3 New Recipes, Haircut, 10 Miles, Product Review

Thanks you guys! I loved that pasta... definitely a new 'regular' - and we DID have fun on the farm! Pollen is absolutely slaying me... I sneeze about 15x/hour - NO! Hate to hear some of you are suffering, too! :( Aside from my allergies acting up, i've been cooking LOTS of recipes!! Let me back up...

Tuesday was a great day! I started the day with a new breakfast recipe!

Adapted from My Once a Month Cooking

Breakfast Breaded Casserole

4 servings

6 eggs
1 package Jimmy Dean Reduced fat sausage, browned and drained
1.5 cups fat-free milk
1 cup fat-free shredded cheddar
1 tsp dry mustard
8 slices Nature’s Own whole wheat bread

Brown sausage. Mix with eggs, milk and mustard. Stir well. Place in slow cooker. Rip up bread and stir into egg mixture. Sprinkle cheese on top. Cover and cook on high 2 hours, then low 1 hour. Divide and serve.

Nutritional Information: 464 calories, 29 carbs, 23 fat grams and 41 protein grams.

Review: It was really good - super good for reheat too. Although it was QUITE filling. I think next time i'll make it exactly the same way, but for SIX servings instead (to cut down on fat) and then serve it with fresh fruit. Very good - definitely a new regular and I love that it's slowcooker!

After breakfast I worked, then walked 4 miles during lunch and then had a new lunch recipe!

Adapted from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

Pop Up Pizza Pie

Makes 4 Servings

1 pound ground beef
½ cup of chopped onion
½ cup chopped green pepper
2 cups low-calorie spaghetti sauce

Popover Batter

1 cup fat-free milk
1 tbsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 cup flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded fat-free mozzarella cheese

60 grams Trader Joe’s Fresh Mozzarella

Brown ground beef with onion and pepper. Add spaghetti sauce and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside. In a bowl combine milk, oil and eggs. User mixer to beat one minute on medium speed. Add flour and salt to egg mixture and beat for two minutes or until smooth. Spread meat mixture into a 9×13 pan. Top with cheese. Carefully pour batter over cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

Nutritional Information: 479 calories, 41 carbs, 14 fat grams and 46 protein grams.

The pan right out of the oven!

Review: Despite the not so pretty picture (hard to photograph!) it was SO flavorful! We followed the original recipe exactly, except I used red onion instead of white, and red bell pepper instead of green. I was really happy with how it turned out - so different! I liked the batter on top and rarely get to use my mixer - so that was fun!! I'm definitely going to make this again - maybe i'll add some red pepper flakes to make it a little more spicy, and maybe less cheese to make room for calories for turkey pepperonis, which I think would be fab in this!! One thing I loved about it - lots of food - I love a healthy portion!

After work I did 2 more miles (walked 1/ran 1) and the upper body circuit! Then I headed home, visited with Austin and had a few drinkies – GREAT day! I ended up at 2,018 calories, 172 carbs, 56 fat grams and 132 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Wednesday I worked, walked 4 miles during lunch, worked some more then headed to Buckhead for a quick Kroger trip, a Whole Foods stop and to Van Michael for a haircut! I went short! Here’s a pic:

I also got a new product – Thai Kitchen Spicy Chili Marinade! I raced home ready to give it a whirl – YUM.

This is definitely a product I’ll buy again – it’s super spicy and tasty – a little went a long way for sure. Like I had two glasses of water with dinner! Here’s what I threw together when I got home – I call it Spicy Thai Chili Linguine for FOUR servings.

16 oz. chicken, diced
½ cup Thai Kitchen Spicy Thai Chili Marinade
8 oz. linguine
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp dried cilantro
1 tsp canola oil

Cook pasta per instructions. Add large pan over medium heat with oil. Add chicken and ¼ cup marinade. Stir until no longer pink, then add noodles, the remaining marinade and 2 tsp of sesame seeds. Stir until mixed well, divide into 4 servings and top each with remaining sesame seeds and cilantro. Nutritional information: 388 calories, 53 carbs, 4 fat grams and 34 protein grams.

After dinner I cooked a few more new! recipes for the week, watched some TV, read some of my book and called it a night! I ended up at 1,706 calories, 168 carbs, 62 fat grams and 123 protein grams. Here’s what I ate.

Tried any new, yummy products lately? Between this and the cilantro salad dressing from last week i'm loving my new products!

