I didn’t bring lunch to work + Jennie-0 mini turkey meatloaf!

99% of the time I make and bring my lunch to work. Today, I was running late, didn’t plan last night since I watched The 2 hour episode of the Biggest Loser. So as it was approaching the lunch hour I started to think what I could get that wouldn’t break the calorie bank!

I have a lot of choices as far as restaurants around my office. I thought about going to Whole Foods, but then I thought I would spend my lunch wandering around instead of just getting something to go, and the next thing you know I’ve spent $50.00!!

Then I though about Chipolte. It’s near my office, but parking is bad, and then I thought of Quodoba. If you click on that link, it will take you to a page where you can customize your meal and figure out how many calories something is before you even get there. I wasn’t super hungry and I have a few snacks for the afternoon in case I get hungry. I decided to get the Chicken Tortilla Soup. An 8 ounce up is only 220 calories 11 grams of fat, 2 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein! The soup was actually really good. Its kind of on the spicy side, but I like that!

Also, when I was on Qdoba’s site, I saw an advertising link for a website that lists healthy places to eat WITH the nutritional values. It’s mostly for fast food type places, but if you are in a bind, at least you can find out before you blow your healthy eating plan. The site is www.healthydiningfinder.com All you need to do is put in your zip code and it will give you suggestions.

So, if anyone saw the Biggest Loser on Tuesday, Tara made what looked like a delicious meal making mini turkey meatloaves where you bake them in a muffin tin. Each mini meatloaf is only 110 calories, so since I STILL have turkey leftover from the lasagna, the pot stickers, this was the perfect recipe to use these up. I plan on making a batch, then freezing them so I can pull one or two out for a quick and easy lunch to bring to work. This recipe comes from the
Jennie-0 web site.

FOR MEAT LOAF:

1 small yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 stalk of celery, coarsely chopped
2 chipotle peppers (canned in adobo sauce)
1 (20-ounce) package JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE® extra lean ground turkey breast
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 egg whites
FOR TOPPING:
1/4 cup fat free and sugar free ketchup
1 tablespoon chipotle pepper adobo sauce (from canned peppers used in meatloaf)
1 tablespoon brown sugar substitute (such as Splenda® Brand)

Preheat oven to 350°F. In the work bowl of a food processor, combine onion, carrots and celery. Pulse until finely chopped. Add chipotle peppers and pulse until just combined. In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey with the pepper and vegetable mixture. Add egg whites and oats; gently mix until combined. Place about 1/3 cup of the prepared meat loaf mixture into 9 wells of a standard size muffin pan that has been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all of the topping ingredients in a small bowl; set aside. Remove meat loaves from oven and spoon the topping over each meat loaf. Return meat loaf to the oven and continue to bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until meat loaf is firm and the internal temperature registers 170°F. Let meat loaf stand for 5 minutes before serving. Makes 9 mini loaves.
This Recipe is Biggest Loser approved

Nutritional Information for 1 mini loaf:

Calories: 110
Fat: 1 g
Saturated Fat: 0
Sodium: 180 mg
Protein: 16 g
Cholesterol: 25 mg
Carbohydrates: 6 g

And when I got home from work, I had a nice package from Christina. I won a give-away on her site last week and she baked me this beautiful banana bread (without nuts!). So, I can’t wait to try it! Thank you so much Christina!