Pan-Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri

I made Pan-Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri on Friday night.   This is probably the fourth time I have made this for dinner so far this year.    The last time I made this dish was while visiting my parents last June.   I wanted to make a nice dinner for them, but since my mother does not like fish, I used grilled chicken breasts instead of halibut.   The chimichurri and charred vegetables are just as good with chicken as they are with halibut.

I found some wonderful looking, fresh halibut at Whole Foods in Campbell, CA, where I do most of my grocery shopping.   I recently agreed to some type of marketing program whereby Whole Foods gets to track what I buy and I get a 1% discount on all my groceries.   Seems like a pretty good deal for Whole Foods.

According to Wikipedia, Chimichurri is originally from Argentina.  The Cooking Light version is basically fresh basil, fresh cilantro, shallots, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and a bite of fish with the chimichurri is just delightful.

Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Jan Gautro 

Pan-Grilled Halibut with Chimichurri is a Cooking Light recipe I found on myrecipes.com.   The recipe for the  Charred Vegetables with Rice is also a Cooking Light recipe.   

Turkey Bolognese

There are so many dinners we have now that I really look forward to and want to label as my favorite.  I just have a lot of favorite dinners since we started trying a lot of new dishes.   I made Turkey Bolognese last May and my wife used the same recipe to make dinner for us tonight.   This is a Cooking Light recipe from myrecipes.com.    

Photo by Karry Hosford

My wife and I both love this dish and its hard to keep from stuffing myself... this dish is so delicious.   But, I have been careful with portions for many weeks now.   I often have a scale on the dinner table so that I can measure out how much I can eat.   I don't go hungry, but I try to end each day with about a 500 calorie deficit for the day.   It seems to be working as I have lost 35 lbs to date since early April.

About 1 and 1/2 cups of this dish is only 447 calories.

A Spicy Southwestern Dinner

For our Sunday night dinner, I made Southwestern Chicken Soup and Spicy Southwestern Tabbouleh.   I have made both dishes in the past, but never together.  I thought they would compliment each other well and so I have been looking forward to an opportunity to make this dinner.   Both recipes are Cooking Light recipes I found on myrecipes.com

When I first tasted the soup, I was a little disappointed, and then I remembered that I had not yet added the lime juice or avacado.  Both ingredients made a huge difference and after adding them, the soup was as delicious as I remembered.  

 Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner; Styling: Cindy Barr

Both dishes turned out great.   I had enough left over Tabbouleh that we were able to have left overs for dinner the following night and enough to take for lunches.   The Tabbouleh is great warm or cold and its the kind of food that is delicious and makes you feel good when you eat it because you know its healthy food.  

Total calorie count for this meal including 1 2/3 cup of soup and 3/4 cup of tabbouleh was 500 calories.   I generally try to eat about 300 calories for breakfast, 400 calories for lunch, 500 calories for dinner and another 500 calories in healthy snacks through out the day like bananas, apples, mangoes, peaches, carrots.

Chili-Glazed Tofu

The last time we made Chili-Glazed Tofu was back in April.   This is the second meatless dinner this week (3rd dinner if you count the left overs).   This is a dish I get tired of if I make it too often, and generally don't enjoy as left overs, so I try to make this when I don't need to have left overs.   Actually, my wife ended up to doing the cooking tonight.   She did a great job and we had another healthy and delicious dinner.

   

Grilled Pork Chops

Grilled pork chops are a good go-to dish for me when I am not sure what else to make.   I have been wanting to make some Vietnamese style grilled pork chops or possibly some pork fried rice, and I had kind of planned to do something like that for dinner, but I didn't plan it out well.   I didn't have everything I needed and it was getting too late to go back to the store. 

I used my standard spice rub of cumin, brown sugar, salt and pepper, little bit of cayenne pepper, some garlic powder, a dash of cinnamon, and some all spice and just put these on the grill.   I sauteed some baby bok choy to go with the grilled pork chops and my wife made some plain rice.

Dinner turned out well in the end and we all enjoyed it and at just a little over 400 calories, we all kept our diets on track.

Mini Farfalle with Roasted Peppers, Onions, Feta, and Mint

The last time I made Mini Farfalle with Roasted Peppers, Onions, Feta and Mint was back in June.   This is probably my favorite vegetarian dish at the moment.   I try to have at least one meatless dinner per week.   When I am planning to make this dish, I look forward to dinner all day long and to the left overs the next night.   My wife really like this as well.

The fresh mint, fresh basil, and toasted pine nuts give this dish some wonderful flavors.  Its hard to go wrong with fresh herbs, toasted nuts of any kind, and some feta cheese. 

