Goat Cheese and Chicken

Dinner tonight was fantastic! It was the first time I have been to Feast, a local restaurant just down the block from my house! It was great catching up with my dad, brother and his girlfriend. We had a small bread basket to start. I had a mini tiny biscuit with a touch of the chipolata butter! Yum!

I order a glass of organic red wine and the organic chicken breast stuffed with herbed goat cheese. It was served with gnocchi, spinach, cherry tomatoes and bur blanc sauce. To say the least it totally filled me up and was fantastically prepared. The breast meat was juicy, the gnocchi was light and fluffy like little clouds in your mouth, and what is there not to like about a bur blanc sauce! Nothing!



Now I am home ready to snuggle up in bed with a movie!

See you tomorrow!

Mmmm...omelets!

I totally forgot to blog and take pictures yesterday! It was a super long day at the office followed by a long night. Today is a new day and that is the best part, you always get to start again!

Breakfast:
Dean and I woke up starving and had breakfast on the mind! And making breakfast out was a must. We tried out a new place a few blocks away called Eggsperience. It was delightfully delicious and the menu was HUGE. Soo many yummy options.

I was craving protein and the the omelet Egg White Delight sounded perfect and that it was. Egg whites, spinach, roasted peppers, mushrooms, and low-fat mozzarella.



I ate about 1/3 of it with my toast and jam. The side of fresh fruit was fantastic as well!

Work-out:
I hit the gym after errands and had a great work out. I logged 45 minutes on the weight loss setting on the treadmill at 4.1. It felt great to sweat and rock some Madonna! Then Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred DVD again. I am already starting to feel stronger lifting weights again.

Post Work-out Meal:
Fruit Smoothie
*2 scoops all natural whey protein
*1/2 c. organic raspberries
*1 banana
*8oz water

2 tlbsp organic hummus and some organic baby carrots



Off to get ready for church and dinner with dad, and 2 of my brothers! Will post dinner updates later tonight :)

Today started off with a good butt kicking from my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD. I am pretty much starting over from taking it easy the past month. By the end of Level 1, I was dripping and feeling strong. I love that I get a total body work-out in a half hour. Plus she encourages you the entire time, even when you want to stop and take a break! I don't belong to a gym, but our building has a gym and I find I like work-out DVDs more and more.

I didn't have time to eat before heading to the office, but when I finally got there I had an awesome treat!!



I have recently discovered a blog called Iowa Girl Eats and she makes Over Night Oats quite a bit. I have started making my own spins on this idea too! Below is one of the recipes I make the night before

*1/4 c. organic oats
*1/2 c. organic pumpkin puree
*1/2 c. organic Greek yogurt (plain or vanilla)
*2 tlbsp. organic ground flax seed
*cinnamon and/or pumpkin pie spices

I mix it all together and throw it back in the fridge overnight. When I am ready to eat in the morning, the toppings are endless. Sliced banana was the choice today! It is a filling and nutritrious breakfast!

Lunch was a celebration out to one of our favorite spots near the office, Yolk. They make GREAT breakfast food and lunch items. I usually order off the breakfast menu and stuck to that trend today.



I ate half of my egg white omelet with green onions, tomatoes, avocado, mushrooms, and salsa. It was soo tasty and filling I only ate half with the side of fruit and 2 slices of multi-grain toast. I was full and satisfied.

Dinner was fajita night! This is a weekly favorite. We by the marinated Pollo Asada from Trader Joe's and grill it up on our indoor grill! Feels like a little bit of summer in the cold winter. I sauteed up some spinach and mushrooms to get some veggies in our corn tortillas. Topped off with a little low-fat cheese and low-fat sour cream, it was the perfect ending after a long day at work!



Off to finish the laundry and get ready for bed! See you tomorrow :)

40 days and we are going...

Today starts my Lenten journey. I have decided they year I am going to focus on fasting and doing something positive for myself. It is a three part commitment I am making. I am going to blog about my what I eat for the next 40 days through photos and descriptions. I am excited to find what I discover about my eating habits, while growing as a person.

The second part is I am going to abstain from processed sweets. That means, no dessert, no cupcakes, no cookie, no ice cream, and no candy. Why so much? Well, I want to give my body a break from processed sweets and sugars because they are a weakness. I am up for a challenge!

My final part is working out with my favorite work-out DVDs 5 days a week. Anyone who knows me well knows that I am also a Jillian Michaels nut! I simply can't get enough of her books, DVDs, and life philosophy. I have her books and DVDs, which you can get here on amazon.com And you know her methods work!

