Two Pounds a Week » Meg Makes It on Monday

Meg Makes It On Monday: Chicken Quesadillas

Meg — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 03:20:56 +0000

Hey, friends! Sorry for my absence the past few days. I have been battling a cold and a bit of a blog funk (do you bloggers out there ever hit a writer’s roadblock at times?) since Friday, but I’m feeling a lot better all around today. Good enough, in fact, to make a delicious, Mexican dinner — chicken, black bean and veggie quesadillas. You don’t really need a recipe for these, which I like, because the ingredient possibilities are pretty much whatever is your heart’s (or stomach’s) content. Quesadillas were one of my favorite dinners to make when I was on Weight Watchers, because if you watch your portions and use the right tortillas, they can be relatively low in points (but still really good!)

Here’s the ingredients the husband and I used for tonight’s batch:

Black beans, drained

Cilantro, onion and zucchini

Baby Bella mushrooms

Pan-seared organic chicken tenders, cut into chunks

Two whole-wheat tortillas (you can use one and fold it over to save calories if you like)

We assembled everything on one tortilla and sprinkled the top with cheese.

Put second tortilla on top (or fold over if you are using one tortilla)

Put in a 350 degree oven on a baking sheet for about 10-15 minutes, or until cheese is melted. We switched it over to broil for an additional 3-5 minutes to get the top nice and crisp.

Cut into squares and enjoy with whatever toppings you like. I used a drizzle of ranch sour cream sauce, a few extra sprigs of cilantro and a big helping of fresh salsa — delicioso!

I did, however, make two mistakes. 1. I forgot to spray the baking sheet, so it was a little hard to get off the pan. 2. We didn’t flip the quesadillas over to broil, so the bottom was a little less crispy than the top. But they were still wonderful and filling! I loved the zucchini in this — definitely making a comeback. The entire dish (with two tortillas) was right around 400 calories, which isn’t too shabby for a nutritious, complete dinner.

I’ve decided that this is going to be my last official “Meg Makes It On Monday” for awhile. I’m still going to share recipes and meal ideas as I get them, just not on the same day every week. I would still love recipe ideas from all you budding chefs out there, so if you would like yours featured on my blog, please e-mail me at twopounds2@yahoo.com.

Question for the readers: What are your favorite quesadilla ingredients?

In baby news…

I’ll leave you tonight with a picture JD took of me on Friday. Someone is definitely starting to show!

Night, night!

Meg Makes It On Tuesday: Sweet Potato Soup

Meg — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 03:21:12 +0000

I’m feeling a little better today, but the pains are still going. At least they’ve worn down in intensity, but now my lower back is starting to throb. I need some new parts! Ha Ha!

The husband isn’t feeling so hot himself (sinus troubles), so I thought a good batch of soup would be the perfect supper for a couple of sad sacks like us. We had three sweet potatoes that needed to be cooked, so I went in search of a soup that they would be of good use in. I thought this recipe from the Food Network sounded good, and simple to make. So without further adieu, here’s a little recap in pics!

Sorry this pic is so dark! I couldn’t get it to lighten up!

This soup was sooo good! It was creamy and had a wonderful flavor with all the spices mixed in. It really reminded me of fall, and this girl loves some fall! We doubled the recipe so there’s plenty of yummy leftovers for lunch.

I’m going to cap off the night with a Popsicle and the rest of The Office marathon. I love that show!

And a big thanks to Brittany for passing a Beautiful Blogger Award to me. Made my day! I had one passed back to me awhile ago from Steph as well, (thanks, girl!) so I will get to 14 random facts about me tomorrow. For now…goodnight!

Brain freeze

Meg — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 03:07:46 +0000

I realized today that I completely forgot to do my usual “Meg Makes It On Monday” this week. Oops! Maybe my absent mindedness was because I had the day off, or all the cold weather put my memory into a frozen stupor, or it could be the early onset of “Mommy Brain.” Whatever the reason may be, my apologies to everyone for the oversight, and I will make it up to you. No not next Monday — TONIGHT! I made an awesome chicken recipe, compliments of my wonderful mother, and wanted to share it with you guys. So let’s get cookin’!

