February 2009

I finished the 4th and last book in the Twilight saga on Wednesday and suddenly became very anxious to see the movie that’s been out for a few months now so most theatres stopped showing it already and it doesn’t come out on DVD until March 21st. So, hubby surprised me by searching for all theatres in a 200 mile radius and he found one that still had it in Poughkeepsie, which is about 50 miles from where we live now. I’m actually very familiar with that area because I lived nearby for 20 years. So, we decided to make a date for it the next night, even though it would be a 100 mile trip. That’s one of the many things I love about Dustin; if I want something and he can do it, he’ll do crazy adventurous things to make me happy. We’re more like Lucy and Ethel instead of Lucy and Ricky! LOL

I woke up before hubby on Thursday morning and I was sooooooo hungry and craving tuna and crackers. I was actually thinking Ritz crackers, but I don’t buy them anymore due to nasty ingredients, but I do buy Late July organic Ritz-like crackers for hubby. They’re high in calories and sodium, though, so I went with Kashi Honey Sesame TLC crackers.

I made the tuna with 1 whole can of Bumble Bee very low sodium tuna (138g, 172 cal), 3 TBSP Hellmann’s olive oil mayo (150 cal), 1 diced plum tomato (15 cal) and white pepper. I ate the tuna like a dip with 40g/1.3 serving Kashi Honey Sesame TLC crackers (170 cal):

I’m sure most people are like, “EWWWWWW! Tuna for BREAKFAST?!” Haha, not me! I love lunch/dinner food as soon as I wake up. The tuna and crackers came to 507 calories and worth every cal!

We were running late (as usual) because I had to fit in a workout so I’d feel slightly better about all the popcorn and candy I planned to gobble up at the movie lol. It started at 9:10PM, so we decided to just pick up a quick slice of pizza at La Bella’s in New Paltz. I had a slice of cheese Sicilian and a diet Pepsi:

Oh, and hubby did warn me ahead of time that the movie theatre was one of those past-their-prime ghetto theatres that still plays movies from 1973 lol, so I expected sticky seats and stale popcorn… but this… I wasn’t prepared for

I’m hoping they just didn’t have enough room on the sign and that they didn’t actually misspell it. lol

The admission was only $2 per person! So, $4 bucks for the movie tickets and $9 for our pizza = cheapest date ever! hahaha It was SO MUCH fun though!! I absolutely LOVED the movie.

My short review without any spoilers:

If you didn’t read the book(s) and just saw the movie, you will miss A LOT of what is going on. The movie is really, really condensed and true to book VS. movie form, the books are infinitely better but the movie did an excellent job of bringing the characters and story to life. Everyone looked and acted exactly the way you’d imagine from reading the books, except for Charlie. I imagined him looking a little longer in the tooth, but everyone else fit the part perfectly. My husband said he was surprised as he thought it would be a total “chick flick” but he said he enjoyed the action scenes.

Like I said before, this storyline is supposedly geared towards teenagers, however, I feel the characters in the story aren’t actually teenagers in the traditional sense and adults would relate to the characters and understand the story with a little more appreciation than a 13 year old might, so don’t let the age guidelines throw you off. That’s just my opinion though. I’d highly recommend reading the books and seeing the movie. I will also buy the DVD when it comes out and look forward to seeing the movie sequels. Yes, I enjoyed the story THAT much.

Out of the 4 books, I liked Twilight (book 1) and Breaking Dawn (book 4) the best. New Moon and Eclipse were good and of course, vital to the story, but I didn’t particularly care for some of the plot twists and continuous G-rated dialogue.

Well, it’s past my bedtime (whenever that is lol), so I’m heading to bed now. Nite nite

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Haha, corny! I did about 43 minutes on my recumbent bike today. I just wasn’t in the mood for HIIT or strength training, but hey, any exercise is good and it has been at least a week since I last got my heart rate up for more than a few minutes lol.

Before my 10 mile going nowhere bike ride, I ate a 28g serving of Banana Nut Cheerios (100 cal) with 4oz skim milk (45 cal) and 9g Naturally More peanut butter (~43 cal):

Yummy little pre-workout snack for just under 200 cals.

Oh by the way, even though I’m not officially counting calories anymore, I still measure probably around half of my portions on my digital food scale. I eyeball the rest, though.

After my workout, I made grilled turkey burgers for our breakfast/lunch — brunch, I suppose:

Turkey burger: ~4oz ground turkey breast on 2 slices Alvarado Street flax seed bread (100 cal) with butterhead lettuce, red onion, a plum tomato and a huge glob of Hellmann’s olive oil mayo

On the side: A handful of Kettle Bakes baked BBQ chips and 1 fat free Stonyfield Farm Lotsa Lemon yogurt (140 cal) topped with blackberries and 1 of the chocolate dipped strawberries from my Edible Arrangement

Odd combination, but really, really yummy!! This kept me full for several hours, so I skipped right to dinner later on. We decided to eat in the living room, which I am usually against, but it seemed like fun last night and it was!

