WIAW: Healthy Eggplant Falafel "Burgers"

Hello, hello!
It's time again for another What I Ate Wednesday!  Yay!

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Breakfast: Egg White Sandwich

For breakfast I cooked up 2 egg whites and topped them with colby jack cheese.  A whole wheat English muffin makes it a yummy sandwich!  I put the berries on my plate, but totally did not feel like eating them, so I saved them for later.

No time for a morning snack today!  The office where I work is very busy this time of year.  Sometimes I lose track of time when buried in paperwork.

Lunch: Salmon on Salad

For lunch I brought out some leftover Pesto Baked Salmon (<--click for recipe by GZ on The Kitchen!  Love that show!) and a little leftover spinach brown rice and broccoli.  I put it on a bed of romaine lettuce and baby spinach with a little lite caesar dressing.  Very fresh and delish.
Oh--I totally forgot to take a picture of my dessert, which was a chai latte powder mix.  It was a nice, sweet finish to the meal.

After lunch, I started snacking on candy--dangerous!

Lemonheads are my absolute favorite candy (and have been for years).  Although I could go nuts on them and eat a million, I portioned out exactly 20 pieces for 100 calories.  #treatyoself

Afternoon Snack: Yogurt & Berries

Around 4 p.m., my tummy told me I needed a snack.  Out came the berries from breakfast and a yogurt I had stashed in the work fridge.

Looks gross, but it did the trick.

Dinner: Eggplant Falafel Burger, Sweet Potato & Roasted Veggies

Sometimes I want something a bit different for dinner.  We had some wheat buns that we didn't end up using last week, so I was trying to think of an easy veggie burger to make.  So, I made this delicious greek inspired "burger" along with a microwaved sweet potato and roasted cauliflower & broccoli.  Winner winner, veggie dinner!!

Healthy Eggplant Falafel "Burgers" 
makes 4 patties

1 medium-large eggplant, peeled & sliced into circles
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/4 cup diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
handful of fresh herbs (I used parsley and cilantro)
1/2 tsp greek seasoning
salt & pepper to taste
1 egg
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
olive oil, for cooking

Brush the eggplant circles with olive oil on both sides and salt and pepper lightly.  Cook the eggplant until done.  You can roast it in the oven if you want.  I used my stove top grill pan and just grilled it on both sides until it was done (maybe 5 minutes on each side).
Throw cooked eggplant and all other ingredients in food processor and blend until combined.  Split the mixture into 4 and patty it out.  It would be ideal to chill this for a little while in the fridge..but ain't nobody got time for that.
Cook your patties on an oiled griddle and be very careful when flipping them.  Cook for about 8 minutes on each side.
Serve with lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce on a wheat bun!

tzatziki sauce
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/4 cup cucumber innards (split the cucumber longways and scoop out the middle with a spoon)
pinch greek seasoning
salt & pepper

Mix it all up with a spoon and you're done!

These veggie burgers were super simple, yet full of flavor and very satisfying.  Try them!!! :)

After dinner, I enjoyed one of these tasty beverages.

So good!
Then I had one of these ice cream sandwiches.
I love ice cream sandwiches, because they are preportioned treats.  Sometimes I might go overboard portioning out my own desserts ;)
So for 180 calories, these babies are worth it!

Well, have a great rest of the week!  Here's a Bizzy picture...just because.

WIAW: Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice & Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake {2 Recipes!}

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I'm back!  I haven't fallen off the face of the planet or anything.  I just sometimes need a little bloggy break (said the girl who blogs once a week--ha ha!).

Back with daily eats.  This day has 2 really good recipes I will share with you!

Breakfast: Egg Toast & Berries

This is basically how my breakfasts have looked for a week now.  Over easy egg, wheat toast, strawberries & coffee.  It's a no brainer!

Snack: Cereal

Back to my cereal snack after a hiatus of about 2 weeks.  I love, love, love chocolate toast crunch!
Everybody keeps their froyo spoons for cereal, right?
Nope, just me?  Okay...

