During my weight loss journey, I've experience many non-scale victories. Sitting in the movie theater one day and suddenly realizing: I can cross my legs. Boarding an airplane and discovering: I no longer need a seatbelt extension. No longer having to arrive early to a meeting so I can quickly scan the room for the largest chair. My latest  non-scale victory discovery: my body temperature is now in line with the average person. The consequence of being average: I'm cold all the time. Being cold is new to me. I was the one who was alway hot - even in the winter. So, what's an average girl to do when temperatures are in the single digits? Add more layers of clothing and then head for the kitchen to make soup.

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner

Being average, it turns out, isn't so bad. In fact, it feels great to be average. I consider myself an average size. Hush little mean girl, I know I'm currently the size others started at, it's still average, so hush. I'm an average procrastinator. I'm an average cook with an average desire to learn to cook even better. I've always been average height. Being average works for me.

Now, what about that soup? I have a couple soups I favor, but hands down-my favorite is pumpkin and sausage soup and a pretty close second is my chicken soup. I made chicken soup this week and it was incredible because I added a new secret ingredient: fresh ginger. When I make it next week, I promise to take notes and photos so I can add it to the blog recipes.

Meanwhile, I found this carrot-parsnip soup that looks perfect for those days when the temperature is a mere single-digit. I'll update this page with my own photos when I make this. I'm thinking I'll spice it up and add shrimp. It definitely needs some protein added or on the side. If you make this soup, please share your feedback for the rest of us!

Carrot-Parsnip Soup with Parsnip Chips

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
• 3 cups coarsely chopped parsnip (about 1 pound)
• 1/2 cup (1/8-inch-thick) slices parsnip
• 3 cups water
• 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot (about 1 pound)
• 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (to me, salt is always optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives

Instructions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven (or pan) over medium heat. 
2. Add the onion and cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. 
3. Add chopped parsnip, water, carrot, and broth; bring to a boil. 
4. Reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 
5. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. 
6. Place half of carrot mixture in a blender; process until smooth. 
7. Pour pureed carrot mixture in a large bowl.
8. Repeat procedure with remaining carrot mixture. 
9. Stir in salt and pepper. 
10. Heat remaining 5 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. 
11. Add parsnip slices; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. 
12. Drain on paper towels. 
13. Sprinkle parsnip chips and chives over soup. 

Note: Stir in more water or broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.

Recipe and photo source: MyRecipes.com

January 08, 2014

Thank you Lynn for sharing this Jambalaya recipe with us - it looks like a great one to try in this new year!

Jambalaya

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
• 2 zucchinis, diced
• 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 pound chicken breast, cooked, cooled, and chopped
• 1 pound cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp

Directions

1. Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and andouille sausage and cook and stir until the onion starts to brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Mix in crushed tomatoes, green bell peppers, zucchinis, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, and chicken broth.
5. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered until the liquid cooks off and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes.
6. Stir in chicken and shrimp and simmer until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.

Recipe and photo source: Allrecipes.com

January 01, 2014

Last month I made a delicious new dish for dinner: sirloin beef tips with steamed celeriac. I just ran across the photos I took, so I want to add this recipe here before I forget about it.

Sirloin beef tips with steamed celeriac. Photo by Theresa

Instructions:

Cut the skin off the celeriac, chop the celeriac into cubes, and then cook in a pan of water (like you would potatoes).

While the celeriac cooks, coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil, toss in some fresh minced garlic, then add the beef tips.

After a few minutes of cooking, pull the tips from the pan, slice then into long narrow pieces, and then return them to the pan.

Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and let the tips finish cooking.

Raw celeriac. Photo by Theresa

BTW, did you notice my army guy sitting in the plant next to the cutting board? I have a few others in my kitchen as a reminder of my journey.

Can't remember the army men metaphor? Here is my recollection, which is sort of the middle of the explanation about various military men used as metaphors to explain how food is processed in our bodies...

When you eat something, the Air Force yells - INCOMING and the Army men come running out.

If you eat too many carbs, or fake food, more Army men come out.

