caprese chickpeas

I know this may sound crazy... but I had planned to do some sort of mediterranean chickpea salad this week... and I had meant to do caprese salad (this is a basic but delicious salad of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and fresh tomato - emphasis on fresh for all three - drizzled with olive oil).

I had a great shopping trip this morning... score some good fresh wild fish (as opposed to farmed, which i try not to eat), lots of fresh herbs, a watermelon, tons and tons of produce (so much that I won't bore you by listing it but any time you find PURPLE sweet potatoes - it's been a great shopping trip!) I got tons of stuff, kept it under my planned budget and... forgot the fresh mozzarella.

Necessity being the mother of invention... and myself being a bit reluctant to head back out to our very busy little supermarket... I decided to combine my chickpea salad and caprese salad and VOILA! caprese chickpea salad was born!

I chopped about six small fresh tomatoes... opened two cans of chickpeas... put those both in a strainer to let the excess fluids all drain off... salted them... added about 1/2 a cup of chopped fresh basil... drizzled 1/4 cup of olive oil over it... and... mmmm!

It makes about 6 cups... 1/2 cup = 2 weight watchers points. I took that happy little half cup and put it on top of this incredible fresh baked flax bread... so that I could eat the salad and then enjoy the juices that dripped into the bread... so, so good!

I'm also planning a slaw of carrots and shredded zucchini with this fat free lime basil dressing that I found... with the rest of the fresh basil.

And, my usual staple of taboule... which is the perfect summer salad... bulgur wheat with tomatoes, cucumbers (or not), peppers, onions, cilantro - drizzled in olive oil and lemon juice. Incredible over a bed of baby spinach!

there are lots of good movies on TCM this weekend... I'm going to do a little bit of my Kuntree Kardio (aerobics/pilates in the privacy of my own home) and just enjoy the peaceful weekend.

Love and hugs!

weigh in results

well...
i didn't gain.
i didn't hit any big goals or anything but i DID lose
POINT SIX POUNDS
as in, zero.six
a little over half a pound
and that makes me ...
happy isn't the right word
content, maybe?
i mean...
i want to lose 3 lbs a week
like i have been...
but at least i know i'm still on track
still losing
not gaining
and i'll be extra motivated this week
gonna make up my grocery list and head out into this amazingly mild weather
we had hellish hot weather in june
july is starting off quite pleasant
then i'll get some activity going...
stay the course...
keep moving forward and all that jazz.
happy saturday, y'all!

scale anxiety

weigh in is in an hour and a half and i'm afraid that there's not going to be much to cheer about at the scale.
other than knowing that IF there's no good news at the scale, there's no guilt on my behalf.
i've stayed on plan 100% all week. no cheats.
i've kicked up my activity - doubling my activity points from the week before.
it's day 22.
my scale here at home shows me exactly where i was a week ago.
i've lost inches... 8 inches off the main three measurements in three weeks.
that's pretty remarkable.
my energy level is so different!
my skin is clearer.
i feel better.
i know that EVEN IF the scale hasn't moved this week that I am on the right track.
i just have to stay the course.
hang in there.
keep it up.
all those positive reinforcement mantras.
i know that any time before in the long history of my weight wars, that any time i kicked up activity, the next week on the scale wasn't pretty...
but then the next week was.
i can do this.
i'm gonna be ok.
i'm prepared. i think.
no guilt.
i did what i needed to do.
be back around noon with some results.

freaky friday

Ok. not really freaky. Five minutes left of my lunch... let me do this quickly....
We're short one person by vacation, one other by illness... leaving us with three team members out of five the day before a holiday. Happy, happy, joy, joy.
And I've been immersed in working on that OH so labor intensive farm quote.
Which is almost done.
And looks like a good price for him.
Crossing fingers.
And then I got a call for a health insurance quote... and a few other little things to handle over and above filling in for the receptionist so...
the headache I woke up with is worse, despite copious amounts of ibuprofen.
UGH.
But still... the weather is very mild as it's been raining all morning... so I took advantage of the opportunity to walk on lunch.
Not in the right shoes (keds instead of walking shoes) but I walked every inch of the nearby amphitheatre... ten levels... roughly 40-50 steps for me per level... and stairs in between... and I did it twice. It took 12 minutes. Not a marathon, people, but a victory nonetheless.
Last week on lunch I made it 5 minutes. That's VAST improvement in just one week and I am stoked.
And now my time is up... Lord give me strength...

things I meant to blog about but forgot

as i was driving home from work yesterday i was thinking of all these topics i wanted to blog about... and then i came home, got in my two point workout (which is the most time i've done yet!) and completely forgot everything that had seemed to be blogworthy earlier.

