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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Mon. July 30th

Vegetable Panang for Lunch!


Daily Tidbit:  Almond Butter vs. Peanut Butter

I am a lifelong lover of Peanut Butter, but Almond Butter is a fun and healthy alternative to try.   Almond Butter is typically more expensive than Peanut Butter, but Sam’s Club helps make it more affordable.  Both are good sources of protein with different things to offer.  Check out this comparison from Self:


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Breakfast:  Almond Butter & Jelly Sandwich (ABJ)
2 slices of Arnold’s Oat Nut Bread
Almond Butter (somewhere bt 1-2 tbsp; it is somewhat harder to spread than creamy Peanut Butter)
2 tsp Apricot Jelly
5 oz. OJ
Regular Coffee, black



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Lunch:  Vegetable Panang Curry
1 serving (2/3 cup) of Trader Joe’s True Thai Panang Curry: Cauliflower, Carrots & Baby Corn in a Yellow Coconut Cream Curry Sauce
With ½ cup Kidney Beans mixed in
½ Avocado, on the side
Iced Regular Coffee, black



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Snack:  ¼ cup dry roasted, lightly salted Peanuts



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Mounds Bar

Mounds Bar Nutrition Info


Snack:  ½ of a Dark Chocolate Mounds bar

My husband bought this and I couldn’t say no when he offered to share it.  It was only after eating a couple bites that I looked at the wrapper and saw the first ingredient is Corn Syrup!  I was already loving it way too much to stop eating, but generally I would try to avoid this type of product and focus on finding good All Natural Chocolate to enjoy. 

In general food products made with artificial flavors aren’t worth eating because they never taste as good as the ‘real thing’.  If you are going to ingest the calories and fat, it’s better to enjoy it with the real flavor of real ingredients.  For example All Natural Ice Cream is about 100x better than any Ice Cream made with Artificial Flavors (do a taste test!) so if I’m going to indulge myself I make sure to find the real thing and to savor every bite!



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Happy Hour:  Red Sangria



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Upside down Nachos!  Could not get the photo to rotate!


Dinner:  Ultimate Chicken Nachos
Red Corn Tortilla Chips topped with shredded Chicken, Lettuce, Black Olives, Salsa and Cheese Sauce (I didn't eat the Jalopenos!)
White Wine


This was not what I envisioned when I ordered it and would have liked a lot more chicken on this; such is the gamble when you eat out at a new place!



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Dessert:  Passed on Ice Cream tonight, settled on just Wine


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Monday, July 30, 2012

Sun. July 29th

Spinach Garlic Eggs with Grilled Veggies & Greek Pasta Salad for Brunch!



Daily Tidbit:  I love Brunch; it is my favorite meal!  I love bagels, french toast, croissants, home fries and eggs and bacon and I used to just load up and enjoy all those things back in the day.  Now I try to balance the things I love with a slightly healthier approach (pic above!)  

For some ideas on how to make your brunch a healthy one, check this article at Fitness Magazine out:

www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/breakfast/easy-healthy-brunch-recipes/?page=1

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Spinach Garlic Eggs, Grilled Veggies & Greek Pasta Salad


Brunch: Large Family Brunch

Greek Pasta Salad (recipe below)
Spinach Garlic Eggs (recipe below)
Grilled Veggies in Balsamic Vinaigrette
5 oz. OJ
Regular Coffee, black


Feeling good as I was able to avoid the Croissants and Bagels!  After all those Potato Chips yesterday and then that yummy Peach Cake last night, it was the right thing to do!






Greek Pasta Salad Recipe:
Cooked Pasta
Raw Zucchini, chopped  (Cucumber would have worked here too)
1 Large Tomato, chopped
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1/4 cup EVOO
Juice from 1 Lime (Lemon works here too, just didn't have one)
Fat Free Feta cheese (I used lots and lots of this!)
Salt/ Pepper to taste


Mix everything together and let sit overnight.  It is really simple but fresh and full of good simple flavors.






