McDonalds

So I went to McDonalds for lunch today and got a McDouble and a fruit and yogurt parfet, along with a large iced tea.  It was supper yummy and just enough!! If you tend to be more hungry than that then go for a salad but be careful because a lot of their dressing has a lot of calories in it!!  My meal was 550 calires, I know a lot for just those two things, but the McDouble sounded sooooo good!!! haha

Anyways other than that things have been going well!  I lost 3 lbs!  Could be from all of the packing and really not eating that much, I know bad for me but I am really just not hungry!! So it's ok for me to have 550 calorie meals!!  I hope everything is going well with everyone out there!!  I never hear from anyone so not sure if anyone is reading any more!!!  Anyways, I'll chat with all of you later!

Taco Bell

So I tackeld Taco Ball for my fast food eating out adventure and it wasn't too bad!!  I got the fresco ranchero chicken soft taco, a side of mexican rice and a strawberry fruista freezer!  Total meal was 500 calories!!  Now it was filling for the time, but if I would have been hungrier I would have done 2 burritos instead of the burrito and fruit freezer, but I really wanted something nice and cool!!  Taco Bell is an excellent choice for eating out healthy!!  Their new drive-thru diet menu is fantastic so I highly recommend it!  Not to mention their salsas have very little calories so use what ever you want!!

Glee!!

So I did it, I auditioned for glee haha!  This was a huge jump for me cause I don't like singing infront of people too much haha, but I have vowed that this year it's going to be a new me, so I did this!!  go check it out and PLEASE vote for me!!!

http://www.myspace.com/gleeauditions?link=7838894

Snack time!

So yesterday while I was out and about doing laundry I got kinda hungry but not hungry enough for a full meal.  So I looked at the options around me and the only place really was McDonalds.  So sat and thought about what I could get just for a snack form there....french fries = bad, McDouble = bad (for just a snack), cookies = bad, apple pie = bad....Then the thought came to me!  They have the fabulous fruit and yogurt parfait!!!!!  160 calories = Not bad! haha!  And not to mention the great nutritional value that yogurt haves for your digestive system!  So I got that and a Large iced tea (non sweetened, if you want to sweeten it do so with equal or splenda!).  Now if you really want some sort of pop/soda go for the diet coke, but I really hate diet coke haha.  Also, not to scare you away from it, but in several of my classes I have learned that your body just does not metabolize aspertaine and it stays in your system and yuck, don't wana deal with that haha.  So this total snack came to $2.13  so not bad at all haha!  Today I"ll prob have another one of those sub sandwiches that I got from the store the other day and play it up like I did then too...So have a good day everyone and healthy eating!!

*Side note!  I did 2 whole pushups today!!  I know it doesn't sound like much but that's the most I've been able to do since my hand/wrist surgery back in December so it's deff a step!!*

Eating out challenges

So since I'm going to be doing this whole eating out thing for the next few weeks I did some investigating at different fast food places on their nutritional information.  Right now I'm mainly looking at the calorie count - I'll pull my hair out if I try to look at everything right now!   So I really plan on printing all of these out while on campus this week because I still have like over 200 pages left of free printing in the botany/zoology building!  So I'll put it to good use! haha! Anyways, my healthiest options that I found so far was subway and surprisingly taco bell.  Now I'm really not a fan of taco bell but I guess I gotta do what I gotta do haha!

Today I ran to the grocery store because I needed some milk and I decided to look in their prepared food section to see what they had to offer.  I found a pack of 3 sub sandwiches - 2 turkey and one roast beef - for $5!  I had to jump on this because these sandwiches are equivalent to that of subway's!  Sure there was no lettuce on them or anything but in my fridge I have a thing of salad!  So I had one of these sandwiches tonight and found out that the trio comes with packets of mustard and mayo!  So I used one of each - that little bit of mayo is fine!  Then I added some of my salad mix to it!  It was yummy!  Deff a good purchase! How many calories are we talking about?  Prob around 450-500 calories, which I know is more than my meals that I make on my own, but that's the range that I'm going to be shooting for during this whole eating out thing.  I'll just cut down on other's during the rest of the day and it should work out just fine!!  Anyways take care everyone and I'll post later!!

Going in a different Direction

Ok guys, so I'm going to have to go in a new direction with this blog for a little while so stick with me haha.  Since school is so crazy right now with finals right around the corner and I'm getting ready to move to Florida I need to start packing.  So this weekend I"m planning on packing up most of my kitchen...scary I know!!  So I'm going to be eating out now - but I"m going to try to do it as healthy as possible.  I'll blog about that and the different things you can do with eating out.  I'll be mainly doing to go and fast food, so good luck to me haha!  I can actually start with today

So for Dinner tonight I didn't want to cook cause I had a lot of studying to do so I went by McDonalds and looked over the various choices in food and tried to pick out the most healthy thing I could.  So I went with the bacon ranch salad.  When I got home I looked up the calories - the salad with out the dressing is 260 - not bad!  The dressing though is 170 calories for the packet - YIKES!  But I still ate it haha.  so all in all the calories came to 430 calories for my dinner.  Ok so that's not too horrible!

I'm still trying to finish cleaning out my pantry so my plan is to eat out once a day, and then the rest of the day try to finish up what I do have that doesn't need to be cooked.  So we're talking like slimfast shakes for breakfast or cereal, and who knows what else the rest of the day.  I'm going to leave out a couple of bowls and some silver wear and cups.  My biggest thing I wana get packed is my pots and pans.  So yeah, I hope you all enjoy these new posts!

Turkey potato casserole and Breakfast burritos

Hey guys sorry I haven't been on here much, things have just been hectic haha!  I have a new blog now for my Disney College program so please go check it out as well!  http://codisneygirl.blogspot.com  I'm having a lot of fun with that one and it will be even more fun when I make it down to Disney!  As far as this blog goes I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post on it.  I'm hoping to still be able to come up with a few recipes each week, we'll see!  If anything maybe I can talk about the different healthy foods that Disney has to offer as well as my recipes just to keep it going!
This week I haven't really cooked much, just haven't been in the mood to do it because been so busy with school, and my allergies are taking a good toll on me haha.  But don't worry I've been pretty good with my food choices...for the most part.
My two food posts today are both comfort foods with a healthy twist.  The first is a healthier rendition of Tatter-tot Casserole. My mom use to make this while I was growing up and I always enjoyed it!  My best friend absolutely loves it as well.  The traditional one is made with ground beef and tatter-tots, so I sat down and tried to figure out how I could make it some what healthier haha.  I came up with the idea to use ground turkey in place of the beef, and then just some shredded potato in place of the Tatter-tots.  So here you go hope you enjoy!  Calorie count - 333

Turkey Potato Casserole



3 oz ground turkey (93% lean)
1/4 C low fat cream of mushroom soup
1/4 C low fat milk
1/4 potato (shredded)
1/4 C shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 C corn



Preheat the oven to 375
Brown ground turkey in a pan over medium heat.  Season with salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder.
In a separate bowl combine milk and cream of mushroom soup - whisk together.
After the turkey is done put down in a casserole dish along with the corn.  Top that with the cream of mushroom and milk mix.  Then top with shredded cheese followed by shredded potato.  Salt the potato.
Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the oven onto broil and broil for 5 minutes to get the potato nice and crispy.
Enjoy!

My next recipe I use to make all the time with another best friend of mine for breakfasts.  The breakfast burrito!!  mmmm just thinking about it now I might have to go eat one haha.  Since I live on my own now it's kinda hard to just make one of these babies.  So I came up with making several and just freezing the others.  This makes it quick and convient for on the go mornings.  All you do is wrap them in a paper towel and heat on high for  a minute in the microwave!  Fantastic!!  Along with my other comfort food I made this one a little healthier haha.  So here we go! Calorie count - 264

Breakfast Burritos

2 oz Chorizo 1/2 potato 1 T butter 3/4 C. all egg white 1/4 C shredded mexican cheese

Cook chorizo over med high heat for about 7-8 minutes. remove and drain off grease on paper towel. Peel and shred potato and cook in same pan as the chorizo. Season with desired amount of salt. Brown for about 10 minutes. Add chorizo back to pan and add egg whites. Cook until egg whites are no longer runny.
Heat up tortillas in microwave for 20 seconds. Starting with one tortila add about 2 T of cheese, then 1/5 of the mixture. (Then I like to top with hot sauce) and roll up. Repeat for rest of tortillas. Enjoy!

I dont have a pic of the breakfast Burritos cause they're just wrapped in plain tortilla, noting spectacular haha.

5 whole wheat tortillas

Turkey Meatball Stew

Well everyone, I know it has been a while since I've done a low cal recipe!  So sorry for that but things have just been kinda crazy!!  I leave for Florida in 37 days!! SO ready for it!!  I just want this semester to end already!  I have really no motivation do to anything school related right now! haha!  Oh well, guess I'll just suffer through haha.
So I go a sample in the mail the other day for Kashi cereal - it was their berry one (like the only one with out almonds haha)  So I decided to try it yesterday for break fast.....yeah didn't like it very much haha.  Not to mention one serving has 190 calories in it, then you top it with the calories in milk...yeah no.  I'll stick to my Special K - with milk it's 190 calories.  That way I can eat some type of fruit with breakfast as well with out over doing it with the calories!!
As far as my weight goes it hasn't budged, but I've lost a few inches.  1 1/2 around my belly - which is my largest part on me,  1/2" in my neck, about an inch in my arm, one inch around my chest, 1/2" around my hips, and 1/2" in my thigh.  So woo!!  That's good news haha!  Good to see some of my effort is doing something haha!
My weak spot is still the whole working out thing :-p  I still am doing the barn work twice a week, prob 3X a week now so I can be out there for shorter times.  My allergies are so bad right now - darn you spring time!  But maybe doing it 3X a week will give my body a better work out?  Who knows haha.  I still do sit ups and all that sometimes; I need to be more consistant with that one haha!  Bathing suit time is right around the corner....I am not excited for that one haha!  Oh well though right?
Ok so I'll get on with last nights dinner!  Turkey Meatball Stew!  So good!!  The recipe that I"m going to give you makes 2 servings of 422 calories each - I know one of my more calories dinner but it was so good!  It's still a good amount of calories though!!  Ok so on with the recipe!

Turkey Meat Ball Stew


6 oz ground lean turkey meat
1 egg
1/2 C bread crumbs
1 T onion powder
1 T garlic powder
1 t salt
1 t peper
1 T extra virgin olive oil
1 can beef broth
1 carrot
1 celery stock
1/4 yellow onion
1/2 potato
2 cloves garlic

Ok so we start out with making the meatballs.  In a bowl mix the ground turkey meat, bread crumbs, egg, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and peper.  Best way to mix it is to mix it with your hands.  If it seems too wet still add some more bread crumbs.  Then form the balls into about 1/2 inch diameter balls. Take and put oil in a pan and heat on medium heat.  Add meatballs to the pan.  Make sure to turn meatballs as they cook to get an even golden brown color on all sides.  It takes about 10 minutes for them to fully cook.
While the meatballs are cooking, in a crockpot (slow-cooker)  pour in the beef broth.  Chop the carrot, celery, onion and potato into bite size pieces and add.  Mince up garlic and add to the pot.  Turn the pot onto low (if you have 6-8 hrs to let it cook) or high (3-4 hrs to cook).
When meatballs are done cooking take out and drain on a paper towel.  Let sit for about 1/2 an hr.  Then add to the crock pot!  Let cook and meld together for several hours depending on the temp you set the slow cooker at.
Then just serve up and enjoy!!!

This was such a good meal for a cooler day, or a day that you are going to be busy all day cause you can always make the meat balls the day before then just add to the stew the day that you want it.  So easy and simple!!!



*Just as a heads up, I'm getting ready to start a new blog on top of this one.  It will be about my Disney College program and the adventures that I have during it.  So I'll post the link for it here soon as soon as I get it all set up!

Easter Cake (ok ok I know not low calorie!)

So today is Easter!! Happy Easter to everyone!! Sorry I haven't been blogging much things have just been so inane!! My mom had told me last weekend that she was planning on making a carrot cake for Easter and was wondering if my sister and I wanted to decorate it. I love to decorate cakes! such a stress reviler! So I jumped on the opportunity and immediately came up with a plan to have the cake look like a basket and that I would attempt a rice krispy bunny to put on top to make it look like it was peaking out over. Now last year for my mom's b-day my sister and I did a basket with flowers in it, and I had taught her how to do the basket weave. So she did that part of the cake while I worked on frosting the bunny. The day before is when I made the actual structure of the bunny and then it sat over night. So with doing all of this I decided that I would blog about how to make one! Once again I know that they aren't low calorie but oh well! haha!

Rice Krispy Bunny

6 cups rice krispies
4 cups mini marshmallows
3 T butter
1 tsp vanilla

Take and melt the butter over medium heat and add vanilla.  After melted all the way add the mini marshmallows and melt over medium heat until they are a smooth constancy.

Then turn off heat and add rice krispies and mix all together.  Then take and put in a pan lined with foil and sprayed with non stick spray. 

Now for the molding portion.  I put on two pairs on non-laytex gloves and sprayed the palms of my hand with non-stick spray.  Then I took and molded the head of the bunny, the ears, the torso, and two paws.  I placed skewers in the ears, and paws for assembly later.

This is all the pieces of the Bunny.                                                             This is the Bunny assembled

Then I took a small tip and with white frosting added the eyes, and for the pupils I used a small chocolate chip.  As far as the frosting goes my mom actually already had some made so that worked nicely!  You can use really any kind! As long as it's a good frosting that holds shape.  Then I also added the nose and insides of the ears.  After I did this I took a large star tip and covered the rest of the bunny!

Then skewer it into your cake!!  We colored some coconut with green food coloring to make an Easter grass look that was edible!!  This was just so much fun to make and such a stress reviler that now I think I'm ready to get going again for this week and hope to have some good recipes for all of you!