Sunday Night Dinner-Veggie Overload!

It's Sunday Night in the summer- you know what that means: A glass of "Skinny" wine (from my 3/9/13 post), Dexter, True Blood, and a yummy home cooked meal.) Get all your favorite veggies in with this recipe featuring a skinny must have- Fiber Gourmet Pasta. 

Before I get to this delicious dish- I need to dish about fiber gourmet. Their slogan "All the taste, half the calories" is so true! One serving (2oz) features  130 calories, 40% fewer than standard pasta and 18g  of fiber - 72% of the daily value... 4 WW Points. Awesome! You can purchase the pasta online, or you can pick up a box or two to try at Tasty Delight on Coit and Campbell. http://www.fibergourmet.com/ClassicPastaHealthy.aspx (while you're browsing, check out the crackers and Mac and cheese also!) Great Find!

To create my "Pasta Veggie-Supreme,"  roast all your favorite veggies with a tad of olive oil and seasonings of your choice on 425-450 degrees for 40 min. (Or until veggies are crisp.) Turn/mix on the baking sheet every 10 mins. For this recipe I  went a little crazy at Central Market and used zucchini, squash, roma tomatoes (for color!), mushrooms and brussel sprouts seasoned with garlic powder, oregano, Italian seasoning and onion powder. 

To add some protein, I cut 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts into small pieces and marinated them in olive oil and the same seasonings for about 30 min. (Bake for 30-40 mins on 350.) Or use any protein!

I boiled the fiber pasta as normal. Note- The best grocery store, easy to find pasta (I think) is Ronzoni Smart Taste with fiber. It has 180 calories for a 2oz serving. Not too bad! 

Once everything is baked, boiled and ready mix in a giant bowl with Ragu Light Pasta sauce. (60 Calories for 1/2 a cup- 1 WW Point.) I usually heat up the sauce in the microwave first so everything is hot. 

Serve and enjoy!

The key to this recipe is more veggies and less pasta. For 1-1/2 servings of pasta, 1 serving of chicken, all the veggies you want, and 1/2 cup of pasta sauce... You're looking at about 9-10 WW points for a filling and fiber-filled dinner! 

Healthy Restaurant Find- Gordon Biersch

Looking for a guilt-free night out for dinner and drinks with friends or family- check out Gordon Biersch. There’s a location at the Shops at Legacy in Plano and one in Dallas off Park Lane and 75. I was looking forward to checking out their Light Menu and Skinny Cocktails, and was presently surprised by the offering. However, I will say that the food choices are very “diet.” What was great about the menu, was that I could enjoy a weekend night out on the patio for dinner while sipping cocktails and not worrying about calorie counting.

To begin, the skinny cocktails menu was very impressive drink-wise with four fun choices all under 125 calories, but also very pricey. (Note- my mom always told me that for weight loss, there’s no price!- so sip and enjoy!) I tried the Strawberry Soda. It was light, fruity and refreshing. The Strawberry Soda is made with Strawberry Rum, Sugar Free Triple Sec, mint leaves and fresh strawberries (pictured below)! I’ve also tried their Skinny Margarita in the past. It’s pretty good, but On The Border still gets my vote for the best skinny margarita. The Skinny Cocktails menu also includes a skinny mojito and a skinny cosmo. They are on my “to try” list!

For appetizers, we munched on the margarita flatbread. The crispy pizza was a great choice (pictured below, curiosity of the Gordon Biersch  website.) It’s light and tasty with large slices of tomatoes, mozzarella and basil. The whole flatbread has 430, so when split between 4 people, it’s not too shabby for a pre-dinner munchie. Another guilt-free appetizer choice (which I’ve had in the past, but not on this visit) would be the Southwest Egg Rolls (pictured below, curiosity of the Gordon Biersch  website). The order comes with 4 rolls to share with friends. Each 135 (estimated) crispy roll is filled with pulled chicken, corn, peppers and cheese. (Note- stay away from the dipping sauce. Unneeded calories!)

