Read this post, there's cake!

I tend to make a meal plan over the weekend so I can make my grocery list and have some idea what I will be making for supper during the coming week. I find it works for me. I don't end up throwing out lots of food I bought and then didn't use because I forgot about it, and I don't have to go to the grocery store multiple times during the week. Who wants to be doing that? Ugh.

In the past, during my diet years, I made weekly plans as well. Mainly to help me stay on track. The biggest difference now (aside from following some strict diet plan/rules for eating) is I don't feel guilt or shame if I don't follow the meal plan exactly. The meal plan is there to make the weeks meals easier, it's not a "do it exactly or suffer the wrath" plan :)

This week I started out following my meal plan. Had a few new recipes picked out to try that I was looking forward to. I made a nice Chicken Soup on Sunday. On Monday, I made a Mediterranean Fish dish using fresh caught trout instead of salmon. Then, on Tuesday I went a little off track; and that's fine. The meal plan had a new Mediterranean Chicken recipe to try, but it turned out to be such a nice day (after a long weekend of cold and rain) that I though Hubby would rather grill. I picked up some salads (couscous, quinoa, and chickpea) from the grocery store and he grilled some chicken breasts. Now I'm not a fan of grilled chicken and I don't really like BBQ Sauce, so Hubby had the chicken and salads and I had the salads with a slice of rye bread dipped in oil and vinegar. It was great. It was what I wanted to eat, so I ate it :) No shame or guilt or worry over not eating enough protein or over eating bread.

Last night, the meal plan was actually a Fend-For-Yourself day :) Sometimes I plan these on days that I know I'm extra busy or to give myself a break from cooking. I heated a gluten-free pizza that I picked up from Costco. First time having it but it wasn't very good. I prefer thin crust and I found this pizza pretty bland. Won't buy it again, and it's sad that it was a 2-pack so still have another one. Hubby cooked salmon, potatoes, and asparagus. We have completely different cravings and likes :)

Tonight, I finally made the Mediterranean Chicken dish, from the meal plan; well sort of. I made the chicken part; made the marinade and cooked the chicken. We had so many leftovers salads from earlier in the week I didn't need to make anything else. The chicken was really tasty as well, so I will probably try the entire recipe soon :)

I didn't forget the cake. I could never forget cake :)

​I am ending my day with a piece of cake :) I would never have dreamed of this while dieting; well (let's be honest) I would have dreamed of it but unlikely eaten it. Well (let's be really honest) I would have unlikely eaten it until I went on a full binge from being so restrictive with my eating and then I would have eaten an entire cake in a day or two. Now, if I have a craving for cake, I have cake, and it's usually just a piece and I'm happy :)

We were lucky enough to get some fresh trout, caught by my Dad, today. I had a new recipe picked to try this week, which called for salmon. Now, as many of you know, I am not a salmon fan. I have tried it multiple times to see if I will develop a taste for it, but I think I like it even less now than when I started. Maybe it's the fact I tried to eat it so often as part of a diet plan because it's considered such a healthy food, that now, I almost despise it. I put in a request with my Dad for some trout if he was lucky enough to catch some this weekend and caught enough to be able to part with some :) We were in luck :)

I tried Pan Seared Salmon (Trout) with Mediterranean Salsa Fresca & Toasted Couscous (Quinoa). Keep in mind this is recipes within a recipe. There's a fish rub, a salsa recipe, and a simple couscous recipe. Nothing too difficult though. Hubby loved it although he's not a huge fan of the quinoa (I used quinoa because I already had it on hand). It was a good meal but I will admit he enjoyed it much more than I did. I think a feed of old-school trout is what I had in mind and therefore will have next time. Old-school trout for me is how I grew up eating it. Simply pan-fried in butter, after dredging with flour, and fried up crispy :) Yummy!

Planning to try some new recipes this week! As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I have been in a cooking rut. Not wanting to cook as I'm not really looking forward to the meals I have planned for the week. I'm having trouble finding foods/meals I want to cook and eat; meals that I am really looking forward to having. So, this week I decided to go on a Pinterest recipe hunt. Look for some different recipes that sounded tasty, interesting, and different. Meals that I would hopefully look forward to making and eating. 

I started this evening with a new soup recipe: Chunky Chicken Soup - Mediterranean Style. I make a Chicken Soup that I really enjoy but it is very simple (usually just stock, chicken, onion, and carrot; sometimes I add celery or green peas or spinach or rice) and I will admit I am getting a little tired of it. I roasted a chicken this past week and am out of homemade chicken stock so I figured it's time to make a pot of chicken soup again. I wasn't looking forward to my regular soup so needed something else. This new recipe sounded good and was very different from my normal soup recipe.

It was really good. I also think it will be much better tomorrow once all the flavors combine. I made the recipe pretty much as is; I added some cherry tomatoes and cooked the carrots an additional 5 minutes as the cooking time didn't seem long enough. I think the extra cooking time caused my rice to break down too much, so may need to adjust cooking times and/or when certain ingredients are added. Overall it's a good recipe. Great taste, very chunky and hearty, and a nice change of pace for us with different ingredients and the addition of olives.

