The Next Hundred Pounds

COMFORT FOOD

I wanted a steak sooo bad last night. I took my mom out for her birthday dinner, and they had a New York strip special. Normally I do not miss meat, but it just sounded (and smelled) really good. Still, I knew our meal would have a lot of extra fat, and I wanted dessert, so I decided to go with scallops instead (and I really love scallops, so it wasn't disappointing).

Today, I made a recipe that my friend Suzanne had linked to on her FaceBook. It just looked and sounded so good ... and it was, it was! I'm a big fan of the Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and this recipe for Quick Bean Picadillo, though it sounds a bit odd, is delicious, healthy, easy, quick, and fabulous. Plus, it makes the house smell amazing. I wished for some cornbread to eat with it. Can't wait for Eric to get home so I can make some for him.

It's been rainy and dreary for the last several days, so I feel like huddling and cooking comfort food. I also made some really good pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, adapted from a recipe on the bag of chips:

1/3 cup canned pumpkin pie mix

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup agave syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup almond milk (soy or skim will do as well)

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1 cup toasted pecans

Mix the wet ingredients until smooth; add in the dry. Bake on a greased cookie sheet, 350 F, for about 15 minutes. They are goooooood! There's some fat in the chocolate chips and pecans, of course, but that's about it. And you can experiment with using less sweetener. I wanted the maple flavor; otherwise, I normally just use agave.

No exercise for me today. I was lazy, and also I didn't want to blow my run tomorrow by wearing myself out on the elliptical this evening. It was raining, so I didn't even walk. But I figure it's okay to take one day off. Tomorrow I will try for Week 9 of Couch to 5K --- it's my last chance to train before my race on Saturday. Philly Jen will be here, and will be my running partner! People will be watching, so I have to put a good face on it! Yikes!

PRIDE AND PECCADILLOES

Things I am proud of today:

I ate vegan, even though I failed to fully consider the complete ramifications:  sticking to plan means foregoing real cream in my coffee. Quel tragedie! I'm not a fan of soy milk in coffee. On future school days, I'll take some almond milk from home.

I resisted the temptation to stop at Whole Foods for a snack, and had a healthy one at home instead. Seriously, if I'd stopped at Whole Foods I would have gotten a scone, and that was not in the plan for today.

I went to the gym and did my full hour on the elliptical. Boy, can I tell it's been a while. The resistance level stayed on what I usually use for warm-ups the entire time. But the time was well-spent, reviewing my coaching of the Verdi Requiem on the IPod, and ogling the two young men with the amazing guns who were courteous enough to entertain my dirty old lady self with their impressive strength training routines. Hey, it don't matter where you get the appetite as long as you eat at home.

I'm also happy that, having considered doing some drastic things like a cleanse or several days of nothing but smoothies to help me lose weight again, I rejected those schemes in favor of just eating sensibly.

Areas where I could have done better:

I scarfed, and I mean scarfed, the pear I brought for a snack. I didn't plan enough food for lunch and I was starving, but still ... it was a delicious ripe pear and slamming it down did not do me any favors.

I didn't plan enough food for lunch, and needed to add an unplanned snack before I could work out.

I also overestimated how much exercise I would/could actually do today, so there are some things on my list left undone.

So ... the moral is --- better, more realistic planning.

***

I didn't weigh before starting this Boot Camp. In fact, it's been a couple of weeks since I've gotten on the home scale. At my doctor's appointment last week, I was at the top end of my maintenance range, which wasn't too bad considering I hadn't been able to work out all week. Still, it's part of the journey to have to reign it all in at some point or another, and I am at that point. None of my clothes are tight but some of them aren't quite as roomy as they had been.

But after just two days of "eating clean", I already feel so much better! I acknowledge that this will be a lifelong struggle for me. There will never be a time when I can cut loose with the cheese fries. And I am okay with that.

***

Tomorrow, for breakfast, I'm going to enjoy the lowfat low sugar vegan pumpkin bread I made the other day. And lest you think that sounds nasty, let me assure you it is not. Here's my recipe:

2 scoops vanilla soy protein powder

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 15 ounce can organic pumpkin pie mix

3/4 cup agave syrup

3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Handful of toasted walnuts

Combine all the dry ingredients except nuts in a mixer bowl; stir. Mix in the pumpkin and agave syrup. Add almond milk ( you may need to adjust the quantity to get the right batter consistency). Mix in the walnuts.