Lunch: Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley

Today we had the BEST lunch leftovers ever!!!  Got this recipe from Bev Cooks and totally didn't even look at the recipe while cooking.  Typical of me, really.  Here's how I made my version:

Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley
serves 4

3 big, frozen chicken breasts, thawed and diced.
curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper
1 cup jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 ear of corn, cooked, then cut off the cob
1 cup baby kale, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp coconut oil (maybe more)
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 lime

Get your jasmine rice, cilantro and coconut milk in a rice cooker.  For some reason, mine did not cook it completely in the 20 minute run time, so I turned the cooker back on and added 1/2 cup of chicken broth (so it would not run out of liquid).  Season the rice, once it's cooked, with some salt (to taste).
Heat a large skillet on medium heat, add oil to coat, throw in the zucchini, squash, onion and peppers to cook for about 7 minutes, then throw in the kale and corn.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet, add more oil if needed and throw your chicken in to cook.  Season liberally with curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper.
Serve it up, squeeze some lime over the top and garnish with cilantro.
Soooo goooooodd!!!!

Snack: Orange Veggie Puffs

I brought an orange to work, but was too lazy to peel it.  I snacked on some of these when I got home.  Because...veggies, am I right?

Dinner: Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 

This was a really good meal!  It is pretty healthy and meatless.
Plus it made a ton, which I promptly packed up for lunches for the week!
I served it up alongside some roasted brussels sprouts.

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 
serves 6-8

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb frozen spinach, cooked per package directions

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

2 tbsp lite butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup reduced fat milk

1/2 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese

Salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Parmesan Panko Topping:

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

canola oil spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook quinoa in rice cooker. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and artichoke hearts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the pan.

In the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons of lite butter and flour and heat over medium heat. Whisk continuously until a paste forms. Whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium/high and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. 

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, spinach and artichoke mixture, flour/milk mixture and greek yogurt. Stir well. Stir in the shredded mozzarella and feta cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.To make the topping, combine Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the quinoa bake and spray with canola oil.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod

We had this for lunch today and it's really good as leftovers!

After dinner, I made a quick little mug cake by combining 2 tbsp dry sugar free devils food cake mix with 2 tbsp almond milk and microwaved for 45 seconds.

Topped with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, it was not a bad end to the day.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

WIAW: Cheesy Buffalo Meatloaf "Muffins" {30 Minute Meal!}

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Hello!  Happy Wednesday, all!

Got some fun eats to share with you today :)

Breakfast: Waffles!

Just some frozen waffles this morning.  But they were oh so good!  I buy these Walmart brand buttermilk waffles for my guy and decided to try some for myself.  For 150 calories for two, they are almost as nutritionally sound as my beloved Eggo Nutrigrain low fat waffles (that I usually eat).  Topped with strawberries and sugar free syrup and paired with some coffee, it was a yummy start to the day!

Morning Snack: Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is leftover from our Sunday brunch, and I'm really glad I packed it for a snack.  I have been feeling very blah about fruit lately, but it is probably because I'm eating the same apple or orange everyday.  This fruit was so tasty and refreshing that it made me crave more!

Lunch: Leftovers

I packed up some leftovers from Monday night's dinner to eat for lunch today.  This is actually a picture of my boyfriend's meal, because my salmon fell apart and looked pitiful in the picture.  Ha!

I just seasoned some thawed frozen salmon with salt and pepper and covered it in honey BBQ sauce.  Then I broiled it for about 4-5 minutes until it flaked apart (I tested the edge of a piece).  The sweet potato and frozen veggies were made in the microwave.  Talk about a quick dinner!

For lunch dessert I had a very deceptive coupon for Starbucks...it was 25% off, and with me not being very math savvy, I thought this was great!  But, it was just a discount of 81 cents- ha ha!  See, it pays to do math!

Oh, well.  Still good!

I got an iced coffee with soy milk and sweetened with a Splenda..and a lovely salted caramel cake pop.

Bizzy fell asleep in the backseat after all the fun times she had on our lunch walk and playing with her best (dog) friend, Reggie.  She's so cute!

"She's taking my picture again, isn't she?" 

My afternoon at work was quite busy, so I held off on a snack until I got home.

I had a piece of 35 calorie bread toasted and smeared with natural crunchy peanut butter.  My favorite pre-workout snack (who are we kidding..it's my favorite snack for any time!)

After boot camp, I headed home to make a 30 minute meal!

Dinner: Cheesy Buffalo Meatloaf "Muffins" & Roasted Vegetables

I wish I had more patience when taking my dinner pictures-lol!  But I am always ravenous by the time everything comes together, I just want to snap a quick pic and be done with it.  Well, hopefully it all translates as super appetizing  because it was!

I was going to make buffalo turkey burgers, but wanted something a little different, so I made some mini meatloaves in a muffin tin.  So much flavor in these little guys!  I actually went back for a third muffin after the pictures!

