How I'm Changing

Good things are happening. I'm happy to say that I have ordered a new computer and it should be here in about a week! Then I will be able to share with you all my lovely photos I've been snapping.

Yesterday was such a great post. What I mean to say by that is I was really excited about all your comments and opinions on going veggie. I really appreciate ALL your feedback! A lot of you mentioned that you choose not to go full veggie because you feared you would make up for the lack of meat with other unhealthy options. This exactly sums up how I feel I think and what has held me back from going full vegetarian. I also think that it would be REALLY hard to adjust to this as my husband and family are just plain out meat eaters!

All that to say, I think for now I have decided to not go full veggie quite yet. It was actually quite strange and coincidental that I saw two other bloggers blog on the vegetarian subject yesterday too, without knowing that I had asked this question. One of them, the Fit RedHead, mentioned a new book by Hungry Girl called "The Flexatarian Diet." This books sounds like it is right down my alley- focusing on eating less meat but not eliminating it altogether. I'm going to check it out as soon as I get the chance!

There are definitely some other areas of my eating that I've also been focusing on changing. I mentioned in my post a couple of days ago that I am no longer buying products with aspartame in them. I've done some research and read some blogs which focus on "whole foods" eating, and that is what I'm starting to focus on. Let me tell you...this is a HUGE struggle for me. It's not easy to give up that little "sugar free treat" that has 60 calories and change to something that might very well have 200. But in the long wrong, my ultimate goal is to stop calorie counting altogether and only eat real, non processed foods as much as possible. That is what I see as "whole" foods eating.

My focus on eating is to eventually eat like this:

-eat a serving of fruit/vegetables at every meal and two snacks a day
-only whole grain carbs
-focus on foods that give me the most "bang for their buck" -or in better terms- protein packed
-drink LOTS of water (tea is ok too!)
-no processed foods
-limit sugar
-meat at only one meal a day (or none!)
-Superfoods. Load up!

and of course...portions portions portions!

That's what I'm focusing on for now. But I'm sure this list is forever changing as I learn more and more about healthy living.

Mosyin' On Outta a Two Day Funk

Ello Loves.

I have been a TAD mia from blogworld the last two days. Although I do have most of this week off from work, I've busied myself with some other tasks that are on my to do list (ie finishing painting the hallway I started back in December!). Anyway, I am not sure of what time of the month it is, but my body is telling me it's feasting week. This comes about 10 days before the blessed you know what and makes me want to eat everything in site- including scavenging for chocolate at any cost!

Needless to say, I have not been on track. No exercise and binge eating. Eh. Tomorrow I am going hiking with a friend and I'm hoping for some serious calorie burnage!!

I also have no lovely pictures for you all today :(
Can you blame me for not wanting to share my binge meals? Boy would that be entertaining!

I DO however have some formspring questions I will tackle today:

(This one is a couple of weeks old so I apologize for the delay!)

How did you get the 'who am i' 'whats up with the lettuce' and 'before.during.after.' tabs on your blog?? Thanks!!

This is actually quite simple. When you are on your blogger "dashboard" select "new post." Once you are at the posting screen, look at the top underneath the tabs. There should be an option called "edit pages." This will take you to a screen where you should be able to then add different pages to your blog! Good luck!

And another:

How do you cook your vegetables?

Realistically, I don't have to much variety at how I prepare my veggies. What I usually do is slice them to however I desire (asparagus in half, broccoli in florets, etc) and then I toss them in a ziploc bag. I add some olive oil and shake to properly coat them. Then I do one of two things:

1. Sautee them in a pan, usually on medium heat with a lid, watching closely (the key is to take them out almost before they looked "cooked"-then they will be soft but still have a bit of a "crunch")
or!
2. I roast them in the oven. I have no specific temp or length of time- it's really random. I just keep a close eye on them and take them out when they look ready! I always use some kind of seasoning (usually Johnny's) on them while I'm cooking them as well.

