Food Planning Philosophy

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

I am always impressed with people who can plan out specifically what they will eat for each meal, but I just never know what days I'll have time to make dinner, or eat a more elaborate breakfast, etc. so instead I try to get enough supplies to have some easy meal options and some more complicated recipes, etc. for when I want to cook. Here's an example for what I have this week:

Breakfast:

- As far as the simplest, quickest option, I get Nature Valley Trail Mix bars.
- Another pretty simple option is 100 calorie whole grain english muffins and light veggie cream cheese. I also ordered some Bagel Thins from Lender's for Andrew, they are a lot less calories than regular bagels.
- For when I want to make something, I got ingredients to make breakfast wraps of egg, light American cheese and fake bacon in a tortilla (Hungry Girl's breakfast burrito recipe); and also ingredients to make HG's cinnamon vanilla french toast.

Lunch:

- I decided this week to try ordering Weight Watchers' fresh meals instead of frozen, so even when I have to eat something on the go, these should be healthier with less salt, preservatives, etc. than frozen meals.
- I got ingredients to make sandwiches to bring to work - either a healthy egg salad (no mayo, light bread, etc.), HG's BLT recipe, or HG's caprese sandwich recipe.
- I also bought some Dole salad mixes - love those!

Dinner:
- Kashi frozen pizzas - probably one of the healthiest frozen pizza options out there, but still delicious - love them!
- Ingredients to make HG's 7-layer burrito blitz (recipe is on this blog) - so yummy!
- Ingredients to make HG's Mexi-tatos (recipe on the blog as well)
- Whole weat pasta and tomato basil sauce or pesto sauce

Snacks:
And of course, I got a variety of little 100 calorie or less options for snacks - Light n' Fit vanilla yogurt, apples, string cheese, some 100 calorie packs of veggie chips, etc.

Thank goodness for Peapod, I never have time to go to the store!

Snack Recommendation

My newest snack obsession is Food Should Taste Good's multigrain chips:

They are made with sunflower seeds, flax, etc. - they have lots of fiber and less fat than regular potato chips or tortilla chips. Yum!!

Product Review: Reebok Easy Tones

Sunday, February 21, 2010

I was totally sucked in by the Reebok Easy Tone commercials they kept airing in the fall, and so I put them on my Christmas list. My mom very kindly bought them for me (and she actually had a coupon & free shipping on http://www.shoes.com/ so she got them for $75, so they were about the price I'd pay for sneakers anyways), and since I've now had them for a couple months, I thought I'd give my thoughts (oh, and I got the Easy Tone Inspire, pictured below):

- They are very comfortable to wear/walk in. You feel a bit of a burn in your butt mainly, and some in your legs, if you do serious walking in them (like if you do a brisk walk for like 2 plus miles), but on a normal day of walking to work in them, you feel only a tiny burn. But the burn is good, cuz it means they're doing something, and like I said, on a normal day it's quite minor, you wouldn't get to work and be like exhausted or have sore legs. Even when I did a 3 mile brisk walk in them, my legs only felt a little sore for like 30 minutes after the walk.

- For awhile I was just walking in them, but this past week I tried them to run in on the treadmill and really liked them. I ran faster in them, and also felt afterwards like I had both ran and done a leg workout. I think I will be using them for this more in the future, though I can't attest to how they'd do running outside - it's been way too cold here for that!

- I have honestly noticed a difference in the tone of my legs. Previously, I had done leg workouts with a trainer, running, classes, the elliptical, etc. - and although my legs might have burned, or I might have lost weight, there had been NO difference in the tone of my legs, they still looked all jiggly. I don't wear the Easy Tones on a daily basis, but even from the amount I have used them, I have seen a difference, my butt and the upper part of my legs in general just looks smoother and more toned, I don't see all the cellulite bumps.

In short, I give these two thumbs up! Anyone else try these out?

Interval Running - Sample Workout

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

I have been doing a good bit of running lately to try to start training for another half-marathon. But I am not someone who can just get on the treadmill, set it to 7.0 and go for miles - not even close! I usually have to change the speed frequently so I can get a little rest, then do some bursts of faster running.

I found a good sample interval workout on the treadmill, and just wanted to share it:

1 - 5(minutes) brisk walk at 5.0
6-7- jog at 5.5
7-8 - run at 6.5-6.8
8-9 - jog at 5.5
9-10 - run at 6.5-7.0
10-11- brisk walk at 5.0
11-12 - run 6.5-7.0
12-13 - brisk walk at 5.0
13-14 - run at 6.5-7.0
14-15 - jog at 5.5

Also, this can of course be adjusted for however fast you can go - you can start out the walking at 3.0 or 4.0 and adjust the other speeds accordingly.

WW Classic Corn Bread

Monday, January 18, 2010

To go along with the chili, I also made Weight Watchers' Classic Corn Bread. I thought it was pretty good for diet corn bread, though much better fresh out of the oven than re-heated. Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup + 2 tablespoons low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg

(1) Preheat the oven to 400F, spray an 8 inch square pan or a 12-cup muffin tin with a nonstick spray

(2) In a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, beat the buttermilk and egg. Pour over the flour mixture; stir just until blended (do not overmix).

(3) Transfer to the pan. Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Cool in the pan on a rack 10 minutes;serve warm.

Per Serving (1/12 of loaf or 1 muffin) - 100 Cal, 2 Points.

WW Hearty Meatless Chili

I have tried so many good recipes lately, but keep being too lazy to post them, so I am officially going to do that tonight. I will start with a really good vegetarian entree I tried, Weight Watchers' Hearty Meatless Chili:

This makes 6 Servings

1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Large onion, finely chopped
1 Green bell pepper, seeded and diced
3 garlic cloves, minces
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minces
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 (12 oz) package frozen soy crumbles
1/2 cup water
1/2 medium eggplant, unpeeled and diced
2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15 1/2 oz) can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

(1) Heat the oil in a nonstick Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, garlic and jalapeno pepper; cook, stirring, until softened. About 8 minutes.
(2) Add the tomatoes, soy crumbles, water, eggplant, chili powder, oregano, cumin and salt; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmeer, partially covered, until the vegetables are well softened and the flavors are developed, about 20 minutes longer.

Per Serving: 197 Cal, 3 Points.

This chili was really hearty and also quite spicy. It sounds complicated to make, but really wasn't so bad to do once you chop everything. I'd recommend it!

Same Taste, Fewer Calories

Thursday, January 7, 2010

One of my favorite "bad for me" foods is Domino's Buffalo Chicken Pizza (well, except i don't eat meat, so for me, it's just buffalo pizza). It's SO yummy!

But of course, it's also so bad for you. So, I decided to come up with my own lower-calorie version. I took an english muffin (100-130 calories, depending on which kind you get), about 1/4 cup of low-moisture, part-skim mozzarella (80 calories) and 1/2 tsp of Frank's Red Hot sauce (35 calories). So, for around 200 calories, you get two little english muffin mini buffalo pizzas, and with a lot less fat too. I recommend it! (And if you do eat meat, I am sure these would be yummy with chicken too).