It’s Wednesday, woo hoo!! It has been quite a busy week, which isn’t new news, but at least it has been a good week so far.  This weekend Neal and I are going to focus on us, spending some one on one time together and not making plans with others, which is needed some times.  You see, I’m a planner and I love to fill our schedules up with things to do.  Thankfully Neal balances me out and reminds me that we don’t always have to have something on the agenda. Sometimes just spending time relaxing at home and watching football is all that needs to be on the “schedule”.

For dinners this week, I have continued my quest to create lean and green meals.  Having salads for dinners has become part of our routine now but I have to keep it interesting.  Salads can get boring pretty quickly, so it’s important to change up the lettuce, veggies, protein, and dressing.

Monday night I tried out Trader Joe’s Salmon Burgers.  Instead of throwing them on a roll though I decided to use them as our protein in our salads.

Trader Joes Salmon Burgers

I took the frozen burgers and grilled them on the Griddler for about 10 minutes.

Trader Joes Salmon Burgers

I added the burgers to a salad made of spring mix, tomatoes, and 1 tbsp of blue cheese.  For a dressing I mix 1 part chipotle honey mustard with 1 part water.  This is a great way to stretch the flavor but not increase the calories.

Trader Joes Salmon Burgers

I also severed each salad with 1 slice of Ezekiel Bread sliced in half.

Trader Joes Salmon Burgers

Now let’s talk about slicing/cutting up foods for a second.  When I was eating this piece of toast I started thinking of how satisfying it was to have TWO pieces of toast… but it was actually only one piece cut into two.  I started to wonder, how might my portion control be helped if I started to cut up my foods before serving them?

If I were to have cut up my salmon burger before serving it, in my mind I could have had 4-6 pieces of salmon instead of 1 piece (though clearly a full burger).  In the same way, if you were to have a grilled chicken breast with a side or two how different might you respond to the meal mentally if you were to cut up that chicken breast into 15 pieces?

From my seat I’m more mentally fulfilled to look at a plate with 2 slices of bread on it verses 1 slice, so if just by cutting up my food I can trick my brain then why not do it?

Diet tips for the day:

1.  Water down your salad dressing.  It will spread out the flavor but not increase the calories.

2.  Cut up your food before you serve it.  Snack, meal, you name it.

Do you ever cut up for your food before serving it?  What do you think about my epiphany?

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Filed under: Cooking • Health • Reviews • Tips For Losing Weight • Tools For Success

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