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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Marching Out!

Friends, my March goals didn’t go so well. I ended up being so busy and so diverted by family stuff that I just didn’t do a great job meal planning. Also? Trying to do more fish during Lent ends up being a tad expensive.

But life is pretty good ‘round these parts. That dietician I went to? Kind of awesome. I lost 6 pounds in two weeks! Here are some of the changes I made:

1. Switched my butter. I now use almond butter instead of peanut butter on my English muffin. It’s higher in unsaturated fats (those good ones) and fiber than the peanut butter. Trader Joe’s makes an amazing one with sea salt. Score!

2. After school snacks. I usually eat a snack around 3, but this time I pushed it back to closer to 4. I set out something like: pretzels with hummus, trail mix, or nuts and graze a little bit while cooking. This way when Scott gets home from work, starving, we have a little snack ready. And it’s okay then if we eat a little bit later.

3. Watching my weekends. The dietician asked me to track and print out my weekend eating. I always thought I ate fairly decently on the weekends. I surely did not. I ate the same things I ate during the week, but about 10 times the portion size. Being accountable about this has been a game-changer for me.
I have a follow-up visit shortly after I am back from my VACATION. Hopefully I can keep the weight gain to a minimum while I am eating my way through San Francisco.

Before I leave, I’ll share with you one of my favorite new recipes and a few of my favorite blog posts from other blogs. Also? Stay tuned next week for some guest posts!

I mentioned this enchilada last month and finally took some pictures. Not sure if it sells the story, as they don’t look overly attractive. But TRUST, this one is excellent.

Turkey Enchiladas by Cooking Light

2 teaspoons stick margarine or butter

1/4 cup chopped onion

3 tablespoons chopped pecans, divided

1 (8-ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened

1 tablespoon fat-free milk

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups chopped cooked turkey breast (about 1/2 pound)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

Cooking spray

1 1/2 cups fat-free milk

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1/4 cup chopped pickled jalapeño peppers

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat, reduced-sodium cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt margarine in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and 2 tablespoons pecans; cook 3 minutes until onion is tender and pecans are toasted. Remove from heat.

Combine cream cheese, 1 tablespoon milk, salt, and cumin in a large bowl. Stir in onion mixture, turkey, and cilantro.



Spread about 1/3 cup turkey mixture onto tortillas; roll up and place, seam sides down, in a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

Combine 1 1/2 cups milk, sour cream, jalapeños, and soup in a bowl. Spoon soup mixture over tortillas.


Cover with foil; bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with mozzarella and 1 tablespoon pecans. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.




Nutritional Information

Calories:376 (27% from fat)

Fat:11.1g (sat 2.8g,mono 4.4g,poly 2.9g)

Protein:27.8g

Carbohydrate:38.7g

Fiber:1.9g

Cholesterol:46mg

Iron:2.4mg

Sodium:977mg

Calcium:320mg

Confession: I didn't use pecans. It kind of freaks me out. This time I made it, I forgot the cilantro and that made a huge difference, so make sure to include that, or basil if you're not in love with cilantro.

Finally, here are some of my favorite blog posts in March:

Divine Secrets of a Domestic Diva defines what behaviors are by assholes and what ones are by toddlers.

Beta Dad digs in to how you address the naughty bits with toddlers.

Itzy's Kitchen Demystifies Risotto

7 comments:

Kristen said...

I think they look good! Congrats on the weight loss, what a huge accomplishment!

Anonymous said...

Dietician, huh? Why didn't I think of that? I love the practical and attainable advice. Something that I can easily change is a win-win. I'm going to use some of your tips. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

1. Congratulations on the loss - 6 lbs is huge! I'm not the biggest AB fan, but if you think that it really makes a difference, then I might need to give it another try.

2. Way to rock the enchiladas - they are the least photogenic, most delicious of all the dinner foods.

3. I hope you have such a wonderful getaway! I can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!

EatDrinkBeRunning said...

Enchiladas sound sooo good! Will def. have to try them. Also, I have never had almond butter, and will have to try that too. I just love Trader Joe's!

Stephanie in Suburbia said...

Grown Up: Here is the post I wrote w/ more specific detail on what the dietician told me. http://stephanieinsuburbia.blogspot.com/2011/03/part-of-this-complete-blogfast.html

Tenaciously: Thanks, girlie. I was not a lover of the AB myself, but a lot less goes a lot further and they discovered a wee prob wit hmy triglycerides that means the more unsaturated fat I get, the better. So we're riding the AB train. I find it more palatable in oatmeal.

Hungrigyrl: New discovery at Trader Joes -- dark chocolate covered edamame. Dream about it!

Crystal Escobar said...

Congrats on the weight loss! That is amazing! Those enchiladas look pretty amazing too :)

Kitty Deschanel said...

Way to go on the weight loss! I love that you followed that news with a scrumptious recipe. Can't wait to try this :)