Cooking for One

Recently, I've gone through a breakup. I moved out of my exes and in to my own, one bedroom condo. I like my place, but I've found that I'm cooking a LOT less.

Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE to cook (& eat!). But, now I cook for fun and not for a chore. I no longer feel like I have to have dinner on the table every night or so many nights a week. If I want to have snacks and wine for dinner then I do it.

I still very much so value a nice, family dinner. But, for now, I more so value my independence and the ability to listen to my body. I eat when I'm hungry. I don't eat (or cook) because it is dinner time. This is having such a positive affect on my body weight, feelings and life. Rethink dinner some time!

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!

Shaking Things Up

I've always been told that in order to blog properly you need to have a focus. This blog has been like me: all over the place. I've decided to dedicate this blog completely to recipes and food. 

I've had a tough time finding recipes that fit my pescatarian diet so I decided to create a blog for others like me. In this blog, I plan to write ways to add meat to these meals, because my boyfriend is definitely not a pescatarian. And, I'm sure you're friends aren't all pescatariants either.

For those of  you that don't know what a pescatarian is:  Pescatarian = Vegetarian + Seafood. Not to be confused with the religion, "Presbyterian".

I became a pescatarian in April 2008. The reason I chose to be pescatarian vs. vegetarian is because I grew up on the sea and absolutely love seafood. There is no way that I could give it up or cheese. Plus, my dad is a boat captain. I could NEVER give up free seafood caught by my old man.

I became a pescatarian after reading the book "Skinny Bitch" in college. This book changed my views on food, health and animal rights; which immediately changed my palate.

Even if you're not into the pescatarian diet, I hope you enjoy this blog and find some yummy, new recipes.

My other blog is dedicated to inspiring myself and others. To follow it, please visit: http://marissadeslatte.wordpress.com/

I plan to post at least once a week to both. Enjoy!

Practice Makes Perfect

Okay, I have a confession. I hit the diet SUPER hard in January, but have been semi bad after my first cheat day (Super Bowl!). Nothing crazy, but definitely not as strict as I should have been. It was so hard with Valentine's Day and celebrating a new job:(

Now that I've had a month off, I'm ready to get back in to it. My boyfriend and I are both going full force next month. To keep us on track, we're doing a 30 day veggie challenge. No we're not just going to eat veggies. We're going to take the VegOut! challenge, which has you trying 30 DIFFERENT vegetables in 30 days for March, which is National Nutrition Month by the way!

Today's lunch was practiced for my challenge:

 

 

All I did was pack a few of my left over sides from dinner earlier this week and I knocked out 5 veggies in one meal! I had:

• Steamed Asparagus with a little (I mean LITTLE) Butter
• Okra with Onions pan cooked in Olive Oil and topped with Tony's and Black Pepper
• Zucchini and Squash pan cooked in Olive Oil and topped with Tony's and Black Pepper

It was delicious, light and filling. Often times I eat too big of a breakfast or lunch that I don't even want to eat my snacks. I'm trying to stay consistent with three small meals and at least two small snacks. I've been eating snacks from Nature Box. They are AWESOME! You should definitely give them a try and this 30 day veggie challenge. To sign up for the challenge visit: VegOutHouston.org

 

A few more FAQs for ya:

• Do I have to live in Houston to participate? NO
• Do I have to eat only veggies? DID YOU NOT READ MY BLOG? NO!
• Can I eat meat? YES, YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT. YOU JUST HAVE TO EAT YOUR VEGGIES TOO!
• Can I eat the same veggie 30 times? SURE IF YOU WANT, BUT IT WON'T COUNT. YOU HAVE TO TRY 30 VEGGIES!
• Eat 30 veggies--all of them? NO, YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY IT! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO EAT IT.
• Why would I sign up for this? BESIDES IT BEING HEALTHY, FREE, EASY--YOU'RE ENTERED TO WIN GREAT PRIZES IF YOU SUBMIT YOUR VEGGIE LOG BY 4/4!
• Do I have to participate in March? NO, YOU CAN DO IT WHENEVER BUT IN ORDER TO WIN PRIZES YOUR 30 DAY VEGGIE LOG MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 4/4.
• How do I get a veggie log? ONCE YOU REGISTER ON VEGOUTHOUSTON.ORG YOU'LL BE GIVEN ONE. IF YOU LOSE IT YOU CAN GO BACK ONLINE AND DL ONE.
• Does it have to be 30 consecutive days? NO, NO ONE IS SPYING ON YOU. IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE TO BE 30 DAYS IN MARCH. JUST SUBMIT YOUR LOG BY 4/4.
• I don't have a team and I feel like a loser, what should I do? JOIN MY TEAM: AD 2 HOUSTON
• You didn't answer my question what do I do now? LEAVE A COMMENT AND I'LL RESPOND! 

