Tasty Tuesday Updates!!

I have lots of delicious food updates from this past week! I have been making a huge effort to make healthier choices which of course means more cooking, less eating out, and better for you foods! It was hard to chose just a few highlights but here are some of the major updates!

Big Lunches

Lunch has been interesting! As you can see I am a VERY hungry girl at lunch time but it has been filled with salads, delicious La Croix, Chobani Greek Yogurt, Strawberries, and Carrots! I usually only make it through half of these items but it is nice to have choices- plus it makes for a really tasty 3pm snack!!

I also enjoyed a tasty baked potato for lunch the other day (not the same day- gosh I am not that crazy). Although I did manage a turkey burger with this baked potato and a side of strawberries for dessert! I like to top my baked potatoes with broccoli (overcooked broccoli actually- I like it really soft) and a little bit of cheese and bacon with sour cream on the side.

Breakfast

I have also been enjoying some more 100% Steel Oats from “Good Food Made Simple” that I purchased at Sam’s club. This round I decided to make the honey one and I added in a small handful of chocolate chips! Honestly, I think it was too much chocolate for me (which is very difficult to say) BUT it was still really tasty!! If you want to read more about my first experience with these oats check it out here.

Treats

One of the highlights of the week was Friday night when Tim took me out to Menchies!! OOO how I love Menchies! I was feeling a little under the weather so the frozen yogurt felt really good on my sore throat…. well the delicious taste was a bonus haha. I had some banana, chocolate, cookies and cream, and peanut butter *yea a little bit overboard* and I mixed in some candy. I had far more than Tim haha but it was worth it

Normal Dinners

I have been doing pretty good with my healthy balanced meals at dinner! I managed some delicious baked chicken with green beans on the side and some honey mustard dipping sauce!! I forgot how much I LOVED this meal since I used to eat it like every day in Boston! It was a simple and easy meal to make.

Tim even made some really tasty meatloaf the other day! We are a big fan of putting everything into meatloaf… ground turkey, oats, eggs, ketchup, peppers, onions, and whatever else we can think of!

I had dinner tonight actually at my parents! We have all natural Buffalo steaks with mushrooms and zucchini on the side! I think I ended up eating most of the mushrooms while I was cooking (I guess mom and dad won’t put me in charge of that again hehe) and while I am not a huge red meat girl the steaks were pretty good. I think I like Bison much more than a regular steak. I also tasted this all organic chocolate that my mom got at Whole Foods but I can’t say this hit my taste buds in the right way at all!

Lots of veggies!

and a full delicious meal

Before the dinner we enjoyed a Smoothie from my mom’s new Vitamix smoothie maker. This blender is CRAZY and works like no other blender I have ever seen. We put spinach in this smoothie and wheat grass and some Kumquat fruits, Greek Yogurt, and some Almond Milk! It looks pretty weird to start..

And still looked pretty weird while it was blending

and actually looked pretty weird in the glass but tasted surprisingly good!

Dips

The other night I decided to combine 3 of my favorite foods… avocados, mangos, cilantro, oh and lime juice. It tasted delicious and I think it would be really good served on Chicken or something but I never got that far… I’ll try that next. I cut up 2 avocados, 1 mango, a few teaspoons of cilantro, and just a squeeze of lime juice! Highly recommend and if you find a good use for it let me know! So far I just eat it with a spoon or some chips!

Game Night

Tim and I went over to Kara and Dana’s for game night the other night and not only did we have a blast playing games but we also have a GREAT meal made by Dana!! Dana made some lasagna for the first time and it was sooo good. Kara’s salad was also delicious just for the record! I was so proud of Dana’s meal and wish I had more room so I could have had quite a bit more but he did such a great job so I think I’ll be asking for this meal again!!

D was so proud!

and my belly was happy too!

Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Sunday was INSANE! Casey and Mark had a party with a ton of great friends and some really tasty food! Tim and I were in charge of the Rice Krispies Treats which I had not made from scratch in a really long time so it was a ton of fun. I have a love for marshmallows so as you can imagine this is one of my favorite desserts.

Casey made some delicious pierogi and chili!I even made the pierogis for lunch the next day!! Tim had the chili- thank you Casey for our left overs!!

Molly also made this tasty taco dip that had guacamole in it. I have had the taco dip before but I have never had it with the guac inside so that was like opening up a present Christmas morning and realizes it was something you had wanted that you didn’t even ask for!!

Oooo and let’s not forget about the pulled pork Casey made for the pulled pork sandwiches… I think I’ll make this in the crock-pot one of these days!

