Grab & Go Breakfast & Lunch Ideas

I am working on the "no gain" goal this holiday season.  To be honest, I'd be loving it if I lost, but that's a lofty goal this time of year, I realize.

I happened upon a Pin about cost friendly meals and discovered a great tip in her suggestion of freezing breakfast and lunch "wraps" or basically, way better for you hot pockets.
 

Source: smithlive.blogspot.com via Amy on Pinterest

Here are the two recipes that my family has tried and will be keeping stocked in our fridge all the time.

WW Breakfast Taco - quadruple recipe, prep/cook, wrap in foil, freeze

Ingredients:

Non stick cooking spray

1 whole egg

3 egg whites

6 slices "Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved - Smoked Ham", chopped- replaced with breakfast sausage from a local farmer

2 (8 inch) whole wheat flour tortillas

1/4 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Beat whole egg, egg whites and ham until well blended. Heat a nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium high heat. Add egg mixture; cook 3 minutes or until set, stirring occasionally.

2. Spoon egg mixture down centers of tortillas; top with cheese. Fold in opposite sides of each tortilla, then roll up burrito style.

Yield: 2 Burritos

Serving Size = 1 Per Serving.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus+ = 6 Per Serving

Nutrition Information:

Calories 230, Carbs 19g, Fat 8 g, Fiber 3 g, Protein 19g

 

WW Chicken Burrito Wrap - quadruple recipe, prep/cook, wrap in foil, freeze

Ingredients:

1 oz ranch salad dressing mix, dry 

7 ozs picante sauce 

8 ozs chicken breast skinless

11 pcs fat-free flour tortillas, warmed 

8 ozs light sour cream

Directions:

Dump first 3 ingredients in crock pot and cook 6-8 hours on low.  Shred chicken and then mix wiht sour cream.   Fill each tortilla with 1/4 cup chicken mixture.

Nutritional Info Per Serving: (1 Chicken Wrap)

Calories 143; Carbs 22g; Protein 9g; Fat 4g; Fiber 0.8g

 

I'd love to see what you've Pinned & tried lately!

 

Truck Stop Biscuits

So, the holidays are coming and that means good food, cold weather and the means for weight gain...  Sigh.  I'm trying to be proactive.  Going back to my calorie-counting recipes, stopping eating after 7pm (including calories from drinks) and no wine during the week.  In going through my menu, I came across this recipe which I apparently have never posted, so here it is:

Truck Stop Biscuits
Serves: About 5, 1 cup servings

Ingredients:
1 (7.5-ounce) Pillsbury buttermilk biscuits
8 ounces ground beef - I like the Simple ones which are 100 calories each
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
2 1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 (8 oz.) pkg. low fat cream cheese


Directions:
Bake biscuits according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet sprayed with butter-flavored cooking spray, brown meat. Add spices.
In a covered jar, combine skim milk and flour. Shake well. Pour milk mixture into skillet with browned meat. Add cream cheese. Continue cooking, stirring often, until mixture thickens and cream cheese melts. Spoon gravy over biscuits.
NI for gravy: Calories: 279.9 Total Fat: 16.7 g Cholesterol: 60.5 mg Sodium: 334.0 mg Total Carbs: 14.8 g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3 g Protein: 17.5 g

We'll also be signing up to run a Jingle Bell 5K in the area as well and looking towards events in January to participate in to stay motivated.  What are your tips for keeping fit during the holidays?

Sweet Potato Soup

I found this on a Weight Watcher's website somewhere and thought it looked interesting.  I'd definitely make it again, but as a lunch as opposed to a dinner.  Or if serving as a dinner, make it with something else too, though the soup was filling.  I didn't even attempt to serve to the little ones.  We needed to get out of the house quickly for soccer and cleaning them both of orange soup just wasn't on my agenda.

Sweet Potato Soup
Serves- 3-4, 1 cup servingsIngredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
2 cups chicken broth, divided
1 Tbsp reduced calorie margarine
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup fat free evaporated milk
1 tbsp chopped pecans
*Optional- add a bit of curry powder or marsala for more flavor.


Directions:
Bake the sweet potatoes in an oven at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.  Be sure to pierce potatoes with a fork before baking.  Remove them from the oven and allow to cool.  Remove and discard the skin (peel) and chop or mash them up.
Combine potatoes and 3/4 cup of chicken broth in a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Set aside.


Melt margarine in a medium size pan; stir in flour, ginger and then add evaporated milk.  Cook, stirring until slightly thickened and bubbly.  Cook for 1 minutes and then stir in sweet potato mixture and remaining 1/4 cup of chicken broth.  Cook, stirring, until heated through 5 minutes or more.  Serving size is 1 cup- top with 3/4 tsp of chopped pecans (toast them for more flavor).

