Fast Food

I was a fast food junkie today, paying tribute to those fast food restaurants of the past.  I used to love those places.  McDonald’s, Wendy’s, pizza places;  they were all former stomping grounds.  I have always loved good food, too.  Real, wholesome, made from scratch meals, so I got the best of it all!  But, when I decided to seriously embark on my weight loss track, I slowly realized that these fast food places were not the best options for me.  Yes, there were menu items that I could eat at many of them that were better choices than what I would normally go for (i.e. quarter pounder with cheese and supersized fries!), but I would always leave feeling a bit empty and deprived.  The better choices that were available were usually salad and grilled chicken items, but often times the nutritional facts for these were still on the high side and I knew that if I had eaten at home, I could have eaten something much more filling and satisfying without having to spend the money and the calories.

My menu today reflects how I have been able to find similar, but healthier options to those favorites.  I started off with a take on the Egg McMuffin.  How I used to love those!!!  I can easily make it at home now, using a light or whole wheat english muffin, reduced fat cheese, egg whites and canadian bacon.  When I first began Weight Watchers in 2007, I probably ate this version everyday for the first 6 months.  It was a filling breakfast and would hold me until lunch.  My newest version changes it up a bit by using Eggo Nutrigrain, lowfat waffles.  My bacon, egg and cheese wafflewich uses 2 Eggo waffles, 3 egg whites cooked in nonstick spray with 1 slice of center-cut bacon crumbled into it and a slice of 2% cheese.  So good…

For lunch, it was off to the local pizza place.  Really local – my kitchen!  I had made an Eggplant Parmesan Pizza on Friday nite when Gram joined us for dinner.  She likes everything eggplant and whole wheat, so she and I shared some of this pizza…

I made this using Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough, Dominex Eggplant Cutlets that I prebaked in the oven, homemade marinara sauce and part skim mozzarella cheese.  It was delicious and just as good reheated for lunch.  I also reheated some leftover Zucchini and Beans to have with it.  Can’t get that at the local pizza place…

After a fun family afternoon at the park, we were all hungry for dinner.  That fresh air really works up the appetite!  The husband and daughters got Italian hoagies on the way home, but I decided on a good old hot dog.  I really love the Applegate Farms Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dog that I bought recently.  They are low in calories and fat, but have that traditional hot dog flavor.  I put mine in a whole wheat bun and piled on the sides- carrots with chipotle hummus and barbeque POPchips…

A little later, the ice cream man came to town.  He lives in our freezer actually;  the husband and daughters love ice cream and eat it almost every night.  I’m not too tempted by ice cream, but these guys were shouting at me from the freezer!  Mmmmm….

And thanks to this, I sang the commercial jingle all night long!  *What would you dooooo, for a Klondike bar? * The advertisers who made that one up would be happy :)

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to include some fun fast foods into my day and still feel like they were healthy choices.  Yeah, even the Klondike:  ice cream = calcium and peanut butter = protein.  Okay, I know that’s a stretch, but everything in moderation, right? :)

Question of the day:  Do you have a favorite fast food item that you recreate at home?