Here's the recipe:

Cheesy Buffalo Meatloaf "Muffins"
serves 4 (depending on how hungry you are)

1 lb lean ground turkey (or chicken or beef)
1/4 cup diced red onion
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small-medium zucchini, shredded
1/2 cup diced mushrooms
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
3 tbsp buffalo wing sauce
1/4 cup crumbled bleu cheese
salt and pepper
3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees and grease 8 muffin tins with non-stick cooking oil.
Heat a small skillet  to medium heat (on the stove with non-stick spray) and saute the onions and garlic for 3-4 minutes.  Add that and all other ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined.
Evenly divide the meat into 8 muffin tins, top with shredded cheese and extra buffalo sauce before baking, if desired (I used a little Italian blend cheese).
Bake for 25 minutes.  I drained mine on a paper towel after because of the extra moisture from the veggies.

Serve with roasted veggies (mine was cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts and mushrooms tossed in coconut oil and baked for 25 minutes in 425F degree oven).

Seriously.  Try them!

After dinner, I had a lite ice cream sandwich and then Bizzy and I played with her new fox toy (I call it "Foxy Cleopatra.")

picture recycled from here

Have a great rest of the week!!

WIAW: Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole

Hello, hello!  Happy Wednesday to you all :)

We've had a break in the cold weather and finally get to walk the dogs again (as you can see above).  Bizzy and Reggie are very happy about it, indeed. (My boyfriend is so nice to pose for a picture with them.  He looks thrilled, no?)

Wanna talk about food?  Ok, let's do it!

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Breakfast: Half PB English Muffin & Fruit Smoothie

I made a quick breakfast this morning of half of a toasted wheat English muffin smeared with natural peanut butter.  I also made a fruit smoothie that I didn't finish (until snack time).  It contained: 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup cherries, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, a sweetener packet and almond milk.  Yum!
Oh, I also had coffee.  It rarely makes it to the breakfast picture...

A.M. Snack: Muffin Top & Shake

I used to buy Vita Tops all the time, but found out Target had their own version of this 100 calorie delight for $2 less!  So, I had a chocolate muffin top with the rest of my shake from earlier.

Lunch: Taco Stuff Sweet Potato & Roasted Veggies

This looks like a mess in a bowl, but it was the most delicious lunch ever!  In the bowl is a medium sweet potato that I baked, topped with taco stuff (93% lean ground turkey cooked with diced chilies, corn and black beans) and cilantro, surrounded by roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts.  Pure amazingness.
Anyways, I ate this after we took the pups on a great lunch walk!

P.M. Snack: Cheerios!

I had brought an apple to work for afternoon snack but did not get a chance to eat it.  So, I made a snack to eat when I got home of 1/2 cup of Chocolate Crunch Cherrios with almond milk.  Bizzy watched.

Then I went to p.m. boot camp to get my twice weekly butt-kicking.;)

Dinner: Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole

Dinner was very tasty and simple to throw together.
I had made roasted cauliflower, brussels and broccoli on Monday, so my veggies were already cooked and ready for a casserole.  In case you are curious on how I roast my veggies, I usually cut them all about the same size, toss them in some sort of oil (here I used 1 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil), season them with salt and garlic powder and roast them for 25 minutes at 425 degrees.  I heart roasted veggies.  Forever-ever.

Here's how I made it:

Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole
serves 4

2 large chicken breasts, diced and cooked
1 cup roasted broccoli
1 cup roasted cauliflower & brussels sprouts
1 recipe of faux-fredo sauce (below)
1 cup quinoa, cooked (I didn't have quite enough quinoa to make this, so I added some whole wheat couscous to make this a full cup)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup of shredded cheese for the topping (I used Muenster)

Combine all except shredded cheese. Grease an 8x8 pan (with non stick cooking spray) and pour it all in.  Top with cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes.

"Faux-fredo" Sauce
makes 1 1/2 cups of sauce

1 1/2 tbsp light butter spread
1/4 cup flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss Lite cheese
salt & pepper

Heat a small skillet to low-medium and add butter and garlic.  Once the butter has melted, add in flour and whisk.  Pour the chicken broth in and whisk some more.  Let this cook for about 5 minutes on low-medium heat.

If you like this, you should check out my cajun quinoa casserole!

Clearly I have no patience for food photography when I'm hungry-ha!  Oh well...

For dessert I had a 100 calorie ice cream sandwich.  Bizzy watched.

Here's a picture of my little Bizzy girl after our walk yesterday.  Doesn't she look like a sleepy sea lion?

Ok, have a great week!  Thanks for reading :)

WIAW: Sweet Potato Chicken Enchilada Crunch

Hello, hello!!

