate here
oh well, I don't need it anyway!
Have a GREAT Tuesday

hansea47

Today is my son's 6th birthday. My daughter thought he looked sad on the way to school this morning, but he said he was just turning more serious because that's what happens to boys as they get older. HA!

I lost 2.6 lbs this week. Thank goodness, because the scale has been trending upward since August/September.

Rozie1019

Good day everyone!

Kaye-Really hope you get 100% soon! No fun being sick.

Mara- I eat baby carrots for snacks. Low cal and crunchy and a hint of sweetness. You can eat a pound of them and they only barely hit 200 calories. I know, I have done this on many occasions. They go great with homemade guacamole or ranch. I make my ranch with unsweet almond milk and 0% greek yogurt instead of milk and may or sour cream. It gives me a protein boost. Also I roast my own nuts and seeds and keep them in bags mostly for DH to snack on. I just recently started to like nuts.

Kah- That almond butter cookie recipe sounds wonderful, thanks for posting it! I think I will use the honey almond butter we have sitting around to surprise DH with cookies.

Robin- I agree with Kah, using really ripe bananas is best. I only eat them once they start having the brown spots on the peel.

Speaking of bananas and almond butter if you all want a healthy-ish 'ice cream' here is a good recipe
3-4 ripe bananas
1 cup almond butter
couple tablespoons raw cacao powder
mash bananas mix with almond butter and raw cacao powder and freeze for about 2 hours.
It's really good. You could leave out the cacao powder or sub it but I really enjoy it. You can use other nut or seed butter instead of almond also.

AFM: Having a decent day. I went to kroger to get some water since we are out here at the office and got sushi and ate the whole thing. Thankfully it did not break my calories. I have some left and plan on working out tonight. I'm still getting in the flow of logging and weight and measuring. I just have to make sure I prepare everything the night before.

Have a great day!
Rozie

lleecc

Last night, I finished making 60 bags of Ranch Pretzels that I give out to co-workers and my children's teachers. They are so easy to make and addicting! (I also call them Crack Pretzels). Robin, you should make them for your neighbors! If you want the recipe, I'd be happy to post it, or you can find it on Pinterest - just search Ranch Pretzels. Yummy...

NK1112

mountmary84 wrote: »

@Niki OOOH, can you share that tortellini chicken soup recipe? Please. I would love to give it a spin. I agree about the mirepoix for seasoning just about everything. Tend to also throw in garlic...and parsley and thyme also much of the time.
Barbara

Barb - here is my Recipe for -
-
Tortellini Soup with Tomato, carrot, celery
Indredients
1 tablespoon olive oil (pure, not extra virgin, or use canola)
1/2 cup diced onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound baby spinach
3 large carrots - cut into thin rings or diced
3 celery ribs - diced
4 cups chicken broth (lower sodium kind)
1 large can unsalted diced tomatoes
12 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound cheese torellini - frozen
optional - green herbs of your choice

Method

Heat a large stockpot over medium-low head. Add the oil and onions, then the celery and carrots. Saute, stirring often, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and stir-fry about a minute.

Add the chicken broth, tomatoes, ground black pepper to the pot. Bring to low low boil. Reduce heat, add tortellini, and simmer until the tortellini is floating on top and the broth has come back to a slow boil. Add the spinach and continue to simmer a few more minutes. If you are adding some green herbs, do so at the end of cooking. I like either basil, parsley, dill, or a combination of them.

The recipe makes 6 servings ... each serving has 343 calories, 8 g fat (3 g saturated, 1 g polyunsaturated) 32g cholesterol, 757 mg, Potasium 854 mg, Carbohydrates 52g, dietary fiber 7 g, protein 15 g ...

Some additional notes. ...

Tortellni - If you buy the dried tortelli in the pasta section of the supermarket, cook it before adding to the soup. You can add it at the end to warm it up. .... If I will have to store the soup for several days, you might consider to cook up the tortellini separately and add it to the soup before warming it up for serving instead of letting them stay in the soup during storage because they continue to absorb broth and get large.

