Coupon Savings - Ralphs Grocery Store

I bought:

• Horizon Organic Individual Milk - Regular 1.25 each (on markdown for .49 each plus 3 coupons for $1 off two milks) - paid 0.00 because I actually got .03 cents in overage
• Skinny Cow Chocolate Clusters x 4 - Regular .99 each (on sale for .69 each plus a .75 off two which doubled up to 1.00) paid .80 cents for all 4
• Luna Bars x 2 - Regular 1.49 each (on sale for .99 each plus a .50 off each bar coupon)  paid 1.00
• Quaker Rice Cakes x 2 - Regular price 1.99 (on sale for .99 each, plus a .55 of two coupon which doubled up to 1.00)  paid 1.00 for both
• Monster Coffee Energy Drinks x 2 - regular price 2.49 (I had two free coupons so they were both free)  paid 0.00
• Boursin Cheese - regular price 3.99 (on markdown for 1.99 plus there was a 1.00 off coupon on the package) paid .99 cents

Total before store savings and coupons would have been - 26.50 plus crv and tax

I paid - 2.80 cents plus crv and tax

Tips from this shopping trip:

1. pay attention to products while shopping, they often have coupons attached to them
2. do NOT be afraid of markdown, just be selective...Ralphs is known for marking down food close to the expiration date...the cheese for example is good until the 27th but since I plan on using it immediately thats more than fine.  The milk is actually good until Oct. 20th so they most likely just had an over stock.  Mark down food is NOT bad...but you do need to always check expiration dates first
3. dont be afraid to pay twice....I needed my skinny cow chocolate coupons to both double to maximize savings so I paid in two different transactions

Recipe - Green Chile, Ham & Cheese Quesadilla

Despite the fact that this is my second Quesadilla recipe since starting this blog, I don't usually eat them a lot.  I love them but always figured tortillas and cheese were too many calories (or points!) but I discovered they're actually incredibly versitile, cheap to make and fast and easy.

I really like Quesadillas, but just cheese and tortilla can be a bit gummy and bland.  One of my favorite combinations is ham and cheese.  The ham adds a lot of flavor and extra protein without a lot of extra calories.  Today I wanted to kick up the flavor a bit and added some green chiles since I had an open can in the fridge and wanted to use them up.

I topped half of a low carb, high fiber tortilla (2 points) with 1/2 an ounce of mozzarella, then added 1 ounce of lean ham (1 point) and topped it with the remaining 1/2 ounce of mozzarella (2 points total for cheese).  You want to make sure you have cheese on top and bottom of the ham so that the quesadilla doesn't fall apart.

It gets a bit crispy on the outside, gooey from the cheese and sort of sweet and smokey from the ham.  The green chiles also add a nice kick of flavor but no heat.  This is also great with a little jalapeno with the green chiles or substitiuted for them. 

I rounded my breakfast off with a cup of fresh strawberries and it was delicious!

New Blog

Hey All.....just wanted to let everyone know that in order to celbrate new life changes and get a fresh startI recently started a new blog and won't be updating this one anymore.

Hope to see you all there! :)

Happy Life, Happy Wife

Product Review: VitaMuffin VitaTops Pumpkin Spice

First a little apology for going MIA.  I graduated from college in May and have been planning my August wedding which has left me hardly any free time (and unfortunately my weight and diet have both suffered from that).  I'm going to try and make sure to find time to update this because it keeps me motivated!

Now I couldn't resist reviewing this.  I've reviewed the chocolate Vita Tops before and if anyone hasn't tried them they really must.  I typically pick mine up at Target but when I discovered that they had a new Pumpkin spice flavor only available on line I had to splurge and try it.

The Nutritional Breakdown is:

Calories - 100

Fat - 1 gram

Fiber - 8 grams

Carbs - 26 carbs

If you like pumpkin you must try these.  They have a rich pumpkin flavor and are nice and spicy.  They've also got little pumpkin seeds on top which add a nice texture.  This would be so decadent with a smear of light cream cheese or whipped topping, but are just as satisfying on their own.

Fresh Fruit

I just adore fruit.  I get especially excited when the summer months begin to approach because it means watermelon and other melons will be in season!

I spent all morning cutting up fruit.  The cantaloupe and honeydew are absolutely ripe to perfection.

Then because I had melon that didnt fit neatly into that container I decided to make fruit salad.

I really have to say that taking the time to prep fruit (or veggies) is so worth it.  Being able to open the fridge and see containers filled with gorgeous colors really is so appealing.

