Am I a Regular?!

So, this morning on the way into the gym, I walked in beside this woman who I hadn't seen before. We said good morning to each other. She asked me if I was there for the fitness class. (they have classes for the new ME First members). I said no and then she said something I definitely haven't heard..."oh, are you a regular here?". I was kind of stunned and said "well, yes-I guess I am". What a great way to start the day!

(it's the little things!)

The end of an era...

My parents are homeless today.

Ok...let me explain :)

As of yesterday at 4:00 pm, they sold their home. My childhood home. The home that I grew up in. Literally, I lived in that home from the age of 5 until I hit 19. Then, I still visited them and it was "home". Until yesterday. Every Christmas Eve, the family would gather at that house-Mom would do an "open house" where we'd have food, gifts & fun. We had the same phone number from the time we moved in until about a month ago when they decided to disconnect the landline. Mom had told me that they would be disconnecting it on a certain day, so I made a point to call that number one more time and oops-I did it too late. Bummer! We were able to visit one last time, but at that point pretty much everything was moved out so it was obviously not the same. They close on the new house tomorrow. We'll still have visits & fun times-MOM: I hope you're still planning on the Christmas Eve Open House!! We'll make new memories. We'll always have the memories...and each other!

Here are some pics of my childhood home:

Girl's Night in Nigeria!

My friend Monika recently went to Nigeria. She brought back some goodies for Freda & I, so we decided to have a little "Girl's Night" to try everything on. She bought us each a "gele", which is a head tie-CLICK HERE to read about it-and a "wrapper", which is a dress-CLICK HERE to read about it. (thank you Wiki!)

We had a ton of fun! Maya & Suri loved it as well.
 Here are some pictures:

The 3 of us in our Nigerian garb:



Here I am decked out (notice the beautiful pink in the Gele? Monika knows how much I love pink!):


Monika even brought us some goodies from Nigeria & Germany!


And because she knows me well, she brought me back a Cosmopolitan from Germany & a beauty magazine from Nigeria!


Here is Freda in her wrapper with the girls in theirs:




Maya with her Gele:


Monika with Suri:


And the Nigerian Princess herself, Monika:


Then, Suri convinced Monika to sew her a Halloween costume, so here she is measuring her:


It was a great evening!

Honey Mustard-Glazed Salmon with Lentils & Kale

This is the best salmon recipe I have made, which is pretty impressive to me. I thought I would never find a salmon more than I love my maple glazed recipe (Dr. Oz). The glaze on this is just amazing! I used Trader Joe's whole grain Dijon mustard. SOOOO good! I was skeptical about the lentils & kale because there is really no seasoning, but they were really good! Very filling as well :)

CLICK HERE for recipe.

Crispy Asian Chicken and Creamy Corn Bake

CLICK HERE for recipe. The corn bake made this especially good :)

Striped Bass with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce & Tomato-Scallion Quinoa

This was awesome! CLICK HERE for the recipe.

Note: I used Cod instead of Bass.

Booties!

Check out my pretty new Booties!



Target rocks my world! :)

Meal Plan & Update on Last Week's Plan

Last week's meal plan went great. The only meal that wasn't on schedule was Wednesday night dinner. I ended up going shopping with the girls & some friends and we went out for dinner. Dinner at Red Robin-not so great. I had a grilled chicken burger with avocado (and some fries!). The planning is definitely working well for me. I made this week's meal plan on Friday and grocery shopped Sunday. Here is this week's plan with all of the dinner recipes from Clean Eating magazine:

Sunday:
Breakfast: 2 eggs & 1 red velvet pancake
Lunch: Chicken Curry, Brown Rice
Dinner: Cod with Roasted Tomatillo Sauce & Tomato-Scallion Quinoa (original recipe called for striped bass-I used cod)


Monday:
Breakfast:Frittata (I made a big frittata on Sunday with onions, zucchini, broccoli, green pepper, egg whites & 3 whole eggs and packed for the week.)
Lunch: Green salad with Cod from Sunday dinner
Dinner:Crispy Asian Chicken and Creamy Corn Bake


Tuesday:
Breakfast:Frittata
Lunch: Salad with chicken from Monday dinner
Dinner: Honey Mustard Glazed Salmon with Lentils & Kale


Wednesday:
Breakfast: Frittata
Lunch: Salad with Salmon from Tuesday dinner
Dinner: Southwest Quinoa Salad


Thursday:
Breakfast: Frittata
Lunch: Salad with Quinoa Salad from Wednesday dinner
Dinner: Thai Lime Chicken, Brown Rice

Friday:
Breakfast: Frittata
Lunch: Salad with Chicken from Thursday dinner
Dinner: Leftovers from the week

Let the Week Begin! :)

Spaghetti with Kale, Feta & Poached Egg

This was another great recipe from Clean Eating Magazine!

