The Heart Of The Home

Back to the grind!  We were up and at ‘em early to try and finish up the last painting touches and put the kitchen back together.  We had to make another quick trip to the Lowe’s,  but first some breakfast was in order.  I was in the mood for eggs, so I whipped up a Salsa Egg White Scramble (egg whites, spinach, salsa and light cheddar)…

Then, it was off to pick up our hardwares.  Since, Trader Joe’s was right around the corner, I talked the husband into a pit stop to pick up a couple items.  I scored a cool new (to me) hummus that I couldn’t wait to have with lunch…

I thought it would make a great topping for my Cuban Black Bean Patty on an Ezekiel hamburger bun…

It was perfect!  I liked the smoky flavor and the mild heat.  Definitely a keeper!

We finally finished up the last of the retouching and put the kitchen back in working order.  Only glitch was with the lighting over the table.  Seems our compact fluorescents were too big and stuck out above the shades.  I had to run back out and get smaller bulbs, but other than that, this repainting/updating job went pretty smoothly.  And the husband and I worked really well together, so no divorce papers needed to be drawn up after this project ;)

The daughters came home as we were finished and were so surprised at the change!  They loved it, though, which made me happy since the kitchen is the heart of our home and I want everyone to be comfortable in it.

I decided on an easy dinner.  I wasn’t quite ready to cook after the long, tiring weekend, so we fired up the grill and made some of these cool dogs I found at Trader Joe’s…

I haven’t had a hot dog in ages because of the high fat content of the regular ones and I found the light ones to be okay, but I question the “healthiness” of them.  However, I saw these Applegate Farms Organic Uncured Beef Hot Dogs and the “organic” and “no nitrates or preservatives” made me feel a little better about them!  Hey, it’s un-American to not eat a hot dog, right?!  Anyway, I was surprised by the nutritional information considering these are not touted as a “light” hot dog.  One dogger is 70 calories with only 4.5 grams of fat!  That’s impressive.  Can’t get away from the sodium though – 430 mg., but that’s how a hot dog rolls ;P  Speaking of rolls, I ate my dog on a whole wheat roll with a squirt of straight up yellow mustard along with a side salad and some baked fries….

I loved this hot dog!!!  Seriously good;  even the husband gave it a thumbs up.  Now, the fries…eh, not so lovely.  I bought these Alexia Yukon Gold fries and had high expectations…

The nutritionals looked good…

but the flavor was meh and some of the fries were hollow inside when you bit into them.  Somehow, the precooking process they do, cooks the potato right out of it!  Not a fan :(

All in all, a tasty dinner in our “new” kitchen.  Wanna see it???  Here’s a mini tour…

Looks good now;  I’m sure I’ll mess it up soon enough!

I ended the night with another Trader Joe’s find:  Whole Grain Chocolate Chip Cookie Bites…

A serving is 8 cookies for 130 calories and 6 grams fat.  They are made with whole wheat flour, oats and walnut meal.  Good ingredients and delicious!  I was satisfied with just 3 because they have such great flavor.   Just right…

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend!

ONE GOOD THING:  I was able to enjoy cookies without feeling like I had to eat the whole serving or container for that matter- LOL!  I ate what satisfied me and put them away.

Question of the Day:  What room do you consider to be the “heart of your home” ?

Eating In Two’s

Hey, everyone!  It’s been a crazy busy weekend and I’ve got some catching up to do, so I’ll get right to it…

Friday morning started off with a buzz.  With no time for a “proper” breakfast, I decided to grab and eat in the car.  On the way to the gym, I chomped on a Clif Mini Bar…I like brownies in the morning ;)…

I decided to try out the “less and longer” exercise strategy with 1 hour on the recumbent bike.  I didn’t “feel” like I worked out, yet my back was sweaty when I left, so I guess it did something.  And thanks for commenting on the “less is more” vs. “pump your heart out”.  I liked hearing your experiences and some of you brought up some really good points about high intensity interval training.  I’ll definitely look into that more, too.

After the gym, I ate part two of my breakfast…

in about two seconds.  I’m really sucking at taking my time and acknowledging what I am eating.

