Sports filled Sunday

This morning I went to Ride Aid and bought a Sunday edition of the Washington Post.  After talking endlessly with my friend Kirstie, I am going to take some lessons in couponing.  Just looking through the coupon inserts of the Washington Post, made me realize that I have really been throwing money away.  There are coupons in there for virtually everything I buy, its unbelievable. With Kirstie and the help of this blog called Hip2Save.com, I will be starting my money saving.  I am pretty excited because I love saving money, and I consider finding deals a bit of a hobby. This is my coupon baggie, until I make it over to target to get a coupon organizer.

I ordered the Sunday Edition of the Washington post for home delivery, although in order to get some of the deals you need 3 or 4 copies of the post, we will see what happens.  After my coupon clipping it was already time for lunch, and this is the masterpiece I created:

I personally think it looks like a Panini from Corner Bakery or Panera, but nope I made it myself, and it was in fact even more delicious than it looked. Turkey, fresh mozzarella cheese, spinach, tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes on Panini bread from Trader Joe’s. YUM

After lunch and much confusion we went to our last football practice before the season opener next week.  We played a little 4 on 4, and it was a really good practice, despite the number of people.  After practice, Erik and I made a trip to Home depot and bought mulch and flowers!

While we were getting ready to drop the van off at Erik’s parents house, Erik lost his wedding ring! He was going to close the van door and it flung off! I told him to go drop off the car and I would stay back and look for it.  I raked the front yard for about an hour and I couldn’t find it, we were both so upset, but as I was walking to put the rake back I spotted it!!! I guess my raking really did work! WHEW!  We had our usual Chicken Nugget Tortellini for dinner, then headed off to our softball games!  We won both games 11-4 and 14-11, I love softball!!!!!!!!!

Well I am off to bed! 

Good Stuff Eatery is Amazing!

We met our friends Philippe and Oriana this morning in Eastern Market.  We loaded up Erik’s car with Ella and her bed, and headed into the city.  It wasn’t a very sunny day to go walking around DC but we knew it would be less crowded and it wasn’t raining so what the heck!  Philippe and Oriana recommended we go to a place called “The Good Stuff Eatery”, and it did NOT disappoint!

 I love burgers, they are another one of my food weaknesses, and this place had one of the most delicious burgers I have ever had.  I should have taken a picture of the line that formed outside of the place, it was ridiculous.  But we soon found out why people were willing to wait in line.  They had some really yummy mayo dips for the fries, oh my goodness, seriously if you have never been you must go!  We walked around eastern market a little more before heading home, this was Ella in the back of the car while we were driving home:

I think we wore her out! haha. The burger and fries were so filling I skipped out on dinner! Erik had some Cho-nola :) 

Well folks I hope everyone had a great Saturday see you guys tomorrow!

FRIDAY, need I say more?!

I don’t think so, oh how I love Fridays.  Traffic was horrible today, but it really doesn’t matter because the weekend is here!  We decided not to workout tonight, bad I know, but we were both exhausted when we got home.  So exhausted that I didn’t make dinner and we went to Taco Bell.  I really have nothing else to talk about today haha, so I won’t bore you, I will just leave you with the fact that we are going to Erik’s parents house tomorrow morning for WAFFLES!

Have a nice Friday Everyone!

Kenpo Thursday!

I really love the P90x Kenpo workout, Erik and I were talking about enrolling into a karate class, or I was thinking to follow in my friend Kirstie’s steps and start doing kickboxing, maybe next winter. I really like working out at home, because I don’t feel like I am throwing money away during the summer when I would rather be outside playing sports than in a sweaty gym.

For dinner I made another Clean Eating recipe: Chicken Asparagus Casserole.

This picture does not do the meal any justice, I almost didn’t put the picture up.  Here is the recipe:

Baked Chicken & Asparagus Casserole

• 1 Cup water
• 1 Can Campbell’s condensed 98% fat free cream of broccoli soup
• 1¾ Cups cooked wild rice
• 24 Asparagus spears
• 4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 4 Ounces low fat Monterey Jackcheese, shredded

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, whisk together water and soup.
• Spread rice in a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Arrange asparagus stalks lengthwise atop rice, then lay chicken breasts on top.
• Pour soup mixture over everything and sprinkle with cheese.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

After dinner I ate this wonderful dessert that my sister-in-law Anya got me from the Swiss Bakery:

It was a mini cheesecake, and it was fabulous.  She said it was a few days old, and that when they are fresh they taste even better. We also got these Asian Pears from Erik’s parents, aren’t they cute with their little hats on?!

haha, they weren’t as ripe as others I have had, but they are still yummy.  Well folks that is all for tonight! I hope everyone has a great day tomorrow.

