Wednesday, November 11, 2009

I just noticed that my pictures come out considerably better in low-light when I use my yellow place mats. All of October I struggled with nighttime lighting issues over the kitchen table; obviously the combination of dark orange place mats and plates of the same color was contributing to the poor picture quality. As you’ll see below, my images got much clearer when I made the switch.

Who doesn’t love pasta for breakfast?! Ok, most people don’t, but I do!

1.5 oz whole wheat penne pasta (155 cal) with 2 Quorn meatless meatballs (45 cal) and 1/2 cup Franceso Rinaldi no salt added tomato sauce (70 cal). With 8oz skim milk (90 cal) for a strange, but yummy 360 calorie breakfast.

I love salads and Dustin loves… hot dogs. lol

After living primarily off of homemade bagels for several weeks, I’ve been trying to cut down on them a bit by incorporating more “grain-less” meals into my daily menu. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. This time it was a major success with a great big salad with lots of delicious green bites, a salmon burger and several mouthfuls of cheeeeeeeeese.

A bed of spring mix topped with a salmon burger (120 cal), red onions, grape tomatoes, 1/4 cup frozen peas (35 cal) that I defrosted in the microwave for 20 seconds, 1oz Shop Rite no salt added Swiss cheese (100 cal), 14g reduced fat blue cheese crumbles (40 cal), avocado slices, and honey mustard dressing made with: 5g yellow and brown mustard (5 cal), 1/2 tsp EVOO (20 cal), 2 TBSP red wine vinegar (5 cal) and 2 tsp/14g honey (40 cal).

Delish!!

I tried one of these chocolate Odwalla bars (210 cal) later on in the day:

Wow, sooo good! Almost tastes like a soft baked double chocolate chip cookie. Not very high in protein, but would be good for a post or pre-workout snack.

I couldn’t stay away from the bagels very long. This time I turned them into a crusty, chewy mushroom pizza. YUUUUUMMMMMMMM!

First I toasted the bagel (~210 cal) in the toaster to make sure it would get crispy enough without burning the cheese in the oven. Then I topped each half with Franceso Rinaldi no salt added tomato sauce (35 cal, 1/4 cup worth); 2 slices Sargento reduced fat provolone cheese (100 cal) and 1 small can no salt added mushrooms (60 cal). I sprinkled them with oregano and popped them in my preheated 450F oven on a baking sheet lined with a silicon nonstick sheet for 12 minutes.

Umm, why don’t I eat mushrooms more often? I love them!! Best.pizza.bagel.EVER!!

*drool* SO good, easy to make, minimal clean-up and just 405 calories. These would be a total crowd-pleaser; very kid and picky hubby-friendly.

A HUGE thank you to Kath and her bodacious baker hubby, Matt for sending me a box of Great Harvest Dakota rolls!!!!!!! I’ve often envied them on her blog and was thrilled to be able to try a burger on one, just like she recommended. I figured such an elegant burger vessel should be honored with supreme toppings. So I loaded mine up with red onion (which totally goes against all KERF principles LOL), avocado, tomato, Swiss cheese and Heinz no salt added ketchup:

With a fairly large bowl of string beans drizzled with EVOO + red wine vinegar on the side, plus a small handful of Cape Cod cheddar chips. Totally not needed, but thoroughly enjoyed.

As delightful as it was gorgeous! YUM! I’m trying to ratio the rolls out, it’s not everyday that I get Great Harvest bread. I prefer the rolls over the whole loaves because they are sort of like portion control. I can’t be trusted with a loaf of unsliced bread. hahahaha

Speaking of mellow and yellow, here’s a yellowy breakfast of Stonyfield Farm fat free lemon yogurt (130 cal) topped with 1 crumbled Kashi honey almond flax granola bar (140 cal) for a grand total of just 270 calories.

Fun to crunch and munch on, but left me hungry about 1-2 hours later. Good for a snack, but a little wimpy for a breakfast.

