meal planning, week 3.

Happy Sunday, friends!

Thought: I think I'm happier doing meal planning posts on Saturdays or Sundays, as opposed to Mondays. Most people have done their shopping for the week by Monday, and posting it then doesn't seem all that helpful. Anyway. Moving on.

Rob is on his way home from his bachelor "weekend" at Put-in-Bay, which means time is quickly running out for me to silently soak up this clean house, relaxation and some Harry Potter (a must when Rob is out of town). This has been the first weekend in over a month that we've had nothing going on - needless to say, I took full advantage of the opportunity to lounge around, eat in my pajamas and be on my own schedule.

This past week has been, to say the least, a hot mess. I've lacked motivation in the eating and exercise department, my recovery from last weekend's bachelorette festivities has proven less than stellar, and to top things off, we had a broken HVAC and now a mystery water leak in the house. It was all I could do to just keep treading water this week - which, unfortunately, does not burn calories. Not surprisingly, I had a small gain this past week at weigh-in, my heart hasn't been in my runs, and yesterday's planned 8-miler turned into barely squeaking out 5. I know, 5 miles is nothing to be ashamed of, but half marathons are quickly approaching and now is not the time to lose steam.

It's safe to say this weekend is exactly what I needed. I finally got our bridal shower gifts put away, did some much needed cleaning and organizing, and some much needed R&R with my puppies. Speaking of which, today is Scout's birthday! My big baby girl turns 4 today - I still remember bringing her home on a cold November night from the humane society at not even 3 months old. Cannot believe how old she is getting - she's the absolute best. Everyone say happy birthday to Scout!

This weekend, I managed to get in my five mile run, as well as a short walk with Brody on Friday night, and a 3 mile birthday walk with Scout this morning. Overall, it's about 8.5 miles for the weekend, which makes me feel at least slightly better about my half-ass run yesterday. Heading into this week, I feel more focused and ready to tackle my goals. Rob and I are finally at the "calm before the wedding storm" where we have ZERO planned from now until the big day - I'm hoping I can relax, finish up planning and focus on my weight loss and preparation for my two half marathons this fall.

This week's farmer's market finds - not pictured: the 50 cent hotdog
I bought to eat while I browsed the selection. Obviously necessary. 

So, want to see what's on my grocery list this week? Let's get down to it then, shall we? This week was an expensive one - I know, you're all here because you like seeing cheap grocery lists, but not every week is a $100 or less deal, unfortunately. I ended up spending $114 at the store today - in addition, I spent $12 on fresh produce at the farmer's market yesterday, totaling $126 for the week. My grocery budget is about $400 per month though, so with the past two weeks' cheap trips, I'm well under budget for the month.

In my defense, I will say I do have more meals planned now that we're both going to be in town this weekend. I'm also trying a few new things, and taking on a few more recipes since I finally feel like I can breathe. We also have a guest for dinner one night this week - this doesn't really merit buying more food, but I had to take into consideration that we probably won't have leftovers from that meal. In addition, I originally planned a pot roast in the crockpot for tonight, but wasn't a fan of the cuts of meat at the store - I made a last minute swap to have steaks on the grill instead, which obviously costs more.

Sunday: 

filets on the grill (on sale at Kroger), roasted asparagus, corn on the cob

Monday: 

BBQ grilled chicken, baked potatoes, roasted zucchini

Tuesday:

Chicken pesto kabobs, corn on the cob, roasted zucchini/yellow squash/red potatoes

Wednesday:

  Turkey taco lettuce wraps, with skillet mexican zucchini (trying both of these for the first time) 

Thursday:

Buffalo chicken mac and cheese "muffins," salads from Kroger

Friday:

  Buffalo chicken potato skins, roasted veggies

And the shopping trip begins. Don't think shopping
with your list is cool? Think again. I'm also close to
bringing a calculator with me. No judgment.

