Oven 450° (10-12 minutes)
2 c. flour (I sometimes do half white and half wheat)
1 TB baking powder
2 tsp. sugar (this month I am skipping the sugar and either using none or adding rice syrup)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup cold butter cut in until the size of peas
2/3 c. milk or plain yogurt & water (enough to make the dough not stiff)
For the cheddar biscuits I added 1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese. I should have added a tsp of garlic, that would have been really good :)
For breakfast biscuits I add 1-2 tsp. of cinnamon (be sure to add sweetener with this one.)
I also add flax sometimes for added brain power!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Day 5
Almost a week under our belts! Lots of learning that's for sure!
Breakfast- Homemade pancakes made with coconut milk (they turned out squishy, not sure why.), fresh strawberries.
Lunch- Me- salad (same as yesterday plus tomatoes), I added cheese, turkey taco meat (the seasoning did contain sugar.) and tortilla chips. I used salsa for dressing. The girls had hard shell tacos with turkey taco meat, cheese and sour cream.
Snack-Me- Cashews, sesame sticks, sunflower seeds and 2 clementines. Kendra- dried apricots, a couple strawberries, string cheese and a few almonds. Riley- Veggie Chips, strawberries, string cheese and cheddar puff-corn.
Dinner-Homemade fries (olive oil and whole grain Italian Seasoned bread crumbs. I do the "shake and bake method to coat the potatoes in oil then crumbs. Bake 450 until crisp and tender), pigs in a blanket (I made homemade cheddar biscuits instead of crescent rolls since they probably contain sugar. I wrapped Hebrew National hot dogs with the biscuits. (The biscuits turned out really good! Kendra said we should make them like that all the time), salad (the same), "Trader Joe's sparkling pomegranate flavored juice beverage" (Ingredients: sparkling water and juice concentrates.)
The girls reward for another good day was a sucker. I had a dried mango (I think I may be addicted to them!) and another clementine. Later I had some tea with buckwheat honey.
Not a bad day overall!
Breakfast- Homemade pancakes made with coconut milk (they turned out squishy, not sure why.), fresh strawberries.
Lunch- Me- salad (same as yesterday plus tomatoes), I added cheese, turkey taco meat (the seasoning did contain sugar.) and tortilla chips. I used salsa for dressing. The girls had hard shell tacos with turkey taco meat, cheese and sour cream.
Snack-Me- Cashews, sesame sticks, sunflower seeds and 2 clementines. Kendra- dried apricots, a couple strawberries, string cheese and a few almonds. Riley- Veggie Chips, strawberries, string cheese and cheddar puff-corn.
Dinner-Homemade fries (olive oil and whole grain Italian Seasoned bread crumbs. I do the "shake and bake method to coat the potatoes in oil then crumbs. Bake 450 until crisp and tender), pigs in a blanket (I made homemade cheddar biscuits instead of crescent rolls since they probably contain sugar. I wrapped Hebrew National hot dogs with the biscuits. (The biscuits turned out really good! Kendra said we should make them like that all the time), salad (the same), "Trader Joe's sparkling pomegranate flavored juice beverage" (Ingredients: sparkling water and juice concentrates.)
The girls reward for another good day was a sucker. I had a dried mango (I think I may be addicted to them!) and another clementine. Later I had some tea with buckwheat honey.
Not a bad day overall!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Day 4
Breakfast- We ended up skipping our dessert last night and had the smoothies this morning (banana, frozen- mango, blueberries and pineapple with cranberry apple juice. Girls- cereal, Me- PB and raw honey on Ez. 4:9 bread (I had Kendra and Riley try some and they actually liked it, I was very surprised as the bread is very dry.)
I think lunch will be the death of me today. The soup for lunch at TLC has sugar in it, in fact just about ALL canned soup has sugar of some sort in it. GRRRRR! We walked to Cub and discovered "Amy's" brand soups don't have sugar in them. WOO HOO!
Lunch-The girls and I had Amy's Vegetable Barley soup (It was really good!) The girls had tortilla chips instead of saltines. I had a salad (mixed greens, cucumber, red pepper, purple cabbage, kohlrabi & jicama), with "Braggberry" (a berry vinagrette I found at the Whole Foods store, very good) dressing. Peas and carrots. Kendra & Ry also had a cheese sandwich (on homemade bread), peas and carrots.
