Ending the Holiday Pig Out

Monday was the first day I fully tracked in MFP (MyFitnessPal) for a loooonnng time. Okay, not fully tracked...more on that later.

First let me start by saying, I am LOVING my Nightly Notes. Monday mornings are always a challenge, but knowing what I have on my day's agenda make such a difference. Instead of realizing10 minutes before I leave for work "oh I was going to make White Bean Dip for lunches this week." I got up and got right to it. This bean dip is a modification of Skinnytaste's White Bean Crostini (which is also delicious). I made half a recipe and then from that I only used half the olive oil. I might have used all the garlic...yum!  I also cut down on the water because it was a little thinner than I like the last time I made it. I would recommend blending everything except the water and then adding water slowly to get your desired consistency.

Lunch is ready to go with plenty of time to spare.

With lunch ready to go I turned my attention to breakfast. We are having a cold spell after some beautiful pre-Christmas weather and some days long torrential downpours. I often eat cereal in the morning, but with the cold weather I wanted something hot...oatmeal it is. I only had old-fashioned oats, but they are really no much more trouble to cook - same process, just five minutes instead of one minute. (I worked on my lunch while they cooked.) I added cinnamon and a handful of fresh blueberries to the oatmeal. For extra staying power/protein, I had a side of hard-boiled egg. My husband likes his eggs over easy, but for some reason these farm-fresh eggs' yolks kept breaking when I put then in the pan. So I hard-boiled the rest of the dozen for me. Problem solved.

Some milk on the oatmeal and a tall glass of water and a delicious and filling breakfast is complete.  

Lunch time!  Of course, the bean dip is delicious on bread or crackers. However, I am eating it with carrots and cucumbers this week. I like carrots fine, but find plain carrots don't really work for me. (Cucumbers I could eat plain all day.) The carrots with bean dip is great. I toasted the bread and made a sandwich with the cheese and leftover turkey my MIL gave me. The apple ended up being a bust - I think it sat in the fridge a little too long waiting for me to be healthy.

I used my dinner prep time to actually prep two meals. I had a package of turkey that I divided between two recipes. First, I prepped the Bacon Topped Petite BBQ Meatloaves from Skinnytaste. Both recipes used grated zucchini and panko bread crumbs.

It was super easy to prepare both recipes side by side.

I formed two mini-meatloaves.

Topped them with bacon.

And into the freezer for another night. I just have to thaw them, brush with BBQ sauce and back. They were very soft so I had to put them in a plastic container inside the freezer bag. The recipe says to cook them in a mini loaf pan, but surprisingly, I don't have one. I am crossing my fingers that my free form meatloaves hold their shape. I will let you know how they turn out...they smelled good when I was mixing everything together.

With the rest of the turkey I made my husband's favorite burger. He calls them pizza burgers because I stuff them with Provel cheese, then top them with onions and tomato. I, also, add cilantro and jalapenos which are some of his favorite pizza toppings when we make our homemade pizza. Ultimately, they are a variation of Skinnytaste's Turkey Burgers with Zucchini.  
I opted to go bunless, so I could have a little mac n'cheese on the side. I should have had a veggie, but I got sidetracked by the meat processing.  I forgot about a veggie until the burger was ready to serve. Because I had the BBQ sauce out for the other recipe I topped my burger with a little stead of the tomato and onion.

An inside look at the gooey cheesy filling. I use about two tablespoons of Provel, which is only 50 calories and has a delicious impact on the burger.

The reason I said earlier that I didn't fully track on MFP, was because when I got home from work I was starving and my husband wasn't ready for dinner yet. I had a snack. It wasn't an outrageous number of calories and I did track the best I could. I ate a few tortilla chips with cheese and a couple small pieces of fudge. I tracked the fudge as chocolate, but know I am underestimating. Thankfully, my MIL only makes the fudge at Christmas and I think that was the last of it.

In other food news, my MIL gave me this old cookbook for Christmas. It is copyrighted in 1917. I love cookbooks and it is always interesting to see changing food trends. I just realized it is 100 years old!!

So last night I flipped open the book and the very first thing I see....WHAT?!?!?

Yes, I read the recipe and it is exactly what it says...disgusting. I will admit when we were kids my mom did feed us a few crazy things. We did not have a lot of money and things like organ meat (including heart) and tongue were cheap. They really don't taste too bad once you stop thinking about what you are eating. But at this point in my life I am certain I would NEVER made this. And I am thankful there are no pictures. For a cookbook put out by Gold Medal Flour, I was surprised that at least half of the recipes didn't even include flour.

My Nightly Notes reminded me to start a crockpot meal when I got up. When pork butts (or shoulders, as much of the country calls them), are on sale around the major grilling holidays (4th of July, Labor Day, etc.) I always buy extra. On sale, they are anywhere between 99 cents to $1.49/pound. I buy some cut in steaks and some whole. Recently, I started asking for the 8-10 pound butt to be cut into quarters. Then I freeze the quarters and have a nice chunk that fits in the crockpot and makes several meals. I sprinkle the frozen meat with BBQ seasoning, add peppers, onions and, of course, a couple of jalapenos from the freezer (grown in our garden). Turn it on low and by dinner the meat is cooked perfectly. We use the shredded meat for sandwiches, enchiladas, etc. Tonight I am planning to serve it on rice with a side of roasted green beans.

I know I have probably shared some of these things before. They have become some of my time-friendly go-to meals. Having a good solid base repertoire makes it easier for me to stay on track. Then when I have more time or creative inspiration, I am all about trying new recipes. I'd love to hear about some of your go-to healthy meals.