Friday, April 2, 2010

New Salad Recipe, Product Review, C25K Fail, Happy Hour

Thanks you guys!! I’m so pumped about the award, the new recipe, C25k – etc.! And ‘in my tummy’ tell Jason I’m right there with him! It WAS a big bump. My friend Stacy even made up her own “week” to bridge that gap. Best of luck to him – let me know if I can help further!

Backing up yet again - I forgot to post Tuesday’s stats: 1,762 calories, 240 carbs, 63 fat grams and 71 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Wednesday was a mess! I was in training but still super behind at work. We weren’t given much time for lunch so we only got in 2 miles. Then after training I went home and worked until about 9:45 at night. OMG. I felt ewwy – behind on training, behind on cooking – just sad! Bless little Austin – he made me ramen and brought it to me while I worked! Other than that, I had brunch pizza squares for breakfast, pasta fagioli for lunch and a few snacks (yogurt, iced oat cookies and crackers/cheese. I ended up at 1,418 calories, 192 carbs, 48 fat grams and 60 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Thursday I got up and got to it! Drove over to a meeting, got a bridesmaid dress, hit up Trader Joe’s (woo!) and worked some more! I picked up lots of new products, including Trader Joe’s Cilantro Salad Dressing!!


When I got home I quickly made a recipe based on it!

Spicy Cilantro Chicken Salad - 4 servings




16 oz. chicken
1 packet taco seasoning
1 can rotel
8 cups arugula (1 bag), divided into 4 servings
1 avocado, deseeded without skin, quartered
40 grams corn chips
40 grams Kraft reduced fat swiss cheese
8 tbsp Trader Joe’s Cilantro Salad Dressing
24 cherry tomatoes, quartered

Cook chicken in taco seasoning and rotel until no longer pink. Shred with two forks, divide into 4 servings and spoon it onto arugula topped plates. Add 10 grams corn chips, 10 grams cheese, 6 cherry tomatoes, ¼ of avocado and 2 tbsp of salad dressing to each. Eat up! Nutritional Information: 397 calories, carbs, 17 fat grams and 34 protein grams.

I loved it! Austin had it for dinner later and thought it was fabulous as well – this will be a summer staple! (to lower fat, just use less avocado). :) And you guys – that salad dressing is THE BOMB. It’s super flavorful – a little goes a very long way which makes me very happy.

At 5 I headed to the gym for C25k but felt weird. Like REALLY hot and almost dizzy. I walked 5 minutes and ran 12.5 minutes (1.4 miles), then walked the rest at a 5 incline taking me to 3 miles in 38 minutes burning 213 calories. Pretty good workout – hate that C25K didn’t work out but I thought it was more important to listen to my body which said “no running!!” I got home, the pinestraw peeps had come and gone (woop for new pinestraw! Another ‘house’ to-do done!) so I showered, had cereal and we were off to 5 Seasons for Happy Hour with Katie and Chris. We had a few glasses of wine and great convo, then we headed home, cooked 4 servings of beef enchilada casserole and 4 servings of easy Thai curry, had a nightcap miller lite and called it a night! I ended up at 1,884 calories, 151 carbs, 54 fat grams and 83 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Any exciting weekend plans??! We're doing another happy hour Friday night, Saturday will be "house stuff" and gym and Sunday we're going to a farm - should be interesting!!!

What's your favorite salad dressing? This might be mine - i'm going to be eat salads all spring/summer long - woo! Bye bye, soup...hello, salad!

17 comments:

homecookedem said...

Oh! I've had that salad dressing before!! Andrew brought it home for me one time b/c he knows about my deep love for all things cilantro. I loved it!! Your salad sounds awesome!! I love how you cooked your chicken in the rotel. I bet the flavor was perfect!! Have a fabulous Friday!! :)

Unknown said...

I'll have to try that dressing. Trader Joe's can do no wrong!! I really like the balsamic vinaigrette at The Cheesecake Factory!

Erica said...

girl! You have been CRAZY busy. I hope you get in lots of relaxing this weekend. So jealous of your TJs trip (TJS OPEN IN CHARLESTON- RIGHT NOW!!). That dressing sounds fab. The whole salad is just perfect. My favorite dressing is either salsa or a home mix of olive oil, lemon juice, and seasoning. Enjoy the weekend! We're out tonight for a work event for Josh, teaching tomorrow AM and farmers market, to my parents Sunday!

Andrea@WellnessNotes said...

I usually make my own dressing, but I had that dressing before. and it's good! I'll have to buy it again.

Happy Weekend! :)

Mica said...

Ah, I LOVE CILANTRO, it is my favorite herb. (Have we had this discussion already?) It makes me sad because Harrison hates it--he's one of "those" people.

Can I come over to your fancy house and eat delicious cilantro salad with you, please?

april said...

You always make the best recipes!!

Oh, and I'm not sure if you got my response but I do lift with gloves... my hands would be ripped open without them! LOL

Big Pissy said...

Wow! That salad looks SO good!!!!

I want some! :)

Kelly Olexa said...

First of all, I just finished that book "They Did It With Love" and I LOVED IT. I'm so tuning in to your suggestions on books now girl. You got me GOING!! ;-)
Secondly, I just discovered this stuff by Litehouse (in the glass jars, refrigerated) Lite Salsa Ranch. Heaven! and then they have a Jalapeno Ranch, sadly not "light" so it has double the calories but YUMMY!!
I'm into to spicy and saucy! LIKE ME!! hahaha

Anonymous said...

I LOVE cilantro so I need to pick up the salad dressing asap!

Whew, you've been working like crazy lately, lady! Have a restful weekend; you deserve it!

Gabriela said...

The TJ's cilantro hummus is amazing so I can imagine that dressing is great as well! Sounds like you've had an absolutely crazy past few days, hope you get some much deserved R&R this weekend! Have a good one love!!

Kelly Pearce said...

I so wish we had a Trader Joe's in Bham! That dressing sounds delicious-and great for the nice warm weather we've been having. Oh, and there is this cookbook out that is called "trader joe's recipes" - it has lots of great recipes for TJ products (avail on amazon)
What kind of farm are you going to? I love farms!
Happy Easter, hope to see you guys soon!

Lee said...

I've seen that dressing but never tried it. My favorite dressing is the mediterranean one that Whole Foods has on their salad bar. They sometimes sell it too.

Thanks for your C2K advice for Jason. I just told him.

Anonymous said...

I agree, its best to just listen to your body and not over do it.

I'll have to find that dressing the next time I got to TJ's - I love cilantro!

All time favorite dressing??

Annie's Goddess! Totally worth the calories!

Anonymous said...

yum! there are so many things I like about that salad.

Lee said...

I've seen that dressing but never tried it. My favorite dressing is the mediterranean one that Whole Foods has on their salad bar. They sometimes sell it too.

Thanks for your C2K advice for Jason. I just told him.

april said...

You always make the best recipes!!

Oh, and I'm not sure if you got my response but I do lift with gloves... my hands would be ripped open without them! LOL

Kelly Olexa said...

First of all, I just finished that book "They Did It With Love" and I LOVED IT. I'm so tuning in to your suggestions on books now girl. You got me GOING!! ;-)
Secondly, I just discovered this stuff by Litehouse (in the glass jars, refrigerated) Lite Salsa Ranch. Heaven! and then they have a Jalapeno Ranch, sadly not "light" so it has double the calories but YUMMY!!
I'm into to spicy and saucy! LIKE ME!! hahaha