Joyfully Domestic: Lean and Green

Showing posts with label Lean and Green. Show all posts

02 February 2013

Baked Eggs

This post is about a recipe I created for a brunch I was hosting.

I wanted a fancy dish worthy of a "BRUNCH"... if you know what I mean.

The scones and lemon curd kind of brunch.

Now everyone coming to my "BRUNCH" wasn't doing Take Shape for Life so I also made scones, fruit salad, etc. But for those of us working hard to burn off our extra fat....I came up with this.

Baked Eggs

2 eggs

1/2 c diced ham

1 T 1/2 & 1/2

1T freshly grated Parmasan *

Salt & Pepper

Chives

*Let's have a quick chat about ingredients I am a big believer in buying the REAL thing.

Don't skimp... I know it is more expensive but here is the ticket.

Are you ready?

Eat less of it.

Revolutionary I know.

Also.

IF you are doing the 5+1 this is considered a special occasion meal. Ham is pretty high in sodium and shouldn't be eaten regularly as the lean. You could substitute diced chicken. And for your daily lean of the Lean and Green 2 eggs with out additional meat is sufficient. But as I said above... I was hosting a "BRUNCH".

Back to the recipe.

Spray a ramekin with oil.

Throw in the ham & gently crack the eggs over the ham.

Pepper heavily (or lightly if you like)

Grate the cheese over the top.

Now.. the secret is the 1/2 and 1/2. Pour it right in there.

Bake at 350 until the eggs are how you like them. Probably about 20 minutes.

Serve with a green salad and you are good to go!

Enjoy!

Read my Getting Healthy story.

If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

28 January 2013

Meatballs

One of the things we Americans love is our pasta.

I know I do.

But lots of carbohydrates don't support our weight loss efforts.

When I have a craving for spaghetti and meatballs I opt out of the spaghetti part and make this:

Meatballs

1 pound lean ground beef

1 T mustard

2 t reduced sodium soy sauce

2 t Worcestershire sauce

2 t hot sauce

1 clove garlic

1 egg

Mix everything in a bowl except the meat.

Add the meat. Work as little as possible to get it all mixed. up.

Now I have tried 2 method of cooking these.

The mini muffin pan... bake in the oven way. (350 deg for about 15 m btw)

And the brown in a pan way.

I MUCH prefer the pan way. The browning is better.

See?

Don't forget to weigh your portion size. If you are doing the 5+1 with me you need to keep it at 5 ounces.

Now all you have to do is add your "green". I picked steamed broccoli. 1 1/2 cups of it to be exact.

Enjoy!

Read my Getting Healthy story.

If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

25 January 2013

Lean & Green in a Restaurant

Restaurants are not our friend when it comes to weight loss.

The portions are huge.

There are hidden fats, HFCS, calories, sodium, carbohydrates and artificial ingredients everywhere.

Did you know that crispy beans WITHOUT sauce at PF Chang's will run you 895 calories.

A chicken chopped SALAD at the same restaurant will run you 670 calories.

Cesear salad at the Cheesecake factory will cost you 860 calories.

And those are things you might order if you were being calorie conscious. Salads, beans, etc.

If you wanted to splurge you might order the BBQ pizza and consume 1120 calories.

And that is the LUNCH portion.

Let's put those calories into perspective.

First a minute on exercise.

If you believe that exercise alone will get you thin... take a minute and read THIS please. I'll wait. It is worth a read whatever you believe. Good info to have.

Ok... so back to putting those restaurant calories into perspective. If you are doing Take Shape for Life with me and are in weight loss mode you are consuming between 800-1000 very carefully balanced calories a day. Go back up & look at the calories again.

So what's a person to eat?

The same thing you do at home of course.

Lean & Green

At any restaurant you should be able to come up with a lean protein and vegetable combo. You may need to be specific with the waiter. Leave off the croutons for example No dressing. Ask how is that chicken prepared. Find out if the salad has candied nuts and cranberries in it. Get chatty. It is your health at stake here!

One of my clients and closest friends always says...

NOTHING tastes as good as skinny feels.

One of my go-to restaurant meals is the Grilled Chicken Caesar salad (no dressing, no croutons). You can find that almost anywhere. Even fast food places like Subway. Most restaurants will provide you with nutritional content if you ask. Some have them right on the menus.

Be aware of trick words like "low-carb" or "skinny". Lots of restaurants have options they say are healthier and they may be compared to the 2200 calorie burger and fries.. but that doesn't mean they are healthy ENOUGH.

Here are some examples of things you can order and stay on plan.

