I Heart Spinach...No, Really I Do!

Spinach is so versatile

I buy a bag of spinach each week at the grocery store and there are so many things you can do with it.

The above picture is Wilted Spinach. Heat some olive oil and garlic in a pan, add spinach. Toss and turn until spinach is warm and wilted. Add sliced almonds.

I also use baby spinach leaves instead of lettuce in my salads.

I juice spinach with a fruit or two (you don't even taste the spinach at all). One of my faves is juicing spinach with strawberries.

I make omelettes with spinach in the middle.

Use baby spinach leaves instead of lettuce in your tacos or on sandwiches.

Mystery Shopping

I haven't received my reimbursement check yet since I just started this month, but I wanted to pass on this company for mystery shopping

Client Expectations

I had to write a very complete report on a dining experience at a local restaurant. I had to visit the restaurant twice, and report on everything about the restaurant..including the drive thru.

I am suppose to get reimbursed up to $14 on the inside visit, $7 in the drive thru and paid $5 to complete the report. So basically you are doing it for a free meal ;)

Great Low Cal Meals and Snacks

I have been dieting for about a month now and eating healthier than I have in a long time. I thought I would share some of my meals and snacks that I have been enjoying.

Breakfasts

Egg Whites
Egg White Omelets (with spinach)
Turkey Bacon
Special K Cereal
Kashi Go Lean Cereal
Oatmeal
Bananas
Toast (Aunt Millie's 35 cal a slice bread with zero calorie spray butter and sugar free jelly)

I will usually pair a carb with a protein. For example if I want a bowl of cereal I will also have the turkey bacon or egg whites.

Lunch

Lean Cuisine (sparingly, the cals are high to me for how much food you get)
Mixed Green Salad (with balsamic vinagrette and sliced almonds)
Tuna on a Tortilla with Hummus (the pouches of Starkist tuna has a flavor called Sweet and Spicy and it is sooo good)
Turkey burger
Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean "Burger"
Apple (sometimes cut into slices and dip into natural peanut butter)
Yogurt
Chicken or Turkey Deli Meat

Dinner

Grilled Chicken Breasts
Baked Tilapia
Salad
Baked Potatoes
Turkey Burger
Baby Spinach (mixed with balsamic vinagrette and sliced almonds)
Green Beans
Brown Rice
Sweet Potato (plain)

Snacks

String Cheese
Yogurt
Jello
Fudgesicles
Almonds
Pickles
Special K Granola Bars
100 Calorie Snacks
Hard Boiled Egg
Small Bowl of High Fiber Cereal


thinspiration

Tips on Dropping Pounds in the New Year

Have you ever wondered why some diets work for others but not for you? Or why there are so many diets out there?

It's because there is no one size fits all diet that will work for everyone. Yes, exercising more and eating less makes everyone lose weight but that doesn't mean it will stay off unless you realize what your main issue is.

The first step in losing weight is to use a food journal. You can use a website like www.fitday.com to make counting calories, fat, protein and carbs a little easier. I would do this for at least a week.

Analyze the results. Are you eating way too many carbs? Not getting enough protein? Eating too many calories?

Here are some tips for some common issues.

1. You are hungry all the time. This is me. I eat really good. I love vegetables. But I eat way too much. I'm hungry all the time. The best tip for hungry people like me is to eat smaller meals every 3 hours. I lost the weight from baby number 3 by writing out a food schedule and literally eating every 3 hours (ending at 7pm). As the day went on, the carbs got less and protein or fiber more. Because you are eating every 3 hours you are never really "hungry" so you have alot of control of what you eat. Also eating things full of fiber like beans will help keep you feeling full.

2. You are a junk food junkie. If your problem is eating junk food, sweets and fast food I think the best tip is to allow yourself a set number of calories for each day. Think of the calories as currency. Do you really want to spend 300 calories on a few M&M's or a whole plate full of healthy foods? Sometimes getting a visual of how many french fries you can have as opposed to a large salad or cottage cheese, fruit and almonds will help you make better choices. Especially if you are really hungry. Are you going to go with the order of fries that will still leave you feeling hungry or the big plate of healthy food.

