I think I found next week’s baking project.

Because I know you all love to know what I am eating…

I have been inspired to cook this week. It’s amazing what I can whip up with just the contents of my pantry, fridge and freezer. On Sunday, I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. I’ve had oatmeal with raisins and cranberries with brown sugar and cinnamon for breakfast a couple of mornings this week. I found a container of frozen spaghetti sauce in my freezer, which turned into dinner.

Using up the contents of my kitchen, and cutting back on going out to eat, has made me a little more creative. While I did go grocery shopping today, which I have been trying to hold off doing, I am still trying to use what I have to come up with new meals. My shopping trip today was for a lot of staples - bread, milk, eggs, juice, cheese - things I really can’t get by without. Meals tend get really boring, especially when you are home all day. Supercook.com is also a great site that has given me some inspiration to use what I have on hand.

Today for breakfast, I had a cranberry orange breakfast muffin-thing (sort of like an english muffin) from Whole Foods that I froze last week so the rest of the package wouldn’t go bad. I also mixed some Greek yogurt with canned pineapple. For lunch, I made a panini with some whole wheat bread (which was also frozen - I usually freeze half the loaf so it doesn’t spoil), turkey, mozzarella cheese, tomato and avocado. For dinner, I am planning chicken breast stuffed with spinach (frozen) and feta and roasted potatoes.

So I guess the point of this post is to remind everyone to look in their pantry and fridge before you decide to order take out or hit up the grocery store. Happy cooking!

Since I really only cook chicken at home, except for the occasional burger or pot of chili, I had to post these recipes.

Planning my Superbowl menu.

Superbowl is definitely a day to nosh on delicious food, but I am going to attempt to stay somewhat on the healthy side. I have been doing really well with WW over the last few weeks, even going out on the weekends, having drinks with friends, splurging on things I love (like an eggroll and General Tao’s chicken!).

So here are some healthier recipes I am thinking about for Superbowl Sunday:

• - Hot Spinach Dip, from Skinny Taste
• - Chicken Poppers, from Weight Watchers
• - Baked Zucchini Sticks with marinara dipping sauce, from Skinny Taste
• - Lower Fat Queso, my own recipe

And by cutting back a little, that leaves room for drinks and dessert!

*Note: I am not making all of this food. Maybe just a few things!

Back on track…for now.

For not going grocery shopping for a couple of weeks, day one of getting back on track went well. Thanks to my well stocked pantry and freezer, a pineapple that my mom gave me over the weekend and a 6 inch turkey on wheat from Subway for lunch, I was pretty much set for all of my meals.

I had every intention to go grocery shopping after work today, but after being out of the office for 10 days, catching up on hundreds and hundreds of emails, client calls and stressing out and the rain and cold, I just wanted to come home and crawl under the covers.

I even found some staples (corn, black beans, diced tomatoes and chicken broth) in my pantry and freezer and was able to cook up a pot of mexican-inspired soup for lunch for the rest of the week.

I cleaned out my pantry and threw away a sad amount of expired snacks and stuff, so I might have to run to the store to pick up some staples, but I am going to try and eat what I have. The fact that I am going to be traveling next week for a week, it’s probably a good thing I don’t stock up now.

The one thing that is on my mind though is New Years Eve and the amount of food and alcohol I will probably consume. And what’s even worse is thinking about Las Vegas…again, all of the food and alcohol I will probably consume. Every day is a new day.

The last time I was in New York, I ate dinner with a client and colleagues at L’artusi. The food was good, not the best, but definitely good. We all shared some entrees so that we could try a little bit of everything and one really stood out.

Pasta with brussel sprouts, more specifically, pizzoccheri with brussels sprouts, fontina and sage. It was pretty darn amazing. It was baked in an individual dish and had that almost burnt cheese layer covering the entire thing.

I am on a mission to recreate this dish. I am not sure I will be able to find pizzoccheri and brussel sprouts have been rather expensive lately, but I will try to make this, or at least something close to it, because I have been thinking about it since I had it back in early November.

