Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Paddy's Day! I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating and ate and drank all the green things ;0) Check out my cute little Irishman ;0) He might not look it but this kid is a quarter Irish and today he celebrated 100% on his first St. Paddy's Day!

I incorporated all the green things into my morning breakfast this morning, by starting the day off with my Mango Banana Green Smoothie! It's also my last official day of work and when I dropped the little man off at the grandparent's house this morning, my dad was kind enough to bring me a triple tall nonfat latte to jumpstart my day as well.

My mid-morning snack was another tasty slice of the banana bread I made last week. So good.

At lunch I continued the green theme and put peas in my side salad concoction of black beans, corn and peas, which I served alongside another tasty grilled ham and cheese sandwich on top of my 100 calorie english muffin.

My afternoon snack was some more boom chicka pop white cheddar popcorn (love this stuff!).

And for dinner, MORE GREEN!! Hey it is St. Paddy's day after all, so I thought it fitting ;0p

I had 4 slices (only 3 are pictured below) of Bon Appetit's Frozen Thin Crust Spinaci Pizza topped with mozzarella, asiago, garlic and lots and lots of spinach. This was seriously one of the BEST frozen pizzas I've ever had in my entire life and I'm super excited for leftovers for lunch tomorrow ;0)

All in all it was a pretty green day ;0) and my final calories came in at 1,654.

I'm off to watch The Voice before heading to bed (I lead a super exciting life with a little one ;0))

Binging (and Not Purging)

i know I know...super gross title, but it pretty much sums up what I ended up doing last night after I posted my last post. apparently sugar is a MAJOR trigger for me, because after that delicious popcorn and those Reese's pieces, I. couldn't. stop.

I kept going back to the kitchen for more and more and more, till I made my stomach hurt. and I wasn't even hungry! I had cheese and crackers, some chocolate, some Swedish fish. it. was. gross.

does anybody else do that? mindless eating? afterwards, I always feel sick and so mad at myself. so why do I do it?!?!!

needless to say, I wasn't that hungry for breakfast this morning, so ate much later than usual, around 9 am (which is late when you're up at 5 am with a little one!) and since today is a work day (I don't have too many of these left) I went with the standard Yoplait Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup of granola and my standard ice coffee, which I ended up picking up from Dutch Bros on my way to work this morning. so good!

but let me back up and tell you guys about my morning, because it was a morning. it started out great at first! little man surprised me again by sleeping almost all the way through the night again (he slept till 5 am!!!) and then went back down for about an hour, so we were up by 6 am. I couldn't fall back asleep though and that sucked majorly.

then we went downstairs, where the little guy decided to bless me with the largest, grossest blowout of all time. so bad, that I threw away his pajamas (they couldn't be saved) and promptly put him in the tub. oh you guys...I can handle the baby puke, but being pooped on and having it everywhere is not OK with me. so gross.

after all that, I got us ready for the day and left for work and realized I FORGOT MY WEDDING RINGS!!! (husband if you're reading this, I did no such thing, wore them all day long ;0p) I hate it when I do this, it makes me feel naked. Kind of like forgetting your phone. And in the past when I've done this (only twice before) it always ended up being a terrible, no good, very bad day. eek!

my mid morning snack were these tasty chipotle chickpeas.

i headed home for lunch to hang out with little man (we had an intense game of pass the ball back and forth. he kinda sorta gets it. kinda ;0)) and i had some leftover homemade chicken noodle soup that i threw together yesterday with my leftover veggies and poached chicken. after lunch i headed back to the office and worked away.

my afternoon snack was some of the boom chicka pop white cheddar flavored popcorn (trying to stay away from the sweet stuff today after last night's binge) and some of my organics tea.

after work i came home to a bouncy, happy little boy (my favorite!) and we played, made his dinner (he LOVES the chicken noodle soup i made and blended up for him) and we talked to daddy for a while. then it was bath, bottle, book and bedtime! 

i ended up making two dinners tonight, because my first one was a complete FAIL and i threw it out after a few bites. i had high hopes for my mexican themed quinoa bowl that i topped with two poached eggs. it had quinoa, black beans, corn, shredded cheddar cheese and salsa and i mixed in two over easy eggs for extra protein, and when i took my first bite, i was not impressed. i tried to eat it, but after a few more bites, i knew i wasn't interested in finishing it, and i wanted to enjoy my dinner. so i headed back to kitchen and made a grilled ham and cheese on a 100 calorie english muffin. MUCH BETTER!  

