So whats for dinner?!

I ate a healthy breakfast and a salad that was under two hundred calories for lunch, and I ran 8 miles today, so I had a nice big dinner. Shrimp with homemade alfredo sauce, using zoodles instead of pasta to save on calories. Also saved on calories by using half and half instead of heavy cream in the alfredo sauce. My tastebuds didn't notice the difference, it was yummy and I'm still stuffed!

I realized i should've done it this way... do you mind sharing your recipe for the shrimp alfredo??

Sure! It's actually very easy! The entire batch has 1093 calories. I split that between two people because my fiance and I love a LOT of sauce, but it's easily enough for 3, possibly even 4 people, which would reduce the calories per serving even further.

First, I melt 4 thsp of margarine in a saucepan on low heat. Original recipe called for butter, but margarine is lower in calories and I didn't notice much of a change in taste at all.

Then, I mince up 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic and add it to the margarine. (Fiance and I like a lot of garlic, this can be reduced if you don't want to add as much). I let it cook just until it barely starts to brown.

I add a full cup of half and half slowly, making sure to whisk it well while it incorporates! Just cook long enough for it to start getting hot, no longer

Finally, the last step. I add a full cup and a half of Locatelli Pecarino Romano cheese (powdered, not shredded or cut of the block) and whisk it in until well blended with a thick consistency and starting to get hot. I never use a low-fat cheese here to save calories, not worth sacrificing the flavor. As a matter of fact, I've never use any kind of parm other than locatelli. It's very sharp with an amazing flavor. Other brands simply do not have that same taste and the sauce never tastes right without it. However, this component of the sauce is expensive, and it's expensive calorie-wise too, 480 calories. If you want to substitute your favorite parm, you can, but I wouldn't use a smaller amount. The sauce wouldn't have the right consistency with a smaller amount.

The sauce is now done. I immediately toss it with the pasta so it does not start to congeal. This time, I did not use pasta, but zoodles to save on calories (fiance had a small amount of real pasta, he doesn't like zucchini). I spiralized two large zucchini with my Veggetti for a very large plateful of zoodles. It would have been 800 calories worth of pasta, only 104 calories. Toss in 8 oz (raw, unsure how much cooked) of shrimp, and I had a yummy 886 calorie meal. Could have been a lot less if I used less sauce, and maybe only 4 oz of shrimp, but I love a lot of sauce, and I had the calories to spare