Spinach - If you use the frozen spinach, buy the one that comes in a cube and defrost it in the refrigerator before making the soup. Squeeze it well to drain the accumulated juices before adding the spinach to the soup near the end of it's cooking time.

Tomatoes - I prefer to buy unsalted tomatoes because of the sodium level. You can also use fresh tomatoes that you have skinned and diced ... use 5-6 plum tomatoes if you do.

Broth - You can use home made chicken or turkey broth instead of the purchased type. I would not recommend the chicken flavoring cubes because of the high sodium in them.

Protein ... if you want more protein in your soup, you can add in 2 cups of cooked chciekn into 1-inch cubes and add to the soup to warm through before serving.

One more thing Barb ... I have been known to buy a pound of the frozen mixed vegetables and use them instead, and have added mushrooms sometimes to the soup as well. It's fun to change it off once in a while. I have even thought about making little meatballs for it and have sometimes used beef tortellini instead of cheese.

If you make this soup ... let me know how it turned out for you.
Niki

mountmary84

Hi everyone,

@Kaye I hope you are doing better today Kaye.

@Hansea I love the stories and things your kids say and do. They are so cute; I miss having any little ones any where around. Even the grandkids are big. Congrats on the terrific loss. Good for you! You are definitely doing something right!

@lleecc I think I will pass on making those pretzels. They sound yummy and I fear I would eat the whole batch!

@Niki Thanks so much for taking the time to type the tortellini soup. It sounds wonderful, (except for the black pepper ~ I assume you meant ½ teaspoon) I will definitely give it a try soon. As I have said I am a bit of a soup nut.

@jtconst I think yucky mucky Washington has moved to Wisconsin. This damp, foggy, nasty weather is awful….it is driving me to make soup!

AFM I have had fun playing with the new pressure cooker today and made some good stuff. The black beans and rice were good, very filling and at 150 calories a cup thought a pretty decent lunch. That left room to make a ragu to serve over pasta for dinner. That also was good. I think this is a good tool for anyone who is in a hurry to get the food on the table as it does speed things up….I am a bit slow now as I learn to work the thing.

It was a good day calorie wise but my ankle is killing me so what little walking I did was kept to a minimum….even at the store. I think I had better wrap it tomorrow. This is an old injury that occasionally resurfaces. Not what I need just now.

December Challenge:

Calories under goal: 12/31
Salad a day: 10/31
Exercise: Dismal


Thanks every one of you for being here.

Barbara
Mountmary84

Lauriek70

Hi All,
This has been a rough week and yesterday I hit my breaking point. I have basically decided not to compete in athletic competitions right now. It was just one more stressful things that I don't need in my life. I realized that there was a problem when after a week off from exercise my body was not craving it yesterday and I would have been fine going home and chilling out. I did workout with my trainer yesterday which did help some but boy did it take a while to get out of the funk. The funk is still hanging around but t is not so bad right now. I will go to bed soon to see if some extra sleep will help. Tomorrow, I ma climbing with my trainer at the gym. She will be learning to belay earlier in the day then practice with me at night. This should put some fun back in the exercise department.
goal==To find the fun in exercise again and to de-stress my life or at least get it to a manageable level.

Have a good night.

Tanya949

Another busy stressful day at work. I managed to start my Christmas shopping today on the way home. One pair of running socks for my sister. Pathetic, but at least its a start. I don't want to go anywhere near stores. The rest of my shopping will be done online.

I have been getting Christmas tips from my mail customers, though they all tend to give chocolate and sweets. One customer gave me one of those humongous Toblerone bars... it must weigh at least 5 lbs!! They tell me how great I look, then give me junk to fatten me back up again.

I've been very lazy in the cooking department but seeing all the talk about soups has me wanting to make a big pot of lentil soup. I must make time on Saturday or Sunday to do that.

I've been feeling better emotionally the past day or two... I think I've turned a corner. What a relief. I thought the closer I got to Christmas the worse it would get, but I just keep telling myself that there are so many other things to be happy about right now and not to let one aspect of my life control the rest of it. I have made peace with this issue and my mood has improved. I'm now looking forward and leaving that part of the past behind.

On a final note. I've been having dizzy spells today and no idea why. I've had a few sporadic episodes like this the past year or so. I go for a physical next month anyway so I will mention it to the NP.

skinnyjeanzbound

Hi everyone!

@kaye--hope you continue to feel better. I've had several students out with that nasty norovirus, so it's definitely going around.

@niki--I have the gene grouping that makes celery and cilantro taste terrible and I don't like carrots, so I was planning to use onion, spinach, and red pepper. But I really like tomato too, so thanks for that idea!

@tanya--glad to hear you are feeling better emotionally.

@laurie--I can totally sympathize with losing the motivation to workout and compete. I think it's really the time of year that's so stressful. I bet once you are on break you will get some renewed energy.

@hansea--great loss!

@barbara--take care of that ankle!

@tom and amy--I think tomorrow will be my chocolate covered everything day! We have our holiday humanities luncheon at school and people bring all sorts of yummy treats to share. I'm pretty sure it will be my 2nd of 3 allowed overage days.

Tuesday Goals:
I just need to make it through the week without catching any of the zillion viruses going around at school. I'm pretty much caught up on grading. I had no intention of getting the tone tests done before break. I'm collecting 66 AP papers tomorrow and 30 Scarlet Letter papers on Friday (also to grade over break). Going to try to get the analysis activities done during the week though.

My meeting after school wasn't too bad and I was home by 5. I thought about hitting the gym, but am pretty tired, so thought it made more sense to wait until tomorrow when I will have more energy and be able to get a really good workout.

December All-In:
Under calorie goal: 15/16 days (goal is 28/31 days)
Workout: 3/16 (goal is as much as possible)
8k over Winter Break (not sure what day) in 56 minutes (Thanksgiving 8k was 56:49)

Grading Goals:
1. 64/66 AP essays
2. 60/60 SL Tests DONE
3. x/66 Tone tests
4. x/16 analysis activities

Exercise Goals:
Sun--rest day
Mon--meeting
Tues--meeting
Wed--walk gunner+ gym
Thurs--meeting
Fri--rest day
Sat--walk gunner + gym

grandmakaye44

Barbara, sorry about the ankle. Take care.
Laurie, exercise can definitely be a time commitment. I think that my knee is ready for walking again, but I'm having trouble getting out there. The weather is yucky, too. Glad I can pedal.
Tanya, glad you are able to feel more positive.
Hansea, great loss.
The tortellini soup looks good, but I don't do spinach. I think I can leave that out.
I am feeling much better. My stomach is still a bit rocky so I'm eating carefully. Anya was feverish today, so Nicole took her to the dr this afternoon. She has strep throat. Then about dinner time this evening, she had another fever induced seizure. They are so scary. It is under control and the fever is way down so they sent her home. Keith is spending the night with his other grandma in case Anya has more problems.
Onward and downward. Kaye

RobinsEgg

@Kaye - terrible to hear about Anya's situation. As a mom that would be frightful, and you must have worried right along with them. Glad her fever is down.
- As Skinny says, there are so many illnesses circulating around children right now. I hope all your grands are out of school now or soon! Wish your stomach was better, hope you continue to improve so your holidasy are pleasant for all of you.

@Hansea - WOOT WOOT - congrats you girl! Warrior weight loss!

@Tanya - glad you are feeling better in one department, at least. Its too bad about the dizziness, glad you have a physical coming up. Get it figured out, is this a new doctor?

@Laurie - sounds like major fatigue! Time to stop every thing and just rest and really enjoy what you have decorated around the house for a nite or two.

@Barbara - its hard, but you have to stay off that foot it seems, for a while.

Kah and Niki - thanks both of you for the great recipes. I do like to cook, and even though I might be tempted by the sweets, I will freeze what I don't share with others. And its got to be better for me than what i buy commercially.

