Friday, June 12, 2009

Best laid plans....

Happy Friday!
Hope you're having a great week!

Although I had my whole food week planned out, real life happened and I got a little off track.

Here's how food actually went:

M- Thurs breakfast as planned- thank goodness cereal is easy!
Monday lunch: light veggie rockets ginger wrap on wheat tortilla
Dinner: stir fry (I was horrible about taking photos this week- but I'll include the recipe for this dish!) and gellato for dessert :)

T lunch: subway turkey wrap (6" wheat bread with turkey, swiss, banana peppers, lettuce, tomato, black olives and sweet onion dressing), baked bbq lays, diet coke. Boo for hospital lunches. I also had half a bag of peanut m&ms as a snack along with two huge handfuls of cheez-its. Those little crackers are so tasty I swear they are evil!
D: leftover stir fry since I got home late

W lunch: lean cuisine mad cheese. So gross- I can't believe I used to eat those all the time!
D: Curried veggies (the recipe from cooking light minus the tofu and with some extra veggies. I used zucchini, baked yams, onion, carrot, pineapple and great beans) over rice noodles. The recipe was.... good. Not great, but good. It tasted like it was missing something so I'll have to keep experimenting... Skinny cow skinny dipper bar for dessert.

Th lunch: leftover curried veggies over rice noodles with a little goat cheese sprinkeld on top :) much better with the extra flavor!
D: Veggies tostadas- corn, zuchhini, onion and yellow squash with jalepeno, lots of cilantro, a little green salsa, tomato, avocado and cheese on a corn tortilla crisped in the oven. So good! This is a recipe I keep coming back to it's so fresh, yummy and easy!

Tostada filling:
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Toppings:
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All together!
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F breakfast: My first attempt at smoothies! I blended (for two of us)
  • 2 c frozen strawberries
  • 1 1/2 c frozen mango chunks
  • 1 light lemon yogurt
  • 1 light vanilla yogurt
  • 4 scoops of vegan protein powder (following the serving suggestions)

I was so excited to dump all this in and push the blend button until.... nothing happened. I stirred it all up and tried again.... nothing. Then P suggested I add a little soy milk and it finally started to work. Next time I may nix one of the yogurts and just add more soy milk. The protein powder gave it sort of an odd consistency/tast, but it was a good first attempt. I will keep messing with the recipe but I love the idea of smoothies for breakfast. I need a break from cereal!

Here's what I brought to work with me today- the smoothie and a couple snacks (larabar and vitatop):

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Lunch today will be thai (yum!) and for dinner- who knows.

The point of this long rambling post is that even though I planned out a great week of food, things inevitably change and my biggest challenge is to go with the flow and make healthy choices along the way. Obviously I had some slip ups (hello Cheez Its!) but all in all things weren't too bad. I don't want to give the impression that just because I post a menu on Monday that's what I eat all week- far from it! That is sort of the goal I strive for and a provides a shopping list for me and then things go from there.

The only time I ate meat was in the stir fry which was a nice change and I stayed away from booze other than the skinny margaritas last night- it was just one of those days! One of my challenges is to get right back on the horse when I slip up rather than figuring that day is a bust and I can eat whatever I want and start over tomorrow. I am realizing that it's about a series of consistent, healthy, postive choices and that a treat here or there isn't the end of the world.

Here's the recipe for the stir fry in the order I add ingredients to the pan:

  • 2 chopped onions (cook until transparent- add chicken broth if needed to keep from sticking to pan)
  • 2-3 chicken breasts chopped into small pieces- add when onions are almost done
  • 2 bell peppers (yellow, red or orange) chopped into small strips- add when chicken is about halfway cooked
  • 1 1/2 c orange juice
  • 2 tbsp peanut butter
  • 1 tsp chili oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • Ginger freshly chopped or grated (I use tons- maybe 3 or 4 tbsp)
  • 2 cloves freshly pressed ginger
  • 1 cup chopped carrots- cook until carrots soften slightly
  • 1 can of chopped pineapple with juice (I usually add the juice along with the oj)
  • 1 can of bamboo skinny strips
  • 3 celery sticks chopped

After adding the celery I let everything simmer for a few minutes and then serve over rice or rice noodles. This is a really easy recipe to add or subtract ingredients and doesn't take too long- the chopping is definitely the most time consuming part. You can also tinker with the amounts- this is a rough guess since I usually just dump things in and add to taste. Happy cooking!

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

3 comments:

  1. Brenna girl, i love making smoothies in the morning so quick and easy and lots of protein. I put a little cube of soft tofu, yogurt {what ever i have in the fridge} protein powder, frozen fruit raz or mango, soy milk. sometimes i add concentrated oj, or a banana, or even peanut butter for a little more protein. you really cant go wrong. blend and go. yummy!

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  2. Hey girl! I love your views on food. A lot of the time you have to make adjustments and you seem to do a great job!

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  3. Ooh that stir fry sounds yummy!! And it would make some great leftovers for work. I'll have to try it out soon!

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