Quick & Easy

I woke up yesterday with a sore throat...it slowly turned into a cough that made my head pound. My nose isn't running at all...it is all in my throat. Needless to say, I didnt run last night (Wednesday). I have been guzzling water and tea and hope to get this thing out of me ASAP.

Backing up a little bit, Tuesday night, I decided to finish my taxes instead of heading to the gym. Turbo Tax makes it easy. Anyways, I did still manage to fit in a 40 min Jillian Michaels workout - Trouble Zones - courtesy of Exercise TV, on demand. I am really liking her workouts.

Tuesday was a quick and easy dinner - Roasted Red Pepper ravioli from Dipasquales. They have a freezer section with a large variety of their homemade pastas, so I had stocked up the last time I was there. Topped with marinara and grated parm.

In an effort to get in some "green" - I also steamed up the rest of my frozen edamame and sprinkled with a little sea salt.

After dinner, since I was low on salad and sandwich stuff to pack for lunches, I came up with a quick & easy CousCous dish.

Ingredients

• 1 box Pine Nut Cous Cous (follow directions on box, I use the Near East brand)
• 3 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 can marinated bean salad from Trader Joes
• gorgonzola crumbles to taste

Directions

1. Cook CousCous according to box directions.
2. Saute chopped zucchini in a tsp of smart balance, over medium-high heat, until tender.
3. Remove zucchini from pan.
4. Drain beans, but reserve liquid.
5. Add bean salad and some liquid (eyeball it) to the same pan zucchini was cooked in. Cook over medium-high heat until liquid reduces.
6. Mix everything together.
   

This was perfect to heat up the next day for lunch. There are so many things that can be added to this mixture. I used what I had on hand, but chicken sausage would be incredible in this. Actually, that just reminded me that I made a variation on this dish awhile back. Check it out HERE, if you are interested.

I am extremely flattered to have received the following award from Rose, @ On a Lobster Placemat. Her blogs is one of my favorites because she is SO creative! I always look forward to reading what she has to say and seeing what she's eating. She has a new and amazing oatmeal combination pretty much every day - seriously. Thanks Rose!

Last, but not least, don't forget to comment on my Hunger Takes No Holiday post! :)

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Friday Catchup (1.23.2009)

First off, I received an award and wanted to send a big THANK YOU to Lori over at Fake Food Free. I happen to think her blog is fabulous also. She describes herself as a "realistic nutritionist" and is all about having a healthy balance with real food. Sounds perfect to me, so I really enjoy reading her tips! She loves to travel and I think that adds a special "something, something" to her posts because you get to see all the delicious eats from different places she visits.

Food

Dinner on Tuesday night was Mediterranean Crusted Salmon with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Pine Nuts. I went the easy route on this one.

I overcooked this a tad, but it still had good flavor. I am slowly getting back into salmon since I had a bad case of food poisoning a year or so ago after eating a bad piece.

The fish was served with steamed cauliflower that I seasoned with smart balance, parsley, and fresh parmesan.

Wednesday night, we went out to dinner and I had a chicken caesar wrap with steamed veggies. No pics, but I wanted to share because I was proud of myself for saying "no" to the fries. I love fries - like really LOVE them. But I want to try and cut down to just having them as part of a splurge meal every now and then.

Last night, I cooked up a quick stir-fry using Trader Joes Beijan Style frozen veggies, thinly-sliced chicken, Soy Vay Teriyaki sauce, and brown rice.

It turned out pretty good, but I just wasn't into the chicken, so I picked around it. I decided to bake up some tofu using the Soy Vay sauce as a marinade so I could get some protein. These little cubes were caramelized and delicious.

Breakfast this morning was oatmeal. I am all out of fruit, so this combination included:

• 1/2 c oats
• 1/2 c vanilla soy milk
• sprinkle of brown sugar
• spoonful of part-skim ricotta
• spoonful almond butter
• pecans

Mmm. Mmm. Deeeelish. I ate my oatmeal while checking out some new reading material - Cooking Light. A Christmas present from my friend Carolyn that just arrived last night. There are a ton of delicious recipes, so expect to see some in the near future.

