Chicken and Black Bean Tostada

I love a good tostada! Anytime I can get crispy, melty cheese under the broiler...sign me up!

The first step is not really a recipe but a method of making the shredded chicken. Put chicken breasts in a slow cooker, cover completely with water, and cook on low for 6 - 8 hours or on high for 4 hours. The liquid should be clear (not cloudy) and the chicken should literally fall apart. 

I make this about once a week and always have shredded chicken on hand. Also, strain the liquid in the slow cooker and you have chicken broth for soup recipes. Use within 2 days or freeze for later use. 

For the recipe

3 oz cooked shredded chicken

65 gr organic black beans

1/4 c mild green enchilada sauce (I used canned from Target)

1/2 Flat Out flatbread Light Original (can use any flavor)

20 gr shredded cheddar cheese

Combine chicken, beans, and sauce and cook on the stove to take some of the moisture out. Preheat broiler to 350 degrees. 

Top 1/2 a Flat Out flatbread and top with shredded cheese. 

Melt cheese under broiler for about 10 min. 

Serves 1

Cal 334

Protein 35

Carb 23 

Fiber 10

Fat 9

Chol 86

Homemade Breakfast Sandwich

I don't always eat breakfast, but when I do...

I'd rather eat what I know. 

While I have had my fair share of McD's over the years, I have not been in 2015 at all. This is really a great accomplishment since I live between 2 different locations. Convenience at it's finest. 

I realized that I have not posted my Maple Breakfast Patties recipe yet so I will have to link to that later. 

Homemade Breakfast Sandwich

Serves 1

1/2 Flat Out flatbread (I used Light original but any flavor is acceptable)

1 extra large egg

1 liquid egg white

1 Finlandia Reduced Fat Cheddar slice

2 Maple Breakfast Patties

I use my little bullet blender for fast and consistent blending for my eggs. Use a small frying pan and let it cook in one piece. Flip or use a cover to cook the top side. Place the egg on half a flat out, add cheese, and add the heated breakfast patties. 

Note: If you do not want to make them from scratch, try AmyLu's chicken breakfast patties. The nutrition info will change so record accordingly. 

Once you see the breakfast patty recipe, you will see how easy it is and want to make them for yourself!

Serves 1

Cal 298

Protein 34

Carb 13 

Fiber 5

Fat 14

Chol 260

Compare to McD's

Cal 480

Protein 13

Carb 36 

Fiber 2

Fat 31

Chol 45 (that can't even be right! Is it not a real egg and sausage?)

Moroccan Spring Fling!

Well, hello spring like temps. I've missed you. 

Today was 36 but sunny with a real feel of 46. Lovin' the sunshine today. 

Last night I had dinner with some friends and we went to a Persian restaurant. It was so good. Today's flavors are inspired from the Mediterranean region. 

Kefta Meatballs 

1lb Lean ground beef (Kirkland lean 91/9)

1/2 sweet onion approx 120gr

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried mint leaves

Evenly divide into 16 meatballs. Shape either round or slightly flattened. Spray pan. Brown on both sides. Turn down heat to lowest setting and cover for about 5-7 minutes to steam cook the beef. Remove lid and reduce all the condensation. Some onion will fall out of the meatballs. Mixed with the meat drippings, it was delicious to add to the green beans. 

Add a vegetable of choice. I chose a can of cut green beans for an additional 55 cals. 

As pictured...

Serves 1 (6 meatballs and green beans)

Cal 354

Protein 39

Carb 22 

Fiber 6

Fat 15

Chol 105

Per meatball...

Cal 50

Protein 6

Carb 1 

Fiber 0

Fat 3

Chol 18

It's Lunchfest Time!

What is Lunchfest? Breakfast foods for lunch. You might be thinking, "that's what brunch is". Yeah, well I didn't make up that word so I made up something else. You're welcome. 

You could also think of lunchfest as HUGE amounts of breakfast foods for lunch. Because this little gem is a nice healthy portion. All for just over 300 calories!

Red Pepper and Maple Turkey Sausage Frittata

4 slices red pepper (width-wise)

1 extra large egg

2 (96gr) egg whites

2 oz homemade maple turkey breakfast sausage crumbles

1 oz feta cheese

Mix egg and egg whites. I like to use my wannabe bullet blender. 

