Just a Spoon

Randomness...

2010-07-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Well, It's been almost a week since I was on here last. Just been really busy! Haven't had the mind at the end of the day to sit down and focus because I'm tired! I have been keeping down the water lately, although that's no thanks to my water bottles. I tried them, and they were metal, didn't like them, so I gave them to a friend. I got these babies though:

They are plastic, but I can reuse them...which if you ask me, is way better than regular plastic bottles. I tried something else this week:

Had half with breakfast, and then with lunch...I LOVED it!!! I would recommend it for those times when water just isn't cutting it.
Also,I made Kath's Summer Squash Gratin as a side dish with dinner last night. It was scrumptious!I did add some goat cheese to mine though :) I've been walking more lately and I found that it's really relaxing. I feel a lot better after a little walk, and I truly enjoy the peace and quiet of the night. I got this wonderful soap at the store the other day...

Yes, I use bar soap, but as far as I see it, it's one less bottle to throw away! It smells soooo darn delicious. Yummy citrus and ginger. Some more pictures of random things:

Scrumptious mix for tuna salad!

Have to go...I'll be posting later!

My 6 a day habit....

2010-07-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I have to admit, I'm a bit of an addict... I have a six a day habit... Six water bottles that is! Which is good for me, but not the environment... So as of this week, I'm doing this:

And buying a water filter! I also got a coupon for 5 dollars off! YAY!

In other news...I can't remember Saturday, it's too far away, sorry. Sunday was a ten hour day... Same old breakfast, and then for lunch, a 6 inch roast beef on wheat bread, no cheese, just veggies, but I threw away half the bread (too much!) and half of the roast beef (started to taste yuck after a bit). For some reason (maybe because I only got three hours of sleep!) I was really still hungry after that. I had a teaspoon of pb and some blueberries...You know what? My brain is way too tired and stressed out to focus on this right now...Why don't I let the pictures do the talking and I'll come back...
Oh, there was saturday...:)

must've been sunday morning breakfast.
then blueberries at work, and the pear was from monday night. I don't remember much from monday either except getting on Kath's blog and making a grocery list. Tuesday was the night when we all get together at my house. Matt and I had little ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch (after a normal breakfast) and I made turkey/chicken meatballs for dinner. Paired those with some jarred spaghetti sauce and some whole wheat pasta and voila: dinner for five! After that, I don't know if I want to talk about it. I started to get hunger pangs, so I had two (small) scoops of lactose free ice cream, with a cut up banana and some sunflower seeds on top. About an hour later (out of boredom?????) I felt hungry again, and went for tons of bread and pb, then later for tortilla chips and salsa, and finally (when my craving for chocolate kicked in) I was eating pb from the jar!!!! It was horrible! I was craving carbs. I don't know if it was from a lack of sleep, or maybe the fact that it's the first time I've had white bread in three weeks. Whatever it was, it was horrible. On to today...Had a banana and a handful of nuts because I thought we were out of milk, then ended up eating another handful of nuts over some cheerios (ran out of granola...sigh)and milk. Later, snacked on a granola bar I made, then another banana and a handful of nuts at work. When I came home, I had a small pb&j sandwich, about five strawberries, and a piece of cheese (for my "lunch"). I spent an hour and a half grocery shopping before work, and an hour and a half after work at Wal-Mart getting random things. Got a great big pink storage bin (yay pink!) For some old blankets I found while cleaning out the closet in our guest room. Only had to do that because it was supposed to be getting carpet in it, and when the man came to put it down, he pulled up the stuff that had been on the floor, and the wood underneath was dry rotted! Ugh! So he had to replace the whole floor in the room, but now there is awesome carpet in there...the only room in the whole house with carpet! Also got a water filter today. I started this post on Monday, and never got a chance to sit down and finish it, so I have followed my pledge and bought a water filter pitcher and two water bottles
(one for me and one for Matt). Also got some new bowls with twisty-tops so I can take them in my lunch bag! YAY! Is it weird that I get excited about Tupperware and other misc. things for my house...Like rugs and sticky notes? Oh, and this grocery list thing I discovered??? It's a grocery list generator...If you have Mozilla Firefox, you can get it as an add on, and it's pretty great! You add things to the list, then each time you use it, you can put a quantity, and it prints right out! Also stores and prints recipes! Go to www.grocerylistgenerator.com to find out the details! Well..I have to go make dinner, cause the hubs will be home any minute! Post ya l8ter! (wow that was lame...have about [insert witty quip here]...much better)

Not for the weak of stomach, the vegan/vegetarian, or the generally grossed out...You've been warned!

2010-07-17T13:33:00.001-07:00

So I want to share a tool that a lot of people my age really don't have or use. It can save a lot of money. I want to talk about cutting up a whole chicken. I spent 4 dollars on this chicken, and I will get two meals for my hubby and I (it was one of the smaller ones, only a little bigger than a Cornish hen, but you can use the same method for a bigger chicken....). It is a messy process, and it is essential that you keep everything clean, drain any juices from the package before you take out the chicken, and wash your hands in between everything!!! I started with the bird breastbone up. I sort of tore the wings off, because I knew I could just muscle it because it was so small. Usually you would have to cut the cartilage to get the wings off. I put the wings aside.
I then pulled off the legs, which I muscled through too. Mostly just jostling and twisting, cutting the skin and meat around where the thigh is (you know what a leg+thigh looks like...come on...), which was the hardest part (the cutting). I pulled the skin off while I did this, which i acutally difficult for the most part. But you just have to keep pulling until you're done! Now, on a normal basis, you would probably just make a cut next to the breast bone on either side and start cutting the skin off the bone. I, however cut the bird in half, cutting the breastbone in half, and cut the meat from the bone because it was easier for me to get a hold of. Then, I took off all the fat and skin that I could

...and voila, I have two wings, two legs+thighs, and two breasts, skinless (and the breasts are boneless...). Yuck! Look at all that fat and skin!! Well good luck! It's really not that hard if you start with small one and work to a big one, and once you do it once, it's a total breeze.

Sweet and Sour....

2010-07-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

I tried this recipe from Eating Well... It's sweet and sour chicken. I did tweak it a little and messed it up. I used thin wheat spaghetti noodles (because after three days of rice a week, I needed a little change...) and I don't think I really like apricot preserves with veggies, so I used a little pineapple juice. I think that's why the sauce never thickened so it was just kinda watery. Tasted a little strange. The hubs didn't like it (I could tell, because he was hungry after the first bowl and instead of going back for seconds, he heated up some spaghetti sauce to put on the noodles and ate that plain..yuck!)Although it was a failure, hey, at least I attempted it! For dessert, I had a banana and some pb. I was just craving pb and I don't know why!!! Packing today's lunch already! Sorry I didn't get many pictures, I was trying to go fast....lol

Twitter...Weeeee!!!

2010-07-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to say that I finally joined the online world in the craze that I don't really get...in 140 characters or less... Twitter!! Yes, I put random things up there, but not to worry, everything else will still be here!
Follow me: JustASpoon

Tuna salad fit for a king...

2010-07-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

Lunch is becoming my favorite part of the day, even when I eat it in a rush, I always eat something good for me. I watched my coworkers down two pizzas (they are growing boys) and they all looked at me strange when I pulled out my lunch box. Yes! I TAKE A LUNCH BOX TO WORK!!! I MAKE AND PACK MY OWN FOOD FROM HOME!!! I'm so tired of them all giving me that look of disgust, but I guess I can expect nothing different, when I look at them and do the same. Yes, that pizza smells delicious, but I know after one bite, that it will be gross. I just don't like that anymore. Sweets, yes, pizza, greasy burgers, no. After my yummy breakfast and post, I packed up my lunch. I cut up some carrot, added some left over peas, a little onion, and made a little mix of 1 tsp each: olive oil mayo, brown mustard, and Dijon mustard. I packed a big hunk of bread, along with a banana, some almond butter and some mixed nuts.
I only ended up getting time to eat the tuna on top of the bread, but it was amazing tuna salad. I feel like everyone should try it! It was tangy and I got a little of my veggies in there too (only a little, but I'm working on that...). I'm posting dinner soon! See ya then!

Caramel whipped topping! YUM

2010-07-16T11:30:00.000-07:00

Dinner was not that great yesterday...ok, wait, let me rewind. After work I came home for a bit, and then I went to the park...It was dark (it was 10pm) but there weren't really many people there, and that's the way I like it. I walked/ran FOUR miles!!! In a little over thirty minutes. That might seem slow for everyone else, but that's quick for me. I felt soooo good afterward! About dinner. It wasn't all that good. In fact for the first time in a long time, I threw away what was left of it instead of keeping it for leftovers. It was stuffed peppers, but something was weird with the peppers. The rice tasted funny too. I had dessert last night! It was a little piece (and i mean like a sliver) of chocolate cake with a caramel flavored whipped topping. It was delicious. Breakfast was the same it's been lately. Granola and cereal, with tons of strawberries (they were going bad) and sunflower seeds and dates. I have absolutely fallen in love with dates! I want to put up a recipe for my shrimp, spinach, and artichoke dip, but it's not exactly healthy. It's just something that my husband craves. I guess the only thing unhealthy about it is the sour cream and all the cheese. I bought a mini chicken this week. It's weird, because I usually buy frozen chicken breasts, but I decided that, since I already know how to cut a whole chicken apart,it would be cheaper and fresher for me to do that. Just takes a little bit of time and work. That is what I'll be doing when I get home from work tonight. Well, I'm going to the salon, and then I have to go to work. I'll be posting later!

ps: I have lost eight pounds in the past three weeks. YAY!! Ok, just had to say that!

Late last night...

2010-07-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday in a nut shell: after breakfast, my lunch was a half of my coffee can salad, I had a piece of toast with pb and some granola on top, then dinner was green beans, salmon, and roasted sweet potatoes. I got a few pictures but nothing substantial. Please forgive the blurriness, it's a little digital cam I'm using so it auto focuses and if I move even a cm it goes out of focus! Having a hard time with it! Well...today was a usual mix of cereal and granola, however, I forgot to take pictures until I was literally gulping down the milk in the bottom of the bowl...oh well...if you've seen it once, you've seen it a thousand times! Packed some carrot sticks and cheese and another slice of bread with some mixed seeds to go on top (sunflower and pumpkin). I also made some granola bars, following Kath's recipe (I know I get a bunch of stuff from her, but that's because her and I seem to have similar tastes...). I used chopped dates, raisins, walnuts, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, almonds, almond extract and vanilla in mine...but I used the same basic recipe. Well have to get ready for work. Glad I got out there and got my run out of the way, because now it's raining!!!!

Skipped

2010-07-14T11:50:00.000-07:00

I realize that I completely skipped yesterday. It was the hub's day off and he hates when I use his camera. At any rate, had way too much fun, as well as way too much food. I did go grocery shopping, and I only spent 70 dollars! Trust me that's a triumph for me, usually it's about 100 dollars, and last week it was almost 200. The Pig is the best! Had a little mixed cereal for breakfast with blueberries yesterday, and a shrimp salad for lunch. Afterward, alcohol ensued, along with friends, brownies, a bit of ice cream and a little spinach-artichoke dip. It was delicious, but I'm sure it was very not so good for me. Today has started out a little better with Kath's banana-vanilla oatmeal, with a little yogurt, peanut butter, and granola on top. YUMMM! I am drinking more water today I promise!

Cherry On Top

2010-07-13T00:48:00.001-07:00

A most satisfying dinner tonight. Enjoyed in good company. A friend of ours (pretty much family) came to hang out and just relax with me. And that is exactly what we did! Tried to sit and think of things for a grocery list but it was impossible. I couldn't focus. Am I too tired? I don't know, but I know I have to come up with something and go get groceries tomorrow. At any rate, we relaxed, watched a show on the internet (love British comedy) and we put together this lasagna. It had parm and mozz, as well as black olives and yellow squash as you can see. I made a big pan, only ate a little and the majority of it is gone! In other words, it was very well liked. So glad! After dinner, my husband, Walter and I sat around and talked a bit. I then proceeded to crave the yummy brownies I made after lunch today. They are so chewy and chocolaty, and I ate a second one with some lactose free ice cream. With a cherry on top! The lactose free ice cream is almost better than regular ice cream, because it's extra smooth and creamy. I love it, and the hubs can eat it without getting sick. Possibly heading out for a little stroll with the hubs soon, and then to bed. I have had 112 oz of water today. I think that's a record for me. Well, gotta go! Shall be back in the morning!

2010-07-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Breakfast was phenomenal yesterday. It kept me pretty full for about six hours. which was great because I didn't get to eat lunch until then! A mix of granola and cheerios, some milk and peanut butter, along with some raspberries and blueberries. YUM! Lots of fiber...I didn't post this yesterday because I was at work for 10 hours and then I had to come home and clean. My landlord is fixing our floor today (rather he sent someone to do it). Lunch was simply leftovers from the kabobs (just veggies) and two chicken strips. I just looooove sweet potatoes. I also ended up with enough leftovers to use for dinner lol. I tossed them up with some shrimp and threw it on top of some brown rice. It was scarfed down in about five minutes because around the time that we were eating dinner, my daughter was getting up to go on a church trip (2:30 am!) to Cherokee. They are going to have lots of fun (she went with grandma)! I skipped breakfast today because I had to get up and finish some cleaning and dishes from dinner. We had "lunch" pretty soon after we got up. I ate most of a chopped salad from Arby's with roasted chicken and balsamic vinaigrette on it. It was delish!!! Those were some of the freshest greens I've ever seen from a fast food place. We really shouldn't eat fast food at all I guess... It's just a habit we have to get rid of. About to make a grocery list. This week has to be cheap and healthy! Wish me luck!

Not. Fast. Enough.

2010-07-11T07:31:00.001-07:00

Didn't have to stay too late at work last night, so I sorta tried to go all out for dinner. I also completely skipped lunch due to the fact that over the five hour period I was at work, we did over 3 thousand dollars in business. I feel so ashamed right now. My job is to take one of the most unhealthy food to people's doors so they don't have to come get it. One of my coworkers said to me on Friday, "look at this, I'm sitting over here eating a slice of one of the most unhealthy things you can eat, and you're munching on a salad. HAHA." I laughed too, but it made me realize how terrible my job could truly be. I could be helping kill someone and never know it. At any rate, I tried to do beef kabobs, but they weren't cooking fast enough, so I just threw the meat in a skillet and the veggies in the oven to cook. MUCH FASTER! I ended up using beef, with a very basic spice rub, green, red, yellow, and orange peppers, onion, yellow squash, zucchini, and sweet potato. It turned out to be a very delicious combination. Luckily I made too much and I can take the leftovers with me to work!Well... I'll be posting again in a bit. See ya!

Bowla Granola

2010-07-10T12:28:00.001-07:00

I did a little shopping after work last night, and I got a few new things. My favorite was this Organic granola that was only $3. It went really well on top of banana oats this morning, along with the almond butter and more banana! Time to go pack lunch and get ready for work! Later!

Uno Skillet

2010-07-10T12:21:00.000-07:00

After a busy day, it's sort of nice to just be able to throw something in a pot and go ya know? I threw some shrimp, asparagus, and green beans in a skillet with a little olive oil, sesame oil, red pepper and garlic. We put that on top of brown rice, and ended up with a delicious dinner that was so so easy! I loved it. Made my day a lot more relaxing. Well, Gotta go!
Oh yeah, and I forgot about Thursday. I put some shelf-stable gnocchi, swish chard, white northern beans and chopped tomatoes in a skillet and cooked it. Wow, I'm really about one skillet meals huh? Guess that's because I work full time, have a house to keep up with, and I'm a mom. You learn to be at least a little time savvy. lol
See ya!

Gettin' Some Greens!

2010-07-10T11:55:00.000-07:00

With work, everything was a little hectic, but I did get a chance to prep a really good lunch, as well as a yummy snack. I brought that blurry sliced apple and ate it with some PB. Also...A big salad with olives, Organic Kidney beans, a little chopped apple, artichokes, carrots, red pepper and a good bit of feta, all on top of mixed greens. I threw everything in a coffee can and just put my dressing in there and shook. Yes, I said a coffee can, as in the plastic ones that are kind of small. I forgot my dressing at home, so I ended up with about a teaspoon of honey mustard, after all, with all those toppings, the salad didn't really need that much flavor. Will post dinner!

Milk for muscles?

2010-07-08T21:15:00.000-07:00

MMMM... I forgot how good a plain old glass of cold milk really is, until just now that is. Went for a good twenty minute walk/jog, and now cooling down with some milk!

Lunch today was uneventful. I had about 3/4 of a Zaxby's salad, which was just lettuce, tomato and cucumber, with about a tablespoon of Mediterranean dressing and a chicken breast that I ate all of. Work was hectic and put me in a bad mood and gave me a headache for a while. I thought it was because I was hungry, so about three hours after lunch, I had eight Melba toasts and cheese as a snack, just like yesterday. When I finally got off work, a friend of mine asked me to bring her some Taco Bell, so I grabbed a side of refried beans while I was there. I ate half of them with a whole apple, along with a few of her tortilla chips. I feel like I ate too much today, but that could be because of my measly breakfast... should have eaten more, and tomorrow will probably be oats in a jar. Much more sustaining I hope. I got home a few hours ago, did a few things around the house (dishes and laundry etc.) I decided that I needed some exercise, so I went out for a bit, but came in because it's dark out and a little scary by myself. I feel a lot better though, and my back, neck and head have stopped hurting for the first time today. I guess that exercise really does release endorphins. I should be doing this more often. Well going to cook dinner, maybe I'll post some pictures later!

