Iced Coconut Mocha

1/2 cup of coconut milk - 40 calories
1 tbs of chocolate syrup - 50 calories
Shot of expresso - 0 calories

Total = 90 calories

Chicken Marsala

Insanely delicious and so easy. I added fresh mushrooms as well. So so so good!

Things a Mommy Does

One of my sons has a hate relationship with burgers. So while be it burgers are not extremely healthy I tried to disguise his burger with jack-o-lantern cheese, didn't work... He only ate the cheese and bun. On a side note we did use Kraft 2% cheese for 45 calories and lean ground beef. Happy Halloween!

Another Low Cal Lunch

New Find

I found this bread at TJ's I love Alvarado St. Bakery!  50 calories per slice then 20 calories for the jelly. Amazing 120 calorie snack or breakfast.

Grilled Pork Chops

So around our house we like steak, in fact my twins call it "cowboy steak" not sure why but they do and we can always get them to eat cowboy steak.

Costco was running a great sale on porkchops, considering they were lean and less that $1 a piece I swiped them up.

My Husband seasoned them as he would a steak with a traditional steak rub then grilled them on the BBQ.  I topped my 2.5 oz. portion with mushrooms cooked in a little spray butter.

The side was 1/2 cup of white cheddar shells pasta roni and the last 5 minutes I added in fresh broccoli.  The breadsticks come from Trader Joe's I opted for just 1/4 of them.

TOTAL: 279 Calories!

Love Me Some Breakast

Hummus Yummiesness

Trader Joe's spicy hummus and carrots for a total of 85 calories!

My New Favorite Breakfast

Yogurt and cereal both found at Costco.

Quick and Satisfying Lunch

Zucchini Fries

1 cup zucchini - 20
1/4 c of egg beaters - 30
1/4 c Panko bread crumbs - 50
1 tbsp asiago cheese - 20
Spray olive oil - 0

Total= 120 calories

Preheat oven to 450, cut zucchini into a french fry style. Mix the panko and asiago together in a shallow bowl. Coat the zucchini with the egg beaters then the panko mix. Place them on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray, once all complete spray the zucchini with the spray olive oil and bake for 12 minutes, flip then bake another 12 minutes.

Serve with fat free ranch dressing.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

The other night I had this craving for buffalo sauce, wings came to mind, but I knew they would be far too high in calories so I decided to make a sandwich instead with baked chicken.

I took chicken breasts and threw them in one of those roasting bags with the buffalo packet (2 for $1 at the dollar store.)

The chicken baked for 30 min at 350. It came out moist and delicious. The kids even ate it as the spice was not too bad at all.

I found some sub rolls at Walmart, they were slightly high in calories so I once again used my hollow out trick and was able to remove 1/4 of the calories and still left the outside of the roll in tact and perfect.

To make my meal more spicy I added a few dashs of Frank's Red Hot Sauce to my fat free ranch dressing. The sandwich was a hit and we will for sure be making it again we served ours with corn on the cob and some baked potato chips.

BUFFALO CHICKEN SANDWICH
Sub roll - 195 calories
Knorr roasters packet - 25
2 tbsp fat free ranch - 50
Tomato - 6
Lettuce - 1
3.5 oz chicken breast - 105
Franks Red Hot Sauce - 0
Total = 382 calories

Chili Dog

Bet ya never thought you could have a chili dog for 309 calories.

Shrimp Tacos

YES that was a long hiatus, but I have an excuse. We MOVED with three boys under three and life was in pure chaos, heck it STILL is. I am back back back and better than ever.Down over my 30 x 30 goal and going strong at the gym. YUP, here in our new town we found a gym for $99 a month which covers my Husband and I and the kiddos in the child care center. Even better my Husband's work covers a huge chunk of that. It is the BEST thing for me and the kids. They LOVE it and look forward to going, plus I get a break, a shower, and an awesome workout. NEVER did I imagine I would be one of those who loved working out, but here I am and loving it!