Picture Fail, but workout success!

I broke my picture a day challenge *sadface*, but I have a good excuse. It all began at lunchtime, when I decided that I wanted a slice of Costco pizza, if you have ever had one you know how amazing they are.  Needless to say because we have been “eating clean” for the past week, I did not feel well after the pizza.  When I got home I had no desire to cook the dinner I had planned on making, and we had enough leftovers in the fridge so that Erik could have something for dinner, so instead Erik and I took Ella and went for a run.  We ran a mile, then came home and did our P90x Shoulders & Arms plus Ab Ripper workout! It felt awesome, hopefully we can do that again tomorrow.
After our workout I still wasn’t in the mood for anything fancy so I made some Turkey sandwiches for both of us and that is what we had for dinner.  I should have taken a picture of it, because it was a pretty sandwich, oh well.
Well folks that is all for today. I hope everyone has a nice night!

My Baby Car is creating bad Juju in the driveway

I didn’t want to ruin yesterday’s positive post with this news, but as I was driving home yesterday my Flat Tire light came one AGAIN. You may be asking, “Didn’t you just get your car back from the service center on Thursday?”  and my answer to that is “Yes, yes I did!”.  Ugh I am so frustrated.  I called Erik on my drive home and he told me to meet him at the service center.  The scene I was playing out in my head was not pretty, thank goodness I had to go to the bathroom and Erik talked to the service guy.  His name was Mike and he is the first service guy I have dealt with that actually offered up other reasons why my senor was going off all the time.  He re-set the sensor and told me that if it went off again to call him and they would change out the senor.  Thank goodness my car is still under warranty. 

After we got home I got out of the car and Erik turns to me and says, “so guess what, my check engine light is on!”... Really?! BAD JUJU. 

He took his car into the dealership this morning and they told him it was the egr valve.  He says apparently it needs to be cleaned out every so often but the dealership doesn’t perform that service regularly.. I don’t really understand why...  Anyway long story short, because my husband is brilliant and got the extended warranty for this car it cost us $37 instead of $800. Whew!

Lunch today was leftover taco stuff I made into a Taco Salad! It was really good, I used the salsa and the light sour cream as a dressing:

My mom and sister came over for dinner tonight, in honor of what would have been my dad’s 55th birthday.  I miss him so much *sadface*, but I know he is in a better place.  Tonight I made Clean Eating’s Eggplant Parmesan, I didn’t have Bulgur or cous cous so I just used some Uncle Ben’s rice.

Eggplant Parmesan with Bulgur and Pine Nuts

Source: Clean Eating Magazine, Sept/Oct 2009

Serves 6

Olive oil cooking spray

3 large egg whites, lightly beaten

3/4 cup whole wheat panko or bread crumbs

6 tbsp low-fat parmesan cheese, grated

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

2 globe eggplants (about 2 1/4 pounds total)

1 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth

1 cup bulgur (or cous cous)

2 medium tomatoes (about 14 ounces), cut into large chunks

1 tbsp no-salt-added tomato paste

2 cloves garlic

12 large basil leaves, divided

1 cup part-skim, low-moisture mozzarella cheese, shredded

2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Coat 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. Set aside.

2. Place egg whites in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine panko, parmesan, oregano, garlic powder and salt. Trim ends off eggplants and cut each eggplant crosswise into six 3/4-inch slices. One at a time, dip eggplant slices in egg whites, then panko mixture, arranging coated slices on prepared baking sheets. Bake until eggplant is tender and golden brown, about 25 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over high heat, bring chicken broth to a boil. Stir in bulgur, cover, turn off heat and set aside for 30 minutes. (For cous cous: Add cous cous to a bowl, pour in boiled chicken broth. Cover with a cloth or large plate, let sit for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.)

4. While eggplant is cooking and bulgur is softening, combine tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic and 8 basil leaves in a food processor and pulse to make a chunky sauce. Transfer to a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened slightly, 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Remove eggplant from oven and preheat boiler. Arrange an oven rack about 8 inches from heating element.

