"Post Thanksgiving"

There's a pun in THAT title! ;)

Think I am the only person who ate Thanksgiving dinner (or dinners) and lost weight!

There were many items for dinner and dessert to tempt me to giving in and bearing the consequences but I was strong! I did have a teaspoonful of stuffing. I only ate the non-wheat, non-dairy food. I made a three bean salad which tasted excellent if I do say so myself! Since all were more interested in eating the naughty food, as I usually am, I got to bring home a lot of the salad for myself. (I will post my recipe below.)

Being a chocoholic and lover of tiramisu I did have to try a little of that and blackout cake. Both I have had better but it was a nice little treat. Usually I get a great expresso/rum buzz from tiramisu, this version was severely lacking but still tasty. The blackout cake, good, not overly sweet.

Yes, and I lost a pound! Then again, I did take a nap yesterday and sleep through dinner until breakfast this morning but when I weighed in yesterday, nothing gained!

So Delicious makes a French Vanilla creamer for tea and coffee which I like a lot! It has a great creaminess to it most of the non-dairy creamers do not, plus not all the fake God only knows what is in it chemicals and casein (part of my milk allergy).

My local Stop n Shop was re-vamped so I finally found the health food section. They have lots of gluten free items there. I found pretzels which are good but have a little soy lecithin but no gluten, dairy, casein, or eggs; I think eggs get to me too but maybe only when I have peaked past my systems limits.

My Christmas shopping is complete except for baking. I will be baking biscuits for the dogs again since they loved them so much. I believe I covered everyone on my list but if I end up adding anyone, I will take care of that present after Chanukah starts when the stores will be less crowded. Me and K talked about chipping in for something but that will be a shared fun gift and probably bought after Christmas when funds are back to normal, maybe for our birthdays since I am an Aquarius and he a Pisces. We already decided the need for a case of Godiva's when we meet... now you know why I love having him as my friend!

Enjoy the weekend, back soon with more status updates, new food trials, etc.

Peace, love, meryl

3 Bean Salad
1 – 1 1/2 cups cooked Quinoa (per package directions)
1 can each (15 ounce cans):
Garbanzo (chick peas), Pinto and Small Red beans; rinsed
1 tsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 – 1 cup honey Dijon salad dressing (I used Maple Grove Farms
fat free, gluten free)
dash of Ginger

I cooked my Quinoa, mixed and served salad in a 2.5 quart microwaveable glass dish with cover. Add rinsed, raw beans to cooked Quinoa. Add remaining ingredients and chill. Enjoy!

I think adding almonds or walnuts would add a nice, tasty crunch to this salad but I didn’t have any. Of course, you can always swap in more and/or different beans. When I ate this on Thanksgiving, the corn got mixed in and tasted nice so next time I am adding some to the mix.