Starwarsandcupcakes

More liquid salad. (Zuppa tuscana with zucchini added). And my meals for today. I also had some broccoli cheese soup and a special k protein bar for lunch at work. I’ll have rest of the broccoli soup and salad for dinner when I get home.

I used it a lot. When I get cheap produce I dehydrate a lot into work and school snacks. I also use it to make wraps, fruit leather, and beef jerky.

Fish stew, pikliz, and brown sugar milk tea boba. I threw in more epis, tomatoes, and celery into the stew along with onions and peppers when I cooked it. Served over jasmine rice. Also, I’ve somehow convinced myself that soup is just a liquid salad.

I actually finished the book today and I hope she writes a sequel! It’s “Devil of the Deep” by Falencia Jean-Francois She’s a smaller Indy writer so she doesn’t have many books out yet. I immediately started “The Devil Wears Scrubs” by Freida McFadden afterwards. Which brings me to reading books 49 and 50 so far this year. As for the fish stew, the snapper is currently marinating and smells amazing. If you aren’t a garlic fan though it’s probably not for you.

Made refrigerator pickles, dried strawberries, dehydrated bbq zucchini chips, split pea soup, and pikliz (a Haitian pickled slaw) this week. But since I didn’t have lime juice or habanero peppers I used lemon juice and sriracha instead. It’s pretty tasty and I can’t wait to have more with fish stew on Friday. (I’m currently reading a book by a Haitian author and the way she mentions fish stew made my mouth water!) Only ate half the dinner roll but all the soup and half the pikliz.

Finally starting to feel “normal” again with food prep and meals after being in a funk the past few months. Went to a conference a couple weeks ago and this was the lunch. The salmon was good. The rice and soup? Not so much. And I didn’t even grab dessert. 😂

I’m 4yrs out from VSG to RNY and I still find that most bread and flour tortillas sit really heavy. I have better luck with crackers, corn tortillas and toast.

Breakfast- 1/4 c. chocolate pb fit with 1c. oats with 2tbsp cocoa powder made with water snack- 1/2c. cottage cheese, 3/4 frozen blueberries, and a toasted plain mini bagel snack- raita (1/3c nonfat plain Greek yogurt, 1/2c. Diced cucumber with a pinch of salt and garam masala and a smidge of lemon juice dinner- curry seasoned veggies (zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, onions, and garlic) with chicken coconut curry (found in the deli section) Also, bonus calorie count for today as I doubt I’ll eat anything else today.

They look like red globe grapes to me but I could be wrong. Fun fact- Japan has a grape variety that grows to almost the size of your palm! More about Japanese grapes here!

Meals from the last few days- those cheesy stuffing waffles with over easy eggs and griddled tomatoes (clearly didn’t eat it all) cottage cheese mixed with cooked onions, bell pepper, and mushrooms then microwaved with marinara and turkey pepperoni (this I will definitely eat again) lemon poppyseed bread with ricotta, sliced apple, and honey (ate about 3/4 the bread and ricotta) polenta with French onion roasted green beans (a kit from the produce section) and shrimp, onions and tomatoes in veggie broth (the kids had theirs mixed with rice) spicy Thai chili tuna mixed with nonfat yogurt, more reduced sugar Thai chili sauce, and shredded lettuce. Only ate 10 of the Thai chili rice crisps cottage cheese plate with an everything bagel, strawberries, mini bell peppers, tomato slices, and lettuce (ate half the bagel, most of the cottage cheese and peppers and about half everything else)

My kids “mystery box” ‘ed me tonight, so this was dinner- cheesy stuffing waffles (crispy, delicious… recommend), air fryer buttermilk chicken legs, Caesar roasted broccoli, balsamic cucumber and tomato salad. I also used about a tbsp of bbq sauce for my chicken leg Gonna use the leftover waffles for breakfast sandwiches this week Waffles recipe - 1tbsp butter, 1/2 onion finely diced, box of stovetop or similar stuffing mix, 2 eggs, 4oz cheese, vegetable broth to moisten Sautéed onion. In butter until lightly browned. Add a bit of broth to get up any goodness in the bottom of the pan. Pour into bowl with stuffing mix Preheat waffle maker blend eggs with cheese until smooth. Mix into stuffing mix. Add broth until soupy. Don’t worry. After it sits a few minutes it thickens. I think I used 3 cups for 2 boxes. spray waffle maker and scoop in stuffing mix. Used about a cup a waffle. Cook for 6-8 minutes until crispy and delicious.

Lazily written chicken recipe- Ricotta, boneless skinless chicken thighs, spinach, onion, garlic, olive oil (about a tsp), mozzarella, and cheddar cheese. Measure everything else with your heart and judgement. Preheat oven to 350. Heat pan over medium high heat. Mince onion and garlic, chop spinach. add oil to pan. Sautée onion, garlic and spinach until wilted. Add in ricotta and stir until melted. Remove from heat. Stir in mozzarella. Make slits in chicken thighs and stuff with ricotta mixture. Top with shredded cheddar and bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Turn heat up to 425 and cook another 15 minutes until top is bubbly and golden brown in spots (think caramel candy color)

