mad skills September 9, 2008

i threw a little something together last night to use up the produce i just bought. i was pretty happy with the result. next time i will sautee the squash first and make the spinach layer a lot thicker. i’d also like to use black beans instead of the canned refried ones i used this time. other than that, this was a perfect way to use a lot of ingredients and have plenty of leftovers for the week. and quinoa is good.

i started with a layer of beans.

then i added the quinoa. it was only a 1/4c. (and i of course prepared it beforehand in boiling water).

uh, for some reason i didn’t photograph the next two green layers. i have nothing against my greens, these were both my favorites. i just got excited layering and skipped the photo… whoops. first it was a modest sprinkling of diced jalapenos from the can. i remember how friggin’ hot they were last time i used them with a grain (the bulgur bean stuffed peppers) so i went easy on them this time in order to take advantage of all the flavors i would be using. then i threw the spinach on after them. i really wish i had made a thicker layer of it.

next up was the squash. you can see the spinach underneath. again, i really i shoulda sauteed them first.

then i added a generous helping of corn.

a fresh diced yellow bell pepper…

and finally two fresh diced roma tomatoes.

here are all the layers before going into the oven.

i stuck it in there for 20 minutes at 450 and got perfectly roasted peppers and tomatoes and perfectly wilted spinach. had i made the other modifications it would have been perfect all around but it really was tasty just like this. i sprinkled the last of my shredded mozz right when i took the whole dish out of the oven so it melted very nicely.

here’s my portion topped with avocados and some of mom’s salsa with the leftover corn on the side.

creativity is dead August 20, 2008

just like chivalry. i almost typed chauvinism… oh if only that were true. point being, i’m running out of post titles.

dinner last night was tasty though. i microwaved a frozen vegan chick’n patty and ended up dicing it to roll up into tortillas to make tacos/mini burritos with avocado and salsa.

i used la tortilla factory low carb small whole wheat tortillas. at 50 calories a pop i had two last night with dinner.

the chick’n patty was 100 times better than any soy burger i’ve ever tried. i’ll be sticking to these if i can help it, boca leaves a chemical aftertaste sometimes. though i do want to try the new bruschetta flavor that i can’t find anywhere.

i finally ate the last of my spinach last night with goddess dressing and sunflower seeds to add some non-fat greens to dinner.

and for dessert, the oh-so-addicting ciao bella blood orange sorbetto. i swear there’s crack in it, i can’t stop eating it! i can’t feel too guilty about it though because 1/2c. has only 98 calories. i’m pretty sure i polished off at least a third of the carton. it only comes in little pints so i still didn’t break the calorie bank, so to speak, by indulging a little. with only three ingredients and a fantastic tangy-sweet flavor, this will become my frozen treat fixture.

i desperately need an ice cream scoop.

a smoothie before swimming June 10, 2008

but first, last night.
pre-workout snack was CHOCOLATE COVERED STRAWBERRIES. i know, so fancy. i would never buy these for myself but they were a gift so i had to eat them (only because i knew it wouldn’t put me over the edge, i got all three for less than 150 calories). and they totally hit the spot.

to be fair, i also had a taste of a new bar but only a small piece and no picture.

post-workout i didn’t have a snack handy except for the rest of the bar and i wasn’t feeling it so i decided to wait ’til dinner. dad grilled chicken with honey chipotle barbecue sauce and it was yummy. i had maybe 2 or 3oz. cut into strips and rolled in a whole wheat tortilla with avocado slices and salsa with a side salad.

i didn’t add up the calories for this one but i do know that i burned about 450 more at spin class and when i woke up this morning i had lost 0.2lbs! haha, it’s a tiny consolation that i’m moving in the right direction.

this morning i went swimming. i pushed myself to go faster than yesterday and i managed to squeeze in two extra lengths in the same amount of time. i beat my 10 lap time by two minutes. i logged 15 minutes and 22 lengths (11 laps). if i could only get there earlier i would have more time to swim… i’m working on it.

pre-workout i had the purple power smoothie. i redid the recipe and now it’s like this:

-1/2c. light vanilla soymilk
-1/4c. egg whites
-1/4c. liquid mangosteen supplement
-1c. frozen cherries
-1tbsp. powdered greens
-1/2tbsp. flax oil

awesome. this is officially my pre-morning workout breakfast/snack. it has 290 calories, 26g carbs, 9g protein and 8g of fat. power smoothie indeed.

and it tastes good, i swear! post-workout i had a flax waffle and a light string cheese to round out breakfast at 450 calories.

great start to a great day! this is totally the calm before the storm but i’m in a great mood about the rest of the week and the adventures it will bring anyway!

disaster averted June 4, 2008

i had a long meeting after working out, that’s why i went ahead and ate another clif bar, otherwise i would have saved it. i actually bought 3 bars at AJ’s this afternoon and the third one is still in my purse for tomorrow’s pre-workout snack. it’s lemon vanilla flavored so it was a little easier to resist. it’ll come in handy on the way to rock climbing tomorrow, though! that’s right, i get to go rock climbing for a team building exercise. i am a staff volunteer for a leadership camp and that’s what all these meetings are about. we leave for camp two weeks from this saturday and i’m so excited!
i managed to swing by mom’s house after the meeting to see the baby (he’s almost 100% better now!) and i was hungry. such a bad combination, hunger at mom’s house. but, like the title of this post suggests, i did manage to avoid overeating anything. i had a 1/2c. of leftover potato-turkey taco filling that my mom makes herself, so no surprises in the stuff AND it’s delicious. she uses lean ground turkey and red potatoes without the skin so myfitnesspal estimates the calorie count at 88 for the filling. i filled two small taco-sized soft corn tortillas with it for another 110 and added a drizzle of mom’s salsa to each. had there been cheese already grated i would have sprinkled some on top. so good thing there wasn’t any readily available and i was feeling too lazy to grate some myself or the calorie count would have gone up. i already used my extra calories today on the illicit cookie.

a restocked fridge is a happy fridge June 4, 2008

after getting in my long hard sweaty workout and sampling the larabar i felt strong enough to hit up the grocery store on my way home. i needed some basics and i swear, i stuck to them. no picture of the groceries but one of the highlights was the 99 cent cantaloupe! i didn’t have enough time this morning to chop it open but maybe i’ll do it when i get home tonight, although that’s also unlikely. let’s be honest, i’m not really motivated to do anything when i get home after a long day and tonight is going to be a late one. i have spin (hour-long spin, not half-hour prep for boot camp spin) ’til 630 then i have to book it across town to be late (it’s ok, i cleared it with the director) for my volunteer meeting that was set to start at 6 and will run until 8. then i need to stop at my parent’s house (it’s in the same part of town as where the meeting is) to see the baby because he’s been sick and i haven’t had a chance to go over there.
so anyway, i restocked my fridge with my favorite food staples and came up with this for breakfast:

which was also great because it was good on-the-go and i had to be here early today. it’s a flax waffle and a cherry smoothie made with light vanilla soymilk and flax oil. theme for breakfast was flax, clearly.
but backtracking a little bit, dinner was a pita pocket with avocado and two chicken slices with a drizzle of mom’s salsa. perfect and only 221 calories.

i didn’t need any more than that after the snack attack!
p.s. i burned about 662 calories working out according to myfitnesspal.com

friday June 2, 2008

for lunch i had lettuce wraps with avocado for 285 calories:

and snack was lots of carrots. i tried to soften them in the microwave but it didn’t really work. i initially put some hummus on the side but the flavors together didn’t agree with me so i just ate all the carrots for 88 calories.

later on before the cocktail reception for SATC i had an apple enchilada that melissa had written about a few times. to add some healthy fat i used a 1/2tbsp. of vanilla bean olive oil. it helped the cinnamon and splenda coat really well! second snack/light dinner was 255 calories.

i’ll make a separate post about the reception because my pictures got separated for some reason. later on that night after the movie i had a makeshift quesadilla in one of the pita pockets with laughing cow and kraft free cheddar. i dipped it in a little of mom’s blended salsa. 164 calorie midnight snack.

oh, and the last of my fresh blueberries because i didn’t want them to go bad over the weekend while i was gone. i guess i could have frozen them… oh well, they were tasty!

ok, that completes friday except for the festivities. it’ll be out of chronological order when i finally get around to posting it but i promise i will!