A Dinner Victory

So today was the Snowpocalypse. Or so they tell me. I've been inside all day. Chris has been working from home, so I got to spend the day with my boys. I kind of forgot to thaw anything out today, so right before dinner time I ended up asking Chris what he wanted for dinner. We had chili, brown rice, pasta sauce, healthy pasta, tuna, bread, refried black beans, tortillas, and some veggies. I was leaning toward chili and rice, tuna melts, or pasta with sauce, but Chris suggested something I hadn't even thought of: quesadillas. I was a little nervous about the two tortillas and tons of cheese, as well as the relatively low protein.

While Chris wanted a more traditional quesadilla, with just cheese and peppers, I wanted to try something more filling and also try to cut it from two tortillas with stuff in the middle to one tortilla folded in half over healthy stuff. We always get the small, 100% whole wheat tortillas, but I still hate how one tortilla packs on 15 carbs and 90 calories with decent fiber but no protein, which end with a relatively small dent in one's feeling of fullness.

So I opened a can of tuna (in water) and mixed it with shredded cheese, a dab of mayo, and some shredded spinach. I placed a pan on the burner at medium high and put a bit of olive oil in it. Once the pan and oil was hot, I put one tortilla in and spooned my cheesy tuna-ey spinachey mixture onto half of it. It warmed up and I turned the empty tortilla half onto the rest of the food, then flipped the whole thing over. I did this a few more times, and then put it on my plate. I ended up eating my healthy quesadilla with steamed broccoli, anise (a vegetable that's like a cross between licorice and celery), chickpeas, and water. It was great! The whole quesadilla, cooking oil included, was 305 calories, the majority of those coming from the cheese. It had 18 carbs and 21 grams of protein. It was very filling and TASTY. Plus, because I only used half my can of tuna, I have all the makings for another one of these bad boys tomorrow.

I guess the message of this post is that with a little creativity, your nutrition goals in mind, a fridge and pantry stocked with some of the ingredients to put together healthy meals, and an out of left field suggestion from your significant other, you can really come up with something great. The steps you can take today toward that goal are reading up on nutrition, shopping for staple foods at the grocery store that move you toward your goal, and be willing to roll with some off the wall suggestions from time to time.