Recipe: Turkey Sausage-Gnocchi Soup

Recipe and picture from Cooking Light.
http://www.cookinglight.com/food/quick-healthy/healthy-5-ingredient-soup-recipes-00400000048543/page10.html

INGREDIENTS

1 (4.5-ounce) link hot turkey Italian sausage
2 cups water
1 (16-ounce) package vacuum-packed gnocchi (such as Bellino or Vigo)
1 (14-ounce) can fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

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PREPARATION

Remove casings from sausage. Cook sausage in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until sausage is browned, stirring to crumble.

Add 2 cups water and next 3 ingredients to pan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 to 5 minutes or until gnocchi float to the top of pan. Ladle soup into bowls; sprinkle each serving evenly with cheese.

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MY NOTES

This recipe was very short on vegetables. I added 1 cup each of baby carrots and baby zucchini, and 1/2 cup chopped onion. I increased the meat to 2 sausage links, and also substituted vegetable broth for beef broth. I seasoned the soup with Italian seasoning.

With my additions, the calories increased to about 200 calories per 1 cup serving, before adding the cheese. The recipe made 8 servings.

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NUTRITION

Yield: 7 servings. 1 cup equals 182 calories, 4 g fat, 10.5 g protein, 25.1 g carbohydrates, 0.5 g fiber, 809 mg sodium.

Favorite Restaurant Meals: Ruby Tuesday Grilled Chicken Salad

Pictured: grilled chicken salad (grilled chicken, fresh salad mix, peas, grated Parmesan, bacon, croutons, grape tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots) with balsamic vinaigrette, approximately 530 calories for the entire salad
This is the petite version of the grilled chicken salad, but you'd never know it. I couldn't even finish the whole thing. This meal is one of several from Ruby Tuesday's Petite Plates menu (available for lunch only). All of the entrees on that menu are under 700 calories. It's one of the best grilled chicken salads I've had anywhere, partly because the dark brown bread croutons are so tasty and partly because I love fresh peas in salad.

I'm sure this salad could be even lighter in calories, if it wasn't served with bacon, cheese and croutons.

Size Matters

I'm a little envious every time I see women at LoseIt saying how they've dropped 20 pounds and two-three dress sizes. That doesn't happen for me. I need to lose about 25 pounds to lose one dress size.

I'm 5'5" inches tall. At my lowest weight (150 pounds), I was a Misses size 16, with a 38 D bra. I wore a Misses size L shirt. Right now (202 pounds), I'm between a size 20 and 22, with a 42 DDD bra. I wear a Womens size XL shirt. When I was at my heaviest (260 pounds), I wore a 24, with a 44 DDD bra. I wore a Womens size XXL shirt.

I'm hoping to see my size change to Misses size 18, 40 DD bra and Misses XL shirt when I get to about 180 pounds. I'm not sure if I'll be wearing a Misses 16 again when I get to my goal (between 160 and 165), but I can be happy with a Misses 18. I don't have the hourglass figure most women have. With my wide shoulders, I'm built more like a football player than a ballerina.

Maybe one of these days I'll scan the pictures I have of me at 150 pounds. It's nice to remind myself that I can at least look properly proportioned, if not thin.

2011 Celtic Classic

Hubby and I went to the 2011 Celtic Classic today. We watched the parade on Main Street, then followed the Liberty High School marching band (always the last band to march) down to the main festival area.

We bought an authentic Celtic lunch from a vendor called The Scottish Cottage. Jay was more adventurous and had haggis, while I had shepherd's pie (although I think it was actually cottage pie, which has beef instead of lamb). We finished off lunch with a shortbread cookie from Donovan's Celtic Foods, and used the last of our Celtic Classic food tickets to buy a small loaf of their pumpkin bread.

Pictured: (above) haggis and (below) shepherd's pie from The Scottish Cottage
After lunch, we walked around a little before deciding that it was too crowded and humid to stay. We hiked back up Main Street and were about to pass by the Bethlehem Commons, when I noticed that the Stations Cafe was selling ice cream. As we entered, I saw a display of Irish soda bread scones made by McCafferty's Scones and Sweets. We ended up having ice cream (one scoop for each of us) at the cafe and taking home two scones for another day.

Pictured: (above) Irish soda bread scones (below) peanut butter cup ice cream
I don't know how many calories I ate, but I do know we walked approximately 6,000 steps. We parked about 15 blocks away from the main festival area, partly because we knew parking would be scare, and partly because we knew we'd need to exercise off some calories.

