Muffin Madness

Okay, here is the deal...I am tired of drinking protein supplements. I don't like the taste anymore and can't stand the idea of drinking them. I still want to lose weight, but just realize I need to make some changes in my diet plan. Whatever I do, it has to be something that I can see myself doing for the rest of my life. I know this isn't a brief moment in time where I watch what I eat, it's going to be a lifestyle change. With that said...I am trying to stick to 1200 calories and eating foods that are higher in protein, more natural, and filling. Now, I realize when I follow my Metabolic Research Center plan I lost about 2.5 pounds a week. The catch is, I haven't been following it. I find every reason possible not to drink protein supplements. So, I need to adjust. I know I can do this new hybrid plan and monitor my results. If I quit losing weight, I can always go right back to where I left off.

For accountability, that's the thing I struggle the most with, I am posting my food on sparkpeople.com. I love the website so much! I can track my fitness, food, and join groups. I have been using the site for almost two years! Anyway, my sister is going to check in on my food diaries and knowing that at any point in time a person can look, helps me feel more accountable. Also, don't be afraid to ever ask me how I'm doing. That helps a lot too. With all that being said, I tried a new recipe and figured the calories out after I made my adjustments! (If you are on or join sparkpeople, add me- it's my first name underscore 2004 aka my e-mail address without the @hotmail.com, you can also put this information in when you create an account to tell them who referred you.)

The recipe I am highlighting today is from the Hungry Girl 200 Under 200 cookbook. I made the Big Fat Blueberry Muffins with some modifications. First of all, the recipe claims to make 6 muffins. I am pretty sure I am using an antique muffin tin to bake in. I do not know if the tin makes smaller muffins or if I just had extra batter? Either way I ended up making 8 muffins, which means each muffin is just a few less calories than what is suggested in the cookbook. The recipe also called for sugar free maple syrup. Without thinking, I used Walden Farms Maple Syrup. This product is sugar free, calorie free, just about anything you can think of free. When I accidentally doubled the amount, it didn't matter. However, most sugar free syrups have 35 calories in a 1/4 Cup serving and those calories were cut out. I know this seems small, but it was enough to make my muffins come in at 99 calories. So forget all those cutsie 100 calorie pack muffins you see at the store, just make your own!

The muffins tasted great. At first they were a little tricky to get out of the liner, but after they cooled, they came out a lot nicer. I was happy with the end product and LOVE having a piece of breakfast I can eat on the go! Speaking of breakfast, I paired my muffin with Kellogg's 19 cereal. Has anyone tried this? I thought it tasted good and LOVED that it had almost as many vitamins and minerals as my vitamin! Oh and speaking of 100 calories, 1 full cup is only 100 calories! I couldn't find many other cereals that were the same calorie and nutrition wise.

If you would like the recipe for the muffin straight from Hungry Girl, click here: http://www.hungry-girl.com/chew/chewdetails.php?isid=1552

Keep in mind the two modifications I made if you want a muffin under 100 calories. Even just following the Hungry Girl Recipe, the muffin is 137 calories.

P.S. in the background is a sneak peek of a newly painted wall in our house!

Nightmare

Last night I went to bed pretty late, like around midnight. I woke up in nearly a cold sweat from a terrible nightmare! I haven't looked up the meaning yet, because I'm a little nervous what I will find out. If you are sensitive to your own nightmares or scary movies, you should probably just skip reading this. Seriously, if this was someone else's post, I wouldn't be able to read it without getting my own nightmares. Movies, stories, etc. easily leave an impression though. With that warning - here is the dream...

I am at work and 4 different people (I know one was my supervisor, one was the office manager, one was someone more corporate, and one was one of my team members) didn't communicate about hiring an intern. As a result we hired 8 interns. After the staff meeting I left to drive to one of my communities. The community I drove to was Hungry Horse, Montana. (Yep, not even the state I live in or a place I have spent a lot of time). I started driving and at some point debated whether to stop for breakfast (I was starving), but was worried the intern would get lost trying to follow me. When I got their, I got out of my car. For some reason the intern (one intern) I had chosen to come with me rode separate. He got out of his car and I noticed that several cars pulled up behind him. At this point I realize the other 7 interns misunderstood and came with! I still needed to work my community and was able to secure some housing for the evening. We were able to stay at this house that is usually used for like church groups or other groups when they go on a retreat. At one point the male intern was up in a tree eating peanuts. (This seemed completely normal in my dream, he was on like a wooden platform, but not quite a tree house.) Anyway, he was later dead and the locals deduced his death to a raccoon eating him. (Seriously, a raccoon...a killer raccoon.) We were all puzzled, but complete strangers. There was a feeling of sadness and everyone was solemn. A couple hours later I heard a girl (an intern) screaming and thrashing. I grabbed another girl (one of the seven remaining interns) and approached the girl in distress who was on top of a bunk bed. Another intern was strangling her! We were helpless, but ran to get help and save our own rears. As we were running, we saw the killer intern had seduced another mail intern and was taking him back inside to meet his fate. Somewhere in here is where I realized the girl was possessed and a killer raccoon had not killed the original male intern. The crazy possessed girl was killing everyone.

