Day 364 The End Is Near

One year ago tonight, I was having my last soda and eating Taco Bell slop, how was I to know the changes that were to take place over the next 365 days? Tonight, I am ending my year with fruit and maybe a little cheese. Tomorrow, I'm having traditional black eyed peas for luck. I will not elaborate this New Year's eve on the lessons I have learned and the trials I have overcome, I will save that for tomorrow, my last fast food boycott blog. Tomorrow, I will reveal my new challenge for the year ahead and hope that you will follow me through the next 365 days!
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Day 362 and 363 The Countdown Begins

Wow, I'm pooped! Yesterday was move day and due to miscommunication with my Internet service, I was unable to blog last night, so here I am doubling up again. Yesterday, I barely had time to scratch my butt much less eat three healthy meals. I didn't even eat breakfast until almost 1:30, which actually doubled as lunch, NOT acceptable. I moved into my house with no groceries and I had a house guest for my first night! My cousin and I went grocery shopping and christened the new fridge with all kinds of healthy goodness. This morning we had oatmeal and fruit together in the beautiful kitchen. I love my new house!!! OK, gotta keep moving!
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 361 Moving on Up

Today, I'm trying to keep things light, as the scales have not moved this week! Well, I try to keep things light on most days, but today I've had juice, fruit, roasted veggies, a cheese sandwich and an avocado.  Tonight, I have Brussels sprouts but I don't really want to mess up my spotless oven, before I move out tomorrow, so I may have a Naked Juice from Whole Foods. Tomorrow, I can use my brand new juicer in my brand new kitchen, YAY!!! I really need to go grocery shopping after everything is in place, I have one tiny box of food to move. I can't wait for the new year and new beginnings!
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Day 360 Prunes Ahoy!

Well, only five days left of this challenge and then on to the next! For breakfast I had prunes again, (I got prunes in my stocking, thanks Santa for the fiber). For lunch, I was at my mom's who had a ton of Christmas dinner leftovers, but I only had a cheese sandwich and broccoli salad....and a cookie. Tomorrow, I pick up my key for the new house, I'm so excited! I'm also seeing an old friend, who never, ever comes to my neck of the woods and with whom I will NOT be having coffee, due to continuation of said above mentioned challenge. If she were to stay until New Years, we could do Starbucks on January 2nd! Now that not eating out has become a habit, I will probably limit myself to really good restaurants, the occasional coffee house and the very rare sub shop. I will never return  to my old, unhealthy ways, ever, ever, ever......ever again.
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 359 Back To Reality

I can't say that today's menu was all that exciting, but I'm glad to have holiday temptation off the table. Today, I had oatmeal, prunes, bananas, a loaded veggie sandwich, and roasted Edamame beans. I've decided to end this challenge by making traditional black eyed peas and corn bread next week and I will reveal my new challenge on the 1st! Today was all packing from sun up to sun down, tomorrow is more of the same and hopefully everything will be ready by Thursday!!! I am taking no groceries into my new house until my kitchen is set up perfectly and in pristine order. I can't wait to stock my new fridge, it's so shiny and pretty. Back to the grind people, it's time to pick out a new resolution!
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Day 358 Thank You Santa!

Today, Santa brought me a Jack Lalanne juicer and I am so excited, I could scream like a rotten toddler! It will juice whole apples, without slicing and it came with a recipe book. I will now take juicing to a whole new level in the New Year! I also got new boots, a purse organizer, and a key finder, among other things. Today was a great day, although I ate way more than I usually do. That's OK though, tomorrow, I return to the land of the healthy and congratulate myself on maintaining throughout the holiday season, from Thanksgiving until today! Tomorrow I finish packing and get ready to move this week, can't wait to occupy my new kitchen. Merry Christmas Everyone!

Day 357 Dirty Santa Made Me Eat The Candy

Yes, I ate the candy, and a cookie, and a piece of pumpkin pie! I admit it, but I also stuck to the plan all day, I had nutritious food for every meal, even dinner was a rainbow of vegetables. I treated myself to a few Christmas treats but I did not go overboard. Tomorrow, I plan to do the same thing I did today, I will keep driving the nutrition bus, even as it careens off the road into the land of fudge and gingerbread. My philosophy is that as long as I get all of the healthy stuff I need first, I can have a little fun during a special occasion. Tomorrow is going to be the best Christmas ever and the coming year is going to be the best of my life, I can already tell!! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Everyone! I'm off to leave Santa a healthy spoonful of natural peanut butter and some broccoli for his reindeer!
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Day 355 and 356 Holiday Shinnanigans

