Pork Roast

Pork Roast

This meal is super duper easy to prepare.  Take a pork roast around 5 to 7 pound range.  The one in the picture is an extra large double one from Sam's.  This makes a great crock pot, pressure cooker and if your home bake it in the oven type of meal.  Simply rub the entire contents of the Happy House special rub (available at  http://happyhousebunkie.blogspot.com/2017/01/pulled-pork-spice-rub.html )  onto a 5 to 7 pound pork roast.  Wrap the roast tightly in saran wrap and marinate overnight.  This meal does not require browning.  If you cook your roast in the oven bake at 250 for 8 hours.  If you are cooking in the crock pot, cook on low for 8 hours.  If you have a pressure cooker follow the directions for the cooking time for your unit.  This meal consists of 2 separate uses in one.  When we first cook this dish, we eat as a roast with some healthy sides.  This is only 210 calories for 4oz of meat.  Then we take the leftovers with the juices and shred into pulled pork.  Add your favorite BBQ sauce to it and serve over a bun.  In my case a tablespoon of Sweet Baby Ray's and a Great Value hamburger bun weighs in at 365 calories.  Sorry you don't get anything else to eat with the sandwich.  But, you could do celery or something like that.  It is so delicious.  A crucial part of everyone's diet is will power.  Second is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical exercise.

It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

Johnsonville Sausage Brats and Grits 365 Calories

Johnsonville Sausage Brats and Grits 365 Calories

This is another meal that you can have anytime.   Cook your Johnsonville brats sausage in a good nonstick skillet, browning on all sides. When it is browned add a little bit of water and cover for about 10 minutes to fully cook.  When you think it is ready take the lid off and cook the water out, will make like a gravy coating on the sausage.  While your doing all this, cook yourself some homemade grits with butter.  The sausage is 260 calories, 1/2 cup of grits is 55 calories and one tablespoon of butter is 50 calories.  Total for this complete meal is 365 calories.  A crucial part of everyone's diet is will power.  Second is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical exercise.

It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

White Beans and Sausage Soup 380 Calories

White Beans and Sausage Soup 380 Calories

This meal is super duper easy and serves 6 people.  Soak 1 pound of white beans for 8 to 12 hours.  Brown 1 large onion and one pound of smoked sausage in a large stock pot or your pressure cooker.  Then add 8 cups of water and the beans to the pot.  Cook on the stove top for 2 Hrs or in the pressure cooker for 25 minutes.  If I were you, I would invest in the pressure cooker.  See, you can put your beans to soak before you leave home for work.  When you get home, you can spend about 10 minutes prepping and 25 minutes to cook this meal.  If you eat with rice, don't serve yourself more than 1/4 cup and a little less beans.  I stay away form starches and do not eat my beans with rice.  Just remember to keep  your calories right around 400.  A crucial part of everyone's diet is will power.  Second is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical exercise.

It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

Pan Grilled Fish and Oven Roasted Vegetables 297 Calories

Pan Grilled Fish and Oven Roasted Vegetables

Ok here is an easy and quick meal.  I seasoned my vegetables and fish using my olive oil seasoning blend link here:   http://happyhousebunkie.blogspot.com/2017/01/olive-oil-seasoning-blend.html .  I get the vegetables at Sam's Club in the fresh vegetable cooler by the celery, lettuce area.  For this serving I poured 4 cup of veggies (break cauliflower and broccoli into smaller pieces if needed) on a foil lined sheet pan for easy clean up for 3 people (I forgot to take a picture and the plate is one I had taken has cauliflower, broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini squash in it.  But you get the idea.  I will update this when I cook it again).  Follow these directions on how to bake it  http://southerndiet.blogspot.com/2016/09/baked-zucchini-squash-and-bell-peppers.html  .  As you see in the recipe you can use any fresh vegetables.  It takes about 2 minutes to prepare and 35 to 45 minutes to cook.  You kind of decide how cooked you prefer your veggies.   Ok for this serving of vegetables seen on the plate was 162 calories for 1 1/2 cups.  The fish I cooked in a real good nonstick skillet with a tablespoon of my oil blend and a tablespoon of butter and seasonings you prefer with 4 Members Mark tilapia fillets.  Each fillet is around 3 to 4 oz and should serve 4 people. In my case it served 3 because my daughter ate 2.   Cook on medium high or higher, when the butter starts to turn brown it's time to cook the fish.  Cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side.  Each serving of fish is 135 calories, that is for 3 oz.'s.  So this dish has a total of 297 calories.  If your really hungry you could add 1/2 a fish or some more veggies to your plate.  But keep it under 400 calories.  You can probably make it less calories than that by baking the fish.  But I prefer to cook my fish this way.  Because you know it's how southern women diet! lol

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  Second portion control with good choices.  Third is physical activity.

