Mommy and Me Yoga

happy almost friday! i'm sorry to say that little man did not sleep through the night last night. :( he only woke up once, at 2 am, but then to my surprise (and delight!) he went back to sleep until 6:45!!! for a kid who regularly wakes up between 5 and 6 (even on daylight savings so it was really 4 eeewwwww), that was the best thing ever!

i wasn't hungry (surprisingly) when we first woke up, so waited to have breakfast till around 8:30, and by the time i did, little man, was not having me letting him play on his own while i tried to make breakfast, so i popped another turkey sausage lean cuisine breakfast sandwich in the microwave and breakfast was served. i'm not complaining. these bad boys are pretty tasty, but i know i shouldn't make a habit out of them. ;0) i skipped the usual iced coffee in favor of h20.

after little man's morning nap, we headed (more like raced) to a mommy and me yoga class. i was worried we weren't going to make it because for the first time ever, little man decided he was going to sleep longer than his standard 45 minutes, but he woke up at 9:40. Just in time for me to get us together, and race out the door for the 10:00 am class. 

i have to say, i was really impressed. i thought the class was going to be more focused on the babes, but it was an actual yoga class for the mama's. it was just so you can bring the kiddos along and no one worries if you need to stop to change a diaper, feed a baby or soothe an upset little one. but for the most part, all the babes were content playing on their own, while the mom's did yoga. i'll definitely be going to this more often! 

after the class, little man and i headed over the grocery store, and picked up a green juice to share (blueberry, banana, pineapple and spinach) and pick up a few things. i was all out of eggs and some snacks for the little guy. 

i snacked on some boom chick a pop popcorn while we played, before settling him down for his first afternoon nap. 

for lunch i broke out of the freezer, the tikka masala kashi pizza. it's 300 calories, has 10 grams of fiber and 16 grams of protein. not too bad for a freezer meal. it was really good too! a little spicy (which i like) and was topped with tomatoes, eggplant, mozzarella and tikka masala sauce. tasty!

For my mid afternoon snack I ate a Chocoperfection low carb chocolate bar. (I forgot to snap a photo) I think these might be the cure to my sweet tooth (in moderation of course).

Dinner tonight was delish!!! The company was fun too. One of my girlfriends came over and we made dinner together .A Sweet   potatoe breakfast hash with onions and peppers topped with an over easy egg and a side of guacamole. So good! My total calories today came in at 1,587.

Giving In....

you guys it happened last night. i gave into the snack monster. i'm so mad at myself! around 9 last night, i started getting snacky. i sat and tried to tell myself not to give in, and then i walked in the kitchen to fill up my water bottle and it was all over. i made myself a mini quesadilla with cheese and black beans. it ended up bringing my total calories yesterday to 1,850. i didn't take a picture, but just know that i gave in (side note: i've been taken all my "meal photos" with my iPhone and haven't been editing them all so they're kind of crappy quality - i'm on a mission to fix this as i get into the swing of blogging almost daily!). :(

i'm pretty bummed seeing as it was only day two. this is why i need your guys help!!! does anyone have ideas/suggestions for curbing the late night munchies. i've tried brushing my teeth but that doesn't seem to stop me. maybe i should just put myself to bed as soon as those munchies kick in. ideas? thoughts?

time to move on. today is a new day, and i can only try and be better today than i was yesterday, right?

little man had a doctor's appointment early this am so i made a quick breakfast of one of my pre-made breakfast smoothies (i had the blueberry banana smoothie today!) and my standard ice coffee recipe to go.

the smoothie had 326 calories in it, but for some reason, only 2.5 hours later, i was STARVING!!!! so i made a second breakfast/early snack and had one of the lean cuisine turkey sausage breakfast sandwiches. i'm trying to keep my snacks under 200 calories, but i was pretty hungry and since these bad boys are only 220 calorie and loaded with 15 grams of protein, i made an exception. ;0)

the turkey sausage breakfast sandwich worked because it kept me full all morning and early afternoon and i didn't end up feeling hungry enough to eat lunch until almost 2!

