Favorite Foods

My favorite way to eat is in small meals all day long, like 5 meals a day.  I would always choose tapas over a Thanksgiving meal (my husband thinks that's blasphemy), and I have a number of go-to dishes that I love. I decided to look into what the nutritional value of each is, so I figured I would write a blog post about them as I do.  Ideally I'd like to get about 30 grams of protein, 30 grams of carbs, and 7 grams of fat per meal.  Now, as you may know, I'm gluten free and I try to stay away from most dairy with the exception of goat's milk cheese and yogurt, so these dishes follow that diet.

Maybe I should talk about my supplements, too...  I take a multivitamin with iron,  CLA, Sublingual Vitamin B-12, and a D Vitamin.  Everyday.  I also buy my vitamins at Trader Joe's they're much cheaper there! 

Yogurt with strawberries and granola

1 cup fat free plain greek yogurt
1/3 cup Kind Vanilla Blueberry Clusters
1/2 cup sliced strawberries

Calories: 300
Fat: 3g
Carbs: 42g
Protein: 27g
Fiber:  8g

(A little high in carb, I could reduce the amount of granola, but pretty great.  Go me!)

Chicken breast with Hummus and Tomatoes

Leftover chicken breast (4oz)
2 tbs hummus
handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Calories:  282
Fat:  7g
Carbs:  14g
Protein:  38g
Fiber:  2g

(If I just add some more veggies to this, it's a perfect meal)

Omelet with Spinach and Feta

1 whole egg and 3 egg whites
sauteed spinach
1 ounce goat cheese feta

Calories: 230
Fat:  14g
Carbs:  4g
Protein:  23g
Fiber:  2g

(If I switch to egg whites only and a cup of fruit on the side)

Calories: 275
Fat:  5g
Carbs:  35g
Protein:  19g
Fiber:  5g

GF Toast with Mashed Peanut Butter and Banana

1 slice Udi's gluten free whole grain bread
1 tbs peanut butter
1/2 medium banana

Calories:  280
Fat:  12g
Carbs:  38g
Protein:  9g
Fiber:  4g

(this has a lot less protein than I thought!  I guess I could eat with the protein shake below for a nice big meal.)

Strawberry Vanilla Protein Shake

1 cup almond milk
handful of frozen strawberries
heaping scoop of vanilla protein powder

Calories:  170
Fat:  4g
Carbs:  7g
Protein:  25g
Fiber:  3g

(If I added a banana)

Calories:  270
Fat:  4g
Carbs:  34g
Protein:  26g
Fiber:  6g

Think Thin Brownie Crunch Bar

Calories:  230
Fat:  8g
Carbs:  24g
Protein:  20g
Fiber:  2g

(This guys is pretty perfect, and tasty, too)

Protein Pancake with Blueberries on top

1/2 banana
1/4 c egg whites
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbs ground chia seed
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbs almond milk
1/2 c blueberries (on top)

Calories: 120
Fat:  2g
Carbs:  28g
Protein:  26g
Fiber:  4g

(another pretty good one!) 

Hummus and Cucumbers

2 cups sliced Cucumbers
4 tbs Hummus

Calories: 124
Fat:  5g
Carbs:  16g
Protein:  4g
Fiber:  3g

Tuna made with Hummus on GF Bread

1 can white tuna in water, drained
2 tbs hummus (this picture is with the roasted red pepper kind)
1 slice Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain bread

Calories:  185
Fat:  5g
Carbs:  17g
Protein:  17g
Fiber:  3g

Scrambled Egg and Hummus on Toast

1 slice Udi's Gluten Free Whole Grain bread
2 tbs hummus
1/4 c egg whites scrambled with 1 whole egg

Calories: 245
Fat:  11g
Carbs:  18g
Protein:  20g
Fiber:  4g

Types of Table Service for Your Event

Every wedding is so much of the same...  You choose Chicken, Steak or Fish on your RSVP card, then when you get to the reception, it's American Plated Style.  You get a salad, your selection, and wedding cake, all plated in the kitchen and brought to your seat.  Yawn....  Stretch....  I like to play with different types of food service, it always is a hit with guests when they come to a wedding that's just a little bit different, special, and unexpected.  Here are some other choices besides American Plated Table Service:

French Table Service

Photo Courtesy of foodandwineaccess.com

Guests place settings are set for every choice available to them, fish knives, soup spoons, salad plates, anything that is on the menu.  The waiter may come to the table with a cart to show you your options for dining, and once you make your selection, he or she removes the unnecessary plates and utensils.  Sometime the cart display is only for appetizers and desserts, but sometimes it's every course of the meal.  Often, food will be assembled, cooked or garnished table-side on the cart.  You may have seen this with a flambe, salads, or the filleting of a fish. 

