Can I just say that my title doesn’t sound like diet food at all? I thought I had homemade pita breads left in the pantry, but I think Hannah used them all. So the only thing I thought I could use quickly was an Arnold Thin. I preheated my oven to 350. On each half I put 1/4 cup tomato sauce, sprinkle of oregano, 1/2 cup baby spinach, 1/2 of one cooked egg diced, 1/2 ounce of goat cheese and 1/2 ounce of cheddar. I actually loved the extra tang of the goat cheese 😀 7 PointsPlus.
For some reason I always want to take food pictures as close as possible – so now I give you a close up of my breakfast (and I really couldn’t decide which picture to post!)
My before workout fuel was one of the oranges my parents-in-law sent from Florida – the box they sent me is half gone already! When I checked my blood sugar before working out and it was 202 – perfect!
I decided to do a 5k, but it was a rough run. I think I tried to start out too fast at 5.0 to start, and in the first 15 minutes had to stop at 30 second intervals to walk. After a 5 minute warm-up, I did the 5k in 40:14, then did a 5 minute cool down – love that the gym is a mile from my office and I can change back to my work clothes really quick!
When I got back to my office, my blood sugar was 57 – eek! But my protein rich chili and carb baked potato helped – I only took half my insulin after I ate half of this plate. This is one cup of my Buffalo Chicken Chili (6 points) with 4.5 ounce baked potato (3 points) and 1/2 ounce 50% reduced fat Cabot Cheddar cheese (1 point). 10 Points.
I got my January issue of Eating Well and one recipe jumped out at me almost immediately. This was our side dish, although I just tossed the cooked broccoli in the Parmesan sauce. Except for Cabot cheese I use real cheese for everything – its worth the points 😀
Broccoli with Creamy Parmesan Sauce
(from Eating Well Jan. 2011)
| Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value: 3 Servings: 4 Preparation Time: 5 min |
Ingredients
| 1 pound(s) broccoli | |
| 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour | |
| 1 cup(s) fat-free skim milk | |
| 1/8 cup(s) dried bread crumbs | |
| 1/2 cup(s) grated Parmesan cheese | |
| 1/4 tsp table salt | |
| 1/4 tsp black pepper | |
| 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg | |
Instructions
Steam broccoli pieces for 5-7 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, wisk flour and 1/4 cup milk in a small bowl until smooth. Heat the remaining 3/4 cup milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until steaming.
Whisk in theflour mixtrure; cook whisking, until thickened – between 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from heat; add cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Drizzle over the broccoli.
Here is the cheese I used – pretty sure I have at any given moment at least six cheeses in my fridge:
I always weigh my cheese to make sure I get the most for my points.
My second side dish was crab cakes because I had leftover crabs from the Crab Rangoons I made for Christmas. One thing I like about the Recipe Builder is that you can manipulate the recipe while you are typing it in – like reducing the amount of butter or mayo in a recipe. This crab cake recipe was based off of a few I saw on Tastespotting, but I reduced the butter to 1 tablespoons for the pan fry – the original recipe called for 1/8 cup of butter AND 1/8 cup of olive oil!
And when I got home, I realized that I only had 5.5 ounces of crab, not 8 ounces like I wrote in the recipe, but I just kept the points the same – not that big of a difference.
Crab Cakes
Course: main meals
PointsPlus™ Value: 4
Servings: 4
Preparation Time: 0 min
Cooking Time: 0 min
Level of Difficulty: Easy
| Course: main meals PointsPlus™ Value: 4 Servings: 4 Preparation Time: 0 min |
Ingredients
| 8 oz lump crabmeat | |
| 1/4 cup(s) dried bread crumbs | |
| 1/8 cup(s) cilantro | |
| 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce | |
| 1 large egg yolk(s) | |
| 1 Tbsp regular butter | |
| 1 Tbsp mayonnaise | |
Instructions
Combine all ingredients except for egg yolk until well combined.
Add egg yolk and blend just until mixture holds together. Cover with wax paper and chill for 30 minuts.
Heat non-stick pan over medium heat. Add butter and Pam spray and when the butter is hot – cook the crab cakes for 4 minutes on each side, until the outside is crisp and browned.
Points are for one crabcake.
Since Tony doesn’t like spicy, these were a bit bland for me (well, for him too!) so next time I would add fresh parsley and crushed red pepper flakes for more flavor.
