We spent a few days in Medford / Ashland Oregon for Thanksgiving. My mom and stepdad have some land up there with a bunch of crazy cats, dogs, and geese. This is Callie the Ranch Cat with Laser Beam Eyes!
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Sunday, Nov 29
I feel like I need more days off!
After the overeating marathon, I felt the need to cook some healthy food today. I made enough food for weeks!
I spent the morning cooking up some delicious stuff: Garden Harvest Soup (from You: On a Diet, by Drs. Roizen and Oz), and Black Bean and Espresso Chili (from Epicurious).
- Breakfast: toast with earth balance, DanActive
- Lunch: Garden Harvest Soup
- Snacks: Dark Chocolate Yogurt, Weight Watchers ice cream, prunes
- Dinner: Burrito with refried black beans, mozzarella cheese, black olives, hot sauce
- Dessert: sugar cookie
Calories: 1656
Pics…
Breakfast
Black Bean and Espresso Soup
Starting with chopped onions and several spices…
Followed by Canned Tomatoes (I just love the retro label on this can!)
…And a bit of honey! To keep the honey from sticking, spray the measuring cup with cooking spray first.
The finished product…
Next, I started on the Garden Harvest Soup
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 quarts (8 cups) low-salt vegetable stock
1 can (28 ounces) whole, crushed, or diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups water
1 small head cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper sauce (optional)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)
Optional garnishes: chopped fresh parsley, chopped fresh cilantro
**I added zucchini and celery
Directions
- Heat a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add oil, then onion; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add carrot, garlic, and bell pepper; cook until tender. Add stock, tomatoes, water, and cabbage; simmer uncovered 20 minutes.
- Season to taste with hot sauce and salt and pepper, if desired. Garnish with parsley or cilantro, if desired.
Its tough chopping so many veggies. One shortcut I used was a small mandolin. For the tall veggies like celery stalks and zucchini, its impossible to slice with a mandolin using the guard. So instead, I use a cutting glove. I nicked the glove a couple times, which is great because that could have been my hand. The downside is that I don’t know if little bits of glove get mixed in with my veggies when that happens.
Another favorite canned tomato went into the soup….
The finished product…
Wallaby Dark Chocolate Yogurt (possibly my favorite yogurt ever!)
Weight Watchers Sundae (couldn’t resis, ate both in the package)
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Saturday, Nov 28
We drove home from Oregon today. For some reason the trip that took 5 hours (including a 30 minute stop) took over 6 hours today. We were frustrated and tired by the time we got home.
- Breakfast: sourdough toast, coffee with cream
- Lunch: Togo’s hummus sandwich, baked potato chips
- Snacks: cappuccino, applesauce, prunes
- Dinner: Amy’s tofu scramble pocket
Calories: 1903
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Friday, Nov 27
The eating frenzy from Thanksgiving continued today.
- Breakfast: eggs, toast with butter, coffee with cream, DanActive, turkey bacon
- Lunch: egg salad eaten with tortilla chips (like chip & dip), reheated stuffing from yesterday
- Snacks: candy, raw veggies (tomatoes, broccoli, black olives, green bell pepper
- Dinner: more snacking, wine
Estimated calories: 2992
Lesson learned: Eating is much more enjoyable on an empty stomach. If I find myself holding off on that last bite of pie until I “have a little more room” its not going to taste or feel very good to eat it.
Pics of our thanksgiving food….
Salad & Veggies
My favorite: Stuffing!
Mashed potatoes
Turkey
Sweet Potato Casserole
Pies (pumpkin chiffon and apple)
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Thursday, Nov 26
Today was like a food explosion. We started out on the road for Oregon at 7:30. By 11:30 we were starving, so we stopped off for a sandwich at Subway. We arrived at 1:00, when my mom was just finishing up some pies and setting out some light lunch items. We had dinner a bit late (about 7:30) and never really stopped eating until we went to sleep at midnight!
Not even going to try to list everything!
Estimated Calories: 3,800
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Wednesday, Nov 25
- Breakfast: Cereal Mash Up: Bunny Love + O’s cereal with chocolate soy milk, DanActive
- Snacks: crackers
- Lunch / Dinner: La Pinata vegetarian tostada, several tortilla chips and a corn tortilla
Calories: 1701
Pics…
Breakfast:
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Tuesday, Nov 24
- Breakfast: Shredded wheat cereal with Almond Milk, DanActive
- Lunch: Cedarlane Garden Veg Lasagna
- Snacks: peanuts, Sunchips, dark chocolate, butterscotch candy
- Dinner: Burrito with whole grain tortilla, refried black beans, shredded mozzarella; glass of white wine
- Dessert: whole grain tortilla with earth balance, sugar, and cinnamon
Calories: 1662
As a side note I have to say I really hated this flavor / brand of Almond Milk.
Pics…
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:
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Monday, Nov 23
- Breakfast: O’s cereal with almond milk, DanActive
- Lunch: Amy’s Brown Rice & Veg Bowl
- Snacks: dark chocolate, hot chocolate, shortbread cookies, butterscotch candy
- Dinner: Burrito with multigrain tortilla, refried black beans, mozzarella cheese, hot sauce
- Dessert: bunny love cereal with almond milk
Calories: 1550
Pics…
Lunch
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Sunday, Nov 22
- Breakfast: toast with earth balance, DanActive
- Lunch: Rubios grilled grande salad with Mahi Mahi
- Snacks: applesauce, bunny love cereal
- Dinner: Salad with veggie burger, lettuce, tomato, kidney beans, thousand island dressing
Calories: 1571
Pics…
Salad
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Saturday, Nov 21
- Breakfast: Toast with earth balance, DanActive
- Lunch: Shrimp salad at Sinbads in SF (lettuce, tomato, shrimp, avocado, thousand island, bacon) with bread + butter
- Afternoon Snack: Wine tasting at the Wine Bar @ Pier 39 with a friend (about 9 oz of white wine, with chocolate covered strawberries)
- Snacks: crackers
- Dinner: Panda Express 2 item dinner: potstickers, eggplant and steamed rice
- Dessert: chocolate chip cookie
Calories: 3,117 (ouch!)
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Friday, Nov 20
- Breakfast: Toast with earth balance and a DanActive
- Lunch: Amy’s Enchiladas and a cookie with white chocolate and macadamia nuts
- Snacks: butterscotch hard candy
- Dinner: Salad with lettuce, tomatoes, kidney beans, mahi burgers (2), olives, and thousand island dressing
Calories: 1457
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving! That looks like a delicious spread. I’ve never heard of a cutting glove before. Is it made out of a specific type of material?