No hormones...except for my own!

Hi all :) I hope your Tuesday was not as HOT as mine! I feel like I could not cool down! I think the AC in my car needs a service because it was not getting very cold.

So, I've been doing some work on my nutrition. I won't call it "diet" because I'm not technically supposed to be on a diet. I'm the normal weight for my size. However, having PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome, which I first blogged about here), I am supposed to cut bad carbs and sugar. I did this good for several months but once I fell off the wagon, I'm having a hard time getting back on. In a way this isn't TOO bad because I am on a medicine that helps my body now, and I was really consuming too many things with "fake" sugar when I was doing almost no carbs/sugar. So, I'm no longer putting Splenda in my coffee. I was putting two packs a day. I have also cut out the large amounts of Crystal Light I was consuming. I'm no longer eating sugar free candies.

Along, with needing to cut out fake sugar as well as bad sugar, I also need to make sure I'm not consuming any hormones. We don't want them interacting negatively with mine. Honestly, this isn't really a blog post I ever thought I would do. On occasion, the thought of any meat simply makes me nauseous. I have never been much of a meat eater. In fact, I never ate a steak or hamburger until I met hubby. When I met him, I tried ALL kinds of meats. Now, eating low carbs, I must still eat meat! I love eating fish but besides that, we eat a lot of ground turkey and chicken. Every once in a while hubby eats steak. I do have friends (really just one in my every day life) that has read Skinny Bitch and absolutely refuses to eat any meat. While I totally understand her reasoning, my life and body simply cannot go without meat. It would really just be one more stress factor that I don't have the time or patience to deal with. I have made an effort to go to get cage free chicken products or buy from family farms. I buy groceries at Whole Foods, Food Pyramimd, Target & Wal-Mart.

Target, which will soon be the closest grocery store to my house, has a great line of lean beef that has no hormones or antibiotics. It is called Laura's Lean Beef. You can read about it on the website. I was happy to see lots of packages with the green packaging, therefore options. I will be trying it soon. *You can click the images to enlarge for reading.



(from the website)The following products highlighted in red have been certified by the American Heart Association: Laura's 96% Lean Ground Round, 96% Lean Ground Sirloin, Sirloin Steak, Beef Pot Roast Au Jus, and Shredded Beef with Barbecue Sauce.

The chicken I like best also comes from Target. The brand is Gold'n Plump. Click here and it will link you to their "Passion & Promise" (mission statement) on their website. I like what it has to say and the fact that it is raised by family farmers.


The ground turkey we like is Honeysuckle. I usually get this at Wal-Mart or Food Pryamid. Wal-Mart is cheaper. However, for the LONGEST time, every time I went, they were out! They finally started carrying a MUCH larger selection. I am not sure if Target carries this or not. The website is great and gives recipes and shows the other products you can buy. Visit it here. I always get the 99% fat free but I know they have others...like maybe 83/7 or something.



With chicken, we make this recipe the most. I made it one time and hubby loved it. He pretty much wants it once a week. Well, I don't really have a "recipe" but here are the things I use...

We cook the chicken in a skillet then put the taco seasoning on when it is almost done. Cut up the peppers and some onion. Mix all together while cooking a bit longer..then sprinkle cheese on top if you would like. We call this chicken fajitas and we usually end up pairing it with these....
I try all kinds of salsa but I also end up with Pace in the fridge. Also, we have been eating these Mission Carb Balance tortillas since they came out. There are two sizes and this is the smaller one. They are a great source of fiber with 8 grams each. They only have 4 carbs and 80 calories. Not bad at all!

With ground turkey, we have also been making the same dish for quite some time. I cook the ground turkey on the stove. I mix drain and use a can of Rotel and drain and rinse half a can of black beans. We then either put it on a salad or make "wraps" with the larger version of the tortilla above.

I've been trying to also use a new recipe each week. Last week I did the stuffed red peppers with ground turkey. Tonight I used this recipe..

Indgredients

* 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked egg noodles
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 pound ground turkey
* 1 tablespoon minced onion
* 1 cube chicken bouillon, crumbled
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
* 1/2 cup water
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* salt to taste

1. Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place the egg noodles in the pot, cook 6 to 8 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the turkey and onion in the skillet and cook until turkey is evenly brown and onion is tender. Mix in the bouillon.
3. Stir the cream of mushroom soup and water into the skillet. Cook and stir until heated through. Season with paprika and salt. Serve over the cooked egg noodles.

The recipe was set up to be a stroganoff but I changed it just a bit. Instead of using cream of mushroom, I used cream of chicken. Also, instead of the egg noodles, I used these...


If we eat pasta (which isn't very often), I try to make a few select brands. The Ronzoni Smart Taste pasta has calcium and fiber in it. It turned out yummie......(this is everything mixed together).

I got the above recipe from www.allrecipes.com.

I know this post was rather random concerning meat and all. Everything I said is strictly my opinion in what hubby and I like. If you are looking, hopefully you can find these. If you aren't, hopefully you are happy with what you are eating!

love love ~ Megan