This type of service is usually a hit with guests, they can see the food before they select it and there is a form of entertainment in the presentation.  A great choice depending on the menu and if you have the space between tables to allow the servers to move.  Unfortunately, this can be expensive because you will need a qualified server for each table and many assistants.  Also, you will need a venue with a large kitchen to prepare the carts, which is usual in most event spaces.  

Russian Table Service

This can be a very elegant way to bring food to a wedding table, and is my personal favorite.  Once again the table is set with all of the utensils a guest will need, but only a charger.  The waiter will bring out the plate appropriate for the course, then return with a platter in hand to plate the food for each guest.  This allows the server to please each guest by giving them the desired portion.  The presentation of the platter can be quite beautiful, for instance if a rack of venison is being served, the kitchen will cut it into portions and reassemble it on the platter so the server will simply take a pre-cut portion for each guest.  This table service is quicker than the more labor intensive French, but still has a different feel.  Often two servers will come to each table, one with one choice of food and the other with a second, they will present the platters then come to each guest with an offering.  This will allow the guest to decide which they prefer.  

Family (or British) Style Service

A casual and intimate choice, Family Style Service is one in which platters are placed at the tables and guests will help themselves and pass the plates around.  Servers would carve any meat at the table, but most often the platters would be pre-cut and gusts could simply take the amount they prefer and pass the platter.  Since one course at a time would be served, tables would be set with utensils and a charger.  The wait staff would then bring out the plates appropriate for the course, and then the platters for the tables.  When guests have finished, they clear away the used plates and utensils and bring out the next course plates and platters.  

This type of service uses far less wait staff, and guests enjoy being able to decide what they will eat and how much.  Getting second helpings is always a hit as well.  Make sure the menu choices are easy for guests to get from platter to plate, for instance you wouldn't want to have something with too much sauce that can drip. 

Buffet Style Service

This type of service is another self-serving options, but unlike family style, where the food is brought to the tables, it is displayed on a separate food table.  Guests will be invited to get up from their tables, retrieve a plate from the end of the food table, and select food for their plates.  Sometime they will serve themselves, sometimes there is a buffet server who can serve the guest at the food table.  Guests then sit back at their tables to dine. 

I find this to be the the most relaxes way to feed a crowd.  Slong with American Plated Style, it is the most common.  There is good reason for it, too, you don't have to assign any seating, and you save quite a bit on the cost of wait staff.  Also, if you are serving several cuisines, buffet style service allows you to create vignettes of food.  

Have fun with your table service, think outside the Buffet and pre-plated dishes and consider something different.  How about Rodizio style?  Your guests will find the refreshing change worthwhile, I promise.

Weight Loss Ups and Downs: The Plateau

Photo Courtesy of tabelehealth.com

Like many of you, I decided to lose a few pounds this year.  After the binging of the holidays I thought it was a good time to try and lose the last few pounds that never shed after finally being diagnosed with autoimmune disease and Hashimoto's.  But more on that another time. 

Since I already eat pretty clean, I decided to count my calories to see what I could do better.  I lost a few pounds the first week, then stayed the same for the next THREE WEEKS.  Seriously, talk about a plateau!  It was so frustrating, I decided to up my workout routine to include a lot more cardio to see if I could break through it.  STILL no change on the scale, but I did start to notice a more lean physique. 

Frustrated, I did a ton of research and decided to try Carb Cycling.  Google it and you'll learn that it's what bodybuilders do to lose those last few pounds before a competition.  It helps lose fat without compromising muscle, which is good for me because I workout so much.  I'm not trying to get down to 5% bodyfat or anything, I just wanted to get out of this plateau and so far it's working!

