Is anyone else doing Tina’s yoga challenge for March? I have to say, it was nice to get up this morning, put my contacts in, and do 20 minutes of yoga before really starting the rest of my day. I know tomorrow may be different because I’ll have to get up pretty early to do it before work. I think I’m ready for the challenge though! I’ve downloaded some of the free podcasts from yogadownload.com and yogajournal.com and printed out pose guides for most of those as well. I know some of the poses by name, but not many, so I think the pose guides will be really helpful.
I’ve also been looking for some yoga to do in the office – have you tried any good ones? I thought that would be a good thing to have on stressful days at work and for days that I don’t get up early enough and possibly have busy evenings.
Breakfast today is one of our typical Sunday breakfasts. We like having this on the weekends since we usually have more time to cook and eat.
Eggs and grits
Fruit and 1 slice of bacon for me
Plus a great cup of coffee, thanks to Nick :)
Since I promised a recipe for that couscous dish, I thought I would go ahead and give it to you now. Because the fellowship is right after church, my “lunchtime” post won’t be until later and I won’t have pictures. It’s a fellowship/meeting at the church, so I don’t think I’ll be taking my camera.
I made one batch for the fellowship and one batch for us for lunches this week – I already can’t wait to eat it :)
Whole Wheat Couscous Veggie Salad
1 cup whole wheat couscous
2 cups water or broth
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 -2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 can black olives, sliced
parsley
garlic powder (or fresh)
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
Bring the water/broth to a boil, stir in couscous, cover pot and take off the heat. Let it sit for 5 minutes, then fluff couscous with a fork. Stir everything together with the couscous.
This is great hot, warm temperature, or cold. It’s really good to take for potlucks/picnics because it doesn’t have to be refrigerated. Plus, you can pretty add whatever you want to this dish and it will always be good :)
It has been raining all day long. Although it’s pretty gross outside, it was nice to have a relaxing day inside today. I got most of the laundry finished, dinner made, and am about to make that dish for church tomorrow – don’t worry – I’ll have the recipe :)
My snack during the heartbreaking Hokie game was a slice of my bread with almond butter and a few chocolate chips
Dinner tonight was my first try at Baked Tofu, a la Gliding Calm!
My tofu marinade was:
1.5 Tbsp bbq sauce
2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne
Bake at 425 for 30 minutes. It was perfect! I’m sad I’ve waiting this long to try it! I loved the texture and the kick from the cayenne – I will definitely be making this again.
On the side, I had some mashed sweet potato topped with salt and cinnamon and some roasted zucchini.
Of course, we had to tie in the POM juice in some way – what better than a POMtini?
I used Bobby Flay’s recipe, but we used vodka instead of gin.
So, this was a mix of POM juice, vodka, fresh lemon and fresh orange juice. It was actually a little strong for me, so I poured it into a different glass and added a bit more orange juice. Perfect – the tart pomegranate and the sweet orange juice was a good combination of flavors.
We’re starting a movie right now and then I’m off to cook the couscous really fast so I can get back to it :)
I have a feeling the last of my TJ’s Candy Cane Jo Jo’s will be my snack tonight – just letting you know in case I don’t get a picture!
Oh – and just in case you were wondering, the Heart Health series will resume on Monday! I’m taking a break this weekend, but make sure to tune in for the next installment!
Blech – today is so gloomy and rainy! I know we need the rain, but it was not fun being out in it today.
We went and watched our little neighbor’s basketball game today – it was so much fun! They won their game, but the best part was just watching all the little kids – it was pretty funny.
I got most of the grocery shopping done and JUST ate lunch at 2:30 – I’m still pretty hungry. My yummy breakfast was lower calories than normal and I ate lunch much later than normal – so snacking will happen :)
I put this quick lunch together after I put groceries away.
Some fat free refried beans topped with a black bean burger surrounded by romaine, tomato, and avocado.
Oh, and I ate one of the raspberry filled chocolates from my Secret Cupid package, but my camera was too slow to catch it!
So, the lovely Diana from POM Wonderful sent me some POM 100% juice to try, and I was so excited when it showed up this week! I had seen other bloggers trying this, so as soon as I found out I was getting some samples, my mind started working overtime for recipes.
Can you see me?
The POM juice itself is great! It is pretty tart, but Nick and I both really like it.
Last night, I came up with my BSI entry for this week using the juice, and today’s breakfast has been about 2 weeks in the making :) I starting thinking about this meal as soon as I knew I would be getting samples.
Strawberry Stuffed French Toast with Pomegranate Maple Syrup (Serves 2)
4 slices whole wheat bread
2 Laughing Cow light wedges
4-6 strawberries, sliced
2 eggs
splash of skim milk
1/2 cup POM 100% juice
2.5 Tbsp maple syrup
2 strips fresh orange zest
For the syrup, put the POM juice in a pan and bring to a boil. Drop in orange rind pieces and let simmer until it has reduced by half (about 5-10 minutes). Stir in maple syrup, let cook for another minute or two, then take off the heat.
Slice the strawberries.
Take 2 slices of bread and spread each with one laughing cow wedge.
Layer the strawberries on the cheese.
Top each with the other slice of bread.
Beat the eggs and milk in a bowl or plate and dip the sandwiches in the egg mixture on both sides.
Cook the french toast in a skillet until egg batter is cooked.
Discard the orange zest/rind from the syrup, and drizzle over the french toast.
Look at that spot of syrup :)
This was SO good – it tasted like a strawberry danish with a tart and fruity maple syrup. The strawberries in the middle of the toast got hot and kind of melted into the cheese.
In fact…it was so good, I’m going to post every picture I took while eating this!
Plus a red mug of Love Buzz coffee
I’d say this was a successful red and pretty heart healthy breakfast!
– The POM 100% juice is the only brand guaranteed to contain 100% authentic pomegranate juice, is all natural and contains no added sugars/preservatives/colors/or cheap filler juices, and is proven to have cardiovascular benefits! Go POM!
– We used 100% whole wheat bread, fresh fruit, real maple syrup, and low fat cheese and milk
Plus, it was delicious!
I’m off to get groceries, then come back for lunch, laundry, cooking, and Hokie Bball at 3:30!