Pour the batter into a greased Pyrex bread pan. Bake at 350 F for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This bread is great by itself, or toasted with a little peanut butter on top. I also like to mix some Tofutti (vegan cream cheese) with a little bit of maple syrup for a very decadent, icing-like topping.

Enjoy!

FITNESS TUESDAY, AVEC COOKIES, and DEATH MARCH 2009!

Since I'm actively training for an athletic event and have made a commitment to focus on fitness for the next six months, it only makes sense to work up a schedule and do my best to stick to it. Scheduling anything is always complicated. I don't know how people with kids do it.

So I was excited to see that there's a free program called ActiveTrainer available through TMobile's MyTouch phone. You don't, apparently, need MyTouch to use the program and in fact, after visiting the website and getting set up, I am unclear on what it has to do with the phone at all; maybe it's just something you can download or access via the phone. (I myself just got one, and it's insanely complicated, and not being much of a gearhead I haven't really poked around it enough to know how all the bells and whistles work. I might or might not actually be able to figure out how to answer the phone when it rings. It's sad). 

Apparently there is a good intermediate 5K training program available through ActiveTrainer. I am now on Week 8 of Couch to 5K, which means one week to go, and my race will still be two weeks off after that. I'm going to need some guidance.

Anyway, this morning was nice and cool, and I got in my run first thing. This was a twenty-eight minute run, and it was easier than the twenty-five minute ones from last week! In fact, I did not start hating my life until a good twenty minutes in. That's progress, folks, that's real progress.

During the last session of Week 7, this lanky, svelte woman passed me easily as I huffed and puffed and jiggled along the trail. And it pissed me off. I could not hope to keep up with Willow, but I could damn well keep her in sight. This became my challenge. And I kept staring at her tight little buns all the way down the trail to my turnoff, by which time my run was over, and I could legitimately slow to a crawl and drag my sorry carcass home. Willow's probably still out there, running easily along.

Just as I reached the inevitable I-hate-my-life portion of today's run, another svelte little runner passed me. She was faster than Willow. Made me work for it, she did.

Eric and I try to walk every day, and this presents some scheduling difficulties for me because I need more exercise than just walking. So now, I try to work it out so that I do my run, and he leaves the house at a certain time and meets me on the trail. Then I can turn around and walk back with him. Sometimes we do the whole hour-and-twenty loop (which I have just run most of), sometimes we just do an hour. I estimate that from where he met me on the trail, I added about an hour's walk to the run today. And then, in the afternoon, I went back for another round of hot yoga.

This was a different practice. The room wasn't as warm, and it was much more of a toning/strengthening routine, with a great deal of challenging balance work and a lot of isometrics. My balance is significantly better on one side than on the other, so I am happy to be working on that.  This instructor was much chattier than the first and explained everything in detail (there were a lot of newbies in the class). And I had a hard time getting into a good yoga headspace because the walls are all mirrored and I was obsessed with how fat my butt'n'gut looked in my unwise choice of exercise togs.  Still, it was a good class; lots of great toning work was good. I still prefer the first one I did, but the two different classes are a good complement for each other. Tomorrow, I plan to go back for another Fire class. Hey, I've got 10 days to work in as many as I can manage! And Thursday, my schedule is all off because ...

...we are, once again, going to attempt the Death March.

The past two attempts to complete the Death March have been foiled, first by my falling off my bike and breaking my wrist, and then by a sad case of boot failure. Perhaps the third time will be the charm! Eric and I were unable to get away for a single, solitary day all summer long, so we cleared our schedule for Thursday and are heading out to Bastrop State Park to once again try the 8.5 mile trail. We love to hike and we haven't done it since last October, almost a whole year! Send us good hiking vibes.  I'll take lots of pics and have a full report on Friday.

