My Opinion on so-called "healthy" foods...for what it's worth.

The title of this blog might not be catchy, but I don't want to brow beat, so I figured I would just start off with the truth.  The truth is that this particular post is just my opinion.  Sure I may throw in some links, or smart stuff I read, or a few known truths, but ultimately I am just pouring out what I feel..  While some may not read this, or others may read it and go, "whatever," my hope is that some will read it and think "interesting, maybe she has a point."

My Stef Cooks Clean Facebook page is devoted to clean eating recipes and pictures.  It's about the food!!  It's about how easy it is to cook and to cook healthy.  My blog on the other hand is about my journey with food, health, exercise and wellness.  So I reserve my right to say it how I feel it.  However, I do not want to shame, condemn or make to feel inferior anyone who choses to read my blog.  If you are reading this you are a friend, and I don't want to do any of those things to a friend.  What I want to do is educate, mostly because I wish I knew then what I know now.  I wish someone told me 10 years ago all the mistakes I was making in diet and food.  I wouldn't have destroyed my metabolism nor filled my system with so many toxins (and I am not talking pesticides here).  I wish someone would have done for me what I hope to do for someone else.

DIET - noun - The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
           verb - Restrict oneself to small amounts or special kinds of food in order to lose weight

There is nothing wrong with the noun form of that word, but I LOATHE the verb form of that word.  And no, it's not because I've done it for a lifetime and still have weight to lose, ok, yes it is :)  And because it is a viscious cycle that chained me to obsessing about food.  Not just obsessing about eating it, or not eating it, but everything about it.  From now on I want to focus more on the noun form in my life, that is what most people need to change, not the verb.

Disclaimer - Now I know everyone who reads this blog doesn't have weight to lose, many of you are the perfect weight.  And for those that are, wouldn't you prefer to stay that way?  You may think that eating eating certain foods disguised as healthy is one way to do it, but ultimately, you are also being sabotaged.

The problem with changing one's diet isn't so simple, because there are bazillion dollar weight loss and processed food industries out there to sabatoge you.  It's like with illness, the money is not in the cure, it's in the medicine, so neither want to cure obesity or unhealthy habits, they just want to give you hope that quick fixes, magic pills and sugar-free/fat-free products will do it, while you just lose some weight to gain more back or are left with nagging headaches or irritable bowel and don't know why.  All the while they are getting richer!  It's kind of hard for one person to fight that entire system.  Though honestly, I believe the more we educate people on food, the more chance we build an army, and the better chance we have of winning, at least our own battles.  But I am getting ahead of myself.  I absolutely do not have the means to take down an entire corporate world of food and greed, but I do have the power to not let them control me ever again.

I came to writing this blog because of witnessing some of the younger girls at the restaurant I work at on weekends.  They are all very early 20's, and all trying to get their bodies ready for summer.  They have gone back to the gym (which is never a bad thing), and they have opted not to partake in the restaurant food (even better, if you are someone who works there 6 days a week and eat there 6 days a week!  Eating out is not a sin, but when it becomes the staple of your diet, it is absolutely not healthy...no matter what you think on that menu is healthy, it's nowhere near as healthy as cooking your own meal).  However, to replace those meals they are eating fat-free peach yogurt, grocery store brand granola, Planter's Nut-rition peanut butter, and veggies (good) dipped in fat-free ranch dressing (bad).  Other than the veggies, do you know that every other item they are consuming because they are trying to lose weight has SUGAR or CORN SYRUP in the top 3 ingredients??  They are only hearing "yogurt is good for you, fat-free will make me skinny, peanut butter is good for you," and these are gimmicks they are made to believe.  They are frustrated as to why they aren't losing weight faster (an education for another blog), and they feel like something is wrong with them.  Very unhealthy thoughts being put in the heads of young girls, and I think it is disgusting!

So my main point of this whole blog is this:  Read your labels.  I am not saying you have to go out there and buy all organic, grass-fed, cage-free products.  I'm not saying you have to overhaul your entire families way of eating (though if you can, bravo).  All I am saying is read your labels so that you aren't duped into staying overweight or unhealthy.  If you are anything like me, you have spent tireless hours obsessing over what you are eating and your weight, but it doens't have to be like this.  Stop buying the fat-free/sugar-free food.  Stop restricting your calories - that is the #1 thing you are doing to destroy your metabolism.  Break free of the brainwashing.  Eat real, healthy foods and move more and you will find you feel better, and weight is coming off, and you won't be obsessed or stressed, which is another thing that sabotages weight loss, and I don't just mean emotional stress, severe calorie restriction causes the body massive stress.  Don't fall victim to the corporate greed in food and weightloss, educate yourself on what you are putting in your body to sustain health, stop obsessing and stressing, and eat and move!