Shrimp Tacos

9 medium shrimp (153)
3 small yellow corn tortillas (120)
1/2 cup of coleslaw greens (11)
1/2 lime (10)
1/2 cup black beans (110)
1/8 c of shredded light cheese (40)
2 TBS light sour cream (40)
Cumin
Garlic salt
Cayenne
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Spray EVOO

Squeeze 1/2 a lime and reserve. Mix half of the juice with the sour cream, a dash of cumin, and a dash of garlic salt. Cover and let sit in the fridge for 20 min or so.

Pour the rest of the lime juice over peeled and deveined shrimp. Sprinkle a dash of cumin, garlic salt and very small dash of cayenne pepper on the shrimp. Throw in the garlic and sear in a pan of spray EVOO until pink.Warm your tortillas in the microwave or on your gas burner.

Fill each tortilla with three shrimp, cabbage and sour cream mixture. Serve with black beans topped with a little cheese.

484 calories for an amazingly satisfying dinner

Here I Am

Okay okay here I am! So I failed! Yup complete failure, I missed my 30x30 by one DUMB pound. I will say I blame my friends and family for throwing me an early Birthday bash with LOTS of food and WINE! So yes I failed and NO I still haven't done it being one week later, but here I am back at it.

Super yummy refreshing Summer dinner!

Mexican Shrimp Cocktail
(Thanks to my MIL)
Jug of Clamato
1 english cucumber peeled and diced
1 tomato diced
1/2 cup of cilantro
1/2 avocado
2 tbs ketchup
Juice of one lime
A few dashes of tobassco sauce
1 pound of shrimp cooked and diced

Combine all ingedients and chill for a couple hours and serve with fat free saltines

1 cup = 215 calories

Yummy in my Tummy

Arugula, beet, and goat cheese salad topped with a raspberry pecan dressing!

The countdown is ON, I have two weeks left to lose three pounds. I have a feeling I might miss it by about a pound, but hey I am still proud and feeling great. I am able to wear things I haven't worn in years and looking forward to sundresses and flip flops. Things are getting hectic around our house with the move quickly approaching so I might be a little out of the loop for a bit, but to hold you over check out the salad I made the other night.
1.5 cups of arugula - 10
2 baby beets steamed and peeled - 40
Ken's Fat Free Raspberry Pecan Dressing - 50
1 oz. Chevre Goat Cheese - 70

TOTAL = 170 calories

Creamy Pesto Turkey Wrap

Okay I have found it... my new favorite wrap! In fact I have had it for lunch two days in a row and who knows it might even be three.

Sourdough Tumaro Wrap - 80
.25 oz of store bought pesto - 31
1 tbsp of light mayo - 35
2 oz. of Boar's Head Turkey - 60
1 oz. of fresh mozzarella cheese - 70
1/2cup of arugula - 6
Tomato - 12

TOTAL OF 294 CALORIES

*Note I mixed the mayo and pesto together to use as the spread. So so so so yummy!!!!

My Favorite Breakfast and Snack

I have yet to find a dressing at Trader Joe's that isn't a hit. My new find will FOREVER be in our fridge. It's their low fat parmesan ranch found in the cold section just under $3 and 30 calories for 2 tablespoons. I like to pair this with celery or wraps or well... just about anything. Delicious snack for 50 calories.

My favorite quick and easy breakfast is a bagel with cream cheese and ham. Is this odd? I am not sure, but somehow the combo to me tastes great.

Everything bagel thin - 110
1 tbsp of 1/3 less fat Philadelphia cream cheese - 35
1 oz. of Boar's Head Black Forest Ham - 30
Makes a great 175 calorie breakfast. I could eat it practically EVERYDAY.

The BEST Wrap EVER!

Why yes I do enjoy the La Tortilla Factory 100 calorie tortillas I stumbled upon something new and I am TRULY IN LOVE!

Tumaro's Gourmet Tortillas New York Deli Style Wraps. They are 10" wraps, 96% fat free, 80 calories, and only 7 net carbs.

