Roller Coasters and Leftovers

So, I have had one emotional month! For those of you who have not read previous posts, I'm an emotional eater. It's not a good thing when I have stress. I usually gain weight. This time was not the case. Maybe because it's a different kind of stress all together. I mean, over the course of my life, I've had stress. But it's been the "how am I going to pay that bill?" or "what can I do to fix this" variety. This month, I had the kind of stress I've never known in my practically perfect existence. The kind of stress that turns your world upside down. You see, I lost a parent. He fought hard the battle against cancer, but he did not win.

I know that he accomplished what he set out to do in this life, and he did it well. God called him home. I believe that with every fiber of my being. At the same time, I can't help but wonder how much of this terrible illness was brought on by his diet. It wasn't just any cancer. It was colon cancer. My dad, the lover of all things yummy, had a long life of Creole food. Lots of fat, meat and rice. Very little else. He liked vegetables, but would turn them away because then he could eat more rice and gravy. He also had a bad soda habit for years. There's got to be a connection with the way we treat our bodies through our diet. How else do you explain a man who had (quoting the MD here) "absolutely NO risk factors for cancer" getting cancer? It's one of the reasons I'm on a crusade to get my family on a healthier diet. Maybe if we treat our bodies better they won't be so quick to rebel against us!

After nearly a month of no Meatless Monday (I was staying with my mom and eating everything in sight probably out of rebellion) I got home and thought "I just don't have the energy to come up with something new and fun and tasty". Then I remembered. Leftovers. I made a ton of butternut squash sauce last month and froze the leftovers! Yay! Of course the children don't like butternut squash sauce. I still haven't figured out why. So they got peanut butter and honey sandwiches. Probably their favorite meal. They were happy. I was happy, and I didn't have to take time away from much needed housework. Hopefully I'll be back in full health food mode soon.

On a side note, my oldest made me proud at a church fellowship. He went to get a cupcake for himself and his sister. The lady tried to give him two. He said that the cupcakes were big and he and his sister could share. He said "too much sugar isn't good for you and that's a big cupcake so my sister and I can share." I was so impressed when the food server came and found me to tell me of his wise choice! It's what I've been striving to teach them!

Keep on the lookout for new recipes posted on my recipe page. I'll post some as soon as I can catch up on all this housework! Hmm. I may never get there....

Busy Butternut

I was so amped about this week's Meatless Monday because I had already decided what I wanted! It took me way longer than I thought to find my main ingredient though.

The world as I know it is in full Halloween mode. Everywhere I turn there are miles of pumpkins to be had. It seems though, that in all the flurry over having enough pumpkins, the produce managers of all the grocery stores in the land have neglected their supply of all other squash and gourd like vegetables.

My locally owned small guy grocery had two very pitiful looking butternut squash for a ridiculous price. I laughed, and I went to a slightly larger, but still locally owned (however farther away from my home) store. Here there were also only two butternut squash. The price was right though and they were monstrous, healthy looking specimens that I grabbed in a hurry before someone else did. (Because we all know that there's a rush on butternut these days...)

I got those butternuts back to my house as quickly as I could. It takes forever to prepare a butternut, just because they're so hard. Now, I have heard of a method involving microwaving the squash for a few minutes that is supposed to make the squash easier to peel. Maybe I'll actually think to try this with the other big guy that's stashed in my fridge right now. As for this one, I just dove right in and started cutting and peeling the squash. Now, I know that you can buy already prepared, frozen butternut squash. I am not a fan of doing so because I'm a nerd and like my ingredients to be as fresh as possible. Of course, even before I was stricken with this nerdiness I was never able to find frozen butternut squash where I live.

So after I got my squash peeled and diced and ready to go I steamed it until it was very tender, then added rice milk, cornstarch, sautéed onions and garlic, rosemary and basil to it. I pureed it with a blender and what resulted was a creamy, delicious butternut squash sauce perfect for pouring over pasta.

The verdict? Don't decide to do this on a busy day like I did. Running around like a chicken with my head cut off then starting late and barely getting it to the table on time! It took me about an hour and a half from start to finish, but this sauce is always worth my time! One squash yielded me more than my recipe made. I had to double it so I'll freeze the leftovers to pull out on days when I want something fast and healthy.

