The dinner we've made a thousand + 1 times...

Wednesday Recap:

8:00am:  Hot Lemon Water

9:30am:  Breakfast-Multigrain waffle & coffee with creamer

Since I love the texture of grains, I thought I'd try sprinkling my waffle with some ground flax seed.  For better or for worse, you couldn't really taste it at all.  Sneaky way to add some extra Omega 3's to your diet (which are muy importante!)

I'm not sure if it was because I guzzled my coffee down like a shot at da club or what, but I was still hungry and felt a little shaky after breakfast.  And knowing I was in for a TOUGH yoga class, I measured out 1/4 cup serving of trail mix and picked on that while I got ready. 

When I was about half way through the cup, I realized I was only eating it because it was good and not because I felt hungry anymore.  So I just saved the rest for lunch.

10:30-11:45am:  Power Yoga class

Tough today!  Like sweat pouring in my eyes tough.  

Sorry for that visualJ

12:30pm:  Lunch-Yogurt & leftover trail mix 

It's been awhile since I've gushed about my love for Pineapple Chobani...but allow me:  ILOVETHISSTUFFSOMUCH...ITSLIKECANDY!  aka-it's dee best!

2:30pm:  Snack-Pear... apparently a very INTERESTING pear, considering it's attentive audienceJ

6:00pm:  Dinner-Buffalo chicken fingers with blue cheese cole slaw

So, this was SUPPOSED to be served all chopped up over lettuce in lieu of the Monday salad night that wasn't, buttttt we figured our shredded 1/2 head of cabbage (along with carrots & green onions) was enough of a veggie quota for the night. 

All zipped up in mere seconds in my new food processor my in-laws got me for Christmas! 

Mix with 1 part nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 parts olive oil-based mayo and the most pivotal ingredient of all... 

Well, usually blue cheese, but this was all I could find at the store the other day!

All served up with buffalo sauce & panko coated baked chicken tenders, this is STILL one of our all time favorite meals.  Spicy chicken & coooooool, blue cheese spotted cole slaw = awesome! 

 8:00pm: Dessert- Baked Chocolate Doughnuts with Buttermilk Glaze

6 day old baked doughnuts were....ehhh...not as good as fresh, that's for sure.  Oh well, we got our last fills and unfortunately had to chuck the last 2.  Good thing I only made HALF the original recipe.  I already have plans for my NEXT baked doughnut venture...weeeeeee!

Happy ALMOST FRIDAY...that's right, I said it!

Happy plate...

Tuesday Recap:

6:40-7:30am:  Dance/2 sets of weights/1 minute plank/jogging mix

8:00am:  Hot Lemon Water

9:30am:  Breakfast- Coconut Pineapple Smoothie

• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 110 cal Coconut Greek yogurt
• 1 scoop protein powder
• Handful frozen pineapple
• 1 tsp. Chia seeds
• Drop of coconut extract (for extra coconut KICK!)

 1:00pm:  Lunch- Wheat Toast with Almond Butter

Let's just say I needed the quickest thing to shove into my face for lunch, because just as Katie & I were getting home from food shopping, I realized I was STARVVVVIINNNNNGGGGGGGG!  And before I had the chance to shove anything else in my mouth, I waited a beat while putting away all of our loot... 

Our house is FRESH VEGGIE FILLED! 

Can't forget the all important lemons! 

I felt full by the time I had put away all of the groceries, but I was still craving to try one of my food finds from the trip:

2:00pm:  Snack #1:  Tortilla Pop Chips 

These were really good & really packed on the nacho cheese flavor...which, come on, is DEFINITELY the most important part!J  And a 16 chip serving size for 120 calories really hit the spot.

4:30pm:  Snack #2- Handful Trail Mix

At 4:30 I realized I wasn't going to make it to dinner without being a RAVAGED ANIMAL when I sat down to eat.  Fruit would have been a better 'health' choice, but I knew it wasn't going to do anything for my hunger without protein   So I just went for this pure protein trail mix of walnuts, pecans & sunflower seeds (and some dried cranberries).  Just that little handful held me over from not being FAMISHED.  Even though it doesn't seem like a rational idea to have a snack RIGHT before dinner, some times you need to take that extra step so you don't sit down to dinner just prepared to OVER eat...which would be way more calories than a handful of walnuts!

6:00pm:  Dinner- Roasted Cauliflower Soup with white cheddar

I think I would eat any vegetable as long as it's roasted.  Hell, I would eat my SHOE roasted.  The oven just makes veggies awesomeJ

(Not to mention that I love making purred soups because you barely even need to chop your veggies since your gonna hit em with the hand blender anyways!  Anything that saves time)

I added this cheddar to the soup... 

Here's where a 75% less fat cheese works well.  Would I eat it plain?  No.  Would I melt it in a sandwich  Probably not.  But just plain melted in a soup?  This is where you would NEVER notice that lack of fat and it doesn't change the flavor.  Pick your battles with 'low fat' products.  Some places (such as a grilled cheese with those nasty plastic nonfat cheese slices) you notice & it's a total disappointment   But places you wouldn't notice...why not give it a whirl??

(PS-and thanks for the instructions, CabotJ  That just made me laughJ) 

It did indeed MELT just fine...so at least it's not false advertisingJ

Smooth, flavorful and not very far off from tasting like baked potato soup...this soup was a big hit in our house...

EVERYONE had a HAPPY PLATE!

