Meal Planning & My Superbowl Recap

The weekend flew right past me!  After doing some preparation for the demolition that’s about to happen at my in-laws, we drove back to Indiana just in time for me to take a nice 5 mile run at the gym & watch the Superbowl! 

I was on the treadmill when the coin was being tossed.  Right at 2 miles, and I had to switch machines so I could watch the start of the game.  I made this dramatic leap from one machine to another.  I was thankful hardly anyone was in the gym to witness my craziness!  I typically try to stay quite while running, but I seriously hauled booty, averaging a pace of a 7:40 mile for my final 3 miles!

First, I wanted to get done to see most of the game at home and 2nd the gym was closing at 6, I had arrived a little after 5:15, so I knew I had to be quick with my workout so I was that annoying last person at the gym!

I got back home as the 2^nd half was starting, and Neal poured me a real treat, a Shocktop.  If you follow the Tone it Up plan, you would know beer is a no no, but wine & champagne are okay.  For my nutrition, beer fits just fine! 

 

Neal and I made some delicious food out of leftovers, fruit & veggies as well as cooking up a now rarely eaten treat, cheesy sausage dip!  This used to be something I would probably make monthly, but not anymore!  I don’t need Velveeta in my life that frequently and since I can’t have rotel (no tomatoes) we only added green chilies & hot sausage to this white Velveeta.  (the small bowl is Greek Yogurt & Organic Vanilla yogurt blended for a fruit dip, if I wasn't allergic, I'd add coconut flakes, YUM!)

 

I also treated myself to a black bean brownie with homemade chocolate sauce, Greek yogurt/organic jelly blend & walnuts!

 For this week, I am going to try to go with some simple meals that will be put together with some prep work of cooking asparagus and chicken. 

First, we bought a big thing of asparagus that needs to be eaten, so I’m going to roast it with pepper & sea salt to have with fish, homemade tortilla pizza and possibly my spaghetti squash meal.  I also plan on cooking some turkey breasts to have with the tortilla pizza & spaghetti squash.

Asparagus 2 ways, oven roasted or stove top (what we normally do)
Oven:

• Asparagus
• 1-2 T Olive Oil
• 2-3 Garlic Cloves minced
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• Lemon Juice

To Cook

• Use a plastic bag, put asparagus, olive oil, garlic in the bag and shake/rub until oil is evenly distributed
• Lay on baking sheet and sprinkle with your salt & pepper.
• Bake on 400 for 8-10 minutes, drizzle with the lemon juice before serving, or with Parmesan!

Stove top:

• Water - enough that will cover your asparagus
• Asparagus
• 1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
• Fresh Grated Parmesan - to your tasting

To Cook

• Bring water to a boil on your stove top.
• In the meantime, wash and cut your asparagus into more bite sized pieces
• Boil the asparagus for 2 minutes and drain.
• Put your asparagus into another bowl, drizzle on your olive oil, and toss. Toss in fresh grated garlic (or a few teaspoons of garlic that comes in the jar), and grate the heck out of a block of Parmesan

Weekly Meals:

Meal 1:   Cranberry-Avocado Salad. I had my salad with dried blueberries & rasins because I didn't have dried cranberries & wanted to save money.  I made my dressing with a little less than 1/8 C sugar, instead of the 1/3 C it called for, and I used some of the Raw Natural Sugar I got at the Amish store this weekend.

Easier Candied Almonds
For the almonds, I simply put them on the stovetop, drizzled some honey, and sprikled some cinnamon while they toasted slightly.  They were the perfect amount of sweet!

Meal 2: Fish with asparagus

Simply by putting your fish on the stove top with a little oil or butter, sprinkle on your favorite seasoning, cook about 3 minutes. Flip your fish, sprinkle on your seasoning and cook another 3 minutes! See your asparagus choices above, either on the stove or in the oven.

Meal 3:  Tortilla Pizza – see my post here

Meal 4: Spaghetti Squash with Pesto Sauce, Turkey & Veggies.

To cook your spaghetti squash, put some holes in your squash, turn the oven onto 350 degrees and bake for an hour.  Take it out of the oven and let cool for 5 minutes before scraping out your yummy squash.  You can cook up veggies your choice to mix in.  I plan on sautéing mushrooms, sweet peppers, garlic, onion & spinach in a pan on medium heat while my squash cooks.  Then I will put all my squash, veggies, some cooked turkey and pesto in a bowl & stir together.  Yum!

 

 

Simple & fresh this week.