Turkey sausage: I used about 1/2 a package of ground turkey from Costco. It's Butterball which 4 oz is 150 cal and 8 fat. I didn't measure this because I knew I'd weigh when I assembled the egg. I added Italian Sausage Seasoning from Penzey's. It has about 3 cals per tsp. I added until it smelled good which wasn't more than 1/2 tbs. When that was well cooked and crumbled, I added 1 Tbs of pure maple syrup. This is just a little extra flavor but not necessary. I thoroughly enjoy AmyLu's Maple Chicken Breakfast Sausage...that has not been stocked at Costco. grrrr...

Put the red pepper in the bottom of your frying pan, divide the egg misture, add the turkey. Cook until set, then add the feta, cover pan to set the egg and heat the cheese. 

Leave out the maple syrup and it's under 300 cals!

Serves 1

Cal 307

Protein34

Carb 8 

Fiber 1

Fat 14

Chol 270

Gyro Greek Salad

My fave place to go for lunch is a local chain called Fleetwood Bar & Grill. I love the Mediterranean dishes that they have and especially the Gyro Greek Salad. I found a fat free Greek Dressing at my local grocery store today so I recreated the Gyro Greek Salad at home. 

Gyro Greek Salad

2 slices of fully cooked gyro meat

2-3 cups of spring lettuce mix

85 gr chopped cucumber

85 gr chopped tomato

28 gr feta cheese

4 Tbs Greek dressing

The gyro meat came fully cooked from the grocery store but I pan fried (with a light spray of Pam) and then tore the meat to mix into the salad. 

You can also substitute 3oz chicken for an additional 30 calories. 

Serves 1

Cal 233

Protein 13

Carb 19

Fiber 5

Fat 11

Chol 37

Fish, Fish, Baby!

What is high in protein and low in fat? FISH! Tilapia to be more precise. This was really filling for a 200 cal meal. Have more calories to spend? Double it! Triple it! Easily feed the family with it! 

It does not cost more to eat healthy at home. It also keeps you in control. You control the butter. You control the oil. You control the portions. 

Tilapia and Green Bean Medley

4oz Tilapia fillets

1 can cut green beans with sea salt drained

130 gr fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 garlic clove chopped

Start with either a little Pam spray or a tsp of EVOO. Saute chopped garlic. Add drained green beans and diced tomatoes. 

If the tilapia fillets are frozen, you can add them to your pan of veggies and cover until thawed or cooked. If you like your fish with a little crispiness, take the thawed fillets and pan fry with a little spray or a tsp of EVOO. 

Season fish with salt and pepper, Old Bay, or Sazon Seasoning to your liking. Seasoning will add minimal calories. 

Serves 1

Cal 195

Protein 29

Carb 21

Fiber 5

Fat 2

Chol 56

Hidy Ho There!

Hello Faithful Blog Followers!

It's been so long since I've posted! Fear not, I'm still here. And still on my journey. 

Since last I've posted, so many things have changed but some have stayed the same. 

I got married! Yay! 

I got a Fitbit! Yay! (more on my Fitbit obsession later)

I still need to lose weight! Boo!

I found a great article on protein and protein sources on My Fitness Pal. Today's lunch is inspired by that article. 

Black Bean and Pork Scramble

1 extra large egg
2 egg whites
2oz shredded pork sirloin roast
130gr black beans
Sazon seasoning to taste (from scratch found on Skinnytaste.com here)

I like favorful foods and this delivered! Great way to start the day...or end it!

Serves 1

Cal 310 

Protein 37

Carb 22 

Fiber 9

Fat 6

Chol 243

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wrap and This Week's Resolution...

It's been a slow week at Fat Blog Land. I ate out. A lot. Back to the grind this week. I pinky promise. I will eat dinner at home every night and go to the gym at least 3 times this week. 

Here is my recipe for tonight's dinner:

Turkey Taco Lettuce Wrap

Butterball 93% Lean ground turkey from Costco (about 1/2 of 1 package or approx 380 gr)

1/4 of a sweet large onion, finely chopped

1 red pepper, finely chopped

2 tsp Penzeys Chicken Taco Seasoning

1 Avocado

1 lime

1 tsp Kosher salt

Head of green lettuce with big leaves

Spray pan with Pam or oil or butter (adjust calories accordingly) and saute turkey, red peppers, and onion. Sprinkle with seasoning to taste.

While that is cooking, halve the avocado and mash with a squeeze of lime and Kosher Salt split into 2 side dishes. 

Leave the green lettuce in big leaf form and prep for the turkey mixture. Split the serving among the number of green leaves per person that you want. Serve with personal avocado dish. 

Serves 2

Cal 414

Carb 16

Protein 40

Fiber 8

Fat 24

Sugar 6

Lunch is Served, Ma'dam...

