October 2008

Happy Halloween!!

Ok, it’s the afternoon right now and I’m crunched for time, so I’m going to do a quick update and then head out to the store(s). We cleaned and cleaned and cleaned ALL night. OMG, I don’t think I sat down for more than 10 minutes and now I’m running on just 5 hours sleep, BUT I feel good! Yay.

Being I’m doing so much cooking and stuff today, I didn’t want to do too much cooking last night. So, we basically ate whatever was leftover in the fridge and freezer. Easy peasy!

Lunch was leftover salmon made into a salad/sandwich:

3oz cooked sockeye salmon (184 cal + 40 for EVOO it was cooked in = 226 cal) chopped up and mixed with 2 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (100 cal) and put on 2 slices toasted Vermont Bread Co. sodium free whole wheat bread (140 cal) with 1 cup mixed lettuce (5 cal), 1 plum tomato (15 cal) and 1 slice Sargento reduced fat swiss cheese (60 cal). I had a bag of Pinnacle baked whole grain chip thingies in the closet for I don’t know how long and decided to try them. They were fantastic! The 28g serving was very generous, too for only 130 calories. This was a quick, but robust sandwich and chip lunch for just 676 calories. The salmon salad is like tuna salad on steroids! More calories, but lots of healthy, good-for-you fat. YUMMMMM!!

I had a ton of leftover grilled chicken, so I made my version of a Chicken California sandwich for dinner and split it with hubby:

6oz grilled chicken breast (280 calories) on 2 slices Martin’s 100% whole wheat bread (140 cal) that I dressed with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil (40 cal), 2 TBSP red wine vinegar (4 cal), 1 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (50 cal) and 1 slice Sargento reduced fat swiss cheese (60 cal). The whole sandwich comes to 574 calories or 287 calories for half.

On the side I made a box of Amy’s light in sodium macaroni and cheese frozen dinner (400 cal), then steamed 2 cups Birds Eye broccoli (60 cal) and 1 cup Birds Eye broccoli stir fry (35 cal) in the microwave. I mixed the mac ‘n cheese with the veggies, which comes out to 495 calories, but then split that with hubby for 248 calories per serving.

The sandwich, even though it was just a half, was wonderful. The mac and cheese mixed with the veggies was a little bland, but that’s probably because the veggies spread the sauce so thin. I still liked it. So this was simple meal #2 for just 535 calories.

I bought this while we were in Bed, Bath & Beyond the other day:

Now I can ditch cooking sprays and use my own. I’ll have to figure out the calories for each spray, which shouldn’t be too hard, hopefully lol.

Alright, have to get going now. Halloween part II update coming MUCH later tonight or early morning!!

Hope everyone is having a fun and safe HALLOWEENIE!!

PS. Yes, we’re dressing up. I’ll post the pics

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I haven’t had a chance to do an update. Every time I started writing, I’d have to stop to do something else. We’re getting our house in order for our little Halloween party, which is just going to be my hubby, mother, me and maybe my cousin, but we’re still going all out for it. hehe Between Aunt Flo making me feel like a paperweight and having a ton of work to do, I’m lucky I’ve had time to cook. I still feel extremely puffy, but I’ve been trying to stay low on sodium in an effort to deflate a bit for Halloween. So far, so good but Aunt Flo has a way of making me as uncomfortable as possible, so I’m just hoping for the best lol.

I haven’t done any planned exercise or walking, but I’ve been staying very active with cleaning, cooking, etc. and tonight is the speed round; we have to tie up loose ends on the business front before Friday afternoon in between cooking, shopping and of course, more cleaning. All while dodging 12 kitties under our feet. lol It’s like a video game that you have to hop over little creatures to get to the end of the level lol. Fun, fun!

So, like I said… pictures GALORE! Let’s start with the tuna sandwich I had the day before yesterday:

When we were in Shop Rite the other night, I picked up 2 cans of low sodium tuna in the health food section. I usually buy Bumble Bee very low sodium albacore tuna, but this was dark meat tuna, which I haven’t had in years and it’s actually supposed to be better for you (less mercury, supposedly). The label said it was 60 calories for 2oz, but I just went ahead and ate the whole can, which came out to 100g on my food scale. So, I’ll round up and say 3.5 oz was 110 calories. I mixed it with 2 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (100 cal) and then put it on 2 slices Vermont Bread Co. 10 whole grain bread (180 cal) with 1 cup mixed lettuce (5 cal) and 1 plum tomato (15 cal). On the side I had 106g Gala apple (55 cal) and 1oz Brie cheese (80 cal). This was a fun-to-eat lunch for just 545 calories.

