Friday, June 25, 2010

Book Review, New Recipe, Concert.. Spinning My Wheels

I’ve felt super overwhelmed this week – TOO much to do and NOT enough time to do it. I hate that feeling but have just been having a hard time prioritizing and that makes me miserable!! Anywho, deep breaths, Wednesday was a good day – just lots of running around, squeezed in a haircut, raced home, got ready for the concert and then wanted to RELAX. We had a great time at Chastain and enjoyed the concert – loved seeing an old school favorite. I mean I LOVED Collective Soul back in the day – it really took me back!

Early on before sweating a lot!


A bit later!

They invited everyone to come to the bottom for the last song - so sweet.

We're cheeseballs! Love it!

Enjoyed myself so much that I stayed up too late. Not good! I must say, it was worth it though and fun to go out just me and Austin! I ended up at 2,050 calories, 174 carbs, 50 fat grams and 111 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Thursday I was SO busy with work. Ended up working through lunch and had a headache all day. GRRR. No workouts, just work, work, work. Then errands – dog food for Reuben, batteries for my scale, a gift for this weekend - too much to do! I never marathon cooked this week so threw together a new pasta from Biz’s Cook’s Country magazine!! I made Feta, Chicken & Tomato Pasta. Here’s the recipe I followed (adapted a bit) for FOUR servings (picture to come - sorry!):


8 oz. pasta
16 oz. chicken, diced
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. fat-free feta cheese
1 cup tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp fresh basil, finely diced

Cook pasta according to instructions, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Cook chicken in a large pan over medium heat with olive oil, salt and pepper. Add cooked pasta, cooked chicken, feta, tomatoes and bail to a large bowl. Stir in pasta water, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Nutritional Information: 399 calories, 45 carbs, 6 fat grams and 41 protein grams.

Review: SO good, very fresh and very simple to make – I think it will reheat great and would be good hot or cold. The pasta water melts the feta and it makes a creamy “sauce” that tastes like it would be SO fattening – love it! I think short noodles do the best. Also, the recipe called for parsley instead of basil, and olives, which I omitted since Austin dislikes them!

After dinner, I got back online to do some more work, gathered library books to return, made a list of all the junk I need to do tomorrow and got in bed to read around 10:30. I ended up finishing Leslie Meier’s Star Spangled Murder. I liked the story a lot – there were a lot of plotlines and the murder could have gone a lot of different ways. However, the way it went was random. And not something I could have solved you know? That kind of disappointed me. :( I normally love her books and will definitely try more, but this one wasn’t a great one for me. I’d give it a 2/5. It just needed a better story in the end – it’s like it was all leading up to something that just never came to fruition.

So yes, Thursday was just kind of off for me. I hated missing workouts. Hated not having time to blog/read blogs. Hated having to cook during the week and just felt like I was spinning my wheels and not really getting anything done – sad!! I know today will be better though! I ended Thursday up at 1,692 calories, 227 carbs, 39 fat grams and 97 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Q: What makes you feel better when you’re feeling overwhelmed?

Q: What’s a fun “old school band” you would love to see in person?

15 comments:

Christina said...

when i feel overwhelmed i just have a quiet night in! i'll cook something new for fun, watch a movie, and have a big flat glass of wine!!

Pining for Pinterest said...

I used to love Colletive Soul!!! Oh the memories :) Have a wonderful weekend!

homecookedem said...

Sorry you've been feeling so overwhelmed. Good news, it's almost the weekend!! :) Glad yall had such a great time at Collective Soul!! I love Chastain. Such a great place to see a concert.

april said...

I'm sorry your feeling overwhelmed! Usually a nice bath helps me out! Oh, and talking about it!

Unknown said...

I cannot stand feeling overwhelmed!! I try to avoid by doing as much ahead as possible but it's not always avoidable. If the unavoidable happens, I fix it with wine. :)

Mica said...

I feel overwhelmed all the time. It helps me to make a checklist and then cross of things to help my sense of accomplishment.

The chicken pasta sounds great.

hbobier said...

You look so happy in all your concert pics!! And by happy I also mean gorgeous.

When I'm overwhelmed I take a nap. Maybe that's counterproductive, but I always feel better after a quick one hour nap and then I'm ready to take on anything!

Anonymous said...

I love that venue!

haute.teapot said...

When I feel overwhelmed I love doing yoga or going to a class at my gym. Or listening to music--my ipod, Pandora, iTunes radio. :)

So glad you had fun and you look fabulous!

Anonymous said...

you two look adorable! you look great in yellow, you should wear it more often.

whataboutsummer said...

I love that venue!

Melissa said...

I cannot stand feeling overwhelmed!! I try to avoid by doing as much ahead as possible but it's not always avoidable. If the unavoidable happens, I fix it with wine. :)

haute.teapot said...

When I feel overwhelmed I love doing yoga or going to a class at my gym. Or listening to music--my ipod, Pandora, iTunes radio. :)

So glad you had fun and you look fabulous!

hbobier @ Basil Vodka said...

You look so happy in all your concert pics!! And by happy I also mean gorgeous.

When I'm overwhelmed I take a nap. Maybe that's counterproductive, but I always feel better after a quick one hour nap and then I'm ready to take on anything!

Staci Dombroski said...

I used to love Colletive Soul!!! Oh the memories :) Have a wonderful weekend!