Workouts

Last week, I talked about the training program I started and am proud to say that I am keeping up with it! I put together this handy-dandy spreadsheet to help me track my progress against the plan. Here's a peek:

You may have to enlarge it to actually read it. Items highlighted in green have been completed.

I am playing indoor soccer on Wednesday nights, but last week, our team had a bye. This week the game was at 9pm and after my Tuesday run, my lower back was killing me. I ended up going to the gym earlier on Wednesday to do light cardio and a little lifting (not anywhere near my back), but didn't think playing indoor soccer would be a good idea.

Polar Bear Plunge

Tomorrow is the Polar Bear Plunge and I am still nervous. Today is a beautiful day and the temperature is up in the 50s. Why cant it be like that tomorrow?! The temperature is supposed to drop all day tomorrow.

Our plan is to get there around 10am and tailgate until the plunge at 1pm. I am going to layer up, so that I can decide what I want to wear for the actual "plunge" right before. I will probably end up wearing my triathlon outfit. Tri shorts and a wick-away tank. Oh and my scuba booties because someone told me I definitely need something on my feet.

If you have time, check out some of the pictures on the Plunge site. http://www.plungemd.com/

It looks like it is going to be a blast.

What are you all up to this weekend? After the plunge, my goal is to get warm. Then, get some housekeeping done around the blog...and my house!

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First Blog Award

I was so flattered and thrilled to receive my first blog away from Foodie over at Fab and Delicious Food on Friday! She wrote an entire paragraph about my blog and even listed her favorite posts. I felt honored to be part of such a great crew of awardees. Her blog was one of the first ones I found and I think she was one of my first comments on my blog. I especially love her Food/Body Image Philosophy so much because I think it is such a healthy way to think. So thank you Foodie! You and your blog completely rock :)So here are the rules:

1. Post the award on your blog
2. Link to me for giving it to you
3. Link the originating post here
4. Pass it on to five deserving people
5. Post these rules for your recipients

I would like to give this award to the following bloggers:

1. Erica @ Itzy's Kitchen
I am a semi-new reader to Erica's blog, but everything I have seen/read so far tells me she is very deserving of this award. I especially love the restaurant reviews that she and her husband both do because they always make me laugh. Her cooking is healthy with a creative twist that has been inspiration to me with the things I make! Oh and I also love seeing her grocery list!

2. Katie @ Good Things Catered
Katie's cooking is so impressive and I always leave her site feeling hungry! I am in awe at the sweets she creates and getting to meet her in person awhile back made me realize that she is such a sweet person as well! I had the pleasure to taste some of her cooking, so I know that everything she makes is SO delish!

3. Meghann @ The Inner Workings of a College Graduate
First off, she has made some amazing changes in her lifestyle and has the results to prove it. I love keeping up with her progress and her consistency with her workouts truly inspires me. The other reason I love her blog is because of her creativity with food. She comes up with some of the most original recipes I have ever seen! Each time I go to her site, I feel like there is a new, healthy, delicious combination!

4. Jon and MacDuff @ Lonely Sidecar
I think Jon and MacDuff are both hilarious. They cook fantastic food and always make me laugh in the process. Each day, I look forward to reading about the food they cook, their animals, workouts, and hot actors. (the hot actors is when MacDuff is talking though ;))

5. I Run for Fun @ Musings
This is one of my favorites to read because I LOVE the recipes that she makes, especially the Indian food. I always look forward to reading about the running and workouts she is doing or the goals she sets because it inspires me and I feel like I can relate to so much she is going through.

Enjoy your Sunday - I am so excited to write up my niece and nephews' reviews of the JamFrakas! Since these bars are targeted for kids, I thought this would be a great way to get some un-biased kid opinions! I hope to write this today, but there is lots of cleaning to be done since Turkey Bowl is next saturday! Also, Kevin and I are headed to the Redskins/Cowboys game tonight, so look for me on TV. :)

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