What I Ate Wednesday: Southwestern Loaded Sweet Potatoes & Project Lean and Clean

Well, hello there!  Welcome to me talking about food.  Which is basically all the time, but it is in a blog format here ;)
I am still going strong on #projectleanandclean over on Instagram.  I was just telling my guy that as much as it gets to be a pain in the bum to document food for a month, it's really helping me out.  I think I might be inspiring other people to make healthy food that is beautiful, as well.  At least, I hope so.
Here are my eats from yesterday.  So many colors!!!

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Breakfast: Pumpkin Flourless Pancake {Sort Of}

Don't you hate those mornings when pancakes just don't flip right?  Well, in my case it's more of a "flipped it too early" situation.  I tried out this yummy pancake recipe from Shutterbean, and though I did not execute it to its beautiful potential it was still delicious.  Think, pumpkin pie french toast.  That's what it tasted like to me.  And since it broke into pieces I didn't have to cut it!  Lazy win!
Anywho, I had this choppy pumpkin pancake with strawberries and sugar free syrup.  I also had 2 cups of super strong coffee, so I was metaphorically bouncing off the walls.

A.M. Snack: Apple & Rice Cake

For morning snack, I knew my tiny little apple was not going to do the trick, so I smeared some natural peanut butter on a 50 calorie caramel rice cake.  Perfect to hold me over until lunch.

Lunch: Southwestern Loaded Sweet Potato

This is leftover from Monday night's dinner, which was a very quick one.  We had roasted a chicken on Sunday evening, so I stashed the rest of it in the fridge to pick apart later.  Well, maybe I'll just break this down like a recipe for you....

Southwestern Loaded Sweet Potatoes
serves 4

4 medium sweet potatoes

garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste

2 cups of diced cooked chicken (or leftover rotisserie chicken)

1 cup of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 cup of corn, cooked

2-3 cups of fresh spinach

2 tbsp adobo sauce (from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo)

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

cheese for topping, optional

Microwave your sweet potatoes until fork tender.  I put all 4 of my washed sweet potatoes (with a fork prick in each) in a gallon Ziploc that is open about an inch and microwaved it for maybe 11 minutes.  I just see if I can squeeze the potatoes to see if they're done.

Lay the potatoes out (and smash them open) in 4 bowls (I used 2 tupperware containers for lunch the next day) and sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Make your topping by sauteing the spinach in a skillet until wilted.  Remove the spinach and add the diced chicken in there  Add all seasonings and adobo sauce and cook until warm.  Toss the chicken in a bowl with the other topping ingredients and mix.

Top each potato with about 3/4 cup or so of the mixture and serve with cheese on top, if you desire.

Such a perfect, filling and healthy meal!

For dessert, I had made brownies over the weekend using a brownie mix and pumpkin.  That's it.  No eggs or oil.  It makes for a very fudgelike brownie (just mix brownie mix and pumpkin, spread in an 8x8 pan and bake per the directions on the box).  Just the ticket to quelch any chocolate cravings you might be having.  Also, I topped each piece with a pecan half, also.

Yum!

So, I usually have an afternoon snack, but I didn't feel like peeling the orange I brought.  Seriously lazy!

After work, I took Bizzy the Dog on a quick neighborhood walk until it started sprinkling rain on us.  Then I went and did my boot camp workout thing.  Definitely a tough one!

Dinner: Salmon & Grilled Veggie Couscous

I first tried a grilled veggie couscous after seeing it on Bobby Flay's BBQ Addiction and I much prefer his recipe to this one.  This was still good, don't get me wrong, but the Israli couscous and the Japanese eggplant in the other one are just better.  Click on that one to see the recipe.

I made my couscous with

• grilled zucchini
• grilled yellow squash
• quartered and grilled grape tomatoes
• grilled eggplant
• whole wheat couscous (1 cup)
• salt, garlic powder to taste
• drizzle olive oil
• some dried basil

I also grilled up some salmon that I had marinated in teriyaki sauce and garlic.  It was a pretty good dinner.

Well, that's it for me!

In case you missed it: On Friday I made a pretty yummy veggie enchilada stack thingy!  Check it out!

Have a great day and enjoy the sunshine!

WIAW: Southwestern Meatloaf Burgers

Good Morning! (...or good day or good evening...I have no way of knowing when you are reading this.)

It's been another lovely week of fall weather and activities for this gal.  Looks like this week is going to be warmer, though, so I'll probably hold off on making & eating soups for a couple more days.

Anyways, I shall move on to the food, but be sure and come back Friday for a cute little post I have planned.  I know, it's been a while since I've blogged 3 days in one week!

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Breakfast: Cheesy Egg Muffin with Jam

My old favorite breakfast is back!  Egg beaters (1/3 cup), some melty Muenster cheese and strawberry jam on a light whole grain English muffin.

Always a winner!

Yum!

A.M. Snack: Fruit & Bar

This snack was all about convenience foods.  No prep work for me!  These grapefruit segments were kind of bitter, being that there was no sugar, but still pretty good and much easier than cutting a grapefruit myself.

Tried this new Fiber One bar..it's actually "for kids" according to the label, but you're only as young as you feel, am I right?

For only a 110 calories, the bar was pretty yummy and satisfying, but sort of on the small side.

I also drank a Lifewater.  This is my favorite flavor!

Lunch: Tuna Melt Wrap, Pretzels, Carrots

After walking the puppies, I whipped up a quick wrap/quesadilla thingy for lunch that included: a light Flat-Out wrap, prepackaged tuna salad in the pouch (90 calorie pouch), cheese and baby spinach.  I just kind of toasted it on the griddle to get the cheese melty.
On the side I had a couple buffalo flavored pretzel thins and baby carrots.

For dessert:

Gosh, I am really promoting the Fiber One brand today (send me free stuff, Fiber One!!!).

Dinner: Southwestern Meatloaf Burger with Sweet Potato & Broccoli

Dinner was kind of an accident.
Yesterday I was having one of those days...
Those days when I run a little behind for exercise because I was chopping peppers and onions.
The kind of day where I put my contacts in my eyes before exercise and I still have pepper juice on my hands and my eyeballs sting like a thousand burning suns.
It was the kind of day, I don't feel like making a meatloaf.  I don't wanna wait for it to cook.
So I kind of formed this mixture into patties...that barely held together.  But tasted pretty great.

Here's what I used:

Southwestern Meatloaf Burgers
makes 8 patties

olive oil
1 diced jalapeno
1/2 diced poblano pepper
1/2 diced red pepper
1/4 diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 lb lean ground sirloin
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1 can corn
1/2 cup low fat cheese
1/4 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp egg beaters

Coat a pan in a little olive oil and saute the onion and peppers for 5 minutes, add the garlic in and saute for another 2 minutes.  Dump the pepper mixture into a bowl with all other ingredients and mix well.
Form into patties.  I measured each patty with a 1/2 cup measuring cup.
Cook on the most non-stick surface you can find.  I used my pancake griddle sprayed with non-stick spray.  I guess you could also bake these in the oven, if you want.  Cook until done.

For a mistake, they turned out pretty nicely.  Lots of flavor, indeed!

After dinner, I whipped out a delicious frozen yogurt.

I like Ben & Jerry's fro yo flavors, but they are slightly higher in calories than my favorite Kemp brand of frozen yogurt, so I try to portion them in a cone to control my intake.

This was actually the perfect amount.

Bizzy wants some too!  Sorry, Bizz.  No people food for you!

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In case you missed my super rare Monday post: My Favorite Soups & Chilis

Thanks for reading!  Have a lovely rest of the week!