Being pressed for time Tuesday evening, I tossed together a batch of Chicken Chili AND Minestrone within a very short time, and I was feeling pretty good about myself... until we cracked our Minestrone for lunch of Wednesday to find... no rotini. Oops!!! :)
Oh well, we still had the chickpeas in there and I didn't really miss them that much, plus we ended up saving about 30 calories per serving. But I think I'll try extra-hard to remember to put them in there next time.
Live and learn...
--Jay :)
Showing posts with label lunch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lunch. Show all posts
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Recipe: Chicken Posole
Inspired by a dish that a co-worker brought to an office party, and our love for hominy... it's the perfect solution! :) Check keyword "recipes" for all our recipes...
Chicken Posole
~Makes 8 servings, 1.5 cups each
Ingredients:
1.25 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cans (14.5 oz each) hominy
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. oregano (or blended Italian seasoning)
dried minced onion
garlic powder
black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1) Place broth, hominy, carrots, bell pepper, and spices in a large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked through, and dice.
3) Add chicken to soup pot and simmer together 10-15 minutes.
Quick and easy!
Nutition Information (per 1.5 cup serving)
Calories: 182
Fat: 2
Fiber: 6.5
Protein: 16
Yum-o!
--Jay :)
Chicken Posole
~Makes 8 servings, 1.5 cups each
Ingredients:
1.25 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cans (14.5 oz each) hominy
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp. oregano (or blended Italian seasoning)
dried minced onion
garlic powder
black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. salt
1) Place broth, hominy, carrots, bell pepper, and spices in a large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked through, and dice.
3) Add chicken to soup pot and simmer together 10-15 minutes.
Quick and easy!
Nutition Information (per 1.5 cup serving)
Calories: 182
Fat: 2
Fiber: 6.5
Protein: 16
Yum-o!
--Jay :)
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Recipe: Chicken Barley Soup
This is a slight variation on the chicken noodle recipe... Remember: keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes all together...
Chicken Barley Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1.25 cups each
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 cup barley, quick cooking
1 big handful fresh spinach, rough chopped
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)
1) Place broth, water, carrots, bell pepper, and spinach in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add barley and minced onion to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until barley is cooked.
Yum yum!
Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 163
Fat: 1
Fiber: 3.5
Protein: 19.5
--Jay :)
Chicken Barley Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1.25 cups each
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1 cup barley, quick cooking
1 big handful fresh spinach, rough chopped
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)
1) Place broth, water, carrots, bell pepper, and spinach in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add barley and minced onion to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until barley is cooked.
Yum yum!
Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 163
Fat: 1
Fiber: 3.5
Protein: 19.5
--Jay :)
Sunday, April 25, 2010
That's a wrap...
Dee & I crafted a nifty little lunch wrap for ourselves today... We had picked up these wheat wraps at the grocery store, so we decided to toss in a handful of fresh spinach, half a can of tuna, a handful of raw snow peas, a splash of fat-free Italian dressing, and a slice of fat free sharp cheddar. Roll up and toss on our double-sided grill panini-style for 3-4 minutes. Very nice! A bit higher in calories than our normal soup & salad, but Sunday is our "loose" day to experiment a little and break any monotony we may have fallen into. Also, today I'll be trying those two new soup/chili recipes to get us through the work week.
Rock!
--Jay :)
--Jay :)
Friday, April 23, 2010
A Day In The Life...