Well, I guess you could go wrong if you eat too much pasta!    The calories add up fast when eating pasta, so I am always careful to weigh the amount of cook pasta I put into a dish like this.  This dish is about 450 calories per serving.

Photo: John Autry; Styling: Leigh Ann Ross

Grilled Tandoori Chicken

My wife and I both love Indian flavors and Tandoori chicken is a favorite whenever we go to an Indian restaurant.   Back in March, I made Tandoori chicken for the first time using a recipe from Cooking Light which I found on myrecipes.com.   I also use only boneless, skinless chicken breasts when I make this dish.   The chicken breasts are a healthier choice than the whole chicken legs.

Photo: Romulo Yanes; Food Styling: Simon Andrews; Prop Styling: Helen Crowther

This is the 4th time I have made Tandoori chicken with this recipe, this year.   A couple of times when we had this, I picked  up some Naan (Indian flat bread) from a local Indian restaurant, but I didn't do that for this meal, but only because I didn't think of it.   Since both my wife and I are on a diet, we really don't need the extra calories from the bread anyway.

In the past I have made Indian-spiced green beans using a Cooking Light recipe for Indian-spiced Okra on myrecipes.com.   I used the same spices and recipe again, but with zucchini this time.   I loved the green beans, but the Zucchini was amazing.

I also served rice and raita with this meal.   This dinner is less than 400 calories per plate with 4oz of cooked chicken per serving.   It makes for delicious left overs, too!

Shrimp Tacos

I didn't cook on Saturday.   I needed to go into the office to do some work so my wife did the grocery shopping and cooking.   She made some delicious shrimp tacos.

This is a very light meal.   I had two tacos with each taco containing abut three shrimp on a corn tortilla with shredded cabbage and a creamy green sauce which contained sour cream, cilantro, and lime juice.   The shrimp were sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with salt, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, coriander, and cumin.

I also had some tortilla chips with salsa to go with the tacos... here's the calorie breakdown:

Food	Calories
3 oz cooked shrimp	120
2 corn tortillas	90
2 tablespoons of green sauce	57
1 oz tortilla chips	150
2 tablespoons of salsa	20
Total	437

Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans

Spice rubbed pork tenderloin is a dish I have posted about before and my daughter's favorite dinner.   I made this for dinner tonight because it was her first day back to school and the start of the new school year.   She is always happy to hear that we are having pork tenderloin for dinner.

You can find this Cooking Light recipe for Spice Rubbed Pork Tenderloin from myrecipes.com.

I also made some mashed potatoes to go along with the pork and green beans, steamed until, and then sauteed in a little olive oil with salt and pepper.   I usually cook about 2lbs of pork which gives me enough for the whole family for 2 nights plus some cooked pork I can freeze and use for dinner or lunch at a later date.

Here is the calorie breakdown for this light and delicious dinner:

Food	Calories
3.5oz Pork Tenderloin	200
Cup of green beans (plus the olive oil)	50
3.5oz mashed potatoes	100
Total	350

Lemon Grilled Chicken Breasts and Steamed Carrots

Lemon grilled chicken breasts is a dish I have made several times.   Its not a stand out hit, but a good, reliable, and healthy grilled chicken dish when I need something simple and delicious.   I served the chicken with plain rice and spinach sauteed in olive oil.

I did try a new side dish with this meal-- Steamed Carrots with Garlic Ginger Butter.   Yum!   These were really delicious as well.    I rarely cook carrots so its always nice to have something new and different.  It keeps the dinners interesting.   This is Cooking Light recipe from myrecipes.com.

Here's the calorie breakdown of tonight's dinner:

Food	Calories
4oz Grilled Chicken	187
Steamed carrots with garlic and ginger butter	70
Sauteed Spinach	60
1/2 cup of cooked rice	120
Total	437

Tuna Steaks and Orzo with Butter and Parsley

I had planned to make salmon with a spice rub on Sunday for dinner, but Whole Foods was out of fresh salmon.    There were some gorgeous looking Ahi tuna steaks available, so I bought those instead.   I sprinkled the tuna steaks with salt and pepper and then pan fried them in olive oil and a little butter for a few minutes on each side.

The tuna steaks were good.   It turned out to be a nice change from salmon and it has been such a long time since I had Ahi tuna, I really forgot how delicious it can be.

The orzo with butter and parsley is a dish I have made and written about here many times.    Its one of my go to side dishes.   Its is another Cooking Light recipe I found on myrecipes.com

Here the calorie count for this dinner:

Food	Calories
5oz Tuna Steak (with olive oil and butter)	180
3oz of cooked orzo with butter and parsley	360
Total	540

Steak Fajitas (Chevy's Style)

This is a repeat of a dinner I made last May using the Chevy's restaurant recipe for the marinade.   Like last time, it turned out great.   Really delicious.   I don't think its as good as Chevy's, but still the best Fajita recipe I have found.   This is one of my wife's favorite dinners and she told me she could have this once per week, she likes it so much!  

