Snack Attack

I had one of those hungrier than usual weekends.  I stayed within the Weight Watchers Points Plus Program, but I still just felt like I could eat all weekend.  I believe it was something mental rather than physical because I was eating plenty of food.  Do you ever just have days/weeks/weekends like that?  What do you do to curb your hunger?  Are there foods you eat to satisfy your hunger and/or cravings?  One of those snacks for me is my newest favorite snack-peanut butter banana toast.  When I say "peanut butter," I mean Trader Joe's peanut flour mixed in with a little salt, Truvia and water to make it like peanut butter.  It's delicious!  When I need to get my 2 teaspoons of oil in for the day, I will mix some oil in too and then it tastes like the peanut butter from the middle of Reese's Pieces candy (or what I remember it to taste like).  It keeps me satisfied when I get home from work during that time I work out until I can cook dinner.  It's one of those snacks that actually lasts awhile.  I am trying to pay closer attention to that because I know that's one of the keys to being successful with healthy eating and weight loss.  If I am not satisfied, I will just keep looking for more things to eat until I am satisfied.  Eating snacks that are not filling, will just lead to binge eating.  This is something I really have to work on, especially during the week, because I start my day at 5:00 a.m. and I typically go to bed between 9-10 p.m.  I really have to be strategic about the food I eat.  I know this is super easy, but I thought I would include a recipe for how to put together my favorite snack.

Peanut Butter Banana Toast
-22 grams (about 3 TBSP) Trader Joe's Peanut Flour or Bell Plantation's PB2
-1 packet of Truvia
-a pinch of salt
-water (1 TBSP at a time until the peanut butter is the right consistency)
-oil (optional-I only use if I need to get my oil servings in for the day)
-1 slice of whole wheat/whole grain bread
-1 banana

Put the bread in the toaster while you are mixing up the peanut butter. 

For the peanut butter: measure out the peanut flour and then put in the Truvia, salt and oil (if using).  Add water 1 TBSP at a time and mix up.  Keep adding water until you get the desired consistency for your peanut butter.  Once your peanut butter is ready, spread on your toast.  Then slice up the banana and put on top of the peanut butter.  I usually have 3 or 4 banana slices left over.  I leave a little bit of the peanut butter in the bowl and eat with the leftover bananas.  Once the peanut butter banana toast is assembled, enjoy!

All About CHOCOLATE!

It’s kind of funny that I am writing the “chocolate edition” blog entry right after doing a blog entry on not being obese anymore!  Oh well....chocolate  is what life is all about (in moderation, course).  I eat chocolate almost daily.  When Bitchcakes did a blog entry on different types of chocolate, I decided it was such a good idea that I would also do a “chocolate edition.”  Fortunately, chocolate is something I can usually have in the house without going crazy.  I just keep it with the baking supplies and just get out what I am going to eat.  I never leave it out on the counter because then I would eat it all of the time for sure.  But keeping it put away doesn’t really tempt me unless I know I have the points to have some chocolate after dinner.  I have tried all different kinds of vegan chocolates.  Some of them are very expensive and some can actually be quite affordable.  It’s taken some time, but I have navigated my way around the “accidentally vegan” chocolate market.  I live in a small, rural area in North Carolina.  I am very lucky to have a wonderful grocery store that carries basically everything I need, however, when it comes to chocolate bars, they mostly have Snickers, M&Ms, Milky Ways, etc.  You get the point.  Not a lot of vegan chocolate options in the town I live in.  But I have found that CVS has a pretty good selection of dark chocolate bars and many of them happen to be vegan and even the two grocery stores I shop at have one or two chocolate bars that just so happen to be vegan.  This is what I go to in chocolate emergencies.  However, if I am well stocked, I will have the IKEA dark chocolate bars on hand.  Right now, it’s my favorite chocolate.  It’s vegan, cheap and delicious.  You can’t go wrong.  You can get 3 bars for $2.49!  That’s a steal in the world of dark chocolate.  So, I have compiled a list of all of my favorite chocolates I have found.  Some are easy to find at most stores, while others may be a little more difficult.  I will try to provide as much information as I can about the chocolate.  So, here’s the list:

IKEA dark chocolate bar—As I mentioned before, this is currently my favorite chocolate for three reasons:  vegan, cheap and delicious.  The fact that it’s cheap is great!  Chocolate can be such a splurge sometimes (with calories and money) but the IKEA chocolate is very affordable.  I live about 2 1/2 hours from Charlotte and that’s where the closest IKEA is.  I don’t make it to Charlotte often, but I have made it a routine stop to go by IKEA to buy up a lot of chocolate when I am in town.  Last time we went to Charlotte we bought 45 of the chocolate bars.  Which brings me to another thing I love about this chocolate—the packaging is airtight so the chocolate doesn’t dry out and get brittle and nasty.  I get so mad when I buy a $5 chocolate bar just to have to throw it away b/c its all dried out.  I hate that!  I haven’t had that happen once with the IKEA dark chocolate.  Try it if you are near an 

IKEA! 

