Ingredients:
2 12 ounce packages of steam in bag frozen cauliflower
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts
Seasoning to taste
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 packet ranch dressing
1 cup no sugar added barbecue sauce
1 package shredded cheese of your choice
1 package bacon crumbles
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Microwave cauliflower for five minutes. Cut chicken breast into small pieces and brown in a skillet with the seasoning of choice. I used my usual house meat seasoning. It’s ok if the chicken doesn’t get fully done, as it’s going to finish in the oven. Once it’s browned, on a parchment lined sheet pan arrange layers. Start off with cauliflower then add the chicken in a layer on top. Mix the Greek yogurt with the ranch packet, then spread it over top the chicken. Drizzle the barbecue sauce evenly over the top, then add the cheese. You can use fat free cheese if you want here, but I just had a bag of colby jack in the fridge that I decided to use up. Sprinkle the bacon crumbles on top, then bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
This makes four servings, and this is the nutritional information Nourish gave me:
Breakfast
1 cup Seven Sundays Wild Berry Protein Oatmeal – made with water
4 strawberries
215 calories • 11.3g protein • 37.5g carbs • 3.2g fat • 5.9g fiber
Snack
1 cucumber and four pickle spears
54 calories • 0.5g protein • 2.6g carbs • 0.1g fat • 0.8g fiber
Lunch
French Dip made with Dave’s Killer organic sandwich roll, roast chuck, and 2 slices mozzarella cheese
520 calories • 38g protein • 40g carbs • 22g fat •4g fiber
Snack
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup zero sugar Cool Whip, 2 strawberries
90 calories • 10.7g protein • 9g carbs • 1.6g fat • 0.6g fiber
2 pb2 protein bombs
98 calories • 6.4g protein • 11.4g carbs • 3.6g fat • 4.4g fiber
Dessert
1/2 cup Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup zero sugar Cool Whip, 2 strawberries
90 calories • 10.7g protein • 9g carbs • 1.6g fat • 0.6g fiber
This was a pretty much usual day for me, give or take some. I tried out a new recipe I will be posting later for dinner, and I exercised by riding the bike and working the dumbells.
In my food week, I usually take mid-week to plan my meals and make my shopping list. HEB and Kroger usually publish their sale papers on Wednesday, so I comb through those and try to use the sale papers to help plan what the next week’s meals will be. Saturday morning is my shopping day, so meals get planned Sat-Fri. There is usually one take-out night planned in the week, though lately it’s been a little random. Last week we ate out Friday after kiddo’s performance (And I think I did well! Grilled catfish and shrimp, dirty rice and grilled veggies with a salad). The options for healthy fast food around here are limited, though, so I’ve not been eating a lot of it. But everything in moderation, right?
I’ve been buying things like cucumbers and lettuce boats in bulk because it’s low calorie and things I can grab to eat to fill the void between meals that won’t wreck me with calories. I’ve also been trying to wait longer in the morning before my first meal, but that is a balance. If you wait too long and you’re too hungry it can set the tone for the rest of the day and you’re just gobblin’ all day long. I think next post will be detailing “What I eat in a day!” I might do a video on tiktok for one day too. Not today though because I look awful.
Anyway, I am struggling this week to develop recipes and a meal plan that can both be fitting for me and delicious for my husband. I will see what the sale papers contain this week – hopefully something good!
Change does not happen overnight. Sometimes making gradual changes by way of substitutions is a good start. It’s how I did, using things that the family would not easily discern, like mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes (I even fooled my dad on that one, one time!) or a carb friendly tortilla instead of a regular one. Using PB2 powder mixed with water takes a ton of fat and calories out of peanut butter!
I do not like the taste of greek yogurt on its own, but I have found that using it in recipes makes it tolerable for my taste buds. I use it mixed with low fat sour cream and add taco seasoning for Mexican dishes. I mix it with zero sugar cool whip and pudding mix for a fluff to curb my sweet tooth. Cottage cheese is the same! I hate it on its own, but blended or used as a cheese substitute when cooked makes the texture and taste change a bit. I used it in a calzone and it was much like ricotta instead of cottage cheese.
I have a zero sugar cake mix that I’m going to attempt to use greek yogurt to make a cake batter for protein cupcakes. That is my endeavor next weekend – we’ll see how it goes! What is your favorite way to substitute for healthy living?
