Breakfast: I had a Celebrate Vitamins Vanilla Cake Batter ENS Shake. I point a lot of newer post-ops toward this shake. Not only does it taste yummy but it has some added vitamins and fiber and in those early weeks all the added good stuff the better. If you are early on looking for a liquid protein source hit the Celebrate Vitamins website and print out the stats to bring to your next Dr. appointment for their thumbs up. For us old timers, it just tastes great. Comes in Vanilla Cake Batter (my fav to shake up in my blender bottle), Chocolate Milk (my fav in Frozen Yogurt Cubes) and Strawberry (my fav mixed in Greek yogurt.)
Spent most of the holiday doing laundry and cleaning bathrooms. Ohhh the glamorous life.
Lunch: I eventually thought I needed to do something outside the house so I packed up my bento box with some goodies and took off to the park for a walk and some fresh air.
Pink Box (top left): Mango Slices and a dollop of Pineapple Cottage Cheese
Green Box (top right): Sliced Tomato and Fresh Basil
Blue Box (bottom left): Ham Roll-ups, Mustard, Olives
Orange Box (bottom right): Individual Fresh Mozzarella Ball (LOVE these)
I love these individual fresh mozzarella balls that BelGioioso makes. Have you seen these?! So perfect for us. Each bag contains 6 - 1oz individually packaged fresh mozzarella balls. I don't know about you but I can go a little overboard with fresh mozzarella so these will keep me on the straight and narrow. Look for them in your deli fridge section.
More bento box lunches
It was gorgeous out and I stayed most of the afternoon at the park. Worked on my computer a bit (thank you City of Temecula for your free wifi) and enjoyed the day.
I got home and did a little gardening. I've given up on the grass. It's dead and patchy already. I'd have a water bill through the roof if I wanted a lawn but I deheaded roses, weeded and picked the first tomatoes!
Dinner: I BBQ'd some Beef & Mushroom Kabobs. Cubes of Top Sirloin I marinated overnight in a little Greek Seasoning, a Tablespoon of Olive Oil and a Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar. Toss meat cubes till coated. Refrigerate. Assemble kabob skewers alternating meat and mushroom and BBQ'd them about 8 minutes (4 and flip.)
I served them with a Greek Yogurt Dip (just Greek Yogurt, Greek Seasoning, Dried Mint, Salt & Pepper) and made a meatless batch of my Garbanzo and Green Bean Salad and a handful of fresh picked, warm from the sun cherry tomatoes grown by yours truly.
Snacks: Too much coffee and for dessert I made a batch of my Fluff Stuff. I was planning on making Red, White & Blue Strawberry Cannoli which has become a tradition but the strawberries this week were not the best. The past few weeks they have been great but this week not so much, must be a lull in the local crops.
Shelly's Fluff Stuff
1 cup Boiling Water
1 box (4-serving size - the small one) Sugar Free Orange Jello Mix
3 1/2 oz Greek Yogurt
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Torani Syrup (I used SF Vanilla but any fruity flavor would work too)
1/2 cup Mandarin Orange Segments (in 100% juice), drained
Pour boiling water slowly over jello mix. Stir till dissolved. Set aside. Mix yogurt & syrup together till well combined (If you want to boost the protein even more you can mix a few Tablespoons of protein powder into the yogurt and syrup Mmmm Chike Orange Creme would be great in this one.) Add to Jello mixture.
Beat with an electric mixer till well combined. I use this gadget.
Place in fridge for 1 hour. Remove from fridge and beat again for 5 minutes till fluffy. Fold in fruit. Put back in fridge and allow to set fully (about 2 hours.)
I served a scoop with a squirt Homemade No Sugar Added Whipped Cream. You can use any fruit (fresh, frozen defrosted or canned drained), any Jello flavor, any Torani Syrup flavor.
No Sugar Added Homemade French Vanilla Whipped Cream
1 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free French Vanilla Torani Syrup (any flavor will do)
Whisk till well combined. Fill whipping cream to the fill line of the whipper. Screw on the top. Insert the CO2 cartridge till it empties, unscrew that. Put the nozzle on, shake a few times and squirt away. It makes a ton, store it in the fridge for up to 10 days just give it another few shakes before squirting. Soooo good.
More days in my pouch
Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Memorial Day is about honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. I honor them and all military and their families ✰✰✰ Thank you.