VegOut!

I'm the president of a non-profit, professional organization for those 32 and under in the advertising and communications industry. Each year, we select one non-profit from our community and give them a FREE pro-bono campaign. It feels so great to give back to your city with your talent! Anyone can donate time or money, but to be able to utilize your God given skills for the greater good feels awesome.

This year, Ad 2 Houston selected Recipe for Success Foundation. Their goal is to reduce childhood obesity. Did you know this generation is the first expected to not outlive their parents? Let that sink in! How scary!! All because of poor diet and diabetes. In most cases, diabetes is a disease that we can cure by healthy eating. My very own Grandmother was put on a special diet at her assisted living home and reversed diabetes. She has been free of insulin shots for nearly 2 years now! I love knowing that my sweet Maw Maw does not have to prick her finger ever day and then give herself a shot.

Obviously, we were passionate about selecting Recipe for Success. Once they were selected, they asked for us to help with a specific campaign, VegOut! VegOut! challenges Houstonians to eat 30 different veggies in 30 days. Ideally, everyone would participate during March, which is National Nutrition Month. But, your veggie logs are not due until April 4, 2014 so you can have a little late start or even an early start. You actually don't even have to be from Houston to participate!

The Houston advertising community has been great to us and our campaign. We have had several billboards, radio spots, eblast and more donated to our campaign. We even got Miss Houston on as a spokesperson. But, we need people to actually sign up to participant in VegOut! Our goal is to quadruple last year's results of 500 participants. We've already exceeded them, but could use your help! Please check out the website and register today: VegOutHouston.org

Be sure to follow my blog for the month of March. I'll be posting (hopefully daily) about my diet on the challenge!

Thanks for the support.

2 Weeks of Dieting

And I feel great! I feel clean, healthy and am exceling at Bikram yoga. I legitimately nailed balancing stick. I'm not talking, got there and held it. Like did it and did it great! My eagle is looking beautiful and I can finally wrap my toes around my calf. My standing head to knee, standing bow pulling and toe standing poses have come a long way too! And my bottom finally hits the floor on Fixed Firm Pose.

Okay, now that I'm done geeking out yoga, I'll share some results. Week one I lost 5lbs, week two I lost an additional 3lbs! That is 8lbs total that I do not ever want to see again. I'm very happy with my results and think the answer is simple: small, low-calorie meals (not excluding an entire food group) and exercise are all that it takes. I have been doing 90mins of Bikram Yoga for 3x a week. I just signed up for a 60 day challenge and am pushing myself to attend class 4x a week. I like yoga, because it's spiritual, you are able to think/reflect, you are doing the same poses so you can truly see yourself grow and you gain confidence. They encourage doing the class without a shirt on so that you can see your third eye (aka your belly button). I'm proud to say that I'm confident enough with my body to put myself in unflattering positions wearing only a sports bra and shorts/pants.

More than exercise, you have to watch what you eat! I've continued the no carbs or dairy for dinner trend, but do enjoy my bread/tortillas and cheese for breakfast or lunch. To make it as clean as possible, I buy them fresh from the bakery.

Here are some samples of things I ate over the past 2 weeks:

Egg White, Bell Pepper, Cheese and Avocado Breakfast Taco

 

Strawberries make a great AM snack! (Between breakfast and lunch!)

 

Boiled Shrimp (in crab boil) with Olive Oil sauteed Squash and Zucchini with a side Salad make a great dinner!

 

Hummus and Celery make a great PM snack! I also enjoy Almond Butter on my Celery. (Between Lunch and Dinner)

 

Pan Seared Salmon with a Side of Fish Sauce Brussels Sprouts make a yummy lunch!

 

Fully loaded Grilled Shrimp and Bell Pepper Salad made a delicious Lunch!

 

 

I hope these yummy photos inspire you to eat a little healthier! You don't have to starve or eat flavorless food. You just have to be smart and meal plan. It's all about give and take.I will admit that I have drank a bit while dieting, but made sure I stayed under my daily allowance of calories. I'm limiting myself to 1,200 calories a day. If I work out that day, I can eat a little more. If I know I have an event that night and I'll want to drink a class or two of wine then I just do yoga that morning. It's all about balance.

 

I've also read that having too little calories will put yourself in starvation mode and store everything as fat. After a month you're supposed to have a cheat day once a week. I started this diet on 1/2, so  my first cheat day will be Super Bowl Sunday. I cannot wait! I plan to not count calories, drink lots of adult beverages, eat tons of chips and dips and maybe even have pizza or pasta for dinner too! Shrimp Alfredo is my favorite bad food! What is your favorite cheat meal?