My Favorite Salad

I am not a huge salad eater.  It makes me feel like a rabbit to munch on lettuce.  But cheese is another story.  Man, do I love cheese.  Brie, Gorgonzola, Blue, Mozzarella, you name it.  My favorite cheese is soft goat cheese.  So its no wonder that my favorite salad is topped with lots of hot, toasted goat cheese.  Goat cheese is high in saturated fat and is probably the sole reason for my cholesterol being as high as it is.  However I am a firm believer that "everything in moderation" is the key to a successful diet.

Since I don't like salads much, I find that a little goat cheese goes a long way to get me to eat a huge ole salad, like I did tonight!  It was very filling, and because of the cheese in the salad, I didn't find a need to use much dressing at all.

I always wondered how restaurants warm goat cheese without it melting.  I've learned that part of it is in the massive amount of oil they no doubt fry the goat cheese in.  Of course this had to be substituted so I came up with a better idea - using egg whites and a small amount of breadcrumbs to get a crispy outside but keep the rounds of goat cheese in tact.



Here's how to make my favorite salad:

 

I made sure to chop of LOTS of fresh veggies for this salad tonight.  I also added some leftover chicken breast from last night's whole chicken, and a tablespoon of POM's Almond and Cranberry Salad Accents to add some crunch and sweetness. 

One trick for making sure your salads are as healthy as possible is to ALWAYS have your dressing on the side and dip your fork into the dressing with each bite.  This way you'll have just enough dressing to add flavor and take away from the dryness of the lettuce.  The point is to leave out those empty calories and fats and replace them with things that are more filling and more worth it - like goat cheese!

Roasted Chicken and Sample Meal Plan

Today I cooked my first whole chicken at home for dinner.  I don't consider myself an excellent cook by any means, but I did go to culinary school to become a pastry chef and I do have some experience in the kitchen.  So there is no excuse for me to not have roasted a chicken before today.  Checking that the giblets were removed was not fun, but otherwise it was pretty easy!

We have tons of fresh herbs growing in our backyard (post to come soon about how we made the raised garden beds for our growing garden) and I wanted to use them for a fresh, delicious poultry feast.  I took a handful of parsley, rosemary, and thyme and pulsed them in the mini food processor.

Then I got out the roasting pan we received as a wedding gift over two years ago but had yet to use, and poured two bags of frozen steamfresh veggies in the bottom.  I shouldn't have done this, as the fat from the chicken dripped down onto the vegetables.  Next time, I'll steam them separately and add them to the pan five minutes before taking it out of the oven, just so it can soak up a little of the flavor from the herbs and the chicken.

 

Then, I drizzled about half of a cup of chicken stock over the vegetables. I next sprayed a light coat of olive oil on the chicken, and rubbed the herb blend all over the skin.

I poured about a cup of chicken stock over the chicken which gave it a very crisp crust.  It baked at 450 degrees for about an hour, until the juices ran clear and the temp read 170 degrees.  Unfortunately we dug into it before I could get a picture of it out of the oven, but it was delicious!  Don't know what I was so intimidated by, and I will definitely be making this again.

This is not exactly "diet food" but I didn't eat most of the skin and I only had one breast and some veggies (and a large salad to start with).  And I don't eat like this every day!

 Here is an example of what I normally eat on a daily basis for my get fit program:

So even with dessert, 2 snacks, and very filling meals, this sample day was just under 1100 calories! This is a very doable plan to follow.

Would you follow a meal plan similar to mine? How do you keep your calories under your goal?

Petite Advantage

I've tried many, many fad diets - from Atkins, to South Beach, to Weight Watchers to Sugar Busters.  You name it, I've tried it, researched it, and discovered that it didn't work for me.  The reason it doesn't work is because these diets aren't conducive to a lifelong eating program.  With the exception of one diet plan.

A co-worker introduced me to this book.  Once she told me that she had lost 10 pounds doing the 21 day eating plan, I knew it was worth looking into.  I flipped through her book and by the end of the day, I had bought the kindle version and was headed to the grocery store for some healthy foods!

The reason I love this diet is that everything is planned for you.  It tells you exactly what to eat and how many calories each item has.  I'm the type of person who needs a plan to follow, otherwise I get off track.

The main thing about this diet, however, is that once the 21 days are over, you can use the tools it gives you every day for the rest of your life.  This plan is intended to boost the metabolism of those of us women who are 5'4" and under.  It calls for eating a large breakfast (about 500 calories) and then smaller meals and snacks throughout the day.  Every day you get 1100 calories, and then every third day you get 1600 calories.  I was always, always full and very satisfied with the meals.

Although I still follow the basics of this plan, I am not going to kick start my fitness adventure with this diet this time because I don't have the time for it.  The meals are delicious and I still use some of the recipes.  You can definitely plan ahead and make your meals days in advance (I would prepare all snacks, veggies and fruits on the weekend for the week ahead) but with a newborn, returning to work, and a house to take care of, I just don't have the energy.  Plus I am much more into once-a-month-cooking which I will post recipes for later this month!

When I did the Petite Advantage diet, I lost 11 pounds in the first 10 days. Then I plateaued a bit but in the end I lost 15 pounds total.  Then I went and got pregnant and gained it all back.  C'est la vie!

If any of you readers are on the shorter side and looking for a diet plan (and have some time to devote to it), I highly recommend getting a copy of this book.

Have any of you tried this diet or something similar? What has worked for you?