Friday Food Review - Morningstar Farms Breakfast Strips

Yes folks it's yet another blog meme. I apologize if this blog seems to be over-memed (is that even a word? lol) at times but I have found that the memes are a convenient way to keep all of the blog content organized, up to date, and as a way to let you - my wonderful and awesome readers - know what to expect. So here's how this new meme will work. I will review a food - preferably something healthy - and give you my opinion of that food. Should you trust my opinion, well no you don't have to, but I do know a lot about food - just look at me lol. Of course, the best way of all is for you to try the food yourself, but I can give you a heads up on what to try or what to avoid. I will first give the foods a rating using *** (asterisks or stars - whatever you want to call them) with one * being the worst and five * being best. Then I will give you a summary on my experience with the food. See, easy enough!
So here is the first review:

Morningstar Farms Breakfast Strips

Taste *
Appearance *
Texture *
Smell *
Cost *
Nutritional Value ***
Ease to prepare **

I purchased these mainly out of curiosity. Generally when I want bacon I eat turkey bacon but I do not like the thought of eating so much fat everyday so these (the veggie strips) seemed like a good idea. I am a fan of a lot of Morningstar Farms products so I thought that these would be pretty good as well. Wrong! These failed miserably. If ever there was a food that could be classified as a frankenfood then this would be it. From the very look and texture of these right down to the cooking process I did not find much to like about these! The first time I microwaved these according to the directions and they came out burnt. The second time I tried cooking them a few seconds shorter. They still were slightly burnt / overcooked. Despite what these looked like (they reminded me of a child's crayon drawing of what bacon would look like), I still decided to be brave and give them a taste. From the second I stuck those in my mouth I was regretting that decision. These really did have a taste that would remind you of burnt cardboard! The texture was odd, the smell was worse and the taste was unbelievably bad. The high price is another bad mark against them. I paid $3.49 for 8 little strips - definitely not my idea of a good value for something that will now just sit in my freezer until I decide to toss them. The only thing going for these is the nutritional value - 60 calories and 4.5 grams of fat for 2 strips. I think you would do just as well with turkey bacon at 70 calories and 11 grams of fat for 2 slices. My overall opinion is that if you are craving bacon stick to turkey bacon and pat it with a paper towel to remove some of the grease and fat, but whatever you do I suggest you avoid these at all cost!

Wordless Wednesday

Being thankful for the life you've been given

This past week we celebrated one of my personal favorite holidays - Thanksgiving. What better holiday to have than to be with friends and family and doing nothing but being thankful for the blessings God has given us? I was thinking about all of the things I am thankful for and the list seemed to go on and on – Family, friends, things, food, God, life….wait a minute? Life? Am I truly 100% thankful for the life God has given me? If I am thankful for this life then do I treat myself this way? I then started thinking about how it is that I treat myself. Some of the things I came up with truly appalled me and I realized that I would never dream of treating someone else the way that I treat myself. I would never tell my friends or family that they are fat, or ugly, or stupid and I would never force or even allow my children to overeat or gorge themselves on unhealthy things – so why do I do this to myself? The bible tells us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Can you imagine trying to love someone else the way you love yourself? We are commanded to love ourselves even before we can love others. Filling our own heads with negative self talk and treating our bodies so poorly that we are barely able to function in life is not loving ourselves or being thankful for what God has given us. There are so many people in this life that would love to trade places with one of us. Think of people who can’t help their health situations – do you think given the chance to live "normally" that they would treat their bodies the way we do? I think not. Life is a precious gift from God. None of us are the same. We all have qualities that make us special and beautiful in our own right. Being able to look past your own faults is the first step in overcoming your insecurities and moving forward with the plans God has in store for you. Be thankful for your life and take pride in the good qualities you have and you will gain confidence and self esteem. You are made in the image and likeness of a living God. Do not insult Him by putting down His creation - You.

To go along with this subject we did these worksheets: "I am thankful for my..."
Print this off and fill this out with 10 things (or as many as you can think of) that you are thankful for about yourself. It can be anything from your personality or to your physical appearance but do not put things about your family or others because we are all thankful for those things. I want you to really think about the way you view yourself and the life God has given you. I want you to see the good in yourself and not just the negative. Hang this up somewhere that you can see everyday to remind you of what a great person you truly are!

Tasty Tuesday - Turkey Noodle Soup

As you may have already guessed this is made from none other than leftover T-day Bird :-). This literally only takes about 15 minutes to make and is soooo good! You will need to chop the turkey before adding it to this soup and you can use however much you feel necessary. Usually about 1 to 2 cups of chopped turkey is plenty.

