Spicing Up Old Recipes

Hey y'all! It's the last week of January already which further proves that time seriously just escapes through your fingers without you even noticing.  I lost an average of 4-1/2 pounds last week.  Before you get too excited, let me just tell you that it was due LARGELY in part to a nasty case of either food poisoning or a stomach virus.  I am not 100% sure where that little demon came from but it had me feeling miserable for over 4 days.  So, the number on the scale looked nice but I am sure some balancing out will be done.  I just don't want to backslide from the week before.  I'm MOSTLY 100% at this point but I have felt a few aftershocks between last night and this morning.

I have shared the whole cauliflower rice Asian chicken wrap thing before but I wanted to show it again because first, I used ground chicken this time, second, I want to reiterate that I'm a fan and finally, to show you that I made a different sauce to go with it.  I love the flavors of the peanut sauce and soy sauce but I like to have another creamier sauce to balance it out.  Since traditional Yum Yum sauce is kind of impossible when counting calories, I made a sauce using reduced fat sour cream, 1% milk to thin it out, W sauce, fresh garlic and Sriracha sauce.  I loved this stuff! The longer it sat, the better it tasted.  It added a little kick but the creaminess matched perfectly with the fried "rice."  It was only 24 calories per tablespoon.  I used it on other things as well.  I even made an egg salad with it and put it on an Everything Bagel Thin.  I know it doesn't look pretty but it tasted really good.  I would most definitely make it again.  I think I'll try my frozen hash browns with the Asian flavors next time because as much as I love the cauliflower rice it's kind of a pain in the you know what without a food processor.  

Have a great week, y'all!

Put Beer In Your Chili

Hey y'all! Happy MLK day! Here's to respecting each other every day of the year! I will jump right in.  I lost a couple ounces last week but nothing to write home about.  I kind of expected this.  After the game Monday, in which Alabama won yet another national championship game (Roll Tide!) and after a couple missteps over the weekend, I didn't really earn more than a couple ounces down.  I am not upset and I'm not beating myself up.  I started today with a positive attitude and I'm doing very well.  I am proud to say that 18 days into 2016, I'm sticking with the plan to be a bit nicer to myself.  Before I show you the recipe, I wanted to give a quick shout out to my good friend, David Earp.  He's sick and stuck in the hospital and needs all the good vibes he can get.  You won't meet a sweeter guy or a better host.  Love you, David!

I have shared a chili recipe or two in the past few years.  The one I made a couple weeks ago was the best one I've ever made.  The best part was that it was hearty, filling and low in calories.  I made it with my new love, ground chicken.  In addition to the ingredients pictured, the chili also included turkey sausage and beer.  I used Fat Tire which is a Belgian Ale.  Y'all, the beer added another layer of flavor that made the chili richer and more delicious.  I don't like chili or kidney beans so I used black beans.  The heat from the turkey sausage and Rotel gave it a nice kick but you could also turn it up a notch if you like things more spicy.  Ian and I ate on this chili several times and it was delicious. I have to also say that even though this was Pinterest inspired, I changed things up and made it my own so I was pretty proud.

My Dad, Cassandra and I went to see Grace Potter at Iron City on Friday.  I've seen her 5 or 6 times and I think the show she put on Friday was the best one I've seen.  I think she's amazing.  It was a fun time.

I have lots of school work for this week as things are getting back into full swing. Being busy is good for the soul and for me, it's a good way to eat less.

Until next week y'all...

I ain't never been nothing but a winner...

