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?

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:

Days 53, 54 and 55

In order to fight off my problem with leftovers getting lost in my fridge, I interrupted week 4 for a few days of leftovers.  Brace yourself for the boredom (but at least there are pictures!!):

DAY 53

For breakfast I had about a cup of Nature's Path Optimum Blueberry Cereal... or whatever it's called.  


For lunch I had leftovers from Day 50's Lunch.


During the day, I snacked on:

• cheese stick
• 2 whole wheat crackers with peanut butter
• cocoa almonds
• 1 apple

For dinner, I used the leftover chicken (4.5 oz) and made a salad with spinach, grapes, strawberries, pistachios, and some blue cheese.  I topped it off with a little raspberry walnut dressing, which is not very healthy but I used a very minimal amount. 

After dinner I tried out a new healthy breakfast muffin recipe, that I will post about another time.  I know, talk about cliff hanger, right?!?  Just like the girl with the dragon tattoo trilogy - which I highly recommend!!!  

DAY 54

Today for breakfast I had 2 healthy muffins - post coming soon.  


For lunch I made a "healthy taco" using a whole wheat tortilla wrap, veggie burger, black beans, part-skim mozzarella cheese, chopped tomatoes and chopped onions.  It was pretty good, and a nice variety to the usual veggie burger meal.


My snacks today were:

• 1 chewy mocha brownie cookie
• 2 mini muffins
• 1 cheese stick
• cocoa almonds
• handful of grapes

For dinner I decided to re-make Lunch from Day 50 and upgrade it.  This time, I replaced the tofu with shrimp and the green onion with red onions.  Those little changes made a HUGE difference.  I would highly recommend this version of the meal - and it took no time to make!

DAY 55

Sorry for the lack of postings.  I've been unbelievably busy with work and just had a half second to sit down and finish up this post so you can read all about my lovely meals.

Today for breakfast I had a VERY LARGE cup of coffee and 2 healthy muffins.  I think.  I'm so tired I can't even remember what I ate for breakfast.  That is horrible.  I bet I'll find 3000 typos in this post when I re-read it.  Sorry for the severe sleep deprivation.

I snacked on an apple, cheese stick, and cocoa almonds in the morning.  

I ate a really late lunch from Chop't - a salad place that makes yummy salads. I had a salad with shrimp, tomatoes, avocado, pita chips, chick peas and a spa asian dressing (on the side - barely used it).  The nutritional info is the most complicated thing I've ever seen, but I think my salad was about 400 calories.  Which is amazing because I didn't even eat half of it.  Chop't = winner.  Or I = horrible at figuring out their nutritional info and I'm totally wrong and just too tired to figure it out.

I was exhausted all day and my friend Aimee and I were working overtime on this ridiculous project we have for work.  I was dreading when dinner time approached.

But then guess what happened for dinner?!?!!  

You will never believe it!!!

MJ COOKED DINNER!!!!

This is a rare occurrence in this household, so praise, thanks, and compliments must be given so that MJ will continue this new trend.

Chef Jordan prepared an feast for us, comprised of scrumptious morsels of chicken mixed with a medley of greens served over steaming brown rice a topped with a glazed orange soy.  

AKA he made asian stir fry.  Chicken.  Veggies.  Rice.  Asian flavoring.

But hey, I didn't have to make dinner so major props to you Michael Jordan!!

After dinner I had some low fat chocolate frozen yogurt and low fat cookie dough ice cream for dessert.  

And a large glass of wine to make the work seem less painful.

Now I think I need to get some sleep, since I'll be losing an hour anyway for daylight savings.  Sigh.  This may call for some more wine.

Also, I'm officially at 2,000 blog views!!  Thank you for reading and keeping me accountable for my clean eating life style.

Week 3, Tuesday (Day 45)

I actually followed a meal plan today!  And boy did I cheat a lot.  Guess I'm not used to this minimalist "diet". 


Breakfast: 3 tbls hummus on 2 slices of toasted whole-wheat bread; 1/2 grapefruit
I was really hesitant to try this meal.  I mean it's essentially a hummus sandwich with nothing else on it.  And no way am I eating grapefruit.  Disgusting.  I replace the grapefruit with a banana and ate that as I contemplated the awkwardness of a hummus sandwich with nothing else on it.  I ended up eating this nothing sandwich, and it was actually pretty good.  I'd probably like it better with some tomatoes or lettuce on it, but it wasn't as weird as I thought it would be.


Snack 1: 2 clementines, 6 oz low-fat greek yogurt
Both of the clementines I brought to work were bad.  What are the odds that happens?  Good thing I have my trusty friend Chobani to keep me company.  Today I tried the blueberry fat free Chobani and it was delicious.  I don't think i'll ever eat the plain kind again.  


Lunch: salmon salad (salmon, red pepper, red onion, romaine, with a dressing made from evoo, balsamic vinegar, and dijon mustard); 1 apple
This meal was originally supposed to be made using the leftovers from the Week 3 Monday dinner.  Well shockingly, I have let 14 days pass between Week 3 Monday and Week 3 Tuesday.  Whoops!  Needless to say, I didn't have any leftover salmon to put in this salad and I definitely wasn't going to make salmon before work started.  So I used smoked salmon - a much easier substitute for a last minute salad.  My salad was just okay.  I'm sure it would have been great with cooked salmon instead of lox.  My bad - can't blame the editors for this one.  


The apple was red and delicious.


Snack 2: 1 cup chopped broccoli with 2 tbls low sodium salsa; 1/2 cup low far milk
Well.  I didn't exactly eat this snack.  Instead I ate some broccoli and meatballs during a meeting.  And a twix bar.  Actually, 4 twix bars.  What can I say, sometimes a girl needs her chocolate and today that girl was me.  And they vending machine only had the king sized twix bar so I had absolutely no choice but to eat all 400 calories worth of chocolately goodness.  While we're on the subject of twix, the kind I got today had a chocolate flavored cookie.  What's that all about?  Bring me back my original cookie, Twix manufacturers!  


Then my friend Aimee came over for dinner.  I insisted that she try a Chewy Mocha Brownie Cookie, Kefir, and an Almond Butter Cookie.  She liked the almond butter cookie the most.  I, of course, had to eat a Chewy Mocha Brownie cookie, too.  But wait, that's not the worst of what I ate today.


Dinner: 12 large broiled shrimp; 1 cup cauliflower sauteed; 1 cup wild rice mixed with 1/2 cup steamed yellow corn
Aimee really wanted to order thai food for dinner, but I insisted we stick to our respective healthy meal plans (clean eating for me, weight watchers for her).  Making this dinner was super easy.  And it yielded a TON of food!  Enjoy that both Aimee and I had leftovers that we plan on eating for lunch tomorrow.  

And then we ate a lot of slow churned half-fat cookie dough ice cream. I totally gained 10 pounds today.  Ugh I must not be this bad tomorrow.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.  Chooo Chooo

Days 32 through 38 (Ski Trip)

Have you missed me, avid readers?  I am back from my ski trip with the Jordans and had an amazing time skiing for four days.  Unfortunately on the last day I started to feel sick and have been home with a fever and sore throat since we returned.  And no appetite.   But first, the ski trip.


I tried to eat balanced meals, but really didn't try that hard beyond breakfast.  Every morning I had a whole wheat english muffin with peanut butter and bananas.  Sometimes I also had Cheerios.  Once a hard boiled egg.  Every day while skiing I ate one or two balance bars/Luna bars.  For lunch I tried to eat protein - turkey, chicken, etc.  I usually also got french fries and a cookie.  I drank a lot of hot chocolate.  For dinners I was pretty good - one night I had shrimp and risotto, one night I had seared tuna, the next night pizza, and then the last night french onion soup (I ordered salmon also but really didn't eat it because I wasn't feeling well). 


I brought some Chewy Mocha Brownie Cookies for the Jordans and they were a big hit.  


My new ski pants were also a big hit.  They fly never fell down.  The snaps never unsnapped.  I love my new ski pants.  


I was very interested to see my fitbit stats when I got home.  I don't think it is completely accurate tracking skiing because you're not really taking "steps" and I never changed the time zone, but it was still really interesting to see:


Day 32 (traveling): 6,761 steps (2.91 miles), 1947 calories burned, active score: 631
Day 33 (skiing): 11,962 steps (5.15 miles), 2312 calories burned, active score: 1020
Day 34 (skiing): 13,836 steps (5.96 miles), 2381 calories burned, active score: 1039
Day 35 (skiing): 13,507 steps (5.82 miles), 2483 calories burned, active score: 1201
Day 36 (skiing and sick): 10,013 steps (4.31 miles), 2237 calories burned, active score: 940.
Day 37 (traveling and sick): 4,330 steps (1.86 miles), 1178 calories burned, active score: 451.
Day 38 (sick): 1,698 steps (.73 miles), 1494 calories burned, active score: 218.




As you can tell, I've really gone downhill since I stop skiing downhill and starting feeling downhill.  I'm also completely lost my appetite and can't keep any food down.  I weighed myself today and I'm down another 2 pounds.  I don't know how much is from my active days skiing and how much is from my sick days.    Hopefully I will start feeling better now and then I can get back on track in eating world.


Until then it's more tea and nyquil for me.  

