Good Things To Go

Wow everyone!  I loved all your ONE GOOD THINGs from yesterday’s post!  Thanks for sharing those and let’s keep spreading the positive vibes!

I’m gonna be quick tonight, so I can hang with my family.  My first order of business this morning was to register for FitBloggin ‘10!  I dropped by Roni’s site and saw that registration is open, so I jumped on it!  The tenative schedule is up and it looks like a great time;  so looking forward to it!

After much dilly-dallying, I ate some breakfast.  I was pretty shaky at this point, so I grabbed the first easy thing I saw in the fridge – Smoked Salmon and Parmesan Omelet Muffins.  I heated up two and had some honeydew on the side…

It’s good to have some “go to” stuff hanging out waiting for you!

I came across an old Weight Watchers Member Board (no idea who the poster was –sorry) recipe while looking through some of my recipe binders this morning :  Cuban Black Bean Patties.  They sounded great, so I decided to make them for lunch with a few of my own twists to it…

• 2 cups rinsed and drained canned black beans
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried cilantro (or 1 tsp. fresh)
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 c. reduced fat monterey jack or cheddar cheese (pepperjack  would be good, too)
• 1/8 c. diced red onions
• 1/4 c. cornmeal

1. Place 1 1/2 c. beans in a medium bowl with garlic, cumin , cilantro and salt.  Mash with a fork , slightly to break up beans.
2. Place remaining 1/2 c. beans in a food processor with the egg and puree for 30 seconds.
3. Add bean puree to mashed beans and stir until combined.
4. Add cheese and onion;  combine well.
5. Form bean mixture into 4 patties about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish and carefully dredge each patty in cornmeal.  There will be some cornmeal leftover.
7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Coat with cooking spray, add patties and cook for approximately 4 minutes per side. 

I served my Cuban Black Bean Patty over a salad made up of romaine, chopped red and green peppers, diced tomatoes and topped with a squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch, guacamole and light sour cream…

The bean patty was so flavorful!  Crunchy on the outside from the cornmeal and creamy on the inside…

And I have 3 more left that I wrapped up and popped in the freezer for another “go to” option.

The daughters and I went shoe shopping this afternoon (for them, not me – boo!) and scored a good deal at Payless Shoe Store.  Love their BOGO’s!

Then, it was back home for snack time.  I couldn’t resist another one of Jaime’s amazing Choco – Cranberry- Almond Granola Bars…

I still felt a hankering for something, so I chomped on an apple, too…

Dinner was Chicken Fajitas seasoned with Homemade Taco Seasoning from the Clean Eating Club site.  It’s way better tasting than the packet stuff.  I served the fajitas with a store brand high fiber tortilla, guacamole and light shredded 3 cheese blend…

More leftovers packed up for another time…

ONE GOOD THING today:  As I was finishing my last bite of lunch, I was still yearning for something more.  I decided to look at my watch and give myself 10 minutes to let everything settle and if I still wanted something when the 10 minutes was up, then I would allow myself to eat it.  I got up from the table and busied myself cleaning and doing other things.  After the 10 minutes, I reassessed and decided I really didn’t want anything else after all=)

* I have myself locked in the home office so that no one would disturb me while I hurried to write this.  Little daughter just picked the lock to ask me something!  Guess it’s time to sign off!   Juvie here she comes…

Have a great night, everyone!