<p>My concession to this thread was to have the three course dinner instead of the six course testing menu at our anniversary dinner last night. :)</p>
<p>mathmom, we had a big splurge dinner last night for our anniversary too. Kept it low carb until dessert when my husband decided he wanted the brownie with peppermint ice cream and hot fudge sauce. Oh well, we split it 3 ways - brought our son with us since it was his last night at home.</p>
<p>Anyway, I have had good luck with the Dreamfields low-carb pasta. I watch my weight very carefully and it hasn’t caused me to gain. I think it tastes good. I have to have pasta in the summer when my garden is loaded with fresh basil.</p>
<p>Happy Anniversary to Izzie and Mathmom! I wouldn’t have been able to resist the brownie sundae.
I don’t know the last time I ate pasta. It used to be the standard go to meal in our house. For bottled pasta sauce I like Silver Palate. I have not tried any of the low carb or high protein pastas. I think pasta might be one of those items that I can’t add back in my diet. If I have pasta I feel the need to have french bread.</p>
<p>Anniversary calories don’t count. </p>
<p>mom60 - I know what you mean! It was hard to give up the accompanying bread. It is funny how certain foods/drinks go together. For example, the one time I really crave sweets is when I have coffee. I usually don’t have coffee anymore, I went from regular coffee to decaf to no coffee, but when I do have some I immediately think of a nice cookie or muffin or CRUMB CAKE. Preferably from the Italian bakery in our town. So, by eliminating coffee, I have eliminated my desire for sweets.</p>
<p>Bumping up and Friday report - net gain/loss of zero, although I was up a pound earlier in the week. I’ve been off my Wii Fit exercise routine since bringing DH home from the hospital a week ago. We’ve had visiting nurses and PT almost every day so I just never quite got to it most days. My habit is to jump on the Wii Fit in my jammies and now I have to get dressed every morning! I didn’t think I was eating all that differently so maybe even that small amount of exercise improves my metabolism? You’d think running up and down the stairs 20 times a day would have counted but apparently not! At least DH is doing great and pretty much doing most stuff for himself now.</p>
<p>My Friday report is up half a pound. I’ve been at the same weight for a few weeks now I think. Going on vacation next week, it might be good if we do a lot of hiking or it might be bad if we decide to eat desserts and go out!</p>
<p>Down another 2 pounds, haven’t hit the plateau yet. Glucose of 92 (I received a glucose meter as a gift recently–not a diagnosed diabetic but my mother and brother were/are). All in all, a good week!</p>
<p>Why is it my husband is going through some major stress at work and I am the one eating things I shouldn’t? He was cranky last night, and that means he needs major protein. He wanted to go to a steak place for dinner that we don’t even like that much, but was close to where he needed to be. The salads were not appealing to me so I had a chop steak with potatoes, not what I needed. At least he didn’t want dessert ;)</p>
<p>college senior home for few days, college junior just left for study abroad. I just returned from business travel. all the airport trips and celebrations are a recipe for stress/emotional eating/splurging. agh. need to get back on track.</p>
<p>Maryilyn, I’m familiar with Hazen’s simple sauce (onion that is discarded, tomatoes and butter) but don’t know about this one. Sounds yummy, though. Would you share proportions?</p>
<p>Well, I’m back from another vacation during which I overindulged. Fortunately, the battery in my scale died and I am going to wait a week to weigh in. No news is good news. Glad to see the thread has been pretty active this week!</p>
<p>Beil - this is the official recipe from The Classic Italian Cook Book - it’s her “Tomato Sauce II”. I usually use more tomato and less of the other veggies (anywhere from 5 to 8 pounds of tomato, maybe cup and a half each of the veggies. I also throw in some fresh basil. I use a bit more olive oil since I like a thinner lighter sauce. I freeze all but one jar, then when I thaw it, add a bit more oil and heat.</p>
<p>(In step 3, I puree in the food processor, then press the puree through a sieve before returning to the pan.)</p>
<p>For 6 servings:</p>
<p>2 pounds fresh, ripe plum tomatoes (I blanch for 60 seconds, then peel, and seed before cooking)
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
2/3 cup chopped onion
Salt
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup olive oil</p>
<ol>
<li> Wash the tomatoes in cold water. Cut them in half, lengthwise. Cook in a covered stockpot or saucepan over medium heat for 10 minutes.</li>
<li>Add the carrot, celery, onion, 2 teaspoons salt, and sugar and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.</li>
<li> Puree everything through a food mill, return to the pan, add the olive oil, and cook at a steady simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes more. Taste and correct for salt.</li>
</ol>
<p>Bumping us up for the start of the week.
I weighed myself this morning. In the past week I have been up and down 3 lbs. I am not eating badly so I am hoping it is just water weight.
My biggest downfall is still eating out. If I eat at home I do ok. Out I have a difficult time making good choices. I can avoid the bread but I just don’t find myself ordering the salad with just oil and vinegar.
My goal this week is to get back on Daily Plate with tracking my meals.</p>
<p>Mom60, eating out is hard - I don’t want to eat something out that I could eat at home and I tend to think of eating out as a “treat” - doesn’t have to be an overboard splurge, but I want something YUMMY!</p>
<p>Is it possible for you to eat out less so that those temptations aren’t there?</p>
<p>We also do alot of “splitting” when we go out - so even though there are some food items that aren’t exactly all-healthy foods, we eat less of them.</p>
<p>Totally off my game plan the past few days while out of town. But up and exercising this morning and am hoping to get back on track.</p>
<p>Started working out with kettlebells a couple days ago and they are kicking my b-u-t-t. Anybody tried these? They are fun but hard on my achilles tendons.</p>
<p>abasket- Exactly. I also think of eating out as a treat. I am eating out less. I just have several friends who I don’t see often email me recently that they want to go out to lunch. I haven’t scheduled yet and I am going to try to spread it out over a few week period. Plus this week my bookclub is going to see the Help. We will probably meet up for dinner first. Also splitting is a great idea.</p>
<p>Ahh. Eating out is my downfall, too. Summer is tough. i am a teacher and tend to get together with a lot of friends in the summer. Food is always involved, of course. I think I have gained and lost the same three pounds this month four or five times. </p>
<p>Today, I am back on track after vacation. Spent an hour at the gym and ate right so far.</p>
<p>Izzie, what is a kettle ball and what does it look like?</p>
<p>Kettlebells are weights that have handles on them and you can swing them. They’re not really bell shaped but the handle is kind of like the handle of a bell. I am using just a 12 pound one to get started but I think women usually start with an 18 pound one. There are also huge ones that I will never be able to lift. They are popular with the paleo crowd. You’ll have to google them because they are hard to explain.</p>
<p>Eating out is all about preparation. </p>
<p>I think eating out is actually easier for portion control and good choices than at home, when things start “calling to you”.</p>
<p>This is my strategy on eating out:
I ALWAYS check out the menu before hand on line. If they don’t have an acceptable choice for me, I ain’t going there. I decide before hand what exactly I am going to order, how I will tell them to prepare it, what to sub, what to leave off etc. and what kind of a portion I intend on having. Usually, this means only ordering an appetizer or taking half of an entree home with me. If I am taking home, I have them bring me the box WITH the meal and transfer half of it to the box before I start to eat. If I have the app as an entree, I have them bring it with the others’ entrees. If others are ordering stuff I feel will tempt me, I tell them to put it at the other end of the table.</p>
<p>Yes, I do feel high maintenance and somewhat uncomfortable being so picky and demanding, because normally I am extremely easy to please at a restaurant. But you really have to have a strategy in place in anticipation of the situation and I never regret NOT having gotten something when eating out.</p>