Another great dinner! I was on my own tonight and really enjoyed cooking this meal. It got a little hectic at the end, but it was worth it!!
First I cut up a small eggplant and salted it over the sink. I let it sit for a good 30 minutes. This takes out the bitterness. Once ready, I rinsed off all the salt and cut into chunks on a baking sheet along with a medium zucchini and baked them both in the oven on 400* for 26 minutes with just a little salt and pepper.
In the meantime, I reheated my pre-cooked spaghetti squash (6 oz), chopped up 5 bottled kalamata olives, drained some capers, and microwaved 1/2 a cup of jarred tomato sauce. I prefer to use crushed tomatoes (adding my own seasoning) than jarred sauce, but the husband had opened this emergency sauce and we had to use it up! At least it was one of the healthier ones without much sugar/salt. Lastly, I defrosted, peeled and seared 15 frozen shrimp in a skillet with 1/2 a tsp of EVOO.
I like my shrimp to have a nice golden crust on them and the husband and I have had trouble with this in the past (because I never want to use a ton of oil). But tonight I made sure to place each shrimp down with tongs rather than just throwing them in and they sat there without moving for a good 3-4 minutes. They turned out PERFECT with a beautiful brown crust!!!
Then I just layered it all in a bowl…..
Total dinner calories:300 for that whole bowl!! Would have been nice with some Parmesan cheese but I didn’t feel like washing the grater afterwards. Of course whole wheat pasta is a great health food, but if you are craving lots of toppings, see how substituting spaghetti squash can get that “huge bowl of pasta” feeling without being super high in calorie? You could also do half pasta, half squash if you wanted to meet in the middle.
Dessert
I told you the Edy’s would make an appearance! I couldn’t decide between peppermint and egg nog so I had a little of both – 1/2 cup peppermint and 1/4 of nog. FYI, I did have to really fight the urge to get more when I was done, but really 1/2-3/4 cup of ice cream is the perfect amount.
Afternoon Snack
This afternoon I ate the rest of my grapefruit and then had a Caramel Nut Brownie Luna bar. I don’t eat these often because anything that tastes this much like a real Caramel Nut Brownie can’t be that good for you, but I like the nutritional panel for these bars and the ingredients list is OK. I just wouldn’t eat one every day. But this flavor (which I had never had) was DELICIOUS!!! Just like a real brownie.
Wednesday Recap
Total calories: 1726
– 540 from run and walk at lunch
= net of 1186.
Yeah, I could have had more ice cream, but I don’t think I need it. I’m pretty full from dinner!
FYI, I upped my net to 1266. I’ve been doing so well with my eating I do feel that I need some more fuel. If I totally blow Christmas, I’ll pull it back down for a while. If I keep eating well, I might increase to 1300. We’ll see!
Exam
Tomorrow is the final exam for my nutrition class, so I’m going to have to save answer>ing your questions for tomorrow or Friday. Hang in there!!
Off to study in the bathtub – FINALLY! My shoulders need it.
laura says
that dinner looks amazing by the way but i was just wondering what type of oats you use for your oatmeal and how you exactly cook it. i'm kind of confused! but i love the blog and keep up the good work!!
Elle says
Good luck with your exam tomorrow! Yay for tests being over! (Although, it sounds like your final might actually be kind of fun…I know my finals would be a lot more fun if I only had to break a 30!). I'm sure you'll get more like a 120 though ;).
Kelli says
I love that you had the room calorie wise for more ice cream, but listened to your stomach instead. What a great lesson. Sometimes, I get obsessed with calories and will eat anything if I have the calories left. Not smart. Thanks!
Christie says
Kath,
Do you just count calories or do you also consider food groups? Are you concious of your intake of carbs, dairy., protein etc. ?
Kath says
Christie,
Here’s my food group response from another post:
The only thing I “count” is calories. I tried giving up calorie counting and switched to food group counting early this fall and things got a little out of control. Foods are all so different and I felt that when just counting the food groups my portions were huge and I was really struggling to eat intuitively – the opposite of what you might think!
HOWEVER, I do pay lots of attention to my meal balance.
Here’s what I aim for:
Breakfast: Grains, fruit and dairy. (There are usually nuts/PB involved too)
Lunch: A whole grain, a serving of fruit, 2-3 oz protein/meat, a yogurt, and a vegetable if I can. When I’m packing my lunches and I have a sandwich with meat, a yogurt, and an apple, I think what group I’m missing and try to add something from it.
Snack: Wildcard. What am I lacking? What will be a good combo to hold me over? I try to combine grains with fruit or have a bar that gives a little protein and fiber.
Dinner: A protein, 1-2 vegetables, occasionally a grain. We pick a meat or vegetable and then design the rest of the meal around it. Sometimes there’s rice/bread/pasta involved, others there’s not.
My goal is to plan means for optimum balance – both from the food groups and from protein, carbs and fiber. I worry less about fat, but do take that into consideration if I’m lacking protein.
Hope that makes sense!
ashle18 says
I’ve been checking out your site for a while now and LOVE it!! Thanks for all the work you do. 🙂 Anyways, just wanted to comment on your dinner…it looks fantastic and I’m already making plans to make it tomorrow night for dinner!
Kath says
Fabulous!! It was a delicious dinner! I LOVED the eggplant and the shrimp crust 🙂