I know I said that I wasn’t into counting calories this week, but I ended up doing it most of the time anyway lol. Old habits die hard I guess!

Later on that day I made turkey burger quesadilla with guacamole and rice/beans on the side:

In a nonstick pan, I cooked 60g diced red onions (30 cal) in 1 teaspoon olive oil (40 cal), then added in 4oz ground turkey breast (120 cal) that I crumbled up. I preheated the oven to 425F and then lined a baking sheet with nonstick foil to build the quesadilla. I put 1 Tumaro’s Soy-full wrap (90 cal) down, then put the turkey and onion mixture on top and 1oz Cabot 50% reduced fat shredded white cheddar cheese (70 cal). http://tumaros.com/flatbread.htm (I see that they make an apple cinnamon one, I must try that!) I put 1 more Tumaro’s Soy-full wrap on top, then popped it in the oven for about 7-8 minutes.

When it came out, I cut it into 6 pieces and plated it with the leftover refried beans and beans and rice from the other day (~140 cal), 1 “100 calorie” pack of guacamole (100 cal), 1 diced plum tomato (15 cal) and 56g Fage Total 0% plain yogurt (30 cal). I’m not sure what possessed me to make such a creation, but it worked! I loved it. It comes out to around 725 calories and could easily be made into a half serving or use chicken or beef instead of ground turkey. I’m sure there’s infinite possibilities!

Later on I had a lovely treat:

3 Stella D’oro anisette toast cookies (130 cal) with 1 cup coffee (2 cal) that I added 2 TBSP half & half (40 cal) and 3 teaspoons Sun Crystals (12 cal) to. A very generous dessert and cup of coffee for just 184 calories. I love dipping the cookies into my coffee. Heavenly!

So now we’re at yesterday. I did lots of cooking yesterday and enjoyed every minute of it. We started with oatmeal for breakfast:

Hubby had brown sugar in his; I was envious but happy with my choices.

I made a pot of oatmeal on the stove for hubby and mommy, and decided to make mine in the microwave in an attempt to make it easier. In hindsight, I should have made mine on the stove, too, but oh well, it was still delicious!

I weighed out 80g Quaker old fashioned rolled oats (300 cal) in a large bowl, then added water and microwaved for a few minutes. When it was done, I stirred in 58g banana (55 cal) that I mashed up, 3 teaspoons Sun Crystals (12 cal), 2 TBSP coconut milk (60 cal), and then sprinkled ½ oz chopped walnuts (90 cal) on top. On the side I had 132g red pear (77 cal) and 2 slices Sargento reduced fat swiss cheese (120 cal). An odd combination that was a warm and cozy and kept me full for hours afterward for a whopping 709 calories. The banana, walnut, coconut oatmeal on its own is 512 calories. Next time I think I will add all of the banana instead of just half or maybe brown sugar!

This was my attempt at making an “Uncrustable” knockoff:

I sliced 2 pieces of Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato bread until both pieces weighed the same as one slice (70 cal), if that makes any sense lol. Then I stuffed it with 2 TBSP Naturally More peanut butter (169 cal) and 1 TBSP grape Polaner All Fruit (40 cal). With a fork, I went around the edges, trying to seal it, but it broke a little bit. I put it in a plastic sandwich baggie and put it in the fridge for about 4 or 5 hours before I ate it. It was YUMMY! Kind of a large snack for 279 calories, but worth it. I could probably make it with less PB next time and make it part of a lunch or breakfast. Either way, it’s sooo good.

It was lunchtime, but I wanted more “breakfast food”, so I made Dustin a sandwich and I made myself yogurt with berries and another slice of toast with PB:

In the ghost bowl, I put 1 serving of the Simply Fiber cereal (100 cal) that I bought the other day, then added 1 small container Fage Total 2% yogurt (130 cal), 72g fresh strawberries (25 cal) and 68g fresh blueberries (38 cal). Berries are far from being “in season”, but they looked so delicious in the store, I couldn’t resist. The Simply Fiber cereal looks and probably tastes like rabbit pellets lol, but I actually loved it! It’s plain and crunchy, but after you mix it with the berries and yogurt, it tastes great. Personally, I find whole grains to have a slightly naturally sweet taste to them. Maybe that’s just me, but I love plain grains. I put a few drops of liquid stevia over the yogurt/berries too, which sweetened it up a little more. It’s just an awesome combo. I could eat it several times a day and never get tired of it.