Ghirardelli semi-sweet chocolate chips—I have been using these chocolate chips for several years now.  Ghirardelli is one of the more expensive chocolate chip brands you can buy at the store, but I think they are the best.  What I love about these is that I can bake with them or just measure some out on my scale and eat them as is for dessert.  They have a great taste for just being chocolate chips.  You can find these at almost every grocery store.  Just be careful, not all of the Ghirardelli chocolate chips are vegan.  I think this might be the only one that turns out to be vegan. 

Ghirardelli Intense Twilight Chocolate Squares—I think what I like about these the most is that they are individually wrapped (wasteful, yes, but very helpful with portion control).  It’s so much easier to just be able to eat one of these b/c they are individually wrapped as opposed to a chocolate bar that you can go and break more off of.  Once again, not all varieties of the squares are vegan.  Just check the ingredients.  I have found these at CVS and other major grocery stores like Target. 

Lindt 70% dark chocolate bar—This might come in second to the IKEA chocolate-I’m not sure.  I really like this chocolate.  I found this chocolate at my regular grocery store on the candy isle with the other “fancy” chocolates.  It’s also reasonable in price.  I think I paid less than $2.50 for one bar.  (Not as good as the IKEA deal but beggars can’t be choosers in the town I live in!) 

Starbucks dark chocolate bar—This was a surprising find while traveling on the road this holiday season.  They sell these up at counter.  Once again, check the labels.  Starbucks sells quite a few chocolates so make sure what you are getting is vegan.  This chocolate bar is smaller than most dark chocolate bars and comes in at less than $2.  It is a nice, sweet dark chocolate-not bitter.  Some dark chocolate s are a little too bitter for me.  This one is not.   ***I wasn't able to find a link directly to this chocolate bar so I just did a link for Starbucks.***

Honorable mentions

-Trader Joe’s chocolates (They have so many vegan varieties!  If you are near a Trader Joe’s, go check them out.  They even have a website that lists all of their vegan items.  You could do your research before you go so you would know for sure and could narrow it down.  I have loved every chocolate I have tried there.)

-Green & Black’s Maya Gold-This chocolate bar has some different spices in it.  It has an orange taste mixed with some other spices.  It’s exotic and delicious.  It’s more expensive and harder to find.  I usually buy this one at Whole Foods or Earth Fare. 

-Chocolove’s Cherry and Almonds-Chocolove brand has a lot of great vegan chocolate bars.  I have not tried all of them.  I love that this brand also has some unusual flavor combinations.  It’s exciting to see some of the chocolates they come sell!  I typically find this brand at Whole Foods and Earth Fare. 

-Divine brand dark chocolate-I have only had this kind of chocolate a few times but it’s really good.  It’s a more expensive chocolate and it’s harder to find.  However, it’s very tasty if you can find it. 

-Endangered Species Brand chocolate-Once again, not all of these are vegan.  However, many of the varieties are.  A portion of the proceeds goes to protect endangered species.  When I buy this brand of chocolate, it's usually the individually packaged kind at Target or at a health food store such as Whole Foods.  

No Longer OBESE!

(My weight last night was at 184.6 which now puts me in the "overweight" instead of "obese" BMI category!)

I have been waiting for this to happen for a long time now!  I know it still seems kind of discouraging to think that I am now "overweight" instead of "obese" but I am choosing to look at it in a positive light.  Yes, I am still overweight, but I am one step closer to being in the "normal" weight range.  I am no longer in the BMI 30s.  I have been working at weight loss and health for over a year and a half and it has taken me a long time, but I am getting there.  At my Weight Watchers meeting last night, it was one of those special milestones that only I celebrated.  A very important milestone for me.  I have probably been "obese" my whole life-even as a kid.  I have always been the "fat" kid and then the "fat" adult.  I am changing that one step at a time!  I am going to keep working hard and making health and fitness a priority so hopefully one day in the near future, I will be able to make a post about no longer being overweight!  I look forward to that day......

(I'm holding my PointsPlus weight tracker giving a thumbs up b/c I am no longer obese!)

