Gyros

I am in love.   I have found a place in Webster Groves that carries Gyro meat.  Bill and I rambled through WG on Friday night and I remembered the last time I was a Trader Joe’s looking for said Gyro meat they told me I might find it at the Global Market in Webster Groves.  So when I saw said market I pulled in.  We went right about finding our prize and low and behold they have it!  I was ecstatic!

I spent another hour just looking around the place.  This place is amazing!  They have all kinds of foods from all over the world – I think I may have found a new favorite place to shop.  Although I won’t be able to get there often, I do plan on making a monthly trip now that I know where it is and what they have!

Breakfast of Champions!

I just received a text from my daughter with this picture:




This is Fall Break at school so she is home all week and sleeping in (noon – yeah, that’s definitely sleeping in!) This is a picture of her ‘Breakfast of Champions’ bagels with Cream Cheese, Apple Butter, Peanut Butter and Nutella – yummy!

I think I agree with her – it does look like a pretty good breakfast.

Hurrah for yummy homemade Indian food!

I made some Chicken Tikka Masala last Friday and put the leftovers in the freezer for lunch this week. Today I am eating said leftovers with some Garlic Naan that I bought at Trader Joe’s. Someone on the other side of the building was having a food day today and has had crock pots going all morning with yummy smelling stuff. Not sure what they are eating but it almost drove me mad! So glad I have my yummy lunch to eat now.

Today was twice this week that I had to run home at lunchtime to get something. Yesterday I forgot my cell phone and I CANT live the day without it. Well, I suppose I could be I know that Bill and the kids would wonder what happened to me if I didn’t answer text and calls all day! Today, Aubri texted me this morning – her Nook had died (batteries this time not the death that we had a few weeks ago) and she wanted me to bring her a book at lunch. She needed it for English this afternoon. So I’m sitting at my desk eating my yummies.

I have some Venison Steak in the crock pot at home for dinner tonight. It smelled really good when I went home a bit ago. I stirred and checked on it and all is good. All I have to do is make up some potatoes and carrots to go with and I have dinner ready when I get home. Life is good. ;)

Pear/Apple

I tried something new at the produce market in St. Charles this week, a pear apple. It was very interesting. It was crunchy like an apple but tasted somewhat like a pear. It wasn't that grainy chunchy that pears are when they aren't ripe yet though - it was applelike in texture. It was very odd.

Reminded me of when I tried brocaflower - it was just a bit weird!

Stevia is a good thing

The ongoing Greek Yogurt debate has brought me to Yoplait Greek Yogurt.  I’ve been trying different brands to see who has the best flavor and creaminess.  Yoplait is creamy but it’s really not very sweet.  However, I have found that a couple of drops of stevia will sweeten it right up and make it tolerable.

At first I forgot to check ingredients on the yogurts I was buying and found that some are really good and others not so much.  Now I know why those good ones taste so good – Corn syrup.  Evil corn syrup!  This stuff really isn’t good for you despite what the corn growers of America try to tell you – yes, your body does know the difference.  Corn syrup goes directly to fat, does not pass go and does not collect $200!  It also works on the appetite sensors in your body to make you crave it more (can we say sweet cocaine?)  Just Google corn syrup vs. sugar and you’ll get a multitude of articles about why it’s bad for you – worse than refined sugar.

So why Stevia?  (Have you seen the commercial about the woman who has a new love, a sweet love, it comes from a plant, etc… that’s stevia.)  It does come from a plant that grows right here in Missouri.  Just like sugar, this sweet plant is processed into liquid or crystal form and you can now buy it in health food stores.  I’ve seen a commercial where they show packets of it in restaurants but so far I’ve not found it commercially.  (The woman who complains about her ice tea to sugar ratio being destroyed by the waitress – that’s stevia too.)

So the quest for perfect Greek yogurt is still on going to find one without corn syrup is creamy and is sweet enough without aspartame.  It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.  J

Evil Pizza

It must be the salt content - or maybe the fat that goes right to my hips.. I'm not sure what it is about eating pizza that makes me gain 3 pounds overnight!  Last night I weighed in at Weight Watchers - still hovering at 40 pounds.  I was hungry for pizza and had lots of weekly points left over so I indulged in some think crust one topping pizza... this afternoon I weigh 3 pounds more than I did last night.... evil pizza!

Yogurt and diet Update

Yesterday I posted about the Greek yogurt that I tried – Chobani.  I had tried the blueberry and complained that it was grainy and tart.  Today I have a strawberry and banana which is not as grainy and much sweeter – I think it’s the banana.  Since the banana is such a smooth texture I think it has smoothed out the yogurt and bananas are super sweet so that makes it much more palatable.

Now, if we could get the points plus value back down to 3 points instead of 4 – this is a low fat yogurt and yesterdays was nonfat which might also add to the creaminess of today’s selection but adds that one point to the total.

BTW, I weighed in last night at Weight Watchers and have now lost a total of 40.2 pounds – Woot!  That was my goal for this week since I go to the doctor on Friday for my fall check in and I know she will be pleased.  I’m hoping that she takes the high blood pressure meds away and maybe cuts the cholesterol meds in half – now that would be a sweet success.  J

Greek Yogurt

Recently there has been a boom in the yogurt industry, specifically in the ‘GREEK YOGURT’ industry.  I looked up Greek Yogurt in Wikipedia and here is what I found:

“Strained yogurt, yogurt cheese, labneh, or Greek yogurt is yogurt which has been strained in a cloth or paper bag or filter to remove the whey, giving a consistency between that of yogurt and cheese, while preserving yogurt's distinctive sour taste….. Due to the straining process to remove excess whey, even non-fat varieties are rich and creamy.”

I beg to differ.  I have tried Greek yogurt several times now including last weekend at Costco where they were giving away samples.  Unfortunately, they have to add honey to the samples to make them palatable.  That should give you a clue.

Erik has decided that he wants to start eating healthier and in a recent trip to the grocery he decided to try Greek Yogurt.  The particular brand that he bought was Chobani the strawberry and banana flavor specifically.  He brought it home and opened it up.  Like a lot of yogurts on the market, the fruit is on the bottom so you have to stir it up.  The consistency of the yogurt on the top is very grainy and when combined with the fruit is still too grainy for my taste. 

I tasted the yogurt that he had and it was not too tart so I decided to try buying other flavors.  The blueberry is very tart and I had to add some stevia to make it palatable.  I’m still not happy with the graininess of it – I don’t see where the terms “rich and creamy’ come from.

Chobani’s own website boasts that their product is ‘rich and creamy’ as well.  They may be rich, but certainly not creamy.  Yoplait has creamy yogurt – even the light.  I think I’ll switch back.