I toasted 1 slice Vermont Bread Co. sodium free whole wheat bread (70 cal), then slathered it with 1 TBSP Naturally More peanut butter (85 cal). For only 448 calories, this was a FANTASTIC lunch!! The yogurt/cereal/berries by itself is just 293 calories. Yum, yum!

Last but not least, last night’s dinner:

6oz wild caught sockeye salmon fillet (290 cal) with 200g sweet potato (210 cal) and 3oz fresh broccoli (30 cal).

I baked the sweet potato in the oven on 425F for about 1 hour 10 minutes and made the salmon under the broiler after the potato was done. I placed the salmon fillet on a baking sheet lined with nonstick foil, then brushed 1 teaspoon olive oil over it and 1 minced garlic clove (5 cal). I placed it under the broiler for about 9 minutes. They recommend 10 minutes per inch, but this wasn’t that thick so I did my best to estimate. When it was done, I drizzled 1 TBSP EVeryday 365 apricot fruit spread (35 cal) over it and put it back under the broiler for 1 minute. While the salmon broiled, I steamed 3oz broccoli (30 cal) in the microwave.

After I plated the salmon, sweet potato and broccoli, I added ½ TBSP butter and 1 TBSP sugar free maple syrup (20 cal) on the sweet potato. I picked up a bottle of “sugar free” maple syrup the other day in Shop Rite. It’s made with fructose (not high fructose corn syrup), which is sweeter than table sugar, so it has 65% less calories. It tasted just like other pancake syrups you would buy in stores, but not just like 100% pure maple syrup. I liked it though. I wanted it mainly for protein pancakes because I truly don’t want to spend 200+ calories on 100% pure maple syrup that often but I still definitely would!

For only 695 calories, this was a delicious and healthy meal that I’d love to eat several times a week. I adore salmon, but I make sure that it’s wild caught and NOT farm raised. Farm raised doesn’t have nearly as many nutrients that you will get from wild caught. Wild is more expensive and harder to find, but it’s worth it.

Ok, so I have a zillion and one things to do and it’s already after 8:00PM, yikes! I’ll have another update later tonight and a big update tomorrow!!

Off to clean and cook… sooo hungry! I wanted to bake a Halloween cake, but I don’t know if I’ll have time. Hubby is going to LOVE being recruited for kitchen duty!! *evil grin*

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Aunt Flo showed up last night! I was hoping she wouldn’t make an appearance until after Halloween, but it’s just like her to come at the worst time ever. Not that there’s ever a good time for her LOL, but sometimes would be a little better than others. *sigh*

I’m also EXTREMELY bloated and puffy. I should have known her plane was landing because I gained 6 lbs within 2 days and I haven’t been eating anywhere over maintenance. Ugh I think the combination of her, sodium, drinking a LOT of water, and the walk I took the other night are making it all seem much worse than it actually is. When I gain water weight like this, it doesn’t come off right away. I didn’t count calories most of the summer and gained weight, but the majority of that came on within a few weeks, so I know most of it is still lingering water weight. I just haven’t been consistent with calorie counting or exercise. Between being busy and being sick, I’ve been in semi-maintenance mode on and off. I’m not in any hurry to get to my goal weight; I’m in this for life. I didn’t gain all of my weight in a year and I no longer expect to lose it all in a small amount of time. So, while I lost 1/3 of my body weight, I gained 1/3 of the loss back, but like I said, most of that is water weight. It might be hard for some people to understand, but I have water retention issues that are above and beyond typical time of the month bloating. My ankles, hands, eyelids, stomach and feet swell up; sometimes doubling in size. I’ll get to the bottom of it one day soon hopefully, but for now I just have to do my best to manage the symptoms.

My cold is finally completely gone and I feel much better breathing wise, but now Aunt Flo is here making me feel bad in other ways. I haven’t been counting calories and I don’t think I am going to for the rest of the week. I decided yesterday that I want to try eating like a “normal” person for a few days. I still use my digital food scale and do a rough calorie count in my head, but I’m not into counting calories this week. I’m also not into any sort of exercise other than walking, which I did the night before. I bundled up, then went out to the driveway for about 65 minutes. My heart rate monitor said I burned 647 calories or 648. My file is on my other computer; I’m doing an update from my laptop. hehe

We went shopping last night. The weather was getting really bad, but thankfully we got home before the worst of it. We had our first snowfall of the season today. YAY! I missed snow sooo much!!

