Procrastinators Unite!

Yeah... so that wedding cake for Saturday...
I didn't get it started last night. Last night, I got home late from work, got things organized, watched Glee, & then went to bed. *sigh*
So, I've got the little tier all baked. A pan for the center tier is currently in the oven. I've got batter for one more pan for the center tier mixed that needs to be cooked tonight. I had a minor oven malfunction... and lost a pan of the large tier. Note: always check the knob of the oven when you are working near it. That way, when you manage to knock it up by 100 degrees, you'll notice BEFORE you burn a big layer of a wedding cake! *grr*
The Roomie has decreed that both the lemon poppyseed & chocolate layers are yummy (I made cupcakes from left-over batter). I had a teeny-tiny taste of both, to verify flavor, but wasn't tempted by any more than that. Even though they are VERY good. ;-)

Dinner tonight was simple, since I knew I was going to be in the kitchen all night. I put Spicy Turkey sausages in the FlavorWave & baked fresh cut sweet potato fries with a spray of olive oil & dash of salt in the oven (to pre-heat it for the cakes, you know).

So. Other than the nibbles of cake tonight, I have eaten completely Clean all week!
Tomorrow is my weigh-in, and hopefully we'll see some results from this new way of eating.

Off my rocker...

But, I guess there's nothing new there. :-)
Today at work was a crazy day... But, I kept my office door shut most of the day, which cut down on the amount of random visitors, which increased my productivity immensely! Of course, I was so swamped that I managed to miss one of my snack times. *sigh* What can ya do?

Dinner tonight was steak & zucchini. Easy-peasy.
The hubby has gone to Chicago for the week, so I'll only be cooking for Sue & myself... But *shrug* guess that means more left-overs for lunch!

I think I'm about to run into one of my biggest challenges so far in the Clean Eating process... I make cakes and I have a wedding cake that has to be made for this Saturday. Cake smells sooooo good when it's baking! And my cake is awesome. I'm going to have a really hard time not eating cake scraps...

Another day and a shiny kitchen

So, today, I decided I was totally tired of looking at my over crowded, messy kitchen. I spent many hours today arranging, tossing, washing, rearranging, mopping, and tidying. It's MUCH better now. (But still not organized like I want it... but it'll do for now.)

Dinner tonight was acorn squash & wild salmon. I baked the squash, and cooked the salmon on my FlavorWave.

Oh, FlavorWave, how I love thee!
This is seriously the absolutely bestest small kitchen appliance I've ever purchased. (And I'm like the queen of small kitchen appliances...) We use it all the time. No extra grease, fat, or anything. Everything cooks up moist or crisp as wanted. Just awesome. I adore that I can toss frozen meat onto it and it cooks in fairly short order.
This is the one we have:

We've had it for about 5 years... When trying to find a link for it, it looks like this model isn't for sale anymore. Now there's a "Turbo" one that's being hawked by none other than Mr T! Too funny... Flavor Wave Turbo
I don't work for the company, I've not been given anything for free, I'm just a super-satisfied customer.
Hmmm... now about that "Kitchen Powerstick System"...

Don't go away angry... just go away!

Okay, *deep breath* stupid work... I'm on call this weekend... and I ended up putting in about 7 frustrating hours making phone calls & meeting with a family. (I'm a Hospice Admission Coordinator.)
But, this meant I was running around, and not eating every 3 hours like I'm supposed to. So, I ended up going to the grocery store HUNGRY.

BUT!! I'm so proud of me! While I loaded up on wayyy more food than I had intended... It was ALL fruit, veggies, & fish! :-D
I didn't even walk down any of the processed food aisles!

Dinner tonight was asparagus and flounder with fresh mango/peach salsa.

I do have to say, though. I don't think I like flounder. It's weird.
I ended up cooking it probably 3 times as long as I have to cook salmon. Every time I checked it, it was oddly squishy! Anyone with more fish experience than me have any idea what the heck happened?? It was like fish pudding the first time I tested it. *shudder* When we finally decided it was done, while I know it was cooked through, it had a strange 'mashed potatoes' consistency.

