Breakfast for Lunch

I LOVE to have breakfast for lunch. Actually, I love to have breakfast any time. My latest obsession is fried eggs, over easy. Plus, I've been on a low calorie diet and I find breakfast to be a filling, yet a cheap and low-calorie meal. Yesterday, I made this yummy 400 calorie number:

 

It is basically sautéed spinach, tomato and onion, topped with cheese, salsa, avocado and a fried egg. YUMMY!

 

Here's what materials you will need:

• Chopping Knife
• Cutting Board
• Small Skillet
• Non-stick Spray
• Spatula 

Here's the ingredients:

• 1 cup of Spinach
• 1/2 Small Yellow Onion
• 1 Tomato
• 1 Slice of Colby Jack Cheese
• 2 Tlbsp of Salsa (I prefer Mrs. Renfros)
• 1/2 an Avocado
• 1 Egg

All in all this meal takes less than 7 minutes. So let's get started: 

• Chop your yellow onion into small squares
• Once the onion is chopped, spray the small skillet with non-stick spray, heat to medium-low and add onions
• While they are cooking, wash your cup of spinach and then add it to the onions
• While they are both cooking, dice your tomato into small squares and then add it to the skillet
• Once everything is cooked, plate and set aside
• Wipe the pan clean, then spray it again with non-stick spray and turn the heat to high
• Crack your egg in the skillet, but be careful not to bust the yolk. Use your spatula to poke around the yolk (not the actual yolk), so that the other liquids evenly distribute and thoroughly cook.
• After the egg is white and "solid" looking, flip it and reduce the heat to low. Cook like this for roughly 90 more second and then serve.
• While your back side of the egg is cooking, add the slice of cheese to your plated spinach, onion and tomatoes. Microwave for 15-30 seconds to reheat the meal and melt the cheese.
• Top this mixture with your 2 tablespoons of salsa and 1/2 avocado. I spoon both straight on to the plate.
• By now, your fried egg should be perfectly cooked. Add it to the top of your masterpiece and enjoy!

To make this meal even more low calorie just cut out the cheese and avocado. If one egg will not fill you up, try removing the cheese and adding an additional egg and more spinach.

What's your favorite way to eat fried eggs, over easy? I love to put them on breakfast tacos or crab cakes!

Simple Shrimp Recipe

One of my favorite go-to healthy recipes is sautéed shrimp, onion, zucchini and squash in a lemon pepper seasoning. This entire recipe takes less than 15 minutes to cooks, hardly contains any calories and is roughly $20 for 4+ servings.

Here's the ingredients:

• Lemon Pepper Seasoning (or 1 Lemon and Black Pepper)
• 1lb Shrimp ( I prefer gulf shrimp already pealed and deveined)
• 2 Zucchinis
• 2 Yellow Squash
• 1 Onion
• Olive Oil (or Butter)

Utensils:

• 1 Cutting Board
• 1 Knife
• 1 Frying Pan
• 1 Spatula (or Large Spoon)

Here's the prep work:

• Chop all three vegetables (Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Onions)
• I dice my onion into small squares, but you could easily cut into large, long strips.
• I cut the Zucchini and Squash like you cut Cucumbers (small circles). Sometimes, I even cut those circles into smaller semi-circles. I leave the skin on.
• (Optional) I sometimes cut my shrimp into three pieces, since I buy large, gulf shrimp. See photo below for reference of shrimp and vegetable cuts.

Cook:

• In a Medium Skillet, drizzle with olive oil to lubricate the pan and add your chopped onion. Cook this covered on low and stir periodically.
• After 2 minutes, add your Squash and Zucchini and cook for another 3 minutes, but this time turn it up to Medium heat. Cook this uncovered and stir periodically.
• Next, add your shrimp and coat the entire dish with your lemon pepper seasoning. Continue cooking uncovered until the shrimp are pink/done.

Here's a photo of the finished product:

Great meal that reheats nicely the next day.

If you prefer to bake, you can easily toss all vegetable ingredients and olive oil into a pan and bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees. After 10 minutes, add your shrimp and seasoning and bake into cooked, roughly 8 more minutes.

Everything's Better with Cheese!

