Menu Plan Week 3

Whew! The snow storm was pretty lame. Until Sunday night of course. I say of course because Sunday night was when we had plans to go out to dinner with friends. It didn't snow all day long then an hour before we were supposed to leave it started sticking to the roads. We made it safe and sound though and had a yummy dinner with our friends. Have you ever had wild boar? That's what I had with homemade ricotta gnocchi. Sooooo yummy! Here's what we're planning on eating at our house this week. Do you like the calorie counts? Would you rather calculate them on your own? Let me know in the comments.

Day 1:

Baked Ravioli

Day 2:

Chipotle Black Bean and Rice Skillet

Day 3:

Tuscan Garlic Chicken

Day 4:

Mexican Baked Polenta and Sausage

Day 5:

Ranch Pork Chops with Green Beans and Roasted Potatoes

Stick with your goals this week everyone, we've totally got this! See you all on Weigh In Wednesday!

Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Broccoli

We are getting set for a snowy weekend here in Pittsburgh. There are supposed to be 3 weather systems moving through the area, first one coming through tonight dropping 1-3in, freezing rain and flurries coming through on Saturday, and then Sunday night we're supposed to get 4-8in! By no means are we expecting to get snowed in, but we're looking forward to a snowy weekend together. Doesn't it sound nice to be snuggled up on the couch, watching the snow fall, in front of the fireplace? Oh, and I've got a bubble bath in the jacuzzi tub in my plans too!

Before all that though, I need to make dinner. I've got a super comforting, stomach filling, perfect for a cold January evening dinner for you. Shrimp scampi is delicious, but it's usually completely loaded with butter. Not joking, all the recipes I found called for an entire stick of butter. Not very diet friendly. Another problem with traditional shrimp scampi recipes is that they're pretty light on the veggies. I was determined to make something lighter and with more veggies. I hope you and your family can enjoy my healthier shrimp scampi with roasted broccoli.

First step is to zest a lemon. You need about a tablespoon of lemon zest.

Next chop up a shallot. A shallot is like a baby onion, except on steroids. They may be tiny, but they pack as much flavor as a regular onion. Here's a great article on shallot vs. onion. If you only have an onion, go ahead and use it. But I do highly recommend going out of your way for the shallot. Here's what they look like in case you're curious.

After everything is chopped, zested, and ready for cooking, go ahead and get your broccoli ready for roasting. Have you ever roasted your broccoli? If I'm being honest, this was my first time. I usually either steam it, or pop it in the microwave. I tossed my broccoli with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and some red pepper flakes then put it in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Before:

Boy oh boy when it came out of the oven it was all I could do to not shove it all in my mouth. It smelled delicious. I cut off the stems (saved them for lunch tomorrow), and put the heads aside to toss in my scampi. Of course I sampled one first. It was like caramelized broccoli. It had a nice deep flavor, but was kind of sweet too. Waaaayyy more flavorful than steaming.

After: 

Because I'm watching my calories, I bought a food scale to help with my portion sizes. One serving of angel hair pasta is 2oz. Remember we're making 2 servings.

This recipe only calls for 1 TABLESPOON of butter, not an entire stick! Get that into your pan and melt it.

Saute your garlic and shallots in the melted butter. Add liquids to make a sauce. Then let the sauce reduce by half. It should look something like this.

Add your shrimp to the sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remember that you only need to heat your shrimp up because they're already fully cooked.

Next step is just finishing up the dish. Toss your shrimp, pasta, and broccoli together, fully coating everything in the sauce. And voila!

Stay safe and warm everyone!

Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Broccoli

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1lb frozen broccoli florets

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

½ tsp fresh ground black pepper

2 shallots, diced

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp lemon zest

Juice from half a lemon, about 2 Tbsp

4 oz angel hair pasta

1 Tbsp butter

¼ cup chicken stock

3 Tbsp white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

1lb medium pre-cooked shrimp, thawed

Directions:

1.     1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Toss frozen broccoli with olive oil, red pepper, black pepper, and salt. Pour out onto baking sheet, and roast for 15-20 minutes. Your broccoli should be starting to get brown around the edges. Set aside to toss with pasta and shrimp later.

2.     2. Cook pasta according to package instructions.

3.     3. Melt butter in sauté pan, add shallot and garlic. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until shallot becomes translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add chicken stock, wine, lemon zest and juice to pan. Scrape bottom of pan to release the delicious browned bits from the garlic and shallot. Bring sauce to a boil, continue to boil until sauce has reduced by half. Add shrimp to sauce, and toss to coat shrimp. Cook until shrimp is just heated through, then remove from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4.     4. Drain the pasta, then immediately toss with sauce, shrimp, and roasted broccoli. 