Like the last time, I used Smart & Delicious Tortillas from LaTortilla Factory which are about half the calories of a normal flour tortilla.  

Rotini, Summer Squash, and Prosciutto Salad with Rosemary Dressing

My dear wife selected Tuesday's night's dinner and did the cooking.   She tends to pick lighter dishes, more salads and pasta type dishes.   She found this Cooking Light recipe for Rotini, Summer Squash, and Prosciutto Salad with Rosemary Dressing on myrecipes.com.   The salad turned out great.   We both loved this dish.    We use squash very often and it was a nice change from zucchini.

A single serving of this salad was not quite enough for me.  So, I also had a half loaf of pita and some hummus as well.   Here's the calorie break down for my dinner:

Food	Calories
2 1/4 cups of salad	360
1/2 pita	83
1.5 oz of Hummus	120
Total	563

Chicken Shawarma, Hummus and Jerusalem Salad

Chicken Shawarma, Hummus, and Jerusalem Salad is a family favorite.   Although, I ate very similar dishes growing up, the marinade is not a family recipe.   It is another Cooking Light recipe from myrecipes.com. 

I do use a family recipes for the Hummus and Jerusalem Salad, and I have posted these recipes on myrecipes.com

I wouldn't call this a low calorie dinner, but its not too bad.   Below is my calorie count for this dinner.

Food	Calories
4 oz of grilled Chicken	200
1/2 pita	83
1/2 cup of cooked rice	120
1/2 cup of Jerusalem Salad	50
1.5 oz of Hummus	120
Total	573

Red Curried Tofu

I made Red Curried Tofu for dinner tonight.  This is a Cooking Light recipe I found on myrecipes.com.

Its nice to have a meatless meal once in awhile, especially if you are counting calories and tracking the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet, but I generally don't get that excited about a tofu dish, so its been awhile since made this.   The last time I made this dish was back in April and that was the first time I had used this recipe.

I remembered that I liked the dish back in April, but I actually loved the dish and I loved it tonight as well.   It was much tastier than I remembered.

Cooking light says that each serving which includes about 3/4 cup of cooked rice is almost 300 calories.    I ended up eating about 1.5 servings for a 450 calorie dinner, which is a little lighter than the amount of calories I typically consume at dinner.

Its about 11pm now and if I don't eat anything else, I will end the day with a calorie deficit of about 1,000 calories.

	Contents	Calories	Comments
Breakfast	Raisin Bran Toast w/margarine and jam Coffie and milk Banana	426	High fiber breakfast!
Lunch	Turkey sandwich with low fat cheddar cheese, mayo, mustard and tomatoes. Tortilla chips and salsa	450	2oz of roasted turkey breast and 45 calories per slice Sara Lee Bread
Dinner	Red Curried Tofu	474
Snacks	Apple, Cheese puffs, Psylllium Husk, and Orange Juice	362	I take 3 tablespoons of psyllium husk in a glass of orange juice every night.
Exercise	Raking leaves and yard work for 90 minutes	-400
Total Consumption		1312
Daily Burn		-2300
Total		-1012	If I did this every day, I would lose over 2lbs per week!

30lbs lighter

It has been several weeks since my last entry in this blog.   We left for a family vacation in early June and then my wife and daughter went on to visit my wife's family for several weeks.   They didn't return until early July.  

This has been our summer vacation routine for several years now.   In past years, I would eat out every night for dinner while my family was out of town, and most often I would end up going to Taco Bell because I would not get around to thinking about dinner until after most restaurants were closed.

This summer was different.   I went out for dinner one time during the 3 weeks that I was home alone.   I cooked at home or had left overs from my own cooking every other night.    My own cooking is just healthier, lower calories, lower sodium, and I really like my own cooking.

Since I started my diet in April and stopped going out for lunch at work, I have lost over 30lbs.   That's 1.5lbs per week on average.   What really made the difference for me was simply tracking what I ate every day.   I use an app on my iPhone called MyNetDiary.      I use the app to make sure I don't eat more than 1,800 calories per day. 1,800 is about 500 calories below my estimated daily caloric burn.  I typically run a deficit of about 3,500 calories per week, more if I work out during the week.   3,500 calories is about a pound of fat and since I have been working out 3 to 4 times per week and burning an extra 1,500, on average I lose about 1.5 lbs per week.

Here are some before and after pics:

The picture on the left is from April and the picture on the right was taken in late July after losing around 28lbs.