You only need three main components for this dish:

Rice — I used whole grain brown, but white or other varieties will work as well
One can Cream of Mushroom soup. I have two in the picture, but a quick call to mom confirmed one can is plenty! I used the regular kind, but you can always sub for a lower fat or sodium soup.
Pack of boneless, skinless chicken breasts. We got organic chicken for a great price at Publix. I love deals!

Now that you know the top-secret ingredients, here’s the instructions:

Cover the bottom of an ungreased baking dish with a thin layer of rice

Pour in just enough water to cover the rice

(you can use chicken stock instead of water, which I forgot to do. What is with my brain?!)

Add chicken breasts — these look gigantic, but they cooked down a lot! Sprinkle with your favorite seasonings — I used a little bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder

“Frost” (as my mom says) the chicken/rice mixture with the Cream of Mushroom soup until completely saturated

Cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for 90 minutes

When done, enjoy!

The chicken was so delicious and tender! I had half a cup of the rice (terrific flavor with the mushroom soup!) and a few spoons of sliced carrots and zucchini. Of course it wasn’t as good as my mom makes, but definitely a close contender. The husband gave it a thumbs up, too! If you decide to try it out yourself, let me know what you think.

On the exercise front, I’ve worked out 3 days in a row! I’m so proud! It’s been so hard to get motivated with the nausea and sleepiness, but I’m starting to feel so much better now that I’m getting farther along in my pregnancy. (13 weeks today to be exact — baby is the size of a peach. Too cute!) Only 2 more workouts to go before reward time — and I think my feet I already know what I want.

I hope you all are having a fantastic week! Goodnight.

Meg Makes It On Monday: Sesame-Orange Shrimp

Meg — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 04:18:45 +0000

I’ve had all kinds of crazy cravings since I found out I was pregnant in December. Some I don’t mind indulging in, like my lime obsession that started last week. (I seriously ate one like an orange last night…I can’t get enough!) But others, like cake and Chinese food, have to be kept in moderation. If not, I’d eat copious amounts of said foods in my current state of all-day hunger, and I don’t want to gain an unhealthy amount of weight!

So, I was having a Chinese food attack tonight, and I thought I’d look online for a healthy recipe that would curb my craving and make my raging appetite believe it was the greasy takeout it begged for. I came across this recipe on Delish.com (love the name!) for sesame-orange shrimp, and headed to the store about 15 minutes later for the few ingredients I didn’t already have in the fridge or pantry. It was really simple to make and didn’t that long to get on the table. Here’s a little recap in photos of the preparation:

The recipe didn’t call for vegetables, but JD and I added them for a little color and extra nutrients. The verdict? I’d give this dish a 3 out of 5. I really liked the citrus flavor of the sauce, and the slight crunch of the sesame seeds on the shrimp. JD and I agreed the corn starch batter was a bit much, but that could have been an error on my part. I followed the instructions verbatim, but the batter didn’t really coat the shrimp and mainly fell off in the pan. My end product didn’t look a thing like the picture, but I guess as the saying goes, you can’t hit a home run every time. LOL

This would have been even better over rice or noodles, but since we were having a late dinner, we skipped the extra carbs. I made a double batch, so I may just have to have some for lunch tomorrow and see how it tastes with some brown rice. Yum!

As always, if you have a recipe you’d like me to feature for “Meg Makes It On Monday,” e-mail me at twopounds2@yahoo.com.

I hope you all had a fantastic Monday, and have a wonderful, healthy week!

Meg Makes It On Monday: Blueberry-Lime Mocktails

Meg — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 04:46:42 +0000

I had a pretty tough day at work, so I thought a cold, fun drink when I got home would be the perfect stress reliever. But since I’m pregnant, I of course opted for a mocktail instead of a cocktail! Ha Ha!

I looked online for some low-calorie tasty beverages, and came across this recipe from Eating Well for Blueberry-Lime Margaritas. While you can make these “naughty” with a few ounces of tequila, the virgin version is still refreshing and delicious! Considering margaritas are notorious for having a boatload of calories, 125 a serving isn’t too shabby when it comes to cocktail mocktail hour! And this beverage is loaded with antioxidants, potassium and Vitamin C. Cheers to that!