Snack- Me-apple and no sugar brownie. Kendra and Riley-popcorn, dried mango & apricots and Odwalla berries GoMega smoothie.
Dinner- We ate at Church tonight. The meal was sub sandwiches, toppings, chips and ice cream for dessert.
I brought our own bread. We all had turkey, (which probably had sugar in it, I did not hunt down the cook to find out.), cojack cheese & lettuce. Riley and I had tomatoes. I had pickles, black olives and mayo. The chips had no sugar listed, neither did the mayo. I didn't check the olives. The girls couldn't resist the fudge ice cream bars and Riley had Smarties in her class (She was so cute, she apologized and confessed as soon as she got out of class.) The hardest to resist was the Coke that was included with dinner. I put my foot down and said "no" but compromised by allowing them to save them for when the challenge is over.
Snack- Riley had a bag of "Pirate's booty" cheddar puffcorn for snack (one of the few snack items I found w/o sugar.) Me, I'm having a bowl of "Barbara's" shredded spoonfuls (very good cereal, sweetened with molasses) with coconut milk (plain this time, it's not bad in cereal.)
The most frustrating thing about the challenge today was finding non-sugar equivalent foods. Saltines? Do they really need sugar? When I was at Cub I was going to just get chicken broth and canned veg. and make my own soup but even the organic chicken broth had sugar in the ingredients. I must say I was very happy to find out "Amy's" didn't have sugar. (I did not look at All Amy's brand soups or other items so double check.)
I am grateful for this blog-log I have going. Not only are my girls helping me stay on track but knowing I have to put everything here and you will be reading it has been a huge motivator to stay away from the unhealthy choices and eating habits I had been keeping. Thank you!
I think lunch will be the death of me today. The soup for lunch at TLC has sugar in it, in fact just about ALL canned soup has sugar of some sort in it. GRRRRR! We walked to Cub and discovered "Amy's" brand soups don't have sugar in them. WOO HOO!
Lunch-The girls and I had Amy's Vegetable Barley soup (It was really good!) The girls had tortilla chips instead of saltines. I had a salad (mixed greens, cucumber, red pepper, purple cabbage, kohlrabi & jicama), with "Braggberry" (a berry vinagrette I found at the Whole Foods store, very good) dressing. Peas and carrots. Kendra & Ry also had a cheese sandwich (on homemade bread), peas and carrots.
Snack- Me-apple and no sugar brownie. Kendra and Riley-popcorn, dried mango & apricots and Odwalla berries GoMega smoothie.
Dinner- We ate at Church tonight. The meal was sub sandwiches, toppings, chips and ice cream for dessert.
I brought our own bread. We all had turkey, (which probably had sugar in it, I did not hunt down the cook to find out.), cojack cheese & lettuce. Riley and I had tomatoes. I had pickles, black olives and mayo. The chips had no sugar listed, neither did the mayo. I didn't check the olives. The girls couldn't resist the fudge ice cream bars and Riley had Smarties in her class (She was so cute, she apologized and confessed as soon as she got out of class.) The hardest to resist was the Coke that was included with dinner. I put my foot down and said "no" but compromised by allowing them to save them for when the challenge is over.
Snack- Riley had a bag of "Pirate's booty" cheddar puffcorn for snack (one of the few snack items I found w/o sugar.) Me, I'm having a bowl of "Barbara's" shredded spoonfuls (very good cereal, sweetened with molasses) with coconut milk (plain this time, it's not bad in cereal.)
The most frustrating thing about the challenge today was finding non-sugar equivalent foods. Saltines? Do they really need sugar? When I was at Cub I was going to just get chicken broth and canned veg. and make my own soup but even the organic chicken broth had sugar in the ingredients. I must say I was very happy to find out "Amy's" didn't have sugar. (I did not look at All Amy's brand soups or other items so double check.)
I am grateful for this blog-log I have going. Not only are my girls helping me stay on track but knowing I have to put everything here and you will be reading it has been a huge motivator to stay away from the unhealthy choices and eating habits I had been keeping. Thank you!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Granola
The basic recipe I found was in the magazine Everyday Food (April, page 39)
Oven 300°
3 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup pistachios (I didn't have these so I filled a cup with whole raw almonds, flax, chia seeds, wheat germ, unsweetened coconut and raw sunflower seeds. It probably ended up being more than 1 cup after I dumped everything into the bowl.)
