Random Update Thoughts

Without even intending to, I sort of "unplugged" myself for a few days and simply enjoyed the company of some friends. It was a break I didn't realize I needed, but felt fantastic :-)

So to try to catch up, I've got a few random things:

• I actually gained 2 lbs this week, most likely due to a few (fantastic) meals out on the town which also was accompanied with some drinks with a friend who came up for her bi-monthly mommy vacation :-)
  
• I am not whatsoever put off by this gain. It didn't bother me in the slightest or throw me off in any way. All because I'm re-comitted to WW Online :-). Even though water retention had its roll, I will not be stepping on the scale again until next WI to find out!
  
• Tropical Storm Danny ended up beating up my patio umbrella and we lost our power. We were not thinking it was going to be a big deal because the preparation for Hurricane Bill the week before ended up not being necessary and the warnings about Danny were nothing to be alarmed about. Goes to show you that you simply cannot predict those kinds of storms and you should always be prepared if there's any sniff of it coming - better safe than sorry!
  
• Went to see Final Destination 3D. The movie was fairly lame (in the typical Final Destination sort of way) and not as good as the other ones in every other aspect, but the 3D was majorly cool and it was worth it just for that. This was digital 3D and not IMAX 3D. Apparently the movie "Avatar" will be coming in 3D and while it doesn't seem like my kind of movie that I'd normally see, I want to see it to experience the 3D again!
  
• Hubs and I are definitely hearting tennis. We love playing and have fun doing it! He also hearts the fact that he is now 4 and 0! And he wanted me to make sure that I blogged that and said he'd be checking to make sure I told you all that he's beating me :-P
  
• Hubs and I are going on an anniversary vacay next week to Old Orchard Beach :-) We didn't go on a honeymoon and given the time of year of our anniversary, it is the beginning of the "off season" for Old Orchard Beach and prices are amazing! We'll be heading down to my Dad's on Saturday to drop off Lucy for dog-sitting, staying the night and then hitting the road for Maine on Sunday. We'll be staying until the following Saturday. I am SOOO excited!
  
• The beach is my ultimate ultimate ideal place to be and while I know that the weather is starting to cool off, the Inn is right on the beach, we've got a kitchenette and lots of BBQ areas near the pool and the beach, so while we are planning a few nice dinners out, our main plan is to grocery stop and cook healthy and calorie-controled meals for 80% of it :-)
  
• I'm excited about being able to buy things like Chobani, Oikos, Barney Butter single serving packs (although now I see that there doesn't seem to be any retail locations in Maine - boooo), (fill in the American Food Bloggers staple here). Speaking of...hit me up with some suggestions in the comments about what I should most definitely BUY!!!!!! :-D
  
• I'll most definitely be picking up some Larabars for a more reasonable price than they are here in Canada. I heart them.
  
• I bought Twilight at Costco yesterday. Sarah made me cave and for only $13 hard cover. I just had to see what all the fuss was about! I figured it might be a nice change to read on vacay from books like Omnivore's Dilemma & In Defense of Food :-)
  
• Not only is Tasha back! But she's back with a brand new blog too! She and her wonderful husband Tim decided while on our tour of Europe that they were going to train to run a Marathon!!!! The best part about this is that she is a newbie to running and is starting from the beginning :-) Her marathon plan is completely attainable and reasonable to anyone who wants to start from scratch and follow along with her! Not only that, but she's recapping their tour of Europe which spanned from London to Santorini! You MUST go check her out and follow her along!

What Do You Coffee Pros Call This?

This deliciousness needs a name! Is it an iced latte? blended coffee? Mocha? Help me out here gurus!

WIth all the hot weather we had in Halifax the last little while, I have developed a new way to enjoy a cold treat (P.S. I attribute my new found addiction to iced americanos and iced coffees in general to Mousearoo and a certain exchange of an unwanted iced americano that had sugar free hazelnut syrup in it by mistake in Toronto and which made it's way into my hands in Halifax that very same day via Twitter a few weeks ago :-D Gotta love social media and it's influences. Okay maybe you had to be there lol)

Anyhoo, while iced coffees never appealed to me before, all of a sudden I'm drooling over them! Over the hot weekend a weekend (pre-hurricane Bill and it's defeat by Nova Scotia), I decided to save my leftover morning coffee and put the pot in the fridge for some experimenting later.

The result:

We have here:

• 
  
• an obvious obsession with all things Empire Red KitchenAid Appliances :-D
  
• 1c unsweetened chocolate Almond Breeze
  
• 1c cold brewed coffee
  
• splash of blend cream
  
• squirt of Amoretto Agave Nectar
  
• Lots of ice
  
• = 2.5 - 3 POINTS


• PERFECTION

Oh and since then, I replaced the splash of blend cream with a dolop of the homemade greek yogurt "Liberte No Fat Svelte style" (see I'm having trouble naming things!) and it was AWESOME.