Yummy Lunch

The end of my senior semester at school is killing me (along with planning my wedding!).  so today I finally took the time to prepare myself a healthy lunch instead of making excuses to let myself eat unhealthy.

I can't wait to eat it later!  The lunch includes leftover roasted chicken breast from dinner last night, some thinly sliced carrots, some sliced strawberries and a medium tangerine.  Yummy!

Muffinless Egg McMuffin

I suppose trying to make a mock Egg McMuffin without any muffin sounds impossible, but let me tell you  it definitely isn't impossible!  All the texture and flavor with a fraction of the calories, fraction of the cost and almost no carbs!

I scrambled 3 egg whites (you could also use whole eggs if you prefer), then topped it with one slice of Kraft 2% Sharp Cheddar sliced cheese and added one MorningStar Farms Vegetarian sausage patty on top.

It was a little bit of heaven on a plate.  The morning-star farms sausage are better than the real thing, the Kraft cheese is Ooey gooey and melty and when you eat them all together you will not miss the bread I promise you!

Starting the Day Off Right

For me, breakfast is essential.  If I don't eat enough protein I know I'm going to be a goner all day.  A breakfast full of carbs and I know without a doubt I will eat too much all day because it sets me up for increased hunger and an insatiable appetite.

So I started the day off right with egg whites scrambled with chopped broccoli and diced green pepper and zucchini and added some lean turkey sausage.  Super yummy and full of protein and veggies.

What's your favorite way to start the day?

Another Lunch

A lot of the same things I had for lunch yesterday, but I used a different lunch container to make it feel different.  I also swapped the tangerine from yesterday for mini heart shaped jello jigglers (sugar free of course) and I swapped the coleslaw from yesterday for mini kebabs with turkey pepperoni and jalapeno green olives.

Keeping food fun and exciting definitely makes eating healthy all the more enjoyable! :)

Leftover Easter Bento and Getting Back on Track

I've posted several times about my struggles to get back on track.  i have to say 20 pounds above where I started and I'm humbled by my inability to just get back on track which is often times easier said than done.  I'm working on small steps though and trying not to beat myself up.

My first step today (after exersizing this mormnng) was making a Bento style lunch for myself.  Taking extra time and care to prepare something for myself makes me enjoy my food more and feel better about what I eat but the last few months I've gotten out of the habit of doing it often from laziness, a desire to eat junk and stress.  But I'm starting fresh today.

So, I made myself a delicious Bento lunch with fresh fruit and Easter leftovers (ham from dinner, eggs we used to dye and leftover coleslaw from dinner).  i also added a small jalapeno olive just to round it out. :) 

Starting the Day off Right :)

My fresh selection of fruits and vegetables I juiced today.  Trying to start the day off right. :)

17 Day Diet FAIL

I am here to admit it.  1 1/2 days in The 17 Day Diet and I failed...or something like it.

The reason was not because of my will power but because the diet wasnt for me.  I dont usually fall for fad diets so I wanted to believe this wasnt one.  I wanted to lose weight quickly and got caught up.  But what I realized after trying to follow the diet and wanting to eat my own arm was that the diet isnt magic.  What its doing after adding up calories is putting you on a diet of less than 1000 calories.  I was starving and rebelled by eating half a cake the next day.  Thats on me of course, but the reality is those types of diets dont work.

So here I am, humbly returning to my normal way or healthful eating and admitting that the slow and steady way is the right way.

The 17 Day Diet

Drastic Times Call For Drastic Measures.

Yesterday I started day one of  The 17 Day Diet.  I'm not usually one for so called "fad diets", but the logic behind this makes a lot of sense.  The first 17 days are fairly restrictive in terms of carbs, but its all about detoxing which is great if you're carb sensitive like me.  It also specifies when to eat certain carbs which I'd never given much thought to but is pretty interesting in terms of metabolism and digestion and the way our body processes carbs and sugars. 

I'm only on day 2 but so far so good so we'll see.

And in honor of being completely honest with myself, here are my before photos.  Extra motivation to keep me sticking to my new eating plan in hopes of having after photos to compare them with.  I'm not happy with the way I look right now or the 20 something pounds I've let myself gain the last few months but the past is the past and all I can do is try to keep moving forward. 

Current Weight: 194.75 lbs (ouch thats bad)
Goal Weight: 160

Time to lose weight: 3 1/2 months (before my wedding!)

