Best Meals Yet and Week of April 11th Preview

Avid readers,
Sorry my posts have been so far apart.  This week I ate some really great foods and I'm very excited to share them with you!

DAY 80

Today I had my Go-To breakfast with 1 cup of skim milk.  Are we allowed to call it skim milk anymore?  Only non-fat?  I remember as a kid despising skim milk.  Now I can't fathom drinking anything else!
For lunch I had leftovers from our delish beef and broccoli stir fry.
During the day I snacked on:

• 1 cheese stick
• laughing cow spreadable cheese on 3 rykrisp crackers
• 1 vitamuffin top
• 3/4 cup blueberry kefir
• zumba gym class.

For dinner we had a chicken and toasted peanut "toss" which basically means stir fry.  They recipe only called for cooking the veggies for 3 minutes, which basically meant they were still raw, and Michael Jordan and I really prefer the veggies (esp onions) to be cooked.  I ended up cooking them up more before we packed them away for leftovers.  This dish was supposed to be made with pork, but we replaced the pork with chicken.  Served with brown rice.  There's also a ginger sauce that goes on it, that I thought called for WAY too much ginger and really didn't like it.

 

DAY 81

For breakfast today I had eggwhites and mozz cheese.  And it tasted like ginger from the sauce we made last night.  I lodged a complaint with my maid/MJ.  He apologized.
I actually took my egg "on the go" with me by wrapping it in foil and carrying it along with me.  That's when I realized I wasn't the only one who walks and eats breakfast.  The problem is that the other two people I saw walking with their breakfasts were eating Doritos.  Wow unhealthy.  It wasn't even 9am.  So sad.

For lunch I had left overs from our chicken/peanut toss.  They were better with the more-cooked veggies.

I snacked on: 

• 60 cal raspberry yogurt
• go to snack
• apple
• mini twix and milkyway bar
• coffee!

At work they got a new coffee machine with a new type of coffee that is SO much better than the burnt junk they used to have.  This is a dangerous new development.  


For dinner we tried this delicious new recipe!  It's called a southwest turkey bake.


You mix up some lean, ground turkey (cook on pan until no longer pink) and then add black beans, salsa, cumin and red pepper.  We found this great natural salsa where I recognize all the ingredients and it actually tastes really good!  Mix those together and then fill a 13 x 9 pan.  Separately mix cornbread mix (we used whole wheat corn bread) with an egg and low sodium chicken broth.  Pour over the turkey mix and bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 400º.  (Your are supposed to top it with Mexican cheese, but we skipped that step).
IT WAS SO GOOD!  MJ ate double what we were supposed to.  Seriously YUMMMMMY - you should try this!!!!

first piece never comes out pretty

a flawless second piece!

sideview

Today I also decided to try out dessert since we haven't done more than the occasional cookie or vitamuffintop.  

I made dessert nachos!  You cut up a whole wheat tortilla, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Serve with low-fat yogurt, fruit and chocolate chips!  Huge success!  So easy and can be changed to include whatever fruits/toppings you like!

 

DAY 82 

Today I had my go-to breakfast for breakfast.  With a coffee.
For lunch I had leftovers from my turkey bake.  MJ brought two portions for his lunch as well!  
I was pretty good about not snacking today, and I'm not sure how/why that happened.

For dinner, I used what we had around the kitchen to make a meal.  I had planned on making this recipe that called for butternut squash and replacing it with sweet potatoes, but upon further investigation, I realized it really wasn't possible.  Instead I peeled the sweet potatoes and sliced them like thin potatoes chips, seasoned them to taste and baked them for 8 minutes on each side.  Meanwhile, I baked some chicken and sauteed some broccoli and green onions.  The end result was a nice meal that turned out pretty good.  We tried some hawaiian teriyaki sauce on the side (about the size of a quarter) to give the chicken some flavor.

I had some fun with the plating... serve irish flag style...

or serve bulls-eye style!

After dinner we went out with some of our friends and I order my vodka gimlet.  The server called me an "advanced drinker."  I was very proud.  Then I almost got some late night falafel, but didn't give in to the peer pressure.  I was very proud.  

DAY 83

Today I tried another Amy's Organic breakfast.  This time, I tried the Mexican tofu scramble.  It was SO good!  I almost couldn't believe it.  I immediately added it to next week's shopping list.
For lunch I used some of the leftover plain chicken from dinner to make a salad - adding lettuce, craisins, pistachios and a light sesame ginger dressing.

For dinner we had another banquet to attend for work.  The good news is we got a free meal and I didn't have to cook.  There's no bad news.  I ate a salad, a roll, and the main course was chicken with asparagus (3 spears) and some mashed potatoes.  I, of course, ate the slice of cheese cake and berries for dessert.  And drank the free wine.  And then switched to free vodka gimlets.  Thank you, work function.  

DAY 84

This morning I made eggs with onions and a scoop of salsa.  I guess I enjoy the Mexican flavoring in my breakfast foods.  Okay let's be serious, in all my foods.  I love avocados too.  mMmmm that sounds good.  I'll need to add some avocados to our lineup next week.

I snacked on a chewy mocha brownie cookie (fresh from the freezer - that's right, they're still good!) and a 100 calorie pack of cheese.

For lunch I had a leftover portion of the turkey bake.   Still good.  I'm sad it's all gone.   MJ ate all our leftover couscous tilipia too.  We did a good job of getting rid of stuff we had in the fridge this week!

MJ snacked on an Amy's Organic Black Bean Veggie Burrito.  He gave it a big stamp of approval but declined the option of writing a guest post.  Mabye next time.

For dinner, we met up with some friends who cooked us rice with sauteed peppers and tofu.  It was served with a peanut sauce and I think it came out well and looked really easy to make.  They also had some corn chips/tortillas and this delicious bean dip out, that MJ and I devoured.  Apparently they bought it at a farmer's market, so now I'm working on convincing MJ to attend said farmer's market so that we too can purchase this bean dip.  

So that's all in our fantastic week of cooking!  Michael Jordan said it was probably our best week of meals to date.  

Week of April 11th

Coming up this week, we've decided to make:

1. Spanish Style Chicken with Mango Salsa 
2. Mediterranean Veggies with Navy Bean Penne (vegetarian)
3. Fish Tacos
4. Leftovers 

We only actually need to cook 3 meals this week because then we'll be heading home where Mama Chickpeas will take over the cooking!  Don't worry, the blog will continue from the Chickpea home!

What are you making this week? Need other suggestions?

Coupon Organizing

I want to mention that I've been diligently clipping coupons every Sunday in the paper.  I also bought a super duper organizer from staples that looks similar to  this:

I labeled each tab with an area of the grocery store/shopping place: 

• produce
• meat/fish
• dairy
• freezer
• cleaning supplies
• non-perishables
• health/beauty/medicine
• paper goods
• misc. home things
• other restaurants
• Any discounts I have to restaurants or food stores go here
• mall
• Gift cards go here

 This coupon organizer had been extremely helpful in helping me keep track of my coupons and really saving money!  What do you do to keep track of your coupons?

Running, An Early Seder (Passover Preview) and a Delicious Stir Fry (Days 78 and 79)

DAY 78

Michael Jordan and I woke up very early today to go for a run together.  I've mentioned running a few times before, and how much I enjoy running with MJ because we get to spend time together.  Let's be clear that I have not always been a runner.  In fact, this time last year I HATED running.  It was boring, hurt my knees, and I always got cramps.  MJ started running last spring when the weather got nice and I went with him one time.  We probably ran a half of a mile and I stopped more than 10 times.  It was bad.  Really bad.  After the "Julie Loop," MJ ran another 2 miles before calling it a day while I stayed in and cried about how horrible it was.  But I tried it again and only stopped 5 times.  And then could run the whole "Julie Loop" without stopping.  Then the loop got bigger, and then doubled in size.  And I liked it.  We were probably running about 3 miles then, and we decided to sign up for a 5K (3.1 miles).  I ran the whole 5K without stopping and set a time of 31:51 - beating my goal of "under 40 minutes."  We ran another 5K later in the fall and plan on running in more this spring.  

So today we went for a run before work and we ran 4.4 miles!  That's my longest run to date.  I was confused because my fitbit told me we ran about 5.2 miles, so I wonder if I just took a lot of steps, which made the miles seem longer?  Not sure.  Maybe I just misread it before we started running.  Either way, it felt great to achieve my longest run and get so many steps in before even going to work!

We got back and I did my Monday Morning Weigh In.  I'm down 2 pounds from last week, so only 3.5 more to go to get to my goal weight!  That's only 1 pound above my lowest point so far on this clean eating meal plan.  Meanwhile, if you're keeping score, MJ hasn't gained a pound.

For breakfast I broke out of my routine of eating my go-to english muffin breakfast and whipped up some eggs.  2 egg whites with onions, tomatoes, and part-skim mozz cheese to be exact.

For lunch, I tried Annie Chuns's Chinese Chicken Soup Bowl, that was located in the organic section of the supermarket.  I picked this soup because:

1. It looked yummy
2. It looked easy
3. I did not have to keep it refrigerated/frozen
4. I could recognize all the ingredients on the back of the box.

Well I was right on 3 of the 4 above.  The last three.  This soup was not yummy.  Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, but it was not "yummy."  I'd probably compare it to a healthier version of cup of noodle soup.  That's not a good thing.  Coincidentally, MJ also tried this soup for dinner, and agreed that it was disappointing and not worth repeating. 

The only good thing is that there's a coupon for Annie's products inside the label!  Looking at the Annie Chun's website now, there are definitely other products that look good and that I'd be willing to try.  Maybe I'm just not an instant soup fan?

For snacks today, I had 1 health valley chocolate granola bar and 1 90 calorie special K bar.  I'm not thrilled with either one, but I will say that I won't be purchasing the 90 calorie special K bars again because I can't recognize a thing on the box.  I'm sure this sounds like old news to you, but I was persuaded by the packaging and "chocolatey chip cookie flavor" that was promised.  After all, we all know I'm a sucker for cookies.
I also had 5 french fries (stolen from a friend) and some tam tams (a Passover cracker, similar to matzah) and salsa.

Some of you may now be thinking something along the lines of.... "WHAT?  What's a tam tam?  Where did this matzah talk come from?  It's not passover, is it?  Since when is Julie Jewish? Are we about to learn something personal about Julie beyond the anonymous pen name??" 

Well avid readers, after 78 days I'm pleased to share with you that I am Jewish.  If you notice, there's no pork, ham, bacon, or sausage posts.  I don't eat piggies. Oink oink.  You're welcome, Wilbur. 

"But Julie, you ate shrimp!  Can you eat shrimp?"  Very astute observation, blog reader.  I did/do eat shrimp.  No, I'm not supposed to.  It's not kosher.  I make my mom sad every time I cook shrimp.  (Sorry mom!) But I make my own rules and do allow an exception to be made for shrimp.  


I do tend to refrain from mixing meat and dairy products together.  I have separate plates and silverware for meat and dairy foods. 99% of the meals I cook are Kosher-style.  If you have any questions about keeping Kosher, let me know.


