New Diet: Day One

Since the last diet was good with good results, I am going to try to keep some of the same basic ideas.  Although I am not following the Zone Diet exactly, I am going to monitor my diet more closely. So to do that, I plan on making all of my meals on the weekend, if I can.  Saturday, I quickly did my homework, went food shopping, and made 6 3-course meals with two snacks.  Because I enjoy Hungry Girl's ideas and perspectives on food, I used some of her recipes.  Although I did not follow her recipes exactly, they are highly influenced by them.

Week One

Breakfast: Omlete with mozzarella, soyrizo and crushed tomato based on:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/you-wanna-pizza-me-breakfast-pizza-mexicali-recipe

Yeah, I may have overcooked the eggs a little bit, but I had one this morning and it was actually not bad!  It was spicy from the soyrizo.  The only thing that I think could improve this is if I put the cheese in the inside instead of the outside.

Lunch: Eggplant lasagna with portabella mushroom, shell-shaped pasta, and ricota cheese based on:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/ginormous-food-bonus-recipe-ez-cheesy-lasagna-for-two-recipe

This dish came out pretty good as well.  I would have liked more mozzarella but to keep it low-fat, there is only one layer of it with Parmesan cheese sprinkled at the top for flavor. Texture was actually pretty good too.  One thing I did differently was I used a potato peeler to shred the eggplant into thin, lasagna-like slices and layered it.  I thoroughly cooked the eggplant by boiling it in water like I would with pasta.  The original recipe uses less eggplant and bakes it instead but I think either way it will come out fine.  Another thing is that I do not add salt and some people may want to do that.  I like less salt because low-fat and fat free cheeses sometimes come with salt so I don't bother adding it.  Lastly, although I think I could have made this without the pasta, it's good either way.

For my mid-day snack, I simply had a banana.

Dinner: mashed potato, veggie chicken patties, veggie hot wings, cheddar cheese, and crushed tomato based on:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/under-five-minutes-bonus-market-find-recipe-cheeseburger-mashed-potato-parfaits-recipe

I was skeptical about this dish but it actually turned out very good.  I don't think I can eat veggie burgers any other way now. hah!

Snack: Artichoke hummus based on:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/girls-night-hungry-hungry-artichoke-hummus-recipe

Snack: Corn chips based on:

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/to-the-mex-crazy-good-corn-chips-recipe

I slightly overcooked the chips.  The first time, I followed the instructions and ate a chip but it wasn't crunchy enough so I put it in for 5 more minutes and they came out perfectly crunchy.  They are not burnt but I think if I put them in for a minute less tomorrow, it might come out exactly how I like them.  Again, I didn't put any salt on these and they could use some but the hummus adds some flavor to it so it's not that bad.  The hummus dip did come out a little thin to my liking and I think I would like it better if there is no artichoke in it.  It's still good but I would rather have more of a chickpea flavor than artichoke.

Another change is I will be doing 6-days of the diet and 1-day to eat whatever I want.  We will see how this goes.  If I can loose 1 lb per week, I'll be satisfied.

Future recipe idea: Soyrizo Frittata