My adventures in tracking

Note to self: GET THE CHOCOLATE OUT OF THE HOUSE!!!

I really wish I didn't like chocolate. I wish my husband didn't either. I racked up more points in chocolate yesterday than I did in wine.

Breakfast:

coffee w/fat free half and half - 0
2 eggs - 4
2 T reduced fat cheese - 1
1 T poblano pepper - 0
3/4 cup mushrooms - 0
1 t coconut oil - 1

Morning Snack:

1/2 small avocado - 2

Lunch:

3 oz chicken breast - 3
1 T Kraft fat free mayo - 0
1 apple - 0

Afternoon Snack:

Smoothie (banana, berries, unsweetened almond milk) - 1

Dinner:

4 oz grilled steak - 5
3 oz grilled scallops - 2
3 oz grilled shrimp - 2
2 glasses wine - 9
veggies - 0

Late Snack:

Hershey's chocolate - 9

Once again, I managed to rack up 40 points.

Hopefully I'll do better today.

Ouch.

Okay, so my experiment yesterday was to not lie to my tracker. Ouch. 40 points. No wonder I am not losing weight. My daily allowance is 26 points. Those peanut m&ms cost me 6 points. FOR A QUARTER CUP! Forget those little crunchy bits of peanutty, chocolatey goodness. I'm going to save my points for something else. Like wine. Harrumph. Yesterday cost me all of my activity points and a few of my weekly points. Dinner wasn't even that bad. I made IKEA meatballs with sauce and veggies for dinner. Not good for a Monday.

So far today:
coffee with 2 T fat free half and half - 0
2 eggs - 4
2 T shredded cheese - 1
1 T poblano pepper - 0
3/4 cup mushrooms - 0
1 t coconut oil - 1

I feel like Dory from Finding Nemo, except that I'm chanting "must keep tracking..."

I'm not going to lie.

That's right. I'm not going to lie. On my tracker. I do, you know. I lie to it all the time. Don't measure, don't count things after dinner. Skip days. Don't include that extra glass of wine. Yup. I'm a liar.

For today, I'm not going to lie. I am going to track everything. The good, the bad, the ugly, it's all going to get tracked.

So far:

Breakfast: 1 cup of coffee w/ 2 T fat free half and half = 0 points
                  1 cup non-fat yogurt = 3 points
                  1 T honey = 2 points

Early lunch: 4 cups salad greens = 0 points
                     4 oz chicken breast = 4 points
                     1/2 cup water chestnuts = 0 points
                     1/2 oz crispy noodles = 2 points
                     3 T Kraft light raspberry vinaigrette = 2 points

I have 13 points left for the day. Not sure what I'm making for dinner, but I'm certain that I'll track it. I don't want to be a liar to you, too.

Perfect summer salad

Summer. The time of year when you can get the most amazing, fresh, in-season produce. In-season is important because it means you can find locally grown fruits and vegetables that were picked at the peak of ripeness and weren't trucked in from across the country, or from another country altogether.

Lucky for me, corn and tomatoes are in season right now in Texas. I wish I could take credit for growing these amazing vegetables, but I can't. I didn't plant tomatoes in my bed at the community garden this year, and I've never had luck growing corn. This year I planted potatoes and onions. I'll plant tomatoes for fall harvest.  Usually I steam or grill a few ears of corn, we'll enjoy them, but I tend to have some left over. Rather than have it go to waste (something I'm really working on), I left a few of the ears uncooked so that I could try making a salad. I'd had black bean based salad in mind, but that isn't what I ended up making. What I ended up with was even better. Feel free to play with the amount of veggies you use, and adjust the dressing quantities to match. I made enough for me for a couple of meals, but this would be fantastic to bring to a cookout.

Sweet Corn and Tomato Salad

3 ears of uncooked sweet corn - kernels removed
1 cup of grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1/4 cup of red onion, finely diced
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar (I used an herb vinegar)
freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 T finely chopped cilantro (optional if you don't like or don't have cilantro)

Cut the kernels off of the corn cobs and combine with all of the other ingredients (except the cilantro)in a large serving bowl. Mix to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour to let the flavors blend and the salad to get nice and cold. Mix in the chopped cilantro before serving.

Enjoy!

Now to dream up something to do with those in-season Texas peaches I picked up yesterday...

Kyra

Bang Bang Sauce. What else would be so appropriate for the Fourth Of July.

I have to admit, I have never been to Bonefish Grill and had never heard of "Bang Bang Shrimp" until Martinus, who I met at Fitbloggin 12, posted a picture of it on Facebook the other day. It. Looked. Delicious. The more I researched it the more I understood that it practically has a cult following. Fried shrimp, crunchy greens, spicy sweet sauce. What's not to love. I do love fried shrimp, but I knew I had been making less than stellar wine um, food choices this week, so I wasn't looking to duplicate their recipe exactly. I had a big bag of defrosted shrimp in my fridge that I was planning on cooking up on The 4th, so I decided to make a leaner grilled version of Bang Bang Shrimp. Delicious, if I do say so myself. Thank you, Martinus, for the idea.





 

Bang Bang Grilled Shrimp

1 lb large shrimp/prawns, cleaned and shelled
1 T garlic powder
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1 t olive oil

Combine the above ingredients in a bowl and let marinate until you're ready to put the prawns on skewers.

Bang Bang Sauce

1/4 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat free mayonnaise
~ 1/4 Mae Ploy (sweet chili sauce)
1-2 T Sriracha sauce (to taste - this stuff is hot!)
1 t rice wine vinegar

Mix all together until smooth. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

If you're grilling, thread the shrimp on skewers and grill over medium heat for about 3 minutes per side, or until they're opaque. You can definitely broil in the oven or cook the shrimp on the stove. I have leftover shrimp in the fridge that I'm planning on cooking up for lunch and having over salad greens with more sauce drizzled on top. The sauce was delicious on my grilled steak, too.

Enjoy!

Kyra