Busy. Very busy!

It’s mid-terms at my college. That means a lot of grading papers, meeting with students to discuss their performance (or lack thereof in a few isolated instances.)

But it also means that I haven’t been very active here on my blog. It’s not that I don’t want to post my thoughts, ideas, and meals here, but I need to prioritize what NEEDS to get done over what would be FUN to do. However, I am almost through the pile of work, so I will soon be actively blogging here, hopefully on a daily basis.

Prioritization is the key to successful weight management. You need to ask yourself, “Which is more important? Staying within my calorie budget and hitting my weight target, or eating that piece of cake?”  Sometimes the cake will win, and that is appropriate. When you attend a special event, enjoy some of the treats. But limit yourself to one serving, and a small one at that. But most days, you should decide that your goal is more important to your health–both physical and emotional–than that cookie will taste.

Right now, I am still enjoying my maintenance er, my target weight range phase.   However, I am still slowly losing weight. That is not intentional, but it is a side effect of my mental inability to eat ALL my budgeted calories each day. After working so long and so hard to stay slightly under my weight loss budget, now I find myself still staying just a little under my current budget. I tell myself “Just a little under the budget, just in case I didn’t accurately measure my food.”

I need to stop that belief pattern. I know that I accurately measure my food. My Fitbit accurately gauges my caloric burn.

But old habit die hard. However, I taught myself to eat the correct portion sizes. I can teach myself to eat ALL my calories!

Rosemary Chicken and Tomato-Avocado Salsa

Rosemary Chicken
Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, 6 ounces each, boneless skinless
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoongs red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary crushed, or 1 tsp dried  (I used 1 tablespoon Penzey’s Bouquet Garni.)

1.  Place chicken in a heavy-duty freezer bag, and pound with a meat mallet until approximately 1/2 inch thick.  Do this one at a time, then place the chicken in a second ziplock bag. (The first bag may have holes from the mallet.)
2.  Mis remaining ingredients together, pour over chicken.  Toss in the marinade to coat.  Place chicken in refrigerator for at 30-60 minutes.
3.  Heat a non-stick skillet, and spray with cooking spray. Place the chicken in the skillet over medium-hiigh heat for 3-4 minutes on the first side, and 3 minutes on the second.
4.  Serve with  Tomato-Avocado Salsa and roasted vegetables.

Nutritional data:
Calories:       307
Fat:               16.5g
Sat fat:            3.8g
Chol:               98mg
Sodium:          62mg
Carbs:              1g
Fiber:               0g
Protein:          38g

Tomato-Avocado Salsa

Serves 4, approximately 2/3 cup each.

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon dried rosemary (or Bouquet Garni)
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1 ripe avocado, peeled, and diced
2 cups cherry tomatoes (about 24), cut in half
2 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese

1.  Whisk together first four ingredients.
2.  Gently stir in the remaining ingredients.
3.  Make this while the chicken cooks, as its texture is best when fresh.

Nutritional data:
Calories:        126
Fat:                10.9g
Sat fat:             2.6g
Chol:              8.3mg
Sodium:         112mg
Carbs:             6.3g
Fiber:              3.1g
Protein:           2.6g

Roasted Vegetables

Serves 4

Fresh vegetables, your preference.  I have used Brussel sprouts, onion, tomato, mini-bell peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, leeks, mushrooms and asparagus.  (If you use cauliflower, pre-cook it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes.)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
Black pepper, and any spices you like.

1.  Fill a one gallon ziplock bag with your preferred veggies.
2.  Whisk together other ingredients, and pour over veggies.  Toss to coat.  Let sit for 10 minutes.
3.  While the veggies are resting, preheat oven to 450F
4.  Place veggies in a 9×13 pan.  Place in oven for a total of 30 minutes.
5.  Toss veggies after 15 minutes.
6.  Remove when the veggies are tender/crunchy and beginning to brown.

Nutritional data (will vary slightly based on your choice of vegetables):
Calories:       126
Fat:                10.g
Sat fat:           1.6g
Chol:                0mg
Sodium:          11mg
Carbs:          12.4g
Fiber:            4.7g
Protein:            5g

A new toy helps achieve goals!

New toys are fun!
I love to cook. I mean, I really love it! I find it to be relaxing, creative and joyful, especially when the end product turns out as expected and everyone enjoys it.  And while most of my kitchen equipment is simple and unchanging (my knives, my non-stick cookware) I do have some gadget.  A couple weeks ago, I bought a new toy.
My new panini press! Prior to this, I used an old George Foreman grill. It worked, but it was big and bulky and awkward to store. My new press is shiny stainless steel, smaller and easier to handle and it works great!
So, where did I find my press? A nice kitchen store or a cook’s specialty shop? An online vendor?  Nope.
I got it at Aldi! Yeah, my favorite inexpensive grocery store occasionally has kitchen and household appliances. I picked this up for $14.99, and it makes two paninis using ciabatta rolls or one large sandwich using a hoagie bun.
This is the end result. Here are the recipes for my Portabella Panini and Spinach Pasta Toss.
Why is this press helpful for me to stay at my goal weight (or to actively lose weight if needed?) Because if cooking becomes easy, fast and fun, we are all more likely to cook for ourselves instead of letting a restaurant cook for us. That leaves us in control of the ingredients used. We can choose to use fresh vegetables, healthy oils and lower sodium components. We are also to make the correct portion sizes. When I used to eat a lot of takeout Chinese, I thought the container was one serving. In reality this little cartons hold two or more servings!
I hope my readers begin to enjoy cooking. Try new recipes. Buy some new kitchen toys. Make cooking a meal something to anticipate, not something to dread. When you do that, you will also start seeing more personal victories, and make more progress toward your goals.