Anyway, we went to Toys R Us, Bed, Bath & Beyond and Shop Rite. I found these at Shop Rite in the “health food” section:

100 calories, 14g fiber per serving, whole grains and no sugar! That’s awesome! I can’t wait to try them.

I love that our local stores carry foods that I could only find at Whole Foods. The Shop Rite in Middletown has a big selection of Vermont Bread Co. breads. I picked up this one:

Only 90 calories per HUGE slice and 4g protein. Sounds like an invitation for a yummy tuna sandwich, doesn’t it?

Being on my “normal” person eating kick, I made real scrambled eggs with real butter for breakfast yesterday morning:

3 large cage free eggs (225 cal) scrambled in 1 TBSP butter (100 cal) with 106g Gala apple (55 cal) and 2 slices Vermont Bread Co. soft whole wheat toast (140 cal). A truly filling and wholesome breakfast for just 520 calories. In the past 50 years butter and eggs have been portrayed as the devil, but they are not. They are very natural and fit just fine in a balanced diet. Ever watch an old black and white TV show? What are they eating at almost every breakfast? Eggs? Waffles? Toast? Pancakes? Bacon? Sausage? A pastry maybe? Yep! Plus, they added sugar and cream to their coffee and still ate lunch, dinner, dessert and probably a few snacks. Sure, they likely moved more than many of us do now, but why can’t we move more? Exercise more, participate in everyday life more and eat more real food. It’s a sensationally simple concept. I’m still trying to retrain myself. It’s going to take some time. All of my life I was lead to believe otherwise by the diet industry, doctors, and the media. For decades I thought that people that wanted/needed to lose weight couldn’t eat certain things. Nonsense. We just have to eat a little less of them while making sure we have a balanced diet that covers all of our needs and move a little more.

Real food: EMBRACE IT!

Shop Rite had Porterhouse steaks on sale, so I couldn’t resist and picked up 3 for the family and me. No wonder Rachael ray can make 30 minute meals lol. When you don’t have to measure or weigh portions, you save a tremendous amount of time! Unfortunately, the steak didn’t taste that good. It was tough and not up to my steak standards, but the side dishes came out great and I had fun making all of it:

I coated the steaks with extra virgin olive oil, then grilled them on the griddle with garlic powder and black pepper. I opened a can of no salt added yellow corn; drained it and added it to a nonstick pan with olive oil, diced green bell peppers, and diced red onions.

While the steaks and corn mixture cooked, I made a fennel and apple salad. I sliced the fennel and (peeled) Gala apple thinly, then made a vainigrette with balsamic vinegar, honey and avocado oil. It was delicious! Not your typical side salad at all. It was crunchy, sweet and would go with so many dishes. It’s a perfect Fall/Winter side salad. Yum!

Oh, and that’s not wine in the glasses; it’s grape juice!! Like I’ve said before, I don’t like alcohol with food, so I did some research and found out that purple (concord) grape juice has the same antioxidants that red wine has! Grape juice is very calorie dense though, so I had just 4oz that I actually measured lol. Check out this article about wine and grape juice being alike: http://archives.cnn.com/2000/HEALTH/alternative/03/31/wine.heart.wmd/

Looks like grape juice is going to make an appearance at our dinner table much more often! *thrilled* I looooooooove grape juice! Mmmmmm!

I bought like 10 loaves of assorted breads at Shop Rite last night lol. This morning I had 1 slice (2oz) cranberry and pumpkin seed Yoga bread (140 cal) with 2 TBSP Philadelphia 1/3 less fat cream cheese (70 cal) and 1 Fage Total 2% with side cherries (130 cal) that I made into a “cheesecake” with 28g Kashi 7 whole grain nuggets (105 cal) on the bottom. Quick and easy breakfast for just 445 calories.

Well, it’s dinnertime, so I’m going to cook but I don’t know what yet! LOL It’s so cold and windy out, so I’m thinking something warm and comforting! Though, ice cream sounds good. Darn you Aunt Flo.

More updates later tonight!!

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I haven’t been at my computer nearly as much this weekend as I usually am. I needed some time away, so I took it. I wasn’t completely self-absorbed being I spent the majority of time with hubby, but I did things that I haven’t done in awhile; like taking a bath and baking. We went to the Asian farm stand Friday evening and then stayed in the rest of the weekend. I bought a plethora of beautiful fruit and vegetables there; you can’t beat their prices. Like the flawless yellow bell peppers for $1.49/lb. They’re usually $3-$4 a lb in other stores.