lunch was my leftover italian wedding soup from blue apron!!! you guys blue apron is the best. for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a weekly delivery service that delivers farm fresh ingredients to your door with perfectly proportioned food, seasonings, etc. to make 3 meals. it also comes with step by step instructions that are so easy to follow.

you can sign up for the two person plan or the family plan (family of 4) and it breaks down to about $9.99/person per meal. this has saved me the past few weeks while i've been working full time and being a full time mom. i have had absolutely no desire to go grocery shopping and because it's just me, the 2-person meal plan, basically eliminated the need to grocery shop (which is why i was relegated to cupcakes before my big grocery overhaul). it made enough food for me to eat for lunches and dinners and have plenty of leftovers!

if anybody out there is in a cooking rut, wants to learn how to cook, or like me, just has no desire to grocery shop (i know, lazy), this is seriously for you! i'm posting the recipe for the italian wedding soup i had for dinner the other night (and lunch today!) down below for those of you who are interested....it was really yummy!

after running errands with little man, then taking him on a 40 minute walk to the park (40 minutes round trip), it was snack time! i had a bag of my pre-measured out boom chick-a pop popcorn and a cup of green tea. we played some more and then the little guy went down for his last nap before feeding him his dinner and doing the nightly bedtime routine (bath, bottle, book, bed) - you guys, lincoln slept from 7:30 pm last night until 5:45 am this morning and i thought i died and went to heaven!!!! cross your fingers he does it again tonight!

next up...dinner time! i made a quick stir fry using the prepped veggies i had on hand, along with the poached chicken and served it atop about 3/4 of a cup of quinoa. it was pretty tasty and came together in under 20 minutes! i made sure to make up a bunch of quinoa so i can have it on hand for stir fry's and to even bulk up some salads.

i'm excited for tomorrow, little man and i are trying out a mama/baby yoga class and then dinner with one of my besties!

My total calories for today (after burning 200 on our walk) came to 1,632. A little more than my 1,500 goal.

Here's the recipe for lunch today!

Blue Apron Italian Wedding Soup

(Serves 2 - but i found it made 3 very large servings)

10 oz ground chicken
1/2 c fregola sarda pasta
3 oz baby spinach
2 cloves garlic ( i love garlic so i doubled this)
1 carrot
1 yellow onion
1 stalk celery
1 small bunch celery
3 tbsp chicken demi glaze (they send you this, but i found this recipe for those of you wanting to try and make this)
1/3 c grated parmesan cheese
1/3 c plain breadcrumbs

(Blue apron has this as 2 servings and about 630 calories. I made mine into 3 servings, which would make it 420 calories a serving)

Prepare all the ingredients. Wash and dry the ingredients. Chop up the spinach, mince the garlic, chop the onion, dice the carrot and celery and pick the parsley off the stems.

Make the meatballs. combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, 1/4 of the onion, half the garlic, half the parmesan cheese and half the parsley in a large bowl, mix and form meatballs (mine made 15 large meatballs, they suggest 24-28 mini meatballs).

Cook the aromatics. heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on medium hot and add in the remaining onion, carrot and celery and garlic. cook stirring occasionally 3-4 minutes.

make the broth. add the pasta, chicken demi-glace and 3 cups of water, season with salt and pepper. heat to boiling on high. once boiling add the meatballs. reduce heat to medium high and simmer. stirring occasionally, cook 5-6 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

finish the soup. add the chopped spinach, season with salt and pepper and let simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. remove from heat. divide the soup into two bowls and top with the remaining parmesan and parsley.

enjoy!