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

I saw this and HAD to try it from Cooking Light, October 2010
I also think this would be great to freeze just after step 4.  Then thaw and add the glaze fresh right before serving to company :)

Peanut Butter Banana Bread
Servings: 16

Bread:
1 1/2 cups mashed banana
1/3 cup fat free plain yogurt
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tbsp butter, melted
2 large eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup flaxseed meal (find in the organics or bulk section at your grocery store)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground all spice
2 Tbsp chopped dry roasted peanuts (omit if necessary)

Glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp 1% low fat milk
1 Tbsp creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large mixing bowl with a mixer until smooth.  Add sugars and blend again.
3. In another bowl, carefully measure (DO NOT PACK) and level with a knife the dry ingredients, keeping the peanuts out until the end.  Mix with whisk.  Add to banana mixture, stirring until just mixed.  Fold in nuts.
4. Pour batter in to a greased 5x9 baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Remove from oven; cool 10 minutes on wire rack.  Remove from pan & cool.
5. To prepare glaze, combine the ingredients in a small bowl and mix with whisk.  Drizzle over bread.  Cut in to 16 slices to serve.
NI: 198 cals, 7.4 g fat, 5 g protein, 29.7 g carbs, 19 g fiber, 28 mg chol, 11 mg iron, 200 mg sodium, 27 mg calcium

Sweet & Spicy Pork Tenderloin

Notes- Very spicy, but in a secondary type of way.  Like you'll take a bite, think "Oh it's not bad" but then it hits you.  We served fish sticks for the kids but if you wanted to leave some meat not marinated with rub, the finishing glaze would be yummy alone.
From: Weight Watcher's Magazine August 2010 edition

Sweet and Spicy Pork Tenderloin
Serves: 6

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Mexican-Style Chili Powder We used about 3/4 Tbsp Chili powder with 1/4 tsp Chipotle Chili Powder)
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 (3/4 lb) pork tenderloins
3/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp yellow mustard

Directions:
1. Mix chili powder, garlic powder, oregano and cinnamon in a cup.
2. Place 1 tenderloin on a cutting board. Holding a sharp knife, cut tenderloin lengthwise three quarters of the way through and open up like a book. Place pork, cut side down between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound to 1/2 inch thickness.  Repeat with remaining tenderloin.
3. Transfer to a large bowl & rub all sides with spice mixture. Cover and refridgerate at least 2 hours or up to 24.
4. Meanwhile, make glaze.  Whisk orange juice, brown sugar onion powder, Worchestershire and mustard in a small sauce pan until blended over medium heat.  Bring to a boil,  Reduce  heat and simmer, stirring occassionally until mixture reduces to about 2/3 cup.  Let cool completely.
**All prep above could be done the night before & kept in fridge**
5. Preheat grill to high.
6. Spray both sides of tenderloin with non stick spray. Place on grill and grill until well browned (3-4 minutes).  Turn and brush ith glaze.  Grill until well browned (another 3-4 minutes).  Turn again and brush with glaze, repeating until thermometers inserted on either side read 155 degrees F.  Transfer to cutting board.  Cover loosely with foil and let sit 5 minutes before cutting. 
7. Cut each tenderloin in to 9 slices each.

NI (per 3 slice serving): 202 cals, 2 g fat, 48 mg chol, 145 mg sodium,16 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 23 g protein, 34 mg calcium

I'm serving this with grilled basil corn!

Herb Parmesan Tilapia

Modified from the May-June 2010 issue of Weight Watcher's Magazine.
The consensus from the kids was that the store-bought fish sticks are no comparison.  But, as I've mentioned, my kids are picky.  My husband and I really enjoyed this and there were no leftovers.  I do however, think you could easily freeze leftovers for a dinner later with less clean up. This dish is super quick and good for you- I think the current recommendation for fish is 1-2 nights/week.  We definitely don't get there.  But, Tilapia, even for non-seafood afficiandos, is a good place to start.

Herb Parmesan Tilapia
Servings: 4


Ingredients:
1 large egg white
1 tsp water
3/4 c panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried basil (1 Tbsp if fresh)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (1 Tbsp if fresh)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 lb tilapia fillet
2 tbsp olive oil


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
2. Whisk egg white and water in shallow dish.  Combine panko crumbs, parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, salt and pepper in another shallow dish (pie pans work great).
3. Place 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet and put on medium-high heat.
4. Working with 2 fillets, dip in to egg whites on each side, then breadcrumb mixture.
5. Place in skillet & turn skillet to medium heat.  Cook 5 minutes on each side.
6. Place wax paper on a cookie sheet and use to store tilapia in the oven to keep warm until ready to serve.
7. Repeat steps 4 & 5 on the last 2 pieces of tilapia.

NI (Calculated with about 1/2 of topping used in the total dish): 204 cals, 10 g fat, 48 mg chol, 294 mg sodium, 3 g carb, 0 g fiber, 25 g protein