We ordered out for the first time

So Alex is on to soft foods now. Yay! As of yesterday, he's lost 30 pounds! Major congrats to him. You can really see it in his face especially, and he's been shocked the last few days getting dressed because his shirts are all loose on him now.

So last night, for the first time in months, we ordered delivery. I never ordered delivery before moving to NY. Except pizza of course. But here, anything you want you can get at your door. For us, delivery took the place of fast food. Delivery was a major downfall for us as we ordered out most nights of the week.

For whatever reason, we decided to order out last night. Alex's was psyched to be able to eat again at the end of his liquid diet and this place had refried beans and cheese for his soft food diet. I ordered sopes and chips. Sopes are thick grilled tortillas with beans, sour cream, cheese and veg. Normally I would've ordered something else as well, but I couldn't even eat half my meal and most of the chips are left. Alex felt the same way.

Looking at what we did eat, we were thinking, wow, there must have been a fair number of calories in that, so just imagine how many we were consuming before!

This won't be becoming a habit however but it was nice to order out and be "normal" again.

Mmmm...Tostadas

So I had a little dig in the pantry last night and decided to make tostadas. Mmm...tostadas. It was a great, satisfying meal. In general, I've found that dieting helps me enjoy my food more. I take more time to appreciate what I do eat.

I made the tostada shells myself from corn tortillas and added all the fresh veg I had, plus red beans, a sprinkling of cheese and the teensiest bit of fresh avocado.

My recipe was a bit hodge-podge, but check out the Weight Watchers one on their site here. Theirs includes jicama, corn, avocado and lime. Yum!

Spinach, Vegetable Quesadillas

I'm all for quick convenience foods. I'm often tired when I get home from work, so quicker is better. I also grew up in Texas where Mexican food reigns, so that's pretty much a staple in my diet as well.

One of my favorite foods are quesadillas. Which, if not done right, can do you in! However, follow my instructions below and you'll have a quick, healthy, vegetarian dinner option.

Vegetable Quesadillas

Ingredients
fresh spinach
diced onion
fresh minced garlic (or garlic salt (optional))
mushrooms
diced red pepper
low fat cheese
small low fat/whole wheat tortillas (corn are even better!)
hot sauce

Preparation
Using a no-fat cooking spray or a tablespoon of olive oil, saute the garlic and onion until lightly browned. Add the mushrooms and let cook a few minutes. Finally, add the rep peppers and spinach for a final two or three minutes.

Add the sauteed vegetables and a small amount of cheese to a tortilla, fold in half and heat in the same frying pan, just until the tortillas are warm and soft.

Weight Watchers Points
Points will vary depending upon the amount of cheese, oil and the type of tortillas you use, so please measure accordingly. However, points range from 2 to 4 per half quesadilla.

If you're really strict, you could even do a half quesadilla (ie: one tortilla folded) for one point (corn tortilla, a dusting of light cheese, no-fat cooking spray).

Adapt the vegetables to suit your taste. To shave some time off the cooking, keep the mix of veg simple.

Enjoy!