I defrosted one of our $3.25 New York strips to split. It was kind of thick so I cooked each side initially for 5 minutes a side, then just 2 minutes each other flip. I am a sucker for the grill marks!
I ended up letting the steak rest for 5 minutes while I put everything else together. This actually wasn’t a bad weeknight meal time wise, I was done in just 30 minutes.
My plate: I ended up eating 4 ounces of steak, one crab cake and the broccoli side dish.
Sadly, I gave myself too much insulin and as I was cleaning out my pantry after dinner, I could feel the sweat pouring down my neck – my blood sugar got down to 33 🙁 So I ate 1/2 a blueberry muffin (3 points) and two pears – and I was still full from dinner!
Stats for Tuesday:
- 33 points
- 40 Flex Points remaining
- 50 minute treadmill – total of 3.5 miles
- average blood sugar 99
Today is my Friday – let me tell you I could get used to 4 and 5 day weekends! 😀 Make it a great day!
Question of the Day: Can you eat meat rare or does it half to be cooked gray before you’ll even touch it?
Just looking at the breakfast pizza seriously made me want to get in the kitchen… immediately! I love the close-ups; keep ’em coming.
I did get a giggle, though, about your comment about “real” cheese v. Cabot. I guess what you meant was real, as in “full-fat”… as opposed to Reduced Fat? I know how much you love Cabot’s Reduced Fat (as do I, of course!) It just tickled me a little since Cabot’s about as real as they come 😉
Keep up the good work! Best wishes for a Happy New Year!
Yep – you are exactly right Regan! Cabot is the real deal! 😀
I am in love with your new camera, wonder how I can make my camera’s death an *accident* so I can buy a new one? 😉
I like my steak well done. No pink.
Jen
Well if I read about your camera’s untimely death, your secret is safe with me! 😀
I am drooling over the photos! Very delicious-looking recipe this is! Thanks for sharing.
I like my meat cooked ALL the way! I don’t mess around when it comes to food.
it’s snowing on your blog!!!
rare baby, totally rare. i’ve finally converted my husband to quit eating hockey pucks, haha!
love the crab cakes!
Yum! Crab cakes sound amazing! I’m all for steak as long as it isn’t bloody or burnt. I’m easy!
I like medium rare 🙂 I can handle things cooked a little rarer too, except for hamburgers – those are GROSS rare! 🙂
oh my gosh, i love your grill marks.. haha, i know.. random! i like my steak medium.
Great photographs!
And I love my meat as rare as it will come.
That broccoli recipe looks wonderful. I like to spend extra money on a good Parmesan cheese too…more bang for your calorie allotment buck! 🙂 I do love the cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese…so good, you don’t even miss the fat and calories!
I like my steaks nice and pink in the inside…. 🙂
Yum on the crab cakes. I wish I had some right now. And no meat for me, but you knew that already 🙂
I love that you can see the steam from the steak!
Great pics Biz! I don’t like SUPER rare, but medium is great!
It has to be done for me to eat it. I know it’s less flavorful that way, but I just can’t do rare.
Love the broccoli recipe!
Love your breakfast – it looks delicious!!
Enjoy your long weekend – today is my Friday, too! 🙂
Medium rare is the only way for us! I cringe when my in-laws are here for our Christmas Prime Rib because we have to either nuke it or stick it under the broiler to make it all dry and gray for them. Kills me every time! Even more so because of the cost!!!
I haven’t found a crabcake that I like yet. I’ve had it at restaurants and have made it at home, but they all taste the same to me. Bland and seems like a waste of all that delicious crab!
I still can’t get over how much those oranges look like grapefruits. Do you know if they are Cara Cara Oranges, by chance?
I asked my MIL, and she actually said they are called honey oranges – they are so sweet and juicy – I’ve never really looked for them in the midwest, but now I will. And Tony and I had neighbors who invited us over for dinner one night. They were in charge of sides and we brought over this really big thick New York strips. Tony cooked them perfectly – perfect sear on the outside – medium rare on the inside.
Our neighbor took one slice of his steak, took his plate, came back a few minutes later, and they steak was so well done we didn’t even recognize it as the same piece of meat – yet he declared it the best steak he ever had!
I’m a “no red gal”…just well done please 🙂 Congrats on your awesome new camera!