Dinner One:

Dinner Two (which looks an awul lot like the lean cuisine breakfast sandwiches but it wasn't!):

My calories for today ended up coming in at 1,438. I'm pretty happy I'm under my 1,500 daily allotment, after last night's binge fest. Now off to ward off the snack monster until bedtime. I'm determined to do so after last night. 

Goodnight ya'll ;0) 

Homemade Banana Bread and My First Weigh-In

before we get started, i'll be 100% honest and admit i had a slice of that yummy banana bread fresh out of the oven. can you blame me though? warm banana bread filling your kitchen with that delicious smell...how can you not cut yourself a slice? it was a small slice though, so it ended up bringing my calories yesterday to an even 1,700.

today was even yuckier of a day than yesterday, and it's safe to say, i've got major cabin fever. little man and i took a trip to target, but other than that we've been housebound and since the rain never let up, it drove this mama crazy. i used to love rainy days like this. it was the perfect excuse to curl up on the couch and have a movie marathon with a roaring fire, and lots of yummy snacks. tell that to my 7.5 month old, because he apparently hasn't learned what rainy days like this mean. there's no rest for this tired mama.

anywho, breakfast was a slice of that yummy banana bread i made last night with about a tsp of butter, warmed and melty and delicious. i sliced up the rest of the bread and put it into individual baggies so i could put them in the freezer and not be tempted to slowly pick away at the bread all day. it worked! i had my one slice and i was good the rest of the day.

my mid morning snack was more of a second mini breakfast. i had my last lean cuisine turkey sausage breakfast sandwich. those little guys are tasty and while they're convenient and easy to make, i don't think i should make a habit of buying them. they're a little too easy, too convenient and too tasty if you know what i mean.

we went to target around 11, and while there i discovered this amazingly delicious treat! it's safe to say i couldn't stick to just one serving and basically i had popcorn for lunch. so freaking good. for those of you interested i found this sugar cookie flavor in the easter aisle at target and i wouldn't mind if the easter bunny brought me a bag or two ;0)

i didn't take a picture of my afternoon snack, probably because i was ashamed of myself....i chowed down on some reeses pieces. so good and i know so bad for me!!!!

by dinner time i knew i needed some veggies back in my life, so i whipped together a homemade chicken noodle soup made from all the leftover veggies (broccoli, carrots, bell peppers, and onions) i had prepped last week, plus the leftover poached chicken and some whole wheat penne pasta. it was awesome and i have plenty leftover for tomorrow's lunch! i also finished off the rest of the bottle of wine i had been drinking all weekend long (last day of the weekend it needed to disappear!). i guess sunday turned into my cheat day of sorts, since my calories we're way over 1,500....(2,000 to be exact).

now let's get to the good stuff. my banana bread recipe (taken from food network) is below! and the results of my first official weigh in.

Week One Total Weight Loss: 4.2 lbs

Overall Weight Loss: 4.2 lbs

Woohoo!!! I was hoping to lose 2 lbs each week, so to start out losing double is great! I'm sure it will start to decrease as my body gets used to the decreased calories, but i'll take what i can get! now that sunday (unofficial cheat day) is over, i'm back to healthy eating starting monday!



Banana Bread 
(recipe taken from the food network)

1 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ripe bananas
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy! 

Little Man's First Swim Lesson

hello! welcome to saturday and happy national pi day! before we get to swim lessons, i'll run through my eats.

breakfast was simple, two poached eggs over one slice of quinoa bread and my favorite ice coffee mixtures (coffee, coconut milk, dark chocolate sauce). eggs over easy, or poached eggs, whatever you want to call them, are my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, so this breakfast, although simple, was yummy.

my mid morning snack was 1/4 cup of sahale almonds with cranberries, honey and sea salt. these were really good and i'm so glad i picked them up at the store the other day!

after our mid morning snacks, we got ready for lincoln's first swim lesson!! it went great. i was a little worried he'd be freaked out, but he did really well. and, for a kid who has major separation anxiety (i can't leave the room without him crying giant crocodile tears), he was perfectly content to let the instructor take him and swim around. we practiced kicking, "scooping" the water, and they got to go down a little makeshift slide. there was only one other little one in the class so the instructor got to have lots of one-on-one time with both kiddos. at this point, it's mostly just about getting them used to the water, and i think we might have one little fishy on our hands!

