something peculiar has been bothering me lately. Special K cereal - weren't there commercials about eating it to promote weight loss? just eat a bowl for breakfast and lunch? So i go into the market to get some for a snack, but then i start to compare the special K to the regular corn flakes:



special k on the left, regular on the right. special k has more calories. and calories from fat. it has 1% more sodium and 2% LESS fiber and 2 grams more sugar. The only pluses are it has 2 gms less carbs and more protein. so which would you buy?

some foods ive been making (good or bad)

Rice Cakes

3 cups rice cakes (2 ox = 90 cals) = 540 cals
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce = 37 cals
4 oz broccoli = 42 cals
mushrooms
red pepper
onion
6 oz chicken breast - 187 cals
2 cups chicken broth - 20 cals

stir fry the veggies. add oyster sauce and then broth. add the rice cakes which should have been soaked in water. let boil down and get thick.



this was about 826 calories and fed 4.



Popovers
1 tbsp butter - 102 cals
1 cup flour - 455 cals
1.5 teasp salt
2 large eggs - 149 cals
1 cup fat free milk (you should use whole) - 86 cals

total = 132 cals per popover. still not worth it.




Crepes:
1 cup all-purpose flour - 455 cals
2 eggs - 149 cals
1/2 cup milk - 75 cals
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted - 204 cals

Total is 883 cals. Recipes says i can make 8, but i can make more. Even at 8 crepes, this is only about 110 cals each. Totally worth it! I added Nutella (about another 100 cals for a tbsp and strawberries)



Granola Bars
2 cups oats (.5 cup = 150 cals) = 600 cals
1 cup slivered almonds (.25 cup = 170 cals) = 680 cals
.5 cup honey (1 tbsp = 60 cals) = 960 cals
1 tbsp butter = 100 cals
2 box raisins (each box = 130 cals) = 260
1 tbsp light brown sugar (1 tsp = 15 cals) = 45 ca;s
.25 tsp salt
.5 teaspoon almond extract

VERY high calories.... 2645. wow. I made 12 bars and so each one is 220 cals. NOT worth it.

Wed 9/23

down another pound this week! I'm officially down 4.4 lbs. i shocked since i was so bad this week. i think the giving up on alcohol really helped.

Yesterday's Day:

breakfast - 225 cals

snack- 100 cal corn flakes

lunch - chicken cacciatore
2 small chicken thighs - 164 cals.
2 oz whole wheat egg noodles - 180 cals.

snack
120 cal whole grain chips
100 cal yogurt

tangerine

dinner:
mushroom chicken in a balsamic cream sauce

7 oz chicken breast (per person)- 218
3 tbsp heavy cream - 155
1 tbsp balsamic - 8 cals
1.5 cups chicken broth - 15 cals
2 tbsp flour- 50 cals
3 different kinds of mushrooms (i used only 2, shiitake and baby bella) - 100 cals?
2 oz whole wheat egg noodles -200 cals

328 for the sauce (divided by 2) = 164. + 200 (WW noodles) + 218 (chicken) = 582 CALS

start with a bunch of mushrooms:


grill or pan fry some chicken:


add flour to mushrooms and cook down...add broth, cream and vinegar:


my portion:


Jae's portion


this dish could probably serve 3 smaller portions.

shrimp scampi...

make broth of butter, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, s/p



mix in marinated shrimp (red pepper flakes, lemon, garlic) and pasta (i used half whole wheat, half regular).

and you have a quick easy dinner.

Weekend Updates

Seafood FraDiavolo:

the main ingredients - shrimp, calamari and clams.

cook in pan:

add your marinara sauce and let simmer:

serve with crusty bread:

 

SATURDAY -

made a pizza for jae for dinner since i was going out.

homemade dough

add toppings:

mmm mmm good

Sunday - cooking day, cleaning day... and my hubby did this:

he picked everything out himself....