Chia, Cheese, Chives & Bacon Omlette

Haven’t had an omlette in AGES! I got a tip on a great way to use the Cheese, Chive & Bacon dip mix from Epicure by adding it to eggs. Perfect! I went a step (or two) further and here’s what when into my omlette:

• 1 egg + 3 whites
• 1/2 tbsp cheese, chives & bacon dip mix
• 1/2 tbsp three onion dip mix
• 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
• and a spontaneous sprinkle of part-skim shredded cheese:

Cooked and folded over:

Served on top of two slices of toasted Ezekiel bread (which I burned again), two generious schmears of philly light cream cheese and a slice of tomato:

I’m tellin’ yas, the cream cheese ROCKS it. Lynn mentioned it a while ago and I thought “huh?” but I tried it and I think the general conclusion is that cream cheese rocks just about everything!

A little extra omlette (too big for the toasts):

And btw, you don’t even notice the chia seeds in there at all! This was more of a “brunch” meal as it fell in the 8 POINT range, but it was entirely filling!

WI Results = -2.4lbs

Pheeeeeeeew! Not too shabby considering I exceeded my Flex POINTS this week. Just sayin'!

It feels so good to be back on track and seeing consecutive losses again!

I wish I had of started my WW journey when I was 298lbs because it's like there's 30lbs not included in that number I see every week. Every pound is hard earned and I kind wish I saw those pounds there. But they weren't lost following WW either, so that's that.

Feeling great bloggies :-)

I Big Fat UN-Puffy Heart DISLIKE Mac Blogging

I am soooo disappointed with Mac Blogging.  Nothing can even hold a candle to Windows Live Writer.  I've even got the Parallels Desktop  to run WLW so that I can still use it, but THAT won't even work properly for some reason.  Windows Photo Gallery won't make blog posts and it errors out and that's that.

Soooo disappointed!!

Greek Yogurt @ Home - Part Deux

Since my original AATW Test Kitchen experiment with making homemade Greek yogurt, I couldn't wait to test it out on the kind of yogurt that I normally eat. My original experiment used yogurt that I happened to have on hand that was on sale and I normally don't eat. Liberte yogurt is my favourite yogurt all around, so I just couldn't wait to try it out using the Organic No Fat Vanilla!

I strained it overnight using some coffee filters in a mesh strainer covered in plastic wrap in the fridge and this morning I was pleasantly surprised/ intrigued at the result! This type of yogurt made more of a "yogurt cheese" than the Blue Menu Finesse Plain Yogurt did. This time is was SUPER thick and creamy. In fact, I could peel away the coffee filter and it held it's shape:

The vanilla flavour was intensified and the entire tub shrunk pretty much exactly in half:

Look how much whey was removed this time:

I put it back in the fridge because I'm going to try and come up with a way to use it in something else. It's just seems too nutritious to throw out:

Has my anonymous commenter had the chance to ask their family member about the question I had about the removal of the whey? If anyone has any input, it would be appreciated. I'm wondering what the removal of the whey does for the nutritional value of the leftover Greek yogurt. Whey is about 80% carbs and 20% protein (depending on the fat factor of the yogurt you're using) and I'm wondering what the impact of the removal of it has on the yogurt left behind? All of the Greek yogurt you can buy claims to be "higher" in protein for whatever reason and I'm still trying to crack this mystery! :-D

It's important to remember that when you concentrate the yogurt like this, you are also concentrating the calories! So in this case, I am going to be using a "1/2" serving of what I would normally have as a general guide for tracking.


A comparison of half of a tub in it's regular state vs. a full tub of it strained:

The DQ Blizzard test:

Compared to the way you buy it:

I can't wait to do this with the PLAIN because this would run any sour cream outta town easily.

It acted more like a Vanilla Yogurt "Frosting" and the flavours were intensified enough to fit the bill perfectly. I decided to frost up my white fleshed peach:

Try it and enjoy!

(Hoping this posts before Hurricane Bill cuts the power!)

CONGRATULATIONS LYNN!!!! - 100 lbs!!!

I big huge major congratulations to my buddy/soul sister Lynn (@lifehealthfit) for achieving -100 lbs today! Please go on over there and congratulate her and see her amazing transformation!!

CONGRATULATION LYNN!!!!!!! I could not be MORE proud!!!

Friday Night Victory (ian Epicure)

I told yas that we were NOT ordering pizza last night and I stuck to my guns! I was glad that Hubby was on board with that decision because it's not fun to have it here for "him" and have to restrain myself from digging in. Deprivation WILL lead to falling "off the wagon" every time. The thing with me lately has been that I don't feel like I even "want" it, but once it's here, I'd end up having it, not enjoying it and then wishing I didn't to begin with!