1/4 cup butter melted with 1/3 cup honey. (I also poured a glug or two of maple syrup for flavor.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cardamom (I don't have this so I threw in some cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.)
Mix and bake the above for 30 minutes, stirring every 10.
Add 1 cup dried apricots (I used dried pineapple pieces, craisins and raisins.)
Since the challenge I have to pick out the craisins and pineapple as they are sweetened with sugar. Next time I will add unsweetened dried mango (so yummy) from Trader Joe's
Oven 300°
3 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking)
1 cup pistachios (I didn't have these so I filled a cup with whole raw almonds, flax, chia seeds, wheat germ, unsweetened coconut and raw sunflower seeds. It probably ended up being more than 1 cup after I dumped everything into the bowl.)
1/4 cup butter melted with 1/3 cup honey. (I also poured a glug or two of maple syrup for flavor.)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cardamom (I don't have this so I threw in some cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.)
Mix and bake the above for 30 minutes, stirring every 10.
Add 1 cup dried apricots (I used dried pineapple pieces, craisins and raisins.)
Since the challenge I have to pick out the craisins and pineapple as they are sweetened with sugar. Next time I will add unsweetened dried mango (so yummy) from Trader Joe's
Day 3
Breakfast- Homemade biscuits (white flour, butter, plain yogurt, agave), Me-strawberries
Snack-Me- dried unsweetened mango (SO YUMMY!), dried pineapple (unsweetened dried pineapple isn't as juicy/sweet as sweetened, that and it's flat? Not sure why.)
Lunch-Me-leftover spaghetti and meatballs, carrots, cherry tomatoes & blackberries. Kendra-Tater tot hotdish (turns out there is only 1 gram of sugar in 9 tater tots and no sugar was listed in the ingredients for the cream of mushroom soup. I was surprised at that one.), mixed veg., strawberries. Riley-Half of her homemade wheat bread and butter sandwich, mixed veg., strawberries, cherry tomatoes & blackberries.
Snack-Me-cashews, sesame sticks, dried fruit. Kendra and Riley- dried mango, tortilla chips
Dinner- Five Guys Fries! Me- I had a cheeseburger with mustard and pickles on my homemade bread (I also had the rest of Riley's cheeseburger and tomatoes w/o the bun.) Kendra had the works on their bun. Riley had a couple bites of her burger on their bun. We all had fries. I know there is sugar in the ketchup and buns. I'm not sure about the cajun seasoning on the fries. I wasn't sure how processed the mushrooms, onions etc were so I skipped them this time.
Over all I would have to say the third day didn't go as well as the first two. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get back on track.
Riley seems to be in the lead. She had NO sugar at all the first two days. The amount she consumed in her burger tonight was not much.
Snack- frozen strawberries and blueberries blended with banana and a bit of juice (pretty much a thick smoothie.)
I will probably skip snack tonight as I ate way to much burger and fries!
Tobin tried avocado tonight and liked it :)
Now to make white sub bread to bring to church tomorrow night for sub sandwiches.
Snack-Me- dried unsweetened mango (SO YUMMY!), dried pineapple (unsweetened dried pineapple isn't as juicy/sweet as sweetened, that and it's flat? Not sure why.)
Lunch-Me-leftover spaghetti and meatballs, carrots, cherry tomatoes & blackberries. Kendra-Tater tot hotdish (turns out there is only 1 gram of sugar in 9 tater tots and no sugar was listed in the ingredients for the cream of mushroom soup. I was surprised at that one.), mixed veg., strawberries. Riley-Half of her homemade wheat bread and butter sandwich, mixed veg., strawberries, cherry tomatoes & blackberries.
Snack-Me-cashews, sesame sticks, dried fruit. Kendra and Riley- dried mango, tortilla chips
Dinner- Five Guys Fries! Me- I had a cheeseburger with mustard and pickles on my homemade bread (I also had the rest of Riley's cheeseburger and tomatoes w/o the bun.) Kendra had the works on their bun. Riley had a couple bites of her burger on their bun. We all had fries. I know there is sugar in the ketchup and buns. I'm not sure about the cajun seasoning on the fries. I wasn't sure how processed the mushrooms, onions etc were so I skipped them this time.
Over all I would have to say the third day didn't go as well as the first two. Hopefully tomorrow we will be able to get back on track.
Riley seems to be in the lead. She had NO sugar at all the first two days. The amount she consumed in her burger tonight was not much.