Well, we finally had a little bit of snow here in the south.  By a "little bit" I mean it melted well before lunchtime.

But, it was Bizzy's first snow, so we had to get out there and take some pictures of her reaction.  She kind of loved it.  Doesn't she look like a deer in the snow above?  I love her deerly (sorry, couldn't resist).

Ok, onto the food stuff!

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I guess it's "Love your Veggies" month.  Cool.  I got a couple veggies in today..

Breakfast: 1/2 Bagel with Egg, Berries

My love affair with the over easy egg continues.  We bought bagels this past weekend, which we almost never do, but we wanted to try this bagel quiche (worth it!).  We did get whole wheat bagels, so that's something.  I had half of a wheat bagel with a Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedge and an over easy egg.
Fresh strawberries and coffee on the side!

Such a satisfying start to the day!

Bizzy smelled the egg cooking and came to beg.  I think this is the only picture I have of her sitting in her "beg" stance..my hand is just petting her, not holding her up or anything.

Lunch: Stuffed Pepper Soup

I actually did not have time for a morning snack.  Usually I make time, but I had forgotten to pack a snack..and that really helped my decision making process ;)

So, I was starving at lunchtime.  Had a bowl of leftover Stuffed Pepper Soup.  I made a few changes to the recipe.  I added celery, carrot and 3 kinds of peppers.  So yummy!

For dessert I had a whole wheat cookie that I made Sunday.  This picture makes it look huge, but it was really about an average sized cookie.

Snack: Apple

Since I had lunch with my boyfriend, I asked him to bring me an apple for snack (since I ran out of the house forgetting to pack snacks).  I enjoyed it thoroughly.

But was hungry after work, so had a 35 calorie (healthy life, I think is the brand) piece of toast with Skippy natural crunchy peanut butter.

I needed this fuel for boot camp.  It was a booty burner for sure, with squats, lunges, dead lifts and more.  Wowzer.

 Dinner: Sweet Potato Chicken Enchilada Crunch & Broccoli

This dinner.  I mean.  It was epic.  Looks like a mess, but was so perfect.

I was in Subway last week getting a turkey sandwich for lunch and noticed they have a new sandwich.  This is it:

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Enchilada drenched shredded chicken with cheese and Fritos on a flatbread.  Sounds innocent enough.
Nope!
I looked it up and a 6" is 580 calories.  That's insane.

So, I took inspiration from that sandwich and created my own chicken enchilada crunch.
I was going to put this on a Hungry Girl Flatbread, but decided I'd rather have it on a sweet potato.

I am obsessed with sweet potatoes.

This is really, really good.  You should try it!

Sweet Potato Chicken Enchilada Crunch
serves 4

3 chicken breasts
3 tbsp taco seasoning
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup corn chips (like Fritos--you can buy them in the little, bitty bags at the gas station..good portion control so you don't have a giant bag of chips in your house to tempt you!)
4 medium sweet potatoes

For the chili lime cheese sauce:

2 tbsp lite butter (like I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tbsp flour

1/2 can green chilies

2 tbsp lime juice

1/2-3/4 cup chicken broth

3 Laughing Cow Swiss cheese wedges
salt & pepper to taste

Heat a medium sized skillet on medium heat, coating the bottom of the pan with non-stick spray.  Season your chicken breasts and sear both sides in the pan, cover with enchilada sauce and cover the pan with a lid until the chicken can be shredded with forks (about 10-15 min).  Shred chicken and leave in the sauce for a few minutes to absorb.

While the chicken is cooking, microwave some sweet potatoes (I washed and pierced 4 medium sweet potatoes and microwaved them in a gallon Ziploc for about 13 minutes) and make your sauce.

For the sauce, heat a small sauce pan to medium and melt butter, add garlic and cook for a minute.  Add flour and whisk around.  Pour in a little chicken broth and whisk lumps out.  Add chilies, lime juice and additional chicken broth until it is the thickness you want.  It will thicken a little more upon cooking.  Add the cheese wedges, breaking up with your whisk.  Season with salt and pepper.

OMG, the sauce is so good!

Lay out your sweet potatoes on individual plates (I put two of mine in to-go containers for lunches) and smash them open with a fork.  Season with salt and pepper.
Add 1/4 of the shredded chicken to each potato (it's probably about 1/2 cup of chicken), top with sauce and a sprinkle of Fritos.

Add cilantro to the top, if desired.

Holy yum!

That's it for me!

Have a lovely rest of the week!