"Chicken" Stir Fry

I made a yummy chicken stir-fry for dinner the other night.  Fit the Nutrisystem plan for a flex dinner and tasted amazing!

You will need:

-1 Gardein "chicken" scallopini breast

- 1 cup of brown rice

- 1 cup of green and yellow wax beans

-2 TBS low sodium soy sauce

- 1/4 cup onions

- 1/4 cup carrots

Saute the beans, carrots, onions and chicken in a pan with half of the soy sauce. 

Cook the rice (I had a handy one serving cup that was microwaveable)

Toss the rice in with the chicken and vegetables and add the remaining soy sauce. 

Put it in a large bowl and stuff yo face!



The "chicken" and beans

Food when it was all done.  Yum!

Chicken: 90 calories 14 protein

Rice: 100 calories 4.5 protein

Vegetables: 39 calories

Soy sauce: 7 calories



"Fried" Ravioli

I love my Nutrisystem ravioli but my mom showed me how to take them up another notch and make this dinner even better.  We do a healthy version of fried ravioli that's quick and easy to make.  

 

You will need:

- 1 Nutrisystem Ravioli Dinner

-1/8 cup egg substitute

- 1/4 cup breacrumbs (I use Panko, very crunchy!)

- Seasonings of your choice

Take the raviolis out of the sauce and scrape off as much as you can.  

Dip the ravioli into the egg then the breadcrumbs.  

Put on a baking sheet and cook at 350 for 15 minutes. 

I also took the sauce and added some spinach, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese to it while heating it. 

New goal reached and new dinner recipe!

Saturday morning is weigh-in time.  Last Saturday I was excited because I was under 200lbs (just barely though at 199.6) So this week I was even more excited to see that not only did I stay under 200, I'm now quite a few lbs under at 196.4!  I got in a few extra sessions at the gym (mostly because I was feeling guilty about the fantastical cookie dough floutas that I shared with some friends when we had Tijuana Flats for lunch one day) and those extra sessions paid off with a nice 3.2lbs lost for the week.

Now onto tonights dinner, it was yummy!

The entree was BBQ Mac&Cheese with veggie chicken and spinach.  I also cooked some brussel sprouts and roasted carrots.  

BBQ Chicken Mac&Cheese

-1 Nutrisystem Maccoroni and Cheese

-2 TBS Walden Farms BBQ Sauce

-1/2 cup spinach 

-5 Pieces of Morningstar Farms Veggie Chicken

=Cook the mac&cheese according to directions. 

=In a pan saute the chicken and spinach with some Pam until heated through. 

=Add in the mac&cheese and BBQ sauce, stir well.

I also have this sauce from Peg Leg Pete's (yummy seafood place on Pensacola beach) It's a hot sauce but it's more cinnamon based, almost sweet but not quite and I threw some of that in to give it a kick, so good!

Dinner Time:Spaghetti Squash Bake and Stuffed Mushrooms

I had the yummiest dinner tonight, I made a spaghetti bake but on the much healthier side.  Instead of using noodles I used spaghetti squash!  Spaghetti squash is surprisingly easy to make, I'm glad I got over my notion of it being difficult.  So I cooked the squash, pulled it out and separated the strands.  Layer that with some marinara sauce, spinach, and onions.  Topped it with some fat-free mozzarella and cheddar and bake for 10 minutes.  Then I made some garlic bread out of the 100 calorie sandwich rounds and cooked up a Gardein chick'n scallopini breast (fake chicken breast) in a little bit of white wine.  Total meal came out around 245 calories, 8 grams of fat, and 19 grams of protein.  Throw in some broccoli and a salad and that equals one huge satisfying meal!

The night before the family was doing a cook-out so I took my food to the grill.  Publix had some wonderful portobello mushrooms so I marinated them in balsamic dressing and then stuffed them with my Nutrisystem Mushroom Risotto dinner and topped it with some parmesan cheese.  Throw it on the grill for about 5-8 minutes and you have some delicious mushroom action happening!