We have a few days with no leftovers for lunch, so I added 1/2 lb of ham to my list, as well as bacon to make BLT's with avocado (make the bacon ahead of time, assemble the wrap at lunchtime). Breakfasts are, again, southwestern scrambles in a mug or oatmeal.

This week's grocery list was a long one. I'm tackling several recipes that, while I can reuse the ingredients, do require random purchases at the store. I also forgot some things. Because heaven forbid I only go to the store once a week. Before I show my list - here's what I have to go back for tomorrow: grape tomatoes, 1 bell pepper, 1 small onion, and about 4 baked potatoes - and probably something else I'll discover halfway through the week. Oy.

Produce:

Asparagus

1 bag red potatoes

Basil

Garlic

Lime (2)

1 Jalapeño

Bananas

1 cantaloupe

1 bag grapes

1 head iceberg lettuce

Cilantro paste

1 avocado

2/$5 pre-packaged salads (for my lunches)

Dairy:

1 package cheese slices (for Rob's ham sandwiches at lunch)

1 block sharp cheddar cheese

1 6-pack eggs

2 small Egg Beaters, southwestern cartons

Fresh queso blanco

skim milk

Meat:

1 lb ground turkey

Chicken (this was not remotely close to being cheap at the store today, so I made the last minute decision to buy Perdue's individually wrapped breasts in packs of 5 - two packs were $12.00, as opposed to spending $21 on the chicken I normally buy)

2 filets (honestly, the bulk of my meat expenses this week)

bacon

1/2 lb Boar's Head ham (I'm a deli meat snob, not even sorry)

Aisles:

high fiber macaroni

makeup remover

high fiber wraps

1 4 oz. can tomato sauce

Applegate chicken sausages

Looking at my menu plan for the week, here's a few things I'm noticing as the causes for my hefty bill:

I planned more for lunches this week. I bought two pre-packaged salads for myself, as well as ham and cheese for Rob to make sandwiches and bacon for us to make BLT's (this will probably take place on the weekends more than through the week). I know we'll have some leftovers, but I don't know how many and I noticed myself picking up lunch a few times last week because of a lack of leftovers. We'll see how this works.

My favorite weekend lunch or quick dinner: BLTA's -
a BLT on a high fiber wrap, loaded with avocado. Lots
of good fats, without sacrificing on taste! Yum!

I planned meals for every night. I'm ready to get back to cooking daily. I love it, honestly, and my body can't handle eating out. I didn't plan anything for this upcoming Saturday - I'm planning on a date night one night this upcoming weekend, so Friday's meal can be used Saturday (or even for lunches) if need be.

While I'm able to reuse my protein in the buffalo chicken, I'm still making two separate meals with it, costing me more in ingredients. I'm also making a couple sides that are multi-ingredient worthy, as opposed to buying a $2 bundle of asparagus as my side every night. 

I bought filets. I mean, there's no sugar coating that one. I'll own up to it. 

Alright, friends - there you have it. Meal planning, week 3. All my meals, except for the mac and cheese "muffin" night, are pretty low in carb, almost entirely "clean" and packed with protein and veggies. Every meal falls into the daily points I typically allot for dinner in my Weight Watchers tracker, and there are enough carbs going on to fuel me for my longer runs or more intense cardio sessions I have planned this week.

Here's to making it a great week - what are YOU eating this week?

Monday Meal Planning

Happy Monday, friends! I hope you're all well-recovered from your weekends and resting comfortably in your office chairs. Hey, we can all dream. Realistically, I just hope you haven't fallen asleep or bashed the coffee pot over your co-worker's head yet. Oh, Monday.

I am recovering from a weekend of bachelorette fun with my family and girlfriends - it's safe to say that we celebrated in style, but I'll save you the details. The short story is that we started a conga line around a tiki bar and made out-of-this-world blueberry pomegranate margaritas. That's all you really need to know.

