Layered Up

I didn’t do it on purpose, but layers were a common theme in yesterday’s eats.

When I was cleaning out pantry the other day, I found an upopened box of oatmeal I forgot I’d purchased. I go in spells with oatmeal. I’ll eat it almost every day for breakfast, get burnt out, take a break from it for a while, then rediscover my love for its wholesome goodness. The last few months have been one of those vacations from oatmeal, but finding it made me go “Mmmmmm.”

I didn’t just want a boring bowl of oats with toppings. My solution? Oatmeal parfait!

It’s really just layers of blackberries, vanilla Oikos, and oatmeal with a peanut butter stir-in. Eating it this way made it feel almost more like dessert than breakfast. Food should be fun, right?

There really is coffee in the mug. It was not layered. It was just coffee. And it was delicious.

 

Lunch was a little something I like to call a garbage salad. Basically, I just scour my fridge for leftovers and make a salad out of them. It cuts down on the food waste and the creations tend to be pretty delicious. Plus, it’s fun to be creative! I feel like a mad scientist.

This one turned out to be a hybrid of buffalo chicken salad and taco salad.

~2 handfulls mixed greens
~3 oz. Italian dressing marinated chicken breast (leftover from meal swap), tossed in buffalo wing sauce
~chopped tomato & sliced green onions (leftover from Sunday’s supper salad bar)
~shredded mozzarella cheese
~3 Tbsp. reduced-fat sour cream, mixed with powdered ranch dressing mix

Very, very yum.

Dinner was not made in layers because there was no dinner. Monday nights are fasting nights for my husband and I. This is NOT weight loss related. It’s something we’re doing once a week as part of our Bible study. I’ve started to enjoy the weekly experience and am beginning to truly connect with the meaning behind the practice.

How do you make your food fun?

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Crock Pot Creation

When many people think of crock pot recipes, they think of not-so-healthy ingredients like cream of mushroom/chicken/celery soup and low-grade meat. I think that’s why the crock pot has gotten a bad rap. Well, that and the fact that the word crock pot (pronounced craaack paaat) just doesn’t sound that appetizing. Maybe that’s why we also have the term slow cooker.

The crock pot can be a great tool to incorporate into your healthy lifestyle. I’ve heard so many people (myself included) say “I don’t have time to cook healthy meals.” The crock pot is also fabulous for saving time. Who couldn’t use a little extra time in their day? If you have 10 minutes, you can make a healthy meal that will be ready the minute you walk in the door.

For starters, you can lighten up those “typical” recipes by using reduced fat versions of those soups and using leaner meats. Oh, and who says your crock pot meal has to be casseroley (yes, I made up that word) at all? Toss a couple of chicken breasts (fresh or frozen) into your crock pot in the morning and you’ve got tender meat when you get home, ready for shredding. Do this at night and you’ve got lunch-ready chicken at your fingertips.

You can also find recipes out there that incorporate fresh or frozen vegetables into the mix, such as this delicious, homey Smothered Buttermilk Chicken. Similar to a veggie-full version of pot pie filling, it’s comfort food at its healthiest.

The basics for this recipe come from a recipe my friend Kate posted on her blog a while back. The only modifications I make are upping the chicken to 1 1/2lbs. (per my husband’s request), throwing in a cup of frozen corn & a cup of mushrooms when I add the peas. I also use skim milk instead of buttermilk because I can’t justify buying a whole container for just one dish. The result is a little more chunky and a little less creamy, but still full of flavor.

My husband likes his served over biscuits. Can I really claim that I “made” them if they come from a tube?

I ike mine over rice or couscous.

Delicious, healthy & very filling!

NOTE: I can’t post Weight Watchers points, but the original recipe post may or may not have it listed. Just be sure you adjust for any modifications you make.

Do you ever use a crock pot? If so, what’s your favorite healthy thing to make in it?

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Grillerific

Good morning, bloggies! Guess what? It’s FRIDAY!!! Who’s excited? I know I am. It’s going to be a busier than usual weekend for us, but all fun stuff.