Quick Post

2010-07-08T06:32:00.000-07:00

Don't really have much time this morning. Have to get ready to go to work, but I figured I would pause for a moment and put up some pictures of dinner last night.

Some tiny peppers (sweet ones) that I ended up just steaming. They were a little too sweet for me and the hubs, so maybe I'll try something different next time. We also had smaller pieces of steak and some new potatoes, baked in the oven until they were all brown-ish and crispy. YUM!

As for breakfast, I didn't really get a lot of time to cook and eat. So I just grabbed what sounded good after my right-out-of-bed walk. A banana with about a tablespoon of PB as well as that delicious frappuccino that my husband got for me on his way home from work last night because he knows I need caffeine in the morning. Thanks Matt! Anyhow, time to go! I may be back today or tomorrow!

Playing catch up!

2010-07-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

So I missed a few days -sue me! I've been really busy, and after working a twelve hour shift on the fourth of July (Happy fourth everyone!) I was just too tired to sit down and do this. I do have pics of some breakfasts and some snacks. Please forgive me, I just feel really weird about taking pictures of my food because if my husband caught me he'd probably feel weird too. So here we have:

Oatmeal (awesome banana kind like Kath's ) with one whole banana, a few almonds, a few teaspoons of plain yogurt and a teaspoon of peanut butter (yay!).

I really like oatmeal now! I didn't really care for it in a long time, but I was inspired by Kath's ideas and decided to try it on my own. I have also been adding things like this to my regular cereal, which I have been eating more of this week. We have been eating out a lot too because we are working so much. I had an awesome (but probably not awesome for me) brisket sandwich yesterday for lunch with sweet potato fries. And dinner last night was fantastic! The hubs made a spaghetti sauce, packed with stuff like zucchini, yellow swash, black olives, onions, garlic, and peppers. I think that was everything. At any rate, we ate it over whole wheat pasta with lots of friends! Today's breakfast was:

Multigrain cheerios, 1% milk, a 1/4 cup of blueberries, a half a teaspoon of almond butter. It was awesome! I ate this while I was cooking up this bad boy (for some protein)! With a little sea salt and pepper...mmm... delectableness:

We had to go get a printer (that we have to take back) so we stopped for lunch between coming home from the store and heading into work. I wanted Sonic only because I could get an awesome Lemon Slush, which is the one thing that I managed to get a picture of:

I got a cheeseburger and a small order of tots, and I was actually satisfied and didn't scarf the whole thing down. It may not be a very good thing for me to eat, but at least it held me over for six hours while at work. When I got home, I was kind of hungry, so I broke out what I had packed as a snack for work (didn't get a chance to actually eat it at work!):

I only actually ate the red pepper strips, 8 Melba toasts, and the laughing cow (which is absolutely fantastic by the way!). That should tide me over until dinner. All in my brand new lunch bag!

By Built.

I know that anyone who reads this is going to say "wow, you eat really late at night", because I generally eat dinner around two or three a.m., depending on the day. What must be understood is that I also work at night, as does my hubs. We usually don't see the sun until well after noon. I truly hate to say that, but my days are almost normal, with more time before work and a little less sunlight. It's sort of upside down I guess?? I get around 4 to 6 hours awake before work, and (most of the time) a good few hours after work. Tomorrow will be different, because my schedule varies and I will have to be at work around 10 a.m.
Well farewell, and good night all. Maybe I can get pictures of dinner before the hubs gets home and then I will see you tomorrow!
~Amanda

First Post... Breakfast!

2010-07-03T10:22:00.000-07:00

Breakfast! A big hunk of bread (9 grain & seed) with a mashed banana on top, along with red raspberry jam and a teaspoon of peanut butter! yummy!

So, this is my first post, at least on this blog. I've never had a blog like this before, so forgive me if I mess it up! Here's the story, mornin' glory! I am overweight- no- obese. I want my life back, I want my body back, I want my health back. I am writing this for that specific purpose. I could use a cheerleader at times, so I figured that this was worth the try. I will be posting here as often as I can. Sometimes it will be just about life, mostly (hopefully, if I stay on topic) about food, and sometimes just for fun! :) I really like writing so forgive me if I occasionally go off on a tangent or two. Also, I've tried counting calories and all that nonsense, I just want to try to eat as many whole foods as possible and have an active life. I guess I'm taking it for a test drive....