Sunny Sunday

Good afternoon!!

Greetings from sunny Long Island! It's a beautiful bright sunny (and freaking cold) day.

Jen and I are about to go out to the store in a bit and my brother, sis in law and the cutest kids in America are on their way here.

Exercise today - I did a half assed 25 min walk/run on the treadmill earlier.

And now here are today's exciting culinary adventures.

Bacon, eggs and toast.



Hummus and cheddar on a rye sandwich thin.



And that is basically all she wrote. I know. Riveting.

Dinner is my mom's mac and cheese and some sort of chicken.

I'll be back later with more details.

Better than it looks

A quick recap of my day. Tragedy. I almost didn't get into Zumba today!!! I was there about a half hour before class and it was already full!!

The class holds 60 people.

Zumba. Why do you have to be so awesome???

They had a (very short) wait list. They only took 10 people and turned the rest away. I was number 6. They first only took 1-5. I sat there with puppy dog eyes and long story short - I got in just under the wire.

Class was great. I'm so glad I stuck it out.

My dad is out of the hospital (YAY!) and so I got a ride home.

Let me preface these pictures with saying they are definitely not my best work. I'll make it up to you - promise!

Before my ride home I showered and had a quick lunch.

Pretzel chicken with a bit of honey mustard on a whole wheat wrap.



I was afraid the pretzel coating would be way too salty it was just perfect. I might use a stronger mustard next time though.

Next up - Jen made a fabulous pizza for dinner - homemade sauce - TJ's pesto and sea salt flatbread as a crust. So. Freaking. Good.



Lindt Sea Salt chocolate for dessert.



I'm now watching Up in the Air from the comfort of my parents' den. Not bootleg. Well - not really. My uncle 'knows a guy' who gets the award show screeners.

I think it's okay. I'd pretty much vote for George Clooney anyday.

Except for O Brother Where Art Thou? I have very bad memories about that movie.

I'm kind of afraid to watch this. I spent about a decade of my life traveling for work. I'm sure I'll relate to this movie in a lot of ways.

Until tomorrow dear bloggy ones.

Sleep well. Hug the ones you love.

Good Morning

Hey there. I'm back - posting about breakfast at *gasp* breakfast time.

It's good to be back on track.

As I mentioned - I am going to Zumba this morning. If I had any chance of wanting to bail the fact that there was a Zumba infomercial on reminded me that I need to go.

The point is I needed more than the standard PB sandwich to tide me over.

Do yourself a favor. Do this sometime soon.

Take a small sautee pan.

Spray w/canola oil cooking spray

In a small bowl - whisk 2 eggs, a splash of milk, a pinch of salt and pepper

Microwave 1 slice of bacon for 1 min 30 seconds

Crumble in the egg mixture

sautee a teaspoon of chopped onion in pan.

Add the egg/bacon mixture

toss in a handful of baby spinach and crumble an ounce of goat cheese

When the egg is set and looking omlette like toss in a 300 degree oven for 10 min

Toast up a piece of whole wheat bread - spread with butter and serve with the frittata.



Trust me. You'll be glad you did.

Catch up

Hello there. It's time to get back on the wagon. I don't know how much you want to hear about. Do you want to see the jacked up hot dog I had at the airport on Tuesday? I'd like to forget it quite frankly but for the sake of the blog I'll post as many pics as I can to get all caught up.

Then it's bed for me. I'm going to Zumba tomorrow morning.

No excuses.

So here's Monday. It rained in Florida - and we ended up at the Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood. I started with the usual, had some onion rings and a chicken sandwich.









It seems we just missed Snooki's appearance.

You don't know how much that pains me. I should be ashamed - but am totally not - to admit how much I adore the Jersey Shore. As Kelly Ripa says "If loving the Jersey Shore is wrong. I don't want to be right."

Kelly and I go way back. I used to watch her on Dance Party USA.


dance party usa-kelly ripa

rick | MySpace Video

I mean seriously 1986. What did you try and do to me?

Yes. I'm ancient. Deal with it.