Because I'm happy ....

has anybody else watched the video of the guy proposing to his girlfriend every single day for a WHOLE YEAR? I can barely keep a secret for a week, so this was pretty amazing to me. also, it made that damn pharrell "Happy" song get stuck in my head (hence the title).

but you know what? I'm embracing all the happy today. I got the best news from a good friend of mine this morning that made me smile like a goofball, got to work and watched the proposal video floating around facebook (all the happy tears!), and I made it through my first day of healthy eating without giving into my sweet tooth or wine craving. (it's the little things ;0).

anyways, my morning started out pretty much exactly like yesterday and I rolled with the same breakfast, Yoplait 100 greek yogurt (peach flavored today - but I'm using the same photo from yesterday) and 1/3 cup great grain granola, plus my iced coffee with 1 tbsp. dark chocolate sauce and 1/4 cup coconut milk. heading to work on Mondays and Tuesdays makes this easy breakfast kind of a no brainer.

for my mid morning snack today, I tried out these saffron road chipotle crunchy chickpeas, but I forgot to bring any tea with me today, so I just rolled with good ol' h20. you guys these were so good! they had a little bit of a kick to them, which I loved. they're also tiny, so you get a good amount of them which makes you feel like you're having a large snack (even though you aren't!). these would be great for a movie night, although I'm a big fan of good ol' popcorn too. i could also see topping a southwest style salad with these bad boys for some added crunch. I can't wait to try out the other flavors they have too.

I went home again for lunch and made exactly the same salad as yesterday. lettuce, onion, bell peppers, broccoli, avocado, poached chicken, feta and sliced almonds with lighthouse blue cheese vinaigrette and it was just as good as yesterdays! I promise i'll mix things up the rest of the week so you're not seeing the EXACT same food day in and day out. I would get sick of eating the same thing just like you'll get sick of seeing me eat the same thing ;0) but with all those yummy veggies prepped from Sunday, it was a super easy and fast lunch to make on my lunch break.

what are some of your favorite quick and healthy lunches? I'm all ears for new ideas!

you know what's next?! "snack time and lunch, snack time and lunch." I promise I'm not getting paid to endorse Yoplait, but when I went to get my afternoon snack today, this commercial popped into my head. I kind of secretly love the dorkiness of this dad, and I'm probably going to totally be the mom version of this to my kid (sorry little man!). anyways, for my afternoon snack I had an apple with one laughing cow 35 calorie white cheddar cheese wedge. one of my favorite snacks has always been an apple with cheese. I typically would pair my apple with 2-3 large slices of cheddar, because "chedda makes everything betta" but when one slice of cheddar is around 110 calories, it quickly leads to a not so healthy snack. I thought pairing my apple with the laughing cow cheese would still let me indulge in one of my favorite snacks minus the calories! and it did, this brought my favorite snack down from around 400 calories to about 100....go me! while, the real thing will always taste better in my mind, this was a great alternative and i'll definitely be using it a lot in the future. I also had a cup of Organics Chai Spiced Tea.

I was super excited about my dinner tonight! I baked a sweet potato and loaded it with a black bean, corn and red onion mixture, topped it with a little melted cheddar cheese and then topped that with a quick makeshift guacamole (1/2 avocado mashed, a few tomatoes, red onion, salt, pepper and garlic powder). it was seriously so good, filling (I could only finish about 3/4 of it) and a healthier version of a stuffed baked potato!

I've posted the recipe for my dinner at the bottom of this post for those of you who want to try it out!

My calories for today came in at exactly 1,500. Which means I'm off to try and ward off the late night munchies until bedtime. Cross your fingers for me that the ugly sweet tooth and wino monsters don't roar their ugly heads.

Black Bean & Corn Stuffed Sweet Potato with Guacamole for One

1 medium sweet potato
1/4 c black beans
1/4 c sweet corn
1 tbsp. diced red onion
1/4 c shredded cheddar
salt
pepper

For the Guacamole:
1/2 avocado
1-2 slices of tomato
1 tbsp red onion
salt
pepper
garlic powder

preheat your oven to 400. start by rinsing, and poking holes in your sweet potato. place it on a baking sheet and bake for about 50-60 min.

while your sweet potato is baking, combine your stuffing: black beans, corn and red onion go into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. stir.

when your potato is done, take it out of the oven , and cut it open, stuff your potato with the filling and top with about 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese.

pop it back into the oven for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

while that's cooking, assemble your quick and easy guacamole for one! in a small bowl mix the avocado, tomato and red onion and mash away till it's the consistency of your pleasing. season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to your liking (I like lots of garlic and lots of pepper so I'm hesitant to suggest a specific amount - you do you)

Once your cheese is melted, pull your potato out of the oven and top with the guacamole!