Starting the morning off with some great news, I was down 3.8 at Weight Watchers weigh-in yesterday! Woo to the hoo fo sho! It was a huge boost to my confidence after two weeks of small gains.

In my running news, Peanut and I went to visit my parents in my hometown on Wednesday. I’d intended on using their treadmill, but it ended up being out of commission. I took to the streets (well, sidewalks) of my old neighborhood and did 2.5 miles in 28 minutes to complete C25k Week 8 Day 2. Obviously I’m still not fast, but my pace was a little quicker than it is when I’m pushing the stroller.

I’ve eaten mostly leftovers for the last few days so I didn’t take pictures. Tuesday night was a fun dinner. My husband got home early and we grilled out.

chicken & vegetable kabobs + foil-packet asparagus

I dumped all of mine into a bowl with some leftover brown rice and tossed it all in just a little bit of dijon mustard. I also added a couple of cherry tomatoes.

My husband loves BBQ sauce and received this as a gift recently:

Unfortunately, he wasn’t a fan. He said it had too bourbon-y. I found that funny because the sauce came from this place, a bourbon distillery. LOL I’m not a big BBQ sauce fan, but I did take a taste. All I could taste was vinegar.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend! I’ll be tweeting from my phone tonight during Food Revolution. 9 EST. Be there or be square.

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Project Run-way

First and foremost, don’t forget to head over to Erin’s blog today for the final hours of her Auction & Bake Sale to benefit cancer research. A little birdie told me that she’s getting extremely close to the milestone mark of $1,000 raised. How exciting would it be to meet and even exceed? Head on over and get your bids e-mailed to her soon. Bidding ends TODAY at 5pm EST.

My next 5k is coming up in about a week and half (yay!) and I’m already thinking about what to wear. The problem is that my growing belly isn’t very compatible with the running gear that I already own. Shirts are fine, but shorts are becoming a struggle. The maternity stores and departments only seem to carry yoga pants which are fine for strength training or (duh) yoga, but they’re less than ideal in this situation. I tried on a pair of running shorts in a larger size at Target yesterday. They fit in the front, but the back was droopy and slid off my waist when I moved around.

So, now I’m on a mission to find some maternity workout gear suitable for running and longer walks outdoors this summer. I’m honestly surprised that this is uncharted territory. My ideal would be shorts or not-too-long capris made of a wicking material. Bonus would be if I could find something with a pocket large enough to hold my camera so I could always be ready for that perfect, bloggable moment. This is when I wish l was one of those creative minds on Project Runway and could just sketch what I want, buy the fabric and sew away while Tim Gunn critiqued over my shoulder and told me to “make it work.”

I didn’t realize how little I ate yesterday until I uploaded the pictures this morning. Trust me, though. The calorie content was plenty sufficient. Not my most outstanding day.

Before leaving the house, I made a yummy egg white & turkey bacon sandwich on a whole wheat English muffin…and then I left it sitting on the kitchen counter! I was so mad. I didn’t have any breakfast goodies in my desk so I was left to hit the deli across the street for coffee and a homemade banana nut muffin.

I felt slow and weak during my workout at work session on my lunch hour. I’m blaming it on the sugar overload from my impromptu breakfast choice.

I was excited to try my new soup, Amy’s Organics Curried Lentil, for lunch. I really wish I could tell you that I loved this. Truth is, it was pretty disappointing. It was almost flavorless and I didn’t really like the consistency. It didn’t look any more appetizing in person than it does in the picture, either. I ended up only eating about half of the bowl which was probably a good thing because the calories and sodium content weren’t the greatest. I’d try more soups from this brand. Just not this one. The one yummy thing about my lunch was the big glass of cold water with a packet of True Lemon. Love that stuff!

One thing I will give the soup is that it was filling. I didn’t need an afternoon snack. I made it comfortably through until dinner which was one of our classic favorites, chicken baseballs. Check out the previous post for photos and the recipe. The beauty of these is that they’re a protein and a starch. Our only side dish was salad.

The rest of the evening was spent curled up on the couch with my pooch and my husband while watching The Biggest Loser. We’re exciting, aren’t we? We hit the hay pretty early so that he could make his 3:00 alarm clock and I could get up early to workout.