Ingredients:
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 pound ground turkey
Meat Seasonings
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 cups spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1 package sausage and cheese stuffed tortellini
Vegetables to taste
Cook the tortellini according to package instructions. While it cooks, brown the ground turkey, any vegetables you are adding, and seasonings in the oil, adding the garlic at the end. In a blender, blend the spaghetti sauce and cottage cheese until it is well combined and smooth. Turn off the heat and add the sauce and tortellini to the browned turkey along with a splash of pasta water, then add the parmesan cheese. mix until well combined.
The first thing you might ask is “vegetables to taste?” Yes. Not everyone likes the same things. I sauteed an onion and sliced mini bell peppers and cooked them beforehand, because my husband does not like that. I wish I’d had mushrooms to add as well, but alas I did not. And as far as “meat seasoning,” I decided to use the meat house seasoning blend I keep on hand to make it a little “beefier” since it was ground turkey. The avocado oil is being used because the ground turkey does not produce much fat.
Ingredients:
1 cup PB2 Protein Powder
2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup Lily’s sugar free chocolate chips
Mix the protein powder and applesauce together until it forms a dough. You might need to add a little powder or applesauce to adjust if it is too sticky or too dry. Once it’s mixed to a good dough, add in the chocolate chips and mix well. Use a small scoop or your hands to get the dough into balls and then place on a parchment paper, and let dry out a little bit before putting them into an airtight container for storage.
These little bombs are so delicious! Low calorie and high protein, just like a snack should be. This recipe makes about 15 if you use a small cookie scoop or roll them about that big. I put the ingredients into AI and broke it down with one ball being the serving.
Sunday: “Beefy” “Cheesy” tortellini pasta Monday: Crock pot French dip, dill pickle potatoes, corn Tuesday: Chicken bacon ranch cauliflower bake Wednesday: Crock Pot Pork Loin, rice, peas and carrots Thursday: Steak lettuce wraps
Friday we’re going to grill out burgers! I got some Morningstar grillers for myself, and I’ll make some beef ones for the mister. I am not feeling froggy enough to attempt my own veggie burgers at this time. I am also today going to make some of the pudding fluff, but make it strawberry cheesecake flavored. This week I’m also making a protein packed pie. I’ll be posting the recipe to that this week! There are lots of recipes on the horizon, actually. Going to do the tortellini that I do later, my pickle seasoning, maybe the French dip and definitely the chicken bake.
The pickle seasoning has come from the new Sonic Grillo’s pickles collab. I tried the pickle seasoned tots and now it’s an obsession. I need to come up with something that I can make at home that mirrors it. Roasting potatoes and tossing them in the seasoning will definitely help curb that craving. Here’s to a great week!
I love swimming. It’s an amazing form of exercise for people who have bad legs and knees. The water makes you feel weightless and kicking and the swimming motions of the arms work the entire body. Back pre-baby when I was doing well with losing weight, I lived at an apartment complex that I had access to the pool at late nights. I would go around 10-11pm at night every night and swim laps for a half hour or so for exercise. I was too self conscious to do much during the daytime.
Now, the swimsuit that I got at the end of last season is a little baggy. I still wore it today to the pool, during the daytime (while other people were there! -gasp-) and took the kiddo … we swam laps and played around for a few hours. I applied water resistant sunscreen but it wasn’t very resistant at all. Kiddo’s face is red and my face and shoulders/back are bright lobster red.
So here’s the thing that I just discovered: sunburns can effect blood sugar! The stress to the skin and inflammation can cause increased insulin resistance and increased gluconeogenesis, which means the liver produces more glucose and it increases the blood sugar. Increased cortisol levels can also stimulate the release of glucose from the liver. Sunburns can lead to dehydration, which also will concentrate blood sugar levels. Cue “the more you know” jingle.
So moral of the story: I wanted a tan, and I should achieve that after the redness and peeling is over, but I need to find more water resistant sunscreen for the future because it’s not worth the blood sugar level increase to look darker. I’ll bust out the Jergens healthy glow tanning lotion. For everyday wear I use the CeraVe moisturizing suncreen for my face, but it isn’t waterproof so it’d be useless then.
