This past week was a real wake-up call for me.

After a vacay of indulging in food, wine, beer and more food/wine/beer, it was time to reset things and start practicing good habits again. {Rob’s mom asked him if ALL we did was eat and drink on that trip and I thought, “Yeah, pretty much!}

I know Biz, is going to scrunch up her nose at this one, but one of the things I learned this week is how much I love diced, crunchy, raw onions on top of things! Seriously. I got the idea when I followed suit in the picture of this Chocolate Chili recipe. I learned in our cooking class last week that soaking and rinsing your onions can take out the bite of that strong onion flavor that can stick with you all day, too.

I also had so many tomatoes leftover from the Farmers Market that I’ve just been chopping them up and putting them on top of anything!

So let’s see how I did following the plan this week:

Last Week’s Food:

• Dinners
  • Monday – Cheesy Beefy Skillet Melt
    
  • Tuesday – Lazy Girl’s Chicken Enchilada Casserole (with pork) <<–You must make this! It would be even easier if you have leftover sauteed or shredded pork or chicken. It makes great leftovers, too!
  •  Wednesday –  Spicy Thai Basil Beef Instead, I chose to make this Chocolate Chili I mentioned above. It’s a keeper, especially for Rob, who’s allergic to beans! We like spicy, so the only change I made was to add some extra cayenne and hot chili flakes.
    
  • Thursday – Cooking Class! We made beef carpaccio, ricotta and sweet potato stuffed ravioli, meatballs and tomato sauce and cannoli. It was the perfect amount that I didn’t feel stuffed.
  • Friday – Poker Night – We had Happy Hour at the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe. I had the half-priced Chicken Kabob Munchies, a Surly Furious IPA and some Turkish Coffee!
  • Saturday – Engagement Party
  • Sunday – A cup of Chicken Wild Rice Soup and a Strawberry Balsamic Steak Salad at McHugh’s.
• Breakfasts –
  • Peanut Butter Toast
  • Protein Granola with Milk
• Lunches
  • Buffalo Chicken Salad with crackers + pear or applesauce + Laughing Cow-stuffed mini peppers + Chobani yogurt – Next time I’m going to stuff the mini peppers WITH the Buffalo Chicken Salad!
  • Caprese Salad + pear or applesauce + Laughing Cow-stuffed mini peppers + Chobani yogurt
  • Leftovers

Last Week’s Fitness:

• Monday – Walk on Treadmill – 30 minutes!
• Tuesday – Pilates – Walk/Run on Treadmill – Tried the Jillian EASY level program. I couldn’t complete it at her inclines and speeds. But I did 30 min, nonetheless. Something to strive toward!
• Wednesday – Walk/Run on Treadmill – Easy Pilates – Yeah, not so much. It’s amazing how much I can’t do still, with my back. I think I’m going to go back to doing my PT exercises.
• Thursday – Elliptical in am – 20 minutes!
• Friday – Elliptical in am REST
• Saturday – Walk REST
• Sunday – Pilates Walk/Run on Treadmill – 26 minutes
• 30-day Arm Challenge – Didn’t start until Wed and only did two days. It’s easy and quick, so there is no excuse not to do this.
  

Now for this week…

Food:

• Dinners
  • Monday – Spicy Thai Basil Beef – Rob’s been begging me to make this, although I’m not sure why. He doesn’t care for bell peppers. {I’m going to substitute onions.} He’s allergic to fish, so I”ll need to substitute *something* for the fish sauce. {Although I’m quite certain all of the Thai take-out he’s had is probably made with fish sauce and he is still alive.} And he just told me last week that he’d prefer I’d made green beans on the side rather than in a dish. WHAT?! I’m going to half the recipe, just in case it isn’t a keeper.
  • Tuesday – Pork Chops this way – most likely with green beans on the side.
  •  Wednesday –  Meatballs with Tomato Sauce –  just like we made in class last week!
  • Thursday – TBD – I’m having the girls over for dinner. It will be some sort of chicken or fish! Got any favorite recipes? I don’t get to cook those two proteins very often!
  • Friday – Dinner night out with the girls
  • Saturday – Leftovers for lunch, dinner out
  • Sunday – Leftovers
• Breakfasts –
  • Egg Rolls – they aren’t what you think!
  • Magic Smoothies
  • PB on toast
• Lunches
  • Leftovers + 1 piece Dove Dark Chocolate + applesauce or Chobani yogurt

Fitness:

• Monday – Walk on Treadmill 
• Tuesday – Walk/Run on Treadmill 
• Wednesday – Walk/Run on Treadmill
• Thursday – Elliptical in am or REST
• Friday – REST
• Saturday – Walk
• Sunday – Pilates
• 30-day Arm Challenge – Let’s give it a real go this week
  

What is your favorite quick and easy chicken recipe when you have company?

Cheers~
Carrie