Popcicles- My new obsession

So the other day I was at Hobby Lobby and saw a package of 300 Popsicle sticks. I put them in the cart without a moments thought. The day before on a trip to Walmart I vetoed my husband putting the flavored sugar water Popsicles in the cart. I told him I would figure out a healthy alternative. I have had Popsicle molds for a few years but have not used them since that first fateful time. I filled the molds with delightful Jello instant chocolate pudding mix. I was so thrilled as I took my first bite. I really don't remember if it was good or not but I do remember by the time I was half way done with the Popsicle I was so sick of chocolate pudding I never wanted to see it again. I realized then these Popsicle molds can't possibly be for normal human sized consumption. The only problem was the molds had plastic sticks that stuck on the end making it impossible to make the pops any smaller, so they had gone unused in the cupboard until that fateful day at Hobby Lobby. I can put normal sticks in the molds and make smaller pops. The only problem is the sticks are never strait. Oh well, I'll take the trade off.

So I started making my own pops. I found a banana recipe on the Eating Well website, and although my son loves it, it is not my or my husbands favorite. After searching online for Popsicle recipes and finding few that fit my parameters for healthy, I decided to start making my own. So here is my first one, and it turned out so fabulous, and at 82 calories each I think I am in love.














~Raspberry Popsicles~

16 oz package
1/3 Cup sugar
1 Cup Milk

Thaw Raspberries. Use a mesh strainer to remove many of the seeds. Here is my picture of how I did it. Yeah I know it is supper high-tech. After a while I used a normal large spoon to press the seeds onto the strainer. I had some seeds get through, but that was fine by me. What are raspberries without seeds, right? Put strained raspberries and sugar in medium saucepan and cook on low heat until sugar is dissolved (side note: I really don't think this step in necessary so do what you will). Remove from heat and let cool. Add Milk. Equally divide between 6 Popsicle molds. Freeze for at least 5 hours. Run mold under hot water to release pop. Enjoy!

Nutritional information Per pop:

82 Calories

.3 g Fat

19 g Carbs

3.5 Dietary Fiber (it is probably lower because we took out the seeds)

2 g Protein

Black Bean Chicken

So yesterday as I a perusing recipes online (one of my favorite things to do) I discovered eatingwell.com 's 500 calories recipe section. If course I was delighted because I love 4-500 calorie meals. That was until I looked at the recipes, all of them. All the recipes on the site call for about a thousand ingredients (most of which I don't have), and just looked and the list intimidated me. So just to spite their thousand ingredient recipes I made my own 500 calorie meal with a lot less and out of stuff that was already in my cupboard.

Black Bean Chicken

Serves 4

1 large Chicken Breast

1 can Black Beans (15 oz)

1 can Salsa verde (7 oz

8 Corn Tortillas

4 roma Tomatoes

Preheat oven to 350. Place breast in baking dish and season lightly (I use Mrs.Dash.) Mix black beans and salsa verde and pour over chicken. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes occasionally scooping bean mixture on chicken. Remove from oven. Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Mix with black bean mixture. Toast tortillas over dry griddle until brown and crispy. Place half cup of chicken and bean mixture over each tortilla. Two tortillas per serving. Serve sprinkled with tomatoes.

Calorie breakdown per serving

2 Tortillas 130

1 Cup Chicken and black beans 230

Tomato 30

Total- 390

I added a cup of fresh green beans to bring the total to

424

400 Calorie meals

Calories

120 1 Cup Progresso Tomato basil soup

100 Thin round

80 1/4 Kraft 2% chedder

45 1.5 cups broccoli- I misted with a bit of alive oil to roast in the oven (not is calorie count)

64 1 cup raspberries

Total Calories- 409

400 Colorie meals

So over the last year and a half I have lost 35 pounds. I have decided that I have 10-15 more to go depending on how I look when I loose the ten. So how I have lost the last 15 pounds is eating around 1600 calories a day. So that is roughly 4- 400 calorie meals. PRESTO! So now we come to the point I am going to start posting the 400 calorie meals that I eat with pictures so you can see how much food 400 can be.

When I first started doing a reduced calorie menu, I realized that so I don't starve to death (in my head) I had to eat ALOT. My husbands eyes bugged out of his head when he saw my two pieces of french toast with 2 CUPS of strawberries piled on top. He said, "Isn't that a little extreme?" It might of appeared that way but two tablespoons of of maple syrup is 100 calories (and I would probably use more than that) and guess how many calories 2 cups of strawberries is? 100 Calories! So which one would fill me up better? Of course the strawberries! So that is what I mean by eating a lot. I had to find foods that fill you up with lower calories, and you know what that means? Yep fruits and vegtables... LOTS of them.

So these are some of the tricks I use.

1. Eat at the same time every day. I eat four real meals a day, at the same time everyday. I eat at 8:00, 11:30, 3:00, and 6:30 every day. For a while I tried to do three meals a day with a snack but I was always so hungry at 3:00 that I would snack up to 400 calories on stuff that wasn't filling and then I was still hungry. If I make a real meal, it is much more satisfying.
2. Eat on glass. As a stay at home mom I see way too much brightly colored plastic. It is everywhere I turn. So when I eat it is on glass plates. I even bought what I consider beautiful plates at Market street when they were on sale for $1.75 a piece. Eat with real metal utensils and I drink out of a glass cup, and I even go so far as to use fabric napkins. Its so luxurious in my world of having the entire top rack of the dishwasher covered in halfsized plastic cups. My husband in jest said, "Oh so you are too good for plastic?" And I decided, "YES I AM!"
3. Sit down to eat. I used to eat my breakfast in front of the computer checking my e-mail of face book or I would have a book open in front of me. Now I sit at the table and eat, and that is ALL I do. I can really enjoy the flavors of what I am eating. When I finish I actually feel like I have eaten something, becasue that is what my brain was thinking about. Otherwise I would finish my meal and not feel like I had eaten anything.
4. Eat fruit, lots of it. I am a sweets a holic. I could eat sugary anything (brownies, chocolate, icecream) all day and never get sick of it. Now instead I eat 2-3 servings of fresh fruit a day and I don't have those cravings as much. For the first while it doesn't seem like fruit is that sweet, but when your body adjust to having less sugar, they seem sweeter.
5. Drink water- Whe I look back at days where I ate to many calories, most of the time I realize that I didn't drink much water that day. DRINK! Also I always say I would rater eat my calories than drink them so next time you reach for a calorie laden drink, think of what you could eat for the same amount of calories.