This method works for what I usually make: asparagus, zuchinni, yellow squash, broccoli, brussel sprouts, even carrots. Other veggies I just eat fresh (like tomatoes and spinach) That was a great question, thank you!

I do have one last thing to say to you all AND a picture (I lied!) hehe. You know how I posted that pic of my dog licking the PB jar last week? Well she took that thing with her wherever she went afterwards....it was kind of hilarious! Here she is at her favorite spot by the window with her beat up PB jar:
Tommorow I will be wrapping up and reviewing the month of March, as well as setting some new goals for the month of April! Stay tuned!

Creamy Oatmeal and Cool Gadgets

You may all remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote about my struggle with oatmeal. You all gave some great suggestions! I also had been eyeing this strange creation called "overnight" oatsl I kept seeing on Kristen's blog. So I ventured into this world and....I fell in oatmeal love.

Yes, I realize that I said the reason that I didn't like hot meal was because it was "mushy"--and this is still true. But for some reason, this overnight oats thing has just a bit of crunchy and it overrides that mushy element.

Here was my first bowl ever:What I put in it:
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup soy milk
1 small banana, cut up
1/2 Tbsp PB
1 tbsp Agave

I threw all this in a bowl, gave it a couple stirs, and left it in the fridge overnight. Voila!

I have to tell you, I was pretty skeptical of what it might be like to eat this cold. It sounded pretty gross to me. I tried it anyway, and it was so good! The yogurt makes it so creamy. Now that I've had it cold, I can't imagine eating this hot, I'm not sure it would taste quite right!

I also picked up some steel cut oats at Trader Joe's last weekend but haven't tried them yet!

I received a formspring question a couple of days ago regarding my HRM:

What kind of heart rate monitor are you using? How do you like it?

I have returned this heart rate monitor watch that I got for my birthday:
I think I figured out the problem and why it was overestimating my calorie burn. In order to get your heart rate, you must place your fingre on the metal part of the watch during your workout. Well the problem is, (and I don't know about the rest of you) but my heart rate changes often during my workout! However, because I didn't really want to place my finger on there every minute, the watch was calculating my calorie burn from the last time I measured my heart rate...

and so....

because the main reason I even wanted the watch was for an accurate calorie count, I returned it.

Now when I was shoe shopping this weekend with my mom I spotted the Nike+Ipod sensor. If you have the Ipod or Iphone alreday, this sensor is just 30 dollars.

How it works: you place that little red sensor thing in your shoe and the white part plugs into your Ipod. The sensor measures how many steps you are taking and tells you how long you have been out, how far you are going, and your calorie burn as well. There is an actual voice that comes through your headphones telling you this information.

I realize that this is pretty different from a HRM but I think it's going to fit with me nicely. First of all, my main exercise of choice is running/walking which is what this is designed for. Secondly, I run at a lot of places that are unmarked trails- this is going to be SO nice to know exactly how far I am running.

Another cool thing is that you can set a certain calorie goal. When you reach that goal, the voice will tell you!

I'm really excited to try this out, but I am waiting to do so until I get my new running shoes which I HOPE will be coming in the mail today! I will keep you guys posted!

Excuse Me Miss...How Much Do You Weigh?

Another long one, so stick with me here folks!

I know what you are wondering. No, no one has asked me this. Well actually, one person did, but she was a good friend and we talk about weight pretty openly. Anyway, my title is actually referring to a reoccurring thought I've had in my head over the last couple of months. Let me explain.

You see, I just don't like trying to compare what I might look like to women on magazines or TV. It's pretty much useless because as we all know most of these women are either:
a. airbrushed to non human size or
b. don't eat more than an apple a day.
Um. Yeah. That's just not for me.

But what I DO like to do is "check out" women in real life- coffee shops, post office, the mall. This may sound a little bit creepy. And I'm sure it would be a little bit weird if they caught me staring at their adorable butt or awesome toned arms, but for the most part, I try to keep it discreet. LOL! In all honestly, I really just want to walk up to them and say "Excuse me Miss- how tall are you? how much do you weigh? Ok. Thank you. Byebye."

