Sweet Tooth

Last night i was craving something sweet and a great idea popped into my head! Im so excited about this because i was in HEAVEN, and wasnt overloading with calories.

94% fat free popcorn, sprinkled with splenda and cinnamon! It was SOOOO good, and cured my sweet craving, plus its so low cal you can (and probably will) eat the whole bag :)

chicken cheesesteaks...mmmmm

I was craving a steak and cheese big time today, so i decided to make chicken cheese steaks for dinner. This is one of Lonnie's favorites too. Its really easy and simple to make, and low cal. See... you can have all of your favorite foods, and lose weight ;)

First cut up chicken breast in to small strips (slice up some onions and green pepper too) warm some olive oil in a pan and throw the chicken (and onions and green pepper if you like) in. I season mine with salt, pepper, garlic, season all, a little soy sauce, and a splash of worcestershire.

I had mine on one of the FLAT OUT brand wraps (but you could do their sandwich flats too) or any low cal bread. Or even on top of a bed of lettuce (that's really yummy!) I just put some raw onion (i like my onions!) lettuce and spread a layer of LAUGHING COW LIGHT blue cheese spread on. It was SOOOO good, and cured my craving! (Lonnie ate his on a regular hoagie roll, with melted low fat provolone cheese on top, which is still WAY less fat and calories then a steak and cheese, especially if you order it out. you know you can usually RING the grease of out those things!)

Its movie night tonight, and im off to make some 94% fat free popcorn, and enjoy it with a diet sprite YUM :)

chicken loaf?

I had planned on making turkey meatloaf tonight, but somehow forgot the ground turkey and all i had in the freezer was ground chicken, so i used what i had. It came out FABULOUS! Low cal comfort food, what could be better?

Here's what i did

First i took 2 slice of whole grain bread (the 40 cal a piece kind) and toasted it till it was crispy, then i smashed it up until it was fine, voila, homemade whole wheat bread crumbs

Now i chopped up about half an onion, 1 stalk of celery, and half a red pepper. Cooked over medium high heat with some salt, pepper, and olive oil, until they were soft. Then i added in about 4 cloves of garlic(you can never have too much as far as im concerned) some chopped parsley, and about a teaspoon of thyme and rosemary. Let it cook about 3 more min, then remove it from the heat.

In another bowl add 2 egg white, a splash of worcestershire, a table spoon of dijon mustard, and a splash of ketchup and hot sauce. stir that, and then add in your ground chicken (or turkey, it tastes about the same) and your bread crumbs and the veggie mixture. Mix it up, pour it in a loaf pan and a little tomato sauce on top and cook on 350 for 45 min to an hour.

i served mine with steamed broccoli, and made mashed potatoes for Lonnie and the kids. This is a meal the whole family loved... i was proud of myself. Lonnie says its the moistest meatloaf he has ever had, and it doesn't taste low cal :) Its similar to Bethenny's recipe, but i alter everything to my liking :)

Next on my agenda, is to find a low cal breakfast casserole to make on Christmas morning!

Cocktail Hour!

This might be my favorite low cal thing to make ;) There is no such thing as a healthy cocktail, but if i cant have a cocktail once in a while, then that wont be very healthy. Here are a few of my favs (Bethenny Frankel also has some amazing ideas and that's where i got my margarita recipe from)

Margarita- 2oz clear tequila, the juice from 1/4 a lime, and a splash or triple sec. With a salted rim of course, and served on the rocks. This was my go to drink this summer.

Cosmo- 2oz vodka, cranberry flavored club soda(the one i found is actually cranberry raspberry, but you cant taste the raspberry, and i got it at giant.) a splash or two of diet cranberry juice, a splash of triple sec and a little squeeze of lime. SO GOOD! I think this one is my favorite!

If you stick to vodka, clear tequila, or clear rum then you can keep your calories down. Just don't load up on a lot of juice because that is loaded with sugar and calories, and you don't want to ruin your whole day with a cocktail or two. Diet sprite and vodka or rum is good. Any of the flavored club sodas (target and giant both have huge selections) are really good with vodka or rum, and they have zero calories. Or you can do plain club soda (any of the clear liquors) and a lime or lemon wedge (or both) squeezed in. Beer and wine are loaded with calories so stay away from those while you're trying to lose, and save them for special occasions. Budweiser select 55 is a good option for beer drinkers at about half the calories of other beer. And champagne is lower calorie then wine. Sometimes when im out at a bar or restaurant ill order a vodka and soda water with a splash of cranberry and a lime wedge, so its not full juice, but i still get the color and taste of cranberry.

