I Missed Racquetball

I got to sleep in (kinda) today again. Since I planned on playing racquetball after work, I decided to plan my lower body routine for lunch time. I set my alarm for 7:20, but woke up on my own at about 7. I decided to make my French press coffee and watch the Today Show. I was so excited to see a commercial for Vegas Uncorked! My friends and I are going to the Grand Tasting next Friday. I'm so excited!


After fantasizing about all that food I'm going to try, I realized I needed to get my butt to work. I arrived at my desk to see 5 dozen donuts laying on the table next to my cubicle. The good part and the bad part was that there was no Boston Cream...those are my favorite...and probably the worst for you. I settled on a chocolate glazed for 230 calories, not too bad.


My sugar crash (courtesy of Dunkin Donuts) made me exceptionally hungry. I had lunch at 11:45...my last day of turkey wrap, hummus, and peppers. Then off to the gym!

Today's workout...
Seated Hamstring
Seated Quads
Wide Leg Deadlifts
Seated Leg Press
Planks
Stretching

My afternoon snack was a strawberry Chobani with a crumbled in roasted almond Kashi bar. Racquetball was a blast...I forgot how much fun it was! Plus you work up a good sweat.


Dinner was my last night of chicken, Eggplant Tomato Bake, and corn. I figured out the perfect way to reheat it is to put both in the oven at 350 for 7 minutes. I skipped dessert tonight, since i had enough sugar this morning. Now off to my last conference call for the new Beachbody new coaches series. I'm so excited to start my new program on May 11th!

Calories: 1,592
Net Calories: 1,203
48% Carbs, 22% Protein, 30% Fat

Bison Like Cheese

I decided to take today off from my workout routine to run some errands. I desperately needed to get my oil changed and do some laundry. Tomorrow is back on schedule, with lower body during lunch, then playing some racquetball after work.


I grabbed my breakfast at work today, a colby jack stick and a FiberPlus bar. My bison loved the cheese! haha. I must have been really bored.


At 11:30 I went to get my oil changed and they had free Flavia coffee. I love playing around with those machines, so I decided to go for the Costa Rican coffee packet. I have to say, it was pretty good!

For lunch I had the same as yesterday...turkey wrap with peppers and hummus. I experimented with my snack today. Over the weekend, I baked some ripe plantains (sliced & sprinkled with cinnamon for 15 minutes on 375). I had some plain yogurt too, and decided to mix them up. It was just ok. Maybe I'm just not used to eating them that way? Let's just say I won't do it again.


My dinner tonight is baked chicken with my eggplant tomato bake. I also ate some corn, cut off the cob, fresh from Florida (yes, we actually have delicious corn here)! My dessert was a couple of pieces of Ghirardelli dark chocolate. I love how I can eat something delicious for just over 100 calories!

Total Calories: 1,322
Net Calories: 1,322
48% Carbs, 25% Protein, 27% Fat

Dewey's for Dinner

Early AM & Workout

I mixed it up with my protein shake this morning. I used 1 scoop BSN Lean Dessert, 1 tbsp PB2 (chocolate flavor, but I like the regular better), 1/2 cup almond milk, and half a cup of water with a couple of ice cubes too. The flavor was good, but it wasn't as creamy as I like. Next time, I'll just put a whole cup of almond milk.

My AM Gym Workout was...
5 min warm up on treadmill
Vertical Chest Press
Cable Rows
Chest Fly
Seated Row
Assisted Dips & Pull Ups
Side Planks
Stretching

Lunchtime Cardio: 25 minutes on the Step Mill, levels 4 and 5.

Food:


I had another hungry day today! After my workout I was starving and scarfed down my Fiber Plus bar. Then before my afternoon gym workout I had Chobani Peach & 1/2 a Kashi bar crumbled in. I liked the peach alot. My ranking is 1. strawberry 2. peach 3. blueberry.


My lunch was a wrap with deli turkey meat and laughing cow light. I also munched on some yummy orange peppers from the farmers market, and my Sabra hummus. It is definitely the best store bought hummus! My afternoon snack was a banana bread Larabar. It's really good....I can't believe it only has 3 ingredients.


I had dinner at Catfish Dewey's, a great hole in the wall seafood place in Fort Lauderdale. The quality is great for the price! They specialize in ...you guessed it...catfish. But I ordered the blackened shrimp ($16.95). The dinners also come with a decent size salad and your choice of side. They were one of the best tasting blackened shrimp I've had! It had spice, but wasn't blazing hot. It had a nice dousing of butter too which I'm sure helped. I got corn as a side and noshed on a few of those yummy hush puppies too. The hushpuppies are super crispy without being greasy. I will definitely go back there again and again. Plus...the servers are always super friendly and quick! The exact opposite of South Beach servers...haha.