Happy Eating
Angell 

Scrambled Eggs Bacon and Cheese 245 Calories

Scrambled Eggs Bacon and Cheese

When your on a 1,330 calorie a day diet you have to learn to eat within your budget.  You don't want to be hungry.  You also don't want to eat all or half your calories in just one meal.  My meal plan I budget with the drinks to have around 400 calories per meal and two 100 calorie snacks.  I eat my snacks whenever I feel hungry,  I either eat my one snack all at once or I graze on it till my next meal.  So for my breakfast I choose 2 jumbo eggs scrambled,  1 tablespoon of the Hormel real bacon bits and once cooked I topped it with a slice of cheese.  This meal weighs in at 245 calories.  I like a huge cup of coffee with my breakfast.  So my total calorie intake for breakfast is 289.  I could have a slice of bread with it, but nah... I'm good.  This meal took a total of 5 minutes to make.  The precooked real bacon bits is a real time saver.  This meal will make me feel fuller longer.

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  Second is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical activities.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell 

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie 256 Calories

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

Ok, so here is a great healthy breakfast to eat on the go.  This will also help you get some vitamins and fruit in your diet.  To prepackage this breakfast place 1 cup diced strawberries (fresh or frozen), 1/2 sliced banana, 1 big handful of fresh spinach in a Ziploc bag with instruction written on it.  Place in the freezer until needed.  When you blend place ingredients in the blender, add 3 tablespoons of PBfit peanut butter powder (not the 4 listed on the Ziploc), 1 scoop of purely inspired Organic Protein and 1 cup unsweetened almond milk.  The combination may appear to you that it will not taste like peanut butter and banana, but I am here to tell you it does!  I recommend to made this meal fulfilling for a meal replacement and lower the calories to make sure you get the powdered peanut butter and protein powder.   If  you don't want to do as a meal replacement then eliminate the protein powder and save yourself 65 calories.  The powdered peanut butter has 75% less fat and 66% fewer calories than regular peanut butter. Save a 50% of your calories using unsweetened almond milk than using regular almond or silk milk.  Weighs in at 256 calories, if you don't use the protein powder it would be 191 calories.  Please note if your using as a meal replacement to put the protein powder in.  It will keep you fuller longer.

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is willpower.  Second is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical activities.


It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

  

Egg Over Easy with Grits 317 Calories

Egg Over Easy with Grits

Looking for a filling breakfast.  How about 1 cup of cooked grits, 1 tablespoon of Country Crock butter, one egg over easy and season to taste.   I mix all together in the bowl of grits.  It makes this dish flavorful and filling.  Weigh's in at 317 calories.

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is willpower.  The second part is portion control with good choices.  Third is physical exercise.

It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

Cooking Healthy On a Weekday

Cooking Healthy On a Weekday

A longtime friend is working on getting healthy both physically and through diet.  She has run into a situation that I had in the past.  “Time is not my friend!” yep all my friends know this is my favorite saying, but it’s true.  This post from my friend is what I hear most often when people are trying to eat healthy.  Eating healthy is the quickest and easiest way to cook by far.

So yes it’s true, work, exercise, go home to cook, do homework with the kiddos, get ready for bed and then prepare for the next day gets overwhelming.  Adding those extra 45 minutes of exercise in your day is taking up the time for you to get your chores done and leaving you exhausted.  Well to get this under control you will have to get a few gadgets, a few Tupperware containers, get tools to make cleanup quicker, make a menu plan, go shopping, implement how you’re going to execute that menu plan and prepare ahead of time.

