The Daily Bean Sunday 2/19/12

It might be easier if I go backwards. Today was enchiladas with sautéed onions, peppers, spinach, refried black beans and tomatillo sauce. Saturday was Mexican style savory bread pudding with black beans squash and corn (veggies courtesy of locavorious). I also had a felafel for lunch. Friday was pistou at Mediterano, Thursday was edamame and Wednesday was too. Not bad!

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Won't you bean my valentine?

The in-law trip went well. Husband only got mad at me once...got a little post-nap crabbiness but the walk on the beach cured me.

Went beanless on Fri and Sat but returned to the bean world on Sunday with a CPK BBQ chicken salad (had black beans) and a Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake frozen meal for lunch on Monday. Those are good. Spicy though. Tonight I am making my valentine shrimp with white beans - a new recipe from the latest Real Simple magazine.

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It's Bean a Week 2/10/12

I headed down to FL on Wed and didn't get too stressed about the bean thing. Turned out ok. On Wed we ate at a fast food place called Pollo Tropicale and I had black beans in my rice bowl. And last night when I met up with the husband and the in-laws at Bonefish Grill I had the grouper which came with chickpeas. Yay. Today though, I couldn't make it happen.

If I don't have beans but continue to get along well with the in-laws, all will be good. Wish me luck.

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Doing the Bean Theang

Well, I've been doing the bean thing since December and the weight is not dropping off. As a matter of fact, I have gained. I exercise six days a week, I eat beans 90% of the days and I gain weight. Why? 1)I eat too much. 2)portion control does not exist 3)did I mention that i like to eat? Maybe too many cocktails too... But I can't drink too much - I just fall asleep.

Sigh.

I head to FL this week. Looked at the weather and it is gonna be gorgeous. Eating with the inlaws could be a challenge... Lots of white foods. I will have to be mindful and eat fish and beans every day.

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One Month Down....

Goodbye January. I took two days off, but that doesn't mean I'm a failure or that I should throw it all away...I just wish some of the meals had turned out better. I'm still a bean believer.

Sunday's lentil and cheese casserole was ok, but the rice didn't cook enough. And Tuesday's black bean soup was bland and undercooked too. I kept cooking it and added a lot of Frank's so it actually wasn't bad for lunch today. Oh wow, today was a double bean day. Made a ragout of onions, peppers, seitan, tomatoes and white beans served over whole wheat wooden shoe pasta for dinner and that will be good for lunch tomorrow.

I know what you're thinking...what about Monday? Well, Monday was TAD day (bonus!!!) and the husband won a project. So we went out for dinner. Had this great cocktail called The Last Word. Made with chartreuse, gin, and something else...good... Reminded me of my favorite Zingermans Roadhouse drink, Corpse Reviver 2. Husband had something with raw egg in it...what a risk taker! The bar tender we recognized from two other places around town that we have frequented ( one is closed now). And we ran into one of my WICs. Maybe we really are townies. Anyways, I have these wasabi soybeans in my car for emergencies and had some on the way to dinner.

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Back on the Bean Wagon 1/23-28

I made it through my travels, no problem, but for some reason I just wasn't into it the last two days. Ate healthy and exercised but no beans. That doesn't mean beans are over, it doesn't mean anything. They were just a couple of rest days. I'm back on the bean wagon tomorrow - gonna make some lentil cheese casserole.

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Bean Awhile 1/18-1/22

Bean awhile. My birthday was on the 18th and still tooting along.
Kept eating Scott's lentil soup and throwing edamame on salads. But today I made corn chowder and used a can of white beans... It's a recipe from that cute Rocco guy on healthy low cal great tasting cooking. He uses Greek yogurt a lot. Great recipe... I add a little bit of cod, paprika, smoked black pepper and corn from Locavorius. Locavorius is an amazing CSA that takes fresh fruits and vegetables from local farms, preps and freezes them. Then you get shares in December, Jan, March, and April - just in time to start getting good fresh stuff again. The blueberries are the most bestest. And there are Michigan strawberries too. I love Locavorius'!!!!!

So... The streak lives on. Big challenge this week will be travel to Salt Lake with someone else's meeting......

Bean There Done That

Lentils are Beans Too. 1/16 & 1/17

Yesterday had leftover chili but today my husband made a really yummy lentil soup and I'm eating the leftovers tomorrow at lunch...on my birthday. Yippee!

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1/12, 1/13, 1/14, 1/15. Road Survival

It really wasn't a huge problem, although I went from the heights - black beans at Mesa Grill and veggie/lentil burger at the Burger Bar to the low of southwestern egg rolls at Binion's Cafe.

Good to bean home :-). First stop was Zingermans Roadhouse for a Corpse Reviver 2... And some ancho chili with black beans.

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The Numbers are Cold and the Beans are Hot 1/10 &1/11

Sitting here in Vegas...typical first morning up at 4am... I don't bet much but whatever I did was not good. I did find one of my two fave slot machines "Hot "Flashes. First time ever that I couldn't get the bonus and watch a man crawl in and out of the doghouse. You'd have to see it, it is really pretty funny.

I have this amazing suite because it was cheaper than a meeting room. So I'm sitting here in a living room/dining room the size of my family room at home. Weird.

I asked my boss to take us/my managers to a nice dinner as reward for a hard working great results year. I gave a few choices and they picked Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill. I was excited to go there and knew they would have some good bean choices. One of the appetizers was a quesadilla with black beans in it. Everything was very very delicious. I also tried some refried beans on toast for breakfast before leaving for the airport in the morning. Not so good. And one of my peeps brought me these bags of dry roasted edamame. They're ok.

Day before was pretty boring. Ate a lot of pizza and threw some edamame on a salad. But the streak lives on.

I need to get to a store today for some fruit and figure out a plan.

Bean There Done That

Ho hum 1/8 & 1/9

It hasn't been a problem eating beans. A little hummus here, a little edamame on the salad there....I bought a frozen beans and greens thing at Whole Foods on Saturday. Thought it would make a quick and easy dinner with a bag of frozen farro/rice. Frozen beans? Wouldn't that be great? They weren't great. Hardly any greens and the beans were kind of shriveled or something. Then I was afraid it wouldn't be enough so I threw some rice milk in a pot with brown sugar, green curry paste, frozen asparagus and frozen peeled shrimp. Altogether it made a decent low cal, healthy and tasty meal.

My biggest challenge to date is coming up. Heading to Las Vegas on Wednesday. How will I get my beans on the road? Stay tuned.

Bean There Done That

Sufferin' Succotash 1/6 & 1/7

We were invited to a dear friend's for dinner last night. Her son and mine grew up together. One of those things where they practically grew up in each other's houses. HeR son now goes to school in Texas and is home on break. She is going on sabbatical to AZ for a few months. So she threw.a little dinner party for 5 of us families. Very laid back, relaxing, fun. Great way to end the week.

All of the kids on one end of the table, adults, or should I say old folks, on the other end. Looking down at the kiddie end I see my kid with a beer in hand. OK. That's something new. He wasn't driving and he is in college, and he only had one....no need to panic. If he went to college far away, I wouldn't have a clue as to all of the shenanigans going on, right?

I brought a little succotash since it was a kosher non-dairy meal and I hadn't had my beans yet. Used a jar of corn relish from one of my WICs - from her husband's garden (he made the relish). Added some black and white beans. Threw in a red bell pepper. Delish. Best part was sitting across the table from a friend's son that works with me, pointing at the dish and smiling knowingly.

When I made the succotash, I made a second batch without the corn relish, added olive oil, vinegar and frozen edamame. Ate it for lunch today.

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Edamame counts 1/5/12

I love this little trick. I make myself a salad for lunch in the morning and throw in some frozen edamame (sounds so much better than soybeans), and by lunch time they're thawed. "That was easy". What ever happened to that ad campaign any way?

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USA Today Steams my Beans. 1/4/12

Did you see the USA Today? Big article about beans - their fiber, health benefits, etc. and making a new years rez to eat them 3+ times/week-all of the reasons for what I'm doing. Pretty cool.

I went to a spin class after work with my assistant. My managers and I had bought him a gift certificate for Xmas and I offered to go with him his first time. It was fun, but like my own bike and profiles better. She was good for a new instructor, but I quickly find myself getting very critical. I was hoping to pick up some new tips ..no luck, oh well. Kevin really liked it and I'm glad.

Got home took a quick shower and ate leftover delicious soup that the husband made on Monday. Soooooooo good. Full of greens, other veggies and of course-beans.

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Wish I Hadn't Done That 1/3/12

We had a welcome lunch for new team members today and went around the room telling our new year resolutions. Ok it was my idea. But I didn't know that I would be the only person with a resolution ... Let alone eating beans every day....oy. I made myself vulnerable to all kinds of comments and questions. Bottom line - what a freak. At least someone gave me the idea that chocolate covered espresso beans count.

I had some leftover chilaquiles for breakfast, some black beans with lunch and some edamame with dinner. Does that mean I get credit for the next two days?

Bean There Done That

Hap-bean New Year 1/1/12 and 1/2/12

Got home from our mini vacation on New Years day feeling great - relaxed and energized. It was so nice to hang with great peeps, eating, drinking, and catching up on lots of non-work things. So I decided to make chilaquiles, a kind of Mexican lasagna with strips of corn tortillas instead of noodles. Frontera Grill white chili starter plus tomatoes, and some extra white beans for sauce and cheese and sour cream. It was sooooo good.

Then today it was back to work. Up at 6:30, onto the spin bike for 45 min. Husband was off today - like the rest of the world...so the darling did all of the laundry and made an amazing soup with yellow squash, kales, white and kidney beans, and some other yummy stuff. It was delicious.

What will tomorrow bring? Hopefully a sweet victory for Michigan in the Sugar Bowl.

Bean There Done That

New Years Eve 12/31/2011

Yes, I ate beans last night. It was a lentil goop as side dish with an Indian cauliflower dish.

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