You see, "us overweight for lifers" just really have no idea what it might look like to be at a "normal" weight. When I was in 8th grade I weighed in at 155lbs at the doctor's office. I remember him coming in and telling me that what I weighed now was a healthy weight for a woman of 5'6". What I didn't realize is that he was really saying is "you can't gain anymore weight- you're done! No more!" Yeah. I didn't get it. I think I just almost took it as a compliment. Woohoo! I'm normal! Um...yes, you are normal...at the age of 13!

The point of this little story is really just to tell you all that I have no clue what weight I will be happy with. I really haven't ever been there. I don't have those pictures that I look back on and think "oh I wish I was that weight again!" So for now I'm just shooting for my first goal (about ten pounds from now) and we will see where I go from there.

Now food and Trader Joe reviews.

This week of course I have been testing out my Trader Joe products. Wow have I been impressed.

Monday night was chicken gyros.This is probably one of the easiest meals I make.

All you do is grill some chicken breast and cut it into pieces. The sauce is plain yogurt and dill weed- I also added a bit of lemon juice and garlic salt to this one. You could fill the pitas with veggies too to make a bit healthier.

Trader Joes Mini Wheat Pitas- They are pretty cute and yummy, but the best part about these is they are so cheap. I was having such a hard time justifying buying pitas at my local grocery store because they are SO expensive. A bag of about 10 mini pitas at TJ's is 2 dollars!

For dessert we of course had to try the delicious and oh so cheap TJ's wine:
I am not a huge wine fan in general, but if I do have it, it has to be fruity and juicy. This stuff hit the spot. And for 3 dollars a bottle- well you just can't argue with that.

Let me admit something to you all right now. In the last [almost] 5 months of "healthy choices" I can probably count on my hands how many times I've eaten a salad. Yup. I just really am NOT a salad person. I think mainly it's because the disgusting taste of lowfat dressings just never appeals to me. Kind of funny considering the title of my blog....

That all changed yesterday.
Holy guacamole. I have died and gone to salad heaven. Seriously- just send me to the lettuce patches--3.50 for this bottle of deliciousness. Maybe I am exaggerating. But I don't think so.

Last night's dinner:


TJ's gyoza- 3 dollars (about 22 in the bag) and for 7 gyoza it's about 220 calories. SO yummy. The fried rice was really good too.

That's all for today. Tomorrow I HOPE to talk about my heart rate monitor situation as I have had a few questions about it!

Weigh in Week 19: Spoilage :o

This weekend I was majorly spoiled. By myself and my family.

I will start with myself. I knew I would be headed down to see my family this weekend and was excited about my Trader Joe's trip the whole week. I am a WEIRDO when it comes to grocery shopping...I get WAY overly excited about it. I wanted to spend a long time (alone, no pressure) at TJ's so I could check out all their products. I wanted to spend about 50.00 but came away with 75.oo in TJ's goodness....oh well. It was fun!

Here is my super secret TJ's shot since I had my SLR and I didn't really want people to think I was a CRAZY (like I kind of am).

I've been hearing SO much about greek yogurt lately and the last time I tried it I was not impresseed. So I decided to give it another shot. I also picked up some agave nectar to stick in it and some TJ's low fat granola:Verdict: YUMMY! The agave sweetener and granola gave it a great sweet taste, and it didn't taste aspartame-y like most other low fat yogurts. I will definitely be having this again.

Now on to family spoilage....

My mom insisted on buying me running materials for my birthday. She is SO excited and supportive on my new found love of running!

So we set out on Saturday and picked up a few things:
Socks.Insoles.

That can only mean one thing right?!

YUP!

I got new running shoes!

Unfortunately, they didn't have my size in stock so I will get them later this week.

I actually had quite a little adventure at the running store. I got my feet evaluated on a machine and then the store clerk asked to look at the bottom of my feet....umm....EW!

