Lazy Meets Challenge

Fall 2012 football. Yay cooler temps!

It's so easy to fall right into food traps. For me, when I am trying to be on good eating behavior, I have a few solid standbys. Slim-fast chocolate shakes make for a great, fast snack, as do bananas with some peanut butter or a yogurt. I stick with healthy cereal and fruit for breakfast, and I do my best if I have soup in the freezer to pull out on that day where we are short on leftovers to bring for lunch. 

One week into our Challenge, and I am already getting antsy, though. And this, my friends, is why we were in such a bad spot this summer. It gets all too easy to call the local pizza place on a lazy Monday like today. 

That's the key word – lazy. We went grocery shopping this week already. We have a fridge stocked with dinners for all the nights of the week. And yet, here I am, hungry in the late afternoon (my own fault for not packing a snack) and I am already thinking, "oh man, pizza would be sooo good tonight."

NO! I am not letting myself succumb quite yet. We have too many things coming up this Fall where I can let loose a bit if I want. Football games, weddings and trips take precedence over laziness if I want to splurge. So today, on this lazy random Monday, I am trying to focus on our pre-planned, healthy meal we have ready to make tonight. I am pretty excited for this, too -- Tilapia packets with carrots, peppers, onions, potatoes, lemon and herbs. Julia Child easy yet chic French cooking style.

From one healthy-wannabe to another :) Let's keep up the good food mojo! Here are some of the other healthy, WW and budget-friendly recipes on my radar.

Pork tenderloin in the crock-pot – I grabbed apples from the store to use in this Fall-inspired dish this week. I am a crock-pot lover. This is going to be clutch for both dinner and lunch leftovers, since tenderloins come in packs of two. Plus, how good will this smell as it cooks?!

Image Source: Martha Stewart

Homemade enchilada sauce – We made this last week and it was. SO. GOOD. I honestly probably won't buy the canned stuff again, unless I am strapped for time. This took about 20 minutes to make, and you can flavor it to your liking. I am going to cut the cumin in half, since it was a bit much for me, and we might add some more heat. This topped shredded chicken, spinach and mushroom enchiladas. We threw the onions from the sauce into the filling, too.

Sandwiches – these are one of my favorite standbys for lazy nights. Plus, they are super cheap to make. Tuna salad BLTs top my list - add a sliced egg for an indulgent feel! These other options from Martha sound delicious, too. Ham, brie and apple, yum!

Flank steak steakhouse salad – This cut of meat was on sale this week, so I am making the most of it with a "fancy" salad, restaurant-style with minimal effort. I love salads because I can "wing" it and usually end up with a satisfying mix with whatever ingredients we have on hand.

What have you made recently that helped keep you on track with healthy eating?