(In an old English butler tone) Lunch is served, ma'dam...

If only I had someone to make my meals. Sure it's easy for the celebrities to eat healthy, they have the funds to pay someone else to do it. Hell, they usually pay someone else to watch their children! I don't have the funds and it does take time. But the real myth buster? It's cheaper to eat at home. I have to go grocery shopping more often but I'm spending less. Why? Because I'm buying foods that are less processed too. Think about it...the more people (distribution), and the more processing (equipment), that touches your food, not only makes it more expensive, it takes the good bits out that your body needs. That's not to say that I don't eat anything processed. Otherwise, I couldn't have cottage cheese :). Here is today's lunch:

Strawberry and Cottage Cheese Salad

Approx 1 C Organic Baby Spring Mix (45g) cal 10

1/2 C Land O Lakes cottage cheese 113g cal 90

5-6 Strawberries 140g cal 45

2 Tbs Kraft Light Balsamic Vinaigrette (31g) cal 30

Spring mix in bottom of a nice size pasta bowl. Scoop cottage cheese in middle. Chop strawberries. Drizzle with dressing. 

Serves 1

Cal 175

protein 14

carbs 22

fiber 4

fat 4

sugar 15

Here is Börk Pork!

Don't ask me why but whenever I make pork, I hear the voice of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. This is clearly not a Swedish dish, but tastes great all the same. 

I get a lot of inspiration from Skinnytaste.com. Gina does a great job making over, adapting, and creating recipes. Sometimes I make them just like the recipe. Sometimes I don't have all the ingredients on hand so I modify them. 

Today's dinner was Crock Pot Balsamic Pork Roast. I love the crockpot. Set it and forget it! (Thanks Ron Popeil!) Since I didn't have the same cut of meat, I used what I had. I ♥ Costco! Here is my version:

Heather's version ~ Crock Pot Balsamic Pork Roast

1.84 lb pork sirloin tip roast (Costco) cal 750

1 tsp kosher salt 

1/2 tsp garlic powder cal 5

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes cal 12

1/3 C water

1/3 C balsamic vinegar cal 27

1 Tbs worcestershire sauce cal 0

1 Tbs honey cal 60

Mix all the ingredients with a whisk and pour over pork roast. Set timer for 4 hours on High or 6-8 hours on Low.

I like to make things easy so I just mixed it all together and then poured it over. 

Since I was home while it was cooking, I shredded after about 4-5 hours and let it simmer in the juices until we were ready to eat. 

The best part was the cut of meat that I had from Costco. The pork sirloin tip roast was 838 gr and the nutrition info says 112 gr is 100 cal. What?!? That's crazy-sauce!

Serves 2:

cal 427

protein 83

carb 22

fiber 0

fat 6

sugar 14

Just another salad??? NO WAY! Roasted Asparagus & Sweet Potato Salad

Welcome to Meatless Monday...only it is Wednesday. WHAT??? Yeah, I'm a rule breaker.  

With the meal planning, comes searching recipes upon recipes online. I came across this website Deliciously Ella and did my version of her Asparagus, New Potato & Avocado Salad. Sounded delish, but I didn't need it to be strict vegan. I couldn't find new ptoatoes and I didn't need the pumpkin seeds. With roasting the veggies, I also didn't need to dress the salad with more evoo and vinegar. Here is my version. 

Roasted Asparagus & Sweet Potato Salad

Asparagus 403gr (about 15-16 stalks) cal 456

Sweet Potato 527gr (2 small) cal 80

Grape Tomatoes 291gr (1 container) cal 90

Avocado medium cal 240

EVOO 1 Tbs cal 180

Organic Spring Mix 4 cups cal 40

Peel sweet potato and chop. Chop asparagus. Drizzle with EVOO and sea salt & pepper. Roast in the oven at 400 for approx 30-40 min depending on how well you like your veggies roasted. 

Remove from oven and cool to room temp.

While veggies are roasting, halve grape tomatoes. 

Prep plate with approx 2 cups of spring mix, toss asparagus, sweet potato, and tomato together. Top with half an avocado diced on each plate. Sea salt & pepper to taste. 

Grams were calculated after peeling and chopping. 

Serves 2.

Nutrition info per serving based on quantities above:

Cal       513

Protein   13

Carb      82

Fiber      21

Fat        18

Sugar     23

Weight Loss Support...Oh, and Meatballs! Yes, Please!

I couldn't decide what I wanted to call this post. I want to share the delicious dinner we had tonight, but I also wanted to talk about the importance of a support network. Whether you are trying to lose weight or gain muscle, it's way easier to have someone on board with you. 

