Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less–Wendy’s #2

When I was first considering Wendy’s salads they were all 740-580 calories. Recently though they have added a half salad option making them all within reach for my 400 calorie challenge. I ordered a half Baja salad which is the most caloric of the bunch.

Was it good? Was it satisfying?
I love taco salads and that’s basically what the Baja salad is. I would definitely get it again. I found that I was satisfied when I was done, but then there is actual chilli on your salad so that is not much of a shock. I didn’t notice the missing chips at all but if you wanted that crunch using the chips and only half the dressing would only put you over 400 calories by a little bit.

Special Instructions:None
Substractions: I left the chips off to save 80 calories
Additions: None

 

For a half size Baha Salad without the chips: Calories – 390, Carbs – 21g (8g sugar), Fat – 27g(Sat. 9, Trans 0.5), Protein 18, Fibre – 6, Sodium 1100mg.

You would save:
100 calories by not using the dressing or 50 by using half

Making Muffins– Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Muffins

I don’t bake very often. I like baking. In fact it used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was stressed. But I found that stress eating and stress baking were going hand in hand. So I decided that perhaps I should try different ways to manage my stress and bake a little less. It didn’t hurt that around the same time the oven at our rental unit was broken (I could use the stove and broil things, but not bake) so I couldn’t bake even if I wanted to.

Baking can be so great to do with kids though. You don’t tend to need much in the way of sharp implements and the heat is all at the end. I love ginger and I had some left over canned pumpkin from the holidays so when I found this recipe from the food blog Simply Recipes, I was sure I had found a winner.

Gordie loved them! I made them into mini-muffins because they are easier for little hands to hold.  The pumpkin provides some good nutrients, but I wanted to see if they’d still be good if I used whole wheat flour. They weren’t quite as light as the white flour ones (or as pretty) but they were good and Gordie loved them just as much.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Mini-muffin Recipe

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin pure
1/3 cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
1/3 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger (I like them roughly chopped but most kids will probably like them better if they’re pretty finely chopped).

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, spices) in a large bowl.
3. Beat eggs in a bowl and then add the wet ingredients (pumpkin, melted butter, water).
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a fork. (I love how recipes say “do not over-mix” without over explaining what that means. I try to stop right after there isn’t any visible dry flour).
5. Spoon into the mini-muffin cups (using my non-stick muffin tray I find it’s actually better not to grease the pan) and bake for 17-22 minutes. Test a muffin with a toothpick. If it does not come out clean, bake for a couple more minutes and retest.
6. Makes about 24 mini-muffins.

Wordless Wednesday–Spring

Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less–Wendy’s

We were picking up food at Wendy’s to eat in the car while we were plane watching. I was going to need to help my handicapped brother in the back seat eat while Gordie was on and off my lap, so I opted to try a wrap instead one of their salads (their new ‘half salad’ options are in the right ballpark calories wise).I love the Wendy’s spicy chicken so I thought I would try out the Spicy Chicken Bacon Wrap. It was really good – but really, it has bacon, cheese and crispy chicken cutlets, how could it not be?
Special Instructions:None
Substitutions: None
Additions: None









For 1 Spicy Chicken Bacon Wrap: Calories – 380, Carbs – 31g (2g sugar), Fat – 21g(Sat. 7, Trans 0.4), Protein 18, Fibre – 2, Sodium 950mg.
You would save:
70 calories by asking for no cheese
30 calories by asking for no bacon
45 calories by asking for no ranch sauce.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

After making peanut butter hummus I started to wonder if you could make a sweet hummus dish instead of the traditional savory hummus. A peek around the internet proved that this was indeed possible so I decided to give it a try. Now some of the sites I visited suggested that this could be an actual dessert. I’m still not sold on that. What I made would not really be good as an ice cream topping for instance, and if I were to add enough sugar and fat to make it that way, I’d rather just go for broke and use caramel sauce.

Instead I would suggest using it as a Nutella alternative. Or as a way to try to get your kids to try beans. Sort of a gate way food for beans.  Overall, it wasn’t bad, people who tried it generally liked it, but I don’t think I’m going to have to make a new batch every week.

I’ve give a wide range for the maple syrup because it’s so easy to adjust to taste as you can just add more in and pulse the food processor for a few more seconds. We found that the cocoa came out more with less maple syrup, but it is definitely sweeter with more.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus Recipe
1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I just used a big spoon – more if desired)
1/2 teaspoon Sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2-8 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup Water (more if needed)


Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

• Measure and pour the ingredients
• Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
• Run the food processor (with supervision)
  

Directions 1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. 2. Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really  not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus). 3. Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another 1/4 cup of water.

Serving Ideas With apple slices, as a sandwich spread, sauce on a dessert pizza, on crackers, with pita

Lentils and Ground Beef–Tired Mom Meal

Today I had a truly terrible sleep. My special needs brother had insomnia in addition to being agitated and anxious. This is not a winning combination. He tossed and turned and complained all night waking me up along with him.

Despite this bad start I was still going to go ahead with my plans to make cranberry turkey burgers. All I’d have to do was a little chopping and I was basically good to go. But the turkey was still really frozen. I seriously considered getting my husband bring home take out. I was just done.

Then I remembered Lentils and Ground Beef. My mother-in-law made it for my husband while he was growing up, but I had never had it before he introduced me to it. Now I make it fairly frequently. If you have cooked ground beef in the freezer, it couldn’t be easier. It’s not the most attractive dish, but it’s simple, quick and high in fibre, protein and iron.

Lentils and Ground Beef Recipe
1 can lentils
.5-1 lb of cooked ground beef. (really any amount is fine)

Directions
1. Defrost the ground beef in the freezer (or cook and drain it in a pan).
2. Add the can of lentils with the liquid and the defrosted ground beef to a pan.
3. Cook on a low heat until there is no longer liquid in the bottom of the pan. If you need it quicker you can use a higher heat, but you’ll need to watch it and stir it more often.
4. When it’s done, put the heat down to the lowest setting and it will be ready when you are.

Serve it with a salad, in a wrap, with a side of bread or some onion rings. I usually just eat it out of a bowl by itself.

Per 1/4 of the lentils and ground beef (1 lb 80% lean ground beef): Calories – 368, Carbs – 29g, Fat – 14g, Protein 31, Fibre – 7.

You Never Know When You’ll Be Confronted with a Scary Cow

Although we have yet to find a monkey on our neighbourhood walks (despite frequently looking) we did have a run in with wildlife inside our own kitchen.

I know, it is possibly the cutest looking cow ever made. And it’s only about the size of my palm. Gordie loved this cow. It was one of the first things that he tried to get me to buy at the store when he was around a year. It’s been up on a shelf though so he hasn’t seen it in a while. The cow eventually found it way back to civilization and I thought Gordie might like to see how it can moo if you push it’s tummy. It seemed like this would be fun because he would be old enough to do it now.

Well, that did not go over well. After a lot of tears and snuggles, I told the cow to stop making noises and we reached a peace. I know Gordie is a little sensitive to noises, but the quiet moo of this cute little cow? Whoops.