Of course, when I have those frozen leftovers I'll have to count on fixing the kids a PB&J. Neither one of them liked this recipe although Dad and I think it's yummy! It's also great with some spicy grilled shrimp on not meatless Tuesday!

Be on the lookout for me to post this recipe and others soon on my new recipes page!

Manicotti....Sort of.

Another Monday has come and gone....meatlessly. I got into an Italian food mood this week. Of course, Italian food is awesome any time...especially when loaded down with cheese. Hence, the idea in my head of cheese and spinach manicotti.

I do not just keep manicotti shells lying around the house, so this means I need to make a trip to the store. I can not afford to go waaaaaaaay into town for noodles. Yes, I live that far away; yes, my vehicle burns THAT much fuel. I went to my locally owned small town market. It's less than two miles away so I only burned like a gallon of gas. My locally owned small town market does not feel the need to stock manicotti shells. It's a small town of Cajuns. Not a high demand for pasta it seems. I was able to get some lasagna though. And an idea was born. PRETEND they're manicotti shells!

I made my filling of ricotta, cottage cheese, shredded mozzarella, shredded Romano, parsley and spinach. Yum! I broke my lasagna noodles in half and soaked them in hot water until they were pliable enough to roll. Then, I put a spoon full of cheese filling on the noodle and rolled it up. Does this make it an Italian enchilada?

I made a tomato sauce of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, onion, bell pepper and spices. I put this over the top of my lasagna rolls and baked them for about 20 minutes. I saved calories by not putting cheese all over the top. I served this with a really diverse salad and home made balsamic vinaigrette. Most people don't realize all the stuff you can put on a salad! Mine had beets, carrots, a dark green lettuce (not iceberg!) mushrooms, cucumbers, tomatillos, and Romano cheese.

The verdict? Everyone but my youngest loved the lasagna rolls. She decided she wanted nothing to do with it and just ate salad, but I'm okay with that. Salad is good.


I've managed to keep off the weight I lost during the family emergency a couple of weeks ago. I am proud to say I'm under 200 pounds for the first time in a looooong time. My clothes are too big, which I can live with. In a few more pounds maybe I'll buy myself some new clothes. In the meantime, I'll just keep working at it, and PRAY I have enough willpower to resist the cake I'm going to bake for my sister-in-love. Her birthday is coming. Help me Lord to not have too much of a celebratory spirit!

Lentils and Causes

What a week I have had! I did manage to pull off Meatless Monday with a little help from a bag of lentils I was gifted. I had only made lentils once before, and I didn't do a marvelous job of it. This time, though, I had the advice of an older, wiser cook to follow.

Lentils are very small and cook much faster than other dry legumes, so it didn't take long for them to be tender and ready to eat. I flavored the lentils with a pork bone and some chicken base. I felt like a depression era housewife making every little bit stretch. They came out great though! My brother wasn't feeling as inclined to go meatless as I so he managed to scrape a little meat off of those pork bones. I really enjoyed the lentils, and my kids did too. So much that I will add this to my growing list of meatless recipes. And lentils are easy on my grocery budget. Always a plus!


I managed to lose a few more pounds this past week, simply because I was too busy and stressed to eat properly. I usually eat when I'm stressed so it's weird I went the opposite way. I guess because busyness came with the stress. I'm afraid that, because those few pounds were lost in an unhealthy way, they'll come right back. I guess time will tell. For now, it's to try and get myself back to where I need to be.

I don't make a habit of plugging things on my blog, but bear with me, there are a couple of things I want to plug today.

1) The Kitchenaid giveaway at All The Weigh. I really want to win!

2) The Wesley Fitch Healing Fund. Click on the name to bring you to the website where you can find out more about this story and donate electronically. We'd appreciate any help we can get.

Meatless Mondays and....Golden Arches

Well, this Monday was far from meatless. We had a family emergency that put us on the road at supper time. Now, for those of you who are not my husband, you probably do not know that I am very much an emotional eater. I was upset when we pulled into a place that we haven't gone in ages. You know, the place where the meals make kids happy. Because I was upset, I told my husband to order me the "Giant Meat O' Sandwich". He asked me if I wanted just the sandwich or the meal. I shamefully mumbled "meal" and ate the whole thing. Well, that's only partially true. I left a few crispy fries. I hate crispy fries.

