Pork, Greens and Beans, Yellow Rice.

Tonight's dinner was a bit of a throw together(okay so most nights are this way, I suck at meal planning). I had pork chops/steaks thawed out but nothing else planned.  So I went out to the garden and saw I had some radishes that were ready for harvest. I pull these thinking I could fix these and their greens for dinner. I then look at my collard and turnip greens. Those are big enough to pick as well. So I get a few of each to go with dinner. Next I decide on rice for another side. I wasn't sure how I wanted to fix it so I turn to Google.  I find a rice pilaf recipe that gave me another idea. So here it is. A total of approximately: 426.2 Calories, 18.7 g of total fat, 36g of total carbohydrate, 10g of dietary fiber, 0.4g of sugar, and 28.2g of protein.

For the pork I just took 5 chops/steaks and put black pepper, salt and garlic powder over them. Drizzled about 2 tbsp of Italian dressing and stuck them in the oven. I baked them at 425-450 for about 20 minutes then turned the temp down to 375 and kept them there till they were done. I didn't time it so I have now idea how long it was. I know that when everything else was done so were they.

Here's the approximate nutrition data figured up at sparkrecipes.com:

Pork Chops

Nutrition Facts

  6 Servings

Amount Per Serving

  Calories

195.3

  Total Fat

12.2 g

  Saturated Fat

4.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat

2.2 g  

  Monounsaturated Fat

4.8 g

  Cholesterol

59.5 mg

  Sodium

467.2 mg

  Potassium

251.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate

0.9 g   

  Dietary Fiber

0.1 g   

  Sugars

0.0 g

  Protein

19.4 g

My yellow rice was started by heating a pan with a small amount of oil. I then added 2 cups of white rice and about 1 tablespoon of dry, minced onion and cooked them till they got slightly translucent and began to brown. At the same time I had 2 chicken bullion cubes in 4 cups of water heating in a medium sized saucepan.  When the rice was done browning/turning translucent I added it to the boiling water and completed cooking according to rice package directions.  Here is also where I should of done something different. I added the turmeric, salt and ginger at the end of cooking and I should of done it when the rice went in the water. So here add 1 tsp of turmeric, 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp of ground ginger to rice. Cook till done. 

The approximate nutrition data for the rice is:

Yellow Rice 

Nutrition Facts

8 servings

Calories 57.8

Total Fat 0.2g

Saturated fat 0.0g

Monounsaturated fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 0.0mg

Sodium 521.4mg

Potassium 38.0mg

Total Carbohydrate 12.2 g

Dietary fiber 0.4g

Sugars 0.0g

Protein 1.2g

I was going to just saute the greens in butter, roast the radishes and add them together.
Unfortunately I overestimated the amount of greens I had harvested. As i was cooking them I noticed they were cooking down to nothing. So I opened up two cans of light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed them, and added them to the greens and radishes. I then added some garlic powder, black pepper and salt. There was also about 3 tablespoons of butter and 1 cup of water with a beef bullion cube in the dish. I sauteed/pan roasted/steamed...okay how about cooked...cooked the radishes in the water/bullion and 1 tablespoon of unsalted butter. I then added the greens, two more tablespoons of butter, seasonings and sauteed them till soft. I next added the beans and cooked till heated.


Here is the nutrition data for Beans and Greens:
6 servings
Calories 173.1
Total Fat 6.3g
Saturated fat 3.7g
Polyunsaturated fat 0.5g
Monounsaturated fat 1.7g
Cholesterol 15.5 mg
Sodium 1,024.9mg (I'm not sure what's up with this number)
Potassium 446.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 22.9g
Dietary Fiber 9.5g
Sugars 0.4g
Protein 7.6g


Tonight's meal went over well with my boys calling dibs on leftover rice for tomorrow.  Since they don't usually eat rice unless it's made sweet or drowning in gravy, this is a definite win.

Soda Update and a Weigh in Today

Well I had to slip a bit on my no soda challenge over the weekend.  I hadn't felt good for a couple days, just extra sleepy, but chalked it up to it being that time of month coming. On Saturday I woke up and felt like I hadn't slept in 2 days(I've done that before and know what it feels like). I couldn't go back to sleep as one son had baseball practice, another had a civil air patrol meeting (this is where I'm so glad Hubby was home) at the same time. So I chose to take youngest son to his practice and Hubby took the oldest off. I made it through this and got home ate lunch and all I wanted to do was curl up on my recliner and sleep. Actually, I chose Hubby's recliner instead (his is bigger and one of the kiddies was sitting in mine) and tried to nap.  None doing since the kiddies were home. I kind of just dozed off and on while watching Mary Poppins.