That held me over for about two more seconds.   Well, really longer than that, but I was ready for lunch very early (11:45).  I had lots of running around to do, so I figured, why fight it?  I heated up a Cuban Black Bean Patty and put it on a hearty Ezekiel Hamburger Bun with guacamole and salsa.  DELISH!

I definitely needed some munch, so I paired it with a serving of Trader Joe’s Sea Salt and Pepper Rice Crisps …love ‘em…

Then, I was missing a fruit, so I grabbed a nectarine while heading out the door…

I ran around getting some last minute things for the husband’s birthday dinner (Sat.), came home and starting prepping.  I needed sustenance;   something to get me through this harrowing afternoon of food preparation.  I decided on …

Okay, this technically doesn’t qualify as nourishment , but they sure were delicious!  They are thin crisps (think Pringles chip) with puffed rice pieces in it to give you that Nestle Crunch bar feel.   They’re not too bad in the calorie department, either…

I had one…

then, another…

These have “stop the insanity” written all over them.  Consider yourself warned :)

I had late dinner plans with my two best buds and knew if I didn’t eat something beforehand, I would devour the bread basket as soon as it hit the table.  I chose a better form of nourishment this time…

That did the trick!  I met up with my girls at a cool restaurant called Spence Cafe.  We were seated and hit the menu right away…

Actually, we hit up the wine first ;)

We started with an antipasto platter with veggies and Maytag blue cheese stuffed artichoke hearts…

and an assorted cheese plate with fruit and toasted baguette…

My plate…loved the cranberry pistachio cheese!

For my entree, I chose from the Light Fare portion of the menu.  I opted for the Eggplant Napoleon with sauteed spinach, mozzarella and ricotta fritter and tomato coulis.  It was anything but “light”.  Other than the 'fritter’ part, I wasn’t expecting this to be a “fried” dish, but , alas, this is what came…

I ate the spinach, half the fritters and half the eggplant.  I was satisfied, but I hate when you don’t get what you expect.  You think you’re making a good choice, then BAM!  Note to self : ask how something is prepared even though you hate to do that and think it’s a pain.

I had a great time catching up with my girls.  We are all so busy and it takes forever to schedule a night out, but when we do, it’s always fun!

I plopped in bed way past my bedtime, but thankfully fried food makes you feel like crap and I fell into a deep fat coma.  Nice :D

ONE GOOD THING:  Spending time with my good friends!!!

I’ll be back later for a recap of hubby’s bday! 

Make It Quick

I’ve been so rushed in the morning!  I don’t know why I can’t get in a better groove;  maybe it’s the waking up in the dark that’s throwing me off!  I got the daughters ready for school and made up my breakfast before running out the door.  I was excited to try this Banana Oat Smoothie that I found on the Clean Eating Club site.  I put all the ingredients in the blender with a few ice cubes and whizzed it up.  I substituted Chobani nonfat plain Greek yogurt for an extra protein boost, too.  I poured it in my to-go bottle and hurried out the door…

I wasn’t sure how the oats would taste in this, but it was great!  I really liked it!  It was filling but not too heavy to workout after drinking it.  I can see having this often on rushed mornings!

I headed to the gym and watched my boyfriend, Dr. Oz while on the recumbent bike.  I wasn’t loving that bike so much.  I didn’t feel like it was doing much, so I got off after 30 minutes and hopped on the treadmill for another 25 minutes.  I’m learning how to work all the bells and whistles of the machines and I fooled with the incline to pump it up to 8% – I think.  It was up there;  I felt like I was walking uphill for sure!  I finished up with 20 minutes of upper body and abs weight work.  I love doing the flab ab stuff.

After home and showered, I realized it was time for lunch.  My stomach was finally growling;  that smoothie really held me over!  But, once I became hungry, I was HUNGRY and needed something quick.  I heated up a Cuban Black Bean Patty from the freezer (they froze so well!), topped it with avocado slices and placed it on a Pepperidge Farms Deli Flat. 

I went with a half serving of Kettle Brand Baked Barbeque Potato Chips and a ripe pear on the side…

For “dessert”, I had a calcium chew!  My sneaky way of getting some chocolate!

