Huevos Rancheros

A few months ago I posted a recipe for Huevos, but I've tweaked it a bit since then. I've upped the amount of vegetables, adding more carrots, bell peppers, garlic, and onions. I also now add some tomato sauce along with the Cholula hot sauce.

After I sauted the vegetables, I cooked them in the sauce, covered, until tender. I then added the egg and covered again to make it really fluffy.



I just ate this for dinner, and it was delicious. It doesn't even need the chorizo or Soyrizo...of course, that makes everything better.

And for dessert...



Better-for-me Banana Split

Ingredients:

Fat-free plain yogurt
Stevia in the raw for sweetness
Vanilla extract
Banana
Ground flax seeds
Caramel sauce

This was yummy.

Seasons Greetings

I made a holiday card just in time to mail this year. I made one for last year but failed to get it all together to send to anyone.

My wonderful neighbor and friend Marilyn took the center photo for us last night. Lee had a santa suit from a santa pub crawl this weekend. I was going to be Mrs. Claus, but I have been sick and couldn't go. It was a good thing too, because I never got my costume together. I have a great one already planned for next year...the leg lamp from A Christmas Story. I want to rig it up with lights and everything. I just rounded up some shots I already had of the dogs. Maybe next year we'll try to get a shot with us and all the critters.

I used digital scrapbooking supplies from Ztampf. Everything came from the Snow Country kit except for the red string (it is from the China Red kit). Everything can be found in the Ztampf shop at Scrapbookgraphics.com.

I printed two envelope-sized images of the card onto paper and then had them color copied on cardstock at Staples. I'll put them in the mail tomorrow.

I just created a new banner for the blog too using all Ztampf materials.

Check out this fabulous desk I saw on DesignSponge. I must find one to redo for my future child. I love mid-century mod furniture and bright colors for kids. And I love turqouise. You can check out the before pics and other cool projects here.

Huevos

I just made a delicious breakfast: Huevos Rancheros. It came in at only about 297 calories. I had a banana beforehand so my total caloric intake for breakfast was 387 g.

I've been doing very well this week with keeping my caloric intake at about 1500. My trainer did the math this morning and said I can go down to 1300 safely. I'll shoot for between the two for now. 1300 calories would come out to 3 meals at 400 calories each with a 100 calorie snack. I think this is also the flat belly diet.

I've been drinking Coke Zero instead of regular sodas and this week, and I discovered I like Pepsi Max (zero calorie as well) just as well as Coke Zero. I was going to splurge yesterday and have a small regular Coke with my happy meal at McDonald's, but a couple of small sips in I wasn't enjoying it like I thought I would so I put it down. I'm not going to waste my limited calories on something that isn't good.

I also keep plenty of SOBE Lifewater handy. These are calorie-free, contain vitamins, and use stevia as the sweetener instead of aspartame. My favorite flavors are Mango Melon and Yumberry Pomegranate. The Cherimoya punch is also very good. If you are a Hi-C fan/orange "drank" fan you will love the tangerine/orange flavor...I'm not a fan.

I have been tracking my calories and other nutritional info at myfitnesspal.com. They have a really good database of foods that includes brand names and restaurant foods. If you don't find exactly what you are looking for, they allow you to create a new listing. So hopefully most of the recipes I post from now on will also contain some nutritional data...approximate data at least. Here's the recipe for this morning's breakfast:

Huevo(s) Rancheros

1.5 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 green bell pepper, julienned

small handful of baby carrots, julienned

1 tbs Soyrizo (veggie chorizo...I've only found it here at Wal-Mart and Kroger)

2-3 tbs salsa (I used some from a local restaurant: Casa Blanca)

Cholula hot sauce (or other hot sauce) to taste (I used about 1.5 tbs)

1 egg

salt/pepper to taste

3 Tostito's organic blue corn chips (optional)

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan over med-high heat. Add peppers and carrots and cook for 3-5 min stirring occasionally. Add Soyrizo, stir and cook until Soyrizo is hot. Add salsa and hot sauce, stir and cover. Let cook for an additional 3-5 minutes.

Make some room in your pan and add the egg and salt/pepper. You are pretty much frying the egg. Once I flipped mine I mixed it into the vegetable mixture a bit. Cook the egg to your liking and serve with the blue corn chips. It is very flavorful and filling. Plus, you are getting some of your veggies first thing in the morning.

Cal: 297 g; Carbs: 23 g; Fat: 16 g; Protein: 12 g; Fiber: 5 g