Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Reporting...

So, ya, I know I haven't been very good at "reporting" on my food and exercise. I've been working like a mad woman trying to get the kitchen and bathroom finished. It doesn't work very well with crying, teething babies. But I got a lot accomplished today! I made the curtains for the kitchen and bathroom, and tried a few accessory ideas also. When everything is complete, I'll post pictures.

As for dinner tonight. Dave was at work and I had, like I previously mentioned, a crying, teething child. I made the girls easy mac and pulled together this:















Let me tell you, it was delicious. Just what I needed to keep me from searching out any junk food in the house and devouring it. I just took a couple chicken tenders and grilled them in my grill pan (FABULOUS-moist and yummy-might do that every night from now on). Chicken tenders might cost a little more, but they cut down on defrost and cooking time, and I'm never able to eat a whole chicken breast anyway(which are way too big for a portion size anyway). So they are worth the cost to me. While they were grilling I cut up some cilantro, tomatoes, garlic and onions, added a little olive oil and lime juice, and had myself some yummy quick salsa ready. Cut up some avocadoes, and shredded a little bit of cotija cheese, and YUMMY! Wrap the corn tortillas in a wet paper towel and heat in the microwave for soft tortillas. Probably even more healthy without the tortilla, but oh well.

So, cotija cheese...you heard of it? It's like a mexican parmesan. SO GREAT. If you live in the west, you can usually find it at your grocery store. It comes in a white, hard, circle. When you grate it, it crumbles. And it makes your hands stinky. :) But you don't need much and it tastes so dang good on everything, especially mexican food. AND it lasts forever in your fridge. I really mean forever.

Now, monounsaturated fats. In one of my Prevention magazines there was an article on these. They include 1) olives 2) nuts & seeds 3) avocadoes 4) oils 5) dark chocolate. They did some studies: 2 groups of women eating food...not "dieting" or anything. Both groups doing the same stuff as far as exercise and everything. But one group ate a monounsaturated fat with each meal, and lost more weight than the other group! If you notice, those foods are very similar to the Mediterranean diet. Anyway, I thought, hey I'll give this a try.

For those who know me, you know I'm a sugar junkie. I LOVE anything with sugar. I crave it all day and would love to eat it every second I can. I also love salty stuff. Goldfish crackers? Not JUST for kids. :) So, usually I'm craving bad foods all day. Well, I tried eating a monounsaturated fat with each meal (and snacked on a mix of almonds and semi-sweet chocolate chips, which also count with the dark chocolate category), and I HAD NO CRAVINGS!!! I was completely satisfied the whole day! No wonder those women lost weight! So I'm a firm believer in this information. Give it a try. It really isn't that hard. I keep those Dove dark chocolate squares on hand, and they taste great when you take a bite of one and eat it with a couple almonds. Green olives are better than black. I don't much care for green olives, but I'll try it. I always have almonds around, whether raw or roasted. Avocadoes are awesome on sandwiches, salads, tacos, soups, etc. And if I need to use oil, I usually use olive oil.

So my challenge to you...give it a try! Let me know if it worked for you!

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yummy..thanks for the cheese info and the monosaturated fat or whatever..i am clueless and appreciate the lesson and the wrap looked awesome

Ashlee and Shane said...

My dad had a heart attack a few years ago...so he has searched a lot on what is good for his heart....DARK chocolate fell in that category. He its a piece of it everyday.(its too bitter for me) AND my mother drinks a TBS. of EVOO everyday b/c its good for you. Don't know that i would DRINK it, but whatever. :) So, anyway, that is interesting that you found that study. Thanks for the info.