It's been a long time since I posted any recipes, and I'm not going to now, but I am going to make you jealous with tales of the peanut butter cookies I made today. I was jonsing for a treat, and as we don't keep goodies in the house any more, it's either go out and get something or make it. I don't make goodies very often either because they're just too tempting, but today it was the only thing that was going to work. So, I made some fresh walnut pecan butter (that's what stands for peanut butter in my house ... actually we call it something else entirely, but it's just too Beavis and Butthead to share in polite company). Into my mixer bowl, I  dumped about 3/4 cup of walnut pecan butter, 2.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour, a cup of rolled oats, a banana, about 3 tablespoons of canola oil, some almond extract (I was out of vanilla) and about a cup of agave syrup. Then I tossed big globs of dough onto a baking pan (when Dachshund Lila and I weren't stealing bites) and baked for 15 minutes at 350F. The result were big, cakey cookies that weren't too sweet. Mmm. They worked out pretty well, so next time I might measure more carefully and work it into a real recipe. It was just the thing to energize me before hot yoga!

MISHMASH

Mea culpa, my friends. August has flown by in such a busy whirl that I completely forgot to put up a photo (well, actually, I thought about it several times, but I was just too busy, and most of the time I was too sweaty and dirty and icky-looking because I was running around schlepping set pieces or feverishly scribbling schedules or putting out one fire or another for Spotlight on Opera). There's a pic up now, from our final performance.

Just got back from doing some training of my own in New York, which was only marginally cooler than Texas and quite a bit stickier. This did not deter me from keeping my C25K training schedule --- I ran twice in Riverside Park, which was a lovely change of pace from the gym treadmill back home. Running is a great sport because you don't need much equipment, but it still presents difficulties for the traveler. You see, when I make my quick little trips, I don't check luggage, and this means that I can usually only manage one set of exercise togs, and that means working out with stinky damp clothes on the second day. (I don't usually have laundry access, or the time to do it,  in NYC). Also, my feet are HUGE and my sneakers take up a lot of room in the carryon.  If I am auditioning on the trip, it means taking a special dress and shoes and all the junk I need to properly diva-fy (like a set of curlers). How I long for the days of steamer trunks and porters, or at the very least, the days of no extra charges for baggage!

It was great to be in NYC, however briefly, and stuff myself full of voice lessons and coachings of my own (as opposed to the last month, which was spent stuffing other singers full of them). However, I also managed to stuff my piehole perhaps a little more than I should a couple of days this week and found myself suffering from a Carb Hangover. Yech! Why did I do this to myself? It tasted good at the time but it did not FEEL good afterwards. In fact, I didn't feel really good until I hied myself to the gym this afternoon and churned on the elliptical for a good hour. And we  walked after dinner, too.

Still, I consider it a day in the life. We went to dinner last night with another couple who have changed their lifestyles and lost a lot of weight (you couldn't tell from the way ANY of us were eating!), and we just had fun. Now it's back to our normal habits, which means loading up on fruits and veggies at the grocery store and going back to a mostly vegan diet.

Which reminds me --- it's been a long time since I've posted any recipes, and the other day I threw something together that turned out to be marvelous.

CHERRY TOMATO WATERMELON SALAD
For the past several weeks, Whole Foods has had these beautiful little cherry tomatoes: tiny, supersweet, in gold, orange, red, and purple. They were crying out to be made into a salad! I bought a bunch and mixed them with watermelon balls, mint from the garden, and fresh squeezed lime juice. DIVINE!!! So refreshing for the dog days of summer. And if you put it in a martini glass, it'd be elegant enough for a dinner party. See for yourself:

Colorful, delicious, low-calorie, and GOOD FOR YOU!

This post is a mishmash, but that suits my patchwork brain. Tomorrow is the first day of classes and thanks to Spotlight going year-round, I've just acquired ANOTHER fulltime job (that doesn't pay like one. If only all my jobs paid me what I'm worth!). Still, it's exciting. And the Struggle continues, even as it moves into a new phase. My fitness goals this week: get back to the E2 diet fulltime, do my C25K training MWF and that ass-kicking E2 workout T TH. I'm going to have to work for it if I want a new red concert dress by February!

OF POTATO SALAD AND HIKES

We had a wonderful, relaxed 4th of July. The food was great and very healthy! We're up early this morning and in a few minutes, we'll go for a walk, taking advantage of the morning cool.

The Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad was a hit, and it was completely fat-free.
Potatoes come in a variety of sizes and colors. For best results, I use fingerlings or the smallest size I can find. If they are small enough, you won't need to chop them!

RED WHITE AND BLUE POTATO SALAD

1/2 pound  red potatoes
1/2 pound  potatoes
1/2 pound (purple) potatoes
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
3-4 cloves garlic, roasted
1 bunch fresh basil
Salt to taste

Boil or roast the potatoes until tender and set aside. When cool, chop any large potatoes into bitesize pieces. In a food processor, combine garlic and basil leaves; process until a pesto is formed. Add lemon juice and salt. Add about an ounce of new potatoes and process until smooth.

Mix this "dressing" with the potatoes and chill until ready to serve.

*Note: to roast the garlic, spray with olive oil and bake in a 400F oven for 20 minutes. The cloves are done when they're soft and squirt out of their husk easily when pinched.

The Finished Product!

We had a good walk. Somewhat strange, because I somehow managed to put on one of my own shoes, and one of Eric's which are ever so slightly bigger than mine.

We saw deer!

And a night heron!

And a tiny bunny!

And we made it back before it got too hot. In a little while, I will head off to the gym to complete my workout regimen for the day.

Morning workouts are my ideal. I work from home when I am not off singing, and a ridiculous amount of mental energy is spent on logistics of when to go to the gym, depending on what else I have to do that day. It would be nice to get up,  put on my workout clothes, have a little breakfast, and walk, then hit the gym. Then I'd be done for the day and could move on.

Problem is, there are too many people at my tiny local gym in the mornings. It's hard to get the machine I want, and I certainly can't get it for a full hour. It's far too hot to walk anytime other than early morning or after 7. And I don't want to have to change clothes or shower more than once, at least not on a regular basis. On days when I don't teach, I wear exercise togs around the house all day, until it's time to go to the gym. But I don't like to wear them when I teach or run errands.

It's silly. One of life's niggling little annoyances. One of these days I will design exercise togs that can go from class to lunch with friends to the gym! Or maybe I will finally be able to afford the elliptical machine I want and a bike for my husband, and eliminate the need to go to the gym altogether. A girl can dream!

4th of July Party Menu

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I'm excited; the scale went down again this morning. We are forcing ourselves to walk, even in the awful heat. It helps.

We started our day with a trip to the grocery store, to see what fish looked good. The produce was fantastic, with gorgeous organic berries at their most enticing (and least expensive) of the season.

Eric and I love to cook, and we love to cook for crowds. Once upon a time we prided ourselves on extravagant gourmet meals, and we still do, but now our focus is on healthy extravagant gourmet meals. We're only having a few friends over tonight, but here's the menu. Everything is made from scratch and from fresh organic ingredients:

Fruit salad (peaches, blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, cherries, canteloupe, mango, bananas, watermelon, grilled pineapple. Grilling the pineapple brings out the sweetness.)

Guacamole and salsa with jicama chips (You can't have a party in Texas without guac and salsa. People would think you were a Yankee.)

Green salad with fatfree sesame tamari dressing

Grilled veggies (zucchini, onions, mushrooms, peppers)

Grilled salmon

Grilled lime ginger cilantro shrimp

Red, White, and Blue Potato Salad (fatfree, recipe to follow. I haven't made it yet so I don't know exactly what the recipe will be!)

Corn on the Cob with lime and chili powder

Chocolate Almond Milk ice cream (nondairy and lowfat)

Coconut Toasted Pecan ice cream (nondairy and lowfat)

***
Sounds good, no? And everything is really simple to prepare.

I also just have to mention a dish I made up last night, which was SO AMAZING. Coconut Lime Peanut Noodles. They go right into the Major Win column. Eric can't wait for me to make them again.

Recipe time:

COCONUT LIME PEANUT NOODLES
Serves 2

1/2 cup roasted peanuts
Juice of 1 lime
1 tbsp low sodium tamari
1 tbsp maple syrup, honey, or agave syrup
1/2 cup finely grated unsweetened coconut
1/2 package whole wheat spaghetti or soba noodles

Prepare the noodles according to package directions. While they're cooking, grind the peanuts in a food processor until they form a smooth paste. Gradually add the lime juice, tamari, and sweetener. If the mixture is too thick, add some veggie broth or water to thin it out.