Recipe for Success issued a flash challenge asking followers to make a hot dish with the most vegetables they can. The tasty little number that I created is "Marissa's Meatless and Pastaless Vegetable Lasagna". It is amazing and has 14 vegetables in it! Check it out:

Here's the recipe:
1. Preheat Oven to 350
2. Poke holes in an entire Spaghetti Squash (Veggie #1) and put it in the oven
3. Thinly slice 1) Eggplant (Veggie # 2), Squash (Veggie #3) and Zucchini (Veggie #4) place on a cookie sheet, top with Cayenne, Tony's and pop it in the oven
4. In a small pot, boil or steam a head of Broccoli (Veggie #5)
5. In a large pot, add the following chopped items: Garlic (Veggie #6), Celery (Veggie #7), Chives (Veggie #8), Onions (Veggie #9), Red Bell Pepper (Veggie # 10, Spinach (Veggie #11), Tomatoes (Veggie #12), Carrots (Veggie #13) and 1 Jalapeno (Veggie #14). I cook all of this on Medium-Low with Olive Oil.
6. Keep an eye on your Eggplant, Squash and Zucchini tray and remove it from the onion once it is cooked.
7. Once the pot of veggies are pretty sautéed, add 1 large can of whole Tomatoes and 1/4 cup of water and reduce the heat to Low
8. Remove the Spaghetti Squash from the Oven and allow it to cool.While it is cooling, get out your large baking pan and coat it with Olive Oil.
9. Scrape the inside of the Spaghetti Squash into the pan to create your first layer.
10. Add a layer or Cheese: Ricotta, Parmesan and Mozzarella
11. Add a little bit of the Spaghetti Sauce you made
12. Add a layer of other veggies: Eggplant, Squash and Zucchini
13. Add another layer of Ricotta Cheese
14. Add the rest of the Spaghetti Sauce
15. Top with more Parmesan and Mozzarella.
16. Bake until the cheese melts.

And, yes, you read this correctly. I did not have to add any more seasoning besides those listed in step 3. All of the vegetables brought out natural, delicious flavors.

This meal is a little expensive since it has so many different veggies and cheeses,  but it's well worth it. It is delicious and taste amazing reheated. Recipe will feed 12-15!

Enjoy:)

Turnt Up

Just kidding...I did cook with turnips for the firs time though! I used them as a replacement for white potatoes in my homemade vegetable soup. I have to say, I was very closed minded to the experience. I was 100% sure that I was not going to enjoy it, but to my surprise, I loved it! Here's what the finished veggie soup looked like:

 

 

I love to make vegetable soup when it's cold out and I have a lot of unused vegetables in my fridge. This past week has been extremely cold in Texas and I've been very busy. Without a lot of time to cook my vegetables were starting to go bad. Here is what I used in this batch:

 

• 2 boxes of vegetable broth (2 quarts total)
• Turnips
• Carrots
• Bell Peppers
• Onions

Other times, I've used things like:

• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Noodles
• Green Beans

You can nearly put any vegetable in your soup and it's very easy to cook. Here's the simple recipe that I followed:

1. Pour both quarts of the vegetable broth in a large pot and start warming on medium
2. Add a bag of miniature carrots (or anything small that doesn't need any chopping)
3. Chop the Onions and Bell Peppers into long strips then add them to the pot
4. Chop the Turnips into small pieces/chunks and add them to the pot
5. Add a few dashes of tobasco if you like it hot and crushed black pepper for flavor
6. Put the lid on the pot and let it cook for roughly 30 minutes; stir occasionally
7. Poke all of your veggies with a fork to make sure they're thoroughly cooked. If cooked after 30 minutes then enjoy! Otherwise, let it continue to cook on medium/medium-low.

This vegetable taste wonderful reheated. I usually make a large batch and freeze several tubberware since it reheats easily. Stay warm, friends!

Three Week Weigh In

Well, it's been officially 3 weeks of dieting and I've lost a total of 9lbs. The weight loss is slowing down, but as long as it is consistent I'm fine. I'm seeing a lot of positive changes in my body, which is exciting. I feel stronger, more flexible and full of energy. The hardest part of dieting is meal planning/prepping. You have to make time for yourself though and make it a priority. Here's a few things that I ate this past week:

Spaghetti Squash with Arthichoke Hearts, Tomatoes and Peso

 

Blackened Tilapia and Sweet Potato Fries



I also enjoyed some crawfish! I've continued doing yoga and don't see me slowing down any time soon! Next week will make a month and I will be eligible for my first cheat day! After a month of dieting, you're allowed one cheat day a week. My first falls on Super Bowl Sunday and I'm so ready!

I'd also like to thank my boyfriend for being such a great support system. Temptation is everywhere and it's so easy to cheat. It's nice to have someone holding you accountable. Find a partner and get started!

The Big Kahuna Tuna

My mother, sister and I invented this tuna steak sandwich three years ago: The Big Kahuna Tuna! We call it this, because it is packed high with thick tuna steak, sauteed onions and tomatoes, wasabi, soy sauce and avocado all piled on a hamburger bun or Hawaiian sweet bun.

