Insert Health Pun Here

[yogurtandyogapants]

This is the overall health goal. I want to fit into this swim outfit by graduation, which means about ten inches lost in the waist and about six inches lost in the bust. I've already modified my eating habits and I've begun a work out routine. This is the year, ladies and gents. I got a new job, I'm going to get my AA, I'm going to publish something, and I'm going to lose 35 lbs!!!

[yogurtandyogapants]

Biscuit Pot Pie

I have a recipe for you guys. And I remembered to take a picture! 

This is three servings, as indicated by the biscuits. It’s a nice little dinner that could maybe be rounded out with a little more veggies on the side. 

Per serving, it comes out to around:

313 calories

20 g of protein

31 g of carbs

5 g of fiber

6 g of sugar (natural, not added)

12 g of fat

One of the tricks to this meal is that the biscuits are homemade, which helps to control what goes into them. Homemade biscuits are super easy and much cheaper and very good!!! Virtually no reason not to make them. Admittingly though, mine aren’t buttermilk. I can’t afford to buy buttermilk, especially when there is an easy way to get a similar affect. My secret? A tablespoon of vinegar in your biscuit mix. I know, it sounds friggin’ weird but it works, trust me!

Biscuit Pot Pie (For Three)

1 ½ chicken breast, chopped

½ C carrots, celery, green beans - chopped

½ C milk

½ C chicken broth

¼ C corn, peas

2 Tbs butter

2 Tbs flour

1 tsp garlic

1 tsp celery salt

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp oregano

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp thyme

Melt butter in med pan. Chop chicken, sprinkle with seasonings and cook through. Temp oven at 400. Chop veggies and to skillet. Add flour, broth and milk. Stir around and cook on med high. Meanwhile, prepare biscuit dough. 

IF you already have a biscuit recipe or would prefer to use store-bought dough, then skip on down to the next paragraph!

1/2-3/4 C flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/3-1/2 tsp salt

2 Tbs butter

1/2-3/4 C milk

1/2 Tbs vinegar

Mix dry ingredients, and cold butter. Should be crumbly. Combine milk and vinegar in another bowl. Make a well in your dry mixture and pour your liquid then mix. This should be thick and sticky, so add flour if need be. 

Butter a casserole dish and when filling is ready, pour into dish and spoon biscuits evenly. Try to avoid them touching. Bake 10-15 min or until biscuits rise and brown lightly.

[yogurtandyogapants]

Although, I have been horrible so far about taking care of my health, I have two bits of good news. 

1. I got a job!!! At Olive Garden!!! Which is going to make my lifestyle change harder but hey - I HAVE A JOB!!!!

2. I’m going to take on one of these reading challenges! 

Of course, because I am me, I did decide to challenge myself further by choosing books that are already in my house’s library. So here we go.

Book you chose for the cover: The Middlesteins - Jami Attenberg. I was originally on a book buying spree when I picked this one up and I remember the cover catching me. It is an image that would be seen during a diner scene in a movie and something that I relate to movies that are fun, like Tarantino films or “Little Miss Sunshine”.

Book considered “un-put-down-able”: Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen. Miss Austen needs no explanation.

Book set somewhere you’d never been but would like to visit: A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickins. If you’ve never read it before, this Dickins classic is set in both London and Paris around the time of the French Revolution, so in a way that makes it a twofer because although I desire to see Paris, I wouldn’t mind visiting London as well.

Book you’ve already read: The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck. This book I mostly skimmed. It was part of a class I took last year, Survey of American Literature. Due to the swift nature of the course, several parts were left unread but I always told myself I’d get back to it as the prose leaps back and forth from personal to poetic. It’s really a beautiful book.

A juicy memoir: The Things They Carried - Tim O’Brien. I don’t know if I’d call this book juicy. It’s actually supposed to be very dark and grim, also it’s disputed if the stories are true. However, it’s the closest thing to a “memoir” that I could find here.