Anyway, you're still right - it's not Passover and Passover doesn't start for another two weeks, so what's the deal with the tam tams? 


Well, a few coworkers decided to put together a model seder to help teach both Jewish and non-Jewish colleagues about Passover.  So I attended a seder, even though I have 2 weeks to eat regular foods before Passover begins.


"WHAT?  Julie you are going to have MORE dietary restrictions?"  Yup.  During Passover I can't eat anything with leavening in it, including, but not limited to, wheat, barley, oats, rye, and spelt.  I'll explain a lot more about Passover in 2 weeks when the holiday begins, since I will be cooking/eating only foods that are Kosher for Passover.

So anyway, back to my story.  I went to a model seder, and at the model seder I ate:

• a few bites of matzah
• chicken (probably 4 ounces)
• 1 slice of brisket 
• 5 bites of roasted potatoes
• grilled veggies
• 1/2 bite of a cookie
• Wine!

The best part about passover is that you get to drink a lot of wine.  That definitely makes the amount of foods you can't eat more bearable.  I hope you are now all sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for my Passover posts.

After dinner I watched a horrible horrible game between UConn and Butler.  Sigh.

DAY 79

Once again, I decided to make eggs for breakfast.  Exactly the same as I did yesterday, so I put them on a different colored plate so you would know I really did eat them two days in a row and didn't just recycle pictures.  Would I do that to you, avid reader?  

At work I had a cup of coffee.  And a free (delicious, unhealthy) blueberry muffin.  And another cup of coffee.  What, the first one was bad.  And cold.

For lunch I tried Amy's Organic Cheese Burrito.  It was pretty good, but I didn't heat it up enough so the middle wasn't hot.  That's my fault, not yours, Amy.  I see on the website that Amy's Organic makes low sodium burritos also, so I'll have to look for those next time I am in the store.

For snacks I had my go-to almond butter snack, 1 apple, 1 cheese stick, 2 rye krisp crackers and 3 cheese cubes.

For dinner, I made a DELICIOUS DELICIOUS Beef and Broccoli Orange Stir Fry from the Best of Clean Eating Magazine Cookbook!

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces soba noodles (TOO MANY - 4 ounces uncooked is enough)
• 1 lb lean round steak, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness and sliced into strips 
• 1/2 cup white onion diced
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets 
• 1/2 red bell pepper, julienned
• 2 tbsp low-sodium tamari soy sauce
• juice 1 medium orange  
• 2 gloves garlic 
• 2 tsp raw organic honey
• 2 tsp whole-wheat flour

Recipe:

1. Cook noodles according to package. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat large skillet over high for 1 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-high, mist with cooking spray and saute steak for 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove steak, leave juices in pan.
3. Add onion, broccoli, and pepper, saute for 5 minutes.
4. In medium bowl, whisk together soy sauce, orange juice, garlic, and honey.
5. Add steak back to pan and pour in mixture. Saute until heated through then whisk in flour to thicken. Add noodles to pan and cook until warmed. 
6. 1 serving = 1 cup = 257 calories

The only thing I really changed was the amount of noodles (less) and the amount of veggies (more).  It was really easy and turned out great.  MJ helped himself to thirds! The meal says it serves 6, but I really think it would only serve 4.    

Let me know if you try out the beef and orange stir fry!

Meals for the Week of April 4

Last week I planned out 6 meals to make during the week (see the list here).

I never got through all 6 meals because we traveled and didn't eat at home for 2 dinners.  So, this week I'm rolling over one of the meals:

1. Beef and Broccoli orange stir fry 
1. Dinner on day 79
2. NEW favorite healthy meal!
2. Chicken Gratin
3. Southwest Turkey Bake
4. Chicken and Toasted Peanut Toss
5. Leftovers
6. Out to eat (we have a few dinner events this week, so I won't need to cook as many dinners at home)

What are you planning on eating this week?

Tourists, Bridal Luncheons, Traveling, and a Light Meal (Days 75 - 77)

Hello my blog readers.  All 3,500 of you!  I can't believe my personal little blog project has been read by over 3,500 people.  I appreciate that my blog is being followed and read by so many people.  Please continue to read!

DAY 75

Breakfast - go to breakfast.  As per usual.  

Today I took off the morning from work to be a tourist in my own town.  MJ and I are planning on moving in about 4 months and I created a bucket list of things that I must do in this city before I leave.  Today I went to a top tourist site with Mrs. Jordan.  Without ruining the anonymity of this blog, I'll just say that we did a lot of walking.  So much so that my fitbit total for the day was 16,182 without going to the gym or actively exercising!!!

  

After being tourists in our own city, Mrs. Jordan and I went out for lunch at a hot spot in the city.  The place was packed by 11:30am!  Luckily we got a table without a wait (the last one!) and enjoyed a delicious lunch.  I had two small slices of bread with butter, and the special of the day: chicken with stir fry veggies, rice, and a sweet teriyaki/cherry sauce.  It was delicious and I basically ate the entire thing.  I also had a diet coke so I'd have enough caffeine to have a productive day at work for the rest of the afternoon!

I don't remember what snacks I ate for the rest of the day, but I think it's safe to say I had a cheese stick.

For dinner, I met up with a few friends from high school at this Italian restaurant.  WHAT?  Out to eat TWICE in one day??? I know, right?  Bad choices.  


But I still tried to be good!  I picked a whole wheat pasta with shrimp and veggies in it, topped with a light lobster sauce.  I also had two slices of bread with that and some wine.  Then MJ and I split some chocolate mousse for dessert.


I'm glad that I had a high-scoring fitbit day in lieu of my not so great meal choices.    Sorry I have no pictures to share with you from today.

