Healthy Meal of the Week

Hey everyone!  Tonight’s healthy meal is “Garlicky Meatball Pasta” from the April 2012 Cooking Light.  It was really yummy and a big hit with Scarlett.  I added a small salad with raspberry vinaigrette to mine. Check it out below!

Ingredients:

9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine

12 ounces ground sirloin

½ cup panko

1/3 cup chopped fresh basil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/8 teaspoon kosher salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 ¾ cups lower-sodium marinara sauce

1 ounce Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

1.  Cook the pasta per directions.  Drain over a bowl ad reserve 1/3 cup pasta water.

2.  While pasta cooks, combine beef and next 6 ingredients (through egg); shape mixture into 16 meatballs.  Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add meatballs; cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides.  Reduce heat to medium-low.

3.  Add marinara and 1/3 cup pasta water.  Cover and cook 11 minutes or until meatballs are done.  Divide the pasta evenly among 4 plates; top evenly with sauce, meatballs and cheese.

Serves 4

Nutritional information:  489 calories; 16.6g total fat (6.1g saturated fat; 6.9g mono.; 1g poly); 29.1g protein; 71.6g carbohydrates; 2.6g fiber; 147mg cholesterol; 2.4mg iron; 688mg sodium; 110mg calcium

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  How was everyone’s week?  It’s Sunday so it’s Weekly Wrap Up time!

I’m gonna start with something a little different this week.  Last night we had really severe weather here in Wichita.  Two areas, one about 3 miles and the other about 3 ½ miles southeast of me were hit real hard by what the preliminary reports say was an EF-3 tornado.  Luckily, no one killed and there were only about a dozen or so injuries.  We had plenty of advance notice and all week long we’d been warned the weather was going to be bad with large, strong tornadoes.  The week’s worth of warning is probably what saved lives.

I do have a few friends with at least superficial damage to their houses, if not worse, but they are all okay and safe.  My family’s and my houses are okay and none of us were injured.  Had the path been a few miles to the north I may not have been saying the same thing. 

On my way to the tanning salon earlier I was able to get a few pictures out the car window of the area about 3 miles from me.

Snapped power pole in front of Spirit Aerosystems

Downed power lines by Spirit Aerosystems

Damaged billboard near Spirit Aerosystems

Uprooted tree near Spirit Aerosystems

I just want to thank our local news services as well as all the local Meteorologists, it was their warnings yesterday and all week that saved lives.

Moving on to the weight loss journey, I maintained my weight from last week. Slightly disappointed but I guess that’s better than gaining again.  I really need to work on my snacking problem, lol.

As for fashion and beauty purchases this week there really aren’t any.  I ordered two new BeautyBlenders from Sephora during their VIB and IB sale.  That’s really all this week.  I’m expecting another small bonus at work which I have lots of plans for though, lol.

Finally this week is my manicure, “Koala Bear-y” from OPI.  It’s a nice cream fuchsia color, perfect for spring.

That’s all for this week I hope everyone has a great week ahead and that the weather here is much calmer.  I’ll talk to ya’ll later! J

Outfit of the Week

Well, it’s a little late but here’s this week’s outfit.   Honestly, I didn’t wear this exact outfit this week.  I had planned on it for Friday but we decided as a team at work to wear a new company shirt that day.  The top is the only part of the outfit I actually changed, everything else I really did wear on Friday, lol.

Denim capris:  Almost Famous (Sears)

Top:  Rue21

Sandals in black:  Mossimo (Target)

Signature strap watch:  Coach

Silver heart lock necklace:  Tiffany & Co.

Handbag:  Michael Kors

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hey all!  So who’s ready for something healthy?  I know I am after the last few days (donuts at work, can’t resist, lol).  The healthy meal this week is “Hummus-Stuffed Pitas” with steamed sugar snap peas both from the April 2012 issue of Cooking Light.  So far Scarlett and I like all of it, Aaron isn’t home from work yet so no feedback from him yet.  This one he may not be fond of especially with all the hummus (I don’t think he’s ever had it before) and all the veggies. 

