I got back from Austin late Saturday night tired and happy as my visit with my brother went well. We all were glad to get home especially the dog who hates car rides. Xena whined the entire time we were in the car and no comforting would make her feel any better about the car ride. That dog simply does not like car rides and goes into a panic mode when you put her into a car. I think next time I might ask the vet if I could sedate her if they still do those things. although I am personally not fond of the idea as my hubby is.
Food wise my hubby did great and I had a little struggle toward the end on the way home, but other than that I did good. My brother planned a menu that was diabetic friendly and heart healthy. I did have one debate with him that might interest some of you. He told me that the American Heart Ass says Canola Oil is better for you than Olive oil if you go to their webb sight. I haven't checked this out. It has something to do with the kind of fat in olive vs canola oil. Does any one know anything about this? I'm also going to put this question up in the forum and see what kind of answer I get. Anyway, we had a Quinoa dish which was good, I'll share the recipe latter on this week, a grilled eggplant dish, and hot dogs. My brother and I opted foe the vegetarian hot dogs, my hubby ate the low fat Kosher dog and every one else had some of those big fat dogs. Yea, I went vegetarian because I had always wanted to try those veggie dogs. The mexican flavored one is better than the Italian favored one. We had both to chose from and I took a taste to see which one I liked best. They both were around 13140 calories each, where as that kosher dog was 130 calorie, but it was smaller. I then had a taste of the angel food cake and fruit. The next day was left overs and Salmon. This time my hubby showed T, bros friend how to cook this particular kind of Salmon on the grill. We had bought some smoke salt from the Flagship Whole Foods we visited that morning and put some of that smoking salt on the Salmon. Yum, that was good.
After dinner, T. and I went out and walked the dogs while hubby and bro watched another movie. It felt good to move my legs after having been in the car for three hours and sitting on my duff for so long. My back has been hurting all week and i haven't been able to walk all week. So, this was the first walk I have taken in a week. I would have gone farther too if it hadn't been for that fact, but I thought I had better not over do it, besides, kids were beginning to light up fire works. The dogs did not like that at all.
There is a reason we sit around all day, my brother is handicapped. He has a disease that is eating away at his muscles. He can no longer walk or stand without help now and is pretty much bed ridden now or seat ridden. Taking him to the doctor is a big ordeal now. We have to come to him in order to get a visit in. Yes,seeing my brother deteriorating condition did upset me, but it's not like I didn't expect to see this. I talk to him all the time. He just never complains about how little he can do or what he can't do any more. He has always kept his attitude full of cheer about what's happing to him. In other words, he's the king of making lemonaid. So, hats off to my brother who is one of the bravest persons I know.
Well, I said I did ok food wise until the end. It was on the way home and my throat hurt from my allergies. I wanted something warm to drink and comforting, like coffee. Kind of unlike me, but that's what I wanted. ( Should have practiced my Beck craving muscles ! ) We stopped of at a convenience store and they had no coffee because it was at night. The man was not going to make ant either. I was weak and looked at the cappuccino machine. Ok, I'll fill my mug up with one of these. I should of looked in my CK book before I did this but I didn't. When I got home, I finished logging my food and saw I did all right for the day until I got to that cappuccino. Glad I logged my food !!! Today I will need to eat at the low end of my calorie range because I went above the maintenance calories for my weight range yesterday. This should balance me out with the walk I did. Thus the beauty of try to log even if you eat at a restaurant or out with family. I could break down some of their recipes by just putting down the ingredients and getting an idea as to what I was eating even though I don't know the exact recipe calorie count. I didn't know the eggplant recipe calorie stats, but as I watched it being made, I knew from experience it would be 70-90 calories for 1/2 cup because of the oil in it. I know it is always safe to only take 1/2 or 1/3 cup servings of whatever you are being served to stay within your portion allotments. So, here's my secret when at family gatherings, always use measuring cups to serve your self or take some with you when you travel in a bagie in your purse. Use the 1/3 cup for rice and pasta, 1/2 cup for veggies,grain,beans. Although some diabetics may want to go 1/3 with the beans to. If you only want to take one measuring cup with you, take the 1/2 measuring cup because you can figure out a third from it and all the others too. I even picked up a portable pocket size scale which can measure breads, fruits, and meats on it. Now all I have to do is stay away from cappuccino machines when I'm feeling out of it and I will do ok. Talk to you all tomorrow. The pic is of Pat, me and my brother. Pat's birthday was the fourth an bro's was the fifth !!!! We celebrated both of their birthdays this weekend.