DAY 76

Breakfast - go to breakfast.  As per usual.  Again.

Today I happily attended my friend's bridal shower luncheon.  There was a pre-selected menu for us with a few different options.  I picked a potato leek soup (very good), a grilled chicken caesar salad, and some vanilla and chocolate haagen dazs ice cream.  How could anyone say no to haagen dazs??  Picking the grilled chicken was definitely a good choice, and the salad was very lightly dressed so I think I did fairly well considering we were out at a restaurant!

After the bridal luncheon, MJ and I hopped in the car and headed to the beach to see my college roommates: Annabelle, Tiffany and Desiree.  And all of their respective boyfriends.  I was really good not to snack in the car.

For dinner, we had some homemade burgers and veggie kabobs that Annabelle's boyfriend grilled for us on the BBQ.  I limited myself to 1 burger + bun + ketchup and as many veggies as my heart desires!  I also had some bites of a yummy potato salad.  And one slice of American cheese.  Just because I missed it.  Processed American cheese is NOT included on the recommended clean eating food list!  

After dinner I had a few drinks.  When my friends went out for late night snacks I caved and got 3 chicken fingers.  Which was really only 1.5 chicken fingers because MJ ate half of them.  Which was really about 6 bites of chicken.  I know that eating late at night is bad for you.  So is eating fried chicken strips.  I recognize that most late night food options are really unhealthy, but I think chicken fingers may be the lesser of the evils.  No, I don't think chicken fingers are healthy.  But I ate them.  They weren't good.  

However, the plus side for my horrible late night eating is that after midnight and before I went to bed, I had 5600 steps (dancing) on my fitbit.  Quite an impressive way to start a day.          

DAY 77

This morning for breakfast I had an egg and cheese sandwich on a croissant and a cup of coffee.  Once again, croissants are not healthy.  I should not have picked a croissant.  However, when faced with a list of 5 unhealthy bread options for a breakfast sandwich, I'm going to select the yummiest one every time, and the yummiest one is definitely a croissant.  And it was yummy.

Then I said goodbye to my college roommates and drove back home with MJ.  Again, on this car ride home we were very good about not snacking.  

For lunch, we got deli sandwiches on kaiser roles (again, not healthy.  I miss you wheat bread!!!).  I had half of a turkey, lettuce, tomato and mayo (GASP) sandwich.  I know, I know.  How horrible could I possible be in one 24 hour period?  Pretty horrible.  

When we got back home I felt that I needed to cleanse myself of my junk food habits and cook a good, clean eating meal for dinner.  Before dinner, I snacked on one cheese stick.  Then I planned out our meals for the week and took Michael Jordan to the grocery store with me to get everything we needed.  We also saved over $20 by buying things that were on sale and using coupons!  


For dinner I made a tilapia citrus couscous from the best of clean eating cookbook!  

This was really easy to make:

Step 1: Cook 1 dry cup whole wheat couscous

Step 2: Chop up 2 carrots, celery (I skipped this because I don't like celery), 1/2 red pepper, 1 medium yellow onion.

Step 3: Cook 4 tilapia fillets on a pan - 2 minutes per side.

Step 4: Make a dressing from the juice of 1 lime  + zest, the juice of 1/2 lemon + zest, 1/2 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tbls evoo, 2 tbsl dried parsley flakes, 1 clove garlic - minced.

Step 5: Add everything in a big bowl

Step 6: Eat!  1 cup = 1 serving = 154 calories!

MJ and I agreed this meal was light, healthy, and easy!  In the future, we might try to marinate the tilapia before hand or cook up the veggies to give a fuller taste.  Let me know if you try out this recipe!

Days 73 and 74

Day 73

Hello readers!  Today I had my go-to breakfast to start off my day.  And a few sips of coffee, but not a full one.  My sister-in-law (Bethany) emailed me to say that she tried my amazing go-to breakfast:

subject: mmmmmm

email: just tried your english muffin with pb and banana... so good!!!! yum best easiest breakfast ever!! xoxo

Need I say more?  Go try it!  Then post a comment! And email me!  I'll post your rave reviews!  We can start a WWEMw/PB&B fan club!  Total group membership: 3 (and counting).

For lunch, I threw some chicken nuggets in a salad.  If you're going to eat nuggets, you might as well throw them on some romaine, right??

During the day, I snacked on 1 cheese stick and 1 cup non-fat plain yogurt chock full of fresh blueberries and 1/4 cup granola.  Extremely tasty.  Go try that too.  

For dinner I went back to my planned list for the week and cooked up from steak salad.  I bought the steak already cut up at the grocery store and broiled it in the oven.  I probably over cooked it, but I never said I was Betty Crocker - I'm still learning!  Also in the steak salad was corn, red beans, and lettuce.  It just now occurred tome that I forgot to add tomato.  Whoops!!  

As a dressing I made a mix using Evoo, Red Wine vinegar, and sweet relish! 

Last time I made this salad, it was much prettier.  And I added a lot more veggies. 

 

For dessert I ate 1 chewy mocha brownie cookie.  Bet you forgot about those!?  They're still kickin in the freezer!!

Day 74

I started my day with my.... GO TO BREAKFAST!!! What a surprise!!!!! I bet you had NO idea! 

Seriously - try it.  Write to me about it.  You're welcome. 

I got to work early enough to get a skinny caramel mach. before my 9am meeting.  Smart choice for a smart woman.  

Lunch today was some leftover steak salad.  Hooray for eating leftovers!  My only regret was not bringing my own silverware to work, because cutting little cubes of steak with a plastic knife does not a good time make. 