This has turned into one of our favorite meals. But, since we're dieting we can't have our Big Kahuna Tuna and avocado fries. Instead, we made this low-calorie, delicious option:

 

 

For under 500 calories,  you can enjoy baked (skinless) sweet potato fries and a bread-less Big Kahuna Tuna! Here's how we did it:

1. Cover your thawed or fresh tuna steaks with salt and pepper and allow them to marinate in soy sauce and wasabi while you prep the rest of the meal.
2. Preheat your oven to 375.
3. Peel the skin off of one sweet potato and dice the potato into very thin, long strips.
4. Toss these strips in a bowl with olive oil and other seasonings of choice. We use: black pepper, garlic salt, cayenne and smoke seasoning.
5. Cover a pan with aluminum foil, spray with pam and spread the fries out.
6. Place fries in the oven and allow to bake for 30 minutes.
7. After 15 minutes of baking, start working on your sandwich. Chop 1 onion, 1 tomato and 1 avocado. Place onions and tomatoes in a skillet on med-high and saute with olive oil and soy sauce. After the onions are translucent (approximately 5 minutes) add in your Tuna Steaks.
8. Cook tuna steaks for 2 minutes on each side for rare and up to 3 minutes and 30 seconds on each side for well-done.
9. Plate your food by first putting down your tuna steaks then topping with cooked veggies, avocadom fresh wasabi and more soy sauce. Add a side of fries and you are good to go!
10. ENJOY!

Under 500 Calorie Meal

Here's what I'm enjoying for dinner tonight at work (going out so having an early dinner):

 

 

This delicious meal is incredibly healthy and super easy to make! Follow these step-by-step directions for a 20 minute meal that is diet approved:

 

1. Thaw Shrimp if Frozen or Peel/Devein if Fresh (Roughly 30 Shrimp)
2. Chop 1x Onion
3. Saute Onion in Olive Oil on Med-High
4. Chop 1x Squash and 1x Zucchini
5. Once the Onions Start to Get Translucent, Reduce Heat to Low 
6. Add Zucchini and Squash--Cook for Roughly 10 Minutes on Low
7. Add Shrimp, Stir Continuously for 5 More Minutes or till Shrimp Turn Orange (as pictured)
8. Top with Pepper and the Juice of 1x Lemon

 

This entire meal cost less than $10 and serves 4-6 depending on portion control. You can easily make this meal go further for cheap by doubling the veggies. It is great as a main dish or easily paired with other healthy sides. Enjoy!

Post Holiday Diet

I'm Southern aka my family cooks great and I like to eat. I ALWAYS gain weight during the holidays and I'm okay with that, but I'm ready to be 'normal-sized' again. Exactly one week ago today my boyfriend and I started dieting. We're focusing on low-calories, smarter choices and working out. Proud to announce it's working! I've lost 5lbs in one week. I realize this is a lot, but this is pretty normal for my post-holiday self. I'm excited to keep going and hopefully continue to lose 1lb a week. Here's some menu samples of what I've been eating the past week:

BREAKFAST

• Bakery Bread Piece of Toast with Almond Butter and Bananas
• Plain, Non-fat Greek Yogurt with Strawberries
• 1 Tortilla with 1 Cup of Chopped Bell Peppers and 6 Tbsps of Egg Whites, Topped with 1/4 Cup of Cheese and Tobasco
• Strawberries
• Banana

LUNCH

• Grilled Tilapia Salad with Corn/Beans
• Stuffed Poblano Peppers
• Avocado, Tomato, Mustard and Salmon Sandwich

DINNER

• Spaghetti Squash with Shrimp, Broccolli and Rotel
• Grilled Tilapia Salad
• Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce

SNACKS

• Bananas
• Bananas with Almond Butter
• Strawberries
• Celery and Almond Butter
• Celery and Hummus
• Cucumbers and Hummus
• Almonds

Leave a comment if you're interested in any of the recipes. Everything has been home-made. We cooked on Sunday for all week. It made dieting super easy, because you didn't have to put any thought into your meals all week. We've been tracking our calories with the application MyFitnessPal It has a barcode scanner and remembers recent meals, which makes updating super simple.

Hope your New Year's Resolutions are going great, as well!

Spaghetti Squash

If you're like me, you've heard of spaghetti squash, but have no real clue as to what it is, how to cook it or what it taste like. Well, since I'm not eating pasta for dinners (or really lunch either), I decided to give it a try. First, I researched what is spaghetti squash. Foolishly, I thought it was regular, yellow-squash that people somehow carved with a fork to make noodle-looking shapes. Wrong.

Spaghetti squash it's a type of squash, much larger than normal squash. Think the size of a cantaloupe or small watermelon. It is yellow and oblong. I purchased mine at HEB. There are several ways to cook it, but I cooked it by cutting it in half, length wise. (Okay, okay, my boyfriend cut it for me because this is a BIG boy!) Next, I scrapped all the goop out of there. Originally, I thought you were supposed to eat this goop, but after some trial and error and more reading, I found out it's not even the good stuff! Which, I was very thankful to read since it barely had anything in it and I thought I paid money for 1/5 cup of fake noodles!