Book about books or reading: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society - Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I began this years ago when I was still married into the military. It is a period piece told through a series of letters between women who are bookworms. If you love everything literature or have the slightest bit of feminism in you, I’d suggest this book!

Book in a genre you typically avoid: Watchmen - Alan Moore. This book is a graphic novel - a genre I’ve never read - and a graphic novel which Jake loves! 

Book you’re dying to read but don’t want to admit: Tales of Ordinary Madness - Charles Bukowski. Although a cult favorite, Bukowski is not exactly considered high-brow literature which is something that English majors are reputed to only enjoy. As an English major, I’m here to tell you that I enjoy all kinds of literature, including low-brow Bukowski. 

Book in the backlist of a new favorite author: As I Lay Dying - William Falkner.

Book recommended by someone with great taste: Death Note - Tsugumi Ohba. Jake has been badgering me to read “Death Note” after I finish The Dark Tower. Despite being my fiance and any bias which that bestows upon me, I actually do respect Jake’s taste because he enjoys that which is meaningful, strange, and profound which makes for interesting reading. 

Book you were excited to buy/borrow but haven’t read yet: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime - Mark Haddon. Can you honestly tell me that title isn’t intriguing? I didn’t think so.

Book about a topic you already love: Wolves of the Calla - Stephen King. This is technically a stretch but Wolves of the Calla is a book that I started last year but hadn’t yet finished and it’s part of a series I love. 

If one of you do the same, please comment your book choices!! I’d love to add something to my book list.

[yogurtandyogapants]

I’m really bad at this...

Getting up early, working out. It’s mainly that until school starts, or this interview turns out on Tuesday, that I really don’t have anything to do today. 

I once read that having all of the time in the world can be as harmful as having no time. When you have all of the time in the world, you think to yourself “I can do it later. I have time”. Later comes but the day has passed. That is what I’ve noticed lately.

I’m good at diet though. Diet is easy for me. I love food and I love cooking so making myself eat something healthy isn’t very hard, especially because I don’t tend to like junk food. 

Today so far, I’ve been eating vegetarian. Not consciously but just because I love fruit and vegetables and they are easily accessible. Sometimes, I think taking the time to cook a little meat is just not always worth it. 

Breakfast was half a cup of oatmeal with two large strawberries, a handful of blueberries, a handful of slivered almonds, and a tablespoon of honey. That comes out to 269 calories, 52 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, 7 grams of protein, 6 grams of fiber, and 56% of my Vitamin C intake. Also, 17.2 grams of sugar from the honey. Does honey count as added sugar? I think it does, which is unfortunate.

No pictures. I was too busy watching Zootopia with Jake, and I’m not sorry!

However, one of my FAVORITE sites to help me track my nutrients, and you should use it too, is Sparkpeople. With sparkpeople, you can track both your nutrients and fitness and even your water intake. Personal accounts are customizable to your dietary needs, and you even have the option of getting meal suggestions for breakfast, lunch, dinner and even snacks. 

[yogurtandyogapants]

Small Update

I made myself a schedule before the new year actually began. The schedule was meant to be a way to keep myself healthy and busy before school started again, involving yoga, jogging, regular work outs, scheduled smoothies (to assist my fruit/veggie intake), oil pulling - you get the idea. 

As I type this, I realized that I should have put in meditation, which I truly believe anyone should be doing regardless of religion or creed. If you need minor convincing, consult the image below.

Anyways, so I’ve barely been able to adhere to my schedule, largely because I am having issues getting into a healthy sleep schedule. Since school ended, I have spent nearly all break drinking wine, eating carbs, and partying at various levels. On average, I’ve been going to sleep at 2 in the morning and waking up around 11 am. 

I know what you’re thinking. That ain’t nothing girly, lemme show you par-tay! Well, let me tell you something mister or madam. I am a 6 am to 10:30 pm kinda girl working or not; school or not; working and school, or not, and that 11 am to 2 am shit is wonkified. I love getting seven and a half hours of sleep and I love daylight. Vampire, I am not. 