But since it's Monday and weekends away can't last forever, I figured what better way to get myself back on track than to give you my weekly rundown? I had to make this week's grocery list after I got home yesterday afternoon, and after a weekend of carb-indulgence, I wasn't ready to go back to my low-carb reality. Some of you found last week's post on meal planning helpful, and since I managed to sneak out of the grocery store again having only spent $62, I figured I'd share this week's menu. I will admit, this week is a little light since Rob won't be around next weekend, but we still bought enough for five meals at home. In addition, one of this week's meals is a semi-leftover from last week. We ended up not eating our spicy sausage pasta and Rob used half the ingredients for other things (I call this "man cooking," when he "creates" new things while I'm away). Instead, we went out to dinner with friends (see, this is why meal planning every night of the week is always a huge fail). Even though I had to pick up more of those ingredients he ate, it did help to have some of the stuff at home already.

Sunday

Dinner: Chili cheese dogs with macaroni and cheese (I told you I wasn't ready to go back to healthy yet)

Monday

Lunch: leftover hot dog, small salad from grocery store salad bar

Dinner: Garlic & herb chicken, corn on the cob, roasted asparagus

Tuesday

Lunch: leftover chicken and corn/asparagus

Dinner: BLT wraps with avocado, roasted zucchini and yellow squash

Wednesday

Lunch: leftover BLT's - I usually make it a BLT "salad"

Dinner: Breakfast for dinner (eggs, hash browns, rest of bacon from BLT night)

Thursday

Lunch: TBD (if I'm bacon'd out, which is almost impossible, I'll grab a salad from the salad bar)

Dinner: Emily Bites spicy sausage pasta (re-do from last week)

Friday

Lunch: TBD

Dinner: leftover spicy sausage pasta

This week's breakfasts: Southwestern scramble in a mug, oatmeal

This means that this week's grocery list looks as follows:

Produce:

1 package sweet corn

1 bundle asparagus

1 melon (fruit for the week)

1 avocado

1 tomato

1 iceberg lettuce head

2 zucchini

1 yellow squash

Dairy:

1 small block pepperjack cheese

1 1/2 dozen package eggs

1 small block sharp cheddar (for chili cheese dogs, duh)

2 containers Southwestern Egg Beaters

1 package Laughing Cow Queso Cheese

1 package fresh shredded hashbrowns

Meat:

1 package chicken tenders

1 package hot dogs

1 package chipotle chicken sausage

1 pound bacon

Aisles:

1 can Rotel

1 package Applegate chicken sausages

1 box macaroni and cheese (don't judge me)

hot dog buns

Misc:

1 bowl of chili for chili dog night from the hot bar

Things I already had at home: Land O'Lakes Saute Express cubes, low sodium chicken broth, 1 box high fiber pasta, green onions, and high fiber wraps for BLT's. 

Since I wrote about my meal planning last week, I found myself paying more attention when I do my lists. Here are some things I'm noticing that I LOVE, and a few that I wish I did better. 

- Using one meat more than once during the week helps tremendously with my grocery bill. The one pound of bacon I bought this week will be used for at least two dinners, if not more during lunch. 

- I highly recommend going meatless one night to help save money. Rob refuses, but if I were on my own, I'd take advantage of at least one meatless opportunity to save some cash.

- This may be bad, but I visit the salad bar at the grocery store sometimes instead of buying salad stuff in bulk. I get salad'd out SUPER easily, and can't really predict when I'll want one and when I'll be totally over them. Sometimes, I buy bags of lettuce or fresh heads of romaine, only to have it go bad - and same with several of the goodies I like in my salad. Instead, I'll pass on all the stuff up front, but swing by Kroger when I want a salad at lunch. Mine have never cost me more than $3 (I get the small size), and honestly, the price works out about the same as if you were to buy all those salad goodies every week. 