I recommend that you invest in a few gadgets and items.  These can be really cheap to real expensive.  It all depends on your taste preferences. I will start with the basic most important ones first.  Basic is a GOOD nonstick skillet, some pots for cooking sides and soups, a LARGE black skillet, sheet pan, aluminum foil, crock-pot liners, 1 cup Tupperware containers, small 3 compartment Tupperware containers, casserole pan and throw away aluminum casserole pans with aluminum lids. This is a good start.  The next thing on your list of gadgets to have is a crock pot.  Those are relatively cheap.  Unless you would like to spend a little more money invest in an electric pressure cooker.  The pressure cooker I recommend is the “Power Cooker” the largest one. I like this brand because you can use like a crock pot, cook rice, steam veggies, brown meat and veggies and pressure cook meals.  The last gadget to purchase is a gas grill.  My suggestion is the Sam’s Club “Members Mark Portable Stainless Steel Gas Grill”  http://www.samsclub.com/sams/portable-stainless-steel-gas-grill-with-cover/prod2500002.ip?xid=plp:product:1:4  

For menu planning depends on the gadget you want to use and the time you have for the week to execute that meal.  If I had to pick a gadget it would be all the stove top options I mentioned above and the pressure cooker.  The grill is sort of a luxury.  I would first start with the crock-pot/pressure cooker.  Go to Pinterest or Google crock pot freezer meals.  Find a minimum of 12 of the better low calorie all-inclusive menus, 6 of one meat and 6 of another type of meat.  Try and use frozen or fresh vegetables instead of canned ones.  If it calls for soups like cream of mushroom, cream of chicken etc.., get the Campbell’s Healthy brand.  All the canned foods have lots and lots of salt that make you retain water and raise blood pressure.  Go to the store buy your meat in bulk.  Get 90/10 ground meat, chicken (any variety you may like), pork etc… and get you a box of crock pot liners.   Get minute rice and mashed potato flakes if you need those sides.  Ok here is where the fun begins.  Take a crock-pot liner and place all the ingredients of one recipe in the bag.  Label the bag with instructions to cook and name.  Place them in the freezer.  When you find a day you know that no one has time to cook. You simply go in the freezer take out a crock pot meal to defrost.  Then in the morning place your meal in the crock-pot before leaving for work.  When you get home it should be ready to eat.  If your meal requires rice or potatoes only eat 1/3 cup portion, no more than that.  If you’re using the pressure cooker you can make soups in 15 minutes, cook meats in 30 minutes and any meal you may make in the pressure cooker should take no more than 1 hour to cook.  The great thing is that it requires your attention for no longer than 10 minutes to prepare.  Then set it and forget it till it’s done.  For the veggies you can cut up ahead or purchase already diced up in fresh or frozen sections of the store.
 

Next plan of action, if you don’t mind leftovers, you can have what we call in our home “Smorgasbord Sunday”.  Make 3 main meals, 6 or more sides and a pot of soup.  Portion the soup in the 1 cup Tupperware containers.  Use the small 3 compartment portion Tupperware containers to make like little TV dinners that you would just microwave.  Pick a day you have the time to execute this plan.  You can really eat anything you like but you need to learn how many calories are in that recipe.  I suggest using the MyFitnessPal recipe app to help determine how to package those meal plans.  You want to package the 3 compartment Tupperware meal to be less than 400 calories. Portion with one meat with 2 healthy sides, or one meat, one healthy side with 1/3 cup of rice or potatoes.  Then you just pick a container and microwave.  Everyone in the house can use a microwave.

The black and nonstick skillets are great for cooking extra quick meals.  Which include Sam’s Rotisserie chicken, boneless skinless chicken meat, pork chops, ground meat, steaks, shrimp and fish.  All of these should take no more than 30 minutes to cook.  The quickest options are shrimp and fish.  Those can be cooked in less than 10 minutes.  Steaks can be cooked for as little as 12 minutes.  Pork chops, ground meat and chicken cook for the longest.  

Casserole dishes can be prepared ahead of time.  You can prepare either the day before, the morning of or plan it like you did the frozen crock pot meals.  Get a minimum of 12 healthy casserole recipes.  Sam’s rotisserie chicken goes into a lot of these meals.  Make these in advance; write on the lid the recipe name and how to cook it.  Right out the freezer you can simply place in the oven when you get home.  Get some chores done and violas’ your meal is cooked.  You can also portion leftovers in the 1 cup portion Tupperware containers for future meals.  One cup is about the portion size for a casserole, because it usually has pasta, rice, cheese, etc..  in it.  No clean up needed if you use the foil pans instead of a casserole dish.

Sheet pan line it with foil and bake all of your cooking items.  Make your menu that whole or half the meal will be cooked in the oven.  When you’re done just throw away the foil and you’re done.

