Rut. I Am Not Talking About Deer Season
Have you ever felt like you are just spinning your wheels, like no matter what you do you hit a brick wall? No matter what you try, it just seems to fail? Sometimes trying to find the silver lining of every little mistake can be exhausting and make you feel ungrateful for all the good things you do have. It is way more exhausting being unhappy, but when you are in a rut and can’t seem to shake it on your own, it can be hard.
Keeping all those feelings bottled up inside can be detrimental to your health; mental and physical. If you are beating yourself up about failing at something, chances are all that self-hate talk isn’t going to help you reach your goal. You will likely dive into your emotions and over eat or get into your head during every workout and be unable to hit that movement you have been dreaming of.
Been there, done that.
Punishing yourself for not accomplishing a task is a vicious cycle. You are your own worst enemy when you fuss at yourself for not being good at something. This is something everyone has likely done when they were younger and did not excel at something everyone seemed to be perfect at. We all want to keep up with everyone else and be just as good as our best friend who seems to just naturally do well. The guilt you feel after derailing from your diet and eating a piece of cake can turn into weeks of unhealthy eating, instead of the quick treat it should be.
Just because you mess up doesn’t mean you have failed. It is cliche’ but what you do after you fail, determines the type of person you are. Do you spiral out of control and continue pushing yourself further and further away from your goal? Or do you roll with the punches, get back up, and keep trying? I would prefer that you be the latter. No one likes a quitter or whiner.
There really is no better time to make changes to your life than now. No one is promised tomorrow, as I am sure you all know. We have all lost a loved one or someone we love has lost someone. Why live your life in regret, when you are the one in charge of the path you take? At any moment you can choose to start over and continue on the right path, rather than starting over and over and over again.
You have the power to bring yourself out of the rut that you are in and go in a different direction. Be a do-er, not someone that just complains about how hard it is and then complains because nothing is changing. Change is not easy, but it necessary if you wish to change your current circumstances.
New Food Review
Black Bean Tacos + Avocado Cilantro-Lime Sauce
No new food this past week, just a change in protein on the black bean avocado tacos. I used shrimp instead of the usual fish and it was fantastic! I highly recommend giving these tacos a try, even if you eat them vegetarian style, I feel like you will be impressed!
M E N U
Pineapple Glazed Pork Roast with Bacon Wild Rice Stuffing
One Skillet Goat Cheese Stuffed and Orzo
Chicken Farfalle Pasta + Cream Sauce
Rosemary Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Salad
Skillet Lemon Pepper Chicken and Garden Vegetables
Pineapple Glazed Pork Roast with Bacon Wild Rice Stuffing
This is my last week before heading to pre-planning, how this summer went by so quickly I don’t know. I know my parents are happy to see the summer ending, but not me! I love being at home with my babies. If you are having family in town before school starts back up, THIS is the dish you want to serve. Cutting the meat can be a bit tricky, but it is beautiful and so so so good!
This recipe was a bit difficult to track the macros on, because part of the bacon and rice is used to stuff the pork loin with. To calculate the macros for this meal, you need to weigh the total amount of rice mixture and weigh out how much you put into the pork loin. That will be the weight of each of your servings to accompany the meal. You must weigh the meat BEFORE putting the rice mixture into it. From there cut each piece of meat to weigh the same amount. If you mess up and cut a piece slightly larger or smaller, just cut off small pieces until each serving is the same weight. Lastly, count how many pieces of meat you have cut that equal a serving and that is the total serving number.
Counting macros and making the meals I make is not easy, but is it possible! The macros for one piece of meat was 304 calories, 41.4 grams of protein, 8.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 10.4 grams of fat. It is a lot of calories for one piece of meat in my opinion, but it is so tasty that I don’t mind giving up a snack to have two pieces.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 1 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice * 1 cup rice uncooked 1 teaspoon salt 6 slices thick cut bacon chopped * 0.5 ounces cooked 8 ounces button mushrooms sliced 10 ounces fresh or frozen spinach thawed if frozen 1 cup roasted pistachios * omit pistachios 8 ounces feta cheese crumbled *20 grams non fat feta 1 pound pork loin roast 1/2 cup grainy mustard 1/2 cup brown sugar *20 grams pinch of cayenne pepper 1 cup medium pineapple peeled 1 medium delicata squash halved, deseeded + sliced into half moons * acorn squash
One Skillet Goat Cheese Stuffed and Orzo
Stuffing anything with cheese and eating it with pasta can only result in something tasty. I was very nervous the first time I made this dish about the amount of carbohydrates that would be attached. You can always make your serving sizes smaller or make more servings if you don’t like the macros on a dish, but that is always disappointing. No one wants to leave the dinner table still hungry. Luckily, that was not the case! I had plenty of pasta and cheese-y goodness in my chicken and did not leave the table still hungry, although I could have kept eating.
