Playing Catch Up

I hate that I got kinda behind in my blog because I have lots of pics on my camera that are just kinda irrelevant now but I am still going to try and recap some of my meals from the last few days.

First, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone for your kind words about the loss of our beloved Kiki. I never thought in a million years that I would meet such nice and supportive people over the Internet. THANK YOU!!!

Here's a yummy chocolate covered shake I drink on Sat. while recovering from my wild Fri. night.
This is a Pan- "Fried" Chicken Burger I made the other night for dinner.
I have made chicken burgers before and they turned out pretty bland but these were EXCELLENT!! Here it is again on top of a salad...
Recipe is as follows...

• 2 slices of firm whole-wheat bread, torn into large pieces (I used a ww hot dog bun)
• 1/4 pound of cut up white mushrooms
• 1/3 cup packed parsley (I used sage because its what I had handy)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/2 teaspoon tarragon (I omitted this and added dried parsley)
• 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or 1lb pre packaged lean ground chicken
• 2 scallions
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 teaspoon reduced sodium soy sauce

1. In a food processor, process the bread, mushrooms, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper and tarragon until coarsely ground. Transfer to a large bowl.

* If you do not have ground chicken use this step....Do not clean out processor and add chicken. Pulse on and off until finely ground.


2. Add chicken to the bowl along with bread mixture and scallions. Shape into 4 patties (I got 6 patties)

3. In a large non stick skillet, bring the water and the soy sauce to a simmer over medium heat. Add the chicken patties and cook, turning the patties once until richly browned and cooked through, about 7 min.

I got 6 pretty large patties. This nutrition in for 4.
177 calories, 2g fat, 2g fiber, 9 carbs, 29g protein

Now time for a Sausage review. Starting with the Trader Joes Mushroom and Asiago.
Pic of the inside bursting with mushrooms....
All chopped up with some lactose free cottage cheese.See it bursting with roasted carrots, red and green bell peppers, green beans, zucchini and onions? This sausage is tied as my favorite with this one. The flavor is just great and there is a slight hint of Asiago that is not to over powering. The stats are pretty impressive as well with

130 calories per 85g link, 7g of fat, 380 mg of sodium (pretty low for a sausage), 2 carbs and a whopping 14 grams of protein.

Next up is a not a Trader Joes sausage but another Al Fresco all natural one. It is the Roasted Garlic With Onion and Herbs Chicken Sausage.
Here I ate it with a Flatout Italian Herb wrap with spinach and mustard...
Although I liked this sausage it was not my favorite. The flavors were just a little off and I am not quite sure what it was. Maybe it was to sweet. The sodium was also a little high. I liked it but I probably wouldn't buy it again because the previous two sausages put it shame!! You can find the nutrition facts here.

I will leave you with this yummy chicken salad I consumed yesterday for lunch with lots of avocado and salsa.
Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!!! Thanks again for all your thoughts on my last post!!!

P.S. If you love peanut butter like me you should check out some of these crazy combos I found. There are literally 100's of them and some are incredibly wacky but inspiring at the same time.
Crazy Peanut Butter Combos
I want to know if anyone has tried some of these. Like the peanut butter, lettuce and mayo combo?

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: Not to harp on something but it finally hit me last night after doing my post that my little Kiki Baby is gone. I cried myself to sleep last night. Isn't it crazy how we can take for granted and not always appreciate the little things in our life such as our pets and how quickly things can be taken from us?

A Tribute to Kiki Baby..

One of the sweetest cats I have ever known!!!!