Spinach Garlic Eggs Recipe:
In hot pan heat up 1 tbsp Canola Oil on low heat, add 4 cloves of sliced Garlic to the pan and simmer for a couple minutes, not letting the garlic brown at all.  Add 1 box of thawed frozen spinach (which has also been squeezed dry) to the pan, cover and let it heat up and the flavors mix.   Add 12 beaten eggs to the pan and scramble everything all together.  Add salt/ pepper to taste.  Once the eggs are almost completely cooked, take off heat and add cut cubes of cold cream cheese, mix and cover until ready to eat.



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Spinach Garlic Eggs




Snack: More Spinach Garlic Eggs (about 1.5 cup worth)
Regular Coffee, black
 
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Snack: 1/4 cup roasted, salted Almonds, Fat Free Milk

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Grilled Vegetables Snack



Snack: More Grilled Veggies in Balsamic Vinaigrette, Water

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Cheddar Mozz Nachos


Tomato, Corn, Bean Dip with Avocado & Salsa



Dinner: Cheddar & Mozzarella Nachos

Organic Yellow Corn Lower Sodium Tortilla Chips (Trader Joe's)
1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese & 1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
Tomato, Corn, Bean Dip with 1/2 Avocado & 1/2 cup of Homemade Salsa mixed in
Red Wine


Tomato Corn Bean Dip Recipe:
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Dessert:  a Gala Apple!

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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sat. July 28th

BBQ Dinner:  Grilled Veggies, Mac n Cheese & BBQ Chicken!


Daily Tidbit:  Family BBQ Time!  This time of year it is so easy to just over indulge on a day like today (I was outside with 3 generations of my family most of the day playing games and chatting it up) - and I did!  But I tried to load up on Veggies to keep me feeling full in the midst of all the Chips and I did remember to take the skin off my BBQ chicken in time to save some calories for a yummy dessert!

WebMD has some tips on staying healthy during BBQ season here:
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Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts with Blueberries
1/2 cup Oatmeal (cooked in Fat Free Milk in microwave)
2 tbsp Walnuts
1/2 cup of fresh Blueberries
3 Shakes of Plain Cinnamon
5 oz. OJ
Regular Coffee, black

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Lunch: Open Faced Cold Cut Sandwich
1 Piece of Rye Bread topped with Yellow Mustard, 1 slice of Provolone Cheese, 2 Slices of Turkey
Black Olives & Pickles
1/2 Avocado
40% Less Fat Sweet Mesquite Kettle Cooked Cape Cod Potato Chips
Cherry Coke Zero
 
 
The Cape Cod Potato Chip brand does a good job of keeping it simple and lower fat than most chips, and they are so delicious!

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Snack:  More of the Mesquite Potato Chips - okay a lot more!  I love them.  More Cherry Coke Zero too.
 
 
 
 

Snack:  1/2 of a Berger Cookie, total heaven if you want a fudge-y cookie cake dessert all in one!  My Aunt & Uncle just totally spoil us with these yummies.  I'm putting them into my freezer and saving them for a special treat!


Tomato, Corn, Bean Dip


Snack:  Lots of Crackers with Tomato, Corn, Bean Dip (recipe below)


Tomato, Corn, Bean Dip Recipe:
1 Can of Spiced Black Beans
1 Can of Corn, no salt added
1 large Tomato, diced
1 small can of Fire Roasted Green Chiles
1/4 cup sliced Red Onion
1 Handful of chopped Cilantro
Juice from 1/2 Lime

 


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BBQ Chicken, Mac n Cheese & Grilled Veggies

Dinner:  Simple BBQ Dinner
Roasted Chicken with BBQ Sauce
Store bought Mac n Cheese
Grilled Veggies tossed in a Balsamic Vinaigrette
2 Beer

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Katie's Awesome Peach Cake!

Dessert:  My cousin Katie's awesome Peach Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream - YUM!

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Saturday, July 28, 2012

Fri. July 27th

Couscous Salad & Wrap for Lunch!


Daily Tidbit:  Couscous is such a versatile grain and now it is available in a Whole Wheat whole grain version.  It is a staple food in North African cuisine and the traditional method takes a lot of time and attention.  Lucky for us here in America, we can buy it in it's precooked form and it can be ready to eat in five minutes!

