What I ate – Page 13 – Fervent Foodie

Planning ahead

July 26, 2010 3 Comments

When I’m busy at work, I try and do whatever I can to simplify my daily routine. Oftentimes, this involves cooking meals in “batch” so that I don’t succumb to eating fast food to compensate for not having time to cook.

This past tax season, I was really hardcore about precooking meals. Every Sunday I would set aside a couple hours and cook ALL of my meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) for the workweek ahead of time. This took a lot of planning and creativity on my part. Since FerventFoodie.com didn’t come about until after tax season, I don’t have any documentation of my meal plans. Guess we’ll have to wait til next tax season for that 😉

Breakfast #1

Last night, I decided to pre-cook a few things for the week. I threw 3 chicken breasts and 3 Jennie O’s turkey sausages on the George Foreman grill to cook up. I don’t have a plan in mind for the meat at this point — just hoping to simplify what I expect to be a very busy workweek!

I decided to use one of the turkey sausage links in an egg scramble. I whisked up 11 egg whites and 1 whole egg with a splash of water. Once in the pan, I seasoned with S&P and some Red Pepper Flakes.

When the eggs were about 1/2 way done scrambling, I added 1 chopped up turkey sausage link and a few splashes of Frank’s Red Hot.

I also roasted up 3 cups of broccoli. When I roast veggies, I typically spray a heavy coat of cooking spray on a cookie sheet, toss the veggies around on it, then add S&P (and sometimes garlic powder, onion powder, or red pepper flakes). Then, I cook in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes.

This mix made 3 lovely portion-controlled breakfasts:

One of which I enjoyed at work this morning with a dollop o’ ketchup:

I’m glad roasted veggies taste just as good when heated up in the microwave 😀

Stats on Scramble, Broccoli, & Ketchup: 180 calories, 10g carbs, 5g fat, 24g protein, 2g fiber

Breakfast #2

Chobani strawberry greek yogurt + 1/2 cup blueberries =

I <3 Greek Yogurt

Stats on B#2: 181 calories, 31g carbs, 0g fat, 15g protein, 3g fiber

Lunch

Last month, the BF and I made some zucchini turkey burgers. Jarrod liked them so much, that he replaced the daily burger on his meal plan with a turkey burger. When I was cooking all my foods up last night, I decided to help Jarrod out and make up his turkey burgers for the week… for the low LOW fee of one burger of course 😉

Here’s what went into the turkey burgers this time:

1 package Nature’s Vally 99% Fat Free Ground Turkey Breast (about 20 ounces)
1 small zucchini, grated
1/3 cup red onion, grated
2 cloves garlic minced
Salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes

This mix made four burgers, one of which I brought with me for lunch today. I heated the burger up, then sandwiched it with a Pepperidge Farm 7 Grain Deli Flat, ketchup, mustard, tomato, and onion:

Side shot:

I also had a crap ton 2 cups of roasted cauliflower on the side:

I wish my lunches ALWAYS made me this happy!

Stats on just the turkey burger (no bun/toppings): 163 calories, 3g carbs, 2g fat, 33g protein, 0g fiber

Stats on whole lunch: 363 calories, 45g carbs, 3g fat, 44g protein, 12g fiber

Side note of the deli flats — I compared the backs of various brands and varieties of the “deli flat” style buns in the grocery store the other day. Both Pepperidge Farm and the Arnold varieties were comparable — though the Pepperidge Farm deli flats have 2 less grams of carbs and 1 more gram of protein. Not necessarily something to write home about, but I thought it was interesting nonetheless 🙂

(Screen shot taken from myfitnesspal.com)

Speaking of planning ahead, some things to look forward to in the coming months:

Healthy Living Summit in Chicago in August (shout out to my roommate Haya!)
Wedding in Columbus in September (I love weddings!)
Pittsburgh with mom/sister/brother in September
New Orleans in October
My Annual Halloween Spooktacular 😀
And the holidays….

I have a feeling the rest of this year is going to FLY. Plus, I’m hoping we can squeeze in another trip to Charlotte before year-end….