after swim lessons, we came home and had lunch. i was really craving a sandwich and was planning on stopping by subway but little man fell asleep on the way home and i didn't want to lug him out of the car while he was sleeping. so, i came home and made a mexican themed quinoa bowl with 2/3 cup quinoa, 1/3 cup black beans, 1/3 cup corn, bell peppers, red onions, and 1/4 cup shredded cheese and topped it off with 1.5 tbsp of wholly spicy guacamole! it was pretty good, but didn't quite cure the sandwich itch, so i see a trip to subway in my future ;0)

so, today is national pie day right?! and i don't even like pie, but because it's pie day and because one of my favorite food bloggers, deb over at smitten kitchen, decided to post this amazing looking chocolate oatmeal pie recipe, i wanted a slice so  so so bad. but i knew if i caved and made the pie, i would demolish it, single handedly. so instead of having pie, my mid-afternoon snack and cure to my sweet tooth was my new go-to chocoperfect low carb chocolate bar. 181 calories and sugar free and so good. cured the sweet tooth and saved me about a bajillion calories in pie. win win!

little man didn't take a very long nap in the early afternoon which surprised me, and i was pretty tired as well, so he and i took a long nap in the afternoon, and then around 4:45 got up to play! it was a yucky, dreary and rainy day today, so we didn't go out for our walk, but i'm definitely looking forward to getting out tomorrow!

after putting the little guy down, i made dinner. i had yesterday's blue apron meal for leftovers tonight and another glorious glass of wine. (it's the weekend! and i made sure to save calories to enjoy this).

my calories came in at 1,542 tonight!

up tomorrow, i'm weighing in (won't share what i weigh, but i plan on sharing how much i've lost each week, plus my overall weight loss each week!) and i'm baking banana bread tonight with some bananas that were about to go bad, so i'll also share the recipe! i see a slice for breakfast in my future ;0)

good night!

Double Walk Duty

happy Friday!! Little man and I took it easy today. we played around the house, did laundry and went on about a 40 minute walk (roundtrip) to our neighborhood coffee shop and bakery.

Breakfast was pretty simple and straightforward this morning. One of my Yoplait greek 100 calorie yogurts, with some granola and a cup of organics chai spiced tea.

after morning naps (for lincoln and me!) we did some laundry, played and had some morning snacks. mine was trader joes multigrain crackers (1 serving) plus 1 laughing cow french onion cheese wedge and about a tablespoon of the roasted garlic 45 calorie hummus from eating right. i was pretty disappointed in the hummus and don't think i'll be buying it again. nothing lives up to my mom's hummus recipe! 

after little man went down for his afternoon nap, i was going to make a salad, but my lettuce had gone bad, so i made a quinoa salad, using the same toppings (bell peppers, onions, carrots, broccoli, poached chicken, corn, feta and avocado, atop 2/3 cup quinoa with some lighthouse blue cheese vinaigrette. so yummy and a great alternative. plus the extra protein in the quinoa kept me full all afternoon. 

for my afternoon snack, i picked up a nonfat caramel macchiato while we were out on our walk. it was the perfect pick me up and cured my sweet tooth ;0) 

lincoln and i then got to face time with daddy before he went down for his last nap of the day. when he woke up, he definitely woke up on the wrong side of the bed, and the only thing to cure the baby blues was to go on another walk around our neighborhood! totally fine by me, because it meant i got to enjoy a glass of vino tonight! 

after i got little man bathed, fed, read him his story and put him down for the night, i made my dinner. another blue apron meal!! it was seriously the best one yet. Za'atar spiced steaks with rutabaga-barberry tabbouleh and labneh cheese. it was awesome and i've posted the recipe below! 

my total calories for the day came in at 1,589 (after burning about 350 calories on my double walks). 

and here's the blue apron recipe!

blue apron Za'atar spiced steaks with rutabaga-barberry tabbouleh and labneh cheese

Serves 2 (about 610 calories each) (the tabboulleh would definitely serve at least 3 people and i portioned out a third for me)

2 flank steaks

3/4 c bulgur

2 cloves garlic (i used 4)

1 lemon

1 lb rutabaga

1 bunch mint

1 large bunch parsley

3 oz labneh cheese

2 tbsp pomegranate molasses

1 tbsp dried barberries

2 tsp za'atar steak spice blend

make the bulgur. bring water to boil, add bulgur and cook 12-14 minutes. remove from heat and drain. set aside. 