Turkey Noodle Soup
1 to 2 cups Turkey chopped (dark or white meat or both)
6-7 cans reduced fat chicken broth
2 bags frozen stew vegetables (has potatoes, corn, carrots, celery, and onions)
half of a 16oz bag of egg noodles (no yolks or whole wheat are healthier)
1-2 tbsp of chopped or dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Pour chicken broth into a large pot. Add the turkey and vegetables. Bring to a rapid (rolling) boil. Stir in the noodles and seasonings and let cook just until the noodles are tender and then remove from the heat. More broth or vegetables may be added to this as needed.

QOTD

"To guarantee success, act as if it were impossible to fail."
-Dorothea Brande

We have a Forum (message board)

I just wanted to announce that the forum is now officially launced. It has been up on the blog for a week or so but I finally found a forum that works for all of our needs. Please feel free to visit the forum - and register too!!! - at http://thejoyfuldieter.freeforums.org.
You can also access it directly from this blog by following the link on the right hand side that says "Join the discussion".

God Bless everyone and have a great holiday!

Wordless Wednesday

QOTD

"Never trade what you want now for what you want most."
-source unknown

Tasty Tuesday - Sausage, Cornbread & Apple Stuffing

I plan on making this for Thanksgiving:


Sausage, Cornbread & Apple Stuffing

8 oz raw turkey sausage
2 Tbsp apple juice
1 tsp butter
1 medium onion(s), chopped
2 medium celery, chopped
2 medium apple(s), cored and diced
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
2 Tbsp thyme, chopped or 1 tsp dried
1 Tbsp poultry seasoning
8 oz cornbread stuffing dry mix
1 1/2 cup canned chicken broth, hot
1/8 tsp table salt, or to taste
1/8 tsp black pepper, or to taste

Coat a large, nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat.
Remove sausage from casing; add sausage to skillet and cook, breaking up into small pieces until no pink remains. Add apple juice and simmer, stirring constantly, until liquid evaporates. Remove sausage to large bowl; set aside.
Melt butter in skillet. Add onion and celery; saute until translucent, about 8 minutes. Stir in apples, parsley, thyme and poultry seasoning; cook about 3 minutes.
Add stuffing to skillet; stir in enough chicken stock to moisten stuffing as you like it. Add to bowl with sausage; stir in enough chicken stock to moisten stuffing. Season to taste. Yields 3/4 cup per serving.

**One extra step I plan to add to this is that I will probably bake this in the oven @ 350 for about 20 minutes or so just to give it a little bit of crispiness.**

J.O.Y. is cancelled

There will not be a meeting on Tuesday the 20th. Have a great holiday everyone.

P.S. Check out some of the new stuff I added on the right side like the forum and calendar.

Announcement about JOY

I will possibly be cancelling the meeting next week on the 20th. My children are sick, I have a ton of work to do to prepare for T-day AND I have to finish my sewing program all by the end of next week. So I will let you all know for sure by tomorrow night whether or not it's cancelled but I can tell you right now from the way things look that it most likely will be cancelled. Have a great holiday everyone and remember to be thankful for everything, not just the food ;-).

Thursday 13 - Kitchen Gadgets

As we all know home cooked food is much healthier for you than store bought, processed and fast food junk but without the proper tools it's harder to make homemade food that tastes good and is healthy for you too. These are some things I like to keep in my kitchen to make cooking AND dieting easier.

1. A food scale, preferrably a digital one that weighs ounces, pounds and grams. This makes it easier to have accurate portion sizes and helps you to learn portion control.
2. Non-stick cookware. Anything that helps you cook without added oil is a great thing to keep in your kitchen.
3. Food processor. Many healthy dips and salsas can be made using this and it turns the task of chopping veggies into half the work.
4. Very sharp knives. If your knives are dull and old you will not feel like chopping fresh fruit and veggies.
5. Vegetable and rice steamer. This makes steaming vegetables easier because it steams them to just the right temperature without overcooking them or drying them out.
6. Blender. Everyone needs a blender to make healthy smoothies, protein shakes and even fresh juice.
7. Microwave egg boiler. This is one of my favorite gadgets. I found this at walmart for around $6. Eggs are a good protein filled snack for very little calories. With this you can easily have boiled eggs without worrying about overcooking them or watching the stove.
8. A countertop grill. Grilled chicken, grilled fish, and homemade waffles all from the same machine - need I say more? If you can't afford the one that has changeable plates there are smaller machines that grill 1 or 2 things at a time.
9. Plenty of tupperware / storage containers. Make meals ahead of time, or pre-chop veggies and store them in the fridge until you are ready to use them. These are also good for keeping premeasured portions.
10. Egg seperator. This seperates the egg whites from the yolks. Use the whites to make omelettes or even merengue and save the yolks for something else.
11. Apple wedger & french fry press. Make homemade baked french fries or slice an apple to make mock apple pie.
12. Measuring spoons & cups for measuring portions without a scale.
13. Toaster Oven. Make homemade healthy pizzas, pita sandwiches, and lots of other things you can't in the oven or microwave.