I was SO embarrassed. She pretty much "reamed me out" for not taking care of my feet. I have several blisters and callouses on my feet. Apparently I have been wearing one size two small. And I guess the ultimate sin when running is to wear cotton socks?! Who knew?!?

I never said I was professional!

I will post a pic this week when I got my new kicks in the mail!

I also hopped on over to Target last night. I returned my Heart Rate Monitor I wrote about a couple of weeks ago. I will be writing about this in a later post!!

However, I was literally jumping for joy when I realized that Target has REALLY CHEAP GROCERIES!

And guess what else?!?!I found bagel thins there! I've been looking for them everywhere!!

Woohoo!

A couple of week ago I wrote about how I had gone down in dress size and that I would post a picture of the new dress I bought...Well here it is!
I wore it all weekend long pretty much. I am really diggin' it because it is super comfy...and not to mention a size I haven't worn in about forever!

One last thing...my family took me out to dinner on Saturday night to celebrate my birthday. We went to a place called "Asado's"- an Argentinian themed restaurant in Tacoma. My mom and I split the flat iron steak, purple mashed potatoes, and a side of grilled asparagus:

And here we are:
Thanks for the spoilage this weekend, mum!

Weigh in:

This week I lost...ZILCH! You may remember that I had gained .5 of a pound from Monday to Wednesday where I had a special birthday weigh in. So technically, I did lose that .5. That's a start! This week I plan on totally rocking my calorie counting and hoping for a big loss as I coast into my 5 month weight loss anniversary next week! We will see!

Weigh In Week 18: My struggle with oatmeal and new running goals!

Thank you Thank you Thank you to all who left me supporting comments on my post yesterday about the St. Patty's Day Dash- my first 5k. Check it out here if you didn't get a chance to see it!

I think I may have confused everyone with the title of my post yesterday. Although running the race was my b-day present to myself, my birthday is not actually until Wednesday, which happens to be the "official" St. Patrick's Day.

My goal was to have lost 30 pounds by my birthday. So I will be having a "special" weigh in on Wednesday as well. But for now....

I lost 1 pound this week. That means I have lost a total of 28.5 pounds- which also means I would need to lose 1.5lbs in two days to achieve my goals. Um...hehe....well....we will see!

As far as RUNNING goes...I have set another goal! There is a parade in our hometown in May called VikingFest (oddly enough my town is themed Scandinavian.) The parade kicks off with a 5 mile run that I will be doing. I've set up a brand new training schedule (located on my sidebar) and will be keeping track through my blog.

In other news, I ventured into the world of oatmeal this week.

I have NEVER liked oatmeal. And well. I still don't like it.

I tried making it on the stove according to the package directions. I doctored it up with some delicious goodness:
walnuts.coconut.chocolate PB

Sounds good right?

Ehhhhh....

and then I tried:
Maple syrup. Regular PB

Better.

But still....

Ehhhh.....

It's just so mushy and gushy and...not good....

SO! All you Oatmeal LOVERS- I need ideas! I will try to try all of your ideas in the next couple of weeks (depending on if they fit my "palette" of liking) and will post a pic of the one I decide is my favorite in a couple of weeks.

Well I am now off to start my first day of the "Blogger-Made Home Workout Challenge" started my Seth at 1010in2010. Check it out if you'd like to join in!

I have babies!!!

Check out my little baby lettuce sprout! Yesterday I came home and went to water my growing veggie garden and discovered that my babies have sprouted. I started jumping up and down and yelling for Kellen that we have babies! WOOHOO!Last night I tried Sweet Potato Fries again- except this time I actually got sweet potatoes and not YAMS! haha. I drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkled them with Johnny's Seasoning Salt (so yummy, if you haven't tried this spice- we use it on EVERYTHING including most veggies!)

To be honest with you all... I liked the YAM FRIES better! They are just a little less sweet than the sweet potatoes.

Has anyone else had yam fries before?! Thoughts?