Well, here's the new plan for those asking "how do you do it?"... We've found the ONLY way for us to make sure we stay on plan is about the oldest trick in "dieting"... be mindful of the calories you take in. Wow, really? Yeah, that's our big secret. :) Here's how we usually break down our caloric intake over the course of an ideal day:
8am Breakfast - 450 calories (Jay); 350 calories (Dee)
11am Snack - 150 calories (both)
2pm Lunch - 300 calories (Jay); 250 calories (Dee)
4pm Snack - 60-90 calories (both)
7pm Dinner & Dessert - 500 calories (Jay); 450 calories (Dee)
TOTAL CALORIES: around 1500 (Jay); around 1300 (Dee)
The big secrets? If you notice, the largest meal is breakfast (not counting the dessert combined in with dinner). We try not to eat past about 6-7pm, as we want to be nice and digested by bedtime around 11pm or midnight. Also, we're eating FIVE times a day! Every 2-3 hours! Who has time to be hungry?!? :)
We also try to throw in a 1 or 1.5 mile walk around 9am and 5pm!
Here's how a typical food day looks for us:
Breakfast - 2 packets of oatmeal (OR a bagel); 1 serving Egg Mates (OR half a serving of Egg Mates and half a serving of deli meat); 6 oz. nonfat yogurt; 1 serving fruit; nice big cup of coffee with Splenda and fat-free creamer
Morning Snack - "Trail Mix" made of: 1/2 serving raisins; 6 almonds; and 1/2 serving pretzels (OR a graham cracker substituted for the pretzels)
Lunch - 1 serving of my Chicken Noodle Soup (recipe in this blog) OR a chicken/spinach wrap; salad with lettuce, spinach, carrots, snow peas, cauliflower, etc. and fat-free Italian dressing
Afternoon Snack - 1 serving fruit, such as an apple or orange
Dinner & Dessert - 1 serving of my Chicken Chili (recipe in this blog) OR 1 serving lean protein with a large vegetable portion (edamame, spinach, California blend, etc.); 1 cup sugar-free chocolate/vanilla swirl pudding; 1 oats & chocolate fiber bar
That's a snapshot of Jay's daily meal plan... Dee's is pretty much the same, but lose the Egg Mates. We find ourselves taking in about 15-25 grams of total fat per day (trying to keep it low!), while maintaining at least 38 grams of fiber and 56 grams of protein for Jay (25 fiber and 46 protein for Dee). We found some clever calculators online for those numbers, and I'll have to find the link and get it on here sometime.
We're also discovering the joys of water. And that whole "eight 8-ounce glasses" doesn't work for everyone. We've read in several places that you should take your body weight, divide it in half, and drink that many ounces of water each day! Dee and I typically go well beyond those numbers, and we feel like it's definitely helping to keep us hydrated and healthy, as well as flushing out all the bad stuff. :)
There's plenty of wiggle room in there, and we used to rely a lot more on the frozen convenience meals, but since we're starting to think Dee's headaches are coming from nitrite and/or MSG, we're trying to cook a lot of things ourselves so we can control the ingredients. We've found we can pretty much substitute whatever we like in there, as long as we stay in our calorie range and keep the fat low and the fiber high.
Anyway, that's where we are for now! We're both doing exceptionally well, and know this is something that we can keep up easily. Once you start a new way of life, you do pretty much have to do it forever. Once we get closer to our "goal weights", we should be able to increase the calories a bit, and figure out that magic number that will allow us to maintain.
Rock it!
--Jay :)
8am Breakfast - 450 calories (Jay); 350 calories (Dee)
11am Snack - 150 calories (both)
2pm Lunch - 300 calories (Jay); 250 calories (Dee)
4pm Snack - 60-90 calories (both)
7pm Dinner & Dessert - 500 calories (Jay); 450 calories (Dee)
TOTAL CALORIES: around 1500 (Jay); around 1300 (Dee)
The big secrets? If you notice, the largest meal is breakfast (not counting the dessert combined in with dinner). We try not to eat past about 6-7pm, as we want to be nice and digested by bedtime around 11pm or midnight. Also, we're eating FIVE times a day! Every 2-3 hours! Who has time to be hungry?!? :)
We also try to throw in a 1 or 1.5 mile walk around 9am and 5pm!
