Beefin’ Up the Beef

Sometimes I get annoyed by the food that sits in our freezer. It mocks me everytime I add something new. Tonight’s dinner was a “clean out the freezer” dinner. I pulled out a package of frozen butternut squash and frozen spinach and put my thinking cap on.

Butternut Squash

Frozen Spinach

I first unloaded the butternut squash into a pot with a bit of water on the stovetop. I then scoured the fridge for ideas to incorporate the spinach into our meal.

Beef! It’s what’s for dinner. I decided to use the chopped spinach to beef up the lean ground beef we planned to make into burgers this week. I combined the spinach with the meat, a couple squirts of barbeque sauce and some garlic salt and sent Ryan off to grill ’em up!

Spinach and BBQ Burgers

The pop of green really made the patties look pretty.

Grilled Burger

Ryan’s gettin’ pretty good at creating those wonderful grill marks.

I placed my burger on a whole wheat Arnold sandwich thin with sliced tomato, ketchup and mustard. I wish I had some lettuce…

Spinach Burger

Juicy Burger

The butternut squash was a great side dish. I added cinnamon and nutmeg to the simmering squash which made it look a lil’ poopy, but it still tasted wonderful. 🙂 I topped mine with some soy nuts for that crunch I just loooove.

Cinnamon and Nutmeg Butternut Squash

Soy Nut Crunchies

This dinner was the perfect balance of salty and sweet. Yummmm.

Off to read more of The Lost Symbol with Ryan… this book is fantastic!

My Number One Tip for Resisting Cravings: Don’t!

This tip may seem counter intuitive to everything you’ve read about weight loss or dieting. I should start by saying that I am not dieting. I am simply trying to live a healthy, active life that balances nutritious foods with rich desserts and other delicacies I crave.

Balance

I used to feel like I couldn’t buy certain foods. I would never buy that box of cookies because I thought that cookies were bad. Within the past several months I began to realize I can enjoy any food I want to – but in moderation. I know I have certain trigger foods (these foods I really do try not to buy because I know I lose all control around them) but other “bad” foods are fair game.

One day this summer I was standing in line at Target and saw a pack of Raisinets. I realized I could not remember the last time I actually bought candy from the checkout aisle. While this could make me proud, it actually made me sad. I thought back to my younger years when my mom would let me and my sister pick out a candy bar as a treat and I would feel so happy (I’d always pick a Twix or Caramello bar :)).

Caramello - Chocolate & Caramel Yum!

I bought the pack of Raisinets, determined to incorporate them into my balanced eating. I savored the candy over the course of three days (shocking, I know) and enjoyed a handful whenever a craving hit. I also topped my morning Greek yogurt with the candies, successfully incorporating them into a wholesome meal.

Though I obviously become a victim to cravings regularly (hence this weekend and the gobs of ice cream *my trigger food* I ate), I am slowly trying to take a balanced approach to enjoying the “bad” foods, while realizing they’re not so bad after all.

I now give into my cravings and realize that one cookie really is enough. The rest of the cookies will still be there tomorrow, and I can enjoy another delicious treat when a craving hits.

I do not completely avoid my trigger foods, but when I buy these items, I know I’m really testing my will power:

1. Cheez-its

2. Ice Cream

3. Peanut Butter M&Ms

4. White Cheddar Popcorn

5. Corn Pops Cereal

Question: What are your trigger foods? How do you satisfy your cravings?

No Shrimpy Lunch

Last night I made a delicious pasta for dinner using frozen shrimp and lots of veggies. I had a good portion of the little crustaceans leftover and decided to make shrimp salad for lunch today.

My mom used liberal amounts of Old Bay seasoning when she prepared various seafood dishes when I was growing up and, after a recommendation from my friend Minda, I began using the spice in my shrimp salad to kick the flavor up a notch.

Old Bay Seasoning

I started by adding a large squirt of light Miracle Whip to a large handful of peeled and deveined cold shrimpies.

Shrimp and Miracle Whip - Best Friends

I then added several shakes of Old Bay to the mix for that added pizazz!

Shrimp 'n' Spice

I stirred the mixture until the shrimp was fully coated in the spice and mayo. (Sorry for the oh-so-blurry picture.)

Blurry But Tasty

I spread the shrimp salad on a warmed Joseph’s pita.

Joseph's Pita Bread

I topped the shrimp salad with Eat Smart broccoli slaw and dug in!

Eat Smart Broccoli Slaw

Eating shrimp for lunch makes me feel like I’m enjoying something extra special… I don’t know why! Maybe it’s because I usually reserve the lil’ guys for dinner dishes. Despite the use of shrimp in this lunch, it was no shrimpy meal and I am nice and full.

BananaRama

This morning I woke up in the mood for something super sweet for breakfast. My workouts also serve as brainstorming time for my breakfast and since I was running intervals this morning, I thought the traditional runner’s fuel would be a great breakfast: bananas! I decided to make a mock bananas flambe as a reward for an intense workout (thank you to Lisa for inspiring this recipe)!

Bananas Topped with Sugar-Free Syrup

After showering, I took a frozen banana out of the freezer and sliced it up, placing the banana slices on a griddle sprayed with cooking spray. After letting the fruit sizzle for a bit, I topped each slice with a small squirt of Smucker’s sugar-free breakfast syrup.

Sizzlin' Bananas

I then flipped the banana slices, allowing the syrup to caramelize into sugary goodness.

Before the bananas were done, I opened a cup of Oikos organic Greek yogurt to serve as a bead for the warm bananas. I placed the banana slices on the yogurt and sprinkled my breakfast bowl with Kashi Go Lean cereal for extra crunch.

Yummy Banana Goodness

This breakfast tasted like a decadent dessert. I would actually serve this for dessert in addition to breakfast for a healthy take on traditional bananas flambe. Tasty, tasty.

This was a great reward after a nice cardio session this morning! My belly is happy.