Last tool, I use, is the gas grill.  I like to eat grilled foods.  I like to cook boneless skinless chicken meat, pork chops, hamburger, steaks, shrimp, fish and vegetables.  These can be cooked in usually 15 minutes or less.  

I know this is a lot of information to take in.  But once you master these plans it will be easier.  I will be elaborating in the future on each of these methods.  

A crucial part of everyone’s dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It’s how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Pan Seared Steak and Baked Vegetables Using Olive Oil Blend

Pan Seared Steak and Baked Vegetables 

Using the Olive Oil Blend

This seasoning blend has been a favorite cooking ingredient in our kitchen. I have decided to make it available for everyone. You simply place the seasoning blend into a quart of olive oil. Let sit over night. Use it in place of oil when browning, basting breads, pizza crusts, baked vegetables, ect......seasoning blend is available for only $2

This meal of pan fried steak and baked vegetables was prepared with the olive oil seasoning blend and was a great treat on my diet.  I had 6oz of rib eye and 1 cup of veggies.  Measured right around 525 calories.   This is a treat that is.  You can save some calories by doing a smaller portion of meat.  I took the Sam's Club Angus Rib-eye and placed in the fridge for about 30 minutes to firm it up.  I took an electric knife and sliced the cuts in half longways.  So my 3 steaks turned into 6.   Pour around 2 tablespoons of olive oil blend to your black skillet.  Toss steak in the oil coating both sides.  Set steak aside and get the pan hot.  Return steak to skillet, season with desired seasonings and cook on both sides to desired temperature. Cook veggies in the oven by following the recipe on this link http://happyhousebunkie.blogspot.com/2017/01/olive-oil-seasoning-blend.html .  When the steak was done I dabbed some of my homemade garlic butter on it.  Garlic butter seasoning blend will be available in the future.  I hope you will enjoy

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eatting

Angell

Holiday Diet

Ok guys and gals. I know it's hard to do my kind of diet. But I tell you once you learn what to eat and how to portion your foods you can loose or even maintain your weight. I went though Thanksgiving and Christmas and haven't gained but one pound. That is even splurging on Christmas. I ate so much that day it was ridiculous. But I have indeed made a positive lifestyle change. Just remember baby steps.  Tackle one habit and the pick the next to work on. It's attainable. Here is to 2017. I have a minimum of 12 more pounds to go. We can do it!

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eatting

Angell

Taco Soup

Friday December 16, 2016

 I am still doing great on my dieting.  I only lost 1 pound in the past week.  It is still good because I am still eating healthy.   On that note a real easy low calorie food is the Weight Watchers taco soup.  You pour a can of this, a can of that and some taco seasoning with ground meat.  In 30 minutes its ready to eat.  Now where this soup can go wrong is if you add too many fixings to it.  Say away from adding cheese, chips and sour cream.  It tastes wonderful just on it's own.  A whole cup is only 239 calories.  If you have the time you could make it a little less calories by using a leaner ground meat or use fresh dried beans instead of canned ones.  The only issue I have with the canned vegetables is that it has way to much salt in it.  This one cup serving has 470mg of salt.  So try you some today.  It is very filling soup with lots and lots of protein.  

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eatting

Angell

Onion Bacon Egg Cheese Omelet

Monday December 12, 2016

Ok here is another calorie saving meal.  Your probably wondering why I worry about these small calorie savings. Well when  your trying to loose weight every calorie counts.  It also allows you to eat a little more for the next meal and you won't be so hungry for the day.  Like I said last time when I cook bacon I always cook an extra slice just because I have to slave over the stove top to cook one slice of bacon.  Yea who wants to cook 1 slice of bacon?  Well for breakfast I wanted an omelet for breakfast.  I diced up a quarter of an onion and a teaspoon of bacon bits in skillet till the onions where how I liked them.  Then I fixed my eggs mixture and slow cooked it in a skillet (see link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hkQF4sNjXk ) .  I would have normally put 2 slices of bacon when cooking this dish.  Using the precooked bacon bits I saved 80 calories.  I could have save some more if I would have used a low calorie cheese also.   That was 80 calories I was able to save.  Your ought to try it.  No difference than using regular bacon.  It's actually better.  I have been doing good on my new eating plan.  I lost another pound Yay! 