I made us seafood pasta with: Mezzi Rigatoni pasta (they’re like half-sized rigatoni), 1 can of Trader Joe’s no salt added wild Alaskan salmon, 1 can Trader Joe’s tongol no salt added tuna, half a bag of Birds Eye mixed sugar snap pea veggies, half a bag of frozen string beans, half of a red onion, 3 diced plum tomatoes, and minced garlic:

Topped with 10g (2 TBSP) grated pecorino romano cheese and lots of crushed red pepper flakes!

I estimate this bowl to be around 600 calories, give or take 50 calories. First I boiled the pasta (6oz), then I steamed the frozen veggies in the microwave and then added 1 TBSP EVOO to a nonstick pan, added in the garlic and added in the onions and frozen veggies. Before I added in the tomato, I removed about half of the veggies from the pan because it was just waaaay too many. Then I added the tuna and salmon in with the tomatoes, WITH the juice from the can and sprinkled 3 TBSP pecorino romano cheese into it and stirred it all together, then poured it over the pasta and stirred it again.

It was FABULOUS! I ate all of mine, but hubby got full halfway through. There was over half left in the pot, even after I portioned out 2 very large helpings for us. SO GOOD!

Speaking of hubby, we’re going on a date tonight, so I need to go take a shower. I’ll post an update tonight from our date.

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Happy Valentine’s Day!! 

If ever there was a weekend of decadence and indulgence, this was the weekend! The days leading up to the weekend were pretty ordinary food-wise, but ridiculously busy and of course, busy also means stressful in our world lol. Thankfully we made it through and even managed to have fun and spend some quiet alone time with each other in the midst of all the other chaos. Hooray! Let’s rewind…

February 12th: For breakfast I had an egg salad sandwich on 2 slices Martin’s 100% whole wheat potato bread (140 cal). My mother made the egg salad, which was a little bit soupier than I like it, but still delish. Along with my sandwich, I have a bowl of blueberry Oikos Greek yogurt with a sprinkle of Barbara’s High Fiber Ultima cereal and a mix of berries; strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, and golden raspberries! I found a half pint in Hannaford and just had to try them. They taste just like red raspberries, minus the seeds. They seemed much smoother, yet very flavorful. Yummy!

They were BERRY BERRY GOOOOOOD!

Later on I made Boca original grillers with a whole bag of Birds Eye frozen broccoli tossed in extra virgin olive oil and pecorino romano grated cheese with a handful of Kettle Bakes baked BBQ chips:

I shared a grapefruit with hubby. Well, I ate most of it. He took one bite and said, “Eww, too bitter.” lol I looooooooove bitter stuff. I like sucking on lemons and bitter leafy greens like dandelions. Mmm, mmm! I actually like bitter things as much as sweet.

February 13th:

I made a huge pot of Italian Wedding soup, that I half improvised but was pleased with the results.

First I made ground turkey breast mini meatballs with:

• ~1 lb ground turkey breast
• Dried Italian seasonings: oregano, garlic powder, garlic salt, parsley, thyme
• 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

1. In a nonstick frying pan add in the EVOO
2. Make about 20-40 mini, bite size meatballs out of the turkey breast depending on how big you want them
3. Cook thoroughly; set aside in another plate/bowl when they are done

The soup:

• 2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 2 boxes low sodium chicken broth
• 1 small/medium diced red onion
• 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
• 1.5 bags fresh baby spinach
• 5 minced garlic cloves
• 8oz pastina or other small pasta shapes
• Dried or fresh parsley

1. Add onions, peppers, garlic, and spinach to large pot with EVOO on bottom; let spinach wilt down
2. Add in chicken broth, spices/seasonings, stir
3. Add in meatballs and pasta, stir
4. Let simmer for 45-60 minutes on low

Makes as many servings as you’d like.

I ate it on and off all day on the 13th, it was so yummy! It’s pretty bland when you use low sodium broth (which I don’t mind), but once I added crushed red pepper flakes and some grated pecorino romano cheese, it brought it to life. YUM! Here I had a bowl of it with an open faced egg salad sandwich:

February 14th:

I woke up feeling sooooo sick!! I felt hungover, even though I didn’t drink. UGH! We had plans to go to a restaurant in White Plains, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it. So, we stayed local. Hubby’s presents did cheer me up though!! He got me:

Flowers and an Edible Arrangement…

OMG, the Edible Arrangement was FANTASTIC! My stomach was so upset, but I couldn’t stop eating the succulent fruit. Wow, it was incredible, especially the chocolate dipped strawberries. Loved it! <3 Hubby said he had more presents and things for us to do, but I just wasn’t feeling up to it on Valentine’s Day. It was a major bummer, but as the night progressed, I started to feel better, so we went out to dinner at Cosimo’s Brick Oven around 9:00PM.