maybe it will come to me later...

yesterday - all week really - at work was busier than usual for me. the time around holidays in our industry is either feast or famine. we're either completely dead or completely frazzled. it's been a frazzled kind of week. i'm tired and oh so ready for a three day weekend. but first... today... i'm putting together a farm quote which is the biggest pain in the tukas of anything we do because i'm such a suburb sally and don't know much about farms and because our farm quoting system is antiquated and frustrating. if i can come up with a good quote for this guy, i'll land five policies because he'll bring all of his business... otherwise... zip.

we have a client who has poorly controlled diabetes that has ravaged his body. he has lost most of his fingers and... yesterday, while making a payment he announced that his toe had recently fallen off. he said, "i was in the tub and i thought there was a bug on my toe so i flicked it ... and the durn thing came completely off!" fortunately, i wasn't the one helping him because i gagged... and nearly threw up. i was nauseated the rest of the day.

and this morning... i have a little headache but i'm gonna be ok. in just over ten hours i'll be heading home, Lord willing.

i haven't seen much change on the scale this week so i'm nervous about weigh in tomorrow. gotta go put my food together for the day... hope you have a great friday and a fabulous fourth!

such good tuna salad!

I just had an awesome lunch... and I know there are a few of you out there who like to know what I'm eating... and I've been really slack about posting my meals (although ever so diligent about tracking on weightwatchers.com)... so I thought I'd share my tuna salad recipe.

One can albacore tuna in water
One boiled egg
1/2 an ounce of soft goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup red bell pepper
1/4 cup orange bell pepper
1/4 cup yellow bell pepper
1/2 of a fresh jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup of chopped celery
1/4 shredded cabbage

Yes. All those veggies. It made about 3 cups worth of salad. No mayo. I meant to add greek yogurt this morning and FORGOT... so the only dressing was about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and you know what??? It was perfect. The vinegar broke down the goat cheese and made sort of a creamy dressing that made the veggies sort of a slaw consistency. It was lots of protein, lots of produce and really, really good!

I had that with a sliced cucumber.... which I ate while I was driving to the bank.

it's time once again for thankful thursday!!!

i just had a baked sweet potato for breakfast... it was awesome, i am full and i am thankful.
i'm thankful that it's almost weekend... a three day weekend!
i'm thankful that i'm not doing what i was doing a year ago today - having my wisdom teeth out
and i'm thankful that i don't have bronchitis like i did a year ago... it was the beginning of the bronchitis/pneumonia odyssey that would not end
slight cough in the mornings but mostly, i'm well!
i'm thankful that it's payday
i'm thankful for an awesome day yesterday - very busy at work and then some precious time with the kids
i picked the girls up from gymnastics camp - they were so cute in their little pink leotards and cheer shorts!
we listened to dr. nightmare on my garmin - their favorite voice - they giggle every time he gives any directions
btw - still very, very thankful for my garmin - best gift ever!
we went by their house so they could change - and fit in a game of chutes and ladders (and they both tried to cheat - but i wouldn't let them)
we went to North Georgia BBQ - one of those places I haven't been eating lately - and instead of having ribs, fries, garlic bread, baked beans, banana pudding, sweet tea... i had one small bbq sandwich and water. and i was fine.
angie had choir rehearsal and the childcare has been spotty or non-existant so i pitched in... it was a good time to do book club with the girls... we found a shady spot beside the river where there were some benches and a rocking chair... and we read and chatted and drew pictures and giggled and ... it was rather idyllic. very peaceful, sweet, precious time.
jim has been gone for two weeks now and there's another ten days until he comes home. it's been hard on the girls... hard on angie... i was glad to be able to stand in the gap for him in some small way
my coffee this morning is really, really good. i gave up sugar in my coffee and i haven't missed it one tiny bit
it's amazing how easy some of these little changes can be
some are hard... like getting started with exercise. yesterday i mapped out a walking route that i can do on my lunch break - spoke with security at the local college near the office and got permission to walk there - and although i didn't have my workout clothes, i had my tennis shoes so i thought i'd try to walk some
i made it a half mile. that's it.
not because i couldn't walk but because i developed an atomic wedgie that threatened to do permanent damage. walking in skirt = bad idea. epic fail.
but... at least i know... i can change, drive over to the little quiet walking spot, walk for half an hour and still have time to eat and change back to my work clothes during my lunch hour.
totally doable.
i have to build these little routines into my day if i'm going to have long term success.
it was only when i changed my carefully structured routine (i.e. when i met mjd) that my journey got derailed last time. prior to that, i was on auto-pilot and seeing constant success.
ok... gotta grab a shower and get my glam on...
it's a good day.
happy thursday!