Anyway....we had dinner at Mellow Mushroom.

Well. We had appetizers and a bottle of wine truthfully.



We had pita and hummus and garlic parmesan pretzels. Delish.




Tuesday. This petrified hot dog was pretty much all I ate all day.



Then I got home and made some pasta with meat sauce.




Wednesday. I stopped at TJ's after the doctors. I got some sweet chili sauce. I drizzled it with teriyaki on top of some chicken gyoza. Oh and broccoli.




Wednesday night I met my friend Steve for dinner. He was visiting from out of town. We started with quesadillas.



He had short ribs. I had crab cakes.




Ever notice how when I like something I order it ALL THE TIME???

Look. It's Thursday now. Time for...breakfast!!




Last night I cooked!! I made chicken using these two things.




With au gratin-y potatoes and a small salad on the side.



Dessert.



I think we're finally at Friday.

Breakfast.



Lunch. Pretzel coated chicken (recipe soon!), spinach, sweet peppers, goat cheese, dijon balsamic.



Dinner w/mom and Jen at Dolcino.



I got the prix fix dinner that had an appetizer, entree and dessert.

Bruschetta.



Chicken Parm. I've got more than half leftover.




Pasta.



Dessert (w/peppermint tea).



Thanks for your patience with my blog slacking ways. I think I'm (finally!!) back in the swing now. Please send good thoughts that my dad will be out of the hospital and back to eating dinner with us soon. I miss him. :(

Tomorrow is another day...

and a day I'll be back with updates on everything then. I've felt the need to take care of me the past few days and can't summon the energy to write a proper post.

I'll remedy that tomorrow. I promise!!!

I don't even know where I left off....

So I'm just going to keeep going. :)

Friday. I think it was Friday. We went to dinner at Dada's in Delray Beach. One of the very best dinners I've had in a long, long time.

We had wine.



And Grilled Brie. This was delicious.



Our dinners...

Erin's Butternut Squash Raviloi with thyme asparagus cream sauce and artichoke hearts.



Jen's Chicken Del Rio - with avocado, provalone, black bean puree and jasmine rice.



I had a filet with crabmeat, asparagus and mashed potatoes.



I ate almost every last bite.



Then there was a little of this...



And a little of this....



At one point we thought this was a great idea. I remember eating fries and tasting one of the chicken fingers.




A big thank you to Jean our cab driver for putting up with us and going to the drive thru on our way home.

Saturday I had a peanut butter and bacon sandwich.



Jen, Erin and I stopped at the Carolina Ale House to 'put out the fire' as my dad is fond of saying.



We had boneless buffalo wings to start.



And I had a burger w/some onion strings. I ate about 2/3 of it and left some fries.



We laid low and watched The Hangover (appropriate!) and Uncle Red made us dinner.

Salad. Which I did not eat.



Pasta - which I did eat.



And ice cream - which I definitely ate.



Sunday. We're at Sunday right? Peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Lunch...was homemade bar food (made by moi!) as we watched football. I'll post recipes sometime soon I promise!!

Turkey Nachos with Jen's DELICIOUS homemade guacamole.



Balsamic Wings.



My plate.



A little later I had a small slice of pizza.



And some more ice cream.



Here is where I say I'm eternally grateful we don't have Blue Bell Ice Cream in NYC. This stuff was amazing. Also why I don't ever buy ice cream. I'm powerless. Completely powerless.

And I think that's enough to hold you for now. I'll give you the rundown on the rest tomorrow.

I know what you're thinking but let me tell you I am feeling zero guilt. I needed a vacation in every sense of the word. Jen and I exercised 2 out of the 3 days (either running or walking or a combo of both). We went shopping one day and I zipped up size 8 jeans. I bought the 10 - but the 8 ZIPPED UP FULLY. That's amazing. I ate out a ton but left something on my plate at every meal but breakfast.

All in all I think it was just what the doctor ordered.

Speaking of the doctor - I'm having a physical tomorrow - first time since I lost weight. Is it weird that I'm kind of excited???