Anyway, check out the recipe below, try it out for yourself and let me know what you think in the comments!

Hummus-Stuffed Pitas

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

1 (8-ounce) container plain hummus

4 (6-inch) whole-wheat pitas, halved

4 green leaf lettuce leaves, halved

1 ¼ cups thinly sliced English cucumber

¾ cup thinly sliced radishes

1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine rind and hummus.  Divide hummus mixture evenly among 8 pita halves (about 1 ½ tablespoons each).  Divide lettuce, cucumber, radishes, onion, and cheese evenly among pita halves. Sprinkle with pepper.

Serves 4 (serving size:  2 pita halves)

Nutritional information:  344 calories; 14.9g total fat (2.4g saturated fat; 7.4g mono.; 3.6g poly); 13.1g protein; 47.1g carbohydrates; 7.7g fiber; 13mg cholesterol; 3.9mg iron; 758mg sodium; 141mg calcium

Steamed Sugar Snap Peas

Ingredients:

3 cups fresh sugar snap peas

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or tarragon

1 tablespoon butter

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Steam peas 5 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Combine peas, mint or tarragon, butter, salt and pepper; toss well.

Serves 4 (serving size:  ¾ cup)

Nutritional information:  46 calories; 3g total fat (61.8g saturated fat; 0.8g mono.; 0.2g poly); 1.4g protein; 3.7g carbohydrates; 1.3g fiber; 8mg cholesterol; 1mg iron; 96mg sodium; 22mg calcium

Weekly Wrap-Up

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope everyone’s weekend and holiday have gone well.  It’s time for this week’s (short) Weekly Wrap-Up.

Regarding any weight loss this week I only maintained from last week.  That’s good though, at least I didn’t gain.  My plan to work out 6 days out of 7 didn’t go so well this week.  I did manage 5 days though so that’s a start.  I did get my new bicycle on Tuesday which is great.  I’ve riding twice, once was 4 miles and today was almost 5 miles.  It’s been a lot of fun.

Moving on to beauty and fashion purchases there really aren’t any this week.  The only thing I can think of are two tank tops at Wal-Mart to layer under other tops, one white one and one blue one.  I know there were no beauty purchases this week and probably very few next as well.  I do have a list of a few products to get soon though which I’ll be sure to share.

Well, that’s really it for this week.  I did say it would be short.  I also know I didn’t have an “Outfit of the Week” on Friday.  I had one in mind but it was a hectic week with no time to take the needed pictures for it.  There will be one this coming week though!

Once again, Happy Easter all!  I hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to ya’ll soon!  J

Scarlett with the Easter Bunny

Healthy Meal of the Week

Hi everyone!  Tonight’s Healthy Meal of the Week is “Crispy Herbed Shrimp with Chive Aioli” from the March 2012 Cooking Light.  I also made roasted asparagus and tomatoes from the same issue to go with it.  It seems to be a hit with everyone here.  Check it out below!

Ingredients:

¾ cup panko (Japanese breadcrumbs), divided

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 tablespoons cornstarch

2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1 ½ pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

½ cup 2% Greek yogurt

¼ cup canola mayonnaise

3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

Directions:

1.  Combine ¼ cup panko, parsley, thyme and crushed red pepper in a mini food processor; pulse to combine.  Combine herb mixture with remaining ½ cup panko in a shallow dish. Place cornstarch and egg whites in separate shallow dishes.  Sprinkle shrimp with salt and black pepper.  Dredge half of the shrimp in cornstarch, shaking off excess; dip into egg whites.  Dredge shrimp in panko mixture; press to adhere.  Repeat procedure with remaining shrimp.

2.  Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add half of the shrimp to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done.  Repeat with remaining oil and shrimp.