We are coming down to the wire here folks 9 days left! Today, I barely had time to eat, in between work, signing my new lease, making Carmel corn with my mom, and Christmas shopping, but I managed. I ate corn, broccoli, and Edamame beans...with a fork....while driving......was this distracted driving or efficient eating? Who knows, but I ate it without being pulled over. Yesterday was pretty much the same, just trying to finish everything up before Santa comes, whilst shoving raw fruit and veggies into my mouth. Tomorrow, I have to make the chocolate sweet potato torte for my Grandma's Christmas eve shindig! I have yet to shop for the ingredients. Guess that's about it, now I wrap.
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Day 354 All Juiced Up And Twirly Eyed

Today, for breakfast I had naked juice and cheese, I had a big lunch with yogurt, bananas, cheese, and avocado, and for dinner, I had rice and veggies. All of this food and yet my head is spinning like a Tilt-a-whirl! I feel like I haven't eaten for days! Not sure what's going on in my noggin, but I wish it would stop twirling my eyes around in my skull. Well, only 11 more days till this challenge comes to an end! People keep asking me if I'm going to continue and the answer is yes! I will allow myself regular restaurant food every once and awhile but I will not partake in fast food, unless it is the very rare Subway sandwich or salad. Stay tuned for further clues on my new challenge, I'll give you a hint, it's another healthy goal! Chew on that for awhile.
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Day 353 I Am Stronger Than Three Pizzas Tall

Today, we had a graduation ceremony for one of our families and celebrated with pizza and bowling, I of course did not eat the pizza. I smelled the pizza, I looked at the pizza, I fantasized about the pizza, I endured good natured ridicule and razing about the pizza, but I did not eat it. I was stronger than the smell of cheese and crust and fat and grease. Also, I learned that one hour of bowling burns about 200 calories, double score! For dinner, I had left over chili again, along with a kiwi and an orange. Everyone knows how much I hate oranges but I had to eat the orange to remove the taste of kiwi from my tongue, that's pretty bad. I'm pretty pleased with myself right now! My challenge is drawing to a close and in a few days, I will reveal my new 365 day challenge...hold your breath!
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Day 352 Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte

I've been searching for a unique Christmas recipe this week and I think I've found it in a Vegetarian magazine. It's a chocolate sweet potato torte and it looks fabulous in the picture. The chocolate is mixed with the sweet potato so it's kind of like a fudgy type of business. I usually make my pineapple coconut chess pie, but staying with the theme of adding vegetables to every possible recipe, this is what I have settled on. Tonight, I had leftover Black Ghost chili and it was just as spicy as it was yesterday. I think that next time, I'm going to add a bigger sliver of the pepper or maybe just swoosh the whole thing around in the chili and see what happens heat wise. After I master the perfect chili blend, I'll work on the hottest salsa in all of creation.
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Day 350 and 351 Now That's A Spicy Bowl Of Black Bean Ghost Chili!

Yesterday, I stood amongst the hopeful and the desperate to win the 10,000 Christmas raffle in the town where I work. If you shop in local stores, they give you tickets, one of which is the big winner. I did not win, but I did have a hot chocolate in the 55 degree weather, while I waited for my prize. After the raffle, I went Christmas shopping with my brother and so, did not have time to make the pot of ghost chili, I had planned for Saturday. I did make some with Black beans tonight! I added a tiny, tiny sliver of the pepper to the pot and it for sure spiced it up! It was not unbearable to me, but it would have been for most people, I thought it was just right. I lost the little piece in there, so I'm a little wary of catching it unaware, when I have another bowl. Wow, my nose is a little runny and my eyes are a tad watery but all in all, I would call my first ghost chili experience a success, I didn't throw up and I'm not dead! I shall call my recipe Black Ghost Chili.
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Day 349 Ghost Chili Has Arrived I Must Be Near The End

Today was our office holiday party and I received the best present ever, a bag of dried Bhut Jolokia peppers, otherwise known as ghost peppers. If you have followed my blog at all, you will know that I have been on an endless search for the hottest pepper on earth and now I have found it! I have opened the bag, I have sniffed them, and finally, touched the tip of one to my tongue and it was like a bee sting! I have plans for these ghost peppers, tomorrow, I am going to make chili and I'm going to add the smallest sliver to a whole pot and see what happens, stay tuned....
In other news, I just finished adding up the very conservative plate of food I ate for lunch today, at the party and am happy to say that I have remained faithful to mindful eating. I ate breakfast this morning, so as not to go to the lunch, starving and vulnerable. I chose carefully, small portions of the things that I really wanted to eat and ate slowly and thankfully and I was satisfied. I even had a Nutella cookie for dessert and it was divine. I believe that it's like driving a car in a skid, no matter what, you must keep driving the car, it's the same with eating healthy, no matter what is happening, you must keep a firm grip and be mindful of the situation.