I've always been the meal planner in the house but now it's a little different. One person has a hard time keeping weight on and eating calories to bulk up, and one of us (me) needs to shed a few pounds.

Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes at www.skinnytaste.com is a great resource. 

Tonight we had a modified version of Asian Turkey Meatballs with Lime Sesame Dipping Sauce.

I modified it by using 91% lean ground beef instead of turkey. Italian herb seasoning instead of cilantro (he says cilantro tastes like soap). And no oil. Didn't even miss it. 

The dipping sauce I used 1 tsp of EVOO and 1 tsp of toasted sesame seeds. No water. 

I recalculated and the calorie count is about the same. 

They were moist and delicious! A keeper with this family!

Pretty Tasty! EGGS on TOAST

EGGS on TOAST! Yeah, TOAST!

Ok, I turned a very English thing and made it delicious! (Hey, the BF is English. Don't judge me!) 

Sandwich Thin 100 cal

2 eggs 140-160 cal

1 Avocado 240 cal

Toast the Sandwich Thin. Mash the avocado with a little salt. Spread on toasted bread. Cook eggs in your preferred method. I scrambled with a little butter for flavor. 

Top on the avocado. 

EAT!

Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

Don't judge me. I'm only human...The hardest part of dieting (or lifestyle change) is breaking my sugar addiction. I can go about 2-3 days without sugar and then I crack. It takes 2 weeks to make a habit. I'm so far from that. 

While perusing Facebook today, someone was making no bake cookies. That sounded so good. So I found a peanut butter no bake cookie recipe here. I made some modifications.

1.5 C sugar

1/4 C butter

1/2 C milk

1 C natural peanut butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 C flax seed

3 C instant oats

I've never had a problem using instant oats. The cookies are currently in the refrigerator to speed the cooling process. I like to think of the cookies as fuel. Peanut butter and oatmeal are great for energy. I will be using my elliptical soon and running shortly after that... Aim high, I say!

Zucchini Pesto Roll Ups

Today was the Great Lakes Kite Festival. Not enough wind so the kite flying was slow but the day was gorgeous! Great day to be at the beach! No beach food here. We just took water and an apple, just in case. 

Now on to dinner...

Nom nom nom...It's been a slow week here. I haven't made anything fancy until tonight. Got this from my fave website PaleOMG.com here.

I used the Archer Farms Natural Italian Chicken Sausage from Target, zucchini, and premade pesto. 

Sausage $3.89

Pesto $2.39

Zucchini $.99/lb $1.41

$7.69

I cut each sausage into 4 pieces and had 20 pieces. The pesto is premade because I don't have any herbs growing yet. The zucchini was a different variety but tasted the same. 

It was a slow week on food so the recipes have been less this week. 

Spinach Power Salad

I like Panera. How can one not like Panera? They have a great menu. Not exactly Paleo friendly but if you know what is going to be in your food, you can have them leave it out since they make it all fresh. 

So the BB and I went to Panera for dinner on Sunday. Surprisingly it was busy since it was Mother's Day. I got the Strawberry Poppy Seed and Chicken Salad. It was delicious and HUGE! But I ate it all. Only 350 calories and 13g fat. The BB got the Spinach Power Salad minus the frizzled onions...frizzled what? Yeah, those are the french fried onions from a can, I'm sure. That salad is 460 calories and 25g of fat! Whoa! And his portion was small. I couldn't believe how tiny his salad was. He's 6'3 people. He needs a little more than the average bear...

So I replicated the salad tonight for dinner. Here's how it went:

Spinach from the farmers market, chopped

6 hard boiled eggs, chopped

4 strips of bacon, all the fat removed

10 oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered

vidalia onion, chunks

I had some vidalia onion dressing

Roast the mushrooms and onions with a little sea salt together for 20 - 25 minutes. (I also used a little Fustini's Sage and Wild Mushroom Olive Oil).Let cool. Make the hard boiled eggs ahead of time so they can cool after they are peeled. If you have issues with making eggs, like my mother :), google it. This is what I did here.

Here is the cost breakdown:

Spinach $3.00

6 eggs $.50

4 strips of bacon $.60

Baby bella mushrooms $1.99

vidalia onion $.50

approx $6.59

You don't need a lot of dressing so I didn't calculate that. I will be finding a Paleo friendly vidalia vinaigrette to make next time. This fed 2. There is still some spinach (my lunch tmrw) and egg. I'll have to make more bacon tmrw. Ah...bacon! ♥

BB says this is a keepa'!

