Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Wednesday: Workout with Eric. A few days off, doctors appointments for mom running errands no new recipes, except for a new salad dressing.
Breakfast and lunch are pretty much the same thing with few variations.
Dinner: Arugula Salad; arugula, crumbled cheese (whatever kind you like), sweet seedless grapes, an Asian apple pear-sliced thin, candied pecans or walnuts -  chopped fine, vinaigrette, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Combine all in a canning jar (or salad jar), cover tightly and shake well to combine.

Very tasty and we have used it on other salads.  You can add other seeds or lettuces, whatever strikes you that day.



  

Long Weekend Vacation

Tueaday: Ok, so I took a little break while we were away at Anna Maria, Is, Florida enjoying the beach for 4 days. Had a great time, watching the rain fall, taking in the sun, walking on the beach and Kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico.  Cute little town, I've lived in Tampa for 50 some odd years, Anna Maria is only an hour away from Tampa and I've never been.  So needless to say I didn't get much in as far as blogging.  I didn't eat to poorly during the day, stayed on my usual routine but at night we picked a different restaurant every night.  The first night, Friday, we walked down to the Rod and Reel Restaurant and I had fish and chips, yum haven't had french fries in a while and these were good.  Saturday night we ordered out from Island Cafe Andrea and I split a Caprase Salad and Grouper Tacos, pretty tasty.   Sunday night we ordered out at Havana Cabana I had what they called a Caprese Cuban, that was pretty good as well.  So needless to say didn't mind the diet too much.
Anna Maria, Island, Florida                 

Carmel's Cafe' and Wine Bar

Thursday: Breakfast; Chobani bite -coffee with dark chocolate chips, 100 cals,
Lunch: Carmels Cafe' and Wine Bar; I had the Black Olive Caesar with Salmon, Lynne and Ann both had Madras Chicken Salad.  Both very good, but if you like chicken you would like the Madras Chicken Salad, they both raved over it.
Snack: Sadly today I discovered, while I was at Walgreens,  3 Musketeers Coconut.  If you don't know coconut is one of my absolute favorite flavors, so of course I had to get one.
Dinner: Leftovers again, however it was the last of the Peanut Turkey Soup.

Wednesday: Workout with Eric, airport run #2 take Mimi to the airport (mom's friend) off to Boston for her son's wedding.
Breakfast:  Dark Chocolate and Marshmallow Bar (my new favorite)  160 cals, 5g fat, 18g carbs, fiber 5g, 15g protein.
Lunch: Woody's Greek, I forgot how much I liked Woody's.  I haven't been there in quite a while. I had the tuna salad, which was very good, the tuna just the way I like it.
Snack: Apple and peanutbutter
Dinner: Leftovers again, Peanut Turkey Noodle Soup
Desert: Dulce de Leche leftovers from the 4th of July (oops)

Birthday celebration

Tuesday: Airport run #1, Andrea to Chicago to visit the grandkids
Breakfast; pudding 100 cals
Lunch; Dannon Greek lite and fit coconut, I'm addicted
Snack:  Coconut cake from Wright's gourmet, and a glass of Prosseco toasting a friends birthday.
Dinner: Left over Peanut Turkey Soup, still as good as the first time.

2 new recipes, five star meal

Monday: Dinner: 1/2 cup roasted Zucchini, which I love, we just put them in the broiler oven with a little salt and pepper and olive oil for about 15 minutes. Beat, Avocado, and Arugula Salad from Food and Wine July 2013.  We made a few adaptations, we substituted the the goat cheese for Ricotta Salata (to help cut calories).  We roasted the beats first in aluminium foil for about an hour, then followed the recipe. About 100 calories. 

 http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beet-avocado-and-arugula-salad Peanut Chicken Noodle Soup from Cooking Light June 2013. No chicken here, so we bought a turkey tenderloin, broiled it in the oven for about 25 minutes, sliced it into strips (not all of it) , using vegetable stock instead of chicken (we use our own homemade stock) and parsley instead of cilantro. The soup 293 calories per serving. Now if you are a cilantro lover you will probably want to use this.  Loved the soup and salad both, they are definite keepers.

 http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/20-20-superfast-soups-00400000039394/page34.html





Breakfast:Dark Chocolate Marshmallow Bar, 160 cals, 5g fat, 5 mg Cholesterol, 180 mg sodium, 5g fiber, 200 mg potassium, 18g Carbs, Protein 15g (yum I like this new one)
Lunch: Dannon Greek Yogurt Lite and Fit Coconut, I am hooked on this one! 80 cals.
Snacks: Quaker Oat Bar 90 cals, and 120 calories worth of gummy bears.

The day after

Saturday: Worked out with Eric, great workout.
Doctor's appointment for mom, so I jumped in the shower when I got home and when I jumped out I got really dizzy.  I've been having a bit of trouble with vertigo, only this one hit me really hard.  So I was knocked out for the rest of the day. Andrea took mom to the doctors'.
I drank poweraid until I could get down some of the Dannon yogurt.  Oh, I started out the day with a bar. Later I had a scrambled egg and half of a foldit bread. About 10 pm I had a couple of scoops of coffee ice cream (one of my favs).