Spaghetti with Kale, Feta & Poached Egg (serves 4)


Ingredients:
1 lb Curly Kale, rinsed (I used a bag of chopped kale from Trader Joes)
2 tsp. Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes
Pinch Sea Salt, plus additional to taste
2 Cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 large Eggs
1/2 lb. whole wheat spaghetti (8 oz)
4 oz. crumbled Feta Cheese (about 1.5 cups)
Fresh Ground Black Pepper

Directions:
Cook spaghetti, set aside
Heat oil in large skillet. Add onion, red pepper flakes, and garlic. Cook until onion is soft. Add kale to pan. Saute until kale is wilted, then add broth. Cook 5 minutes. Meanwhile, poach eggs. Drain spaghetti; add to kale mixture and toss. Serve poached egg on top of spaghetti and top with feta. Enjoy!

Love Crunch

This granola is awesome! I saw it quite a while back on a blog, but hadn't seen it in the store. Whole Foods to the rescue! And the story behind it is adorable. Check it out!

Ulta Haul!

I have been wanting to hit level 4 on my Ulta rewards so I can get the free fragrance. Well, let's just say-another goal completed :)

The girls & I went to Ulta last night because I ran out of all of my skincare products at the same time. How does that happen?! They were on sale and there was also a fabulous Butter London nail polish deal going on (buy one get one free!) so I figured yesterday was the day!

Here are my goodies!

I needed a new curling iron since mine was gooped with hairspray. I saw this one and it was adorable. Perfect!


So pretty and a great deal as well!

I got 2 of the Butter London colors as they were buy one get one free!

Chimney Sweep (a dark gray metallic)



Full Monty (a gold metallic)



I was out of my favorite eyeliner, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on in Zero:



The following Olay products:








For purchasing the Urban Decay eyeliner, I got a free deluxe sample of this:



Anand called me and asked me to pick this up for him:



And I picked up this detangler for the girls since they DO NOT LIKE me to comb their hair.



This shampoo/conditioner for me:



Smells HEAVENLY!

And I think that's it. Now I'm off to find what fragrance I want to get! I'm thinking either this one:



or this one:

Sometimes things don't go as planned...

but they turn into learning experiences! I went to the gym this afternoon for the indoor cycling class. When I got there, I found out the class was cancelled today. My first thought was "well, I guess I'll go back to work then!". Then, I thought about it for a minute and decided since I was there to work out, I should actually work out! I did 35 minutes on the elliptical! Was it as "hard" of a workout as cycling class? No. Was it a good, solid workout? YES!

Mango Mojito Chicken

Here is another fabulous recipe from Clean Eating magazine!



Mango Mojito Chicken


Ingredients:
2 tsp. Olive Oil
4-4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp. each sea salt, freshly ground pepper
2 ripe mangos, pitted & diced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup chopped scallions
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh mint
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tsp. finely grated lime zest
1 tsp. finely grated garlic
2 cups cooked brown rice

Instructions:
In a large skillet, heat oil on medium high. Season both sides of chicken with salt & pepper. Add chicken to skillet and cook for 1-2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Add mangos, bell pepper, broth, scallions, mint, lime juice, lime zest, and garlic. Bring to simmer. Reduce heat to medium, partially cover & cook for 5 minutes, undisturbed, until chicken is cooked through. Add rice to skillet and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute to heat through.

Nutrients per serving:
Calories: 340
Total Fat: 7 g.
Saturated Fat: 1.5 g
Carbs: 44 g
Fiber: 4 g
Sugars:3 g
Protein: 27 g
Sodium: 200 mg.
Cholesterol: 65 mg


Yum!

Roasted Beet Salad

This is a great recipe! I found this in Dr. Oz's book "You: On a Diet". I've made it several times and it's great. This week & last, we got beets in our CSA-perfect!



Sweet Beet & Gorgonzola Salad 


Ingredients:
6 medium beets, trimmed
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1 Tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp. Honey
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
1/2 tsp. soy sauce (I use Tamari low sodium)
1/2 bunch Chives, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons gorgonzola cheese (I use fat free feta crumbles)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, simmer beets in water to cover until tender but still firm, about 30 minutes. Drain, cool, and remove skin. On a baking sheet, place chopped beets and drizzle with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. (I find this brings out the flavor much more than boiling) Meanwhile, combine oil, vinegar, honey, garlic, and tamari in a medium bowl. Add beets to bowl. Toss with dressing & chives. Sprinkle with feta.

