January Progress

Ok, I didn't do so good on the blogging front in the month of January. I found myself getting distracted by all the other things going on in my life and I just never got around to it. I've been doing pretty good on the reading front though - I've read 10 books so far in the month of January! I'll post more about that later on. Tonight I wanted to talk a little bit about my "eating healthy" resolution. Yeah.... that hasn't gone so well. I did GREAT the first week. I took my breakfast and lunch with me to work every day and didn't eat out at all the first week. But then, things went south. In a major way. It's been really cold lately and I find myself wanting to constantly eat. Which is never good, but most especially so when you're watching what you eat. This week has been a little better than last week and I'll explain why in a bit. Ok, OK, I can't wait.

I've discovered the joy of Mason Jar Salads.

Seriously about 45 minutes on Sunday afternoon and I had 5 awesome salads to eat for lunch! I found my recipe for this week from Organize Yourself Skinny (Formerly known as Skinny Mom's Kitchen). Go HERE to see her awesome and fantastic blog. She actually provided all my workday meals this week - breakfast and lunch! So what's the deal with Mason jar salads? Basically, by layering up the ingredients in the right order, you can pre-make your salads and they stay fresh for up to 5 days! MUCH easier than trying to put together a salad in the morning before work, because if you're anything like me, you're barely getting out of the house on time anyway! I made Tammy's Chopped Black Bean and Corn salad (direct link HERE)with a minor change or two.

 

Here's what I used:

5, 1-Quart mason jars with lids

1 1/4 cup salsa (I used Tostitos Restaurant Style Medium Salsa)

6 ounces Greek yogurt

1 quart cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 red onion, chopped

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

16 oz frozen corn (I did not thaw mine)

2 small avocados, peeled and diced and tossed in lime juice

5 ounces pepper Jack cheese, diced

4-5 cups chopped romaine lettuce

1/4 cup cilantro (I used Gourmet Garden's Cilantro Paste)

 

Mix the cilantro paste and Greek yogurt then layer in this order:

1/4 cup salsa cilantro

yogurt mixture

cherry tomatoes

onion

black beans

corn

avocado

cheese

romaine

 

There are quite of few things you could alter or substitute if you were looking to cut out spiciness or calories. I enjoyed these salads the way they were though and definitely plan on making more of them in the future. I liked the ease of having a healthy, filling lunch ready to go without it being a pre-packaged, processed meal, plus I don't feel guilty if I want a snack later on in the day. I didn't care for the amount of prep/clean up time though. It was definitely close to 45 minutes just chopping stuff and then cleaning up. I also didn't realize you need to take a bowl with you to dump the salad out into. I thought originally you just shook them up and could eat them out of the jar. The biggest issue I had with them though is that because the recipe makes 5 jars, I was stuck with the same thing to eat 5 times this week. I'm someone who likes a lot of variety and found that to be a little frustrating so in the future I will probably adapt my salads to 3 servings at a time.

 

 

So not only did Tammy help me with lunches this week, she helped with breakfast too! I made her basic Bacon, Egg and Cheese breakfast sandwich (link HERE). I'll start of with saying that I am not a huge fan of English muffins but these were not bad at all and will definitely look for this brand again. This recipe is super easy and you can easily adapt how many you want to make at once. I made six because that's how many muffins were in the box.

 

 

 

So you need:

  6 whole wheat english muffins (I used Thomas brand but could not find the high fiber version Tammy talks about on her blog)

6 slices pre-cooked bacon (I used Hormel thick cut fully precooked bacon)

6 eggs (I used egg whites only since I really don't like egg yolks)

6 slices cheese (I used Velveeta's sharp cheddar slices)

 

I like the precooked bacon because it A)Eliminates a step, and B)I don't get splattered by frying bacon. I hate frying bacon more than just about any other food. I always get splattered and burned. So yeah, I don't love cooking bacon at all. I love to eat it, but not enough to cook it myself. So anyway, I fried my egg whites in a non-stick butter flavored sprayed pan until they were not quite done and then added the cheese and let continue to cook until done. Once eggs are done, transfer to english muffin, top with folded piece of bacon and "lid" of muffin. Let cool slightly then wrap either in plastic wrap or a sandwich bag.

 

These were great - I really liked these a lot and they took no time whatsoever to make. I think for all six it took me 10-15 minutes. Like I said before, I'm not a big fan of english muffins but these were very good and I will definitely be trying these again. Again a big huge thanks to Tammy at Organize Yourself Skinny! She was my lifesaver this week and helped me get back on track!