Surprise - We have our own commercial!

I worked very hard on this, I hope you all like it!

P.S. I've been learning this song for church - can't wait to sing it, the words are awesome.

Wordless Wednesday

Tasty Tuesday Recipe - Pistachio Fruit Salad

It's a fun new meme - Tasty Tuesday! I plan to post new healthy or low cal/fat/carb recipes every tuesday if possible. Today's recipe is my own personal fruit salad recipe. Many people have been salivating over getting this recipe from me so here's your chance lol (I'm making this tonight so I'll try to snap a pic of it):

This makes enough for a party sized bowl so the servings may vary. All in all it's about 130-160 calories per cup serving.

Pistachio Fruit Salad

4 8oz. containers Fat Free Cool Whip thawed
1 16oz. container Breakstones Fat Free Sourcream
4 packages instant sugar free fat free pistachio pudding mix
3-4 cans tropical fruit salad in juice or light syrup drained
2 small jars maraschino cherries also drained

In a large bowl mix together the cool whip and sour cream. Make sure the cool whip is not frozen. Next dump the DRY (do NOT add anything to the pudding like milk or water) pudding mix into the cool whip and sour cream. Stir completely until you see no more of the pudding mix powder and your cool whip/sour cream is taking on a green hue (yes this is normal). Making sure that all of the cans of fruit and cherries are drained well stir them in. You can serve this immediately or wait until it's chilled.

QOTD - Quote of the Day

I saw this quote today and loved it:

"It's hard to be over weight, it's hard to lose weight - choose your hard."
-source unknown

How to stay motivated when temptation is all around

This was our meeting topic last Tuesday the 6th.
The number one question most of us ask when dieting is how do I stay motivated? This is probably the hardest obstacle to overcome when trying to lose weight and be healthy. I personally struggle with this on a daily basis. It is not easy to stay motivated especially when it seems like every single day we are attacked at all angles with temptation. From the fast food commercials that cause us to drool or to the chocolate that just somehow manages to find it's way into our shopping carts. Temptation is not something new that people struggle with. Temptation has been with us since the beginning of time; it is what started the entire fall of man. Think of the irony that the first sin happened when a woman gave in to the temptation to eat. Even Jesus was tempted in the desert with bread! When faced with so many things that can turn us away from our goals it's no wonder that many of us are hard pressed to stay motivated. Just finding the time and energy to do what we need to do to get healthy is a chore in itself. We may even find ourselves in a stuck in a rut whiny "But I don't wanna" attitude. In these times you have to step back and refocus on the greater picture. We have to remind ourselves daily of why it is that we are on this journey. We have to believe that we are worth putting the effort into. We have to believe that God has given us this life for a reason and not just to sit idly by and let it go to waste. Constantly ask yourself do you want that food or do you want to be healthy? There is a slogan that says "don't trade what you want now for what you want most." There is no amount of food in this world worth your own physical well being. Caving into your desires and temptations does nothing but serve your flesh. Romans 8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. You are not helping yourself by caving into temptation, you are only working further to destroy what God has built up. In Matthew 25 it says: Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. We have to be on guard and prayed up. Temptation is all around seeking to destroy our will power and motivation. We need to pray that we don't fall into temptation. One of the first things we need to do is to give the battle over to the Lord. God is not so busy that He cannot help you with your food struggles and temptations. Just pray daily, pray before you eat, pray when you feel tempted. We are to pray without ceasing, this includes praying about your food habits. The second thing we need to do to help ourselves stay motivated and free from temptation is to set your self up in a no fail environment. If the food is not there you will not eat it. Put tempting foods out of reach and out of sight and do not buy things you know you will be tempted to overeat. When all else fails and you still feel unmotivated to do anything at all do it anyway! There will be days where you don’t even feel like getting out of bed let alone practicing healthy habits. It takes work to be healthy and no one ever said that it would be an easy task. Often I've found myself not wanting to do anything at all but when I do it anyway I feel so good I just want to keep going. Sometimes all it takes is to step out in faith and hand it over to God. It is not torture to eat and live healthy. Torture comes in when we continue doing the same bad habits and beat ourselves up mentally for it even though we know how to change! We did not get this way overnight and we cannot expect change to happen overnight. Healthy habits take time, and resisting temptation takes the power of prayer.

