Fast Food & Coupons

So, my husband and I are on a budget kick right now. We started using the Dave Ramsey cash envelope system instead of debit cards. It’s actually been really fun. I like the new system because when I don’t spend the entire budgeted amount for things I get to spend it however I want! I doubt that’s what Dave Ramsey says to do with the extra, but that’s what we’re doing.  

I’m changing the way I use this system soon! I have been using an ugly mini file accordion, but now for much longer! I just ordered this awesome/pretty wallet on Etsy. It will help me to organize my cash system in a way that will look more attractive. I have a compartment for each of the things that I need money for when I’m out and about (groceries, gas, fast food, prescriptions, church offering, and COUPONS. Lol, no, that’s not the most exciting thing on that list. I’ve emphasized it because that’s the part of this whole system that I wanted to focus in on in this post.

*The calorie counts pictured take the exclusion of mayo, ketchup, and cheese into account.

 

I showed my husband how I’ve started writing on and organizing my coupon collection the other day and he suggested that I blog about it. It’s really hard sometimes to eat fast food on a diet and it’s even more complicated when you add coupons into the mix. In order to avoid unintended splurges, I’ve started writing the calorie counts of the items on my coupons. This helps me to make quick and informed decisions. I add an extra level of speed to the process by clipping each restaurant’s coupons together with a mini binder clip. I would never go through them if they were all mixed together.

Fast food buying guide:

(Fast food is not recommended, but it happens)

• Don’t drink diet drinks!!! Sugar substitutes drive me crazy with sugar/snack cravings for the rest of the day. I’ve started having unsweetened ice tea with my meals and I’m really loving that.
• Avoid anything fried. Examples could include fries or breaded chicken.
• Grilled chicken sandwiches are a great option.
• Jr. Burgers tend to have lower calories. For instance, the whopper jr. without mayo, ketchup, and cheese is only 250 calories. That’s really low for a burger and it comes with vegetables. Not a ton or anything, but some.
• Always ask them to not put any mayo, ketchup, or cheese on your sandwich/burger
• Beware of salads! Salads often have more calories than more obviously fattening things. Ask to have items like bacon, fried toppings, and cheese removed. As a general rule, clear dressings tend to have a lower calorie counts than creamy opaque dressings like ranch do. Italian or fat free dressings tend to be good options. There may be some options that are high in fat like nuts or avocado. These are great in moderation because they contain good fats.
• Avoid sugary items.

This list may seem too obvious or common sense for some, but I find that a lot of good dieting advice is. It may just be a sign of trouble when diets have guidelines that are too complicated. Many people get confused by all the crazy fads and the rules that they come with. Others are like I was and are confused by the difference between healthy and low calorie. I would look at thin people who ate really terrible food and be completely confused. Now I realize that I was eating awesome foods, but just not in the right proportions. I have actually let things slip since I’ve started my weight loss journey. It’s just too liberating to be able to eat all the things that I was depriving myself of before! Ice cream is great and I want to eat it! This is why I just count calories now. I’ll get over my food liberation eventually and put the Cheese-Its down, but for now… enjoy these fast food tips!

 

Remember folks, I’m not a nutritionist or informed by anything other than online research, word of mouth, and what works for me.

French Dip Rolls

This recipe was inspired by a trip to Arby’s a couple of weeks ago. I liked the sandwich, but I felt like it was just way too much meat for me. This take on the classic French dip sandwich would be great for bringing to pot luck dinners or to serve on game day. FYI, these aren’t too low calorie at 135 each. My husband and biked to church today though, so we had some extra calories to put towards dinner. Having these by themselves for a meal is 539 calories (for two people). Reduce your calories for this meal by saving some for later and adding in some steamed vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 package of crescent rolls (8 count)
• 1/3 lbs. roast beef (5.3 oz.)
• 3/4 cup fat free shredded mozzarella cheese (I used shredded because it’s what I had on hand)
• 1/4 cup beef broth (au jus sauce would be better, but I was too lazy to make it)

Directions

• Preheat your oven to 375.
• Spray the baking tray with nonstick spray.
• Place your crescent triangles onto the tray.
• Place a half piece of sliced meat onto the shortest side of each triangle. Repeat for any extra meat.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese onto the meat.
• Pull the sides of the triangle over the cheese/meat and then roll it forwards until the triangle wraps all the way around the stuffing (this is hard to describe, please reference the picture).
• Clean any extra bits of cheese off the tray and then place in the oven for 15 minutes. You may want to bake it for 12 minutes and then check on it in case there is a variance between our ovens.
• Serve with 1/8 cup of beef broth or au jus sauce per person.