Today I had a "go to snack," compliments of Chef MJ.  I also ate one apple and one cheese stick.  Are you sensing a pattern yet?


For dinner, we replaced the eggplant/kale/penne dish with the definition of a pot luck dinner - we used all the fresh veggies we had in the fridge (corn, broccoli and snap peas) and added whole wheat pasta and chopped up 2 veggie burgers (1 each).  I added some low fat mozzarella cheese to mine and MJ added tomato sauce to his.  A true mishmosh of food.  Here is the final result:

More Lollygagging

Here are some more clean eating tips and snacks from my good friend Sophia and her awesome fam at notimeforlollygagging:

http://notimeforlollygagging.wordpress.com/2011/03/30/a-little-clean-eating/

Day 72

Aloha!  I am not in Hawaii.

Breakfast
For breakfast today I tried something new and totally different!  I got a frozen breakfast called Amy's Organic Tofu Scramble which is all natural, has all ingredients I can read and pronounce, and was a nice change of pace from my normal breakfast routine.  The whole breakfast was only 320 calories and it definitely held me over until lunch time!  It wasn't extremely attractive to eat, but it was definitely palatable.

At work I drank a super big coffee.  Shocker.  Does anyone else find coffee a necessity on a Tuesday? 


Lunch
For lunch I had more leftover pasta and meatballs with tomato sauce.  I only had 1 serving of turkey meatballs and this will likely be the last time I eat the pasta.  I did find a single guy from my hometown who just moved in to my building and said he would love some free pasta, so I will be passing that on to him and advising him to freeze it or toss it.


Snacks
My snacks today were 1 red delicious apple and 1 slice of whole wheat bread with almond butter - my go-to snack.  We're at the point where Michael Jordan will pack his own almond butter slice every day!  I'm impressed how much our regular routines have changed since we started eating these new foods.
 

Dinner
MJ was working late today, so I met my fairy blog mother out on the town for this fun girls event (with free drinks) and then dinner.  At the girls event, they were sampling these new Micaelob Ultra Dragon Fruit Peach that is only 95 calories!  I didn't think it tasted anything like beer, but it was definitely sweet and pretty tasty.  Mom - you might even like it!

For dinner I got a bento box at this Asian place - my bento box came with seared tuna (probably 3 oz), broccoli, sweet potatoes, rice, 1 veggie egg roll and some veggie tempura.  It also came with a mango margarita, which was gross and was not consumed.  

The good news is that today was another high-scoring fitbit day!  17,400 steps (7.49 miles - 2308 calories burned) without setting foot in the gym!  And a lot of them in high heels!


Overall just an okay day clean-eating wise, but all for a good cause - Happy Birthday to my Fairy Blog Mother!!!  

Day 71

So I'm trying something new this week.  Instead of picking out a set day everyday, I picked out 6 dinners that I plan on making, and listed them here.  Now each day I'll pick a dinner and blog about how it goes!

Monday Morning Weigh In:
I was dreading this morning's weigh in.  Mostly because I know how bad I was this past weekend.  I was not surprised to see the number went back up 3 pounds.  However, my percent body fat went down about 5%.  I guess this means I'm actually gaining muscle!  Once I realized this I was no longer sad to be back at 5 pounds from my end goal. 

Today for breakfast I had my go-to englishmuffin/pb/banana with 3/4 cups of milk.

For lunch I had a salad with lettuce, chickpeas, cucumbers, tuna, tomatoes, broccoli, and some cheese.  I used a little balsamic vinaigrette. 

For snacks, I had 2 cheese sticks, some granola, a SKINNY caramel machiatto from starbucks, a little "whoopie pie" also from starbucks, and some smoothie that MJ made after work.

For dinner, I really wanted to make the Eggplant, Kale and Penne (since we still have so much left over pasta) but the grocery store is still not carrying eggplant!  I guess it's out of season?

I skipped ahead and made a Maple Soy Salmon, found in the "summer bbq" section of the best of clean eating cookbook.  Now I know I often make fun of the clean eating editors, but this recipe is a simple hit: marinate salmon in 1 tbsp pure maple syrup and 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce.  Grill.  Eat.  So easy.  Thanks editors!  

Since it is not warm out, I broiled the salmon instead of grilling it, and served it with brown rice and edamame.

The only change I would make would be to marinate the fish longer and use the extra soy-syrup as a sauce (we just used soy sauce alone).  

For dessert I had - you guessed it - a vitamuffin top.  Yum!

This Week's Meal Plan (Week of March 28)

Sorry for the lack of posting! My computer is getting repaired and should be back tonight. Here's what we have planned for the upcoming week:

1. Eggplant, Kale and Penne with pine nuts 
1. (Variation made on Day 74)
2. Grilled chicken with sweet potatoes and veggies
3. Steak salads 
1. (Day 73)
4. Grilled maple soy salmon with brown rice and edamame 
1. (Day 71)
5. Beef and broccoli orange stir fry
6. Tilipia citrus couscous salad 
1. (Day 77)
7. Leftovers

Tune in later this week to read about all these clean eating dinners!

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.7

UPDATE: I've added links to each of the meals I ended up making this week.  Enjoy!

Days 67 - 70

Dear Readers,
I'm so sorry that I haven't been blogging!  I was about two days behind when computer mouse stopped clicking, and the apple store needed to borrow it for a while to fix her up.  She's back and working, and now I have a lot of food to share with you!  I'll try to do a quick synopsis since I have so many days to cover!  Unfortunately I have no pictures to share.  I'm so sorry, I'll do better next time!