Happy fourth of July

Thursday: Happy 4th of July!  Today we got up to watch the semi-finals of Wimbledon.  Not quite as exciting this year, all no names left, all the greats have been eliminated.  Andrea is making Brown Butter Salted Caramel Mocha Cookies and Pretzel Bread to take to the 4th of July party later today. I picked out the cookies and she picked out the bread.  You see I am the sweet lover she loves bread and pasta.  That's probably why I'm the one with the weight problem.  Oh I weighed in yesterday I lost 2 pounds, but it took me a month. Ugh, why is this so hard to do?  So that's 3 pounds in 2 months.  Hopefully I get a few more off in this month.
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/recipes/dessert/brown-butter-salted-caramel-mocha-cookies.html

                                                        http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pretzel-Rolls-1107



Breakfast:Peanut Butter and Smooth Caramel Crisp 140cals.
Snack: Quaker Oak bar 90 cals.
Lunch: Dannon Greek Coconut yogurt 80 cals (yum I love coconut)
Dinner:Shrimp on the grill, potato salad, coleslaw, fruit, baked Lima beans , rolls, 1 Corona Light beer
Desert: the Mocha cookies above and Dolce de lache ice cream from Farm Stores.
Farm Stores has the best ice cream
I ate light because I knew I would be a bit wild on the 4th.  I tried not to over do it, so the 3 lbs I've  lost wouldn't be lost in vain.
By the way the cookies were fabulous, the batter is a little weird so don't get freaked out if you try them.  We've done the pretzel bread before and really like it.

Yummy House again

Wednesday:  Eric is back from vacation, so we were at the gym by 8 am.  He worked us hard.
Breakfast: Mocha Pudding, 100 cals, 7 carbs, 15g protein.
Lunch: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1.5 oz turkey pastrami  80 + 52.5 = 133 cals
Snack: Chobani Bites  100 cals
Dinner: Yummy House for dinner; We started with the salt and pepper calamari which is delicious, I had the snow-pea tips and garlic sauce, Andrea had the bbq duck and pork (yum), Mom had the duck and pork fried rice (yum), Mimi had the Lo-mein (yum).  I would have added tofu to the snow-pea tips, that would have given it more substance, otherwise they were pretty good.  We really like this place, but if your looking for the typical Chinese restaurant this isn't it.  The food is very unique and different from the usual Chinese food, but very tasty.

C- rating , Calorie Count App

Tuesday: Workout with Nan at the gym.

Breakfast: Rocky Road Bar, OK this is really my favorite bar, 170 cals.  So I called my sister today the one that lives in Idaho, and asked her what app she used to track her calories and exercise.  So I entered my breakfast bar and it gave me a C- rating. So already I don't like this app, however it is a pretty good app and easy to use.  It's called 

                                                                                   Calorie Count

Lunch: 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of carrots, 1/2 cup of celery,  115 cals.

Dinner:  Tuscan Tuna-and-Bean Sandwhiches; Gourmet April 2006.  I really like this sandwich it has a very tasty combination of foods.  We used the Flatout Foldit Everything artisan flatbreads 100 cals.  Salad; spring mix, tomatoes, fennel, carrots, tofu, and dried cranberries. 

This artisan bread would really be a nice addition, but when you're trying to watch your calories its a no go.

For recipe: 
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tuscan-Tuna-and-Bean-Sandwiches-234263

Monday: Rain walking

Monday: Walked in the rain 2 1/2 miles. Breakfast: skipped lunch: Swiss cheese a slice of olive bread from Pane' Rustica and a Rocky Road Bar.
Dinner:Leftovers-Turkey burgers made with zucchini and carrots, cauliflower and carrot mash, and a salad.

Turkey Burgers with Zucchini and Carrots

Servings: 5 • Size: 1 burger no bun 
Calories: 156 • Fat: 6.8 g • Protein: 18.6 g • Carb: 5.5 g • Fiber: 1.3 g

Ingredients:  

• 1.25 lbs 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 small zucchini, grated 
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• 1/2 cup of baby carrots grated
• salt and fresh pepper
• oil spray 

Directions: 

In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, zucchini, carrots, garlic, salt and pepper. Make 5 equal patties.

Heat a large skillet on high heat. When hot, lightly spray oil. Add burgers to the pan and reduce the heat to low. Cook on one side until browned, then flip. Flip over a few times to prevent burning and to make sure the burgers are cooked all the way through.
If grilling, clean grill well before cooking and spray with oil spray to prevent sticking.  
We use a Cuisinart grill with removable plates.  Its the best gadget, it has grilling plates, panini plates, and waffle plates and easy clean-up.

Sunday Grilled Veggies

Sunday: Breakfast: Caramel Crunch bar 150 cals. 
Lunch:  Turkey pepperoni and cheese.  
Dinner: Grilled veggies; sweet potatoes, asparagus, shallots, red peppers, yellow squash, tofu, basted with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper.  Salad; spring mix, fennel, tomatoes, carrots, and dried cranberries, dressing drizzled balsamic glaze.