Drain the noodles and return to pot. Immediately add the peanut mixture and coconut, and stir until combined. Serve immediately with a big spinach salad or stir-fry.

 LIME GINGER GARLIC CILANTRO SHRIMP

Juice of 1 lime
1 small ginger root, peeled  and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 pound shrimp

Combine first 4 ingredients in a deep bowl. Wash the shrimp, (shell on if you're going to grill; you can peel them if you plan to pan cook) and toss them so they are well-coated. Let them marianate for 1 hour (not too much longer; the acid in the lime juice will "cook" the shrimp and they'll be tough. You can always prep everything but the lime juice and add it shortly before cooking).

Grill the shrimp until pink, or toss in a hot pan with some cooking spray and cook until they turn pink, 2-3 minutes depending on how big they are. Serve immediately!

***
And now, I must go make the ice cream. And prep the shrimp (my mom LURRRRVES them and I have to fix them like this every time now). Y'all have a wonderful 4th!

A WEEK'S WORTH OF BREAKFAST

I enjoy reading Mark Bittman's food column in the New York Times, and the comments that follow. People get so worked up about food and what they eat and what other people eat or don't eat! It especially amuses me that there is such conflict between those who eat meat and those who don't. There is a great deal of defensiveness and self-righteousness on both sides of the issue. Why, do you suppose, people get so worked up over food? Is it because it is so hard for most of us to resist things we know aren't good for us, so we end up feeling smug that we can, or defensive of our choices? Or just because some of us really love food and are interested in all aspects of it --- it's our sport of choice?

Recently, Bittman featured a 10-ingredient shopping list (meat-heavy, it inspired calls from vegetarians for a meatfree version, and engendered some minor brawling between vegs and carns) and it got me thinking about my own shopping and pantry staples. And that got me thinking about simple, healthy meal plans. Inspiration comes from many sources (Bittman included) though I rarely follow a recipe come scritto --- I've found that I can usually make do with a fraction of the fat, salt, and sugar called for, and make other substitutions to account for my tastes, budget, and laziness (as I tend to use whatever I have lying around).

So, for your amusement and hopefully inspiration, I'm offering a mini-series called "A Week's Worth of ...", starting with my favorite meal of the day, breakfast. Seven inexpensive, quick and easy, healthy recipes that are low on fat and sugar but big on taste.

One caveat: my own week of breakfasts does not look like this. I generally alternate between one or two of the plainer selections, eat breakfast out one or two days a week, and on the weekends, cook something a little fancier (like pancakes or French toast) if we don't eat out. But if you prefer more variety, this list is for you!

DAY ONE
YOGURT PARFAIT
One cup of nonfat Greek-style yogurt or cottage cheese, 1/2 cup mixed fruit, 1 tbsp dried cranberries. Optional: 1 tsp maple syrup or honey, 1 tbsp chopped walnuts.

Note: I make my own yogurt from skim milk. It's easy and delicious, and much cheaper than buying the Greek style!

DAY TWO
FRUIT MUFFIN
One whole grain English muffin, 2 tbsp non-hydrogenated plain Tofutti spread, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1 tbsp dried cranberries or raisins, 1 tsp cinnamon.

You can do this two ways: toast the muffin, then spread the Tofutti (it's like cream cheese), mash the banana on one half and stud the other with blueberries, then sprinkle the cinnamon and cranberries on top. Or, spread the Tofutti on the halved muffin, divide the banana and mash it on both sides, sprinkle cinnamon, and toast; then add blueberries and cranberries. It's yummy both ways.

*Avoid the regular Tofutti, which contains hydrogenated oils. Go for the one in the yellow carton. No matter what the carton says, if it contains hydrogenated oils, it is NOT healthy.

DAY THREE
CEREAL AND FRUIT BOWL

I didn't used to eat much cereal; found it boring. But since I started doing the E2 diet, I enjoy Rip's Big Bowl several times a week. It's his recipe so I won't reprint it here, but essentially he combines several types of low-fat, whole-grain cereal along with some dried fruit and nuts, tops it with a combination of fruit (I use fresh fruit salad which I make every day) and milk alternative (I like unsweetened almond milk).