I gave us both 1/4 cup of broth, which we used with every bite, and I still had lots of dipping sauce left over. If you have any extra sauce left over, you may want to freeze it in 1/4 cup portions. I always label what I freeze with the name of the item, the calorie count, and the serving size. I hope you have a better memory than me, but I can never remember! Well, I hope that you enjoy this recipe! If you decide to recreate it, please let me know how it went! :-)

 

Calorie Breakdown:

 

Light BBQ Sandwich

Hi there, whew. What a day. I made this recipe for a cook while I’m gone kind of dish. It’s super easy to throw together and it tastes great. I put the chicken tenderloins in the crock pot in the morning with a glass full of water and 1/4 cup of light BBQ sauce.

When I got home, I started preparing the meal by straining and shredding the chicken (which was kind of falling apart on its own by this time).

Once it was shredded, I mixed in fat free shredded cheddar. I then placed the mixture onto a bun and topped it with light BBQ sauce. In retrospect I realized that I should have mixed the BBQ sauce in with the meat… I’m not exactly a regular eater of BBQ.

Either way, it was a super light, filling, and tasty dinner. Using chicken and light BBQ sauce really helped keep the calories down for this recipe. Definitely use some sort of red hot sauce with this! It will add a lot of zest without any calories!

 

Ingredients: (for two servings)

• 1/4 cup BBQ sauce (that will be drained)
• 2 TBSP (1 TBSP per sandwich) light BBQ sauce
• 4 chicken tenderloins
• 2 buns
• 1/4 cup fat free cheese
• (optional) red hot sauce to taste

Calorie information from MyFitnessPal:

 

Snack Attack!!

Hi there! If you are reading this then that means I have a reader (lol). I took a break from weight loss and blogging for a while, but I’m back with some great recipes that I came up with during this time! It was really nice to let myself eat a little more over the last couple of months and I’m happy to say that I didn’t gain a pound back! I’ve lost 32 pounds at this point and I’d like to lose 10-15 more before summer. This would put me in the mid to low end of my ideal weight for my body shape/size.

The great thing about the recipes that I came up with while my diet was on hiatus is that they are all at the same calorie level that I would eat at while losing weight. The only difference in my diet came from increased snacking. Oh, the snacking was divine! Let me share with you some of my favorite snacks (the ones that won’t break the calorie bank).

These little cakes really are amazing. I've found these near the frozen waffles at both Publix and Wal Mart. I think it was $4 something for a box of 8 at both places. 

 

 

The Great Value (Wal Mart brand) individual ice cream cups are great because they come in 100 calorie serving sizes. I was buying the Blue Bell version at around 170 calories each until I found these. This is just the right amount for a sweet snack! You could mix this with the vita cake or a few M&M's and some sugar free syrup for a sundae :-)

And in other news... you can eat pizza on a diet!

These pizzas come in this kind (370 calories) or supreme (350 calories). These were located with the regular individual sized pizzas at Wal Mart for $4 a box of four. Cheap, delicious, and with a perfect amount of calories… I felt like this was just too good to be true when I found these. I like to eat this by dipping it in a little fat free ranch and seasoning it with Tony Chachere’s Original Creole Seasoning (available just about everywhere).

Stay tuned; there are more recipes coming! Because I use MyFitnessPal to track everything that I eat, I have every recipe logged and ready to be blogged. I’ll need to organize all my food pictures before I can set up the recipes. Take care and I hope that you got some ideas from this post!

Quick and Dirty “Quesadillas”

I’m not sure if this is technically a quesadilla, but it is great whatever it is. This is a great dinner idea for when you’re in a rush and don’t have a lot of time to put dinner together. That is, this is quick if you have two large pans so that you can cook both of these “quesadillas” at the same time.