Cornmeal Crusted Cod

I subscribe to Clean Eating Magazine. Every month I go through it and pick a few recipes I want to try. They are always good and I have never been disappointed! This month's was especially good. So good that I picked 3 recipes to make this week :) Last night, I tried the Cornmeal Crusted Trout with Potato & Mushroom recipe. I used Cod instead of trout because I did a big shop at Trader Joe's and they didn't have trout. I will definitely make this one again! Maybe next time I'll use Trout :)



Cornmeal-Crusted Trout Cod with Mushrooms & Red Potatoes
Ingredients:
4-4 oz boneless, skinless trout fillets Cod Fillets
1/4 tsp each sea salt & fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup whole grain cornmeal (I used blue whole grain)
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 large egg whites
2 tsp. olive oil
8 oz mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
4 small red potatoes, scrubbed well & diced
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup scallions, chopped

Directions;
Season both sides of cod with salt & pepper; set aside. In a shallow bowl, combine cornmeal & oregano. In a separate shallow bowl, add egg whites. Dredge cod in cornmeal mixture, turning to coat both sides. Transfer cod to bowl with egg whites and turn to coat both sides. In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Add cod, in batches if necessary to prevent overcrowding skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes per side until golden brown. Remove from skillet and set aside (I finished cooking the cod in the oven at this point because it's thicker than trout). Add mushrooms & potatoes to skillet and cook for 3 minutes on medium-high heat, until mushrooms soften and potatoes are golden brown. Add broth & simmer for 5 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Return cod to skillet, add scallions, and cook for 1 minute to heat through.
Enjoy!

Menu Plan!

One of my goals was to plan a menu for this week, so I thought I would also document it here. I planned for Sunday through Friday this week. I wrote the plan on Thursday night and grocery shopped yesterday. I'll repost on Monday with how I did.

Sunday:
Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with blueberries & strawberries, sprinkle of maple syrup
Lunch: 1/2 turkey & cheddar sandwich on flax & quinoa bread
Dinner: Roasted Beet Salad (Dr. Oz recipe) & Cornmeal Crusted Cod (Clean Eating magazine recipe)


Monday:

Breakfast: Protein egg salad with smoked salmon & chives
Lunch: Green Salad/Beet salad with cornmeal crusted Cod 
Dinner: Mango Mojito Chicken & brown rice (Clean Eating magazine recipe)

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Protein Egg Salad with smoked salmon & chives
Lunch: Salad with mango mojito chicken
Dinner: Leftovers from previous 2 nights


Wednesday:

Breakfast: Protein Egg Salad with Smoked Salmon & Chives
Lunch: Salad with tuna
Dinner: Whole Wheat Spaghetti with kale, feta & poached egg (Clean Eating magazine recipe)

Thursday:

Breakfast: Protein Egg Salad with Smoked Salmon & Chives
Lunch: Salad with chicken breast
Dinner: Salmon, Quinoa, & Green Beans


Friday:

Breakfast: Protein Egg Salad with Smoked Salmon & Chives
Lunch: Salad with salmon
Dinner: Steamed Chicken & Vegetables

Birchbox!

Have you heard about Birchbox? You pay $10 a month and they send you a box of deluxe beauty samples (and apparently some full-sized products from what I hear!). I love make-up & skincare products and love to try new products, so I thought it would be fun to try! You can cancel at any time. You can also order full-sized products from their website if you choose-if you order within the month of the latest box you receive, it's free shipping :) So, yesterday I got my first box. I was SO excited to tear into that thing! I mean, who doesn't love to get surprises in the mail?! My girls were also super excited about it!

This is what it looked like when I opened the box:


When I opened the box, everything was neatly covered with pretty pink tissue paper. Then, there was a card listing this month's items:




And here is what I got:


Here is a better image from the website:



I got Ahava mineral hand cream (put in my purse), blinc mascara (in my make-up drawer to try!), Incoco Nail Polish Appliques (can't wait to try these!), Jouer Lip Enhancer (tried this last night-LOVE it!), The Lash Card (I actually got 2-these will be great since I tend to get mascara under my eyes), Salvatore Ferragamo Attimo L'Eau Florale perfume (did not like at all-very floral-y), and a one year Birchbox anniversary bracelet.

I LOVE this box and can't wait until the next one! Fun!