Two simple, yet delicious, recipes.

I have been on a cooking kick this week and thought I would share two super simple, yet very delicious, recipes I made this week.

Healthy Fried Rice

• Microwave pouch of brown rice (the 90 second kind)
• Meat of some kind, cooked - chicken, steak, shrimp, even ground turkey or chicken (good for using leftovers or a rotisserie chicken)
• Frozen veggies, whatever you like
• 1-2 eggs or Egg Beaters
• Canola oil
• Sesame oil
• Soy sauce

Saute veggies in both kinds of oil. Cook egg in another pan and set aside. Add in meat. Cook until heated through. Microwave rice. Add to veggies and meat. Cook for a few minutes. Add egg. Add in soy sauce and stir until incorporated.

Caprese Pasta Salad

• Whole wheat pasta, any shape (nothing too small and nothing too long)
• Tomatoes, chopped
• Fresh mozzarella
• Basil
• Balsamic vinegarette (or oil and vinegar, but add some Italian spices, salt and pepper)

Cook pasta. Drain and cool (mix with a little olive oil so it doesn’t stick). Chop tomatoes and mozzarella into bite sized pieces. Roll up basil leaves so they look like a cigar. Chop into thin ribbons (it looks fancy!). Put everything into a bowl and add dressing. Stir and chill in the fridge. The longer it sits the better!

*Note: I don’t measure, so take your best guess on how much you want to make and adjust according to your taste.

**Note: I like carbs. But healthy carbs, like brown rice and whole wheat pasta. If you don’t eat carbs, find something else to make. :)

I have known of The Pioneer Woman for quite some time now, but I heard her recipes involved a lot of ingredients and took a lot of time to cook, so I never actually went to her site.

I just saw this (which looks fantabulous) and decided to check out the recipe. I had no idea what I was missing! The Pioneer Woman is awesome! And while some of her recipes look like they will take a lot of effort to make, she has some great 16-minute meals, like Mini Meatball Sandwiches and Beef and Bean Burritos, and some of the other recipes look pretty manageable. I am also a big fan of making extra food and eating it for a few days (or freezing it, if I can).

Not to mention, The Pioneer Woman, who lives on a ranch in Oklahoma, is freakin’ hilarious. Like really funny. She was a high-heel wearing 9-5er living in California until…On a short visit to her hometown, she fell in love with her husband, who she calls the Marlboro Man. She has four kids, who she refers to as “punks,” is obsessed with her camera and apparently cooks up a storm.

I highly recommend you check out her site if you haven’t. If not for the recipes, for some inspiration and probably a good laugh.

Diet update and my new favorite snacks.

I have been doing Weight Watchers since January 12th. I allow myself one cheat day a week, where I can eat and drink whatever I want. If I go out for happy hour or lunch during the week, I try not stay as close to my points allowance as possible. So far, so good. My pants are even starting to fit better!

The one thing about “dieting” that I like is that it forces me to be creative in the kitchen. Last night I made a frittata with Egg Beaters, egg whites, veggies and lowfat cheese. I made taco soup, which consists of ground turkey, beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken broth and taco seasoning. My new breakfast go-to is fat-free Greek yogurt with berries and some granola or some Fiber One cereal for crunch.

I have also found some new points-friendly snacks. And a tip for anyone who might be looking for some healthy snack foods - Target has THE BEST selection. Some of my new favorites include Quaker Rice Snacks Mini Delights in Cinnamon Streusel, Emerald 100 Calorie Almonds in Cocoa Roast/Dark Chocolate, an apple with Laughing Cow Original Light Swiss Cheese spread on it (Don’t knock it ‘til you rock it! Thanks, HungryGirl!) and Fiber One bars. And Stash decaf tea in Chocolate Hazelnut flavor (with some skim milk and Splenda) is an awesome way to satisfy my sweet tooth at night.

And the diet continues…