By the way, HAPPY EARTH DAY!

What are you doing today (or every day) to preserve Mother Earth?

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Food Frustration

Yesterday was a frustrating day for a few reasons. Luckily, it ended on a great note.

I splurged all of my caffeine allowance for coffee day and ordered a large frozen skim latte with sugar free hazelnut syrup and a scoop of protein powder. I drank it pretty fast and definitely felt the buzz.

Breakfast was where things got frustrating. Well, it actually started on Tuesday and just continued into my Wednesday. For some reason, my coworkers all suddenly feel the need to critique my food and tell me how gross it is. Tuesday, it was tofu. No fewer than 6 people stopped me on my way from the microwave to my desk. The conversations all went something like this:

Coworker: What IS that?
Me: Tofu. Would you like to try a piece?
Coworker: Gross! Yuck! Disgusting! Nasty! Gag! How in the world can you eat that?
Me: Have you ever tried tofu?
Coworker: No! I can’t even imagine. It’s awful.
Me: *walking away*

Very few people in my office have any concept of healthy eating or exercise nor do they care about either. Most of them are female and older than me by at least 20 years or so. Several of them have health issues which could benefit greatly from a more healthy lifestyle.

Save three of four people, my coworkers aren’t the easiest to get along with and they tend to be extremely nosy. I try to be pleasant, respectful and cordial at all times. While I do often notice their unhealthy food choices, it’s none of my business and not for me to judge. I can’t imagine walking up to someone and telling them how disgusting the food they were about to eat looked. I just wish they would show me the same courtesy.

…which brings us to breakfast yesterday morning. I made up a packet of Quaker Simple Harvest Vanilla, Honey, Almond oatmeal. Then, I stirred in a couple handfuls of blueberries and some unsweetened coconut.

One coworker was pouring herself a cup of coffee while I was mixing this up in the work kitchen. She turned her nose up and asked, in a disgusted voice, “What IS that?” I tried not to sound annoyed and replied back simply. “It’s oatmeal.” “Oh,” she said. “That’s not what it LOOKS like.” She then huffed away, mumbling under her breath, and proceeded to tell other people how gross my food was. Of course, they all had to come over, check it out and share their opinions. My boss said it looked like “horse food.”

Vent over. Just needed to get that out there.

Around noon the IT people came down to swap out my hard drive. This left me computerless until about 3:00. While it was down I took a brisk 15 minute walk to soak up the sunshine, filed, wiped my desk down, wrote my to-do list and tidied up my office.

Somewhere in there I ate my lunch of leftover buffalo chicken, a Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedge and lettuce all on a La Tortilla Factory EVOO Tomato & Basil Softwrap.

I also had a snack. Kashi TLC Roasted Vegetable crackers and another Laughing Cow Light Swiss cheese wedge.

Shortly before I left, I had a juicy plum to hold me over until dinner.

Dinner was a rare weeknight meal out. I met a friend at Dakota’s Roadhouse. We were so wrapped up in conversation that I forgot to photograph my house salad with bacon tomato dressing and a baked potato with cheese, bacon & sour cream. We were all geared up for dessert, but they only had 3 choices and nothing looked good.

I got home a little before 9, watched Criminal Minds with my husband and headed to bed. That show always creeps me out and then I have trouble sleeping.

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A Clever Kitchen Tip

I got an e-mail yesterday that I have to share. I get so frustrated when I’m trying to tear off a sheet of aluminum foil or plastic wrap because the roll always seems to fall out. Apparently, there’s a really easy fix for this. I was skeptical after reading it because the solution seemed so obvious. I checked as soon as I got home to see if it was true. Sure enough, ….

Yes. There are “push here” tabs on either end of the boxes. When you press them in, little tabs are inserted into the hollow part of the roll so it can’t escape from the box.

I checked every box I had that contained a roll. My aluminum foil, plastic wrap and and Press ‘n’ Seal boxes also had the tabs. The parchment paper and wax paper boxes did not.

