Boy, this cooking-what-I-want-to-eat thing while children are here is hard! Even as I page through cookbooks looking for what I feel hungry for, I'm constantly editing based on what I think the kids will eat. Last night, it came down to what we had in the cupboard. I decided on the low-fat creamy herb pasta pre-mix that has been sitting around for a while. I defrosted some chicken breasts and added some frozen green and red peppers and onions to the mix as well as frozen broccoli stir fry. In winter, I rely on high quality frozen veggies from Brennans more than fresh because the fresh just don't taste all that great out of season. It was terrific with lots of veggies and, surprise, the kids loved it! But what they really loved was Colin's birthday cake. I used a vanilla cake mix in a bundt pan, then I poured a fat free instant chocolate pudding around the ring in the center. It baked (took a little longer than usual), but most of the pudding went to the bottom and made it come out unevenly. But it was a really moist bit of cake. I did have a small piece.
On Sunday night, I made a terrific lo-fat soup. I cut up a bulb of fennel (one of the fresh veggies I will use in winter) and cooked it in four cups of chicken broth. I added some garlic and onion and a little curry powder, salt and pepper. When it was soft, I blended it it. It was delicious! And totally fat free. I made Tim some turkey soup with orzo and had a bit of that as well. It was also delicious and low fat.
Today I have several meetings at coffee shops. I'm just going to have tea at both meetings and eat dinner when I get home--probably frozen Lean Cuisine, which I like. For lunch I'm going to load up on a salad with lots of veggies.
I still need to do better on getting my exercise in. The problem is that when it's really cold, I have a hard time lately getting out as my back and legs ache. But I have to do it. I also have to start taking vitamins.
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ok, a short post right now because I vowed to do laundry and clean up some...I have lost 3 pounds and 1 1/2-2 inches around waist!
ReplyDeleteHere is my tip of the week...
ReplyDeleteMake a homemade soup (big pot) and eat the same lunch all week. I am making a spicy lentil soup today. I can email the recipe if you like that kind of soup. It is 94 calories for one cup of soup and loaded with veggies.
I wanted to share this easy, healthy lentil soup recipe with you guys. It is a staple in our house - we make it at least every other week. If you're not big on spicy, leave out the cayenne. If you can't find red lentils, use regular ones - it's still good it just won't be as pretty.
ReplyDeleteHeat 1 T olive oil in soup pan
Add seasonings to hot oil: 1 T cumin, 1 t coriander, 1/2 t cayenne, 1/2 t cinnamon
stir for 30 seconds
add veggies: 2 chopped red bell peppers, 2 chopped carrots
stir for 5 minutes
add 7-8 cups chicken broth (or veggie broth) and a bag of red lentils
boil, then simmer 20 minutes
add salt if you want
puree, serve with plain yogurt
Thanks Ann -- I'm going to make it tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI made this again tonight - if you have smaller carrots, use more like 4 or 5. I am proud of myself for having JUST soup and yogurt (and grapes) tonight, instead of tacking on my usual 5-6 slices of hot/crusty bread!!! Small victories.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I do when I am trying to make for kids and me is that I make them kind of normal stuff but make mine into a salad each time. So, they love tacos, so I make mine a taco salad with no chips. Actually tastes really good without the carbs. Then if I make chicken with rice, I slice the chicken and make a chicken salad, etc. I found that breading the chicken in ground almonds is really good and the kids might think it is nuggets and I like it for a change. Still bake it.
ReplyDeleteWell, tonight we are going to neighbors and she is making all really fattening stuff. I have realized that I have been avoiding social gatherings on Friday nights because of the temptations. We used to invite a family over every Friday and I looked at our calendar and saw that we have not done it since I started watching what to eat. I know it involves lots of beer drinking and not so good food. I go with good intentions and then always break down. I don't know how to just eat small portions in front of others. Haven't figured it out yet.