DAY FOUR
SMOOTHIE

I enjoy smoothies for breakfast or snacks when I'm craving ice cream but it's not in the day's food plan. The base version:

1 scoop soy or whey protein powder
1 cup of milk alternative (unsweetened plain soy or almond milk are my faves)
1 cup of frozen fruit or 1 banana
1 tbsp nut butter
1 tsp ground flax meal
1 tbsp vanilla or orange extract
1 tbsp agave syrup, if you want it sweeter

Blend it all up until it's smooth!

My favorite combos:

Add 1/3 cup unsweeteened cocoa powder, such as Scharffen Berger, and use chocolate almond milk along with frozen cherries for a delicious chocolate cherry shake.

Blueberries and vanilla make a great purple shake. I add agave to this one.

Use a banana, some ice cubes to make it thicker, and coconut extract for a tropical shake.

DAY FIVE
CINDY'S SUPER SOUPED-UP FRENCH TOAST

The recipe is inspired by the one from E2, but I thought it needed more protein and maybe some crunch. I blogged about it here.

DAY SIX
BREAKFAST COBBLER

Before I became diabetic (which I have since reversed) and the carbs got to be too much for me, this was one of my favorite breakfasts.

1 serving oatmeal
1 tbsp toasted chopped walnuts or pecans
1 peach, or 1 cup of fresh blackberries
1 tbsp dried cranberries
1/2 cup of milk substitute or, if you're spluring, 1/4 cup half and half and 1/4 cup milk sub

Prep the oatmeal as you normally would and pile everything else on. I swear, it tastes like homemade cobbler.

DAY SEVEN
CINDY'S VEGAN PANCAKES

I stopped buying eggs some time ago. I'm the only one who eats them, and I don't bake much any more, so they would go bad before I could use them. So when I wanted to bake, I'd either have to go out and get eggs or find an alternative. And this was especially a problem on weekends, when I love to make pancakes. My husband loves the vegan pancakes at our favorite local restaurant, but I find the texture too gummy. So I experimented with my own, and we both agree that they're much tastier than anything we've had in restaurants!

2 cups whole wheat pasta flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1scoop soy or whey protein powder
1 tbsp flax meal
1-2 ripe bananas, mashed
1 tbsp orange or vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/2 to 3/4 cup milk substitute (soy or almond)

Optional:
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts

Mix the dry ingredients well and add mashed banana until thoroughly mixed. Add the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.

Heat a frying pan over medium heat and spray lightly with oil. Use a soup ladle to pour the right amount of pancake batter. When the edges of the cake begin to bubble, flip it and cook until the center is springy but not hard.

Serve topped with fresh fruit and a little maple syrup.

And there you have it --- seven days' worth of healthy breakfasts! Enjoy.

FOOD CHALLENGE #2: PROGRESS

For some reason I woke up at 3:30 a.m. yesterday morning, my mind racing, and couldn't get back to sleep. At least I got some good work done on the schedule for my opera program (ridiculously complicated). I actually like waking up early, before everyone else, and working in the quiet dark. I like seeing the rest of the world come to life. However, I don't like it so much when I didn't get enough sleep!

As a result of so little sleep, I was groggy for the rest of the day and the last thing I wanted was to go to the gym. I tried to convince myself that it was okay not to go, Maybe I could just walk. It rained finally, and it was cooler, but muggy. Maybe it would be okay to skip today.

But then I thought about this time last summer, when my broken wrist kept me from exercising very much at all, and how frustrating that was. I thought about how insistent on daily exercise I used to be, and my mantra for the summer, which includes the words, "Exercise daily".  Finally, I thought, "It's an hour. An hour out of my life. I waste more time than that daily."

And so I went, and you know what? I'm glad I did.

I'm also glad I didn't finish the cake.

You see, we went for dessert to Whole Foods, and I ended up getting a piece of cake. Usually WF cake isn't very sweet, but this kind had really sugary icing.  And generally speaking, I'd rather eat icing than the cake part, thank you. But this was just too much! I ended up taking the top icing off and just eating what was in the middle (the cake itself wasn't very sweet). It was hard to let that icing go, even though it was far too sweet and too much for me. It's crazy, but that's the way I think. Because it WAS so hard, I threw it away instead of taking some home to have another time. Again, so glad I did. I was afraid I'd obsess about it but five minutes later it was forgotten; so there really has been some progress.