Today, however, I still did not get up at 6, which means I also did not workout whatsoever, but I did catch up on my chores, make a smoothie - a GREEN smoothie - and I put away all of the Holiday decorations. In fact, I’m calling this First Green Smoothie of 2017, which I do not have pictures of because I do not have my shit together. Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, have some ducks!

First Green Smoothie of 2017:

1/2 cucumber

1 C pineapple juice

1/4 green apple

1/4 C milk

1/4 C walnut pieces

1/4 C coconut flakes

Nuts and coconut flakes, folks. Keep those two things in stock because nuts are a great way to add thickness when your Greek yogurt goes bad, and coconut flakes add some sweetness when you’re trying to avoid refined sugar. Plus fiber. Gotta love that fiber. 

If you try out this smoothie, please comment and tell me what you think!

G’night!

Jen

[yogurtandyogapants]

Dayum!

How long has it been since I gave up on this blog? What is that, like two years? I’m surprised that it still has followers.

Okay, there’s only three of you but still, three is better than zero.

I was laying in bed today, thinking that I really wanted to get back on my health. School is over for the winter, and do you know the terrible thing about school? I absolutely do not have the resolve to exercise and eat healthy all of the time. I used to say I was busy, but in reality...

There, I said it.

Anyways, school got out and I’ve spent the last two weeks mostly cooking food, eating food, drinking wine, and playing board games like the damned bohemian I am. I’ve drank six bottles of wine in two weeks, with or without help, which would make my sister-in-law and I self-proclaimed drunks.

But, I was laying in bed, and I was thinking about all of things I wanted. I wanted a stable job, I wanted to finish my first novel, and I wanted to be healthier, which is funny because my health was the reason I started this blog two years ago. And do you know why I stopped blogging? Laziness. Do you know why I can’t accomplish those three things I listed up there? Laziness. Do you know what I’m done with?

[yogurtandyogapants]

Slow-Cooker Sausage Lentil Soup; How-To Dice An Onion

I'm going to apologize in advance because half of my recipe photos turned black after I edited them, but I have my how-to photos and I still have a recipe for you.

Jake's grandma gave us a slow cooker a few days ago. You don't know how happy this made me!! It means I can cook, clean and run errands without tiring myself out.

 Do I hear angels singing? I believe I do. Those above are the lovely onions for our tutorial.

My mother did not teach me much, but one thing she did teach me was how to dice an onion easily. You ready for this?

Cut the root of the onion off so that you have a flat surface to balance it on. Now cut into the onion vertically, going from left-to-right, or right-to-left, depending on which hand is your dominant hand.

Very good class. Now turn the onion so that the cuts look horizontal, and begin making vertical cuts again, from one side to the other. It should make the onion look checkered when you're done.

Sweet. Now turn the onion on its side, and start slicing. Diced onions will just fall into your lap!!

Beautiful. By the way, did you plug in your slow cooker and add 3Tbs of oil to it on high? You should have.

Slow Cooker Sausage Lentil Soul (serves 6)

3 Tbs oil

1 med onion, diced

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp pepper

dash of salt

2 carrots, peeled (if desired) and chopped

1/2 summer squash, sliced and quartered

1 tomato, diced

1 C lentils, rinsed and sorted through

3 C water

15-18 oz smoked sausage

2 C spinach or kale (or both, hell)

Altogether, it'll take 3-4 hours on low, but you can cook it longer if you'd like.

Assuming the oil has been added and the onion has been diced, add the onion to the slow cooker, using a spoon to coat the onions in oil.

Replace the lid and let cook while you gather your spices. In the amount of time it'll take to gather and measure them, your onion will mostly be sauteed. I prefer to mix the spices in a bowl, then add them, so that the tastes blend better. Turn the heat down to low.

Chop up the vegetables, add them, stir. Add two cups of water to the slow cooker and let this go for an hour. 

The vegetables and water will create it's own sweet broth, and the spices will add a little heat. This way you're not using salty packaged broth, or worse, bouillon cubes.

