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scene :) I was tired last night and today was JT's first day of student teaching so it was a bit hectic here trying to get everything laid out etc!
Although I didn't write, JT and I still stayed on track yesterday! No cheat meals yet! (we'll start to fit them in eventually, but we'd like to make some progress first.)
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. We basically spent the day working on the gym and watching football. We also did our grocery shopping for a couple of days - which reminds me: How do any of you break up your shopping? If we go for two weeks or even one full week at a time the stuff sometimes goes bad, or we forget stuff etc... going every few days seems good so far, except I feel like we're spending more money than we would otherwise? Then again, we're eating better and sadly, in our society, eating healthy is pricey!
So we got the flooring in for the living room to gym project and I'd say we're pretty much done. I did a very light workout tonight to test the floor out and get my heart rate pumping a bit and I am SOOO excited! It is SOOO awesome to have a gym in the living room! Once it is completely finished I'll take some pictures to share.
Speaking of pictures, we took our "before" pics finally today. I felt like crying after seeing them and I was so embarrassed for JT to see me like that (so disgusting) I couldn't stop laughing out of awkwardness and discomfort. Its pathetic. Thank God I am working to change that. If any of you need some motivation just take some "before" pics in a pair of short shorts and a sports bra and trust me it makes an impact. I contemplated working out from tonight until April straight after looking at them! haha (but seriously... i really did...)
Ok, so school started today as well and so far so good. I only have one class on Mondays and then the rest of my classes are Tues/Thurs which will be nice because I'll have 5 free days a week basically. Out of the 5 I am taking, 3 of them I only attend once a week, which is nice because you just get it over with. I am happy I'll finally be able to get into a schedule too because I am really slacking in that respect. I can barely get out of bed by 9!
Dinner tonight was amazing as usual. We had Tandoori Spiced Chicken Breast with Grilled Tomato Jam and Herbed Yogurt Sauce over a pita for dinner. (another Bobby Flay recipe may I add Jennifer!!!!)
Recipe -
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon ground cayenne
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground white pepper
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 3 (8-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 pita breads, warmed on the grill
- Tomato Jam, recipe follows
- Herbed Yogurt, recipe follows
Directions
Heat grill to medium-high. Combine all spices and the oil in a medium bowl to make a paste. Rub a thin layer of the spice paste onto 1 side of each chicken breast. Grill for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until slightly charred and just cooked through. Remove from the grill, let rest 5 minutes, and cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch thick slices. Serve openface on pitas: the chicken slices, a few dollops of Tomato Jam, and a drizzle of Herbed Yogurt.
Grilled Tomato Jam:
- 5 plum tomatoes
- 1 serrano chile
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for grilling
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 small Spanish onion, chopped
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Pinch saffron
Heat grill to high. Brush tomatoes and serrano with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill tomatoes and serrano on all sides until charred. Remove from the grill and coarsely chop.
Heat oil in a medium saucepan on the grates of the grill or on the side burners. Add the onion and cook until soft. Add the tomatoes, serrano, balsamic vinegar, and saffron and cook until thickened. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature before serving.
Herbed Yogurt:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Place all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Refrigerate if not using immediately.
What's awesome too is that the herbed yogurt is made with greek yogurt which is very good for you! (and I needed lots of that to cut the spice! it was a pretty spicy one tonight - it was SO good!) Plus, spicy food is supposed to be good for digestion! :)
Weigh in day is Friday - to meet my goal i'll have to be at 173 solid. I know I can do it!
Thank you again for the support everyone!
Wow, no wonder you guys are spending more on groceries when each meal has 800 ingredients, lol!!! It seriously looks DELICIOUS though, so at least you're eating well and excited about your healthy meals, thats whats most important!
ReplyDeleteAnd my dear, you are NOT disgusting, I bet JT things you are amazingly beautiful... don't be SO hard on yourself, jeez! lol. Can't wait to see pics of the new gym! Yay! :)
Heather - I just wanted to reply to your question about grocery shopping. It is such a pain in the ass, but what has worked really well for me is meal planning. I literally sit down on a Saturday morning or Friday night or before whatever day you decide to do your shopping and figure out what we are going to eat every night that week. I look at the recipes and double check to make sure which ingredients we have and which we need to pick up. I also play around with the order the meals are going to be served in -- I think unless you have no life or have a personal chef, it's just not realistic that you're going to have super fresh ingredients *every* day. So usually the first 3-4 days after shopping are days where we make recipes that use a lot of fresh ingredients and by the end of the week we're making more stuff with frozen veggies,. Examples from our end-of-the-week meal rotation: beef stew (beef can go in the freezer until the day before, potatoes last longer than other produce and use frozen mixed veggies), stir-fry (with either tofu, which lasts longer, or chicken/beef/pork from the freezer with frozen stir fry veggies), baked chicken (once again, pulled from freezer) with brown rice and Green Giant Veggies -- they make those really awesome packs that you can find in the freezer section that are only like $1, they serve two perfectly and have lots of great varieties of different types of veggie combinations that are low cal and delicious! It's obvious that you and JT don't shy away from making complicated meals with fresh ingredients, but frozen veggies are a lot more economical, plus they don't go bad. I know a lot of people shun the frozen vegetables, but honestly, they've come a long way and have so many different flavors and varieties now since the demand is high that they're definitely worth checking out!
ReplyDeleteSorry my comment is longer than your blog, hahaha! Keep up the great work!
PS- This is Vicky by the way, in case you couldn't tell by my loquaciousness. I don't know why it's coming up as SeaVixen, nor how to change it, haha.
ReplyDeleteYeah, in addition to what Vicky said, I buy most of my groceries once a week, but usually end up stopping back at the grocery store one more time during the week for something I forgot or suddenly need (this second trip almost always includes bananas, I eat a banana almost every day and they unfortunately do not keep very long!). OH and I buy the green giant frozen veggies too, I bought one kind that was green beans with slivered almonds, and I was super surprised at how fresh and awesome the green beans were.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the input girls. I appreciate it a lot. And I do LOVE the frozen veggies, especially as snacks!
ReplyDelete