DAY 67

For breakfast I had a half cup a kefir.  Clearly that means I was starving by the time I got to work, so I purchased an egg and cheese sandwich.  It was on white bread, and I can't remember the last time I ate white bread.  I tried to pick off the extra pieces/crust and only eat the egg-y and cheese-y parts.  Along with this white bread sandwich came a huge coffee.  

For lunch I ate the leftover Jack Daniels pulled chicken with brown rice.   


I ate a lot of snacks throughout the day, including:

• 5 multigrain flaxseed crackers with peanut butter
• 50 calorie blueberry yogurt
• cheese stick
• apple

For dinner, we went on a double date with our friends the Paternos.  I had edamame, 1 vegetable dumpling and delicious sushi.  We also had some tasty martinis and a few beers.

Overall, I did a good job eating up some of the leftovers we had in the house, but shouldn't have purchased breakfast AND dinner.  

DAY 68

For breakfast today, I had a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter.  I couldn't have my "go to" breakfast because we were out of bananas.  

I met my fairy blog mother  for lunch and we shared a Chopt Salad, which as you remember is super low cal and also great for sharing!

For my snack I ate a Twix.  It was one of those days.  You know what I mean. 

For my other snack, I had a cheese stick.  Much better option.


After work I went to an African Dance class, and set a new "fitbit high score" with 18,482 steps!  Take that twix bar!  


After the gym I had a little bit of a smoothie that MJ made and then we ordered in some dinner.  I had some trout with a butternut squash and wheat berry risotto.  Delish!  Pretty sure it's not healthy though.

For dessert I had a VitaMuffin Top and loved it.

DAY 69

Tonight we had a big banquet for work, and I was hosting a pot-luck dinner before the banquet for some coworkers.  This meant that MJ and I needed to pre-workout in anticipation for the night to come.  We went for a run (about 3.3 miles) and ended at our favorite bagel place as usual.  This will surely become a once a weekend habit, weather permitting!  At the bagel place I got a whole wheat bagel (scooped out) with low fat cream cheese, lox, tomatoes and onions. 

The only other snack I had during the day was a "go to" almond butter slice. 


Then I made an epic amount of pasta.  For the pot luck, I was making pasta, some one was bringing different sauces, another person was bringing garlic bread, someone else was bringing bruchetta, someone else mini hot dogs and some baked cheese dish, others brought desserts, and of course all the men who were not domestically inclined brought alcohol.  

I think it's safe to say that this was definitely my "night off" of my clean eating meal plan.  I wasn't too too bad though!

However, I did set a new new world record in my own fitbit stats!   After running in the morning and dancing at the banquet, I put in 19,861 steps! And the crowd goes wild!!!!!!!

DAY 70

Today for breakfast I had a little 50 cal yogurt and a half of a banana.  Then MJ and I ran some errands (AKA to the apple store to bring my poor little laptop in to get fixed!)  We also stopped at Costco and I had a few free samples - turkey bacon, tuna, and apple juice!  Don't you just love free sample day at a food store?!  I mean they stuff they have is always so random but you can't help but try it, right?


For lunch we had pasta and turkey meatballs.  I mean I have a TON of pasta left over and hate to see it go to waste.  YES, I did call the local homeless shelter and unfortunately they can't accept cooked food.  


In the afternoon we had some cantaloupe and mini cheese quiches.  Also we had some brownies.  Also a caramel machiatto from starbucks.  I forgot to say a skinny one.  Shoot.

For dinner we went out to eat with the Jordans.  I had 2 little slices of bread and 1 cup of mushroom/barley soup (with 2 saltine crackers).  For my main dish, I had cod with green beans almondine and rice pilaf.  


For dessert I had 2 bites of dark chocolate with mint in it.  Totally unnecessary.  Man I was not good at all this weekend.  This is not going to go well tomorrow on that scale. 

Day 66

My first day without a meal plan.  On the agenda is to clear out our fridge of food that we acquired over the week.  I hate when leftovers go to waste.  

Breakfast: Fat-free plain yogurt with blueberries and granola
I certainly missed plain yogurt.  Sorry I've skipped you so many days my dear friend yogurt!  The blueberries and granola were a fantastic addition to the yogurt.  This would probably make a better snack than breakfast because I was pretty hungry shortly after breakfast.  Mental note to keep yogurt as a snack instead of a breakfast.  

Snack 1: 1 cheese stick. 
Pathetic, I know, but that's what I packed.

Lunch: pulled chicken sandwich with onions and green peppers on a whole wheat roll- just like yesterday
Today's lunch was just as good as yesterdays, and just like yesterday, someone again asked me where I bought my sandwich.  And, just like yesterday, I didn't have a camera to take a picture.  Sorry I've failed you. 
 

Snack 2: 1 huge, unhealthy cookie. 
I couldn't help it.  I was in the mall after work and passed the cookie stand.  I gave in to my cookie cravings and purchased $3 of unhealthiness.  I almost felt bad with each bite, but it was so good.  I don't even want to look up how many calories it was because I'm positive it's a number larger than I could ever imagine.

After my ridiculous snack, I went to the gym to a zumba class.  According to my fitbit, I walked 17,077 steps today!!!!  That puts my old record of 15,000 steps to shame!  I also burned 2,410 calories, which I think makes up for the cookie, but probably not.  

When I got back from the gym, I was famished and ate another cheese stick before dinner.   

Dinner
For dinner we cooked up a ton of the leftovers we had in the house: green pepper, scallions, onions, snap peas and spinach.  We sauteed the veggies and served them with whole wheat pasta.  I topped mine with mozzarella cheese, and MJ topped his with the Jack Daniels chicken.  We were both really happy with our meal.