Rinse and pick through your lentils. This is the first time I ever used lentils so I wasn't sure what I was picking through for, but every recipe using lentils says this, and so does the bag. Add the lentils, stir and cover for another hour.

Chop up your sausage. I used a polish sausage and it added a lovely smokey flavor to the mix. Add the sausage, and you may need to add another cup of water, as the lentils have likely soaked up some of the broth. Stir, cover, sit for one more hour.

Chop up 1-2 cups of spinach or kale, depending on your taste, add them, stir, cover for 20 minutes.

You may want to run to the store and get a loaf of crusty bread. Just sayin'. Enjoy!

327 calories

18g fat

381mg sodium

26g carbs

15g protein

[yogurtandyogapants]

Savory Egg Sandwich

I have a confession to make. 

I'm from the cornfield country of Illinois. My dad's family all came from Missouri. Do you know what that means? It means I LOVE gravy, butter, bacon, and fried eggs. That all has one thing in common, FAT. 

Fat, however, is an enemy we share ladies. Most of us should only consume between 50-150g of fat per day, and we avoid it, for the most part with fruits and veggies. You know what I love for a quick tasty breakfast though? A fried egg sandwich.

I make mine open-faced, with little butter and with two slices of tomato. Even my burly, bottomless pit boyfriend says it's delicious. 

You're going to need (per sandwich):

2 tsp butter

1 egg

salt

pepper

rosemary

1 slice of bread

2 slices medium tomato

Parmesan cheese

Melt 1 tsp of butter in the pan over medium heat, then break an egg into the pan, trying to keep your yolk intact. It simply presents better that way. Sprinkle with a dash of salt, pepper and rosemary. This creates a light savory flavor. 

Doesn't that look lovely? I'm still working on my photography skills but Ie was proud of this picture. Looks like country to me.

Ahem, anyways, go ahead and flip your egg, gently. You want to continue to keep the yolk together. This takes a little practice but once you have the feel for it, this is actually quite easy. 

Toast one slice of bread while the egg continues cooking, and slice two pieces of tomato. Butter one side of the bread (no more than 1tsp) as soon as it comes out, so that it'll soak into the grain.

Add your bread to the pan, butter down, tomatoes on top of it, and add your pretty little egg. Sprinkle a little Parmesan on top for added flavor.

Yum. Plate and enjoy. I would suggest rounding out your meal with 2-3 slices of turkey bacon if you have any.

282 calories

17g fat

487mg sodium

21g carbs

12g protein

If you add turkey bacon, it will be (per slice):

+61 calories

+4g fat

+366mg sodium

+0g carbs

+5g protein

[yogurtandyogapants]

Brown Sugar-Garlic Chicken, with Sweet Potatoes and Parmesan Zucchini

These pictures are a little dark and pixel-y. I'm really sorry. 

This is going to be up there in one of the easiest recipes I post. The sweet potato is baked and the rest is done on the stovetop. 

360-375 for your sweet potatoes. Wash them with warm water, prick them all over with a fork, rub in oil and wrap in aluminum foil for best results. Potatoes have to cook for 45 minutes to an hour.

That shiny tater in the middle is MINE!

Brown Sugar-Garlic Chicken:

1 half breast

1tsp butter, for the pan

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp black pepper

I coated my pan in cooking spray anyways, as a precaution, then started melting butter into the pan on med-high heat while I chopped the chicken into bite-sized pieces. 

Once the butter is melted, add the chicken, sprinkling 1/4 tsp of brown sugar, garlic and pepper on one side. When you flip, you're going to sprinkle the rest. 

It honestly looks better in person.

Once you have the chicken going, wash off your cutting board and knife, then slice up half a zucchini. Put another 1 tsp of butter in a pan, add your zucchini and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. You want to cook these on low-med heat so they do not burn while you're waiting on the rest to finish.

