Traveling THM: Holiday Week Part 1

My last post was written as we headed out for a week of holiday travel.  Now it is five days into the trip, so I thought I'd give an update on my THM traveling adventures.

It IS possible to stay on plan while traveling.  Here are some situations that I have encountered so far.

On Friday, my son-in-law had to work, so we decided to dine at the fancy restaurant where he is a server.  I ordered probably the fanciest chicken salad I have ever had in my life.  My S-mode Caper Tarragon Aioli Chicken Salad came with romaine, red pepper sauce (the little orange blobs in the picture), pickled winter squash, and topped with Louisiana red onion relish.  The menu failed to mention the potato chips, so my hubby was happy to take them.  All but one...  yes, I ate one.  It was probably not even enough to make this meal a crossover.

When your chicken salad belongs in a museum of art

Later that evening, we headed to a Passover Seder.  I can honestly say that this was my one cheat meal of the week.  Had I chosen to say no to the macaroons and the Nutella mousse, I could have kept it in crossover mode with the lamb kebabs, apple charoset, matzah, and wine.  But the beautiful thing is that cheat meals are a part of this lifestyle!  The frequency with which we enjoy them has a direct correlation to the time it takes to remove (or keep off) the pounds.  So I make them rare.  It was a special occasion and I enjoyed every minute of it.

A beautiful Passover celebration!

The next morning, we took the kids to a coffee shop for brunch.  Breakfast and brunch can be a challenge, because they are usually filled with carbs, carbs, carbs.  So I ordered a smoked salmon platter that came with four half-slices of marble rye bread.  I kept only one half slice, and my obliging husband took the other three.  This kept me in S mode, as that half slice had around 7 carbs (you want to try and stay under 10 in S mode, although the plan recommends not obsessing about numbers).  It too was a pretty plate.  Aren't big cities fun?  The restaurants in my own small town just don't offer this kind of food!

Brunchy goodness!

After brunch my daughter and I headed out for a shopping trip.  Upon our return to her house, we whipped up a fabulous meal of Spaghetti Squash Casserole before settling down to a raucous game of Settlers of Catan.  Ohh, it was a gooey, yummy S meal!

Here is the recipe:

One spaghetti squash, halved, de-seeded, and baked in the oven for about an hour or until soft (or seven minutes in the InstaPot!)  Allow to cool till handle-able.

Meanwhile, make your sauce:

1 lb Italian sausage (or your favorite ground meat), browned and drained

1 jar marinara sauce with no sugar added

Let simmer.

Meanwhile number two, prepare the filling:

8 oz cream cheese (or reduced fat neufchatel)

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tsp Italian herb blend

Combine well in a bowl.

Now go back to your cooked squash.  Using a fork, remove all the stringy squashy goodness and spread half of it into a 9x13 pan.

Top with half the meat sauce and then all of the cream cheese mixture.

Add the remaining squash, then the remaining meat sauce, and sprinkle two cups mozzarella over the top of all.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Enjoy with your favorite tossed salad.

It has been an S-heavy weekend so far.  In part 2 of this traveling log, watch for some much-needed E choices.  Click here if you'd like to read it.