- This week's purchase of hot dogs, buns and boxed macaroni and cheese made me harshly aware of how much cheaper it can be to eat processed foods sometimes. I'm a big believer that healthy eating can be inexpensive, but knowing that one package of hot dogs and one package of buns could theoretically give us dinners for an entire week makes it easy to understand how people can be swayed to make unhealthy choices more frequently. 

- Boxed macaroni and cheese, regardless of who makes it, is delicious. And disgusting. All at the same time.

- Take inventory of what you've got before you go shopping. Go through your fridge and your pantry before heading out - or, if you're me, make your fiance do it while you sit on the couch and "menu plan." Don't buy doubles, and if you've got some produce leftover from last week that you know won't last another full week, plan a recipe within the next couple of days to utilize it instead of throwing it out. 

I think I'll post weekly menus for you guys on Mondays. It helps hold me accountable for what I'm eating, and it forces me to plan well so I can share with you my plans without snipping a single coupon. 

Happy Monday, and happy eating, friends!

Cheesy Turkey and Zucchini Lasagna

Adapted from: Skinnytaste's Zucchini Lasagna
Servings: 9 (you'll get more depending on the pan size you use)

One of the hardest parts about going low carb for me has always been giving up pasta. Things like macaroni and cheese, a giant bowl of spaghetti and my absolute favorite - lasagna - were staples in my home growing up, and the idea of living without them hurts my hungry little heart. I've also been making a valid attempt at limiting my red meat consumption. Since I don't like fish, sometimes I feel like all I cook are chicken and beef. I decided to switch it up and try my hand at zucchini lasagna with ground turkey and oh-so-much cheese. If you love lots of cheese and are willing to give zucchini a shot in place of traditional lasagna noodles, you will most likely fall in love with this. Even my "meat and potatoes" fiancé ate two big servings of it.

I will tell you up front that I ignored the original recipe's advice of grilling the zucchini for a few minutes before assembling the lasagna to help soak up some excess moisture. I did my best to soak it up with a paper towel, but both Rob and I agreed we'll grill the zucchini next time.

1 pound lean ground turkey

1 Tbsp olive oil

Sausage seasoning

1 monster sized zucchini (or 4-5 smaller ones), sliced thin

*if you use smaller ones, I suggest slicing them lengthwise - I got big guys, so I cut them into rounds*

2 cloves garlic, crushed

22 ounces low fat ricotta

3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1 tsp italian seasoning

116 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 cup marinara sauce (I used Ragu, because I am cheap)

1 1/2 cups part skin shredded mozzarella

I told you this guy was going to be cheesy.

Preheat oven to 350.

Drizzle 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a pan, and mix together your ground turkey and sausage seasoning. I buy the 99% fat free turkey and it tends to stick to the pan without some oil. Cook turkey until brown. If you love ground turkey on its own, you don't have to add the sausage seasoning, but I have a man in the house who could detect my "healthy" attempts from a mile away, and the seasoning was delicious.

Add 2 cloves of crushed garlic and your can of crushed tomatoes to your browned turkey, and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Slice your zucchini thin (about 1/8 inch thick) and throw those babies on the grill on low for about a minute on each side. This is the step I totally bypassed, but won't make that mistake again. Listen to Gina at Skinnytaste - girl knows what she's talking about. When they're done, soak up any excess moisture with a paper towel.

In a bowl, mix together the ricotta, 1 egg, parmesan cheese and italian seasoning.

As you prepare to assemble, divide your mixtures up based on the number of layers you want to do. I got 3 layers out of my ingredients, with the final layer being zucchini, marinara and a topping of mozzarella. In a casserole dish, layer marinara sauce, zucchini, turkey mixture, ricotta mixture and mozzarella cheese. Top your final layer with remaining mozzarella cheese, and bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling and starting to brown. If you like your top layer nice and browned, turn the broiler on for a minute or so at the very end.

Let it cool a few minutes before serving - I used a 9x9 pan and got 9 servings out of it, but definitely stacked it so high that it started overflowing so I'd recommend a 9x13.