This is my pup Chloe's new thing: staring out the window. Literally she will sit here for hours and just watch....nothing?! The squirrels? The trees? Cars? Who knows. But it's pretty cute. (and anything to distract her from destroying things is good in my books!)
I snapped this picture after our 3 mile run on Tuesday. We used to have nice grass in our backyard until we got an extremely excitable husky who likes to destroy all. I thought it was funny because she looks absolutely wiped out! SUCCESS!

Unfortunately it is about a week before my TOM and thanks to all my blogger friends that helped me pinpoint that I become an EATING MACHINE during this time. I literally can't stay full! It's so frustrating.

Right now, I'm pretty wiped out. I've had to get up early the last two days for work and haven't gotten a chance to work out. I'm hoping I will have energy when I get home today to go for a run.

Have a healthy day everyone!

I found my sunshine.

Yesterday I accomplished something that I HAVE to share with you all. I ran three miles yesterday! I was so happy as this is the farthest I've gotten. And guess what!? I got 34:30 for a time! Not to shabby if you ask me! I was so proud of myself when I finished that run yesterday. It made me feel confident that I can and will finish my race that I have coming up in almost TWO weeks! AHHHH!

Last night Kellen started on our little garden. I hadn't planned on starting quite yet, but he got RIGHT on it when he got home and since this is supposed to be a "bonding" experience I greatly obliged. Here is setting up and planting our first little row of lettuce:

And of course Chloe had to see what was going on and make sure there was nothing edible being wasted:I'm not sure why this totally grosses me out, but we had some garlic on the counter and it started sprouting (EWWW)....so Kellen decided to plant it and see what happens.

While he did that I made dinner. I needed to use up some beef that had been in our freezer so I made teryaki kebabs and brown rice:

Yum!!

I also want to say THANK YOU to everyone who gave me a blog award this week, I am so thankful to know that I have some pretty awesome readers and I love getting to know you all through your blogs.

That being said, I'm not going to pass on all of them but I did want to pass on this one I received and mention some blogs that I absolutely love. If you don't follow these gals, you should because they are really awesome and have been so supporting to me!

This award came from Googie at Love Me For Who I Am:
I chose to do this one because...well...I love me some sunshine! And even when it's raining here in Washington State, these blogs put a smile on my face:

Patti @ Less is More
Kristen @ Change of Pace
Jessica @ CBGBlog
Alex @ just another FAT girl.
ContinuousChanges
Lucy @ Eat When Hungry
CinciMom11
Whitney @ Fat Girl in a Wedding Dress
Kaitlin @Everyday Grace
Tiff @ Project 365
Melissa@ Try Try Again
Alexia @ My Wicked, Wicked Ways

These are just ones I enjoy reading daily, but there are SO many more I'm trying to catch up on and that I really enjoy. I appreciate all of my readers so much!

I'm pumped for my weigh in on Monday--it's my fourth month healthy anniversary and the beginning of a new month. Plus...shhh don't tell but...I've been peeking! And it seems to be that my "starting intensity" has payed off this week! We will see!

Chocolate and French Fries=My Demise

I honestly believe that if chocolate and french fries did not exist in this world I could have reached my goal weight and been a success story by now (not that losing 24.5 is not a success, but you know what I mean).

I have to be honest with you all. I have eaten a massive amount of these two things in the last week.

Chocolate:
It all started with the Hungry Girl's "chocolate chip mini pancake recipe." I knew I shouldn't have even given in to buying the ingredients for this recipe because I knew that having chocolate chips in my house causes me to overeat on sweet things. Yes, you heard it right, I will literally eat plain chocolate chips out of the bag until they are gone. And that is just what I have been doing for the last two weeks!

Lesson learned: I will NOT keep chocolate chips in my cupboard. If I HAVE to make a recipe which requires this product, I will pawn it off onto a skinny friend to devour and enjoy!

