Workout
Well my day improved a lot after a good workout!! I did 30 minutes on the Stairmaster (they flew by with a good magazine!) plus another 16 on the elliptical. My chest and arms are really sore from my pull-ups and dips yesterday, so just cardio today. 380 kcal burned 8)
But geez,
College kids + rainy day + New Years resolutions + afternoon = quite a crowded gym. I could barely find a machine.
Just another perk to going to 5:30 in the morning!
Wine Time!
After we were home and showered, we put the soup on and made the bread dough to rise/cook while we went to a wine bar with my mother-in-law (we turned the burners off before leaving though but left the soup to absorb/simmer in its own heat). We had a great time! This bar has 2 oz portions (“tastes”) that you can order instead of full sized glasses. Perfect portions for someone small and sensitive like me! And who wouldn’t rather try more kinds of wine?! I had a 2 oz taste of a chardonnay and a zinfandel. Superb! BUT, as I was leaving for the bar, I didn’t see a need to take a purse or anything since we wouldn’t be gone long and I wasn’t driving or paying, so I forgot my camera!! Whoops! MIL and husband split a bruschetta and I had 2 bites – they were pretty oily but were small. Just picture 2 little glasses of wine and a little bread with tomatoes on top!
Cocktail hour calories: ~160
Dinner
Once home, I had a virgin tonic and lime while the husband had beers. I had two sips of beer, for the record 🙂
For dinner, I put this soup together after seeing an inspiration recipe online. It was modeled after a soup with lots of ground turkey, barley, lentils and tomatoes. I thought my version was great! It could have used more turkey, but we only had 4 oz so the turkey was more of a surprise ingredient than a major player.
Recipe:
- 4 oz ground turkey (could use much more!)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 5 oz brown lentils
- 3 oz red lentils
- 5.5 oz pearl couscous (the big balls in there – you could use little pasta shells or barley)
- 1 can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cups vegetable broth + 2 more cups of water
- Thyme, S and P to taste
Brown meat in olive oil with garlic. De-glaze with broth. Add all other ingredients. Simmer for an hour or so on low. Makes about 6 portions. Roughly 250 kcal for 1.5 cups? (I had 350 grams of the 2,600+ gram batch). We have plenty of leftovers!
On the side, the husband made some wheat and flax rolls, which he flattened into little buns. They were great! Mine was 1.75 oz cooked, ~ 130 kcal. We’ll have ham sandwiches on these again later this week!
Dinner calories: ~380
Movie + Dessert
After dinner we watched the movie Shattered. Scary! Mid-way through I had hot tea.
And then a little later the husband brought out the chocolate box. I asked him to bring me one.
Husband, “Do you want me to weigh it?”
Me, “Sure. And can you snap a quick photo for the blog, please!?”
This is what I found on my camera, so cute!
Recap
Total Sunday calories: ~1600 (1700 if you count the small samples at the grocery store)
-380 from afternoon workout (plus a little more if you could an hour of walking during shopping)
= net of 1220 (either way)
Tomorrow’s another fun day off of work! It’s supposed to be bright and sunny! We’re going running first thing. I’ve got steel cut oats soaking on the stovetop so they take less time to cook in the AM. I’ll catch up on questions then – I’m zonked!
the husband says
Some people were asking how to make hummus without adding too much tahini. Personally I'm not crazy about tahini, so I view it more as a factor in consistency than flavor. I think a good solution to hummus is reserving the starchy water you drain away from the beans. Unfortunately, I don't know how that affects the calories – I would think the measurements on the label include the juice but who knows for sure?
If the consistency of your hummus is still not creamy enough, the next stop would be liquidy, low-cal additions for flavor – hot sauce, mustard, vinegar, roasted red peppers (they have all that water inside and on them), chipotle peppers (also quite mushy = liquid), lemon/lime juice.
Also, chickpeas are much drier than navy beans or great northerns, so try those for a change. Plus I prefer the taste!