I woke up and was completely freaked out! I usually try to shelter myself from scary things. I know they give me nightmares, but I really didn't watch anything to spark this crazy nightmare. The other thing is -0n the scale of scariness ghosts and goblins are fairly low. Anything to do with good and evil or the devil really scares me. I woke the hubby up when I was laying there scared. I was relieved to see light coming in through the windows, so I knew it was later in the morning. A few years ago I got suckered into watching the Exorcism of Emily Rose. The part of the movie where they discussed the time of night where the devil makes a mockery of Christianity, still scares me. I was so relieved it wasn't that time when I woke up. When the husband left the room to use the restroom, I had to verbally say, "Jesus loves me". Like somehow if there was anything bad in the room, it needed to know God was stronger and my faith was stronger. I sang Jesus Love Me in my head and was able to fall back asleep.

I dislike having nightmares because they just kind of hang with me all day. I haven't really told anyone about my nightmare, I don't want to verbalize it. Somehow writing it down on my blog only makes me sort of edgy, nervous, etc. It's just such a screwed up nightmare. Icky. I hope tonight I have much sweeter dreams.

Titanium Time

I went to the orthodontist today. When I laid down the orthodontist measured where my teeth were and rattled off a number of things...like right lower 6 to 6. I can guess what they are talking about, but really it doesn't much change anything. Anyway, today I thought he said at my next appointment we would schedule a time to get my braces off. He joked around later when I was all done with my adjustments and said, "I bet you won't miss your next appointment." I've never missed an appointment and was kind of confused. I also should've known better, because when the tech went to put new elastics on and asked me what color, I said silver or clear. She said, "It's your last set, don't you want something fun?!" I told her last time I did something fun I ended up with a job interview and felt funny not wearing a super professional color. Still nothing clicked. When I went to schedule my next appointment I told Jane, the really nice receptionist, that I had one more appointment left. She reviewed my chart for a minute and said, "not really". She then read that my chart said my next appointment was to get my braces off!!!!!!!!! I was a little bummed back at the chair, because I thought I would still have braces when I went to my sister's graduation. (Come to think of it- I even asked the tech how long it usually took between the last appointment and getting braces off...she said something about probably wanting to give my tooth plenty of time to move down...haha, I obviously never would've asked this if I knew my appointment was going to be to remove my braces. I was just trying to calculate how long 4 weeks plus a little more time to get braces off would be!) Anyway, I was so excited to set my date. They only had two available and we plan to be on the road one of the days. I happily booked my 10am appointment (they only take braces off at 10am for some reason). I am SO excited. I feel like I am graduating or something.
My mom asked what the first thing I was going to eat was...I think caramel or rice. I am sort of worried my teeth are going to be sore when they pop off the braces. I am amazed at how quickly almost two years has flown by!

Crab Cakes

I am enjoying my day off. I slept in, took a long shower, and made lunch. I have lots of food in the fridge that I need to make this week. I also have some random items on hand like a butternut squash and spaghetti squash. I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and may go hang out with my niece and sister-in-law for a little bit. Such a wonderful day so far. Since I am home for lunch and had time to be in the kitchen before the hubby came home for lunch, I decided to actually whip something up.

Growing up my parents would periodically make us tuna patties or trout patties or salmon patties. I always loved the texture and I really enjoy fish. Last week at the store I was checking out the fresh fish and saw a package of crab. That's right, crab with a "c" not krab with a "k". The price was right, so I decided to give the foil package a shot. I was a little thrown off when I looked at the package and it said, "virtually no shell". Hmmm, virtually? I am happy to report we didn't find any shells.

I broke apart 3 pieces of melba toast and made some chunky crumbs. Next I dropped in one large egg. I whipped this with a fork and broke the melba toast up a little more. I added about 2 tsp. of Caribbean jerk seasoning and the same amount of cajun seasoning. I really wanted to use Old Bay, but could not find it anywhere! My Cajun seasoning is a little salty, so I didn't add in any extra salt. Next I added the crab and stirred it around until everything looked equally covered. The mixture was actually fairly dry and I considered adding another egg, but was afraid of adding too much and covering up the taste of the crab. After all, we are talking crab with a "c", not a "k"!

I sprayed my small frying pan with cooking spray and formed three patties. I let cook until I could see the egg firming up. I carefully flipped the patty over and turned off the heat. We use All Clad pots and pans, so they retain a lot of heat! We also never turn our stove top on above medium heat. You may need to adjust accordingly if making this recipe at home. Anyway, while I was letting my patties finish cooking, I split a bag of romaine lettuce on to two plates. I also chopped some cantaloupe. When the patties weren't sizzling anymore, I checked the bottoms and they were nicely browned. I plopped one on each bed of lettuce. I wasn't sure what kind of dressing to put on top. I wanted a vinaigrette or something light. I settled on Ken's Steakhouse Lite Asian Sesame Ginger dressing.

