Tuesday, August 16, 2022

Ok, so I’m back in a routine! Let’s talk about what we’re eating lately…

First off, do you take a multi-vitamin? I take Vitafusion for women and I also take Vitamin D. My Vitamin D levels were low last year. Maybe these vitamins aren’t that great for you, but they are yummy. I took these to school for my “lunch dessert” last year. I need to do that again. You know how you need just a little sweet bite at the end of each meal? Oh, is that just me?

I drink two cups of coffee each morning and I am currently frothing these two products together with my little Amazon handheld frother. I use the Costco Kirkland Breakfast Blend K cups. Yum!

When I get to school, I start drinking my Premier protein/iced coffee drink. I am wanting to try a new Fairlife product, but I haven’t been able to find it.

The only drink I drink the rest of the day (unless I have a cocktail a couple of days a week) is water or electrolyte water. I really like the Ultima brand powder. I need to get a couple more flavors.

I make this for Tom every morning to take with him and sometimes I make one for my breakfast or morning snack.

I put the frozen fruit (like it the best because it melts and creates a bit of a syrup) in first, add the yogurt from the container, and then wait to add the granola. This provides Tom with 33 grams of protein. I don’t use that much granola because it is very high in WW points for me.

My goal is to get 30-40 grams of protein a meal. I don’t always achieve that, but it’s a goal to shoot for.

I recently roasted a bunch of vegetables:

and had it with cauliflower rice and pre-prepared chicken schwarma:

Sometimes I just love a good old iceberg lettuce salad. I like having everything chopped and ready to go – as long as I am going to use it within a couple of days.

This is my family’s favorite salad:

I’ve been on a sweet potato kick lately. I like to microwave it most of the way, then dice and sauté it the rest of the way.

On weekends, I like to do something a little more for breakfast like this. I could eat this any time of day, though. I love eggs! I do try to keep it to just two eggs a day, but I sometimes add additional egg whites. I’ve decided I don’t like Egg Beaters. I think they taste weird.

You have to try this! Erica found it last year here. You might remember she put this in acorn squash. It is Italian sausage made from lean ground chicken. I plan to use this in a pasta dish this week and I plan to make the famous tortellini soup with this.

I’ve been on a real teriyaki chicken bowl kick this summer. I was able to add a freezer section egg roll for only 5 WW points. This meal is close to 0 points for me without the egg roll! See why I like it so much?

Erica made a Mexican bowl for us last week for one of our lunches:

She makes all of her lunches for dinner the night before. I don’t necessarily always do this. It’s smart, though!

Also, my sister is sending an email out to her school colleagues (she is an elementary art teacher) to look for a lunch/meal prep partner. I think it would work with two other people, too, but more than that might get tricky.

I got really lucky. Erica and I seem to have very similar tastes. We both dislike green and red peppers. We both love buffalo sauce. I think it would be really hard to do with someone that had a very different palate.

As a first day of school treat, I made the funfetti cupcakes for us, too!

I found a good new product (in my opinion):

This is pretty darn good! You could use this to top a salad, put in a wrap, roll up with some laughing cow and everything but the bagel seasoning, and so much more.

Now, a word… I tried the Real Good enchiladas and they were not cheap. They were maybe $15 for this Costco sized box. They were REAL BAD. I’m not interested in any of the other Realgood products just because they are super high in WW points. This was going to be real good for WW points and have a real good amount of protein. I even tried to add my own salsa and a bit more cheese. My point is…if a product is being pushed super hard by multiple people on the interwebs, sometimes it’s a red flag. And, I don’t deny anyone willing to hustle the rewards it reaps, but I also get to choose how I spend my money. In addition, I’m silly. I have a great recipe for light enchiladas that probably is quicker than getting the freaking wrapper off the package of these! Ugh! Lesson learned.

My staples continue to be:

ground turkey and chicken

lean ground beef

grilled chicken

Boca burgers and chicken patties

frozen cauliflower rice

popcorn

string cheese (light)

Bowls! Mexican, Teriyaki, Cajun, Buffalo Chicken, Breakfast

Taylor Farms salad mix

(Almost) all the vegetables

Greek yogurt

I let myself have lots of treats this summer and I gained some weight back, but I am ok because I want this to be a forever lifestyle with balance. I ate in a healthy way 75% of the time. I am trying to get that back up to maybe 90%.

Also, I have said it before but I need to say it again. I refuse to eat anything that I don’t like. There are so many delicious things that are healthy! I rarely use canned vegetables – fresh and frozen taste the best. Use spices! Use cooking methods that make food taste better. Yes, it sometimes takes longer, but a roasted vegetable is a beautiful thing. I just discovered I love sugar snap peas! I like them raw and sautéed in a pan.