They come in all sorts of flavors. I snagged the sourdough and everything (garlic, onion, and poppy seed). I can't wait to try the cracked pepper next time.

These are BY FAR AMAZING and moist. The downfall for me is that only ONE store near me sells them and it's not a store I usually go to. However, the sell by date on my pack is June so I will go back and stock up no doubt. Check out their website and see where you can get your hands on these.

To my wrap I added:
Tumaro's Sourdough wrap - 80
1 tbsp light mayo - 35
.5 oz. of sharp cheddar cheese - 55
2 oz. of Boar's Head turkey - 60
1 cup of baby arugula mix - 4
Onion - 4
Tomato- 8

TOTAL = 246 calories

Back on Track

Another keeping it low day. Or more shall I say getting fully back on track day. Things have been crazy around here and I lost a bit of focus, I didn't go crazy or anything, but with being busy with some other stuff I wasn't counting each bite and was walking to the store for a Whole Foods pizza splurge with my boys. So needless to say my weight loss halted. Thankfully I didn't gain, but I haven't lost in a couple weeks which puts me behind schedule to reach my goal by next month. So HERE it goes! One month to lose 6 pounds. Sounds impossible and it probably is, but even if I get close I will still be proud of myself.

3 oz. of pineapple greek yogurt - 80

2 slices of Sara Lee Light bread - 90

Smucker's low sugar jam - 25

Fiesta Eggs

1/4 C egg substitute
1/2 oz. shredded reduced fat mexican blend cheese
2 tbs of store bought or homemade pico de gallo
1 tbs fat free sour cream

JUST 85 CALORIES!!

I scrambled the eggs almost completely then added in the pico de gallo for about 20 seconds, then mixed in the cheese at the very end and topped it with a dollop of sour cream. I LOVE Mexican food so anyway to get my spicy fix in the morning is all me. So satisfying and still room to add in some toast or a couple pieces of bacon.

Summer Salad

Have I mentioned I LOVE Summer? This salad takes me right back to a Summer day around the age of 8 at my Grammy's house. Meeting Papa on the corner from his "vanpool" from the city and walking back to the house to have dinner right at 5:30 then playing outside until the sun went down. We always made a salad to go with dinner, but in the Summer to use up those tasty backyard tomatoes they would be the focus of many a salads.

Tomatoes of any variety, red onion, and my favorite a can or garbanzo beans. My Gram always used to drizzle EVOO on it, but I opted out of that and just stuck with red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. So tasty, so satisfying, easy, and a great salad to bring to a BBQ. Enjoy!

Summertime Garbanzo Salad
4 tomatoes of ANY variety diced
1/2 red onion slivered
1 can of garbanzo beans
3 tbs of red wine vinegar
Generous sprinkle of salt and pepper
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (if you have the calories to spare, but great without)

Artichoke Pasta

Quick and easy two words a Mama likes at dinner time!

With the little jem you can also add the words cheap and tasty as well.

One jar of TJ's three cheese pasta sauce, a spoonful of minced garlic, 8 fresh basil leaves minced, and one can of artichoke hearts diced. Let it simmer for about 15 and serve over 1/2 cup of rigatoni and one tbs of parmesan cheese.

Total = 335 calories

I must admit the kiddos were not giant fans of the artichoke so next time I will keep them in larger chunks so they will not have as much on it. I really enjoyed this meal and the best part is I only spent around $6 for this and it would feed about 8 people. Even better part you can keep all these ingredients (minus the fresh basil) on hand for a night you are not sure what to fix or forgot to defrost something.

Caprese Bagel

I LOVE Summer time, every single thing about it, but most all the garden fresh tomatoes and basil right from my backyard.

I know it isn't Summer yet, but the other night the weather was so gorgeous I couldn't resist snagging up a batch of basil and some heirloom tomatoes. With them we made a homemade margarita pizza that was insane, I will share that another day.