Food for the day so far- Breakfast- cottage cheese oatmeal pancakes with blueberry sauce (frozen blueberries tossed in a bit of cornstarch and water and microwaved until thick and delicious), sautéed onion, bell pepper, and spinach topped with salsa. Oh, and a sugar free mocha coffee with half a vanilla protein shake in it (ate it all) drank the rest of the protein shake later on (not pictured) Dinner- spinach ricotta hasselbeck boneless skinless chicken thighs and a berry salad with homemade balsamic dressing. Before and after pictures included. I did eat several berries and a small piece of chicken before I took my before picture

I did! 😂 I couldn’t stand the thought of eating it anymore so a kid volunteered to eat it. 🤷‍♀️ Ended up eating this instead- 185 calories

This dang 6” sub is gonna make me insane! (Pictures are the after yesterday and after of today) 😭 I did have loaded brisket fries and iced coffee for breakfast/lunch today. Then another iced coffee and about 1/4 cup Parmesan noodles for dinner. Then the sub as a bedtime snack. So maybe 1500 calories today? Most of it was the fries. At 600 calories. A child asked me if I wanted fried eggs with my sub. I declined.

Thank you. It’s been a rough couple of months for us to say the least. I appreciate all the thoughts and prayers and the amount of support family and friends have reached out with as well.

Apparently my body is just stuck in grief mode right now (my sister passed away this past weekend after a lengthy hospital stay) which sucks because I *know* I should be eating but it makes me feel sick. This was dinner and dessert. Dinner- 6” multigrain roasted chicken with fresh mozzarella, banana peppers, tomatoes, double pickles, and spinach with the sweet onion teriyaki sauce on the side. My youngest even helped by taking a big bite! Dessert- Mississippi mud brownies- I took one bite and I was done.

Went to lunch with my mom today. This was the leftovers along with the untouched tortillas I took home. A kid told me it was “a whole dang meal” 😂 it was chicken with mushrooms, onions, spinach and melted cheese with rice, pico and sour cream.

Going pretty well! It’s forcing me to exercise 3 days a week and I dare say I might enjoy it.

Post cardiac rehab brunch- avocado brioche toast and poached egg with sriracha and cucumber also daughter’s bf’s birthday pie- white cranberry juice gelatin with blue spirulina powder added then topped with whipped topping and strawberries in a store bought shortbread crust. Thankfully the gelatin wasn’t overly sweet and the tart was a nice balance. He loved it btw.

Food from the last week- lemon vegetable orzo and garlic cheese breadsticks (ate it all) Sheppard’s pie, roasted red pepper ranch cucumber salad, and fresh pineapple (ate it all) Not quite a frittata but spinach, bell pepper, chili powder caramelized onions, mushrooms, garlic, sharp white cheddar, with rosemary sea salt and saffron infused eggs alongside a slice of brioche toast (ate it all… I think?) The blue cup has light mocha iced coffee in it- drank all that. steakhouse seasoned burgers- mine was on a Hawaiian roll with roasted red pepper mayo, pepper jack cheese, Vidalia onions, banana peppers, and pickles (lettuce and tomato on the side) alongside Parmesan ranch smashed red potatoes. (Obviously didn’t eat it all) Im still not counting calories right now but down another lb so I’m not worried about it.

Life has been nuts the past couple months but I do periodically stalk the pages to get ideas. This was last night’s dinner- espresso bbq roasted chicken thighs, coleslaw, broccoli watermelon, and loaded mashed potatoes. (Chicken thighs marinated in buttermilk, KC bbq rub and espresso rub then topped with more of each and baked at 450F for 35ish minutes)- I’m not currently counting calories as I’m doing cardiac rehab 3 days a week and have lost 25lbs since I’ve had heart surgery that I had gained beforehand (stupid fatigue). Also, went to the museum with my youngest on a field trip today and we grabbed ice cream to share. This is the after from both of us eating it.

A viewing of todays meals (might have dessert later who knows) breakfast- oatmeal with almond powder and strawberries lunch- romaine (cos), tomato, cucumber, and chipotle black beans and the snack also pictured is cottage cheese and strawberries so dinner I made the kids pappardelle with Italian sausage, peppers and onions in tomato sauce, broccoli carrot slaw, and cider vinegar cucumbers. A child claimed the offending pasta so I didn’t eat any. I wanted the peppers and onions more than anything but the broccoli slaw was really good. Go me!

Just placed an order for $118.40US for 2 households (mine and my mom’s) the following- 5 English cucumbers, 3 12pk 12oz of gatorade zero, 4 6pk Diet Pepsi, 1/2 gallon chocolate milk, 1/2 gallon skim milk, Texas toast cheese bread slices, 1 jar Classico pasta sauce, 100ct paper plates, 1 tub sugar free vanilla ice cream, 1 3pk Sargento balance breaks (cheese and almonds), 1 30pk capri sun drinks, 4 red/orange bell peppers, 2 Keebler fudge stripe cookies, a bag of US smarties, 2 6pks viva paper towels, 1 gallon dill pickles, 1 bunch vine ripe tomatoes, 2 broccoli crowns, 1 pint blueberries, 1 skinny pop white cheddar, 2 6oz blackberries, 2 8ct gogurt tubes, and a bag of takis. And I’m absolutely hating that it’s costing that much. 😭 5 years ago it would’ve been half that.

I may have staged the picture but I always have canvas totes to carry it in and kids who enjoy going through the spoils of grocery day. 😂