7 More Things

Christina tagged me the same week that Errign did, so I decided to wait to tell you 7 more things about me.  Were you waiting with breathless anticipation??!! 😀

1. My grandma on my Dad’s side lived with us for several years.  She was a stern, overly religious person, who would routinely request my presence on Sunday mornings to watch Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson – televangelists!   She even had me send in donations from some of my babysitting money!  On the day of school pictures, 8th grade I believe, she handed me and my sister each a pin that said “Jesus First” on it.  She demanded we wear the pins during our school pictures, otherwise she’ll know we didn’t wear them.  My sister, always the rebellion, took hers off as soon as we walked out the door.  Sadly, my 8th grade picture is of me in my apple turtleneck and Dorothy Hamill haircut, with a pin that says “Jesus First.”   (I thought I had a picture, but I couldn’t find it!)
2. My Dad was always a dreamer – his loves were the ocean and sailing.  Growing up we lived in a townhouse, with a front yard the size of a postage stamp and no backyard.  That didn’t prevent my Dad from building a replica of the boat he hoped to sail on one day, and after dinner on nights with a breeze, he would put the boat on the hood of our car – a baby blue Pinto.  We called it “sailing on Lake Pinto.”   Unfortunately, it was one dream my Dad didn’t get to realize. 🙁
3. My grandpa on my Mom’s side was missing half of his thumb.  We would always visit in the summer, and one time when I asked him what had happened, he said “a crab bit it off!”  I believed that for years!
4. When I played field hockey in college I played in the football stadiums of Ohio University, Vanderbuilt, American University and Old Dominion.  For some reason my brother Charlie didn’t know that fact until this past Christmas!
5. One of my first days at college, I was rushing from field hockey practice to get to the dining hall before it closed – as I was walking by, a guy walked by and said “dike on spikes!”  My first reaction was to turn around and call him a name back, but I held my tongue.  And while I was not a lesbian, he was gay, and his roommates were complete a-holes, so he stayed with me and my roommate most of the time – he would fix my hair, and if there was any girl on campus that had an outfit I liked, he would track them down and borrow it for me!  He was one of my best friends, but sadly, when we were 34, he committed suicide.  I found a nice circa 1986 picture of us though!  
6. I can’t paint for shit.  Tony has pretty much banned me from any painting projects!
7. My brother Charlie could always tell me and my sister apart – even as babies!

So the low sodium granola I made for my friend were supposed to be bars, but they never stuck together, so it became granola!  It was from Eating Well – I love both the magazine and their website – nutrition for every recipe!

Honey Almond Granola

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 tablespoon flaxseeds, preferably golden
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 cup unsweetened whole-grain puffed cereal (see Note)
• 1/3 cup currants
• 1/3 cup chopped dried apricots
• 1/3 cup chopped golden raisins
• 1/4 cup creamy almond butter
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar (I used light brown sugar)
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat an 8-inch-square pan with cooking spray.
2. Spread oats, almonds, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds on a large, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the oats are lightly toasted and the nuts are fragrant, shaking the pan halfway through, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl. Add cereal, currants, apricots and raisins; toss to combine.
3. Combine almond butter, sugar, honey, vanilla and salt in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low, stirring frequently, until the mixture bubbles lightly, 2 to 5 minutes.
4. Immediately pour the almond butter mixture over the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon or spatula until no dry spots remain. Transfer to the prepared pan. Lightly coat your hands with cooking spray and press the mixture down firmly to make an even layer (wait until the mixture cools slightly if necessary). Refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes; cut into 8 bars.

Nutrition

Per serving  (1.5 ounces) : 244 Calories; 10 g Fat; 1 g Sat; 5 g Mono; 5 g Protein; 3 g Fiber; 74 mg Sodium; 313 mg Potassium

My plan is to come up with 7 simple breakfasts, lunches and dinners for her so she doesn’t have to resort to buying Seattle Sutton – if anyone has any low sodium recipes they’ve tried, I would appreciate it! 😀

Breakfast:  1 low carb tortilla, 1/4 cup black beans, 1/4 corn (finally finished both of those!), 2/3 cup sliced potatoes, 1 slice deli ham, 1/2 ounce reduced fat cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup liquid egg whites.

Lunch:  2 medium carrots, 1/2 green pepper drizzled with 1 tbsp. Annie’s goddess dressing, a rachel on carb balance tortillas:  3 ounces turkey breast, 1/3 cup sauerkraut and 1 ounce swiss cheese – Pam fried to make the tortillas crunchy – dipped in 1 tablespoon of horseradish sauce – yum!

Hannah and I can pretty much eat Mexican food every day and never get sick of it.  The only problem is I may LOVE it a bit much.  My hands kept reaching into the tortilla chip bag to dip in the roasted tomato salsa (which no one liked but me!).  But Hannah has finals this week, so I wanted to make her favorite dinners – the potstickers and rice the night before and last night – TACO FIESTA!

While I didn’t weigh everything for this, my estimate is that dinner comes in at 706 calories, 26 fat, 67 carbs, 44 protein and 2 fiber.

Stats for Wednesday:

• 1,493 calories
• 53 fat
• 155 carbs
• 93 protein
• 33 fiber
• 40 minute The Firm DVD at lunch

I have to jump in the shower before Hannah gets up – have a great Thursday! 😀