Superfood of the Week: Blueberries

So staring today, I thought I'd start a weekly feature to highlight some of the foods I've been incorporating into my daily meals and why they're so great.

 

Today's Superfood: Blueberries

Blueberries are packed with antioxidants and Vitamin C, high in fiber, and an excellent source of Manganese which aids in converting proteins, carbohydrates, and fats into energy.

Plus they're so pretty!

Did you know there is a blueberry council? http://www.blueberrycouncil.org/

Fun Fact: This year celebrates the 100th Anniversary of the First Commercial Crop of blueberries in the US. Elizabeth White of New Jersey was determined to grow a flourishing industry for cultivated blueberries and with the help of USDA botanist Frederick Coville, she went on to identify the desirable properties of blueberries and crossbreed the plants to create the blueberries we know and love today!

Elizabeth White

Personally I was never a fan of blueberries until recently. But I've since changed my tune and now that blueberries are in season, I've been enjoying them daily with my yogurt.

But there's so much more you can do!!
Of course you can throw them in pancakes, make them into jams and syrups, and of course they're great in salads, pies and muffins.

But what about a Savory Blueberry Pizza?

Or how about  Chicken thighs with Blueberry Sauce?

OMG I'm getting hungry...

I love the combination of sweet and savory for my taste buds; and the blueberry is the perfect fruit to experiment with! Burgers, steak, salmon, pork...all great choices to try adding blueberries to the recipe. 

Do you have a favorite blueberry inspired recipe?

Share it in the comments!

Spaghetti Pie and Playing Hooky at the gym

Last week was a good week all around for me. Aside from reaching some fitness milestones, I felt quite good physically and mentally. And feeling good tends to hit the ambitious button.

I had gotten a container of Tofu when food shopping a couple of weeks ago, and had yet to use it. When I bought it, it was more to try a new filling food as per my WW meeting challenge. Of course I did this without having any inkling of what to do with it.

So as I'm trying to decide what to have for dinner Wednesday night, I remembered the Tofu sitting unloved in my fridge. I began to look up recipes for ideas, but everything I was finding had ingredients that I did not have and did not feel like venturing to buy. (Hoisin sauce?)

Until I found it. Spaghetti Pie.

Actually it's called Mama Mia Vegetable Pie - a Weight Watcher's Recipe. Well, I still didn't have all the ingredients it called for, but these were easily substitutable. Here's the original recipe with the substitutions I made

	1 tsp olive oil
	1 medium bell pepper(s), chopped (about 1/2 c frozen bell peppers)
	1 small onion(s), chopped (eliminated--onions in sauce)
	3 medium portobello mushroom(s), (equivalent to 1/2 cup) chopped (used frozen zucchini & vegetable medley)
	12 oz canned tomato sauce (one 8oz can tomato sauce, about 1/2 c jarred spaghetti sauce)
	6 oz firm tofu, drained and crumbled
	1 spray(s) cooking spray
	2 cup(s) cooked spaghetti (I used whole wheat-can be leftover, and I didn't measure)
	3/4 cup(s) part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (I used a shredded 3 cheese mix-reduced fat)

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
  
  
• Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add vegetables; sauté until vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce and tofu (be sure to thoroughly drain the tofu before crumbling it up and adding it to the sauce). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer mixture, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
  
  
• Meanwhile, coat a 9-inch-deep pie plate (I used a disposable pie tin) with cooking spray. Arrange spaghetti in bottom and up sides of pie plate. Pour tofu mixture over spaghetti; sprinkle with cheese.
  
  
• Bake for 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before slicing into 6 pieces (Or...4).

The Result???

YUMMY
If I did it again, I might pre-bake the pasta a little in the pan before I throw the mixture on top because it was a little runny after I baked it. But it was Good. And like most pasta dishes, even better the next day! And the next...and the next...

For those of you doing WW, it's 3pts per serving as per the original recipe. I calculated about the same for mine, even with larger pieces because of the whole wheat pasta, and I don't think I used the whole 2 cups.

Playing Hooky...for a workout?
Yesterday I was out most of the day from work for an event. I did not make it to the gym in the morning because I had to be there early, and I tried to prepare for the day by bringing snacks to avoid the pizza they would be serving for lunch. But the banana and yogurt I had did not alleviate the intense hunger brought on by the wafting amazing pizza smell I had to fight. By the time I got back to work at 2pm I was really hungry, had an awful headache, and was drained from the event. Also was really frustrated with the drive back--hitting every light and encountering every idiot on the road.

I immediately had lunch which helped, but shortly afterward, I still didn't really feel well. Kind of a lightheaded/nauseated feeling, and I didn't get proper sleep the night before so I was tired as well. I could not concentrate on anything.

So about 4:30, I left work early letting them know that I wasn't feeling well. Which I honestly wasn't. But instead of going home and going to sleep--which I was debating, I instead grabbed my gym stuff and went to workout. Well, first I went to the movie theater intending to see an early free movie (thank you Optimum!) but had to get tickets to the later showing. THEN I went to the gym.

Aside from the fact that I went to a different Planet Fitness location and felt all disoriented, the fact that it was right after work so it was packed, and the fact that I had to wait 15 minutes or so for a treadmill, I had a great workout. 3 miles on the treadmill at a faster speed than last week.

Then I went to the movies. I saw A Single Man with Colin Firth. It was a little odd, but very good.

