Bunso Is Back

[mtns]

Sounds like you did great for Thanksgiving. I know I feel horrible when I eat those rich foods as well. It is not worth it to me.
Kathy

[Debbie]

I make a not tuna salad similar to this but use garbanzo beans. I also don't use the stuff that makes it taste fishy like. I don't like fishy taste. Lol

Hope your tummy feels better soon

[bunsofaluminum]

I make a not tuna salad similar to this but use garbanzo beans. I also don't use the stuff that makes it taste fishy like. I don't like fishy taste. Lol

Hope your tummy feels better soon

I've heard of garbanzo "tuna" salad, but I've never seen a recipe that didn't call for Veganaise or fat free veganaise, which I really don't want to use.

I wonder if there's something out there that adds the creamy, without the highly processed ingredient(s)...

One other thing I'm sure of: with a little bit of tweaking, the coating for the kale chips could make a non-queso sauce. I want to try it possibly for St Nick's Day, and make a baked potato buffet with steamed broccoli, chili, onions, non-queso, and maybe some tofu sour cream...

[Dechen]

Instead of veganaise you could just make a rice milk sauce thickened with some cornstarch OR blitz some white beans with some water or vegan milk till creamy.

I made some polenta and flavored it with a li'l lemon juice and nutritional yeast. Cold it is slice-able and wasn't bad. butter beans make a great cheese spread.

[bunsofaluminum]

TODAY'S FOOD:
S: banana
B: two bean burger patties and spaghetti squash w/spinach
L:
D: spaghetti squash w/marinara sauce

My microwave is kaput, so nuking my tatties is out...I have a half dozen sweets, half dozen reds and golds baking now. They'll do over the next several days, either as snacks or as foundations for menus.

In the fridge I have green beans, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, and a few other green and yellow vegs. A supply of homemade refritos. In the pantry, canned black beans, dry garbanzos, dry kidney beans, rice, quinoa, buckwheat, bulgur, canned greens, steel cut and old fashioned oats. Yukon gold potatoes, onions, garlic. A small hubbard squash and two acorn squash. A few cans of tomatoes. I might have to get some more, because I want to do soups.

Lots and lots of spices and condiments. Plenty bountiful supply of food. Thank You Lord!

I had my Curves workout this morning, and it was good. I feel good all over.

[Potatohead]

Bunso, I make the mock tuna with garbanzo beans and I don't add any fake mayonaise...I use to, until I ran out one day and had no substitute...it is just as good without it..if your looking for a more creamy texture...just process the beans in a blender or food processor with a little bit of broth or almond or soy milk...My hubby takes 2 to work everyday in pita bread...he likes the texture and dosn't miss the veganaise

[mtns]

Sorry about your microwave. That is tough, we lived without a microwave for a few months once and I hated trying to heat leftovers up on the stove or the oven. Sounds like you are well supplied with food though, that is great. I am glad to see you are liking your workouts.
Kathy

[bunsofaluminum]

I know, Kathy! I remember heating stuff on the stovetop, in pre- microwave days...even a serving of lasagne had to be put in a pan with a little bit of water and heated slowly. But I priced microwaves at Wal-mart today, and found their range to be $50-$100...and I need something smallish. I'm gonna toss this one, and see if I like the counter space enough to "delay" replacing it. Can we live without it? It's been years!

Funny thing is, the very first microwave I had to deal with was when my dad got one for my mom for Christmas, when I was 12 years old. That was (gulp) 40 years ago, and that same microwave is still sitting in the corner of my mom's house, plugging along.

This dead one of mine, I bought five years ago when my divorce happened ...and it's gone. They don't make em the way they used to, eh?

So, I'll be doing without the microwave for...at least until tax returns come, but I've also got a few things around the place, that might bring in a bill or two on KSL.com, so... we'll see...I need Christmas cash, too...

[LauraA]

Hi Buns, I've been catching up on journals, and it sounds like you are doing great. I'm so glad that you are loving Curves. I've been a Curves member forever, and I really love it. I also have them weigh me in once a week, and it really keeps me accountable! Where are Chef AJ's recipes? Are they on line, or on a DVD, or what? I'd love to see the ones that you mentioned. Thanks!

[bunsofaluminum]

Hi Laura!

Yes, I just love Curves. I was a member, then an employee, for a little over a year right before my marriage blew up. I loved it! And I think Curves Smart will push me harder, so the workouts don't become too easy for me. I found that happening when I was working out before. I know I walk out of there most times with wobbly legs and arms, which means it's kicking my butt! And it's friendly. I see other women there, and maybe some time, running into one at the grocer or at Michael's or somewhere, you know? New place, needing to meet people, etc. And not the only fat girl in the crowd like happens at a fitness club.

the kale chip recipe is on this video. It's so charming and sweet. I love Dr Campbell's starring role! ha! And at the end, they have a written recipe available.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tD9aEYqII4

this link:

http://www.eatunprocessed.com/

has the other recipes I used. Just click on the page where it says "to print out the recipes"

I didn't manage to make the sweet potatoes "twice baked" as the skins were way too tender and had no form at all, so I just made them mashed with all the ingredients. SO yummy, I'm making some more tomorrow for brekkie

On another, sadder, note: I ate chocolate today. I'm going through PMG (premenstrual greed, as I saw described on a website) which just means, I'm eating everything that isn't tied down. This happens two or three days before starting, usually for only one day, and usually NOT with Screaming Chocolate Addiction Monster involved.

But this time? The Monster has been here, and I did stop and get a cup of coffee and a Dove dark chocolate bar, and ate half of it. I gave the other half to my daughter. It added 100 calories, and 80 of those from fat but such it is.

Other than that, a terrific food day!