These are estimated...since who knows what was on those shrimp (and hush puppies!)?
Total Calories: 1,900
Net Calories: 1,450
45% Carbs, 23% Protein, 32% Fat

I Actually Made Eggplant?

On my trip to the farmers market, there was a good amount of fresh produce. I definitely don't eat enough veggies. I wanted to get some veggies that looked fresh, and that I could experiment with...eggplant here I come! I've never really had too much eggplant, so I took a tiny one to give it a shot. I also picked up some yellow/orange tomatoes (I'm still not a fan of red tomatoes). When I got home I scoped out some sites for good recipes. This recipe is a healthy version of one I found on Allrecipes. My version tasted awesome and it's good for you! It actually made me want to eat all my veggies.

Eggplant Tomato Bake

1 small eggplant
2 medium tomatoes
1 medium red onion
2/3 cup Italian style breadcrumbs
1 egg
2/3 cup reduced-fat feta cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Slice tomatoes, onions, and eggplant into approximately 1/3" slices. Ste onions and tomatoes aside. Beat the egg in the bowl and place breadcrumbs on a plate. Dip each slice of eggplant into the egg, then breadcrumbs. Place eggplant slices on lightly greased cookie sheet. bake the eggplant slices at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Spray an 8x8 pan lightly with olive oil spray. After the eggplant is cool to the touch, place on bottom of dish, followed by tomatoes, then onions. Then sprinkle salt, pepper and garlic powder on top. Then top with the parmesan and feta cheese. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes at 400. Then it's ready to eat! (Optional: drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil on top before serving). This recipe yields about 4 large side portions.

Case of the Mondays

Workout

I went to bed around 10 on Sunday and woke up bright and early. But I must have been dreaming when my alarm went off, because it took me a few seconds to recognize what the noise was. I hate when that happens!


I had my usual protein shake and went to the gym...I decided to do lower body today.

5 min warm-up on bike
Hamstring Curls
Seated Quads
Seated Leg Press
Wide Leg Deadlift (see pic below)
Planks
5 min stretching


My lunch time cardio was 25 minutes on the treadmill. I started at 3.5 at 6 incline, and ended at 3.7 at 10 incline.


Food

Sorry...I was extremely bad at taking pictures of my food today during work.

The morning snack was a Chobani Strawberry (man I'm getting hooked!) and half a Kashi Roasted Almond Bar crumbled in. Lunch was a couple pieces of my leftover "Pig on a Pie" from Smith & Jones. My afternoon snack was a Kellogg's FiberPlus Bar & low fat string cheese. The bar was good! It was very similar to the Fiber One bars and had a good amount of chocolate.


Dinner time (then time for Heroes!)...I had some chicken breast I baked yesterday and some Eggplant Tomato Bake, which I adapted from Cooking Light. I'll post the recipe tomorrow. I'm really trying hard to eat more veggies, so I thought this would be a great way to cook them up. I've been really craving dessert lately, so I bought some Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares. I ate 1, which is just 50 calories, and it settles down my sweet tooth.


Total Calories: 1608
Net Calories: 1202

45% Carbs, 23% Protein, 32% Fat

Suburban Safari

It was a good weekend....I got to have some fun, cook, and go to the beach. On Saturday I hit up some farmers markets. I got some corn, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes. I made an eggplant bake, which I'm going to taste tonight (pics to come later).

Saturday's lunch was at Max & Erma's, a new place in Wellington. Most of the family got the Erma's special, which was a great deal! For $8.99 you get a cup of soup, a burger, fries, and a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie. I couldn't pass it up. The soup was potato cheddar bacon. It was delicious! You could taste all the main ingredients. I'm sure it was calorie laden, but worth it. Hey...I walked around the zoo later so I probably burned a portion of it off? haha.

The burger was very tasty, with the right amount of blue cheese. It was a tad overcooked but still had good flavor. Most of the fries were crisp and well seasoned. A couple soggy ones snuck in, but that happens. The cookie was really good, gooey in the middle, just the way I like it. I devoured it so quickly I forgot to take a picture. The service was decent, but was slow towards the end of the meal. I would go back to Max & Erma's for sure.