Product Review: Corazonas Oatmeal Squares

I will be the first to admit I'm a bar addict.  I adore all things that resemble cookies or bars, protein bars, granola bars, etc...  I will also be the first to admit that those types of products are NOT all created equal.  I've had more than my fair share of bland and tasteless bars.

But when I tried the Corazonas Oatmeal Squares I knew I just had to share.  They come in a variety of flavors including chocolate brownie & almonds, chocolate chip, cranberry flax, banana walnut and peanut butter.  I was lucky enough to try all the flavors at costco recently and have to say they were all incredibly delicious.

My top favorites are the cranberry flax and the chocolate chip, though it was definitely hard to pick favorites.  They're reminiscent of a very dense chewy cookie but not too sweet.  They're also quite substantial in size for the calories and would make a great meal replacement pared with some fruit or protein or even just a quick snack.

The nutritional stats vary slightly but just to give you an idea they all have under 200 calories, 5-6 grams of both protein and fiber and a bunch of vitamins and minerals to get you off to a great start.  They boast 0.8 grams of plant sterols to help lower bad cholesterol, no high fructose corn syrup, low in sodium, all natural and contain 13 grams of whole grains.

If you love oatmeal, granola bars, oatmeal cookies or anything similar then these are an absolutely must!

Swamp Juice!

So I've definitely still been waering and struggling and as much as I've always loved fruits and vegetables my taste buds are still too accustomed to refined sugar and carbs from the last few months.  So I decided to start today off with some Swamp Juice!

Ok its not really swamp juice but it sure looked like it. :)

I made fresh juice with my juicer using pear, apple, cucumber, pineapple, spinach and carrot.  It taste much better than it looks, I promise.

Starting The Day Off Right

This week has been crazy for me with some weird not completely on track eating so photo blogging has been difficult.  Even though I don't know if I'll be able to photograph it all day I had to start my day off right by sharing my delicious and healthy breakfast.

Greek Fruit and Yogurt Parfait

I used one Dannon Strawberry Greek Yogurt and layered it with 1/2 cup chopped strawberries and topped it with some delicious jarred cherries.  Super delicious and light.  Plus using a parfait cup makes it feel more satisfying.  Way better than just eating it out of the yogurt tub.

Product Review: Alpine Valley Organic Multi Grain Bread

It's not often I like bread enough to want to hug it, but this bread is the exception.

Alpine Valley's Organic Multi Grain Bread with Omega-3 is hands down the most delicious bread I've ever had.  The bread is dense and chewy with a hint of sweetness.  It's also got nuts/seeds on top and in the bread that give it a fantastic texture.  The nutritional info is also great.  It's incredibly hearty and satisfying.  It makes amazing toast, a great sandwich, and I've even been know just to eat a piece plain.

Per Slice it has:

80 Calories

    3 Grams of Fiber

     3 Grams of Protein

I used this bread to made a delicious sandwich for dinner last night with turkey, light salame, butter lettuce and sweet and hot mustard.  So delicious and filling!  This is by far the most satisfying bread I've found.  I'm not sure where all it can be found but I buy mine at costco if you're interested in trying it for yourself (which I hope you will!)

Product Review: Dannon Greek Yogurt

I will start this off by saying that I love Greek Yogurt.  I love the super thick consistency and the slight tang.  I also love that its lower in sugar than traditional yogurt (without artificial sweeteners) and has a lot more protein.

Now that being said, I know plenty of people who've tried Greek Yogurt and hate it.  They just don't like the sourness.  I've got news for you, there's a new Greek Yogurt with all the protein and thickness of traditional Greek Yogurt without the Tang - Dannon Greek Yogurt.

I'll be honest I wasn't expecting much.  I love a lot of the traditional Greek brands like Oikios and Chobani and thought Dannon wouldn't kow how to make a great Greek yogurt but boy was I wrong.  This stuff is incredible!  and despite the fact that I like the tang of traditional Greek yogurt, I actually loved that this didnt have it.  It was decadently thick and creamy with a layer of fruit on the bottom.  I topped mine with jarred cherries and it was the most delicious breakfast I've had in awhile.

So if you love Grek yogurt you'll love this for its consistency and flavor.  But if you dont usually like Greek yogurt I urge you to try this flavor because I'd be shocked if you didnt love it!

Why yes, that is Breakfast :)

Taking photos of every single thing I eat is actually quite difficult,but I will attempt to showcase my healthier choices. :)

I attempted to make protein smoothies this morning using some new protein powder samples I'd gotten.  The first was horrible!  The second was just as bad! Which just proves how different they all are because my normal protein powder is so delicious.

