Greek Marinated Cucumbers - or Cuke and Onions

Oh.....my......gosh......

So Keifer's is one of my most favorite places in Jackson (maybe of ever) to eat. Jonas and I probably go about 3 times a month. I almost always get the gyro with melted feta on whole wheat. And I almost always get the cottage fry to go with it to share, plus it's only like $3. But sometimes I like to mix it up and get the Cuke and Onion.......actually, I believe they re-did the menus and it is just called Cucumbers and Onions now.

Anyways, they are marinated cucumbers that come with feta dressing to dip them in, and it is one of the best things I think I have ever eaten. But they are like $5 or $6, and not much food, so I don't always get them.

Well, I figured out a marinate that makes my cucumbers taste almost exactly like theirs! I was so excited about this that I had to put this out there for you all to try. It may not be the most healthiest of way to eat cucumbers, but you are still getting your vegetables! And this is delicious! I don't even use any feta dressing with mine and it is still good! And so easy!

2 very large cucumbers or 3 medium/large cucumbers. Washed, skinned, and cut up however you prefer. I just sliced mine.

One small onion, sliced. (if you don't like onions, add them anyway for the flavor, and pick them out. However, I do not like the taste of white onions, but they are good after soaking in the marinade)

For the marinade:

1/4 cup of lemon juice
1/4 (or less) of Italian dressing
1/4 (or more) of white vinager

1 1/2 tablepsoons of sugar (more or less)
1 1/2 tablespoons of salt (more or less)

Pepper to taste
and I added some onion/garlic seasoning as well

Mix up all ingredients for marinade, then add cucumber and onion slices. Be sure to stir very well, and stir every hour or so.

Allow to sit in fridge for 3 - 5 hours (or longer) before devouring these delicious cuke and onions!

I just eat them right out of the bowl as a side dish, but they would be soooooo good on a salad as well.

Hope you enjoy!!

Spaghetti Squash Recipe

As per requested, here is my spaghetti squash recipe!

Find the largest spaghetti squash you can at the grocery store, or smaller if you like a lot of sauce. I find a large squash works well with one jar of spaghetti sauce. This is what they look like: (not my picture)

You want to cut it lengthwise, down the middle from top to bottom, and remove the seeds with a fork or spoon from the middle.Lay it on a cookie sheet, rind side up, cut side down, and bake it at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes. (I've also read you can cook it at 350 for 60 - 70 minutes, but the 375 also works for me.)

Once it's cooked, pick up the squash with something to shield the heat - because it will be HOT. Use a fork to shred out the squash. It should look like very thin spaghetti. Kinda like this: (not my picture)

Next, mix with whatever sauce and meat you prefer to eat regular spaghetti with!
I like Kroger brand Homestyle Parmesan and Asiago sauce mixed with a pound of ground lean turkey, mushrooms, and a few marinated artichokes.

No pasta is used in this dish. Enjoy!

My First Day

Well. Hello. I have recently been inspired to write a blog. I hate keeping blogs, so if I write more than 2 entries, it will be amazing. I believe this is the 3rd or 4th blog I have attempted to start. The others cease to exist. But I do think I have too much to say about eating, exercising, and whatever else goes on in my life.

So since reading Tina's blog and her friend Candace's blog about what they eat for 2 weeks, I kinda wanted to do it too, for myself if not for anyone else's amusement. So for two weeks, I am going to try to log everything I want to eat, and why I eat it. I have to admit, I am a creature of habit....I eat a lot of the same things everyday. But hey, that's fewer pictures I've got to take (which by the way, I think I went a little overboard...)

So I decided around 6:30 this morning when I woke up that I wanted to try to do this. So I started taking multiple pictures of my preparations for eating my cereal. Yes, I said preparation with an "s". Oh, and all pics are with my phone, so not great. But not terrible? Maybe?