Please tell me I’m not the last one to figure this out. I’m guessing not since my friend past the e-mail along, but it could just be because she knows I’m slow sometimes. lol

On to yesterday’s eats!

I had a disagreeable stomach most of the morning so I pieced on some of my pre-prepped strawberries when I got to work, then stuck with just water and hot Lipton Red Rose tea for the rest of the morning.

Around 10, I had a Babybel Light cheese wheel and some Gliding Calm tofu dipped in yellow mustard.

That kept me full for quite a while. I was working away when I felt my tummy growl and decided to feed it with some sliced peaches.

I had to run to the Green Machine at lunch to get “allowance” money for my husband and I. The bank branch closest to my work is conveniently located inside a grocery store so I hit up the salad bar for lunch. My container looked like this:

The largest compartment was the salad made up of:

• spinach
• yellow, red & orange peppers
• cucumbers
• diced tomatoes
• bacon crumbles
• chopped hard boiled egg
• black olives
• mozzarella cheese
• chickpeas
• a few jalapeno pepper slices

I really need to start being more strategic when I build my salads for photographic purposes. The healthiest stuff is always on the bottom and it looks like I only have “extras.”

One small compartment held summer coleslaw. I find this ironic because it’s not summer. From what I could tell, it was cabbage, red onion, diced tomatoes and diced cucumbers in a typical slaw dressing. Pardon the runaway chickpea.

The other small compartment was broccoli & cheddar pasta salad.

I ate the whole salad and about two bites each of the pasta salad and coleslaw. They were disgusting! The coleslaw was mostly onion (which I don’t like) and the pasta was still a little crunchy. Not sure what I was thinking when I got those two. I typically don’t even like creamy salads. Oh, well. I’ll know next time.

***Product Review***

I was really thirsty after making my salad and decided to grab something refreshing. I was thinking POM Wonderful because I’m addicted since receiving my samples, but I found something on the shelf below that looked interesting: POM Light Tea Pomegranate and Hibiscus Flower Green Tea.

It was excellent! I had hibiscus flower tea for the first time when I visited San Francisco in December and have been on the lookout for similar products closer to home. This was the perfect blend of pomegranate and hibiscus flower flavors. It wasn’t overly sweet, but it wasn’t bitter either. I will certainly be buying more of these. It’s a perfect warm-weather beverage. I’m eager to try the other flavors, too.

This is from the back of the bottle:

“Paradise found. Flavor breezes through our all-natural Pomegranate Hibiscus Light POM Tea. It’s a lightly floral green tea made from the finest Far East tea leaves. Our tea is gently brewed, and brims with powerful pomegranate antioxidants and the tropical nuances of sweet hibiscus.“

There are two 8oz. servings per bottle. The nutrition information per serving is as follows:

Calories: 35
Total Fat: 0g
Sodium: 0g
Total Carb: 16g
Sugars: 8g
Erythritol: 6g
Protein: 0g
Caffeine: less than 2mg

On to dinner! This was a special one. Why? Because I didn’t cook it. My husband planned the menu and volunteered to do the work. I eagerly accepted the offer and sat at the table to chat while he prepared everything. I enjoy cooking and it helps me relax after a day of work. It’s still nice to have that break every now and then.

He pounded out some chicken breasts, dipped them in egg whites, breaded them, cooked them on the grill pan and then tossed them in some homemade buffalo wing sauce. These were served on Arnold’s Whole Wheat Sandwhich Thins with lettuce and light ranch dressing.

with steamed asparagus on the side, drizzled with EVOO.

Ta da!

I cleaned up the kitchen and then we settled in to watch The Big Bang Theory. We both think this is by far the funniest show on TV right now. I was in bed and asleep shortly after it ended.

Eating Bender is giving away not one, but TWO fabulous prizes to celebrate her 1st Blogiversary. Fabulousness!

In honor of National Nutrition Month, the health nut is giving away a reusable “Eat Right” tote from the American Dietetic Association. So cool!

