Counting Calories Part 2 / Recipe Share

Yesterday I was determined to be under my calorie goal like I was monday. I'm competative with myself and I like to "win" so my goal was to hit the calorie goal, but I really wanted to be under it! So here is my food journal for yesterday....I will have to say that being under by 56 calories made my happy, but if I had made two better choices this would of been lower 1) the mini fun size candy bar and 2) the second cheddar bay biscuit!

I pre-plan my meals so I know where my deficit is going to be and that is helping to keep me focused. Last night we decided to go to red lobster and have dinner. I haven't been there post surgery but I love shrimp so I thought why not! Here is two things I learned at red lobster - cheddar biscuits are still AMAZING and if I ever go I'm going to be asked to brought 1 and not a basket. It was work the 150 calories I spared on it....but now the 300 I see above. Second - my tummy doesn't like red lobster shrimp anymore! I think there are a couple reasons for this: salt, fried, and too much butter on the scampi. The other reason would be it was served too hot! Ok laugh, but for 18 months I like my food cooler is not cold since it feels better and process in my tummy easier. My tummy "fred" is just plain ole weird! I only had 8 shrimp and ended up pealing off the breading and had to wait to get home to eat them when they are cold. I will save my money and not go back to red lobster and buy a bag of shrimp to fix at home!

One thing I did discover yesterday is a new snack or breakfast option that I also ate on today! I'm going to call it Greek Mocha Click :-)

Greek Mocha Click with Peanut Butter

 Yesterday I experimented with my mocha click that I have a few samples of (since I'm sensitive to protein powders). I mixed in 2 heaping tsp into my 1 serving of oikos greek plain yogurt. It was a little bitter so I added 1 packet of sweet and low. It was ok and it was a great protein serving, but I needed some more flavor. I had half of it left over so this morning I added 1 tbsp of peanut butter to the mocha click and greek yogurt and ate it with a side of 6 strawberries (for a total calorie love of 13 calories for the strawberries). This was a great combo and I liked it. I like the peanut butter smoothness that was brought to the yogurt ( and the tang was gone!) I also like that I added 7 more grams of protein to it. I'm full as of right now so I'm excited to see how this works with my sugar issue.

Monday Night I made Garlic and Brown Sugar Chicken Breasts (WLS friendly). To make it weight loss friendly I utilized splenda brown sugar as well as in replace of some of the oil ( I used just enough to brown the minced garlic and onion) I added some chicken stock to make the the mixture more moist and help the chicken have more flavor since I'm using chicken in a bag from Aldi! Even my husband like it. One thing I would tell you if you are using boneless and skinless breast like I use, turn the chicken over a few times in the sauce and baste it. The chicken will be more moist and will have a better flavor. I think the next time I make it I might add a little soy to the mixture or even some rum for flavor. I served it with green beans and a broccolli dish I got off of pinterest too. My verdict on the broccolli - not the best dish I've ever made with broccolli but it isn't horrible...probably won't make it again anytime soon. If you do like something sweet try this cake! This cocount cream cake is out of this world! I made it for my boss's coming home from Europe party and it is divine - you can leave off the cool whip because this is rich and sweet, but very yummy. I would definitely take this to a gathering again.