Red Pepper Hummus

Today was kind of blah and things didn't really go as planned.  I wanted to try to run after work, but it just wasn't in the cards today.  I've been really tired the past few days so I think that has brought my motivation down.  Hopefully it will come back soon!

Probably the high point of my day was this awesome hummus I made for dinner. 

I don't know if any pictures can do hummus justice, but this one certainly doesn't come close!  It was tasty!  I modified my original hummus recipe to incorporate a red bell pepper that I needed to use up.  Garbanzos, tahini, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, about 1/4 of a large red pepper, dash of Frank's Red Hot, and salt were all pulverized in the food processor.  As you can see, Matt couldn't even wait for me to take the picture before he dug in to it!  I served it with grilled chicken breast and flour tortillas. 

I Can See (The Snow) Clearly Now...

It really wasn't a "Terrific Tuesday" today, but it wasn't a "Terrible Tuesday" either.  It was Wacky and Weird (too bad it wasn't a Wednesday!) because today we received several inches of snow in Austin.  A very rare occurrence for south Texas!

It melted pretty fast as it hit the ground, but it caused a lot of excitement as everyone in the office had to go outside to take pictures and throw a few snowballs. 

 

Poor Roger couldn't even see the snow through all that overgrown hair, so he had a date with the groomer.

 

Mutt Makeover - Before

Mutt Makeover - After

I have to facilitate a structured meeting at work next week.  I have been trained to be a facilitator, but haven't done it for about 5 years so I'm very rusty.  I've been putting off the planning and preparation because I'm not too thrilled about it, but today I scheduled a few meetings with people that forced me to start the prep work.  That's another little trick I use to motivate me to do things I don't like.  I hate letting people down, so making a commitment to someone else that is time-bound adds a sense of urgency. 

The only noteworthy food item I have for today is the dinner I threw together tonight.  I tend to buy a lot of vegetables only to let them rot in the refrigerator because I forget they are in there.  Tonight I tried to incorporate as many veggies as I could with the frozen chicken breast that I always have on hand.  The result?  Lime Chicken Soft Tacos!

 

Not bad at all!  I diced and sauteed chicken breast, red bell pepper, red onion, and a jalapeno in a little bit of coconut oil and spices (chili powder, cumin, salt, and Mexican oregano).  Toward the end I added the juice of a lime.  The lime and spices that were used in this dish masked the flavor of the coconut oil so it was virtually undetectable.  

To assemble the tacos I piled a whole wheat tortilla with some spinach leaves, the chicken mixture, cheddar cheese, and some avacado slices.  

Top that off with some coffee ice cream and I'm ready to call it a night! 

 

 

I'll leave you with the image of Roger doing his happy (break)dance on the kitchen floor!  He's so happy to be able to see again!

Moody Monday

Today was a really yucky Monday for me.  Have you ever had a day where you wake up and wish you were sick so you could just stay in bed all day and not feel guilty about it?  That was me today...pretty sad, huh?  Well, I drug my behind out of bed and went to work, but was irritable and impatient all day.  I thought of several things I could do this evening to get out of the rut and end the day on a higher note - go for a run, do our taxes (wait, that might not have the desired effect!), or get started on a home project I've been meaning to do.  In the end, I decided that it's ok to be unmotivated once in a while so I did absolutely nothing!  And I'm ok with that. 

As far as food goes, it was a day of repeats.  Had my normal oatmeal and coffee for breakfast then some greek yogurt and a bagel with almond butter for lunch.  Luckily, no one was really hungry tonight so everyone was left to fend for themselves for dinner.

One thing I can share with you, however, is the bread I made last night.  It wasn't ready for dinner because of my poor planning, so it didn't make it into yesterday's post.  I came across a recipe for No-Knead Ciabatta Bread with a very helpful video.  I'm so glad I stumbled upon this recipe on the Food Wishes blog by Chef John and I can't wait to check out more of his great looking recipes! 

 

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the dough before this stage, but you can see it in Chef John's video and mine looked just as he said it should.  This is a very easy recipe and would be great for people who may not be comfortable working with bread dough.  I LOVE to bake bread and do it often so I have gotten past the intimidation stage, but believe me it took some practice!

This made one BIG loaf of bread!  We're still eating it tonight dipped in some extra virgin olive oil and spices.  YUM!

Thank goodness "Moody Monday" is almost over.  Tomorrow I'm hoping for a "Terrific (not Terrible) Tuesday"!

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!

 

Ahhh...Saturday...

It was a great Saturday!  I woke up at a decent hour (before 8:30) and we immediately started getting some chores out of the way.  Well...ok...after a cup of coffee and some SCO!

 

I have a secret about the coffee.  I've been sneaking coconut oil in it for a while now.  Matt doesn't seem to care for things cooked in coconut oil so I have to find some way to get that healthy goodness into him!  :)  If you've never heard about the benefits of coconut oil, you should really check it out.  There's a huge difference between the hydrogenated crap and extra virgin, unrefined, cold pressed coconut oil.

Getting out of bed and getting dressed at a decent time is a key motivator for me.  I got so many things done this morning instead plopping down on the couch in front of the TV. 

We ate a quick lunch, mostly leftovers, and then headed out to run a few errands.  I picked up these candle holders for the bedroom.

 

Not exactly what I want, but they were really cheap so they'll make due for now until I find something more sparkly!

After a quick stop at Whole Foods (LOVE that place!), we took the kids to the bookstore and just hung out for a while.  We browsed through some books and had some drinks - one of my favorite things to do with the family on the weekends!

By the time we got home it was time for dinner.  I have had this weird craving lately for vegetables of all kinds. 

In one corner we have acorn squash and beets roasted in that wonderful coconut oil and then glazed with honey.  In the other corner we have asparagus and mushrooms brushed with olive oil and spices and a pat of butter.

While I was cooking, I had a glass on Pinot Noir.  I love to have a nice glass of wine while I cook.  I really like this one...

 Dinner was yummy!  I grilled some chicken and made some short grain brown rice to serve with the overabundance of veggies.  :)