Once the chicken is cooked and the yams are close to done, add 1 Tbs of Parmesan cheese to the zucchini and cook for one more minute, then enjoy =)

If you are going to split a chicken three ways, like we do, then your nutrition is going to break down something like this:

207 calories

6g fat

313mg sodium

28g carbs

13g protein

If you plan to have an entire chicken per person and be a little fuller, it'll be worth it for the protein. This would honestly be my choice if we could split the meat better and look like this:

387 calories

13g fat

387mg sodium

30g carbs

32g protein

[yogurtandyogapants]

White Girl's Chicken Fried Rice (last night's dinner)

We keep a lot of rice in this house. I mean, A LOT, as in, a 5 lb pound MUST exist every day. Rice is easy to cook and its filling, its also one of the few things Jake knows how to make without any instruction. He also makes wonderful buttery rice better than me. But this post is not about wonderful buttery rice.

I also wanted to apologize for lack of photos. I accidentally got chili pepper juice in my eye and had to wash it out mid-cooking and Jake took over for me. It's not something I suggest doing, EVER!

White Girl's Chicken Fried Rice (Serves 6; 1/2 C servings)

1/2 C oil

1/2 med onion, chopped

3 C brown rice

1 poblano pepper

1 1/2 cups chicken, pan-fried and chopped

2 C broccoli

1/2 C peas

1/2 C carrots 

2-3 eggs

1 Tbs thyme

2 Tbs lite soy sauce

1 Tbs brown sugar

This recipe was readapted from http://www.momskitchenhandbook.com/.

A word about some of our ingredients. The rice needs to be pre-cooked, so either day old rice or you can cook the rice about an hour or so before you need to start dinner, then refrigerate it until cold. If you try to use fresh rice, it'll just get overly-gooey and not fried rice. 

You can use fresh peas and carrots, or you can get a bag of frozen pea and carrot mixture, and just use one cup of that. It doesn't take away from nutritional flavor enough to really matter, and it cuts a little cost and a little time off of your cooking. Just be sure to set out your bag while cooking everything else so it can begin to defrost.

The poblano pepper is going to be hot enough to feel, I think its rated at 1,000-2,000 scovilles, which is a unit of spice measurement. For comparison, its not as hot as a jalapeno, like 500-6,000 scovilles under. If you like jalapenos, then the poblano will be no problem. I personally like my Asian food to be a little hot, a little sweet and a little salty. 

Assuming you've cooked the rice, you're going to chop up your chicken and begin pan-frying it on med-high heat, lightly salted and peppered for some flavor.

While that's cooking, heat the oil on medium in a wok, or large skillet and begin chopping an onion. Add the onion to the oil and cook about three minutes, until its opaque. Add your rice, breaking up any chunks, and cook 2-3 more minutes. 

Chop up the pepper into small pieces, DO NOT GET THIS INTO YOUR EYE!!!!!!!!!! YOU WILL CRY!!!!!!!!!!!! Then add this to the rice/onion mixture, continuously stirring.

Add the cooked chicken, stir. Chop the crown off of your broccoli (that would be the tree part) until you have about two cups of separated crowns and toss that into the wok, and stir. 

Chop the carrots and separate the peas from the pods, if using fresh. If using frozen, add about a cup into the wok. If it's still icy and somewhat frozen, stir the hot ingredients onto the carrots and peas to help it to cook faster. Continue stirring until the carrots and peas are help incorporated.

Sprinkle the thyme, soy sauce, and brown sugar over the fried rice mixture, stir and serve hot.

363 Calories

22g Fat

243mg Sodium

31g Carbs

11g Protein

[yogurtandyogapants]

Pumpkin-Naner French Toast

I know what you're thinking, "you cannot eat french toast on a low carb die, Jen, you sillybutt". 

Well, I do. I just do not eat a lot of it. 

I'm a huge believer in eating in moderation or re-working food so that it tastes good and is still healthy. If I cut out ice cream, bread and pasta completely (I did it once), then I cheat on my diet constantly. Besides, according to the French, (and we all want to be chic French women, sans cigarette), eating is pleasure.

My recipe makes for either two slices of regular whole wheat bread, or one slice of multi-grain wheat bread, because those slices are bigger. All bread is not created equally, so the bread for this recipe is:

138 calories

2 grams of fat

264 mg of sodium

24 grams of carbs

8 grams of protein.