I had a great post planned for tonight filled with sausage reviews and recipes but that is just going to have to wait. I have shown my cats on the blog before but never talked to much about them. They are definitely not just cats they are family members. Sunshine, is the orange cat and the newest addition to our family (last July). We found him literally hours from death in our garage when we moved in our new house. Here he was the day we found him. He was so starved he was unable to walk.My husband and I are both suckers for animals and even thought we had reserves about a kitten in a brand new house we just couldn't bare to give him up. So we nursed him back to health. He quickly made friends with our other cat Kiki (aka Kiki Baby). We found Kiki (the black cat)at our old house in Arizona back in 2007. He was wondering around our back yard in 115 degree temperatures. We couldn't bare seeing him out in that weather so we brought him in and gave him tuna and water. My husband was hesitant because he has never had or really been around cats before but he has a soft heart! To make a long story short Kiki quickly became a part of our family and we couldn't bear to leave him when we moved back to Tennessee, so we drug him along on our 1700 mile trip home. Their was endless meowing and lots of potty breaks but we knew he would be happy once we got him home.He was such a sweet cat and put up with so much from the little one. She would drag him around and throw him over her shoulder and there was never so much as scratch layed on her! He always loved to cuddle!!!
My husband also became quickly attached to him as it was his very first cat.
He was an outside cat and loved to hunt. I wont go into great detail but he left us "presents" almost everyday either at the front door, back door or next to my husbands car (they had a special bond). This past Saturday morning we started to get a little worried about him because we hadn't seen him in over 24hr and he usually always stayed in during the day. Today we called and even went to Pound to see if he was brought in. When my husband got home from work we walked the neighborhood looking for him. While I was making dinner my husband went out to talk with a neighbor who broke the sad news. Kiki was ran over sometime over the weekend. We are all really sad and will miss him greatly!!!

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: We all show emotion differently and even thought I didn't cry when I the news was broken it doesn't mean my heart wasn't. I hate being so dramatic over a cat but I really loved him :( :(.

HAPPY BIRFDAY....

Ok, so I have been MIA for a bit but I have a good excuse because yesterday was my mans BIRFDAY!! Brace yourself because I have a lot of pics to recap yesterdays (and early this mornings) events.

I got to sleep in yesterday because the little one stayed the night with Granny and Grandpa. When I got up I had a tough decision ahead of me...."Which sausage should I try first"??
This was just some of the loot I picked up from Trader Joes on my fun day with sweet sweet Heather. (Not pictured are also 2 more packages of opened sausages in my fridge). Do you think my sausage liking is getting a little out of control? What can I say I like sausage and they are good replacement for eggs. (Sarah, if your reading this I know what your thinking you dirty girl). I chose the Mushroom and Asiago with a bowl of blended oat groats. It was all so delish!!!
After breakfast it felt good to lounge around and not have to get the little one up and running. I soon got ready and hit up the gym for a "Cardio Weights" class. It wasn't what I expected. I was a little disappointed but did work up a good sweat. To many dance like moves for me and I am just not into that. When I got home I made a shake with some more of the loot from mine and Heathers fun day.
Not so sure about coconut water alone. Kinda tasted like dirty feet but the frozen banana jazzed it up.

Later the little one and I went to work on the cake. I really wanted to make a scratch cake but I haven't had much luck with scratch yellow cakes in the past so I went for the safe route (thanks Betty Crocker) and decided to make my own Dark Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. Recipe found here. It called for a whole pound of sugar and somebody was excited about that....
Yes, we are enjoying the fruits of our labor straight from the bowl :)
Look how beautiful and perfect it looks...*Tip if you make this, don't add any milk* I did and I wish I would not have but it was still amazing!!!! This is now my go to frosting recipe!!! I am by no means an artist but this was the final product. The little one insisted on the heart.....
...and putting the candles on. The birfday boy lighting his own candles with the torch....Sadly my camera then died so no closeups of the inside of the cake but take my word for it Betty Crocker and my jazzed up frosting did not disappoint!!!

After leaving the little one once again with some grandparents we got ready for our night out. We hit a new restaurant in downtown Nashville that I had seen out the day before, Catina Laredo. When we got there they informed us that they hadn't even really opened to the public yet that it was just a practice run and everything including drinks was half off. SCORE!!! They welcomed us in and we were excited about the deal we found.

Guac made fresh at your table...
Poor waiter was so nervous. It was his first time making it. Finished product...
Some of the goods...
Margarita for me, Blue moon for the Birfday boy. I was so full from chips and guac (and cake) I didn't order a meal but the man got a sampler platter and as said by the name of course I sampled :).
Starting from the right, stuffed pepper, tamale (good but not like my grandmas), stuffed chicken thing covered in sour cream sauce, rice, beef taco, yum!!!