Enjoy!

get smart.

If you have half a brain, chances are you're capable of perusing Pinterest and knowing better than to think half the explanations for the projects, exercises and wedding DIY's are legit. Let's face it - this super frugal girl pinched pennies and saved a fortune on her wedding, but you're probably not going to chalkboard paint mason jars and personally label them all just to save a few bucks on plates from the catering company. Someone's gorgeous DIY wreath is the average person's craft nightmare, and you HAVE to know better than to think you can legitimately lose 10 lbs drinking nothing but tea for three days [and not pass out].

Which brings me to my biggest issue lately - believing the health myths. Buying into the diet fads. Following a 1-2-3 plan to weight loss and not being an independent thinker. Here's a shocking idea: your body is not the same as mine. Mine isn't the same as my mom's, or my brother's, or my dad's - and we're in the same fucking family. So why in God's name would you think that you're going to get the same results as person A, B or C just because you both read the "30 lunches to lose weight fast" article and followed it to a T? Chances are, you're probably not.

If you've decided to get healthy, lose weight, tone up, build muscle or just eat better, you have to stop reading made-for-you plans that are supposed to fit the general public. I can tell you from personal experience that I have friends who can eat 100-calorie packs all day long and lose 20 lbs, and I would gain weight from them. I have friends who gain weight from eating chocolate, who lose weight from eating bread, whose bodies do things that mine would run away screaming from. If you've decided to make a change in your lifestyle, I totally applaud you. As someone who lived in fat-kid denial for years, sometimes the hardest part is just waking up with the commitment to making a change. But what I wish I would have done earlier, and what I wish more people would do now, is educate myself.

Educate yourself. Do not sign up for the coolest diet trend that gives you the highest probability of success. Following Weight Watchers, South Beach or Jenny Craig will not teach you anything in the long run if you don't know what the programs are designed for. Reading thousands of articles on pre-planned meals and trampling through your grocery store with a list you didn't come up with on your own won't help you. Blindly grabbing the 100-calorie packs and whole wheat pasta boxes won't teach you anything if you don't know what's in them. Learn what food does to your body - understand why foods on Weight Watchers with higher carb counts are now higher in points. Learn about why Atkins preaches a low carb diet, and understand that it doesn't give you the right to eat 6 lbs of bacon a day. Stop eating boxed meals from the freezer section just because there are pre-determined points or calories labeled on the front.

I'm not saying you don't have to start somewhere. Any change to your diet is a good one, and making modifications and finding low-fat alternatives to your favorite foods is awesome. What I'm saying is that so many people go through life not knowing what refined sugars are, what "good fats" and "bad fats" are and what carbohydrates can do to your body when eaten in excess. So many people go through life not knowing how to fuel their bodies before and after workouts, how to create habits that will last a lifetime, and not just until the hit their goal weights. Depending on a program to guide you in the right direction is AWESOME. Programs like Weight Watchers and even free tracking systems like My Fitness Pal are awesome for showing you how to monitor your portions, incorporate healthier alternatives into your diet and how to balance your intake versus output. But you still need to learn what food does to your body.

If you rely on plugging numbers into an online tracker or pulling all your resources from the latest "top 10 healthiest dinners," you may stay fit, but you're never going to know why. The internet and social media has been a great outlet for utilizing fitness options and finding new healthy recipes - but it's also made us so dependent on following directions from someone else instead of learning about how our own bodies work. If you learn about what you're eating, learn about what you're putting into your body and how your body reacts to it, you'll quickly learn that someone else's "healthy mac and cheese" is your body's nightmare, or that someone's favorite low-cal casserole is actually just full of high-sodium cans of processed food that you can't even read the ingredients to.

