Crankin’ It Out

I am on a roll crankin’ out my list of  things “to do”!  It feels so great to cross those suckers off as I go through the day.  Why have I not done this before??  Apparently, I’ve tried.  I came across a list of “to do” in a notebook that I had written in the summer.  Whoops!  Funny, many of the items I had written then, ended up on my current list!  At least, I remembered them :)

I took the day off from official exercising , but I made sure to huff it as I was tackling the list, so at least “movement” was involved.  I decided on a long lasting breakfast on Green Eggs and Ham – egg whites, diced ham, baby spinach and a slice of asiago cheese…

It was good, however, I made the GIANT mistake of eating it while watching my boyfriend talk about hemorrhoids.   I almost barfed.  I might have to break up with him, now.  It was very bad, but an excellent appetite suppressant at the time.

I made it all the way to lunch with no problems.  Visuals of roids helped:) I chose to go with a wrap made with turkey, Laughing Cow Light cheese, Wasabi mustard (love), lettuce and roasted pepper rolled in a Joseph’s Lavash Bread.  So fab with a super sweet fuji apple…

I spent the afternoon crossing more stuff off the list and unfortunately did some digging in the pantry.  Crap!  I’m not sure what was up with that;  I tried to detect the feeling, but couldn’t pinpoint exactly what was causing this mini-binge.  Looking back, I guess it was a variety of a couple things – anxiety and frustration probably being the main players.  Anyway, it involved sweet potato tortilla chips, string cheese and a BIG handful of nuts.  I felt badly for a minute after chowing this stuff, but then, I tried to find some good.  I’ll leave that for ya at the end :)

I had a PLAN for dinner!  Getting my dinner making mojo back!  I was inspired by a recipe in Cooking Light for Chicken Thighs with Olives and Tomato Sauce.  I changed it up a bit by using more wine and adding baby bella mushrooms…

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• s+p
• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, sliced
• 2 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 c. dry white wine
• 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1 container (think it’s 10 or 12 oz.) fresh baby bella mushrooms, quartered
• 1/4 c. pitted kalamata olives

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper.  In a large pan (dutch oven), heat oil  and add to pan.  Brown on both sides.  Remove chicken to a warm plate and set aside.
2. Add garlic and saute for about 30 seconds.  Add tomato paste and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.  Slowly add the wine, while scraping the pan to loosen the browned bits.  Add in the tomatoes, mushrooms and olives.  Return the chicken to the pan, along with any juices from the plate.
3. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 minutes.

The end result was deliciously moist chicken with a rich tasting sauce.  Little daughter :  Mom, this chicken is good.  YES!  She said that!  And she wasn’t even trying to hit me up for something!  I swear, the band started to play and confetti fell from the sky!  This one goes in the keeper file :)

I served it with a green salad and whole wheat naan.  Good stuff…

I ended the night with a dose of antioxidants ;P

ONE GOOD THING:  Although, I wasn’t able to pin down the feeling that was running my mini-binge this afternoon so that I could try to stop it, the foods that I overate were very different than what I would have chosen in the past.  Normally, it would have been lots and lots of sweets(cookies, chocolate, brownies), then change over to lots and lots of salty( pretzels, cheeses, Doritos, fast food);  those type of things.  But this time, I chose sweet potato tortilla chips, a light string cheese and mixed nuts.  Although I ate a lot of the chips and a lot of the nuts, it was a different eating experience.  I didn’t feel like total crap afterward from the bad fats and loads of sugar.   Basically, what I ate was considered “healthy”, it was just too much of it.  Too much of anything isn’t good and the fact remains that I overate ,ate when I wasn’t hungry and was using food as a crutch.  But, I liked being able to acknowledge that the food choices changed and hopefully, that is a another sign of a step in the right direction :)

Question(s) of the Day:  Are you a “to do” list maker?  Do you find you accomplish more with a list?

Paint + Date

Hey guys!  Sorry for this fly-by post;  I have lots to get done to put Humpty Dumpty the kitchen back together again!

The husband and I sent the daughters off to my parents for an overnight stay so that we could paint without interruption.  It was a work day for sure!  We started bright and early and didn’t finish up until nearly 6:00 p.m.  I made sure to start off with a yummy breakfast.  My Mom gave me some of her homemade fig jam made from the fresh figs in her garden and I was looking forward to trying it out…

I spread some on 2 slices of toasted Trader Joe’s Organic Spelt Bread with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Cheese.  It was delicious!

The husband painted away in the kitchen, while I taped and painted trim/doors in various parts of the house.  Time flew by!  Before we knew it, our stomach were screaming for food.  I decided to just make a quick wrap with turkey, avocado and baby spinach on a Joseph’s Lavash Bread .  I knew the wrap needed some condiment, so I dug around the fridge (which was in the middle of my kitchen!) and found some of this …

That made it!  It was a yummy addition.  I rounded out the lunch with some POPchips crumbs and a juicy pear…

Then, it was back to the grind.  The husband finished off the kitchen and I finished off the last of my downstairs trim and cleaned up our painting supplies while hobbling around.  Back breaking work, but well worth the effort!  We finally decided it was quittin’ time, showered and headed out for a little dinner date to a local sports bar.

We celebrated our hard work with a nice, cold one…

Then ordered a couple appetizers…

Sweet Potato Chips with Horseradish Sauce …

Fried Mozzarella Moons…

My plate ( sorry about the dark pics, they really dimmed the lighting at this point)…

We also ordered dinner.  I went with the Lemon Pepper Salmon Salad with citrus vinagrette.  It was delish and I ate most of it.  I was really craving some greens!

And the husband ordered a GINORMOUS burger with steak fries and a side Iceberg Wedge salad smothered in bacon and ranch dressing…

Heart attacks on plates.  He’s a hopeless cause!  More frustrating, he’ll probably wake up and have lost 2 lbs.!!!

We headed home and plopped in bed for a good night’s rest.  Got much more to do before the daughters get home, but we’re close.  Here’s a sneak peek…

Hope you had a great day!

ONE GOOD THING:  I didn’t go crazy with appetizers at the restaurant and ordered a healthy dinner  =)