We went to Lion Country Safari after lunch. It's been at least 10 years since I've gone. It was fun! The best part was the drive through at the beginning. It takes about an hour. We saw rhinos, giraffes, and zebras walk right in front of our car! That night I relaxed...caught part of the NFL Draft (wished Harvin could've stayed in Florida)...and watched a really weird movie called Synecdoche, NY.

My Sunday consisted of going to the beach, cooking for the week, and working on some Beachbody stuff. I had an early dinner at Smith & Jones, and am lucky enough to have some leftovers today for lunch. I didn't really exercise this weekend...but that's okay! I'm back on the wagon today...the health nut has returned.

Food Fact Friday: Little Piggies

Today is National Pigs in a Blanket day! I haven't had these in a while...but I definitely remember my mom making them for me when I was a kid. I think I'm going to make these one of these days...but maybe using a reduced fat hot dog and whole wheat pizza dough..for my "healthy junk food" nights.


It is believed that the dough wrapped sausage tradition began in Germany. The dish is called Würstchen im Schlafrock ("Sausage in a Nightgown"). It consists of bratwurst wrapped in bacon, then completely covered with pastry dough and baked in the oven.
In the United Kingdom, "pigs in blankets" refers to small sausages wrapped in bacon. Usually served at Christmas lunch or with roast dinners, pigs in blankets are now considered an essential part of the Christmas meal. It is believed that they were introduced into the Christmas lunch by the early Victorians, who wanted to maintain the religious aspect of the Christmas meal by likening them to the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.

In the United States, the term "pigs in a blanket" often refers to hot dogs or Vienna sausages wrapped in biscuit dough or croissant dough, and baked. A common variation is to slit the hot dog or sausage and stuff it with cheese (we love our cheese) before wrapping in dough (of course you gotta go with Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough!).


For the Kiddies in Israel: Moshe Ba'Teiva (Moses in the Ark) is a children's dish consisting of a hot dog rolled in a ketchup-covered sheet of puff pastry or phyllo dough and baked.

The Last of My Pasta

I got the memoir Kitchen Confidential a couple months ago, but it was sitting on my bookshelf collecting dust. I'm glad I started reading it last night! It's a great book. I love how Anthony Bourdain writes...I gotta see if he has any more books. But luckily, I went to bed in time to get plenty of sleep in order to make it to the gym early. Now I'm done with my gym workouts for the week! woohooo...

5 minute warm up on bike
Vertical Chest Press
Cable Row
Free Motion Chest Fly (see pic below)
Lat Pull Downs
Assisted Dips
Assisted Chin Ups
Planks
Stretching

I picked up some Larabars yesterday. They were on sale at Greenwise. I love them! But I definitely prefer some to others. The one I ate today was one of my favorites, Cherry Pie. I like the sweet/tart flavor of the cherries and the slight crunch of the nuts.


I made it to the gym for lunch to do my stepmill time, I was on it for about 25 minutes. I love that machine because I get to tower over everyone! haha. My lunch today was a Tumaro's wrap with turkey, Laughing Cow light and some green peppers with Hummus. I never thought I'd ever say this...but...I actually misseed my green peppers! I've gone about a week without eating them, and was actually looking forward to munching on them today.


I snacked on a couple of my snack bars...and an Organic Valley low fat mozzarella string cheese. It was good! I would get it again if it was on sale...it's pretty pricey! Dinner was the same as yesterday...Cluckphrey with the last serving of my agnolotti...but no dessert today! I'm going to save some splurges for Friday night.

Total Calories: 1,555
Net Calories: 1,139
39% Carbs, 25% Protein, 36% Fat

I Love Ice Cream

Today was a great day! I woke up awake at 6:30, so I decided to do my lower body workout. Of course, I had my yummy protein shake...with instant coffee, BSN Lean Dessert and unsweetened vanilla almond milk.


5 minute treadmill warm up
Seated Hamstrings
Seated Quads
Wide Leg Deadlift
Seated Leg Press (see pic below)
Step Ups with Weights
Side Planks
Stretching


I had strawberry Chobani again with Flax & Fiber Cereal. I definitely like it better than the blueberry. I headed to the gym during lunch and did 25 minutes on the elliptical at level 5. I didn't want to get too sweaty before work, haha.


I think I get so famished after I work out, that I forget to take a picture of my lunch....aarrgh! Had mango and a chicken wrap again. Thursday I will definitely take a picture of my lunch.

I went to Publix Greenwise after work to buy some necessities. I love that store, I can stay there forever. I wanted to buy the mini dulce de leche, the whole grain pizza dough, and lots of other stuff. But I stuck with the basics (almost).