"Naked" salad with grilled meat

Grilled chicken or fish with steamed vegetables

Meat & Vegetable Kababs are great. No sauce please.

Chicken & Vegetable fajitas are a good choice. No sour cream or guacamole or tortilla.

THIS is a link to the dining out guide published by Medifast.

If you have a mobile device and you eat out a lot... download this file and search for suggested menu items when you are ordering.

Enjoy!

Read my Getting Healthy story.

If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

23 January 2013

Chicken soup for one

Chicken Soup for One

Sometimes when you are trying to get healthy or lose weight you default to meat and salad.

But it is winter and I understand the need for soup.

Soup can be great. Full of good thing.

Or it can be full of things that don't support your weight lose efforts.... like butter or cream.

So if you are craving soup like I was here is one solution.

Take all your Lean and Green ingredients... and heat them up! Sounds simple because it is.

Here are the ingredients.

Chicken soup for one

6 ounces pre-cooked chicken, shredded

1/2 C mushrooms

1/2 C celery

1 C spinach

1 C low sodium chicken broth

spices (more on this later)

Throw the mushrooms, celery & chicken in a pan sprayed w/ oil. Saute until fragrant.

Measure 1 C low sodium chicken broth & slowly add to pan while stirring.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of something. I used Thai seasoning. I love this stuff. You can add 1/2 teaspoon thyme, oregano, whatever. Just make sure the seasoning doesn't have any salt or sugar and you are good to go! If you are using thyme you might need to grind in some pepper. This Thai seasoning has red pepper already in it.

Get a bowl. You'll need a bigger size bowl for this. Put the raw spinach in it. If you want, you can add the spinach to the pan and cook it. I like to do it this way:

Pour the hot soup over the spinach. Let sit for a minute or two.

Eat.

Don't try to tell me THAT doesn't look amazing right?

Happy winter.

Enjoy!

Read my Getting Healthy story.

If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

19 January 2013

Beef Stew

Wait... I thought we were promoting weight loss here you say?

We are?

But it's a BEEF STEW recipe?

Yup... I know.

Pretty great right?

BEEF STEW

3 pounds lean stew meat

1 t salt

1 t pepper

1 T oil

2 T chili powder

1/2 onion

4 cloves garlic

1 C red wine

1 C low sodium chicken broth

1/4 C tomato paste

*Notice this is a purist version of beef stew. There aren't any carrots or potatoes. There is no barley, etc. If you are looking for a beef & barley recipe I did one last winter that is awesome... it is HERE. Today we are making beef stew to promote weight loss. The difference is we need protein with out the starchy vegetable You can have that later. Right now we are focusing on getting all those Christmas cookie we ate off.

So here we go. Preheat your oven to 325.

Toss the meat in the salt and pepper.

Get a super heavy pot and put the oil in. Heat over med-high.

Dump in half the meat. Sear on both side, set aside. Repeat with the other half of the meat. Sear and set aside. You'll know when your sear is done because the meat will release from the hot pot all on it's own. If you try to pull it off & it is sticking... give it another minute.

Now chop the onion & press the garlic.

Throw into the pot. Cook while stirring for 5 minutes.

(one of the things that is so great about this recipe... you only dirty ONE pot).

Now put the tomato paste in and stir while cooking (the pot has been over the heat this entire time btw). Cook for about 2 minutes.

In the mean time measure out your wine & broth.

Slowly add the liquid. Bring to boil.

Now add back in all the seared meat & collected juices. Bring to boil again.

Put the lid on and stick it in the oven..... for about 3 hours.

This is what you will get. Can you smell it? Your neighbors will. And invite themselves over...

So if you'll remember we are trying to maintain good health here. So... although yes you can eat beef stew... you shouldn't eat a whole plate full.

So get your scale & measure about 5 ounces of stew. That is 1 serving.

Then add a nice basic salad.

And enjoy your yummy Lean and Green!

Enjoy!

Read my Getting Healthy story.

If you are interested in learning more about getting and staying healthy please contact me!

Jennifer Z. Lewis

Certified Health Coach

Web site: teamlewis.tsfl.com

Email: teamlewishealthcoach@gmail.com
"Like" me on Facebook

15 January 2013

Tilapia Tacos

Tilapia Tacos

Ingredients for 1 Lean & Green meal

7oz tilapia (2 fillets)

magic spice trinity

4 large lettuce leafs

1 small tomato

1 t basic L&G vinaigrette

Throw the tilapia in a non stick pan. Season, cook, flip, season, cook. Post about cooking meat w/o fat HERE. It also covers the spice combination I consider magic.