Being Souper

I love soups! My husband, not so much, but my lunches are for me! And with my new awesome bento box it is even easier for me to enjoy them during lunch. The challenge is that I love cream soups which directly conflicts with the 4-hour body diet.

So my new challenge to myself is to find soups that are 4-Hour friendly but I enjoy. My top two lately have been:

Edward & Son's Miso soup - This one can be found in most supermarkets (because if my Kroger has it, so does yours) but it hides in the organic section. It has 7 grams of Carbs and you can make with hot water from your office coffee maker. I'm also a sucker for Miso Soup

Gazpacho - There are like a million different ways to make this, but either way you blend it (ha!) it's just veggies in a food processor. Tomatoes can get your carb count up (I saw from 4g to 7g on the web per serving) so make sure you incorporate plenty of other veggies like peppers and cucumbers so you don't end up with more carbs than you planned. 

Cool Cucumber Soup - It's hot in Georgia so I need some more cold options. This is the most cheater of the soups because of the yogurt but I've learned to let Greek yogurt slide into my diet because it's very high in protein (for 9g of carbs, you get 23g of protein) and it is a perfect sour cream substitute. I use the Healthy Foodie's recipe for this soup.

She's alive! and she's changing things up

This year has not been a good blogging year for me. Maybe it's because I've been so happy (and busy) with my life I'm not getting around to it as much as I should. I still have been making lunches in my new bento box, but I would not use "pretty" to describe them.

So I'm taking a page from Brandi who runs Brandi Nell the Southern Belle to make my blog more of what I am doing and loving but still keeping the bentos in them. You'll still see my attempts at bentos and healthy options, but look for more of my other love - hiking.

Today I want to share a recipe that I found on Dirty Gourmet that is excellent to go on hikes and in bentos, Grit Cakes.

They're great for hikes because you can pack them along for a morning bite and great for bentos because of all the shapes you can make them. I hate grits but I love these grit cakes.

This past weekend, my husband and I warmed up by hiking up Stone Mountain. I wish I had these cakes along to enjoy at the top!

He told me I wasn't looking happy enough at first, so here's my top of the mountain dance. 

Bento dieting

New year and I'm back! I have not been very good about blogging lately, but it's a new year and a new kickstart on the diet so here I am. I'm learning that I'm good at dieting in the first three months, then it's about maintaining until the holiday season (which is magical no rules time).

Anyway, for christmas my husband got me the coolest bento...the Mr. Bento Lunch Jar! Now it's easier to make meals that I can have small portions and big protein in. Below is my first meal in my new bento. Moving clockwise we have a salad, my "snack pack" consisting of almonds, olives, the some fruit roll and salad dressing, then it's turkey chili and we end with Tomato soup. 

The salad I now make as a big ziploc bag at the start of the week and just pour in portions throughout the week. The soup is from the organic section (Pacific Natural) and comes in a carton so I also just portion a bit every lunch day. Throw in some leftovers and we have a super fast and healthy lunch!

4 hour diet note- I found the lowest carb soups to be the organic ones. Even when it was a creamy soup, it had at least 5 less carbs than Campbell's or Progresso. 

The post thanksgiving sandwich

My favorite part of thanksgiving is the meal I get to enjoy the next day. Here's my take on this ultimate sandwich.

Layer 1- primer
I lack good bread (due to previous sandwiches) but I still start with gravy and mayo on the bread I have

Layer 2- the meat
Then stack with turkey and stuffing/dressing. My husband's recipe for dressing takes 2 days and it slices so well that you can really stack it.

Layer 3-the middle
No sandwich is complete without cranberry sauce, from a can please.

The finale
Serve with other sides (my were made by my mom and are out of this world!)and enjoy!

Post thanksgiving lunch

A small lunch with some turkey day leftovers. Nothing fancy, but very delicious! Turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce and a small portion of stuffing. Grapes not pictured because I could not make them look cute.

Halloween Bentos

Halloween is the funniest time to make bentos! I have not started any of mine yet, but I've got some good ideas to go off of. Here's one from Bento Anarchy that I love!

More to come!

Finally! There's an app for that!

Now that there is a blogger app, I hope it becomes way easier to update posts (please blogger make an iPad version though!)

Anyway, let's catch up with a slacker lunch for a lazy Sunday that is 4 hour body friendly.

Below is a no cook lunch made of edamame, cucumbers, peanut butter and hummus. Throw them on a plate with a good football to enjoy a protein heavy lunch!