Welcome Back to Me

Hi! After a very long break I'm happy to report that I'm back! I finally have a kitchen again. MY kitchen. Clean and well stocked with all of MY cooking essentials. I can't begin to tell you how happy this makes me. With all of the nightmares I have been living recently the worst part was not being able to cook in a nice clean kitchen. Over the 6 months that I was living at home (sort of) I learned that I might be a little on the OCD side when it comes to cooking. I tried to cook a few times in other kitchens but instead of it being the relaxing and enjoyable time that it usually is for me, it quickly threw me into a full fledged panic attack. Unorganized kitchens with not so clean pots and pans, weird smells, other people's food, etc. Ugh it was pretty bad. So anyway, now I have a place of my own again and I get to enjoy my favorite activity in peace each and every day.
It's been a long time. So no major plans yet for a diet. Although I'm sure there will be one soon. But for now I just want to get back into the habit of food journaling. Need to start slow.

Here's what was on the menu for today:

11:00am - 1:00pm:
Snacked on Tostitos and jalapeno cheese dip.
**Very unhealthy, I know, but YUM. Who doesn't love cheese dip?

2:30pm:
Starbucks Americano with a splash of half & half and nonfat milk. And Splenda.

3:30pm:
Salad... Spinach, tuna (mixed with miracle whip light and dijonnaise,) cherry tomatoes, and feta.
Dressing: olive oil, rice wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar (just a splash) and lemon juice. Pretty much my go-to salad dressing for anything.

5:30pm:
Chocolate chip cookie. Thanks a lot Celia.
**Chocolate chip cookies are basically irresistible to me. Like, it's absolutely impossible for me to say no to a chocolate chip cookie. No matter what. Well, unless it has nuts in it. In which case, keep that shit as far away from me as possible. Thanks.

7:30pm:
Honey mustard chicken:
1/2 cup honey, 1/2 cup Brummel & Brown butter, 1/4 cup Dijonnaise, and a dash of pepper. Mix all ingredients together and pour over chicken. Bake at 375 for 45 mins, basting frequently.
Super easy recipe and very delicious. And according to my calculations, which may not be the most accurate but you know, the recipe (if made with 4 chicken breasts) should only have around 305 calories per chicken breast.

Couscous with toasted pine nuts.
Just right out of the box. I highly recommend keeping this in the house at all times. It makes a great side dish for any meal. Great as-is from the box but there is also a ton of very easy way to make it your own. Adding sun dried tomatoes and feta is one of my faves.

Creamed Spinach:
Ok this one is still in the experimental phase so I wont post a real recipe until I get it right. The one I made tonight was decent but it needs a little fixing. I'll keep you updated on this one. I'm excited that I thought of it though. I might have to start cooking with spinach more often. It's so easy and so good for you.

That's it for today my friends. I will hopefully be posting regularly throughout the week so check back often please!
Oh and tomorrow I have a pretty fun new diet gadget to report about so make sure to come back for that.
Thanks for reading. See you soon!

Fun at Costco

Thanks to my wonderful friend who has been successfully dieting with me since I began this little journey I have made some great food finds recently that I would love to share with you guys.
They all come from the one and only..... COSTCO! Yay!! We all love Costco, right? I mean who doesn't love coming home with toilet paper to last you a year? Or a bottle of ketchup big enough to kill someone? And obvi we only go on a Saturday or Sunday, right? Um hello... Samples!! What fun. But dieters beware: just because you may not be "counting" that tiny little bite of burrito which was followed by a little bite of a pancake covered in syrup which was followed by a cracker covered in goat cheese.... does not mean that your ass isn't counting it too. Let me tell you something - it is.
Ok back to the food. I've always been a fan of Costco for dieting. You can buy a lot of good healthy food for less. And since you're buying so much of it you'll have it for longer which means no excuses about not having any healthy food at home for longer too. My go-to's there are: Lean Cuisines (obvi,) frozen chicken breast, egg beaters (freeze the ones you're not using and swap them out into the fridge so you'll always have them - thanks lauren), frozen fish fillets, Cedarlane Lowfat Beans, Rice, & Cheese Frozen Burritos (5 pts each - good late night food,) and there are more but of course I'm blogging on a pretty tight schedule these days so I don't have as much time to go through it all. BUT my new items are quite delicious and very worthy of my precious blogging time. So here:
Asian Cucumber Salad
** 1 pt per serving - which I think is around 1 cup approx. It's super low in calories so I wouldn't worry about this one. Great snack on it's own or also as a side to a full meal. Maybe grill some terriyaki chicken and throw it over the salad? Or have it as a side with your TJ's shrimp potstickers? Possibilities are endless here.
Tricolor Chickpea Salad
** I think this one is a little bit more. Maybe 2 pts for 1 cup. A good filling salad. Goes well with the falafel balls below!
VeggiePatch Falafel Chickpea Balls
**1 pt each and totally delicious. Just heat them up in the microwave and eat. Put them on a salad or buy some Flatout Pita Wraps (90 cals each) or Western Alternative Pitas and make yourself a little sandwich.
Mmmm I'm getting hungry just thinking about all that yummy food. So all 3 are premade foods and are all basically ready to eat. Can't go wrong.
Well there you have my mini Costco guide. Hope you liked it!

Oh and about me... well last Thursday I hit a very exciting goal... 10 lbs!! Hooray!!! I am so so happy about it but need to keep it going! I had a pretty indulgent weekend so when I finally weighed myself this morning being up .5 lbs was not too shocking. But to be honest I expected a lot worse. Half a pound is nothing! So I'm back on track this week eating well and trying to make it to the gym.

My birthday is coming up soon so I think that could be my next goal point to make it to. Right now I would like to say 5 lbs by May 24 - but that may be tough. We're getting to one of those plateau phases where I am going to really need to push hard to lose more. Sigh... life is tough. We'll see.

Anyway, thanks for checking in again! Hope everyone is staying healthy!! See you soon =)

Oh my gosh I almost forgot something super important. Everyone must go out and buy the new Hungry Girl Cookbook!! It is full of really great recipes and guess what?? They are ALL under 200 calories! Can you believe it? She is pretty great. CLICK HERE if you want to order one from online. Or you can get off your ass and go buy one in the stores. =)