Strugglin'

Can ya tell?

I really need to branch out in what I've been eating. First of all, salad salad salad does not a healthy diet make. I need to look into proteins that I can toss in for some variation. I also REALLY need to get more red meat in my diet. I'm slightly anemic so I have to keep my iron levels up and I'd rather do that naturally than with a supplement. I know I can get iron from dark leafy greens and broccolli and such too but again with the vegetable overdose. So that's where I am. I haven't posted since my last entry because those two salads are pretty much all I've been eating. I did change it up a little though so I'll recap that.

Turkey Caesar Wrap.

YUM! My first year living on my own this was pretty much all I ever had for dinner. It's so delicious. I take a spinach wrap, smear a tablespoon or two of caesar salad dressing on it, then two slices of provolone cheese, pile up some crisp crunchy romaine lettuce and some deli turkey and roll it up. Oh the tasty tastiness. You can substitute leftover chicken or turkey if that's something you're into. I had an EXCELLENT BBQ chicken wrap this weekend while I was out of town that I'm going to have to try to duplicate.

Another thing I hit upon recently that actually turned out really good was just a plain old hamburger steak. It was actually really good, easy and convenient. I bought some lean ground beef and formed it into single serving patties and stuck them in the freezer. When I want one I pull it out of the freezer defrost it in the microwave for about two minutes and then fry it with a little salt and pepper and some garlic. Yummy. I've only made one so far and I was so hungry I didn't do much else to it. I just had it with a small salad and some garlic toast. Next time I make it I'll make a quick pan gravy to serve with it.

That is my very thrilling meal recap. I ate out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because I was out of town so I won't talk about that. Except I will say that California Pizza Kitchen is about the best thing ever after three weeks of nothing but veggies.

My go to

The easiest thing to eat when you're single and on the move is usually a greasy delicous fat filled carb filled cheese burger, with fries and a Coke the size of your head. Right? Wrong. But that's what I used to think. It turns out that it's much easier to pack something so you can just eat it when you have time.

My favorite is a salad because I can take all the ingredients with me. I have two standards. The first being a mixture of baby lettuce, cranberries, walnuts, and feta. I usually add some roasted chicken if I have some left over or I'll buy pre-roasted, pre-diced chicken when it's on sale. My favorite dressing for this mix is a vinagerette because of all the bright tangy flavors. Mmmm I'm hungry just thinking about it!

My other favorite is a classic chicken caesar. I like romaine, grated parmesan, chicken, and obviously caesar salad dressing? What's not to love?

There's a wide range of salad dressing options. Between flavors, brands, lite, spritzer, not to mention making your own, choosing a dressing can be intimidating. I happen to be a poor college student so i always go with what's cheap or on sale unless I find one I LOVE. I haven't really branched out into making my own dressing but I intend to someday.

I have a couple big tupperware containers and a couple smaller ones. I like to put my lettuce in the big one, my dressing in one of the smaller ones and my toppings in another small one. Everything packs up nicely into the big one and I'm on my way. All of this can be done the night before making mornings easy.

One last tip. If you dress the lettuce before you add the toppings you end up using less dressing and all the good stuff doesn't end up falling to the bottom.