Planter's Nut-trition Banana Granola Peanut Butter Ingredients

Trader Joe's Natural Peanut Butter Ingredients  (If you can't get to a TJ's, Smuckers makes a Natural Brand that is just as tasty and healthy, and can be found in your grocery store, in the same section, for maybe a 10 cents more)

30 Day Challenge Wrap Up - FINALLY :)

I know, I know, the 30 Day Challenge was over 2 weeks ago and I am just getting around to typing up the blog that brings it all together...yep, THAT is how busy I have been.  Ok let me be honest, I have had some time in the late evening, but it's season finale time, and that is the only TV I get to watch LOL.  I know it doesn't take much time to say "felt great," "lost some weight," "you should do it," but I really want to say more than that, so that has really been the delay.  Finding the time to put all of my thoughts over those 30 days into a blog has been difficult, but it's here now :)

1. Why I decided to do this challenge...
I created this challenge because I wanted to force myself to make the best decisions for my health.  I had slowly started eating clean 2 months prior to creating this challenge (about 80% clean), but I knew I also needed to incorporate fitness, help fix my broken sleep patterns, and to eliminate the alcohol for at least 30 days.  As I have said before, I have spent most of my life on a diet.  When I was on a diet, I was losing weight (though slowly due to my thyroid issues), and then when I went off the diet, I gained it all back.  I was so incredibly tired of the yo-yoing.  I liked healthy foods, but then diets I followed (weight watchers mostly) would tell me that certain healthy foods were bad for me (avocados, olive oil, nuts, peanut butter, bananas, etc) and of course they were some of my favorites.
My brain was fried by all of the misinformation out there in this weight-loss obsessed country, being super-duped by a billion dollar weightloss industry claiming "sugar-free, fat-free, hydroxicutting, raspberry ketoning, miracle pills" are the answer.  I don't believe them anymore.  They have completely broken my trust and will never get it back because I see through them now.  So why did I do this challenge?  The diet industry is my ex-boyfriend, and I was hell bent on proving I could live better and healthier without him!!!  This challenge proved to me that eating wholesome foods and incorporating fitness into my life made me feel better than any alcohol buzz, gave me more energy than any pill, and made me feel like I was being good to myself which made me feel better physically and emotionally.

2. What I liked about the challenge...
I liked a lot about this challenge.  Cooking is one of my favorite things to do, and well, you need to cook when not eating out for a month lol.  But I have always loved to cook and over the years have become quite good at it.  I liked the accountability.  While I felt bad making you read my daily meals, I did like that I was accountable for what I was eating because I was sharing it with you.  Someone said to me after the challenge, "well you could have lied about what you were eating, that's not really accountability" and that is true, though I took this challenge seriously and never thought of lying, but maybe the accountability was in not lying about what I ate, rather than what I ate...hmmm.  The actual challenge for me was the exercise.  I vowed to go 30 days getting fitness in everyday.  This isn't always realistic with busy lives, but you know what, it's much more doable than one thinks.  AND, I totally realized that getting 4-5 days of fitness a week is absolutely doable.  When I challenge myself, it's kind of like a dare, so I have to make it happen.  I learned that I can workout and don't have to feel bad about being the bigger girl at the gym, we all have to start somewhere.  And I don't have to be shy about what I do know, because while I am still the bigger girl, I know a thing or two.  I don't have to be afraid of Zumba because my thighs jiggle, or I am completely uncoordinated, because I fell in love with Zumba, and I kick its ass, and I will do it 3-4 days a week forever!!!  It's my new boyfriend ;)

3. What I learned I need to improve from the challenge...
BALANCE!!  Yes, I cooked some deicious meals over those 30 days, and yes, I ate completely clean, but looking back over the daily menus, I really need to learn to plan my meals in advance for optimal health, and get balanced.  While my dinners always seem to have the right balance of protein, starch, veggies, my breakfast, lunch and snacks were only so-so, leading my daily balance to be really off.  I am talking for ultimate health, not that eating too much whole grain and not enough veggies in one day is equivilent to downing a large cheese pizza and 6 pack of beer for dinner every night.  I really want to find the healthy balance of fruits & veggies/whole grains/protein/fats on a daily basis.