I don't know why I do that, but I know that my "will power" muscle is starting to learn and get stronger. I'm starting to break that "cycle" of giving in to foods that I don't necessarily "want" but "used to want." My tastes have changed, but my memory sometimes gets stuck in that old way of thinking. When you struggle for so long trying to avoid high calorie foods that you love, it becomes a game of mental strength and those constant mental power struggles have staying power. I'm now starting to notice what's "old" stuff and what's "new". It's quite a feat actually! It feels GREAT and almost like a HUGE mountain defeated when I realize that I didn't even actually want that disgusting pizza to begin with! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE pizza, but my idea of good pizza is much different now. I enjoy healthier versions. This is proof that eventually the mindset does change. Habits do not happen overnight. They have to be developed to become second nature and I feel incredible that I have gotten to that point where the healthy more vegetable-friendly option is the appealing one for me :-)

Sooooo now to original point of my post! Last night's supper was delicious and due, in part, to two of the fabulous Epicure products that I got to try out.

The first was the Red Garlic Sansel:

I bought these pork loin center chops which apparently were "raised without antibiotics" and were "vegetable grain fed" and I found them at the regular grocery store. The label was "duBreton." Does vegetable grain fed include corn? Is that distinction different from "grass fed" in Canada? I am still researching this stuff guys! Any insight you have is always appreciated). I seasoned the pork loin center chops with salt, pepper and the Red Garlic Sansel on each side:

Then I grilled them on both sides on a stove top grill pan with a little EVOO until browned with grill marks and then I put the entire grill pan into the oven at 390 to finish off (since they were fairly thick and I didn't want to burn the outsides). The results were delicious:

I served it with a side salad (mixed baby greens, julienned carrot, beet & sliced red onion) topped with sun-dried tomato salad dressing, turnips mashed with becel, S&P, and mashed potatoes:

Only the mashed potatoes also had a delicious Epicure addition too:

The result:

The entire meal was delicious and I felt great afterwards, unlike the yucky greasy pizza that could have been!

So these two Epicure products get my thumbs up too! So far so good with these products and especially since the ingredients are recognizable and short-listed - a big kudos to Epicure!

Pampered Chef "Wish List" Suggestions

So it's Friday and that usually means that we'd order pizza at our house but guess what? We're not. No way in H E double hockey stix. Why? Because I'm all out of Flex Points for the week (in fact with a couple extra "IOU's" in there too :-P), so I'm being a good little WWer and sticking to my daily allowance for the rest of the weekend!

Why am I over FP you ask? Well because it's never accurate to count when eating out and as Jaime pointed out already, most of the Halibloggers (sans Lynn and Tasha (who btw will be BACK SOON from her trip around Europe and with a fun new blog!) got together for some top secret Haliblogger talks at Jack Astor's the other night.

I had the grilled Mediterranean Chicken Foccocia (which was to DIE for (I typed DIET! lol):

With a garden salad - I LOVE beets and especially shaved on a salad :-) (dressing on the side)

It was absolutely delicious and such a TREAT. I love sammies on bread like that YUM.

And last night Jaime, Lynn, Lex and I attended a launch party for the Fall products coming out for The Pampered Chef. I am hosting a PC party in September and I had never actually been to one before so it was a nice introduction to the company and their products. It was actually a really good time!

The consultants were so fun and energetic and there were lots of prizes through random ticket draws and they showed us the new products "fashion show" style which was really entertaining. They also had a few of the PC recipes prepared to munch on and boy was I glad I didn't eat supper before I went (aside from a few Guiltless Gourmet Chipotle tortilla chips and about a tbsp of hummus) because I definitely exceeded my daily allowance on the munchies. It was those damn mint chocolate chip triangle brownie things that Jaime posted about because we later found out they were like 500 calories!

So my questions for you lovelies are: Have you ever been to a Pampered Chef party? What are your favourite products and/or what should I put on my "must have" list? Oh and are there any recipe requests I should put into my consultant for the show?

Thanks guys, as always, I value your input, opinions and comments :-)

Larabar Love

Companies really know the way to a bloggers heart don't they? The arrival of this little package from Larabar made my day! As you all know I am a Larabar lover and once upon a time I would have scoffed at "spending" 4 POINTS on a bar (especially since it's not covered in chocolate ;-)), but having gotten over that neurosis (boy times have changed for this girl), I have adopted Larabars as a snack staple. There are many Larabar flavours and we don't tend to get all of them here in Halifax, but the only ones that I currently buy are the Coconut Cream Pie, Peanut Butter Cookie and Cashew Cookie.

HOW excited was I to get to sample these two new flavours before they hit the Canadian market???

