Filterless

Day 14: Blech

I don't feel so hot tonight.  I guess I shouldn't have had that piece of lemon cheesecake topped with lemon curd.  Lunch and dinner were fairly healthy at least. Lunch was 1/4 smoked chicken, collards, and fries at a local BBQ joint.  The chicken was excellent.  I had never tried it before but I will certainly have it again.  Dinner was 2 chicken cake sandwiches (kind of like crab cakes but with chicken) on King's Hawaiian rolls with tiger sauce (horseradish based) and chipotle sweet potato fries.  I think dinner tomorrow will be roast chicken with stuffing and sweet potatoes.

Random thought about birthdays:  I think 42 is a great age.  It's also the age that I'm completely dropping my filter, because I do filter, particularly at work. So I think 42 will be my preferred age.  Everything leading up to it is just training.  So until that point I'll count UP to it.  This year, I'll be -9.  When I hit 42, I'll be 42.  Then at 43, I'll be 1.  Quirky plan, but I like it.

Back to point.  I didn't feel so hot so I only did 2 songs though that first was a killer.  It was also the last day of this week's "Just Sweat" program in Just Dance 2.  The goal was 2100 points for physio (or sweat whatever you want to call it) and I hit 2390.  I didn't hit my goal on 2 days but for one I was only 1 point below goal.  I'm counting that one as being met.

Songs:
Sorcerer – Dagomba
The Rolling Stones – Sympathy For The Devil (Fatboy Slim Remix)

The last wasn't a good workout but I was nauseated at that point and needed something slower.

Days 8 & 9: Getting used to this

On Saturday and Sunday, as soon as I got up I actually looked forward to exercising.  I think I'm starting to get into a routine with this.  Ok, I won't know for sure until after the next two weeks pass because they've all got odd hours. I'm enjoying myself though. I'm also resolutely trying to ignore what the scale said on Friday.  While it was only 5 pounds higher than my last doctor's appointment, it's heavier than I've ever been.  This worries me.  So this week I switched from drinking ginger ale at work to drinking lemonade.  That should drop about 300 calories a day from my diet.

Songs from this weekend are:

Saturday:
Holiday by the Hit Crew
Hot Stuff by Donna Summer

Sunday:
Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne
Proud Mary by Tina Turner

All I can say, is there is no wonder Tina Turner has such great legs if she does dance routines like that all the time. Wow.

 

Work dinners this week are deviled egg salad sandwiches.  I don't think I've posted the recipe before so here  goes. This makes 2 dinners.

Filterless Deviled Egg Salad Sandwiches

5 eggs
1 1/2 tablespoons mayo (Hellmans or Dukes please)
1 1/2 tablespoons dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon juice from a jar of sweet gherkins
King's Hawaiian Snacker rolls

Bring the eggs to a boil in a pot. Cover and turn off the heat. Let sit for 12 minutes. Rinse repeatedly with cold water and then peel. Let the eggs rest in the refrigerator for about an hour to completely cool down. Cut the eggs in half saving the yolks from 4 of the eggs. Chop the whites from all 5 eggs.

Put the saved yolks (from 4 of the eggs) in a bowl and crush with a fork. Sprinkle over the pepper and stir. Add the mayo and mustard. Mix well and then stir in the pickle juice. Taste and tweak the ingredients to your liking.

Stir the yolk mixture in with the whites.

This will keep for a couple of days in the fridge. Makes 4 sandwiches on the rolls.

Day 3: Get Down With Your Bad Self

My songs for Monday (last night) were "I Feel Good" by James Brown and "It's Raining Men" by The Weather Girls.  James Brown was a little harder and more fun song to which to dance. (No, that wasn't a cumbersome sentance. <insert eyeroll here>)  So far I am finding the older songs more entertaining and better exercise.  Once I've run through the whole selection that came with the game, I'll focus on favorites and start thinking about what new songs I want to add.  As I've got Tom Jones singing "You Can Leave Your Hat On" playing in the background right now, I'm thinking that it might be a good option if they have it.   I bet it'd be a good ab workout.

Ok, now for the food this week: Broccoli Salad.  I got the recipe from our Associate VP at one of our luncheons.  (We have a lot of luncheons/parties here. To the tune of 1 to 2 a month.)

1 bunch broccoli
1/2 small red or sweet onion
1 cups raisins
3 clementines split into single sections (fresh) or mandarin oranges (canned)
1 cups walnuts
1 jar Marie's cole slaw dressing (in produce section)

Wash, cut the stems from the broccoli, and then chop. Mince the onion. Toss everything together.