Snack- frozen strawberries and blueberries blended with banana and a bit of juice (pretty much a thick smoothie.)
I will probably skip snack tonight as I ate way to much burger and fries!
Tobin tried avocado tonight and liked it :)
Now to make white sub bread to bring to church tomorrow night for sub sandwiches.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Day 2
Breakfast- Cereal- the girls ate it dry, I had Vanilla Coconut milk to use up it has sugar in it (that's my "sugar treat" for the day.)
Snack- grape tomatoes
Lunch- Girls- chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veg. Me- PB and raw honey on Ezekiel bread, salad with olive oil and vinegar, sesame sticks
Snack-Me- cantaloupe, chips and salsa. Kendra- Cantaloupe. Riley- nothing
Dinner-Black spaghetti, homemade red sauce, beef and black bean meatballs, brussel sprouts.
Brownies for dessert. Mix. 1/2 c .wheat flour, 1/8 c. flax, 1/8 c. chia, 1/8 c. oats 1 tsp baking pwdr, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp. salt. Melt 1/4c. butter, 1/4c. coconut oil, 1/2 c. cocoa pwdr. add 1tsp vanilla and 2 eggs. Mix dry with wet. Bake in a greased pan 350 for 15-20 minutes. (Not super sweet, very chocolaty. Next time I will try adding a ripe banana for extra sweetness and use less cocoa pwdr.)
Reward: Kendra-1 small piece of candy, Riley-puffed corn, Tracy- another brownie :)
Day 2 is almost over, so far so good. It was tough hanging in there at work this afternoon as there was a yummy looking chocolate cake in the kitchen. Kendra really wants tater tot hot dish (lunch at TLC) tomorrow but has decided she can wait until another time. Her steadfastness is a great motivator.
This whole experience hopefully will help us to be aware of how much sugar we consume. It will also be a great test of our willpower.
Snack- grape tomatoes
Lunch- Girls- chicken, mashed potatoes, mixed veg. Me- PB and raw honey on Ezekiel bread, salad with olive oil and vinegar, sesame sticks
Snack-Me- cantaloupe, chips and salsa. Kendra- Cantaloupe. Riley- nothing
Dinner-Black spaghetti, homemade red sauce, beef and black bean meatballs, brussel sprouts.
Brownies for dessert. Mix. 1/2 c .wheat flour, 1/8 c. flax, 1/8 c. chia, 1/8 c. oats 1 tsp baking pwdr, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp. salt. Melt 1/4c. butter, 1/4c. coconut oil, 1/2 c. cocoa pwdr. add 1tsp vanilla and 2 eggs. Mix dry with wet. Bake in a greased pan 350 for 15-20 minutes. (Not super sweet, very chocolaty. Next time I will try adding a ripe banana for extra sweetness and use less cocoa pwdr.)
Reward: Kendra-1 small piece of candy, Riley-puffed corn, Tracy- another brownie :)
Day 2 is almost over, so far so good. It was tough hanging in there at work this afternoon as there was a yummy looking chocolate cake in the kitchen. Kendra really wants tater tot hot dish (lunch at TLC) tomorrow but has decided she can wait until another time. Her steadfastness is a great motivator.
This whole experience hopefully will help us to be aware of how much sugar we consume. It will also be a great test of our willpower.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Day 1
Pancakes (Half wheat, half white, flax, chia, oat, date sugar.) with frozen wild blueberries and fresh mango.
Snack- Homemade granola
Lunch- Organic mac-n-cheese and green beans.
Pancakes (Half wheat, half white, flax, chia, oat, date sugar.) with frozen wild blueberries and fresh mango.
Snack- Me, a handful of cashews and a clementine.
Dinner- Chicken stir fry with vegetables and noodles
Dessert- Frozen banana (pureed) with frozen pineapple, mango and coconut flakes.
Snack- Kendra & Riley, pistachios
Snack- Homemade granola
Lunch- Organic mac-n-cheese and green beans.
Pancakes (Half wheat, half white, flax, chia, oat, date sugar.) with frozen wild blueberries and fresh mango.
Snack- Me, a handful of cashews and a clementine.
Dinner- Chicken stir fry with vegetables and noodles
Dessert- Frozen banana (pureed) with frozen pineapple, mango and coconut flakes.
Snack- Kendra & Riley, pistachios
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