Day 296: 3 New Recipes… Yes… I’m FEELIN’ It!!

So today started out with just lots and lots of work. I was at home today – sweet – but just had lots going on – blah. I didn’t even kind of consider going to the gym today. Like – it just wasn’t going to happen. I’m sore from the last three days and TOM is raging. Argh. So instead I cooked. I took my lunch to make me and Austin the first new recipe of the day: Pesto Chicken Pizzas for two.

Ingredients

final product! Yum....

8 oz pizza dough

8 oz. chicken tenders, chopped

1 tsp dried Italian seasoning

4 tbsp pesto

3 large basil leaves

30 grams fat-free mozzarella

30 grams fat-free feta

1 tsp parmesan

Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 450. Divide dough into 2 4-oz. mini pizzas. Unroll pizza dough on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray, pat into two large rectangles and sprinkle with parmesan. Bake at 450 for 9 minutes. Sprinkle chicken with Italian seasoning. Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and sauté 3 to 4 minutes until done. Spread pesto evenly over pizza crust; sprinkle with salt and cheese and top with chicken. Bake at 450 for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Nutritional Information: 561calories, 52 carbs, 19 fat grams and 42 grams of protein. Um, we loved them! They were super flavorful and the dough was like crispy flatbread – FAB!! These are definitely going to be on the top of our list – woo!

Then it was back to work. After work I knew Austin would be hungry (didn’t have his PB&J today) so I made him a new recipe I pulled just for him, Boca Mushroom Swiss Burgers for one!

1 frozen boca swiss patty

¼ cup sliced mushrooms

¼ tsp olive oil

½ tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 Arnold sandwich thins; wheat

1 slice fat-free Swiss cheese

Cook burger in microwave according to package. Set aside. Add olive oil and mushrooms to pan, and cook over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Add mushroom mixture to one slice of bread, and top with a slice of cheese. Add burger to pan with Worcestershire sauce. Flip and heat for 1-2 minutes. Place it over mushroom/cheese mix and cover with remaining bread slice. Coat 1 side of sandwich with cooking spray. Cook, coated side down, in pan over medium high heat 3 minutes or until golden. Coat top of sandwiches, turn and cook for another 3 minutes. Cut in half and serve! Austin loved it – perfect snack for him (love how a snack for a boy is practically a meal for a girl!) I dropped it in Spark People hoping I can have it next time and it came out to 246 calories, 33 carbs, 3 fat grams and 28 protein grams. Nice!

Then the cooking started… I made 4 servings of farfalle/sausage pasta for tomorrow’s lunch and Saturday’s lunch, made sandwiches for Austin tomorrow, prepared snacks and started breakfasts. Austin took over breakfast, and I made dinner- Spicy Shrimp & Pepper Skillet for two from Mon’s Cooking Light book!

5 oz. frozen pepper stir-fry thawed

Cooking spray

2 tsp olive oil

½ tbsp minced garlic

10 oz. shrimp, thawed

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp creole seasoning

¼ tsp pepper

1.5 cups rice

Thaw shrimp (over night or run hot water over them). Place peppers in a colander, and rinse running water; drain well. Set aside. Heat oil in skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add garlic and pepper stir-fry; sauté 5 minutes or until peppers are tender. Add shrimp and next 3 ingredients to pan; sauté 3-4 minutes or until shrimp are done and mixture is heated. Serve shrimp mixture over rice. Nutritional Information: 455 calories, 61 carbs, 6 fat grams and 30 grams of protein.

I couldn’t even eat it all – SO filling and yummy! It was SUPER spicy, so the recipe above has been edited a bit to tone it down – wowza! It was really yum – and my first time using frozen pepper stirfry. Cooking Light is a huge advocate of this ‘recipe starter’ and I can see how it can come in handy. It’s good, but just doesn’t have the crunch fresh veggies have which is what makes me love them! After dinner I had a couple of chocolates and ended the day at 1,735 calories, 245 carbs, 38 fat grams and 93 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

After dinner it was time for SYTYCD and I had to do some more work I didn’t get to today. Blah. I only have 30 pages left in my book and I’m off to read it now! Hope you had Happy Thursdays! Any exciting plans for the weekend??

BTW: Weight has been about the same this week - between 115 and 116. I did take measurements and i'm up from the last time (in May when i was down to 110) but am consistent with April (when I weighed about 115/116 - coincidence? I think not!). Anyway, i'm on it and am planning to get my HRM this weekend - woo!