Either way, I had so much fun at the pool and hope to go many more times this year. Swimming is my favorite form of exercise and I will suffer the burns – for now.
Ingredients: For The Chicken
2 large chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 cup flour
2 eggs
2 cups Porq pork panko bread crumbs (or ground pork rinds)
Seasonings YOU like!
1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
Olive or Avocado oil spray For The Fries
2 lbs Russet Potatoes
Olive or Avocado oil spray
Salt or other seasonings you like
In one shallow bowl or dish, mix the flour with a generous amount of the seasonings you are gonna use. I use a house blend that I keep on hand that is salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, Texjoy, Tony’s, and Kinder’s Buttery Steakhouse seasoning. In another dish beat the two eggs well with about 1/4 cup of water. In a third dish, mix the porq crumbs, liberal seasoning (the same you used in the flour) and the parmesan cheese. I just use the kind from the shelf-stable container but you can be fancy and use fresh grated if you want. I just find that the finely grated sawdust type tends to mix better with the crumbs. Preheat the air fryer to 400 while you are dredging your chicken.
Dredge the Chicken: Drag the chicken through the flour, then knock off the excess before repeating the process in the egg mixture. Press it into the crumbs in the third dish, making sure it is fully coated, and place it on a sheet pan lined with parchment to sit. Repeat this process with all the other chicken. Take over to the air fryer, and spray a little oil on the bottom of the fryer then arrange chicken in a single layer. Hit the top with a light dusting of spray and cook at 400 for 8-10 minutes.
The Fries: I start the fries a few hours before I’m going to be cooking, because of this crucial step. Cut off the top and bottom of the potatoes, and then cut the potatoes into even sticks. I made mine pretty thin. You can also peel the potato if you prefer no peel but remember – that’s where the nutrients are! Once they are all sliced I submerge in a bowl of water and soak for a few hours to get the starches out. Once I’m done soaking I drain into a colander and dry further with paper towels.
Fries are ready to cook! you can bake them in the oven if you want to cook at the same time as the chicken, but I like them in the air fryer. I just put the chicken in the oven on a warm setting while I do the fries. Either way they get a spray of the oil, shaken around in it, and into the apparatus they go. They cook at 390 for 25 minutes with a shaking around every 5 minutes or so. once they come out hit them immediately with whatever you are going to season them with. I did a pink salt and kept it basic, but you could use anything you want.
To be EXTRA extra, I made a sauce for everything. I mixed low fat mayo, no sugar ketchup, mustard, a smidge of swerve brown sugar substitute, and extremely finely chopped dill pickle with a trickle of the juice together. It was delicious!
For this plate, this is what Nourish told me the macros are:
The only thing that is not great about this meal is it is kinda low fiber for my liking. I might pair it with some fiber rich veggie for another side if you have the wiggle room for calories and other allotments! These were better than any fast food tendies I’ve gotten recently and even my skinny husband gobbled them down! I have leftovers for today as well, so I’m pumped.
INGREDIENTS:
♥ 2 cups plain or vanilla Greek yogurt
♥ 1 8 oz. tub of sugar free cool whip, thawed
♥ 1 package zero sugar banana pudding mix
♥ 2 bananas, chopped
♥ 1/4 cup Catalina Crunch cinnamon square protein cereal (or any protein cereal of your choice) per serving
In a large container, mix the yogurt and the pudding mix until well combined. Fold in the cool whip. At this point it is fine to add any sugar free syrups you wish to add. I am a fan of the Skinny Syrups marshmallow sugar free syrup with this particular flavor profile. Mix everything until well combined, and then fold in the bananas. Cover and chill for at least a few hours. Serve one cup of the pudding fluff with 1/4 cup of your protein cereal.
MACROS:
Calories: 202
Protein: 21.3g
Carbs: 22g
Fat: 5.1g
Fiber: 5.7g These are estimated values, not exact science. They are close though! Used through Nourish AI
This is amazing for people with a sweet tooth that love banana! I’m going to experiment with other fruits and flavors. I have some more skinny syrups coming too for add-ins. When I tell you that a cup of it is filling, sweet, decadent tasting, and full of protein which is important on a weight loss journey, it makes dieting seem a little less daunting. I hope that you all get to try this!