Weigh In Wednesday 2

Hello lovelies! Welcome to another Weigh In Wednesday. I hope the past 7 days have been kind to you. I can say that my hard work paid off this week. I'm down 3.4lbs. That 0.4 matters! I've got another 15 pounds to go until I reach my first goal of losing 20 pounds. I like rewards...and presents, who doesn't? But I typically reward myself with some kind of junk food, which doesn't really make sense when you think about it. Why get your diet and exercise all straightened out, finally start seeing some results, then go blow it on a bunch of junk from McDonalds? So, this time I've got something I've wanted for a long time lined up for my -20lb celebration. You'll just have to wait and see what awesome thing I have ready to go!

Last night we ended up going out to dinner and a movie. We went to Chili's for dinner and to see The Imitation Game after. The Imitation Game is about what Alan Turing did for Britain during World War II, and it was a really good movie. My husband is an absolute math geek, so a move about Alan Turing was right up his alley. Chili's is a great place to eat if you're on a diet. They have a wonderful menu of items that are under 600 calories. I had a 6oz sirloin with a spicy citrus chile sauce topped with grilled avocado slices, garlic roasted cherry tomatoes, steamed broccoli, and some spicy grilled shrimp. All that food added up to a whopping 490 calories (410 for the meal and an additional 80 for the shrimp). But seriously, how good does this look?

Miss Penny and I enjoyed our snowy afternoon getting caught up on some food blogs and watching the snow fall. Once the snow stopped falling I spent 2 whole hours shoveling our walkways and driveway. We have a big concrete pad at the bottom of our driveway, and if it doesn't get shoveled before it gets driven on, it turns into a giant sheet of ice that will not melt no how matter how warm it gets or how much salt you use. After I finished up, cooked and ate dinner, and sat down for a bit, my butt muscles hurt! E keeps making fun of me because I can barely walk! We're scheduled to get more snow overnight and tomorrow, so it looks like I'll be getting my snow shoveling workout in!

Meal Plan Week 2

Happy Monday lovelies! I had a nice relaxing, but productive weekend. Saturday, E and I cooked up some stretched ground beef for the freezer, and rented some movies to watch. We chose The Giver and Lone Survivor, both were really good. Lone Survivor was so sad though. It breaks my heart to think that each of those guys killed left behind a family. The end of the movie with the pictures of the actual men? I was bawling. Just gonna throw out a big THANK YOU to all of the men and women in our armed forces out there doing what you do to keep us safe.

On Sunday we hosted a dinner party with a bunch of our friends. We managed to fit 13 people around our table for dinner! The theme was comfort food, so we feasted on kielbasa pigs in a blanket, pizza pull apart bread, grilled cheese bites and tomato soup shooters, fried chicken, mini chicken pot pies, pork mac and cheese, cheddar and sour cream mashed potatoes, Nutella brownies, and peanut butter cookies. Of course there was wine and beer. While the snow fell, we finished our evening proving ourselves terrible human beings with the game Cards Against Humanity.

I'm ready to get back on track with my healthy eating this week, although I was careful not to go overboard with our ridiculously decadent comfort food dinner. Here's the game plan for dinners this week. Although I'm purposefully leaving one meal out. I wanted to make chicken and dumplings for a dinner, and the recipe calls for shredded chicken. I thought I had some frozen, but the package I pulled out to thaw looks suspicious. I'm really not certain what's inside because I didn't put a label on it. So once it thaws and I can tell if it's a chicken carcass or shredded chicken I'll decide if I'm making chicken and dumplings or pork chops.

Oh! I almost forgot. I'm participating in something called Weigh In Wednesdays. Every Wednesday morning, before breakfast, I'll be stepping on the scale. Last week I was down 1lb. I was honestly a little disappointed with that number, given all the hard work I did, but I need to remember that this isn't a race. Every pound that comes off is a success. Here's to another week of hard workouts and healthy eating. Good luck on your journeys this week!


Monday:
Mock Lasagna
418 cals per serving

Tuesday:
Creamy Parmesan and Sundried Tomato Chicken with Garlic Sauteed Spinach
686 cals per serving










Wednesday:
?


Thursday:
Black Bean and Roasted Corn Quesadillas served with Mexican Rice
628 cals per serving (does not include rice)












Friday:
Shrimp Scampi with Roasted Broccoli
428 cals per serving











Smoothie:
Carrot and Pineapple Smoothie
97 cals per serving









* For the record, most recipes are not my original recipes, but you can follow the links back to their original authors. All calorie counts are based off data personally entered into MyFitnessPal.com, and may or may not be accurate for you based on varying ingredients, serving sizes, or cooking methods.

Mediterranean Tilapia

I made this yummy fish for dinner on Wednesday. As part of our healthier eating initiative, E and I have decided to try and eat fish at least once a week. Fish is a great low fat protein. It's full of omega-3 fatty acids (can lower elevated triglyceride levels), and vitamins like D (necessary for calcium absorption) and B2 (important for iron metabolism). We're both new to cooking and eating fish regularly so we're experimenting with different recipes for fishes that we're familiar with. We used tilapia in this recipe. Overall it was a delicious and filling meal that we'll definitely make again!