The rest of my afternoon was spent in the car taking the daughters to and fro and settling at 2 hours of dance class.  I remembered to bring a car snack, so that I wouldn’t be starved by dinner…

still “noshy” , so I had this Clif Mini Bar, too…

That did the trick.  When we got home for dinner, I wasn’t famished and looking to munch.  Dinner was easy;  I picked up fried chicken at the grocery store for the husband and daughters!  They were thrilled, especially after seeing what I was having – Salmon Roulette, leftover grilled sweet potato (yep, that’s the last of it!) and salad…

I ended the night with a cuppa Teeccino while folding laundry, “tweeting” and watching The Biggest Loser (what is UP with Jillian and her screaming??!!  It’s more than ever!)!  How’s that for multi-tasking?!

Hope you all had a great day!

ONE GOOD THING:  I made a cup of Teeccino after dinner instead of dishing out some dessert.  It satisfied me and I didn’t “look” for anything else.

Question of The Day:  What did you think of  The Biggest Loser last night?

Good Things To Go

Wow everyone!  I loved all your ONE GOOD THINGs from yesterday’s post!  Thanks for sharing those and let’s keep spreading the positive vibes!

I’m gonna be quick tonight, so I can hang with my family.  My first order of business this morning was to register for FitBloggin ‘10!  I dropped by Roni’s site and saw that registration is open, so I jumped on it!  The tenative schedule is up and it looks like a great time;  so looking forward to it!

After much dilly-dallying, I ate some breakfast.  I was pretty shaky at this point, so I grabbed the first easy thing I saw in the fridge – Smoked Salmon and Parmesan Omelet Muffins.  I heated up two and had some honeydew on the side…

It’s good to have some “go to” stuff hanging out waiting for you!

I came across an old Weight Watchers Member Board (no idea who the poster was –sorry) recipe while looking through some of my recipe binders this morning :  Cuban Black Bean Patties.  They sounded great, so I decided to make them for lunch with a few of my own twists to it…

• 2 cups rinsed and drained canned black beans
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. dried cilantro (or 1 tsp. fresh)
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 c. reduced fat monterey jack or cheddar cheese (pepperjack  would be good, too)
• 1/8 c. diced red onions
• 1/4 c. cornmeal

1. Place 1 1/2 c. beans in a medium bowl with garlic, cumin , cilantro and salt.  Mash with a fork , slightly to break up beans.
2. Place remaining 1/2 c. beans in a food processor with the egg and puree for 30 seconds.
3. Add bean puree to mashed beans and stir until combined.
4. Add cheese and onion;  combine well.
5. Form bean mixture into 4 patties about 1/2 inch thick.
6. Place cornmeal in a shallow dish and carefully dredge each patty in cornmeal.  There will be some cornmeal leftover.
7. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
8. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat.  Coat with cooking spray, add patties and cook for approximately 4 minutes per side. 

I served my Cuban Black Bean Patty over a salad made up of romaine, chopped red and green peppers, diced tomatoes and topped with a squirt of Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch, guacamole and light sour cream…

The bean patty was so flavorful!  Crunchy on the outside from the cornmeal and creamy on the inside…

And I have 3 more left that I wrapped up and popped in the freezer for another “go to” option.

The daughters and I went shoe shopping this afternoon (for them, not me – boo!) and scored a good deal at Payless Shoe Store.  Love their BOGO’s!

Then, it was back home for snack time.  I couldn’t resist another one of Jaime’s amazing Choco – Cranberry- Almond Granola Bars…

I still felt a hankering for something, so I chomped on an apple, too…

Dinner was Chicken Fajitas seasoned with Homemade Taco Seasoning from the Clean Eating Club site.  It’s way better tasting than the packet stuff.  I served the fajitas with a store brand high fiber tortilla, guacamole and light shredded 3 cheese blend…

More leftovers packed up for another time…

ONE GOOD THING today:  As I was finishing my last bite of lunch, I was still yearning for something more.  I decided to look at my watch and give myself 10 minutes to let everything settle and if I still wanted something when the 10 minutes was up, then I would allow myself to eat it.  I got up from the table and busied myself cleaning and doing other things.  After the 10 minutes, I reassessed and decided I really didn’t want anything else after all=)

* I have myself locked in the home office so that no one would disturb me while I hurried to write this.  Little daughter just picked the lock to ask me something!  Guess it’s time to sign off!   Juvie here she comes…

Have a great night, everyone!