prepare the ingredients. peel and small dice the rutabaga, zest and quarter the lemon, pull the leaves off the stems of the mint and parsley, mince the garlic. in a small bowl, mix the labneh cheese, the juice of 2 of the lemon wedges, half the mint, a pinch of the garlic an season with salt and pepper. 

cook the steaks. season the steaks with half of the za'atar spiced mix, salt and pepper. heat 2 tsp of olive oil in a nonstick pan and cook the steaks 2-4 minutes on each side for medium rare. remove the steaks from the pan, set them aside and cover with foil. 

in the same pan that the steaks were cooked in, add the rutabaga and cook for 6-8 minutes. if the pan looks dry, add additional oil. add the garlic and the remaining spice mix and cook 30 seconds to 1 minute. add 2 tbsp water, the pomegranate molasses, and the dried barberries to the mixture and cook an additional 30 sec to one minute. 

remove from heat and add in the cooked bulgur, parsley, lemon zest and the juice of the remaining two lemon wedges. drizzle with olive oil (i omitted this) and season with salt and pepper. 

plate your dish and serve with a side of the labneh cheese mixture and garnish with the remaining mint. 

enjoy! (i know i did) 

Mommy and Me Yoga

happy almost friday! i'm sorry to say that little man did not sleep through the night last night. :( he only woke up once, at 2 am, but then to my surprise (and delight!) he went back to sleep until 6:45!!! for a kid who regularly wakes up between 5 and 6 (even on daylight savings so it was really 4 eeewwwww), that was the best thing ever!

i wasn't hungry (surprisingly) when we first woke up, so waited to have breakfast till around 8:30, and by the time i did, little man, was not having me letting him play on his own while i tried to make breakfast, so i popped another turkey sausage lean cuisine breakfast sandwich in the microwave and breakfast was served. i'm not complaining. these bad boys are pretty tasty, but i know i shouldn't make a habit out of them. ;0) i skipped the usual iced coffee in favor of h20.

after little man's morning nap, we headed (more like raced) to a mommy and me yoga class. i was worried we weren't going to make it because for the first time ever, little man decided he was going to sleep longer than his standard 45 minutes, but he woke up at 9:40. Just in time for me to get us together, and race out the door for the 10:00 am class. 

i have to say, i was really impressed. i thought the class was going to be more focused on the babes, but it was an actual yoga class for the mama's. it was just so you can bring the kiddos along and no one worries if you need to stop to change a diaper, feed a baby or soothe an upset little one. but for the most part, all the babes were content playing on their own, while the mom's did yoga. i'll definitely be going to this more often! 

after the class, little man and i headed over the grocery store, and picked up a green juice to share (blueberry, banana, pineapple and spinach) and pick up a few things. i was all out of eggs and some snacks for the little guy. 

i snacked on some boom chick a pop popcorn while we played, before settling him down for his first afternoon nap. 

for lunch i broke out of the freezer, the tikka masala kashi pizza. it's 300 calories, has 10 grams of fiber and 16 grams of protein. not too bad for a freezer meal. it was really good too! a little spicy (which i like) and was topped with tomatoes, eggplant, mozzarella and tikka masala sauce. tasty!

For my mid afternoon snack I ate a Chocoperfection low carb chocolate bar. (I forgot to snap a photo) I think these might be the cure to my sweet tooth (in moderation of course).

Dinner tonight was delish!!! The company was fun too. One of my girlfriends came over and we made dinner together .A Sweet   potatoe breakfast hash with onions and peppers topped with an over easy egg and a side of guacamole. So good! My total calories today came in at 1,587.

Giving In....

you guys it happened last night. i gave into the snack monster. i'm so mad at myself! around 9 last night, i started getting snacky. i sat and tried to tell myself not to give in, and then i walked in the kitchen to fill up my water bottle and it was all over. i made myself a mini quesadilla with cheese and black beans. it ended up bringing my total calories yesterday to 1,850. i didn't take a picture, but just know that i gave in (side note: i've been taken all my "meal photos" with my iPhone and haven't been editing them all so they're kind of crappy quality - i'm on a mission to fix this as i get into the swing of blogging almost daily!). :(

i'm pretty bummed seeing as it was only day two. this is why i need your guys help!!! does anyone have ideas/suggestions for curbing the late night munchies. i've tried brushing my teeth but that doesn't seem to stop me. maybe i should just put myself to bed as soon as those munchies kick in. ideas? thoughts?

