Frustration and back on the wagon

I got pretty frustrated a couple months ago.  I was exercising and tracking my food and still not losing weight so I stopped trying.  My wife and I also got into a bad habit of eating a lot of fast food and take-out.  I'm back though and going to give it another go.

I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine, so I've decided to make better use of it.  Last week, along with the website MyRecipes.com, I made a menu for 6 nights, went shopping and took over the daily cooking duties from my wife.

I try to do all my shopping at Aldi's, so almost everything came from there.

Monday's dinner was Spiced Pork Chops with Apple Chutney.  As a side, I made green beans with almonds.  This was pretty simple to prepare and tasted great.  I made a few small modifications to the recipe though.  I couldn't find the chipotle pepper, so used regular chili powder and I used a little white wine instead of the apple cider vinegar.  It was a nice spin on a basic meal and still easy enough to do after work.

Tuesday's dinner was Tenderloin Steaks with Red Onion Marmalade along with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli spears.  Again, this was very easy to make and very tasty!  I used bacon wrapped filets and used a little red wine instead of red wine vinegar.  The red onion marmalade was nice and sweet and it was steak, so how could it go wrong.

Wednesday's dinner was Pan-Seared Tilapia with Citrus Vinaigrette.  I made couscous and stir fried some red and yellow peppers to go with the fish.  This was a very light dish and the citrus vinaigrette added nice flavor to both the tilapia and the couscous.

All three of these dishes were from the Cooking Light "Quick and Easy" section.  All of them were easy enough to make after work and any of them would be fine to serve to company.

Thursday's dinner was Chicken Cacciatore.  This recipe is designed for a slow cooker, but I made it Wednesday night in a dutch oven, tossed it in the fridge and reheated it Thursday on the stovetop.  This was a really good recipe, very hearty and satisfying.  My wife took it for lunch the next day and said it was even better because the pasta had a chance to absorb some of the sauce.  I think next time, I might add a little more liquid, use penne or rigatoni and mix it in while the dish is cooking.

Friday night's traffic was horrendous, so I just told my wife to order a pizza and I would eat whenever I got home.

Saturday's dish was Shrimp Fettuccine with Spinach and Parmesan I thought that it would be a little plain, but it was another easy one and was really good.  It had a lot of flavor and only took about 5 minutes longer than it takes to boil pasta.

Tomorrow night's dinner will be a good old fashioned pot roast.  It isn't from cooking light, but I make a really good chuck roast!

I'm not back at the gym yet, but I'll be back soon.  In the meantime this is a good start.