Ingredients (2 servings):

• 2 Ezekiel tortillas (typically found in the frozen section of your grocery store)
• 1 cup black beans
• 1/4 avocado
• 1/2 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella
• 2 to 4 oz. turkey breast lunch meat (I’m not a big meat eater, so I just use one slice in each quesadilla… give the lunch meat a try! It’s good).
• ½ bell pepper (chopped)
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• ½ cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt (for a dipping sauce)
• Red chili pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste

Directions:

• Set both skillets onto large burners and turn the heat to low.
• Spray each skillet with nonstick spray.
• Place a frozen tortilla in each pan.
• Tear the lunch meat up a little so that it can be evenly distributed over the surface of each tortilla.
• Spread ½ cup of black beans into an even layer on each tortilla.
• Chop a green bell pepper and then place ¼ cup of bell pepper in an even layer on each tortilla.
• Chop the avocado and then place half in an even layer on each tortilla.
• Chop the cherry tomatoes and then place half in an even layer on each tortilla.
• Sprinkle ¼ cup cheese onto each tortilla.
• Add seasons as desired
• Use a spatula to help you flip half of the tortilla over.
• Serve with Greek yogurt as an optional dipping sauce.

Nutrition:

This graphic is a screen capture of this meal in my My Fitness Pal food log. All of the nutrients are based on one serving, which is half of this recipe.

Curry

This was my first attempt at making one of my most beloved meals, curry. I love any kind of curry! This recipe uses chicken, but you could leave that out and it would still taste great.

Ingredients (for two people):

• 6 oz. /or/ 1-1/3 cup cubed potato (about one medium potato)
• 1 cup light coconut milk
• 6 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast strips (I find that each strip tends to be about 2 oz.)
• 1 bag (16oz) California style frozen vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots)
• 1 tbsp. curry powder
• 1/8 tsp. crushed red chili pepper flakes
• ¼ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Heat the chicken in a thin layer of filtered water in a large skillet. I used setting 3 on my stovetop, which is a low medium heat. Leave the heat setting at the same temperature throughout the preparation and cooking time.
• While the meat is heating up, chop the potato into small cubes.
• Cook the potatoes in the microwave for 4 minutes and 20 seconds. Check on them and if they are not yet soft, cook them some more.
• The meat should be thawed out by now, so either take it out of the pan to cut it into small pieces or cut it in the pan. I don’t use a nonstick or cast-iron pan, so I just cut it in the pan.
• Add the coconut milk, yogurt, curry, potatoes, and crushed red chili pepper flakes to the pan.
• Stir everything together until it is well blended.
• If the chicken pieces are white, go ahead and add the frozen veggie mix to the pan.
• Everything should be in the pan now. Stir it around from time to time till the veggies are hot and the sauce thickens a little. This shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.

Nutrition Information (based on the brands that I bought):

This graphic is a screen capture of this meal in my My Fitness Pal food log. All of the nutrients are based on one serving, which is half of this recipe.

My Plateau Scare

A very scary thing happened last week. My weight loss stalled. I lost and gained back the same .2 pounds daily. This went on for about five days before I told my husband what was going on. We talked about lots of different aspects of what I had been doing over the last week to see if anything was different. The only thing that had changed was that I was working out a little harder during my exercises. I had previously been keeping my heart rate in or below zone three while doing cardio. In the week that my weight loss stalled, I had been staying in zone 4 more and even spending a small amount of time in zone 5.

I had done some research when I started exercising on heart rate zones and what’s best for weight loss, but I guess I went away from that over time. From what I read online, the top of zone three is a great place to be at for both weight loss and health. I think the main reason that I started to push myself more during cardio was because I wanted to eat more. I knew that if I pushed myself harder I would burn more calories and thus have more calories that I could consume that day. However, through the complicated way that bodies burn calories through exercise, that didn’t work out so great for me.

I’m so glad that my husband suggested that I actually reduce the heart rate zone that I stay in while exercising. I have to admit, I was a little skeptical that his advice would work, but it did! Two days ago I started keeping my heart rate at the top of zone three again, and presto! I’m losing weight again! Now, if I want to eat more I work out for longer, not harder.

* Check with your doctor before changing your diet. What works for me may not work for you.