I’m in the market for another BPA-free water bottle.I have one SIGG bottle which I love, but it seems to have disappeared *cough*myhusbandtookittoworknevertobeseenagain*cough*. I’d like it to be at least 32oz, easy to clean and nonbreakable. Anyone have brand suggestions?

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One Year Ago…

Today is our first anniversary! To celebrate, we stayed last night at the state park lodge where both our ceremony and reception were held. We did a lot of reminiscing about that special day, what’s happened since then and what lies ahead. I love this man more and more every single day. In case you hadn’t guessed, the picture above is of our ceremony taken from the mezzanine level where our reception was held. It still touches my heart that so many friends and family were there to share in our special day.

I’m SO UPSET that I forgot my camera. Dinner on Saturday was amazing! We ate in the restaurant at the lodge where most of the food is local, organic and sustainable. To start, I had a house salad which was romaine, chopped hard boiled egg, bacon crumbles and their fabulous Creole dressing. Deciding on an entree was tough. I finally settled on the herb-rubbed grilled free range chicken served with sausage fennel stuffing and rosemary jus. There aren’t words to describe the flavors. My mouth was watering out of control and it tasted so good I’m afraid I nearly inhaled the entire dish in under 30 second. My husband had an open-face pulled pork sandwich with Yukon Gold mashed potatoes. After a little digestion walk, we headed to the bar to hang out for a bit. The bartender was so sweet. I was craving a fruity umbrella drink, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen. She offered to make me a blend of pineapple, cranberry & orange juices which I happily accepted. It was exactly what I was after and I didn’t feel one little bit deprived as my husband sipped his whisky sours.

We took along the top tier of our cake (well, cupcake tower) to enjoy for dessert. While it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d expected, it certainly wasn’t as good as it was on the big day. It was tradition for tradition sake though and we made the best of it.

This morning we got up and had breakfast in the lodge. It was your typical hotel breakfast buffet spread. My parents kept the pooch overnight and her back to meet us around noon. The weather was too gorgeous to waste so we took her for a walk on one the 1.5 mile loop hiking trail before heading home.

I started watching Jon+Kate plus 8 as soon as I got home. Watching Kate and her stellar organization skills put me in the mood to do some housekeeping. I turned on the TV in the kitchen and set to work. First, I cleaned out the refrigerator. Then, I started some food prepping for the week ahead.

I baked up a batch of Gliding Calm tofu.

While that was in the oven, I cut some celery into sticks and portioned them out into baggies for quick lunch packing. I also sliced some strawberries

and chopped some romaine and green leaf lettuces so we’d have salad for the week.

Oh, and I have to brag a little on my husband. His anniversary gift to me was a sweet card and a beautiful necklace. I LOVE pearls and have been wanting a new everyday necklace. I didn’t get him anything special other than a card. His birthday was last weekend so I pooled the money I’d budgeted for both occasions and bought him the semi-pricey tool he really wanted for his birthday which he appreciated more (I think) than two smaller gifts.

I hate this part of Sunday when I stop enjoying the weekend and start dreading work tomorrow. I’m going to go pick my clothes out for the week and then sit down to read and relax for a bit until The Amazing Race.

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A Fruitful Day

The day started off a little cloudy and rainy. By 10AM the sun was shining and it was up in the high 70s. In Ohio! In MARCH! Unfortunately I didn’t even get to go outside and enjoy it until after work.

I guess I’ll start from the beginning. Breakfast at home was a toasted Weight Watchers bagel with peanut butter. My camera was already in my purse in the car so I skipped the picture. Trust me, though. It was ooey gooey goodness at its finest.

As I said, the commute was pretty rainy. I didn’t see any lightening, but I did hear some rumblings. The time change means it’s back to driving in the dark in the morning. It’s a fair trade off for having an hour of daylight when I get home.

I got settled in at my desk and had an organic banana around 8:30.

I was hungry again at 10:30 and wanted something hot. I went ahead and microwaved my can of Progresso Light Vegetable & Barley soup. I had a “side” of string cheese.