TODAY'S FOOD:
S: banana
B: two bean burger patties and spaghetti squash w/spinach
S: dove dark chocolate
L: baked tatties w/"vegan glop gravy" yum!
D: spaghetti squash w/marinara sauce

I'm gonna go to Curves again tomorrow. I usually go every other day, but I really feel like I want to push it again tomorrow. Maybe to make up for the chocolate! ha!

[bunsofaluminum]

Yesterday I made a yummy yam dish, with baked yams, curry powder, garlic powder, and craisins. I just put it all in a dish and smashed with a fork. DELISH!

today I am anxious because our new little kitten has disappeared. We've scoured the place, looking in every corner, and she has gone completely silent for the first time in 24 hours...so I'm a bit worried. She's probably taking a nap, and we just had an idea: she's tucked herself up in the underside of a box-springs...so when we looked under the beds she wasn't visible, because she's inside the furniture.

At least, i hope that's the case... In fact, I just now went and looked and sure enough, there she was. She must've crawled up in there and fallen asleep. Whew.

TODAY'S FOOD
B: refrito soup and a baked potato
S: banana
L:
D:

Didn't go to Curves today, because cat-antics woke me up early. I'll go tomorrow and Friday, which will put me at four workouts for this week. I might go for a walk, or maybe not.

And, my daughter got a job! She'll be working concessions at a Megaplex in town. Lots of trax and bus travel in her future.

sheesh. Still feeling stressy...I'm afraid chocolate is in my future, if I don't figure out something. PMG is a very real thing for me, and the adrenalin rush of losing the kitty has me craving BADLY. Something crispy. Hmmm, some oven baked potato chips?

[Chile]

When our last microwave died, I too had hopes of doing without. That lasted less than a week! Too many extra dishes, too much extra heat in the kitchen from re-heating on the stove, and too much food stuck to the bottom of the pans. We replaced the microwave.

One alternative method of heating that may work for you, though, is a solar oven. The heat is gentle and moist so there are not burning issues. The drawbacks are that it means planning ahead and the sun must be shining. In Utah, you've got a better chance of that happening than in many places, depending on whether you've got a good location for a solar oven now.

I give it half an hour to pre-heat the oven and then allow up to an hour for a plate of food to heat. What I found worked really well was to use metal camp plates (the enamel-covered ones). I'd put my food on just like if it were going to go in the micowave and then place a second metal plate over the top of it, upside down, to cover it.

[bunsofaluminum]

chile I like that idea a lot. Remember Nancy and her solar oven cooking?

It is sunny in Utah right now, but the sun is low in the sky, and I face east, so the sun comes in at a sharp slant, covering only a fraction of my deck, for a short time. So, for now, I'll not be doing solar heating...however...

...there's a sort of open area between the two buildings. I want to explore this stuff, along with community gardens and other urban permaculture things. Come summer...

And you're darn right about the extra dishes and pans. It isn't something I would have ever thought of, if not having a microwave had been in my thoughts. I do get a small paycheck from my PT job on Friday...

I ended up making two potatoes' worth of oven chips. Very delicious, and then I ate some more. I think it was ry-krisp with refried beans on it (homemade). Then I ate a bowl of granola w/applesauce. And I'm full, and I still want chocolate...
BUT
I haven't had any! Yay me!

[mtns]

That refrito soup sounds good. I am happy for your daughter getting a job. It would be nice if you could get discounts for the movie theatre, but that is probably dreaming. I understand the chocolate cravings. When I have that I try to have homemade hot cocoa or chocolate banana ice cream. Doesn't always work, but it does help.
Kathy

[bunsofaluminum]

Terrific workout this morning. I use the curves smart system, which tells me when I'm pushing hard enough, or if I'm slacking a bit. that's good, because each machine can tell me whether I'm using enough energy to get the best workout. It's nice, but I'm not pinning a lot on it, because the past two workouts, there has been one or another machine on the fritz. Last time, when I looked at my workout synopsis, it gave me a very poor rating on one muscle group...because that machine STOPPED WORKING while I was on it.

And today, a different machine was giving me inaccurate ROM information.

Thing is, I know in my body when I'm going strong. I can feel it, and I like it. So, the system will keep me going strong with each machine, but I'm not gonna fret over whether the workouts look perfect or not. At the end of the day, it is how I feel physically that will show me how I'm doing.

Curves also recommends keeping your heart rate between this and that percentage, and i agree with that policy EXCEPT it isn't bad to get into the higher ranges briefly.

I think the idea is, you aim for a range, where more fat is burned. The numbers I've seen are 60%-70% for maximum fat burn. However, pushing it hard and getting into the 80-90% range (the anaerobic level) is very good for your heart, and there's nothing wrong with getting there in the course of a workout. Not staying there, of course...your calories burned aren't as much from fat in that range, but you're strengthening your cardio and respiratory systems incredibly.

Also, thinking about which level makes me feel good all day long, i have to say the higher intensity offers more long lasting "feel good"... is that endorphins? anyway, I do want to burn fat, and that happens at the 60-70% range, but I also want to feel REALLLY GOOD all day long, and the 80-90% range is what does that for me.
so if my heart rate gets to the 85% range once or twice in a workout, I like it.

I have a feeling the same thing is gonna happen to me that happened in 05-07, when i was really pushing fitness, and that is: my heart will respond quickly, so that it takes more and more pushing to get my heart rate up BUT my knees (and other joints) won't take it.

Last time, I ended up doing some running, just to get my heart going. I also joined a fitness club and did their Body Pump classes LOVED IT! and even some Boot Camp (hated it, but did it anyway) It seems, working out makes my heart younger, but my body won't get younger

So, i dunno. Maybe I'll work the curves workout at 60-70% and just burn fat, and my heart will benefit. I am looking forward to seeing definition begin to show sexeeeeey!