time to move on. today is a new day, and i can only try and be better today than i was yesterday, right?

little man had a doctor's appointment early this am so i made a quick breakfast of one of my pre-made breakfast smoothies (i had the blueberry banana smoothie today!) and my standard ice coffee recipe to go.

the smoothie had 326 calories in it, but for some reason, only 2.5 hours later, i was STARVING!!!! so i made a second breakfast/early snack and had one of the lean cuisine turkey sausage breakfast sandwiches. i'm trying to keep my snacks under 200 calories, but i was pretty hungry and since these bad boys are only 220 calorie and loaded with 15 grams of protein, i made an exception. ;0)

the turkey sausage breakfast sandwich worked because it kept me full all morning and early afternoon and i didn't end up feeling hungry enough to eat lunch until almost 2!

lunch was my leftover italian wedding soup from blue apron!!! you guys blue apron is the best. for those of you who don't know what it is, it's a weekly delivery service that delivers farm fresh ingredients to your door with perfectly proportioned food, seasonings, etc. to make 3 meals. it also comes with step by step instructions that are so easy to follow.

you can sign up for the two person plan or the family plan (family of 4) and it breaks down to about $9.99/person per meal. this has saved me the past few weeks while i've been working full time and being a full time mom. i have had absolutely no desire to go grocery shopping and because it's just me, the 2-person meal plan, basically eliminated the need to grocery shop (which is why i was relegated to cupcakes before my big grocery overhaul). it made enough food for me to eat for lunches and dinners and have plenty of leftovers!

if anybody out there is in a cooking rut, wants to learn how to cook, or like me, just has no desire to grocery shop (i know, lazy), this is seriously for you! i'm posting the recipe for the italian wedding soup i had for dinner the other night (and lunch today!) down below for those of you who are interested....it was really yummy!

after running errands with little man, then taking him on a 40 minute walk to the park (40 minutes round trip), it was snack time! i had a bag of my pre-measured out boom chick-a pop popcorn and a cup of green tea. we played some more and then the little guy went down for his last nap before feeding him his dinner and doing the nightly bedtime routine (bath, bottle, book, bed) - you guys, lincoln slept from 7:30 pm last night until 5:45 am this morning and i thought i died and went to heaven!!!! cross your fingers he does it again tonight!

next up...dinner time! i made a quick stir fry using the prepped veggies i had on hand, along with the poached chicken and served it atop about 3/4 of a cup of quinoa. it was pretty tasty and came together in under 20 minutes! i made sure to make up a bunch of quinoa so i can have it on hand for stir fry's and to even bulk up some salads.

i'm excited for tomorrow, little man and i are trying out a mama/baby yoga class and then dinner with one of my besties!

My total calories for today (after burning 200 on our walk) came to 1,632. A little more than my 1,500 goal.

Here's the recipe for lunch today!

Blue Apron Italian Wedding Soup

(Serves 2 - but i found it made 3 very large servings)

10 oz ground chicken
1/2 c fregola sarda pasta
3 oz baby spinach
2 cloves garlic ( i love garlic so i doubled this)
1 carrot
1 yellow onion
1 stalk celery
1 small bunch celery
3 tbsp chicken demi glaze (they send you this, but i found this recipe for those of you wanting to try and make this)
1/3 c grated parmesan cheese
1/3 c plain breadcrumbs

(Blue apron has this as 2 servings and about 630 calories. I made mine into 3 servings, which would make it 420 calories a serving)

Prepare all the ingredients. Wash and dry the ingredients. Chop up the spinach, mince the garlic, chop the onion, dice the carrot and celery and pick the parsley off the stems.

Make the meatballs. combine the ground chicken, breadcrumbs, 1/4 of the onion, half the garlic, half the parmesan cheese and half the parsley in a large bowl, mix and form meatballs (mine made 15 large meatballs, they suggest 24-28 mini meatballs).

Cook the aromatics. heat 2 tbsp of olive oil on medium hot and add in the remaining onion, carrot and celery and garlic. cook stirring occasionally 3-4 minutes.

make the broth. add the pasta, chicken demi-glace and 3 cups of water, season with salt and pepper. heat to boiling on high. once boiling add the meatballs. reduce heat to medium high and simmer. stirring occasionally, cook 5-6 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

finish the soup. add the chopped spinach, season with salt and pepper and let simmer for an additional 2-3 minutes. remove from heat. divide the soup into two bowls and top with the remaining parmesan and parsley.

enjoy!