If you aren’t concerned with counting your macros or watching what you eat, ignore the changes I am going to make and cook it as intended.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 4 ounces goat cheese, crumbled *74 grams 1 cup fresh basil, chopped, plus more for serving * 1 container 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped * omit walnuts 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves kosher salt and black pepper 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, add to your taste 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound) 2 tablespoons honey * 1 ounce 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil * omit or spray olive oil 1 tablespoon salted butter 2 cloves garlic, minced or grated 1 cup dry orzo pasta *162 grams 3 cups low sodium chicken broth *2 cups 1/2 bunch kale, roughly torn 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Chicken Farfalle Pasta + Cream Sauce
I fell IN LOVE with the cream sauce from Half Baked Harvest and Josh did too. Josh immediately thought of all the ways we could use it. We had it with salmon before and loved it combined with the chicken and pasta. I linked two different recipes because I am combining them both to make something different.
I am going to leave out the mushrooms from the farfalle pasta recipe, because mushrooms have a very distinct taste and texture and I don’t want to change the sauce at all. The only thing I am really going to change to the cream sauce recipe is adding in the pasta and using chicken instead of salmon.
Both recipes are linked in case you want to give them both a try and see which you prefer. The first time I made this sauce it thickened up a lot once I put it in the refrigerator. Once I heated it back up, it thinned out. I am telling you this, because I could have made more servings had I thought of this before. I made the recipe for 4 servings and it could have really made 6 easily and covered the food well.
Per serving (4 servings) the cream sauce was 149 calories, 8.1 grams of protein, 3.3 grams of carbohydrates, and 11.6 grams of fat. I did make several changes to the cream sauce, but I swear it is still delicious!
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: Farfalle Pasta- 16 ounces uncooked whole wheat farfalle pasta Garlic Butter Cream Sauce: 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil * omit oil 2 tablespoons salted butter * 1 tablespoon 1 small shallot, thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced or grated 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 cup canned full-fat coconut milk, or heavy cream * 3/4 cup light coconut milk * 1/4 cup whole milk 2 ounces cream cheese, cubed *56 grams 1/3 less fat cream cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese * 61 grams 4 cups fresh baby spinach juice from 1 lemon 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives, plus more for serving *add in cooked chicken breast or meat of your choosing
Rosemary Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Salad
I love a good salad, especially during the summer. I loved this salad. It had an amazing dressing…the fresh rosemary on the chicken and in the dressing are KEY. I used a TON of rosemary because other than salt and pepper that was the only seasoning used.
I did not use any oil and stuck to the bacon and avocado as the main sources of fat. I didn’t go crazy with the amount of fat, but it was plenty for me. The bacon and avocado in this salad are sure to help me hit my fat. I am not going to go crazy and have an entire plate of bacon, but one slice under one ounce cooked and 2-3 ounces of avocado split into 4 servings won’t break the bank. It is all about moderation and counting those macros.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 4 slices thick-cut bacon *1 piece per salad, less than 1 ounce cooked 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts salt and pepper 1 tablespoon olive oil *omit, spray olive oil 2 tablespoons minced fresh rosemary 6 cups spring greens and/or butter lettuce 1 bunch watercress *arugula if needed 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1 large avocado, thinly sliced ROSEMARY VINAIGRETTE 2 teaspoons dijon mustard 1/4 cup olive oil *lemon juice 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary salt and pepper
Skillet Lemon Pepper Chicken and Garden Vegetables
This dish is on constant rotation around here. Half Baked Harvest is my go-to chef/blogger/recipe-maker to find a good, tasty meal. This recipe can be low carbohydrate or high carbohydrate depending on how much rice you decide to add. You can add in different vegetables depending on what is in your garden/farmer’s market or keep it exactly as the recipe states.
The last time I cooked this meal I used 13 ounces of bell peppers, 0.5 tablespoons of olive oil, 19.4 ounces of squash/zucchini, and 50 grape tomatoes. I divided my recipe into 4 servings and it came out to be 102 calories, 3.6 grams of protein, 17.8 grams of carbohydrates, and 1.8 grams of fat. This was without the chicken and without any rice. I like to add in the chicken and rice separately so it is tailored to exactly what I need.
*Changes I make to meet my macros
Ingredients: 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil *zero calorie olive oil spray 4 cloves garlic, minced or grated 2 teaspoons smoked paprika 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon cayenne 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped zest and juice of 1 lemon kosher salt and pepper 2 red bell peppers, sliced *1 green, 1 red 1 zucchini or yellow summer squash, chopped *2 large 1 cup cherry tomatoes *2 pints 3/4 cup white wine, Such as Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc *4 ounces 4 ounces feta cheese, cubed *Non-fat feta or Omit
E N J O Y !
