Astrid's Recipe Corner 1

So, I realized that I really like blogs that feature recipes that are either plain delicious, cheap, healthy...or all of the above!

I thought maybe I could have my own recipe corner of recipes that I think fall into all of those categories. Some of them start from prepackeged things because, frankly, those can be pretty cheap for a decent amount of nutritional value that won't plain kill you.

Today, we've got a two meals in one package.

I picked up a Knorr's Sides Plus a few months back, but never got around to making it. It's the brocolli rotini version with spinach and olive oil. I mainly picked this up for a few reasons. One- It was cheap. About a dollar and it has two heaping servings in it. Two- It has vegetables in it and not only that, it has SPINACH. And I love me some spinach. Three- The nutritional information was reasonable.

For example, here we go:
in one serving ( 3/4 of a cup) as prepared
Calories: 320
Total Fat: 3g
Sat Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol: 0
Sodium: 710mg
Carbs: 47g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 3g
Protein: 10g

Not bad for a prepackaged side, right? Well, it is a side. But I'm kind of poor and I see "One dollar for that package? Why! That's two meals! For fifty cents each!" And this made my day, of course.

But here's the thing. Is there any way to make it better? Sure there is.

So, I prepared the side according to package directions, including using the olive oil. Don't waste your good virgin or extra virgin olive oil on this! This is cooking with it and that oil you paid so much for will lose all of the subtle flavors that make it so expensive. Just go for your normal olive oil. It still tastes great, is still heart healthy, and is cheaper than the virgin and extra virgin oils.

I cut up two plum (roma) tomatoes and threw them in after seeding them. But what else? Well, add in a can of tuna! In water, not oil!

And what do you end up getting in the same serving?

Calories: 392
Total Fat: 3.5g
Sat Fat 0.5g
Cholesterol: 25mg
Sodium: 960mg
Carbs: 47g
Fiber: 4g
Sugar: 3g
Protein: 21g

For barely any extra calories, fat, and sodium, you get a lot more protein in one serving. And what do you do with the other serving?

Eat it later!

And trust me., it tastes awesome.

Don't like tomatoes? Add any other vegetable you like! Just make sure to give it ample time to cook in the boiling water BEFORE adding in the pasta, seasoning, and tuna. Don't like tuna? Add chunk chicken or turkey, salmon or crab. The nutritional information will change, of course, but it's hard to make this all that bad for you.

----

Liked it? Hated it? Want me to never post these again or keep posting one every week?

What's this? A post before Saturday (or after that post is late)? Yes, really!

I walked today for about a half hour. That isn't a lot, I know, but it's a lot more than I have been walking lately. At least outside the setting of a mall, anyway. I walked my friend to the halfway point before her busstop. Maybe next time I'll actually make it the whole way there before knowuing I'll have to turn back. I just didn't want to wear myself out before I even got back home. I think next time I'll try and get to the three fourth's mark. She offers me lunch, which comes with an ice cold water, and that's incentive enough to walk in this heat for me! Plus, I like walking around with her. It reminds me of being back in Illinois when we had no car and had to walk everywhere.

I'm mostly just hoping I can keep this up, along with all of the DDR I've been playing, and that it'll start to make a difference. Of course, I'm also trying to watch my eating as much as possible. I won't lie and tell you I don't eat fast food or that I don't eat sweets. I do. I especially eat quite a bit of fast food because I don't have my own money at the moment and my friends buy me some food when we go out shopping or just hanging out. Of course, I try to make the best option possible of the cheapest options on the menu.

I'm hoping it's nice like this tomorrow. It wasn't too warm out and that's what has been stopping from walking too much lately. I'm afraid of getitng dizzy and passing out, as has happened to me before. If it's nice like this, then I'll definitely be walking downtown tomorrow with my roommate. We need to get her a monthly bus pass to make taking the bus to work cheaper for her. We were also going to look at the small stores downtown and check out the museums and see if any had cheap addmissions we could afford for another day.

This Saturday, if today was any indication, there should be a post from me! Hopefully we'll see a number under 213.

Late again! Per usual.

I'm back up, and not only that, but I'm at 213lbs this week. I don't know what I managed to do here. I've been working out, I haven't been eating that badly, and I've not been sitting around all day. I don't know what it is I'm doing wrong or what I'm just plain not doing? I've been keeping up with my SparkPeople and everything. I haven't gone over on calories or fat or carbs or anything I can think of.

