Coffee, Lunch, and Dinner

Breakfast?
I am not a breakfast person. That ended with childhood for me. If I eat breakfast, I go straight back to sleep. Not a good idea. My digestive system is not wired for food straight away when I wake up.

I like to start my day off with a very cold, well-shaken 8-ounce glass of Tropicana Pure Premium–no pulp added–Orange Juice.

Coffee?
Oh yes! Bring it on. Hot and delicious. With whole milk!

Okay, I know, I know. Tracy and everybody says no coffee. But, listen up: I LOVES me my coffee.
If I have to have one weakness, let it be coffee. Hot and steaming and served with whole milk like they do in Paris. Please.

Furthermore, I will stick to everything else. But I must have my coffee and milk. Or I WILL cheat. Life is too short.

(I count the calories too. For me, OJ + lots of coffee all morning long with lovely fresh whole milk (1 cup up to 2 cups of milk over the morning) = 400 calories. Divine Calories.

~~

Lunch.

Two days ago, we had chicken for dinner and now we have three nice cooked succulent breasts in the fridge. I needs me my protein or I get weak. And grumpy. And out of balance and don't eat or think right. I am one of those in-need-of-protein-nourishment types. I try to keep it lean, mix it with veges, mix it up (minimal but high-quality lean beef––think filet mignon––once a week at most right now, seafood (yumm) , poultry (does the trick too), and vegetarian protein too occasionally though that never sustains me for long, so vegetarian protein is a "meal" thing or a day thing at best for me–you don't want to see me fainting on the couch–there is no vitality in that and it ain't a pretty sight.)

So, before I eat, I think:
Am I hungry?
and
What am I hungry for?

I need the answer to the first question to be yes or it's not time to eat yet.
I need to listen to my body tell me what it wants. Then I need it to be handy, fast, and readily available because I am hungry!! And, if I already have good stuff in my house, I will eat the good stuff.

So, today, I want chicken. Yumm! I eat a little and then know I need a salad with the rest of it.

My great salad mix is to indulge in!
I have a wonderful round glass casserole dish with a lid I like to make it in.

First various lettuce selections from my Artisan Lettuce. I cut it in the dish to eatable size. Then, I take my handy kitchen food-scissors and snip off tons (tons meaning a good handful) of fresh Italian parsley and tons of fresh cilantro leaves. I toss in some fresh baby spinach. I throw in a generous handful of my "julienned vegetables." I slice two big white mushrooms and one fresh tomato and throw in a half-can of Freshlike small sliced beets. I stir and toss without dressing and take a handful or two and put it in my salad bowl, add the rest of my chicken breast to my salad, add Ken's Raspberry Walnut Dressing and fresh ground pepper. I am in heaven.

Satisfied. Delicious. Filling. Balanced. About 400 calories.

~~

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

Bake or microwave the spaghetti Squash.

On the stove in a small pan, cook pure ground chicken (or turkey) meatballs with a little parsley flakes.

Warm the "Newman's Own" Sockarooni Spaghetti Sauce in a back pot of water (or straight in a pot, either way).

In a large skillet, sprayed with non-stick spray, add 1 TBSP of Earth Balance and 1 TBSP of canola oil. Bring to nice hot temp. Throw in bunches of the julienned vegetables and flip constantly with a spatula.

Scoop the cooked spaghetti squash into a bowl.

On your plates: first serve the spaghetti squash, then cover with the cooked julienned veges, then add some of the meatballs, then cover with the spaghetti sauce and serve.

It's okay to have some fresh grated (hey, the "Magic Bullet" is good for some thing after all!)
parmesan cheese if you like.

You can even serve some of the green salad you made earlier.

This is an indulgence dinner for when you are really hungry. And a great big serving (or a medium serving with the green salad with Ken's dressing) will still be 100% good for you and somewhere between 500- 560 calories. Your diet is still working! You can serve it to your happy husband and kids.

(*Note: And if you over-indulge and eat a little more–like a giant serving or a giant serving plus a little salad too–and go to 700 or 800 calories, well, you are still eating nutritious food and you are still in a fairly happy place for overall daily calories. This one did NOT stop my progress or results!)

Now, tell me you don't LOVE this diet!!
How about: WAY!!

-bbffair