Anyone else have those days?(or weeks?) Even though I have lots of tips for quick recipes and preparing food in advance, sometimes I just don't want to do more than push a few buttons on the microwave. Today was an example of just that. So what did I eat?
BREAKFAST:
A banana (my fruit of choice), a whole wheat Lenders bagel (180cal) with a wedge of laughing cow low fat cheese (35cal). Simple, but yum. Probably not enough protein, and too many carbs, but basically good for you. Oh, and a mug of green tea with a drizzle of honey in it.
Is laughing cow cheese a staple for anyone else? Some people use it on sandwiches in place of mayo and it can even be used as the base for a sauce. Its low in calories (35 per wedge) and has so many uses.
I usually drink 2 cups of hot green tea a day. That is the only "non water" thing I drink. I remember a while back I read a blog in which the person attributed green tea to their not hitting any plateaus. I am not willing to make the claim that it has helped me lose weight, but I will say it seems to keep me umm... err... regular. That's always a good thing, right? I also find it relaxing to sip hot tea. Seems like a win-win situation.
LUNCH
Now I will say right up front this is NOT a very nutritious lunch. It is however calorie and portion controlled, and quite honestly it helps curb any pizza cravings I have. So its a good lunch, if only because it keeps me away from Papa Johns. :)And the slight sweetness of the kettle corn makes it feel like a treat for only 100 calories.
I have to admit I am a fan of Lean Cuisines. They are very convienant for those times when cooking is not an option. Unfortunately, a lot of them are based heavily around pasta or carbs and they don't have nearly enough veggies in them. The perfect solution, if you decide to grab one when you don't have a lot of time on your hands, is to add some steamed veggies to your meal. For those of you that have to worry about your salt intake please pay close attention to the label on these kinds of meals, the sodium count is often very high.
DINNER
With the exception of seafood, I don't eat meat. So my protein sources are usually some sort of soy product. I enjoy several of the Morning Star Farms products, but lately my favorite has been the "Chik Patties". It's the meatless equivalent of a breaded chicken patty. They are 140 calories with 8 grams of protein each. They also work great cut in strips and put over whole wheat pasta and tomato sauce. Basically you can use them anywhere you would use the real chicken version.
I usually eat two for dinner along with veggies. I buy the steam in a bag veggies and will consume close to the whole bag with my meal. I tend to get in most of my veggie servings with dinner as opposed to lunch.
I'm not sure how others prepare their "Chik Patties", but I'm lazy. :) I defrost them in the microwave for one minute...
Then pop them in the toaster on level 4 setting. My husband HATES that I use the toaster for "cooking" so we have an agreement. The right two slots are for toast/bagels and the left two are for my "lazy mans cooking".
They come out crispy and delicious. You get that fried food crunch without the calories.
Looks yummy, huh? What are your favorite "too lazy to cook" meals?
Exercise for today:
No running today, but I definately worked up a sweat playing tennis for an hour and a half. I didn't get any pictures of me playing, but I'm pretty sure I looked something like this--
Well, maybe not.