Crumpled to the floor like an old napkin....

Days to the Wedding: 73
Pounds Lost:11 (Back on track!)

Happy HUMP DAY friends...It feels like it should be later than Wednesday! Who agrees?

Weighed myself this morning and finally got rid of that pesky pound! Tuesday was a pretty good day.  Tried a new recipe (you will see below) and we received another RSVP, but nothing else out of the ordinary.    Unless you count what happened during my work out? But more about that later. 

Breakfast: 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothie 

Lunch: 

Asian Inspired Salad Jar

Dinner:

Sausage and Quinoa Stuffed Acorn Squash

Tuesday's dinner was adapted from a recipe I found here on the Messy Baker Blog

According to MyFitnessPal the original recipe is 776 calories per serving (1/2 a stuffed squash). 

Here is my recipe rehab:

4 Servings | Total time: 1 hour

2 Acorn Squash, halved and seeded
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery

1 clove minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1 T dried thyme

1/2 cup diced apple
1/4 cup raisins

2 cups cooked quinoa

2 T Olive oil

1/2 lb Jeannie-O Mild Turkey Breakfast Sausage Lean

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Salt

Pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F
2. Place your acorn squash halves on a baking sheet and drizzle each half with 1/4 tsp of olive oil and season well with salt and pepper.  Roast them for about 45 min until the squash is fork tender
3. Meanwhile, as your squash roasts, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add your turkey sausage to the pan and brown.  
4. Add the onion, celery, garlic, red pepper flakes and a pinch of salt & pepper.  Cook this for about 5 min until the onion is tender and translucent
5. Remove your pan from the heat and add your chopped thyme and rosemary.  Stir in the quinoa, apples and raisins.  Season your mixture again with salt and pepper to taste.  
6. Scoop the mixture into the roasted acorn squash halves.  Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for 10 min.
7. Serve immediately

And the final reveal.  1 serving of my rehabbed recipe: 404 Calories!

The bold ingredients above are what I substituted or reduced: 

• 1/4 Raisins vs 1/4 cup Cranberries - 123 cal vs. 92 cal...

...In this case, this was purely a "what I had in the house" substitute.  

• 1/3 c Parmesan vs 1/4 c Parmesan - 144 cal vs 108 cal

...That's 36 calories saved!

• 2 T vs 3 T Olive oil = 358 cal vs 239 cal

 ...That's 119 calories saved!

• 1/2 lb Pork Sausage vs 1/2 lb Turkey Sausage Lean - 800 cal vs 275 cal

 ...  That's an incredible 525 calories saved!

For a grand total of...372 calories rehabbed per serving!

This was my first time having acorn squash.  I love all other squashes I've tried, so it's not a surprise that I loved acorn squash as well.  Tony also enjoyed the dish.  I know this because he put it in the "Definitely making this again" category.  Funny side story though... Tony's was eating it and kept saying it tasted "buttery".  I didn't understand why he was saying it when finally I asked if he knew it was acorn squash...the whole time he said he thought it was butternut squash.  Hence "buttery" -__-

Anyway, butternut squash has some great benefits besides being delicious.  According to livestrong.com one serving of acorn squash boasts 37% of you daily value for vitamin C.  Not only that, it is also a great source of potassium.. 26% of your daily value!

I will definitely have to find more recipes for this scrumptious squash!

Exercise:

Zumba: 20 min  - 278 Calories burned

I did a 6 min warm up on my own to loosen the muscles and get my heart rate going.  Then I did a previously shared Zumba video again.  About 2 min before the end of the video I jumped and landed wrong on my ankle.  I crumpled to the ground like an old napkin.  Fortunately, Tony was home.  Unfortunately, he fell asleep in the basement.  So here I am hoisting myself up onto the couch nearly in tears yelling for him.  Finally he wakes up and retrieves a bag of frozen peas to relieve my clumsiness.  After resting for the rest of the night, nothing looked swollen and it was a little tender to walk on, so I think I'm ok! This morning this is still a dull pain, but I'm not limping or anything.  I Might have to take it easy for the rest of the week and stick to arm and ab workouts or things that don't require too much standing and definitely no jumping! 

Due to resting, I did not get around to measuring myself.  I want to get this done by the end of the week!

I found an article on All Womens Talk that shared 7 metabolism boosting breakfast foods.  Here is their list:

1. Eggs
2. Oats
3. Green Smoothies
4. Berries
5. Protein Shakes
6. Ezekiel Bread 
7. Avocado

Much to my surprise, this is mostly what I have been eating for breakfast since I've started my diet! I love berries so I think maybe we will pick some of those up this weekend if I see them on sale and I think Tony said avocados on sale for 49 cents at Valli Produce this weekend! 

Question of the day: What are some blogs, sites, resources you use to help you stay on track? I'd love to check them out!

Tuesday Roundup:
1190 calories eaten / 350 calories burned / 5020 steps taken

I've forgotten to leave u with inspiration and motivation! 
xo mandie

NO you cannot have the kids meal!

Days Until the Wedding: 74
Pounds Lost: 10lbs

Well, we made it through Monday and  we're one step closer to the weekend! Today's blog is packed with recipes.  Every single meal I had today I've provided a recipe for, but before we get into that... 

Let's talk about how excited I am that I am starting receive RSVP cards in the mail!! Anyone who has received my invitation might not have noticed something about the RSVP card that is unusual.  Yeah... I forgot to put a line for declines... Whoopsies.  So either I'm forcing everyone to come, or I'm going to have to make some phone calls! 

