Productive + Unique

Being productive was my number one goal today!  I spent a few minutes making a list of all the things (that I can remember) that I need and want to get done.  Some were short term, some were long term and it felt so good to start crossing things off as I accomplished them today.  One of the personal goals I have is to get better with time management.  The convenience of being at home sometimes hinders the ability to get the most done.  There are lots of distractions and since I don’t have to “report” to anyone, it’s easy to push stuff off to another day.  That day doesn’t come and then I get bogged down with having a list a mile long!  So, I’m going to work on that!!

Breakfast was a bit unusual for me.  I was making the daughters’ lunches and decided that the turkey looked delicious for some reason.  I went with the craving and made up a tasting plate with turkey, a lite string cheese and an apple.  It was just what I wanted!

I headed out to the gym where I did a 30 minute interval stint on The Arc Trainer , then another 25 minutes of lower body weight machines.  My hammies were screaming!

When I got home, it was right to the list!  I powered out quite a few things before realizing it was lunch time.  I got shaky all at one time;  I knew I waited to long, but the strange thing was that my stomach didn’t even growl until just that moment.  I looked in the fridge and saw the leftover Angel hair with Zucchini and Chickpeas and nuked it right up!  Leftover pasta is generally not my fave, but this tasted even better than the first night…(maybe cuz I was starved!)…

I thought this might not hold me for long and planned to eat something else with it, but I was so intent on tackling my list that I just got right to it! 

I made up for the rest of my lunch with snacks for sure!  When the daughters got home, I dug into a few cashews x2…

then a Chobani nonfat pineapple yogurt topped with a bit of Kashi cereal…

I have to say that I heart Chobani.  I love all the flavors that I’ve tried, but the pineapple is one of their newer flavors and I do not care for it.  It had a fake pineapple taste to it.  All the other flavors rock, this one…not so much.

Dinner was a plan!  YAY!  I planned on roast beef sandwiches and sweet potato fries.  I pulled out all the gadgets for this dinner.  I cooked the roast in the oven, then drug out my slicer and thinly sliced it before settling it into a pan of au jus (I use a packet of Knor Au Jus mixed with water –it’s great!)

I have gotten some emails inquiring about the mandoline that I use for making sweet potato fries, so I thought I’d show you what it looks like…

It comes with various slicing blades for a variety of cuts.  I use the one that is most “fry-like” …

I also decided to try a new technique in the ever continuing effort to find a  way to make  crispy sweet potato fries without frying.  I used a pizza pan with holes, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray and it worked great!  At first, when I took them out, I didn’t think there was a difference, but as they sat for a few minutes they really crisped up.  Give it a try and let me know if it worked for you!

My roast beef sandwich got cheese, pickles and roasted peppers.  Altogether, a yummy dinner…

I thought I would leave you with an amazing video that was posted on Roni’s site.  I LOVED THIS VIDEO.  The message is so inspiring and powerful.  I can’t get it out of my mind.  I have shown it to the daughters.  I want them to KNOW this.  We should all KNOW this and BELIEVE it.  We don’t need to look like everyone else.  WE ARE UNIQUE.  Please view this and let me know your thoughts…

Have a great day!!

Uninspired

I am uninspired food-wise today.  Part of me wants to eat the same old same old and another part of me wants to make some fabulous new creations.  I have weeks where things flow and I can think of hundreds of new recipes that I’d like to try.  Other weeks, I feel like boiling a pot of water for pasta is about all I’m capable of doing.  I know that when I get a meal plan together for my week, I tend to be more in control of my eating.  I like having a new recipe to look forward to and enjoy trying different things.

I have tried a few times this weekend to get a meal plan together, but it was thwarted by other chores around the house.  Another problem is I have waaaaaaay too many recipe binders to choose from! It’s very overwhelming.   I have 4 binders now filled to the brim and I must say that they are haphazardly put together which is part of the problem, too!  I tried just picking out a cookbook and going from there, but that wasn’t working out either.  I’m just organizationally challenged this week!  I plan on getting better at meal planning for the future.  As life gets busier, it really is a time saver and a great tool for staying the healthy eating course!   If you need some meal planning inspiration, check out Heather’s blog and Andrea’s blog.  Both of these ladies are awesome meal planners.  Heather even does hers a month in advance.  Now that’s some planning!

I started the morning with the promise of something new to try.  I got this Kashi Island Vanilla Cereal at a bargain price (99 cents with a coupon!) the other day…

I teamed it up with some blueberries and skim milk…

This was a dud.  The cereal was great, but my blueberries stunk.  They were really sour – blech.  Then, I realized that I had them in the fridge for an ice age, so even though they looked okay, they were probably bad :(

We went off to church with a stop at the Walmart before hitting home and it was there that trouble found it’s way into the cart.  Big daughter wanted to get some candy corn and although, I tried to talk her out of it, she really wanted them, so in the cart they went.  Can you guess where they went next???

Sugartopia!  Those big honkin’ pumpkin ones really sugar you up good!  I poured them into a pretty bowl when we got home because putting them out in the open for all to see is the best idea in the whole world.  NOT.  They look so pretty in the bowl, but they don’t like to stay in there.  Large handfuls get removed quite a few times a day.  You can’t eat just one. Ever.

My stomach pretty much hated me after that, but later I thought I should get something other than sugar in it.  Nothing sounds good after a sugar bomb is lying in your stomach, but I decided that eggs would be the least offensive.  I made up an egg white scramble using egg whites, diced ham, baby spinach and a slice of asiago.  For some crunch, I had a flax cracker on the side…

Since it was an outrageously beautiful day, I decided to go on a long walk to soak in the sunshine and fresh air.  It was wonderful!  I jammed to some tunes (is it weird that I mouth the words to the songs as I walk??) and before I knew it, I got in a nice 3.5 miles.  I felt invigorated when I was done;  the sugar slugs didn’t get to me!

I felt a little hungry later, so I nibbled on a Choco-Cranberry-Almond Granola Bar before dinner…

I was in the mood for a giant bowl of pasta for dinner.  I was also still in the zucchini mood, so I combined them to make  Angel hair with Zucchini and Chickpeas.  This was a “no sauce” pasta dish.  I just sauteed the zucchini in a little evoo and garlic and added a can of drained and rinsed chickpeas to warm through.  Before the pasta was done, I saved 1/2 cup of the pasta water and added it to the zucchini mixture along with 1/4 c. parmesan cheese.  When the pasta was done, I tossed it with the zucchini mixture and sprinkled with more cheese.  Delish…

Hope you had a great weekend!

ONE GOOD THING :  I took a nice walk instead of giving in to the lazy sugar crash!

Question of the Day:  Do you plan your meals for the week?