My dinner the other night was a mock Zuppa (Olive Garden) soup and it came out fabulous! Here is where i got the recipe from if you want to try it. I skipped the bacon because it was a late dinner night, but if i make it again ill use turkey bacon instead of regular.

http://www.recipe.com/healthified-italian-sausage-soup/

Breakfast

For breakfast, i try to stay at or under 100 calories (but remember i ate like every 2 or 3 hours). Some of my goto's are.

-Egg Beaters, i usually double the portion for one serving (without measuring) add in some salt and pepper, cilantro and some finely chopped onion and then let it cook on medium heat, while turning the pan(kinda like an omelette). Then when its done i put it on top of a piece of toast with a little laughing cow cheese spread and either fold in half or eat with a fork and knife. If i have left over turkey bacon ill throw a slice in the middle too, YUM!

-a bagel thin. The super thin bagel that are 100 calories, with a little reduced fat cream cheese

-cinnamon toast. 2 piece of toast spread with a little Brummel and Browns yogurt butter (my favorite butter, but then again, i guess its not butter. whatever its good!) and then in a small bowl i add equal parts splenda and cinnamon(maybe a little more cinnamon then splenda) This is one of my favs, and my kids love it too!

-Quaker chewy granola bars! They are only 90 calories and theres a ton of flavors!

-pop tarts 100 calorie packs- this is not the healthiest option, but who doesn't love pop tarts!? Most 100 calorie packs give you like 3 1/2 small things and just piss you off, but the pop tart ones have a good amount! My kids LOVE these too, and they come in chocolate and strawberry.

-if you want a more substantial breakfast, then they have mini turkey sausage biscuits, that are good, i think they are 100 calories a piece. I think they are made by Tennessee Pride, something like that. You can throw some turkey bacon in the over (set at 400) for like 20 min, turning it once, turkey bacon takes a LOT longer to crisp up, so just cook it until its your desired crispiness... i like my bacon CRISPY. There's also some heat and serve turkey sausage links (you can find them just about anywhere) and i like them way better then regular sausage. They aren't greasy at all, and have no nasty casing on them.

-any high fiber cereal(check the calorie content first) with skim milk (just look at the serving first) no mixing bowl size cereal bowls please.


Im getting ready to head to the grocery store, and im SO excited about tonight's dinner. Its a new recipe and i cant wait to try it. Ill let ya know how it is tomorrow :)

First things first

OK, first of all, prepare yourself... get rid of junk food and crap that you will want to indulge in. I keep my house stocked with some staples, so instead of grabbing the doritos i can grab carrots, green and red peppers, broccoli, or celery. When i get home from the grocery store, i wash and cut up my veggies and put them in gallon size zip lock bags in the fridge, so they are ready and waiting and i have no excuse (like not wanting to dirty a knife, haha). It makes it a lot easier if its ready and waiting for you.

I'm going to make a little list of things you can substitute out for better/healthier/lower calorie foods

Cheese- if you MUST have it, then buy fat free, or lower fat cheese. I personally only use the laughing cow light cheese spread on sandwiches and wraps. And EXCITING... they now have FAT FREE shredded cheese! its got like 1/3 of the calories of regular... something like 45 calories vs 145.
Mayonnaise- buy light, or skip it all together like i do. I use hummus in place of mayo on wraps and sandwiches... not many calories, TONS of flavors, and an added protein... its just good all around, and a staple in my diet.
Eggs- two words. egg beaters. fabulous! and they come in different flavors, but i usually buy the original and add in my own stuff... i like garlic and cilantro, or dill.
Bread- now, i TRY to not have any carbs after lunch time, but when i need a sandwich or a wrap its got to be whole grain, sugar free. Turn the bag over and look at the nutrition info... on a daily basis i stay between 1000 and 1300 calories, so keep that in mind. Weight Watchers has some really good bread, and Pepridge Farm. I personally LOVE the FLAT OUT brand wraps... the are only 90 calories and they rock! They are a good size too, but if you find any with flax seed in them GET EM! If you aren't familiar with the benefits of flax seed then check this link. http://www.healthcastle.com/flax.shtml

Meat- Stick to turkey and chicken when possible, i avoid ground beef like the plague, because my family cant tell the difference in things like tacos, spaghetti, and chili... so why give them those extra calories? And i make a pretty bangin turkey burger, turkey meat loaf, and we LOVE turkey bacon and sausage! If you want a steak, go for a leaner cut, like fillet Mignon... its also portioned well so your not eating a Fred Flintstone size prime rib, and killing yourself in the process.

pasta- whole wheat is the way to go, say bye bye to white pasta... its AWFUL for you in every way shape and form, so if you can avoid white pasta all together, then i highly recommend it! If you want to be extra lean then try using spaghetti squash in place of noodles... its honestly AMAZING, and i prefer it to pasta (but i do love my veggies) I even got Lonnie to like it... and that says a LOT! Here's how ya cook it, if you're interested... I poke a few holes in it, stick it in the microwave for 6-8 min, depending on how big of a squash you have. Then cut it in half, clean out the gooey center (think pumpkin) and take a fork and start peeling the squash out. It literally peels out in strips and looks VERY similar to angel hair pasta. You can pair it with just about any sauce/meat combo and its GOOD! ( for picky husbands and children here's a tip. Puree (food processor) some veggies and dump them in your red sauce, they wont notice, your sauce will taste amazing and you get LOADS of added vitamins! Some good ones to sneak in are onions, red, green, or any color pepper, spinach, carrots, and squash or zucchini. I do the same with my chili)

rice- same goes... say bye to white, and start your love affair with brown.

I can only hope that you already know that Soda is a NO NO, and if you must then it has to be diet... a soda is 100+ calories and i don't know about you, but id prefer to eat my allowed calories rather then drink them. I also, gave up sugar and now use splenda. I don't really like eating artificial sweeteners, so i don't use a lot, or very often. Also, WHOLE milk... no one under the age of two should drink this stuff... you may as well eat a stick of butter, or a tub of ice cream. Skim is the way to go.. if you must 1% is OK. Sour cream- same thing, might as well have some ice cream.. get FAT FREE (make sure!) greek yogurt and it taste nearly EXACTLY like sour cream, with like 1/10 the calories, or something crazy... plus the added benefits of yogurt. I use this stuff for EVERYTHING! In place of mayo for salads (macaroni salad, broccoli salad etc) i make dip out of it (ranch packet, or tastefully simple dip) on top of my tacos, and chili... its just really great stuff, keep it in the fridge at all times.

I'm going to throw in a list of some of the things i snack on... check it out

94% fat free popcorn, any brand (this is so low cal you can eat the ENTIRE full size bag, im not 100% on this, but i think the whole darn bag is 1 Weight Watches point, and only like 90-ish calories)

pretzels(i buy the sticks, because since they are smaller a serving has more in it. More items tricks my brain into thinking I've had more)

goldfish crackers ( i buy the baby goldfish, once again there are more in a serving... id rather have 60 then 30)

low cal fudge pops (these are great for when you GOTTA HAVE CHOCOLATE, and the ones i have are only 35 calories, so pretty guilt free)

rice cakes ( i like the white cheddar ones, only 35 calories, and if you add a little red sauce and some fat free shredded cheese on top, you can ALMOST taste pizza.. lol)

Semi sweet baking chocolate chips ( i will never again eat milk chocolate)

That's about all i can think of right now, my children are calling (its snack time!) Ill post some pics, and a recipe later of tonight's dinner, which is leftovers from last night, and is SO good i cant wait to have it again!

Starting a blog

Ive had SO many people asking me HOW ive done it (losing 50 lbs after 2 children, in under 2 years in about 4 1/2 months) I think most people are looking for a miracle pill or cream, like i used to. But there is NO SECRET, its really common sense... eat more broccoli, less french fries. Ive decided to start blogging on what i cook and eat on a daily basis, with lots of recipes, lord help you though, i never actually measure a thing.