BAM!!!

Sometimes cutting back on portions and making better choices is boring. To me, food needs a little bit of BAM! Something that leaves me satisfied yet wanting more.



Take these chipotle sweet fries from Alexia. 170 calories per serving. Decent, but not enough for a meal.



BAM! Turkey chili, sharp cheddar cheese and light sour cream to the rescue. These additions only add 300 calories, protein and more deliciousness. Perfect lunch.



Take this boring lump of pizza dough. (Ok it's not boring at all. I bought this premade at Trader Joe's since the whole wheat dough was out.)



Throw on some pesto, spinach, artichokes and buffalo chicken meatballs. ANNNNDDDDDD BA (wait for it....)M!!



Topped with a combo of sharp cheddar and pepper jack. I had a tough time portioning out 2 slices.

I seriously kept telling myself, "Leftovers tomorrow, leftovers tomorrow."

How do you add some bam to your food?
How do you keep your portion sizes down?

"I'm hungry for more"

How cool would it be to have Anthony Bourdain's job? Andy and I are settled in for the night watching his show and wishing we could be him for awhile. Imagine eating and travelling for a living? FANTASTIC?



Alas, I lead a normal life. Today I planned on going to the gym after working (!!!) but my knees were killing me so I made today a rest day. After filling out tons of paperwork and watching gag-inducing bloodborne pathogen videos, I made myself lunch. Raw veg and hummus.



Veggie loaded spinach pasta with a dab of pesto and some turkey sausage. This pasta was killer. I added tomatoes, zucchini and crookneck squash to a 1 tsp olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and mixed it in with the pasta.



Dinner was junk food, made a bit healthier. For the burger, I used lean beef. Each burger was 190 calories, 8 grams of fat and 23 grams of protein. I used a whole wheat bun and a slice of pepper jack cheese to make it tastier.



With chipotle sweet potato fries. I use the frozen Alexia brand. Each bag hhas 7 servings but I split it into 4 servings. So I probably ate about 1.75 servings. (ok I'm a nerd!)



And a pickle.



For dessert, I'm having a mini margarita. I used one shot of tequila, one part Trader Joe's Margarita mix (it's lower in sugar than most! loooooove it!) and one part Simply Orange juice. I love making margaritas on nights like these. And the low-sugar mix doesn't spike my blood sugar like most mixes do.

As for the job, it went great because all I did today was watch that horrible video. I am completely freaked out by needles and this video was chockful of them. GAG GAG GAG!!!!

Are you freaked out by needles?

Sweet Potato Fries + Chili

First and foremost, I need to tell you about the fabulous dinner I had with Andy, his parents and grandparents. We had a great time. I love my new family!



We went to Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. I ordered Paneed Chicken and Grits.



Large portions ahead. Beware. And fear not, I only ate half!



The chicken was topped with ham and cheese sort of like a creole version of chicken cordon bleu.



Andy ordered catfish. He said the breading wasn't his favorite but the side dish of potato salad was fabulous. And I HATE potato salad!



For dessert I had a slice of caramel apple cheesecake.



Andy got the bread pudding. I failed to try a bite. GRR



This morning, I was feeling a little queasy and dying for a run. I had a smallish breakfast of one huge honeycrisp apple and a little bit of magic on the side!



Emily, this peanut butter is 10 times better than I expected!!!



After breakfast, I ran 2.13 miles in 25 minutes. For me this is a small miracle. I felt great afterwards.



Lunch was leftovers. They were great! I'm glad I had a light breakfast!



For dinner tonight I made a small salad with pathetic ingredients. All for the $100 november challenge though right? I threw some tomatoes, feta cheese and salsa ranch on some romaine lettuce and called it a salad.





I cheated with the chili. I grabbed a can of Hormel Turkey Chili and threw in the rest of the tomato, some sliced shallots and green onion.



Then I heated up some sweet potato fries. For the fries, I simply spray some olive oil and add some cajun seasonings.



Added some lite cheddar cheese and sour cream and called it Chili Cheese fries. Note this is a salad plate. I wish it was a bigger plate. These were FREAKING DELICIOUS! Andy and I didn't even talk during dinner because we were so busy eating.

I am excited for the Foodbuzz festival on Friday!!! AAAAAWWWWW!!!

Sweet Potato Fries

MMM I had been craving sweet potato fries like crazy all week. So last night I threw together some sweet potato fries that tasted like heaven! I wanted something that was salty, crunchy and a little bit sweet!

I chopped up 2 sweet potatoes while Andy prepared the marinade to coat them in. It smelled fantastic! Also...DUDE SWEET POTATOES are tough to cut through! omg! I had no idea.



We used sea salt, olive oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, pepper, chili powder and Trader Joe's version of Mrs. Dash. The chili powder gave the fries a delicious kick!



The fries bathe in their marinade while we preheat the oven.



I paired my fries with a spinach and feta burger on a slice of Pepperidge Farm's Oat & Barley Bread. Here is some info from their press release.."The Barley & Oats bread is a heart healthy solution. Oats, together with barley, a versatile grain with a rich, nutlike flavor, makes for a nutritious combination that will tantalize your taste buds."

I am addicted to this bread. It's so so tasty! 120 calories a slice though...ugh! I hate bread calories because I can eat like 10000 slices.

Do you have a favorite kind of bread? I always seem to love breads with honey or oats in them. I can't get enough!