Good Food Sunday

I'm up, not terribly excited about it, but here I am. It would be so nice to have my morning smoothie waiting for me. Yesterday I had something different, not totally different, it was a smoothie, but it was a Mandarin Orange Smoothie.

 

It was very cool and refreshing, a little thinner than most of my smoothies, but it was delicious and not too thin. I used all the usual ingredients, milk, yogurt, oats, vanilla, flax, ice and of course mandarin orange sections.

 

Now that I'm getting up early, my smoothie doesn't last until dinner at Mom's. so, I had a little snack mix to tide me over. It has peanuts, dried cranberries, & white chocolate chips.

For the meat eaters, there was chicken wings, with a few breast pieces thrown in. There was hot wing sauce and BBQ sauce to go with.

 

Also a big ol' beef roast made in the crock pot.

 

Cathy's famous "Stinky Feet Cheese Salad". Well that's our nickname for it. It's made with spinach, red onion, feta cheese, croûtons, imitation bacon bits, & a French type dressing, which is homemade. I don't know the actual name of the salad, which is one reason the nickname has stuck.

 

Broccoli Cornbread

Asparagus, which I found I like better this way than semi raw on the grill. Normally I am not a fan of grilled asparagus. It tastes slightly bitter to me.

 

Macaroni & Cheese

 

Au Gratin Potatoes

 

Peppers & Green Beans which were very good.

Green Beans, Potatoes, & Mushrooms

 

My plate with lots of green going on it. I had asparagus, green beans, salad, a little macaroni, & a small piece of broccoli cornbread.

It looks like a lot, but I wasn't stuffed and miserable afterwards. 

 

We had 2 desserts, but I didn't get a shot but of one. It was the Chocolate Delight. The other was a pineapple poke cake & we also had fresh pineapple, which I didn't get a shot of either.

 

I had some of the chocolate delight & a few pieces of the fresh pineapple later. I also had a cup of decaf which didn't make it into the camera. There seemed to be quite a bit going on, and I am easily distracted.

 

I did get a shot of Miss Mary having her dinner. She enjoyed the macaroni and the chocolate delight. Can you tell?

 

I brought home some of the salad, which I intended for lunch today, but I couldn't wait. I mixed it with some iceberg lettuce so that there'd be enough for both.

Love that feta!!

 

It was a super hot day. I stayed in the cool mostly and enjoyed the food and the babies. It ended with a big storm. It had mostly past when we left and was mainly just rain when we got home. It's nice and sunny again this morning though. It should be another hot steamy day. Have a good one!

Cranberries & Peanut Butter

I didn't do very good at sleeping last night. I slept fine, I just had trouble getting there. I do think I did better at eating today, than I did yesterday, hopefully healthier too. I had another apple yogurt cereal bowl, same as yesterday. It was so good and I was really in the mood for peanut butter again.

 

What's in the bowl

Vanilla Yogurt

Ground Flax

Multigrain Flakes

Cheerios

Kix

Fresh Apple Chunks

Cinnamon

Dried Cranberries

Warm Melt-y Peanut Butter

The cinnamon and peanut butter were perfect together with the apple.

 

I had a salad for lunch with some Snapea Crisps. This is the first time I've tried them. They were the original flavor. They also have them in Caesar flavor. I think they're pretty good. They are a baked snack made with peas and rice. They contain protein, calcium, iron and fiber. A tasty good for you snack.

 

What's in the salad

Spinach

Romaine

Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans

Dried Cranberries

Green Pepper

Onion

Italian Dressing

This really hit the spot. I do think I should have used more dried cranberries though. I love them in salads.

These are also suppose to good with dip, but they are great just by themselves. 

I had the other half of my coconut parfait dessert. It looks like all the graham cracker crumbs wound up on top, but there is coconut pudding and cool whip underneath. Pudding desserts remind me of spring and summer and coconut pudding is one of my favorites. I used to buy coconut cream fried pies, sort of like the Little Debbie fruit pies. I don't remember the brand, but I never see them anymore. I don't buy nearly as many sweets as I use to and lately I've been eating way too much. It makes losing weight difficult and I wind up eating lots of salads.