4. Eating Out and Alcohol...
Honestly, this was not hard for 30 days, but in all reality, part of life is dinner and drinks out with friends.  I did learn after a couple drinks (after the challenge) that I am not as young as I used to be, and alcohol makes me feel horrible for a day or two after having it, so it's something I never thought of going without, but have now decided to have in small quantities, on rare occasions.  I had no problem sipping water or club soda at the bar, though the same cannot be said for those around me, as it was always a topic of conversation lol.  The eating out part blows my mind when I think of the calories/fat/fiber/sodium in the food and portions I cook at home compared with that out.  It's astonishing really.  Where do all of those high numbers come from when food is prepared out.  It's sinful.  But it is a part of life, and I will just try to make the healthiest choices when eating out.  Order those things with the freshest ingredients, prepared in the closest way to home prep as possible.  This may seem like a hard thing to do, and of course there are always times for treats, but bottom line is it is just food.  This challenge taught me that food is fuel for the body, not for the soul, so I no longer look at it as reward or void filling.  That is probably the most mentally rewarding this to come out of this challenge.

5. How I felt (hunger, cravings, energy, deprivation, etc)...
The ultimate surprise for me came in the hunger category.  I thought by reducing my normal portions to healthy sized portions and by eating wholesome foods, I would feel deprived and starving all the time.  To my surprise, it was the exact opposite.  By eating clean, wholesome foods, I never felt hungry.  My body would be hungry after so long, but I wasn't constantly thinking about when I would have my next meal.  Food did not consume my every waking thought, like it did on every diet I have ever been on.  I never considered myself food obsessed until I was on a diet and would be counting down the minutes between breakfast and lunch, and planning out what I would be snacking on later that night.  Some days I had dinner planned before I even took my first bite of breakfast.  While I am onboard with meal planning, it's now for a matter of convenience, not the thought of food.  Other than the one day out of the 30 (visit from mother nature when I had a craving for chocolate and peanut butter) I had absolutely no other cravings.  Not having cravings kept me from even thinking about food.  I don't know if people who don't have health, weight, energy, diet issues ever obsess or think about food, but when you are overweight, or on a diet, it tends to be all you think about, at least for me...so this was such a nice change of pace in life, and I absolutely never felt like I was on a diet.  It's funny, because I remember a phone call from my sister asking me to come out to Yogo for my nephew's lacrosse fundraiser.  I told her I wasn't buying any Yogo, cause I wasn't eating it, but that I would just give him a cash donation and she said "oh that's right, you are still on your diet."  I said, "no, for the first time in a long time I am not on a diet, I have changed my eating habits to a healthier way, and that doesn't include chemically laden milk products covered in sugar" and she said "same thing."  I get it, it may make sense to me, but not to others, they may see eating healthy as a diet, and that is fine, you can define my eating however you want, but to me it's not a diet.  If it is a diet, it's the best one I have ever been on.  My energy was much higher than it has been in a long time (especially since I have hypothyroidism and that just sucks the life out of you).  While I still have sleep issues, they are not as severe as they have been in the past.  I cut the time it took me to fall asleep in half, and averaged only 1/2 of the awakenings I used to (thanks to my FitBit One, I was able to track this).  There is still work to be done in getting a beautiful, full night's sleep, but I am heading in the right direction and believe it is because of my healthy eating and exercise habits.

6.  Weight loss and pants size...
The one that most people are asking about lol.  I dropped a jean/pants size in the 30 days, and also took 14.5 pounds off the scale.  While I believe the first couple pounds are just water, I feel smaller in my stomach and rear-end than I did.  The strange thing is that in the 2 weeks since the 30 days challenge ended, I have not lost nor gained an ounce.  This would be utterly fantastic if I was at a weight I was happy with, but I still have about 35 pounds to lose.  I am not sure if it is because I have only been exercising about 4 days a week, as opposed to the 7, or if I am taking in too many calories or not enough calories, so that is my next mission.  I don't want to live a life of calorie counting, but I may take 2 weeks to figure out what my average daily intake is and tweak it to optimize my calorie expenditure.  So that I can safely lose the remaining weight I would like to lose.  I am fine with 4-5 pounds a month.  The good news with this is that while I have continued to eat clean, I did have 3 meals out, that included 2-3 drinks, and I was able to maintain the weight loss I had achieved, because all of my other meals were healthy and clean.  This is the perfect situation for maintenance of weight loss.  Had this been just another diet, I would have gained all of that weight back by now.