And if you're really feeling adventurous, you could go for some baba-ganoush (sp?) by adding some cooked eggplant. That stuff is pure bulk with very little calories!
Hummus is great because once you get your beans pureed, plus a little salt and pepper, the options are limitless. Have a basic idea of what flavors you want and then start adding those, keeping the consistency as a secondary goal. That's usually the easy part.
Tina says
Kath~ how did you tell yourself to begin eating healthy and stick with it? I can't do it! I have no self control. I keep telling myself that I'll start tomorrow, but then I keep putting it off. Writing down what I eat isn't helping either. I need someone to kick my butt into gear!!
Liz says
Tina- great question! That's totally me, too. Kath, I used to eat very heathily and exercise, was nice & slim, but over the last 5 years gradually became more lethargic. Now I'm a good 40lbs overweight. I know exactly how to eat well and the kind of exercise I like, and that it makes me feel better, but I just can't work up the self-discipline to do it. How'd you start?
Anouk says
Thats so weird, I watched shattered yesterday too lol. I am maintaining a 30 pound weight loss too.Thank you so much for the great blog, it keeps me inspired every day !
bev says
Does the husband have the receipe for wheat and flax rolls ? By the way Happy New Year
Rae says
Great blog Kath!
I actually just bought some steel cut oats to try this am….mmmm, good. I had the time this morning to cook for 45 mins, but not every day! I saw that you put some out to soak, how does that effect the cooking time? Thanks!
Rae
Kath says
Tina and Liz,
Willpower is overrate. I FIRMLY believe in the out-of-sight-out-of-mind reasoning. Get ALL the junk food out of your house right now. Not even the dark chocolate or low-fat ice cream until you know you can have just one bite. Fill your fridge with fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains and find some good recipes to get excited about. Do not go out to eat if you can help it and try new things at home to cook. If you have parties planned, don't go starving and have a plan before you get there. Avoid alcohol because it leads to overeating (or it does for me!).
The more you can set yourself up for eating healthy, the easier it is. Make good decisions when you're having cravings (like not buying the tempting groceries in the first place) and then they won't be there to eat.
Write down everything you eat, even if it's just on a post-in note. A food diary will increase Accountability and Awareness and make you think twice before putting another chocolate in your mouth. Plus, lots of research shows that food diaries lead to great success.
That's all I got for now!
Rae,
I hoped soaking them would reduce the cooking time like it does for dried beans, but I don't think it made much difference. The heat must be the secret, which may be why mine were such a small portion?
Kath
the husband says
WHEAT and FLAX ROLLS:
100g wheat flour
150g bread flour
15g ground flax
4g sugar
3g salt
4g yeast
~6oz warm water
1qt water
-put 1qt of water on stove set to high
-put 6oz of water in microwave for 30 seconds
-mix all dry ingredients
-add water to dry ingredients in 1oz increments while mixing (between additions, mix at least 2 minutes because there's nothing worse than realizing you've put too much water in, and then you have to add more flour, and is this going to mess up the proportions? etc – YOU LIKELY WILL NOT USE ALL OF THE WATER)
-knead for 15 minutes
-pour boiling quart of water into a container and place on bottom rack of oven
-put dough into a bowl and place on a rack above the other rack
-let rise for 45 mins in the steamy oven
-fold over, form into 6 balls, and gently roll into 5in discs
-place discs on baking sheet, and back in the oven with the same warm water as before (no need to reheat it)
-let rise for 30 mins
-take out dough, cut small slashes (not too deep), also take out quart of water and discard
-preheat to 400*
-bake for ~20 mins
When I'm making any kind of bread, I love using the steamy oven to rise the bread – it's paradise for yeast! And if you have time, you can rise it two or three times for a taste that edges towards sour-dough. Just remember that each consecutive rise will take longer as the water cools. I know all this seems like a lot of effort, but bread making requires some practice and I think this is the best method. Hope to hear about your success!
bev says
Thanks husband for the roll receipe . I will try it .