How to make leftover pizza taste like it was just delivered.

Pizza is one of few foods for which I will risk third degree burns of both the mouth and esophagus.  As soon as I open the box and locate the slice with the most ample crust, I’ve got it dangling above my mouth, scalding cheese be damned.  The crust is by far my favorite part, and it alone can make or break a pizza.  I cannot fathom why some people think of the crust as merely a handle used to transport the pizza to their mouths, ceasing to eat once they reach that sweet spot where sauce and cheese meets bready bliss.

Pizza delivered to your door is one of life’s simplest pleasures, but leftover pizza can leave a lot to be desired.  There’s always the option of eating the leftovers for breakfast, cold and straight from the box, but I crave the smells and textures of a freshly delivered pie.  When years of college dorm living taught me that microwaves turn pizza crusts to rubber, I found my solution in the oven.

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Healthified Chicken Parmesan Sub

What’s better than a dinner that only takes 15 minutes to get into your belly?  A dinner that only takes 15 minutes AND is healthy AND tastes delicious!

Lately, I’ve been craving bread.  Buns, muffins, bagels, pizzas, you know the deal.  So tonight, I thought I’d make a healthified chicken parmesan sub.

I topped a Joseph’s Low-Carb Pita with a 1/4 cup of Classico Fire Roasted Tomato Garlic Pasta sauce (leftover from yesterday’s pizza), and 3 ounces of grilled chicken (leftovers from the weekend).  I added some red pepper flakes, dried oregano, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Then I thinly sliced a light mini babybel cheese round into four thin discs and tossed that on top along with some banana pepper rings:

In another pan, I added 2 cups broccoli and a ¼ cup of garbanzo beans (leftovers from the couscous garbanzo bean salad).

Everything into a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Beautiful.

So friggin’ tasty:

 

I love roasted veggies

 

Melty and amazing

So is it still considered a chicken parmesan sub if I didn’t use any parmesan?  Chicken Babybelesan sub perhaps 😉

Stats on the sub:  228 calories, 13g carbs, 7g fat, 33g protein, 5g fiber

Stats on the broccoli/beans:  110 calories, 22g carbs, 2g fat, 8g protein, 9g fiber

Altogether:  338 calories, 35g carbs, 9g fat, 41g protein, 14g fiber

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Canada, Greece, Repeat.

Around the world and back again in three short meals 🙂  Geesh, I need a vacation…  Luckily, only two weeks til my Char-Char-cation!!!  (Charlotte/Charleston/Vacation 😉 )

Breakfast #1 = Canada

Canadian Bacon Eggins! Last night, I decided to whip up some eggins and use some of the Canadian Bacon I picked up at Trader Joe’s over the weekend.

I sprayed a muffin tin down with cooking spray, and plopped one piece of the Canadian bacon in each of 6 muffin tins.

Then I mixed together 9 egg whites, splash of water, S&P, red pepper flakes, franks red hot and poured it evenly into the 6 muffin tins. (Word to the wise – if you use a container with a spout it makes life A LOT easier 🙂 )

I cooked them for about 35 minutes at 350 degrees.

I had three of these little guys for breakfast with a dollop of ketchup.

Stats for 3 Canadian Bacon Eggins & ketchup: 147 calories, 6g carbs, 1g fat, 26g protein, 0g fiber

 

Breakfast #2 = Greece

1/2 cup Trader Joe’s nonfat vanilla greek yogurt with 1/4 cup each strawberries and blueberries.

Trader Joe’s greek yogurt was so tasty.  It’s not overly sweet, which I really liked.  I think I could have ate about 3 more servings of this 🙂

Stats: 133 calories, 23g carbs, 0g fat, 9g protein, 2g fiber

 

Lunch = Repeat

Leftovers from last night’s Chicken Couscous Salad!

So tasstttyyyy…

 

Last night’s smoothie

Since lunch was a repeat, I thought I’d showcase the lovely little smoothie I made last night. Everyday, I have a mid afternoon snack and a late night snack, each of which are around 100 calories. They are usually something simple like an apple or a bowl of low-cal cereal and almond milk, and don’t typically make it into the blog.

Last night, I was feeling up for a smoothie so I put the following into the blender:

  • 1/4 cup Oikos nonfat plain yogurt
  • 1 packet Truvia (Stevia)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze Vanilla Almond Milk
  • 1/4 cup each of frozen fresh blueberries, strawberries, and black raspberries

All blended up:

This lil guy was quite tasty, and he is quite the looker too 😉 !

Stats on the berry smoothie: 92 calories, 18g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 4g fiber

 

Get those comments on the PB2 Giveaway page!  Pssst… you don’t have to create a blog to get a wordpress account!

Also, check out this Chobani Greek Yogurt Giveaway courtesy of Hillary at Foodie on the Run!!!

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TGI Freakin F!

Today I feel like a chicken with no head.  Let me recap the last 24 hours in 13 key points:

1.) Went shopping for new pants after work yesterday, ended up buying three shirts.  (I still consider this a success)

2.) Ate a Luna Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Bar for energy before my interval training.

This was pretty tasty.  It had more of a candy-bar like feel to it than the normal Luna Bars, but I think the taste of the regular bars are better than these protein bars.  Worth a shot, definitely better than the Larabar Flop earlier in the week, but I’ll stick with the regular Luna Bars from now on!

3.) Got locked out.  Super.

4.) Dinner consisted of a cold leftover turkey burger (luckily I had brought this with me to work and subsequently took it with me shopping).  Yes, I took the burger into the mall… Haha 🙂

5.) Phone died (again).  Super!

6.) Completed Day 3 of interval training.  Whoop!

7.) Set alarm clock (since phone is broke). 

8.) Turns out alarm was never changed for daylight savings.  Woke up 1.5 hours late.  Super.

9.) While making coffee, realized I never unplugged the george foreman after making my breakfast wrap yesterday.  Wow, Mary.  Wow.

10.) Ate a Blueberry Bliss luna bar on my way into work.  And it really was blissful!  Things started to perk up after that.

11.) Got to work 1 hour late. Craaaapppppp…

12.) Strawberry Oikos Greek Yogurt with blueberries and Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola 🙂 Yummmm….

13.) Takeout lunch from Jimmy Johns.  It’s starting to feel like Friday now 😀

Giant beach club unwich, no mayo, add onion and giant pickle:

Me after finishing my grub:

 Blurry, but at least I’m smiling!

*deep breath*

In through the nose, out through the mouth….

😀

Plans for the weekend:

  • Get my frickin phone fixed
  • Yard Work (obviously)
  • New digital camera!!!! YAY!!! Super excited about this one.
  • Fun with friends Saturday night
  • Try new recipes?  I sure hope so.
  • R&R?  Mandatory.

 

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  How do you turn your day around when you start off on the wrong foot?

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Leftovers makeover

I find most of my meal planning revolves around whatever leftovers I happen to have in the fridge.  On a typical day I am cooking for one person, which leaves me with the option to eat the same things for several days on end or reincorporate the leftovers into new dishes.       

For lunch today I wanted to use up some leftover chicken I had grilled up earlier in the week, and I had some leftover tomato sauce from the 10 cheese pizza I made Friday.  So I decided to make a chicken parmesan inspired wrap, healthified of course.  (AKA leftover chicken, leftover sauce , NO cheese, on a Joseph’s middle east bakery low carb pita–seasoned up with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried parsley)       

chicken parm wrap with roasted brussel sprouts

 

 Aren’t Jarrod’s dishes lovely? 😉    

After lunch we finished up the light tent.  Now we just need to get some lights!       

       

For my afternoon snack I had apples and some chocolate PB2.       

       

Chocolate PB2 = fabulous!  I need to work this into some shake recipes…        

Tonight we visited our friends Tim and Jaci at their newly purchased, exquisitely decorated townhouse.  Tim prepared a feast complimented with onions galore.       

Roasted potatoes with onions and green peppers, seasoned grilled asparagus, and jerk marinated chicken:      

dinner spread

 

Tim, The Chef, by the goods

 

Plate o' goodness

 

P.S. can’t wait to get my hair cut tomorrow!       

The man candy and his dessert 🙂

 

Beauty!

 

       

Happy Sunday!

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