#58 - Cook 101...#'s 6-8

On a weekly basis I put together a menu and for once I've managed to stick to it rather well. Mainly because I really do need to concentrate on losing some weight. Even with a drink most nights I've managed to stay under 1,800 calories a day (and yes, I know if I cut out alcohol I'd lose weight faster but there are some things I won't do). Dinner has been inspired by the Wegman's magazine and are numbers 6,7,& 8 for my make 101 new recipes (click on the links to get the recipes - I didn't want this entry to be too long).
Here you go:

Pan-Seared Salmon Puttanesca with Fusilli

The title pretty much says everything that's in the recipe and I served it with some sauteed garlic spinach. This was a very easy to make recipe (took about 15 minutes). The only changes I made were I sauteed some garlic for the salmon and I used Smart Choice butter vs real butter. All in all about 550 calories or tasty goodness!


Chili

Typical chili with ground beef, onions, green peppers, garlic, chili powder, cumin, oregano, kidney beans (oops, forgot to buy), and cannellini beans. The "odd" ingredients were worcestershire sauce, Wegmans Chili Sauce, and a beer (they recommended and I used India Pale Ale).

You'll notice there were no tomatoes so I added a can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning and I reduced the amount of Chili Sauce from the recipe to reduce the salt. Served this with some fat free sour cream and fat free cheddar cheese. Overall, tasted fine but the Turkey Chile with White Beans was much better.


Tomato Basil with Orzo Soup with Grilled Turkey and Gouda Sandwich (magazine said ham and gouda but I don't like ham and they called it a panini but I don't have a panini pan)

You can actually buy this soup already made at Wegman's and it is better then what I made. I think it's because I was not consistent with halving the recipe (halved some things, but not everything). The only other change I made was I used Italian Seasoning (from a tube - these are really good) so it wasn't just basil. For the sandwich, I made the grilled turkey/cheese with this tasty bread that I can't remember the name of but it's 100 calories for 2 slices, smart balance butter, 98% fat free turkey, and smoked gouda. The meal was good and very easy to make (30 min), but in the future I think I'll buy their version of this soup.


I'm a day behind on workouts because I skipped Sun. I keep saying I'll catch up and if I leave work early today I will do last nights run (I spun) and tonight's spin. 50 min run on Saturday, 2 hour ride on Sunday then "real" IMS training begins! WOOHOO!