What I ate

Short and sweet

July 25, 2010 2 Comments

Breakfast #1

First thing first, as soon as I opened my eyes this morning it was all about EGGS. I cooked up a 3 egg white scramble with S&P and Frank’s Red Hot, 1/2 cup oven baked potatoes, 1/2 of a Thomas’ multi-grain English muffin, and a dollop of ketchup (of course!):

Stats of B#1: 168 calories, 31g carbs, 1g fat, 16g protein, 5g fiber

Breakfast #2

A couple hours later, I eagerly dug into my overnight oats. I made the usual version, but subbed in blueberries for strawberries and added a tablespoon Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola:

Creamy deliciousness:

Stats of B#2: 259 calories, 49g carbs, 6g fat, 8g protein, 8g fiber

The BF’s Breakfast #1

When we were on vacation in Charleston, we had breakfast at Hominy Grill twice and it was DELICIOUS. Both times, we considered ordering their fruit and granola parfait, but opted for pancakes and omelets instead. Ever since then, the BF has been craving the parfait, so being the nice lady I am, I made him one for breakfast this morning:

This parfait consisted of 1 container Dannon Vanilla Greek Yogurt, 1/4 cup Bear Naked Maple Pecan Granola, and 1 sliced banana:

Jarrod said he REALLY like the parfait. Only change we’ll make for next time is to use strawberry yogurt instead. YUM!

Stats on the parfait: 345 calories, 66g carbs, 5g fat, 17g protein, 5g fiber

Lunch

Lunch was 2 ounces of leftover chicken from last night’s Cajun pasta atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with spinach, tomato, onion, and a few drizzles of fat-free Italian dressing:

I wrapped everything up burrito-style, then cooked on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes until it was heated through and the wrap was crispy:

YUM!

Stats on the wrap: 220 calories, 28g carbs, 4g fat, 28g protein, 12g fiber

And with that, it’s off to make some dinner!

What I ate

Saturday eggs, smoothies, & tuna salad

July 24, 2010 2 Comments

This morning I woke up bright and early to try and pick up on my interval running (even though I had already decided to take a week off of high-impact excercise)… I was able to get 1.5 intervals in before my knee started hurting 🙁 Looks like I’m going to be in the walking group at the Healthy Living Summit.

Breakfast of champions

After my disappointing run, I wanted a delicious breakfast to perk me up. I cooked up 1 egg sunny side up, and had a piece of Country Hearth 12 Grain bread with sunflowers and a half a cup of oven baked potatoes:

Why are egg yolks SOOOO delicious tasting? I find them oddly decadent!

Stats: 250 calories, 37g carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Soon after downing this delicious breakfast, I was already feeling hungry and decided to make a fruit smoothie.

I threw the following into the blender:

1 container Yoplait Strawberry Greek Yogurt
1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/4 cup fresh blueberries
6 medium strawberries
1 cup fresh spinach
1/2 cup ice

This puppy definitely filled my belly up!

Stats on my smoothie: 199 calories, 32g carbs, 2g fat, 14g protein, 4g fiber

After watching me down my smoothie, Jarrod got jealous and decided he wanted a smoothie too. So we threw the following into the blender:

1 scoop optimum nutrition whey chocolate protein
1/2 cup frozen sliced bananas
1 tbsp JIF peanut butter
1/4 cup ground-up quick oats
1/2 cup Almond Breeze unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1/2 cup ice

This doesn’t look like much, but I tried a sip and it was AMAZING:

Tasted like a shake you’d get at a hamburger stand. I’m going to try and make a lower-calorie version sometime!

Stats on Jarrod’s chocolate peanut butter banana smoothie: 377 calories, 39g carbs, 12g fat, 33g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

A little before lunch, I headed over to my mom’s house for some quality time with the fam. Just as I was about to leave, I locked my keys in my trunk… 😯 What am I, 16 again? When I was younger, I had the joy of consistently locking my keys in my car. Actually, the day I first got my license I locked my keys in my trunk and had to have my dad come rescue me…. Oh joy….

Once I got the key situation all worked out, I headed home to make a tuna wrap for lunch. Here’s what went into the tuna salad:

1 can chunk light tuna in water, drained
1/4 cup red onion
1/2 a chopped roma tomato
1 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse Lite Creamy Ceaser Dressing
S&P

Then I added a few slices of a ginormous banana pepper I grew in my backyard garden:

I put the tuna salad atop a Light Flat-out Italian wrap with 1 cup of spinach:

Then I wrapped everything up burrito-style and grilled on the george foreman grill for about 5 minutes:

DELICIOUS.

