"9 hours of work for 3 tablespoons..."

Thursday Recap:

8:30am:  Coffee with creamer

9:30am:  Breakfast- "Biggest Loser" Protein pancakes with peanut butter  

I swapped the cottage cheese for low-fat ricotta in these.  Same taste = French toastJ

12:30pm:  Lunch- "Arugula Nachos"

So after the success of my 'spinach pizza,' I thought of another killer combo that could use a swap!  Every few weeks I jones for my "quick nachos," but never like how sluggish & gross I can tend to feel afterward, even using low fat tortilla chips.  So I thought, why not do the spinach (or in this case, arugula, since it's what we had on hand) swap?

I piled a big heaping handful of arugula onto a plate & topped them with 

• 1/4 can drained & rinsed black beans
• 2 teaspoons taco seasoning (very important!)
• Low-fat colby jack to cover

Popped the plate in the microwave for one minute and topped with a dollop of Non-fat Greek yogurt and WALLAH!  All the gooey, cheesy, nacho-y TASTE of nachos with about 3/4 less calories! 

Now if it's crunchy chips you crave, by all means HAVE THE CHIPS!  But if it's just the warm, Mexican flavors you REALLY want, try out this swap.  It was even better than I thought it was going to turn out!

2:30pm:  Snack #1- Apple 

After the apple, Katie & I took off for Whole Foods.  And while the prices were still astronomical, I was disappointed not being able to find a few items I was searching for...oh well.  I still managed to get some basics...

And ONE item I DID have on my list... 

So are you shocked when I tell you that I'm LOVVVVVVVVVVING this 'moment' coconut is having??  Everywhere you turn it's COCONUT WATER, COCONUT OIL, COCONUT BREAD as the new health food de jourJ  Apparently the saturated fat in coconut is actually GOOD for you, so that means we get to eat a lot MORE of it. 

I'm OK with this.

So coconut butter is actually ground coconut meat + oil, making it the coconut version of peanut butter, get it?  

Coconut butter is waxy and you need to melt it before using.  Which I learned AFTER trying to use it on my toast.  Thankfully, it was warm enough to let it spread a bit, but I'm excited to try it on a whole bunch of new things!  (but as always, use SPARINGLY!  1 or 2 tablespoons a day of all things BUTTER-related is more than enoughJ)

5:00-6:00pm:  Body Jam class = Endorphins on FULL BLASTJ

6:30pm:  Dinner- Marinated pork Chop & Slow Cooker Artichokes

So, since Thursdays I usually have something going in the slow cooker so that dinner is all ready after my Body Jam class, this week I thought I'd toss in some artichokes that I got 4/$1.99 at the store.  (they're usually so damn expensive!!) 

Chop off the bottom stem, strip off the outer leaves (no really...strip off all the ones that look dry.  They won't get any better!), and lop off the tops... 

Shove some garlic cloves in the leaves and drizzle with olive oil, salt & juice from 1/2 a lemon.  Pour about 2 cups of water in the bottom of the pot & set on low for 6-7 hours. 

We usually only ever have artichokes on Christmas, but the $1.99 made me want to give em another whirl.

 

Scott, however, wasn't much of a fan.  He called them "9 hours of work for 3 tablespoons of vegetables."  Probably why most people hate crabs & lobstersJ  I, personally, like anything that helps me to eat slllooowwwlllly.  So if you're like me, try these out!

8:00pm:  Dessert

Thought I'd polish off the last of my Mom's homemade Easter treats!  A slice of sweet bread & a slice of pastia were calling me.  YUM! 

Alright, well we are going to be BUSY, BUSY, BUSY this weekend, and dinner tonight is going to be some "no cooking Friday' leftover raviolis while Scott watches his Kansas City Royals on TV.  A rarity in this part of the worldJ  I'll be back Monday with a recap.

Have a good weekend!