Tag: macaroni and cheese

Solve Your Frozen Food Problems with T.G.I. FRiDAY’S “Entrees for One”

On By Michel McDonaldIn AdLeave a comment

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of T.G.I. FRiDAY’S for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Fridays Fajitas

Are you tired of the boring freezer dinners at the grocery store but don’t want to have to spend a fortune going out to a restaurant?  YES!  That is a question I ask myself practically on a daily basis.  I am so excited that T.G.I. Fridays meals are available at the grocery store because I love going to T.G.I. Fridays but we don’t get to go there very often.  First of all, they are so popular that it can take half an hour or longer just to get a table and I really hate waiting.

My diet has gotten so boring and I’ve seen these T.G.I. FRiDAY’S “Entrées for One” in the freezer section at Target for only $2.79 each and I bought a couple.  I was actually quite excited when I saw these because it gives me the chance to eat restaurant food at home.

I bought the Sizzling Chicken Fajitas (picture above) and I’m not really a huge fan of onions or bell peppers but if they are cooked enough then they don’t really bother me.  I figured that T.G.I. Fridays wouldn’t give me under cooked food so I took the chance and I’m glad I did because it was really good.

I also bought the Grilled Chicken Mac & Cheese (left picture below).  If you know me then you know that I am a macaroni and cheese fanatic.  I have loved mac and cheese since i was a kid and I think it will my be my favorite until the day I die.  The other brands in the frozen section are good, one brand in particular is my favorite but it’s so expensive.  The T.G.I. Fridays grilled chicken mac and cheese is SO much better.  It’s not too much food and it has chicken.  The cheese is a different flavor which is perfect because it’s not so boring.

I also bought some T.G.I. Fridays snacks.  I bought the potato skins with cheddar and bacon and steak quesadillas. (right picture below).  Hey, we can’t have T.G.I. Fridays without appetizers.  I mean seriously.

Hey, did you know that T.G.I. Fridays is having a Fun Freezer contest on their Facebook page?  All you have to do is decorate your freezer, take a picture and enter it in the contest and hopefully win one of a few prizes, it’s really that simple.

So what are you waiting for?  Go to the freezer section of your grocery store and pick up some of these “entrees for one” for dinner tonight.

More pictures:

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I Said No… Well, Sorta

On By Michel McDonaldIn Diet, FoodLeave a comment

Wow, this diet must be really messing with my head because I said no to Taco Bell today.

I went to the grocery store before Darrin came home to buy him some fried chicken and macaroni salad and I also bought him some macaroni and cheese just in case he wanted it.  I also bought some salad stuff for myself.  But when Darrin came home from work he was carrying a Taco Bell bag.  UGH!

So we went in the house and he had 3 of those .99 cent double beefy cheesy burritos or whatever they are called and a .99 caramel apple empanada.  I was going to say no thanks to them all but I just couldn’t.  I only ate 1 burrito and the empanada.  I did say no to the other 2 burritos though.

Well, technically I didn’t say no, I put them in the fridge.  I’m sure he will end up eating them but that’s ok.  I’m ok if he does.

In order for me to be successful with my weight loss I have to say no as much as possible.  I don’t think 1 burrito and an empanada (which is an apple pie) is going to hurt me though.  But tomorrow I’m definitely going to eat a salad and hope that he ate all my burritos hehe.

He isn’t working tomorrow so he can have the burritos for lunch and the fried chicken for dinner (or vice versa) and I’ll just eat my diet foods/shakes.

Discouraging

On By Michel McDonaldIn Cycling, Diet, ExerciseLeave a comment

I bought my new bike wheel on April 13th, I think.  My first ride was on April 14th so I’m going to assume it’s the 13th when I got the wheel.  I have 2 weeks worth of riding in my log which technically is only 3 days per week.  But in those 2 weeks I haven’t lost 1lb.  It’s a bit discouraging when you ride so far and get no results from it.

I guess in all fairness I wouldn’t lose the weight so easily with only 3 days per week but I’ve just stared exercising again so it’s not going to be easy on my legs to just get back into the routine again.  I mean, when I first started riding last year I only rode for half a mile before my legs were just killing me because I hadn’t ridden in so many years.  And it took me 2 weeks just to get to the point where I was riding for 6 miles a day.  Then I went up to 10 miles a day then next thing you know I was able to ride 18 miles.  That of course was only 2 days that I did that.  I knew it was too much so I went back to 10 miles per day.

My point is that I’ve started up again going 10 miles a day instead of easing myself into it.  So it’s a bit discouraging that 30 miles a week gives me no results.

That first week that I was riding Darrin got his check on that Friday so he wanted to go to Hometown Buffet on Sunday for dinner when he got off work.  Then the very next day was his day off and he took me to China Town Buffet.  Oh and plus we went to Taco Bell.  I knew I wasn’t going to lose weight that first week but come on, the buffets and Taco Bell were a bit much for someone who is working so hard to lose weight.

The 2nd week I wasn’t even trying hard enough to eat right.  I’d have a bowl of cereal for breakfast or some days just toast then go ride and eat a Tiger’s Milk bar when I got to the half hour mark when I took my break to give me the strength and energy to get back home.  But then I’d come home and I was so hungry that I’d end up eating 2 sandwiches.  Some days I’d eat a whole box of Macaroni and Cheese (cooked of course duh lol).  That’s definitely not good for trying to lose some weight.

I’ve taken the last 2 days off.  The day before yesterday I took off because I had ridden 2 days in a row and my legs just needed a break.  Then that day I couldn’t breathe through my nose so I took yesterday off thinking I was coming down with a cold but I was fine.  I’m still a little stuffed up.  But I’m taking today off too because it’s Chips day off.  Plus our dog doesn’t seem to be doing too well for some reason.  I don’t know whats wrong with her.  She might be constipated or she might be sick.  We can’t take her to the vet so we’re watching her.

This week I have to really focus on what I eat and I have to try hard to get motivated to ride because I don’t want to be discouraged.  I need to lose this weight.  We’re talkin 90lbs here that I have to lose.  I have to try so hard to eat less to shrink my stomach so that I get full faster so I don’t overeat.  I’m going to try the best that I can.  I don’t have any money until Friday though so I have to eat what we got in the house.  I’m going to buy a head of lettuce though to try to eat some salad for lunch today and maybe for dinner too.  That should help start getting my stomach smaller.

I think one of the things that is stopping me is the stress from thinking about it too hard.  They say that stress raises your Cortisol levels which makes it harder to lose the weight.  I’ve been documenting my every move (my rides that is) so maybe that is causing more stress than anything.  Plus the stress every time I weigh myself.  UGH!

I think the new plan should be to write down all the info from the bike computer but not think too much about it.  Try my best to start eating salads and maybe even sliced cucumbers and carrots etc.  Just eat veggies as much as possible to help with my hunger pangs.  And maybe put the scale in the back of the car so Darrin takes it to work with him so I don’t have any way of weighing myself every day.  Just do my weekly weigh in.  Or maybe a month weigh in.  That should help if I only weigh in once a month.

Oh that reminds me.  (I’m sorry, this post is getting too long.)  A few years ago I think I was 212lbs and so I started eating salads.  I wasn’t restricting myself on what I put in it.  I put sliced olives, hard-boiled egg or tuna, cucumbers, carrot and I used the salad mix (not head of lettuce) and I used ranch dressing.  I didn’t weigh myself at all for 3 months and I got down to 170lbs.  All of a sudden I weighed myself and that was the end of the weight loss.  Weighing myself put stress on me to keep losing weight so I was constantly weighing myself and the weight started coming back on.  Maybe I should just act like I’m not trying to lose weight and eat the salads again but not weigh myself ever again lol.

Hamburger Helper

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

I went to the store to buy something for lunch and also wanted something for dinner.  I sat and thought about what I wanted before I left to go to the store and Hamburger Helper entered my mind.  We used to have it all the time or whenever it was 10 for $10 at the store.  I’d buy like 10 of them and just keep them in the pantry until we wanted it.

I’m so glad I thought about it but when I went to the aisle that the hamburger helper was on I was overwhelmed with the variety of helper products.

It’s not just hamburger helper.  But then again they’ve had Tuna helper since I was a kid at least.  I seem to recall some time in the late 80’s or maybe early 90’s when I first started seeing Chicken Helper.  But I could be wrong, I wasn’t really paying attention to the chicken helper.  They actually have more than 60 different flavors.

There is so much of a variety of helpers that I just find it so hard to decide.  If you know you want a particular meat like hamburger or tuna or chicken then your choices are at least slimmed down a bit but even still there are so many choices.

I’m a simpleton, I like the original hamburger helper that’s like macaroni and cheese with meat.  I do like to get the stroganoff sometimes and the nacho.  We also like the tuna helper.

But I’m sure you don’t have to be limited to tuna, chicken and hamburger.  I’m sure you can put some other meat in there like say you want meat balls instead or you want to use ground turkey which is actually a lot leaner and healthier choice.  Or you can add ground sausage meat or even maybe spam ground up.

I’m sure all the hunters just love deer helper or bear helper.  Maybe they might like some other kinds of meats like maybe possum helper or road kill helper.  The possibilities are endless in the flavors you can have.  Even cannibals on the islands can have people helper.  There are even people in different countries (which I will not name for fear of being sued) who might like dog helper or cat helper.  Oh and cowboys and jockeys who have a horse with a broken leg don’t have to lose out.  They can have horse helper.

No?  Did I go too far with the horse helper?  Or was it all the way back to the people helper?  Oh come on, that was funny, don’t deny you are laughing out loud.

KFC Weekend Special

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

Starting today until Tuesday Feb 17th, KFC has a weekend special for President’s day.  Although their weekend special seems to be about 6 days.  Anyway, the commercial says that you get a whole chicken which is 8 pieces, mashed potato’s and gravy, cole slaw and 4 biscuits all for $12.95.

Well, it’s kinda false advertising.  A whole chicken would consist of 2 breasts, 2 thighs, 2 legs (drumsticks) and 2 wings.  We went there today and the pieces were 4 thighs and 4 legs.  Not exactly a whole chicken.

Personally it doesn’t matter to me.  2 pieces of chicken, mashed potato’s and gravy, cole slaw and a biscuit is enough for 1 meal.  Darrin bought an extra order of Macaroni and cheese, the family size and I added 4 apple turnovers (2 for him and 2 for me).

We don’t normally go there because they are a bit expensive compared to Albertson’s chicken dinner which is like 8 pieces of chicken and 1lb of salad (cole slaw, potato salad or macaroni salad) and a package of 4 Hawaiian rolls for like $5.  I do prefer KFC over grocery store chicken but I just can’t afford it.

It was good though mmmm mmmm so good.

Hamburger Helper

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

We haven’t had Hamburger Helper in a very long time.  Tonight we went to Albertson’s and they had Hamburger Helper in the 10 for $10 display just when you walk in the front door.

I personally love hamburger helper.  My mom used to make that all the time when I was a kid.  My aunt Betty used to make her own version of it by making regular macaroni and cheese (not Kraft but elbow macaroni and velveeta or something) then just adding hamburger meat to it.  OMG it was so good, I really miss that.

Cici’s Pizza

On By Michel McDonaldIn FoodLeave a comment

Why doesn’t California have a Cici’s Pizza yet?

When I went to visit my aunts in Texas for Christmas 2006 they took me to a Cici’s Pizza and I was in pizza heaven.  It’s a pizza buffet with I don’t know, 20 different pizzas to choose from at the bar but there are many possibilities like macaroni and cheese pizza.

If they don’t have it out you can request it, they will make it and then bring you 2 slices before putting the rest out for everyone to take.  They also have a small salad bar and a dessert bar which is really good by the way.  They have like a coffee cake in pizza shape so you take a slice of the dessert.  And as usual a soda fountain with all you can drink.

If I had the money and business degree I’d buy the rights to put one in Bakersfield.