Turkey Lettuce Wrap

It's lunchtime! What to use when you can't have bread anymore? Use lettuce leaves! I haven't had bread since Saturday. I can't really tell a difference yet but BB hasn't had bread for 2 weeks! Good job, babe! He can tell a huge difference in how he feels. 

To assemble:

lettuce leaf (I used green lettuce. Romaine is also hearty)

turkey slices (as natural as possible)

a little guacamole from here

red pepper sticks

Roll 'em up and eat 'em!

If the guac is made up ahead of time, this is super fast to assemble. And it tastes good to boot!

The cost breakdown:

guacamole

2 avocados $1.00 (on sale this week 2/$1.00)

1/4 red onion $.50 approx

1 roma tomato $.50 @ $1.29/lb

1 lime $.34

lettuce $.99 a bunch

turkey $2.33

red pepper $1.00 @ $2.99/lb

Approx cost per roll up $.75! And that is being generous on the portions!

Curry Turkey Meatballs

We have a winner here, folks! 

So the BB (Brit Brat) loves curry. I found a great vegetarian curry dish that we can't have anymore because it has sweet potatoes and chickpeas in it. Booooo...

So I had some ground turkey and fancied a curry burger. I wanted to use coconut milk with curry (because it tastes great) but that would have made the burgers too runny. So option two! Meatballs in a curry sauce! Brilliant!

Here is the cost breakdown:

Turkey $2.50

Onion $.50

Coconut Milk $2.64

Diced Tomatoes $.50

Cauliflower $2.50

Now on to the good stuff!

Curry Turkey Meatballs in Coconut Sauce with Cauliflower

Ingredients

·         1 medium onion, diced

·         2 tbsp curry powder

·         1 tbsp ground cumin

·         1 tsp ground cinnamon

·         1 lb ground turkey or chicken

·         1 (14.5 oz) can coconut milk

·         1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

·         1 tbsp curry powder

·         1 head of cauliflower

Combine coconut milk, diced tomatoes, and 1 tbsp curry powder in bowl. Set aside.

Dice onion. Add 2 tbsp curry, cumin, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add all to turkey and combine well. Use your judgment on the texture.  I thought it was a little dry so I added about ¼ C of the coconut milk/tomato mixture. Use a cookie dough scoop (or just a spoon) to make even size meatballs. These are about 2” in diameter.  

Bake meatballs on a lined or greased cookie sheet at 350 for 20 – 30 minutes.

In a large pan on the stovetop, brown all edges of the meatballs. Remove meatballs, side aside. Saute cauliflower for 5 minutes before adding coconut/tomato mixture. Simmer 15 minutes to soften cauliflower and reduce sauce. Add meatballs. Serve.

If you add meatballs and simmer, they might fall apart since there is no egg holding it together. 

Brit Brat Approved!

They Can't All Be Winners...

So tonight's menu was Portabella Pizzas. Sounds great, right? Well there was something missing. And I'm not just talking about cheese. Can't quite put my finger on it so I will have to tweak the recipe a bit. If you have any suggestions, please comment below. 

Here is how I made this

6 portabella mushrooms $2.89/pkg $5.78

1/2 red pepper $2.99/lb approx $.50

1/4 red onion approx $.50

1/2 jar pizza sauce $1.00

6 slice of sandwich pepperoni $.40

This last ingredient is where I cleverly go to the deli and have them cut the sandwich pepperoni very thin so the pepperoni flavor covers a larger area. However, in this case the slicing may have been too thin. I could hardly taste pepperoni at all! And of course there is cheese missing but this is Paleo people! There's no cheese in Paleo...or crying in baseball (love that movie!). 

So it is back to the drawing board for this one. However, it is Brit Brat approved.

Chicken Sausage and Veggies

Chicken! It's what's for dinner! (always wanted to say that)

This was last night's dinner:

Archer Farms Italian Chicken Sausage info here

1/2 large red pepper

1/2 large vidalia onion

8oz baby portabella mushrooms

Fustini's Sage and Wild Mushroom EVOO here

Now before you get all excited and say "you can't eat processed chicken sausage"! Here are the ingredients:

Skinless Chicken, Water, Red and Green Dried Peppers, Salt, Paprika, Fennel Seed, Black Pepper, Onion.

What's that you say? Yes, those are all natural. And I didn't have to grind it myself. Win-win!

Sausage $3.89

Pepper $1.99/lb

Vidalia Onion $.69/lb

Mushrooms $2.69

Fustini's $15.95 (worth every penny)