I’m like my steak middle of the road medium. If it’s anything else, I can’t eat it.
Your crab cakes looks d’lish!
Crab cakes look good – maybe will be on the menu for NY instead of crab legs – will see if that will fly with DS 🙂
I’m a medium well steak person but lamb I like well done – love the grill marks too 🙂
Medium rare – your steak looked perfect for me!
On the run – you know, sometimes they just aren’t great…but hey, you got it done! Nice work.
wait, there’s something wrong with those crab cakes…WHERE IS THE OLD BAY!! This Maryland girl just can’t have crab cakes any other way!
I second that Beth!
I knew an East Coaster would narc me on that omission – just wasn’t sure who – Beth, I would have added it if I had any – that would have definitely boost the flavor!
Medium rare please. I don’t care for shoe leather on my plate 😀
Those crab cakes look fabulous!
I used to be a girl who had to have her steak cooked extra well done, we’re talking burnt before I would touch it….I have since moved to medium, not sure I can go to medium rare yet 🙂
Medium well. Just a little pink in the middle. 🙂
Can I PLEASE come stay at your house? I want you to cook for me. You could open a restaurant.
And such nice pictures. 😉 Are you loving your new camera or what?!
Yep – loving it! Although I still take my old camera to work – I am afraid to leave the house with it. And when I take pictures at night, I take a picture, put the lens cap back on, remove it from the kitchen – I am so messy I don’t want it to be covered in flour!
Mmm, ALL of your pictures look delicious!!!
I prefer my meat cooked, I’m really grossed out by raw meat 😛
OK I have to say your photos are amazing and now I am going to go stomp on my camera and somehow make it look like and accident.
Ha – love it! 😀
Mr. Helen would have loved your dinner last night. I think crab cakes are one of his most favorite things… almost everywhere we go, worldwide, if they’re on the menu, he orders them.
I think Americans in particular tend to use too much of many ingredients in recipes. I am constantly cutting back on butter, oils, sugars and if the end result is good taste, why bother with the extra calories/points?!
I never cease to be amazed at your creativity with food!
The broccoli with parmesan sauce looks like a keeper! And of course, anything you make for breakfast looks divine! I eat the same breakfast almost every morning.
I am a medium rare kinda’ girl – but when I met Pooldad he was a shoe leather kind of guy and always had A-1 steak sauce with his steak [no wonder – it was nasty]. I finally convinced him to have a bite of a steak I cooked and he said he could not believe the difference and never knew why he had to have his well done. [I suspect my beloved MIL – whom I love, really – but tends to worry about food poisoning type stuff.] He is our grill guy and makes the most wonderful steaks and london broils for us – gobble, gobble, nom, nom.
The points – are they Atkins points or WW – I didn’t know Atkins did points [my memory – it fails] but I thought you were doing the Atkins. [Sorry if you already explained this – I am trying to remember. :)]
Can you have mushrooms – because crab stuffed mushrooms are INTENSE. We fell in love with a recipe at a restaurant local to us and the owner/chef gave me the recipe to make at home. How cool is THAT! So good. They are a luxury tho’ b/c of the cost of crab – but ….yum!
Also [yes, quite chatty today. heehee] Do you ever make salmon cakes – we have them all the time [cheaper than crab] and oh, so good. They were my Dad’s favorite.
One more question – is it warm enough where you live to do a 5K – I only ask [not to figure out where you live] but even FL was 26 degrees yesterday! EEEEEK and I couldn’t imagine running in the cold. You go girl!
[Are you worn out by my inquisition now – or just perplexed as to why I didn’t use a single question mark. hee – my key isn’t working. Sorry about that.]
Hugs and love!
Wow Slippy – you must have had an extra cup of coffee yesterday morning! 😀 I am back to the new PointsPlus WW program – and am in my third week. I’ve only had one weigh in because of Christmas, but I love the program so far.
Not a mushroom fan – absolutely love the smell, but its a texture thing, but Tony does so I’ll have to make some for him. And I don’t do salmon either – I am not much of a fish person – except I found out I love Chilean Sea Bass – too bad it costs $20 a pound!
I live in the Chicagoland area – so no 5k’s until the spring for me. Our winter weather is weird – last week I woke up to 11 degree temps with a windchill that made it seem like 2 degrees, and tomorrow the high is 50 – so weird!