Another Tuesday. Another workout at work day. Yesterday was pretty heavy on the lower body. We did a few new things that were really tough including grass diggers, various squats, BOSU trainer weighted step ups and opposite extensions on our toes rather than our knees. Hurt so good! I’m afraid this might be our last month. Some of the ladies seem to be getting burned out on the time commitment and others are questioning the intensity. We pay a set rate per session divided by the number of people participating. If they drop out, the cost might skyrocket and others might leave based on the expense. I hope this isn’t the case.

The workout left me pretty hungry. Mini-meal #4 of the day was Sabra hummus, baby carrots and a delicious plum.

This is the first time I’ve tried Sabra (thanks to all the mention in bloggie land) and it was wonderful! I liked the texture a lot better than the brand I normally buy. I bought the original flavor, but the “Insanely Hot” variety was tempting. Anyone tried it? What are your thoughts?

I spent the rest of the afternoon working away while sipping on decaf hot tea. Late in the afternoon my stomach was growling and I treated it to a Pumpkin Pie Spice Clif bar. Dear Clif, PLEASE make this flavor and the Iced Gingerbread flavor available year round. They’re just too dang good to be seasonal!

I was shocked when I finally hit the doors at 5:00PM. It was still in the 70s with glorious sunshine. The pooch loved hanging her head out the window on the way home and got a little upset when I rolled it up to get on the highway.

My husband was already home when I got there. He had every door of his “man cave” (our large garage/outbuilding) open and he was working away on some random projects. I sat and chatted with him while he worked before deciding that I wanted to take advantage of the weather and MOVE! I walked to the village municipal building to drop off the water bill, then around the corner to mail a letter at the post office. Once my hands were free, I broke into a jog and took the long way home. It felt SO amazingly good to exercise outside again. It put me in a great mood for the rest of the evening and it was like a shot of instant energy.

When I got back I washed up and started dinner. The original recipe came from a friend, but I’ve tweaked it over time to suit our tastes a little. Here’s my version:

Chicken Baseballs

2 cups chicken breasts, cooked & chopped
4 oz. cream cheese (I use reduced fat.) or 4 wedges of Laughing Cow Swiss cheese
2 tsp. butter or margarine, melted
1/4 of a small onion, chopped
1 glove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
2 tsp. hot pepper sauce (increase/decrease to your taste)
1 tube refrigerated crescent rolls

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Combine all ingredients (except the crescent rolls) until well blended. You can put it all in the food processor or just stir it together in a bowl.

3. Divide crescent rolls into 4 equal pieces (2 triangles per piece) and seal the seams together to form 4 squarish rectangles.

4. Place 1/4 of the chicken mixture (about 1/2 cup) onto each piece of crescent roll.

5. Fold corners or each crescent roll over the top of the mixture to form a pouch.

6. Place “baseballs” on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake until the crescent rolls are done, about 20 minutes.

Here’s a closer look at the inside:

They’re really tasty, almost like individual chicken pot pies. You can add whatever other seasonings you like. They’re also good with extra veggies (like carrots and celery) added to the mixture.

No real need for a starchy side because of the crescent rolls. We had ours last night with corn and cottage cheese. I had one baseball, my husband had 2 and then he swiped the last one to pack in his lunch.

After dinner we settled in the living room to finish watching The Biggest Loser before heading to bed. This season is so much different than last year. The people this time seem to genuinely care about and like one another while the last go round was full of pettiness and mean spiritedness.

What’s your favorite outdoor activity?

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Technical Difficulties

So yae…about that contest I was going to have last week. I’ve been having camera issues since my last post. They weren’t downloading to my computer correctly and several ended up being deleted between the camera and the computer. Everything appears to be corrected now and my first giveaway will be in tomorrow’s post!

Yesterday was an uneventful Monday. The only real thing of note was the temperature (with wind chill) was below 0. Soooo cold!

I started the day off with a bowl of Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares. This is one of my go-to cold cereals. It’s sweet, but not too sweet. They have a very nice texture and are extremely filling. I eat them plain right out of the box sometimes, but this was a “with milk” day. Organic skim in case you were wondering.

