Black Bean Revolution

My life this week...all things black bean. So faced with the challenge of cooking with black beans, I came up with the following meal solutions:

For breakfast...Black Bean Tacos. Talk about a bang for your buck...this fiber rich breakfast, only 3.5 points. Extra added bonus...satisfaction: 2 count em' 2 Mission Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortillas, 1/2 c. black beans, 2 egg whites, bell pepper, onions, 1/4 c. Rotel.





Sunday, I cooked black bean soup for those "I Don't Wanna Cook Moments". Yesterday, I paired the soup with a grilled cheese sandwich...6 points for the entire meal. Best part about this meal...1 point for 2 slices of Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread.




Okay what you see here is a black bean omelet cooking in my GT Express 101. The GT Express 101 now resides in the dumpster. Well first of all, the GT lay dormant in the cabinet for a little over a year. I pulled it out to cook my omelet and I noticed the non-stick surface, not so non-stick. So, I sprayed the crap out of the GT with non-stick spray. After the omelets cooks in the two wells you see pictured below, they should have popped out into two perfect semi-circles.


My results, a pile of eggs. Whatevs...still a tasty treat.



So what spurred my my desire to bust out the GT Express 101...the informerical for the new and improved...DRUM ROLL PLEASE...Xpress Readi- Set- Go!



With 2 payment of $19.95 plus shipping and handling, the X-press Redi-Set-Go is as good as mine *insert sinister laugh and mustache twirl here*.

Ballin on a Budget!

Ballin: To live the good life. (Used in a coherent, non-Ebonics sentence) "I'm still ballin!" To ball on a budget means to live the good life within my means...not tying to keep up with the Joneses or anyone else.

With my kids home for the summer, I find myself trying to prepare inexpensive meals that stretch. Even more of a challenge, creating inexpensive HEALTHY meals. We all know, healthy foods put a dent in the ole' pocketbook, so please share any money saving tips and dishes in your "meals on a dime" repertoire.

Displayed for your viewing pleasure, meals with components that stretch to create leftovers:

Grilled drumsticks go a long way, minus the skin of course: drumstick, 1/2 c brown rice with gravy, and 1/2 c frozen green peas.

Our friend the grilled drumstick making another appearance. Also pictured, homemade coleslaw that stretched for 2 days (coleslaw recipe: Eating for Life cookbook by Bill Phillips). Lunch: drumstick, 1/2 c coleslaw, and 3/4 c strawberries.


A bag of chicken breast produces a variety of meals. Take a look at my chicken quesadilla: 2 Mission Low Carb Whole Wheat Tortillas, 4 oz chicken breast, 28 oz Kraft 2% Mexican Cheese and of course pico from HEB.


A repeat performance by none other than: grilled chicken. I call this dish pictured below "Jambalaya."

Jambalaya

1. Boil brown rice in reduced sodium chicken broth.
2. While cooking rice, saute shrimp in onions and olive oil.
   
3. Add leftover chicken.
4. Add a can of Rotel or spicy diced tomatoes to the shrimp and chicken mixture.
5. After rice cooks, add to shrimp and chicken mixture.
6. Mix. Voila, Jambalaya!

Using the last of the chicken breast, I concocted a salad. Of course I made my own dressing.

After peeling shrimp for Jambalaya, I bagged the remaining shrimp and cooked "Shrimp Scampi" the next day using the recipe from Bill Phillips' cookbook, Eating for Life.



If you decide to use my pics, please site http://mesohongry.blogspot.com/ as your source. Honesty is the best policy.

Chick-Fil-Who?

Who needs Chick-Fil-A when you can create one of these?

Morning Star Veggie Chicken Patty (How do they make the patty taste like chicken...amazing?), 2 egg whites, Melissa's Soy Slices Jalapeno "cheese", and Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Bun...

It just so happens, this week's Weight Watchers (WW) meeting topic focused on breakfast...the most important meal ot the day. My main intent for today's meeting...gain new and fresh ideas for breakfast meals. Well, new and fresh ideas were few and far in between. Everybody kept talking about different crap to pour into yogurt and cottage cheese. WTH? I swear about 5 people offered a variety of crunchy crap to compliment yougurt: crumble nature valley bars, plain uncooked 1 minute oatmeal, fiber one (you know, the cereal that resembles twigs or cat food), and so on, and so on, and yadda yadda yadda. ENOUGH!

I wanted to stand up and shout, "Does anyone eat real food for breakfast...huh? Well...do ya?" I cannot speak for anyone else, but I eats me some real food (intentional bad grammar). For anyone wanting NEW and FRESH breakfast ideas feel free to look at my post Fast Breakers.

Needless to say, I walked out of the WW meeting disappointed. The spell check went wonky on me so, some words may be mispelled.

Bun Busting Burgers!

Whooooo doggie...take a look at this burgah!



Grilled Turkey Breast Burgers (4 oz.), lettuce, tomatoes, grilled onions, Nature's Own %100 Whole Wheat Sugar Free Buns, and Melissa's Soy Slices Jalapeno Cheese.







Accompanying the burger, Alexia's All Natural Gourmet Olive Oil, Rosemary & Garlic Oven Fries. I also made coleslaw using the recipe from Eating For Life by Bill Phillips.

Fast Breakers!

My son asked the other day, "Why is breakfast called breakfast?" I replied, "Breakfast, breaks the fast. When you sleep at night your body fasts. When you wake up and eat, you break the fast." His reply, "O." My fast breakers from the last 3 days:

Friday: Mini omelet with sweet onions and tomatoes, cherries, 1 serving of hash browns and 2 slices veggie bacon...5.5 points

Saturday: Breakfast tacos containing 1 egg and 1 egg white, 1 serving of potatoes O'Brien hash browns, 1/8 c. cheese, and cherries...6.5 points.

Sunday: Oatmeal and bananas with a lil pat of ICBINB (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)...4 points.

Get IN My Belly...! (GOOD)

What movie comes to mind when you read my post title? Since I have nothing but time these days...NO excuses for not cooking my meals. I present a small compilation of my edible creations. Enjoy...I did!

I usually start my morning with a Weight Watchers smoothie before my workout. This morning I chose Wild Berry. In addition, I added 1/2 a banana. The 1 point smoothie serves as 1 milk serving, 2 servings when mixed with milk. I mix my smoothie with water because I don't want to spend the remainder of the day on the toilet. Milk and I are frenemies.

My breakfast choices this week consisted of Cheerios (or as I like to say Chairy-os) and oatmeal.

This week I tried something different...peaches on my oatmeal. Yummy for my tummy!

For lunch I made a shrimp salad: 6 shrimp, cucumbers, tomatoes, green leaf lettuce, homemade pita chips, and self-made pita chip dip. Pita chip dip: 1 TBSP whipped cream cheese, and 2 TBSP roasted salsa from HEB. I created my own salad dressing by mixing random ingredients I found in the pantry: white cooking wine, EVOO, and apple cider vinegar.