Breakfast: I hit the Farmer's Market, my typical Saturday morning routine. I missed the market last week between the Ghirardelli Competition and preparing for Washington DC life was just too crazy and I as a result I used a lot of my pantry supply and needed to buy garlic and onions desperately. A Sicilian without onions and garlic in the house?! Unheard of.
My haul: Garlic, Red, Yellow & Green Onions, Avocados (Mmmm been dreaming of Turkey Avocado Melted Roll-ups), Peaches (going to make a peach version of my Baked Pancake), a ton of different squashes (a few will be grilled to make my Pasta-less Manicotti), and a basket of blueberries and strawberries which I came home and turned into this breakfast...
A parfait of fresh blueberries, strawberries and Sugar Free Torani sweetened Ricotta Cheese. Soooo good.Nothing exciting in the AM, lots of errands and chores when I was ready for a break and lunch I took off to the park near my house.
Lunch: The yummy contents of my super cool bento box. I BBQ'd some chicken on Friday night for dinner and tossed a few extras on the grill to have for meals this week (Mmmm Chicken Salads) and I just love to dip cold grilled chicken in a Greek yogurt based dip... talk about PROTEIN PACKED! Dips are key for me successfully eating meats post weight loss surgery especially chicken :) Keeps everything heading in the right direction if you know what I mean ;)
Pink Box (top left): Grilled Chicken (BBQ'd with a brush of olive oil and sprinkle of Greek Seasoning found in spice aisle)
Green Box (top right): Shelly's Cilantro Yogurt Dip
Blue Box (bottom left): Shelly's Apple Cinnamon Walnut Protein Mini Muffin (in little blue silicon cup) The first Tomatoes from my garden!
Orange Box (bottom right): Sliced Cucumbers
Shelly's Cilantro Yogurt Dip3 oz. Greek Yogurt (I used Plain Fage 2%)
1 teaspoon Mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons fresh Cilantro
a dash of Kosher Salt
a few twists of Black Pepper
Whiz in a mini food processor till thoroughly blended. Great for dipping meats/kabobs, veggies, it's a great low fat, high protein salad dressing too. Don't like cilantro use basil, mint, dill, any fresh herb will do. Refrigerate unused portion for a few days, stir if it separates slightly.
Shelly's Mini Apple Cinnamon Walnut Protein Muffins1 Egg, beaten
3 Tablespoons Milk
2 Tablespoons Sugar Free Caramel Torani Syrup
2 Tablespoons No Sugar Added Applesauce
3 Tablespoons Multigrain Pancake Mix
2 Tablespoons Almond Meal/Flour
1/4 teaspoon Apple Pie Spice
1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder
Pinch salt
a few chopped Walnuts for the top
In a measuring cup mix egg, milk, syrup, and applesauce and combine thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix pancake mix, almond meal/flour (almond meal is just finely ground almonds in a coffee grinder), spice, protein powder and salt. Tip dry into wet and stir till combined. Pour into a non stick mini muffin pan that has been sprayed with Pam.
Optional: Place a few pieces of walnut on top of each muffin. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes, until knife inserted comes out clean. Makes 12.
Dinner: Came home to more boring chores though I did have Pride & Prejudice (the BBC version) playing in the background."You are too generous to trifle with me. If your feelings are still what they were last April, tell me so at once. My affections and wishes are unchanged, but one word from you will silence me on this subject for ever."
Mr. Darcy. Swoon.
Anyway back to dinner. I sauteed some of the squash from the market with some onions and mushrooms topped it with some cheese (a little mozzarella and Parmesan) and popped it in the oven till it was bubbly & golden (about 25 minutes) and served that with a piece of that yummy Basil Tilapia from Costco.
Snacks: Another one of those yummy Mini Apple Cinnamon Walnut Protein Muffins and lots of coffee including a Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dolce Soy Latte, no whip, no foam from Starbucks where speaking of swooning... I got to admire the rock star hottie again. I need to work up the nerve to say something. I just goofy grin smile at him. He probably thinks I'm a recently released mental patient.So it was a yummy ;) Saturday in more ways than one. Hope everyone is having a GREAT weekend. It's the last weekend of my 30's Eeek. Well, I can't really complain I feel better now than I did at 30. In fact this before picture was taken 2 weeks before my 35th birthday. So yeah... I'm not stressing 40! Bring it on!
Oh P.S. Local pals: I've got something super exciting to announce on Tuesday! Just a heads up... SAVE THIS DATE: July 30th!