Mexican Egg Casserole

INGREDIENTS

• 6 Eggs
• 1/2 cup Shredded Cheese
• 6 La Tortilla Factory Hand Made Style White Corn Tortillas
• 4 links of Chorizo
• 4 oz can of Fire-Roasted Diced Green Chilies
• 1/2 cup Diced Red Onions
• 1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro
• 1/2 cup Tomatoes
• Mexican Seasoning (I used McCormick Garlic and Onion Grill Medley and organic Chipotle Adobo blend I bought from Whole Foods)

DIRECTIONS

1. Remove chorizo from casing and sautee until brown with diced onion.
2. Layer 9x13 casserole dish (treated with non-stick spray) with green chile, meat, tortilla, cheese. Continue layering in that order ending with cheese.
3. Pour whipped eggs (seasoning, cilantro, hot sauce, water) over layers. Let sit for at least six hours or overnight
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes es or until cheese begins to brown

The casserole was delicious; however, next time I would not let the cheese brown because as I reheat it during the week, the cheese gets rubbery. This is definitely not low fat or sodium, but it is filling and high in protein. If you want to make it lowfat, you can take out the chorizo and add MorningStar Scrambles and use lowfat cheese.

NUTRITION FACTS
Serving Size: 1 square / 6 squares total

Amount per Serving - 239 Calories / 103.7 Calories from Fat

Total Fat 11.52g
Saturated Fat 4.34g
Sodium 484.14mg
Total Carbohydrate 17.27g
Dietary Fiber 1.24g
Sugars 0.56g
Protein 15g
Est. Percent of Calories from:
Fat - 43% / Carbs - 28% / Protein - 25%

Eating Healthy on a Budget

I’ve been trying to save money in order to pay down some bills and go on two vacations this year. Today, I decided to buy the Sunday paper and clip some coupons. My total bill ended up being $58.93 and I saved $13.00 due coupons in part due to Shopper’s Food Warehouse double coupon policy. Go me J The best part is that I was able to use my ingredients to make four different meals. For more information on saving money with coupons, check out Bicycle Girl: One Girl, One Bike, One Life.

On the menu for this week:

• Mexican Egg Casserole (300 calories)
• Mexican Salad (cucumbers, tomato, corn, onion, avocado, lime, olive oil, minced garlic) (with 1/4 of the avocado and and 2 tsp of olive oil, it is less than 200 calories)
• Polenta Chili with a dollop of Greek nonfat yogurt and tortilla chips (450 calories)
• Turkey Pastrami Sandwiches & Chips (350 calories)

So here is my bounty (items with an asterisk were on sale or had coupons)

Produce

3 roma tomatoes

*1 Avocado

1 bunch of cilantro

1 cucumber

1 onion

*1 baby romaine organic salad

3 oranges

Bread / Dairy

*1 container plain greek yogurt

*Eggland’s brown cage free eggs

*1 package Mexican cheese blend

*Arnold’s Multi-Grain Sandwich Thins

Canned Goods

1 can garbanzo beans

1 can corn

1 can fire roasted green chiles

Meat

Uncle Logan’s Salvodorean style chorizo

Turkey Pastrami

Misc.

*Zone Bar

*Luna Bar

*4-Pack 100 calorie muscle milk

*Skinny cow ice cream cup

Ciao Bella gelato cup

*Nature’s Valley dark chocolate graham thins

*Yoplait Delights 100 chocolate raspberry parfait

*Truvia (all natural zero calorie sweetener)

Ruffles Light

*Lotion, *deodorant, *toothpaste

Van’s gluten-free cinnamon French toast sticks

Not bad huh? Recipes and pics tomorrow.

Any tips for eating healthy on a budget?

FYI

If you can read a book/magazine while on a cardio machine...you are not working hard enough!

I've Lost 15 lbs.

So life is good right about now. I can fit most of my old clothes. Some of them look brand new because I bought them right before I gained the weight. It took me two years to get down to a size in which I am comfortable with myself. I have a lot more to go, but I am willing to work for it. Which brings me to my personal irritation: people who think its okay to comment on your weight. Often, when I tell people that I want to lose more, the response is: "Girl, you don't have any weight to lose!"

This has mainly been men. Ironically, men that don't even know me that well. I don't care what your idea of beauty is. I don't care if you like your women "thick". I care about how I view myself. It's always strange to me when people feel comfortable enough to comment on your body, whether it is a compliment or not. I have one Aunt that never fails to make a comment on my weight. It doesn't matter if she hasn't seen me in five years; since childhood, I can count on a negative comment from her. People's inability to censor themselves contributed a lot to my former negative self-image about my body. I remember when I was younger, I was always called "fat girl" or "Ms. Piggy". Those comments hurt greatly. I would look in the mirror and wonder why they would call me fat.

I wasn't even AWARE of my weight until a couple of careless adults made those insensitive comments. Looking back, I wasn't fat AT ALL. I definitely wasn't a skinny kid, but I was by no means fat or obese. Those comments led me truly view myself as fat, against all logic, and I became bulimic in middle school. That horrible habit, along with Dexatrim, caused me to lose a significant amount of weight by 8th grade. I still remember one day, after losing the weight, my uncle came to my house and said: "Hey fatso!" and I immediately went upstairs and cried my eyes out.

Now, I did love to eat (still do), and reflecting back, maybe that is what they were referring to. But to the mind of an adolescent child, those comments crushed me. I come from a Hispanic and Southern Black family. You can imagine what we ate and how much eating had a significant role in our family celebrations. Nobody ever suggested healthy eating habits. NOBODY in my immediate family exercised. However, they were all slim and effortlessly skinny throughout child and adulthood. I, on the other hand, have been dieting since age 12.

Those words pierced me. It wasn't until I was 18 years old that I started rebuilding my self worth. Even when I lost weight in college, although I dieted and exercised, it was aided by Hydroxycut. That's why it has been so important to me these past two years to lose weight the right way. I can honestly say those 15 lbs. were due to hard work and exercise. Sometimes I feel like my focus on weight is so superficial. In some ways, it is. Health is important, but if I were to keep it real, I am more concerned about how I look in a tight shirt and skinny jeans. However, I also realize that this is a personal journey to fight some demons that definitely needed to be exorcised. Ultimately, I didn't write this post for pity, but I did want to let people know that this truly has been a lifetime struggle, and if you are facing the same issues, you are not alone.