3. You don't get enough protein/too many carbs. I think this is one of the most common problems. The average American diet is low in protein. Think about it. Say you wake up in the morning and you are rushed for work. You grab a donut at home or at the office, then have a diet coke and salad for lunch and then come home and have spaghetti and garlic bread for dinner. Later you have a slice of cake for dessert. You just went the whole day without eating a lean source of protein. If you are not getting enough protein you can add a scoop of protein powder in your oatmeal in the morning. Hard boil a carton of eggs for the week and eat only the egg whites (great source of protein and only 15 calories each). Try to have one lean source of protein and one healthy carb each meal. I love to eat veggie sausage, turkey bacon or egg whites at breakfast. Lunch/dinner could be grilled chicken, tuna or fish. Great carb choices are brown rice, sweet potato, whole wheat bread and oatmeal. And of course veggies and fruit are fine anytime.

4. You freak out and eat more when you think you are on a diet. I do this as well. Don't think of yourself being on a diet. Think of it as changing your eating habits. Take baby steps and change your meals one at a time. First work on cleaning up your breakfast. Then work on lunch etc. Drink alot of soda? Try each day drinking one less can of soda and experiement with healthier, low or zero calorie drinks until you find one you really like. Change things one at a time so you are not so overwhelmed.

5. The little things add up. Take a look at the little things. The trips to Starbucks, the butter, gravy, juice, coffee creamers, syrup etc. I have switched to natural peanut butter as opposed to regular and now regular taste too sugary to me. I also switched to sugar free syrup (saves a ton of calories). I can eat a salad now with hardly any dressing at all. I have also realized I love green tea. Next up, switch out the sugar in my coffee for stevia. I also have a recipe for protein pancakes, way less calories than real pancakes..they won't hurt your diet at all. I'm use to the protein pancakes and now prefer them over fattening pancakes. Topped with zero calorie spray butter and sugar free syrup they are great for your diet.

There are many many more like having issues with portion control (measure out your food), bad habits, consuming high calorie drinks etc
What is your main issue? Leave a comment and I will try to help.

Stovetop Popcorn v/s Microwave Popcorn

There have been so many reports about the dangers of microwave popcorn and the chemicals used in the process. So one day at the grocery store I picked up the bag of kernels and read the directions on the back. I will admit, I had no idea how to pop popcorn without a microwave! I read how easy it is. Put a couple tablespoons of oil in a pot with a lid and add the kernels. Make sure lid is on. It really doesn't take much longer than microwave popcorn. You can have the popcorn popped in about 5 mins or less. You can choose to eat it plain (low in fat, high in fiber) or add zero calorie spray butter and salt. There are also many seasonings available on the market.

I feel like this is a much healthier choice for my family and the only downside to stovetop popcorn as opposed to microwave is I have a dirty pot at the end. But it's easy to clean and worth the time and effort.

Boneless Chicken Breasts Tips

Here is my tip to save you time and money when it comes to buying and cooking boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

When they go on sale for around $1.99 lb I buy a lot.

When I get home I cut them in half lengthwise. This doubles the amount of chicken breasts now!

The other benefit to cutting the breasts in half lengthwise is that it thins out the chicken breasts so you don't have to cook it for so long, therefore not drying it out.

Once it's cut I throw a serving of it in a Ziplock freezer bag (usually 6 cut breasts for us) and pour a bottle of marinade or salad dressing over it. I usually have a ton of salad dressings that I stock up on all summer when they are on sale and I have a coupon. I usually only pay a little over .50 cents for them.

I throw them in the freezer and just thaw the night before when I'm ready to use.

You can also cut the chicken breasts in chunks as opposed to cutting in half. If you saute chicken alot or make homemade chicken nuggets it's nice to have the chicken already cut up and ready to use.

This method works out great, not only increasing the amount of meals I can make with a pack of chicken breasts but increasing the flavor of the chicken while reducing cooking time. I find that marinading the chicken breasts in the salad dressing, makes the chicken taste great and is very moist even if I buy a cheaper brand chicken breast...you can't tell it!

