Monday Night Dinner: Cajun Beans and Rice with Chicken Andouille and Wilted Greens

Again, this is a quick and easy meal that uses pre-cooked brown rice.  I make rice on the weekends when I actually have the 45 minutes to wait while it cooks and then use it throughout the week.  Makes eating healthier a lot easier when you have it on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 package (4 links) andouille chicken sausage (or 1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced if you're going vegetarian)
• 1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 1-3/4 cups (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped in 2-inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions

Slice sausage crosswise in 1/2-inch thick pieces.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan and cook onion, garlic, and sausage until browned.
Add cooked brown rice, black beans, and cajun seasoning.  Reduce heat to med-low.  Stir occasionally to make sure it's not burning to the bottom of the pan
Rinse and chop chard and add, wet, to a separate pan, cooking on med. When slightly wilted, add 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Cook until tender.
Serve together: rice mix will be quite salty and rich, needing the tannic greens to balance it out.

Serves 5.

My suggestion for making this vegetarian is subbing in sweet potatoes and a 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for the sausage.  You'll get the sweet spicy elements that the sausage provides without the cholesterol.

Keeping It Delicious

source

I like to eat egg whites for breakfast because it has a ton of protein, very few calories, and zero fat or cholesterol.  The problem is they are bland.  For months I've been sprinkling them with Montreal steak seasoning, but I've grown tired of this staple and have taken on a new egg white companion - the best one yet. 

Marinara sauce in an egg white omelet is absolutely wonderful, and also very low in calories.  Two egg whites plus two tablespoons of marinara  comes to roughly 50 calories and packs 8 grams of protein, 3 grams of carbs, and only 1 gram of fat.  1/8 cup shredded mozz is only 40 calories and gives it more of a pizza taste.  The whole glorious shebang is about 90 calories, and is packed with protein to help last you through the morning.  Can you beat that??  No, no you can't.  The trick is to be very diligent about how much cheese you are actually using - that can get out of hand (at least for me) really easily.
Here's the official breakdown:

a week in review

I thought I'd give you a little preview into my journey toward developing healthy eating.  Y'know, so I still feel accountable.  Here's the progression of the past week:

 

I'm getting better, right?  Some days it's really hard to keep the carbs at a reasonable level.Still, it's not quite looking like this:

I'm trying.  Being so aware of the ratios has been an interesting experience.  It makes eating better a sort of game.  I like that.

four victories and something to work on

I have been doing really well lately, even with some minor set-backs.

1. I worked out for 40 min at lunch yesterday
2. I stayed within my suggested daily calorie intake
3. I drank a ton of water
   
4. My scale said 166 today (but that was before breakfast; does it still count?)
   

So that's all well and good, but I still need to work on my calorie ratios.  They look nothing like what Jillian suggested:

See?  Still way too many carbs.  I guess I'm still getting used to the idea of eating a motherload of protien and minimal carbs.  It's tough, man!

I'm meeting an old friend from my girlchoir days for lunch today.  Haven't seen her in 10 years.  I'm pretty excited.  Just hope I can stick to my guns about eating well - restaurants are tough, man!

getting tips from Jillian

Me again.  Tonight is the season premier of Biggest Loser (not that I have a tv to watch it, but I like to catch snippets now and then), and like all weight-loss stories and before/after pictures, I'm inspired.  And I love Jillian; she's no-BS.  I went to her website yesterday to see what she had to say about me and my quest.  I'm not going to spend the $4/week to sign up for the program, but I did enjoy entering my data into the widgets to see what magic numbers they would spit back at me.  Apparently because I crave salty foods and meats and cheeses as snacks, this means that half my calories should come from protein, and only a fifth from carbs.  Seriously!  I'm supposed to eat more fat than carbs!  I included a visual for us all.

Ok so now to talk about my victories and shortcomings of late:

Yesterday I was totally lame about working out.  I just wasn't up to it, and I know that's no excuse.  I know my body and I know that I can't just cut back calories and expect to lose weight.  It's an all-inclusive effort.

Today is probably going to be a light day on the work-out front too.  I got up early and did 30 min of calisthenics this morning to give my metabolism a little rev.  I've eaten sensibly for two days (minus the half cup of rocky road I somehow needed after dinner last night).

Food-wise, one thing that seems to be keeping me on track is having a variety of vegetables around.  Last week I roasted a whole chicken, so when I get home from work each night, I cut up a quarter of a red onion, saute it in a little olive oil, ad a clove of garlic, minced, and then cut up a head of broccoli or one zucchini and add it to the mix.  While the vegetables are cooking, I pull some chicken off the bone until I have a decent pile.  I add that to the veggie mix and cook just long enough for the meat to warm.  A little salt and pepper to taste and it's ready.  I can probably have it fridge to table in 10 min.  In the past I probably would have had some rice to go with it, but let's be honest:  I don't really need it.  Even brown rice isn't that great for me.  Any recipe ideas for high-protein, low/no-carb dinners?