My morning beverage of choice is my newest addiction. The wonderful folks from POM Wonderful sent me a box of their delicious pomegranate juice to sample and review. Two thumbs way, way up on this one. It’s delicious! I love the perfect balance between sweet & tart. Combine that with all the health benefits and it’s a clear winner. I like it straight up, but I’ve also been mixing 8oz. of juice with 16oz. of Perrier for a pomegranate spritzer. Or, as my husband calls it, a “pregnant lady cocktail.” LOL

The drive to work flew by. I’ve been whipping through audiobooks lately. If I find one I really enjoy, it seems to make the drive go faster.

My morning snack at my desk was a Baybel Light cheese wheel & a big, hot mug of Lipton Black Pearl tea. I made the mug myself. Well, just painted it. My friend and I went to one of those paint-your-own pottery studios a couple years ago and this is the fruit of my labors there. I am by no means artistic, but I love pretending to be.

Lunch was exactly what I was craving. Light Cheese ravioli with homemade tomato sauce. I’ve been in the mood for spicy lately so I added some crushed red pepper flakes to the sauce. Whoa Nelly! It didn’t taste nearly that hot when I sampled it from the saucepan. It was still really, really good.

The afternoon was a typical Monday. Uneventful and booooring. My husband sent me a text message saying he was making dinner, but wouldn’t tell me what. I assumed omelettes. Wrong. He pounded out some chicken breasts, seasoned them and cooked them in the grill pan. He also made steamed broccoli & egg noodles. While he ate his as three separate things, I threw all three of mine in a bowl and stirred in a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. Everything was cooked to perfection and a simple meal turned out to be extremely yummy. I think having someone else cook for you always helps.

Everyone have a fabulous Tuesday! The weather here is still extremely cold, but the sun is shining which makes it easier to handle…at least when you’re inside. We’re supposed to be in the 60′s this weekend. Rainy, but warm. Spring is slowly but surely making it’s way to Ohio!

What’s your favorite season?

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Back in the Swing of Things

Not sure where my head has been lately, but I’ve had 0 time to blog lately. Work has been steady and I’ve been so tired in the evenings that I don’t remember how I even got to bed most nights. I’ve missed doing it so I promised myself that I’ll MAKE time in my day somehow.

Yesterday started out with a little Namaste Yoga followed by a sunrise breakfast of Kashi GoLean Crunch, organic skim milk and fresh pineapple. I know I’ve said it before, but I love mornings when I get to eat a leisurely breakfast at home instead of food on the run.

After breakfast I did a little cleaning, a little laundry and then read for a bit. I tried to take the pup for a walk, but she laid down before we even made it out of the front yard.

I met my friend at noon at the outlet mall near my house for lunch and shopping. No picture of lunch, but it was Chinese. Subway was calling my name, but lunch meat is on my “do not eat” list from the doctor and I just wasn’t feeling a veggie sub. We spent whole afternoon shopping and I only bought two things totaling less than $20! That’s a first. My bank account is thanking me.

I was exhausted when I got home so I took a little siesta. Fatigue has been a regular thing for me lately and I’m trying to figure out any way possible to incorporate a nap into my work day. Don’t think that’ll fly with the boss man. It’s really a shame.

My husband got home a little later than he’d expected. It was a pretty physical day for him at work so he wanted to pass on the gym. I wasn’t feeling extremely well so I bailed, too. We HAVE to stop doing this. It really helps my energy level and he made the comment that his jeans are starting to get snug again.

I put dinner in the crockpot before I left for my shopping trip. All I had to do was bake the biscuits and we were ready to eat! This recipe for Buttermilk Chicken is from my friend Kate’s blog. It’s one of my husband’s regular requests and perfect cold weather comfort food. We’ve also served it over brown rice, salad or pasta and it’s good every which way.

I don’t like any kind of gravy or mushiness on my bread so I had a little scoop of chicken sprinkled with parsley and Parmesan cheese and my biscuit on the side.

After dinner it was Monday night TV time. We watched The Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother and Jon + Kate Plus 8 before I called it a night.

Looks like another ridiculously busy day of work. I’m hoping to catch up on some of your lovely blogs after the gym tonight.

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