Thursday 9/17

Lost 3 lbs as of today!

breakfast - usual - 225 cals

no snack, had a busy morning

lunch - wendys
- small chili - 190 cals
-baked potato with sour cream - 270 cals for potato (is this including skin..i didnt eat it) + 45 cals for sour cream
- caesar salad - 70 cals + 70 for croutons + 120 cals for dressing but i only had half.

wow, already at 930 cals and i didnt even have a snack.....damn you fast food. even when i tried to make good choices, i still failed. ok, I need to stay away from fast food altogether!

dinner: from korea to india to china. (this is NOT intentional!)

Chicken with Shrimp and tofu and mushrooms (no official name hehe). Side of broccoli and shanghai bok choy.

8 oz of chicken thigh - 428 cals
3 oz tofu - 129 cals
shrimp - im going to guess 8 oz, maybe 300 cals. (i forgot to measure)
mushrooms - 15 cals
broccoli - 49 cals
bok choy -10 cals
3 tbsp oyster sauce - 6 cals
5. cup rice - 121 cals



total is 468 cals per person + my . cup of rice = 589.

not a great day.

Wednesday 9/16

breakfast - usual sandwich 225 cals
snack - 2 cups of popcorn - 30 cals
lunch - weight watchers, lasagna, 270 cals. tell me - doesnt this looks so unappealing? it was not any more fun to eat either.


snack - one slice of fiber one bread with egg salad - 100 cals + 75 cls.

Total before dinner: 700 cals

dinner: still sticking with the asian theme, we go from korea to india.

Chicken Tandoori.

very easy and simple to make. heres my easy version -

14 oz chicken - this is about a breast for each person. - 436 cals
2 tbsp veg oil - 234 cals.
.5 cup onion
2 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped ginger
1 teaspoon jalaeno or serrano
1 tbsp paprika
1.5 teasp salt
1 teas cumin seed
1 teas turmeric
1 teas coriander seed
1 teas garam masala
.5 teas cayenne
.5 cup plain yogurt. i used greek. - 30 cals. (only used .25 cup)
1 tbsp lemon juice
.5 cup white rice - 121 cals.

ground up all the spices:


add yogurt and lemon and process. the coat the chicken.


you should let this sit overnight. of course i didnt. i barely let it sit at all.

i add a lot of cilantro. i love cilantro, especially in mexican and asian foods.



total = 821 cals, divided by 2 = 410 cals per person. not bad for a days worth.

but then, i got the hankering to make cookies.

the workstation


the decorating station


jae doesnt give up an opportunity to use a gadget


final result


i had half of 2 cookies...one white, one chocolate to make sure they tasted ok.

Tuesday 9/15

breakfast - 210 cal weight watcher egg mcmuffin
lunch - 3 cups of porridge - the websites say 60 cals for each cup. i dont know. i'll say 75 for now.
late lunch - 2 slices of fiber one bread (100 cals each) with 2.5 egg salad (150 cals)
snack - 110 cal of pretzel chips with 15 cals of wasabi ginger sauce

Total before dinner: 910. (not good, and I want to note I was home all day). I did walk 2 miles in the park and also did half an hour of gazelle at home.

dinner: baby back ribs and mussels in white wine butter sauce. heres where i went really wrong... again

the key to a mussel sauce - garlic, onion (or shallots) and parsley


i used saffron as well - this little baby cost 7 bucks.


butter, oil, wine...throw everything in.


add the mussels and cover for 10 mins and you have yourself a fabulous meal


i ate A LOT of crusty bread with this. =(


i had also made some baby back ribs. thought some friends were coming over, but they didnt show so it was left to jae and i to finish. we had half the rack ourselves. i used a different sauce this time. i think i like the other sauce better (see other photo somewhere on this blog)


Also bad - we did this last night as well. ARGH! why why why why!!!


well, as they say, if you get off the wagon, jump right back on the next day. only, i seem to say this a lot. sigh.