peanut.  butter.  blondies.

i found ‘em on a blog (not a diet friendly blog…but a food blog [which i’ve been looking at lots of lately], none-the-less).  i don’t know why, they just appealed to me.  i’m not that big on peanut butter desserts.  i like peanut butter and sometimes peanuts, but in certain ways.  can’t really spell out how i like my peanut products.  but for some reason, this recipe was a-callin my name!

i ate one - when it was still warm.  and it was yum-dilli-icious!!!  DH had one too.  i think we’re both having one more each, and then i take ‘em to work tomorrow!

i love dessert and sweets.  it can be a problem.  and i like to cook.  and i want to bake more.  but when it’s just the 2 of us, and when both of us don’t really need to be eating these yummy desserts, well, it makes baking hard.  don’t get me started on my mini-cheesecakes (yum-dilli-icous!).  so, i guess my co-workers will just get wind up enjoying some really yummy goodies! 

…and i made my first chicken salad this week!  i only discovered the stuff w/in the past year - before ww!  it was yummy - we had lots of chicken leftover (some rotisserie, some from chicken soup that was made b/c i was kinda sick - more on that in a minute).  so one night DH had a meeting and i decided i was gonna try my first chicken salad.  here’s what i did from a recipe:

chicken

mayo

curry

soy sauce

pineapple

grapes, cut in half

celery

almond slices

i didn’t want to open the water chestnuts, but the recipe called for it

i just threw it all in a bowl and mixed it up.  was pretty good!  so good that i made enough for the next day for lunch!!!

so, i’ve been battling a cold all week.  but it never fully developed.  that’s b/c i’m the worst when it comes to colds — i take forever to get a full-blown cold, and then it takes forever to leave me!!!  so i stopped working out this week - didn’t want to make things worse — and tried to get a little more sleep.  have been taking echinacea, vitamin c, cold eeze, airborne, alka seltzer cold.  you name it, i probably took it!!!  and, we made some chicken soup - with matzah balls, of course - this week.  i’ve had it for lunch just about every day!!!

i feel better - probably b/c i actually got a lot of sleep last night.  we’ll see how things go…i want to go to spin class tomorrow.  hopefully i’ll still feel this way in the morning!

AND…all that soup has led me to drop a couple pounds this week!!!  that, or all the liquids i was drinking trying to flush the bug outta me!

just got home from seeing juno.  hilarious movie!  all i knew about it was that it was about a pregnant teenager, and that it was supposed to be good.  it was hilarious!!!  it was all about the dialogue.  hilarious.  a little on the profane side…so if teenagers w/smart (i.e. profane) mouths is not your thing, then this movie is probably not for you.  hilarious!

it’s been a while since i’ve done that…

had leftover chili for dinner.  pretty good.  and had sweet potato chunks / fries.  not really sure how they were shaped.

and…i tried butternut squash.  i bought a little one at least a month ago and kept meaning to make it.  just never got around to it.  so i tried it tonight.  can’t say that i loved it.  half had salt, half had cinnamon-sugar.  it was ok…don’t know that i’ll make it again.  which bums me out b/c so many people like it!  at least i tried…

BUT, i just remembered that i usually like butternut squash ravioli!!!  yeah…LOVE it…i guess there’s enough sweetness in those that i can’t tell what it is….YUM!!!

…on all my faithful readers!

on my eating!

on myself!

on the scale!

with another interest!

ok…i realize i havent’ posted in a LONG time.  not really sure why…

partiaclly b/c i’ve gotten…cocky.  oh yeah - have i gotten cocky w/my eating.  i’m not even gonna start listing what i’ve been eating these past few weeks.  but my good ol’ dear friend the scale - yeah, the new one i got so i could measure these dang pounds to the tenth, since i obviously was not happy w/whole numbers but had to torture myself even more - knows what i’ve been eating.  b/c he measures it…every day.  he cringes whenever he sees my nekkid self step on him at the butt-crack o’dawn!!!

i keep trying to get back to core.  i really do.  it lasts about a meal!  but that’s it.