Here's how a typical food day looks for us:
Breakfast - 2 packets of oatmeal (OR a bagel); 1 serving Egg Mates (OR half a serving of Egg Mates and half a serving of deli meat); 6 oz. nonfat yogurt; 1 serving fruit; nice big cup of coffee with Splenda and fat-free creamer
Morning Snack - "Trail Mix" made of: 1/2 serving raisins; 6 almonds; and 1/2 serving pretzels (OR a graham cracker substituted for the pretzels)
Lunch - 1 serving of my Chicken Noodle Soup (recipe in this blog) OR a chicken/spinach wrap; salad with lettuce, spinach, carrots, snow peas, cauliflower, etc. and fat-free Italian dressing
Afternoon Snack - 1 serving fruit, such as an apple or orange
Dinner & Dessert - 1 serving of my Chicken Chili (recipe in this blog) OR 1 serving lean protein with a large vegetable portion (edamame, spinach, California blend, etc.); 1 cup sugar-free chocolate/vanilla swirl pudding; 1 oats & chocolate fiber bar
That's a snapshot of Jay's daily meal plan... Dee's is pretty much the same, but lose the Egg Mates. We find ourselves taking in about 15-25 grams of total fat per day (trying to keep it low!), while maintaining at least 38 grams of fiber and 56 grams of protein for Jay (25 fiber and 46 protein for Dee). We found some clever calculators online for those numbers, and I'll have to find the link and get it on here sometime.
We're also discovering the joys of water. And that whole "eight 8-ounce glasses" doesn't work for everyone. We've read in several places that you should take your body weight, divide it in half, and drink that many ounces of water each day! Dee and I typically go well beyond those numbers, and we feel like it's definitely helping to keep us hydrated and healthy, as well as flushing out all the bad stuff. :)
There's plenty of wiggle room in there, and we used to rely a lot more on the frozen convenience meals, but since we're starting to think Dee's headaches are coming from nitrite and/or MSG, we're trying to cook a lot of things ourselves so we can control the ingredients. We've found we can pretty much substitute whatever we like in there, as long as we stay in our calorie range and keep the fat low and the fiber high.
Anyway, that's where we are for now! We're both doing exceptionally well, and know this is something that we can keep up easily. Once you start a new way of life, you do pretty much have to do it forever. Once we get closer to our "goal weights", we should be able to increase the calories a bit, and figure out that magic number that will allow us to maintain.
Rock it!
--Jay :)
Recipe: Chicken Noodle Soup
Here's a really simple, nitrate-free chicken noodle soup I threw together one day, and Dee and I rocked that stuff every day for lunch without getting tired of it! :) And remember, you can click on keyword "recipes" to see all our recipes!
Chicken Noodle Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1 1/4 cups each
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1.5 cups dry rotini pasta (we used "garden" rotini)
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
dried parsley
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)
1) Place broth, water, carrots, and bell pepper in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add pasta, minced onion, and parsley to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked.
Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 156
Fat: 1 gram
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 19.5 grams
Cost per serving: $0.96 (we found chicken on sale for about $1.50 per pound!)
--Jay :)
Chicken Noodle Soup
~Makes 8 servings, 1 1/4 cups each
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 large can (49.5 oz) Swanson's 100% Natural Chicken Broth
3 cups water
4 medium carrots, diced
1 medium green bell pepper, diced
1.5 cups dry rotini pasta (we used "garden" rotini)
dried, minced onion (or substitute fresh onion)
dried parsley
salt (we use a lower sodium variety)
1) Place broth, water, carrots, and bell pepper in large pot and get boiling!
2) Grill chicken until cooked.
3) Dice chicken and add to soup pot.
4) Add pasta, minced onion, and parsley to soup pot. Add salt to taste.
5) Simmer for 10-15 minutes until pasta is cooked.
Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts (per 1.25 cup serving):
Calories: 156
Fat: 1 gram
Fiber: 2 grams
Protein: 19.5 grams
Cost per serving: $0.96 (we found chicken on sale for about $1.50 per pound!)
--Jay :)
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