So first, I start with Kellogg's Protein Plus flakes. This cereal has 10 grams of protein and 100 calories per 3/4 of a cup, but I probably only add about 1/3 cup to my bowl (maybe 20 calories). I add this to my cereal because I am always looking for ways to add more protein to any meal.

Next, I add Muesli to my cereal. This is a Kroger brand cereal that has raisins (fruit #1), almonds, dates, and whole grain flakes....and is pretty dang good. It is chock full of 14 vitamins and minerals, and has 5 grams of protein per 2/3 cup, along with 190 calories, and 3 grams of fat (from the almonds). I eat about 1/3 cup, about 90 calories.

Then, I add my last cereal - Kellogg's Bran Buds. This cereal is loaded with fiber at 13 grams, and 70 calories per 1/3 cup, and I probably eat the entire serving.

After the cereals, I add my flax seeds. I used the grounds seeds before, but just switched over to the whole seeds and like them much better. A serving size is 2 tablespoons with 8 grams of fat, 90 calories, 6 grams of fiber, and 4 grams of protein. While the fat content is kinda high, the benefits of eating flax seeds are way better than worrying about how much fat is in it. Plus, it's good fat! I usually eat half the serving size every time. So we'll say 35 calories.

Time for the fruit! I LOVE fruit with my cereal. Not only does it make it taste delicious, but strawberries and blueberries have so much good stuff in them, it's ridiculous. And on top of that, I will have 3 servings of fruits with my cereal (don't forget the raisins and dates....they count too!) I usually have 2 - 3 strawberries, and about 10 - 20 blueberries. One medium strawberry has about 4 calories, so I'll say I have about 10. One cup of blueberries has about 80 calories, and I probably eat a quarter cup - around 20 calories.

Lastly, I add my skim milk. One cup has 80 calories, and I usually have an entire cup.

I eat that every single morning, so if I say, "I had my cereal for breakfast" all that stuff is what I am talking about. After adding all the calories, I have about 325 - 350 every morning for breakfast. It may seem like a lot, but it keeps me full usually until lunch....as long as I'm not bored. :)

Around 10:00, I take Jonas to the train station. He will be in New Orleans for the week with a work trip. I head to the grocery store to get stuff to make Spaghetti Squash for dinner. Take my groceries home, then head to Lowe's to get some hostas to plant around my oak tree in the front yard....More on this when they look good.

Around 11:00am, I have a tablespoon of Natural Peanut Butter. One of my weaknesses next to chocolate. It has 190 calories for 2 tablespoons, so I had about 95 calories. We are at 420 now.

After my planting, I grab a banana (90 cal), a slice of cheese (60 cal) and a slice of turkey (25 cal) before heading to the gym. At 595 so far. (Sorry, no pics here.)

Get back from teaching an hour Spin class and taking a 65 minute power yoga class, coming in at burning 1100 calories today. Whoo! Got plenty of calories to catch up on.

As soon as I come home, I have a glass of skim chocolate milk (helps for muscle recovery, so I hear) at 180 cal per cup. And I had the entire serving. DELICIOUS. Then I start to make that spaghetti squash, with Kroger's Home-style Parm and Asiago sauce (100 cal per serving), 1 pound of turkey meat, can of mushrooms, and a few added artichokes. I had probably one serving with a glass of wine. Maybe 350 calories? Plus the Barefoot chardonnay at 93 cal per 4 oz.....whoa.....so I probably had 8 oz, around 186. About 536 calories for dinner.

Then I had another half serving...grr.....I was hungry! Plus a little extra wine. So I'll say about 350 more.

So far....

Breakfast - 325

peanut butter - 95

snack before workout - 175

workout - (-1100)

chocolate milk - 180

dinner - 886

Daily total = 561 :) Pretty successful day I think.

I probably sweated most of those off while trying to plant my Hostas. It was so freaking hot outside today....

Over and Out.

EDIT - forgot to add my vitamins for the day: Multivitamin with cereal; and 30 mg Zinc, 600 mg Calcium with vitamin D, and fish oil after dinner.