The ingredients

The recipe calls for blueberry nectar, which my grocery store didn’t carry. So the store clerk helping me suggested I sub the nectar for a Blueberry B Odwalla Vitamin & Fruit Smoothie Blend. Perfect to up the vitamins in the drink!

Blended

We don’t have margarita glasses, so my favorite Mikasa wine glasses had to do. JD rubbed the rims with fresh lime, then dipped them in kosher sea salt. I love the blend of sweet + salty!

Enjoy! (And please excuse the hair…it was raining when we left the grocery store. Eeekk!)

I hope you all had a wonderful Monday! If you have any recipes that you would like me to try for Meg Makes It On Monday, please leave a comment or e-mail me at twopounds2@yahoo.com.

Good night!

Meg Makes It On Monday: Egg White Pizza

Meg — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 03:31:19 +0000

I love breakfast food. And having it at dinner time just makes it taste even better to me. I also love pizza, and when contemplating what to make for our evening meal, I thought, why not marry the two into one delicious, healthy dish? Hence, egg white pizza was born.

I needed a “crust,” so I whisked 6 egg whites in a bowl (a little yolk ended up in the mix, hence the yellow color), added a dash of salt and pepper, and put the liquid in a saucepan on medium-high heat. (I sprayed the pan first with cooking spray.)

The husband was in charge of flipping, and he cooked the eggs just enough to have the outside done, but still slightly under done in the middle since we were going to put this in the oven. We did this times 2 so we both had a personal pie.

Once the eggs were cooked, he put them on a sprayed baking sheet, and I added sauce — two tablespoons of sundried tomato spread. Pizza or tomato sauce should work as well, but this spread gave the pizza a wonderful, rich flavor.

Then came the toppings! Of course you can change these out for your own favorites, but I highly recommend the prosciutto. Delish!

(Note: I have read on several reputable pregnancy sites that pregnant women can eat deli meat, as long as it is heated until steaming hot. However, I am not a health professional, so if you are pregnant and have concerns about certain foods, consult your physician.)

1/4 cup prosciutto
chopped green pepper
chopped mushrooms
a few sprigs cilantro
spinach
1/2 cup monterey jack cheese

Ready for the oven! Mine is on the left; JD’s on the right. Doesn’t the egg look like crust?!

We broiled these in a 500 degree oven for 5-7 minutes. The cheese was perfectly golden and bubbly. Mmm…

The finished product!

JD and I were a little weary about how this would taste, but we both loved it! I think this would be a great brunch dish to share with family or friends. The whole pie was about 420 calories. Almost half of that was for the cheese, so you could always use a lower-calorie variety or less of it if you want to cut the calories down a bit. But 420 isn’t bad for dinner, and it is super filling! I almost couldn’t finish it.

Hope you enjoy!

***

On an exercise note, I don’t get a reward for last week. I didn’t work out on Saturday or Sunday, because I basically spent most of my time sleeping or trying to keep my food down. (Seriously, I ate almost half a sleeve of Saltines last night to tame the nausea, then fell asleep in a cracker stupor. Baby sure loves the carbs!)

I felt a lot better today, so I started the week off right by working out for almost an hour — hooray! I did Summer Sanders Prenatal Workout DVD, and I really like it! It was about 55 minutes of light cardio, strength training and even some yoga moves. I’ll definitely be adding it to my exercise regimen.

I have a very dirty kitchen calling my name, so I guess I better go for now. I hope you all have a wonderful, healthy week!

Meg Makes It on Monday: Cranberry golden pumpkin muffins

Meg — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 03:36:07 +0000

In honor of our good news today, I thought I’d get in the kitch and do a little celebratory baking. I bought an all-natural golden pumpkin muffin mix on a whim recently at T.J. Maxx (who knew a discount clothing store also carried discount mixes, candy and other foodie goodies?) and thought tonight would be the perfect opportunity to try it out.

Only a few extra ingredients were required — an egg, 1/4 cup vegetable oil and 3/4 cup water. (To make them even healthier, you can swap 1/3 cup applesauce for the oil, and two egg whites for the whole egg. )

Put it all in a bowl, and mix it until it looks like this:

This was about as thick as peanut butter!

