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.

Bean There Done That

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!

Bean There Done That

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.

Bean There Done That

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.

Bean There Done That

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?

Bean There Done That

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.

Bean There Done That

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.

Bean There Done That