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| White bean chili via neighborhoodfoodblog.com |
It's October so I thought of Halloween...hence the reference to fear. Anyway, I've been a little scared to embrace new things, but I'm trying to open my horizons a little when it comes to food. I would like to turn away from so much oh so delicious fried food and incorporate more vegetarian meals and filling, low calorie recipes into my rotation. I found a few that seemed pretty tasty, so I've added them below.
VEGETARIAN
Ricotta-&-Spinach-Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
225 calories, 12 grams fat, 12 grams protein, 4 grams fiber
Serves 2
Ingredients- 2 large portobello mushroom caps
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup prepared marinara sauce
Directions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place mushroom caps, gill- side up, on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, mix ricotta, spinach, 1/8 cup Parmesan and pepper in a bowl.
- Heat up marinara sauce (roughly 30 seconds to 1 minute in microwave).
- When the mushrooms are tender, discard any liquid remaining in the caps. Return the caps to the baking dish, gill-side up. Spread 1 tbsp. marinara into each cap. Fill each cap with the ricotta filling and sprinkle with the remaining 1/8 cup Parmesan. Bake until hot, about 10 minutes. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.
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RED MEAT
Flank Steak Souvlakis
333 calories, 13 grams fat, 24 grams protein
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoon(s) olive oil
- 1 tablespoon(s) red wine vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon(s) crushed garlic
- 1 teaspoon(s) dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon(s) kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon(s) freshly ground black pepper
- 3/4 pound(s) flank steak
- 3/4 cup(s) fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1 small (1/3 cup) cucumber, grated
- 2 tablespoon(s) chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1 small yellow bell pepper, cut into thin strips
- 1 small orange bell pepper
- 1 large onion, cut into thin strips
- 4 (9-10 inch) whole-wheat sandwich wraps with rosemary, warmed according to package directions (optional)
- 8 Romaine lettuce leaves
Directions
1. In a small cup, combine 1 tablespoon of the oil, vinegar, 1 teaspoon of the garlic, oregano, and 1/4 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper; brush over flank steak and let marinate on a plate at room temperature 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat a stovetop grill pan over medium heat.
2. In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, cucumber, mint, and the remaining garlic, salt, and pepper until blended.
3. Grill steak 6 to 7 minutes per side or until the internal temperature registers 140°F on an instant-read thermometer, for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let rest 5 minutes.
4. While steak is grilling, heat remaining oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add peppers and onions and saute 8 minutes or until crisp-tender.
5. Thinly slice steak across the grain. Top each wrap with 2 lettuce leaves, steak, peppers, onions, and some yogurt sauce. Roll wraps around filling (Optional - you may wish to serve these as lettuce wraps.). Wrap souvlakis in parchment or foil.
You may wish to keep the sauce, meat, and lettuce separated until you are ready to eat it because this sounds like a recipe that can be prepped and eaten throughout the week either as a wrap or a salad. The recipe may also make a good frozen meal to be eaten with quinoa or some other side.
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POULTRY
Chicken Chili
320 calories, 9 grams of fat, 23 grams of protein, 10 grams of fiberMakes 9 servings Ingredients
- 2 tbsps vegetable oil
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 can chicken broth
- 18 3/4 ozs tomatillos (drained and chopped)
- 16 ozs diced tomatoes
- 7 ozs green chile (diced)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp coriander seed (ground)
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1 lb cooked chicken (diced, meat)
- 15 ozs white beans
Directions
1. Heat oil, and cook onion and garlic until soft. 2. Stir in broth, tomatillos, tomatoes, chilies, and spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.3. Add chicken and beans; simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
While this recipe is written as a stove top recipe, it might also be an excellent crock pot option if you plan to use dry beans or diced raw chicken.
=============================================================Monday
Goal: Boxing/Objective October
Nutrition: Green smoothie - coconut milk, grapes, pear, carrots, ginger, kale, orange and flaxseed oil, a large blueberry muffin, two small pastries, a calzone, 5 caramel creams, and a little chicken with sweet potato chips.
Hair: Same as Sunday.
Outcome: Objective completed, plus Saturday & Sunday's objectives (so I ended up doing 250 push ups yesterday) plus 200 125 sit ups, and 120 weighted squats.
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Tuesday
Goal: Boxing/Objective
Nutrition: Green smoothie - coconut milk, 1/2 stalk celery, 1/8 pineapple, ginger, baby carrots, white grapes, and kale. I later had sweet potato chips, a little chicken breast, 4 caramel creams, and another Nutrabullet drink this time with white grapes, celery and apple.
Hair: I washed my hair in the flat twists from the weekend.
Outcome: I ran about 3.5 miles this morning, and I plan to go to boxing tonight. the objective for today is 50 knuckle push-ups - we will see how that goes. I did the push ups and went to boxing.
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Wednesday
Goal: Boxing/Objective
Nutrition: Green smoothie - celery, kiwi, kale, pineapple, ginger, coconut milk, grapes, and flaxseed oil. I also had a chocolate chip cookie, some sweet potato chips, cinnamon sugar sweet potato puffs, 3 caramel creams, tater tots with chili, cheese, onions, and sour cream, some turkey with gravy, green beans and cornbread stuffing. I drank an apple, celery and green grape drink (with a little sugar).
Hair: I did a new updo - and will likely post it tomorrow.
Outcome: I completed my objective for the day (100 weighted squats with rotation) first thing this morning, and plan to box tonight. I did make it to boxing.
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Thursday
Goal: Pole Dance/Boxing/Objective
Nutrition: Green smoothie - kale, pear, ginger, pineapple, coconut milk, flasxeed oil, and lemon. I had tuna and crackers for lunch. Then I had a small piece of pizza, a chocolate chip cookie, and later on I had 5 caramel creams, and I drank a coconut milk, ginger and pear drink.
Hair: Same as yesterday.
Outcome: I completed my objective - 50 lunges with touchdowns. Then I learned that I did them incorrectly, so after my boxing class, I went back and did them correctly. I basically had to do 100 weighted walking lunges on top of the 50 lunges I had done in the morning.
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Friday
Goal: Training/Objective
Nutrition: So i had a buttered biscuit with scrambled eggs. then I had a little roasted chicken, stuffing, and green beans. I also had a few sweet potato chips. And 5 caramel creams.
Hair: Still the same, but I might twist or braid it into a low bun tonight. I did twist it into about 10 large twists, and I did a twist out that I moved to the side. It was ok.
Outcome: I went to boxing, and I actually pretty much got the routine (I almost never get the Friday routines), but I was not feeling my best. And I completed my objective - 50 tuck jumps.
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Saturday
Goal: Run/Hike/Boxing/Objective
Nutrition:I had 5 Krystal's wings, McDonald's medium fries, and more caramel creams. I also had roast chicken, green beans, and mashed sweet potatoes.
Hair:I ended up with a somewhat stretched, puffy mess.
Outcome: I went to boxing, and completed my objective, 3 1-minute intervals of the horse stance.
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Sunday
Goal: Something/Objective
Nutrition: I had a green smoothie with carrots, strawberries, grapes, kale, and coconut milk. I also had some delicious sweet potato pancakes, eggs, and chicken sausage. I also did a lot of tasting as I did my food prep. I made pepper steak, beef & broccoli, and made some plates with rotisserie chicken, mashed sweet potatoes, broccoli or spinach. I plan to make some chicken salad and some chicken chow mein - tomorrow.
Hair: Bun.
Outcome: No exercise yet.
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