Another Great Recipe, Stats and This Week's Menu

I don't think I posted my plan for last week, but I have it for this week, along with a successful recipe and some great stats!

First off, lets start with the really really good news.    I was at the doctor at the beginning of the week and the results of my bloodwork were amazing!  In October, my total cholesterol number was 148, but my HDL was only 20 and my LDL was 128.    Last week, my total cholesterol number was 145, but my HDL was 46 and my LDL was 99!!!!  The doctor was amazed and said that he's never seen such a change so quickly.   He took me off of one of my medications and looked up information on chromium supplements for me.   I'm now taking 200 mcg of chromium picolonate daily - half in the morning and half in the evening. 

Also, I'm down 21 pounds from January!   Yay me!   The scale had not moved in a while, but this week really started moving.   I'm feeling stronger physically and able to do more, but still not those darn burpees.   I shall conquer burpees soon!    Today we were jumping rope and there was a significant difference in what I was able to do as compared to the last time we jumped rope.    I've also started lifting weights and doing zone cardio workouts.    I am really pumped and excited about the progress I'm making and how I am feeling!

So as I'm planning meals, I'm finding that I'm gravitating to easy but nutritious meals.    I tried this salad last night and it was great. 

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad from here.

This is a great summer salad - very fresh and light, but has good protein in it.

Yield: 1-2 servings.
Ingredients:

• One 15-oz can chickpeas (2 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped finely
• Juice from 1.5 limes
• 3/4 cup fresh Cilantro
• 1/2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt + ground pepper

Directions:
1. In a food processor, add the spinach and pulse a few times until chopped very small. Add the processed spinach, drained chickpeas, and chopped onion into a large bowl.
2. In the food processor (no need to rinse the bowl!), add the lime juice, cilantro, mustard, sugar, garlic, cumin, and oil. Process until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
3. Pour the dressing on top of the spinach chickpea mixture and stir well. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let stand for about 10 minutes to let the flavors develop. Serve over a bed of grains, like brown rice. Serves 1-2.


I made this pretty much as is - didn't add or subtract any ingredients.   I used the juice of one lime and used straight yellow mustard as I didn't have any dijon and didn't want to run to the store!  My food processor is also broken so I used a little manual chopper thing that I have and it seemed to work fine.    We really enjoyed it!

I want to try it again with basil.   I think that would be really good too, and I know that there are some people who don't really like cilantro.



And finally, here's the menu plan for the week, including last night:

Saturday:

Panini Sandwiches – turkey breast, provolone and avocado
Cilantro lime chickpea salad

 

Sunday:

Grilled Chicken
Fumi Salad

Monday - Healthy Chicken Gyros from here.

Tuesday – district Choir concert - Leftovers

Wednesday – kickboxing – Panini sandwiches

Thursday – Workout at gym - Grilled Sausages – Chicken Basil sausage with pesto sauce on whole wheat noodles

Friday – leftovers – workout with personal trainer

Saturday – Mediterranean Chopped salad from here. Note that it's not the first salad listed, but the one at the bottom of the list. 

Here a great week!