By the time I was done experimenting though the last thing I wanted was a protein smoothie so instead I had soup and salad!  I went with an Italian style chopped salad with lettuce,carrot, persian cucumber, cauliflower, diced turkey pepperoni, diced light salami, sliced green olives and news own light balsamic dressing.  I also added a cup of my veggie soup I made earlier in the week.  It was delicious and filling!

Anyone else eat "unconventional" breakfasts sometimes?  Whats your favorite?

Photo Journaling - Day 1

So today is day one of brutal honesty with myself.

I know emotional eating and binge eating are not simply will power, but I also know I'm the only one with the power to overcome them.  So I plan on photo blogging my daily food, hopefully to inspire someone else (or just interest them) and keep myself accountable.

I ate more than I want to admit yesterday and wasnt hungry first thing so breakfast was 2 cups of coffee with lots of fat free milk.

A little while later was a cup of detox tea.  Not the best tasting stuff but after the last few months I needed it!

Lunch was a hearty bowl of soup, same as yesterday.  My home made veggie soup with diced leftover chicken, fresh lemon juice and fresh cilantro!  So incredibly good.

I had a snack on the drive to school, a large Fuji apple.  My favorite!

Thursday are class from 4-6:45 so this was my mid class snack; a small tangerine and some turkey lunch meat for protein.  I used one of my favorite little bento containers I got for Christmas.

After that class I have class from 7-9:45 so dinner is always eaten right before or in the beginning of class so I pack finger type foods.  I had a light string cheese, diced chicken breast, finely sliced carrot, a small tangerine and a little bit of blueberries and pear.

Then the rest of my food.  I had this delicious bag of mixed dried fruit for dessert after dinner.  Then when I got out of class I had another light string cheese and apple around 10 for my snack.

All in all today was great!  I did really good packing my meal and snacks.  I also started my day with a 55 minute walk/run (about 3 miles).  Day one down, which will tomorrow hopefully all the easier.

Also,for accountability purposes my weight this morning was 189.2 which was really hard to look at but I can get it back down if I dont give in.

Soup - Ole!

So I apologize for not posting recently.  I've been plannning my wedding, working on my last semester of college and I got a new puppy so the craziness of life and stress has led to me having less free time and gaining back quite a bit of weight but I'm re-commiting myself to taking care of my health first and foremost.

Today's lunch was soup, which was so delicious.  I made a batch of vegetable soup with chicken broth, onion, celery, cabbage and frozen mixed vegetables a few days ago but it was a little blah.  It also lacked protein so I knew it needed something to make it a full meal.

So I heated the soup, added some diced chicken breast and then topped with fresh cilantro and lemon juice and it was fantastic!  So fresh tasting and light.  I definitely recommend trying it with your own soup!

It's a great idea to make a plain veggie base, and then throughout the weak you can add protein in the form of chicken or beans and then add toppings like cilantro and lemon juice or Parmesan cheese.  Just a few toppings and add in will make it seem like a new bowl of soup every time!

The Grass Isn't Always Greener On The Other Side

Yesterday I had a moment that really made me stop and think "wow"

I don't think I'm the only one whose ever looked at someone who appears very thin and healthy eating junk food an envied that they can eat that and still be so thin.  I admit I make that judgement and sometimes feel like as much as I love healthy food it doesnt seem fair.

Well I had a real wake up call.  There's a girl in one of my classes who week after week I notice eating candy and junk in class and she's very thin.  Ironicly just last week I thought to myself "It's kind of not fair".  Last night in class I took out my dinner and this same girl leans over to me and says "I am so jealous of the way you eat.  Every single week I see you come in with that healthy food and it looks so good.  I eat so bad all I eat is junk and its going to catch up with me so bad one day.  i'm so jealous of how you eat I wish I could eat like that."

I just sat there and it hit me - you truly never know the struggles someone else with food (or life).  all you can do is be sure of yourself.

Then the lady behind her leaned over and told me how adorable my food was and I smiled and realized that I'm taking care of myself and what other people eat and do doesnt matter.

My yummy little dinner eaten while in class last night.

Food is Beautiful

I may be crazy but I think fresh fruit and vegetables look so pretty.   I was admiring my kale and strawberries so much before I juiced them this morning I had to take a picture to share!

Dinner is Served!

Something I've learned about myself (and I'm sure others are the same way) is that the more effort I put into my foods the less I'm likely to eat.  If its junk food straight out of a box or bag I eat way too much.  When its a carefully prepared sandwhich or a beautiful plate of fruit I'm lesslikely to go back for seconds and thirds.  Something about the presentation and know I'm eating quality ingredients makes me more aware of what I'm eating.

