Dieting....ugh

It's really hard for me to get started dieting

but...

when I am in the zone 

I do really well...but getting to that starting point is the hard part.

I've actually been enjoying coming up with some recipes this time.

It's so hard to make family friendly recipes and figure out all of the ingredients and calories and then divide it all into portions.

I'm really trying to get food made up ahead of time though

so I don't have to figure out all the details and I can grab and go.

I originally made these Jalapeno Poppers in a Cup for me

but Earl loves them.

I've made 2 batches for him already.

They have 234 calories so, 

although they are quite tasty,

I still can't eat them very often.

So far my favorite Muffin Tin Food

are these Mexican Taco Cups

These are full of flavor and filling at 355 calories they make a nice lunch or dinner.

Add a salad and I have a nice and filling meal.

So my tip to myself is to make ahead food

and make food that is tasty and filling without a lot of calories.

Breakfast Muffin Tin Foods

So I'm actually enjoying making these 

Muffin Tin foods.

I'm terrible at making breakfast 

but these eggs are so easy and really good too.

I also froze some and then heated them in the microwave

for a couple minutes and they still tasted so good!

Muffin Tin Ham and Eggs

So for the Muffin Tin Ham and Eggs I lined my muffin tin with paper and then used

2 Slices of Deli sliced Black Forest Ham

1 large egg 

salt and pepper

I baked these at 350 until done.

100 Calories each!!

Spinach and Mushroom Egg Cup

The Spinach Mushroom Egg Cups I made by

cooking a bag of spinach,

a small container of sliced fresh mushrooms,

garlic, in a skillet with a little bit of oil.

  

I let these cool and then chopped them up.

I mixed in 8 eggs and scrambled along with 

 1 cup of mozzarella cheese.

Then I lined the muffin tin with paper

 Black Forest Ham or not

and added some of the mixture

baked at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

These can be frozen also and have 100 calories each.

Yummy!!

My "Muffin Tin Diet"

I lost 10 lbs last September/October

BUT

then we had a 3 house guests for 2 months,

a new baby in the house

and the holidays were here.  

So now I'm going to look at the positive side of all of this.

I am very happy to announce that I have kept off the 10 lbs off

and am finally ready to restart my new lifestyle.

Our house guests are gone

and we have a beautiful new granddaughter, Amira

I have several issues with my eating.

1.  I don't usually eat until I'm starving and then I just grab whatever is convenient.

2.  I don't drink nearly enough water during the day.

3.  I like to eat at bedtime.

4.  I'm used to cooking with white rice, pasta and white potatoes. 

5.  I hate writing down and figuring out what I'm eating.  It takes a lot of time and prep to get recipes and figure out how much I can eat.

6.  Once I eat a sweet I can't get enough.

7.  I tend to save the fresh and healthy food for the kids.

8.

9.

This is where the "Muffin Tin Diet" started for me.

Not everything will be in a muffin tin but the serving size and convenience of the tins 

make cooking and measuring easier for me.

It also makes for nice individual servings that I can easily freeze and heat up later.

So far I've got a few breakfast, dinner and dessert items in the freezer.

It feels nice to have foods ready to heat and eat that are healthy.

So my first recipe is simple and the kids like these too.

These are my Strawberry/Lemonade Frozen Yogurt Cups. 

I dumped

1 container of Greek Low Fat Yogurt into my blender 

6 cups of frozen strawberries

1 packet of instant lemonade mix

blended it up,

poured the mixture into paper lined muffin tins,

froze the yogurt

and then put the frozen yogurt cupcakes in a bowl with a sealed lid into the freezer. 

I let them thaw a little and then I have a

nice, creamy, delicious snack

that are only 43 calories per cupcake.

I used the paper liners for easier cleanup and the yogurt comes right out of them as they start to thaw.

I'll be back tomorrow with another quick and easy recipe in a muffin tin.

P.S.......

Earl just called me and said he's having Chinese delivered to the house

for a surprise for me and the kids. 

Thanks Babe for thinking about me and sabotaging my plans for the day.

Well let's look up calories for Chinese food ❤❤