8:00pm:  Dessert- 6 Trader Joe's chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels 

Probably from letting myself get EXTRA hungry at certain points today may have been the reason I was still pretty hungry and still CRAVING protein not very long after dinner.  It was a pretty easy choice to pick out these peanut butter filled pretzels as a dessert since I knew they'd give me that last little bump to feel satisfied.

OK, and let's not kid:  They are FREAKIN DELICIOUS!!!!!  These babies are enrobed in the smoothest, creamiest milk chocolate over salty pretzels.  My advice with these??  PORTION, PORTION, PORTION!!!  Just these 6 nuggets alone were 210 calories!  And if you're around an open bag of these, it is just TOO easy to pop ten one too many in your mouth without even noticing (trust me!)  Have your portion & move along.  It's the only way to enjoy it all without feeling gross. 

Better get today started!  I believe I hear a waffle calling my name as I typeJ  Have a great Wednesday!

Saved by the Freezer...

Monday Recap:

8:00am:  Hot Lemon Water

9:30am:  New favorite repeat Breakfast alert!  I'm obsessed with my multigrain waffles!  

(and I can make them before Katie manages to rearrange ALL of the magnets off the fridgeJ)

1:30pm:  Lunch- Spinach & Black beans with mozzarella (& almonds)

So, as easy as breakfast was to figure out...I must have went through every cabinet and square inch of my fridge trying to figure out WHAT sounded good for lunch.  After nothing seemed appealing, I figured I'd just wait until I was REALLY hungry to figure out what sounded best.  And it worked!

I knew I wanted VEGETABLES from the lack of them this weekend...but besides a rouge bag of carrots, a zucchini I was going to use for dinner & some green onions, we had ZIP!  Until I HIT THE FREEZER where a HUGE bag of frozen spinach started me in the face!  Here's where frozen veggies are sooooo handy!  A quick rinse in water for about 5 minutes and a saute in a pan for a few MORE minutes & this was quick and healthy in no time flat. 

I was planning on making a spinach quesadilla again, until I realized it wasn't the carby/120 calorie tortilla I wanted.  It really was just the gooey cheese center.  So I made an 'unwrapped' quesadilla filled with spinach, black beans (about 1/4 can) & topped with a little melted low fat mozzarella.  SOOOO good!  (And this EASILY could be made the night before & reheated for an even quicker lunch!) 

Lesson to be learned:  Figure out what you REALLLLLLLLY want, before you just eat out of habit.  This totally hit the spot & was exactly what I was wishing for.

Oh, except the fact that by the time I figured out what to have AND made this, I was probably PAST "very hungry"...so I had 6 dark chocolate covered almonds to fill me up even more.  

Honestly, I probably could have kept on eating because I still didn't feel totally full, but I knew I had had enough filling food.  So, I just CONSCIOUSLY made a point to keep myself busy (by...ahem...putting away my Christmas decorations...ahem), and before I knew it, my stomach caught up to my brain & the hunger completely passed and I felt full.  Lesson #2 of the day, I supposeJ

3:30pm:  Snack- An, um, awkward looking Pear

5:30:  Dinner- Endive Taco Boats

Now I KNOW it was just last Monday when I had made a grande statement that "SALAD NIGHTS HAD MADE A RETURN!!!"  But see, we have perfect 'salad weather' coming up tomorrow (ummm...high of 63 tomorrow??) and these endive leaves that I was planning on using for this dinner didn't look like they'd last one.more.day...

So "Monday night/Endive Taco night" was had!  Now, don't get me wrong...I LOVEEEEEE me some tacos in the crunchy (AND CHEESY!) shells!  But if you're looking for a way to cut back a bit without loosing too much flavor or the 'experience,' a swap like using endive leaves in place of taco shells is the way to go.  And, come on, how cute are these boats anyways?? 

ps-if you can't find endive & you want something similar...just try romaine lettuce leaves.  It won't be as sturdy as these little leaves, but you can still WRAP!

I cooked up 3/4 pound of ground turkey and dug back into the fridge for a little more veg:  some fire roasted peppers & onions to bump up the meat....

And then filled the boats & topped with a little cheese and diced green onions...

Cripsy, cheesy & a healthier way to get your Mexican fill...(and ps-a little sour cream makes a good 'glue' to hold everything togetherJ)

Our side dish was a mix of all the last vegetables (fresh & frozen) that I had on hand... 

• Zucchini
• Onion
• Leftover roasted peppers
• Roasted corn

Even Katie gobbled it right up!  It was her first time trying red & green peppers, and she LOVED the diced onionsJ

6:30-8:00pm:  Beginners Power Yoga class

HEAVEN, HEAVEN, HEAVEN is the only way to describe this class last night.  I think it was because we did A LOT of standing balancing poses, which I'm pretty good at (MUCH better than arm balances!), and those tend to COMPLETELY clear your mind...because you can't think about much else besides not falling on your ass when your holding a Warrior 3 or a twisted extended leg poseJ

8:30pm:  Dessert
I was just craving something sweet and had this cup of pudding with toasted coconut tucked in the fridge for such 'sweet emergencies'...

I had went on a little pudding kick a couple weeks ago...both because it was cook & serve, so it came out nice and warm AND that my Mom given me her old fashioned little pudding cups!  Aren't they so cute and VINTAGE???

I woke up this morning feeling SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!  I'm guessing it was the combo of a LOT of veggie-redemption yesterday + that insanely amazing yoga!  I loveeeeee when I feel so healthy.  It's much better than waking up feeling awful & gross.  (yet, I definitely still let myself get that way.  When will I FINALLY figure it all out??J)

Alright, Katie & I are off to fill the fridge back with some FRESH foods.  Talk to you tomorrow!