One thing I thought was interesting about the article is that it talked a lot about phytochemicals. I know we hear about phytochemicals. Those are naturally occurring plant chemicals. Phytochemicals are not yet classified as nutrients, but their role in nutrition is still unfolding.

In the human body, some phytochemicals act as antioxidants, some protect and regenerate essential nutrients, while others work to deactivate cancer-causing substances in your body.

There are THOUSANDS of phytochemicals which have been identified in the plant foods we eat. One serving of fruit or vegetables may contain 100 different phytochemicals!

Newer food Pyramid

Notice how the bottom of the pyramid is water, followed by fruits and veggies, legumes, whole grains, etc… It kind of gives you a better reason to feed your body something that actually can heal itself vs. processed foods that are dead and yucky, or at least that’s how I am looking at it!

On another note, I tried something this morning for breakfast and I loved it! Are you a fan of cottage cheese? I’m not. I’ve tried it before, can’t eat it plain, but thought, what if I add them to my scrambled eggs? I bought Fiber One brand cottage cheese which is only 80 calories and 5 grams of fiber per half cup.

Yum!

In a skillet, I chopped up 1 Trader Joe’s chicken sausage that’s only 100 calories, then in a separate bowl I whisked 1 egg + 2 egg whites and added the 1/2 cup cottage cheese to that. After the chicken sausage was browned, I added the egg/cottage cheese mixture and just cooked until the eggs were cooked. It was creamy, melty, it bulked up the eggs a lot and I loved it!

So good!

And, I had a banana on the side, and don’t worry I had LOTS of fruits and veggies for dinner:

Super deluxe dinner!

I had mixed greens, romaine lettuce, celery, carrots, strawberries, grapes, sugar snap peas, green peas, jicama, homemade croutons, and a few soy nuts sprinkled on top. It took me forever to eat this huge salad, but it was SO good! Oh yeah, and I had a few ounces of grilled chicken in there too!

So, what do you like to make with cottage cheese? Do you like it plain, drizzled with honey, salt and pepper only? I need some more ideas to finish this container!

My kids were all gone for dinner again, my younger son was at a sleepover birthday party for his best friend, and my other two kids spent their day with our old babysitter. They had a great time.

So, of course, around 4:00 o’clock yesterday I was starting to think about what to make for dinner. And then I thought I would love a HUGE salad, I could cook up a couple of chicken breasts and put that on top!

Luckily, when I told my plans to my hubby, he agreed :0)

On my salad:

3.5 ounces chicken
2 cups spinach
1 cup romaine
green beans/wax beans
feta cheese
carrots
celery
red onion
chick peas
cauliflower, chopped
croutons
And my favorite dressing:

This HUGE plate before the salad dressing is only 6 points!! It would be less if you omitted the croutons, but I love croutons!

It’s so funny, I was thinking there was a time in my life where I would probably have gone days without eating any veggies or fruit! I love that I have been able to incorporate them into my healthy eating plan and try new veggies!

What’s your favorite salad?

Last week, two of my friends at work and I walked 3/4 of a mile to Whole Foods. Its where I bought my Chia seeds and visited the salad bar to make my lunch way better! I had some leftover taco meat + one tortilla, and no veggies, so while I was at Whole Foods, I hit the salad bar and for $2.25 I really made my lunch healthy!

I love my Whole Foods. If I ever win the lottery, I would love to do my weekly grocery shopping there!

But, back to my lunch!

I got edamame, shredded carrots, mixed greens, peas, corn and red onions and chick peas.

I just mixed in some of my leftover taco meat and voila, a yummy lunch! I also had some salsa which I poured on top too. Since I only had one tortilla, I decided just to break it up into my taco salad.

**********

So guess what I did during my lunch today?? I ran a 5k!! My friend and I decided to start running 3 days a week. As some of you know, I’ve run 2 marathons + lots of half marathons, but once you stop running, its like starting all over! I have no endurance right now! In preparation, I did jog on Saturday. And it doesn’t help I’m running with a girl in my office who is a lot lighter than me and 13 years younger!

But, I surprised myself. Maybe because I was running with someone. But we ran the first 5 blocks without stopping. I did think I was going to die a couple of times, but after a little bit, I felt much better. After we got back, I did mapquest to see how far we had run. 1.65 miles each way!

So, we’ll see what the scale says this Friday! Wish me luck!!

SUMMER ORZO SALAD

1 pound cooked orzo pasta
1 zucchini, seeded, grilled and diced
1 yellow squash, seeded, grilled and diced
1 large ripe tomato, seeded and diced
4 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
4 oz. fresh basil, chopped
1 oz. kalamata olives, quartered
4 oz. lemon vinaigrette dressing*
salt and pepper to taste

1). Add orzo to large mixing bowl
2). Add all diced vegetables to bowl
3). Dice fresh basil into small squares, add to bowl
4). Add diced olives to bowl and toss all ingredients
5). Lightly dress with vinaigrette
6). Season with salt and pepper

*I didn’t look at the recipe until I got home so I couldn’t ask them what their lemon vinaigrette dressing was. You can make your own, otherwise, I used Paul Newman’s Light Lime Vinaigrette dressing!

It makes a lot, so feel free to cut this recipe in half.

I also wanted to show what I have had for desert every night the past few nights:

The best watermelon I’ve had all summer!

Check out my twin sister’s blog for her August 1st give-a-way this month, it’s a great one!
]]> http://www.slim-shoppin.com/summer-orzo-salad/feed/ 16 http://www.slim-shoppin.com/taco-salad/ http://www.slim-shoppin.com/taco-salad/#comments Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:31:08 +0000 Jennifer http://www.slim-shoppin.com/taco-salad/ I bring my lunch to work about 99% of the time. It’s easy, I know what’s in there and I can keep it healthy. I was running late, so I opened my fridge, and took some leftover taco meat, a little cheddar cheese and that was it!

As it was approaching lunch time, I thought I have to accessorize my lunch! So I walked around the corner from my office to a restaurant that has a great salad bar.

I got fresh spinach, mixed greens, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, a few jalapenos, corn, and red onions, for $1.65!

So, I heated up the taco meat, poured it over the veggies, sprinkled it with the cheese I brought from home, and then my friend Lilly was making her lunch and offered me some sugar snap peas which are my favorite!

I ate the sugar snap peas first, then started on the taco salad and could only finish half. It was so good!

So, if you have a restaurant/grocery store with a nice salad bar, its a cheap and easy way to accessorize any lunch!

Also, check out the nice tile I got to bring home from work yesterday! I work at an architecture firm and we were cleaning out our library, sometimes there is tile, fabric samples, carpet samples. I may make a few coasters out of some, and maybe a trivet for setting hot plates on, who knows?