My Texas Cara Box

I had found Cara Box on another blog and signed up for the May box. It's not your usual subscription service. You sign up and you're matched to two great people. One who will send  you a box and another that receives the box you send. This month's theme was "Lets Be Regional" and I really wish I could of gotten time to hit every boutique in the Mid-South/West Tennessee/Memphis area because I know I could of done better than I did. I really wish cotton would of been blooming because I could of picked up some that falls off the trucks and made a neat shadow box with the map of Memphis and other paraphernalia. Finals, work and kids' sports got the best of me and before I knew it, it was time to send the box. So I sent what I thought of immediately when I thought of the region I live in: Memphis, Elvis, BBQ, Tn VOLS and Memphis Tigers. I also think of the blues but could not find a cd of one of the more well known Memphis Blues artists, wish I had a cd or mp3 of Rudy Williams, who was the sweetest street musician I had ever seen. Here is a video from YouTube I found:


Too bad he's passed away now, I've not been down Beale since he's passed to see if another future great is playing in his spot yet. I do hope Ashley from Track Suit Friday  enjoyed what I compiled and does something creative with the Tennessee orange bandannas ( I was thinking matching collars for the doggies).

And without further ado, here is my Cara box from the sweet lady of Confessions of an Army Housewife, Kodie.

A whole smorgasbord of goodies

She sent from her region: A margarita mix, margarita glass, two grow kits and one packet of peppers (of which the Hubby snatched and went and planted), some mango chili pepper suckers (that I really want to like, but the taste is very different than my buds are used to), gardening gloves, Body by Vi shakes (I tried these at a Women's dinner at church once and they are yummy, a scentsy room spray and two of my favorite magazines and a few more things. You out did yourself Kodie :) and make me feel really bad about my little box (though if it was winter I would of went and got some chocolate from the local candy maker,Dinstuhl's)
Anyway, I enjoyed putting together my little box and will sign up again for June's box. If you would like to try it go to Wifessionals and look for the June signups coming soon.

Found the link or a link supporting increasing protein at meals, especially breakfast.

Here is a link to an article by the speaker, Dr Donald Layman, who spoke of protein needs at the Ohio Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This is the speech I referred to in the Quinoa Scramble post.

He writes about meal content of protein about half way through:

The meal content of protein is also a key factor for satiety and appetite regulation [9,10]. Protein has greater satiety value than either carbohydrates or fats and reduces food intake at subsequent meals [27]. Studies of energy regulation for weight management show that replacing carbohydrates with protein reduces daily energy intake by ~200 kcal [9]. The mechanism for this satiety effect may be mediated by intestinal hormones or by reducing peak post-prandial insulin response. While the mechanism remains to be elucidated, it is clear that the improved satiety response requires >30 g of protein at a meal and that breakfast has the greatest impact on total daily energy intake [27]. As with protein turnover in muscle and bone, limiting protein intake to a single large meal late in the day reduces the satiety benefits of dietary protein [22].

 Dr. Layman also writes on how increased protein diets can help with fixing body composition while traditional low fat, low calorie diets result in a loss of lean body mass.  Preventing lean tissue loss is important, especially as you age and want to avoid osteoporosis and sarcopenia.

Anyway it's a very interesting read and here is the link again so you can check it http://www.nutritionandmetabolism.com/content/6/1/12

Quinoa Scramble

It's been a while since I've posted a recipe so I decided to post what I'm mixing up for breakfast this morning. I'm trying to increase protein intake, especially in the morning. Because I read on facebook (yes I know, you shouldn't believe everything on facebook) where a RD had gone to a convention and had learned that increased protein for breakfast was associated with increased weight loss. I'm sorry I don't have link, I'll try to find it later.

Quinoa Scramble
3/4 cup of quinoa, dry uncooked
1lb sausage
1 can of spinach, rinsed and drained
5 eggs
1/4 cup shredded cheese

directions:

1. Cook quinoa in rice cooker, I followed package directions and used 2x as much water as quinoa
2. cook and drain sausage. I cooked mine in the oven at 400 for 15-20 minutes while quinoa was cooking.
3. Scramble eggs and then add spinach, heat through.
4. Add cheese to eggs and spinach mix. Stir till cheese is melted
5. Combine ingredients either before serving or let everyone combine them how they wish.

