Full Plate Plan Recipe!!

I mentioned in my 1st post that I loved cooking and that I am following a Full Plate Plan to help me change my lifestyle. Well I thought I would share a recipe with you all. If you haven't been reading my post (shame shame..just kidding) The Full Plate Plan is all about eating more fiber and they say a great amount is 40grams of fiber a day. The book says you don't have to eat 40grams to begin with but adding more fiber to your lifestyle is a great start. So I was looking around the website, http://www.fullplatedietbeta.org/ , and i saw some recipes. So here is a recipe that I want to try one day (if you make it please let me know what you think.)

Mediterranean Chicken Pasta

• 1 14oz box of whole wheat bowtie pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium red bell pepper chopped
• 1 16oz bag frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix
• 1 16oz bag chopped frozen broccoli
• 1 16oz bag frozen spinach
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 13.25oz can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 1 25oz jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 14.5oz can Diced Tomatoes with garlic (or just plain diced tomatoes)
• 1 8oz bag morning Star Farms Chick's Strips (or already cooked chicken breast cut in strips)
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon McCormick Perfect Savory Pinch all purpose seasoning (no salt)

Cook pasta according to instructions on box (add salt or oil).

In a wok, or large pan, sauté all the vegetables in olive oil on low heat until completely thawed (15-20minutes). Add the spaghetti sauce (use the one cup of water to rinse out the extra sauce in the jar and add to the pan), tomatoes, chicken and seasonings and cook for an additional 20 minutes. Stir occasionally and leave the pan uncovered.
Add the pasta to the chicken/vegetable pan and mix over medium heat. Cook another 5 minutes.

This recipe makes 8 servings and 1 serving equals 2 cups. One serving has 10 grams of fiber and 304 calories so this is a nice one meal dinner or a nice lunch.

Big Steps on Moving Foward =]

Today was not my best day, but I feel like I made big steps today. =] I am so proud of myself today. I really made big steps on The Full Plate Plan. I looked at label, added up fiber, drank water, and apple juice (no soda today!), and I even walked alittle more than normal today. I only had 20 grams of fiber today, but I felt like I made really good choices for what I did do. Dinner was a real success for me (or at least I think so). I measured out my severing size, counted my fiber, and even drank water before dinner. I didn't have dessert and I am not even hungry. I don't want the normal mid-night snack I would have.

When changing your lifestyle it really is the small things that make you want to push harder and take another step foward. I feel like today I really pushed myself even if others thought I could do better. I really did a good job and now I now I will be reaching higher. So remember if your trying to change your lifestyle it doesn't matter if you don't get everything right as long as your doing and you feel like your moving. As long as you feel like your moving you will start running with it soon! =]

Full Plate Plan

I have been on so many diets, tried so many things, and have taken so many diet pills I am really sick of it. =[ The word diet is horrible in the first place. You should be changing your lifestyle and getting better not going on a diet to lose some weight.

About a week ago I was in a thrift store looking around. I noticed they had a sale on books: Fill a bag for a dollar. Well I love a good deal. So I started looking and found 5 or 6 intresting cookbooks, a romantic novel (ladies you know you have on or have read one before.), and some book on jimmy johnson (a friend of mine likes him alot.) Among the cookbooks I found was this one cookbook that i found intresting It had a picture of a plate on it and said The Full Plate...later on I looked at it closer and it said The Full Plate Diet. Well like I said I am not big on the word diet, but I started to read this book because somewhere in there were recipes. Normally I would go strighat to the recipes, but this time i started at page 1.

As I read this book I noticed that I could do this and that it was easy to follow. There were no restrictions or too much counting involoed. The basic concept is to eat 40 grams of fiber a day. Fiber is found in veggies, fruit, whole grains, nuts, and seeds. The book does say that you don't have to start with eating 40 grams a day, but to increase your fiber little by little till you get to that 40 grams a day. The book also says to drink plenty of water atleast 6 glasses a day. This sounds so much better than 8 atleast to me. So thats my new lifestyle that I am working on and doing now.

So far I am doing really well and taking baby steps. I don't drink as much water as I should, but I have been drinking more. Also I have increased my fiber and I am so excited. For example today I had 28 grams of fiber were normally I would of had maybe 8 grams all day.