Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I Have a New Addiction

October 4th is the anniversary of R and I deciding to change our eating habits. The first week was not so bad. R and I were very determined and driven to make a change. The second week found us wanting all the wrong foods we were used to eating, but we persevered and met our weight loss goals.

Throughout the last year I have eaten things like popcorn, veggie chips, granola bars, and trail mix to curb my desire for crunchy snacks. When I did eat chips, it was always the baked kind. Frankly, I think baked chips are boring and have no taste.

Many times I have passed by HEB's Multigrain Baked Pita Chips and thought, "I wonder if I could eat those?" The answer is, "YES!" R and I bought them for the first time a couple of weekends ago to take to a football viewing party. They were a huge hit! They taste wonderful and they are pretty healthy too.

The key to eating these chips is portion control, because you will want to eat the whole bag. I try to put a serving size in a ziploc bag and take only that amount to work for lunch or snacks. They are pretty filling and they have less sodium than most pita chips you find at the store. They're also cholesterol free and have zero grams of saturated fat.

Goodbye baked chips! I have found HEB's Multigrain Baked Pita Chips!!!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Shrimp = Low Fat + High Protein

Since changing our diets in October 2009, R and I have learned that foods low in fat, but high in protein keep you full longer. It takes your body longer to breakdown proteins than carbs. Seafood is generally high in protein and low in fat. I used to think of beef when it came to protein, but now I think of seafood.

We recently purchased frozen cooked shrimp from HEB. The fact that the shrimp is already cleaned and cooked makes it easy to use. All you really have to do is heat it up and add it to any dish. The taste is excellent as well.

The other night R made soup with brown rice, black beans, low sodium chicken stock, onions, bell peppers, garlic and SHRIMP. It was wonderful and I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

While he was out of town last week, I came up with my own little shrimp dish. In a skillet with a little olive oil, I cooked some onions, garlic, red bell pepper, capers, lemon juice, and SHRIMP. Once ready, I added my skillet creation to some whole wheat pasta. It was wonderful and I had the leftovers from it for lunch as well.

You've probably heard that shrimp in high in cholesterol, which is true, but read this article from livestrong.com. It seems that the benefits of shrimp outweigh its cholesterol levels.

Do you have any good shrimp recipes? If so, please share them on this post. Thanks!