Thursday, February 21, 2013

Home-made Hummus

Hello beautiful!!

Hummus is such a delicious snack. But I hate buying it in the stores. I guess it's because I'm cheap. Oh well.

So I made my own.

I got a recipe from a friend, and then tweaked it a bit.

1 can chick peas, drained
1/4 cup sesame tahini
1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic
Salt
Lemon juice
  • Put the drained chick peas in a pot, and add about a 1/2 cup water. Heat them through (as soon as they come to a boil, shut the heat off).
  • Put the chicken peas, and some of the water (as much as you want) into the blender/food processor.  I put just a bit of water, and then saved some to add in later, if needed.
  • Add the garlic, salt, and lemon juice (about a teaspoon of salt, and half a squeezed lemon) into the food processor and mix everything together.
  • Add the tahini and yogurt, and mix again.
  • Taste the mixture, and add salt or more lemon juice, to your liking.

That's it!

I cut out any extra Olive Oil, and by adding the Greek yogurt in place of half of the tahini, I was able to cut a little bit of fat, and add a little protein.  Not too shabby!!  The recipe makes about a cup and a half of hummus, so for 2 Tbsp per serving, you have the following:

Calories: 69, Fat: 3g, Carbohydrates: 7g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 3g.  2 Points Plus!



Enjoy!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I am the Queen of Carbs

I've been trying to eat a higher protein diet, with less carbohydrates.  As the self-appointed "Queen of Carbs," this is SUPER difficult.  But I'm determined to continue...carbs are my downfall.  And it's time I take matters into my own hands.

I'm making this very difficult for myself.  Not only am I continuing to track in Weight Watchers (I want to ensure that I'm staying within the set guidelines for my weight), I'm also tracking in My Fitness Pal.  Why, you ask?  Well, WW calculates points, but I can set up MFP to help me track how much protien, carbs, and fat I'm actually consuming.  If WW has a way of doing this, I don't know how to set it up.

I attempted to liken the number of points to number of calories, in order to make things as equivalent as possible.  I figured about 50 calories per point (this is difficult since points are calculated on fat, fiber, carbohydrates, and protein) and I was able to put a "calorie goal" into MFP.  Then, I was able to determine how many grams of Protein, Carbohydrates, and Fat I wanted on a daily basis by logging in a percentage for each one.  I am currently following the P90X fitness and nutrition regimen, so the "Phase 1" part of P90X states that you eat 50% Protein, 30% Carbohydrates, 20% Fat.

THIS IS REALLY HARD!!

I'm finding it really difficult to find low fat high protein food that actually tastes good.  

Here is Tuesday's final food log:


So you can see my problem.  I still don't get enough protein, but go over in fat.  I understand that it's a very rigorous plan (50% protein is a lot), but I'm hoping to improve

I picked up a few things at the market which will hopefully help:
0% Fage Plain Yogurt instead of 2%
1% Lowfat Cottage Cheese
Ingredients to make homemade Hummus
Almonds and Pistachios (which may not work out - they're high in fat)

I need to find a better (good tasting) salad dressing that doesn't have so much fat.  I also need to start making breakfast with egg whites instead of whole eggs.  I know that will help with reducing the fat.  I also need to look for protein bars/shakes that are relatively low in fat/carbs, but can help with protein consumption.

However!  I'm happy with how my body feels, and will update soon!

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I have to admit, I am not a huge fan of Valentine's Day.  To me, it's just a Hallmark holiday that makes single people feel bad.  While I haven't been "single" in 5 1/2 years, I still feel pressure about Valentine's Day.

This year, we didn't make plans.  At the last minute, Scott tried to make dinner reservations, but because of the required social convention of going out to dinner on Valentine's Day, the only time we could eat would be at either 5 or 9, neither of which was interesting to either of us.  So we quickly changed the plans and decided to have dinner at home.  

I made a very (stress very) simple dinner of Margherita Pizza, White Pizza, and Molten Lava Chocolate Cake.  Scott brought an amazing bottle of our favorite wine (Chianti Ruffino).  The pizza was delicious, and the Chocolate Lava Cake didn't have much Lava, but we thoroughly enjoyed our Valentine's Night in!!





Happy Valentine's Day!!!  <3 <3 <3

Friday, February 1, 2013

Homemade Egg Sandwiches

I love eggs.  Growing up, my mom used to make me poached eggs, and I loved dipping the toast in the yolk.  I love eggs over easy, fried eggs, and also love eggs fried into a hole cut in bread.  I love hard boiled eggs.  And while I can't put scrambled eggs into the "love" category, I can put them into the "like quite a bit" category.

I guess my love of fried eggs and poached eggs naturally led into my love of egg sandwiches.  There is a problem with egg sandwiches, though.  A)  I never have the time during the week to make them before work.  B)  You can buy them at Dunkin Donuts or McDonalds, but they're loaded with extra fat and calories (And Points Plus), and just aren't worth it in the end, and C)  They get expensive!!


A delicious egg sandwich, made at home!
I saw something on Pinterest about baking eggs in Muffin Tins.  GENIUS!  I mean, seriously, genius!!!  Why didn't I think of that??

So that's what I did.  I baked my eggs in jumbo muffin tins, and I made homemade egg sandwiches!!

I used extra large muffin tins (the bottoms are a little bit wider and therefore you get an egg that is a little bit closer to the diameter of the english muffin.  The regular sized muffin tins would make the eggs thicker, but they would also be smaller).  I toasted my "light" english muffins, and I used Ultra Thin slices of Cheddar cheese (which I folded up to not overhang the egg too much).


This is a delicious breakfast, but it's also perfect during the week.  I wrapped all of the sandwiches in foil, and was able to pop one in the toaster this morning to heat up while my coffee was brewing.  So EASY and Delicious!

So what to do?

Ingredients
6 eggs
6 Light English Muffins (I used Stop & Shop Brand)
6 slices of cheese (I used Ultra Thin Sargento Mild Cheddar Slices)

The Method Crack eggs into Pam-sprayed muffin tins (or jumbo muffin tins, like I did, or even whoopie pie tins!) and bake them at 350* for 8-10 minutes.  I baked mine for 8 minutes, checked, and decided that they were still too soft, and baked for another 2 minutes.  Don't over-bake, or they'll get rubbery!!


Eggs, all baked in jumbo muffin tins
While the eggs are baking, toast up your english muffins!

Then, assemble!!!  Use whatever cheese you want!!

 
My eggs on the toasted english muffins, then with a slice of cheese on top!!

Make your sandwiches, wrap them up, and enjoy!!

Note:  I left mine in the refrigerator and stuck one in the toaster this morning.  I just put it on the toast setting like I would for regular bread and it was perfectly heated through this morning!  If you freeze your sandwiches, make sure you heat them up long enough!! :o)


These come in at 6 Points Plus (if you add everything separately, you get 5 points, but putting everything into the Recipe Builder makes it 6 points.  Dunkin Egg & Cheese on English Muffin:  9 Points Plus.  McDonalds Egg McMuffin:  8 Points Plus)  And a whole lot cheaper!!!

Enjoy!!