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.
It's how southern women diet!
Happy Eating
Angell

Real Crumbled Bacon Bits

December 7, 2016

I have been working on my weight loss again for about a week. I found out that though my experiment last month that I could maintain, but I still have more to loose. I have been measuring and weighing my foods. Then entering it into my food app. I am proud to say I have lost another pound.  Now I am at 196 and have 5 more pounds to loose for my trip and 11 more to go for my first target weight. You know what? It's going to happen sooner than you know.  Here is a little foodie tip. Get the real precooked bacon bits for substitutes in your meal planning. I love to eat homemade grits with bacon. One slice of bacon sometimes 2 is what I will eat with it. That is 55 calories per slice. Well if I substitute with the bacon bits I get 25 calories of bacon instead. I'm not tempted to eat as much bacon. Because you know if your cooking bacon you might as well cook a couple extra pieces. My bacon and grits is only 234 calories instead of 319. That is calories saved for another meal!

A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Throwing The Diet Out The Window

December 5, 2016

 It has been exactly one month since I have written in my blog and my food diary.  I have been doing a personal experiment to see if I really learned from this life changing eating experience.  I called this experiment throwing the diet out the window.  What did I want to accomplish?  My goal was to maintain my weight without all that measuring and weighing.  I wanted to know if I did memorize the good and bad foods.  I wanted to know if I really could measure 1/3 or 1/4 cup of rice, etc... Below are some items I had taken pictures of that I ate on my maintenance.  Baked chicken, veggies, brown rice shrimp veggies and egg and smoke sausage breakfast was among the few things I ate.  I did keep up my exercise regimen.  I just didn't weigh myself during this time.  What did I learn?  Well on 11/28/2016 I got on the scale for the first time in a month.  When I began this experiment I weighed 197 lbs.  My current scale reading I weighed 197 lbs.  That is AWESOME!!!!!! I didn't gain any weight.  I actually did maintain.  I learned that I did learn how to eat right.  So here I am today, I am beginning my food diary again only to loose some more weight.  I do know that it is realistic for me to be able to maintain my weight after all this is done.  My scout goal is to be 191 to be able to attend the National Jamboree.  My personal goal is 185.  I have only 12 more pounds to go.  Then I will make an appointment for the nurse at the hospital to do a personal BMI based on my body structure.  At that moment I will maybe make myself a new goal.  185 is where I want to be at this moment.  On another note, I have went through all of my wardrobe.  I have officially gotten rid of all my 4x, 3x and 2x shirts.  Also gone are my 18 and 16 sized jeans.  I have had a few friends give me some hand me downs and I have hit some really cool sales to make me a new wardrobe.  I didn't have many things to wear after I took out all of those clothes I shrunk out of.  But that is a good thing, because I am never going that big ever again.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power.  The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Cracker Barrel Restaurant

 November 3, 2016 MENU

 Keeping up with this food diary on blogger is appearing to be a daunting task.  I will be posting some shorter blogs to explain what may be wrong or right in my diet.  Which brings me to this visit to Cracker Barrel Restaurant with my mother.  I choose what I thought was the best option for me.  They brought you cornbread and biscuits.  Well I pick cornbread.  Wrong pick, it had 110 more calories than the biscuit and wow it was 300 calories with the butter. UGH.........  For the meal I picked a sweet potato, hamburger steak plain and fried apples to eat as desert.  The sweet potato came with brown sugar and cinnamon. Not to mention I needed butter on that.  So I put the potato in a to go box.  I ate just the hamburger steak and fried apples.  I still ended up eating 800 calories! OMG seriously.  So what I thought was not that fattening, was.  I should have skipped on the cornbread.  But I can't take it back.  We all just need to stay away from the restaurants.  But I know sometimes it hard to do.  My next post will also explain what has been happening with my diet.  Stay tuned!