Canada Vacation, Day 4: Cafe de Paris

This was my dinner at Cafe de Paris in Quebec. I can't remember exactly what the soup was, but I think it was some kind of cream of vegetable soup. My entree was the dinner salad with a ranch-style dressing. The highlight of the meal was the dessert. It was light and delicious, a perfect way to end a simple meal.

That does it for my Canada meal posts. The next day we left for Ottawa. I was fine at breakfast and ate part of a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut for lunch, during which I felt ill. I was too afraid to attempt to eat dinner. It was unfortunate, since the pasta my hubby had in Ottawa looked very yummy. So did the key lime pie.

Fitbit Stats for Day 4
Steps taken: 6,535
Miles walked: 2.77
Calories burned: 2,050

Fitbit Stats for Day 5
Steps taken: 5,250
Miles walked: 2.22
Calories burned: 2,037

Fitbit Stats for Day 6
Steps taken: 11,593
Miles walked: 4.91
Calories burned: 2,481

Fitbit calculated that I walked 47,603 steps and 20.16 miles on my vacation. My daily average for steps was 7,933 and my daily average for miles was 3.36. That's not too bad considering that I spent many, many hours of the trip on the bus, traveling within and between cities. Day 6 was my most active day, and that was the day we came back to the U S from Ottawa. I got in 8,000+ steps by walking around Ottawa in the morning, before the bus left for home.

For more information and photographs from my trip, check out my website update here.

Canada Vacation, Day 4: Trattoria Sant-Angelo

Day 4 of vacation was spent in the Lower Town of Quebec City. Our tour split into little groups for the afternoon, with four of us ending up at this lovely Italian restaurant. The interior was especially warm and inviting on the rainy day we were experiencing.

Pictured: calizza
Hubby and I split a calizza, which was not quite a calzone, and not quite pizza. The crust was more like a calzone, but it was sliced (and eaten) like a pizza. It tasted very good. Both pieces in the picture were mine, and they were very filling. I can't imagine eating a whole serving at one meal.

I'm going to save my Day 4 Fitbit stats for my next vacation post. It will be a picture of my dinner for Day 4. I don't have pictures from Days 5 and 6 because I got sick and didn't eat much. I'll finish the vacation postings with pictures of the food I brought back.

Canada Vacation, Day 3: St Hubert

My third day in Canada was a travel day. Our group left Montreal and headed to Quebec City. We were given time on our own for lunch on the Grande-Allee. A small group of us had lunch at St Hubert, a family-oriented restaurant specializing in chicken dishes.

Pictured: chicken salad sandwich and chicken vegetable soup
Lunch also included dessert, so I had a small piece of vanilla cake with caramel sauce. The portions were very reasonable. It was nice being served a meal that wasn't way too big.

I don't have any pictures of my dinner, which was at Moss Bistro Belge. I had soup and a side Caesar salad. They were okay, except that I didn't like the capers in the salad.

Fitbit Stats for Day 3
Steps taken: 6,566
Miles walked: 2.78
Calories burned: 2,124

Canada Vacation, Day 2: Restaurant Du Vieux Port

This meal was my dinner on the second day in Montreal. I had a small sandwich for lunch in the Underground City, so I was actually a little hungry for dinner.

Pictured: (above) roasted vegetables over rice with goat cheese, (below) chocolate dessert
The waitress at the Restaurant Du Vieux Port in Montreal was very sweet. I told her I only wanted soup as my starter, and salad as my entree. She told me she'd get the kitchen to make a dish with roasted vegetables. I was expecting something more like a traditional salad, but I got vegetables over wild rice with goat cheese. It was one of the best meals I had in Canada.

The dessert was pretty amazing, too. I only had a couple bites of it because I was afraid it would be too much, especially since I ate most of my salad.

Fitbit Stats for Day 2
Steps taken: 10,412
Miles walked: 4.41
Calories burned: 2,249

Canada Vacation, Day 1: Famous Cajun Grill

This blog has been quiet all week because I was on vacation in Canada with my husband. Now that I'm home, I'll be sharing some pictures (mainly of food) that I took on the trip.

Pictured: Famous Cajun Grill in Wilton Mall, Wilton NY

Pictured: blackened chicken, bourbon chicken, fried rice and green beans
These photographs were taken at Wilton Mall in Wilton NY. We stopped there for lunch on our way to Montreal. I wanted to try Famous Cajun Grill because I'd never eaten there before. In spite of the name, the cuisine was a mix of Cajun (chicken) and Chinese (side dishes). It all tasted good, especially the bourbon chicken. Not a bad meal for $5, although I could have been happier with a lot less rice. I didn't try to finish it all.

