Eating Out for Under 400 Calories: Coco Brooks Pizza

  It’s not uncommon for us to stop in at Coco Brooks on a Saturday for some pizza. But up until this visit it was not uncommon for me to eat an entire personal pizza by myself either.

After looking at the nutritional information, this was probably not a great idea for me. The regular crust pizzas are between 200 and 270 calories a slice and the thin crust pizzas are between 133 and 236 calories a slice. They only serve personal size pizzas (4 slices per pizza). The pizzas are really delicious though so I decided to try and see how eating there while sticking to my 400 calorie challenge would be. We ordered 2 thin crust pizzas for the 3 of us so I had a slice of each.

Was it good? Was it satisfying? It was delicious. I definitely wanted more pizza but I did manage to stop after 2 and was surprised to find I wasn’t hungry early.

Special Instructions:None
Substractions: None
Additions: None

Mardi Gras (at the top – spicy cajun sauce, chicken pineapple, mozzarella): Calories – 171, Carbs – 20 (4g sugar), Fat – 6g (sat. – 3g, trans – 0g), Sodium –297, Protein – 5g, Fibre – 1.

Margherita (at the bottom – sun-ripened tomato sauce, 4 cheese blend, tomatoes, oregano): Calories – 164, Carbs – 18 (1g sugar), Fat – 7g (sat. – 4g, trans – 0g), Sodium –284, Protein – 6g, Fibre – 1.

The Athens pizza is low enough in calories that you can have 3 slices for just under 400 calories. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m definitely going to next time.

Athens (sun-ripened tomato sauce, red onions, black olives, tomatoes, mozzarella): Calories – 133, Carbs – 19 (3g sugar), Fat – 4g (sat. – 1g, trans – 0g), Sodium –252, Protein – 3g, Fibre – 1.

http://www.cocobrooks.com/

It’s Okay to Complain

Now that I’ve given myself permission, I’m going to get right at it. One of the things that drives me bonkers is the idea that you shouldn’t complain because somebody has it worse than you.

I saw this today on twitter. Calgary got snow - actually a fair bit of snow on April 28th.

As you can see this is not an insignificant amount of snow. And is it now the end of April. Very few days this April have felt like spring so understandably people are complaining about it. But yesterday, the Southeast US was hit with massive numbers of tornados leading to a lot of devastation in the area.

Because of this, someone suggested that we shouldn’t complain about the snow because that is so much worse. I take exception to this concept.

Obviously, it is much worse to be in the Southeast US dealing with multiple tornados than in Calgary dealing with a few rogue snowflakes. I can’t imagine who would disagree with that. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrong to complain about snow in April.

Yes, sometimes it can put things in perspective to realize that you are actually quite fortunate but where does it end? Do we tell the people in Alabama that they shouldn’t complain because the earthquake in Japan was worse? It sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? But someone always has it worse than you.

I’ve seen this on a smaller scale too with mothers who have lost their babies or aren’t able to have babies telling women who are struggling with adjusting to motherhood or sleepless nights that they shouldn’t complain because at least they have babies. My heart goes out to these women. I truly wish that everyone who wanted to have a baby was able to. But their personal tragedies does not negate the difficulties of motherhood. Just because someone has it worse does not mean that your complaints are not legitimate.

Do people sometimes complain too much? Sure. Are some people a little overly dramatic about the minor inconveniences of life? Absolutely. But one person’s complaint in no way takes away from the reality of someone else’s difficulties. So as far as I’m concerned, complain away.

Wordless Wednesday– Definitely More Spring-like

Broccoli and Cheese Pizza

I found the inspiration for this recipe on Healthy Happy Life a vegan food blog. I seem to spend a disproportionate amount of time on vegan food blogs for someone is not even remotely vegan in my eating habits.

Gordie has been a little suspicious of green food lately (except edamame which he loves), so he was not particularly impressed by this choice. But I think it might lure in some reluctant broccoli eaters.

Broccoli and Cheese Pizza Recipe

• broccoli
• shredded cheese
• cream cheese (regular or any kind of savoury flavoring)
• olive oil
• garlic
• whole wheat pitas

I used whole wheat pitas for the ‘dough’ and that worked well, but I think I would probably blanch the broccoli quickly in the microwave if I was doing it again just so they were cooked a little bit extra. This wouldn’t be a problem if you were using base that wasn’t quite so thin.

Directions
1. Spread a thin layer of olive oil on the pita. Add thin slices of garlic. I used about a clove per pita.
2. Add thin slices of broccoli. For mine I used the whole ‘tree’ but for Gordie’s I used little bits of the florets (pictured on the right).
3. Add little splotches of cream cheese (about 1 tbsp total) around the pita.
4. Top with shredded cheese.
5. Bake for about 5 minutes. I used the toaster oven so I did 3 minutes on bake and 2 on broil. Basically your goal is to melt the cheese without burning the pita too much.

I used sundried tomato cream cheese which was nice, but I really think any would be fine.

I really enjoyed these and will definitely make them again. I wouldn’t skip the cream cheese though. I tried one without it and it just needed a little something extra.