We started with an eggplant, mushroom, spinach and goat cheese pizza for an appetizer:

Delicious!

Hubby had the roasted garlic and shrimp ravioli…

And I had the spinach lasagna

We took most of everything home. It was so rich, but worth it!

February 15th:

I felt so much better! YAY! It was Sunday and I had some last minute shopping to do for my cousin and my mom’s birthday, so hubby decided that he was going to “make up” for our lack of excitement on Valentine’s Day, even though I had a great time and enjoyed the day regardless of feeling yucky. He took me on a mini shopping spree that started with a pair of Coach shoes!

I was actually buying them for my cousin Tricia’s graduation present and hubby thought that I should have a pair, too, so that her and I would be twins LOL. So cute

Then we ate at Nathan’s. I had a hamburger, no cheese, with half an order of fries and a lemonade. Sooo filling. Well, right by the food court is the Build-A-Bear Workshop. I’ve been eyeing the Hello Kitty in the window for a few months now and hubby insisted that I build one once and for all LOL. So, we went in and I got a Hello Kitty stuffed. I got to press the pedal and put the heart in, as if I was 8 years old. hahaha Adorable! Then I picked out outfits, shoes and a pocket book for her.

Check out the itty bitty Skechers sneakers!! Love them!

And last, but definitely not least: hubby bought me the digital camera he said he tried to get me for Christmas, but they were sold out. I need all the help I can get in terms of photography, so I’ve been wanting a digital SLR camera and I finally got one. WOO HOO! Hopefully this will improve the quality of my food pics. *crosses fingers*

I can’t wait to try it out. I love it. My husband is the best — EVER! hehe

February 16th: My mom’s 50th birthday!

We had a small family lunch party with pizza, sandwiches and cake. I ordered her cake from Deising’s Bakery; the same place my birthday cake came from. Hers had strawberry and vanilla custard in the center:

I was so impressed by the colors of the cake. They did an excellent job!

She’s having a bigger party the end of the month. But for now, we enjoyed this little party and cake very much. It’s incredibly moist, it just melts in your mouth. Fabulous!

Well, I’m extremely tired right now. It’s been a long, 5 day? weekend lol. Time to go relax.

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Regretfully, we haven’t exactly had the time to enjoy being as lovey dovey as we’d like to be. This week has been like a whirlwind going by at lightning fast speeds in a thousand different directions. The biggest event thus far: getting a new Cadillac SRX yesterday!

It was the worst day to bring a new, black car home; cloudy and the roads were filthy from melting snow and sand. So these pictures really don’t do it justice. It was meticulously shiny before we left the dealership though.

The dealership is called M&M Auto Group, so they give all their customers little containers of M&M candies with vehicle purchase lol. Cute. They apologized for not giving peanut M&Ms out due to peanut allergies. hehe

The car is an ‘08 Cadillac SRX, black with black leather. We wanted an ‘09, but they didn’t have the colors that we wanted in stock, so we decided to just get the ‘08 which was a great deal. They knocked a ton off of the MSRP being it was a leftover, plus rebates. When we left the dealership, the odometer had only 8 miles on it! Too cool. It’s a fantastic crossover vehicle that rides beautifully. We also considered the Lincoln MKX, but we decided we liked the SRX better. I think it looks like a hearse, but no one else agrees with me. I think hearses are extremely cool cars, so it doesn’t bother me to think that, BTW. lol Ironically, I’m more of a car buff than my hubby even though his father and brother are mechanics and semi-professional race car drivers. I married the black sheep! <3

We traded in the Mercedes to get this one. I didn’t think it would be as easy as it was for a 25 year old guy to walk into a Cadillac dealership asking for a very large line of credit considering the state of the banking industry. Fortunately, my husband has nearly impeccable credit (compared to mine ), so the bank that held the lien on the Mercedes financed this one — with a very high interest rate. High compared to 3 or 4 years ago, anyway. Of course now that we have an all-wheel drive vehicle, the weather is warming up and the snow is vanishing. Figures!!