Stats on the tuna wrap: 282 calories, 28g carbs, 9g fat, 32g protein, 12g fiber

I’m hoping to try out a new recipe for dinner tonight.. I have a few ideas in mind. Maybe a nap will help things come to fruition 🙂

What I ate

A whole day of FOOD

July 22, 2010 6 Comments

Guess who forgot her camera cord at home today??? That’s right, one fervent-frazzled-foodie 😀

That’s ok, now I get to take my time with this lovely Thursday post, rather than rushing through a lunch-time blog session!

Today should have marked Day #1, Week #6 of my interval training plan… But unfortunately during my run in Charlotte Tuesday morning I started to have some knee pain 🙁

I haven’t had any problems throughout my entire interval plan. I think the pain was probably caused by having to run on the sidewalks in the city in combination with the TON of walking we did on vacation.

When I woke up this morning, I was still feeling a little pain in my knee. I think I’m going to forgo running outside for a week before attempting to pick up on my intervals again. Hopefully that will be sufficient time for me to get right back on track. Until then, I’ll stick to the low-impact elliptical.

Can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already! Love short workweeks–even if it has been a hectic one. You can always gauge my level of overwhelmsion at work by the cleanliness of my desk. Case in point, today my desk looked like it might try to swallow me whole at any moment:

Breakfast #1

Leftover’s from the scramble I made Tuesday night:

This was tasty, but I was really craving some eggins with turkey sausage. Think I’ll have to pull some of my Jennie O’s out of the freezer tonight!

Stats on B#1: 141 calories, 13g carbs, 1g fat, 19g protein, 3g fiber

Breakfast #2

Long-awaited return of OVERNIGHT OATS! Missed these guys so much on vacation! I actually contemplated packing OO supplies to take on my vacation, but once I saw the exorbitant amount of food I packed I decided against it. I also nixed bringing the immersion blender and almond milk to make smoothies… haha 🙂

Last night, I mixed up:

1/2 cup uncooked quick oats
1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 tsp brown sugar
sprinkling of cinnamon

This morning, I topped the overnight oats with fresh strawberries and blueberries:

GLORIOUS!

Speaking of overnight oats, I get a whole lot of questions on how to make these. If you’re intrigued, check out my Overnight Oats Addition to the Foodie Q&A Page. Also check out the recipe page for some ideas on what to put in your overnight oats!

Stats on B#2: 200 calories, 36g carbs, 5g fat, 6g protein, 6g fiber

Lunch

While making last night’s dinner, I threw and extra chicken breast on the grill for my lunch today. I was feeling a little saucy 😉 so I decided to make up some healthified buffalo chicken.

This time, I used the following:

4 ounces grilled chicken with Montreal Chicken Seasoning
S&P, Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Stonyfield Farms fat-free plain yogurt
1/4 cup Frank’s red hot

Lucky for me, this mixture made enough for 2 wraps so I saved the other half for tomorrow. I put the buffalo chicken on a Mama Lupe’s low carb tortilla:

Then topped with some tomato and onion:

I was super excited for lunch ALL day today… couldn’t wait to devour this spicy treat.

Last time I made this buffalo chicken salad, I used a lot less sauce. I think I prefer it extra saucy 🙂

On the side, I had a jumbo salad with romaine, tomato, onion, banana pepper, green pepper, and 2 tbsp Ken’s Steakhouse lite Italian Romano dressing:

Stats on Wrap & Salad: 302 calories, 34g carbs, 9g fat, 28g protein, 10g fiber

Dinner

While trying to decide what to make for dinner, I came across a bag of calabacita veggies in the freezer:

This reminded me of my shrimp quesadillas, which sounded likes a fabulous idea for dinner.

Here’s what went into the quesadillas:

First I carefully sliced a Joseph’s low-carb tortilla in half, then I topped it with a quarter of the bag of steamed calabacita veggies, a thinly sliced light mini baybel cheese round, and three large grilled shrimp that I had seasoned with lime juice, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and red pepper flakes:

I put the other half of the pita on top of my masterpiece and grilled on the george foreman for 4 minutes until the cheese was melty and the pita was crispy. Then I topped with 2 tbsp Breakstone’s Fat Free sour cream, 1/2 a plum tomato, 1/4 cup red onion, and some banana peppers:

I love it when a meal is healthy and tastes AMAZING like this one did. Look how yummy:

On the side, I had 1 cup each of roasted broccoli and cauliflower:

These veggies were seasoned with Black pepper, garlic salt, and onion powder. I placed them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and gave them a good toss before roasting in a 415 degree oven for 15 minutes. Y-U-M.