Our Favorite iPhone/iPad Apps for Kids

Gordie was a toddler when I made this list but most of the apps here would be of interest to preschoolers as well. Some are even great for babies!

1. Itsy Bitsy Spider by Duck Duck Moose $.99 –iPhone, iPad $1.99 http://duckduckmoosedesign.com/educational-iphone-itouch-apps-for-kids/itsy-bitsy-spider

We have all the apps by Duck Duck Moose and they have all been big hits. But the Itsy Bitsy Spider was the one that Gordie first fell in love with (about 14 months). He still calls our ipad and iphones ‘spider’ because of it. One of the best things about it, is how you touch the spider to advance the story instead of little arrows or swiping the screen - easy for toddlers to do and understand.

2. Peek a Boo Barn, $1.99 http://www.nightanddaystudios.com/apps/

This simple app is great for entertaining babies and toddlers at the doctors office. It’s easy to operate for even the littlest kids as all you have to do is touch the screen to see who is hiding behind the door.

3. sound touch by SoundTouch $2.99 - http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sound-touch/id348094440?mt=8

When you touch one of the icons on this app 1 of 5 photograph of that match that icon will pop up on the screen along with it’s corresponding sound. There’s lots to discover with 6 different categories of sounds. The instruments even play real sections of music. This is a favorite of my special needs brother.

4. Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham – Oceanhouse Media $3.99 - http://www.oceanhousemedia.com/products/drseuss/

Oceanhouse Media has a ton of great interactive books including many Dr. Seuss and Little Critter books. Gordie’s favorite is Green Eggs and Ham. Gordie still has some trouble swiping to turn the pages, but if you set it to autoplay it will do that all by itself.

5. Sound Shaker by Tickle Apps $1.99 - http://www.tickletapapps.com/soundshaker

This was another of Gordie’s early favorites. I find it pretty amusing too. When you press on the screen a ball appears that makes a noise. If you hold your finger down the ball gets bigger and makes a different noise. If you move the ipod from side to side the balls roll around and make their noises as they bounce around. It’s pointless but entertaining.

6. Pictello - more expensive than most ($15) but you can create your own photo books - http://www.assistiveware.com/pictello.php

Gordie and my special needs brother both love this app. It helps them relive activities we’ve done and bring up topics that they might not be able to do otherwise. Gordie asks me all the time to “Make a New One!” It’s easy to use and you can either use a synthesized voice or record your own voice to accompany your photos to make a simple story.

7. drawing pad – $1.99 http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/drawing-pad/id358207332?mt=8

This app has many different types of drawing utensils in lots of different colors. It’s easy to navigate too and would be fun for any age.

8. Chicken Little - Kidztory – $0.99 -  http://www.kidztory.com/

Kidzstory has tons of animated interactive storybooks. They have lots of traditional tales like Chicken Little and the Three Little Pigs, but we’ve also really enjoyed Duck in the Truck. I had to delete The Lion and the Mouse because at one point the lion roars and it scared Gordie and made him cry. This will probably not be a big problem for most kids but Gordie is sensitive to startling noises.

So that’s our list, what’s on yours?

Weekly Meal Plan April 25-29

Since I’m going to try to be more consistent in meal planning, I thought I’d share what my plans are.

This Week’s Meal Plan

Monday – Easter Dinner leftovers
Tuesday – Sour Cream Ground Beef Noodle Bake (via Merry with Children)
Wednesday – Mexican Lasagna (7-11 lasagna)
Thursday – Easy Moussaka (recipe to come)
Friday – Cottage Cheese Pancakes (via weelicious)

Last Week’s Meal Plan

Monday – Turkey Burgers
Tuesday – Broccoli and Cheese Pizza (recipe to come)
Wednesday – Soup from the freezer
Thursday – Mexican Lasagna (7-11 lasagna)
Friday – BBQ Chicken Enchiladas

Although I find making dinner much less stressful when I meal plan, I never seem to follow my plan all that well. This week was no exception.

 

What We Actually Ate

Monday –  For some reason I can’t remember what we had. But it wasn’t turkey burgers
Tuesday – BBQ Chicken Enchiladas
Wednesday – Broccoli and Cheese Pizza
Thursday – Peanut Butter and Jam French Toast Sandwiches (recipe to come)
Friday – Fish and Salads From Pelican Pier

 

Eating Out for 400 Calories or Less: Tim Hortons

If you can manage to stay away from the treats, Tim Hortons actually has a number of pretty reasonable meals. I’ve had the chilli quite a few times, but I have to admit I’ve pretty much always eaten the whole bun. And sometimes now that I know the calorie count, I still might if it was my big meal of the day. Spending some extra calories on some whole wheat bread is not the worst choice I could be making. In this instance though, I ripped the bun in half, putting me right on my 400 calorie target.

Was it good? Was it satisfying? I love chili and Tim Hortons’ chili is actually pretty good. This definitely doesn’t feel like diet food.

Special Instructions:None
Substractions: I only ate half the bun to save 100 calories. The butter is pictured but I didn’t use any.
Additions: None

For a chilli and half a whole wheat bun: Calories – 400, Carbs – 39g (4g sugar), Fat – 19g, Protein 30, Fibre – 6.