Another easy dinner...

Orange Cilantro Shrimp

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 6 minutes

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1/2 cup shrimp and 2 tablespoons sauce)
Ingredients





2/3 cup half-and-half
1 large chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
1 teaspoon grated orange rind
Cooking spray
1 1/2 pounds peeled and deveined large shrimp
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation
1. Place first 3 ingredients in a blender; process until smooth.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray; add shrimp. Coat shrimp with cooking spray; sprinkle with cumin and salt. Sauté 4 minutes or until shrimp are done, stirring frequently. Transfer shrimp to a serving platter. Reduce heat to medium, add half-and-half mixture to pan, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Pour sauce over shrimp; sprinkle with cilantro.



Nutritional Information
Calories:
186 (30% from fat)
Fat:
6g (sat 3.3g,mono 0.3g,poly 0.6g)
Protein:
28.3g
Carbohydrate:
2.6g
Fiber:
0.5g
Cholesterol:
267mg
Iron:
4.3mg
Sodium:
494mg
Calcium:
97mg

Feeling Better!

Thanks to some pep talkin' from my BTV peeps, I am feeling better about things. I am doing really well with my vitamins (thank you itouch for the list making app I downloaded. I can check them off as I take them!) my water is way up now that I realized I can take bigger sips than I have been AND, the my protein is looking better. Now, if I my stall would just get the hell out of here, I would be all set.

So, speaking of protein...we rocked some delish Chicken Shawarma tonight. My three-year-old even helped make it. (She was the master stirrer.)

Here is a link to the recipe:
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/rachaels_chicken_shawarma.html

We made a couple of tweaks, but overall it was delicious. It doesn't really taste like authentic shawarma but who cares, it was tasty!

Yum

A few nights ago I modified a recipe out of a cookbook for post WLS...it was delish. Even Beau liked it. Super easy and only a few ingredients....

cooking spray or EVOO
1 lb chicken
1 lrg shallot, minced
1/2 cup canned diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 fat free evo milk
salt and pepper

Over med/high, heat EVOO in pan, brown chicken until cook through, remove from pan and keep warm.
Add a bit more EVOO if needed and add shallot, cook 1 minute and then add mushrooms. Cook until brown all over. Add oregano and tomatoes and stir well...let cook for about 7 minutes. Turn heat to low and add milk, stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Add back in chicken juices that have accumulated on the plate.

Serve chicken with sauce spooned over it.
Serves 4.

For the family, I pureed the sauce- Beau is not a bit fan of tomato chucks. It is not a pretty sauce once you puree it, but it is tasty.

For me, I pureed 2 oz of chicken and then spoons 2 tablespoons of the sauce of the chicken.

2 days to go!

Today was a bit tough for me....I went too long between breakfast and lunch and ended up overeating a bit once I fanally ate. (That and I ate some chicken- not a totally bad thing, but I had already eaten my lean protein for the week.)

More and more I am thinking about how planning is so essential to the success of any weight loss / get healthy type endeavor. Is it because I don't make good food decisions on the fly? Yes (or I wouldn't be overweight). Is it because there is a sense of control over something that previously had control over you? Again, yes.

Regardless of the reasons, planning your daily meals/snacks is essential. The trick is to not plan too far ahead. If you do that you are stuck eating something you are not in the mood for which opens you right up to swapping out your plan for something that is full of chemical, fat, calories and god onlyknows what else.

I so wish that there was a daily farmer's market that allowed me to pick up only the fresh food I needed for that day. I have been stopping at Earth's Fare a couple of times a week, but it isn't quite the same. I would love to get into a routine that allowed for farmer's markets on the weekend....of course, the only thing standing in the way of that, is me.

Portions.

This is such an interesting article. It is no wonder that so many people are struggling with obesity. If you think about it, our generation (Gen X) was still getting the "clean your plate" lecture growing up even though the portions were expanding. The whole concept of cleaning your plate is crap. I struggle with it all the time. It trains you to completely disregard your internal hunger cues and rely solely on external ones.
http://www.divinecaroline.com/79975/49492-portion-size--vs--now

What I am Munching

Okay, by now I assume you are curious about what this liquid diet entails. So, here you go:
The main requirements are to get between 90-120 grams of protein a day. Keep the carbs under 100 per day and stick with under 1300 calories.
Clear liquids are fine, as are protein shakes, l.f. yogurt, fresh or cooked veggies, l.f. cream soups, decaffeinated tea or coffee, skim milk, and my doctor said protein bars are also acceptable.

A typical day looks like this:
Breakfast- a vanilla protein shake mixed with pumpkin pie spice
Snack- s.f. Popsicle
Lunch- celery and l.f. laughing cow cheese, yogurt, protein bar
Snack: 1/4 cup of nuts, chicken broth
Dinner: sauteed mushrooms and steamed broccoli and cauliflower, protein bites
Snack: s.f. pudding, shake

This tallies up to about 900 calories, 60 carbs and 93 protein