Scenes from the Week

That second job is coming along just fine.  Just fine indeed.  I guess they agree because I got to order my business cards.  I’m sooo official.

If I wasn’t so obsessed with constantly challenging myself to eat different things, I might be inclined to eat chick pea tacos every night.  So delish.

The love for Stoopy keeps on coming.  I have some very thoughtful, amazing, supportive friends out there.  Thanks J1!

And just so you know…Victoria is totally safe from the walking dead. 

Thank goodness.  That whole having to learn to shoot people in the head thing was really bothering me.

Simple Monday

After a weekend of throwing caution and healthy ideas to the wind I just could not face meal planning on a Monday morning.  Instead I just decided to work with what was on hand and go with the flow.

Toasted English muffin with light Laughing Cow, bacon jam, and tomato.

While in Nanaimo this past weekend I got my hands on some slightly more reasonably priced Liberte Greek yogurt.  Date & Fig if you please!

With sliced banana and a sprinkle of hemp seeds.

Mother’s Day’s lazy dinner just keeps on giving.  Leftover chicken strips and potato wedges…

With veggies, hummus, and plain Greek yogurt for dipping.

Slightly healthified. :)

I squeezed in an afternoon cardio session and a post hockey game nap.  (Our Canucks have made Round Three!!!)  Spent the evening working on some contract work, sipping tea, and biting the heads off the last of the Aussie gingerbread babies.

Today I restock the produce drawer.

Cream Cheese Surprise

Holy moly, where have I been?  Did you all the see wordless photo post from yesterday?  It was the least I could do!  Actually that is a strange phrase…from a time standpoint it was the most I could do!  What did you think of my “Sheriff” costume? :

I had seriously planned a second regular recap post for last night but I got caught up in a two and a half hour phone call.  Yipes!  So you get yesterday…um, well today!

We welcomed November in with a bang…of dismal drizzle.  It was a comfort food day all day.

Oats.  Straight up with banana, cinnamon and raisins.  No fancy business.

Coffee.  Which my tummy was none to pleased with.  Rejected half a cup.  I blame the Halloween party.  Who poured all of those vodka/sodas?

Soup.  I may have become a processed soup snob over the years but nothing says comfort like a mug of Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom. 

With cheeeeese and crackers.  Light cheddar and Kashi.  I let them float in the soup until melty then scoop them up.

Sweet Treat.  I busted into the sacred Coconut M&M’s, but you know what?  I wasn’t feeling them so stopped at half a bag.  Pat me on the back please.

After work things got more interesting.  I finished up late and somewhere in that final hour I got a craving for enchiladas.  Off to the store I went!

I cheated and bought premade enchilada sauce (however I won’t buy this brand again…I’m not in love with it), pre-shredded cheese (it was cheaper than a block), and pre-cooked chicken (cuz it was late and I was lazy).

The enchilada creation this time was Chicken, Black Bean, Spinach and Cream Cheese!  Yes, I know.  It’s sounds fabulous.

Ingredients:

• 2 pre-cooked chicken breasts, skin removed, meat shredded
• 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups fresh spinach, lightly steamed
• 3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used TexMex but cheddar or Jack would work)
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (I used half)
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 can enchilada sauce
• cumin to taste
• salt to taste
• 1/4 cup light cream cheese
• 6 large tortillas (I splurged on Jalapeno Cheese variety this time)

Directions:

Pretty much the exact same as my previous enchilada instructions. Mix. Roll. Bake. Eat.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray large glass casserole dish with non-stick spray and set aside.
2. In a mixing bowl combine shredded chicken, black beans, steamed spinach, 1/4 cup enchilada sauce, salsa, 1/2 cup shredded cheese, almost all of the green onions and jalapeno (save a bit for sprinkling on top) and a healthy dash of cumin.  Mix all together, taste, and season with salt if necessary.
3. Spread each tortilla with a dollop of cream cheese down the center, and top with 1/6 of the chicken mixture.  Do this six times.
4. Pour about 1/4 of remaining enchilada sauce in casserole dish.  Lay each filled tortilla in the dish, seam side down, side by side.
5. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over filled tortillas, sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup of shredded cheese and reserved green onions and jalapenos.
6. Bake for about 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbling.  Broil for additional 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese.  Remove from oven and let stand 3-4 minutes before serving.

By the time I actually got to eat one of these babies I was barely hungry anymore.  Served one up with light sour cream to finish it off.

Cream cheeesey good. :)  But definitely need a different brand of sauce.  Or you know, actually make my own like I keep saying.

Dessert.  Stick a spoon in the Coconut Crack Yogurt.  Oh Liberte.  I hate you but I love you. 

What I notice:  Not enough veggies or fruit.  Those that I had were hidden (banana cooked into oats, spinach cooked into dinner).  Must do better.

Nom.

Greek Lovah

Yesterday I saw some Twitter action regarding the arrival of Liberte Greek yogurt in VANILLA on the market, so I decided I’d better trot on out to Sobey’s to see if we had it yet.

Indeed we do!

What’s the big deal about Greek yogurt?