The owner started talking to us while we were checking out. He’s a very nice man from Korea that couldn’t stop feeding us! LOL After we paid him, he’s like; “Wait 1 minute please.” He came out with some vegetable spring rolls that he just heated up. He’s like; “Try one, they’re all vegetable.” He made them sound so healthy and innocent, even though they were deep fried LOL. How could we resist?! So we each munched on one while we talked to him. We started talking about seaweed while we stood by the sushi counter and my husband and I admitted that we’ve never had seaweed before. He’s like, ” never had it before? It’s like spinach of the sea!” So he went to a shelf and opened up a package of seaweed and encouraged us to try it. It was paper-thin and melted in my mouth; like a wafer. The package he opened was a salted snack version of it. It’s not anything like I imagined; it really did taste like sea spinach lol. We’ve also never had sushi, so we asked him what he recommended that we try for the first time. Again, he was amazed that we’ve never had something so popular, so he went to the sushi counter and opened up a package of California rolls for us to try. They were made with rice, seaweed, shrimp and avocado. OMG, sooo good!! Now I see what everyone is raving about. We’re not brave enough to try the raw versions yet, but the cooked shrimp version was awesome. We plan to go there for lunch sometime this week. It’s like a miniature Whole Foods; I LOVE that place. Oh, and I was surprised that you can’t even taste the seaweed inside of the sushi roll. It’s just fantastic. Even my husband liked it and he’s reluctant to try new things lol. Definitely have to have more! YUM

Friday night I did something somewhat foolish; I decided to go for a walk in the driveway, but I still have a lingering runny nose and cough and cold air just aggravates it even more. I bundled up the best I could; gloves, winter coat, etc., but the cold air was still irritating my nose. So, I walked for a half hour and went back inside.

My heart rate monitor results for the walk:

Summary:

00:30:49
297 cal burned
159 max HR
146 avg

Then I came inside and Calgon took me away!!

The perfect way to warm up and relax after a chilly walk. Luckily I didn’t get sicker, but I’m going to have to get some ski apparel if I want to walk outside in the cold.

At the Asian market, I picked up a box of Tazo apple cinnamon and caramel tea:

After my bath, I had a cup of it with a tuna sandwich and a Honeycrisp apple:

This was the first time I had a Honeycrisp apple and boy, are they GOOD! I’ve heard a lot of people talking about them this year, but they are sort of hard to find. When I saw the basket of them at the market, I bought a few of them along with some Galas and Fujis. The Honeycrisp is just like the name describes: sweet and crispy.

106g Honeycrisp apple (55 cal) with a tuna sandwich that I made with: 2 slices Vermont Bread Co. soft whole wheat bread (140 cal), 1 plum tomato (15 cal), 56g Bumble Bee low sodium tuna (70 cal), 2 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (100 cal) and 1 TBSP organic sweet relish (15 cal). With 1 cup of Tazo Red Apple tea (5 cal) that I added 3 teaspoons Sun Crystals (12 cal) to, this was a fabulously healthy late night lunch for just 412 calories. The tea also tastes exactly like description: apples and caramel. Lovely!

Saturday was yet another leisurely day around the house. I was attached to my stove nearly all day. First, I roasted 2 baking sheets of vegetables in the oven, which came out to 145 calories per serving (10 servings). I’m new to roasting veggies and it’s going to take me some time to perfect the method, so I’m not going to suggest how to do it just yet LOL. It was around 7:00PM and we didn’t have lunch yet (we’re still on a crazy schedule) and I wanted to use the veggies I roasted, so I made a pasta salad with them. I boiled 1oz tri-color bow tie pasta (105 cal); drained them, then mixed 1 serving of the veggies (145 cal) with 1 teaspoon olive oil (40 cal) and 2 TBSP grated pecorino romano cheese (40 cal). I made us hamburgers on the griddle; they overcooked a little but I like my hamburgers bone-dry lol.