I was really happy with how everything turned out. The husband also liked it and he normally doesn't eat crab. In fact, I let him think it was tuna for a few bites until I knew he would eat it without caring that it was actually crab. There was one crab cake left over. I went ahead and ate it. I was pleasantly surprised when I calculated the calories. For two crab cakes, the lettuce, dressing, and cantaloupe the calories ended up being 294! Each crab cake comes in at 82 calories. The photo shown is actually only 212 calories and was delicious!

Something that I have learned is really important is to always have a carbohydrate and protein together. Carbohydrates and proteins work together to break down into nutrients. A carbohydrate on it's own won't break down the same and a protein on its own breaks down very slowly. The melba and crab alone are a really good balance in this recipe, but the fruit just seemed like a nice addition!

If you wanted to change the recipe some you could probably use just about any fish. You could also use flavored melba! Delicious, simple, and well under 300 calories-enjoy!

My first completed knitting project!

I made it through my first event of the season this week. After a 26 hour shift, I took a nap and enjoyed some Chinese food with my husband. We also went to JoAnn's for some craft supplies. I am making baby shower invitations for a co-worker and needed some coordinating paper. I wandered back to the yarn and knitting needles. I found some jumbo needles, 25 mm, and some thick yarn. I chose a black and white varigated yarn. Next I chose a red yarn. In hindsight, I wish I would have double checked to make sure I had the same amount of both yarns. Instead I had 140 yards of red and 80 yards of the varigated. I looked at a couple scarf patterns and one said to cast on 8. I thought 8 was a little on the thin side for how bulky my yarn was, so I cast on 10. The directions also said to just keep knitting until I used up the ball of yarn. While my scarf wraps around my neck, I would've liked it just a little longer. I am really excited to go buy more yarn and knock out another scarf. I like the large tools, because I can see my progress. The smaller, 6mm, needles I am using on another scarf seem to take forever! I definitley have a different look with my other scarf project. The one I just finished is very warm, cozy, and comforting. I'd like to make a few more scarfs before I venture on to other projects like booties and hats. I really enjoyed having something simple and relaxing to do.

What a wonderful, wonderful world

Okay, I am going to go through my weekend thus far in reverse.



First and for most- He is risen!!! He has risen indeed, hallelujah! Happy Easter!! What a glorious day to celebrate! We are going out to the in-laws for sandwiches and deviled eggs. Now before you shake your head, we had a full meal planned, but...at 9:55 last night I became a very proud aunt!!! My sweet niece weighed just 5 lbs. 10 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. After 12 hours of labor she came into this world via c-section. She is amazing! I got to hold her a little after 10 last night. Mom and baby are healthy and happy.



Now that you know how I spent all day Saturday...I will move to Friday. The job I interviewed for called me. They said I was there second choice and a very strong candidate, but the other person did accept the job. I think was the best case scenario! After I learned more about the job and knew it only had a year and a half left, I was really torn as to what I would do. There was this sort of competitive side of me though, that wanted to know how well I did in the interview. I am very happy with how this turned out! I applied for another job that would be ideal and is not grant funded. I would have to commute, but we will see if they call me for an interview. I am guessing I am one of several hundred applicants again. In the mean time, I will just gear up for an event that in one week from this moment will be over.



Okay, back to the baby...here is the quilt my dear husband is making. I got to pick fabrics, but he is the master quilter. He has done an amazing job! He has learned a lot about what batting and such to put in baby quilts. The parents were actually with us when we purchased the white fabric with animals. They wanted fairly gender neutral outfits, blankets, etc. I think this will be wonderful when it's done!

Why focus? More random N thoughts.

Okay, are you ready for yet another random blog of my thoughts? If not, just stop reading here! That's a fair warning.

I haven't heard back from that job I interviewed for. I am not sure what that means. They said either way they would call, so I tend to think they just haven't called anyone yet? I'm not worried about it. I'm not even sure if I want a second interview, it's all confusing.

April Fools day...only one person pranked me today. It might not have even been a prank. The intern showed me an ultrasound picture, but it's her niece or nephew. She just prefaced it with having a suprise. Haha. A couple years ago one of my friends posted a letter on my door pretending to be someone in the Mormon church. She actually did research to make everything in the letter legit. It was hilarious! Did anyone prank you today?

My husband bought me a nice gift yesterday, just because! I can finally jam out to my music again. Yep, he bought me a new mp3 player and it wasn't even an April Fool's Day joke! I had so much fun jamming out to music today at work. It was such a good stress reliever!

Work is really busy right now. So are my classes. We are also anxiously awaiting the birth of our niece. It's such a crazy, wonderful time right now! After my event next weekend I will update more often...like pictures of our kitchen! We still need to paint and swap out some of the hardware, but it is coming together!