Never Trust Me......

Well I hope to be a skinny chef. OR rather a healthier, more energetic, and of course smaller chef.  Well since this blog has been neglected for so long, and I have a problem with committing to something for a short time, and come back to it over and over again (see name of blog) I'll just go ahead and get right into it without a long introduction.

Week 1 Goal- Eat Mostly Whole Grains, and Eliminate Fast Food, Soda, Sugar, and Processed Foods and Cardio Exercise for 45 Minutes Every Day
This is a tough one.  I don't eat a ton of fast food or soda, but I know that number tends to go up when the husband is not here because of the *ahem* Coast Guard. It also means finding substitutes for the refined grains I have been eating, and cooking more things from scratch (ugh! I like cooking, but I do have cooking strikes pretty frequently. Again see above blog name) There is more, but for now I will leave it as is, because I really don't have any idea what I am doing, and hopefully I don't give up before it can become a learning experience.

FOOD JOURNAL-CABBAGE

Good lettuce substitute when you don't want nasty wilted lettuce.  Me, I prefer it to a bed of lettuce under Sweet and Sour Chinese Food, and on top of enchiladas.

Stir Fry

Shredded into a Green Salad

Food Journal-Summer Inspired

Popsicles

Ice Cream Cones

Grilled Hot Dogs

Grilled Hamburgers

Potato Chips

Cheese Puffs

Ice Cold Soda

Lemonade

Sweet Tea

Sun Tea

Picniks

Spicy Foods (i.e. Nachos, Buffalo Wings etc. which in International Cuisine is popular in other cultures during the heat because it makes you sweat to cool you off)

Cold Salads (Egg, Chicken, Potato, Pasta)
Watermelon

Make Do and Eat- Sea Scallop Cobb Salad

Spinach

Baby Romaine

Sea Scallops from our local fish fry shop

Lemon Vinaigrette

Corn

Crumbled Bacon

Cherry Tomatoes

Avocado Slices

I had about 30 minutes to make and eat dinner after running errands ALL day, and had to go out again for class afterwards.  This is what we concocted.  Got the idea from a magazine, that is packed in a box right now.  We just used what we had on hand.

How I Plan My Menu-MENU THEMES

Image Source: http://www.stuffosaurus.com/c/fat-pride-humor/

A lot of the experience that I gain is applied to the cooking I do for my family at home. Some places I have worked at had a theme for each day of the week, that still allowed for some deviation and inspiration.  I like the idea of organization and having a set, albeit, easily adaptable schedule.  Here are the guidelines I usually go by when planning my grocery shopping:

MONDAY:  Kid Friendly Night, Sandwiches, Soup, Salads, Easy Meals

TUESDAY:  Mexican, Southwest, Central American, Southern

WEDNESDAY: Seafood, Shellfish

THURSDAY: Indian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese

FRIDAY: Fish Night

SATURDAY:  Italian, Greek, Mediterranean

SUNDAY:  Comfort Food, Indulgences, and some kind of Baked Good



MENU MONDAY

MONDAY

Homemade Chicken Nuggets Homemade Mac & Cheese and Blanched Chilled Asparagus

TUESDAY

Whole Wheat Steak Potato Bell Pepper and Cheddar Fajitas

WEDNESDAY

Shrimp Cobb Salad

THURSDAY

Curried Yellow Split Pea Soup and Naan

FRIDAY

Homemade Fish Fry with Salad and French Fries

SATURDAY

Antipasti and Build Your Own Subs

SUNDAY

Turkey Chili and Bacon Cheddar Corn Muffins

Make Do-Handmade Lemony Sugar Hand Scrub

No, not a food post.  I have been feeling off in the health department as of late, and so have been doing very little cooking.  However, I have been looking for a moisturizing, natural, sweet smelling hand scrub, and haven't found one that fits the bill.  So I figured, why not make my own.  I got the "recipe" for it here, and can't wait to try it out tonight before bed.

The only changes I made are: I used Extra-Virgin Olive Oil instead of Canola Oil, and I used about 20 drops of Organic Lemon Essential Oil.  I like the smell of olive oil and lemon together.  It's very Tuscan.

Since it has natural ingredients in it, this is it's home for now, not the romantic looking picture I took above for visually pleasing reasons. That's not even my bathroom. lol.  Maybe if I omit the lemon juice, and used water instead it would be more shelf stable.  I like it the way it is though, and it will feel really nice as the weather warms up.  Lemon is the quintessential summer smell in my humble opinion.

Next up I'm going to try Lavender and Lemon.  Yum!