From there we went to the famous Tootsies for some live music and more drinks. Then from there we went to Paradise Park (so classy)...
The band there is AMAZING and every time I go I want to stay until they kick me out!! I had way to much fun and waaaayyyyy to much to drink. Just have a look for yourselves....
I am currently recovering.......

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: Sometimes I wear my sports bras like 5 times before washing them. Don't judge.......

Frittatas And Fun...

Lunch yesterday was a stir fry made with leftover portobellos and sausage from the night before.
It was great. I also added in some onion, broccoli, grape tomatoes, garlic and ls soy sauce. For my snack I gave into my craving.
Acorn squash, naturally more peanut butter (my all time fav) and a few toasted cinnamon squares cereal from Cascadian Farms. I also add a little liquid stevia and cinnamon for extra sweetness. YUMMY!!

For dinner I decided on breakfast since a had a lot of eggs that I cant eat :(. So for the man and little one I made a Spinach Frittata and Cheddar Muffins.
They are both really simple and obviously healthy :).

Spinach Frittata

• 6 egg whites
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup low-fat milk
  
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 2 green onion finely sliced
• 1tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 large white onion chopped
• 1/2 10 ounce package of baby spinach
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese

Method:

1. Set oven to broil. Beat egg whites until very frothy. whip in yolk, milk, green onion, garlic. Set aside
2. Preheat oil in an ovenproof non stick skillet. Add onion and saute until soft and then add spinach. When wilted add egg mixture. Lower heat and sprinkle cheese on top.
3. Cook slowly until it is firm at the edges and around the middle. Place under the broiler until lightly browned on top.

172 calories, 9 gram of fat, 8 carbs, 16 grams protein

Cheddar Muffins

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp raw brown sugar
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup Yves meatless ham
• 1 egg beaten
• 1 cup skim milk
• 2 tbsp canola oil

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with cups (I got ten muffins). In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in cheese and ham. In a small bowl combine egg, milk and oil. Pour liquid ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until flour is wet. Fill muffin tins to the top and bake for 20 to 25 min.
   

95 calories, 3 grams fat, 11 carbs, 5.5 grams protein

Here they are before going in the oven...
Everything turned out great (thanks Clean Eating Mag!!), But I couldn't eat any of it :(. I did however manage to eat this lovely late night snack...
Vitatop, peanut butter, and dark chocolate chips.

This morning I was excited to wake up and try my Oat Groats that had been soaking for a day and then simmered on the stove waiting for me to devour them. nom nom!! Here's what they looked like cooked...
You know I had to pulverize them :). With spinach...
Close up...
So good. Just like regular oats but a bit chewier texture. I also had sausage and cottage cheese on the side...
After breakfast it was off to get ready to meet my darling friend Heather for a fun filled day of eating and shopping!! Of course we ate at Whole Foods, once again. My view of my plate (I got the salad bar)...
Heathers view of my plate...What I can remember of the mix...

• Curried wheat berries
• roasted red pepper hummus
• chickpea salad
• tomato and cucumber salad
• cherry tomatoes
• asparagus
• cubed turkey
• spinach
• mushrooms
• tempeh (first time trying it, I must say it had a strong dog food taste, not that I have tasted dog food, ok you got me, I have)
• trio of peppers
• broccoli

I think that's all. Its 8:35 pm and I am still some what full from that salad!! We also managed to hit up Whole Body, Urban Outfitters and Trader Joes. Pics of some of the goodies in my next post.LOVE YOU HEATHER!!!!!!! Don't forget the angle. It does wonders!! Hahaha :)

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: Being a stay at home mom is fun and all but sometimes you just need a BREAK!! Today was one of those times. The little one was starting to drive me up the wall and I know the feeling was mutual!! We are only human and even though she is only 3 she needs a break from me just as much as I need one from her. In fact, I insisted she stay the night tonight at my parents and she didn't argue!! LOL. I know she will have fun and will be elated to see me in the morning. I love that feeling when she runs to me after we have been apart!!

