I'm BAAAAACK!

Well I am back after a looooong hiatus. Kinda just happened after a trip out of town then got sick when I got back then daughter brought home not one but two viruses in a week and took a little while to get over that and well, just pure plain laziness. Gotta call it what it is. I am turning over a new leaf, one of the many leaves on my tree of good intentions.

 So what's happened in the weeks I have been gone. Lost 14 lbs altogether(since I started in July, not since Oct when I blogged last). Still not eating meat even though we did try putting fish back in but after not eating meat the texture just didn't thrill us so we took it back out. Just had a whole week of being just vegetarian and at the end of the week figured out that I have no control unless I stick to my mainly vegan diet, go overboard too much and it just snowballs downhill. The candy at the checkout at stores became a battlefield and I lost a lot last week. But am now able to win the battle, there is a miniature Reese's cup sitting on my desk and has been taunting me for 3 days now and I have resisted it. But I do wish someone else would see it and capture it....I'll have to give away it's location to one of the girls. Figured out if nothing else then I am a vegetarian, no going back from that now. Won't say I will never eat meat again because 'never say never" but it would have to be a pretty special occasion, say my birthday next year at Bubba Gumps and then it would be just shrimp and lots and lots of it. I AM planning that already, hehe. If I had an awesome memory I would remember other stuff these last weeks but I don't so I'll just start fresh now because I have taken everything out of my memory that is there.

This week I have started something new. Hubby comes home from work starving especially if he's eating straight vegan. You get hungry more often when eating a good vegan diet, at least that is what we found. So I started making a pot of soup or a salad so when he walked in the door he had something good for you to eat and then we had a later dinner that was more on the light side. He is such a happy camper. Doesn't even notice I haven't cleaned too much house this week, the key is the tummy, keep it happy, lol. Only problem is that the recipes are made for a family of six, not a typical P. family. So I was thinking I would have leftovers for lunch and quickly figured out that I need to double soup recipes because by the time we have ate and put away for Harry's lunch, nothing left very often. Good things I have cooked this week: Homemade minestrone, butternut squash soup(oh so yum), pasta and veggie salad, and MACARONI salad(vegan)---there is a choir of angels singing that in my head. I love, love, love macaroni salad and it tasted like macaroni salad. Happy taste buds! Last night's dinner was a huge hit. I'll post the recipe below. Black eye pea stew, so simple, clean and yummy. Whew I am typed out so I will thrill you with more another day. It's good to be back. Feeling more centered already.

Black Eye Pea Stew

8 cups of collard greens cut up

2 cups veggie broth plus 2 cups water(may not seem like enough but greens wilt)

1 can petite diced tomatoes

12 ounce small red potatoes cut in 1/2in dice

1 can black eye peas, rinsed and drained

Salt and Pep to taste

Place veggie broth, water and collard greens in dutch oven and bring to boil and cover then cook for about 15 min. Then add tomatoes and potatoes and cover and cook til potatoes are done, around 20 min. Then add black eye peas and cook til they are heated in stew. That is it. Just so light and clean. Only 180 cal. 1 fat. and 8 fiber for those of you  who count.

Dog Days

I really do feel like I am one of those dogs that no matter how hard you try they just don't get it!! I mean they do the the same thing over and over again and you think, "really, you don't have a brain in your little head." Well me and my diet are the same. I see the benefits, I feel the benefits, and I love the benefits but seem to slip back into the cheese and dairy again and again. I have lost 12.8 lbs and 4 inches from the waist but it could be so much better. We are now playing with the idea of adding fish in and hoping that would take away the cheese and dairy problem, well actually Harry already added fish back in. The Dr who recommended this diet does eat the fish. The health benefits from fish are good as long as you check out how much of what fish to eat so not to add too much mercury to you diet. In the beginning we actually wanted to add fish but decided not to so maybe we'll give it a try. Not really craving it but a good tuna sandwich does sound heavenly. I do think fish is much better than cheese and dairy. My face will probably think so too. I need my good complexion back. I don't know, just rolling things around in my head. I just want to do what is healthy for me and all meat but fish is not. What do I call myself now? Not a vegan, not a vegetarian, I think it's a, crap, don't remember, had it but it went out of my head. Maybe the moral of the story is I shouldn't label myself and just eat what is right for me. I am tamatarian!! Any thoughts? Anyone?

It's Been How Long?