I felt so deliciously wicked for doing all of this after going home early. It did help my overall mood and sense of being though. And then we had some lovely snow to accompany me on the way home.

The only mistake I made from this was having two cups of coffee--one to get me to the gym, and the other to get me through the movie. Well, sleep is underrated anyway right? Especially when the adrenaline comes calling.

Until next time

Open Sesame

I've been CRAVING Sesame chicken from Chinese takeout, but 9pts for a cup is ridiculous.

I found this recipe I really want to try:
Lighter Sesame Chicken


But I have no money to buy ingredients (even though most are pretty basic)! Who wants to make it for me????

Boot Camp Day Nine

Wow--the hard work pays off--Sgt Fyt is happy with my progress I hear...now it's full speed ahead to make him and myself proud!

Last night I went food shopping with this whole meal plan in mind: cook once, eat all week. I got some recipes from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine which I have a subscription to but haven't really used since I got it.

Well by the time I got home I didn't have any energy for cooking so I had some cereal and cherries which weren't as sweet as they should have been.

But here are the meals I planned on cooking this week and now have almost all the food for:

• Grilled steak with cherry tomatoes & scallions
• Gemelli pasta with goat cheese & arugula
• Pork chops with cucumber & dill salad

Oh I'm getting hungry just looking at those photos...

Except now I won't be home to cook tonight and now it looks like I won't be cooking tomorrow, Thursday OR Friday. I hope all that food doesn't go to waste (especially based on how much it all cost!!!).

Anyway--Today I'm pretty much on plan, though I haven't had an opportunity to take a walk since the weather's been crummy.

Breakfast: Cereal & milk
Lunch: 1/2 tuna sandwich from yesterday, carrots, cherries, some tortillas
Snack: A few animal crackers may have crossed my path
Dinner: TBD...I'm thinking pizza with lots of veggies

Go-to Dessert

Since I'm not all that much of a cook, I haven't posted too much about food on this blog (other than how I consistently try to get a handle on it...). It's not that I don't enjoy cooking, it's that I don't give myself the time or resources to do it. I'm more of a "what's in the fridge and how do I make it a meal" kind of gal.

And with that I've had my fair share of successes and failures with my meals--not with how they taste, but how many points they end up being.

Last week I made myself some yummy pecan crusted chicken and had it multiple nights with rice or a salad (a la TGI Friday's ridiculously high fat/calorie version), whereas last night I ended up eating in disorganized stages having homemade spinach pie (good but high point), butternut squash baked w/oil & some brown sugar, and cereal from the box.

However, I did have a dessert which I have been enjoying over the past week which I think will become a staple for me. It's quick & low point & gets in my healthy guidelines.
Vanilla yogurt (Dannon Light & fit-2pts for 3/4 cup + 1 dairy serving)
Frozen fruit (.5-1pts depending on quantity and type + 1-2 fruit servings)

No chopping, no baking, easy cleanup...Could it get any easier?

I got a big container of the yogurt so I just scoop it out into a bowl over the frozen fruit. I don't even really let the fruit defrost which gives me the crunch factor I enjoy, plus it takes even longer to eat. In the summer I'll probably have fresh fruit, but until then the frozen is easy and convenient.

I know this is a typical breakfast for many, but Yogurt is more satisfying than ice cream to me and I love the flavors of the fruit, and as they soften, they provide their own syrup for the yogurt.

Hmm, maybe I"ll try throwing some chopped up WW chocolate in there.

Until next time

Monday...for better or worse

Well, it's Monday again. Another weigh-in day...

Actually, I'm not dreading today. Even though I had a pretty dead weekend, I didn't go above my points Saturday or Sunday. And even Friday with the Bowl-a-thon, I was only a few points over. Plus I got in a solid hour of walking on both Saturday and Sunday. That's not to say my food intake was all that great. I did have a bag of microwaved popcorn (94% fat free) when I should have portioned it out. And I had a little bit of a chocolate craving, but the Hershey's miniatures aren't too bad. I sadly did not get in too many fruits & veggies or water the past couple of days, but overall I didn't do too bad.

Plus since I'm starting to see physical results, I'm excited to see if the numbers drop too.

My favorite meal from this weekend was my hamburger & butternut squash fries I made last night after a little too much effort. I mixed the ground meat with teriyaki sauce and dijon mustard and let marinate, then I had it on a WW roll with a slice of FF cheese. Then I decided to use a recipe from the Hungry Girl book for the butternut squash fries which were baked & really good. Though the squash was ridiculously hard to try and cut. And next time I have to keep an eye on the fries a bit more since some of them were extra-extra crispy. But it was yummy. And the whole thing was only 9 points. For a burger & fries--not bad!

I wanted to try another recipe from that book for french toast, but I found my loaf of bread had gotten moldy. Yuck. Next time.

And I learned the process of making egg whites instead of scrambled eggs. I had an egg white & cheese muffin Saturday morning after my walk, and then an egg white omelet w/turkey & cheese & peppers on Sunday. Both were really good. I am just excited that I'm expanding my cooking skills & food selection.

Just a note about a new blog I found from the WW community boards. It is from a member in Minneapolis who is basically doing the same thing I'm doing...but for longer. I figure it's another useful reference and motivational blog to use as I go through my journey.
From Fat to Fit to Forty

So we'll see tonight what the scales say!

Until next time