Stuffed Portobellos

Yesterday, was pretty uneventful except for dinner but I am going to start with my afternoon snack. First up was some sort of dark chocolate cottage cheese mixture...

I honestly don't think I could go a day without chocolate!! Next up was a toasted flaout wrap with my favorite salsa...

For dinner I was previously inspired by this post from Maggie over at Say Yes To Salad. I have had portobellos many times before and love them but have never made them myself. I decided to make Sausage Stuffed Portobellos using my new favorite "sausage".
My plate...

Close up...

I also had 3 egg whites(I haven't had eggs in about 2 weeks) stuffed with the rest of my sausage mixture and some broccoli. My stomach was really bothering me after dinner and I think I now know where my stomach issues were coming from, EGGS!! So weird!! The man had whole grilled sausage dogs and sugar snap peas...

Now for how I made the Sausage Stuffed Portobellos (its not really a recipe I just kinda threw it together).First, I marinated the mushrooms with some balsamic vinegar, low sodium soy sauce and a no calorie spray marinade I have. The hubby threw them on the grill while I chopped up this all natural chicken sausage with some onion and garlic and sauteed in a pan adding some spinach leaves and red pepper flakes at the end. So easy and by far the best dinner I have had in a while!! I loved it and its so easy to change up and add lots of different things. I know it would have been great topped with a slice of part skim mozzarella. I miss dairy :(!!

I went to the gym this morning and only did a little cardio and an upper body workout. My knees have really been bothering me!! There is pain in the back of one and it almost feels like it is going to just pop or give out. Ugh!! I guess I will have to take it easy for a few :(.

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: I refuse to change our cats litter box!! I make my husband do it every morning :).

Buckwheat Gross

I mean Groats...

Yesterdays food was pretty boring as promised. Here's lunch. Leftover Easter dinner with peanut butter for dipping the pork...
Snack was a little more exciting. "Brownie Batter"....
It contained Chocolate brown rice protein powder, dark chocolate cocoa powder, peanut butter, water, and dark chocolate stevia. Basically the same as the Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Balls but with more water. Dinner was again leftovers...
Before dinner the little one had karate and I stopped by a health food store that we always pass by. I was so excited when I saw what they had there! I contained myself though and only spent $14. The goodies....
Buckwheat groats, oat bran, wheat berries, and oat groats. I am in desperate need of some cooking suggestions and recipes for all of these except the oat bran. Mr. Bran and I know each other pretty well if you know what I mean.

I was so excited this morning to try the buckwheat groats! I put them on the stove and cooked them up with some banana, vanilla stevia and cinnamon. I then used the blended grain method. They looked so yummy and smooth, almost like a pudding.
I hate to say it but I got about half way through the bowl and my gag reflex started kicking in. I could not even finish the bowl! They were pretty nasty! I need some cooking suggestions!! ASAP!!

I don't usually go to the gym on Tuesdays but a friend called and asked me to join her in some jumping rope today and I wanted to introduce her to my friend Tabata. We started out with the Tabata doing a little something that looks like this click here. Only we used 15lb db. It was to light for me so next time I am going to try out the 20's. I love it when people try Tabata for the first time (*insert evil laugh here*). After that we jumped rope for sets of 200. We ended up doing 1600. Endurance wise I was fine. I could have kept going but my feet wouldn't come off the floor!! Ouch!! When I got home I made a chocolate protein shake....
Lunch was quick because I was running out to get my passport. Green spinach oat bran with peanut butter and a boiled Easter egg..
Ever wonder what you look like eating Green Oats?? I did...
Pretty goofy if I say so myself!!

CONFESSION OF THE DAY: My husband and I had a house built and moved in last June. I am ashamed to say that I have yet to even put up 1 picture on the wall or even a table for that matter. We are really lacking in the "decor" department.

P.S. Thanks everyone for the comments on overeating!! Its always feels good to know you are not alone!