Luckily, I didn't gain any weight on vacation. Every day I ate a big breakfast, smaller lunch and light supper, although I had dessert several times. All the walking our group did must have helped me burn up the calories.

I was very pleasantly surprised that so many of the restaurants were happy to accommodate my requests for smaller evening meals. Usually, tour groups have a rigid menu off which they must order. I had no trouble getting soups and salads, instead of steak, chicken or fish. Maybe next time I'll request vegetarian meals, even though I do still eat meat.

Fitbit Stats for Day 1
Steps taken: 7,247
Miles walked: 3.07
Calories burned: 2,214

Favorite Restaurant Meals: Saladworks Bently Salad

Pictured: Bently salad (baked ham, roasted turkey, Swiss cheese, lettuce mix, chopped eggs and tomatoes, with fat free balsamic dressing), 325 calories
This is one of three salads I regularly order at Saladworks. All of their salads are tasty and made fresh. One of my favorite things about Saladworks is that they make all of their nutritional information readily available online. The calorie count on all of the salads is under 500 calories.

Each salad comes with a roll. I don't usually get that because the salads are filling enough without the bread. I like that they do have a whole wheat option. I never feel like I have to worry about overeating at Saladworks, as long as I stick to having salad.

I'll post pictures of the other salads when I order them.

VegFest 2011

Hubby and I went to VegFest this afternoon. I was surprised at how many vendors were there, and how many visitors. According to the local paper, estimated attendance for the day was 6,000 people.

Pictured: welcome sign

Pictured: vegan cooking demonstration

Pictured: desserts from Vegan Treats

Pictured: Healthy Plate booth
More pictures can be found here
The only things we bought were a brownie and a whoopie pie from Vegan Treats, and two honeycrisp apples. There were a few vendors we would have liked to have seen, but the crowd made it difficult to get close to things and the humidity was giving me a headache.

Half of the festival was the food court and various food sellers, while the rest was split between animal-related groups, fitness, jewelry and other health-related participants. Hopefully there will be a VegFest again in 2012. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like attending community activities like this.

Thinking Ahead to October

I've got two more weeks of maintenance. At the beginning of October, I plan to go back to moderately restricting my calories. I'm hoping to keep my daily budget around 1,700-1,800. That's down from 2,000-2,200. More importantly, I plan to get back to walking 8,000 steps a day for most days of the week. The weather should be nicer, now that summer's coming to an end, so I'll be more motivated to walk.

My goal will be to try to lose 20 more pounds, before going back on maintenance again. After that, I'll try for the last 20 pounds. I'm not giving myself a time limit.

I'll probably stop having my 80 calorie cold latte with my afternoon snack. I'll also switch one of my servings of fruit back to baby carrots, or have the fruit in place of the granola bars I've been having as my snack in the afternoon. I may change from having Greek yogurt every day to having it every other day. I'd like to add almonds back into my meal plan. With colder weather, homemade soup will likely be my default for supper.

Small changes will add up. If I don't see benefits right away, I know they'll come eventually. Weight loss is my main goal, but at the same time, I'm also trying to make better food choices. If I don't lose weight quickly but I do improve the quality of what I'm eating, I still consider that a win.

I'm going to a vegan-themed festival tomorrow. Maybe I'll be lucky and find some new ways to make vegetables exciting.

Etsy Will Be the End of Me

I spend too much time at Etsy looking at lollipops. In addition to VintageConfections, I've now bought lollipops from TheGroovyBaker. Below is my first purchase.

Pictured: Winter Solstice lollipops
The description from the site sounds heavenly: "Think warm gingerbread with toffee sauce.... Pure Vanilla, Orange Zest, Pan Toasted Almonds, Pecans, Chopped Apricots and Dates. A splash of Brandy, a bit of ginger and a sprinkle of Vietnamese Cinnamon round it all out.... Topped with a bit of 23K edible gold dust for a bit of fabulousness."

What's not to like about that? I'll have to make these last a very long time.

Upcoming Events in Fall/Winter 2011

These are a few of the local events I'd like to attend this fall/early winter.

VegFest September 10
Celtic Classic September 23-25
Oktoberfest September 29-October 2, and October 6-9
Easton Garlic Festival October 1-2
Bethlehem Harvest Festival October 8
Christkindlmarkt November and December

I'm also hoping to make reservations for a holiday trip to Wheeling WV before the end of the year. It would be fun to make our annual holiday visit to the Tropicana in Atlantic City, too. The Christmas shows are always enjoyable.

