Day 59 Two Months Fast Food Free

So, here it is, today, I have reached 2 months, fast food/soda free!(pause for applause) As I prepare myself for month three, I am super excited by all of the changes which have already taken place. I have saved a ton of money, I've lost a pant size, I've learned about 20 new recipes, and I've become more aware of what I put into my body. I have 10 months left of this challenge, but I cannot see myself, on day 366 pulling into a Sonic for everything I've missed because I don't miss it. I'm not suggesting that I will never eat in a restaurant again, but it will never again be the all out tater tot orgy, it once was. I love trying new foods, so I will probably limit my choices to local restaurants with a very fresh menu, no processed Crappleby's type stuff.
Last night I made something really good and I want to share it, because, let's face it, there are days, despite my good fortune, when  I make bologna bupkus for dinner...doesn't always work out. So here it is, one of my better creations:

 Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Portabella Mushroom Caps ( I live alone so I used 1)
Whipped Cream cheese 1 Large spoonful per cap
Chopped chives a sprinkling
Italian breadcrumbs 1/3 C
1 egg
Olive oil
Chopped onion (a handful)

Mix cream cheese, chives, onion, egg, and breadcrumbs together. Drizzle oil over mushroom and stuff with mixture. Drizzle again, once mushrooms have been stuffed. Bake at 350 until mixture is firm, broil for about 3 minutes, until browned.

Bring on month 3 you demented onion ring pushers!

www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 58 Double Bonus Small Pants Day

I've been saying it for awhile, my pants are getting looser and I've been meaning to make a trip to Old Navy. I wanted to wait until the end of month two, just to be certain, so today, I went, I tried, I bought a size 14. This may not seem small to some of you, and honestly, I kind of like being rounded, but nonetheless, I have dropped a pant size. I have done this by dropping soda and fast food and adding more vegetable dishes to my life, that's it. I buy normal stuff at the grocery, but do try to go with fresh foods instead of processed, (I do not always stick to this). I ate what I wanted at the office potluck, including cupcakes, I do not feel deprived in any way, in fact I feel well fed and well nourished. When I feed myself well, I do not have a need for junko. Tonight, I am having vegetable and cream cheese stuffed portabella mushrooms and leftover homemade mac and cheese. I do not count calories, fat, or carbs, I'm just trying to keep everything I eat balanced and diverse and it seems to be working! Today, I went to Whole Foods and was lost in a sea of "trendy" people, looking for whatever trendy people look for in a grocery store, when I noticed the man in front of me in the check out line. The counter was piled with weight management bars, boxes of them, and nothing else. He had so many that the total came to 196.00 I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was taking them to a third world country, where obesity is a problem? I don't know, but I did find it kind of strange, that here we were, in a store full of beautiful fresh fruit and vegetables, everything you needed to feed your body properly, and he was buying 196.00 worth of probably healthy but very one dimensional processed food. To each his own, I guess, I just find it frustrating to see willful ignorance regarding health and wellness in this country....then again, it was only two months ago, that I was one of them.
www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com

Day 17 Five Pounds of Oatmeal, Now That's a Sack O' Fiber

Things started out weird today, yesterday my Grandmother gave me a gigantic sack of oatmeal, 5lbs. of unflavored oatmeal actually. This morning, I looked at the famine relief sized sack of BS and could not come to a conclusion as to how to eat it. I needed time to process all that I could accomplish with said sack of oatmeal and my holiday was not the time to create recipes, willy nilly in my head, I had things to do. Instead, I decided to have myself a little spa time, before my day out in the cold and this is where things went horribly wrong. I dumped about a cup of oats into the bathtub, in an effort to combat dry winter skin, I thought I was being thrifty, turns out I was just being stupid. The oatmeal was nothing like the Aveeno stuff in the store, I was covered in gooey, sticky oats, I have no idea what went wrong. Also, the bathtub was a sludge pit of breakfast goodness, which I had to clean immediately, lest it dry into some giant, crusty cereal bowl.
Later,  in what could be considered my first face to face challenge, my brother forced me to accompany him to McDonald's to watch him eat. He waved french fries in my face, shoved his soda under my nose, implored me to take a drink, and generally attempted to lure me into breaking. I can proudly say, I did no such thing.
Tonight I bought a great Clean Food magazine and found a recipe for a natural soda alternative, made from carbonated water, ginger, and honey, only 40 calories and no chemicals. I made some but it just tastes like Perrier water, at least I tried, nothing will ever compare to the sweet chemical carnival of a Coke. While the soda did not work out, I was quite the chef this evening, with a Portabella Blue cheese "burger" with caramelized onions. I rock the home cooking circuit.  http://www.fastfoodboycott.blogspot.com/