7.  Wrap-up and where I go from here...
I am very glad I did this challenge.  I know more about the foods that fuel me and make me feel good, and are healthy for me.  I have learned a lot and am more than happy paying it forward, but I also know that there are friends out there that need to follow their own path and their own journey, so I don't want to be that person that pushes my way of life onto them.  I hope my experience helps, but from here on out you will not find me telling you how to live your life.  You may ask me if I know what is healthy and what the best course of action is, and I would be happy to give you the info I have obtained, but I promise not to butt into your plans for your health (unless I am 100% they are horrible to your health and you need to know lol).  I had a conversation with a friend one night and she told me she was taking OTC pills, and they were ok because they were all natural and I told her she was wrong (just because the bottle says all natural, does not mean they are all natural, unfortunately) and she seemed kinda pissed at me, I felt maybe she felt I was acting like a know-it all when I had no right to, as I still have weight to lose, so I apologized and let it go, and promised from that point on that I will not infringe on someone else's journey, regardless of my opinion.
The 30-day challenge is over, but my blog and journey toward great health is not.  I also still LOVE to cook, so be prepared for recipes and mini-challenges I throw at myself.  I know this isn't a cutting edge blog or page, I mean come on, I only have 54 likes, but I am really happy that those that do like my page and read my blogs take the time to do so.  You keep me motivated!!  So thank you very much!!!!


Creepy picture time!!!!

Day 29 and 30 recap...

So, I know you haven't heard from me since last Tuesday, and I have been asked for my round-up of the 30-day challenge, but I have been so busy I have not been able to put my thoughts together clearly.  I have finally found the time!!!  I'll start off with the recaps of the food and exercise from day 29 and 30, and will then open a new post with my summation of the 30-day challenge.

Day 29 -

Exercise - 1 hour of Zumba after work (liked this new instructor)

Breakfast - Green Smoothie
Lunch - 4 oz leftover flank steak with avocado on whole wheat tuscan pane bread
Snack - almonds
Dinner - Chicken baked in lemon and butter, with herbs,  Mashed Cauliflower and sauted onions

Day 30 -

Exercise - 2.5 mile walk jog

Breakfast - 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp fruit spread
Lunch - avocado chicken salad with 2 slices tuscan pane bread
Dinner - Leftover Baked Chicken with cauliflower mash

Sorry

I'm sorry guys, just been so busy!  I have a 30 day challenge recap coming along with an aftermath post coming your way. The delay is I want to get so much in...will definitely post tomorrow!!!

Day 28 recap...and a note about the Irish Colcannon

So we're winding down on this 30-day challenge, and I'm kind of glad, because I feel like I am taking so much time posting what I ate, rather than sharing with you all the wonderful foods and recipes...and my thoughts and how I feel, etc.  We will get to that on this blog once this 30-day challenge is complete.  I suppose on Thursday I will have a round-up blog to discuss everything I experienced through these 30-days.  What was easy, what was hard, if I lost any weight, how I will incorporate fitness into my daily life outside of the challenge, etc.  I'm looking forward to writing that blog.  For now, I leave you with my recap of Day 28...meaning today I am on Day 29, and this challenge is complete as of 7:00 p.m. tomorrow evening!!  (after Zumba of course lol)

Breakfast - leftover feta salad (it's what I felt like eating lol)
Snack - 11 raw almond and 5 dried organic turkish apricots
Lunch - salad of veggies and tuna with basalmic vinegar and olive oil
Snack - 1 brown rice cake with olive brushetta
Dinner - 4 oz flank steak with sweet potato colcannon (sort of)
Snack - cup of Kale Crisps (I made using the uncooked kale from dinner)

