Tasty Dinners

So today I got up and slugged through my workout. I really wanted to quit half way through it, but I just stopped watching the time and tried to make it through. I kept hoping to get my "second wind" and and it just never happened!

I didnt have a chance to take more pictures, but I do have 6 for the review tomorrow and thats what matters because it's one more than I need.

I really just had time to wake up, workout and then go to work. It was a good 5 hours, I got a lot done! I printed pictures, read and took notes on a History of Photo chapter and I chatted and looked up recipes on Pinterest. I freaking love Pinterest. I find the best recipes. I'm on a soup kick and I'm always looking for a healthy soup. One of my grad friends works on Sunday and so we just talked and chatted while we sat there! It was a good time.

I follow a couple of people on Facebook who are fitness folks. I follow Chalene Johnson, who is the creator of Turbo Fire and I follow her sister too. And her sister Jenelle Summers always talks about eating turkey burgers and reduced fat feta and using them in all kinds of things like salads and stuff. I also saw one of the bloggers I follow and SHE does a lot of cooking with whole wheat english muffins with caramelized onions and eggs for a sandwich. I was going to cook the turkey burgers anyway so I had one with the onions reduced fat feta on an english muffin, and it was GOOOOOD! So darn good!

I also found a recipe for Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar soup. It was amazing as well. It was 5 servings and I put the calories in on My Fitness Pal and its under 300 calories for each serving. I'll post the recipe at the end of the post! I totally want to share this one. It was beyond good.

I didnt get off until 7, and unfortunately that meant that I didnt get to eat until around 9. I hate eating late, my stomach was gurggling so much while I was cooking. Finally I got to eat the turkey burger with onions.

I decided that its easier for me to cook what I want to eat in advance of my week. I dont like to cook pre planned meals that are already put together because I get so sick of the same thing all the time. I have realized now that its much easier for me to buy enough for two smaller meals during the week that way I can have either one or the other for lunch or dinner. Usually one is something that is easy to throw together. So this week I have the english muffins, and the turkey burgers which I can eat more than one way, I can have it with eggs instead or I can put the turkey in a salad. I also really like to have soup with some kind of steamed veggie. I got a bunch of carrots, but I didnt have time to steam them. I think I'm in love with steamed carrots now. But I can have that another day/night. The best part of all of this, is that I dont get sick of the same thing all the time, and I get to try new things.

I have decided that I love to cook, and I love to try new recipes. I dont think that I ever really admitted it to myself, but there it is! I mean cooking is like making art that you can eat!

I did end up eating a bowl of the soup, even though it got done way later than the turkey. And to top off my day I had six little christmas cookies, all 6 are only 160 calories. They were on sale at the store for a bag for 1.50, so I got two bags. Those will last me more than just this week. I love my little treat at the end of the day. I seem to get so excited for it. Its way better than binging on something that I know I really want. I think it helps with cravings as well.

My goal for this week is to try to start back on the shakeology. I really love my oatmeal in the morning, but I have two whole bags of shakeology that I need to go through, and I really like that the stuff is so good for me. So I got some almond milk and bananas so I can have a shake tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow... I have my first 55 minute workout... I'm almost dreading it. But I am not going to think of it like that. I CAN make it through the workout!

My yummy treats!

Here is my journal for today! I am very happy I have kept this up for 4 days. Usually I cant keep a food journal for more than a day. I just take it everywhere with me.

Here is the recipe!

This is my picture! And I promise its as good as it looks!

I didnt have a stick blender so I just used the regular blender.

Roasted Cauliflower and Aged White Cheddar Soup from Closet Cooking A creamy white cheddar cauliflower soup with a hint of thyme. Servings: 5 servings Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes Total Time: 60 minutes Ingredients 1 small head cauliflower, cut into florets 2 tablespoons oil salt and pepper to taste 1 tablespoon oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon thyme, chopped 3 cups vegetable broth 1 1/2 cups aged white cheddar, shredded 1 cup milk or cream salt and pepper to taste Directions Toss the cauliflower florets in the oil along with the salt and pepper and arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Roast the cauliflower in a preheated 400F oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 minutes. Heat the oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and thyme and saute until fragrant, about a minute. Add the broth and cauliflower, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes. Puree the soup until it reaches your desired consistency with a stick blender. Mix in the cheese, let it melt and season with salt and pepper. Mix in the milk and remove from heat

Tasty Tuesday!

Today was good, I was off of work for MLK day yesterday and so it was nice to be back at work, it totally keeps me accountable in what I'm eating and when. Is it sad to say that my day revolves around my snacks and my lunch? Mainly because I am trying so hard not to over eat. Plus, the thing about eating small meals though the day is that, when it's time to eat, my body is like EAT NOW! And so I do absolutely have to eat every 2.5-3 hours.

The day started out very nice, kinda muggy and by the time I got out to go for a walk with Corey, it was SO COLD! I was in work out shorts and a sweater. About half way through the walk, I was warm from my boobs up, but my belly down was so cold! Either way it felt great to get out and walk. I always dread it, all day long I think about how I dont want to do it, but when I finally get out there, I always enjoy myself. It's even better doing this with Corey, its a good time for us to just chat about our days, even though we do see each other every day, its nice just to get some one on one time when it's not a date night.

So I'm going to do something fun today, I'm going to institute Tasty Tuesday's, mainly because I forgot to take a picture of us walking, so I'm going to take a picture of my healthy dinner. In an effort to eat healthier and to save money we have stopped eating out (this past weekend was a total abnormality-something I'll have to save till later to talk about because I'm interrupting what I wanted to say). And so I am cooking almost every night, which is awesome because 1. it saves money 2. gives us stuff to eat later for lunches, and 3. is very tasty and we know exactly what we are eating.

Tonight is a very good winter food, and is awesome for all the vegetarians out there, because there is no meat, although I did use chicken stock, but you can replace that with veggie stock. (courtesy of Weight Watchers, which I've since butchered and made better)

Recipe: Spicy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil
1 large onion- chopped
3 cloves of garlic- minced
4 cans of black beans
2 cans of corn- drain juice
1 giant can of rotel
2 cans of chicken broth (or veggie!)
2 Tbsp cumin ( I LOVE cumin so I did 4)
2 Tbsp oregano
1 tsp of red pepper flakes (or whatever spicy spice you have handy)
.5 cyan pepper
2 bay leaves
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp pepper

In a giant pot heat up oil, cook onions and garlic about 2 minutes. Add 3 cans of beans, both cans of corn (juice drained off unless you want a sweet taste), the giant can of rotel and the chicken/veggie broth.

Stir in cumin, oregano, red pepper flakes, cyan pepper, bay leaves, salt and pepper.

In a blender blend the last can of beans until smooth, you may have to add some of the broth to get it to blend. (Side note- if you want this to be smooth you can blend all of it, but I like mine chunky, so blend as many or as little cans of beans that you want)

Cook for about 30 minutes on low- partly covered, you want it to simmer and the flavor to develop. You dont want all the liquid to boil out. Make sure that if you blended a lot of the beans, that you will need to keep coming back to stir it because the bean bits like to sink to the bottom

Serve with cilantro or some cheese. Corey loves cheese with it. We did ours tonight with a side of corn bread.

Enjoy the soup, and just remember that you can do more or less spicy, just do it to your own taste, most of the time I dont remember to measure anything.

Happy Eating and Happy Tasty Tuesday!