Menu Monday 11/4

 

Welcome to another super boring version of menu Menu Monday! Things are going well with my diet, I am thinking I am getting into the swing of things with everything. Never mind eating out and drinking last night, we won't talk about that.

Monday

Chicken and Veggies

Tuesday

Sweet Chili Salmon with Veggies

http://www.kitchenwitchmaven.com/2011/03/keeping-it-simple-salmon-in-sweet-chili.html

I plan on making the recipe as it us called for except for ginger. I forgot it at the store, and am not going back!

Wednesday

Lemon and Garlic Chicken

http://www.tessadomesticdiva.com/2012/06/easy-roasted-lemon-garlic-picnic-chicken.html

Using chicken breast, but looking forward to this one!

I only have a menu through Wednesday because my menu may change at any moment, and buying fresh meat and seafood is hard in advance. I guarantee the rest of the week will consist of a protein and a vegetable.  I am going to try to focus on making my recipes a little more exciting by adding seasonings so that I do not get burned out on what I am making. 

I also have a first timer post tomorrow,  egg white muffins!

First Timer: Overnight Oats

We have all seen the comments. It is so easy! It is the ONLY think I eat for breakfast! I love it! With reccomendations like that and pictures like this

Source: http://www.eatliverun.com/the-one-the-only-overnight-oatmeal/


 I have no idea what has taken me so long to jump on the bandwagon, so here it goes.

Here are the ingredients I used:

• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt 
• 1-2 tbsp chopped nuts
• cinnamon
• blue berries & black berries

Since I was taking this to work with me to eat post workout (Uh did I mention I am taking a 5:30am group exercise class?) I had to prep.

I have one container for my oats and milk. This container will go in the fridge overnight to set up. In the morning when you are ready to eat you will add the yogurt and toppings to make your overnight oats.

One container for my berries and yogurt and one for nuts and cinnamon.

 

 

I got cute new containers!

 



My review?
It made a lot of food. The consistency is a little odd in my opinion. I didn't hate it, it was just very mushy. I am not sure if the fact that I used almond milk made a difference in that. I also put way too much cinnamon in it. I really liked the bites where I had a berry because it added some sweetness. I used honey flavored Greek yogurt in order to omit the honey/maple syrup that I saw in a lot of the recipes, but I think I will try to add some next time to make it a little sweeter. I am not sold yet, but excited for the possibilities to make this one a lot better!

Eating On the Go

With my work schedule I usually eat out every Monday night. It is too hard to try to leave work, go home, make dinner and get to work on time. Over the two past two years I have tried pretty hard to not let those Monday night dinners on the go get me too far off track on my eating. Especially because (let's be real) all diets start on Mondays.

I am no expert and I know that even though a restaurant posts calorie information that it is not always accurate. But, I do what I can and these are some of my favorite "good and good for you" fast food options!

Panera
Panera has an AWESOME nutrition calculator that allows you to add and subtract items that you will be eating (down to the tomatoes, yuck). I know that their nutrition is more accurate than most because I see them behind the counter measuring out the ingredients.

I usually get a pick two meal and eat half for dinner with the side (sometimes apple, sometimes bread) and eat the other for lunch the next day.

Pick Two Greek Salad

160 cal.

 

Pick Two Broccoli and Cheddar Soup

220 cal.

Pick Two Chicken Cobb with Avocado

320 cal.

Mr. Goodcents
I found at Mr. Goodcents (or most sandwich shops) that sacrificing the items I wanted (mayo and cheese) made the sandwich not as satisfying. But, If I kept those things, and loaded up on veggies, I was satisfied and full.
Mr. Goodcents also has a nutrition calculator where you can build a sandwich to your exact specifications. I find these especially helpful while building sandwiches because you can see exactly how many calories or carbs you are adding or loosing. Is swapping out white and wheat worth it to you, what about ham or turkey? By playing around with the nutrition facts, you can really see what small tweaks can make a big difference in the overall quality of your meal.

Noodles and Company
While at first glance you may think Noodles and Company has no healthy options, but that is really not the case! They have done a really good job at making sure they have smaller portions and a lot of customizable options so you can mix and match what you are looking for. They even have an under 500 Calorie "cheat sheet" that is awesome, and all of their calorie information is listed on their menus in person and online.
I do not usually go to Noodles before work simply because there is not one on my way, but we do hit it up for lunch and dinner often.

Pad Thai (half order)

420 cal.

Spicy Chicken Cesar Flat Bread

520 cal.

 

 

Chipotle
Stay with me on this one. Chipotle can very quickly turn into an over 1,000 calorie meal. But, if you take the time (and make some sacrifices) you can get a meal for around 550 calories. The nutrition calculator is your friend. Always start with a burrito bowl and go from there. I get chicken, brown rice, a lot of fajita veggies, green salsa, lettuce and guacamole. Grand Total? 540 calories.

Chic-Fil-A
This is a newer one on my radar, simply because it is so hard not to go there and get the spicy chicken sandwich and waffle fries (nom nom nom). They do an awesome job listing their nutrition information online and on their menu, sometimes it is a slap in the face, and sometimes it is surprising.
I got the Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap for dinner last night and it was good, and really filling.

Grilled Chicken Cool Wrap

330 cal.

 

I also got the fruit cup for the side, and it was AWESOME. I usually stray away from fruit cups because I do not like a lot  of melons that usually full fruit cups, but this one had strawberries, oranges, apples, and grapes! 



Fruit Cup

60 cal.

 

Next time I might get the grilled chicken nuggets, 110 calories for six? Sign me up.



What are your favorite on the go meals?

Getting down on Friday

Pretty uneventful weekend planned here in JuJuville which is probably for the best since the next two weekends will be insane. I have to work on Saturday so I will be missing my first Husker game of the season, so if they lose it will basically be my fault. Sunday I am taking a sushi making class with a friend. I am in charge of bringing the cream cheese so I already like how things are progressing. 

Here is what went down in the past week:

The makings of the BBQ Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf. I would give it a 2 1/2 out of 4 stars. This is going to be shocking, but turkey bacon does not taste like bacon. Next time I would save the calories and just make the meatloaf. Tonight's Buffalo Chicken is in the crock pot now, and smells AMAZING so I have high hopes.

This is the sunflower I replanted at our house. I think its dying. oops.

Last weekend Dan and I pretended we were adults and went to the City Market and then the vintage shops in the West Bottoms. The City Market never dissapoints, the booths are gearing up for fall so there were tons of squash and pumpkins. I have been wanting to try out spaghetti squash for awhile now, so maybe now is the time. Anybody have a recipe they love?

We also had the pleasure of seeing this vehicle above. It has the front and back of a mini van and the side of a normal car. We were not the only one taking pictures of this car/van so hopefully we will see more like them soon!

 

We also went to First Fridays in downtown KC primarily to hit up Wilma's food truck. We first had Wilma's after the Tour De Brew and their meatloaf sliders were out of this world, and were impressed by them once again. Look them up on Facebook to check out where they will be this weekend!

Master bedroom wall color samples. We were leaning towards the grey on the right, but once we found out the bathroom vanity top was green, we settled on the left. The previous owners purchased a new vanity for the master bedroom, but for some reason they did not install it. They most likely didn't because of the work that it takes to install something like this, don't worry that's something for another post!

 Facebook gets me.

Oh did I mention our driveway is getting done as well? This was yesterday, and today it is just all dirt. We should hopefully have a driveway soon. Parking in the street is lame.

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend!