Comfort Food Makeovers

I did a segment on Mass Appeal this week, and aside from a very dull knife incident with the spaghetti squash (see about 2 minutes in...yikes!), and the fact that they called me a "registered dietitian" (which I am not, and have notified the station that a PhD. is different than an RD!), the recipes went over very well with the cast and were easy to make!

Watch for "How to's" below:

Mass Appeal Segment with recipes on cauliflower rice, spaghetti squash pasta and zucchini lasagna:

http://youtu.be/uTilWwLjbnc

Meal Plan

Breakfasts

Egg whites and mozzarella or goat cheese with spinach on gluten free English muffin

omelette with goat cheese, red peppers and spinach with side salad of greens and balsamic vinegar

Gluten free bread (2 slices) with 2 Tbsp.. peanut butter and 1 banana

smoothie with greens, 1 scoop protein, almond milk, piece fruit

Plain yogurt with Bobs Red Mill gluten free Meusli and flax seed

Lunch

Tuna sandwich on paleo bread with apple slices, onion, and lettuce, side of veggies and piece fruit (2 days)

chicken (leftover from stir fry) on bed of lettuce with goat cheese, cranberries, onion, apple

chicken (leftover from stir fry) stuffed in gluten free tortilla with stir fry veggies, piece fruit

leftover zucchini lasagna and side salad, piece fruit

Snack (up to 2 per day)

celery with baby bella cheese

chiobani yogurt with flax seeds

apple with peanut butter

Dinner

Cauliflower rice stir fry with chicken, broccoli, peppers, carrots, and leeks

zucchini lasagna (2 nights)

spaghetti squash pasta with ground turkey, peppers, onion, pasta sauce (2 nights)

Dessert (because I feel like baking this week, and my exercise schedule is heavy, so a little extra discretionary Calories are in order :-)!)

Apple pie 

Grocery List

Produce

4 zucchini

1 head cauliflower

1 spaghetti squash

1 lb carrots

1 lb celery

1 leek

2 peppers

1 bag spinach

1 head broccoli

onion

fruit (5 pieces for lunches, plus 1 bag apples for pie)

bananas 1-2

Dairy

6 eggs

baby bella cheese

almond milk

mozzarella cheese

cottage cheese or ricotta

2-3 greek yogurt

goat cheese

Meat

1 lb ground turkey

1 lb chicken

2 cans tuna (plus either greek yogurt or light mayo to make it)

Other

2 jars pasta sauce

protein powder

goat cheese

gluten free tortillas

gluten free bread/english muffin

paleo bread

gluten free frozen pie crust (Whole Foods has a good one!)

 sugar and cinnamon  and corn starch for pie

flax seeds

dried cranberries

Bobs Red Mill gluten free Muesli

Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail!

Last week I had my wisdom tooth taken out, which I thought was going to result in a liquid diet week...but I recovered pretty well and was eating solid foods by the next day!  The problem? I wasn't PREPARED!  I did not go grocery shopping or create any sort of weekly structure for myself.  My choices were ok, but they weren't great (lots of random lunch purchases at work, coffees out, a gluten free muffin splurge as I drove by the bakery on my way home from the gym).  None of these choices were horrible on their own, but add them up over 5 or 6 days, and they result in a lethargic, moody, bloated Laura.  So, I will NOT fail to plan this week! 

Recipes for the week are simple and easy to prepare on the spot.  There is not much time for food prep this Sunday, so I will rely on dinners that take 30 minutes or less to prepare and have little clean up! I always go to Clean Eating Magazine's Website when I am looking for quick and easy, because there are two awesome categories to accommodate that goal: 20 minutes or less meals and 5 ingredients or less meals!