(Before cooking)

Sorry it was so good looking after cooking that I didn't take a picture, just dug in!

Skin Journey Review

I've been buying a lot of vouchers from Heartsy lately, you pay a discounted rate for a giftcard voucher to a store on etsy, a great way to try out new shops without spending a lot of money.  Back in May I bought one for a store called Skin Journey (Thanks to the amazing Ms. Callie for bringing it to my attention!  You can read her review of the products she bought from them here)

So for $12 I got a $30 certificate, not bad!  I ordered the microdermabrasion facial scrub, the detox clay and milk masque, and the peruvian chocolate squalane lip balm.  Total for items was $25.50 with $6.25 shipping.  So with the voucher I only paid $1.75.  Awesome!  Shipping was relatively fast (they had over 250 orders in just a few days!) and Mik (the owner of Skin Journey) was very prompt to answer my messages. 

Here is the Microdermabrasion Facial Scrub:

 This was a nice scrub for my face, it felt smooth afterwards and I felt very glowy.

Ingredients: Aluminum Oxide (Microdermabrasion Crystals), Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Bilberry Extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Diazolidinyl Urea, Distilled Water, Glycerin, Hydrogenated Jojoba Wax, & Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Lemon Extract, Orange Extract, Sugar Cane Extract, Sugar Maple Extract. 

I am in love with the chocolate lip balm!  It is now my go to balm in my purse.  Chapped lips are gone when I wear this and I love the smell (it smells along the lines of dark chocolate, not very sweet but very cocoa smelling mmmmm)

Ingredients:Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Beeswax, Olive Squalane Oil, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E).

I am really liking this, my face felt so smooth the next day!  You mix it with either yogurt, milk, or water and use the enclosed brush to apply it to your face.  I used milk the first few times and like the way it applies, I'm going to be using plain greek yogurt next time, should be nice and thick!  

Ingredients:Bentonite Clay, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Fruit Juice Powder, Kaolin Clay, Rhassoul Clay, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Tapioca Starch

And now the pictures I know you've all been waiting for.....me with the mask on :D

    

Overall this was a very nice store to purchase from.  I love how all the products are tied to different destinations around the world and that they strive to make all natural and vegan products.  I definitely plan on purchasing more products from Skin Journey, especially the detox mask!

Zach's Friends

I've been thinking lately about what else I would like to write about (because there is more to me than food) and then one of my favorite smaller makeup companies gave me something to write about.  Beauty from the Earth is asking everyone to spread the word about something tragic that hit close to home with them back in April.  The son of a close friend of theirs committed suicide after battling with depression.  This is very personal to me, I dealt with my own bouts of depression and I do believe this is something that should be addressed and talked about. 

Beauty from the Earth has decided to release 2 new colors with 50% of the proceeds being donated to ZachsFriends.org to help raise awareness for suicide.  They will also send you a Friend of Zach Bracelet.  All for only $6.50!  These colors will not be available in sample sizes and I have a feeling they're are going to sell like hotcakes!

I love that Beauty from the Earth wants to raise awareness and help out a friend in need, they really are an amazing company. 
Go to Beauty from the Earth's site to purchase the special edition colors and you can buy more bracelets in other colors/sizes at Little Diva Tutus. 

If you or someone you know is suicidal, please don't wait.  Call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at: 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Reached a new goal today!

Super excited this morning, got on the scale when I got to the gym this morning to discover that I had hit the 40lbs lost mark! I had lost about 3.5lbs since last week which was nice since the week before I did not loose any (couldn't have been all the get-togethers I had with my friends, friends that decided to make mac and cheese, nachos, corn dogs etc)  Also I finally got a nice "now" picture to post up.

(I look really tall because I'm wearing like 4.5 inch heels)
Let's take a look at my dinner from last night...

Garden pasta with feta cheese, asparagus, veggie chicken, mushrooms, and some veggie broth (which made the noodles super tasty!) Only 279 calories which is still in the Nutrisystem range for a dinner.  It had more protein then most of my Nutrisystem dinners so that was an added bonus, not bad for a spur of the moment flex meal.