Portions

I'm sure you are right on your portions. Are you sure that zuchinni bread, strawberry ice cream and banana nut cake aren't considered a fruit? Tonight when I finished dinner I still only had six portions for the day so I grabbed 1/4 cup of raisins to get my 7 in. I have cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch and again for dinner. I rebel at having to eat them for breakfast. I'm just glad I like cucumbers and tomatoes.

Mom

More Veggie/Fruit Pointers

Thanks for your pointers on the serving sizes. I think I'm been fudging (Did someone say 'fudge?') a little bit on my portions. But then again maybe not. I've got tomatoes and cucumbers coming out my ears, I've been eating so many of them. I did think that 10 grapes was a serving. I'll work harder at it. I do think I'm eating more than I usually do, but hopefully it's better food. I want you to know that I take these challenges seriously.

Mom

Distant memories

Thanks for your distant memories, Devin. It was fun to live our vacation all over again with you. I'm working hard to win one of your T-shirts.

Mom

P.S. I like white bread toast. Every once in a while I have to buy me a loaf of Cinnamon Burst Bread and just toast it away and eat it. I just wish it had some veggies in it. Sigh!!

More Veggie/Fruit Pointers

As I've been recording my fruit servings, I actually looked up the info on how much a serving is to make sure I was being accurate.  A serving is generally measured as 1/2 cup.  So, sliced/chopped or small fruit/veggies that are about that amount will be a serving.  Also, don't forget that means that 1/2 cup salsa and tomato sauce, apple sauce, etc. are a serving.  So there's all kinds of ways to get the fruits and veggies in.

By the way, I thought I'd be cruising through this challenge - getting a point every day, easily - but apparently I've only been getting about 6 servings regularly.  So this challenge has made me more aware of my intake and I find I'm having to work at getting a few more to start earning my points!  But it's easy enough to do, it just takes a little more thinking on my part.

Click HERE to see one of my all-time favorite ways to incorporate vegetables into our diet.

And here are some more guidelines to help you:

1 Serving of Fruit

• one banana
• six strawberries
• two plums
• fifteen grapes
• one apple
• one peach
• one-half cup of orange or other fruit juice

1 Serving of Vegetables

• five broccoli florets
• ten baby carrots
• one roma tomato
• 3/4 cup tomato juice
• half of a baked sweet potato
• one ear of corn
• four slices of an onion

Distant memories?

It's been a little while but I still have fond memories of Gleneden Beach. Here are some pictures that sum it up pretty well. I'd have to say playing in the pool was probably what it all revolved around for me, but there were so many other good times. One of the best memories was walking way up the beach with Rebecca combing for treasure early in the morning. You guys are all great but she's my favorite. Also watching the young kids chase the waves. I remember doing that when I was a little and it's fun to relive that through them. Next time we got to the beach let's make it Florida or Hawaii so we can actually swim in the ocean.

Oops

I forgot to put in how we dipped the zucchini's in a mixture of: 3 beaten eggs and 1/2 cup of buttermilk, then breaded it in the Panko mixture.
Sorry.

Zucchini Pizza

Here is an Idea/Recipe for getting our Veggies in.

ZUCCHINI PIZZA

1 Large Fat Zucchini cut in 3/4inch thick (apox.)
1 cup Panko
¼ cup Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp. Basil
½ tsp. Garlic Powder
½ tsp. Italian Seasoning
½ tsp. Salt
------
Favorite Pizza Toppings

Bake @ 425* for 8-10 min. depending on thickness.
Top with favorite pizza sauce (I use canned spaghetti sauce) then top with your favorite pizza toppings.
Bake again for 3-5 min. (Till cheese is melted to your liking.)
ENJOY!

Marie

August Challenge (It involves eating!)



Awww, so cute you could just eat 'em up!

 Wow, is it already mid-August?!?!  This gives us a 2.5 weeks to accomplish something healthy this month.  I realize that schedules and motivations are all over the place this time of year with summer wrap-up activities and school year preparations.  So, let's keep things simple.