Gracious I didn't realize til this morning that I had not blogged in forever. I think that this is just because I am so used to this no meat world now that it's not a big deal anymore. But I find that I am better at a more vegan based diet if I am blogging, it's my police so I have to come out of hiding and blog more so I can feel the guilt if I eat too much dairy and cheese. Tomorrow I will add sugar to this. This has just been such a amazing journey of trying new things and finding I do have weak will power when it comes to cheese. But the truth is that I am not losing weight anymore because I am cheating over and over again so I need to stop and lose some more weight. I want to get rid of my heartburn meds so bad so I need to lose more to stop it. I have tried a few new things lately so I will get back on here tomorrow when I have more time and delight you with my little tidbits.......

But on the bright side......3 MONTHS of NO meat.  Yippee!!!

When Will I Learn?

Yes you should eat breakfast, everyday! I have yet to learn that lesson. I got up and had my coffee and a little diet pepsi and then decided to just get out and get my shopping done, without eating. I just didn't  want to eat. Thank goodness for my can of peanuts. I bought a can of peanuts and keep them in the car and when I get out and get weak from hunger I just buy a diet coke and have coke with peanuts....some of you southerners know what I mean....you actually pour the peanuts in the coke and eat and drink. Hits the spot and gives a protein boost. Now I am just cooking spaghetti for dinner and doing a minimum clean up then wish and hope and pray that the pantry fairy comes and puts away everything I bought today. I am going to count on it.....hope the fairy is reading this.   ;))

French Tofu Toast

French tofu toast may not sound yummy to most but I have to say it was good. I have ate tofu three out of the last 4 days. This is from someone a few months ago did not want to cook it or look at it or eat it and now I'm looking through my cookbooks for more recipes that I want to try. All the changes in my life in the last year are mind boggling to me but it all feels right and good. Back to my tofu breakfast, I took the silken tofu, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla and blended til smooth then dipped the bread in it and fried like reg. french toast. The egg flavor with syrup always got to me a little so this solves that problem and it browns up just like the regular. I added too much oil to the first few pieces and that caused them to be a little soggy so next time I am going to just spray with pam and I think that will work better. Topped with real maple syrup, good start to the day but going to have to have some leftover soup soon to calm down the sugar rush from the toast AND my coffee. I made a big pot of veggie soup last night and it's always better as leftovers the next day.
I am not even gonna talk about Friday night.....all I can say is my love for cheese is a little diminished after those cheese fries. So maybe I can control myself for the next week. I hope so because I feel better when I behave. Well it's time to put on a pot of beans for dinner. That with some potatoes and turnips is going to be a good start for the week.

11 lbs and 3 inches!

Sounds like a short and really fat baby, huh? :) But thinking about the statement, my oldest was 11 lbs and 4 1/2 ounces so when you look at it that way then it's seems a lot better to remember the hunk of fat you lost then just looking at numbers. I've lost the equivalent of a fat baby! This so far is simply without trying at all because I just can't seem to get in the hang of totally healthy eating. But the really, really funny ironic part right now it I have to lose almost the same weight still that my oldest weighs right now. Oh well it will happen eventually, at the rate I am going only another 2 yrs and a few months. Guess I should behave and ramp up the losing......I'll start Monday.
Still no craving for meat. Yes still having cheese some so I should classify myself right now that I eat a vegan type diet with the exception of cheese on more than rare occasions. Oh and those of you who couldn't sleep the other night wondering about if I went to subway or not----yes I did!  But last night I made a phenom dish. Fried tofu like my favorite restaurant makes with stir fried veggies in a homemade Asian veggie broth and fried rice, it was sooo yummy!!! Tonight is gonna be a surprise, hopefully it's good because I ate at taco bell today and now I have a little tummy ache.....it happens almost every time I eat at taco bell so maybe I should avoid it unless I am desperate. I was today. Maybe hubby will take me out to eat, I can probably persuade him. He needs to get out and relax before starting to study anyway, right? Ooooh another mystery, will I persuade him or not?

10.2 lbs

Yes I am celebrating my .2 because now I can say I have lost OVER 10 lbs. Small victories will add up to a big victory. Wish the small victories would come faster but you know that would take will power that isn't present right now, at all. But I did have tacos last night without cheese and am glad for that but by lunch today the cheese called and I resorted to a wee little bit on my Amy's Burrito and the most devastating part is that it was so good it didn't need the cheese so lesson learned, only use cheese as a last resort. It would have been a totally vegan burrito and I goofed it up. Just look for the Amy's burrito that is bean and rice but no dairy. I was totally shocked at how good it was. Tonight is a dilemma, I can't find my tofu. I think it got thrown away after the fridge incident on Sat.( cran-grape juice spilled all over fridge). So it looks like a trip to store or subway........ah don't the mysteries just kill ya?