Quick and Easy Breakfast

I don’t know about you, but I am always pressed for time in the morning.  The snooze button is my best friend which means that I am running out the door like a bat out of hell with no food in my belly every day.  By the time mid-morning rolls around, my stomach is screaming obscenities at me for neglecting it.  I’m sorry stomach, I promise that I will do better.  Starting with this delicious yogurt and fruit combo.

Vanilla nonfat yogurt topped with strawberries and grapes. Add sugar if you so desire. I thought it was plenty sweet enough with the fruit.

Enjoy!

It’s ok, you’re on vacation

Note to self: You are never on vacation from a diet! BTW-I hate the word diet, it’s too temporary.  I don’t want this shit creeping back up on me in a couple of years like, “hey Lainy! remember me?  You’re old pals thunder thighs?  We’re baaaaccccckk. Why? Because you dieted you damn fool.  You should have just accepted that it’s a food addiction and you need to work on a lifestyle change.  Now you’re going to rub a whole on the inside of your jeans for all eternity.  And you better behave, otherwise we’re inviting your old pals Pamela and Anderson onto your back again.”

I had an absolutely fantastic vacation that was filled with many glasses of beer, many meals at restaurants and WAY too many thoughts in my head of, “it’s ok, you’re on vacation.”  Which then turned into, “it’s ok, you already ate like a pig last week, may as well keep going.  One chicken biscuit won’t hurt.  Just do an extra few laps around the building at work.  You’ll be fine.”  Unacceptable!  I never really thought that I had a routine that I follow, especially considering the constant change to my work schedule, but I guess I am that type of person.  It is much easier for me to make sure I get all of my water intake when I’m not guzzling Guinness with friends, or eating every meal at a restaurant.  I guess I should have brought the food police with me.  Maybe then I wouldn’t have finished every plate of food that I ordered.  On second thought, I’m glad I didn’t bring them.  That beer was delicious.

End result: up 1 pound as of last week and not looking forward to getting on the scale tomorrow morning.

Making my ancestors proud!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  I will be enjoying a feast of corned beef and cabbage tonight.  As well as several pints of Guinness maybe even some whiskey!  Diet be damned!

1 pint of Guinness= 210 calories, so then based on a 1500 calorie diet, I can have 7 pints of Guinness if I don’t consume anything else all day!

Tempting…

How about a recipe?

I’ve been super swamped at work this week, therefore I’m taking the lazy way out with my blog post.

My apologies.

I will make it up to you, I swear! From HungryGirl

	HG’s Cheesy Beefy Quesadilla
	Open Up and Say CHEESE!
	Calling all Mexican-food fanatics! We’ve got a gooey, crispy, two-cheese beefy quesadilla for you. And it’s UNDER 200 CALORIES!!! Not coincidentally, our new book, Hungry Girl 200 Under 200: 200 Recipes Under 200 Calories, is in stores TODAY! Consider this recipe (straight from its pages!) a sneak “chew” of what’s inside… Ingredients: 1 large La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Low Carb/High Fiber tortilla 1/3 cup frozen ground-beef-style soy crumbles (like the ones by Boca and Morningstar Farms) 1/4 cup shredded fat-free cheddar cheese One-half wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese 1 tbsp. fat-free sour cream 1/2 tbsp. chopped scallions 1/4 tsp. dry taco seasoning mix Optional: additional fat-free sour cream, for dipping Directions: In a small microwave-safe bowl, combine soy crumbles, cheddar cheese, scallions, sour cream, and seasoning mix, stirring thoroughly. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir again, and set aside. Lay tortilla flat and spread cheese wedge evenly over one half. Bring a medium-large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium heat, and lay tortilla in it with the cheesy side up. Cook for about 30 seconds. Top the cheesy tortilla half with soy crumble mixture. Using a spatula, carefully fold the plain tortilla half over the other half, pressing down with the spatula to seal. Cook for about 1 minute, until slightly toasted on the bottom. Flip and continue to cook for about 1 minute, until both sides are toasted. Remove from heat and cut into four triangles. Serve with sour cream for dipping, if you like. Enjoy! MAKES 1 SERVING
	Serving Size: entire quesadilla Calories: 196 Fat: 5g

I’m a buff chick

I have a friend that makes the most delicious buffalo chicken dip IN.THE.WORLD.   It is so delicious that we call it crack dip.  I could seriously eat the whole bowl, if I weren’t worried about social mores.
So when HungryGirl sent me this email, I was super pumped to find that a lighter version of crack dip exists.

I haven’t tried it yet but I plan to make it soon and will definitely post a review.  If anyone tries it first, please let me know if it is good!

Buff Chick Hot Wing Dip

PER SERVING (1/15th of recipe, about 1/4 cup): 68 calories, 1.5g fat, 616mg sodium, 2g carbs, 0g fiber, 1g sugars, 10g protein — POINTS® value 1*

Ingredients:
Two 9.75-oz. (or 10-oz.) cans 98% fat-free chunk white chicken breast in water, drained
One 8-oz. tub fat-free cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup Frank’s RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fat-free ranch dressing
1/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt (Fage 0% is the best!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank’s RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy!