When there are too many army men they don't know what to do, so they turn that food into insulin/fat -- you don't want this.

The goal is to feed the marines (with protein) and to keep the army men working hard, but not fooling them into thinking there is more work to do.

January 01, 2014

This morning, as I sipped my first cup of coffee, I heard this statistic on the news: 92% of people dieting fail. Wow! What a bummer way to start the new year, knowing you have an 8% chance of successfully losing weight. For those of us following Julie's program, we're not worried, because we are an anomaly to this equation. We're not dieting -- we're changing our lifestyles. We're eating in such a way that once we reach our goal size and we'll learn how to stay that size. We'  re not buying into the New Year's resolutions to lose weight this year--we resolve to live healthy lives.

 

Crockpot Pulled Pork 
(recipe below)

I started this weight loss journey at the end of January 2011. In 2011, I did not resolve to lose weight. In 2011, I did not know that in just a few weeks I would begin a journey that would change the way I look and feel about my life. This year, I resolve to have more joy in my life and to share that joy with others.

Of of the ways to bring more joy into my life in 2014 is to explore my creative side. I signed up for a 6 week writing workshop, which starts next week. Another one of my creative goals is to make videos, something I've been talking about doing since 2001.

This morning I made a video! It's short. It's not finished. It's a start!

As I type, crockpot pulled pork is cooking in my kitchen. I took photos as I made the pulled pork and then I made this video. It took more time to make the video than it did to make the dish.

In fact, this makes 2 goals I've already met in the new year:

1. make videos (check)
2. make new dishes (check)

2014 is already looking like an incredible year!

What about you? What fun goals do you have for 2014? Is there something you've wanted to do and have put off for years? What non-scale goals are you making happen this year? The year is still young, so if you don't have a plan for 2014, there's no time like the present to make one!

Wishing all of you good health and lots of joy in 2014!

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Ingredients

• pork shoulder roast, about 4 pounds
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 bottle barbecue sauce (16 ounces)
• 1 cup chopped onion

 Preparation

1. Place half of the thinly sliced onions in bottom of slow cooker; add pork and water, along with remaining onion slices. 
2. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or 4 to 5 hours on HIGH heat setting. 
3. Drain liquid from slow cooker; chop the meat coarsely and discard excess fat. 
4. Put the pork back in the slow cooker. 
5. Add barbecue sauce and chopped onion. 
6. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours longer. 
7. Stir occasionally. 

Recipe source: About.com

01/02/14 Update 7:15am
I finished making this dish and went back and added more photos to the video.

January 01, 2014

What are your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day plans? My plans include having this shrimp with lemon butter. My plans do not include resolving to lose weight, as that plan is already in motion and all I need to do is keep doing what I'm doing. This year, I resolve to do other things, such as having more joy in my life. What about you? Since you too have this program down, what resolutions are you making?

Shrimp with Lemon Butter

Whatever your plans are, I wish you all a happy new year. May your new year be full of many new experiences and may your heart be full of joy like you've never know before.

Shrimp with Lemon Butter

When I saw this recipe, I knew this would be the perfect dish to bring in the new year. It promises to be an easy and quick dinner, full of wonderful.

Ingredients

• 1 stick of butter (I used a 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil)
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 packet Italian seasoning* (I used jarred herbs instead: red pepper flakes, chives, dill, and black pepper)
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• fresh parsley or basil (optional)

*One of my key friends suggested packets of Italian seasoning may not be allowed, so you may want to use jarred or fresh Italian herbs instead. I thought that taco seasonings are okay, so it seemed logical that Italian seasoning packets should be okay too. I'm not always right. Remember, I'm just one person sharing my weight loss journey and I refine my journey along the way.

Instructions

1. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. I used a glass baking dish.
2. Melt a stick of butter and pour into the foil. I added the butter and oil to the baking dish and melted it in the dish in the oven. Be careful not to burn the butter.
3. Add lemon slices and minced garlic on top of the butter.
4. Place fresh shrimp on top of butter mixture. I added the olive oil on top of the shrimp.
5. Sprinkle one pack of dried Italian seasoning (or jarred herbs of your choice) on top of shrimp. 
6. Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 min. 
7. Optional: top with fresh parsley or basil when the shrimp first comes out of the oven.

