Food Network Junkie

I do like to have one day a week to sleep in.  Today, I didn't get out of bed until just before 10:00am, although I enjoyed some coffee in bed before that.  I am happy that I didn't let the fact that we slept in ruin the rest of the day!  We hopped out of bed and started in on a big breakfast.

 

Let me explain the bacon...first of all you will find that although I like to eat healthy things, I rarely shy away from bacon.  Second of all don't you just hate cooking bacon on the stove?  It gets grease all over EVERYTHING!  I learned this trick from watching Tyler Florence on the Food Network - you cook the bacon in the oven on 375 for about 15 minutes.  I also made eggs and pancakes (chocolate chip pancakes for the kids and raspberry pancakes with powdered sugar for us!  YUM!).  

While I enjoyed my breakfast, I started in on my To Do list - I'm beginning to like this motivation strategy.  It helps me remember all of the things I would like to do, gives me a mission for the day, and I don't have to stop and rack my brain to remember what it was I needed to do next. 

It turned out to be a beautiful day!  It really felt like spring and I was glad that a few of the things on my list got me out of the house.  

After running a few errands, I was ready for a quick snack/lunch and then I put my running clothes on.

 

One of my errands was to go to the grocery store.  I bought these mini bagels in the bakery that are whole grain and topped with sesame and flax seeds.  One of those ended up being my lunch along with some fresh ground almond butter and honey.

 

The run felt great but I still don't feel up to running any long distances yet since my half marathon a week ago.  That said, I was certainly glad I didn't listen to the little voice inside telling me I should skip it - and thanks to Matt for giving me that extra encouragement to "just do it"!

I was a little thirsty when I started running, so by the time I was done I was dying for something to drink.  A bottle of water and a Vita Coco did the trick!  I discovered this drink a couple of months ago and it started my coconut obsession (coconut water led to coconut oil which led to coconut milk - you'll hear more about that later!).  Vita Coco is a great natural sports drink with tons of potassium and other electrolytes.  It also tastes great and comes in several flavors.  Pineapple and passion fruit are my favorites.

For dinner tonight, we had marinated flank steak, veggies, roasted potatoes and leftover brown rice.  I have to say, this dinner was AWESOME!  Matt was laughing at me because I kept patting myself on the back.

 

Sure, the recipe (one of our favorites) belonged to Rachel Ray, but do you see that green stuff poking out from under the meat?  Yeah, that was ALL me!  I loaded up the plate with some fresh spinach leaves, headed to the grill, took the meat off the burner and plopped it right down on top of that spinach.  I let the meat rest for about 10 minutes and meanwhile, the juices dripped down into the spinach and the heat from the meat "cooked" it just the perfect amount!  Oh my goodness was this good!  Even my 8 year old loved it!

 

It's pretty obvious by now that I spend a lot of time watching the Food Network.  I remember when the channel first started and I will likely be a loyal follower as long as they're around!