Had a delicious supper tonight, and everything was grilled on the BBQ. We did have a meal plan for this week but strayed away already since it turned out to be such a nice day we decided to grill supper tonight. Had sirloin steak, corn on the cob, and potatoes with onions. The potatoes were done in foil packets with oil and spices. Another great, satisfying, and yummy meal :)

Found this blog today and love love love the following post. 

​The Weight You're Supposed To Be

I will be the first to admit I have had a lot of trouble accepting the title of this post, and still do at times. I have argued that I am not at the weight I am supposed to be because I'm fat and I am not at my optimum weight; optimum in my mind being the weight I was 15-20 years ago and could never sustain. I really believe that the years and years of dieting have only had negative effects on me, on my body and my mind. No diet results ever lasted and I am now bigger than I ever was before.

You can choose to eat healthy, you can choose to eat less, you can choose to eliminate certain foods or food groups, you can choose to exercise; but if you are making these choices to simply lose weight and those choices are not making you happy and are not the way you want to live your life long-term, than it's likely the weight loss you experience will only be temporary. A sad thought, but true.

​I am not saying don't be healthy, but it needs to be choices you can live with that help make you healthier, and we need to stop focusing on the numbers on the scale as an indicator of our success or failure.

I seem to be in a cooking rut lately. Really not in the mood to be cooking most days and then unsure of what to cook and eat, and just not feeling satisfied with most meals I end up making. Each weekend I make a meal plan for the week and grocery shop according to that. I have been finding it difficult to decide on meals I want to make and also look forward to eating. 

This week I ended up only cooking two out of four days; I only plan meals Monday through Thursday and keep the weekends open and plan-free. That works best for us. Monday night we went out for 2 for 1 pasta and Tuesday was my Dad's birthday so we ate there with the family. I made my Chicken Fried Rice Wed night, using a different rice blend. It was good but something we have been having on a pretty regular basis now, so no wow factor anymore, it just is.

Tonight I made a recipe that I actually don't remember having before but must have because it was in my recipe links. It couldn't have been too bad as I don't add the recipes I don't plan to make again. I made Almond Flax Crusted Chicken with Roasted Asparagus and baked sweet potatoes. It was pretty simple but it all tasted great. A nice change of pace for us. The chicken was tasty and a different flavor for us, especially with the crust. I haven't had asparagus or sweet potatoes lately either so they were a nice change of pace. I left the supper table tonight feeling satisfied with my meal :) Need to start feeling this more often when eating and cooking at home, instead of eating for the sake of eating because it's mealtime. Need to try and get out of my mealtime rut. 

What's better than great pasta? Two for one great pasta :) EVOO has a 2 for 1 pasta night every Monday evening!

Tonight I had the Wild Mushroom Fettuccine, made with gluten-free pasta. It was really good. I usually have the Cannelloni (which is fabulous) but wanted something different tonight. Hubby had the Mediterranean Vegetable Penne, but he had it with the pomodoro sauce instead of the pesto, and no feta. He really enjoyed it as well :)

Great food, excellent service, wonderful deal :) We are starting to make it a regular thing.

A friend recently tagged me in a post on Facebook, which lead me to this:
My Food Struggle In Pictures.
A great read about the dieting mentality and how people can easily fall into a very negative place regarding their bodies, what they eat, and how they view food and eating.

Pic is from her post; credit to Franzi Ross

Had dinner at Saltwater this weekend and it was delicious as always. 

It was very nice to go out to dinner and not worry at all about what I would order. Would I splurge? Would I go overboard? Would I order healthier options even if it wasn't what I really wanted? Would I feel sad or guilty afterwards? Would it lead to a full weekend binge? Would I order dessert? So many negative aspects when I was dieting. No more :)

I scanned the menu, listened to the specials, and ordered what sounded good to me at that moment :) I looked at the dessert menu first and decided I would be eating dessert tonight. I knew I would not have room for an app, a main and a dessert. I therefore ordered two appetizers, one as an app and one as a main. It worked out great. I started with the scallops, they were done with blueberry on top and a carrot puree. They were very tasty; a lot of flavors and textures going on but really good and flavorful. My main (really another app) was their Saltwater Chowder. This is one of my favorite dishes there. A very thick, hearty, and delicious chowder. I love the fact it only has cod (fresh and smoked) in it for seafood, as most restaurants add salmon as well, and I am not a salmon fan. My dessert was the Chocolate Torte with cherries. This was excellent. Great size, not too big or too small. Also not overly sweet. Great texture and very tasty :)

Hubby had the Shrimp Scampi as an app (note there is a misprint on their menu, no marinara at all, this was explained to him when he ordered) and a tuna special which he loved and couldn't stop raving about :)

This is a great read. Finally, an article that is well written and discusses stats and studies that say diets don't work.

Why You Can't Lose Weight on a Diet