As I mentioned earlier, the food choices on the Lighter Side menu are not spectacular, but they do allow you to enjoy a fun night out totally guilt-free, unlike many other restaurants in “fun” areas.  I had the Mediterranean Chicken (pictured below) and Eric had the Creole Chicken. They were pretty much the same – grilled chicken, veggies, and rice. The Mediterranean Chicken is topped with tomatoes, garlic and basil. The meal has 430 calories. The Creole Chicken is topped with a spicy jambalaya sauce. This meal has 420 calories. Like I said, both were tasty. Nothing amazing, but great for a healthy dinner out.  Their Lighter Side menu also has a stir fry option and a chicken cashew option, but they are higher in calories and probably not worth it- for the extra 200 calories, I’d rather head over to red mango for some fro-yo after dinner!

All and all, not a bad choice for a fun night out! What’s great, is that the restaurant offers their full nutritional info online. Check it out here: http://www.gordonbiersch.com/restaurants

Restaurant Find- Cotton Patch

Cotton Patch is one of places that never seemed exciting enough to check out, so  I had never eaten there. But, I recently read about their Heart Healthy menu and I got a coupon in the mail, so I was intrigued to check it out.

The Heart Healthy menu only has three choices, which was disappointing, but you only order one dish, so it works out! The menu includes a grilled chicken dish with "skinny veggies" and rice (561 calories), a blackened tilapia dish also with "skinny veggies" and rice (477 calories - talk about an exact amount!) and a grilled salmon dish with veggies and no rice (319 calories). 

I ordered the blackened tilapia, and I was pleasantly surprised. The fish was thick, fresh, and seasoned very well. The veggies and rice were good too! For 477 calories, it was a filling choice. I also had a Caesar salad before the meal for an extra 115 additional calories. The salad was hearty, crisp, tasty and worth the added calories. One thing to make note of, is to beware of the yummy bread they bring before the meal. I had a taste of one. While they were yummy, the oily carb was not worth the extra calories!

Next time, I'll try the grilled chicken dish either way, I'd recommend the Heart Healthy menu at Cotton Patch for from an easy, chill night out! 

See the full nutritional facts here: http://www.cottonpatch.com/images/menu/cpc_nutritional.pdf

160 Calories + 50 cents = Yum!

Two of my favorite things: a good deal and a yummy food find- oh and fro-yo!

Stop by Burger King all summer for a 160 calorie ice cream cone for only 50 cents! While I do think that McDonalds makes a better ice cream cone, you can't go wrong with a great offer!

Cool off with this great treat... If you can find a Burger King- they are few and far between thee days!

Happy Summer!

My Panera Fav- Back for Summer!

My favorite seasonal Panera Bread signature salad is back for summer, and still delicious! With only 350 calories, this yummy meal features thin sliced grilled chicken, romaine lettuce, strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mandarin oranges, pecans and fat-free poppyseed dressing. It's very delicious!

Get it quick... It's only here till September.  Try it alone or in a combo with a turkey sandwich for a meal total of only 380 calories. 

Highly recommended!

Save the Date- 49 Cent Slurpees!

Save the Date!

This weekend stop by 7-eleven for your medium 49 cent Slurpee. Last year, the gas station/convenient store chain launched the "light" version of their famous and delicious Slurpees! 

Most of the light Slurpee flavors run only 20 calories - some are slightly more, but not over 30 calories- for an 8oz serving. So, your medium Light Slurpee will only run you 60-70 calories! Awesome!!

Some of the light flavors includes Sprite (new- can't wait to try it!), strawberry banana, mango, cherry limeade, and more.

Best 49 cents spent all summer!

Enjoy!

Food Find- 85 Calorie Dessert Bars

If you're not familiar with products from Arctic Zero, they are crazy low-cal "Ice Cream" pints in various flavors. The 150 calorie pints are ok- not so awesome... I'd rather have a smaller portion of any yummy Dreyer's/Edy's Slow Churned Light Ice Cream flavor instead...BUT this weekend I found these 85-calories Arctic Zero chocolate-covered bars at Kroger. They are new and pretty exciting!

Now- I will point out that they are pricey, ($5.49 for a 4 pack) but, they were surprisingly tasty for an 85 calorie dessert. Most WW or Skinny Cow desserts run 110-170, so this calorie count is a nice surprise, especially on a splurge day when you need something sweet. Also, the bar is a good size- about 5 inches. They come in a vanilla/chocolate 4-pack and an orange/strawberry 4-pack. The inside is a bit icy, but still creamy, and the outside is made of rich, crunchy chocolate. I've tried the strawberry and vanilla so far.  Both were pretty good! Not the best thing ever, but a great new find for only 85 calories (2 Weight Watcher Points).