I still just can’t get over how nice the day was today!  I hope you’ve had a good Saturday  :)

 

 

I finished all the laundry today, except the sheets, which I’ll do tomorrow. It feels nice to have most of that done!

 

 

Tonight’s dinner was created as my Healthy Valentine entry for the Oh, She Glows contest -and it turned out good!

 

Heart-y Beef Stroganoff

 

 

 

 

 

This meal, not only “had” heart, but is pretty heart healthy!

 

The stroganoff included:

• 1 tsp. olive oil (rich in monounsaturated fats)
• 1/2 red onion, diced (chromium, vitamin C, flavonoids)
• 1 lb. mushrooms, sliced (selenium, riboflavin, potassium, niacin, phosphorus)
• 1 lb. Laura’s extra lean ground beef (protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B6)
• beef broth
• water + 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1.5 tsp dijon mustard (selenium, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, iron, calcium, zinc, etc)
• 1/4 cup fat free plain yogurt (calcium, vitamin B2, zinc, potassium, protein)
• 2 cups (cooked) fresh whole wheat pasta
• diced tomato
• salt, pepper, thyme

 

 

This is such a comfort food meal!  I loved that it’s so easy to make really good, healthy, comfort meals that still taste great.  

 

Since the goal of the contest was to make a Valentine’s Day meal/snack/dessert, I knew I wanted something filling and comforting. What is more comforting than beef stroganoff?

 

Served with a tomato heart and steamed peas on the side, this was a perfect Healthy Valentine’s meal. I know, I know….it’s not Valentine’s Day  :)  We’ll be out of town that weekend anyways, so I figured I would test out my healthy meal tonight instead – plus, I had to make Angela’s deadline!  :)

 

Of course….what’s a Valentine’s meal without a dessert?

 

 

 

 

 

We made a mix of chocolate dipped almonds and pretzels – and they turned out SO good!  The perfect sweet ending, but still pretty good for you!

 

 

 

I’m enjoying this plate and watching “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves” with Nick – it’s a bit cheesier than we remember, but still a good movie  :)

 

Make sure to check out Oh, She Glows for the contest rules if you want to enter!  The deadline is Sunday (tomorrow!)

Today is Beautiful!!!

 

This morning was pretty busy – I went to my monthly weight in for WW, finished getting groceries, and then had my hair trimmed.

 

Since I was kind of on the run this morning, I had a portable breakfast! 

 

A banana

 

 

A hard boiled egg

 

 

And a fat free peppermint mocha – yum  :)

 

 

 

I got home from running errands and checked my email before Nick and I got lunch. Today, we went across the street to Tangent Outfitters and got some sandwiches from their deli.

 

I love their wheatberry bread! I always get my sandwiches on it.

 

 

This sandwich had:

*wheatberry bread, toasted

*ham

*turkey

*spinach

*lettuce

*tomato

*red onion

*mustard

 

Plus some leftover pan roasted broccoli and a pickle.

 

Since it is SO nice here today (clear, blue sky, and in the 60s!!!), we went to a park here on the river. Nick brought his fishing pole, and I brought a chair and a book. It was so nice to be outside without a coat!

 

 

All the grass is still dead, but the river and sky made up for it  :)

 

Here’s where I sat – right in the sunshine!

 

 

I started this book I bought over Christmas, and I love it already!

 

 

What a great afternoon!  It makes me really excited for Spring!

 

I’m off to work on laundry and maybe clean a little bit  – I can’t wait for dinner!  It’s gonna be a good one  :)

Even with all the heater stuff, today was a good day.

 

After running some errands, Nick and I went running outside. For a few minutes near the end of our run, we were running right beside a train going the opposite way! We’ve run this route a lot, but have never been running it when a train was going by  – it was pretty neat.

 

We got back home, took quick showers, then headed to one of my favorite places around here: The New River Grille

 

I got my usual: Buffalo Burger (so good and so lean!) with their onion rings. They are seriously the best onion rings I’ve ever had. I have never ordered anything else off the menu – this is what I always get, and they pretty much know my order now  :)

 

 

Nick asked if I wanted to take a picture of his meal, so here it is:

 

 

He got the Buffalo Quesadilla with onion rings. Look at those layers! It’s like a burger, but grilled inbetween tortillas. Yum!

 

I’m back home now and just had this for a snack – I realized I didn’t have any milk today, except for a little in my coffee this morning!

 

+

 

 

I know this probably isn’t the most nutritious stuff, BUT it doesn’t have HFCS or trans fats, and sometimes I just need chocolate milk!  This is the best tasting, somewhat healthy chocolate milk mix in I’ve found.

 

So we’ve gone over my food and his food. Where is “their food”, you ask? 

When I got back tonight, I checked my email and had one from my dad – he sent me a picture of the pizza my mom made for them tonight and asked if it was “blog worthy”  :)  Of course it is!

 

Here’s their pizza – on a wheat crust my mom made.  It looks great!

 

 

 

Your first blog picture, Mom and Dad!!!  :)  The pizza looks like it turned out really good!

 

 

Don’t forget to check out all the BSI submissions so far on my announcement page! I’ve received some great recipes so far – it’s going to be so hard to choose a winner! Remember: Deadline is Sunday – as long as I have a comment/email before midnight that night, that will be fine. 

 

Winner will be announced Monday! 

 

 

Glad Friday is over – are you ready for the weekend? Any fun plans?

Well, the maintenance guy came out and looked at our heater, and our motor has locked up, which is what caused the burning smell. We have to get a new motor, which won’t be here until Monday or Tuesday of next week – thank goodness we have a propane heater upstairs and a few of those electric heaters! 

 

At least the weather is supp0sed to be pretty nice the next few days (in the 50s and 60s), so I’m hoping it won’t be too bad. You may see a few more hot drinks in the next few days on here  :)

 

Starting with some green tea!  I was a little chilly this morning, so I made a cup of this while waiting for the heater man and working on laundry.

 

 

 

 

 

This was really good – I like citrus flavored green tea, and it did a good job warming me up!

 

For lunch, I had a taco salad, aka big bowl of veggies!

 

 

 

This bowl had:

• between 1/3 – 1/2 cup fat free refried beans
• 1/2 chicken breast, diced (it’s in there, I promise! You just can’t see it)
• 2 cups chopped romaine
• 1 roma tomato, diced
• 1/4 avocado, diced
• lime juice
• 1 tsp. olive oil

 

I heated the beans and chicken in the bottom of the bowl, then added the rest of the veggies cold and drizzled on the juice and oil.

 

 

Since we’re home for the rest of the day, we decided we’re going to go running this afternoon.

 

So – I needed some fuel  :)

 

Thanks to Jenna’s pictures of this, I finally made one for myself!  Now I know why she has it so often –  it is so good!

 

This snack starts with this beauty:

 

 

 

Add a sliced and halved banana, and you’ve got a powerful snack   :)

 

 

 

I think we’re going to run a few errands, go for a run, shower, go to dinner, and then head out for a church group thing tonight. 

 

Dinner recap might not be until later – you’ve seen this meal before, but I sure am looking forward to it today!!!  :)

 

Woohoo – it’s the weekend!