That is for either two slices of regular wheat, or one slice of multigrain. Look on the back of your bread loaf when you go shopping, and as long as your numbers are close, you should be fine.

I keep my numbers at 500cal, 50 fat, 500mg sodium, 50 carbs, (or less), because even if you are slightly over in any of those categories, you shouldn't be too off track.

We have lives: we have spouses and partners, children, pets, jobs, school, family, friends, errands and personal obligations. We are going to trip up. The key is to not just give up if you trip up, enjoy what you are eating for what it is, and just continue to do your best. Trust me, 10 extra grams of fat or carbs on Monday isn't going to make you gain an extra pound by Saturday or make your period magically disappear this month. As long as you exercise 3-5 days a week and stick to your diet overall, you are fine. Stop obsessing.

Soooooo Pumpkin-Naner French Toast:

2 slices regular bread or 1 slice multigrain

1 egg

1 Tbs milk

1 tsp butter (for your pan)

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp brown sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla

Get your butter melting on the pan at med heat, depending on the power of your stovetop. French toast is meant to be made in minutes, so you want a hot stove but don't risk burning your bread.

Mix your egg, milk, pie spice, brown sugar and vanilla in a bowl. It should look like the picture above.

Now, take your bread and dip face down into the mixture, letting the extra yolk slide off, then repeat with the other side. I've found if your bread is ultra coated, then it comes out looking more like egg than toast, and doesn't flip incredibly well, so best to keep it light.

This was with the multigrain bread. Notice how it takes up half of my pan? These slices are huge, and you only need one. Jake, my boyfriend, always wants 2-3.

It should only take five minutes for your toast to be ready to flip. Pay attention to any coating peaking out from underneath. Once it looks solid, you're ready to flip. 

Plate your toast, add half of a banana, sliced (share the other half, ladies! Your lover should be eating fruits and veggies too, besides makes it easier on you if you're not the only one). Now drizzle with about a tablespoon of honey. Because the toast already has brown sugar, you don't need to make your breakfast into dessert. 

I added half a pear to my plate.

The whole plate comes out to:

369 calories

9 grams of fat

332 mg of sodium (bread has a lot!)

57 grams of carbs

14 grams of protein

Remember what I said about not freaking out if your numbers aren't perfect? Well, bread has 24 grams of carbs, half of a banana has 11 grams, and half a pear has 11 grams, but fruit has a lot of health benefits. Bananas are chock-full of potassium and pears are a great source of fiber. You can omit either if you need to be strict about your carbs, but otherwise, I say enjoy.

[yogurtandyogapants]

Oatmeal Crusted Chicken with Sweet Potato Rounds and Wilted Spinach

Because I feed my family meals, I am going to give your family exactly that, meals! My grocery budget is somewhere in the range of $300 for a month to feed three people, that includes pet supplies, household stuff, etc. I wasn't kidding about being poor, so I guess this is also a bit of a budget blog. 

That being said, what you will see is correct servings and NOT American portions. Americans typically eat a day's worth of food in one meal. Ewww. Not us, so if you're used to eating a bulkier diet, you may be a little disappointed. 

I pulled tonight's meal out of necessity. We have plenty of chicken available, and the spinach was getting close to it's expiration date. Also, it's pumpkin and sweet potato season!

Oatmeal Crusted Chicken

1 whole chicken breast

1 egg (the whole damned thing!!)

3 Tbs oats

1 1/2 Tbs flour

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp basil

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes

1/4 tsp salt

Turn your oven to 350 degrees, and line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Spray the foil so your chicken doesn't stick.

Cut the chicken into 1-inch sized bites. Depending on the size of your chicken, you'll come out with about 30 bites. I didn't necessarily get every morsel of fat off of mine because, to be honest, I live with two men, and I'm the only one on a diet.

After you cut up the chicken, crack and whisk your egg in a bowl. You can discard the yolk if you'd like but my family doesn't believe in waste so we do not. Mix the rest of your ingredients in a second bowl.

