Honey Mustard & Bacon Broccoli Salad

I know, I know.  The title alone gives me a foodgasm.  Then I get a happinessgasm when I realize it only has 100 calories for a whole cup. My blog doesn't contain a lot of fancily edited professional photos with sexy fonts to entice you, nor does it contain a whole lot of words before the recipe.  And I'm pretty sure the words "honey mustard" and "bacon" speak for themselves.  So, let's do this.

HONEY MUSTARD & BACON BROCCOLI SALAD
12 oz bag broccoli slaw
12 oz bag broccoli florets
1/2 cup diced green pepper
1 diced onion
1/4 cup real bacon bits
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup + 1 TBS Spicy brown mustard
1.5 TBS honey
1/3 cup + 1 TBS Kraft Light Mayo with Olive Oil (or any other mayo with 35 calories/TBS)

Toss it up and enjoy.

Frozen Meal Review: SELF Healthy Kitchen Garden Chicken Alfredo

I had never heard of this brand of frozen meals. Apparently, they are brought to us by Self magazine. They caught my eye in the latest Publix ad because they we're Buy One Get One Free. 

THE GOOD: These meals are made from antibiotic-free chickens and contain no artificial ingredients and are minimally processed (whatever that really means). This meal had 7 grams of fiber and a whopping 21 grams of protein!! (Also 320 calories, 6 fat). 

THE BAD: These mother freakin meals retail for $4.99 each. Seeing how I am not a Kardashian, there is no way in holy hell I'd drop $5 for a frozen meal for one person. However, at the BOGO price of 2.49, let's do this. 

THE EXPERIENCE:  It definitely had more food than most frozen meals, and it was very filling (see fiber and protein contents above). I was kind of nervous at first because, um, hello this is ALFREDO and this meal is not drowning in white sauce. But then I took a bite. It was sooo flavorful and there was actual shredded Parmesan cheese everywhere. The chicken pieces were small but numerous and yummy. There was loads and loads of pasta. Broccoli, peppers, and artichoke topped it off. It was definitely way tastier than your average frozen meal. 

THE VERDICT:  I will DEFINITELY buy these whenever Publix runs them BOGO, but I will never pay more than $2.50 for a frozen dinner.  It's against my religion. 

Kicka$$ Coffee

I would love to hit up Starbucks on the regular. My bank account told me that's not a great idea. So, my favorite coffee creamer is Coffee-Mate's White Chocolate Caramel Latte.  It's one of those delicious flavors that only came in tiny bottles until recently. Now I can get a big old bottle of it!!!!....but....alas....it doesn't have a sugar free version. And it has 35 calories per tablespoon. That would be fine and dandy if it didn't take 4 TBS of it to get the job done = 140 calories. No, thank you. 

So here is my super genius (and pretty obvious fix):  Before I add the super tastiest creamer, I lighten my coffee up with basic creamer and Splenda. 

I lighten my coffee up with 2 tsp powdered creamer (20 calories) and 2 tsp Splenda (0 calories). Then I drop in the goodness and use 2 TBS of hardcore full-fat naughty creamer (70 calories). Total calories : 90 vs 140 and it tastes exactly the same as if I'd plopped in all naughty creamer. 

These measurements may not work exactly for your tastebuds, but you get the basic picture. MAKE YOUR COFFEE SLIGHTLY SWEET AND CREAMY FOR LESS CALORIES AND THEN ADD THE FLAVORED stuff. Amen. 

Bagel Melt

This is my current obsession. It's high protein and high fiber, so it's a good obsession to have. 

I take a Thomas Everything bagel and put  a couple of slices honey turkey and a slice of Swiss on it. (I'd have preferred a reduced fat Swiss, but there wasn't any at my Walmart, and, truth be told, there's only a 10 calorie difference between the regular and the reduced fat.) Wrap the bagel melt up in a paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds. That's it!

It's an ooey gooey deliciousness. It's reminiscent of those little poppy seed sandwiches on rolls you eat at showers, but way healthier. You'll see my French dressing in the picture because sometimes I like to shake things up and give it a little drizzle of extra flavor.  Without dressing, it's 200 calories, 5 fiber, and 13 protein!!! 

Lean Cuisine review-Herb Roasted Chicken

Lean Cuisine Herb Roasted Chicken is one of my favorite frozen meals because it is only 170 CALORIES!!! High protein (16 tummy-filling grams). Creamy sauce (Us fat kids love creamy sauce.

 

We are not a thin-sauced, vinegrette-type people). It has taters and broccoli. If it doesn't fill you up, you can easily throw a salad or whatever with it because did I mention it's only 170 calories. 

Classic Chicken Salad improved

I've posted this before. I just made some edits to make this better and easier. 

34 oz canned chicken breast

2 cups chopped celery

1/2 cup plus 2 TBS any 35-calorie mayo

6 TBS relish

3 boiled eggs. 

This makes THIRTEEN 1/2-cup servings. Could it be healthier?  Oh yes, I could've used some organic, preservative-free, free range blah blah, but I'm lazy and poor and, really, so are you. Admit it. So we'll just do the best we can and high-five ourselves for any and all efforts. Also, it's a little heavy on the celery because celery is low-calorie bulk. Not because I'm the biggest hardcore celery fan of all time. 

Don't Waste Your $$$

I'll let the pic speak for itself. Why no one can make/sell a decent pre-grilled frozen chicken breast is beyond me.