How this blog works

As I said in my first post this blog is an extension of my church healthy living group called JOY. We meet once a week on Tuesday evenings to weigh in and discuss weekly topics and devotionals about dieting. This blog and the information I post on here will be open to the public but will also be used by the members of the JOY group. I will try to post weekly updates from the meetings for those who missed the meeting and also for the general public to read.
You will find on the right side of the blog useful information as well. The printable charts are the actual worksheets and charts that we use in our group. We keep these in a folder to keep track of all of our progress. I posted these for anyone to be able to print off and use freely and also for the members of the group to print off when they need extras. The files are word documents that you will have to open in order to print or save.
There is also a link to a chatroom. I will occasionally have scheduled chat events for the members of the JOY group and regular readers of this blog. It will be a way for us all to connect and share our progress and ideas.
I have also posted some links that I personally find useful to achieving my goals. Like I said before this blog will be full of devotionals, diet tips, advice, support, recipes, fun and even my own progress. I plan to keep a monthly report on my own progress that may or may not include pictures - depending on how brave I am.
I may also participate in blog memes such as Thursday Thirteen or Wordless Wednesday but in keeping with the theme of the blog.

If you have any questions, suggestions or links you would like to see added to the blog feel free to leave me a comment or you can email me directly at joyfuldieter@yahoo.com.

Thanks!

P.S. Be sure to check out my ticker also on the right side and leave me a comment praising my efforts :-)!

Why this blog?

I am in no way a guru on the subject of dieting, although I've dieted so much I feel like I could definitely write a book or two on the subject. Thankfully for you I decided to blog about it instead :-). In studying everything I could get my hands on and in my own personal trials I have learned much during my many years of dieting. It brings me great joy (sorry for the pun lol) to be able to freely share this information with other people. If I can reach even one person through this blog then I have succeeded. The biggest thing I have learned over all, is that this battle is not solely mine. There are many many people who are where I am with no thought or idea on what to do about it! We are not happy staying this way and yet it seems like there are just too many answers for one simple question: How do I get healthy and stay that way? Everyone seems to know how to "fix the problem" with quick gimmicks and short lived (and at times torturous) diet schemes. Eventually you come to realize that nothing is going to help you succeed except for the strong desire to change. Most diets and gimmicks will work because they are based on the principle that some people will stick with it long enough to make it work thus misleading masses of people into thinking it will work for them also. Unfortunately, too many people naively think that a diet will do the job for them without them even having to put one thought into it. The diet industry is racking in billions of dollars a year on the backs of gullible people. I am placing this tiny blog in the midst of those diet giants. I too have been a victim of diet scams, strange food habits, and exercise gimmicks all to be met with failure. I've spent lots of money on things I never even tried just to finally come to this realization: It will only work if I make it work. I don't know about you but I'm tired of the gimmicks and I'm tired of everyone else in the whole world telling me how their miracle product will help me lose weight. We all know the simple equation; Eating right + Exercise / by self control = A healthier happier you. Throw in some prayer to that equation and you have your own personal miracle product! There is no quick fix to a lifetime of habits. Even people who subject themselves to WLS (weight loss surgery) find that they only fixed the outside of the problem but did not reach the inside where the true heart of the matter lies. You have to want it bad enough to do it and you have to trust God enough to know that He can help you even in this battle. No battle is too insignificant for the Lord. Let this blog help you and inspire you to change. Be with me as I change too. We can all do this together.

Welcome

Thanks for stopping by the Joyful Dieter. This blog will hopefully serve as a little bit of daily inspiration for those of you who are traveling the same road that I am on. I will use this blog as a means to not only keep in touch with the women of my church who are also on this journey with me, but to reach out to other Christian women who need some christian advice on healthy living. I plan to have plenty of devotionals, dieting tips, recipes, and all things diet related with a christian focus. I will also use this blog as a way to record my progress as I go from flab to fab :-)!
This blog is an extension of the healthy living group that I was inspired to start for the women of my church. The name of our group is JOY (Joyously Offering Yourself). This is based on the verse Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. We are to have presentable bodies unto the Lord. We are the temple of the Holy Ghost and just as we would take care of a physical temple structure our bodies are no different.
I named this blog the Joyful Dieter because God gives us the power to change, and the power to be happy and excited about making those changes. Being healthy should not be a painful experience but more often than not staying unhealthy is painful and unjoyful! I want you to find joy in your life, in your health, and in serving God by becoming the person you truly are meant to be. You are not alone in this journey. I too am overweight and unhealthy but I have learned that through God all things really are possible! God set me free from years of Depression a year ago this past October. Now I feel like I can accomplish anything that I set my mind to and it's all thanks to the blessings God has given me. I am thankful for the path He is setting me on and inspiring me to share with others the gift I've been given.

Please pray for me as I go on this journey and I will pray for you also.

God bless!