Day 348 Potluck Watoosie

I realized around 5:00 that I had no clue as to what I was going to create for my office potluck tomorrow and so, I made a mistake born of panic. I rushed to Whole Foods after work, to find nothing interesting except a long grain rice concoction, with cranberries, raisins, walnuts, and figs, it looked pretty good, so I bought. It sounded a little hard when I rattled the container, so I tasted to make sure that I was bringing something good. It was so not cooked, it was like 3 day old, leftover fried rice, gross. I took it back to Whole Foods and got my 21.00 back and then proceeded to spend 28.00 on broccoli salad fixins. I did not use all of the ingredient so I will be eating the overage this weekend, without a doubt. I took a picture and it looks pretty good! I am not adding the secret dressing until tomorrow. I even found a Christmas bowl to put it in! I shall name it A Christmas Broccoli.

Day 346 and 347 Eggplant Enchiladas

Mmmm, I am happy and full of squash at the moment, it was a very good day food wise and I am happy with my edible bounty. Yesterday, I discovered something delicious at Whole Foods I found the recipe and am going to make it for myself, they were eggplant enchiladas in the hot food area. I bought a small bit to go with my salad and it was honestly one of the best things I've ever eaten! I literally could not get the fork to my mouth quickly enough, I almost ate my own hand. I don't even really like eggplant but this was really, really good! I found the recipe in an LA times article and I'm stealing it! So, here  it is:

Total time: About 1 1/2 hours

Servings: 4 to 6

Ancho sauce

4 dried ancho chiles

3 large cloves garlic, unpeeled

1 teaspoon dried oregano

3/4 teaspoon coarse sea salt

1. Remove the stems and seeds from the chiles and place the peppers in a glass bowl. Pour boiling water over to cover by 3 inches and let them soak until very soft, about 30 minutes.

2. Drain the peppers and place them in a blender with the garlic and oregano. Strain the soaking water and add 1 1/2 cups to the blender. Puree until smooth. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a clean, shallow pie plate; season with salt and set aside.

Enchiladas and assembly

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 medium red pepper, cored, seeded and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt, divided

1 medium white eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

2 long, slender zucchini, trimmed and cut into 1/2 -inch dice

2 teaspoons dried oregano, preferably Mexican

Day 345 Round II Coming Soon

Well, that was a switch up! I had spaghetti for dinner tonight and I have not had any sort of pasta in a really looooong time. It was really good and luckily, I had a really lite, fruity lunch, so no harm done. I also had coffee today, haven't had that in quite a while either and it was spectacular! So, I'm down another pound and, I'll probably be hitching up my new jeans again pretty soon, can't wait! Someone told me today, that she and her husband were thinking about eliminating fast food in the next year and my mom challenged me to year two! I don't think I'm going to go back to fast food but I'm kinda done blogging about it and I'm really happy to have influenced others. It won't be long now until my new 2012 challenge will be revealed, stay tuned and follow me next year for more healthy thrills!
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 344 Pretty Grub

Whew! It's been a super productive day and now I'm typing with olive oil covered fingers to tell you about it. I packed nearly my whole house today, organized my important papers, grocery shopped, and made a very lovely dinner, so lovely in fact that I took a picture.

I know, I eat Brussles sprouts almost every night, but they are rarely this attractive on a plate.

I also bought some for realz vitamins today, no more gummy crap for me! Here's hoping for another healthy, productive week!

Day 342 and 343 What Kind Of Mickey Mouse Vitamin Is This?

I love having the whole weekend to cook and to spend a little more time on nutrition then I get to spend during the week. Yesterday was kind of a short day but I was still very busy and didn't have time to juice anything. Some days, no matter how hard I try, I cannot get all of my fruits and veggies in. Yesterday was one of those days, I had some but not all of what I needed veggie wise. Today, I started off with four carrots, an apple, a cup of cranberries, and a bowl of steel cut oatmeal. For lunch, I had two bananas, a Greek yogurt, a piece of Swiss cheese, two pieces of Whole grain bread, and two table spoons of peanut butter. For dinner, I'm having Brussels sprouts, baked squash, and corn on the cob. This seems pretty well rounded but I'm still short on Calcium, Iron, and Potassium, even after a multi-vitamin! I think I need a different, higher quality vitamin, as this one only contains 20% requirement for Calcium, and no Iron or Potassium at all....stupid pseudo-gummy supplements.
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Day 341 I Do Not Prefer The Pear

