Guilty conscious...

Happy Valentines Day, ya'll!  Why not start off the day with a little VINTAGE love?? (my FAVS!)

OK, OK...before I get too ahead of myselfJ One little happy 'milestone' thing to share with you guys today:  I've officially lost 10 pounds since January 1st!  Wohooooooo...I was happy.  Now to tackle the next 7 pounds to reach my 'Mini goal #1'J

Wednesday Recap:

8:30am:  Coffee with creamer

9:30am:  Breakfast- Strawberries, Trail Mix & Ricotta

This is pretty Valentines day appropriate, if I do say so myself!  Red berries & CHOCOLATE (mixed up with 2 tablespoons almonds & cashew trail mix, 1/4 cup part skim ricotta and a drizzle of honey).  I really did NOT think this was going to hold me over for too long, but I guess the protein from the nuts prevailed and I made it to the gym full & light! 

10:30-11:30:  Power Yoga

Which apparently wore SOMEONE out...

12:30pm:  Lunch- Cucumber & Feta salad 

And picked this for lunch because I had a cucumber to use up...and the feta.  Oh yes, the feta.  But this was realllllllllllllllly good.  As in:  I may have to stock up on cucumbers.

• 3/4 cucumber
• 1/4 sliced onion
• Handful of toasted walnuts
• Greek seasoning (oregano, garlic, onion powder)
• salt
• Olive oil & a drizzle of apple cider vinegar
• FETA!!!!

Cool, crisp, tangy and CHEESY, this just hit the spot. 

OK, OK...but not SUPER FILLING.  It wasn't long before:

2:30pm:  Snack- Carnation Instant Breakfast with Almond Milk 

Not a bad excuse to have chocolate malt for a snackJ  This officially made me feel full for the rest of the afternoon.

5:30pm:  Dinner-  Meatless Mexican Stuffed Peppers & Grilled Avocado

So after I realized that Ash Wednesday follows Crepe Cake Mardi Gras, my inner Catholic guilt kicked in and my plan for shredded chicken stuffed peppers quickly went by the wayside.  After bouncing around a few ideas for fillings, I decided on a new item I had picked up from Trader Joe's a few weeks ago. 

Red split lentils were very easy to make.  Just simmer 1 cup lentils with 3 cups water for about 15 minutes or until tender.  Lentils = DONE!

Next, I mixed up a healthy bunch of 'filler'...

• 1/2 diced zucchini
• 1 diced onion
• 1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 cup torn spinach
• 1 cup roasted corn
• 1 diced red pepper

That was what I had on hand, but you can use any veggies to bulk these up.  Next, I added the cooked lentils, a can of enchilada sauce, a good shake of taco seasoning and stuffed into cored peppers.  Top with salsa and either bake in the oven for an hour or in a slow cooker on high for 4 hours (or low for 6 hours)  

When the peppers were just about done, I got started on our SUPER EASY side dish.   All I did was split an avocado in half & drizzled it with olive oil & salt...

...and popped them on the grill for about 5 minutes!

How easy is that?? 

The peppers had ALL of the flavors of enchiladas without any meat AND hardly ANY oil or fat.  (I mean, I DID top them with a diced light cheese stick...but ya need a little something, right??) 

And the avocado (oh, the avocado) was like melty guacamole.  I topped it with a little salsa, but it wasn't even necessary.  It was just melty & creamy loveliness with just a KISS of char.  DELISH! 

I'll be honest, I was excited to make this dinner but wasn't necessarily sure it was going to be GOOD, but I was definitely pleasantly surprised.  It was an all around hit! 

Even Katie enjoyed her little munches (made easy since everything was already chopped up)

 So I'm THISEXCITED to get started on my Valentine's Dinner tonight.  Much like our 'memory' trips to Paris, Vermont & the New York Food and Wine Festival previous V-days, tonight's dinner will also have a 'travel memory' theme.  It was a GREAT dish when we originally had it...and not one I have a solid recipe for, soooooooooo...FINGERS CROSSED.

But there will be cake.  And then everything will be fine.

Enjoy your day, everyone!