We had a lovely visit with our friends last night, with lovely healthy food. There was hummus with crackers, bread, and goat cheese for appetizers, and I managed not to eat too much. Betsy made a very simple shrimp dish, cooked in white wine and lemon and topped with parsley --- so good! I brought a salad of spring greens topped with red onion, toasted pecans, and grapes, with the yummy fatfree salad dressing from the Engine 2 book (low sodium tamari, toasted sesame seeds, and maple syrup). We had some fresh berries for dessert and were serenaded by David and Betsy's talented son, Jamie, on both piano and trumpet.

I didn't want to weigh this morning; I even thought about it last night. Last night,  I told myself firmly, "No hiding. It is what it is; information; just take it and deal with it." And this morning, the scale showed another loss.

That brings me to 8.4 pounds for June; of course, this is ground that has been covered before, but it's bringing me closer to my February low. I feel re-energized!

Recipe time! Today, I'm making Asian-flavors tofu cutlets to go in wraps. I ground some toasted cashews, fresh basil, garlic powder, ginger powder, and low-sodium tamari in my food processor. I patted it over some drained extra-firm tofu, and sprinkled some nutritional yeast mixed with flaxseed meal over that, then poured on a little more tamari and veggie broth and let it soak for a while. It's presently baking at 350 for 45 minutes and smelling yummy! When it's done, I will serve it with spring mix, radishes, green onions, carrots, and whole wheat pita to make a delicious lunch wrap.

*Edited to add: Wrap is a MAJOR WIN. The tofu is warm and creamy; the radishes and carrots give a satisfying crunch; and we used leftover salad from last night with the sesame-tamari dressing. MMMM. Definitely a repeat customer. For fewer carbs, you could skip the pita and use Boston lettuce leaves instead. Also, the tofu would be good cold.

For dinner, I'm making stir-fry veggies with chicken-flavored seitan. I've never cooked seitan before and the one time I had it at a restaurant, it was very salty and a weird, spongy texture. So I'm not sure we'll like it, but I'm willing to give it a try for variety's sake. I'll let you know how it turns out!

GOOD FOR THE SOUL

You know what they say about confession being good for the soul? Well, I've been doing some mental housekeeping lately and it's time to come clean.

It's not exactly a secret that I've been struggling for several months now to lose the last thirty pounds, or that my weight's been going up and down a few pounds like kids playing on the escalator at the mall. But I have been reticent about specifics, partly due to embarrassment, partly due to trying to stay positive, and largely due to hiding the truth from myself. I'm very good at that last part!

When I was in Minnesota back in February, I got down to the lowest low yet: 134.5 pounds down from my original weight. It was a rarified environment: no one but myself to cook for, no food in the house but what I brought in, upwards of two hours of exercise a day. But once back home, I couldn't maintain that, and my weight started creeping up. I stopped keeping my weight loss chart, stopped exercising so much, and lost track of how much I was gaining back. It's not until I got back from my most recent trip to LA, struggling with overcoming that "vacation mentality", that I got out the ol' chart again.

And then I realized that I had not weighed my current weight (which, BTW, is down over 6 pounds from the beginning of this month) since December 2008. That's right, I gained back almost twenty pounds.

As you can imagine, this scares the hell out of me. This has happened so many times before, and it was the same situation: I got busy with my singing career and let the health issues slide. Before I knew it, the pounds were back, with friends.

What makes the difference this time? This time, I caught it. This time, I haven't panicked. I know what to do,  I'm doing it, and I will continue to repeat the process as many times as necessary. I fully expect that there will come another time when I will get on the scale and say, "Whoa! It's salad week!" I believe this is a normal part of life for a person who must work to manage her weight. So, moving forward, I refuse to let it freak me out, even a little.

I'm coming clean now for several reasons. One (so shoot me) is that I feel I have it under control, and feeling stronger, I can open up about it. Second, I feel slightly guilty for not sharing this glitch with my readers before now. Third, I know there are others out there who are struggling with this very issue themselves, and my experience may help them.