Nutrition Facts
  5 Servings, Amount Per Serving
  Calories 363.6
  Total Fat 20.1 g
     Saturated Fat 6.7 g
     Polyunsaturated Fat 2.6 g
     Monounsaturated Fat 7.5 g
  Cholesterol 222.1 mg
  Sodium 710.6 mg
  Potassium 369.5 mg
  Total Carbohydrate 21.3 g
     Dietary Fiber 2.8 g
     Sugars 2.2 g
  Protein 24.0 g

This recipe also has 90% of Vitamin A, 25% of Iron, 18% of Calcium daily values. I highlighted the Protein, because that's an awesome amount of protein for the calories.Using fresh spinach and fresh sausage could possibly lower the sodium content. I also added picante sauce to mine, but didn't include it in the nutrition analysis.

Sorry it's not a prettier picture, my phone takes lousy ones and my batteries are dead in my camera.

Well, At Least I Didn't Cry

I didn't pass Organic Chemistry, again. Apparently 3rd time was not the charm for me.  I was so disappointed in my self when I saw that D+. My husband had a point, there are lots of students not passing that class and they are also not dealing with raising children, working four days a week, and taking a full load in college. However, I wanted to pass so that I could graduate in December and be done. Now I'm going to have to push back my graduation date to May of 2014. This will still be my last summer as an undergrad, but I was  hoping for it to be my last Spring semester.

On better news, I'm sticking pretty good with healthy eating plans. I've only had one soda in 4 days. Well, two if you count the vitamin water my well-meaning hubby bought yesterday. He had already bought it before I could tell him that the Vitamin waters are no better than a can of Dr. Pepper, so I drank it in order to not make him feel bad. I told him later, though, so he doesn't repeat the mistake.

I suppose I must get some chores done before running today. I didn't charge my phone last night so  I'm waiting for it to do so, then I can use the Endomondo app during my run. I really like seeing the splits. Apparently the second half of my run is faster than the first mile. Interesting.

Hello Summer

    Finals are over, now the terrible wait for grades to come in begins. Why yes I am checking at least once, twice, three times an hour...okay so I don't log out I just reload the page every few minutes.  With any luck this is my last summer as an undergrad. I'm so ready to complete what has been a long road. I was talking with middle son the other day and I calculated that I've been going to school in one form or another for about  19 years, not counting kindergarten (because he said it doesn't count).  So that leaves 15 years of my life that is not in school, 4 years I was too young for school (5 I guess since kindergarten doesn't count). The other ten years are split up. I waited a year after high school to start college. I didn't go to school for 4 or 5 years when the kids were young and my husband was finishing his apprenticeship. Then there were a couple years here or there that I didn't go due to money issues. So almost done Yay!
 
     Since I'm finished with the stress that is the end of a semester, I am concentrating on cleaning the next seven weeks. I'm cleaning my house, decluttering and getting rid of 4 months accumulation of school papers (mine and the kiddies). I'm cleaning my car, I drive anywhere from 1 hour to 1 and 1/2 hours a day depending on whether I'm going to work or school. This doesn't count driving to sports functions and other errands after work/school. Needless to say my car is a bit cluttered and needs detailing. I'm cleaning my body. My diet goes to pot the last 2-3 weeks of a semester. It coincides with stress levels increasing. So I'm concentrating on eating clean, stopping soda for good, exercising more. I've logged back into an old myfitnesspal account (user name Jackielf78 if anyone wants to be my friend on there) and downloaded the Endomondo app on my phone (I had it on another phone and didn't like it, but it seems to be working better now).

   I did really good yesterday. I drank from my new infuser water bottles. Here is a link to the bigger one I bought.

I really like this bottle. I've tried peaches and cranberries so far. The peaches taste good after they thaw out. The cranberries need to be crushed or chopped or heated slightly I think. I didn't notice any cranberry flavor until last night at my son's baseball game I had to add a warm bottle of water to mine and then notice some flavor.
Oh on a related note, I found frozen fruit at our local Dollar Tree. 10 oz bag of fruit for 1.00 and they had a good variety. There were mangoes, peaches, mixed berries, blueberries and pineapple from what I saw. I bought a bag of mangoes to try later. Love it when I can find healthy choices fit for a tight budget.