About the Irish Colecannon - if you don't know what Irish Colcannon is, you have been severely deprived (I'm kidding, but really).  Since I am the middle child of 2 born and raised Irish folk, I was given this deliciousness often.  It is never made as a first night's dinner, it is the product of the leftovers of a good Corned Beef and Cabbage or Ham and Cabbage dinner.  I prefer the corned beef to the ham, but that's primarily because I don't eat much pork.  Anyway, the day after a delicious dinner of CB/Ham and Cabbage with Mashed Potatoes you take all of the leftovers and mix them together (yes, the meat, cabbage and mash) and put them in a frying pan.  Let the bottom crisp a little bit and flip them over (it falls apart, but that's ok) and basically, you have your colcannon.  Is it traditionally Irish, I don't know, I'd have to ask my folks, but it's all I ever knew of Colcannon.  So I saw on www.thegraciouspantry.com that she had a recipe for Irish Colcannon, but using sweet potatoes, kale, leaks and light coconut milk to mash the potatoes.
This was absolutely NOT Irish Colcannon, or anything in the realm of Colcannon.  But it was tasty ;)
First of all, by adding the coconut milk to the mash potatoes, they became extremely liquidy, not at all the texture of true mashed potatoes, therefore, would not brown in the pan.  I was also missing the flavor of the cabbage.  Kale doesn't really omit the same flavor and texture (even when reduced) that cabbage does.  But all in all, it was a very tasty side dish, but I would never, ever call it colcannon.  So I do thank the Gracious Pantry for the recipe.  Now I am determined to find a way to make a colcannon on my own, but clean!

Avocado Chicken Salad Recipe

I found my new favorite thing in food! lol  This recipe was seriously the easiest thing ever, and it tasted so good.  You don't even have to love avocado I don't think so anyway, but I do, so maybe I'm not the best judge!  I just don't really taste an avocado taste from this, probably from the seasoning, just a creamy texture, much like mayo does for regular chicken salad.

There are 2 easy ways to do this.  You can cook boneless, skinless chicken breasts and either shred or cut them up (I love to cook chicken breast in my crockpot and then they easily shred), or you can by a can of chicken, just make sure you read the ingredients to verify it's clean, and give it a rinse in a mesh strainer.

For 2- 4 oz chicken breasts I used 1 whole avocado.  For a can of chicken you would only need 1/2 an avocado. 

Mix avocado and chicken, sprinkle with salt, garlic powder and onion powder, mix some more and you are done!  This would even be really nice in a scoop on top of a salad!  I wanted a sandwich, so I toasted some whole wheat tuscan pane (I buy 2 loaves a month and put them in the freezer, it's my favorite clean bread), added the salad and topped with some tomatoes.  This was seriously good!!

Weekend Recap (25, 26 and 27)

Once again a crazy weekend keeps me from blogging.  I really would like to have a nice relaxing weekend one of these months...hopefully soon.  I posted on my facebook page about the clean eating avocado chicken salad I made, boy was that delicious, I could eat it everyday!!!!  Super easy, and filling and tasty.  I was so busy this weekend.  Friday I worked and then went right to the local community college to witness my friend's daughter win the Communication Major of the Year Award.  So proud of her, she did an awesome job running that show, and then to top it off won the votes to win the award.  So needless to say, I didn't get much activity in.  But I made up for that on Saturday by doing 2.5 mile walk/jog, some exercise with 2lb weights and a busy shift at Chili's (where I clocked over 10,000 steps in less than 4 hours!)  I went out Saturday night and had some fun and then back to work on Sunday.  My eating was not exactly balanced this weekend, but it was all clean.  I think I may have had a touch of something, because I wasn't very hungry, and felt a little nauseous, but if that was the worst of it, I think I did ok :)

Day 25 -
Breakfast - 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 tbsp of strawberry fruit spread
Lunch - mixed green veggie salad with 1/4 cup tuna, sunflower seeds, egg and basalmic and oil
Snack - banana
Dinner - leftover salisbury steak and cauliflower puree

Day 26 -
Breakfast - 2 eggs scrambled with sauteed onion and feta cheese, 2 strips center cut bacon and 1 slice tuscan pane toast with butter
Lunch - Avocado Chicken Salad with Al Mak crackers and some fresh mango
Dinner - The same as lunch, it was the only thing I felt like eating.

Day 27 -
Breakfast - 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 tbsp of strawberry fruit spread
Lunch - leftover mushroom strogonoff
Dinner - Avocado Chicken Salad on 2 slices of tuscan pane toast with grape tomatoes and baby carrots (I was in no mood to cook after the busy weekend I had!)

