Monday, December 3, 2007

Leslie's no fuss Zone staples

1.
Black Beans (drained and strained)
¼ red onion chopped
Sharp Cheddar Cheese or Colby Jack (any kind) shredded

Mix together and heat for 1-2 minutes (you don’t want to overheat though)

Top with light sour cream (about a ½ tablespoon) and your favorite salsa (how ever much you want!) Mix and eat

You can add just about anything you want to this but some of my favorites are:

Chicken breast
Spinach (it wilts and you can’t even tell it’s in there)
Any other beans you like
Jalapeños (chopped)

Note: You can also slap this in a low fat wheat tortilla and wa-la you have a yummy burrito…..

If you haven’t eaten all your blocks you will need to eat some fruit or something else as a dessert…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
Tortilla – low fat wheat
Spinach (baby in a bag) about 2-3 cups…..(a HUGE handful)
Cheddar cheese – err on the heavy side about 1/4 to 1/3 cup
¼ Red onion chopped
4 or 5 thin slices of smoked turkey breast sandwich meat layered out flat (holding the cheese, onion and spinach together like a big blanket)

Heat for about 1-2 minutes (the ridiculously huge pile of spinach is now practically flat)

Add light sour cream and your favorite salsa - roll up and eat…..

The 4 or 5 blockers will probably have to eat two of these…..

Obviously you can add or subtract any number of items to your specs….if you like spicy add fresh chopped Jalapeños….
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
Baby spinach (in a bag) about 4 cups
¼ Red onion chopped
¼ red, yellow or orange bell pepper
½ tomatoes or cherry tomatoes (less cutting involved)
Craisans (about 5)

1 Date - you can find these in the produce section in a plastic container. You can peek through the container and see that they are kinda sticky and look like a large cockroach ...just chop it into about 4 pieces….(it’s not on the zone but it’s so small and packs such a great little punch!)

Goat Cheese (about a small cereal spoon worth) Trust me on this….you’ll love it!

Top with homemade vinaigrette from a package - Used extra virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Balsamic is the key…

You can add a warm grilled chicken breast that only takes about 3-5 minutes to make on a George Foreman……or the grill.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
2 Eggs
1 ½ cup spinach chopped
1 jalapeño chopped

Scramble well and top with cheese and salsa

This is an awesome and fast meal!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leslie’s new favorite breakfast:

6oz orange juice
1/3 frozen banana
2T Whey Protein powder
1T Crushed Flax Seed

Blend well in a blender and DOWN the hatch!

I’m all about fast/no fuss meals….so I even have a dedicated pair of scissors in the kitchen for my husband to help out cutting quickly…..it really makes a big difference using them….and you can even throw them in the dishwasher…..my dad hated making salads because it always took him so much time to cut everything up….I told him our little secret and now he is a salad making FOOL!!!! Try it!

I’m sure there are others but these are my main staples……Good luck!

8 comments:

Mike M said...

Awesome Leslie! Thanks for sharing, some of those are awful close to some of my staple recipes, and the others I'll certainly try. Now your secret is out!

georgia said...

The scissor trick is an excellent idea! I hope Santa reads my stocking stuffer wish list which now includes kitchen shears ;)

Adrienne said...

I'm getting excited about my new menu options. My diet now doesn't allow OJ or too much cheese, or flour tortillas... man I can't wait to get rid of this diet and get on the zone!! I think it'll be tough retraining my mind to allow myself to eat certain foods.

joelio said...

These look great! So how many blocks of what are these meals?

Jon said...

2 blocks each

Jon said...

Leslie's latest burrito explosion!

1 sm 50 cal wheat tortilla
1/2 c fresh broccoli chopped fine
2 c fresh baby spinach chopped fine
1/4 cup black beans
1 jalapeño chopped fine
1/8 red onion chopped fine
2 oz favorite cheese
1t cumin
pepper to taste

Mix everything together and top with cheese. Microwave for 1-2min.
Roll up and slather your favorite salsa on top.........

Jon said...

Leslie Turkey Salad Wrap

1 sm 50 cal wheat tortilla
2 oz turkey breast (or chicken) chopped fine
1/2 cup fresh broccoli chopped fine
1/8 red onion chopped fine
1/2 jalapeño chopped fine
1/4-1/3 avocado mashed
1/2-1c baby spinach
cumin and pepper to taste

Mix all together using the avocado as your mayonnaise replacement.

Layer baby spinach on tortilla, then layer the mixture on top.
Roll up and eat!

Note: If this is too dry add a layer of your favorite hummus on the tortilla before the spinach.

PS. I put this mixture in a Tupperware and snack on it at work without the tortilla. It's delicious, but your breath will likely be lethal!

Cara said...

Hey - what grocery store to you buy your tortillas in? I usually go to Harris Teeter - and I could only find plain, white tortillas - blech! I want to find the wheat or corn tortillas!