I had a decent dinner yesterday, and by decent I really mean, It would have been awesome had it included ground turkey or chicken breast strips. I basically tried my hand at a naked veggie fajita bowl. I used the McCormick's fajita seasoning and was actually really repulsed by the smell of the spices mixed only with the veggies. It seems to blend and thicken better when made with ground beef or turkey. I mixed in some Uncle Ben's Brown & Wild Ready Rice and topped it all with some 2% Shredded Mexican Cheese. Overall, a nice change from my basil pesto obsession but still lacking the flavor of what I was shooting for.



It's 70 degrees outside, blamy and quite windy. It's supposed to be a bit stormy this evening, but I'm going to brave the elements for a grilling session. I just purcahsed Morningstar Garden Veggie Burgers in hopes of hitting my burger craving right in the gut. I'm super excited to pair that with my sandwich thin and have a main tasty entree that only equals 240 calories! I'm also going to grill some honey teriyaki veggie kabobs as my side... it's ok to be jealous, I know I would be! :)

Burgers full of Black Beans!

This weekend was originally supposed to be full of friends, fun, food and catching up. Unfortunately my good friend was unable to visit due to extreme back pain issues. Last night was a bit of a bummer, I just lazed around and caught up on some DVR'd shows. Today was productive as I returned/exchanged clothes to the outlets at Jeffersonville, came back and did some laundry, went for a run with the dog and lifted some weights. After my parents came down looking for new bedroom furniture and we got dinner at Chili's to visit my sister during her shift.

I had a wonderful, delicious and semi healthy meal. I completely forgot that almost everything at Chili's has meat... meat meat meat. Darn it I couldn't enjoy the queso, or the south western egg rolls or the mini burgers. Instead I tried their black bean burger with a bit of BBQ sauce and cheddar cheese. While it was a bit overdone and crispy, I enjoyed the burger with half the bun and subbed out the fries for a side salad with fat free honey mustard.

It wasn't the best "burger" I've ever had, but it did hit the spot in my meat craving. I'm going to investigate some veggie burgers at the store this weekend as next week calls for 60 degree weather, great for beginning the grilling season. Does anyone have a specific brand of veggie burgers to suggest?

22 reasons why you should...

Shop at Aldi. It is my favorite place to save money, no joke. It's nuts how some of the popular grocery stores jack up prices for either "gas discounts" or various other reasons. I still shop at Meijer, Kroger or Giant Eagle when I need name brand things such as Lean Cuisine, Dt. Coke or speciality items but when I need fresh produce, milk, noodles, frozen veggies and canned goods I ALWAYS go to Aldi. The one thing I have noticed with the fresh produce such as the peppers and tomatoes is that you need to use them immediately within the next couple of days as they are usually ripe and will go bad quickly if you don't keep an eye out.

Here is what I bought last night:

Raw hides (Colbie needed a treat too!)
2 Boxes of whole grain pasta
Off Brand Special K Red Berries
3 rolls of paper towels
Mustard
Skim Milk
Plain Yogurt
Pineapple
2 Cans of Black Beans
String Cheese
Pickle Relish
1 Bottle of Riesling
Grapes
Spring Salad Mix
Celery
Red & Yellow Peppers
Roma Tomatoes
Bananas
Cantaloupe
Rice Cakes

Wanna know how much I spent? $40.09, that's it! I guarantee that I would have spent at least $60-70 on all that at Kroger.



Go Aldi Go Aldi Go!

Go away Mac & Cheese

Can you believe I've finally hit my limit of mac and cheese?? I never thought I would see the day, but it's here and I'm just dying to try some new recipes during Lent. I have almost burnt out of the paella as well, so I'm going to have to move on to using my pesto/basil combo in something else. I've reincorporated salad back into my weekly diet as I love using poppy seed dressing (warm weather dressing only to me).



I am tempted to get some shrimp and see what damage I can do with it, but I'm just not a super shrimper. It doesn't make my mouth water like a kabob of Teryaki steak/chicken does. I think the plan for this week is an Alfredo flat bread with peppers and onions, balsamic pasta with Roma tomatoes and Parmesan cheese and veggie fajitas.

Spring is here and...

It smells like meat outside. EVERYONE in my neighborhood was grilling out last night during my walk with Colbie. My mouth was watering the whole time, and let me tell you, my paella was not hitting the spot after smelling heaven.

I am craving chicken from Pei Wei and steak from Texas Roadhouse. I want meatloaf and a hamburger and lemon chicken. I want Hoggy's BBQ pulled pork on a baked potato. I WANT IT ALL.

Sadly I have... 37 days.

Kill me now.

Veggie Paella!

Tonight's dinner was flipping amazing! I had the original at a little bar in German Village, The Old Mohawk. I loved their Veggie Paella so much that I've been craving it for a few weeks now. Since it's meatless I decided to wait till Lent to indulge.

Here's how you make it... feel free to add or subtract the amount of the veggies based on your preference.

2 TBSP of Olive Oil
1/2 Cup of Onions
1/2 of Green Pepper
1/2 Red Pepper
1/2 Cup of Corn
1/2 Cup of Black Beans
2 TBSP of Buitoni Basil Pesto

Heat the Olive Oil in the skillet and add onions and green & red peppers, sauté for 5 minutes or until onions turn clear.

Add the corn, black beans, rice and pesto and sauté for an additional 3 minutes.

Put in dish and top with a sprinkle of grated parmesean cheese.

Enjoy!!

Ash Wednesday 2011

Hello and Happy Ash Wednesday to everyone. Today begins Lent, when Catholics chose to "give something up" in an effort to truly appreciate and be thankful for Jesus' sacrafice. I chose to abstain from meat again for all of Lent instead of just on Fridays. It's a major challenge for me as ordering a salad with grilled chicken has become a staple in my journey to a thinner, healthier self.

This year's blog will more than likely feature the meals/recipes that I'm going to eperiment with, as well as my reflections on my faith on a weekly basis. I do have a friend that I previously mentioned, Sarah, who is taking on this meatless challenge as well. Feel free to follow her blog but be warned, it's not for the faint of heart :)

I started my morning off right with a bit of peanut butter, on my toast and was super psyched for my lunch, Subway... I love their veggie subs! Needless to say I misread their nutrional information and got a fattier sub than I should have. Bad Ranch! Bad Cheese!

BUT I am also working on not sweating the small stuff during Lent. This would be a small thing, so I will let my over calorie worries fly free and will move on to planning a smaller, healthier dinner.

What are you giving up for Lent?

40 Days REBOOT!

I have 14 days til Lent and my journey through a meatless 40 days begins again. This time I will be bringing along a friend. Her name is Sarah... everyone say hi to Sarah!



She will be reporting in, whether that's through a write up featured on my blog or a blog of her own... be prepared for two totally different styles reporting in on the joys of meatless cooking!

The awesome part about this time around is that I will be adding a new level of difficulty in that I will be doing this the healthy way! No more Olive Garden pasta because it's easy. I will be staying on my healthy roller coaster and I hope you ride with me!

Check back in two weeks for the new posts to begin!