I think the testament to me here is that I work at a restaurant every Saturday and Sunday, and while Chili's has healthier options, I vowed not to eat out for 30 days, and I never gave in.  Even though I was in no mood to cook Sunday night, I found something easy to prepare and very tasty...and ate at home :)

Day 24 Recap...

So I am done 24 of 30 days of this challenge, and you know what, other than some red wine I am not missing anything!  There are clean red wines I can have, or non-clean in moderation, but for this challenge I set my goal for no alcohol.  The food is satisfying, and because I feel so good, I am set!  I think when the challenge is over (or until I find a new one...omg) I will mostly be posting recipes I try and like, or make up and like.  I won't let this page become a bore, or get more boring, I promise lol

Breakfast - 1/2 cup cottage cheese with 1 tsbp strawberry fruit spread

Lunch - leftover farro salad

Snack - 2 stalks of celery with natural peanut butter

Dinner - the fabulously delicious recipe I just posted right before this blog!!  Salisbury Steak in mushroom gravy with creamy cauliflower puree.  Really my favorite recipe I have tried in the past few months!

Exercise was an hour Zumba class!!  The instructor was the leg lady, so I did a lot of squats!!!

RECIPE - Salisbury Steak and Cauliflower Puree

I had not planned out what I was having for dinner when I woke up yesterday, but I knew I was safe enough because I had lean ground beef and chicken defrosted in the refridgerator.  I happened to check my email at somepoint in the early afternoon, and in an email from ziplist recipes was a recipe for Salisbury Steak in mushroom sauce from Skinnytaste.com.  This sounded interesting.  I took a look at it, and for the most part it was very healthy, though I wanted to make it absolutely clean.  So I had to make my own breadcrumbs, but honestly, that took 3 minutes...the hardest part about it is putting the food processor in the dishwasher!

Within the recipe on Skinnytaste was a recipe for cauliflower puree, which is such a healthy substitute for mashed potatoes, and what goes better with Salisbury Steaks than mashed potatoes!!!  (Maybe a good mac and cheese, but I'm from an Irish family, we always think potatoes first!)

The inspiration comes from Skinnytaste.com, so I have provided the link, as you may be eating leaner, but not clean and want to take it straight from there.

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/01/skinny-salisbury-steak-with-mushroom.html

How I changed it up was I cut the recipe in half, as far as the meat and what goes in the meat.  I used only lean ground beef.  I made the same amount of gravy as her recipe calls for.  I also made my own breadcrumbs.  Even with my little changes, this is completely Gina's recipe (from Skinnytaste), and I thank her so much for it.  If you are eating clean, here is my recipe for homemade breadcrumbs, and you should be able to follow Gina's recipe for the rest!
Also, if you are not a fan of mushrooms, you can make the gravy without, just maybe add a little extra flour to thicken it...Or use onions or peppers, it's versatile!

Homemade breadcrumbs (makes about a cup)

2 slices clean, whole wheat bread (I used my TJ's tuscan pane)
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Toast the bread in your toaster, make sure you give it a good toast, very crispy, but not burnt.
Let it cool for a few minutes, then break it up into your food processor or blender.  Add the other ingredients and pulse until the desired consistency.  There you have it, super easy!  And these bread crumbs can be freezed for up to 6 months!

For the cauliflower puree, I had also gotten this recipe from Gina (Skinnytaste), but over a year ago.  It is really a great substitution for mashed potatoes.  The texture is the same, though the cauliflower can be a little looser.  Obviously they don't taste 100% the same, but since cauliflower is one of my favorite veggies, I don't mind at all.  It's worth trying to trick someone :)

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/creamy-cauliflower-puree.html

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.  The flavor of the steaks and gravy was so good!!

Day 23 Recap

Yesterday was a crappy day!!!  I was so busy at work it was insane.  I bet I fit about 13 hours of work into the 8.5 hours I was there.  Planned to go to a Zumba class in the evening, but that didn't work out.  Though I did do a 2.5 miles walk/jog.  So I still got the fitness in, and will be going to Zumba tonight.  There really is something to be said about this exercise, cause while I weighed myself this morning for the first time in over a week, the scale hadn't budged in that time, yet all of my clothes are loose and I have had quite a few people ask me if I have lost weight.  Must be toning or increasing some muscle, and I am ok with that.  The number on the scale will never again define who I am or what I feel.  I feel great on the inside and am liking the strength I am feeling and the way my clothes are fitting.  Ok, actually that last part is not true, my jeans are falling off my butt, and that's doesn't look great, but no more muffin top haha!!

