Brain off the burning...

Monday Recap:

Breakfast:  Banana Spinach Smoothie

Ye ole back to the basics yesterday morning:

• 1 frozen banana
• 2 handfuls frozen spinach
• cinnamon, nutmeg & cloves
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 large scoop protein powder

I've been adding water to my smoothies a lot lately.  I don't really notice a difference in the taste, but the VOLUME is significantly larger without any added calories:  I'll take it!  I also think I'm going to start adding the larger scoop of protein (around 170 calories) to help boost satiety.  It helped keep me full and not feel like a starving lunatic by 11am yesterdayJ

Lunch:  (1pm....weeeeeee!)  Apple with peanut butter, honey and cinnamon 

Love this combo since it sorta tricks your brain into thinking you've had a bunch of food since it's a combo of so many flavors.  Love, love!

Snack:  Laughing Cow + Brown Rice Cake 

I was really excited about this combo, but thought it might be missing something.  So I went and added... 

Mmmmmm...another satisfying combo of a bunch of flavors & textures.  An Extremely satisfying snack for under 150 calories = win!

Dinner:  Kale salad with Avocado Caesar dressing

Swwwwooooooonnnnnn....this one was a good one, folks and one that came together one, two, three!

One:  Chicken cubed, cooked and flavored with...

...use whatever you had on hand, but this spice mix was a perfect combo.  (found at BJ's Wholesale)

Two:  And since I had some leftover bread laying around from Sunday morning breakfast, I thought I'd give a crack at making my own croutons.  I sliced up two slices of Italian bread and tossed em in a dry skillet, giving them a drizzle of olive oil and another sprinkle of the garlic rosemary seasoning... 

Cooked over medium to medium-low heat for about 10 minutes, giving em a toss here and there.  They were probably our favorite surprise of the meal since it was such a good contrast to the smooth dressing. 

Three:  And speaking of the dressing...

• 5- 6 anchovies  (I'd be lying if I said Scott didn't notice these...)
• 2 small cloves of garlic
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 whole avocado
• Juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup Parmesan

I would have swapped out the mayo for non-fat Greek yogurt to 'health' it up a bit, but I didn't feel like running out to the store when I had olive oil-based mayo at home already.  Either would work out fine.

Mix the kale with the dressing and top with chicken and croutons and VOILA! 

Heaven on a plate...ya know, at least in the salad realmsJ  The dressing was smooooth, creamy & super flavorful and a power combo with the seasoned chicken and the crunch of the croutons.  Give this one a whirl ASAP.

Workout #1:  Power Yoga Class

Workout # 1&1/2J:  Tone it up Bikini Series Arms

Did this quick 12 minute workout while catching up on the new season of "Dancing with the Stars."  I was going to come on here and proclaim Nastia Liukin (who I LOVE!...love gymnastics) & Derek as the def winners, but Rumor Willis and Noah Galloway stole the night pretty well, huh?  Either way, watching Dancing def kept my brain off of the burning of my armsJ

Sooooo...anyways:  HAPPY ST. PATTY'S DAY, peeps!  I'm going to ignore the fact that Katie already had her daily sugar intake from the pack of 'gold coins' the leprechaun left for her...all before 9amJ I'll chalk that one up to a holiday excuseJ  Have a few more 'festive recipes' to help us celebrate the day, of courseJ  I'll be sure to share tomorrow.

Have a GREEN TuesdayJ