She said to me. “Do you like basil and mint?” I told her I did and before I knew it we were walking through her yard to her herb garden. She pushed through some other plants (I don’t know what they were) and found the mint and basil. She leaned over and yanked those plants right out of the ground. I was excited because in my mind I want to be the kind of person who grows her own herbs and happily plucks them out of the garden while I’m making dinner.

Not wanting to waste the herbs I made the following dish, which ironically used mint and basil! We found the recipe on the back of the whole grain Barilla pasta box and I altered it to what you see here. Sadly I threw away the box so I don’t remember the exact name of the recipe.

Sea Shell Veggie/Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces shell pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 head broccoli
• 2 chopped tomatoes (I used 2 cans of diced tomatoes)
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 T olive oil
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• mint (fresh!)
• basil (fresh!)
• pepper

Directions: Prepare pasta according to directions.  Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil and saute the onion and garlic until soft. Add chicken breasts and cook until completely done. Remove chicken and keep warm. Heat additional tablespoon of oil and sautee all the vegetables. After 5 minutes add 1/2 cup water. Cover and simmer for 5 more minutes or until vegetables are tender crisp. Drain pasta and put in serving dish. Top with vegetables, chopped chicken, and the fresh herbs. Serve and enjoy!

I was amazed at the difference fresh herbs made in this dish. I’ve used fresh herbs from the grocery store before but these had a flavor and odor that far exceeded the ones I had tasted in the past. So our project is to try and root the herbs she gave me so I really can have fresh herbs from my garden!

Have you ever tried to grow herbs? Ever had ones right out of the ground? What do you think? Diane

Earlier this week I made an Asian meal of stir-fried chicken and vegetables. I used a homemade stir-fry sauce which was very low in sodium (68 mg). I used less molasses and a bit of homemade (no salt) chicken broth instead of beef bullion and when all was said and done everyone loved it!

This week here’s what’s on my menu. Even though I didn’t write them down, I always have two veggies side dishes and usually a fruit as well!

Wednesday: Chicken and Dumplings

Thursday: Vegetarian Spaghetti with homemade Italian bread

Friday: Pizza night!

Saturday: Black beans and rice with homemade tortilla chips

Sunday: Herb Baked chicken

Monday: Brown rice and veggie wraps

Tuesday: Bocca burgers, homemade fries

Question: I feel like I am in somewhat of a rut and really need some new meal ideas! What’s something on your menu this week that I could “borrow”?  Diane

I often found in my own journey that I did “fine” for the main meals of the day but would sometimes find having a healthy, filling snack a challenge. I often resorted to just a few crackers with cheese for lack of knowing what else to have. Over time; however, I did become much more adept at finding things that were more healthy and filling for snack time.

In case you, or someone in your life, needs some snack ideas this past weekend I had a brainstorming festival with myself and came up with a big list. Here it is!

Fruits:

1. Apples
2. Apricots
3. Bananas
4. Blackberries
5. Blueberries
6. Cantaloupe
7. Cherries
8. Grapefruit
9. Grapes (red, green, or purple)
10. Honeydew Melon
11. Kiwis 
12. Mandarin Oranges
13. Mangoes
14. Nectarines
15. Oranges
16. Peaches
17. Pears
18. Pineapple
19. Plums
20. Raspberries
21. Strawberries
22. Tangerines
23. Watermelon

Applesauce (Unsweetened), Fruit Cups, and Canned Fruit in their own juice–

Dried Fruit – Try raisins, apricots, apples, cranberries, pineapple, papaya, and others with little or no added sugars. If you have a dehydrator you can do these yourself!

Frozen Fruit – Try freezing grapes or buy frozen blueberries, strawberries, peaches, mangoes, and melon.

Fruit Salad - Don’t add sugar like I used to.

Popsicles – Most popsicles have added sugars and should be avoided. Look for popsicles made from 100% fruit juice or make your own!

Smoothies – Blend fruit with juice, yogurt or milk, and ice.

Vegetables can be served raw with dip, fat free salad dressings, or hummus

1. Broccoli
2. Carrot sticks or
3. Baby Carrots
4. Cauliflower
5. Celery Sticks
6. Cucumber
7. Peppers
8. Snap Peas
9. Snow Peas
10. Tomato slices
11. Yellow Summer
12. Squash slices
13. Zucchini slices

Soy – Edamame are fun to eat and easy to serve. (Heat frozen edamame in the microwave for about 2-3 minutes).

Veggie Pockets – Cut whole wheat pitas in half and add veggies with dressing or hummus or just plain like I like it.

Healthy Grains (bread, crackers, cereals, etc.)

Yogurt – preferably Greek  

Low-Fat Cheese – Cheese provides calcium, but often its saturated fat price tag is too high. Cheese is the number two source of heart-damaging saturated fat. Even with low-fat and reduced-fat cheese, be sure to serve with other foods like fruit, vegetables, or whole grain crackers. Try Laughing Cow Cheese – very good!

Low-Fat Pudding and Frozen Yogurt – Low-fat or fat-free pudding and frozen yogurt can be used as occasional treats, but watch out for added sugars.

Other Snack Ideas

Nuts - Since nuts are high in calories, it is best to serve them along with another snack such as fruit. A small handful of nuts is a reasonable serving size. Examples include peanuts, pistachios, almonds, walnuts, cashews, or soy nuts. Look for nuts that are unsalted.

Trail Mix – Trail mixes are easy to make and store well in a sealed container. Items to include: low-fat granola, whole grain cereals, peanuts, cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruits like raisins, apricots, apples, pineapple, or cranberries. These are higher in calories so use sparingly.

Question for You! What do you think of my list? Did I leave any of your favorites out? If so – please share! Diane 

She came in with two small loaves of french bread and a Wal-Mart bag. She asked if she could heat the bread up in my oven as she was going to do cheese bread and it needed to be freshly cooked. “Of course,” I said, and turned on the oven. Then, to my shock, she pulls out TWO sticks of butter and asks for a bowl in which to melt them. Puzzled, I handed her a bowl and watched as she melted the butter in the microwave.

THEN, she used a pastry brush and brushed the entire TWO sticks over butter over the opened bread loaves. THEN, she put an entire bag of shredded cheese on each loaf and put the whole greasy thing into the oven.

I didn’t even know what to say. The whole time she was making the bread she was going on and on about how much her family loved this bread and how they just got so excited every time she made it. I was standing there in shock. This was not a morbidly overweight woman, but like many people, could lose about 25 – 35 pounds.

I wanted to tell her to stop smearing all that fat all over the bread but I just couldn’t bring myself to be rude. I wanted to ask her if just a sprinkling of cheese would be sufficient but I didn’t.

What I did do was make sure I didn’t eat any of that “high-fat, horrible for you” bread.

But then later,  as I realized that I was standing in “judgement” of her actions, I felt guilty. I did many, many similar bad food things throughout my years of struggling with my weight. I added loads of fat to foods that didn’t need anything added to them like bread, veggies, fruit, pasta, and more. I honestly wasn’t thinking about the health and/or calorie aspect of any foods I was making. I was just trying to make everything taste as good and yummy as I thought it should. And if bread was good alone, then bread with butter must be better. If fruit salad was tasty undoctored, then adding 1/2 cup of sugar to it would make it even tastier.

What a difference just having an awareness of the nutrition, calorie counts, and healthyness of foods our body needs makes. Perhaps the woman at my house really didn’t think about how many unnecessary calories and fats she was adding to her food. Like I used to be, perhaps she was just doing what she had seen done by other people.

In any event, I learned another lesson that day. I shouldn’t judge other people for their food choices, but should realize that they too can change as I did. Perhaps I should have asked her if we could leave one loaf “unadorned” for those of us who were watching our fat intake – or not. I also learned that it is very hard to know for sure how dishes are prepared. Had I not seen her make that bread I would have incorrectly assumed it just had a lot of cheese on it. I may have eaten a piece and scraped off the cheese. I like to think I would have been able to taste the excess butter though!

What do you think when you see people preparing food in a way that you never would? Do you say anything or just let it go? Any tips on guiding people in the right direction?  Diane

Does anyone love Olive Garden’s minestrone soup or Macaroni Grill’s  Bread? I have to confess that I am a pretty frugal person so restaurants don’t get my food dollars very often. I’m  always looking for a way to make something I love without actually having to visit the restaurant. I have a recipe for minestrone soup that I tweaked until we had a soup that may have been better than Olive Garden’s. Just maybe. . . I will often use dried beans that I’ve prepared the night before, but if you want to have the soup quickly then the canned beans work just fine.

Minestrone Soup

Ingredients:

• 3 T Olive Oil (You can omit this if you want and just sautee’ the veggies in a bit of broth)
• 1 cup finely minced onion
• 1/2 cup chopped zucchini
• 1/2 cup Italian cut green beans
• 4 teaspoons minced garlic (about 3 good sized cloves)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (I either make my own or buy the lowest sodium one I can find)
• 16 oz. bag of dried beans – varieties like kidney, black, pinto, northern, etc.
• 28 ounce can petite diced tomatoes (low sodium)
• 1/2 cup carrot, thinly sliced
• 2 T parsley
• 3 t. oregano
• 2 t. salt
• 1 t pepper (freshly ground if you have it)
• 1 t basil
• dash thyme
• 4 cups hot water
• 4 cups baby spinach (fresh)
• 1 cup pasta (small shells are best)

Directions:

1. Soak and soften dried beans overnight or during the morning.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
3. Saute onion, garlic, zucchini in oil for about 5 minutes or until onions begin to become see through
4. Add broth, tomatoes, softened beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 to 60 minutes.
6. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for about 20 – 30 more minutes.
7. If the soup is too thick, add some water as needed.
8. Makes 8 servings. 

I know that sometimes the thought of yeast breads can be intimidating. Don’t be afraid to try this one – it’s super easy and really hard to mess up. I had a picture of it but I think I deleted it from my camera by accident!

Rosemary Bread

Ingredients:

• 1 cup very warm water
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t sugar
• 1 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 t Italian seasoning
• 1/4 t. black pepper
• 1 T dried rosemary (crushed – don’t put the sticky things in there without crushing them up!!)
• 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 cups bread flour
• 1 1/2 t. dry yeast

Directions: (You can do this by hand)

1. Put very warm water and olive oil  in bowl
2. Add smaller amount of flour on top of water
3. In separate sections on top of the flour, add salt, sugar, and yeast.
4. Mix until a dough begins to form.
5. Add seasonings.
6. Knead like crazy, adding in additional flour so the dough is soft and elastic and not sticky.
7. Allow to rise in the bowl until about doubled – about 1 hour.
8. Punch down dough, and place in a loaf pan.
9. Allow to rise one more hour.
10. Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for about 35 – 40 minutes or until golden brown.
11. Enjoy! Makes 1 loaf.

I hope you will try both of these, because they are wonderful and filling, and good for you!!  What’s for dinner at your house tonight?   Diane

My oldest daughter participated in a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness called Runway for a Cure. She designed and made her own dress and then got to model it. She had a lot of fun, and the young designers raised $1,600 for the cause.

Last night we enjoyed the last evening with our guest by including him in our Friday night tradition of “Movie Night.” I used to buy pizza, but once I learned to make my own crust I never bought pizza again. It’s so much better tasting and better for you when you make it yourself. Does anyone else make pizza at home? Since there are so many in my family I make four large pizzas and the little guys make their own crusts. I don’t know if you can see it very well, but my 4 year old wanted his pizza in the shape of a fish! Why not?

And finally, I wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the thoughtful, insightful comments that you all added to my writings this week. If you haven’t read the comments from this week and you have a few minutes, please take time to read through them. I’m in awe of your wisdom. Here’s a picture that my son took of me in my usual place in front of the computer:

Thank you all again. I hope you have some great weekend plans. Stay strong!  Diane

                      For Breakfast:

I admit I’m not the best breakfast eater in the world. Some weeks I’ll have oatmeal, dry cereal, or make pancakes for the kids, and other weeks I don’t eat breakfast until 10:00 or so.  I think for me, listening to my body became really important while I was losing the weight, and I still try and do that. I know research shows otherwise, but it works for me. That being said, here’s what I ate for breakfast this past week (even if it wasn’t exactly at 8:00 a.m.)

• 2 pieces of whole wheat bread with less than 1 T natural peanut butter – I ate this three times, orange juice 
• Frosted Mini Wheats (measured out the proper amount), juice
• Yogurt and a banana
• Pancakes (I ate two. No syrup because I don’t like it. So, I had a tablespoon of jam.)

For Lunch:

Okay, lunch is usually at 12:00 in our house. With this many kids, we do live with some structure or else we’d all go crazy! I love lunch, and it’s usually my biggest meal calorie wise. I find that if I eat a bigger lunch, then I’m not as hungry during the witching hours of 3:00 – 5:00.

•  1 whole wheat quesadilla with vegetarian refried beans & salsa, fruit, yogurt, baked chips and 1/2 of a homemade chocolate chip cookie
•  Egg salad sandwich on whole wheat bread, made with just enough light mayo to hold it together. (Literally less than 1 teaspoon). I think I had chips, fruit, yogurt and a half a string cheese
• Leftover homemade pizza slice. Pizza was made using the crust recipe on the site, topped with sauce, a little bit of cheese, lots of peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms – YUM!
• Leftover chicken parisienne. This is another low fat recipe that I love a lot. I added some fruit and a salad to it, and it was delicious!
• Bean dip with homemade tortilla chips. (Don’t be impressed, I just cut flour tortillas into wedges, spritz them with spray, sprinkle them with garlic powder and put them in the oven for a few minutes. I had fruit and cheese with this.
• I had other things, but that’s all I can remember right now!

For Dinner:

I do enjoy cooking full meals for the family. When I eat dinner, this is probably my smallest meal of the day calorie wise. I load my plate up with salad, and veggies, and just have a little bit of the main course.

• •Chicken Parisienne, rolls, salad, fresh green beans, watermelon
• •3 bean & corn dip (same as lunch), watermelon, salsa, and brown rice
• •Homemade Pizza (like lunch)
• •Penne Marinara, whole wheat french bread, great salad, zucchini
• Grits, Omelets and Toast – we have this a lot when John is working late. Since I don’t usually cook breakfast, it’s nice to have it in the evening sometimes
• Chicken Paprika – another easy, low fat dish that my whole family loves. I served this with mixed veggies, sliced cucumbers & carrots and noodles.

I’m drawing a blank on the last thing we had this week. – I’m sure it was really good though!

For Snacks:

Here’s what I love about weight maintenance. I’ve learned how much of things I can eat without gaining weight, so I still enjoy food, and love to snack. When I was in process of losing weight, I would literally eat 5 or 6 times a day, and that worked for me! Here are some typical snacks for me throughout the week. Remember – I don’t eat all of these every day. In the past – yes. Now – no.

• popcorn
• baked chips
• cheese sticks
• graham crackers (chocolate of course)
• carrot sticks dipped in salsa
• yogurt
• fruit (apples, watermelon, banana or grapes)
• apple cinnamon rice cakes
• granola bars
• pretzel sticks

I hope that gives you an idea of what maintenance food looks like for me. Like most of you who share with me their weight loss programs, I lost weight eating real food. And because I did it that way, it certainly made the transition to maintenance much easier. Are there any favorite meals, tricks or tips that you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them! Have a great Sunday. Diane  P.S. – Thanks Angie for letting me know I hadn’t linked in the pizza crust recipe - I just did!