I had another salad for dinner.  This one has stir fried veggies over spinach & Romaine with just a little fat free toasted sesame, soy, & ginger dressing. The stir fry veggies are Birds Eye brand Thai veggies with carrots, celery, onion, red & yellow peppers, snow peas, edamame, baby corn, water chestnuts, & mushrooms. I fried them with just a little oil, a sprinkle of garlic powder and a pinch of salt. There was hardly any need for dressing.

I was still craving peanut butter after dinner and so I had a few Ritz crackers with a little spread between them. I kept craving snacks, but decided to have a piece of sugar free gum instead. I usually do good after a piece of gum. 

It was sort of a ho hum day, no sun and no energy. Tomorrow is Zumba day, so I'm hoping I'll feel better regardless of whether or not the sun is out. I'm hoping that eating healthier foods will make a difference. I always feel better when I  eat good food vs. junk, don't you? 

I also watched a good movie today. I nearly forgot. We watched "Get Low" with Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, & Bill Murray. It was a pretty good movie. It's more of a drama with a few funny parts and a good story line. Lucas and I both liked it. 

Now I'm ready for some deep stretches. My neck and back could use it tonight.

What Kid Doesn't Love Pudding

Ahhhh! A big tall icy cold smoothie for breakfast. Yes, it's another Banana Pudding Smoothie, but it was my last banana, so I'll have to be creative tomorrow. Anytime you have a food suggestion, I'd love to hear it.

 

My ice maker went a little crazy this morning. It gave me a mixture of crushed and cubed. I think I got more than usual. It was super icy cold, but yummy.

 Today we had lasagna. This is the meat version with a tomato-y sauce and lots of cheese.

 

There were also meatballs in sauce and Hoagie buns for meatball subs. BTW I took several photos of these and they were all bad. I think the lens steamed up. Oh well.

Chicken & Stuffing

And Vegetable Lasagna with a sun dried tomato Alfredo sauce. It has sun dried tomatoes, spinach and carrots with lots of cheese.

 

Green beans and potatoes.

 

Corn

 

The Mini Salad Bar for a make your own salad.

 

Buttery Toasty Bread

I piled up my plate full, but wasn't able to eat it all. These are big plates. I had vegetable lasagna, corn, green beans, salad with light honey Dijon dressing and a piece of toast. I love spinach in lasagna. 

 

We had pudding pies and parfaits for dessert. One Chocolate pie with pecans and whipped topping.

A Lemon Pie with whipped topping.

 

And Coconut pudding parfaits and a couple of Lemon ones too.

Our master chef decorated the parfaits.

Carefully filling the bag with cool whip. One for the bag.....

....and one for the chef.

Topping each parfait with just the right amount.

Next came the clean up. We wouldn't want to waste any, now would we?

I waited a while for dessert. I had an off camera cup of decaf while my food settled. I eventually had a little room for dessert, so I spooned half a coconut parfait into a dessert cup with a little extra topping and a Maraschino cherry on top. Ya really need a cherry, so that it feels like something special, right? Lexi had chocolate pie in cup like mine. She had to have extra cool whip & a cherry also.

I got a few shots of Miss Mary too. She had some of the Lemon pie. I don't think I've met a kid that doesn't like some kind of pudding.

She is getting used to the camera. So now I get smiles instead of that puzzled look.

 

  

Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water spout....

Down came the rain.....

We had a good visit and had a ball with the kids.

For dinner #2, I had another Gardein Chick'n Scallopini patty, but with barbecue sauce this time, along with the four cheese rice and leftover green beans. The patty was really good with bbq sauce.

   

I just had a small plate tonight. It was just right.

Now it doesn't really feel late, but it is, so I'll put myself and this blog to bed and I will catch you all tomorrow. Have a great Monday!!!