I have renewed enthusiasm for the whole process, and feel more hopeful than every that I can see this through to goal. It's exciting to me (in retrospect) to go through these ups and downs. When you jump a hurdle, however clumsily, you get to see what you can do better next time you face it.

To end on a positive note, I've been eating the E2 way for about a week now and I love it (so does my husband). I'm not 100% faithful to the veganism, but I'm about 99%. One of the recipes is for French toast, which my French husband loves. You know me, I can never make a recipe as written. I souped it up a little bit and I leave you with CINDY'S SUPER SOUPED-UP FRENCH TOAST.

Serves 2.

2 ripe bananas, mashed.
1 cup milk substitute (I use unsweetened almond milk, or soy)
1 scoop soy or whey protein powder
2 tsp vanilla or orange extract
2 tsp cinnamon
4 slices whole grain bread
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup chopped pecans

Mix the protein powder with the milk substitute, extract, and cinnamon. Add the mashed banana. In separate bowl, place the oats and chopped pecans. Soak the bread first in the wet mixture, then roll in the dry.

Heat a frying pan and when hot, spray with just enough canola oil so the bread won't stick. Cook on both sides until firm.

Serve topped with a lot of fresh fruit and a little bit of maple syrup. MMMMMMMMMMMMM!

THE JOY OF REAL FOOD (AND TEMPEH TACOS)

Two words, folks, two words: tempeh tacos.

Over the past eighteen months, what and how much I eat has changed radically, and it continues to evolve. Although I don't envision becoming a card-carrying vegan, meat and other animal products are becoming a very occasional part of my diet, and I don't often miss them. I also don't really miss the added fat. It is truly amazing how little fat you need to make food taste good. Of course, it helps if that food is wonderfully fresh.

I'm so lucky to live in a place where I can get really fresh produce, much of it locally grown. In some areas of the country it's very difficult, and even the grocery stores don't carry very high quality stuff. One of the reasons a lot of people don't like veggies, or are addicted to processed foods, is because they've never tasted the real thing, or they haven't tasted good quality.

But when you educate your taste buds by eating high quality, fresh, minimally processed foods, you'll be surprised how few "extras" you need to be satisfied.

Case in point: tonight, I made tempeh tacos. I crumbled up some tempeh and mixed it with leftover black beans, corn, and brown rice from dinner a few nights ago, cooking it in a skillet sprayed with a little bit of olive oil --- just enough to keep it from sticking. Sprinkled in some Bragg's Liquid Aminos and chili powder. I got these really fabulous corn tortillas, too. Locally made, and their only ingredients are corn, lime juice, and water. My husband has,  in the past, been adamantly opposed to corn tortillas, preferring flour (which are very high cal and traditionally made with lard). He'd never had really fresh, really good quality corn tortillas. Well, let me tell you, it makes all the difference in the world! They're soft and flavorful. When we piled on the tempeh, with homemade salsa, guacamole, and some shredded lettuce, he declared that it tasted like a meal from our favorite vegetarian restaurant. It was so good, we didn't even miss the cheese.

Do yourself a favor and experiment with cutting down on added fats. See if you can spend a week doing your home cooking just using a spray like Pam or Spectrum Organics, and skipping the butter, margarine, and salad dressing. Try getting your fats from unprocessed sources, like nuts, whole olives, and avocado. You might find that you can easily get by with a lot less than you're accustomed to, or even none at all. And the added benefit is that since fat is SO high cal, you'll easily lose weight. Worried about the taste of a "dry" salad? Add some juicy fruit, such as grapes or sliced pears, and squeeze a lemon over the whole thing. Add slices of avocado and a handful of toasted nuts. Or whip up a dressing of dijon mustard and a little bit of flavored vinegar. Mmmm!

Do yourself another favor, and next time you go to the grocery store, buy one fresh piece of produce that you've never tried, or don't normally buy fresh. With the Internet at your fingertips, you can easily find a recipe to try, but most veggies are excellent roasted simply, or tossed on the grill.

And summer is a great time to snack on fruit. We're keeping a big bowl of fruit salad in the fridge, and it's what we reach for when we want a refreshing treat. It's helped us both cut down on the too-yummy homemade bread and nut butters we've been making.

And if all else fails ... try the tempeh tacos. Seriously.