Lunch : Salad with Balsamic

Sorry friend, your salad looks sad.

Have you tried balsamic?

Just about every brand has one.

At Cub (not sure what your shopping options are these days) they have a 1lb tub of 'spring mix' lasts me easily a week of extra large salads for lunch. ($6.99-organic section) I mix 3 c. of that with 1/2 c. broccoli slaw mix (dry-has carrots and broccoli) 1/8 cup of of unsalted roasted sunflower seeds, couple tablespoons of craisins and finely shredded Parmesan cheese, and top it with a tablespoon or 2 of Newman's Own Lite Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.

Can you believe this clocks in at a mere 230 calories including 2 tablespoons of dressing?  It fills me up (I mean, it's 3.75 cups of veggies!).  I have been eating this for 2 weeks now, I love it, and apparently am borderline obsessed.

I had the hubster eat it last night too - Thursdays are generally pizza night, and he can put down a few slices, I wanted to limit the number of slices I ate, so he joined me in a salad before the pizza.  He still ate 3/4 of the pizza. 

Wish I were a guy, then I would only gain a pound every month by eating like that.. *sigh* but at least I get to have long pretty hair..

Do you have a great low calorie, high nutrient salad?  Please share, for I fear I will become bored with this one.

Lunch : Bagel Dogs!

So, something that I used to eat as a kid, and when I say kid, I mean 14 year old.  Were Bagel Dogs.  My mom got them from the Schwan's Man, when he dropped off our milk. Yeah, we had a milk man.  My mom was busy doing whatever work she was doing, and it was easier to make sure that we had milk in the house if we had someone drop it off.  I guess.

Either way.  Bagel Dogs. I came across a pin on the Pintrest, which brought me to Circle B Kitchen's blog post.

I made them and can cross them off the list of wish to re-create at home.  But I will never do it again.  I am sure the original recipe is fine, and it was probably more of user error or something.  But they were way too much work, and took way too long to make.  And I burned my little fingers.

So, for a true bagel, you need to boil it before you bake it.  All of my hot dogs fell out of their wrappers.  So once I thought they were boiled sufficiently, I took them out, and burned my fingers trying to put them back in their jackets, and getting them to seal up as they dried a little.

They don't look terrible, other than the not being too brown, they were chewy, the salt and seeds were delicious.  I didn't know what else to serve it with, all I could think about was Kraft Cheese and Macaroni.  And then I decided to bust open a can of fruit cocktail for good measure.  We also dipped the Bagel Dogs in traditional hot dog condiments.

I am putting this in the Fail column.

Have you made them and had better results?

Wellness Lunch : Poached Salmon

My company, like many others out there, have an on site cafeteria. Which can be great, but can also be a funds sucker.

It is cheaper (of course) to bring your lunch from home.

Today however, I did not feel like eating one of my many cans of soups for lunch. So I took the 8 minute walk to the campus cafeteria, and after taking a look at everything, decided I should settle on the Poached Salmon Salad. I am not sure what makes it poached? Maybe the way it was harvested... Because it was in a fry pan before he put it on my salad.

It is a pretty interesting mix of food. There is some of that fancy curly lettuce, kalamata olives, raw green beans, raw green and red peppers and preciously fried potatoes, drizzled with a vinaigrette, with the salmon on top.

It's actually not that bad. I did feel the need to add some Parmesan cheese and sunflower seeds, which I think kicks it up a notch. And with all those leaves of lettuce- and size able piece of salmon, makes for a filling lunch.

Glad went out of my comfort box and went with the funny salad.

Have you gone out of your comfort zone and tried a new food in place of your regular meal?

Do tell!

Poor Man's Pad Thai

I love peanut butter.  I actually quite enjoy Ramen Noodles.  They are super cheap. And completely unhealthy.  I never had to live on Ramen, I lived at home through college. Both times that I went full time.

Chicken flavor is my favorite.  I tried one a couple weeks ago that was a spicy shrimp or something, it was good too.

But anyways, I saw a pin on the Pintrest.  Peanut Butter, Sriracha Sauce, and Ramen?!  WHAT!  That is out of this world! I had to try it.  So I did, and I have been eating it probably 1-2 times a week, for the past month.

Here is my delicious concoction.  Mind you, this is purely my preference/flavor combo for eating.

So, basically you make your Ramen, drain out about half the water, add 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (not organic, I tried that, it wasn't good). And add 2 tablespoons of Sriracha sauce. Or if you don't like it so hot, start with less, and increase to your liking.  They say you can use chunky peanut butter, I have also tried that, it didn't really do anything for me.  I posted the reicpe on my Recipe page, if you want it without all my posty stuff, check out the other stuff there too!

Once you have eaten all of your noodles, slurp, yes, slurp all of your delicious noodle water juices.  I LOVE that part.

Have you tried a weird flavor combination that was a little questionable at first?