Anyway, after you remove the strings and seeds. Place the two halves, open side up in the oven and bake at 375 for approximately 20-25 minutes. Remove it, let it cool and then begin using your fork to scrape the edges width wide. (You can do it length wise, but your noodles will be pieces vs. longer 4 inch-ish strands.). Here's what mine looked like when I started scraping it:

 

 

 After I scraped out approximately 4cups, I baked them for about 15-20 minute longer with olive oil on it. They were delicious in my shrimp spaghetti (rotel, shrimp, onion and broccoli mixture). Here's my final dinner:

 

 

 

1 cup of spaghetti squash + 1 cup of my shrimp spaghetti made a delicious and filling meal for only 292 calories! You cannot beat that. Enjoy:) 



Healthy, Cheap Lunch!

Like everyone else in the New Year, my boyfriend and I are trying to eat healthier. We don't need to lose a ton of weight, so we thought of a few guidelines to help us slim down  and lose the holiday weight (vs. doing a drastic diet). We definitely didn't want anything that would eliminate an entire food group. We also wanted to do something realistic that we could stick with since we both work full time and have a ton of extracurricular activities. Here's a few guidelines we set for ourselves (at least for the first week or two):

• No Crap (Sodas, Alcohol, Coffee, Chips, Junk Food, Etc.)
• I'm sure you're thinking coffee isn't 'crap', well you haven't seen mine! I love sugar and creamer in mind (or a fatty Starbucks drink) and by the time I'm done with it my drink is over 150 calories! I'm trying to replace my morning coffee with a glass of water or hot, green tea-both are 0 calories! So far, so good!
• Have a Healthy Breakfast/AM Snack
• Aiming to have some sort of fruit every morning
• Healthy Lunch (No Fried Foods, Limit the Pasta, Etc.)
• Veggie PM Snack 
• Edamame orVeggies with Hummus or Almond Butter 
• No Dairy or Pasta/Grains for Dinner
• Pasta is quick and easy and cheese makes everything better! We're trying to eliminate these two things for the first week or two so that we lose our holiday weight.  

After a week or two, we will probably just focus on low calorie/healthier options. We're bothing using MyFitnessPal app and website right now and love it. It alows you to scan products to calculate daily nutrition. According to it, my lunch today was only 405 calories. We added ground meat and taco seasoning to Andy's which made his 576 calories. Here's what I had:

 

The above photo is one stuffed serrano pepper. It doesn't look too pretty but it taste amazing! This is probably one of the most delicious healthy meals I make! It is very filling, low cost and taste like it's unhealthy! Here's a few easy steps to make your own (Serves 4):

1. Toast 4 Serrano Peppers on an open flame or burner on low. Be sure to rotate them frequently to ensure that they cook on all sides. While they're cooking go ahead and pre-heat your oven to 375 and proceed to step 2.  

 
2. While your peppers are roasting, go ahead and chop 1 whole yellow onion and place it in a large pot sprayed with Pam on Med-Low heat. While they are cooking be sure to check on your peppers and rotate them. Once onions are slighlty cooked add 1 large can of whole black beans and 1 small can of whole corn. Stir every few minutes.  
 
3. At this time, your peppers should be nice and toasted on every side (hopefully you rotated!). If they are  pretty black on every side, place them in a ziplock bag to cool. This will cause them to "sweat" and make their skin come off a little easier.  
 
4. While your peppers sweat, go ahead and cut 1/4 of an avocado per serving and 1 oz of cheese per saving. I used Calbot habanero cheddar cheese. Be sure to continue to watch your pot of veggies and stir them.  
 
5. Get your bag of serrano peppers and run cold water in it. Rub them together (still in the bag) then drain the water. Now using a knife slighly scrape off all remaining black residue. You will see a smoother skin appear. Once all black has been scrapped off, cut the stem off of the pepper and remove most of the seeds (or all of the seeds if you don't want it too spicy). Instead of trying to stuff mine, I cut them open to wear I have a flat sheet of pepper. I think serrano peppers are too skinny to stuff.
 
6. Top your pepper with your pot of veggies (2 scoops/cups) and top with 1 oz of cheese. Place in the oven until the cheese melts. (Roughly 3-5 minutes).
 
7.  Once cheese has melted, top with 1/4 avocado and 2 table spoons of salsa (I used Hernandez).
 

Tips:

• If you need to cut calories, you could easily eliminate the cheese, salsa and avocado. This would save you 200 calories). It would be great without these, but it's even better with them!
 
• If you need to add calories, you can add beef and taco seasoning like Andy did. You could also add more veggies in pot like eggplant or tomatoes. I've made this same recipe with rice too, which will add calories.
 

However you make it, I hope you enjoy it! Leave me a comment if you changed the recipe. I'd love to hear from you!