(Usually I would also smother this in sour cream, but since I'm counting calories, I chose to skip the sour cream, and just use the guac. salsa would also be a  yummy addition)

For those of you out there tracking calories, I added these ingredients up in the MyFitnessPal app, and it totaled 539 calories for the whole thing (including the guacamole!)

Enjoy!

Let The Tracking Begin...

i think of today as day one. even though I shared what I ate with you all yesterday, I don't really count it. only because with little resources, and an empty fridge, I was relegated to cupcakes for breakfast ;0)

now don't get me wrong, it's not like you're never going to see me eat a cupcake again. let's be honest, you'll probably see me eat lots of cupcakes over the course of time, but I'm blogging about what I'm eating in an attempt to be HEALTHIER, and I stocked my fridge and pantry full of healthy goodies to do just that. so now that I'm armed and ready to go, today is my official day one ;0)

for the next few weeks, I'm working Mondays and Tuesdays until my replacement starts. when I left to stay at home and get little man healthier, I felt really, truly awful about it, and offered to stay on a couple of days a week until my replacement started, if they wanted me to. I never took my new job with the intention of leaving so soon (or even at all!) so it was a hard decision, but little man comes first, so it was the best decision for him and for our family.

any-who, I got a little sidetracked, but I just mention that I'm working today, because I started my day off with a homemade ice coffee (iced coffee, 1 tbsp. dark chocolate sauce, about 1/4 cup coconut milk - I really like the SO Delicious unsweetened vanilla coconut milk) to go and once I got to work, had breakfast. today's breakfast consisted of a 100 calorie Yoplait mango greek yogurt and about 1/3 cup great grain breakfast granola. it was delish! I also have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the Yoplait greek yogurts. I have a pretty strong aversion to any custard/creamy type textured foods. I hate cottage cheese, normally yogurt, crème brulee, cannoli's, cream filled donuts....you get the idea. so for me to find a yogurt that I can eat, and not only eat, but really really enjoy, it's a pretty big deal. the Yoplait greek yogurt isn't too sweet and when topped with the crunchy granola, it might be one of my new favorite breakfasts! Yoplait 100 calorie greek yogurt, you win!

around 10:30 I got snacky. I told you guys that my biggest hurdles were mindless eating and snacks, so I've tried to arm myself with lots of low calorie, healthy snacks to curb the snack monster. I also know it's much better to eat 5-6 small meals when you're trying to diet/lose weight than three larger meals, so my first snack of the day consisted of one of my pre-packaged 70 calorie Boom Chick-A-Pop Kettle Corn Popcorn and some Organics Green Tea.

(Sidenote: I drink mostly h20 during the day and actually enjoy/like the taste of it. I haven't had soda or juice really in a long time (unless it comes in a yummy cocktail) because I don't like the way the sugar makes my teeth feel, so unless I specifically note something I'm drinking, you can assume I'm consuming h20 for the most part ;0p)

about 12:30 I headed home for lunch. one nice thing about working downtown in a smaller city, is it takes 10 minutes or less to get just about anywhere. for lunch I made a big yummy salad full of lots of the goodies I prepped yesterday. my salad consisted of lettuce, bell peppers, red onions, broccoli, avocado, poached chicken, slivered almonds, feta and lighthouse blue cheese vinaigrette. I'm a sucker for blue cheese dressing but I know it's loaded with calories and fat, so I started using the vinaigrette instead and at 80 calories for 2 tbsp, I think it's a pretty good compromise.

the snack monster hit once again about 3:30 and I snacked on trader joes multigrain crackers (yes I actually counted out 14 crackers which is one serving) and paired it with a 35 calorie laughing cow white cheddar cheese wedge. it hit the spot and my total snack came in at under 200 calories :)

once i got home,  i was so excited that it was 64 degrees out and thanks to daylight savings it's actually light out after work, so i packed up little man and my niece, ocean, and we set out on a 40 minute walk. one of my biggest struggles in losing weight has been getting a chance to work out. with husband working in upstate New York, and it costing $6 for babysitting at my gym, it makes it hard to go. so getting outside and going on long walks always feels good.

as soon as we got back from the walk, i had a few pieces of broccoli (not pictured) while i made little man his dinner and got him bathed and ready for bed. and after he went down, i got to cooking my blue apron dinner! you guys i love blue apron. so much so, that i'm going to dedicate a post to it later this week, but my italian wedding soup with chicken meatballs was delish!

