week 2 -- nailed it!

you guys.  week 2 has come and gone, and i'm still smiling!  i can hardly even believe it.  i'm feeling super motivated, mostly because i hate to fail... and failing publicly is even worse.  so every time i was tempted to shove a yummy treat into my face, i was able to talk myself out of it by thinking about my end-of-week report on this blog.  thank you, great big blogosphere, for holding me accountable.

so i tried a number of new recipes this week, and i'm excited to share them with you!  here's the brief listing with pictures and descriptions to follow:

• sunday: three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls
• monday: lightened up chicken buffalo quesadillas with roasted broccoli
• tuesday: naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo and roasted peas and corn
• wednesday: grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta and steamed broccoli
• thursday: crunchy cashew thai quinoa salad with ginger peanut dressing
• friday: i have no idea!  ha... (poor planning on my part!)

first up were these three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls that i found on the Skinny Taste blog.  at just 240 calories per roll, i had to give them a try.

three cheese zucchini stuffed lasagna rolls.  aren't they just the cutest?

these were pretty great... and super cute!  i think i'd like her spinach version even better, but with the plethora of zucchini available this time of year, this is a very tasty seasonal dish.  pair it with a side salad, and you've got yourself a super satisfying meal!  (just make sure to really really squeeze all of the moisture out of your zucchini.  otherwise, you'll get soggy lasagna.)

steve gave this meal a thumbs-up.  isla wondered what that "green stuff" was in her pasta 

and offered the most dramatic gag EVER when she tasted it.  sigh...

monday night's lightened up chicken buffalo quesadillas were a BIG hit.  definitely steve's favorite meal of the week.  to be honest, though, the recipe wasn't all that "light," so i took some liberties and lightened it up a bit more by using 100-calorie chi-chi's tortilla wraps, reduced fat cheese, and low fat sour cream.  also, instead of pan-frying them in butter, i cooked them on our electric griddle with a light dusting of cooking spray.

this picture does the meal no justice.  these were aaaaamazingly flavorful!
steve and i even had a "fight" about who could take the leftovers to work.  :-)

tuesday's naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo packed a punch with flavor.  if you like spicy, these are for you.  they were a little too intense for steve and isla, but i really, really liked them!  the leftovers heat up nicely too, but big warning if you microwave these at work -- you WILL make the entire office smell like a fishing dock.  so, proceed with caution.

naked salmon burger with srirachi mayo and roasted peas and corn

wednesday's grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta was a repeat meal for us.  i've made this before, and it was well-received!  and by using skim milk, one serving is much lower in calories than you might think!  463 calories for a pasta dish?  sign me up!

grilled chicken with creamy pesto pasta and steamed broccoli

thursday's crunchy cashew thai quinoa salad was a big surprise for me.  i made this for dinner with a vegetarian friend, expecting to have to choke it down.  but boy was i wrong!  this was hands-down my favorite meal of the week!!  the flavors... the crunch... oh, that peanutty dressing!!  it's aaaamazing.  even if this isn't your style, give it a try with an open mind!  and it's only 260 calories per serving -- so go ahead and have seconds!

now i finally understand all the hype about quinoa.  this was SO GOOD!

look at those textures and colors and yumminess!
(this is where a real camera would come in handy, but whatevs...)

beth's win for the week:  there was apple pie, chocolate chip cookies, and salt 'n vinegar chips in the office this week.  and i resisted all of them!!  bwahahaha, you silly treats!  you don't have power over me when my tummy is filled with quinoa!

isla's progress:  my dear 2-year-old really struggles with vegetables.  (well, truth be told, she struggles with all eating in general....  if it were up to her, she'd choose to eat crackers and maybe a yogurt for every meal.)  but this week, she scarfed up some broccoli!  especially the roasted broccoli.  awesome!

and now, my WEEKLY WEIGH-IN.  i lost 1.4 pounds this week, bringing me to a total of 3.2 pounds lost in 2 weeks!  i'm so proud of myself!  thanks for your support, everyone!  let's press on!