I do appreciate the suggestions for non-cooking hobbies. I do want to learn to sew as well - I already have the machine and I sewed way back in high school, I just need some help with the darn machine it has a problem with the bobbin tension I can't seem to fix and snarls right at the start. I've given up and its too heavy to carry someplace to get it fixed. What I need to do is pull up the right YouTube video and teach myself how to fix the problem. Just haven't gotten to it yet. Hope to later this winter. Money to invest in a hobby is another issue. With sewing, I can tailor my clothes and do little projects that aren't too expensive and I have a big box of fabric I have purchased over the years...

Thanks for all the gift ideas. I already had gone out and bought tins of assorted teas and boxes of true Scottish shortbread. Its something I hope they all like. I'll wrap in tissue and bow and pass out tomorrow.

Morgori

Good morning everybody.

Happy Wright Brothers Day in United States
Wright Brothers Day is celebrated in the United States on December 17 each year. The date commemorates the Wright brothers' first successful flight in heavier-than-air, mechanically propelled craft, accomplished on December 17, 1903, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Wright Brothers Day falls on the same day as Pan American Aviation Day. It must not be confused with National Aviation Day.
The United States president annually makes a proclamation inviting Americans to observe Wright Brothers Day with appropriate ceremonies and activities. Observations, including the annual Wright Brothers dinner where the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy is awarded in Washington DC, take place on or around this day. Celebrations are also held at Kitty Hawk in North Carolina and in Dayton, Ohio, where the brothers were born.
Events focused on the day also take place at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a 425-acre (about 1.7km2) area that features a 60-foot (about 18.3 meters) granite pylon (tower) on top of Kill Devil Hill, where the Wright Brothers' camp was located. Other activities include: luncheons in honor of the Wright brothers; school activities focused on aviation and the Wright brothers' achievements in opening doors for future flight advancements; and field trips to aviation and flight museums and centers.

Orville and his brother Wilbur are given credit for building the world's first successful airplane with aircraft controls that enabled them to steer the plane. The brothers' first aircraft, named Flyer, made its maiden flight for 12 seconds and 120 feet (about 36-37 meters) around the site of Wright Brothers National Memorial in North Carolina on December 17, 1903. This day is observed nationally since 1963 to honor Wilbur and Orville Wright.
The Wright brothers were not the first to build and fly experimental aircraft but they are the first to invent aircraft controls that made fixed wing flight possible. In the years that followed, aviation advancements were made. The Wright brothers' efforts paved the way for modern day aeronautics. The brothers' status as inventors of the airplane has been an issue of debate, particularly as there were competing claims regarding other early aviators.

Wright Brothers

“People may doubt what you say, but they will believe what you do.” ~Lewis Cass

Tom

pedidiva

HI,

I am fairly new to MFP and found your thread. I have lost the first 15 of my 100 pounds. I would like to join in. I celebrate my weight loss in 5 pound increments--so i have mini goals along the way; otherwise, it can be overwhelming.

I look forward to getting to know you and learn from you.

Pedi

NK1112

OOPs .. thanks Barbara ... you are correct ... it is one-half teaspoon of pepper in that soup recipe.

For those of you who don't like or cannot eat some of the ingredients, I've made this soup without carrots, celery, onion and just used the chicken broth, tortellini and tomatoes with some spices and it was good that way too.

Usually I do put spinach in it because I like it and cannot really taste it in the soup ... but I have used other greens when had no spinach on hand. Once I used some romaine lettuce that I had on hand and was surprised how good it is in soup.

I did horrible yesterday on my calories. Went shopping and picked up a 5-ounce slice of Bensen's fruit cake. My intention was to bring it to our party next week .... but somehow the package became unsealed ... must have been that I somehow slashed it with a sharp instrument while looking at the ingredients and nutrtition panel. Well ... no one will miss it at the gathering as I am the only one left in the family that adores it.

All-in challenge ... got a start on KP and somehow laundry is piled back up. Have to do the fluff stuff before I can do the bones.

@Morgori ... your today quote reminds me of the one by Maya Angelou ...

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Niki