6. Spoon tomato sauce over eggplant slices, dividing it evenly. Sprinkle mozzarella over tomato sauce, dividing it evenly. Use a spatula to place 6 eggplant slices on top of 6 others, making six 2-slice stacks on 1 baking sheet. Broil until mozzarella is browning on top and melted in the middle, about 3 minutes.

7. Meanwhile, chop or thinly slice remaining 4 basil leaves. Stir basil and pine nuts into bulgur. Serve alongside eggplant parmesan.

Oh this one was also delish! This is a picture of me and my mommy while we were waiting for dinner to cook.

Well we are going to watch “The Kids are All Right”, have a nice night!

Driving with the windows down...

is the BEST thing ever! Days like this I don’t mind my commute, I know can you believe those words actually came out of my mouth!?  It was a bit windy today but I had all my windows down and my sunroof open.  I tried to take a picture of the sky looking through my sunroof but that didn't work, (obviously while at a stop light). 

The weather was fabulous, and we wanted to take Ella for a walk before we did our workout but we had some car problems (I will tell you about them tomorrow).  We did our first day of our modified P90x, I had Core Synergistics, and Erik and Chest & Back, we both felt sick and out of shape, but we were happy to start back up.  I know that we will be back in the swing of things with the next few workouts.
Tonight’s dinner was homemade tacos!

(Ground beef, cheese, black beans, tomatoes, lettuce, Costo’s Organic Salsa) YUM.  I had two and the leftovers I will make a taco salad for tomorrow’s lunch! 

Well it’s time for us to watch “The Event”. Have a nice night!

Waffles, Gardening, Football, and Pad Thai.. all in one day!

Let’s start from the beginning, this morning we woke up and had some leftover waffles, (I like to make lots of waffles one weekend and freeze the leftovers). Erik’s family showed me the most delicious way to eat them (Syrup, Lingonberries, yogurt) YUM. After breakfast we decided to do a little yard work. I should have taken a before picture, during and after picture of this project but all you get the after picture.

We made some flowerbeds in the back corner of our yard, mainly to kill some of the spreading Ivy. This coming weekend, if it doesn't rain, we will make a trip to home depot or Lowes and get some flowers to plant back there, oh and mulch.. we need mulch. I still can’t decide if I want to make a vegetable garden again this year... I will think about that one for a while. Gardening lead to football practice, which was fun, I scored a sweet touchdown! I can't wait to actually start playing games.

Dinner tonight was called “Lean Tofu Pad Thai”, I made substituted chicken for the Tofu. It was a really light version of Pad Thai that didn’t leave you feeling stuffed. Not only that but it was really pretty to cook:

Lean Tofu Pad Thai

Source: Clean Eating

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz brown rice noodles

4 tbsp unsalted tomato paste

4 tbsp apple cider vinegar

3 tbsp honey

2 tbsp Thai fish sauce

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper

Olive oil cooking spray

1 egg white, whisked

2 cups green cabbage, chopped

1 cup bean sprouts

2 green onions, julienned or thinly sliced lengthwise

1 large carrot, peeled and julienned or cut into thin matchstick pieces

12 oz firm tofu, cubed

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

2 tbsp unsalted peanuts, crushed

Lime wedges and additional cilantro, for garnish (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook brown rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together tomato paste, vinegar, honey, fish sauce, lime juice and cayenne. Set aside.

3. Heat a large cast-iron or nonstick pan or wok over medium-high for 1 minute. Mist with cooking spray. Add egg white and sauté until cooked, about 2 minutes. Remove egg white from heat and dice into small pieces.

4. In the same pan, misted again with cooking spray, sauté cabbage, bean sprouts, onions and carrot over medium-high for 2 minutes. Add tofu and cook for another 2 minutes. Add cooked egg white and cilantro, sautéing for another 2 minutes. Then stir in tomato paste mixture. Add cooked noodles. Stir until completely combined and thoroughly heated, about 3 to 4 more minutes.

5. Remove from heat and toss with peanuts before serving. Garnish with lime wedges and additional cilantro, if desired.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 220, Total Fat: 4 g, Sat. Fat: 0 g, Carbs: 38 g,Fiber: 4 g, Sugars: 11 g, Protein: 11 g, Sodium: 510 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg

It was so yummy I think I am going to take the leftovers to work tomorrow for lunch! I’m off to bed! I hope everyone had a good day!

