PREVIEW: This post is going to end with RED PASTA. YES, you heard me correctly...RED PASTA!
I KNOW! I am THISEXCITED to show you last night's dinner...but first, let's take things one step at a time...
Thursday Recap:
8:00am: Hot Lemon Water
9:30am: Breakfast- "Diva Pancake"
And NOT a waffle! How bout that??? So I read about these 'diva pancakes' online made with no flour & no sugar. I mixed up a bowl of oats, eggbeaters, vanilla, mashed banana & a pinch of baking powder and let it sit to let the oats soften...
I added it to a skillet and things were looking UP! Delightful, in fact!
And then...disaster stuck! THE DAMN THING WOULDN'T FLIP! My diva had been defeated...
But far be it from me to turn my back on ANY oats, no matter how unphotogenicJ I topped my 'diva crumble' with a little peanut butter & proceeded to polish off my now crisp & custardy oat...messJ hahahhahaha...
12:00: Lunch-Tuna fish with Cheddar Pop Chips
This lunch made me laugh because when I FIRST starting loosing weight 8 years ago, I would have tuna fish & an apple for lunch EVERY. DAY! I just love, love, love it! (I used to eat it though with those GOD AWFUL "no-fat Olestra" chips from back in the day! Wouldn't touch those with a 10 foot pole now!)
Oh yeah...and Snooki & I have 2 things in common besides our mutual love for the Jersey Shore...I LOVEEEEEE me some Claussens!
3:30pm: Snack- Strawberries
So OK...not only when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I could not WAIT to try it....butttttttttttttt, I had inadvertently planned to make it this week making it TOTALLY VALENTINES APPROPRIATE! My seasonal obsession just took over for me here. As a matter of fact, nearly ALL of the recipes I plan to make for the next few days have RED in them somehow! Wohoooooo! ( Except, of course, the meal I'm ACTUALLY planning for Valentines day...go figureJ)
But I WILL preface by saying that BEET PASTA wasn't exactly an easy sell for ScottJ Beets aren't exactly his favorites, but I just KNEW anything with the words 'garlic sauce' would rope him inJ hehehhehee...(and besides, all my dinners come with a "if you really hate it, I'll order you pizza" guaranteeJ)
I started it off with the meatballs, where I mixed goat cheese both into the mix AND stuffed inside! Double whammy! I let those roast in the oven while I tackled the beets.
Beets: 1 Donna: 0
Never fear! The red comes right off...but you will get a little messy while peeling the beetsJ
So I let the food processor do the rest of the shredding before letting them saute with garlic infused olive oil...
At this point, pots were a-PLENTY on my stove!
In the OTHER corner, we have the garlic goat cheese sauce which was just a mix of garlic, olive oil, goat cheese, a little 1% milk, a dash of cream and a little Wondra to help thicken it up. This took about 3 seconds to make.
Once the pasta was cooked, I added it to the beets.... EEEEE! Here's where it gets INTERESTING!!
I literally SQUEALED when I saw FULL ON RED PASTA!
How cool is that????? Totally appropriate for Valentines day, Christmas (especially with our GREEN side salads!)...hell, even the kids would love this for HALLOWEEN! Sppppooooky!
The beets actually had a very subtle flavor and made the pasta just SLIGHTLY sweet, which was a perfect match for the creamy & garlicky goat cheese sauce...YUM!
And don't forget those goat cheese-stuffed meatballs!! I loved, loved this dinner! And it wasn't just me blinded by my 'seasonal appropriate-ness!' The pizza delivery man did NOT visit our house as Scott thoroughly enjoyed this alsoJ
Even Katie liked itJ I tossed it into my trusty Baby Bullet to break up all the spaghetti & beet strands and she chowed down.
Until she grabbed the bowl....pouring beets all over herself and the couch.
Yep. That happened.
And just in case the beet pasta was a total disaster, I preemptively made Scott a special dessert just in case.
Oh yes...time to break out that Cookie Butter...
Add it to some browned butter & melted marshmallow till you get...
COOKIE BUTTER RICE KRISPIE TREATS!
Do I need to say anymore??
No workouts again to speak of yesterday... because my plan to work out after Scott went to bed were dashed once I passed out on the couch at....8:30. Yep. I've felt on-and-off this week, like I'm catching the cold Katie's had for a MONTH, so pushing myself wasn't exactly high on my radar. I AM, however, happy to mention that I still managed to loose weight this week. An absolute RARITY, normally, after indulging in not 1, but 2 parties last weekend. Guess my "stop when you're full/no mindless eating" plan worked in my favor. But there's one other 'weight loss topic' that I thought I'd chat about today...
CRAVINGS 101!
So after indulging in cheese, chips and PLENTY of salt this weekend, it was TOUGH trying to get 'back on track' and ignore all of those chips in the back of the cabinet. Even with my beloved lemon water, the call of the salt-gods just came making themselves be known! I thought about them at least 4-5 times a day just WILLING me to come snack & me fighting my DAMNEDEST to ignore it. Now if you read my blog (which, I'm gonna go out on a limb here, I'm guessing you're doing right now), you can tell that we don't skimp on treats and I have my fair share at least once a day (hello, cookie butter rice krispie treats!) and am all about satisfying cravings. However, these cravings were coming off of two days of indulging and I KNEW they weren't something I really "needed" to satisfy. Nor was I going to be satisfied with a portioned bowl of chips. It was more of a "finish the whole bag of chips and then realizing you REALLY wanted that bag of chocolate chips in the cabinet...." type of thing. Anyone else know how that goes?? After 8 years on this "less" journey, it is STILL my default compulsion to think that joy will come from endless (mindless) eating on the couch watching TV. And do you know how I feel after doing that every single time???? Like s*^%! EVERY. TIME. There is a difference between eating for enjoyment & eating just to eat. One is satisfying & one is a guilt producing cycle that just grows bigger & bigger....don't you just want to eat more when you feel like crap?? It's vicious. What I did this week was RECOGNIZE that overindulging was NOT going to satisfy me, accept that it was my default to WANT to indulge, but consciously choose NOT to. I had actually told myself "OK, just get past your weigh in on Thursday morning, and if you want to have chips on Thursday afternoon...so be it." And ya know what happened Thursday afternoon?? I had ZERO interest in the chips. I didn't 'need' the chips, I just needed the TIME to realize that I didn't need them. But it was a 3 day struggle this week & an 8 year+ struggle daily. Anyone out there know if it EVER gets any easier??? Let me know if it doesJ.
Until then, it's just trying to choose every meal for what is going to make you FEEL GOOD. Overindulging leads to guilt, sadness, anxiety, panic about what you've done and how fast can you loose it, stress & a cloudy brain. Eating healthy (and fitting in exercise) makes me feel calm, clear headed, peaceful & happy. I KNOW THIS & I STILL have an impulse to eat chips on the couchJ. EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!J. . Hahahaha...oh well, guess that's why this is all a journey...and I'd PREFER if it was a healthy, peaceful one. Just like everything else, it's one step at a time....(while never being fooled that there is a finish line!) and a worthy journey indeed. Never give up!
OK...that's all my chatter for today! HAPPY FRIDAY, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment