YUMMY no-bake granola bars

I've been struggling with snacks and my dietician on BLC suggested I have a granola bar with a fruit for my afternoon snack. I'm not a fan of store bought granola bars but my Sister in law has gotten me hooked to making my own bars. I researched a bunch of different sites, and a bunch of different recipes and think I found a winner. It's actually  my own concoction. I then plugged the info into sparkpeople's sparkrecipe nutrition calculator and they're only 107 calories. Mind you they aren't huge, but neither are the lunchbox granola bars you get in stores, that are packed full of unnatural crap. 

So here's the recipe:

No Bake Granola Bars

2 cups Whole Grain Crispy Rice Cereal
1.5 cups Quick Oats
1 cup Millet Puffs
3/4 cup Pumpkin Seeds (I didn't end up using sunflower seeds, but you could mix in both just make sure it's a combined 3/4 cups)
1/2 cup Carob Chips
1/2 cup Honey
1/2 cup Almond Butter
1/4 cup Sucanat (not pictured)

Directions:

Mix honey, almond butter and sucanat in a glass measuring cup. Microwave for 1 minute and stir. Set aside.

Mix all remaining ingredients in a large bowl. Once they're all mixed. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.

Heat the honey mixture in microwave for 1 more minute. Mix well. Pour half over dry ingredients. Mix well, then pour remaining. I find this helps to get all of the mixture combined. Once everything seems 'wet', dump in pan. Press down with spoon or metal spatula. This sets fairly quickly so you will need to move fast. Make sure you press down well.

Let it set in fridge for about 1 hour. Cut into rectangles. (10 x 3) Oh and Pumpkin LOVES them! She said she can't wait for tomorrow till she can have another! :)

Servings: 30
1 bar = 1 serving

Nutritional Information courtesy of Spark People.

Before/After Week 8

I decided not to take a 'boring' workout, outfit for this weeks before and after. I mean who REALLY looks good in workout gear... Well... I mean someone trying to lose weight. Frankly I don't feel my best in it, and I want to be proud of my accomplishments! Here are my week 8 photos, plus a before and after. :) (I didn't realize it was out of focus... ooops - silly timer!)

Pizza Night

Mr. Munchkin used to be a Pizza-aholic. He could still eat it morning noon and night, I'm sure. That said, embarking on a weight loss journey doesn't really leave much room for take out pizza. I mean let's be honest here... who orders 1 pizza and has only 1 slice from it, with a giant salad. That just wouldn't fly, at least not in this household. So... I didn't want to deprive the poor guy for life. I figured I could come up with something reasonable.  I found whole wheat thin crust from Costco:




















I then add our own toppings so we customize each third for Mr. Munchkin, Pumpkin and myself...

Yum yum yum. My side is always LOADED with veggies. Pumpkin's side depends on her mood that day. Mr. Munchkins prefers a higher meat to veggie ratio. :) Delicious every time! On this day we had turkey pepperoni, yellow peppers, spinach, pineapple, part-skim mozza and feta. We cut our thirds, into 3... so we get 3 slices plus a salad. AWESOME Dinner!

Plateau's suck...

I woke up feeling pretty sorry for myself. I was such a good girl through thanksgiving. No pie. No cake. No turkey for goodness sakes! No gravy, no white potatoes... no cream, no alcohol. Yet... the scales still show a 1lb gain since Saturday. It hasn't changed, at all. Just stayed the same. Every day. Since Thursday I have walked 4 - 5km walks! I have gone up 888 steps. I have eaten on track... but nothing. Not a change. I've been asked if my clothes fit differently. Sure... they do... but I'm certainly not close to my goal size! How can I deal with this, so early in the game? It's really bothering me. Really. I just wish there was something I could do to jump start. I guess I just got to keep on truckin'...

Happy Thanksgiving! (Weigh in Day - Week 8)

What a great week I've had. My Mom came to stay with us for a few days. So I had a walking buddy. :) Since last Thursday I've walked 4 5km walks! I've also taken on the challenge of climbing the Sears Tower. That's 2200 steps. I started yesterday. I got 600 steps yesterday, gotta get atleast 400 in later today. I have until Friday.

Eating has been good. I've actually been on the lower side of my calorie allowance. I need to bump it up because I haven't noticed a change in my weight for about 4 days now. Actually... my weight went up from last Mondays weigh in. It's frustrating when you work so hard. That said, I have noticed a difference yet again in certain pants. I love that feeling of a pair of pants that were once too tight, or that I couldn't even zip up and now they're getting lose. :) So... weight for this week is 215.6. :(

I have a few meals to post. I was supposed to be blogging everyday and haven't been. Hopefully I can get back to that. Better get to climbing...