I counted all of my calories up in the MyFitnessPal App and the total came in at: 1,510 (this is after i burned 200 calories on our walk).

my overall goal for each day is around 1500 calories. that should allow me to lose about 2 lbs a week in a healthy way. I've crash dieted a number of times, and while some have worked (atkins in particular) I've always gained the weight back plus some. I'm trying to do it the healthy way this time around and change my overall eating habits instead of crashing and burning again and again and again.

wowza...this was a long post! I'm sure as I get into this, my posts will get shorter and shorter, but for now, happy novel reading! ;op

Questions for you!

two things i struggled with today....my sweet tooth! i give into it all. the. time. and because this little blog is holding me accountable, i didn't, but i really really really wanted to. any tips for curbing a major sweet tooth when trying to lose weight??

the second thing was wine. when i couldn't have something sweet, the next thing i wanted was a glass of wine, but i know alcohol makes it really difficult to lose weight, so i want to save my little wine indulgence for the weekend. i'm thinking of buying some sparkling water and limes so i can have a nightly calorie free "cocktail." anybody have any other ideas?

i'd love to hear from you about your weight loss secrets, tips and tricks! leave me a message in the comments or email me at savoryandsweeteats@yahoo.com.

Grocery Overhaul

i told you it was coming and here it is!

my day did not start out very healthy....but in my defense i had zero food in my fridge and was planning on doing a major grocery shopping trip, which i did. so, how did i start my day? with a sugar rush...i ate a leftover confetti cupcake from sweet frostings bakery that i had picked up on a whim a few days ago. not the best breakfast that's for sure.

i tried to make up for it the rest of the day. while grocery shopping i picked up my favorite, a 12 oz iced americano with about two tablespoons of half and half as fuel for the trip, and then once i got home, i had a better breakfast. i had picked up some lean cuisine turkey sausage breakfast sandwiches for when the little one, won't let me make breakfast and i need a quick bite. i tried one out for lunch and they were delish! and at only 220 calories and with 15 grams of protein, i think these will be good to have around when i'm in a hurry.

for dinner, we headed over to my parents house for sunday dinner (a new tradition we're starting). my mom made a delicious chicken and mushroom dish in a creamy tarragon sauce that she served with a side salad (topped with red onions, tomatoes, feta and croutons which i topped with a french vinaigrette dressing) and some french bread. i did have a second piece of bread and an extra serving of the sauce. i also had one glass of chardonnay.

i spent the afternoon, prepping all the food i bought for the week so i have healthy snacks to grab when the little guy is crying for my attention. i put together smoothie packs for easy breakfasts (i just have to empty the baggy into the blender and pour 1 cup of coconut milk in and breakfast is served), chopped up a bunch of veggies to throw on top of salads, and poached chicken to top my salads. i also measured out single servings of the popcorn, dried chickpeas and almonds i already had at the house into individual baggies so i can grab those as an easy snack and don't have to worry about overeating.

my biggest downfall is bored eating and late night snacking while sitting on the couch. i'm hoping that by having everything measured out and lots of fruits and veggies all ready to eat, this will help curve my mindless snacking.

below's what i picked up at the grocery store along with some photos of my food prep. i also list the smoothie recipes/ingredients down at the bottom.