Maybe my body's just getting used to being taken care of right again. I'll keep think of it that way for a few more weeks and if nothing gets better, then I'm definitely going to have to change my approach. The thing is that I haven't felt any bigger lately, but instead have felt lighter and better about myself. I didn't take any measurements last week or this week because I plan on changing that to measurements every month.

On Saturday, I spent the day in Providence walking around for a few hours. It was pretty fun, getting to window shop in the Providence Place Mall. Maybe next time I go, I'll actually be able to buy something. I saw a beautiful tea set in the Teavana that I want for my parlour when I move into my own home. It was a gorgeous china teaset painted with light pink roses. It was a pot with four cups and matching saucers. So pretty! But it was $100. I'm fully willing to pay that much for my dream tea set! When I actually have the money.

I saw a lot of clothing I could modify into casual lolita clothing and I'm hoping to go back with some money and buy them. The modifications would be simple and really inexpensive and then I'd have quite a few cutsews in my wardrobe.

This weekend, on my roommate's day off, we plan on heading into the downtown and shopping around the small boutiques and shops there. When I say shopping, I mean looking around and not buying anything. There are few antique stores down there that specialize in Victorian antiques and I can't wait to look through them and get a better visualization of what I want for our house when we finally move. Hopefully I can get a job soon because that'll bring that house that much closer to me.

I hope I'll remember to post again in a few days, or at least post on time on Saturday with my, hopefully, updated lighter weight!

Late again, per usual! I'm at 210 again, so another gain. This is no less irritating now than it was five months ago. The worst part is that I know I can lose this weight, as I've done it before. I also know I can lose this because I used to be heavier. But it doesn't seem to want to keep me at less than 210. I don't know what I'm doing wrong...

Yesterday, I hung out with a friend I hadn't seen since high school almost three years ago. We had a lot of fun, doing completely irrational things like going around the BJ's wholesale store and giggling in wonderment at all the food. I hadn't realized just how much I'd missed her until I spent time with her again.

The most unexpected part of the day, though, was that she commented on how good I looked now. I asked her what she meant by that, since I was confused. All I was wearing was a crappy pair of jeans and a tank top, so it couldn't be my clothing. She told me it was obvious I had lost a lot of weight and that frankly, I was pretty fat in high school (because, oh god, I was).

That made my week, along with a lot of other stuff that we ended up doing around town.

I know I can lose the rest of this weight. I know it. And I'll do it. I don't want to be fat anymore and I don't even want to be kind of fat. I want to lose this weight and I will.

And I think I'll try to make it more fun than I have up until now.

So, I didn't update on time this week. Go figure!

It's not that I forgot, I just gave myself a lot of stuff to do. Way too much to do and it turned out that I ended up not updating my blog until a few days later.

So, where am I at?

208.5lbs. It's a loss, that's for sure. I'm still not keeping my hopes up until it becomes 205 or lower. This isn't me being too hard on myself, I just know my body and that it doesn't like to agree with me. I keep yo-yoing between 206-211 and it's starting to get a little disheartening. Hopefully, the walking I've been doing lately will help!

Maybe it'd be easier to eat regularly if I weren't just so damned depressed all the time.

Alright then~

I managed not to forget this week! Go me!

I don't think I've gotten very far in progressing with my exercise or my eating. My eating is so-so. I need to eat more than twice a day, which is my biggest problem. Sometimes I don't even manage that. It's mainly because my sleeping schedule is just so out of whack thanks to my being unemployed and not having much to do in the ways of needing to get up early.

I walked around a lot yesterday, though it hadn't been planned. We got locked on the other side of a mall from my car and I had to walk around the whole building to get back to it, because they wouldn't let us taking the normal exit that would have gotten us to just needing to walk to the back of the lot. Instead, I had to walk through the parking lots of about four or five major stores and the mall. It wasn't bad, as it was nice outside, but it was still irritating seeing as I hadn't really been wanting to do that. I prefer my walks to be during the day, too, and not in a dark parking lot. Of course, there were lights and I wasn't alone, but still.

I did pass by the door of an abandoned store there. THe doors, which apparently had been automatic at some point, were completely cracked. There was a glass awning right before them that had several major cracks, but no holes, in it and it was held up by these rusted out pillars. It had lights that I'm sure worked at one point. Of ten, only one wasn't smashed.

It makes my head turn and turn and turn. Hopefully I can make something of this. Hopefully.

Anyhow. Now to the important part, right?

I'm at 210. Which means I stayed exactly the same. I didn't lose anything, but I didn't gain, either. So all is good in my book for now. My measurements are also still exactly the same. Nothing exciting to report today, but also nothing depressing to report, either.

Until next time, guys!