At least the mango/peach salsa was good!

Dinner

Taking inspiration from Nibuca, I decided to make stuffed peppers for dinner.
Sooo good!

Stuffed Peppers (3 servings)             3 Jenni-o Hot Turkey Sausages             1 1/2 cup cooked Quinoa             1 cup shredded fresh zucchini             3/4 cup Muir Glen tomato sauce             spices to your taste             1/4 cup fresh parmesan             3 red bell peppers Blister the peppers (gas grill for a few minutes to blister up the skin, then into a ziploc to sweat) Heat oven to 450 degrees. In a non-stick frying pan, empty the sausages out of the casings (throw the casing away) and cook with the quinoa, zucchini, & tomato sauce. I used some fresh garlic, cumin, & oregeno as spices. Remove the skin from the peppers (Having never done this before, this was not nearly as easy as Nibuca's post made it out to be... but, maybe the hubby didn't get enough blister on them...), cut the tops off & remove the seeds. Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers, and put them upright (as much as you can) into an oven dish. (I used a pyrex bread pan for 3 peppers.) Sprinkle the cheese over the peppers & cook in the 450 oven for about 15 minutes. Serve up and enjoy!

According to my SparkPeople recipe calculator, each serving is:

Calories: 395

Fat: 12.8g

Carbohydrates: 47.1g

Protein: 24.5g

Today!

Yay! Day 2 of my blog! Go me. :-)

First off - I have discovered today that lemon juice, crushed red pepper, dill weed, & a bit of Parmesan cheese make a REALLY GOOD marinade for chicken.

Okay. This morning was my weigh/measure day...

I lost 1.8 lbs this week. Not fabulous... but also not too shabby, considering I ate really poorly the first part of the week & my monthly visitor arrived.

So, I've discovered a not-so-happy-making thing about losing weight... Apparently, losing 30 pounds can cause your body to "rediscover" PMS! Joy. Monday & Tuesday were NOT pleasant days. For me, or for anyone around me!

Back to measurements, though:

This week's food - 9/21 to 9/22

This week started out eating... not well. I have been having a lot of stress...

But! Yesterday, I decided to start "Eating Clean". So, this week's food is going to be showing a bit all over the place. :-)

Water consumption is a given. I drink a minimum of 80 oz a day. It's a habit.

My food behind the jump:

My road to less of me...

So. I'm going to try blogging. Again.

I've never really been good at keeping up a blog, but I think I need just that little bit more of a push with my weight loss journey.

I've been actively working on losing weight (this time) since the beginning of June. Since then, I've lost just over 30 pounds! (Yay!) I've done this by using SparkPeople and tracking everything I put in my mouth. It's amazing how much easier it is to say 'no' to that cake or those doughnuts in the office kitchen when you're making yourself accountable. And, for the most part, no doughnut is going to taste good enough to offset your weight loss.

Beginning yesterday, I started "Eating Clean". It's really not much of a change to how I've been eating... but I'll apparently be saying 'buh-bye' to my Papa Murphy's pizza. I'm mostly okay with that... it's not like I can't have pizza anymore; I'll just have to make it myself with whole wheat crusts, ect. Not too big of a deal. :-)

My goal for this blog is to write SOMETHING in it every day. Even if it's just a sentence or two. We'll see how that goes.

My current weight loss goal is to get to 250 pounds by Halloween. I joined a Challenge on SparkPeople a few weeks back to lose 10% of your weight by October 31. My 10% will take me to 250.

I started my weight loss journey in June at @295#. My next weigh-in is tomorrow, but as of my weigh-in last Thursday I was at 265.4#

Okay... I've got to finish getting ready for work...

Anyway, welcome to anyone who decides they want to follow my journey! Thanks for being here, I appreciate all the support I can get!