Here is the break down of my day today!
Breakfast:
*Steel Cut Oats with mashed banana, 2 tlbsp ground flax seeds, and 2 tlbsp organic peanut butter
*1 cup of coffee with a tablespoon of skim milk



Lunch:
I had a surprise lunch date from my main squeeze and we ended up at Portillo's and the start of Lent means the return of the egg and pepper sandwich! It was buttery, delicious perfectly scrambled eggs and sweet peppers. Oh so yummy! And we split a fry. A totally indulgent lunch, but worth every bite today!

Snack:
* An orange

Dinner:
*Anything Salad
*Organic baby greens, 3 roasted mini potatoes, 1/2 cup green beans, 1 tlbsp croutons, 4 oz organic chicken breast (even this I was supposed to abstain from meat today), baby mushrooms and some organic broccoli slaw. I topped it off with some yummy Italian dressing!


Work-out:
Today is my day off for the week! Back at it tomorrow!

Hope you have a great night and what is your 40 journey?

Sparkles, Glow, and Make-up!

A lot of my friends, family, and people I don't even know comment how great my make-up looks. I even did my closest college friend's make-p for her wedding! I am dedicating today's blog to my tips and tricks of make-up storage.

Years ago, my obsession with make-up and beauty products started. And it hasn't stopped. Over time, I am sure I have spent a small fortune on the little jars of beauty magic. My approach today is all about high-low. I spend money on products that go directly on my skin (think foundation, tinted moisturizer, hydrating night creams) and the low is spend on accents (mascara, eyeshadows, eyeliners, etc). In the future, I plan on posting about high and low products. But back to today's focus!

Make-up Storage. I have evolved quite a bit since the days of Caboodles! I currently store my make-up in an acrylic flatware storage container. I read about this tip in a magazine back in the 90s and have been using this one since. I can't remembered where it was purchased, but it has filled it purpose!



I keep my brushes in one compartment, eyelines and mascara in a second, followed by lipsticks, and then a nice place to keep our tooth brushes. In the large compartment in front, I keep eyeshadows, blush, powder, and tweezers! I clean the container in the dishwasher about once every 3 months to ensure it keeps most germs out. I also clean off all my current make-up. Plus it forces me to keep an accurate inventory of what I have and if I need anything new. But I usually don't need an excuse for new make-up!

Storing my everyday brushes upright keeps them in great condition (yes, I do have a set of REALLY nice brushes that I only use when I am doing my make-up for events). The bristles of the brush keep well and don't spread out too much. I clean my brushes (with my organic face wash) about every 4 - 6 weeks. Once I am done cleaning, I just place them back in their compartment to dry!

Hope you find my tips helpful! How do you store your make-up?

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope you all have a special day with the ones you love!

It's a Snow Globe...and an awesome cookie!

It is a snow globe outside today! It hasn't stopped coming down since I woke up and I have to say I am enjoying it. There is something calming to the soul watching the flakes fall and make everything white and clean looking.


I was in the mood for cookies the other night after I came across this recipe. They have been called The Ultimate Cookie and Way to a Man's Heart Cookies (which might be true because Dean ate about 3 hot out of the oven!). I just want to call them awesome!


Here is my spin on the recipe and what you need:


* 1 cup butter, softened
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup dark brown sugar
* 2 eggs
* 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
* 2 cups flour
* 1 tsp. baking soda
* 1 tsp. baking powder
* 2 cups quick oats
* 1 cup shredded coconut
* 1 bag Heath toffee chips
* 3/4 bag semi-sweet chocolate chips
* 1/2 peanut butter chips
* sea salt to top sprinkle on top

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.

Cream the butter and sugars together in a mixer bowl. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
Than add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Add in the oats, Heath chips, chocolate chips, and peanut butter chips mixing to combine between each ingredient. This is what your batter should look like.



Scoop onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. I use a small ice cream scoop to ensure all my cookies are the same size and bake evenly! Bake for about 11 - 13 minutes, depending on your oven. This batch makes A LOT of cookies, which isn't the worst thing in the world! I scooped all of mine individually out and then froze the rest, so we can have warm cookies another night :)



A Note on Oven Thermometers: I finally went and purchased an oven thermometer and learned quite a bit! My oven is a bit older and I was curious how accurate my dial was. Turns out it is off by about 5 - 10 degrees lower than the dial. I am happy to have invest the $8 for accurate cooking and baking! I would highly recommending the purchase, you can use it in any oven! You can purchase your thermometer at your local hardware store.



Off to read and a hot cup of tea!