Well the evening comes along and we go to Walmart for some last minute Easter shopping for the kiddies (they're getting too old for egg hunting but we still wanted to treat them). While we were waiting in checkout I started feeling more off and that led to feeling nauseous as we were leaving. The bad kind of feeling were you're not sure if your going to puke or faint. So I had Hubby get me a ginger ale in hopes of settling my stomach/system.  So there is where I kinda blew my soda challenge. However, since it was for an illness I think I'll count is a medicinal use instead. I think I'll add an extra day and go to the 1st instead of the 30th though just to be good.

Today with my Tigers Feel Great wellness class is our final weigh in/class. I'm kinda nervous, I feel like I'm in better shape. However my scale hasn't moved this semester.  I think I've gained muscle because I feel stronger, my stomach feels flatter(I need to take some measurements and see). My clothes aren't fitting tighter so I know I haven't gained weight. I think my calves are smaller, they look stronger. I can run a bit faster and a bit longer. They record weight, bmi and fat percentage (using one of those handheld machines) and blood pressure. I usually just go by my bmi and fat percentage and try to ignore the scale. Though I think I'll eat light for breakfast and lunch anyway.

Have a great day dear readers.

So Far So Good

Here it is Wednesday, April 4th and I'm still doing great on not drinking soda.  Yesterday I almost got a sweet tea from McDonald's but decided against it. Sweet tea is no better then soda pop and sometimes worse. So I got a large unsweet iced tea and that hit the spot.  I don't usually go to McDonald's after class but it was hot and in my truck the heater runs constantly and having a really cold drink on the 45 minute drive home is much welcome.  I may want to get that fixed before the heat really gets here.  Right now our highs have been in the mid to upper 80s, so not so bad ( unless your heater is running pushing that temp up).  I'm so cold-natured that windows down and a cold drink is fine now. However, when we get to the 90s and triple digits I may be singing a different tune.

Anyway, I didn't crave any sodas yesterday. I was fine with my tea, water and a small cup of juice.  About to hit the gym for some weight lifting (I think I'll do an upper body workout today) and a 30 minute run on the treadmill.  I'm dragging a bit this morning because Hubby and I stayed up late last night watching King of Kings on the church channel (I'm not sure of the name of it).  I had forgotten how long it was and after 2 1/2 hours watching we decided to call it a night...I'm sure the movie had another 30 minutes left.

Day 1 of a Soda Free April

Today has been just great. Got up, went to church and listened to an excellent lesson about the Golden Rule and not judging people (guiding yes, judging no). Preacher preached a sermon on being there for God and ministering to people.
Then went home ate a quick sandwich (okay two, 'cause I was hungry) for lunch and checked emails and Facebook. Then got to work on the gardens, and mowed the yard.

Best thing is I only once craved a soda and I didn't give in to it. I figured I just was wanting something sweet and put some ice in a glass and poured me some apple juice (100% juice no sugar added).  That hit the spot.

I'm feeling great, I've not had any energy drags. Well till now, but I have: mowed about 1/2 an acre of yard (all on a hill); pulled weeds and planted for 30-45 minutes; and did a mini workout of lunges, squats and crunches. Plus getting dinner together, trying to get kids to do chores and other odds and ends.  Still have a bit of housework and homework left.  Still, while I'm dragging  a small bit, I feel like I've got some energy reserves left.  I personally think the excess sugar in soda makes me more tired then I should be.

I also watched this interesting segment on 60 minutes tonight about sugar being toxic.  The doctors in the segment say cancer loves it, it works like drugs and alcohol in our brains, and we consume way too much of it. The doctor in the segment recommends that men get no more then 150 calories a day and women no more then 100 calories a day of sugar.  Also an interesting fact was that in humans early years we associated fructose with safe food.  Basically if it tasted sweet it was good for us.  However that fructose came from fruit and we didn't eat as much of it as we do now.