I wanted to add a little something to the batter, so I put it two fun-size boxes of dried cranberries.

Then it was time to fill the baking cups — this got a little messy!

Into a 400-degree oven for 18 minutes and…

Presto! Muffins!

My whole house smelled like Fall after baking these babies. They were so delicious, fluffy and not too shabby on the calories! One muffin has 130 calories, 0 grams of fat and 2 grams of protein. No fiber, unfortunately, but still a good fix for the ol’ sweet tooth. I may have had two. (All tracked in Babyfit.com, promise!)

P.S. — All those pans in the background are clean. I just haven’t put them away yet.

As you can see, I’m in workout gear, and I need to get on it before it gets too late. And before I talk myself out of it. Ha!

Have a great evening, guys!

Meg Makes It On Monday: Husband Edition

Meg — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 03:39:28 +0000

Exhausted. Stressed. Hungry. I was all of those today — times a bazillion! I think the hustle and bustle of Jessica’s wedding weekend waited until today to send me into sleepy submission. And while my newly married friend is probably lounging on the beaches of Jamaica and eating steak and lobster, I was scurrying between my cubicle and hers, answering e-mails, shaking the dust off my design skills to put our weekly newsletter together (Fun fact about me: my first job out of college was a copy editor/page designer for a daily paper), and all around trying to fill the editor shoes that Jessica so easily puts on every day. Oh, and get my own job done along with all that. (Another fun fact: We work in communications in case you were wondering.)

I was very ill prepared for such a time-crunched day. While I did pack breakfast, I figured I could go grab Subway or something for lunch since I was (of course) running late this morning. FAIL. Before I realized it, it was 2 p.m., and I hadn’t eaten anything since my 8 a.m. yogurt bowl. DOUBLE FAIL. (Although the peach Chobani was a success — very tasty!)

Loved the peach pieces! My usual banana and Kashi GoLean were in the mix.

So figuring it was too late to get something, my lunch (gasp!) came out of the vending machine. Oh, the horror! It was a pack of peanut butter crackers, and no veggies or real nutrients left me feeling cranky panky! I think my husband could tell I was in NO mood and had zero energy to cook for Meg Makes It On Monday (could have been the fact I was draped across our couch for a good hour), so being the absolute sweet man he is, fish, sweet potatoes and English peas were soon prepared and placed before me. What a guy!! I did get somewhat creative with the tilapia and made a terrific sandwich with it that I may eat again for lunch tomorrow. (I’m swearing off any further emergency trips to the vending machine, no matter how busy I am. Scouts honor.)

This is an Earthgrain thin bun, 1 tablespoon feta cheese, 1 tablespoon avocado, 4 ounces tilapia, spinach and a teaspoon of light mayo. Complimented with a cup each of peas and sweet potato fries (Can you tell we like those?) Simple, mood-boosting deliciousness!

I felt completely better after this meal! So much better in fact, that I got in my very first running training session. We took the dog out for his usual 2-mile walk, and I thought I’d take advantage of the warmer temperatures and hit the pavement in preparation for my very first race in February. I didn’t follow a running program for this one. I just mixed walking with 2- and 3- minute increments of jogging. Before I knew it, I had 15 minutes under my belt! I was so proud — pretty good for a first-timer, don’t you think? I checked out the Couch to 5k Program online when we got home, and I think I’m only supposed to run for 60 seconds, then walk 90 seconds for a total of 20 minutes. I ran almost double that (I’m seriously shocked!) but I will probably follow their regimen from now on. I don’t want to do too much too soon. (I’ve already gone through the repercussions of that!)

I’m off to catch up on blogs and then get some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow’s going to be a doozie! Night, night!

Meg Makes It On Monday: Smoooothie

Meg — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 04:06:15 +0000

So, I have a confession to make: I’m a pretty big bore when it comes to breakfast. Did you know this already?

If you keep up with my blog, you know I ♥ my yogurt bowls. About 99 percent of the time, my bag of eats that I take to work every day consists of: a banana, a Tupperware of Kashi GoLean cereal and a container of Chobani yogurt. It’s a great blend of protein and carbs and quick to put together when you stay in bed too long like I tend to do. But if variety is the spice of life, I think my a.m. meals need a big heaping spoon dash of salt!