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchini, sliced into rounds
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tilapia fillets
salt and pepper to season fish
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, drained*
1 tsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp capers
Approximately 20 Kalamata olives, quatered**

* I used basil, oregano, and garlic seasoned tomatoes. I like a lot of garlic ok?
** I dislike black olives, which is why I buy Kalamatas at my grocery store's antipasto bar. But if you're so inclined go ahead and use canned black olives.

After you slice your zucchini into rounds, place in a saucepan with the garlic and olive oil. I cheat here and use pre-minced and jarred garlic, it's a great time saver! However, the flavor is probably a little more dull than if you use fresh, so adjust garlic amount to fit your taste buds! Saute the zucchini and garlic until zucchini is crisp tender (the vegetable version of al dente) or the edges are just beginning to brown. You're going to put it in the oven for 30 minutes, so unless you want to serve zucchini mush, don't fully cook it at this point.

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the sauteed zucchini and garlic in the bottom of a 9x13 baking pan. I did not spray my pan with any non-stick spray, and it came out just fine. Place the fish fillets on top of zucchini, sprinkle with salt and pepper to season.

In a mixing bowl, add the tomatoes, lemon juice, olives, and capers. Mix together, then spoon over each fish fillet, completely covering the fish. Place fish in 400 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. Fish should be completely opaque and flake easily.

We served ours over a bed of brown rice. For the record, I don't really care for brown rice. I always make mine in chicken broth (cheater tip: dissolved bullion cube) instead of plain water. It adds just a bit of much needed flavor. I struggled with how to serve this, I really wanted to serve it with pasta. So I popped into my friendly SparkPeople.com, which offers food comparisons, for some guidance. Well, I'm still not really sure why we're supposed to eat brown rice, the nutrition facts are basically the same. I chose brown rice because it just sounded and felt healthier than pasta. I'll get back to you on why we should choose one over the other. Anywho, here's the finished dish! I hope you're able to enjoy this healthy recipe with your family!

Meal Plan Week 1

Hello internet lovelies! Here's my dinner plan for this week:

Monday

- Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup
   546 cals per serving











Tuesday
- Crispy Skillet Hash and Eggs
   478 cals per serving











Wednesday
- Mediterranean Fish served with brown rice
   263 cals per serving (for the fish only)











Thursday
-  Spinach and Feta Crescents served with salad
    582 cals per serving (4 rolls)











Friday
- Tomato Parmesan Chicken served with broccoli and pasta
   243 cals per serving (for chicken only)











Smoothie
- Beets and Greens Smoothie
   182 cals per cup











Saturday 
- leftovers
Sunday
- dinner with friends

If you're interested in getting these recipes (and more!) follow my Dinner This Week board on Pinterest (username Msc120687). All of my calorie counts were calculated with MyFitnessPal.com. Have a great week everyone! Don't forget to check back in on Friday to see which recipe I'm blogging about!

Mall Walking

We are 5 days into setting new habits. I have gotten at least 30 minutes of aerobic activity everyday, I've had a Shakeology shake every day, I've tracked all of my activity, and I've cooked 4 (soon to be 5) meals.

For my activity I've been trying to walk my 10,000 steps per day. I've been walking on the treadmill for the length of a Netflix show (I've been watching Gossip Girl, Revenge, and Scandal). Or I've been going to the mall and mall walking. Our mall is basically a giant circle and one lap around is just under a mile and about 2,000 steps. So I walk 4-5 laps get my distance in. I have literally been doing ZERO exercise , so I'm just trying to increase my stamina and get my heart rate up.

I'm lucky that I live somewhere that gets snow. Wait, did I really just type that? Must be the endorphins talking! No, but seriously, shoveling snow is a serious workout! We haven't really gotten a serious snowfall yet, but enough that I can spend an hour - 2 hours outside shoveling. I am totes counting that as my exercise. Fitbit doesn't register shoveling snow as exercise, so I've been logging it as mowing the lawn. Yesterday I was so sore that it literally hurt to walk. Go shoveling! Bring on the snow mother nature!

The shakes are starting to grow on me. At first I didn't think they were going to fill me up, or keep me full. But they do a really good job of bother. I haven't been sticking to a meal to replace, either breakfast or lunch, depending on what I want to eat. I love eggs! So if I wake up and really want some scrambled eggs, I'm going to eat them, then have a shake as my lunch. Chocolate and Strawberry are my favorites. I don't care for the Greenberry flavor so much. I like to make the chocolate flavor with a cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk (30 cals), a half cup of cold brew coffee concentrate (the best thing Trader Joe's sells), 6 ice cubs, and a scoop of shake. It is delicious. I honestly like it as much as the frozen kona from Sheetz, and that's really saying something if you know me. I've been making the strawberry shake with the same cup of almond milk, a cup of frozen mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries), and a scoop of shake. It's good, but it's not great. It's totally drinkable, but not something a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Each shake comes in at 160-190 cals.

I don't really have a dinner recipe to post on here, cuz I sucked at remembering to take pictures this week. Sorry! Now off to finish my walk and get those 10,000 steps in!