Dessert - because I make the rules now!
I firmly believe that dessert should be a regular part of the daily meal plan!  Tonight for dessert, MJ and I split a VitaMuffin Top.  I would have had my own if I didn't scarf down a deliciously horrible cookie earlier today! 

Week 4, Saturday LAST DAY! (Day 65)

Holy cow, here we are.  The last day of the 28 day meal plans... only took 9 weeks!

I honestly cannot believe I got through all 28 days and that I actually continued to blog the whole time.  No, I will not be stopping.  Tomorrow will be a leftover day and then I've yet to decide whether I will continue by either:

• repeating days I liked
• repeating days I didn't do right the first time
• using meal plans from the Clean Eating Magazine (available online)
• making my own meal plans
• trying new healthy meals, muffins, cookies, etc. from the rest of the clean eating cookbook

I'm interested to see what you would most like to follow, but ultimately the decision is mine.  I don't want to stop because I've seen such great results by clean eating, I'm afraid that I will make backwards progress if I don't continue to follow some type of meal plan.  

But that will be after a few days of leftovers anyway.  I'll also write another post with things I've learned, the best meals, and the worst meals.

Now without further ado, Week 4, Saturday!


Breakfast: 1 cup quinoa with 1 sliced banana; 1 cup low fat milk
Although I was a fan on quinoa for dinner, I can't say that I'm a fan of quinoa for breakfast.  This kind of reminded me of oatmeal, only very different.  I couldn't stomach the thought of adding a banana into the quinoa, so I ate that separately.  I got though maybeeee half of the quinoa.  I'll try it again another time.

When I got to work I ate one minimini (very tiny) blueberry muffin and one bigbig (very needed) coffee.




Snack 1: 8 multigrain flaxseed crackers, 2 tbsp natural almond butter, 1 apple

Shockingly, I messed up this snack.  Very fitting for the last day, right?  I packed peanut butter without realizing until right now it was supposed to be almond butter.  The peanut butter with the flaxseed crackers was a great combo.  I highly recommend it.

The apple was refreshing and light as always.  I realize that I only really like bites with skin.  I also like apples 1000 times more if they are cold (aka straight out of the refrigerator). 




Lunch: 3 oz shredded lean pork chicken, 1/4 cup onions and 1/4 cup green pepper with 1 tbsp low-sugar bbq sauce on 1 whole wheat sandwich roll; 1/2 cup strawberries.

I looked high and low in my grocery store for a "low-sugar" BBQ sauce to no avail.  I was going to settle for regular bbq sauce when I found this great Jack Daniels pulled chicken (precooked) mix.  The calories for one serving was really low and I knew that 3 oz was going to be way less than what they consider a serving.  Plus it saved me the convenience of having to buy both pulled chicken and a BBQ sauce.  Plus it was delicious.  I microwaved my sandwich when I got to work and when a co-worker saw me eating it she asked if I purchased it!  That's how good it looked!  Unfortunately I didn't have my camera at work, or else I would have snapped a photo for you.  If/when I make this sandwich again, I'll be sure to take a picture!

I ate the strawberries with my afternoon snack, mostly because it was easier to package all the fruit together in one container!



Snack 2: 1 oz goat cheese; 1/2 cup blackberries


1) goat cheese is not portable
2) goat cheese is not meant to be ate without crackers
3) I forgoat (pun intended) to pack the goat cheese. 


Instead, I intentionally replaced the blackberries with blueberries and ate them with my strawberries.  Delish!




Dinner: Spinach Salad (2 cups spinach, 3 oz tuna, 1 chopped hardboiled egg, 1/2 cup mandarin oranges and 1 oz chopped walnuts with 1 tbls balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp dijon mustard); 3.4 cup low-fat plain yogurt with 1 tsp honey.

This was a very simple, light, easy meal to put together and a great way to end my 28/65 days of meal plans.  I liked not having to really chop up anything.  MJ doesn't like tuna, so I used some of the Jack Daniels chicken in his salad, which he really enjoyed.  

Here's a picture of my salad without the dressing, which was served on the side.
 

 

As per usual, I forgot to eat the yogurt.  I now have a huge container of yogurt that was supposed to be eaten a number of times this week, and managed to get skipped each time.  I'm not sure why - I really do like yogurt, especially when I have some berries throw in.  I was interested in trying the yogurt with honey as well.  And granola.  These all sound like good ideas for my future meal plans :)

So that's it.  28 days completed.  MJ and I poured minimini glasses of wine as a toast to how far I'd come, even if it did take 9 weeks to get there!

Week 4, Sunday (Day 64)

Monday Morning Weigh In:

I lost another half pound this week.  That means I'm only 2 pounds away from my goal weight.  I'm also 2 days away from finishing the meal plans in the book.  

Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 chopped apple, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 cup low-fat milk; 3 egg whites

This morning's breakfast was pretty good.  I ate the apple as a whole apple instead of spending time chopping it up.  The oatmeal was decent with the cinnamon.  I upped the milk to 3/4 cups and instead of 3 egg whites had 1 hard boiled eggwhite.  Very filling.
  
Snack 1: 2 tbls natural almond butter, 1 whole wheat English muffin

This was a nice twist on my normal "go to" breakfast.  I think I like peanut butter on an English muffin better than almond butter on an English muffin, but it wasn't bad at all. 

Lunch: 1/2 cup edamame, 3/4 cup wild rice; 1/2 cup blueberries with 3/4 cup yogurt

I vote this meal in the "strange" category.  When I went to prepare this lunch in the morning, I was disappointed to see that MJ selected a package of edamame that expired the week before.  I could see that the edamames were brown and slimy inside.  I ran to the grocery store and went right to the customer service desk.  They let me replace the edamames, but all the fresh packages were expired or dated today (I advised the customer service lady to take the bad edamame off the shelves) and so I had to get frozen edamames.  This only required a little more effort on my part in the morning, but I definitely like the ease of using the fresh, shelled edamames.