Today, I had a pretty good plan for lunch, but it turned out to be only half a plan and half a dirty, rotten, under-ripe disappointment. As everyone knows, I do not relish fruit, but I eat it because it's healthy and it must be done. For lunch I packed a half a peanut butter sandwich on wheat bread, an orange (loath them), and a pear. I was pretty excited about the pear, as something to help wash down the orange, but my excitement was premature. I don't remember the last time I ate a pear, but it's been a while, I saw them at the grocery and thought they were a good alternative to my usual Granny Smith Apples. This particular evil pear was a trickster, it looked OK, green, firm, looked like a pear, but when I cut into it, I had to saw it with the knife, I sawed and sawed and sawed until Carpel tunnel syndrome set in. I sawed for quite a while and finally had to get down to the business of eating as I had an appointment to get to. I tried to eat said pear, but it was like chewing on someone's empty soul and tasted about the same, I had to abandon the effort and toss it. The good thing is that the orange was pretty tasty after the pear, perhaps the universe is shifting.
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Day 340 Twenty-Five Days To Go

Woo hoo, I've lost another pound and I'm starting to actually see a difference now! Today, I had Butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, corn on the cob, and Baby Bella mushrooms for dinner. The one thing that I am having trouble with is water, I used to drink several liters a day and now I'm just not thirsty. Today, I had to make myself drink water before I left the office and when I ate dinner. It's weird not being thirsty, but I'm happy that my blood sugar is normal. I feel ahead of the game here, with my healthy eating habits, on January 1st, everyone will be starting a new plan and I will be ending one phase of mine and continuing on with what I've learned....the challenge continues!
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Day 339 Occupy Your Kitchen

I have discovered the "Eat more Kale" guy and I want one of his shirts. He is being sued by Chick-fil-e for use of the phrase, Eat more Kale", which is ridiculous. In honor and solidarity, I had kale for dinner tonight, along with some other stuff. I cannot tell you how angry this makes me that a giant fast food corporation can screw with a farmer about something so stupid. I'm adding his website to the bottom of my blog, go buy a shirt from him and boycott Chick-fil-e while you're at it. It's time to occupy your kitchen, stop contributing to the fast food shinnanigans and take control of what you put into your body.
 www.eatmorekale.com

Day 337 and 338 Too Cold For Salad

Yesterday was non stop packing all day, interrupted by lunch at my Grandmother's. We had squash, corn, and potato soup, or starch, starch, and starch, it was all very tasty though. Today, it's very cold and the big salad I had for dinner didn't quite make me happy and warm, as I had anticipated. I still have ingredients to make chili and I think that this is my plan for tomorrow night. My house does not feel like Christmas, it feels like a refugee camp and I don't see an improvement until moving day. I can't wait to be settled somewhere else and cooking in my new kitchen. Today, I bought cookies for a DHS worker whom I unintentionally stood up last week at work, I probably should have made them, they would have been much tastier. That is all on the food front for tonight, here's to good health and real butter.
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Day 336 I Don't Need Your Chocolate Fountain

Well, I made it through another stupid restaurant ordeal today. This time it was a celebration for a kid, so I sucked it up and watched two people eat chocolate covered marshmallows from the chocolate fountain, along with 1000 other lovely food items from the barfey. It really is kind of gross to think about all the people who have sneezed, wheezed, and pawed at the food on a giant barfey like the one at Golden Corral. Before I left, I had Quinoa, butternut squash, and marinated artichoke hearts with olives, it was OK, but I really want something buttery and cheesy, perhaps this means that I need calcium, I'll have some yogurt and almonds to fix it. It's already 4:00 and I have yet to begin the packing I had planned for this weekend, guess I should get started.
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Day 334 and 335 Company Christmas Fatfest

Well, I've not much time for eating with all of the packing I'm doing! I wonder how many calories I can burn boxing up junk drawers? Yesterday was more of the same, eating vegetables and putting things in boxes and this will continue until the end of the weekend and well, straight on through Christmas. Tonight, I have a company Christmas party and I have prepared myself well. It is taking place at McNellie's and being a resteraunt, I will not be partaking of this illustrious celebration, food wise anyway. There will also be free drinks, also off the table for me, so for dinner, I had something really filling and energy packed. I had Steel cut oatmeal with almonds, peanut butter, honey, and cranberries to hold me over and to hold off temptations. Like I would cave to temptations on day 335, I would sooner post my credit report on a billboard. That is all for now, I'm off to watch people eat and drink their way to a fatter pair of Christmas pants.
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com