Mary's Mini Diet Menu and Journal Day 4

Mary's Mini Menu Day 4

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 Dinner: BBQ squash strips and a large salad with oil-free creamy dijon dressing

I must apologize for not posting yesterday, it was a hectic day, I went to Jazzercize in the morning came home showered and left again, I had to eat lunch out and it was at about 3pm and then dinner ended up being some fruit because my lunch was so late and then off to my son's basketball game so there wasn't time to post.

Lunch yesterday was at Costa Vida, I had a veggie salad and it was delicious.

As I have done 4 days on my choice of Squash I must admit that I don't think it was the best choice, I have found that it does not contain enough calories to sustain me.  My stomach cannot hold much at all and so it is difficult to get enough calories with low calorie foods like squash or other non-starchy vegetables.  I thought that being that my calorie intake is quite low due to my size it may work but I have had to rethink that decision.  

I know it is a no no but I think I will go ahead and choose another starch for the remainder of the 10 day diet.

Weight loss so far:  1.4 pounds!

That is pretty good I think in only 4 days!

Breakfast

Acorn Squash steamed with apples and cinnamon topped with blackberries

This makes a really delicious breakfast and by steaming the squash it is done in 20 minutes!  

Serving Size:  If you are a small person under 5'3"  the half will be a serving, for an average size person you will need to make both halves.

Recipe:

Acorn Squash halved

1/2 apple diced

1/4-1/3 c. apple juice

1 tsp. cinnamon

4-6 blackberries

Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds.  Fill the squash with the diced apples.  Put the squash in a small sauce pan filled with 1/2 to 1 inch of water.  Fill the squash with the apple juice.  Bring the water to a boil and cover the pot with a lid.  Reduce to medium-low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove from the pan and sprinkle with cinnamon, top with berries and serve.

Nutrients in the Acorn squash breakfast:

The whole squash for an average serving

Calories............311

Protein.............5g

Omega 3's........ 15%

Vitamin A ...... 75%

Folate...........  22%

B6.............58%

Calcium...........17%

Iron..........20%

Zinc.........10%

Lunch

Steamed veggies and leftover acorn squash

I didn't take a photo, it is nothing spectacular.  

I sauteed some broccoli, onion, spinach, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms in water and added a little salt.

I scooped out the second half of squash and sprinkled it with cinnamon.

Dinner

I decided to get a little creative with my squash because it is certainly getting, well, boring.  I thought it would taste delicious in some BBQ sauce so I experimented.

Recipe:

Peel and slice butternut squash into thick strips

Use your favorite BBQ sauce

I put the squash strips in a small baking dish and covered them in my smokey BBQ sauce.  I baked them at about 375 for 25 minutes.

I really enjoyed the change of flavor in the squash.  It was a simple dinner but it was satisfying.  

I was craving my creamy dijon dressing so I had a large salad on the side.

Hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to make Mary's mini creative.  I will probably start with potatoes tommorrow as they are more calorie dense and a  lot more filling than the squash.  Hopefully that will give you some more creative ideas of what to do if you choose potatoes.

Enjoy!

Don't worry, I will be back to my usual creative self in a few days.

In fact, I have a fun surprise!!

My daughter wants gluten free goldfish crackers.......so my challenge begins!