I'm ALL OVER Peanut Butter & Jelly

As you can see the geniuses at Larabar use cherries here to sweeten up to make the "jelly" flavour. It's probably like a Peanut Butter Cookie meets Cherry Pie, but I don't think I've really tried the Cherry Pie flavour, so just a guess. (I know see on the website that that's EXACTLY what they've done lol Good call Ange!)

The reason I love Larabars so much is because they are allllll natural and there's sometimes only 2 ingredients in the bars: dates & nuts! PB&J has: dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries and salt. THAT'S IT.

I can't wait to try Tropical Fruit Tart and I'll report back of course. I gotta say though, I'm a bit skeptical on that one. I LOVE coconut and all, but I've never been a "tropical punch" kind of fan really, but who knows, we will see.

P.S. This is my FIRST blog post from my Mac. It's like learning all over again and it's taking me 10 times as long to do an itty bitty post! lol I'm using "Blogo" and so far I'm only mediocrely impressed (is that a word?) / quite disappointed. Windows Live Writer would REMEMBER linky love so I didn't have re-enter the damn links every time and so far I've not found Mac blogging software that does everything Windows Live Writer does. Any tips or recommendations is always welcomed!

Weigh in on Whey – Clarification Requested!

Firstly, I had to share with you the best hot summer night dessert ever.  Last night I threw a few really ripe peaches cut side down on the Barby until the surface caramelized and served one half of a grilled peach with a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. The warm peach was to DIE for and was reminiscent of peach cobbler – no joke!

Did I freak you out holding it in my hand? lol  Okay maybe I only think it’s funny….here’s my dessert sitting outside on my deck rail:

:-P  One of you asked me where I got those clear glass bowls:

I actually bought them on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart for $1!  They’re not actually glass, they’re plastic!  They are perfect summertime yogurt, cereal and ice cream bowls.  I love ‘em :-)

And these bowls I got at a Paderno warehouse sale.  I only have three because one was left out of the box on the display case and I wasn’t able to actually track it down since it was the last day of their warehouse sale :-(

I’m a girl who loves a sale though :-)

And I just felt the need to share with you some of my homemade (read: home strained) Greek yogurt with some thawed razzies on top:

Thawed berries go realllly well with yogurt because they’re juicier and there’s less need to want to add anything else to plain yogurt:

I strained “Greek” yogurt is sooooo creamy I LOVE it!  My only question now is that about the whey that was removed from it.

Does that decrease the nutritional value of the overall yogurt?  Protein-wise that is?  It would in fact remove some of the carby-ness because whey is about 80% carb I believe, but also around 20% protein (give or take with your factor of fat in there too), so is it a good thing or a bad thing to remove the whey?

Weigh in on the Whey for me would ya?

Organic Atlantic v. Wild Salmon – AATW Test Kitchen

It all started when I spied a box of these at the Superstore a few weeks ago. I have to go and double check the price, but I think it was either $9.99 or $12.99 for this box of two portions:

I have always had a hard time finding wild salmon or pacific salmon here on the East Coast other than in a can. I figured this Organic Atlantic Salmon was worth the purchase. I assume that it means that the salmon has not been fed antibiotics or has added artificial colours? I’m still a bit confused on that, but getting further in my research.

Anyhooo, here’s what a frozen portion of it looks like:

And it’s comparatively this big:

And weighed:

Thennnnn I found this wild salmon at Planet Organic:

It’s “certified wild” and was $6.29 which is roughly the same cost of the organic Atlantic Salmon (give or take) if memory serves me (I will check the next time I’m in there)

The wild salmon filet wasn’t as long, but was thicker:

And weighed:

After they were thawed out, you can really notice the difference in the colour. The wild salmon had a deeper richer colour as opposed to the farmed Atlantic Salmon even though it’s "organic” Did you know that it’s common for artificial colour to be added to farmed salmon because their colour is not as deep as if it were in the wild?

I assume that because the Atlantic Salmon on the left here is organic that it hasn’t been given artificial colours. It certainly seems that way given the comparison in the colour here:

One of my favourite quick & easy ways to cook salmon is to douce it with soy sauce (I used light tamari sauce) and sprinkle with dried dill:

I baked them in the oven at 380 for a bit too long (I was doing 394847 other things at the same time), but here’s the end result:

The Organic Atlantic Salmon:

The Wild Salmon (origin not specified):

I had half of each filet with some steamed green beans and steamed broccoli:

Diggin’ in:

I have to say I have had better salmon than both of these filets. I am really glad that I made them at the same time because I may have overcooked them causing them not to be as juicy as it would normally be. They were equal in texture pretty much. I can’t say that they tasted much different, but I tended to like the wild salmon a bit more. It could be because it was thicker and would have been a bit juicier because of that.

So there you have it, a little Angie All The Way test kitchen ;-)