Tuesday

Had all my stuff out to go to the gym today – after all, my lower body works fine! But after getting up and trying to put on my socks, I gave up and got back in bed. I haven’t had a rest day in a while, so I figured there’s no better day than today to take one.

Got up after 10 hours of sleep and had leftover Swiss Oatmeal and coffee.

Swiss oatmeal:

• steel cut oats
• 2 oz milk
• 2 oz yogurt
• date
• dried apricot
• 1/2 an apple
• cinnamon
• chopped almonds

Cooked the oats, stirred in the rest. It was pretty good!

We have a lunch at work today and I have no idea what it is. I’m bringing a yogurt and apple to be save.

Ouch!!

Note: gross photos ahead!!!

Monday I wasn’t feeling well and stayed home from work. When I started feeling better, I went to cut open some frozen salmon to defrost for dinner and jammed a knife through the two salmon patties and into my finger……….3 hours in the ER, almost fainting twice, 4 stitches, 3 PAINFUL needles, lots of tears, a tetanus shot later, here i am. My finger was stiff all day but didn’t hurt too much.

I noticed this cut on the opposite side of my finger….now there’s no way the knife came out the other side……right??? But where else could this have come from!?!?!?!? It hurts more than the cut part!

Here’s a photo recap of some meals. Husband made the best butternut soup while I sat meekly on the couch. He used Pacific butternut and carrot soups as the base and simmered carrot, parsnip and squash in it, then pureed with our hand blender. It hit the spot!

Yogurt and cranberry sauce:

The evil salmon burgers with butternut fries and sugar snaps:

And a pumpkin cake for dessert (made with egg whites and cocoa!)

Sunday Recovery

Guess whose is who’s!?!?!

Took is easy today after a whole weekend of eating (and slept until 8:00!!!). Went to the grocery store, played online, did some cleaning. I went for another 5-mile run at 4:30. My legs were really stiff and sore by the end (not sure if it was the colder weather or the fact that I never allow myself to run two days in a row). For dinner, the husband and his mom cooked me a delicious meal – but it had to be under 400 calories! I splurged on the wine and half a cookie, but I’m still under net. It was a fun day!!

Breakfast:
Had yummy oatmeal with apple and almonds for breakfast. And lots of water!

= 337 calories

Lunch:
I picked up some chicken breasts at the grocery store and husband cooked one for lunch. Had it on a bun (I had to get the kind with HFCS because I went to Harris Teeter instead of Earth Fare – ugh!). Had a slice of havarti and lettuce on the chicken.

Got some of these tiny sweet peppers and had them with 2 tbsp of Wild Garden Bean Dip (which is only 35 calories for 2 tbsp!!)

I also got some radishes to try, as I’ve never really had them. I didn’t really care for them raw (they were too much like onions) but I LOVED them cooked – just like potatoes! We sauteed them for a minute in a skillet.

I couldn’t stop the Kashi cracker craving….I had 10

All together for 480 calories:

We have our Halloween candy in stock – and the husband and I split one after lunch!! 45 calories that were SO not worth it!

Snacks:
I made cranberry sauce again and had a little of that and had 2 more Kashi crackers and a bite of apple. I also cooked some Swiss Oatmeal (steel cut oats made with dried fruit, nuts, milk and yogurt – you’ll see tomorrow) and had some tastes of that. Probably about 50 calories worth of licks?

Dinner:
Husband cooked me a fabulous dinner with the assistance of his mother and her boyfriend. We had a lovely Sunday night dinner, complete with wine! Husband sure is a fabulous cook!!

Cocktail hour:

“Paella” of lobster tail and pan-seared scallops with sun-dried tomatoes, jalapeños, roma tomatoes and sweet peppers, served over risotto, topped with capers.

After dinner I split a frozen oatmeal cookie with the husband. Delicious, but worth 100 calories? Maybe not…

Entree calories: 400

Dinner calories: 690

Sunday calories: 1617

-471 in run, shopping and housework

=net of 1146. And keeping it that way!

Argh, Computers!

My computer is up and running again, but the internet is NOT! After spending another hour on the phone with Dell, it looks like I’ll have to re-install Windows. Thank goodness the husband is there to help out. I backed up all my music and photos last night, so I’ll have to start with a clean slate tonight getting everything set up again.

AND – I forgot my camera today at work!! I have last night’s dinner (Mushroom Soup) and breakfast (Banana Oatmeal) to post. Sorry, folks! Husband is coming for lunch and should be able to bring camera.

I’m SO stressed out right now. It’s one of those weeks where I can’t take deep breaths. I just need some time to decompress. We slept in an hour later today to catch up on sleep and then did a 4.2 mile run, which is always hard, but only burns 320 calories and leaves me a little short for the day.

Sigh…. I just need a day off!

Lentils

Gotta take a moment and pay homage to lentils.

First off, they’re a SuperFood, top of the charts with protein and fiber inversely with fat and cost. And they’re full of nutrients – iron, B vitamins potassium, folic acid, flavonoids, and more.

And could you find a cheaper SuperFood? Our bag, which yielded about 6 cups, was only $.79!! I wanted the richer red lentils for $3.49, but husband pointed out the brown ones were much cheaper and so we ended up with them instead.

But they were delicious!! After cooking a HUGE batch, I portioned them into 1/2 cup and 1 cup tupperware containers. 1/2 a cup is about 120 calories and makes a perfect topping for salads or just nuked on their own. They have a texture that I just love – sort of chewy and satisfying (I’m a big “chew” person when it comes to texture) yet they’re not as mealy as beans can be.

Those of you looking for healthy “to-go” items, make a batch of lentils on a Sunday and you’ll have lunch AND dinner for the week! They’re great room temp. too, which means they’re easy to pack.

I’m going to attempt a lentil salad later this week, so I’ll share that recipe when I do.

Dinner Suggestions

Anyone here today?

I’ve got leftover sliced turkey and apples. I’d like to combine them, perhaps by simmering the apples until they’re soft and incorporating the turkey somehow? A pasta dish? A sandwich? A soup?

Also available to create a dish:

• Avocado
• Wheat bread
• Pasta
• Rice
• Frozen green beans
• Frozen peas
• Frozen sugar snap peas
• Carrot soup in a box

Help!

(You can post comments by clicking on comments, if you didn’t know : ) )

Snacktime

Lunch held me over pretty well! Hunger beckoned at 4:00 and I had a leftover vitamuffin. They’re good, but they’re SO small! (Despite this picture, which makes it look huge!)

I’d love another snack, but I’m hoping this will tide my hunger until dinner….which will be later tonight. Not until around 7….hmmmm…..But I can have a glass of wine to tide that hunger!

10:30

It’s 10:30 a.m. and my stomach just growled. So much for a smaller breakfast!! I miss my huge one from yesterday : ( Tomorrow AM I’ll do another big smoothie and some hearty grains with it.

9/11

I also want to acknowledge this important day in U.S. History. I remember back to my freshman year in college. I was still asleep (didn’t have class till 11:30) when someone came into my room saying “A plane crashed into the pentagon.” I pictured a small private plane crash nearby and didn’t think much of it. When I started to see people gathering in the lounge, I made my way in to watch TV. That’s when the second plane hit the WTC – I saw it happen live.

That day was so eerie. Almost like a dream. Or a movie.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood [and sisterhood]
From sea to shining sea.