French Fries:
The consumption of french fries is like a giant snowball effect in my life. It all started last week when I somehow justified in my mind that if I ordered a sandwich and french fries for lunch and then just didn't eat anything for the rest of the day I would be fine.
Healthy living, right?!

That was on Tuesday last week. It then turned into a downward spiral and by Sunday I had justified myself into eating french fries/onion rings four times in one week.
(And yes, Kristen, I did say I was going to admit this to only you, but my revelation about these food products was something I felt compelled to share! haha)

Now I'm not saying that YOU can NEVER have these things. But for ME, these foods are major triggers and I end up overeating every.single.time I consume them.

I'm not ready to give them up altogether (what would life be with chocolate and french fries??!). However, I am willing to recognize that I need to practice some serious self control if and when I do choose too!

What foods are your triggers?

Trick Your Man Tuesday's: Streching the Eating Comfort Zone

Well I'm remixing Trick Your Man Tuesday's this week because, well, frankly I couldn't think of anything to "trick" my man with this week. I did however, make him a little uncomfortable by forcing him to step out of his eating comfort zone. What do I mean by this you say?!

Eating with your hands.

That's right folks, my big buff, 6'3" manly man (can you tell i think he's a hunk :0) ) took part in a new tradition at our house this week:

Thai Lettuce Wraps
(click on link to get recipe!!)

My adventure on Friday night took me to the grocery store, where I went well equipped with my color-coded grocery list in hand:(no I'm not really this crazy all the time...I was bored!)

I finally made it out of the store alive--and headed back to the house to begin the amazing meal:
Double chin you will always remain my cursed enemy!!

I chopped...and I chopped...and I chopped. There was quite a bit of work in this meal. Definitely not a quickie....but what a dish it turned out to be!And it just so happens our lovely friends came to join us. Check us all out ready to feast!!And here's the hubby...hands on ready for this wrap experience!! (please excuse the tongue and my crazy eyes)
I have to say, he did well. And its kind of nice to have a clear conscious this week...no tricking involved!! ;)

Make sure to stay tuned tomorrow as I tackle a rising crisis in America: Dog Obesity.

Weigh In Week 15: Valentine's- One FUN Blunder

Valentine's day. When Kellen and I woke up yesterday we had vowed to swear off valentine's day this year. Why? Because we figured: why do we need a day to show each other we love each other? Why not do that every day?

Now, of course in my deepest darkest secrets I was so hoping he would reveal a dozen roses and a box of chocolate he had hidden under the bed. No such luck. Apparently he took our "let's not make valentine's day a big day" seriously. OH MAN....he has some years to learn I guess :)

However, that didn't mean we weren't going to spend some quality time together! We ended up heading out mid morning and going for a short hike in a nearby town. Have I mentioned to you all that I have made a pact with myself to explore as much as I can of the nearby towns I live close to this year?

The hike was ok, but mostly it was just good to spend time with him. For lunch we headed to the grocery store and picked up some ingredients to make his favorite: paninis. Here is where the diet demise of the day began.

Check out this sandwich:Turkey.Brie.Tomato.Spinach

So Good. Could I have chosen to eat only half? Yes. Did I? No. :) But it was definitely one of those choices that I didn't feel like I had wasted my calories. This thing was perfect!

After lunch we set out to get our bike tires filled and went on a short ride, until it started pouring down rain!! It was actually kind of fun riding in the rain and when we got back I was soaked.

That night we went over to our friends Jared and Olivia's house. The men made a GOURMET dinner while Olivia and I did "girl stuff" including playing for quite a while with her MAC photobooth:
Then dinner was served. OK guys, this is where the amazingness comes out:Chicken with blackberry butter sauce, risotto cakes and broccolini (must say with Italian accent)! Heaven on a plate!

To top that off, the guys even made us homemade eclairs!! What studs!!
After dinner Kellen and I got a chance to snap some pics of us two:Say Cheese! Ah. What a fun day :)

Oh.....now you are wondering about the weigh in huh?!?