oh, and there’s more to my cockiness…it’s b/c i have been exercising the way i do, that i think ic an eat what i want!  well…hello, i cannot eat whatever i want!  that’s how i got into this situation to begin with.

so meanwhile…my latest interest…triathlon!  yeah, i’m ‘training’ for one.  i told some co-workers about one i wanted to do.  now they’re all excited, some have signed up already…and i haven’t yet!!!  i’m the one who got them thinking about it and excited about it…now i have to sign up for it!!!  so i’ve been spending a lot of internet time reading about triathlons and posting on some triathlon boards.

that…and i’m trying to spend time w/hubby (who’s making fun of me right now).  oh, and i got sucked into the ultimate soul-sucker of all — facebook!!!

so…see…that’s where i’ve been.

i’m going to try to be better about posting - and sticking to plan - and having posts about stuff that isn’t just a recipe.

oh…guess who got a new car?

hope y’all are enjoying the superbowl!!!!

This can be modified several ways.  I used 99% FF ground turkey, whole peppers & onions, several cloves of garlic, didn’t drain the tomatoes….and I was bad and used real cheddar cheese.  oh well…this is pretty good!

Baked Spaghetti Squash with Beef and Veggies

INGREDIENTS

1 spaghetti squash, halved and seeded

1 pound ground beef

1/2 cup diced green bell pepper

1/2 cup diced red bell pepper

1/4 cup diced red onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 1/4 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Place squash on a baking sheet, and bake 40 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, cool, and shred pulp with a fork.

Or, use Roni’s method to cook the squash in the microwave.

Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a casserole dish.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the ground beef until evenly brown.

Drain, and mix in the green pepper, red pepper, red onion, and garlic. Continue to cook and stir until vegetables are tender.

Mix the shredded squash and tomatoes into the skillet, and season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Cook and stir until heated through.

Remove skillet from heat, and mix in 2 cups cheese until melted.

Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven.

Sprinkle with remaining cheese, and continue baking 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.

Tonight’s dinner…

except I didn’t have peppercorns but I had capers, so I used those.  It was yum-dilli-icious!  Although, I didn’t flip the tilapia so well, so they broke…not so pretty, but very tastey!!!

Sauteed Tilapia with Lemon-Peppercorn Pan Sauce

FROM COOKING LIGHT

Ingredients

3/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons drained brine-packed green peppercorns, lightly crushed
1 teaspoon butter
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 (6-ounce) tilapia or sole fillets
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons butter
 Lemon wedges (optional)

Preparation

Combine first 3 ingredients.Melt 1 teaspoon of butter with oil in a large nonstick skillet over low heat.

While butter melts, sprinkle fish fillets with salt and black pepper. Place the flour in a shallow dish. Dredge fillets in flour; shake off excess flour.

Increase heat to medium-high; heat 2 minutes or until butter turns golden brown. Add fillets to pan; sauté 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Remove fillets from pan. Add broth mixture to pan, scraping to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil; cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat. Stir in two teaspoons of butter with a whisk. Serve sauce over fillets. Garnish with lemon wedges, if desired.

Yield

2 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional Information

CALORIES 282(26% from fat); FAT 8.3g (sat 3.2g,mono 2g,poly 2.1g); PROTEIN 35g; CHOLESTEROL 92mg; CALCIUM 43mg; SODIUM 739mg; FIBER 0.8g; IRON 1.5mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.3g

woo hoo!!!  down a couple of pounds from a few weeks ago.  not sure how, but i’m gonna take it & run w/it!  hopefully this will help push me to be better about being on plan and droping those last 8lbs!  :)  and thoday, i even left my belt on when hitting the scale!!!

going to buy a new home scale.  i have a coupon for one at costco - i think it’s one of the WW scales.   it should have weight to the tenths. 