I usually leave off the dressing and portion this out into several containers to take to work. Then I add the dressing and toss to coat before eating.

This recipe easily doubles.

And the saga continues...

I went in this morning to get the results from last week's blood work.

To recap: My B12 level in July was 173, and in early September it was 301. This is when she increased my dose to 1.5 cc every other week.

My results this month were 325. Yes, with a .5 cc increase every other week it only went up 24 points. It needs to be over 400 and I think she'd prefer 500+. I'm now going to have to have 2 cc of B12 every other week and have more blood drawn in February. She thinks I have an absorption issue because this it twice the average dose and twice the frequency.

I also had a cholesterol test with this. My total cholesterol went up 7 points to 247. My HDL dropped from 39 to 36 (it should be around 50). My LDL dropped and she's happy with that one. My triglycerides on the other hand have always been in range until this time when they went up 100 points.

Right now, I'm blaming Publix's caramel roll cake.  Mom got me hooked on it. It's a thin yellow cake smeared with a thick layer of dulce de leche and rolled; then it's covered in whipped cream frosting, chopped almonds, and has a ribbon of dulce de leche down the center. It's wicked good. So no more weekly cake for me.

I swear, Publix is the evil overlord of cake making. 

She is going to have me start 1,000 mg fish oil twice a day. We'll see how this all works out.

I'm how large?!

I don't actually see myself as large but in about a month's time I managed to put on 5 pounds which somehow equated to 2.5 inches around my waist.  I can see how it happened. Dinner's at work for the past two weeks were slices of hard salami on Club crackers.  That and going through a box of ice cream sandwiches (hey, they were low fat ones) and 2 tins of Extreme Dill Pickle Pringles a week haven't done anything to help.  When you add the fact that the only exercise I've been getting is power washing, stucco painting and hanging shutters, bad things were bound to happen.

So this week I'm back on vegetarian 4 days a week and starting to try some of the 10 minute exercise programs on ExerciseTV OnDemand. That Bootylicious Butt program is a killer.  I did it on Saturday and my inner thighs still hurt.  This week's dinner is brown rice and veggies.  It's quick and easy with the bonus of being healthy.

Brown Rice and Veggies

Minute Brown Rice Ready to Serve single serving microwave bowls

1 tablespoon canola oil
3/4 bag Broccoli slaw mix
2 medium zucchini
1 can sliced water chestnuts, drained
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons Sake
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon powered garlic
1/2 teaspoon powered ginger

Feel free to use fresh ginger and garlic.  I was just feeling lazy.

Mix soy sauce, sake, Worcestershire and ginger in a cup. Stir well.

Wash, half and slice zucchini.  Wash slaw mix.  Heat canola oil over medium heat. Add zucchini, slaw mix, garlic, and chili sauce. Saute until everything softens. Add the water chestnuts. Pour sauce mixture over veggies and allow to reduce.

Divide veggies and sauce into 4 microwaveable containers. Refrigerate or freeze.

To serve, heat (thawed) veggies for 45 seconds in the microwave. Then heat rice according to package directions. Add the rice to the veggies and stir.

Presto! Quick and healthy meal.

I meant to add sugar snap peas but forgot to pick some up at the store.  You could do almost any vegetable mix you wanted though.

22 June 2010 edit to add: I forgot to include the water chestnuts to the recipe when I originally posted. They're included now.

Tweaking the quiche

A couple of weeks ago while I was at Publix gathering what I need to make the American Heart Association vegetable mini quiches, I noticed that EggBeaters had a southwestern style mix. I was quite curious about it and decided to experiment some.  This low fat recipe is the result.  It's gotten rave reviews so far.

Southwestern crust-less mini quiches
Makes 12
2 per serving

Cooking spray (I used olive oil flavored)
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 cup frozen sweet corn
1 teaspoon Pico Pica sauce (Mexican hot sauce)

1 1/2 cups Southwestern Style Eggbeaters
1/2 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup reduced fat Mexican blend cheese
1 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray two 6-cup muffin tins with cooking spray.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the pinto beans, corn and Pico Pica for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Spoon into the muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Ladle into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a cooling rack. Let the quiches cool for 10 minutes. Using a thin spatula or flat knife, loosen the sides of the quiches. Serve warm.

Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to five days. To reheat, put 2 quiches on a microwaveable plate and microwave, uncovered, on 100 percent power (high) for 45 seconds, or until warmed through.