01/05/14 Update
I made this recipe yesterday and it was so delicious that I didn't stop to take a photo. I tasted a piece of shrimp, to make sure it was cooked enough, and immediately plated up my dish and ate every bite.

I served it on top of spaghetti squash.

Another great option is to serve it on zucchini noodles.

Zucchini noodles made with a spirooli

December 30, 2013

Are you looking for an appetizer to bring with you to a holiday party? These mushrooms may be just what you're looking for - they're stuffed with sausage and spices - no bread! I'm thinking these mushrooms might be a good metaphor for Julie's reference to her sausage-sixes (while on maintenance, she know it's time to go back in the river when her size 6 clothes are tight). While at a party, I can eat these mushrooms and ask myself which do I want more: to reach my goal size or to eat that non-key food being offered? Easy choice. What about you - what do you plan to do to stay on program the rest of this holiday season?

Stuffed mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

• 8" sausage links
• 12 2" Bella mushrooms
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 green onions
• 2 Tbsp Parmesan
• 1/3 cup mozzarella (optional; you also may use less)
• 1/8 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp parsley
• 2 fresh basil leaves, diced

Directions

1. Chop the sausage finely. 
2. Brown the outside of the sausage.
3. Add a little water and steam sausage to cook it thoroughly while maintaining its moisture.
4. Remove about 2/3 of the insides of the mushrooms.
5. Discard the hard stem tips and then dice the rest and add it to the sausage. 
6. Finely chop 2 large cloves of garlic and the bulb ends of 2 green onions and add the sausage.
7. Remove from heat.
8. Dice 2 more cloves of garlic and mix that in with sausages. 
9. Dice the lower half of the green onions and add to mixture as well. 
10. Add in the Parmesan, mozzarella, oregano, parsley, and basil. 
11. Mix thoroughly
12. Spoon mixture into the mushroom caps; the mixture should mound in each mushroom without falling out. 
13. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and put the mushroom caps onto the foil with spacing between each. 
14. Cook at 400F for about ten minutes. 
15. Let cool before serving.

This how the mushrooms look before they go into the oven.

Recipe and photo source: Bella Online

December 27, 2013

With all the special holiday foods on our tables at home and in the office, it's easy to feel deprived of all those foods we see our friends and family eating. I haven't felt deprived for most of my weight loss journey, but this holiday season--all kinds of sweet things are calling my name. Recently one of my key friends asked another key friend: how do you deal with feeling deprived? Her reply: I go buy a pound of shucked lobster with real butter! How deprived can this program be if we can eat lobster with melted butter?

I had this shucked lobster appetizer at Masses Seafood, Chicopee, MA.

Every year I go to a handful of holiday parties, but this year, I bowed out of two big parties that I've always enjoyed, because I didn't feel like I could deal with all those foods. Later, I felt sorry for myself that I was deprived of the parties. Sigh. This is crazy talking.

I went to one party because the food seemed easy enough for me to handle. Upfront I knew most of the foods would not be key-friendly, so I resolved I would go to the party, but I wouldn't eat anything. The party started at 3:30, and since I don't normally eat at that time of day, I figured how hard could this be? At the party, I found a few key foods and I ate them, but I felt deprived, because everyone was enjoying gluten-free cookies. Wah, wah, wah...why can't I at least have gluten-free cookies...? This is crazy talking.

I survived that party, but yesterday I was offered one of Ben's homemade cookies. It was like a watching a slow motion movie scene: a long shot of the big smile on his face,  zoom in on his arm stretching out to me, holding the container. . . focus on the container. . . zoom. . . zoom. . . pause, stop camera on a close up of cookies. This is crazy talking.

That was one of those killer days with lots of pressure. Those cookies would relieve me of the pressure right? Just one right? Sigh. This is crazy talking.

No, no, no. Tap, tap, tap. Walk away from the cookie jar. Step away from the crazy talk.