Week 7 - Day 3 - Exercise

Well... I got my wii workout in this morning. It sure wasn't easy though. Well that's not true. It wasn't that tough. But I had a problem with the wii remote registering some of the exercises. I wonder if the batteries are getting low? I should check. My fit score was 550. It had been consistently in the 600's so I'm a little discouraged by that. That said, I managed to do 25 tricep push ups on knees (in a row). I'm happy with that. I was able to do 3 regular pushups. I was able to do the dolphin plant for half the time, which is far more than I have been able to before. It's fun to seem my improvements. Even doing jumping jacks, at the beginning I couldn't even do the full duration of jumping jacks. Now not only I do it, but I'm not nearly as winded as I used to be. :) Oh... and Sumo Style jumping jacks. Are you FREAKING KIDDING ME? Those are CRAZY. The calorie burn for my workout was 325, although I'm pretty sure it should have been a bit higher since some of my exercises just weren't registering. It feels good to be done for today. I might get a walk in later tonight all the same, we'll see. Getting my second 5km in tomorrow. Weather better cooperate!

It's 1:15 and I'm still in my pj's (in my defense I was doing laundry) I should go get dressed and get ready to go out for the day... Chow for now!

Week 7 - day 2 - EXERCISE

Well, I didn't get an exercise in yesterday. I guess that's not totally true. I brought the Munchkins to playgroup which is 2 blocks from the house. It was gloomy but not raining so I loaded them up in the double stroller and walked there. I never even thought about what it might be like at the end of playgroup. Boy was I surprised when we came out and it was pouring. I covered the kids with the blanket we had and ran. It's maybe a 10 minute walk and I'm pretty sure we made it home in about 6 minutes! So if that can be counted as exercise, then I guess I got some in. I was supposed to have a Wii Challenge workout but I just didn't get it in. I was lazy. I had cleaning to do and last night I just didn't want to. So funny how the weather can have such an impact on your mood.

Chicken & Veggie packed Chili

First of all, I'm not a chef. I don't know all of the proper terminology... I just know what I like to eat and have an idea on what Mr. Munchkin and Pumpkin will eat - Buddy's still eating baby puree and cheerios.

So last night was another rainy, cold, gloomy day... so I thought PERFECT day to make chili. OMG it was so good. In fact I just finished having some for lunch. Seriously... yum yum yum. What I love about chili is that you can pretty much throw in whatever you want.

Here is my recipe:

12 oz diced chicken breast
1 tsp olive oil
1 28 oz can of chopped Italian tomatoes (low sodium)
1 can black beans (don't remember the size but it was equal to about 2 cups of beans)
1 onion chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/3 yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 of a small zucchini, shredded
2 carrots peeled and shredded
 (low sodium chili seasoning, epicure chili seasoning, or chili powder/red pepper flakes)

1 cup of organic quinoa (optional)

Heat large pot on medium heat, add olive oil and chicken. Brown Chicken. Once you see no more pink, add onions and peppers. Sauté until onions are translucent... about 8ish minutes. Add can of tomatoes and rinsed black beans. Stir. Add carrots and zucchini.

Bring to a boil. Add seasoning of your choice (I had to use taco seasoning because I forgot I was out of chili seasoning. I like Epicure Selections seasonings. They're natural and low to no sodium!)

Simmer. (I simmered mine for about 90 minutes. I just had some for lunch and it was even yummier today.

Optional:
Cook quinoa according to directions.

Serving size I would say is 6. Mr. Munchkin and I each had 2 servings last night since this was all we were having, with 1/2 cup of quinoa mixed in. SO delicious.

I put in all of the values into Sparkpeople.com's recipe calculator and here's what it says for a 1 cup serving:

Mmmmm. yummy. :) I had a 1 cup serving for lunch with 1/4 cup of quinoa and 15g of feta. Soooo good.

Rainy Days...

It's been raining for 5 days now. I'm sick of it! It's expected to continue for a few more days too. That said, it's October and our grass is still beautiful bright green. Impressive for East Coast Canadian fall!

Today is playgroup day. So it was a quick breakfast. We had our Mango shake again, except today I added a little bit of pineapple and some of it's juice. Sooo good.

I forgot to have my morning snack, I meant to grab it as we walked out the door for playgroup but I forgot. I remembered Buddy's bottle and Pumpkin's drink so 2 out of 3 not bad. Morning snacks are almost always 15 almonds and .5 oz of raisins. Mmm. I actually have some cranberries in the dehydrator right now. Hoping that maybe I can have those for a snack instead of the raisins. Let's hope they turn out.

I just finished a fantastic lunch. There's something you should know about me. I LOVE salad. Seriously... LOVE. Not the rinky dinky bed of greens with a half of a cup of dressing. No way. I love a veggie filled, heaping bowl/plate of salad. Filled with cheese and nuts and chicken.... This might sound like too much, but for a lunch it's perfect, as long as you weigh everything out.

Today's salad had 2 cups of spinach, 1/2 cup yellow pepper, 1/2 cup cucumber, 15g feta, 15 almonds (my missed snack from this morning), 3 oz of chicken and 2 TBSP light ranch dressing. SO yummy.  I could eat this EVERY day!

Tonight, because of the weather, I think I'm going to make a chicken chilli. Mmmmmm. I can't wait!

These sneaks are made for Walkin...