Lazy Saturday, but surprisingly long post

Erik and I slept in a bit today! It felt so good. I live for the weekends, is that sad? Sleeping in, watching tv, and relaxing: I love it! I have to say in addition to sleeping in today was a great food day. For breakfast we made our traditional Saturday morning egg sandwiches. After breakfast we cleaned the house a bit, then we got Ella ready for the dog park. And by that I mean we put on her leash and packed some water, haha. We were going to meet our friends Sundeep and Nalini at the dog park with Nalini’s dog Lucy, but as soon as we were ready to go it started pouring down rain! We got in the car and decided to head towards the dog park regardless of the rain, hoping it would either pass quickly or not be raining where we were going. We were wrong, it starting pouring down rain so hard we had to turn around (it was even “snowing?” at some point in our journey). It was a mess. After we got back home we were both starving so I made my second Clean Eating recipe: “A Better Monte Cristo Sandwich”, compare the one I made (#1) to the picture in the book (#2):

I think I did pretty well! It was a really good sandwich, the crispiness of the pear really added some texture to the sandwich. I used regular turkey from the deli section of the store for this sandwich, and I just spread the egg mixture on the bread instead of dipping the bread in the eggs. Here is the recipe:

A Better Monte Cristo Sandwich (Serves 4)

Source: The Best of Clean Eating

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb turkey breast scaloppini (thinly sliced turkey), cut into 4-oz pieces

2 tsp olive oil, divided

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup egg whites

2 tbsp skim milk

Ground cayenne pepper, to taste

3 tbsp Dijon mustard

8 slices whole-grain bread

1 cup baby spinach leaves

1 pear, thinly sliced

4 1-oz slices low-fat Swiss cheese

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a small bowl, season turkey with 1 tsp oil, oregano, salt and black pepper.

Heat a nonstick sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add turkey and sauté until light golden at edges and fully cooked throughout, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and set aside.

2. In a shallow dish, whisk together egg whites and milk. Season with salt, black pepper and cayenne. Set aside.

3. Spread about 1 tsp (adjust to taste) Dijon mustard on 1 side of each bread slice and place, Dijon-side-up, onto a flat work surface. Layer equal parts spinach, pear and turkey onto 4 slices of bread. Top each stack with 1 slice cheese and another slice of bread, Dijon-side-down, pressing gently.

4. In a medium nonstick sauté pan, heat remaining tsp oil over medium heat.

Using a spatula, carefully dip 1 side of a sandwich into egg mixture (egg mixture should go about halfway up the bread slice when immersed). With your hand on the top of the sandwich and spatula underneath, carefully flip to immerse the other side in egg, then gently transfer to hot pan. Sauté sandwich, turning once, until golden brown and crisp, about 5 minutes total. Remove from pan. Repeat with remaining sandwiches. Cut sandwiches in half and serve immediately.

Nutrients per sandwich: Calories: 420, Total Fat: 7 g, Sat. Fat: 2 g, Omega-3s: 160 mg, Omega-6s: 1,270 mg, Carbs: 34 g, Fiber: 6 g, Sugars: 9 g, Protein: 53 g, Sodium: 750 mg, Cholesterol: 105 mg

After we ate it seemed like the crazy rain storm blew away and the sun came out, so we took Ella for a long walk, I think she was pretty happy about it. We literally got back and sat on the couch for about 4 hours watching our recorded shows aka Biggest Loser marathon! Before we knew it, it was time for dinner!

Tonight I made Chicken Pomodoro with Angle Hair Pasta, it was so absolutely fabulous! The homemade pasta sauce was incredibly light, and the crumbles of feta cheese completed the meal. Compare the one I made (#1) to the picture in the book (#2):

I didn’t use whole wheat pasta because I couldn’t find any at the new Giant I went to, refer back to Friday’s blog, ugh. Here is the recipe:

Chicken Pomodoro with Angel Hair Pasta

INGREDIENTS

12 oz whole wheat angle hair pasta

3 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped

cooking spray

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (4oz each) pounded thin

1 medium yellow onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 lb fresh Roma tomatoes, seeded and coarsely chopped

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2 Tbsp dried basil

salt and pepper

2 oz low fat feta cheese, crumbled

4 Tbsp Italian flat leaf parsley, minced

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside but keep warm.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Place steamer basket in pot and steam carrots in basket for 8 minutes or until tender. Remove carrots from steamer and set aside.

3. Set a large nonstick or cast iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Mist with cooking spray and add chicken. Saute for about 3-4 minutes per side until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from heat and let rest 1 minute. Then cut into 1/2 inch chunks.