Do you like your hair long or short? I normally go for long... but i'm loving this short look for summer! I'll probably grow it out - it grows crazy fast!

Family Visit and C25K

Definitely have some Laughing Cow fans out there!! Love it! Every time I open the little babybel red wrapping it takes me back to Germany. My family lived there when I was 2, until I was 5. I’ve always been a fan of cheese, and I can vividly remember carrying around that little webbed sack of cheese-filled circles, and then slowly unwrapping them and eating them in 20+ nibbles. Memories!



Anywho, today was another crazy day at work. I just had too much to do, and not enough time to do it. Work ate my lunch again, no pun intended, but I did take a 30-minute break away from the computer to get a load of laundry going to and to makes 6 bacon/egg/cheese muffins for upcoming breakfasts. Then it was back to work! I vowed to log off at 5 p.m. and go STRAIGHT to the gym. But instead, I worked until 6:30, made some guacamole, then headed to the gym at 7 p.m.

I did C25K Week #4, Workout #2! Today I didn’t estimate my calories – I remembered to wear my HRM! During the 30-minute workout I did 2.61 miles and burned 162 calories. I walked for another 9 minutes taking me to 3.25 miles for the day, and a total calorie burn of 202. Not bad! Then I headed back home and removed a new recipe from the crockpot that had been slow-cooking all day. I kinda made it up… so once I taste it I’ll post it if it’s any good. I’m calling it Cream of Chicken Casserole.

After that, I made a Tomato/Mozzarella/Basil Sammy, gave Reuben a bath, took a bath myself and am now settled in bed and back to work. I’ve got LOTS more to do before I leave town tomorrow. Speaking of, I’m off work tomorrow! Basically, my cousin Robyn from Texas whom I rarely get to see (but love of course – we were in each other’s weddings!) just moved to my hometown in Alabama. I know!

Here's a pic of me and her from back in '05 in Texas

Here's a pic of us at my wedding in February '08 - she had JUST had baby #1


And, she just had her second baby girl this week. I know! So her parents (my Aunt and Uncle) are driving over from Texas, and me and Austin are driving down to spend as much time with them as possible this weekend! I’m SO excited! Also pumped to see my parents and to meet up with some of my friends there (although I’m going to need to make a 2nd trip – there’s no way I’ll be able to get in everything I want to!). I will say that I’m SO exited as well because Jason is doing my hair! We go WAY back (i.e. him giving me “the Rachel” in 8th grade). He did all of my dances/prom hair and of course my wedding hair. LOVE him. He’s also cutting Austin’s.

So today I’m wrapping up at 1,517 calories, 170 carbs, 58 fat grams and 90 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. I just realized I never did my goal assessment. I posted my February goals already, which are mostly January roll-overs - and I’m okay with that! But, I’ll have to do the assessment tomorrow!!

How did you do with your January goals?

Do you have a favorite hair stylist?

Haircut!

No time to write - I'm actually walking out the door to Auburn! But wanted to post pics as I did get a lob per your support of my idea - woo!!! Hope you like... War Eagle!! Talk to you guys Sunday.... or maybe tomorrow... i'm bringing the laptop. :)

Hope you like! The true test will be tomorrow when I style it myself.. wish me luck! HAPPY FRIDAY!

p.s. I'm kind of in love with the cut - it feels SO light. Haven't had it this short since I was 16 - yes, over a decade ago - woo!

Haircut Help, New Meal Plan, 15 Best Between Meal Snacks Article and Product Questions!

Before I get into yesterday's crap day and meal planning... I have a burning question. Should I get a LOB??!! Ladies, I've been rocking my current hair style since 2000... seriously! And don't get me wrong. I love it and it's served me well. But i'm OVER IT. At my last hair appointment I asked the girl if she could do anything to my hair what would she do? She said, honestly, that she would do it how it is but if ANYTHING she would do a LOB ala Paltrow. I was excited... what ELSE?! She said nothing. My jaw was too masculine. WTF?! Anywho... i'm been eying the LOB... what do we think?! I made a hair appointment for Friday at 2 p.m. Holla back!!

P.S. I don't rock a middle part...

Looking forward to your thoughts!!

