Reason 1,049 I love Tony and BSI – Sour Cream!

He buys me hot shit!

Oh my gosh – these are delicious!  And you get 33 in a serving!  Although I know today I am going to have to portion them out into individual servings, because I have no doubt I could eat the whole bag on one sitting!

spicy goodness in a bowl! 😀 Thanks Tony!

I am still flying by the seat of pants meal planning wise.  I am continuing the “Mexican” theme with breakfast tostadas.  I have corn tortillas that are 50 calories a piece.  I “pam” fried them to firm them up a bit.  When I got to work, I just put them in the toaster and they got nice and crispy!  On top I had 1/2 cup egg whites, spinach and an ounce of diced ham and one ounce of mozzarella cheese split between the two tostadas.  This was so good! The creaminess of the eggs against the crunchy corn tostada – heaven! 😀   I forgot I was going to add 1/2 a cup of veggie refried beans – I’ll have to remember that next time!

Breakfast: 360 calories, 46 carbs, 27 protein, 8.2 fat and 7.9 fiber

I told you Alison gave me the idea for the cauliflower mac n cheese, and it did not disappoint!  And when I remembered that the BSI this week is sour cream, I definitely knew I would make it!  I tweaked her recipe just a little bit.

Biz’s Version of Cauliflower Mac N Cheese (printer friendly version here)

4 servings:  Each serving 390 calories, 11. Fat, 52 carbs, 6 fiber and 21 protein

Ingredients:

• 10 ounces dry elbow macaroni
• 2 pounds (about 1 large head) cauliflower, chopped
• 2 Arnold Thins
• ¼ cup fresh cilantro
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• 6 ounces 75% reduced fat cheddar cheese, shredded
• ½ cup fat free half and half
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1 ½ cups light sour cream

Directions:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Cook the pasta according to the package, adding the chopped cauliflower during the last 3 minutes.  Drain.
• Toast the Arnold thins until almost dark – you need to dry them out to pulse in the food processor.  Add to food processor with the cilantro, oil and dash of salt and pepper and pulse to combine.
• Return the pasta/cauliflower mixture to pot.  Add cheese, sour cream, half and half, mustard and cayenne pepper and mix well.
• Transfer to baking dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.

It all started with this cheese - it's one of my favorites, still so flavorful and only 60 calories an ounce!

I used regular elbow macaroni because I had it on hand - and I reduced the amount to 10 ounces

I bulked the dish up with 2 pounds of cauliflower 😀

I also used light sour cream - just because it was what I had on hand

I realized I am out of bread crumbs! So I toasted 2 Arnold thins and pulsed with fresh cilantro, 1/2 tsp. oil and salt and pepper for the topping

In the last few minutes the pasta is cooking, add the cauliflower to blanche

mix everything together - nice and creamy!!

pulse the Arnold thins so it's course, not powdery

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees

My lunch:  One serving of mac n cheese and a side salad with diced apples and low carb Italian dressing.  Lunch comes in at 505 calories, 68 carbs, 23 protein, 16 fat, and 8.9 fiber.

I love the crumb topping and the hint of spicy with the cayenne 😀

I shared this with some co-workers and they all loved it – I came home with an empty casserole dish!  Although Tony says people at work eat 5 day old donuts on the counter too! 😀  I loved this, but it got me thinking that next time I might puree the cooked cauliflower in with the sour cream and cheese for a creamier version – and maybe switch it up and make a broccoli cheese sauce too.  The possibilities are endless! 😀

So last night was the German Exchange Farewell dinner.  Maxi flies home today!  It seems like she just got here, but three weeks went by really fast.

It was a catered event – this was my plate:

I also managed a German exchange blog for the German parents to see what their kids were up to.  You can check that out here.   I was surprised when we got to the dinner that someone had printed out multiple copies of pictures from the blog for kids to take home with them at the end of the dinner – during dinner they served as table decorations!

All the students - big group!!

But when I got home I was still hungry!  So I made a quick pizza.  Between the “two” dinners, dinner comes in at 812 calories, 90 carbs, 49 protein, 28 fat and 2.4 fiber.

Stats for Wednesday:

• 45 minute walk at lunch
• blood sugar average: 145.5
• 1,677 calories, 204 carbs, 99 protein, 52 fat and 19.2 fiber

I have the day off of work today to take Maxi to the airport.  Off to make apple cinnamon pancakes as a farewell breakfast!  Have a great day! 😀