3.  Combine yogurt and remaining ingredients in a small bowl.  Serve with shrimp.

Serves 4 (serving size:  about 5 shrimp and 2 tablespoons sauce)

Nutritional information:  430 calories; 21.7g total fat (2.9g saturated fat; 11.4g mono.; 4.9g poly); 41.3g protein; 14.8g carbohydrates; 0.7g fiber; 265mg cholesterol; 4.4mg iron; 583mg sodium; 115mg calcium

For the Roasted Asparagus and Tomatoes:

Preheat oven to 400°.  Combine 1 pound trimmed asparagus, ½ cup cherry or grape tomatoes, 1/3 cup sliced shallots, 1 ½ teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper on a jelly-roll pan.  Coat lightly with cooking spray.  Bake at 400° for 6 minutes or until crisp-tender.

Serves 4

Nutritional information:  38 calories; 0.3g total fat (0.1g saturated fat); 152mg sodium

Weekly Wrap-Up

Hey everyone!  How was everyone’s week?  I hope it was great!  Mine was nice.  Friday was my birthday and even though I spent the whole day at work at least I was with some of the best co-workers ever.  Also, Aaron got me my new Keurig!  I can’t wait to use it tomorrow morning (I don’t drink coffee on the weekends, lol.)  It’s Sunday so you know what that means.  It’s time for the Weekly Wrap-Up!

As always, starting out with weight loss, I’m up 2.8 lbs from my last official weigh in 2 weeks ago.  Seriously guys, I have to get back into the game.  I haven’t been working out like I should and other than my healthy meal on Tuesdays I haven’t really been eating all that well.  I’ve just been snacking way too much and sitting on my butt, lol.  That’s why, starting tomorrow it’s back on track.  That means exercising one way or another 6 days a week, not snacking because I’m bored and watching my portions.  I’m also gonna get to Wal-mart at some point and finally get a bicycle.  Aaron owes me one from 2 Christmases ago and now that my mom and sister have one (along with Scarlett) we can all go bike riding.  So wish me luck everyone, I’m gonna need it, lol.

Moving on to fashion purchases, I dropped by Rue21 yesterday and picked up 4 more shirts similar to the blue and pink leopard-print one I bought two weeks ago.  Two are solid colors: one pink and one teal.  The other two are prints: a grey, black and white leopard print and the other is blue and black stripes.  They were $4.00 each on clearance so I was very excited. 

Then I stopped by Wal-mart because I needed another pair of dress capris.  We have some important people coming into to the office this week so no jeans on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I got a cute pair of light grey ones that should look good with my new pink shirt tomorrow.

Next we have my few beauty purchases this week.   I stopped by MAC to pick up some more of my Mineralized Skinfinish Liquid Foundation in NW20. 

Then it was off to Ulta where I grabbed some new eyeliner.  I got two of the NYX Slide on Eyeliners,  one in Sunrise Blue, which is a bright, dark blue, and on in Azure which is a bright turquoise.  The Azure one is actually a replacement.  A few weeks ago I spilled my eyeliners all over in the bathroom.  I thought I got them all put back away but the Azure one was missing when I went to use it earlier this week.  I think it accidently got into the trash can and thrown away.  Such a waste L. 

I also picked up two of the new Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 hour cream eye shadows.  One in Too Cool (a frosted white) the other one is Tough as Taupe (a taupe, obviously, lol).  I’ve heard excellent reviews on these, that they work just as well as MAC Paint Pots for about half the price.  I’m planning on just using them as eye shadow bases which they are also supposed to be excellent for.

I grabbed a new Essie polish as well in Armed and Ready, a dark grey- green with a gold shimmer.  It looks really pretty in the bottle so I have high hopes once it’s actually on my nails.

The last purchase at Ulta was just some Jergens natural GLOW daily facial moisturizer in Fair to Medium.  I grabbed this because my self-tanner comes off my face when I was my makeup off.  Instead of using the regular Jergens natural GLOW for the body I wanted something formulated for faces so I could use it every day without causing break outs.  It’s also SPF 20 so I’ve got the sunscreen part covered as well.

I’m gonna end this evening with this week’s manicure, “Trout Pout” from butter London.  It’s a nice cream salmon shade.  I really like it and it’s perfect for Easter next week.  This is the first time I’ve tried butter London polishes and I have high expectations so I’m hoping I won’t be disappointed.

That’s it for this week!  Hope everyone has a great week ahead and I’ll talk to y’all later!  J