Well, Alabama is playing Clemson tonight for their 16th national championship.  I am optimistic and excited about the game.  I'm also extremely jealous because my parents are out west, visiting the Grand Canyon and heading to the game tonight. They look like they are having a blast. Here in T-Town, we have the cold weather without fun snow, mountains or canyons. Last week was the first week of the year.  Usually, I take the extreme approach.  An apple for breakfast, lettuce for lunch and dinner and major shifts in exercise.  I am always so eager to ditch the damage I did that it often backfires.  This year, I'm taking it slow.  I am  not shooting for perfection.  I followed the rules extremely well Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and stretched a couple rules the rest of the week.  I mean that in a sincere way.  I maintained a healthy balance on those days, never binging on food or drink.  Today, it may get a bit rusty tonight during the game but I plan on not letting it get crazy.  The goal this week is to achieve even more "good days."  I am not sure if I mentioned it or not but I am training for  a half marathon again which is tough but rewarding and as always, it's helpful to have a goal.  I ran 6 miles on Friday.  It was tough and my goodness I'm slow but I made it through successfully.  This week will hold another long run and several short runs.  I ran into the problem I had last time though and that is that I was STARVING after the run.  I need to plan better for this and I need to make sure I have hearty and healthy food that I can have a lot of.  This week of turnaround led to a 3 pound loss on the scale.  I am happy with this but I know that it means I was going crazy during the holidays and I also know that that type of loss won't happen every week.  I am going to move forward with the plan to be nice to myself and keep working.

I discovered pizza flavored hummus a couple weeks ago.  It's got a nice red pepper kick and hummus is always a filling, healthy option.  For lunch, I decided to build on the pizza flavor and make a wrap. I know I've shared these green wraps before but I will share again.  When you have low carb wraps, they can often break apart.  None of them are outstanding for flavor but at least these wraps, from Fresh Market, hold up really well. The best part is they are only 60 calories.  One of my other favorite foods is turkey pepperoni.  I used the pizza hummus, turkey pepperoni, chicken and smoked gouda cheese to make a wrap and it was delicious.  I used the rest of the hummus and spread it on lavash crackers (which are also a fun snack) to go on the side.  It was a quick, filling, tasty lunch.

I have known about Halo oranges for awhile but I rekindled my love for them.  These tiny mandarins are easy to peel, around 40 calories and are a quick, sweet snack that is great for what I call "boredom eating."  If I'm around the house, I want to eat.  These oranges are great because they are several bites that take a minute to eat because you have to peel the wedges apart and they are guilt-free.

Have a great week y'all and ROLL TIDE!

Square 1...again

Happy New Year, y'all! Also, Happy Birthday to my Ian.  I was deemed a cougar the other day because while I'm already officially in my 30s, Ian is turning 29 on Friday.  Ian has been such a positive force in my life.  I'm lucky to have him and I can't wait to help him celebrate his birthday! I had a weigh in on Saturday for the first time in quite some time.  I had prepared myself for an unfortunate number and that's what I got.  My goal is to have a day-by-day approach.  Today will be my first 100% perfect "diet" day in a long time.  This excites me.  I plan to do this the whole week and weigh in again but I am trying to focus less on the number on the scale and more on taking my time and getting back to basics.  I'm not doing anything extreme.  I'm counting calories because I have to have that framework but I am doing attainable calorie goals rather than going extreme like I usually do.  I have time, I don't have to lose 40 pounds in a week.  I have also decided to train for the half marathon again.  Having several small goals and one larger goal seems smart, especially since the big goal has nothing to do with a number on a scale.  I feel better already.  I am so hard on myself.   I'm working on that as well.

Because I am trying to get back to my "normal," healthy lifestyle, you may see similar versions of recipes that I have done before.  One thing that may pop up quite often is ground chicken.  I have recently decided I am far more fond of ground chicken than I am ground turkey.  It tastes better and is obviously a healthier option than beef.  One challenge with cooking is attempting to make things for Ian who is really picky.  I don't know of anyone who likes tacos and Mexican food more than Ian so for my first recipe of the year, I made ground chicken tacos. The best part about this is that I made it in about 15 minutes.  I got whole wheat soft taco shells, reduced fat sour cream and cheese and lettuce to go with the ground chicken seasoned with taco seasoning.  Using chicken saves you on fat but you don't really sacrifice any flavor.  I feel like I will go back to this recipe time and again.

Bama is playing for another national championship on Monday!

Roll Tide!

Until next time...