So today was weigh in day, that usually means day off for exercise. BUT I've been trying to complete the 5k challenge on BLC BC. (Biggest Loser club Boot camp) The challenge is to get at least 2 - 5ks in 1 week. I measured out a 5km distance (using google maps) and walked it with our Pupster (Our dog Molly). The route was great, the distance was good... but the way back is uphill. YUCK. That said, it flattens out for the last 500m which makes it a nice cool down. I was able to walk it in 52 minutes (that includes a stoop and scoop break). So that's the time to beat. I'd like to start running a bit, but I'd like to shed a few more pounds. I have issues with my right knee, I don't want to do anything that could injure me and put me on the sidelines for any length of time. I think Pupster really enjoyed the walk and it was nice to have her with me, so my goal is to start walking this route 3 times a week. It's also nice to get out after a long day of chasing the munchkins. It's my time to rejuvenate!

3 thumbs up for Supper

Suppers in my house are often a struggle. I am the cook of the house. Mr. Munchkin's ability in cooking does not exceed making a sandwich, reheating leftovers or making noodles. That said, he's also VERY picky. Nothing creamy, no sauces, no mushy consistency. You have no idea how much this eliminates. Pumpkin has her days...some days she'll eat everything but the kitchen sink, others we have to almost force feed her favorite foods. Lately I'm quite sure she's been going through a growth spurt because she's been eating like a horse. Large amounts of everything and anything. So tonight's menu was...

Pork chops, cooked on the stove top (in my Turbo cooker - remember those infomercials? I LOVE my Turbo cooker!!!) Cooked simple. Just pork, a little salt and pepper. That's it. Measured out 3 oz portions for Mr. Munchkin and I.

We then had 2 new side recipes. 5 thumbs up for one, and 4 thumbs up for the other.

Here they are:

Parmesan Sweet Potatoes
(5 thumbs up - Pumpkin's not a huge fan of sweet potatoes but she ate them all with a little organic ketchup. We WILL be making this again!)

16 oz of sweet potatoes (Using a mandalin cut a sweet potato into shoe string fries. )
1/2 tsp Epicure's Louisianna Hot and Spicy Dip mix (Or a mix of peppers... cayenne, red pepper flakes, etc.)
2 TBSP parmesan cheese
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl with cover. Cover and shake shake shake.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper (I used a silicone mat) and layer the sweet potatoes as evenly as possible, trying not to overlap any.

Bake for 10 minutes. Flip the fries and bake for another 15 minutes.

ENJOY.
(Serving size 3)

Yellow Beans
(4 thumbs up Pumpkin loved these. She had 2 large servings. I didn't mind them, didn't LOVE them. Daddy Munchkin was the same... take it or leave it.)

12 oz beans ends trimmed, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup of chopped onions
2 tsp butter/margarine (I used becel olive oil margarine)
1 clove of garlic minced

Steam the beans for 6-8 minutes. In a saucepan, put in the margarine, onions and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent. Add the beans and mix well with onion mixture so that the beans are coated. Serve.

Serving size: 6

I need to get in the habit of taking pictures... sorry I don't have any tonight, but I'll try to get some in the future. :)

Breakfast Smoothie

I have a large bag of frozen mangos in the freezer and LOVE smoothies for breakfast. I decided to try and find a yummy, fast and easy mango smoothie recipe. I SO found a winner! Pumpkin and I each enjoyed a tall Mango smoothies for breakfast.

Breakfast Mango Smoothie Recipe

1 cup frozen Mangos
1/2 banana (I used frozen banana) Tip: As fresh bananas ripen to that brown speckled point where you don't really want to eat them anymore... don't let them go bad, or throw them away! Throw them in the freezer for smoothies. They're DELICIOUS.
1/2 cup So Delicious Coconut Milk  (Or fat free milk)
1/2 cup Fat free greek yogurt

Blend all together in Blender and serve up. Since this was my breakfast I drank this whole thing. I actually doubled it so pumpkin could have some too. She DEVOURED it!

Nutritional Information (from my calculation on BiggestLoserClub.com using the coconut milk):

Calories: 293, Carbs: 58, Fat: 3, Protein: 15, Fiber: 5, Sodium:79

Notice Pumpkin in the background devouring hers!

Weigh in Day - Week 7

So today is weigh in day... drum roll please... My weight today is 214.6. I am down 4.4lbs from last week!!!!! Guess what that means? I've now lost 20.2lbs!!! YOUPI.

The only thing that changed last week is that I didn't get any Wii workouts in. I did get in  2 - 5km walks though. And I did 2 days of strength training. It was a crazy week chasing the munchkins though. Mr. Munchkin was away for work so I was a single Mom... Major kudos to all single Mom's out there! It is HARD work! I'm hoping to get 3 5km walks in this week and the arm and leg challenge on Biggest Loser Club bootcamp. (check out BiggestLoserClub.com).

No picture this week. I've decided to take pictures every 4 weeks. So since next Monday is week 8, I'll take a picture then, and every 4 weeks after that.

Cheers to week 8...