Instead of wild rice, I used microwavable frozen brown rice.  Way easier since I had to spend more time with the edamame.  I threw in some soy sauce as well to add some flavor to  my otherwise boring lunch.  


I never got around to eating the yogurt or blueberries.  Whoops.


Snack 2: 1 sliced banana with 1 tbsp natural peanut butter wrapped in 1 whole wheat tortilla; 1 handful unsalted almonds

Another snack similar to my "go to" breakfast and lunch, but different.  This was a pretty good snack, but could definitely use a big cup of milk!  


I also had 1 mini Reese's Peanut butter cup.

And a free iced coffee from Dunkin Donuts (SO MUCH BETTER THAN STARBUCKS!)

And 2 beers at happy hour.

Dinner: 3 oz grilled pork chop (replaced with chicken thighs), 1 cup torn romaine lettuce and 1/2 cup chopped cucumbers with 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1/2 tsp evoo; 1 cup cooked black beans; 1/2 cup cooked quinoa

MJ and I don't eat pork, so we replaced the pork with some chicken thighs.  I ended up broiling the thighs so they would cook fasted.  We also didn't have any black beans, so we used a can of chickpeas instead, which went well with the "salad" side dish.

This was my first time making quinoa.  My mom warned me to rinse the quinoa a few times before I cooked it to get off the "yucky" taste.  Rinsing quinoa is kinda tricky because it is so small!  I need a strainer with smaller holes!  Mom also suggested throwing fresh, raw garlic bulbs into the water while the quinoa was cooking to give it some added flavor.  I think the final result turned out very successful!

 

Looks good right!??!?! It was super filling and I would definitely make this meal or some combination of this meal again!     


The only negative thing was the amount of dishes I used making this meal.  Good thing the rule in our house is whoever cooks doesn't have to do dishes!  Thank you, Michael Jordan.

Also, I didn't go to the gym today, but Mr. Fitbit says I walked 12,419 steps (5.35 miles) and burned 2,152 calories!


Also, I now have over 3,000 blog hits!  Thank you for reading my blog!!! Maybe one day my blog hits will surpass my fitbit steps.... maybe...

Days 61 - 63

Hello all!  This Saturday I had a huge event for work, which is why I've been exhausted all week and not eating my best.  Here's how the weekend played out, clean eating wise:

DAY 61

For breakfast I had a cup of Blueberry Kefir.  Kefir reminds me of those drinkable yogurts I used to have as a kid.  Gogurt I think it was called. Was there another kind?  Mom feel free to comment if you remember!


I honestly can't remember what I ate for lunch.  I'm 90% sure I had my "go to" snack of almond butter on whole wheat bread, but I can't say for sure.  Sorry :(

For dinner, we had a "kickoff" cocktail hour for the big event.  At the cocktail hour I had some wine, some bites of cheese (I love brie cheese!), 1 beef satay stick, 1 coconut shrimp, 1 mini chicken empanada, and some pita chips with artichoke dip (not very good).  


After the kickoff cocktail hour, we stayed at work until past 11 working to finalize things for the big event.  I ate a twix bar.  It was 100% necessary.  One of those "In case of emergency, break glass" type of things.  You understand, right?  Great, thanks!

DAY 62

Today was the day of the "big event".  In the morning, I wanted my "go to" breakfast, but we didn't have any bananas, so I settled for a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter only.  I also had a huge coffee.


During the day, I only ate 1 granola bar and 1/4 whole wheat bagel.


Next thing I knew it was 6pm and the event was finally over and I was ravenous!  I had some chips and bean dip, and then we went out for Spanish Tapas to celebrate a successful event. 
I had a few bites of the following items:

 

We also order Sangria, and then we went out drinking.  I allowed myself to have beer.  Partly because I knew I had eaten so few carbs that having beer really wouldn't matter, and partly because I just really wanted to, and I make my own rules!

DAY 63

HOOORAY!  For the first time in a LONG time I could sleep in today!  And then, I had absolutely no plans.  Probably the best day ever.  Mr. Jordan and I decided to start our day with a nice run, and then to end at our favorite bagel place (where the owner knows us by name and has 2 waters ready for us as soon as he sees us!)  The run was great - I surely missed the warm weather and I like spending that quality time with MJ.  When we go to the gym together, MJ is in the "big boy" room with all the weights, while I usually just go to a class.  

For brunch at the bagel place I had a whole wheat bagel scooped out with chicken salad, lettuce, tomatoes and onions.  It was delicious.  They use cranberries in their chicken salad so it reminds me of thanksgiving!  

After we ran/walked back home, I check my FITBIT STATS and found that we had taken over 7,000 steps and traveled about 5 miles.   I didn't look at the exact mileage before we left, so that's an approximate guess. 

In the afternoon, I ate a health valley granola bar and a little bit of thai food leftovers.  


Since it's March Madness, and there are few things in life I enjoy more than March Madness, MJ and I made some homemade guacamole and homemade pita chips as a snack to enjoy the basketball games.  Delish!  

homemade guacamole!

homemade pita chips!

For dinner, I made a quick and easy salmon with cauliflower.  Just broiled in the oven for 10 minutes.  We weren't really hungry, so it was the perfect, light dinner to end our relaxing, pleasant day.

 
Only bad part about today was that my basketball team lost.  Time to start rooting for the underdog!!