Last year was my year for going to a lot of movies. This year has been my year for attending a lot of events. I like to think that's because I'm trying to be more physically active.

Italian Favorites from Franks

Because I'm on maintenance right now instead of a calorie deficit, I'm trying to go to some restaurants that hubby likes, but that don't have a lot of low calorie options for me. Today, we went to Franks, in Easton.

Pictured: (top) interior of the restaurant, (middle) hubby with other customers in the background, (bottom) one slice of white margarita pizza that was my lunch
Yum, pizza. It may not be good for the waistline, but it's good for the soul. Jay also had pizza, and we shared an order of fried zucchini sticks with marinara sauce. I don't even want to try to figure out the calories.

How to Dress When You're Top Heavy

I'm a top-heavy woman, and I have a difficult time finding the right kind of clothing to flatter my shape. Next time I shop, I hope to keep these helpful hints in mind.

TOPS:

• DON'T wear high necklines. DO wear V-neck, scoop, wrap and sweetheart necklines.
• DON'T show too much cleavage. DO wear camisoles.
• DON'T wear too tight or too baggy clothes. DO wear fabrics that skim the body, such as knits and wovens with stretch.
• DON'T wear tops with full or puffy sleeves, sleeveless tops or tops with spaghetti straps.
• DON'T wear tops with pockets and other details on the chest.
• DO wear wrap and corset blouses.
• DO wear cardigans that hit around the hip line, not the waist.

BOTTOMS:

• DON'T wear pencil skirts, tight jeans or pants with pleats. DO wear A-line skirts and flared pants.
• DO wear jeans with front and back pockets.

GENERAL:

• DON'T WEAR bulky clothing, especially sweaters.
• DON'T wear necklaces that hit the cleavage area or below. Do wear necklaces that hit just below the collarbone.
• DO wear dark colors on top and light colors on the bottom.
• DO wear empire and drop-waist dresses.

REFERENCES:

http://fashion.about.com/cs/tipsadvice/a/figurefixers.htm
http://gill-hart.suite101.com/fashion-tips-for-big-busts-a42352
http://www.ehow.com/how_2058787_dress-flatter-topheavy-figure.html

Hopefully, this will help me to better dress the body I have now, instead of waiting for the body I hope to have someday.

Favorite Restaurant Meals: Applebee's Steak and Potato Salad

Pictured: steak and potato salad (spinach, eggs, grilled sirloin steak, herb steamed potatoes, red peppers, onions, tomatoes, basil, Dijon vinaigrette), 380 calories for the entire salad
Picture from Applebee's
I had to find an image online for this salad. The colors in my photograph looked too bluish, probably because of the lighting at the restaurant. My salad did look pretty much like the one in this photograph.

This is one of my favorite restaurant salads. It's built on a base of spinach, rather than lettuce. The dressing on the salad is very light. Applebee's has a bunch of meals they advertise as being under 550 calories, as well as several Weight Watchers entrees, complete with Points values. My other favorite Applebee's meal is the Asiago Peppercorn Steak.

Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square PA

Below are a few pictures taken by myself and my husband at Longwood Gardens. It was a beautiful day for a visit. The sky was overcast, which was a blessing since the day was very humid.

More pictures can be found here
If I didn't already know that I still need to lose 35-40 pounds, that last picture would convince me. Every time I start to feel good about myself and what I've achieved, I get a photographic reality check. It scares me to think about myself at my highest weight.

We ate at the restaurant within the gardens. I know I shouldn't have had the dessert with my half sandwich and milk, but I figured I'd be walking a lot. I did manage to record almost 13,000 steps for the day. Hopefully, that was enough to use up a lot of the extra calories.

My Garden Runneth Over

Our tomatoes are finally ripening in our garden. This is a picture of a small portion of our tomato crop. We always end up with enough to feed the neighborhood. Good thing I have a friend who loves to can food. She's taking some of these to use in her own kitchen.

Tomatoes make a nice light afternoon snack. They don't have a lot of calories, and they can be served sliced with a little seasoning. There's no need to do anything fancy with them. One recipe I would like to try is this one. It's a good way to save tomatoes without having to go through the canning process.

For anyone curious about our garden, my husband has been doing container gardening in a greenhouse that he bought this summer.

Pictured: outside view of greenhouse, with squash growing on a trellis

Pictured: tomato plants have taken over the inside of the greenhouse