1 Laura’s 92% lean hamburger (160 cal) on 1 Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato roll (80 cal) with 1 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (50 cal), ½ TBSP Heinz no salt added ketchup (10 cal) and 1 plum tomato (15 cal). I’m not sure why I haven’t wanted lettuce on my sandwiches lately; I’ve only wanted tomato. *shrugs* Another weird food phase I guess lol. With the roasted veggie pasta salad, this I-can’t-believe-it’s-not-summer lunch came out to just 645 calories. Hubby had a beer with his burger; I don’t like alcohol with food. Not even wine. I don’t know, it just seems to ruin the flavor of food for me, even though it’s supposed to enhance it. Maybe my palate will continue change with age. 20 years ago I never would have imagined enjoying some of the “hippie food” that I ADORE today. hahaha

In between lunch and dinner, I made a batch of No Pudge brownies… with a twist! I’ve been dying to try black bean brownies that I have seen a few variations of. I wasn’t brave enough to try the wheat-less version, so I came up with this combination:

1 box No Pudge brownie mix (original, 1440 cal)
1 cup Fage Total 2% yogurt (150 cal)
1 cup (250g) no salt added canned black beans (220 cal)
1oz chopped walnuts (180 cal)
32g chopped macadamia nuts (230 cal)
60g organic white chocolate chips (320 cal)
1 cup warm water

2540 calories for the batch // 18 servings: 141.1 calories each

1. Combine all the ingredients except for the nuts and chips
2. Mix batter (it’s very thin; mix with caution! )
3. Add in nuts and chips; stir
4. Spray square or rectangular brownie/cake pan with cooking spray and/or line with nonstick foil
5. Bake in preheated 350F oven for about 35-50 minutes; poke center with toothpick; they’re done when batter is not runny

I say 35-50 minutes because the No Pudge box says to bake on 350F for 34 minutes, but the ingredients I added doubled the amount of batter. I checked at the 35 minutes mark, but the center was still liquid. So I let them bake for another 15-20 minutes before I took them out.

I used my new brownie pan that cuts 18 “equal” pieces, but when I put the batter in, it started leaking out the bottom! It’s actually 2 pieces, and maybe I didn’t do it right, but as soon as I soon it oozing out of the bottom, I quickly poured the batter into a bowl. I cleaned out the brownie pan, then lined it with nonstick foil. It ended up working out really well. I gave the foil a quick spray of Pam olive oil cooking spray, just in case they stuck a little.

At that point I wasn’t sure if they were going to turn out right, but they were wonderful!!

You cannot tell that there’s beans in them. They are very fudgy and moist. We loved them. Even my husband couldn’t tell that there were beans in them. YAY for successful baking! I’m not sure what happened to the white chocolate chips; they disappeared! LOL They weren’t anywhere to be found! I guess they melted? The nuts — especially the macadamia — were a hit. YUMMMMMY! I ate 2 of them. They almost remind me of the brownie you get in a TGIFriday’s “Brownie Obession.” Hmm, a little vanilla frozen yogurt… hmm, OHH yes! hehe

Brownies are delightful, but we were hungry later on. Hubby bought a pint of pistachios at the Asian market and ate almost all of them already. He’s been eating them as a appetizer before every meal lol. Better than Twinkies I guess! I made the most amazing Mexican food knockoff EVER!! I’ve been daydreaming about making a cheese and bean burrito for awhile now, but never got around to it, until last night. I preheated the oven to 350F, then opened a can of Amy’s light in sodium refried beans. I warmed 1 serving/130g (140 cal) up in the microwave for 30 seconds, then on a piece of nonstick foil, I put down 1 Tumaro’s multi-grain wrap (100 cal), added the refried beans in the middle, leaving room around the edges to fold it. Then I added on 1 oz Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese (60 cal); wrapped it into a burrito shape, then wrapped it up in the foil, placed it on a baking sheet and popped it into the oven for 7 minutes.

I licked the spoon from the refried beans and nearly ate the rest of the can… cold. They are FANTASTIC! And only 190mg sodium per serving instead of 500 or 600mg that you might find with other brands. While the burrito warmed up in the oven, I warmed up 1 serving/130g Eden red beans and rice (110 cal) in the microwave along with another serving of Amy’s light in sodium refried beans (140 cal). When it was done, I plated the burrito, rice and beans along with 30g diced red onion (15 cal), 1 diced plum tomato (15 cal) and 40g Hass avocado (67 cal).

OH MY GAWD! This was DELICIOUS! I absolutely loved it! And get this: Only 647 calories for all of that! WOW! I would love to eat this every single day. In fact, I see no reason not to LOL. Very healthy and extremely tasty on one plate. It doesn’t get much better than that!! I’m going to go back to Whole Foods and buy out their supply of Amy’s light in sodium refried beans lol! They’re amazing. If you like Taco Bell, you will LOVE this. Try it, you won’t be disappointed!

I’m getting hungry looking at these pics. LOL I’m going to eat now! More updates later tonight.

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