Well first of all I just have to say that whoever invented superbowl sunday and valentines day to be within one week of each other this year....I CURSE YOU!

Also, his name is probably TOM, because that's a factor in this game too.

But I can't be toooooo angry because....I lost a pound this week. That's a total of 23.5 pounds! I am so close to seeing a brand new weight decade! Next week will be the week.

I want to HOLLER OUT to my girl Tiff @ Project 365--last week she left me a comment on my weigh in day that said "Make that scale show you what you want." WOW. So simple. So true. This saying has been echoooooing in my head all week, Tiff, and you were like my little weight loss angel sitting on my shoulder!! hehe. She is such an inspiration and if you haven't checked out her blog yet you are missing out!

Hope you all had a wonderful valentine's day, no matter if you protested against it (like us!) or accepted chocolate and flowers with open arms.... ;)

YAM-bam-THANK-YOU-MAAM'!

Yesterday was a lazy day for the two of us.

A day doing nothing is pretty much a slice of heaven for me in this whilrwind called life. I got to try out a couple of new recipes that I have really wanting to try.

For dinner I decided to go with a Chicken Strips and French Fries theme- Nicole style- This included chicken made from my Weight Watcher's Book called "Southern Oven Fried Chicken."
The recipe essentially calls for fat free buttermilk to dip the chicken in, and then a mixture of flour, crushed up corn cereal, and salt. Dip the chicken "bits" (cut up chicken breast) in the buttermilk and coat with the flour mixture. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, flip and bake for another 10 or so. That's it. SUPER simple and delicious. I've been making this one for a WHILE, as you can see:I also decided to venture down sweet-potato-fry alley. However, with my SMALL brain and even smaller knowledge of sweet potatoes, I accidentally picked up YAMS!! Oh well, it worked
out great anyway and the hubby actually LOVED this recipe!! (Olive Oil and Johnny's Seasoning (I'll be posting about this seasoning more soon--heavenly!). Then just bake these bad boys along with the chicken (keep a close eye on them as they cook faster).

I also added in some yummy asparagus to top it off. YUMALICOUS!
And just for kicks, here is where my pup likes to sleep during dinner time:
Stay tuned tomorrow for my WEIGH IN post and a valentine's day special!! :)

Life Without Pizza is No Life At All

Yes, this is an actual magnet on our fridge. And it is just so true: pizza- the food of the gods! This amazing dish spans countries and generations. And here at our house, pizza makes a very regular appearance.

Last week I got an inkering (is this a word??!) for some good pizza grub. But since my goal mainly has been to take my favorite dishes and transform them into lower calorie goodness, I was presented with a challenge....

I can't remember who asked the question, but I was reading a blog a couple of weeks ago where someone asked ways to make a lower calorie pizza. Someone suggested using the la tortilla wraps for a crust (possibly Kaitlin @ Everyday Grace??). So I scooted on over to my local Albertson's and picked up some la tortillas, and some other ingredients:I was a little skeptical of the tortilla for a crust....but I decided to try it. I put the ingredients together and broiled it in the oven. Then I wrapped it up like a burrito. And can I just say....YUMMMMMM
If you saw my food journal for the past couple of weeks you would be quite surprised to see the entry "PIZZA WRAP" in their QUITE a few times. Rough calculations say this delicious lunch is about 250 calories. But it is FILLING! Man, I was surprised how long this kept me full.

Last night I ventured into the real crust world. I figured it was probably a good idea to use some frozen crust I had picked up at Trader Joe's a while ago (A garlic and herb dough). I used essentially the same ingredients, except the dough. OH! and I added some pineapple. SO good. And of course this was spilt with my eating machine hubby so I beefed his up a bit. Can you tell which side is mine?!If you missed it, I also made some mini pizzas on Sandwhich Thins on Sunday. However, I would HIGHLY recommend the pizza wrap over the minis!!Well those are my pizza creations....that's a wrap (no pun intended...ok maybe it was...)!