Gift Receiving Guide

It is better to give than to receive.

That is the sentiment we try to adhere to during the holiday season. But sometimes we still end up getting our feelings hurt or disappointed.  Here are some tips that get me through.

1. I rarely return gifts. I just don't. Things change, people exit our lives for whatever reason and I end up feeling good that I still have an item that that person bought for me. The only time I may return something is if I get a clothing item that is just TOTALLY not my style (but I try to keep an open mind about any clothing items, realizing how easy it is to change up things with accessories). But I will usually just exchange the clothing item for a different clothing item at the same store.

2. Just go into the holiday season with no expectations of certain gifts. If there is something you really want just make plans to buy it for yourself. If you do get it as a gift, icing on the cake!

3. Try not to get offended if you receive something really crazy. Some people have terrible gift giving skills. Just try to keep a sense of humor about it. I know I had a family member that always bought crazy gifts and we still laugh at some of them. Hey that's worth it!

4. There is nothing wrong with re-gifting. Just make sure it's in good condition and there is no old wrapping paper stuck on gift or your name written on it lol. And make sure you don't give it to the person who gave it to you. As a matter of fact I switch it on a different family. If I got something from my husband's family, I will re-gift it to my family and vice versa. If it's a nice gift, but something I can't use I don't mind giving it to someone who might love it. But better yet, donate the unwanted gifts to charity. The only way I wouldn't re-gift is if it's something I don't think anyone would want. Then it goes in the garage sale box or donation box.

5. If you have a group of friends that are open to some fun, have an after Christmas gift exchange. Everyone can bring a gift that they received for Christmas but don't really want and exchange it for something else. What a fun girl's night this could be.

6. If you always get bad gifts from let's say your inlaws...if they are open to the idea, go to a gag gift exchange instead. My family felt like we were in a gift giving rut, so we decided to do gag gifts one year and now it's the highlight of our festivities. It exceeded our expectations of fun! We laugh so hard, it really makes our get together a blast. We are all adults so if we want a box of chocolates or a new pair of pajamas we can buy them ourselves. But you cannot buy the look on someone's face when they receive dirty houseshoes, a reindeer figurine that "poops" out brown jelly beans or a Marie Antoinette wig.

Do you have any gift receiving tips?

Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Where I live bed bugs are becoming quite the problem. Like most hysteria type things that the news hypes, I ignore. But someone I know is infested now from acquiring used furniture. See bed bugs aren't just for beds. They can be in shoes, stuffed animals, mirrors, nightstands, dressers and even photo frames.

It will cost this family $1600 to get rid of the bed bugs and that's with a small infestion. The exterminator told them to not even go to garage sales or thrift stores.

Not go to garage sales or thrift stores? That's a life not worth living!  :o)

 You can actually get bed bugs from hotels, restaurants, and even department stores. Even our city buildings think they have bed bugs right now. The infestation is so bad because the bugs became immune to how we were exterminating them.

So what do you do?

It helps if you keep really large Ziplock bags in your car when garage saling. Let's say you buy a cute baby outfit at a garage sale. Put it directly in the Ziplock bag and do not take out until you are ready to launder it in HOT water and the HOTTEST dryer setting you have for at least 30 mins.

Personally I would not buy any used mattresses, box springs or headboards. If you buy a night stand or dresser, inspect carefully in drawers, corners and crevices for bed bugs. Bed bugs are reddish-brown, their eggs are white, their skins they shed are yellow, and you will see black fecal dots. But be forewarned, the people that I know checked over their furniture carefully and cleaned it before bringing it into their house. They also knew the people that the furniture came from.

Are you itching and scratching yet?

Be careful buying purses, tote bags and backpacks. Shake them out, turn them inside out and check carefully. If it's the type of bag that can be washed, put it in your Ziplock bag and wash on high heat when you get home.

Tip when traveling. Do not put your suitcases on the bed or store your clothes in the dressers. It may look crazy but I would store your luggage in the kitchen (bed bugs don't really go in there) on the kitchen counters... so it's off the floor!

Do you worry about getting bed bugs from your thrift and garage sale purchases? Do you do anything to protect yourself?