Peanut Butter and Jelly....I Mean Grapes

This afternoon's snack was inspired by the Sour Patch Grapes that I've seen all over pinterest. I've never tried them, but I thought that the idea was cool. Instead of using Jello, I used PB2 (Powdered PB). I put 1 TBSP PB@ into a cup of grapes and shook it up. The result was quite delicious. They tasted kind of like a Peanut Butter and Jelly. I will definitely be doing this again!

Veggie Stir Fry

I was seriously debating what to put into my stir fry. I've never made one without a recipe before, so it was definitely an experiment. I'm glad to say that it turned out really well! I made enough for me and my Mom, but it was so good that I really didn't want to share. She loved it too, which is saying something because she's kind of a picky eater.

Veggie Stir Fry

Yields 2 Servings

1/4 of a red pepper, chopped finely

1 Medium onion, chopped

1 Large Zucchini, chopped

1-2 Cups Pineapple, chopped

1 Cup Carrots, Chopped

3 TBSP Lite Soy Sauce

1 Can Swanson's Chicken Broth

1. Heat a large skillet to high heat. 
2. Put enough chicken broth in the skillet to coat the bottom. You are going to use this to saute the onions instead of oil.
3. Add in the onions and saute them until they turn clear...I think this is called sweating it.
4. Add in the carrots and a little more broth if needed. 
5. After a few minutes, add the zucchini, soy sauce, and red pepper. Saute until the broth evaporates. 
6. Add the pineapple and a little bit of water, cover the skillet, and saute until you think its done. 
7. Enjoy!

Fruity Salad

I love salads, and it’s not just because they can be super-healthy and stuff. I really just love them. You can call me weird, but nine times out of ten, I would much rather have a giant salad than pizza or fries or other junk.

It’s actually really funny that I like salads at all. Before I turned 18, I wouldn’t go within five feet of lettuce (or any other veggie really). Salads literally made me gag. I’m not sure what changed, but once I got to college, they were a staple of my diet. Possibly because the rest of the school cafeteria was full of foods that made me decide that salad was the safest option. Seriously. The food was HORRIBLE. (Though I do recognize that I should be grateful for even having food everyday when so many do not)

I wasn’t exactly adventurous though, and for another two years, Caesar was the only salad I touched. I eventually branched out at Panera and tried their Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (LOVE IT). From there, I experimented at home, and now I eat all kinds of different salads.

The beauty of salads is that they can be whatever you want them to be. They can be sweet, or savory.  You can use spinach, romaine, kale, or a variety of lettuces. The toppings possibilities are endless, and there are a billion different dressings to try.

This salad is definitely one of my sweeter ones. I was having a massive sweet-tooth attack, and this is what happened.

Ingredients:

Spinach (A lot of it, I go through a bag by myself in about 2 days)

1 TBSP Pecans

1 TBSP Gorgonzola Cheese (Feta might work just as well)

.5 Ounces of Freeze Dried Pomegranate Seeds (I got these at Mom’s Organic Market. I thought they would add a nice crunch. I think I will try a different fruit next time. These were actually a little too crunchy for me)

½ cup Blueberries (I like to use frozen because it adds a nice chill)

1 No Sugar Added Diced Peaches Cup

2 TBSP Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette Light

Total Calorie Count: 265

Feel free to add some meat to the salad to up the protein. In the past, I have put turkey and chicken on it. I am trying to limit myself to one serving of meat a day so none for my salad.

I’ve been debating putting some spaghetti squash into my salad. I can’t decide if this would be good or not! It could add a nice crunch, or it could turn into a mushy mess. When I get brave enough to try, I will post it (good or not). What do you guys think?

Omelette De Leftovers

Saturday we went out to dinner for my sister’s birthday. It’s become some kind of tradition to go to this local Japanese Steakhouse for dinner on family birthdays. It’s really fun watching them prepare the food right in front of you, and my nephew gets a kick out of the guy throwing food at us to catch with our mouths. It’s an all around good time. The bad news is that everything is covered in oil and butter and sauces. So naturally it’s delicious, but not exactly healthy.