Backing up... Yesterday I felt like a zombie. I looked like crap, felt like crap, the weather was crappy, and work was crappy. I was so busy I had to work through lunch, and after work I headed straight home. Yes, no workout. BLAH. And I had TONS of treats. True story. I was basically like whatever and just ate my way through the day. Shockingly, I ended up at 1,726 calories, 230 carbs, 57 fat grams and 80 protein grams. Here’s what I ate. I thought it was worse….. Still – the calories were from crap, not whole foods by any stretch of the imagination. But…. That’s okay! It happened and I got on track last night, cooked a bunch, put my meals in spark people BEFORE eating them and feel better already. Sometimes I worry I’ll be using Spark People forever. I just have no concept of feeling full, when to quit, willpower, etc., lately! I blame it on the season change. Hehe

Speaking of meals, this was my meal plan for the week – so I made a packet based on this:

Monday: Breaded Breakfast Chicken Sandwiches (b); herbed Greek chicken salad pita (l); beef and bean enchiladas (d)

Tuesday: Bacon/Egg/cheese Muffin (b); Enchilada Casserole (l); pasta with sundried tomato pesto (d)

Wednesday: Breaded Breakfast Chicken Sandwiches (b); herbed Greek chicken salad pita (l); beef and bean enchiladas (d)

Thursday: cereal (b); Enchilada Casserole (l); Ricotta and Beef Manicotti (d)

Friday: Bacon/Egg/Cheese Muffin (b); southwestern chicken & white bean soup (l); pasta with sundried tomato pesto (d)

Saturday (out of town): English Muffin Breakfast Pizza (b); Ricotta and Beef Manicotti (l); OUT (d)

Sunday (out of town): English Muffin Breakfast Pizza (b); southwestern chicken & white bean soup (l); Lemon Pepper chicken with artichokes and mushrooms (d)

But, as you know, life happens, so I had to push this out some as we ate Austin’s mom’s meals rather than our meals so we have leftovers! Here’s is the revised version… and flushed out into next week.

Tuesday: Bacon/Egg/cheese Muffin (b); Enchilada Casserole (l); Green Salsa Chimichangas (d)

Wednesday: Breaded Breakfast Chicken Sandwiches (b); herbed Greek chicken salad pita (l); pasta with sundried tomato pesto (d)

Thursday: Bacon/Egg/cheese Muffin (b); Enchilada Casserole (l); Green Salsa Chimichangas (d)

Friday: Breaded Breakfast Chicken Sandwiches (b); herbed Greek chicken salad pita (l); Ricotta and Beef Manicotti (d)

Saturday (out of town): English Muffin Breakfast Pizza (b); beef and bean enchiladas (l); pasta with sundried tomato pesto (d)

Sunday (out of town) English Muffin Breakfast Pizza (b); Ricotta and Beef Manicotti (l); beef and bean enchiladas (d)

Monday: Sausage/Egg/Cheese Muffin (b); southwestern chicken & white bean soup (l); Lemon Pepper chicken with artichokes and mushrooms (d)

Tuesday: Potato/Egg/Sausage Burrito (b); sweet & sour chicken (l); Chicken Picatta (d)

Wednesday: Sausage/Egg/Cheese Muffin (b); southwestern chicken & white bean soup (l); Lemon Pepper chicken with artichokes and mushrooms (d)

Thursday: Cereal (b); sweet & sour chicken (l); Crock pot chicken tortilla soup new! (d)

Friday: Potato/Egg/Sausage Burrito (b); Cheesy Stuffed Shells new! (l); Chicken Picatta (d)

Saturday: Breakfast Sweet Potatoes new! (b); Crock pot chicken tortilla soup (l); Cheesy stuffed shells (d)

Sunday: Country Egg Scramble new! (b); Slow cooker sweet & spicy chicken tacos new! (l); Wasabi Salmon new! (d)

I’m so excited – I've picked all of my new recipes and can’t wait! (yes, this is the weekend we’re in town ALL WEEKEND – woo!). I still need to make a packet for the second week – but the original first week packet is ready to go so if you want it just shoot me an email! (unless someone knows a way to link to word documents on here??!!)

BTW - I came across a great article today in my Eat This Not That newsletter: 15 Best and Worst Between Meal Snacks. I liked how it divided it up by different types of snacks, then showed what’s better or worse. And of course I always like when products I eat on the reg are in the “eat that” category. Where’s my gold star?! I got info from it – I want to find Dr. McDougall’s Ramen Chicken and popchips!! Anyone had these products? Like/dislike? Know where I can find them? Holla!

I’ll post today’s stats/exercises tomorrow – for now, I’m out!! TTYL!