Museum Training

October 27, 2016 MENU

My day started with me heading to Natchitoches to the Magnolia Plantation for a museum training.  I didn't get to eat breakfast.  When we got there they had coffee and little muffin cake slice things. lol  I got a slice of the blueberry one.  Then at lunch time we had club sandwich with spinach on it, potato salad and a dill pickle.  For desert I had 1 chocolate chip cookie.  There was hardly cell service so I had to wing my food diary.  I just knew I was over by now.  But when I got home and entered everything in I had enough calories to eat some leftover baked chicken and mixed vegetables.  I forgot to take a picture of my meal's.   I finished the day with a total of 1305 calories for the day.  I was under by 25 calories. If you like my meal ideas just check out my diary for a list of ingredients for that meal.  And yes! I measured and weighed everything.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power. The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

 

Perfectly Portioned Leftovers

October 26, 2016 MENU

I was not worried about my meals today.  My mom cooked some biscuits and made a white gravy to put on top.  That was all fine and dandy.  I have so many pre-portioned meal options available in my freezer that I just choose what I was hungry for at that particular meal and made it fit my calorie regimen.  Then I get to work and someone brought donuts.  Well I did very good and waited to eat just 1 for a snack later in the day and balanced my meal options to fit.  I finished the day with a total of 1318 calories for the day.  I was under by 12 calories.   Oh and don't forget to get some exercise in.  If you live or work in the Pineville area lets go walking together.  I go walking almost 5 days a week near my work at lunch time.  If you like my meal ideas just check out my diary for a list of ingredients for that meal.  And yes! I measured and weighed everything.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power. The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Southern Style Nuts

October 25, 2016 MENU

This whole day revolved around what leftovers I would eat and how much of it.  I entered in my lunch options, then the supper options and I choose what to eat for breakfast on what calories I had left.  So oatmeal won! lol  But everyone should have some oatmeal in their diet.  I was doing great.  Until bedtime that was.  I wanted a snack.  Was not sure if I wanted salty or sweet.  My mom bought some of these southern style nuts from Sam's.  As I ate this very tiny portion quarter of a cup of mixed stuff I tried each item slowly to make it appear to be more than it was.  I am not sure I would use this mixed nuts/stuff as a future snack.  I would rather it be just almonds, pecans or cashew's.  I was disappointed on how many peanuts were in this mix.    I finished the day with a total of 1419 calories for the day.  I was over by 89 calories.   I  haven't been blogging about my exercise, but I have been exercising every day faithfully.  If you like my meal ideas just check out my diary for a list of ingredients for that meal.  And yes! I measured and weighed everything.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power. The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Bobby Flay's Shrimp and Grits

October 24, 2016 MENU

My Monday meals I had planned were just spot on.  For breakfast I ate a couple of sausage links with toast.  For lunch I had some leftover baked chicken wings.  Then I had 2 reasonable snacks.  I had defrosted some shrimp that needed to be cooked.  I was going to grill them with some veggies.  Well when I got home my mother had made Bobby Flay's shrimp and grits.  Instead of using the recommended bacon to cook we used some real bacon bits to save on the cooking time.  The recipe also asked for bacon grease to cook the shrimp in.  Well we had that covered too.  When we do cook bacon we save the grease in the fridge to season some foods with. At this point we have plenty because I haven't used any recently.  Oh if you ever want to try shrimp and grits this recipe was a winner.   We saved around 65 calories per serving using the bacon bits.  But, when I did the My Fitness Pal recipe I had no idea that this dish was that fattening.  The bowl you see in the photo was 560 calories. Oh my.  I finished the day with a total of 1473 calories for the day.  I was over by 143 calories.   If you like my meal ideas just check out my diary for a list of ingredients for that meal.  And yes! I measured and weighed everything.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power. The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell

Traditional Italian Sunday Gravy

 October 23, 2016 MENU

This Sunday was my cheat day.  If you noticed I did cheat but I didn't go overboard.  We have new owners in town at the donut shop.  I wanted to give them a try.  I had half a dozen of donut holes and one powdered sugar glazed one.  Conclusion, hole were good and powdered sugar one did not wow me.  I had a lighter lunch with a chicken taco.  It was basically a soft corn tortellini, chicken and cheese.  We baked it in the oven.  Now were things went downhill for my cheat day is I had an Italian spaghetti sauce dish called Sunday gravy.  It is basically a 3 meat spaghetti sauce.   I put chicken legs, Italian sausage and beef short ribs in it.  Oh la la la la it was delicious.  I even put some of my fresh basil.  Then I got some desert before bed.  Yep a good ole sugar cone with ice cream.  oh yea.  I finished the day with a total of 1836 calories for the day.  I was over by 506 calories.   If you like my meal ideas just check out my diary for a list of ingredients for that meal.  And yes! I measured and weighed everything.  A crucial part of everyone's dieting is will power. The second part is portion control with good choices and third is physical activity.

It's how southern women diet!

Happy Eating

Angell