Sooo.... oats for breading. I know it doesn't sound or look great but the oats have a neutral flavor and do not have gluten like flour does, so I usually (2:1) any recipe that calls for flour.

Dip your bites into the egg, then gently into the oat/flour mixture, shaking off each one and place onto the cookie sheet until each piece is accounted for. 

Sweet Potato Rounds

1 med sweet potato

oil - to drizzle

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tbs cinnamon

I didn't get a picture of this. I totally blanked while cooking and just kept in my rhythm.

Treat another cookie sheet with foil and spray, then slice your potato into rounds. I came out with 10 pieces. Drizzle with oil (I used corn oil, which is VERY unhealthy. Do Not Use This. Please. For your health. I hear coconut oil is amazing but I haven't gotten a hold of any yet).

Sprinkle the rounds with salt then cinnamon.

Put the chicken and potatoes into the oven at the same time and bake for 30 minutes.

10 minutes before the oven is done, start some oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat and add 3 Cups of fresh spinach. Immediately add 1 Tbs of butter and 1tsp of pepper and stir while cooking. If you are unfamiliar with spinach, it will wilt to about half of the amount.

This is your end meal. 10 chicken bites, 5 sweet potato rounds and 1/2 C of spinach. Per person.

274 calories, 10g fat, 145g sodium, 19g carbs. 

[yogurtandyogapants]

Introduction

I am normally just a regular tumblr user. I write and reblog poetry; I reblog beautiful images of nature, men, women, and art; I reblog music clips and videos of cats. Just a normal chick in her 20's.

In my daily life, I struggle with a condition called poly-cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS for short), which causes struggles with weight gain, a rise in body hair growth, irregular periods (I'm talking missing your period for 10 months), and issues getting pregnant. 

A lot of women I know would say "Sweet, no period and no risk sex!", however, by not shedding the lining in the uterus (or, having a period), one increases her chances of uterine cancer, and the fertility issue could possibly still be there when one wants kids. All of the women I know with my condition have serious problems with both risks, and none of the women I know have entirely clear cut answers about causes or how to deal with it.

My most basic understanding is that one of the contributors to PCOS is insulin resistance, which leads to your body collecting fat and inhibiting it's ability to release estrogen, so then the body stops producing an egg.

The physician who diagnosed me told me that exercise was key, however, said nothing about my diet and I, in turn, didn't really think about my diet either. She put me on The Pill, and after taking it for six months, missing it on several occasions, and reading a lot of horror stories involving The Pill (including aneurysms), I gave it up. 

I lost one of my two jobs, and my ability to afford health care, so I turned to the internet to find cures. Many articles talked about diet changes, but few agreed on which ones to make. I've researched for nearly a year and have composed what I feel is the basics of what not to eat:

Sugary drinks, which increase insulin levels.

Refined grains (white bread, white pasta, etc) also increase insulin levels.

High levels of sodium, which make you retain water and not allow you to flush out toxins.

Fatty foods, which add to the fat in the body.

GMO foods, which have a combination of genetic mutations in them, and hormones added in order to increase size and shelf life, and add extra hormones to your body, interrupting the processes your own hormones should be making. 

I stopped drinking soda a long time ago. I have one Sprite a week, if that, when visiting the boyfriend's grandmother, and otherwise, we brew a lot of iced tea at my house. It's healthier and far cheaper than buying soda, juice or bottled tea, all of which have coloring and preservatives added.

As far as the GMO issue is concerned, cage-free, grass-fed and otherwise, organic food is easily more expensive than commercially produced food. If you have a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods nearby and can afford the difference, amazing, GO FOR IT!!!

We, however, are very poor and can rarely afford organic chicken breast or cage-free eggs (I get it when I can though) so I decided I would instead adapt my favorite recipes to four rules:

500 calories or less

500 milligrams of sodium or less

50 grams of carbs or less

50 grams of fat or less

So, with no further adieu, welcome to my food journey.