If any of you out there are like me, you find yourself falling victim to stress-eating.  My snacking and portion sizes are out of control lately!  So I thought we could all benefit from a nutritional challenge.

We'll worry about making sure our workout routines are on track next month once we settle into our fall schedules.  But for now, let's finish the month eathing healthily and taking advantage of summer's fruit and vegetable bounty.



Fresh, frozen, even canned... it's all good!



August Challenge:

Eat the 7 daily recommended servings of fruits and vegetables.

Point Value:  Varies.  One point for each day that you accomplish this.

This is an easy way to rack up some major points!  Some of you may already be accomplishing this, so your goal is to keep track and keep it up!

I'm going to email y'all with a simple chart you can print off to easily track your progress and at the end of the month, you can add up the amount of days you reached this goal and report in.

I personally plan on not only incorporating both fruits and veggies into each meal but also not allowing myself to eat a meal or snack without first eating a fruit/veggie serving.  I'm stocking up on apples, baby carrots, small cans of V8 juice and making sure I've got plenty of cut-up green peppers, watermelon and cantaloupe handy while they're still in season.  I also try to keep plenty of canned fruit in my pantry for times that I don't have anything fresh on hand.  I love canned pears and mandarin oranges in particular.

Eating more fruits and vegetables helps you improve the vitamins and nutrients of your diet, increases your intake of fiber and helps tame your hunger for fewer calories.

So print out your charts, keep a tally, and rack up the points this month!

Lynn's Memories (In her words)

Okay, first of all, I'm reeeeeaaaaaalllllllllllly dumb and don't know how to get onto the blog, so I have to e-mail everyone my memories and second of all, Sharon so kindly gave me a break this time because I'm, as Brock keeps reminding me, middle aged, and I can't remember a darn thing and deadlines!  

So, here you are, my lovely memories from the coast in no particular order:

 

(Sorry no pictures, that's way beyond my capabilities)

•   Relaxing
•  reading a good book
•  spending time with my kids and creating memories
•  going to a informational Trendwest hardcore sale w/ Amy & Al and getting a $75 gift card
•  being on the beach @ night w/ a bonfire and trying to stay warm
•  flying a kite at the golden sneaker challenge and having the kite break off and fly away because it was so crazy windy
•  going shopping (even though we only had a couple of hours and trying to rush through)
•  hearing about how Devin and Becca forgot their suitcase and had to go out and buy all new clothes
•  making duct tape wallets which I will cherish forever
•  going out to lunch at a lousy restaurant with lousy service and spending way too much but the company was great
•  teasing all my nieces and nephews ( I hope they still like me)
•  laughing, reminiscing and the feeling of belonging even though I'm 400 lbs heavier and wearing no makeup
•  spending time with everyone and catching up
•  just hanging out and eating (its what I do best)
•  Oh, yeah, riding in the car with Mom and Dad and being the "navigator" (thanks, mom and dad for taking me)
• 
  I had a great time and I always love getting together with everyone!  Let's do it again, baby!!!!!

Lynn's Memories

Way to go Lynn! I'll bet it only took you two hours to write that. I understand what it's like to be one of the older set. Sometimes your brain just refuses to work. See, Al, someone else had to fly a kite and she loved it.

By the way, Lynn, everyone knows how much fun it is to ride with Mom and Dad. You were the lucky one and got to do it. Isn't it fun to not pay any attention to the GPS and just go your own way?

We love you!

Mom

Memories

Amy, you're not so stoooped. I've tried two times to leave a comment and end up just leaving it because it won't send. Then yesterday I typed a post and the home teachers came so I just left that and Dad deleted it. So.....

It was so much fun to read everyone's memories of the reunion. It was almost like living it all over again. Thanks for the memories! I'm sorry Al, to have left you flying the kite but you were doing such a good job. You should have come up to me and said, "I'll hold Zoey and you go fly the kite." I was afraid to move her -- afraid that she would wake up. Grandmas have such nice laps. Thanks everyone, for such a nice time and such happy memories.

I wish I could have sent the first post and comments. It seems that I remember that they were a lot better.

Love, Mom