So this morning I decided I needed to use up the leftovers. Toasted bagel thin smeared with a light laughing cow cheese and topped with the tomatoes, basil, salt, and fresh cracked pepper. INSANE!!!!!

TOTAL = 162 calories

Things the Mama Does

Let's face it my life is nuts. Many days while alone with the kids I have a hard time getting a meal in my mouth let alone one with a lot of fresh veggies. To save me time and encourage me to eat healthiest I like to pre-prep my veggies for salads, snacks, and sandwiches.

I found this nifty little container to store everything. It is Rachael Ray $20 at Kohl's. The top tray for my sandwich stuff is actually designed for deviled eggs, but I found to to be great for the fixings. I wash and chop whatever I buy at the store that week and pack it up and store it in the fridge. This way I am sure to get all my favorite veggies on my sandwich and saves me a ton of time during lunch time craziness so I can have a hearty sandwich or salad with the kiddos. I cut lemon for my tea or water, cucumber and bell peppers to snack on with hummus or low cal dressing plus of course onions to add to salads and all sorts of things.

Eat Low

My twins are going to their first ever Birthday party where I was told I could drop them and come back in a couple hours. Uh Happy Birthday to ME! So while down two kids the Hubs and I hope to take in lunch out. He mentioned Applebee's low cal menu, but after the look I gave him he knew I was looking to splurge a little and maybe a place without a kiddie menu.

So to keep my options open I decided to keep my breakfast nice and low by using a 100 calorie Vitatop muffin. I love those suckers and today I had the banana chocolate chip. I get mine at Target, they are in the freezer section.

Nice filling breakfast for the low tag of only 132 calories! That gives me a couple hundred extra calories to use on lunch. Yum yum!

Down 22.2 pounds as of this mornings weigh in!

Portabella Mushroom Smokehouse Chicken

I love portabella mushrooms they are so hearty and flavorful. We scored some on sale and I decided to make a tasty chicken dish with them.

Normally I would do this dish with sauteed mushrooms in butter and garlic, but to scale it back we grilled the portabella with olive oil spray and some salt and pepper. We then grilled the 3 oz. chicken breast with 1 tbs. of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce. I topped it with 3/4 oz. of lite swiss cheese and one slice of kirkland bacon. The old dish would include more bacon more sauce and full fat cheese, but this was just as tasty.

To make this dish fun for the kiddos and appealing to the eye we served it inside the mushroom cap. My kids love the chicken with melted cheese on it and were delighted to have some crispy bacon too.

Grand total = 234 calories

A Broccoli Change Up

So the last time we went to Costco I grabbed a giant bag of broccoli and decided to change it up a bit. While my fav still includes sliced broccoli with a melted slice of 45 calorie american cheese on it. This one was pretty tasty too.

I lined a roasting pan with foil, threw in my broccoli and topped it with some spray olive oil, garlic salt, and crushed red pepper flakes. With the oven at 400 I cooked it for 20 minutes and we couldn't keep our paws off it.

1 cup of this will cost ya just 30 calories and a great addition to a lunch or dinner.

Garlic Breadsticks

I am all about portion control and not eating things unless I am certain of their calorie content. These Trader Joe breadsticks are perfect for us because I know exactly their calorie content. 120 calories for each breadstick!

Why yes you can eat them plain with some spreadable cheese or butter. I love to spray them with a little butter, sprinkle them with garlic powder then toast them up in my toaster over. My kids go to town on these and they are always on my TJ's list.

120 calorie garlic breadsticks

Coconut Banana Cream Pie

Last night my mission was to re-create some sort of satisfying pie for around 100 calories. Sounds impossible right?

Hunts Sugar Free Vanilla pudding - 60
1 tbs. of Light Whip Cream - 10
1/8 of a banana - 13
2 Trader Joe's Toasted Coconut Cookie Thins - 32

GRAND TOTAL = 115

Insanely delicious and worth every bite. Next time I would have used 1/4 of a banana for an extra 13 calories.