My dinner was a Cluckphrey patty an some leftover mushroom agnolotti. I love the Cluckphrey patties because they are packed with protein, easy to make, taste awesome and low in sodium.


Now for my splurge at Publix...Blue Bell Banana Pudding ice cream. My sister raves about it, and her rants finally got to me i guess. It was awesome! It had the perfect balance of vanilla and banana, with those chunks of wafers that just put it over the top. I bet it would be awesome with some peanut butter sauce!


Total Calories: 1,560
Net Calories: 1,125
45% Carbs, 27% Protein, 28% Fat

I Ate a Mushroom?

I woke up early and made it to the gym, yay! I threw together a quick protein shake and headed out. Here is what I did (in order). I try not to work the same muscles in back to back exercises.


5 min warm-up on bike
Hammer Chest Press (pic above)
Cable Row
Chest Fly
Lat Pull Down
Assisted Dips
Assisted Chin Ups
Planks
Scissor Kicks
Stretching


I was ready for my morning coffee at 9. Whoever made it did an especially good job. My snack was a Chobani with Ezekiel Fiber & Flax Cereal. I love adding this to yogurt! It tastes just like Grape Nuts, something I really loved eating when I was younger.


I munched on an apple Kashi Bar on the way to the gym and did 25 mins on the treadmill, alternating between 3.7 on an 8 incline and 3.5 on a 10 incline. It was a good quick workout and I was famished. I came back and had a quick lunch...same as yesterday! Next time I'll take a picture, but it's not too exciting.


For dinner I made Buitoni's Wild Mushroom Agnolotti (a treat from Foodbuzz!). I'm not a mushroom fan, but they were good! I cooked them up (tossed in spinach in the last 1 minute of cooking time) and drizzled with a little EVOO and parmesan. I also added some salami and capicola I had left over from one of my experiments...

Total Calories: 1,604
Net Calories: 1,257

44% Carbs, 25% Protein, 31% Fat

Another Manic Monday...

Bad bad me! I didn't wake up early like I'd hoped. I had trouble falling asleep (which usually happens on Sunday nights)

Breakfast:
Reduced Fat Cheese Stick
Apple Kashi Bar

Snack:
Chobani Strawberry Fat Free Yogurt
1/2 Kashi Roasted Almond Crunch Bar sprinkled in

I went to the gym before I ate my lunch, here is what I did. My legs were shaky after, so I guess that's a good sign I worked them enough.
Hamstring Curl
Seated Quads (the name of that machine is on the tip of my tongue!)
Squats
Wide-stance Deadlift
Step-Ups with weights

Lunch:
1/2 Multi Grain Wrap
1/2 cup Rotisserie Chicken (skinless)
1 Laughing Cow light
3 large slices Mango
the other 1/2 of the Kashi Bar

Then I was suddenly starving at 3 and didn't bring enough food....I had to give in to the vending machine, but I ate the peanut butter crackers...which I guess isn't the worth thing? haha Plus, I ate another cheese stick. Man, they are good!

After work I went back to the gym to do elliptical...did 30 minutes between level 8 and level 4.


Dinner is my leftover creation from my Pillsbury Bake-Off experimentation (I wish I could tell you what was inside!) and some spinach salad. Sorry my pics are scarce! Forgot the camera today...

Total Calories: 1,702

Net Calories: 1,277

44% Carbs, 21% Protein, 35% Fat

Dinner at Michy's

I had been wanting to go to Michy's for a long time. Michelle Bernstein, one of Miami's first celebrity chefs, is at the helms there. About a month ago I tried her newest venture, Sra. Martinez, and loved it.

We were seated immediately and ordered a bottle of Qupe Syrah. It was an excellent wine from the Santa Barbara area....a really great value!

I like that the menu had full and half orders of almost everything. It makes it very easy to share a few plates. The croquetas and pork belly with littleneck clams arrived first. The croquetas were unbelievable. I still don't understand how they are so crispy on the outside and melt in your mouth on the inside. They were very well complemented by the fig marmalade. The pork belly was also very good, but maybe could have been a little crispier on top. The broth in the dish had great flavor. It was a great with the clams.

Our main course was the short ribs, which came with a very rich sauce and creamy mashed potatoes. It was good, but didn't blow me away. I liked the pork belly and croquetas better. I could LIVE off those croquetas! We devoured dessert so I didn't get to take a picture. It was a chocolate pot de crème. It was so decadent and creamy with the perfect amount of chocolate. It was a perfect ending to the meal.

Food: 4 out of 5
Service: 4.5 out of 5