The idea is that you alter the ration of carb and protein daily so your body never thinks it's being deprived of anything.  I kind of took from a lot of different websites and generated my own 10 day schedule which I've shared below.  Each number is the meal, so I was eating 4 meals a day, you can eat the meals of the day in any order.  Proteins are all lean meats like poultry and fish, nuts and eggs.  Carbs are just fruits and vegetables.  You eat as much as you need to feel full, then no snacking in between.  When I want a snack at night, I have some grapefruit with stevia (yum) but that's it.  I'm on Day 3 now and have lost 1.5 pounds already, and I was stuck at the same weight for 3 weeks prior with just calorie counting. 

On days that I have a particularly strenuous workout, I have been replacing one meal with a protein shake.  My shakes consist of 1 cup almond milk, a handful of frozen strawberries, and a heaping scoop of vanilla protein powder.  As I move through, I'll replace one meal with a protein shake on days that I had a hard workout, and will try to replace the "protein and carb" meal when possible.

While it's working, some of the drawbacks are that I don't snack at all in between so when I'm hungry, I'm hungry.  I'm not drinking any wine which is a bummer.  It's pretty regimented and can be challenging on a day like today where it's all protein.  What do you have for dinner?  A piece of chicken?  Carb only day seems easier to me, fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch, and a bowl of spaghetti squash with sauteed veggies for dinner. 

I'll comment on this post after the 10 days are up and let you know how I do!

---------------
UPDATE:  So I lost 5 lbs in 10 days.  I took a few days off before doing it again and gained 2 back, so keeping that in mind, I'm still happy that I broke through the plateau. I plan to do this diet for 1 more week before I really start my Broad Street Run training and have to eat a lot more. 
---------------

Day 1

1.     Protein and Carb

2.     Protein Only

3.     Protein and Carb

4.     Protein and Carb

Day 2

1.     Carb Only

2.     Protein and Carb

3.     Carb Only

4.     Carb Only

Day 3

1.     Protein Only

2.     Protein Only

3.     Protein Only

4.     Protein Only

Day 4

1.     Protein Only

1.     Protein and Carb

2.     Protein Only

3.     Protein Only

Day 5

1.     Protein Only

2.     Carb Only

3.     Protein Only

4.     Protein Only

Day 6

1.     Protein and Carb

2.     Carb Only

3.     Protein Only

4.     Protein and Carb

Day 7

1.     Protein Only

2.     Protein Only

3.     Protein and Carb

4.     Protein Only

Day 8

1.     Carb Only

2.     Carb Only

3.     Carb Only

4.     Carb Only

Day 9

1.     Carb Only

2.     Carb Only

3.     Carb Only

4.     Protein Only

Day 10

1.     Carb Only

2.     Protein Only

3.     Protein Only

4.     Carb Only


Enjoy the Healthy Life Everyone

~Sue

Gluten Free Chicken Soup

This flu season feels like the worst!  My daughter came home from work yesterday afternoon and deteriorated very quickly, so she needed some chicken noodle soup in a hurry!  I hate the canned gluten free soups, I haven't found a good one yet, so I decided to make her some homemade gluten free chicken noodle soup.  Since I didn't have the time to really make it from scratch, here's what I did:

I had some gluten free spaghetti (to use for the noodles), frozen peas (Jade requested them in her soup), chopped kale (that I use in everything), so I needed to run out for the rest.  I bought a rotisserie chicken and some organic gluten free chicken broth and we were off! 

First, I sauteed some garlic in olive oil in the bottom of a large pot, then added one and a half packages of broth and a generous amount of poultry seasoning.  If I had some parsley on hand, I would have chopped that up and thrown that in, but I didn't.  I also threw in a few bay leaves.  As I waited for that to boil, I started pulling apart that chicken, shredding the meat by hand and tossing into the pot.  Once that was done, and the broth began to boil, I broke up the spaghetti into small 2 inch pieces and dropped them in.  Finally, I added some frozen peas and a few handfuls of the chopped kale and let that boil until the pasta was cooked.  (Remember to fish out the bay leaves before serving.)

The result was so much better than anything canned and almost as easy.

Happy Clean Eating!
~Sue 

Thanksgiving Stuffed Pumpkin

I have a Thanksgiving recipe that everyone asks for, so I've decided to put it up here for all to see.  It's one I've adapted it from a recipe on Epicurious, and since I didn't take a picture of mine, I'll use the one from the original website.  Here is the original recipe and below is my adaptation this year.  Enjoy!