So, I decided to be a bit of a copycat and try something I’ve seen on many blogs I read — a protein-packed smoothie. I was a bit hesitant — would thickish liquid truly fill me up? Would I be hungry 20 minutes later and attack the snack machine? Could I go a morning without my beloved Chobani? I’ve had smoothies before, but usually they were the chocolate variety that has a day’s worth of calories in, oh, a couple sips. But, no worries. My green-tinted shake kept my tummy full and snarky hunger monster in timeout until lunch. And I may or may not have snuck my favorite yogurt in the mix.

Here’s the magic potion:

Eight tablespoons organic Living Harvest Hemp Protein powder

Two more-brown-than-yellow bananas

Two cups Silk soy milk. Regular or Hemp milk could also be used.

Two handfuls of spinach -- couldn't even taste it!

One container Chobani plain yogurt -- old habits die hard.

Throw everything into a blender

Done!

A bubbly breakfast delight!

I actually split this into two containers, so I have an extra for tomorrow. Calories equal about 385 for 15 ounces. Delish!

Off to watch “Four Christmases.” I’m a big fan of Reese Witherspoon, so I hope she doesn’t disappoint.

What’s your favorite smoothie flavor?

If you do the wine, you’ve got to do the time

Meg — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 23:25:00 +0000

Well, I managed to make it through Jessica’s bridal shower without shoving maidzilla into a closet. It was a really nice party, and Jessica said she loved everything. I was so nervous about making several dishes because I’m not used to cooking for crowds, but I luckily got rave reviews on the egg and sausage and hashbrown casseroles. Whew! I sampled them myself, and I have to say they were pretty yum. If you would like the recipes, e-mail me at twopounds2@yahoo.com. (Warning: While delicious, these aren’t the healthiest of dishes. Ha!) Along with pumpkin bread, sausage balls, fruit and a few Mimosas, I was stuffed!

Mimosa and punch table

Shower game gifts — very fall appropriate!

Digging in

The happy bride-to-be — that smile was worth all the work!

I have to say I wasn’t on my best portion behavior Saturday or Sunday night. Some friends and I went out for Mexican food Saturday night, and while my tacos weren’t too bad in calories, the chips and cheese I scarfed down sure were!

Sunday I did pretty good eating wise, and took Tex for an hour walk. But that night, I had a couple of glasses of wine, and WAY too many pita chips and pine nut Sabra hummus. Seriously, that hummus could lead to addiction!

So to make up for a few days of overeating, I enrolled myself in my very own boot camp today. I did 40 grueling minutes of Jillian Michaels’ shred workout, and by the end of it, I was so shaky and my face was six shades of red! I was proud of myself though — I didn’t think I’d be able to get through the first 20 minutes, let alone a second round, but I just pushed through it. I followed that with two miles of walking with Tex. I almost shortened that workout too because my legs were so tired, but in true boot camp style, I wouldn’t let myself take the easy way out. Hopefully, my efforts today erased some of the mistakes of yesterday. I’m learning through this process that I’m not always going to be perfect, and that’s ok. There will be times that I eat too much or skip a workout, but I can’t dwell on it and get down on myself. I just have to move forward and concentrate on making good choices for the day ahead.

Meg Makes It on Monday

I actually made tonight’s “Meg Makes It on Monday” meal last night for dinner, but it was so good, I still wanted to share it. My coworker, Janet, gave me a recipe for chicken enchilada soup awhile back, and it has become one of my favorite cool-weather suppers. (And man, was it chilly last night! Brr…) I altered it a bit and used ground turkey instead of chicken, but I think any protein (i.e. ground beef, tofu) would work in this dish:

4 oz. light Velveeta cheese
10 oz. chopped chicken breast (boiled without skin)
1 medium onion (chopped)
2 cans niblett corn (undrained)
2 cans pinto beans (I used organic beans)
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1 tsp garlic pepper

Mix all ingredients except cheese. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in cheese and let simmer until cheese melts.

The recipe says 1 cup equals about two Weight Watcher points.

Enjoy!!

I’m sad to see my three-day weekend come to a close. But it’s always nice to have a short work week. Hope everyone has a great one!