Lord knows I am not perfect about my diet and exercise routines. I love fried macaroni and cheese almost as much as I love a good cheeseball - and one time, I totally fell for my grandma's line that her delicious oatmeal cookies could be considered "breakfast cookies" because there are oats in them (no, I was not 10...this was less than a year ago). All I'm saying is that you owe it to your body to do a little research instead of just eating the 10 meals some food blogger hand-selected from the internet as YOUR top 10 healthy meals. News flash: Your top 10 healthy meals are constantly evolving, and they're going to be different than mine. Your top 10 healthy meals should be established by you and only you, once you learn and experiment with different foods and understand what they do to your body.

Your body is your body, not anybody else's. Nutritionists and informational articles can point you in the right direction - they can help guide you, and weight loss programs are awesome forms of accountability and putting all that nutrition "junk" into easily utilized numbers. But chances are, you're not going to spend the rest of your life tracking every snack you ever eat (that'd be a lot of snacks for me), so you should do yourself the justice of learning about what you're eating so you can function on your own without someone else telling you want to consume and when.

Independent thinking is something that's often lost today - and it's probably half the reason this country has an obesity problem. You only get one body. Learn about what you're eating, and treat your body like the temple that it is. Feed yourself what you know to be good, and indulge in what you know to be delicious (and sometimes bad). Don't live by anyone else's nutrition rules, and don't let someone else decide what's right for your body. Educate yourself, and your chances of maintaining a healthy lifestyle long after you commit to one are much higher.

End rant. Stumbles off soap box and apologizes in advance for offending anyone.

colds and food.

Once again, it's Sunday evening and I am left wondering where the weekend went. I've spent most of this weekend in a sinus-induced haze, leaving food tasteless, workouts difficult and even simple tasks like brushing my hair seem like monumental events. People who live with constant sinus problems or allergies never quite know if they're getting sick, or if it's just going to be one of those days that no amount of behind-the-counter Sudafed can fix. It's not quite enough to merit taking a sick day, but just enough to make every single moment of your day completely miserable as you try to trudge through. I wish companies had "sinus days" that I could take without feeling the inevitable guilt I feel when I stay home from work due to serious sinus issues. Sigh. I digress.

Enough about that. The highlight of my weekend involved trying two new recipes. Cooking at home on the weekend is the most difficult part of trying to stay healthy for me - Rob and I visited a breakfast joint down the street for the first time this weekend and my healthy "power wrap" with egg whites, turkey and spinach was the one "eat out" healthy choice I carried through the weekend (I lost whatever pride that choice gave me over a BW3's coma I faced later that day). But I find that when I actually plan recipes I'll enjoy, I'm much more apt to eat at home. I tend not to blog about the food I eat, mainly because the recipes are things I get from other websites or adapt to fit my tastes, so I feel like I'm stealing. And stealing isn't cool. But I need to share this weekend's eats.

Friday night, I tried a new recipe from Skinnytaste, my favorite go-to blogger for healthy, Weight Watchers-friendly eats. I realized that 90% of the time, all I ever eat is chicken. Not that it's a horrible thing, but I rarely branch out to red meats other than the occasional hamburger or taco night, and figured an inexpensive cut of steak was a good start since we're on a budget (I'd spend our life savings at the grocery store trying new things if I could). We made grilled flank steak with tomatoes, black beans and corn.  I rarely cook with avocados, and Rob was aching for me to include them in a recipe so I threw those into the mix as well. Honestly, this is awesome. The steak cooks in no time, and after you're done chopping all the goodies for your "salad," the whole thing comes together nicely and is a simple, different meal if you're the go-to chicken person like I am. Here's a pic of my finished product (perfect grilling courtesy of my fantastic fiance)! 

The leftovers held up great, and I actually bought flank steak again today, because Rob is desperate to make our own version of Chipotle. The plan is to stick with the original recipe, but also marinade the steak in a cilantro lime marinade ahead of time, and I'm going to throw it all on top of the best cilantro lime rice ever.  Yes, I like lime and cilantro, a lot. They add awesome flavor without adding calories, so it's clear that these ingredients become my closest friends. We'll see how this goes - I will keep you all posted, because I know you're hanging on my every word.