Um, 0% fat!!  Wicked high protein content!!  And thick like buttah!  Well, maybe not buttah but at least as thick as real, full fat sour cream.  Without all of the junk in there!  150 cals per 175g serving…but not full of fake sugars or gross fruit sweeteners like other no fat yogurts.  I can’t even look at a tub of that nasty, runny stuff anymore!

Mixed a serving with 1/2 sliced banana and a rounded 1/4 cup of granola…

Tasty!!

One complaint:  the price!  This tub was almost $6!!  At that price this won’t be a staple in my fridge.  It’s ridiculous.  Especially since the Svelt Liberte is a larger container and was on sale for $3.95.  Might not be as thick and protein packed but it’s still organic and deeeelish for a better dealio.

Love the protein content though.  This definitely held me over significantly better than the regular 2% yogurt I enjoyed yesterday.

Come lunchtime I was ready to dive face first into the leftover Sweet Potato, Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas.  I was hard pressed not to eat two…but I have a sushi dinner tonight and didn’t want to overdo it at lunch.

One enchilada with sliced baby cucumbers and orange peppers.

Super extra deeeelish on day two.  :)  nom!!

Now I am sitting here patiently anxiously awaiting a call or email from my bank letting me know they have finally processed my mortgage approval and matched a lower rate I sent them.  I thought my mortgage stress was over but alas I’m back to a waiting game!  It never ends!! 

Technically only 5 business days until I arrive in Victoria to do my condo hunting so I really need this gal to get back to me today!!

Deeeeelicious Dinner

Dinner tonight was sooooo good that I actually dragged my exhausted self off the sofa to come upstairs and write up this blog just for you all.  My creation could not wait until tomorrow.  :)

It can, however, wait til the end of this post. bwahahaha.

Before dinner there was the rest of my day…so y’all have to suffer through that first. Breakfast was a Liberte yogurt cup with sliced banana and the orange/flax granola that came with the cup…

Tasty, but man it doesn’t hold me over.  I was hungry less than two hours later.  Since breakfast was late and I didn’t want to jump right into lunch, I drank a litre of water and another cup of coffee to hold myself over.

Lunch was quick and easy.  Leftover pizza and sliced baby cucumbers. 

I love English cucumber.  It’s hands down one of my favourite veggies (which is odd because my Mom and I have very similar tastes and she HATES cucumber), and these baby ones are perfectly sweet, juicy and crunchy.  nom!!

Afternoon pick-me-up…no-bake crack cookies.  I can’t believe I haven’t just sat down and demolished the whole container.  Oh wait, it’s still early!

I didn’t get my outdoor walk today…which is sad because it is Earth Day after all…but it was either that OR go to the gym.  So I chose to go to the gym because I was really feeling in the groove to get a sweat on.

I had a good treadmill run.  12 minutes in a row, which doesn’t happen for me very often.  24 minutes in total.  I was aiming for 3km but came up a bit short before the treadmill turned itself off.  Oh well, time for some strength training anyway…

• lunges, with weight bar, 3 x 12 (per side)
• plie squats, 3 x 12
• dead lifts, 25lbs, 3 x 12
• 21s, 25lbs, 3 x 12
• hamstring curls on the ball, 3 x 12
• crunches, feet on the ball, 3 x 12
• bicycle crunches, 3 x 12 (per side)
• side planks, 30 seconds each side

Sweaty mess achieved!

As soon as I got home I started putting dinner together, so I could shower while it baked.  I’ve had a craving for Mexican food and yesterday I made sure to get all the ingredients for my Chicken Enchiladas.  Earlier today, Arron mentioned he had his own dinner plans so I decided to make tonight’s enchiladas a little healthier and more “my own”.

Sweet Potato, Spinach and Chicken Enchiladas

Followed the basic recipe but added steamed & mashed sweet potato and steamed fresh spinach to the mix.

I grilled up a couple of chicken breasts on The Griddler, seasoned lightly with s&p.

Decided to just use one…shredded it and mixed with about 1 cup of rinsed navy beans.  Seasoned with a heavy dose of my homemade Mexican seasoning.

Steamed half of a large sweet potato (approx 1 cup) with the skin on and cut into cubes.

Added three large handfuls of fresh spinach to the steamer with about 1 minute left.  Cooked until very wilted.

Mixed it all together with 1/4 cup of Trader Joe’s Habanero and Lime Salsa, a drizzle of enchilada sauce, and about 2/3 oz of light cheddar.

Rolled the filling up inside six small whole wheat tortillas and then topped the whole works with the rest of the enchilada sauce, the other 1/3 oz of cheese, and a snipped green onion.  Baked for 15 minutes at 375 until bubbly and hot.

Drizzled light sour cream on mine…

Then went back for seconds.

OMG.  Deeeeeeelish.  The addition of the sweet potato and spinach gave it such an excellent taste!!  Sweet and savoury all rolled together.  And an extra veggie serving or two in there!!  Definitely the only way to go in the future. 

Now there is some sort of dessert (crack cookie anyone?) that shall be consumed.  *giggles*