Blog Smorgasbord...food finds, simple meals, and other crap...

Food find #1: While searching high and low for these sandwich thins, I yielded NO results. My mom walks into Kroger the other day and BAM...sandwich thins!! 100 calories for one thin. I tried one last night with some Albacore tuna...delish! I first saw these on Marisa's blog Trim the Fat.

Food find #2: My mom found this NO Salt Seasoning at Big Lots. Due to the risk of developing hypertension, I must stay away from salt or limit my intake. I sprinkle this on everything, salads, beans, meat, etc.

Food find #3 and simple meal #1: I found these while shopping at HEB. Wal-Mart doesn't carry whole grain macaroni and cheese.

The last few busy days left little time for real cooking so I threw this meal together. I intended to make this meal for my kids and prepare something different for myself before I went to school. But I ran out of time and ate this instead: oven "fried" chicken, whole grain mac & cheese, and side salad.

Simple meal #2: Salad. Again pressed for time, I threw this salad together. Those raspberries livened up the salad. O and I added my Oriental crunchies from Trader Joe's.








Other crap #1: I went to the movies to see Hangover...FUNNY! I stowed this snack away in my purse: H2O , almonds and raisins.

Food find #4: Did you know McDonald's serves a Southwest Chicken Salad?





Simple meal #3: Baked potato with pico, 1 serving of cheese, and a pat of Smart Balance, chicken breast, and cherries.

Trader Joe Hoe!

I see all you bloggers flaunting your Trader Joe's goods. Unfortunately, H-Town is Trader Joeless. NO FREAKIN TRADER JOE'S. However, I managed to get my hands on these: BAM!!! Check it out:

If I DO NOT lose this week...BLAME these Sea Salt & Pepper Crisps!!!!!! I would do anything for these crisps. I guess that makes me a Trader Joe Hoe!!! LOL at myself.

I love these too....also another scapegoat for failed weight loss. I put these on top of my salad or I found my hand submerged inside the bag just eating them as a snack.

Most of my goods are of the snackish persuasion. I shall tell you why. My Mom went on vacay to San Fran and I harassed her repeatedly to visit TJ's. She said TJ's reminded her of Whole Foods but a WHOLE lot cheaper. Since my Mom and husband traveled by plane, packing the frozen dough Marissa used to make her BBQ calzones was out of the question. On the bright side packing the dough in her suitcase would result in a nice loaf of bread upon arrival. I'll keep you updated as I try each product and believe you me, I look forward to trying each and every one!!

Since I love the pepper rice crisps and the Oriental rice crackers, I plan to take a trip to Hong Kong Food Market to see if they carry either product.

Everthing is BETTA with FETA!

Today's breakfast: Eggs Florentine. Sounds fancy huh? Impressed? Well now you too can impress your friends by informing them YOU made Eggs Florentine.

1. Spray your pan with cooking spray and saute a cup of baby spinach until it wilts. I used Swiss chard.
2. Whip 4 egg whites in a bowl and pour over spinach. I used 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites
   
3. After eggs cook, remove from pan and add 2 Tablespoons of Feta cheese to the eggs. BAM...Eggs Florentine!

I paired my Florentine with my mom's homemade whole wheat bread and fruit(strawberries and peaches).

I AIN'T COOKING TODAY!

I spent a majority of the day running my churrin (children) around the city. The Duke Boys (my boy's nickname) auditioned for a dance crew a month ago and made the cut. So, for the past few weeks the boys attended rehearsals to learn routines for their first show in October. The dance crew performs various styles: hip-hop, breaking, house, urban jazz, and soon a lil salsa. So You Think You Can Dance here we come.....!

Saying all that to say...I AIN'T COOKING TODAY!

Lunch: 5 spicy tuna rolls, mixed berries (i.e. strawberries, blackberries, and cherries), and "salad" with feta crumbles.










Dinner: I ate a slice of the boy's Red Barron Pizza: Buffalo Style Chicken and Four Cheese, zuchinni and carrot sticks with ranch dip, and mixed berries...AGAIN. I weighed the pizza and ate about 1/2 of the suggested serving size. I guesstimated each slice to be around 3 points.

OLÉ!

Today's special: Huevos Rancheros Breakfast Tacos...Mmmmmm...fiberlicious!

A lil something I threw together...

...I needed to complete my weekly grocery shopping. So, in the meantime I threw this together: Morning Star Italian sausage, marina sauce, spinach fettuccine on a bed of Swiss chard

Blood Pressure: 400/200...

Yesterday....
So following Marisa's recipe, I created my own flat bread pizza crust. Well...I followed the recipe, but failed to execute the recipe correctly. As I measured and poured the salt into the bread flour, I realized I used 1/2 tablespoon of salt instead of a 1/2 teaspoon. Major faux pas...MAJOR. I shrugged off my mistake, dressed the dough with my favorite toppings, and slid the pizza in the oven to bake. As the pizza baked, I broke off a little piece of the crust to taste. Uhhhh...3 words...extreme saltine cracker.

Today...
So following Marisa's recipe AGAIN, I created my own flat bread pizza crust. This time I followed the recipe and successfully executed the flat bread pizza crust to my satisfaction. Since I like my pizza crust crispy, I baked the crust first for10 minutes and THEN I added my favorite toppings: sweet onions, diced bell peppers, portabella mushrooms, fresh tomatoes, 2% mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce. After I added the toppings I popped the pizza in the oven until the cheese melted....I think another 10 minutes. 2 words...Mamma Mia!

Good Lawd...I Loves Swiss Chawd!

...Swiss Chard that is. I intentionally misspelled Swiss chard for rhyming purposes

...good lawd...Swiss chawd.

Never mind. So, I tried Swiss chard for the first time, and the taste reminded me of spinach. 2 thumbs up for Swiss chard! I sauteed the chard in EVOO and added some baby portabellas.


To complete my meal I added watermelon and mango.




O look...it's our friend Chicken Charm making a guest appearance.