Weight Loss Musings...

Thursday recap:

6:45-7:25am:  Dance/jogging/2 sets of arms/1 minute plank mix

Soooo I guess now would be the part where I mention that I usually "weigh myself in" weekly on Thursday mornings (hence while you'll usually see fairly "lighter" dishes for Wednesday dinnerJ  Gotta squeak out every last chance to lower that numberJ)  I don't know how much I want to talk about this weekly because it's all sorta subjective and how your body is functioning each week, but right now I can say I've consistently lost at least a pound each week for a few weeks now.  (Finally getting off the last of the Cough 7 pounds cough that I gained over Christmas time....eeeek!)  And I say this because I feel like I've been eating fairly normal and sustainable, which I believe is the ABSOLUTE KEY to weight loss.  Around the holidays, I had tried to go for a bit of being REALLY strict and stringent...which only lead to a few 'great' days and then I would end up binging and blowing all of that hard work.  What I'm doing now seems much less stressful.  And I've decided I'm going to try to eat more for health, then weight loss.  (trying to balance my carb/protein meals, reaching for fruit for a snack first ect.)  Then I'll be more focused on keeping my body healthy rather then the number on the scale.  Even if I do plan to weigh myself in at least once, it's just a good gauge for what's working.  Anyway...I might talk more about this from time to time since I know a lot of you are in the same boat as me, but what lifestyle that works is different for everyone.

ANYWAY!!!!!

8:00am:  Hot lemon water

9:30:  Breakfast-Multigrain waffle with butter

Again, I REALLY planned on going back for another...but this just seems to keep me full for awhile!  Well, that + coffee at 10:45.

11:45:  Lunch- 1 cup Cheesy taco soup with a handful sweet potato tortilla chips

This soup was even better after it sat overnight and made for some AWESOME leftovers!  I was sooo happy to have something so warm, filling & hearty for a quick lunch.

4:00pm:  Snack- 2 clementines & a handful of pretzels...

HOLIDAY shaped pretzels, I might addJ  

6:00pm:  Baked Onion Tart with Kale Chips

So after mentally scouring my fridge trying to figure out what we could make for dinner without having to bundle up myself AND the baby for a trip out in the frigid air to the grocery store.  And ODDLY enough, I had all of the makings of this pretty easy, yet fancy sounding dinner.

(onions, covered in puff pastry, after cooking on the stove top)

It was one of those perfect mid-winter decadent dinners that you could sneak and eat when no one was watching. 

Oh wait.

(onions after browning in the oven)

Caramelized on the stove top, and finished off in the oven to crisp up the pastry, these onions were little bundles of sweet & savory MAGIC.  And again, they were SUPER SIMPLE!  Try em to impress someone.

Topped with a little drizzle of simmered balsamic vinegar (making it syrupy)

And topped with cheese.  Ok...here's the thing.  Unlike the rest of the readily available ingredients, we did NOT have taleggio cheese hanging out in the fridge.  But I needed something that was soft & easily melty (I thought brie would work good here too).  Sooooooo...I know this would go against the wish of  EVERYONE who has ever made a tart...butttttttttt...I thought this Laughing Cow cheese would work just fine.

And it did (plus why not balance out some of that butter & sugar---which I used less than HALF than the recipe called for, BTW!)  Buttery pastry, sweet & soft layers of onion, savory cheese & a sweet drizzle of balsamic...these were a delicious little winter treat.  

And as another way to balance out the butter/sugar...we sided up dinner with some baked kale chips...

Always delish.  We love these things!

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

I just HAD to do it...

I could NOT wait until a "Sunday morning breakfast" in 2 weeks to try these out (we'll be out and about this Sunday).  You see, Santa Clause had bought me one of those nifty doughnut pans for Christmas this year...and it was just begging to be used.

We've already made some maple/bacon & some AWESOME cinnamon sugar varieties.  But I had a container of buttermilk in my fridge just SCREAMING out to be added to some chocolate batter and baked up into fairly healthy, faux-decadent treats...

I made half of this recipe (only subbing the oil/applesauce for nonfat yogurt...just because that was all we had) and they came out cakey & springy from the oven in about 10 minutes.

Finished off with a little buttermilk glaze...

Oh...and topped with pretty sprinkles to boot!  (thank you, sprinkle fairy!!J)

How can you complain, right?? 

Oh...but does anyone have any tips on how to make powdered sugar glaze NOT taste like your DRINKING powdered sugar??  You can't add too much liquid or then you'll need to add MORE powdered sugar, but I always think the glaze is TOO SWEET.  What am I missing??  Maybe I'm putting too much??

Alright...I better get out of here.  I decided to blog rather than have coffee during 'naptime' today...which means I'll be having coffee with a little, chubby hand grasping for my hot cup this morning.  Anyone else know that  feeling??J

Happy Friday, everyone!