P.S. We love dipping carrot sticks and red bell pepper chunks into this dip, but we’ve also dunked baked tortilla chips into it and used it as a sandwich spread!

MAKES 15 SERVINGS

The Weigh In Part Deux

Week number 2 has come to an end.  As you know, Friday is weigh in day!

The results: down 5 POUNDS this week! That’s a 2 week total of 9 pounds.  I’m so excited that this is coming so easily, but at the same time I know I can’t expect such outstanding results every week.  It would be unrealistic and unhealthy to lose 5 pounds every week. (but oh so very nice!)

I decided that this tremendous news is cause for celebration! With a meal! How else does a food addict celebrate? Don’t worry, I was smart about it.  This afternoon, I received an email from an excellent source of healthy recipes, HungryGirl. Today’s recipe: Chicken Cordon Bleu with Laughing Cow cheese! Be still my cholesterol clogged heart! So I rushed to the grocery store after work to pick up some FF ham and some more cheese, ran straight into the house and powered on the oven.  Add some homemade sweet potato fries and brussel sprouts sautéed in garlic and I’ve got myself a tasty and healthy celebratory meal for one!

How is everyone else doing on their resolutions?  Let me know in a comment!

Yummy delicious chili

It’s recipe time!  Last night I hijacked the roomies Le Crusea (sp?) dutch oven to make my dinner. Want this dish, need this dish, love this dish!

A few years ago, a Weight Watchers leader gave us a recipe for a lighter version of chili.  It’s very simple to make, absolutely delicious and can be modified in several ways, but still remain figure friendly. Bon appetite!

Ingredients

• 1 package ground turkey or chicken
• 1 can dark kidney beans, undrained
• 1 can light kidney beans, undrained
• 1 can diced chili style tomatoes, undrained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove fresh garlic,
• package of frozen veggies or seasonal fresh veggies (bell peppers, zucchini, squash)
• chili powder to taste
• olive oil

1. Heat oil in a large pan of your choice, add meat.  Cook through.  Add diced onions and garlic.  Saute until fragrant over medium heat.

2. Reduce heat to low.  Add canned beans and tomatoes. Add vegetables.

3. Add chili powder and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Simmer 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are soft.

Optional- add fat free sour cream or cheese for a fun topper!

Serve and enjoy!

I’m bringing sexy back

Let’s talk for a moment about love handles.

You know, those undesirable mounds of fat on your back?  Also referred to as a muffin top, bulging waistline, flab, hate handles, middle age spread, spare tire or my personal preference, back boobs.  Not everyone is afflicted with these unfortunate appendages, but thanks to the genetics from my father’s side of the family, I have been blessed with enormous back boobs.  Thanks Dad.  Even at my lightest weight, my back still looked like the top of a soft serve ice cream cone.  How does one get rid of this flubber, aside from hiding them with spanx or getting liposuction?  Honestly, I would be willing to offer my back boobs as a donation to a poor unfortunate flat chested woman. We could make history as the first ever fat transplant! See how selfless I am?

Anyway, the reason for this rambling about back fat comes from last nights outing.  A good friend was celebrating a birthday and invited me to dinner at a restaurant I had never been to.  She explained that the food was fantastic and they had great cake. CAKE! Why do I keep encountering cake?!

Pushing thoughts of cake out of my mind, I rushed home from work and ran upstairs to get all gussied up for the evening ahead.  Then I remembered that I have NOTHING to wear because lets face it, 4 pounds is not enough weight loss for a significant change in the way clothes fit.  So out comes trusty body cinching, super uncomfortable, corset thingy.  Suck it back fat!  You will be tamed!

The end result was not perfect but it squeezed my stomach enough to keep me from devouring any of that delicious looking cake! Say nothing about the 4 beers later at the bar…

Is that a spring in your step?

Day 7.

I’m feeling fantastic.

I’m in a much better mood overall, have more energy and I really think my skin is looking better.  My pants are even a little loose.  I am no longer busting out of my clothing and it is absolutely fantastic. It’s amazing how a few small changes in your routine can positvely affect your life.

Btw- Aunt Debbie, the North Dakota toffee was delicious and a wonderful Christmas present, but I’m giving away the rest of it to my employees as it doesn’t really fit into my weight loss plan.

Today’s awesome food choice- Laughing Cow cheese wedges.  Only 35 calories per wedge and quite possibly the most delicious snack I’ve ever had!

Fajita night

Tonight the roomies and I collaborated on a Messican feast. I have an abundance of Omaha steaks, thanks to my wonderful Godmother who doesn’t know that I am more of a chicken eater than a beef eater, and since my roomies are such amazing cooks we had fajitas for dinner. This one is easy, lots of fresh veggies, skip the tortilla, fat-free sour cream. Delicioso!  It’s amazing just how easily I’m getting back into the swing of my formerly healthy self.  I did of course have a messican beer but I made sure to purchase Corona Light instead of the full hoppy version.

I am splendidly satisfied with my dinner choice this evening. Go me!

Ole