So I ate it. The Giant Meat O' Sandwich. The medium french fries. And I drank the soda too. And you know what? It wasn't as good as I remember it being. And I was still as upset as I was before I ate the 7 trillion calories. And now my IBS is kicking my behind because I made bad choices. Will I ever be able to control my emotional eating? I don't know. I do know my kids were over the moon about getting to eat fast food. They thought it must be a special occasion! My poor, deprived, healthy, nutritionally balanced children. My oldest picked up his first fry and, before eating it with relish, said, "too much of this food isn't good for my body, but it sure does taste yummy!"

Cheese Enchiladas...Part Dos!

Dance for joy with me, oh readers, for I have moved farther into the realm of blogging. I HAVE UPLOADED PICTURE!

Picture Mighty Blogger has uploaded.

 I decided that, this week I would take a picture of my yummy cheese enchiladas. I modified the recipe to add flavor and nutrition. I added a cup of cauliflower purée into the cheese filling. This made the filling spread farther and added to my peace of mind...I fed them veggies! I also added more diced chiles for a little kick. The best part is that, had I not said anything, my family wouldn't have known there was cauliflower in it. Which is the nature of cauliflower I suppose.

The cheese enchiladas were everything you would expect them to be. Cheesy, creamy, a little spicy and all for around 130 calories per enchilada!

I also took the easy way out with sides. I made rice and warmed up some Ranch Style beans.

My oldest child loved it so much he asked for it for lunch today. Of course he is his father's child, which means an ingrained love of Mexican food.

My youngest ate the enchilada when I fed it to her, but she preferred the rice and beans. Of course she is her mother's child...

My husband seemed pleasantly surprised by the changes. He really enjoyed it. I think he'll shed a tear if he doesn't get to eat the leftovers.

My brother ate with his usual gusto last night, but chose to eat enchiladas again for lunch today. This is a sure indicator that he liked it as well. My sister-in-law hasn't tried the enchiladas since she has been working a lot at our local sandwich shop. She eats lots of sandwiches. Poor her. I hate sandwiches.

I didn't lose any weight last week. I didn't gain any weight last week. I take this as a victory. Meatless Monday was a rousing success. Victory number....Dos! I'm piling them up. Let's see what else I can do.

Creamy Rock Soup?

Meatless Monday, the challenges you bring to me. I had it all together this week. I was set. I knew what I was making when I woke up Monday morning. I went to the store and grabbed what I needed to make Slow Cooker Healthy Potato Soup. I decided that, since I have such a crowd to feed, I should double my recipe. My slow cooker is not nearly big enough for that, so I pulled out my trusty soup pot and got to cooking. I put the soup to simmer at 12:30. I stirred it periodically and at 4:00 I checked the doneness of my potatoes. Not even CLOSE to done! I thought that was odd. So I cranked up the heat to a rolling boil. At 6:00 they still weren't soft! I don't know if it was something I did, or if I have a bag of mutant potatoes. My husband's exact words were, "they're done, because they don't have that raw potato dirt taste, but they're not soft." Weird. He also said it was too "carroty". Everyone ate it and smiled. There's a bunch in the fridge. It's probably not going to be touched again. It's frustrating because it's such a great low calorie meal. Maybe I'll tackle it again one day. Teenage Mutant Ninja Potatoes vs. Daisy.

Speaking of battles, my battle with weight has been going much better than my battle with root vegetables. I stepped on the scale. More out of curiosity than anything. I've lost eight pounds. I had to do a double take. I wasn't even trying that hard! I walked on the treadmill a couple of times last week. I watched what I put in my mouth. Amazing that doing what one is supposed to actually produces results!

My husband has requested the cheese enchiladas again, and what hubby wants hubby gets. So stay tuned to see if I figure out how to beef up the nutrition in that yummy dish!

And, if you're looking to be inspired by an amazing weight loss journey check out All The Weigh. What she's been able to do is amazing!