Updated Garden Update!

The zucchini continues to take over the garden, however, I got to pick my first one last night! I also have about 20+ tomatoes going right now, can't wait to pick the first one! Got a little time with those though, all of them are still bright green.

Garden update!

So, here is my conclusion:

I CAN, in fact, keep a plant alive!

The garden is completely flourishing, and I'm loving every second of it. I cannot wait until I have fresh veggies to use! My zucchini plant is continuing to take over, to the point where I think next year I'll give zucchini's their own bed.

Check out the progress:

Zucchini Plant taking over..

First Big Boy Tomato of the season is doing well :)

Plum Tomatoes are doing great too!

First Zucchini!! About 3" in length now!!

Awesome 300 Calorie Wrap!!

I made this wrap for lunch yesterday, and I'm pretty sure I could eat it every day and not get sick of it. I even brought another one today in my Bento lunch. So fresh and tasty!

Heres the Calorie and ingredient breakdown:

Sundried Tomato Wrap: 150 Calories (SOMEONE find me lower calorie wraps!!)

Turkey: 66 Calories (2 oz)

Hummus: 70 Calories (2 tbs)

Cucumber (chopped): 2 Calories

Carrots (shredded): 4 Calories

Tomato (chopped): 7 Calories

Salt, Pepper, Dill to taste.

Total Calories: 299 Calories!

Thats it! Even with a 150 calorie wrap.

And the garden begins..

This past weekend was CRAZY. We filled the sandbox around the swing set with six yards of sand, had my parents over to help, and about four of our friends over to help as well. So we put the all guys on sand patrol, and my mom and I started the garden. We decided on planting; Plum Tomatoes, Big Boy Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, and Yellow Squash. ALL of my favorites!

A frog decided to make its way in to the planter box as soon as it was set up to welcome the garden, so our little man was fascinated, he loves frogs!

Within the next few days, we added some small fences for the vines to grow up.

Since then I've also planted marigolds around the border (another compliment to my mom for the idea, and the flowers) to deter bugs away. I'll get a photo of that soon, because it looks crazy pretty. 

The cucumber plant has grown the most, and is already starting to sprout flowers! I can't believe how fast those showed up..

I think one of the biggest reasons I'm excited about this, is the time that little man and I will have this summer taking care of the garden. He's the best little helper. I remember, growing up in New York, my grandfather ALWAYS had a vegetable garden (much bigger than mine of course, I'm just a rookie). That would be one of my favorite parts of summer, helping him in the garden, and of course, the first tomato sandwich of the season. I've already promised him the first tomato that I grow on my own. I can't wait to sit with him and make a sandwich with it. Now I get to enjoy the time in the garden with my son, like grandpa and I got to enjoy it when I was younger.

Here's my big boy helper watering the plants.

..and look.. there's even a rainbow.

Last Nights Tuna/Veggie Salad!

I'm on a tuna kick. It rarely happens, but when it does.. I want tuna, ALL the time. I go in and out of stages of liking tuna, this week.. it's on. Last night I wanted something fresh, with a crunch, and with tuna. I should mention that if you're not a tuna lover, this would taste AMAZING with chicken, or even chick peas if you want to go full out vegetarian with it.

So here's last nights dinner!

Lets Break this down:

1 can of Tuna: 100 Calories

1/4 cup Carrots: 14 Calories

1/4 cup Corn: 30 Calories

1/4 cup Tomato: 7 Calories

1/4 cup Cucumber: 5 Calories

Two Chopped Scallions: 1 Calorie

Topped with Salt, Pepper, Dill and Lemon juice

So for just about 150 Calories, I had an amazing tasting, fresh salad!

..and it was GREAT!!

Last Nights Dinner? Todays Lunch!

Last nights dinner was chicken over pasta, with dressing and fresh tomatoes.

You can check it out HERE.

So we had some leftovers, so I decided to turn it into todays lunch!

Breakdown:

Garden Pasta: 95 Calories (1oz)

Italian Chicken: 140 Calories (1 piece)

Kens Lite Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing: 50 Calories (2 tbs)

6 Cherry Tomatoes: 18 Calories

Baby Carrots: 22 Calories

Hummus: 70 Calories (it is a 150 calorie pack. I'll eat half with lunch, and half at another time)

Total: 396 Calories

**NOTE FOR PACKING**

I did not cut up the tomatoes or the scallions yet. I will cut those two once I am ready to eat so that they do not get soggy or mushy.

Last nights awesome Dinner!

Over the weekend, a friend decided she wanted to get rid of her grill. Ours has been broken since the end of last summer, so she asked if we wanted it. OF COURSE we wanted it! I'm not sure how we functioned grill-less for the past half a year, we practically live cooking on the grill on warm weekends (and have been known to grill in snow). So we got it home, set it up, and decided to give it a test run.

Perdue makes pre-seasoned chicken in individual packs. I absolutely love these things, because if it's just me and mini squish at night while the husbutt is working, I just take out one pack (one piece) and throw it in the oven, instead of needing to cook or freeze a big pack of chicken. Our favorite ones are the italian seasoned ones.

We had gone food shopping that day, so we picked up some of those, and ran across this "vegetable enhanced" pasta. We've been in a "veggie battle" with our 2.5 year old son who LOVES pasta, so why not give this a go. Veggies hidden in one of his favorite foods? I'll take it, and so did he!

So we figured, we'd grill up some chicken, put it over the pasta, and see what we could add to it. 

What we ended up with was a 350 Calorie awesome tasting dinner.

Here's what I had:

One piece of grilled Chicken: 140 Calories (because of the seasoning on it)

3/4 Serving of Veggie Pasta: 142 Calories

Kens Reduced Fat Olive Oil & Vinegar Dressing: 50 Calories (2 tbs)

6 Cherry Tomatoes: 18 Calories

Scallions to put on top

Lay down the pasta. Cut up a piece of grilled chicken and put on top of pasta. Cut tomatoes up into 4's and put around the edges. Put chopped scallions to taste over the top. Drizzle dressing on top of entire plate. And you're DONE!

It tasted so fresh and was so satisfying. I can't wait to eat this again!