I ordered the Hibachi Shrimp, which comes with Fried Rice, Salad with that delicious Asian Ginger Dressing, Soup, and Veggies. I ate all of my soup, salad, and veggies. There was no hope of any of those making it out of the restaurant. As soon as our entrée was on out plates, I asked for a to-go box. This is the only way I can stop myself from wanting to clear the whole plate. I put well over half of my meal in the box (they give you SO much food!).

I don’t like leftover rice, so that wasn’t a temptation, but I really love shrimp, so I needed to find some way to cook it. I decided to add it to my scrambled egg whites this morning along with some of the leftover onion and mushrooms. (You can’t really see the shrooms in the picture)

Egg Whites really go well with just about anything (personal opinion). They’re a lot like tofu: seriously tasteless until you add stuff to them. So any leftovers you guys have could be really good added to your egg whites. I’ve added steak, chicken, veggies, seafood, and all kinds of other stuff before. Just be careful of your calorie total J

Leftovers Omelette:

-Leftovers (I had 4 shrimp and some onions)

-Egg Whites (I used 3 egg whites)

-1 TBSP Shredded Cheese

Toss is in a pan and scramble it! Then spread the cheese on top.

Total Calorie Count: 156

**In case anyone was wondering, I use MyFitnessPal to generate my calorie totals for meals.**

Greek Trix

I love Undressed Skeleton's blog. Seriously. She has fantastic recipes. This is one that I tried out on Friday for my afternoon snack. It's only about 120 calories, and it is super tasty!

Greek Trix

I hated Trix yogurt as a child. It grossed me out. I'm not sure what possessed me to try a recipe that's based off of a yogurt I hated, but I'm glad I did. The jello didn't mix into the yogurt as nicely as I wanted it too, but I think that's my fault. I added too much jello. It would probably be a good idea to mix the jello into a little bit of water, then mix it into the yogurt. Oh well...lesson learned. It still tasted yummy. AWESOME moment: Lime jello mixed into plain Greek yogurt tasted a lot like key lime pie :)

Ingredients

Plain Greek Yogurt

Your choice of jello flavors (I used lime and strawberry)

Sweetener of choice

Mix the sweetener into the yogurt thoroughly, then mix in a SMALL amount of jello. Stir it a lot....like a lot a lot. 

***It would be pretty awesome to stick this in the freezer and have it as a frozen treat later :)***

Slow Cooker Veggie Soup

I've been bad about posting what I eat. In my defense, this is the first extended amount of time that I've been anywhere near my computer all weekend. I also haven't had a lot of time to cook anything...crazy weekend. I had two family birthdays, a bake sale to bake for, a conference, and a meeting. 

I don't usually like spending this much time away from home. I'm a homebody. I also hate eating out. It's a pain in the butt figuring out what to eat. A salad seems like a safe option, but some salads can pack a calorie count that exceeds my total daily limit. Insanity. What really drives me crazy is when a restaurant has no nutritional information available....ughh..

All ranting aside, I did make a slow-cooker soup that turned out really tasty. It's packed with veggies, so I can eat a lot without feeling guilty. 

Slow Cooker Soup

Yields....lots of servings

Ingredients:

1 Can Cut Green Beans

2 Cans of Swanson Low Sodium Chicken Broth

1 Can of Goya Garbanzo Beans (Chickpeas) 

1 Can of Corn

1 Can of Sliced or Diced Potatoes

1 Bag of Frozen Mixed Veggies

Drain the liquids out of the cans of veggies then toss all of the ingredients into the crock pot. I cooked it on low for 7 hours. I'm sure it doesn't take that long, but I had it going while I was at work on Friday. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am!

Apple Nachos

Apple Nachos are amazzzinnng. I don't think y'all need a recipe, its pretty obvious what its made of. Take an apple, cut it into thin slices, cover in melted peanut butter OR my new favorite, PB2, sprinkle with cinnamon, maybe a little honey, and whatever toppings you want, then ENJOY! They are a great post workout snack for me :)

Ramblings On Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash

As an Italian, I have an appreciation for anything involving the word spaghetti. Even better when it involves the word marinara. As a woman who is fighting her genes and her cravings, however, the word spaghetti can be a little terrifying. So. Many. Carbs. I've evolved over the years from a giant plate of white pasta to a single serving of wheat pasta. Definitely an improvement. But I still don't eat it as much as I would like. 