In the midst of my recent surge of food related struggles I've made a commitment to try and make better meals for myself.  So today I have to be in class from 4-10pm which means I have to make dinner and eat it inclass so I made myself an adorable little bento style lunch (along with a not pictured mug of vegetable soup I cooked yesterday).  Cheers to cute food!

Fresh strawberries, blueberries, cut up carrots and turkey and lettuce on a whole grain flax wrap.  YUM.

Great coffee at a grocery store? YES

For those of you with a Fresh & Easy (a fantastic healthy and affordable grocery store) you definitely want to start checking in on your locations.  I walked into one today and discovered that they have now added a huge food prep bar.  This is great news since they have a large selection of pre-cooked healthy meals that only need to be heated in the microwave so if you're out shopping or on the go there's a new place to go!

Also fantastic, along with the new food heat and prep area in the grocery store is a full service coffee machine which brews Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf coffee.

I got a medium non-fat decaf latte for only 2.50 (quite a savings from an actual coffee shop) and it tasted like it was just made by a barista.  It was so delicious!

It's also great because as you can see the drinks can be made full fat, or you can make them non-fat, decaf and they even have sugar free syrups available!

And as you can see here, the cost is really quite good as well.  A satisfying and healthy treat great for your waistline and your wallet!

Oatmeal Add In

I love oatmeal but it doesnt always hold me over.  I've found that Quaker's Weight Control is my favorite because of its combination of extra protein and fiber.  Today I tried something a little different; I added half a scoop of vanilla protein powder to my oatmeal (and a little extra water) and it was delicious!  Consistency wise it was hardly noticeable and the vanilla bean flavor of the protein powder was yummy.  Definitely something someone else might want to try if you like oatmeal but need more protein.

Other great add ins for oatmeal (instant or from scratch) include:

• canned pumpkin
• ground flax seed
• wheat bran
• cinnamon
• cocoa powder and splenda
• raw nuts and/or dried fruit

Whats your favorite thing to add to oatmeal?

A Food Day In The Life Of Me

So here is another installment of "What Janel Ate" :)

I skipped the photo of my coffee since it looks the same every single day, but I had my usually two cups with nonfat milk,splenda and foam.

Lunch I packed and brought with me since I wasn't home today.  It was a roll-up on flatout bread (with avocado, turkey and lettuce) with half an apple and some pineapple.  I also cute a few cute shapes out of my high fiber fruit snacks to dress it up.  Then I caved and had a serving of multigrain chips and salsa with it.

Late afternoon I got really hungry and had a carb control yogurt (which has less calories and more protein than traditional yogurt).

Dinner was at my grandparents so I couldnt add veggies like I normally would but it was really yummy.  It was 93% lean ground beef on a 100% whole wheat roll with some oven baked fries and a side of avocado.

Then dessert I couldnt resist - strawberry, vanilla and chocolate golden spoon my one true love.  I could live on frozen yogurt!

One thing I noticed though was that for the first time in a long time I didnt have any vegetables today (unless you count the lettuce on my burger and sandwich which hardly seems like it should count)!  So sad, and so unlike me.

A Day In The Life

I thought I'd good photo food journaling another go yesterday.  It was an interesting day for me since I was out of the house from 10am until 11pm.

Oddly enough I wasnt hungry again in the morning and just had my coffee.

Lunch was at Ikea (their food is great!)  I ate half the meatballs, a small salad with FF Italian and the plain veggies.

I also had some soup, but I only had the broth and a few carrots, no noodles.  It was just chilly yesterday and something warm at the end of lunch seemed satisfying.

These were my snacks for my afternoon class, but sadly I left my fiber bar at home so I only got to eat the apple.

Thursdays I have school from 4-10pm with a 15 minute break so here was my dinner I ate between classes.  The sandwich is an everything bagel thin with turkey with blueberries, watermelon and pear and a light string cheese.

By the time I get picked up at 10pm I'm hungry so my wonderful mom brought me a thermos with a Quaker weight control oatmeal made with ground flaxseed.

After such along day I could resist treating myself to a low fat ice cream cone from McDonalds.  My favorite!

I'm really finding this photo food journaling interesting (and hopefully someone else is too!).  I feel a bit funny taking pictures of all my food, especially in front of people but I really like looking over it the next day because its helping me see food patterns I didnt notice.