Healthy Eats Challenge: FAIL

Ok, so my goal was to challenge myself for 10 weeks to eat one of the 10 most fat burning foods each week.  FAIL! My first week's plan was to eat cucumbers as the main ingredient. That lasted for ONE meal...I know. I needed real food, not that cucumbers aren't real, but they get old real fast.

After meal # 1 of cucumbers, tomato and sour cream (not the tastiest, pretty bland to say the least), it was a few short hours later that I had become starved.  I was not looking forward to my prepared snack of cucumbers and tomatoes, so I broke the challenge then and there...but not horribly!

I had myself a balsamic grilled chicken cutlet...but that was only the beginning. Then i treated myself to a few servings (ok, half the bag) of Nabisco's Sour Cream  & Onion toasted chips, healthy but not in the proportions I was eating them in.

So as I said before, FAIL...but not completely.  This week, I've switched from eating crap to not so much crap, eating frozen yogurts instead of ice cream, getting veggie egg whites on croissants instead of regular egg, and even trying to eat more greens!

Tonight, I will treat myself to an explosive quesadilla salad, have you ever tried one of those from Chilis? I can't express the amount of flavorfulness, you just have to try it out for yourself, or you can try making it with the recipe I scoped out for you from SparkRecipes.com.

Minutes to Prepare: 20

Minutes to Cook: 20

Number of Servings: 1

Ingredients

6 ounces bagged salad mix
1 vegetarian chicken patty (such as Morningstar)
1 serving Chipotle Ranch Dressing (see below)
1 packet ranch dressing mix
1 cup 2% milk
1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

1 tsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 serving Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette (see below)
1/4 cup orange juice

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp orange zest
pinch of nutmeg

1 serving Sweet Potato Strips (see below)
1/4 medium sweet potato, washed, sliced thinly (1/16") and cut into strips
nonstick cooking spray
1/4 tsp salt(optional)

1 serving Cheese Quesadilla (see below)

1 ounce shredded low fat colby jack cheese
1 Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheat Fajita Sized Tortilla

1 serving Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa (see below)
2 ears of corn, roasted, kernels removed from cob (about 2 cups kernels)
1 cup black beans, rinsed (if you make your own use little salt and no fat)
1 medium red bell pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, roasted, peeled, seeded, de-veined and chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions

Prepare Sweet Potato Strips:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray strips with nonstick cooking spray, then dust with salt (optional). Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet and bake in oven for 20 minutes. Stir and turn the strips halfway through.

Allow to cool. They will crisp up a bit more after they come out of the oven (makes 1 serving)

Prepare Roasted Corn Salsa-
Add peppers, corn, and black beans to a bowl, then squeeze in lime juice and add salt. Give it a stir and add the cilantro. (Makes 8 1/2 cup servings--you'll have plenty leftover.)

Prepare dressings.
To make Chipotle Ranch Dressing:
Add milk and yogurt to ranch dressing mix. Stir in chipotle and store in refrigerator. (Makes 16 1 ounce servings.)

To make Citrus Balsamic Vinaigrette:
Place all ingredients in a saucepan, then cook over low heat for one minute. Cool and refrigerate. (Makes 1 serving.)

To make quesadilla:
Place cheese on half of the tortilla and fold over.
Spray the tortilla with nonstick cooking spray and cook in a sautepan heated over medium-high. Cook one minute on each side, or until cheese is melted. Cut into 4 wedges(makes 1 serving).

Prepare veggie "chicken" patty per package directions and slice into strips.

Place 6 ounces salad mix on plate, top with "chicken" strips, roasted corn and black bean salsa and sweet potato strips.

Place cut quesadilla around the edge of the plate.

Drizzle salad with dressings.