Friday, April 20, 2012

Food Journal Friday- 4/16 to 4/20

This week was the first week of really kind of focusing on using veggies as our sides dishes.  We always have but I wanted to make it more often than not and just use rice and potatoes once or twice a week.  I think we got a good balance this week.  I may need to start taking pics of Sundays dinners too.  We had chipotle roasted mango salmon with asparagus for Sunday but no pic.  Let's get to the ones I do have pictures of...let's eat.


Monday was fancy pants and garnered me 10 minutes of unadulterated compliments from the Mr who could NOT stop raving that he'd just eaten the best steak of his life.  When we were at Trader Joe's, I spied a pound of filet mignon.  I saw the $12 price tag and my inner cheapskate kicked in and I almost passed it by. Then I thought "wait, you pay twice that for 2 ounces less and only for ONE of you!  Get it, idiot!"  So I did and I put some garlic powder and black pepper on it, seared it on all sides then finished it off in the oven and topped it off with a pineapple onion salsa with au jus and for a side, quick twice baked potatoes.  (Recipe forthcoming)  Calories:  656


Tuesday was pay off from Monday's ambition.  I made a big ol' batch of Chipotle Jalapeno Refried Beans so I could make the "guts" for the next day's dinner as well as Friday's dinner and freeze the rest.  I also made another batch of Pineapple Banana Bread experimenting with brown sugar which I think is our preference and we had a piece a day.  Is it wrong I could sleep on a bed of that stuff and eat my way to the floor?  Forget I said that.  Where was I?  Oh yeah, dinner was Spicy Mexican Stuffed Shells (YUM!) and a side of roasted asparagus.  The Mr was a happy boy and so was I (well, a happy girl.  *looks down*  Yep, definitely not a boy) since I pared down other meals to fit this one in.  Calories:  774


Wednesday was a quick throw together.  Trader Joe's Salmon burger on a wheat bun with grilled pineapple and 1 tbsp of Kikkoman Teriyaki Glaze (oh how I wish they'd come up with a lower sodium version of that stuff!  They have lower sodium sauce but not glaze.  I must get the version that has pineapple and honey, it's 770mg of sodium instead of 810mg.  Does that count as lower sodium?  I need to stop talking to myself in parentheses)  Our side was 4.5 oz of TJ's sweet potato fries.  Calories:  541


Thursday was fish taco night, another favorite of the Mr.  I grilled up an Ole high fiber tortilla, jammed in 8 oz of Mahi Mahi seasoned with Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime, 1 tbsp of TJ's chipotle hummus, 1 tbsp Kraft Chipotle Mayo and 3/4 cup of TJ's organic broccoli slaw.  Our side was grilled brussels sprouts with garlic powder and black pepper.  Calories:  533



Friday was a throwback to one of the Mr's old favorite restaurants, Taco Bell.  We haven't been there in about 3 1/2 years since I actually stopped to TASTE what I was eating and I found it was pretty friggin' gross, in my humble opinion.  I made a homemade "chilito" by using an Ole high fiber tortilla, 5 oz of my Chipotle Jalapeno Refried Beans, 1 oz of shredded habanero cheese and 1 tbsp of taco sauce.  It was muy caliente.  Sides were the pithy amount of sprouts we had left and some of those awesome little chipotle cheddar bites from Trader Joe's with Light Chocolate Silk to drink.  Calories:  525

Caloric Average for the week:  2239
Calories Burned: 4300

I have to say I'm pleased having got in fish 3x from Sunday to Friday, my protein was higher which is always super hard for me and more veggies as sides.  I also staggered my calories with 2517 Sunday, 2312 Monday, 2261 Tuesday, 2190 Wednesday, 2186 Thursday and 1969 Friday.  So nutrition wise, I'm declaring the week a success!

Now we'll see what le scale has to say tomorrow on "raft week."  I watched my sodium this week too so hopefully mother nature will cut me a break!

Anything good on the agenda for the weekend?  Did you eat something particularly inspiring this week?

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12 comments:

  1. OMG your steak looks so good. I never buy steak because I'm afraid to cook it!! I really want a fish taco now too!!!! Your food always looks amazing!

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    1. We have a friend that's a chef and when he cooked us dinner, I watched him prepare the steaks and I've made them that way ever since. Just sear on high heat for 2-3 minutes on all sides (top and bottom including a quick sear on the sides). 425 in the oven and about 6-8 minutes with a good thickness will give you a good medium steak. I like mine medium well so I pull his out to rest and keep mine in another 2-3 minutes.

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  2. I love how your plates complement your meal.

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    1. Thanks! I think I drive the Mr nuts with my random plates! :)

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  3. Mmmmm. Mmmmmm. Glad I read this right before I went to fix my dinner! I love the Chicken Chipotle shells. Will have to try that sometime. Hope weigh in day is good to you tomorrow!

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    1. Thanks Debbie! Those shells are one of the best things I've made in a while. We LOVE them! Yum!

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  4. Monday's steak was nothing short of amazing! I am so lucky to have you as my personal chef (with bennies even, lol). Seriously though, you work really hard on making meals that are healthy but still let us feel like we are eating something tasty and worth eating without ever feeling deprived and that is what it's all about!

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    1. Thanks hon! You can call me Chef Benny for short. :) That's the goal. I don't want to "suffer" which was the mindset that kept us fat even when we were dieting!

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  5. OMG - I am so jonesing for the healthy Taco Bell food.... I'm so hungry I could cry!!

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    1. LOL! We liked the chilito and I do chicken tacos too so we don't feel like we miss Taco Hell at all!

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  6. That all looks really yummy. I love the searing trick. It works on pork chops too.

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  7. Great job getting all that fish in! It is hard but still worth it. Here's ANOTHER Q for your Q and A blogs....How did you figure out your calories...you talk a lot about eating more calories on average at certain times to increase weight loss, etc. What is the method to your maddness?! Great looking stuff, thanks for sharing!

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