Bento dieting

New year and I'm back! I have not been very good about blogging lately, but it's a new year and a new kickstart on the diet so here I am. I'm learning that I'm good at dieting in the first three months, then it's about maintaining until the holiday season (which is magical no rules time).

Anyway, for christmas my husband got me the coolest bento...the Mr. Bento Lunch Jar! Now it's easier to make meals that I can have small portions and big protein in. Below is my first meal in my new bento. Moving clockwise we have a salad, my "snack pack" consisting of almonds, olives, the some fruit roll and salad dressing, then it's turkey chili and we end with Tomato soup. 

The salad I now make as a big ziploc bag at the start of the week and just pour in portions throughout the week. The soup is from the organic section (Pacific Natural) and comes in a carton so I also just portion a bit every lunch day. Throw in some leftovers and we have a super fast and healthy lunch!

4 hour diet note- I found the lowest carb soups to be the organic ones. Even when it was a creamy soup, it had at least 5 less carbs than Campbell's or Progresso. 

The post thanksgiving sandwich

My favorite part of thanksgiving is the meal I get to enjoy the next day. Here's my take on this ultimate sandwich.

Layer 1- primer
I lack good bread (due to previous sandwiches) but I still start with gravy and mayo on the bread I have

Layer 2- the meat
Then stack with turkey and stuffing/dressing. My husband's recipe for dressing takes 2 days and it slices so well that you can really stack it.

Layer 3-the middle
No sandwich is complete without cranberry sauce, from a can please.

The finale
Serve with other sides (my were made by my mom and are out of this world!)and enjoy!

Post thanksgiving lunch

A small lunch with some turkey day leftovers. Nothing fancy, but very delicious! Turkey with gravy, cranberry sauce and a small portion of stuffing. Grapes not pictured because I could not make them look cute.

Halloween Bentos

Halloween is the funniest time to make bentos! I have not started any of mine yet, but I've got some good ideas to go off of. Here's one from Bento Anarchy that I love!

More to come!

Finally! There's an app for that!

Now that there is a blogger app, I hope it becomes way easier to update posts (please blogger make an iPad version though!)

Anyway, let's catch up with a slacker lunch for a lazy Sunday that is 4 hour body friendly.

Below is a no cook lunch made of edamame, cucumbers, peanut butter and hummus. Throw them on a plate with a good football to enjoy a protein heavy lunch!

Almond Chicken Nuggets

I was positive I had posted this recipe already, but when I went through the blog to find it for myself I couldn't find it! This is a favorite of mine and my husbands. It requires a more work than the store-bought frozen nuggets but they taste SOOOO much better.

Almond Crusted Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
- chicken, sliced into 1 inch cubes
- almonds
- 1 tablespoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- olive oil
- salt and pepper

Optional items:
-Spinach
-Balsamic Vinegar
-Plum sauce

1) For the chicken, I prefer using chicken tenders (I find it easier to cut up), but you can certainly use chicken breast. After dicing, place into a plastic bag. Shake it up with olive oil (1/2 teaspoon should do), ginger, garlic, salt and pepper.

2) For the almonds, I buy them whole and grind them up in my coffee bean grinder. You could also smash them yourself with the back of a pan, buy them pre-ground or use walnuts that you smash up. I try to get an even and fine consistency so it can equally cover all the chicken. Throw your smashed up nuts into the plastic bag and shake it!

3) Bring a saucepan to medium to medium high heat, filled with 1/8 inch of oil. We want to almost pan fry the chicken, but we don't want to really fry it. Throw the chicken in the pot (don't do as much as I did though) until the pieces are cooked through.

4) I had lots of nuts get to the bottom of the pan this time, so I tossed on some spinach to serve as a side and pick up the goodies on the bottom of the pan. I hit the spinach with a drizzle of olive oil in the pot and 3 shakes of balsamic vinegar when out of the pot.

5) Serve with a side of plum sauce and enjoy!

I'm back! and with tuna cakes!

Maybe it's the new job or a fancy new toy or knowing that AWA is around the corner, either way I'm back and motivated to get going again!

Today I'm showcasing my "Tuna Cakes". Think a poor man's crab cake or the 4-hour body friendly crab cake. I would suggest combing with some green beans and either a small salad or Cole slaw


TUNA CAKES

Ingredients
~canned tuna (I used two cans for six cakes)
~mustard
~mayonnaise (skip if doing a strict four hour body diet)
~green onion
~seasoning to taste (I use salt, pepper, garlic and light lemon juice)
~walnuts


The directions are simple: make tuna as you normally do to your liking, just make sure to prepare it on the dry side so the tuna can be shaped into balls.

Once formed, crush whole walnuts by placing in a zip lock bag and smashing with a frying pan. You can then gently toss each tuna cake in the walnuts so it is barely covered. And bam!