For whatever reason, yesterday turned into comfort food day!   I started out the day with a baked burrito, for lack of a better word.  I threw out the original recipe, so I can’t give proper credit, but here was my take on it!

  • 1 low carb tortilla (mine was 110 calories and 11 fiber!)
  • 1/4 cup black beans
  • 1 cup baby spinach
  • 1/2 cup egg beaters
  • 1/2 ounce Cabot’s hot habenero cheese (which is quickly becoming my favorite cheese!)

Heat oven to 350.  Put your tortilla in an oven safe dish:

Add the black beans and spinach, and pour egg beaters over top, topping it with the shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes, until the eggs are set.   Be sure to spray your bowl with Pam so it comes out easily after cooking.  The result?

Delicious!  The top of the tortilla was crisp and crunchy, the bottom was chewy and the filling was tender.  Again, the possibilities of what to put inside are endless! šŸ˜€  This baked in the oven while I did my 30 minute beginner AM yoga yesterday morning!

with 1/2 cup Chobani honey yogurt and apple, breakfast comes in at 415 calories, 53 carbs, 33 protein, 7 fat and 5.8 fiber! šŸ˜€

I have to tell you, that I am loving doing yoga in the morning.  For one thing, it just stretches you out, but you are actually using your core muscles to do the moves – and I am finally catching on to the lingo, i.e. downward dog, child’s pose! šŸ˜€

Does anyone get Cuisine at Home Magazine?  The June issue had a recipe for macaroni and cheese soup that looked delicious!  Only one problem – one cup was 475 calories and 28 grams of fat!  I decided to tweak the recipe and came up with this one:

Biz’s Macaroni and Cheese Soup (printer friendly version here)

Ingredients

1 cup whole wheat macaroni
1/4 cup celery
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups skim milk
3 cups reduced fat cheddar cheese (2 Ā½ cups Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar and Ā½ cup Cabot hot habanero cheddar cheese)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

chopped cooked broccoli (optional)

Directions

  1. Cook macaroni according to package. In large saucepan, melt butter and saute celery until soft, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Deglaze with wine and simmer until nearly evaporated. Stir in broth, mustard, nutmeg, and cayenne. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes, then whisk in milk and warm though. Do not let the boil.
  3. Add cheddar – 1 cup at a time, allowing to melt completely. Stir in cooked macaroni, lemon juice and salt to taste.

I used these noodles:

Once the butter and flour cooked for a minute – I added 1/2 cup of pinot grigio to make the roux.

It made a wonderful thick base for the soup!

I brought some to my co-workers and they both thought – is there beer in here?  But the wine gives it just a little extra flavor!  I had some cooked broccoli and decided to add it at the end.

On the side I had 3 oz. of chicken breast sprinkled with Frank’s Hot Sauce and celery and carrots on the side – dipped in Frank’s hot sauce and 1 tablespoon fat free ranch (no picture of the ranch though, but it was spicy good!)

527 calories, 47 carbs, 44 protein, 18.6 fat and 5.9 fiber

I had my new standard afternoon snack – 1 ounce unsalted almonds, which I am still trying to get used to eating without being smoked and salted!

161 calories, 6.1 carbs, 5.9 protein, 13.8 fat and 3.4 fiber

I had defrosted ground sirloin for burgers, but then I did a complete 180 and decided to make my Cincinnati Chili!  You can find a printable version of my original recipe here, but I made a couple changes last night – I used only 1/2 cup ground sirloin and 1/2 pound cooked ground chicken at the end, and I added beans!  I know, I know, there aren’t supposed to be beans in Cincinnati chili – but what can I say?  I like beans!

What I like most about this recipe is that it is ready to eat in 30 minutes – most chilis take hours!  And while the chili was simmering, I thought – CHILI CHEESE FRIES! I cut one potato and parboiled for about 10 minutes.  You don’t want to cook them too long, otherwise they’ll fall apart in the fryer.

make sure to drain and pat the potatoes dry before adding to the fryer

The base of my plate:  3 oz. fries (I add 3 ounce potato + 1 tsp. vegetable oil to get the calories)

The topping:  1/2 ounce hot habanero cheese!

Topped with 1 cup of the chili!  It was so good!

Dinner comes in at: 512 calories, 37 carbs, 38 protein, 24 fat and 5.2 fiber

Stats for Tuesday:

  • 30 minute AM Yoga
  • 45 minute walk at lunch – did you know yesterday was National Walk During Lunch Day?
  • 1,615 calories, 142 carbs, 121 protein, 64 fat and 30 fiber

I can’t believe today is Thursday already!  Hope everyone makes it a good one! šŸ˜€