Next time I make quesadillas I think I’ll sub in some pinto beans for the shrimp and make a vegetarian quesadilla with TONS and TONS of veggies…. mmm can’t wait! 🙂

Stats on the quesadilla & fixins: 296 calories, 34g carbs, 6g fat, 24g protein, 69g fiber

Stats on the roasted veggies: 55 calories, 11g carbs, 0g fat, 4g protein, 5g fiber

All together now: 351 calories, 45g carbs, 6g fat, 30g protein, 11g fiber

Late-Night Snack

Post-dinner snack tonight was a delicious fruit smoothie. I put the following into the blender:

1/4 cup plain Stonyfield Farms Fat-Free Yogurt
1/4 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
1 packet truvia
1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1 cup spinach
1/4 cup frozen blackberries
1/2 cup ice cubes

Blueberry bliss:

How can healthy foods taste so darn good?? Still baffles me!

All together now: 101 calories, 23g carbs, 1g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber

Special Surprise

As you may recall, the BF was out of the country for work on my birthday, and the day after he returned, we headed to Charlotte/Charleston. On vacation, he told me my present was “too big” to bring to Charleston, so I’d have to wait til we got home. He also expressed some worries that I wasn’t going to like the gift… Uh oh… 😯

All I really wanted for my birthday was a night out in Charleston and a cupcake — (which I got several times over on vaca!), so I wasn’t too worried about the gift.

Last night was THE NIGHT. I sat down with two nicely wrapped presents. I was super excited to open them, albeit slightly apprehensive.

Here’s what was in the packages:

If you are like me, you’re probably wondering what the heck I’d use two travel guides to New Orleans for. Maybe you are quicker at gathering the facts than me…. but for those who aren’t: WE’RE GOING TO NEW ORLEANS IN OCTOBER!!!! How awesome is that?!?!? Flights and hotel are already booked! Now all I have to do is research all the best places to eat 😀

QUESTION: What’s the best surprise and/or birthday present you have ever received?

What I ate

(much needed) Return to healthy eating

July 21, 2010 3 Comments

Things are always a little hectic the first few days back to work after a vacation. So last night I scrambled up some eggs and veggies.

For three servings:

7 Egg whites
1 whole egg
splash of water
S&P
Franks red hott
1/2 green pepper
1 large zucchini
1/2 cup white mushrooms
1 large green onion

I portioned the scramble out into three containers, and had one of them with some ketchup for my breakfast #1 at work:

Stats on B#1: 141 calories, 13g carbs, 1g fat, 19g protein, 3g fiber

Breakfast #2

Dannon Strawberry Greek Yogurt + 1/4 cup blueberries + 3 medium strawberries

Stats on B#2: 163 calories, 25g carbs, 0g fat, 12g protein, 2g fiber

Lunch

HUGE salad consisting of:

1/2 bag fresh express romaine lettuce
1/2 green pepper
1/2 a large roma tomato
1/2 a large cucumber
1 hard boiled egg
1/4 cup sliced red onion
2 tbsp Ken’s Lite Northern Italian Romano Salad dressing

I LOVE hard boiled eggs on salads!

Stats on Lunch: 206 calories, 20g carbs, 10g fat, 11g protein, 7g fiber

Snack

On the way home from Charlotte, we st0pped at a Publix so I could pick up some Western Bagel Alternative Bagels. Finally!!! I had a blueberry bagel with 1/2 laughing cow swiss cheese wedge for my snack:

Stats on Snack: 128 calories, 27g carbs, 1g fat, 8g protein, 7g fiber

Dinner

Grilled chicken and roasted veggies:

Stats on Dinner: 245 calories, 17g carbs, 7g fat, 27g protein, 8g fiber

Dessert

FRUIT SMOOTHIE! I mixed up a big batch for me and Jarrod to split:

1 cup fresh frozen strawberries
1/2 cup fresh frozen blueberries
1/2 cup stonyfield farms fat free plain yogurt
2 packets truvia
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup Almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk

Stats on the smoothie: 95 calories, 20g carbs, 2g fat, 6g protein, 5g fiber

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