By now, most people (if not all) in the healthy eating world know about Spaghetti Squash. To say I was reluctant to try it would be a massive understatement. There was just no way in my mind that a vegetable could replace all that carb magic. I bit the bullet and tried it anyways. 

Here's my reaction: No, it's not pasta. It will never be pasta. 

Shocker right? Most posts you read say "It's just like real pasta!" No...Just No. It IS, however, a wonderful pasta alternative. It's a little bit crunchy, has very little taste, and twirls around a fork pretty well. You can season it however you want, add whatever you want to it, and BONUS when you eat it, you get a serving of veggies. 

My favorite way to eat it (so far) has been with some marinara and Parmesan. I'm not too picky in that respect. I don't insist of freshly grated cheese. The regular junk from the pasta isle in the grocery store works for me. I do love me some homemade sauce (the thought of sauce from a jar used to make me cringe). These days, however,  I'm decidedly low maintenance (cough*lazy*cough). I use Prego Lite Smart. Its simple and easy. I sometimes dress it us with veggies and meat, but I'll make a post about that later. 

The moral of this rambling adventure into the squash world is this: if you're a die-hard spaghetti lover who doesn't like vegetables, I would probably stay away. I'm all for people trying new foods, but this is not spaghetti, and if you get it into your mind that it will be just like the real thing, you probably will be disappointed. But, if you're willing to venture into the unknown and try it, you probably won't regret it. I have spaghetti squash a couple of days a week now, and I really do love it. So hey, give it a shot. They're pretty cheap at the grocery store and you may end up loving it. :)

How to cook a Spaghetti Squash

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Wash the outside of it. (Yes, I'm serious. It grosses me out when people don't wash fruits and veggies before eating or cooking them)
3. CAREFULLY (could I be more obnoxiously insistent?) cut the squash in half from the stem to the bottom. This will be very very difficult. Use a really really big knife and be really really careful. 
4. Scoop the seeds out of the squash (like a pumpkin). 
5. Brush the inside and the outside of the squash with EVOO (Olive oil for people like me who had no idea that that's what that stood for).
6. Sprinkle it with any desired seasonings. I sprinkle the crap out of it with garlic. 
7. Put on a cookie sheet covered in foil and bake for about 40 minutes. The outside of the skin should be easily pierced with a knife. 
8. Run a fork along the inside of the squash to pull out the "spaghetti". This might not make sense, but once you start, I promise you will get the hang of it. 
9. Enjoy :)

Arctic Zero

Seriously...go buy it...right now. www.myarcticzero.com

Strawberry PB2 Cakes

Strawberry PB2 Cakes =)

Sooo...I would live off peanut butter if I could. Seriously. I'm obsessed. Eating it out of the jar with a spoon obsessed. 

I stumbled upon PB2 when I was reading one of my favorite blogs, I was beyond excited to try it. I drove the 40 minutes to the closest organic food market, stocked up on both the chocolate and original flavors, and went to town. 

This stuff is the greatest thing I've ever found for pb lovers who are trying to watch calories. For two TBSP there are 45 calories, compared to the 200 in regular pb. So yeah, of course I'm in love with it. It IS in powdered form, so you just add water to hydrate it, or add it to plain greek yogurt, or a smoothie, or a million other things. But pretty much, between this, and Arctic Zero, I can pig out and not go into a diabetic coma and gain 500 billion pounds.

This creation above was because I wanted to try out the Chocolate PB2 and didn't really know what to do with it. I figured I love chocolate covered strawberries, so why not combine the flavors. It was a pretty delicious afternoon snack if I do say so myself :)

Strawberry PB2 Cakes (132 Calories)

4 Strawberries, sliced (Mine were frozen. I thawed them, they mushed onto it) (roughly 30 calories)

3 Suzie's Flaxseed Thin Cakes (57 calories)

2 TBSP Chocolate PB2--Add as much water as you want to reach desired consistency (45 calories)