So, what else is going on this week? Well, Valentine’s Day of course, my mother’s 50th birthday on the 16th and my cousin’s graduation party, plus another appointment with our accountant on Friday. Oh, and Aunt Flo rolled into town on Monday… sooooooo, I’m not exactly enjoying any of the excitement as much as I could be due to her making me feel like a beached whale with a bellyache. Aunt Flo always wants to be part of the busiest parts of my month lol. As if she’s going to miss out on something. haha

Cooking has been hit and miss around here for the past week, but that’s ok. I’m dealing with one thing at a time. No need for me to fall apart at the seams now after almost getting through the worst winter ever lol.

The other night I decided to make tortilla-less fajitas with chicken thighs. On the side we had: Eden Organic brown rice and black beans, almost-pico de gallo that I made with a can of no salt added Del Monte diced petite tomato, diced red onion, dried cilantro and black pepper, no salt added Del Monte French cut canned French-cut string beans that I use a little butter and Mrs. Dash lemon pepper on. I sprinkled a little cheddar cheese over the chicken and put a nice, big dollop of Fage Total 0% plain yogurt on the side.

Can you tell I was trying to use things up from my freezer and pantry? lol It was great though and the entire meal took only about 15 minutes to make and prepare. I put the skinless, boneless chicken thighs in a large bowl, then coated them with 1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil before I grilled them on our indoor grill with just a little fresh cracked pepper. Then I sliced them up into strips when they were done.

Delicious! Chicken thighs have so much more flavor than plain ole chicken breast. It was a nice change from the ordinary. YUM! I estimate this meal to have between 400 and 500 calories. Very filling and I can’t emphasize enough how little time it took. Who needs Salty-Bell when you can have something much healthier that tastes even better?

The same day I also made an Amy’s light in sodium vegetable lasagna that was in the freezer. I steamed half a bag of fresh baby spinach in the microwave, then added it to the top of it with some of the jalapeno-less pico de gallo and a heaping teaspoon of grated pecorino romano cheese. Even though the diced tomatoes had cilantro in it, it still went great with the lasagna and spinach. Mmmm!

I had a small side salad with butterhead lettuce, the rest of the diced tomatoes/onions, about half a TBSP of EVOO, a little balsamic vinegar and a heaping teaspoon of grated pecorino romano cheese…

SO GOOD! The spinach and tomatoes made it so much more filling, but added very few calories. Loved it!

We picked up the new car yesterday, so we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate last night. We went to Barnaby’s in New Paltz. It’s about a 30 minute drive from our house, but really, what isn’t? LOL

Excuse the iPhone pics but I forgot my camera at home. Ooops!

We started with crab cakes for an appetizer…

I got the steak panini and hubby got surf and turf (he orders the same thing at diners, too lol ) I ate half of the panini and only about 4 of the French fries. I also ate the meat out of the other half of the panini. I’m turning into a carnivore? NOOOOOOOOOOO! lol Must have been because I ate 2 dinner rolls that they brought out before the crab cakes. We didn’t eat anything all day except for the M&Ms that the car dealer gave us, so we were STARVING, as you can imagine.

I’m really starting to love unsweetened iced tea. I find it to me just as enjoyable as sweetened these days. Hubby cringes when I want a packet of the “pink stuff”, even though he drinks HFCS like it’s going out of style. All the preaching I have done about chemicals and artificial stuff has turned him against my own thirst! And when I ask him for a packet of whatever fake stuff is on the table, he stubbornly gives me the real sugar instead. So, I just started drinking it unsweetened and found out that I like it. I definitely don’t like consuming aspartame or other artificial sweeteners, but just like everything else, I’ll tolerate a little here and there. Moderation is key, but I have definitely had way too much artificial stuff in the past few weeks, so I did cut down dramatically to just 1 or 2 times a week, tops. Ah well, the teeter-totter effect of balance.

At the end of our meal we shared a decadent creme brulee:

Heavenly!

I have a lot of cleaning to do tonight. We’ve been going nonstop since we woke up this afternoon and there’s still a lot of things left to do. Thankfully I’ve had time to read my Twilight books, but I’ve really been slacking on the exercise front and my SUPER PUFFINESS is showing for it. *sigh* I didn’t even want to go pick up our car yesterday, that’s how YUCK I felt. I’m bloated and just overall paperweight-like. I am excited about something else though! When I was walking outside in our driveway this evening, it was much warmer than usual and that gave me hope that I can start taking walks again very soon — probably now if I really wanted to!! YAY! In my driveway, that is lol.

Well, I’m off to do something productive now. I have cramps and even my fingers and knees ache from water retention but this too shall pass. My husband was just asking about our schedule for the upcoming month with a desperate sound in his voice lol. After this week, I think we’re in the clear until the Easter Bunny starts hopping down the trail.

*exhales* Phew!

I cannot wait to have a peaceful, consistent month. It’s coming soon! I’ll force it if I have to lol.

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