Turkey Black Bean Soft Tacos (I use coconut paleo wraps from Julian Bakery instead of corn tortillas)
Greek Style Fish with Mint Cucumber Sauce
Chicken and Lentils

Breakfast Choices:
2 days: Greek yogurt with 2 tbsp. flax seed, 2 Tbsp. walnuts and 1 banana
2 days: Smoothie made with 1 cup cherries, 1 cup almond milk, 1 scoop protein powder, 1 cup spinach
1 day: breakfast sandwich: 2 eggs, 1 slice cheddar cheese, 2 slices gluten free bread with 1/2 cup spinach and slice of tomato mixed in sandwich

Lunch Choices:
"The usual" 3 days: Paleo sandwich with 3 ounces turkey or ham, lettuce, tomato, mustard
Baked sweet potato 2 days: (baked in the morning before work) topped with leftover stuffing from tacos and 1 ounce cheddar

Dinners:
Monday: Breakfast for dinner: 2 egg omelet with ham, cheddar, apple with side of greens in oil and vinegar dressing
Tuesday: Turkey Black Bean Soft Tacos
Wednesday: Greek Style Fish with mint and cucumber sauce with side of cauliflower mashed potatoes (see four weeks ago for recipe!)
Thursday: Chicken and Lentils with side of jasmine rice
Friday: Leftover Chicken and Lentils

Snack choices:
Apples or celery with nut butter

Shopping List:

Middle Aisles

• 12 corn tortillas or other tortillas
• 1 15-oz can low-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 1/2 cups dry green lentils
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• oregano
• flax seed
• nut butter
• protein powder
• bread for sandwiches
• vinegar for dressing

Meat

• 4 5-oz cod fillets
• 1 1/4 lb extra-lean ground turkey
• 1 lb deli meat
• 12 ounces chicken breast

Dairy and eggs

• 4 cup 0-2% plain Greek yogurt
• almond milk
• cheddar
• eggs (4 for recipes)

Fruits and veggies

• 3 tbsp finely chopped English cucumber
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• lettuce and tomato for sandwiches and tacos
• 2 bananas
• 5 apples
• 2 cloves garlic, minced1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 lb spinach
• celery

1 Hour+ 1 Skillet=Meals for the Week!

Lately, I have been seeing nutrition clients on Sunday afternoons, which means less prep time.  I was also craving pizza, so that had to be on the menu this week.  So, I did a whirlwind grocery trip, and made a breakfast and 3 dinner options out of 1 skillet, and tada!  Interesting breakfast and dinner options to the rescue!

Skillet Meal made in to
1. egg white muffins
2. feta, ground turkey and veggie pizza
3. meat sauce to pour over spaghetti squash
4. taco filling to stuff in to tortillas (with optional cheese and avocado on the side to make it pretty!)

Ingredients: 1 jar tomato sauce, 1 jar salsa, 1 carton liquid egg whites, 1 premade pizza crust (I use the gluten free, grain free "Against the Grain" crust), olive oil, spaghetti squash, tortillas (corn or whole wheat), 8 ounces feta cheese, optional cheddar cheese and avocado for tacos

Skillet: 2 peppers (1 red, 1 orange), 4 cups spinach, 1 zucchini, 1 summer squash, 2 cloves garlic, 1 onion, salt and pepper to taste, 2 lb ground turkey (I used 99% fat free variety found at Stop and Shop)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Cook ground turkey in a pan. chop veggies and add to pan.  Saute until cooked to desired texture.
spread 1/4 jar pasta sauce on pizza crust.

Put 1/4 skillet mixture on pizza
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in 6 large or 2 regular sized muffin tins (greased or lined with muffin cups)
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in bowl with rest of pasta sauce
Put 1/4 skillet mixture in bowl with salsa to stuff in to tortillas at some point

Sprinkle feta cheese on pizza and cook for time recommended on pizza crust box.

Cook spaghetti squash while pizza is in oven.

Pour contents of egg white carton evenly in to egg muffin tins. Put in oven for 15 minutes.

When spaghetti squash is done, prep it for "pasta", and store in a bowl for later in the week.  Save remainder of feta for spaghetti squash pasta!

There you have it!  3 dinners (5 if you count the leftovers that will probably happen from the spaghetti squash and pizza nights!)  and 3-5 breakfasts, depending on how many egg white muffins you eat per time.

Add in a few "usual suspects" (fruits, veggies, lunch meat, salad ingredients, yogurt, oatmeal, protein powder), and the week is set.