Today was chili day. I should probably note that Rob and I heavily disagree on how chili should taste. I grew up on chili that used ketchup as its tomato base, which may sound weird but it's become so normal to me that I prefer it over anything else. Rob thinks this is blasphemy, and wishes I would take a more "chili" approach. Today, our recipe went as follows:

1.25 lbs ground beef, cooked

2 cans Brooks mild chili beans

1 14.5 oz can garlic fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 8 oz can tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 cup ketchup

1 T. brown sugar

Chili pepper and cumin to taste 

("to taste:" my fancy food blogger term for "I have no idea how much I used")

I should probably note that the ketchup is also an estimate, as I left Rob directions and came home to a crockpot of mystery chili that ended up tasting kind of awesome. Brown the beef in a pan ahead of time, then throw all the ingredients in the crockpot and let it sit for a good 4-5 hours. 

This chili needs something still. It needs a packet of chili mix, or something to pump up the flavor (honestly, my sinuses could have also rendered my taste buds numb), but it's on its way to becoming a version of chili Rob and I can agree upon. Now, here comes the fun part.

I often make spaghetti with chili and Rob insists on setting the store-bought Skyline cheese out so it's room temperature when we have "Skyline nights." But tonight, I was aching for french fries and thought chili cheese fries would be a great fix. I honestly forget where I got the recipe for oven baked fries that don't completely suck, so forgive me if you've all seen this and I'm an idiot for just now getting the memo.

2 russet potatoes, cut however thin/thick you like your fries. I leave the skin on.

fresh cracked pepper and salt

olive oil

1 very large bowl of ice cold water

*serves me, and one hungry man

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Cut the potatoes however you like (I like mine pretty standard - think Wendy's cut), and then let them sit in a bowl of ice cold water (yep, even put ice cubes in the bowl) for about 15-20 minutes. Drain and dry the potatoes and put them back in the bowl. Toss in olive oil (sorry, can't tell you how much on this one either, just don't soak them or they'll end up super greasy. A little goes a long way). Spread on a Pam-sprayed cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, flip fries and bake 20 more minutes. Pardon my less-than-stellar photography skills, as this was taken halfway into my meal when I realized I should probably tell you how awesome these are.

I know. This is so simple, and you're all thinking "okay seriously, we're not idiots, we can make french fries." But the ticket to these is really soaking them in ice cold water. It makes them crispy and not like the soggy oven-baked-fry-fails you've had before. Wherever I saw this, it was Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe, because clearly she is the only person in the history of cooking to have ever put potatoes in ice cold water and should be given all the credit in the world. She's lucky I like her. 

Ohio University kids - take your finished fries, top them with that chili and smother in room temperature Skyline cheese, and you will be taken back to O'Betty's heaven. I don't know, maybe I'm totally insane and I just miss OU from the bottom of my heart, but this unintentionally brought me back to sitting on the curb consuming a giant tray of these guys after last call mega mugs at Red Brick. And the best part about the whole thing is that really, it's not that awful for you. While I'm a big advocate for low carb, I will allow myself the occasional potato because really, it's a natural food anyway. These fries, chili-smothered or not, are a great alternative when you're really craving something totally sinful. Rob thinks they'd be awesome with different seasonings, so we'll see how that turns out in the future.

This is my first real shot at chatting about recipes, because I don't think it's worth it to re-tell you all about my favorite Skinnytaste, Pioneer Woman and Emily Bites recipes. I will, however, continue to tell you when things are awesome, if you're interested in reading about it. 

As this week begins, I am facing a crappy cold and an upcoming weekend of zero working out. Here's to hoping that my self-control can win this week and make the right eating choices that result in a loss at my weigh in. Hope everyone has a great week! :)