Individual Veggie Quiches

For next week, I was planning on having some variation of wheat couscous but spotted this recipe while looking through the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women website (you can get their BetterU coaching widget from the right toolbar on my page).  They are individual 3 cheese and veggie quiches that (according to the site) are supposed to reheat well.

Serves 6; 1 quiche per serving

Cooking spray
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup chopped broccoli florets
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup shredded zucchini
2 medium green onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups egg substitute
1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded low-fat Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly spray a 6-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in the oil, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the broccoli, carrot, zucchini, and green onions for 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender-crisp, stirring occasionally. Spoon into the muffin cups.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Ladle into the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until a cake tester or wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer the muffin pan to a cooling rack. Let the quiches cool for 10 minutes. Using a thin spatula or flat knife, loosen the sides of the quiches. Serve warm. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to five days.

To reheat, put 2 quiches on a microwaveable plate and microwave, uncovered, on 100 percent power (high) for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, or until warmed through.

Recipe from American Heart Association Recipes.

I do wonder about the concept for fat free half and half though. Isn't that an oxymoron?

Note: I made these Sunday night and they taste amazing. I think that the AHA has different sized muffin tins than I do though. This made 12 for me and not 6. Still, they're very tasty and easy. I might make them in mini muffin tins for brunches at work.

Veggie Stir Fry

After getting some ideas for more vegetarian fare from Sherry, I decided to go with a stir fry this week.  I used a peanut sauce for this but think I'll use different one when I do it again.

3-4 medium carrots, peeled and julienned
3 small to medium zucchini, juilenned
One 6 oz package frozen snow peas (I used LaChoy)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1 tablespoon canola oil
soba noodles (I used the Hakubaku 270 g pack from World Market)
1 package alfalfa sprouts

Sauce:
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce with garlic
1 teaspoon powdered ginger

Heat the canola oil in a large skillet and add the carrots. Saute for a few minutes before adding the snow peas. Once the snow peas are warmed through (another 3 or so minutes) toss in the zucchini and saute until they soften. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Here's where I decided the sauce was too thick and salty so I added about 4 tablespoons of it to the skillet and thinned it with about a 1/4 cup of sake. Then I turned the heat down and let it simmer while I cooked the soba noodles.

Add the soba noodles to boiling water and cook at a rapid boil for about 3 minutes. Drain. Push aside some of the veggies in the skillet and toss the noodles in the sauce. Portion out the noodles onto plates (or in my case Tupperware to take into work) and top with veggies. Before eating sprinkle with alfalfa sprouts.

This can be served either hot or cold.

Alternative sauce (that I'm trying next time):
1/4 cup sake
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce with garlic

Note: I'm using powdered ginger because I don't use it often and if I use fresh it ends up going to waste.

I got tired of couscous

I'm still eating vegetarian 4 days a week for 3 week stretches with one week off.  Most of my recipes involved couscous though. I'm tired of couscous at this point so I went with something a little different. You can read "different" as "completely made up." Yep, I made up a vegetarian chili recipe. I'd never even had vegetarian chili before this point. I prefer mine with bison or venison.  This one isn't too bad. It's got a nice glow to it until about half way through the bowl when your lips start burning and you lose feeling in your tongue. Having cornbread or something similar with this could be a good thing.

If you don't like your food too spicy, cut the chili powder by 1/2 tablespoon and leave out the Tabasco sauce. If you want this to be vegan, leave out the Worcestershire sauce (it has anchovies in it).

Filterless's Vegetarian Chili

3 zucchini, halved and sliced
3 large carrots, peeled, halved and sliced
1 sweet onion, diced
1 1/2 cup water
1 1/2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons chili powder (I prefer Gebhardt's)
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
3 - 4 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 16 oz can light red kidney beans
1 16 oz can navy beans
1 16 oz can lima beans

Saute the carrots for 2 minutes in olive oil in a pot. Add the onions and saute 1 minute more before adding the zucchini. Once the zucchini is softened, remove the vegetables from the pot. Pour water into the pot and add the spices. Whisk to combine and bring to a boil. Once at a boil, turn the temperature down to a simmer and add the vegetables and bean back to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes.

Once it has simmered, I put it into the freezer to cool and then portion out into 4 bowls. I freeze 3 of the bowls and take them all into work to eat for the week.

Weeks 6 to 8 Plus the Results

The vegetarian experiment continued.

