Since I already had the food processor out and got it dirty this morning after making high protein banana soft serve, I figured I might as well use it to make a few things before cleaning it and putting it away.
I made raw cashew butter (Ryan’s favorite) and a large batch of my sunflower seed and walnut pesto.
I then used the pesto as the base for a yummy chicken salad.
It was incredibly simple to make and would be even easier if you use your favorite store-bought pesto.
I combined the following:
- 1 shredded chicken breast
- 1 carrot, coarsely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, chopped
- Enough pesto to coat everything (3 tablespoons?)
I ate the pesto chicken salad along with an apple and a little dish of butterscotch and chocolate chips and a sprinkling of chopped pecans.
Portioning out the chocolate chips is key for me. I can mindlessly eat handful after handful of the sweet morsels, so bringing that little dish out of the kitchen and back into my home office with me got me away from the remaining sweets. It’s a trick that I think more than a few of us try, and one that actually works sometimes.
And sometimes not. 
Question of the Afternoon
- When it comes to foods that you know make you want to keep eating and eating (not out of hunger, out of pure deliciousness), what do you do to help yourself not polish off a million servings in one sitting?
I love incorporating foods like chocolate chips into meals or snacks (on top of oatmeal or Greek yogurt) so I am able to enjoy their taste but feel like I’m not limiting myself since they’re part of a more nutritious meal.
And then there’s ice cream. A weakness for both Ryan and me. Both of us can easily eat an entire pint in one sitting (not kidding), so we don’t keep it in the house. If we really want ice cream or frozen yogurt, we simply go out for it.
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Oh gosh, for things like cereal or Pirate’s Booty, I have portion it out, brush my teeth after eating my portion, or just plain ol’ not keep it in the house.. otherwise I have to give it away or throw it out. I know that sounds silly, but if there’s a bag of Pirate’s Booty sitting around and I’m working from home, I can easily polish off the whole thing (mind you i’m also lactose intol so that’s a really poor decision haha).
I’m like that with banana chips! Seriously I will just keep eating and eating and eating them until they are all GONE! I try to individually portion them out into small baggies, but that doesn’t always work because I’ll just go on to the next bag once I am done! It’s a never ending struggle haha!
We are the same way with ice cream! We will occassionally keep skinny cow bar or sandwiches or something that is portion controlled in the freezer, but if we do it is such a treat! Otherwise we would eat it everyday!
I don’t keep ice cream or anything sweet in my kitchen. I just can’t control myself so I don’t buy it.
I am also learning to portion things out when I want a little sweet treat. Sweets are my weakness!!
Ice cream is big trouble for me, too! Ben & Jerry’s is especially my enemy because not only can I polish off an entire pint but the speed at which I do so is quite embarrassing!!
I can’t be around glutino pretzels or any kind of cookie or sweet chocolate. I only buy those things if it is a special occasion because I just know I’ll eat all of them. The only thing I can keep in the house is really dark semi sweet chocolate because then I’m able to stop after a few pieces.
I do the same thing too! I put it in a little dish or just have it already packed in a ziploc bag so I’ll just eat that particular amount.
I love chicken salad…thanks for sharing! We love sweets too so although we try not having it in the house, we do buy a lil something to share each week. Life is about balance, lol.
Oh, there are many foods I can binge on! I pretty much don’t keep any ‘junk’ or foods with added sugar in the house. If I want a treat, I’ll have to go out, which stops me most of the time. I do enjoy getting ice cream or frozen yogurt out about once a week.
I just discovered your blog and love it! You and Ryan seem like an adorable couple.
I would like to start exercising in the morning. However, I find no matter how early (6am) I wake up I am hungry first thing. But if I eat breakfast this early I am starving by 10:30. It’s great that you can eat small meals, but I find that at my job it is not practical, plus I don’t have kitchen access, etc. Do you eat before working out? Any tips? I don’t want to consume the calories I burn off exercising in eating an extra snack.
Hopefully that made sense.
I know this was for Julie but I will give you a couple of thoughts…as one that wakes up early, very hungry, and usually needs to eat again by mid morning…
I usually can pull off a more quick sugar (like dried fruit) and that is enough to get me through a hike or something so that I don’t eat a full breakfast until afterwards.
You are probably not going to like my response (especially if you are trying to lose weight) but I find that that more I fight myself on how much I want to eat earlier in the day the more it bites me in the rear later in the day.
So I don’t have the best answer for you because I wouldn’t mind bringing my calories down a bit more and this is a constant struggle for me at my activity level.
I can tell you that not eating enough early has generally back-fired in that I find myself eating way too much later, and I find myself not having enough energy.
I often do the same thing with foods that I just can’t stop eating — keep them out of the apartment. I’m a sucker for sweets, so I generally don’t buy or rmake them unless it’s an extremely special occasion. Most of the sweets I have around are things people have given me, not things I purchased for myself. If I do have things in the house, I try to set boundaries: like the frozen yogurt I have in the freezer right now? I only let myself eat it on weekends (plus it was Ben & Jerry’s, so it was flippin’ expensive, which helps my motivation to limit myself haha).
Trail mix is the worst for me! and Trader Joe’s peanut butter filled pretzels…oh man!!…serving size means squat when I open a bag of those puppies!
I just don’t buy snacky foods and am trying to have healthier desserts like yogurt or a smoothie.
I am the same way with those darn peanut butter filled pretzels. It is terrible. And yes, who eats only 10?!?! Or whatever the ridiculous size is.
I wish I could say I have this zen-like self control but I don’t.
If it is a recipe then I time the baking around a time I can share it or I 1/4 the recipe (at least).
Or the item either doesn’t come into the house or if I buy it, and it is too much servings I usually have to get rid of some of it.
And lastly…sometimes I just know I am going to consume too much and move on. Glad to hear I am not the only one that struggles with this. Intuitively I know I am not, but sometimes it feels like my own problem.:)
Ha, I love this, “It’s a trick that I think more than a few of us try, and one that actually works sometimes.
And sometimes not.”
So true.
For me, I usually just don’t eat the yummy sweet or whatever the treat may be….until I start baking, then all bets are off and I can’t help but “try” the ingredients again and again and again!!! AH! probably not the best method….
Granola, cereal and …i’m sorry but peanut butter 🙂 I can’t have these in my house because I’ll happily sit with my spoon and eat from the box or jar. Like Joey from Friends in the episode about his love for jam.
A company that makes REALLY GOOD GRANOLA sent me about 10 bags of their different flavors. I (of course) had to open each one to try them out! So, I had all of these open bags of granola in my pantry staring at me every time I’d go in to get something. I eventually had to put them in a box under the bottom shelf so that they were “out of sight”- and if I want a serving of granola, I’ll dig out a bag an measure it. It’s worked so far!
I actually just mentioned this the other day on my blog about how excessively addicting chocolate chips are. My dad is away on business and my mom and I (…mostly me) went through an entire bag in..four…days. When I popped the last one into my mouth today all I thought was, well..at least they’re gone. And i’m a sucker for all of them, whether it’s butterscotch (my recent favorite), peanut butter, or chocolate chips. Ice cream is another major weakness. And slivered almonds..not whole, just slivered. Strange, I know. Everything in moderation, I guess 😉
My weakness is pasta. I’m surprised nobody else mentioned that as their hardest food to stop eating. I think I’ll try not always having it on hand as a “staple pantry item” and maybe that will help me eat other things more