Wednesday night’s dinner was pork tenderloin that was marinated in ponzu, then grilled. It was a little overdone but still tasty (especially with ketchup!) The sweet potatoes were cooked in the microwave. My sister and I went to the farmer’s market here in Marco Wednesday morning and got some nice green beans which we cooked with a little butter and added the tomatoes at the end of the cooking.
Grilled pork tenderloin, sweet potato, and green beans with cherry tomatoes
The first and last weeks of our stay in Marco Island are being spent with my sister and her husband. Since my sister is allergic to shellfish, we ate separately last night but the dish was less vibrant than usual due to a lack of red pepper flakes. I sauteed the mushrooms, onion and garlic and added the snowpeas to steam and finally the shrimp. We finished the dish by combining the pasta with the shrimp and vegetables and adding some parsley, arugula, chicken stock and pasta water. It was topped with green onions.
Whole wheat penne with shrimp, mushrooms and snowpeas
It’s time to get back on the straight and narrow. What better day to start again than on a Chicken Monday. John and I are staying with my sister and her husband in Marco Island, Florida. Dinner tonight was a group effort – John cooked the meat and made the gravy, I took care of the butternut squash and Peg steamed the cauliflower and made the cranberry sauce. I poured myself a nice glass of sparkling water and sat down to a great communal dinner that was delicious and satisfying.
Chicken Monday dinner
John and I are getting settled here in Marco Island and I’ll start posting again on January 1. Here’s to a new year of successful healthy eating!
Thank goodness it’s Chicken Monday again! After all the eating and drinking of the Christmas weekend, it is so comforting to eat plainly. Way back on January 1, 2011 after returning from France and Spain, I felt the same way. I guess the feeling lasted for the whole year! Granted I’ve been kind of marching in place these past two months. I do want to pat myself on the back for that accomplishment, though. To go through a three week trip to Italy, Thanksgiving, my birthday and Christmas and not have a net gain is a new experience for me. I am feeling empowered to lose the other twenty-five pounds. I know I can do it.
John and I are in eat down mode to clear out the refrigerator before we leave for Florida. Part of the clear-out-the-refrigerator was to give a bunch of leftovers from Christmas eve to the kids. Also there was some throwing out of food that we are not going to get to. I have our menu planned for tomorrow using up the bits and pieces that are left.
So our unimaginative Chicken Monday consisted of John’s expertly seared and baked chicken breast. We also made up a packet of gravy with its stingy 20 calories per serving. Our starch was a mixture of rutabagas and potatoes. I had a few green beans left that I cooked up with some red onion and a little faux butter. And I steamed some snow peas with some carrot pieces for a little color. Sitting down to dinner with a wineglass full of sparkling water and a simple meal brought a big sigh of relief.
Pan roasted chicken breast with gravy, rutabaga/potato mash, green beans, and snow peas with carrots
Yesterday was Christmas eve and there is nothing to report that would fit with the title of this blog. Maybe I might call what we did yesterday “grazing heavy.” For instance, one of our dishes was lasagna made in cupcake molds. The idea was to be able to eat lasagna while schmoozing with the other Pilat Eve attendees. There were also potato latkes. So good. It was a whole day of great food and wine.
Moving on to Christmas morning, our tradition is to have bagels and lox with cream cheese, capers and red onion. We all love it and it kind of brings both our traditions together. And I suppose if that were the big splurge of the day, it wouldn’t be too bad. However, Jonathan is making a prime rib roast for the main Christmas meal today. I am going to eat it and enjoy it. With the exception of a hamburger back in July, it will be my only beef this year.
Merry Christmas!
Christmas breakfast
Last chance before the eat-a-thon to have a decent dinner. I really like this dinner. The sauce is really more like a brodo made from chicken stock and a little of the pasta water. I haven’t bought snow peas in a long time so it was good to have a different vegetable. Although this portion is only two ounces of pasta, all the vegetables give it bulk and it’s very satisfying.
Whole wheat spaghetti with shrimp, onions, mushrooms and snow peas
It’s the Wednesday before Christmas and we are trying to eat reasonably. John and I both know that come Saturday we will be in the midst of an eating extravaganza. Saturday we celebrate Pilat Eve which incorporates the foods of Hanukkah and our traditional Christmas Eve fare. Which is hors d’ouevres! This is really a tradition that started when I was a teenager and my friends who happened to be Jewish would come over and help decorate our tree and we would eat finger foods. It seemed like a good tradition to continue and the kids like it. But back to today. We had pork tenderloin with gravy (again), farro with mushrooms (yum), and Brussels sprouts. These sprouts were quite small so I didn’t cut most of them in half and they were pretty bitter which is surprising for small ones. I don’t think I will buy them from Costco again.
Pork tenderloin with farro and Brussels sprouts
When you are on a diet it is hard to find a dinner that everyone will like. Sometimes you just figure that it would be easier to eat out. The other night when Jonathan was visiting, it seemed like a good time to do just that. There is a little Italian restaurant in the Lucky’s shopping center nearby. It is quite unassuming and is a family owned and run place. Since Jon likes Italian food, I figured it would be easier on both of us to eat there.
Making a decision about what to eat when one is dining out is always a challenge. I can’t say I was totally successful. I hadn’t eaten much all day and was tired from playing tennis (and not eating.) When we got there it was extremely difficult to pass up the bread basket. I failed that test and ate a breadstick. But before too long the salad arrived. I dressed it with my single serve fat free salad dressing. My main course was veal scallopine with farfalle. If I were making this at home there would be no extra fat but when you eat out you have to allow for a certain amount of cooking and top dressing with oil. On the whole, though, I think I chose a fairly lowfat meat and a small portion of pasta. My main stumbling block was the bread. I need to remind myself to have my left hand hold my right hand in my lap. My right hand is so naughty!
Dining out lite? Veal scallopine with farfalle
Chicken Monday again! Since we are starting eat-down mode due to our upcoming trip, we tried to use bits and pieces of stuff we have in the refrigerator. We had leftover butternut squash and one potato so I cooked the potato and mashed it up with the butternut squash. We had some broccoli but not enough for our dinner so I added some carrots, onions and Brussels sprouts. First I sauteed the onions in butter spray and removed them from the pan. I cooked the vegetables in a little water starting with the carrots and Brussels sprouts. After letting them get a headstart, I put in the broccoli. When the water had boiled away, I added back in the onions and a little low cal butter substitute. John cooked the chicken and made some gravy. It turned out to be a completely acceptable meal for Chicken Monday.
Pan roasted chicken with gravy, potato/squash mash and mixed vegetables
Omnivore 