4. Heat same skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium, spray with cooking spray, and add onion and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent. Add tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

5. In a food processor fitted with a standard blade, roughly puree carrots and onion-tomato mixture or pulse for about 2-3 minutes. Pour sauce into a medium-size pot and heat over medium heat. Stir in Italian seasoning and basil and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken and cook for another 2 minutes before removing from heat.

6. Divide pasta among 4 bowls or plates. Pour 1 cup chicken-tomato sauce over each portion of pasta. Sprinkle each with about 2 tsp feta and garnish with 1 Tbsp parsley.

Enjoy! We are off to Carpool to meet up with some friends! I hope everyone had a nice day!

Friday’s are “Limitless”

I always seem to get so much done on my Friday’s off, it’s really amazing. After throwing some laundry in, I popped in my P90X “Plometrics” DVD, if you haven’t done Plyometrics I highly recommend it. I did realize that I am horribly out of shape, I guess taking a month off of working out was not a good idea. Oh well, we are getting back into P90x as I talked about on Tuesday, so I will be back in shape in no time.

After my workout, I ran some errands aka went to Giant to get FOOD for the week! Oh man I don’t think I have ever been so excited to go grocery shopping. I am a bit angry and Giant though, who knew they didn’t have Eggplant!? Maybe it was just the Giant I went to (it wasn’t my regular Giant store, bad idea). I should know better than to try and shop in a new grocery store when I have a million things to buy. Anyway I came back and took Ella for a walk and we saw this pretty tree:

Although winter seems to want to stick around, the trees have a different idea. Look even the flower bulbs I planted 3 weeks ago are coming up!

YAY! I still have a bag and a half of flower bulbs to plant, but haven’t been able to because it’s been raining everyday for seems like the last month, ugh. Oh well, I will get to them sooner or later. After our walk, I made myself some lunch:

Yummy chicken salad sandwich, veggies chips from Trader Joes, and an apple. I used the canned chicken from Costco a little mayo, and some cheese. Super yummy. After lunch I doodled around the inter-webs until it was time to make DINNER! Oh man I love cooking, it makes me so happy. Tonight I started making recipes from my Clean Eating magazine, I made “Pasta Roll-ups”.

Pasta Roll-Ups

Ingredients

1 tsp Extra virgin olive oil

1 Small Onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb extra-lean Ground Turkey

¾ tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 (28-oz) jar tomatoes in juice

1 tsp sea salt

8 sheets dried high-protein or whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 (10 oz) box frozen chopped spinach, thawed

1 (15-oz) container low-fat ricotta cheese

1 egg

¾ cup shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese

Instructions

In a large skillet, heat EVOO over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about five minutes. Add garlic and cook another minute. Turn heat to medium-high and add ground turkey, breaking it up with a spatula. Cook until meat shows no sign of pink. Stir in cinnamon and nutmeg, then add tomatoes, their juice and salt. Reduce heat to medium-low, stir, cover and let simmer for 20 minutes, occasionally stirring and breaking up tomatoes with wooden spoon.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, rinse and allow to cool in a colander.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Squeeze all moisture possible from thawed spinach and place in a large bowl. Add ricotta cheese, egg and a quarter-cup mozzarella cheese. Stir until combined.

Spread one cup of cooked tomato sauce into bottom of a 9 x 10-inch casserole dish. Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you. Use your fingers to spread 1/8 of ricotta mixture across the noodle and roll it up. Place rolled pasta, seam side down. Repeat with remaining noodles. Spread remaining tomato sauce over roll-ups, then top with remaining half-cup mozzarella.

Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Remove foil and broil for five minutes or until roll-ups are browned and bubbly.

Nutrients per Serving: Calories: 234, Total Fat: 3g, Sat. Fat. 0g, Carbs: 27 g, Fiber: 5g, Sugars:7g, Protein: 28g, Sodium: 508 mg, Cholesterol: 76mg

This is what it looked like in the book,

After I mixed all the ingredients and rolled up the pasta this is what it looked like before I put them in the oven:

They looked pretty yummy, 25 minutes later:

After dinner we headed over to Bonefish Grill to have some drinks with Sean, Brandy and Hyojon, before our movie. We went and saw Limitless, and I fell asleep because the graphics were making me nauseous. But from what I did see, there wasn't really anything special about the movie.

Okie folks I'm off to bed!