Chewy Mocha Brownie Cookies

Since I'm almost out of Almond Butter Cookies, it was time to try a new, healthy cookie to test!  I found this recipe in the "3 Books in 1" cookbook.  This was in the 200 Calorie Desserts section, page 128.

The recipe is very easy - flour, baking soda, margarine, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, brown sugar, coffee granules, reduced-fat buttermilk, vanilla and powdered sugar to sprinkle on top.  I went ahead and used whole wheat flour and all-natural cane sugar - can't tell the difference!  

The cookies came out so well!  Each cookie is only 71 calories!  I'm definitely going to keep these around for those days when I'm craving chocolate!!

Week 3, Saturday (Day 29)

Wow!  My blog audience has spread to Australia, Russia and Singapore!  This is unbelievable.  I'm so curious how people outside of the United States happen across my blog.  Please feel free to share!

WEIGH IN

Today we did our Monday morning weigh in.  After 4 weeks, I'm happy to report that I'm down 5 pounds and only 8 pounds away from my ideal goal weight!  As for Michael Jordan?  He's exactly where he started.  It's unreal.  He must have an amazing metabolism because he's eating so much more than me and not gaining a thing.  Sigh.  At least I'm on my way down, and not up!


Breakfast: 1.25 cups post shredded wheat spoon size original cereal with 3/4 cup low-fat milk; 1 orange
My grocery store didn't have the specific type of Post cereal that I was supposed to buy, and while MJ and I debated between the remaining options, we decided the best choice was really for me to eat the cereal they made me eat a half a cup of on Week 3 Wednesday so we didn't waste any food.  So I ended up eating Nature's Path Optimum Blueberry and Cinnamon Cereal.  It was really good.  I threw in fresh blueberries for good measure.  When I finished my bowl, the milk was a purple/blue color from the blueberries.  I remember seeing bowls full of chocolate milk or cinnamon when I was little.  Blue is a much healthy color.  


Snack 1: 2.5 Tbsp Spicy Black Bean Hummus; 5 Whole wheat crackers
The editors give you a recipe for an easy black bean dip to make.  I didn't want to waste time pureeing it, so I just smashed up the beans with a fork and called it a day.  The dip was okay.  I would consider making it again, but some avocado would surely make it taste better.


Lunch: Thai Ground Turkey Burgers (served with lettuce wraps, 1/4 cup chopped mango, lime juice, 2 tsp chopped almonds and cilantro); 1 apple
This was a pretty fun lunch - the mango was a nice touch to the ground turkey.  I probably should have seasoned the meat more because I really didn't get an asian "thai" taste.  I'd eat these again though.


Snack 2: 10 grapes, 1 handful unsalted almonds
I ate my cocoa almonds when I got home from work and then started baking for MJ for Valentine's day.  I was so distracted making healthy cookies that I forgot to eat my grapes!  Oh well.


Dinner: OUT TO EAT FOR VALENTINES DAY!
Dinner was supposed to be some boring, plain meal.  That's why I picked today to coincide with Valentine's Day!  MJ did some research and found a healthy restaurant that doesn't use extra salt, sugar or butter.  The menu has a lot of fat free items, items under 100, 200 and 500 calories and low fat items.  We decided to try everything that sounded interesting (after all, this is a Valentine's Day celebration, not a day to starve).  
First we ordered healthy drinks:

I ordered the green one.  I thought it would taste like sprite but it tasted like cucumber.  MJ ordered the orange one, it tasted like oranges and carrots.  We switched immediately.  We also decided we hated them both.  At least they were all natural and under 140 calories!

For dinner we got an Asian pizza, a California wrap, an Apple Sweet Potato, and 3 sliders: bison, turkey, and chicken.  We liked the bison one and agreed that the turkey and chicken were nothing special.  They left out ingredients on both our pizza and wrap, so we were a little disappointed and didn't get the full effect of our meal.  I'm thinking about leaving a complaint online.  In the end, I'm glad we tried this place and I think we'd only go back for the sliders or a different kind of pizza.  MJ really liked the sweet potato though.  

When we got home we each had a Chewy Mocha Brownie Cookie and a big glass of milk!  Happy Valentine's Day!

FITBIT Totals for the Day: Today I burned 2148 calories, walked 10,135 steps (4.36 miles).  When I was walking to work my fitbit display wasn't working.  I had to reset it when I got home.  All the data was there, but I'm nervous that I'm already having problems with it.  The fitbit says I also had 91% sleep efficiency.  Apparently I woke up 23 times during the night.  Here's my sleep chart:

What do you think?  Is this totally bogus? I definitely woke up a lot in my sleep and it doesn't feel like I was 91% efficient.