I've decided to just face it: this holiday season is harder for me than the previous two years on this program. Done. Deal with it. Tap, tap, tap. Walk away from the pity pot. Stop with the oh, poor me drama and focus on what this holiday season has to offer me that the other two seasons did not: vitality, high energy, and a desire to live my life with as much joy as possible.

What brings me joy is being full of enough energy to run around with my niece and her children after Thanksgiving dinner. Running in the 2013 Hot Chocolate 5k in Northampton (just over 3 miles) was  joyful too!

Wishing joy to all of you, through this holiday season and into the new year!

My niece and her children.

Dec. 2013 Hot Chocolate 5k Run Northampton

December 18, 2013

It's that time of year that many are cooking food to share at gathering with family and friends. For many, this means baking. I debated long and hard about baking for our family gathering coming up this weekend. But then I had a dream and that changed everything.

Meatballs are what's cooling in my kitchen. Photo by Theresa.

After waking from my dream, I decided I needed to be one of the people who bring real food to this gathering. I decided there will be enough people bringing baked goods and I didn't need to be one of them. I don't care if the baked goodies are store bought or homemade. Although 2 weeks ago, when I debated about what to bring, it seemed important to me that there be home baked items and I should be one of the people baking them.

Then I had my dream and I came to my senses.

I make really incredible meatballs, so that's what I decided to make. Last night I went to the store and  bought 6 pounds of beef and the other ingredients I needed.

This morning, I poured the first crock pot of cooked meatballs and sauce into the tin pan, and as they cooled, I began to make the next batch of meatballs. As I rolled the meatballs, I was happy about my decision to dice enough onions last night for this second batch. Crying over onions at 5am is not my ideal way to start a day.

I was also happy that I was rolling meatballs and not making cupcakes. Based on the amount of meatballs I was making, I could not imagine myself baking this many cupcakes. Yes, meatballs was a much better choice for me. Plus, I enjoyed having 3 meatballs this morning. Have I told you I make delicious meatballs? Yes, I do!

About that dream. I often have vivid recall of dreams. Some dreams I remember for years. This one I will remember for a while and it was definitely on my mind as I made my meatballs. Many people say when we are on this program and we dream about food, we're getting ready for a big drop in weight. I welcome such a drop!

The Dream

In my dream, I was making large amounts of cupcakes. I was done with all the baking and most of the cupcakes were beautifully frosted. With a spatula in hand, I picked up the next cupcake and then I froze.

Should I? Could I? Do I dare?

I was debating about eating just one.

I was debating about having just a taste of the frosting.

I decided for the later. I took a taste of the frosting. A really big taste.

Suddenly a strong wind blew into the room and within moments--the kitchen was a mess. Sprinkles started falling from the ceiling. Sprinkles, dry ingredients, and batter, were splashed on everything. The floor. Counter tops. The sink. The walls. My hair. My clothes.

I couldn't get away from the mess. Every step I took made more of a mess. My desire to eat just one cupcake or just a taste of frosting was gone. Everything looked disgusting to me. Standing in the middle of my kitchen and looking at the mess, I didn't know what to do next. Then I woke up.

What about you?

What's cooking in your kitchen this holiday season?

What are you doing to stay on program through the holidays?

What are you doing to assure this New Year's Eve, you will not need to resolve to lose weight in 2014, because your weight loss journey in already happening and 2014?

I say let's all join Jane and waltz into 2014 feeling the best we've felt in a long time!


12/12/13 update: Here's my meatball recipe, which I altered to make 6 pounds meatballs. Holy mole, that's a lot of meatballs! I made 3 pounds (1 package) at a time, and then made a second batch. My crockpot won't hold more than 3 pounds plus 1 84 oz jar of sauce. I also modified my recipe a bit; for three pounds of beef: I used 3 eggs, a nameless brand 84 oz jar of tomato sauce, added an entire bulb of fresh chopped garlic, and I added a package of (nameless brand) Italian Seasoning mix to the meat mixture. I think the whole prep time was about 45 minutes (per 3 pounds).

December 12, 2013