here's what i picked up:

on the veggie front:

red peppers
yellow peppers
broccoli
brussel sprouts
onions
carrots
lettuce
spinach
sweet potatoes

fruits:

bananas
avocados
frozen blueberries
frozen smoothie starter packs (carrot, mango, peach)

freezer items:

kashi greek pizza
kashi indian pizza
lean cuisine turkey sausage breakfast sandwiches
ground turkey burgers (these were fresh, but i froze them)

dairy/non-dairy type items:

unsweetened vanilla coconut milk
yoplait 100 calorie greek yogurts
feta cheese
laughing cow white cheddar
laughing cow onion and chive swiss

miscellaneous/snack items:

hummus
100 calorie whole grain english muffins
whole grain quinoa protein bread
sliced almond salad toppers
chipotle dried chickpeas
boom chicka pop (45 calorie/serving popcorn)
green tea
chai tea
coffee

i already had some frozen chicken breasts, pork chops and lean ground beef in my freezer from previous costco runs as well as eggs, so i didn't need to pick up much proteins this trip.

and for those of you who are interested, here are the smoothie recipes:

Blueberry Banana Smoothie

1/2 c frozen blueberries
1/2 banana
1 tbsp flax seeds
1.5 tbsp peanut butter
1 cup spinach
1 cup coconut milk

I pre measure out all of the ingredients except for the coconut milk and put them in a baggie and store it in the freezer, this way i don't have to add any ice to the smoothies, i can just throw the frozen baggie and a cup of coconut milk and blend.

Peach/Mango/Banana Smoothie

1/2 cup smoothie starter (frozen peaches, mangos and carrots)
1/2 banana
1 tbsp flax seed
1 cup spinach
1 cup coconut milk

*i meant to pick up some steel cut oats that i could throw into these smoothies as well for some added fiber, but i forgot. for those of you wanting to beef up your smoothies with a little extra fiber to keep you fuller longer, i would add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup of the oats.

**depending on how thick you like your smoothies, add more or less liquid to the blender. you can also thicken your smoothies with greek yogurt, but i like mine more sippable as opposed to needing  spoon ;0)

The Ever Changing Blog

when i started this blog, i intended it to be mostly about food and cooking. two things i love! over time it evolved, to include tidbits about life as a newlywed, and after the arrival of little man lincoln, it's been mostly about him. food and cooking have fallen to the wayside.

it's safe to say, i'll probably always post tidbits from our life, as this has become an online journal of sorts, and because i love food and i love to cook, i'll inevitably post recipes again as i get back into the kitchen. this blog has changed significantly since the beginning and it's about to again!

most recently, i've been struggling to lose the last of the pesky baby weight (20 lbs to be exact) but in reality, i need to lose even more, seeing as i was at my heaviest weight in my entire life when i got pregnant. it's been a long and difficult journey, full of ups and downs, plenty of frustration and tears.
i've found that i "cheat" more often than i follow any healthy diet regimen, and it's obviously hindering my efforts to lose weight. so, in an attempt to hold myself accountable, really stick to a healthy diet and exercise routine, and finally shed the excess weight i've been carrying around for a good 5 years now, i'm going to start posting my daily eats and activities here on the blog.

for the few people out there that read this, i know that could probably be pretty annoying. i mean, why do you care what i ate today, right? well, take this post as a warning of sorts, and if you don't want to know i had oatmeal for breakfast or snuck a cupcake for dessert, here's your chance to unsubscribe!

i read plenty of blogs, lots of them about healthy eating, and many of them seemed to start out this way. young women, trying to live a healthy lifestyle and blogging about it. this is just another way in which this blog is going to evolve, mostly because i need something to hold me accountable, and if i write down and take photos of what i'm eating on a daily basis, i'm bound to start eating healthier.

so starting tomorrow, you're going to see a lot more of me and what i eat and do throughout the course of the day, starting with a big trip to the grocery store to get me started! follow along or don't, it's up to you! and if you're out there, struggling to lose 5, 10, even 50 lbs and want to join in my little online diet journal, i'd love to hear from you!

and because, i hate blog posts that don't have pictures, here's one of me recently with my siblings from our trip to napa (i'm the one in red with the big 'ol belly), at a particularly unhealthy weight....here's to a little motivation to get in better shape!

Fun at the Park!

little man and i went to the park the other day and he experienced his first time at the playground!

we went on the swings and down the slides, and it's safe to say that little man is a fan. we also checked out the ducks at the pond and lincoln was mesmerized! i can't wait for it to warm up even more so we can get outdoors even more.

here are a few photos from our park adventure and a video!