I have a full house of guests right now so making a Couscous Salad for lunch was a no-brainer.  It is so fast and easy to make ahead and even benefits from sitting in the dressing in the fridge a couple hours anyway, as it just keeps getting more yummy as the time passes.  And of course it is a perfect thing to follow a night with Rotisserie chicken as you can just chop up  the leftover Chicken and throw it in there.  Perhaps best of all it makes getting whole grains, protein and lots of veggies all in one dish super easy.  Yummy fresh delicious simplicity at its best!


For a full history on Couscous:
www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/id/58/

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Oatmeal with Walnuts & Cinnamon for Breakfast!


Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts
1/2 cup Oatmeal (cooked in Fat Free Milk in microwave)
2 tbsp Walnuts
3 Shakes of Plain Cinnamon
5 oz. OJ
Regular Coffee, black

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Couscous Salad & Wrap for Lunch!




Lunch: Cous Cous Salad & Wrap
1 cup Whole Wheat Cous Cous Salad (recipe below)
1/2 Avocado
1/2 Medium Whole Wheat Wrap containing: 1 slice of American Cheese, Roasted Red Peppers slices, sliced White Chicken Meat & chopped Cilantro
Corn Tortilla Chips
Water with Lemon





Amy's Cous Cous Salad Recipe:

Whole Wheat Cous Cous (courtesy of Trader Joe's)
Leftover Rotisserie Chicken from last night, chopped
1 super large Tomato, diced
1 large Zucchini, diced  (I used raw Zucchini today for crunch and time savings, but this salad is also good with Roasted diced Zucchini too!)
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
1 large handful of Cilantro, chopped
1 handful of Baby Spinach
1 handful of Arugula
1 can of Black Bean, rinsed & drained
Feta Cheese crumbles
Juice from 1 small Lime
Trader Joe's Balsamic Vinaigrette 




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Pizza & Salad for Dinner!


Dinner: Pizza Night!

Slice of White Broccoli Pizza
Slice of Mushroom Onion Pizza (not pictured, but same size as the other)
Leftover Cous Cous Salad, tossed with extra salad greens
Water



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Almond Nutrition info



Snack:  
1/4 cup roasted, salted Almonds, Fat Free Milk.  
We had dinner early so I got hungry later for a snack and knew that this would do a good job filling me up!


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Dessert:  White Wine

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Friday, July 27, 2012

Thurs. July 26th

Rotisserie Chicken with Spinach Salad, Tom/ Mozz Salad, Avocado & Green Pasta for Dinner!


Daily Tidbit:  One of my fav things to do is puree Spinach and just add it to things to boost the nutrition of any meal, like tonight in my 'green' pasta!  Here is "Five Easy Ways to Eat More Spinach (your muscles will thank you!)"

www.good.is/post/five-easy-ways-to-eat-more-spinach-your-muscles-will-thank-you-says-science/


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Breakfast: Oatmeal with Walnuts & Blueberries
1/2 cup Oatmeal (cooked in Fat Free Milk in microwave)
2 tbsp Walnuts
1/2 cup of Blueberries
3 Shakes of Plain Cinnamon
5 oz. OJ
Regular Coffee, black

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White Fish with Veggies & Salad



Lunch: Leftover Salad, Veggies & White Fish
Raw Chopped salad leftovers from yesterday
Broiled summer Veggies leftover from yesterday
2 White Fish Fillets
Lemon Water

Regular Coffee, black

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Snack: 1/4 cup dry roasted, lightly salted Peanuts, Fat Free Milk


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Dinner:  Family over for Dinner!

Appetizer: Cucumbers in Hummus & Chips with Salsa, White Sangria

Dinner:
Spinach salad with Corn, Pecans, & Craisins in Trader Joe's Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette
Tomato Mozzarella Basil Salad with Peaches in EVOO
Roasted Chicken Breast
1/2 Avocado & a couple Carrots & Cucumber slices
"Green Pasta" made with Spinach Puree and Peas, tossed with Neufchatel Cheese, Parmesan Cheese & Fat Free Milk

White Sangria (homemade - Pinot Grigio with Nectarines, Peaches, Gala Apples & Watermelon, marinated in fridge for 6 hours) 



Hummus Recipe: http://whatamyatetoday.blogspot.com/2012/05/sat-may-12th.html

Salsa Recipe: http://whatamyatetoday.blogspot.com/2012/06/thurs-june-7th.html


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Dessert:  Fruit from the bottom of the Sangria glass!

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