I took care of a lot of leftovers on Day 23, so there is nothing too exciting with my meal plan, but I show my snack for a sweet craving ;)

Breakfast - 1/2 cup Trader Joe's brand cottage cheese, 1 tbsp TJ's clean strawberry spread

Lunch - leftover Farro Salad

Snack - 14 almonds and a banana

Dinner - 6 oz salmon with sauteed onion and broccoli, with a slice of tuscan pane toast with light spread of avocado

Snack - 1 piece of 72% cacao dark chocolate with natural peanut butter, 2 strawberries and fresh pineapple.  This peanut butter is so good.  I got it at the Williamstown Farm Market where they make it right there. 

Farro Salad Recipe

Farro?  What is farro?  Don't be afraid of this grain you don't know, it is absolutely delicious and has many health benefits!!  Also, this super easy recipe tastes great when you use any grain, so if you have dietary restrictions, or need gluten free, feel free to adapt it to your diet.  I recommend, and prefer the farro because of its chewy texture and nutty flavor, but I have made the same recipe with bulgar wheat and couscous and it is also very delicious.  We need more salad recipes around now that summer is coming!  This also holds up a lot better than mayo based salads.  If anything, the flavors come out even more when it has a chance to sit.  Also, feel free to add/omit/change any of the veggies I used with your own likes!  It is an extremely versatile recipe!

So, first thing is first - What is Farro?
Often used as a substitute for pasta or rice, farro is a grain with a nutty flavor similar to brown rice and a texture close to barley. It is rich in fiber, magnesium and vitamins A, B, C, and E.
Farro may seem trendy, but it's actually ancient. It was first domesticated 10,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent, has been found in Egyptian tombs, and is believed to have sustained the Roman legions. Today, farro grows in the central and northern Italian regions including Lazio, Umbria, and Tuscany. Historically, these were impoverished areas, and the longevity of its people is sometimes attributed to farro.

I honestly learned about Farro from Giada DeLaurentiis, and it made me curious.  You can find it in Shoprite (Great Earth makes a really good brand) in the rice aisle, by the couscous.  This is, of course, unless I have bought them out of it!! LOL  You should be ok now, as I have found it at Trader Joe's and don't feel the need to hoard it anymore.

Ingredients -
1 and 1/2 cups dry farro
medium pot of water to boil farro
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 cucumber
about 15 grape tomatoes
2 cups spinach
1 leek sliced (or half an onion diced)
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
parsely (big handful of fresh, chopped or 1 tsp dried)
salt and pepper

I chop all the veggies (except parsley) and put them in a bowl, add the feta.  Cook the farro according to directions, drain.  I like to let the farro cool before tossing, but it's not important.  This salad can be eaten warm, cold or room temperature.
Toss the veggies/cheese and the farro together.  Toss well, add olive oil and lemon juice and continue to toss.  Add parsley, salt and pepper. Toss and enjoy!

Day 22 Recap

I will be brief in this recap today, because I want to get to posting the recipe for the farro salad I made last night!  I love it...healthy, filling and tasty!!  Yesterday was a busy day at work, and I was hungrier than most days, though I didn't go off track, just ate a little more (eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored!).

Exercise was 40 minutes of Zumba at home.  I own Zumba Fitness.  While ok, it is definitely not as fun as doing it in a class!

Breakfast - 2 slices whole wheat tuscan pane toast with 1 small avocado mashed with salt, onion and garlic powder

Lunch - leftover garlic shrimp stir-fry over quinoa

Snack - 1/4 cup raw cashews and 1/4 cup dried turkish apricots

Dinner - 6 oz baked herbed salmon with farro salad
(Salmon is not burnt in that picture, it is beautifully seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, dried basil and dried parsley!)

Snack - 1 square 72% cacao dark chocolate with tsp natural peanut butter (I wanted it!)

That late night snack wasn't so much a craving for sweet as I just really wanted some chocolate and peanut butter lol  At least I kept it clean and in moderation...absolutely nothing wrong with that!