Lots of pulled pork

And of course that wasn’t all! Here is the entire spread…

SOO much fun!

Dinner at Jen’s

I also had dinner with Casey and Jen the other night at Jen’s house! Jen made chicken parmesan with noodles and we ate some buffalo chicken dip as an appetizer! Jen was such a great cook and we enjoyed a nice girls dinner!

Jen was very proud of her meal and she should be- delicious!!

and once again my belly was happy!

Taco Meatloaves and Organization Turn Me On

No rain on Tuesday morning so we laced up the tennis shoes and headed out to hit the pavement. It was a very chilly morning so I had to wear pants and a long sleeve shirt but Tim didn’t care and headed out in his t-shirt and shorts. Again, another reminder that the weather in Ohio gets very cold very quickly. Before we headed out I visited my old friend Peanut Butter Puffins and Almond Breeze Almond Milk. I don’t know why but it felt like I hadn’t had these in forever so it was like going to see an old friend from college when I poured them in my bowl! Tim stuck to the usual peanut butter on an English muffin.

 

Tim's pre-run treat

Hey there old friend!

We decided that since my Susan G. Komen 5K is in just a few weeks I really need to set a plan for myself to make it through the next few weeks so this week we decided on doing at least 2 miles every morning. Next week step it up to 2.5 then 2.75 and then 3. That should take me perfectly into the 5K. This morning we ended up running a little over 2 so that was pretty awesome except that the hill toward the end was almost the death of me. We made it through though and I was at least happy that Tim was struggling just as much as I was! It is always better to struggle together rather than separately right? I mean, of course, I would rather no one suffer through it but hey everyone likes good company.

So anyway, after a great run we came in and I rushed to get ready for work so I wasn’t late for my first day of training. Training this week is rough because we do so much sitting. They do a great job at letting us get up and move around for group projects but we are still sitting uncomfortably in chairs pretty much all day. They feed us lunch so I ended up eating some chicken fingers, I did sneak in a few breaded ones but stuck mostly to the grilled ones, with some mixed veggies, salad, and fruit. I don’t usually like these catered lunches but this one was OK. Not great… but OK.

I was home a little later than usual because on top of the week long training class they also hosted a reception at this restaurant called the Galaxy in Wadsworth. It is a pretty good restaurant- I have been there a few times with my parents and our proms were hosted there.  The good is good and they have quite a variety of different rooms you can eat at. There is a bar, a more formal dining area, and a few others big rooms to host functions. Worth checking out if you are ever in the area and well, kind of the only place in Wadsworth to check out!

When I got home Tim had dinner ready already! TACO MINI MEATLOAFS! My sister introduced Tim and I to mini meatloaves- kind of the typical meatloaf but in mini sizes and Tim mentioned it to a girl at work and she suggested we make them with taco seasoning and TADA… it was so good I wish I could eat it every night. So I just had it one night (well and left overs) with some taco rice on the side and some corn on the cob that Amanda brought us (BEST CORN EVER)! Tim sure can make one of the best dinners! Not to mention it was so nice coming home to a nice meal waiting for me after a very long day. So if you do want to make these yourselves just start with a regular meatloaf recipe, add in taco seasoning, and cook them in a muffin pan! You will not be sorry- I promise!

Looks at that beautiful plate

Ok but on to the BEST part of the evening. So we moved in over15 months ago and we have HATED our pantry area since the day we loved in. I mean it wasn’t even really a pantry it was just a big open space under the stairs and in the kitchen that was the best place to put a pantry. So this area has been this ridiculously messy and disorganized and it sort of makes me twitch every time I open the door. We tried this ugly cheap freestanding plastic shelf and didn’t like it so we bought this nice freestanding steel thing and it has been working pretty well but was still too small. So when we went next door and saw that Mark and Casey put in a Rubbermaid Pantry kit and screwed the wire shelves into the wall and just created this beautiful masterpiece. I immediately told Tim “WE NEED TO DO THAT” and sure enough I came home from my day and Tim had the wires all out and was already working hard. NOW it looks beautiful. I can’t wait for my parents to come over and see Tim’s handy work- my dad also twitched every time he opened that door. So there you have it… over a year later and we are finally making improvements haha. YAY US. So yea you have no idea how excited I get to open that pantry door… I just do it for fun now because it makes me so happy. Who knew that organization could turn a girl on?

My present!

My Handy Man

YAY For Organization!

 

Tell me! What do you HAVE to have organized or you will go CRAZY?!