Ahhh, Tuesday night. I am so happy that you are here because that means tomorrow is Hump Day! Yay!
So lets get down and dirty with the important thing (being dinner) pronto because it blew both Mike and I out of the water this evening.
A few weeks back when we were on our way to Dallas I brought along the March issue of Cooking Light. Flipping through I found a bunch of recipes I wanted to try but one in particular made my jaw drop; it just sounded too good to be true. Or at least way too indulgent to be in a Cooking Light magazine. :) So what is this gem of a recipe I am speaking so fondly of? Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese.
Guys, this recipe is unreal. You must try it! Mike and I didn’t share any words during dinner besides ‘Oh my gosh, this is amazing’. And ‘The bacon makes the whole dish just work’. Yep, we were way too focused on the mac & cheese love to even hold our nightly dinner chat.
For my vegetarian friends… I am sure that this dish would be excellent with tofu as well. I have already thought about trying that in this recipe instead of the chicken in the future. I also think veggies would be a great substitution or addition as well. Just sayin’. I don’t want my veggie friends to miss out! 
While I could have easily just eaten a plate full of mac & cheese for dinner I thought it would be best to even things out with some greens. Broccoli and peas.
I know all y’alls jaws are dropped and are saying ‘OMG’. Trust me, make this ASAP!
Before I leave for the evening, I wanted to link you to an article that I think is disturbing and exactly what is wrong with Hollywood and its affects on our nation’s body image issues. (Affect vs effect, please set me straight if I have it wrong!).
This afternoon Audrina Patridge tweeted the following:
just posted a few diet tips on my blog along w/ a close look at my daily eats! check them out at http://bit.ly/59s1Fa
Curious as to what this lead to, I clicked on the link and was disgusted with what I read.
This woman is most likely idolized by many young woman and men around the world. While I don’t really follow her celebrity life like I do some others (yes, I love Hollywood), I do know that she has a very slim figure and she could stand to gain a few pounds.
She posted on her blog that she follows a diet of near 1,200 calories a day via a meal delivery service. Isn’t she 22 or 23? She is way too young to be functioning off of such a low calorie count. In addition, that low of a calorie consumption is one that should really only be used for those trying to LOSE weight and even that is a very low intake for the active lifestyle she leads.
I do give her props for the food that she does eat though. All seem to be healthy and fresh. So I’ll give her that I suppose. Lol.
I’m interested to see what others have to say in regards to this article, her intake, and the impression that leaves on her followers.
Have a lovely evening!
Ugh, reading what Audrina eats seriously annoyed me. 1200 calories a day every once in a while isn’t going to kill you, but every day?! It’s just not enough….for me at least. I’d rather eat more and maintain a faster metabolism than let my body get used to so little calories, you know?
Oh my goodness, that dinner looks AMAZING! I can’t wait to make it!!!
Re: the Audrina article, I totally agree that it’s too little. AND it bothers me that OK!’s supposed expert seems to think she has “good portion control.” Um, 1200 is NOT portion control! Ridiculous!
First of all, your dinner looks phenomenal! I like that you thought of ideas on how to adapt something you loved for others too (however I agree with the bacon, yummmmO!)
Second of all, that Audrina article just made me throw up in my mouth (did I just say that, gross)
But seriously, when I was in high school I had a serious issue with eating and restricted my fat and calories to something even lower than this – things young women see on the internet can really add fuel to the fire. I eat 2200-2400 cals a day now, I can’t even imagine eating 1200 (haha I am at that after lunch!) I wish young women didn’t have to deal with this type of influence in their lives, and could understand that what is healthy for some crazy celebrity is NOT necessarily healthy for them!
Ugh, okay, rant over haha. Have a great night my dear
Oh gawd, I can just see a young girl (hell, not even – any woman) who wants to lose weight, reading that and thinking “oh I better get down to 1200 calories then”. This article is so irritating – sure, 1200 every now and then is fine but I hate how OK! doesn’t address that. I’m sure Audrina would be pretty active too.
Who knows – maybe it’s all lies and she eats brownie batter every night?
Sorry I never responded a few posts ago! Yes, Tulum is a little farther south than Playa. I think we’re renting a car…a little scared about that one! So ready for vacation time to get here.
The Bacon Mac & Cheese looks to die for. I think if I made this for dinner, I could get Nick to do anything. I’m hoping for a date night to see Alice in Wonderland! haha.
Audrina must be a daily grump. I definitely need more meaningful calories than that to put a smile on my face.
How funny – I was at Borders this weekend and read Cooking Light with that exact recipe and also read the magazine article about Audrina’s diet. I was disgusted! She could eat close to double that and not gain weight. Also, I was very disappointed in the nutritionist who analyzed her diet. While she made some changes, she didn’t say anything about her low calorie intake! It’s so frustrating! Her BMR (amount of calories it takes her body just to survive and breathe) is definitely higher than 1200 calories. She’s only doing damage to herself. So sad.
That recipe sounds so amazing! I think it would definitely be great without the bacon. I shall have to try it
That article is ridiculous. In fact, the hills in general tends to irk me. It has women our age feeling bad about ourselves because we don’t have trust funds, hair and eyelash extensions and 24″ waists. I had to stop watching it a long time ago.
[...] A ‘Light’ Indulgence [...]
yeah, i retweeted her tweet on my feed – unfortunately. 1200 calories a day. unreal.