tell me this is not crack - when in vegas, of all places, there was a scale in the bathroom!!!  ok….first thought - people are on vacation, they sure as heck do NOT want to step on the scale, esp if they haven’t been on one in ages.  second - how excited am i?!?!!!!  seriously - i’m excited b/c i step on the scale every day!!!  now, i know it’s not for everyone, but it works for me!  so i do!  first day - ugh, not happy w/what it says.  second day - much better - i think i was retaining water from the day before.  third thought - who the heck wants to step on the scale, in VEGAS, after eating gorging at the buffet???  seriously…casino buffets - DISASTER, whether you are on a diet or not.

oh…so the point of the digression above is that the scale in our room in vegas was to the tenths, and i liked it!  that, and our current scale is OLD - DH had it before me, and it’s always been kind to me compared to the WI scale (it’s a couple of pounds less)!  so i’m hoping the new scale is more in sync w/WI scale.

just had some yogurt w/strawberries for b’fast.  i’m still hungry!!!  DH went to awful waffle house house - so glad i didn’t meet him!  they burnt everything!

that’s the beginning of my day.  hoping to hit a triathlon store today!  have a good saturday!

weigh in tomorrow!!! i need to, since it’s been a couple of weeks (while i’m technically at life time, i still want to lose a few pounds - i just haven’t found the motivation for it yet!) not sure if i’ll be able to stay for the meeting, since there’s a BUNCH of stuff that has to be done by DH & I before 11:30. i’m getting thisclose to going to meetings again…just to keep me in check, if anything.

i’m also curious as to how friendly the scale will be…home scale has been all over the place the past couple of days. which reminds me - don’t eat a lot of sodium (i.e. chinese if we go out) tonight!!!

i have been composing this post since at least yesterday, but i don’t remember everything i was going to write!!!

i know the main thing was…let me tell ya how to ruin an AWESOME workout!!!  first of all - let me say how excited i was (ok….really, proud, but i have a hard time admitting that i’m proud of something i do) to run for 45 min straight on the treadmill yesterday.  that is 4.5 miles, baby!!!  the FARTHEST i’ve run before!  woo hoo!!!  so what did i do afterwards?  at the chicken restaurant, instead of getting my usual - a grilled chicken sandwich - i got chicken fingers w/sweet potato souffle!  it sure was yummy!!!  but probably about, oh, 432349871 points!  then last night we went to the neighbor’s to watch the sugar bowl.  so i wanted to bring something - so i made chocolate chip cookies.  it was only my second time to make chocolate chip cookies from scratch - i had a recipe that was for those who think that chocolate chip cookies should be chewey, not crispy.  so i had to try them because, yes, i think that the chocolate chip cookies (and probably just about any cookie) should be chewey!!!  not only did i make the cookies - but i ate the (extra) dough as they were baking.  of course i had to try ‘em and make sure i wasn’t going to poison anyone!  :)  i also got help from the husband and the neighbor - they were busy patching holes in the wall and trying to wire up the living room for the speakers.  i had to reward them for their hard work (it was day 2 of the work for them!).  and the cookies passed their test, too.  again - 239487109587 more points!  and at the neighbors, i had a bowl of chili - probably not that bad - and a couple of chips with guac or 6 layer dip (not sure what was missing - it was out of a container) - and another 1.5 cookies!!!

so yesterday was a bust. 

my biggest challenge is preparing ahead of time.  lunch is killer - i don’t prepare nearly enough for it.  i tried to prep for this week - just for dinner.  i went through my cooking light cookbook and picked 4 recipes.  only tonight did i make one of the recipes.  DH didn’t love it.  he didn’t hate it- but said it was just ok.  i was happy that i made something new, though [i tend to make the same few recipes].  so now i have leftovers for lunch tomorrow - and probably friday, too.

and i plan on trying a few new things - i keep trying to try things - like butternut squash, but i never get to it.

oh - i remember the other thing i was going to say.  it goes w/all my ramblings above.  so one of the things i was going to try - homemade spaghetti sauce.  i told the husband i was going to do this - and he made a face and said “why?” and “no”.  so i put it off…and then i realized that i should make the sauce - it will help w/my meals, like lunch.  i can have spaghetti w/sauce, or use it to season other things.  so maybe this weekend…

ok…i’ve been rambling enough.  that, and i need to look at some stuff for the husband.  happy end of hump day!!!