Hungry Girl's Expanding Oatmeal Trick

I like to eat.  I guess that’s not really a surprise since this blog is about my weight loss journey.  I also like to eat a lot of food.  At my Weight Watchers meetings, this is called being a "volume eater."  I feel conflicted about this sometimes.  Sometimes I think that this is a big part of my eating issues.  If I would learn to cut myself off and just be satisfied with smaller amounts of food, then I wouldn’t struggle so much with my weight.  But then another part of me feels like I can still eat a lot of food, just a lot of healthier foods.  Fruits and vegetables bulk foods up so much and are so healthy.  It’s kind of a win-win situation.  I am getting so many more vitamins, nutrients, fiber, etc. by “bulking” up almost every meal with a lot of fruits and veggies.  I guess the point of all of that is Hungry Girl also seems to be on the same page about getting a lot of food for the number of calories you are taking in.  I get the Hungry Girl newsletters everyday.  Although Hungry Girl is not a vegan (not even vegetarian) site and they often have recipes that use quite a few processed ingredients, I have also discovered a lot of great foods, tips and recipes from their site. 

Hungry Girl had sent out a few different e-mails mentioned the “expanding oatmeal” trick.  I kept reading about it thinking that I would have to give it a try.  I finally did last weekend and I have been hooked every since!  The idea is that you double the amount of liquid you use and double your cooking time.  That’s it.  So instead of using 2 cups of almond milk, I use 1 cup of almond milk and 1 cup of water.  I use the same amount of oats but just cook it twice as long. 

Also, if you are following the Weight Watchers new Points Plus program, oats have gone up in points.  Oats used to be 2 points for 1/2 cup but now they are 4 points.  However, someone on the vegetarian message board, mentioned that the Country Choice organic oats/grains blend is only 3 points for 1/2 cup.  I was finally able to find this last weekend at Trader Joe’s.  I am sure they sell it other places, but that’s where I found it.  I am sure there are other brands and grain blends out there that would work, but for this recipe, Country Choice brand is what I used. 

Gigantic Bowl of Expanding Oatmeal Recipe

-1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or other nondairy milk of your choice)

-1 cup water

-1/2 cup oats or oat/grain blend

-1 tsp vanilla

-2 packets Truvia (or other sweetener of your choice)

-pinch of salt (optional)

-blueberries and banana (or any other fruit of your choice)

In a small to medium sized pan, bring the water and almond milk to a boil.  When it comes to a boil, add the oats.  Stir in well and keep at a medium heat.  Set your timer to 10-12 minutes.  (I cook mine for about 12-14 minutes.)  Every few minutes give the oats a stir.  Keep an eye to make sure they don’t boil over.  During the last 3-4 minutes of cooking, add in 1 packet of Truvia and the vanilla.  Stir in well.  When the liquid is mostly absorbed, your oats will be finished.  Add in your fruit and sprinkle the other packet of Truvia over your oats.  Enjoy your gigantic bowl of oatmeal! 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (Small Batch)

I love baking cookies, cakes and other sweet treats (big surprise I ended up on Weight Watchers) but I have discovered that if the baked goods stay in the house, I will eat them until they are gone.  I can keep chocolate bars, ice cream, chips and other “junk” in the house and I will leave it alone (for the most part) but there’s something about baked goods.  It’s probably the smell when it fills up the whole house.  I’m not really sure what it is, but I know my weaknesses and that’s definitely one of them.  So I have learned to make small batches of cookies that make about 2 servings.  If I eat the entire batch, I know it won’t completely derail my healthy eating for the day.  This batch of cookies made about 8 cookies last time I made.  Although I do not need to be eating 8 cookies, I know if I do, I will still be okay for the day.  Or maybe I do want to eat all 8 cookies and just plan for that.  These cookies also have a lot of healthy ingredients.  It’s not just a cookie recipe filled with crap.  If you want to make a larger batch of these, just double or even triple the ingredients.  It’s a pretty simple recipe. 

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

-1/2 TBSP ground flax seed

-1 TBSP warm water

-1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or regular whole wheat flour)

-1/4 cup old fashioned oats (instant should be fine too)

-1/4 tsp baking powder

-1/8 tsp baking soda

-1/8 tsp salt

-2-3 TBSP sweetener (I use Organic Zero but you could use Truvia or regular sugar)

-1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger)

-1/2 cup canned pumpkin

-1/2 tsp vanilla

-2-4 TBSP semi-sweet chocolate chips (I measured out about 22 grams on my food scale)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the ground flax seed with the 1 TBSP of warm water.  Whisk together and set aside.

Mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sweetener and spice in a medium to large sized mixing bowl. 

Add the flax mixture, pumpkin and vanilla to the dry ingredients and mix well.  (If the mixture seems too dry, you can add more pumpkin or a little nondairy milk to it.)  Once the mixture is mixed well, fold in the chocolate chips. 

On a nonstick cookie sheet, scoop out the mixture into cookies.  My batch made 8 smaller cookies.  If you make larger cookies, just allow for it with the cooking time. 

Cook for 20-25 minutes or until the cookies are starting to brown and are firm to the touch.  As long as I can’t stick my finger through the middle of the cookie, that’s usually good for me.  I like mine pretty moist. 

Tofu Shirataki Noodles Adventure #1

I have been hearing about these noodles for a long time now and I have also been avoiding these noodles for a long time too!  You might wonder why I have been avoiding noodles that have this kind of nutritional information and the reason is that I have heard mostly terrible things about them.  So many people on the Weight Watchers Vegetarian Message Board said they were horrible.  I trust their opinions, so I didn’t even mess with it.  But then I started receiving the Hungry Girl newsletters and recipes and they LOVE the noodles, so I started THINKING about giving them a try.  But what sealed the deal was when my friend Megabeth, tried them and said that she liked them.  Then I knew they were worth trying.  So I pulled out the Hungry Girl recipe for Lo Mein that I had saved, and decided to give it a go. 

I would recommend following the Hungry Girl directions for the noodles.  I think a big part of the problem that people have with the noodles is the way they smell.  When you purchase them, they are in water like a cube of tofu is.  The noodles can smell a little fishy if you do not wash them.  So I followed the Hungry Girl directions and I rinsed them very well and then I dried them between two towels.  They were just fine.  In fact, I really enjoyed them and I definitely plan to cook with them again. 

Tofu Shirataki Lo Mein

 Ingredients:

3 bags House Foods Tofu Shirataki, original spaghetti shape

One 10 - 16 oz. bag frozen Chinese-style stir-fry mixed veggies (with broccoli, water chestnuts, etc.)

1 cup of edamame (You could also use tofu or another vegan protein)

1 cup bean sprouts

1 container mushrooms

1 cup broccoli

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1/4 cup reduced sodium or light soy sauce

1 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tsp. vegan veg broth powder

2 no-calorie sweetener (Truvia)-You could also use agave nectar or regular sugar

Directions:

Rinse and drain Tofu Shirataki noodles VERY well. Dry them thoroughly, and run a knife or kitchen shears through them a few times (so noodles aren't as long). Set aside. To make sauce, combine soy sauce, cornstarch, veg broth powder, and sweetener with 1/2 cup of hot water. Stir well and set aside. Bring a large pan or a wok sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat. Add all the veggies (the frozen and the fresh ones). Stirring frequently, cook for 5 - 7 minutes (until frozen veggies are heated and all other veggies are cooked). Pour sauce into pan/wok, stir well, and continue to cook until sauce has thickened. Lastly, add in the noodles, and cook until entire dish is thoroughly mixed and heated.

Final thoughts on this recipe:  If I made it again, I would probably use more cornstarch because the sauce didn’t really thicken up much.  I would also add more spice to the sauce mixture.  Other than the veg broth powder and the soy sauce, there wasn’t much “pazazz” to the lo mein.  I would want it to be a little more flavorful.  With that being said though, the noodles turned out great.  I really liked them.  I think with a little tweaking, this recipe would be excellent. 

Good Deal Alert!

I LOVE using canned pumpkin.  I use it for muffins, french toast, cookies, etc.  I love it because it's good in so many things and it's so healthy.  I also love to buy organic as much as possible.  Organic canned pumpkin can often be very expensive.  Sometimes it's $2.50-$3.00 a can for the organic kind.  But Amazon has a good deal on the Farmers Market brand of organic canned pumpkin.  It's $16.00 for 12 cans OR it's $13.60 if you do the "Subscribe and Save" option.  That makes it out to be just a little over $1 a can.  I love the "Subscribe and Save" because you automatically get 15% off the product and free shipping.  I have it set up for Amazon to send me the pumpkin every 6 months, but it's no big deal if I change my mind.  I can change how often I want them to send it, skip a shipment or just cancel the "subscription" all together without having to pay a fee.  I use "Subscribe and Save" for a lot of different things such as vegan vitamins, agave nectar, Organic Zero sweetener and vital wheat gluten.  I thought you might be interested!