Enter yellow place mats…

After a 45 minute, 11.25 mile spin on my recumbent bike, I was starved and ready to take on the kitchen. With little patience, I went for my quickest options: sandwich and a smoothie.

The sandwich: 2 slices Trader Joe’s sodium free whole wheat bread (140 cal) with 2oz Trader Joe’s no salt added canned salmon (60 cal) mixed with 1 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (50 cal). (I saved this pic file as tuna, but it was salmon. Ah well lol)

I split the smoothie with Dustin. I made it with:

• 2 frozen medium bananas (220 cal)
• 2 cups (16oz) skim milk (180 cal)
• 2 TBSP MaraNatha creamy almond butter (190 cal)
• 2 TBSP Hershey’s chocolate sundae syrup (100 cal)
• 35g Lifetime Life’s Basics complete plant (vanilla) protein powder (129 cal)

2 servings, 410 cal each, 22g protein

It was SOOO goood!! Hard to believe it didn’t have any ice cream/frozen yogurt in it because it had the consistency of a milkshake. YUMMY!

I was feeling uncreative and a little wiped out from exercise, so I ended up doing a salmon sandwich once again later on in the day. This time around I opted for a side salad instead of a smoothie. hehe

And instead of mayo, I mixed my 2oz of salmon (60 cal) with 1 TBSP Bolthouse Farms blue cheese yogurt dressing (25 cal) — no, not a typo. I just got a new bottle with updated nutrition facts: It’s now just 50 calories for 2 TBSP!! I was pleasantly surprised. Thank you, Bolthouse Farms! You make my taste buds happy.

On the side: a deluxe side salad tossed in EVOO + red wine vinegar. I loooooooooooove salads! Can ya tell?

I went out shopping with my mom this evening. I was fairly disciplined considering I was hungry. I even managed to pick up takeout for Dustin without indulging myself. GO ME! haha I’m trying desperately to keep my sodium low. So far I’ve been successful for 3 days straight. WOO HOO!

However, hunger was ruling my senses when I came home, so I popped a high-sodium (680mg) Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken frozen dinner in the microwave while I made an ultra-deluxe side salad that included Cento roasted red peppers (only 75mg sodium per ounce), kalamata olives, blue cheese crumbles, no salt added bread and butter pickles, grapes tomatoes and red onion tossed in EVOO + red wine vinegar.

The salad was AWESOME, but I didn’t care for the lemongrass coconut (I just typed chocolate lol) chicken at all. I gave up on it 3 bites into it and grabbed a bagel. I just don’t care for warm lemon foods, unless it’s warm, freshly made lemon pudding.

Probably just as well; I saved a lot of sodium, which is always a good idea for me.

At least the salad was yummy. This is the only Kashi frozen dinner that I didn’t like. I love all of their others, so I haven’t given up on them completely.

Later on I was craving spaghetti with clam sauce because I picked up a couple cans of Cento baby clams at Shop Rite, which is also just 75mg sodium per serving. I love Cento products, they rock!

I made a smallish side salad with 1 TBSP Bolthouse Farms blue cheese yogurt dressing (25 cal) while I boiled 2oz thin linguine (210 cal) and made a simple clam sauce with: 1 teaspoon EVOO (40 cal), minced garlic (5 cal), 112g Cento baby clams (120 cal), some juice from the can and some fresh parsley. When the linguine was done, I tossed in the clam sauce and enjoy it with a little grated parmesan cheese.

Simple, but filling and delicious for around 480 calories.

Sun is up, time to catch some ZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz’s! I have a busy BUSY week ahead and I have to keep on track with my low sodium goals. My birthday is just a month ago and Christmas is only 6 weeks! YIKES! Not to mention Thanksgiving and family visits. AAAAAAAAAH! lol I’m looking forward to all of it though, even turning 30! DUN-DUN-DUN! lol

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