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Thanksgiving Stuffed Pumpkin

Ingredients:

• 1 pie pumpkin, about 6 pounds.  Not a Jack-O-Lantern Pumpkin, a pie pumkin.
• Salt
• 1 cup wild rice (I used trader joe's wild rice medley, but anything will do), cooked to package instructions
• 1/2 pound Fontina cheese, cubed
• 1 package of Wegmans garlic and herb chicken sausage, removed from wrapping and browned
• 2-3 handfuls of uncooked chopped Kale
• 1/2 bunch of snipped chives
• 2 tbs minced fresh thyme
• 1/3 c light cream
• 2 generous pinches of grated nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Like you would hollow out a Jack-o-lantern, cut off the top the of the pumpkin and scoop out the guts, leaving the meat of the pumpkin in tact.  Then generously salt the inside of the pumpkin and place on a cookie sheet.

In a bowl, combine the sausage, rice, cheese, kale, chives and thyme, leaving out a bit of the cheese to top it off.  Adjust more or less of these ingredients to taste, then stuff it into the pumpkin.  You will have to push it down into the pumpkin and pack it well.  Top with the last bits of cheese.  Stir two generous pinches of nutmeg into the cream and pour over top of the stuffing.  Replace the top of the pumpkin and bake for about 1 1/2 hours.  If a knife pierces the skin (don't go all the way through, just poke at it a bit) easily, take off the top and cook for another 20 minutes or so.  Taste the flesh of the pumpkin inside the lid to be sure it's cooked all the way through.

When its done, I use a large spatula to get underneath and an oven mitt to hold the pumpkin to transfer it to a plate.  Take a large spoon and mix together the stuffing with some of the pumpkin flesh and let guests spoon into their plates.  I don't do what it shows in the picture and slice it up, but that's just because I love the way the pumpkin looks at the table. 

I've done this recipe many ways, with varying cheeses, vegetables, meats, and this one was a big hit last night.

Enjoy and Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

The Evolution of a Blog

Like my profile says, I have a real Renaissance soul, and am passionate about many things.  While I may have started out wanting this blog to be about my business, I find myself always thinking of things I could be blogging about, but they are not always necessarily about events or event planning.  I think my business may evolve into a business more about "Inspired Living" with branches that deal with parties, style, healthy living, travel, and general lifestyle branding, so why not start with my blog.  At least I'll find it more interesting, too!  So here are some new tags you can expect from me:

Style
 - Obviously dealing with fashions, but could also be hairstyles, shopping tips, makeup finds, random pictures of outfits I love.  This is one that spills out into a lot of places in my life, because I like pretty. 

Healthy Living
 - This is what inspired me write this post.  I was running and thought of the things that I wish I knew when I started running. That made me think I should post that somewhere for people to know, which lead me to this post.  Healthy Living could be healthy recipes, workout tips, inspiration, updates on my training, anything!

Gluten Free
- I could have put this with Healthy Living, but I'm thinking it needs it's own tag.  You see, I have autoimmune disease and it's effected directly with consumption of Gluten.  Since I've been gluten free (January 1, 2012), I have felt better than I have in years.  I'm always learning about new recipes, finding new products (wait till I post about GF beer), and learning tips about managing this lifestyle.

Home Decorating
 - See Style, I like pretty.  I love filling my surrounding with pretty things.  Even though I don't love my house, I do love my home.  I'm constantly making changes to it.  Updating room and collecting inspiration for upcoming projects around my home. 

Cocktails
 - Part of Events, for sure, but I've been on a kick for seasonal cocktails.  I'll post some for you.

Overheard at the Dinner Party
 - Okay, so this is a catch all for all of the things I find interesting in life.  Stuff I would talk about at a dinner party.  It could be politics (though not political), news events, interesting articles I've read, a conversation to start, anything!

Travel
 - This is already a tag, but I'll be able to do more with it now.  We travel a lot and I've already got a blog  devoted to our families bigger vacations but I thought I could elaborate more here, especially when it comes to travel tips, or plans I'm making for upcoming trips.

Entertainment
 - I love art, film, books, music, and great television.  I'll share some of my favorites, including the books I'm currently reading for my book club!  You might get turned onto a movie that you've never heard of, or a killer running playlist of music, or find the next book you have to read!

I hope you enjoy this journey with me!

Love,
Sue
the muse of
a.muse inspired living