Week 6: I was feeling lazy this week with having Veteran's Day off and working 12 hour days on Monday and Tuesday. Pretty much I didn't want to have to put much effort out on Sunday night making dinners for work. I used the Curried Couscous Salad recipe but tweaked it some more. Here's what I did:

1 box Near East plain wheat couscous
3/4 cup Crasins
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
1 orange, juiced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 lemon, juiced
1 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper
1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed


Stir the couscous, cranberries, curry powder, parsley, salt, and sugar together in a heatproof bowl. Bring water listed on the couscous package to a boil (I used an electric tea kettle) and pour it over the couscous. Add the orange juice. Give it a big stir, cover the bowl tightly and let it stand about 5 minutes.

Whisk together olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar and pepper. Pour over the couscous. Add the kidney beans and toss to coat.

Week 7: By week 7, I was getting tired of the whole thing. Coming up with a high fiber, low fat, high protein vegetarian dish that can be prepared in advance, reheated in a microwave, and store well for 4 days is a bitch especially when you don't necessarily have experience in being a vegetarian. I finally went with an Asian flavored couscous.

1 box Near East plain wheat couscous
1.5 cups water
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp cayenne
4 TB soy sauce
2 medium zucchini
3 carrots
1 TB olive oil
2 TB sesame seeds

Mix the couscous, ginger, garlic powder, and cayenne together in a heat proof bowl. Bring the water to a boil (I use an electric tea kettle). Pour water over couscous. Add 2 TB of the soy sauce, stir and let sit covered for 5 minutes.

Chop the zucchini into even bite sized pieces. Peel and finely grate the carrots. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Saute the zucchini and when almost al dente add the carrots and remaining 2 TB of soy sauce. Saute for another minute. Stir the vegetable mixture in with the couscous adding the sesame seeds.

It's not especially creative but it was quick and fairly tasty. I originally meant to add beans but forgot.

Week 8: Week 8 started this past Monday. I wanted to get my blood work out of the way before Thanksgiving because diet and cholesterol be damned, I'm eating our traditional Thanksgiving dinner. The only other time I get this is for my birthday so I'm not going to worry about how healthy it is. I began fasting on Sunday night around 9:30 pm after making up the dinner I'd be taking into work (recipe will follow). I had set up an appointment with Quest Diagnostics in town (you can do it at their website) rather than show up and wait. They take the appointments back first. I was in and out of the office in under 10 minutes. On my way to work, I picked up my traditional "I just had fasting blood work" breakfast which is 2 hash browns and a large sweet tea from McDonald's.

Work dinner (for Monday and yesterday at least) was Deviled Egg Salad Sandwiches. I love deviled eggs but find when it comes to egg salad I usually prefer egg mayonnaise. Most people fancy egg salad up too much for my tastes. Egg white, mayo, pepper and some mustard on the bread is my usual deal. I've had a craving for deviled eggs recently though so I came up with this to make it easier to transport and keep.

5 eggs
1.5 TB Dijon mustard
1.5 TB Hellmann's mayo
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1.5 tsp juice from sweet pickles

Put the eggs in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Pour out the hot water and rinse several times with cold. Then crack the shell on the counter and peel under running water. Put the eggs in a bowl in the fridge to cool.

Cut the eggs in half placing the yolks from 4 in a bowl. Discard the other yolk. Chop the whites. Using a fork (or food processor if you're lazy) mash up the yolks. Add in the other ingredients and mix. Taste the mix. You can then tweak it for your preferences. Sometimes I do more mustard or sweet pickle juice. Pretty much I do it to desired taste and consistency.

Then stir in the chopped egg whites. Eat plain, on a sandwich or crackers. I had mine on sandwich size Hawaiian rolls. It was exceptionally good.

The Results: Since my doctor's office gets sent electronic versions of results from Quest, I got a call this morning with the results. They freaking floored me. I'm still pissed. My triglycerides went from 148 to 169. My LDL went from 158 to 167. My HDL (i.e. the only thing that did well) went from 35 to 39. My total cholesterol went from 215 to 240. Apparently, the diet did crap for me cholesterol wise though my clothes fit a little looser.I'm being told I HAVE to take a statin now (and apparently forever). I'll spend the next two months on it and cut the vegetarian back to 3 weeks out of every 4 and see what happens. I'd prefer to find something other than a statin to take. Recommendations and links to research on natural methods are always welcome.

Previous weeks:

The Experiment is on

Weeks 4 and 5 of the Vegetarian Experiment