For anyone who is asking what is the chicken dish, and what is the vegetarian dish and what is the kids meal?  Here it is: 

Chicken: Chicken Toscano - Chicken breasts topped with roasted peppers and onions in a white wine sauce, with asparagus, carrots and garlic smashed potatoes

Vegeterian: Pasta Primavera with a tomato cream sauce

Kids (12 & Under): Chicken fingers with french fries

And for the MILLIONTH time. NO you cannot get a kids meal unless you are a kid.  Sure it was funny the first two or three times I heard it...but apparently all my friends and family have the same sense of humor.  -__- Plus If you want the kids meal that also means you're foregoing the open bar. Just saying.

Alright here was yesterday's food adventures...

Breakfast:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Smoothie - 448 Calories
This is the best smoothie I have made yet. So delicious and though it is 448 calories there is 23g of protein and kept me full all morning to lunch. 

Here's the breakdown:

1/4 c Rolled Oats

1 T Chia Seeds
1 C - Skim Milk

1/4 c Light & Fit Vanilla Greek Yogurt
1 tsp Cocoa Powder

1  medium banana
1 T Creamy Natural Peanut Butter

1. Ground the oats and Chia seeds into a fine powder in your blender.  The finer you grind it, the smoother you drink will be.  

2.  Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth.  

3. Chill in the fridge for a couple hours, or even better, over night.  

4.  Shake when ready to drink, add a straw, and enjoy.  

Lunch:

Asian inspired Salad Jar - 285 Calories

Ingredients in layer order:

1 T Chopped peanuts

5 chopped baby carrots

1 chopped stalk of celery

1/3 chopped green pepper

2 T chick peas

3.5 oz Sauteed Chicken 

2 Cups Spring Mix

Dressing - 18 Calories (1 Tablespoon at the bottom of the jar)

3 Garlic Cloves

1 chopped green onion

1/4 cup chicken broth

2 T Rice vinegar

1 T Low sodium soy sauce

1 T sesame oil

Put everything in you blender and blend until smooth and emulsified.  I actually used my immersion blender.  Incredibly flavorful dressing-- but you will definitely need a piece of gum after lunch!

Dinner:

Miso Swai with Cauliflower Mash and Sauteed Eggplant
Miso Swai Fillets-160 Calories per serving

Ingredients:

2 - 4oz Swai Fillets defrosted

Glaze:

2 T Trader Joe's light Miso

1 T Soy Sauce

1 T Sesame Oil

1 T Honey

1. Mix all glaze ingredients in a small bowl.  

2.  On your swai fillets use a basting brush or spoon spread the glaze on one side of each fillet.  

3.  In a lightly oiled pan/skillet heated on medium high heat, place your swai fillets glaze side down and cook about 3-4 min.  

4.  While one side is cooking spread glaze on the uncovered side of the fillet

5. Flip the fillets and cook another 3-4 min until done

Swai is an awesome mild white fish to try and cooks up SO fast.  It's very inexpensive too! 

Cauliflower Mash - 64 Calories per 1 cup serving

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam cauliflower until tender 

2. Transfer cauliflower to a bowl and add remaining ingredients

3. Use immersion blender to blend your cauliflower until smooth or desired consistency

4. Serve

If you are using a regular blender, you will probably have to blend the cauliflower in batches and then add in the remaining ingredients at the end because you don't want it to explode out of your blender.  

Cauliflower mash is amazing.  I think it tastes SO similar to mashed potatoes that I don't feel like I'm depriving myself.  Like mashed potatoes you can add in or top it with whatever you'd like but it's way less calories! I encourage everyone to try it.  Cauliflower is SUCH a good substitute for some of my favorite carbs, and it's become one of Tony's too.  He didn't even like cauliflower before I started cooking it! 

Sauteed Eggplant - 84 Calories per 1 cup serving

1 Medium eggplant cubed

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 T Low sodium soy sauce

1 T Sesame oil

1 Green onion chopped

1.  Add garlic to a lightly oiled pan and saute on medium heat for 2-3 min until fragrant and lightly browned.  

2. Add eggplant, soy sauce and sesame oil.  Saute stirring occasionally for 15-20 min until eggplant is tender.  

3.  Add green onion at the end and saute another few minutes

4. Serve

I just read an article that said Eggplant is a low calorie food that keeps you full.  It's a great source of fiber, vitamin B1, copper and potassium.  I honestly prefer the Chinese eggplant rather than the Italian eggplant.  I just feel like it's more tender and cooks much more quickly.  Of course I also love it when it's dipped in egg and fried...hmmm maybe I can try to do a low calorie tortang talong (my Filipino readers might appreciate this).

How am I doing on my goals?

• Do 45 min of Cardio and 15 min of targeted training - AT LEAST 3 times a week

Ok, so yesterday I started doing some jumping jacks...I did 100 to be exact. And then I was going to do abs... And again. I got lazy.  I know, boo on me.  TONIGHT. I promise you guys I will get a workout in.  Or...Someone suggest some sort of "punishment" for me.

• Find alternative post-workout snack/smoothie *The one I have now is only 155 calories with almond milk, but I've seen others that are less.  Also, I have to research more on this whole "multi-release" protein deal.  Someone said if I'm only have one shake a day that's what I need...  I don't know what it means... Maybe someone can elaborate on this for me?

Have yet to research this.... anyone out there have suggestions?

• Take body measurements to enter into MyFItnessPal

Also will do this tonight!

• Research metabolism boosting breakfast options

This will be on a blog this week!

• REALLY try to get 8 hours of sleep a night

Sunday night I got 7 h 20 min, last night I got 6hr and 57 min....I'm doing better than last week!

• Try not to stress about the wedding

All my bridesmaids have their dresses! Now we have to work on the church stuff!

Question of the day: 

If you were a shoe...what kind of shoe would you be? Where would you go...where have you been? What would be stuck on the bottom of you?

Monday's breakdown:

1204 Calories Eaten / 64 Calories burned / 4111 Steps Taken

Catch y'all tomorrow! 

xo mandie