My sister and I were talking about the vegetables of the 80s. I mean…this is no insult to my mom because it was the times. We had corn, green beans, carrots, peas, and lima beans and I think they all came from a can!

I hope you gained one new idea from this post. Leave me an idea in the comments! Or, leave me a thought, tip, hack, or share your frustration with staying on track this summer. We’re all in this together!

Amy

21 thoughts on “Eating Lately”

  1. We don’t used canned vegetables (or fruit!) either; fresh is best but I do use frozen too. My favorite meals are those that are just 1 or 2 points and I’ve found that “rice” bowls or pasta dishes work well for that with lots and lots of veggies.

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    1. I used canned corn very rarely and Tom loves canned peas! lol! I love frozen corn. Everything else is usually fresh. I agree – those give you lots of bang for your buck!

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  2. We love that lunch meat. I love sugar snap peas too. I don’t get them often enough. TJ has them where you can microwave the bag and then I sprinkle salt …edamame style. I’m having your faux chick fil a idea today for lunch. But I forget what bun you use? Or do you find one that’s not many points?

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    1. I was shocked by how decent it was! I still am a deli meat snob – Boar’s Head thinly sliced – OMG! I really didn’t know I liked SSpeas until this summer! So happy! Yes – such a great idea. Love edamame, too. I found a Keto bun at Costco and one at kroger – think they are 2 and 3 points. You can also use a low carb tortilla or an English muffin.

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  3. All your meals looks so good! What a brilliant idea of finding a lunch buddy at school. I can’t imagine how helpful that must be! I love roasted/ sautéed veggies, but I do buy canned green beans and black beans. For some reason, they taste better to me when I buy them that way, but I season them well and I cook the heck out of the green beans. I love the seasoned Italian green beans by the Allen brand. You’ve given me some great meal ideas…thank you! It’s hard to consistently come up with meal ideas for two meals a day. I drink a drink everyday for breakfast and even some days for lunch I do the same, especially when I’m pressed for time. We switched from Premier to the Orgain brand that Costco sells. They’re less in calorie and now that we’ve gotten used to it, I like them better than Premier…but that took a minute.

    I’m glad you’re back in a routine! I miss your updates when you don’t blog!

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    1. Thank you so much! It really is a great idea. I love roasted and sauteed veg, too. I love the Allen’s seasoned! I think those are really great and you really can’t make those on your own from fresh, you know? Good call! Also, have you tried Shay’s Mix and Match Mama’s green beans from a can with ketchup, brown sugar, bacon, etc. in a crockpot? Those are spectacular.
      I don’t feel that I have had a meal if I drink it! I have to still have the meal. Oops! I really need to try Orgain and Fairlife. I get that Premier has some yucky stuff.

      Thank you! Me too!

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  5. Have you tried the Kirkland brand of egg whites? I love them! Most of the time I have one egg and one egg equivalent of egg whites, with veggies and hot sauce. Yum!

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    1. No! I will put those on my list. That is my kind of meal. I could literally have eggs three times a day but I don’t want that many yolks. Thanks for the tip!

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  6. Thank you for posting ideas! I ordered some of the Kirkland protein bars (via Amazon, no Costco membership) from your earlier post. Have you tried the Kodiak cake microwave pancake? I’ve been making those (add an egg white for extra protein) with chicken for a chicken and waffle bowl. YUM!

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    1. You are so welcome! It helps me, too, and I can come back to these posts when I lack inspiration. I really hope you like the bars. Did you get the cookie dough/brownie? I haven’t tried the brownie yet, but I plan to heat it in the microwave?
      I have not tried that. I will look for that. That sounds so good and my hub might like it, too. Thanks!

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  7. Thank you so much for the tip on the enchiladas. So disappointing! I had them on my mental shopping list for Costco after seeing so much buzz about them. Not anymore. It really is easier sometimes to just make the dish at home.

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  8. It’s great that you and Erica are still lunch partners, that makes it so much easier to stay on track and find yummy things to make. I am so glad you told me about the enchiladas, I was going to Costco just for those! I agree, you can make your own easily and save $$$!
    xo,
    Kellyann

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    1. It really is! I’m so glad she wanted to do it again.
      You might like them but they are soooo wet. I used the oven and drained them, added more salsa and cheese.
      They are REAL BAD!

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  9. Years ago there was a meal prep place you could go to called Dinner Done-everything was prepped and you basically just assembled! So easy, so fun but so expensive! Then a few friends and I got together and did the same thing at our homes. Now it’s just my hubs and me so I don’t work quite as hard as when it was a full house!

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