Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Beets… Its What's for Dinner

by Meghann on July 28, 2009

It’s day 15 of the 30 Day Shred challenge and I have to be honest when I say I was dreading doing level two again after work today. These 20 minute sessions are a lot of work every day!

Begrudgingly I put the DVD on as soon as I walked in the door and got my Jillian in for the day. It was awful, it was torture, but in the end I was glad to have it finished.

Am I really only half way through? Ughh… I am a machine. I can do this. :)

The best part with finishing the shred is getting to spend quality time in my kitchen experimenting with a new vegetable: Beets.

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Beets have always been a mysterious vegetable to me. I was never sure quite how to cook them and have only ever had them as a salad topping in the past.

The other week I was inspired by my cousin Andrea’s recipe for Red Beet Risotto to finally give the mysterious vegetable a shot. Her recipe was relatively simple to follow and as always her pictures of the finished dish made my mouth water.

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I quartered the recipe, added shrimp and subbed brown rice for the arborio rice. Besides that I followed her directions to a tee.

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The flavors in this dish were spot on. Yum! It was very creamy and delicious. The beet flavor was a lot more milder cooked then when I sampled it raw on the counter. I actually preferred the cooked beet to the raw beet, I found it to be a tad earthy tasting. Also, my addition of shrimp was a great last minute decision. :)

Overall I give the recipe a big thumbs up and am excited to experiment with the rest of the betts I purchased at the farmer’s market last weekend.

After dinner I worked on a secret project that will be revealed in the morning ;) and dug into my very last So Delicious Almond Coconut Ice Cream Bar.

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I really enjoyed these delectable ice cream bars and once I eat down the rest of the So Delicious Ice Cream the wonderful people at Turtle Mountain sent me, I fully intend to purchase more.

At work this afternoon I became ‘that girl’ in the office when I popped a 100 calorie pack of Kettle Corn around 4:00.

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I should have kept track of how many people walked by exclaiming “Who made popcorn?” hehe

Now its time to sit back and relax. Have a great night everyone! :)

{ 42 comments }

Dark Mocha Almond Chewy Granola Bar

by Meghann on July 28, 2009

When I noticed the other week on my Sister’s blog there was a new Kashi Bar flavor out there I knew I had to try it ASAP! You see, I may have a teeny tiny obsession with all things Kashi and I knew the new bar would not disappoint.

In fact I wanted to try the new flavor so much I had to drive to a Publix that is 15 minutes farther from my house just so I can purchase a box for myself. The one near me didn’t have it yet!

I present to you the Dark Mocha Almond Chewy Granola Bar.

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I loved the addition of the chocolate chips on top. :)

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The texture for the granola bar falls in sync with the rest of the bars from Kashi’s chewy granola line. It was very chewy and a little dry. There was a great mix of mocha and chocolate flavors, though I wish the mocha had been just a tad stronger. I really did enjoy the chocolate chips on top.

I think I need to have another bar to give my full opinion.

I will admit the bar was very filling and as always delayed me from scrounging for my lunch at 11:00.  Instead I dug in at 12:30.

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I have been looking forward to these left overs since Sunday night! I topped the left over yucca fries with the left over snobby joes and added a few jalapenos to give it a little extra spice and some parmesan cheese.

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On the side I had a few cherries.

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They are on their last leg and needed to be eaten ASAP! Still tasted sweet as could be though. :)

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Does anyone follow Runner’s World on Twitter? They tweeted an interesting post this morning their editor wrote about how he decided to stop giving up on sugar. It got to the point where he was wondering why he gave up on something he loved and decided sugar can be enjoyed in moderation, especially in his favorite cup of morning joe. 

I found the post rather interesting. I can not tell you how many times I have seen fellow bloggers try to give up things they love such as french vanilla creamers, diet cokes, or even coffee only to realize the things they love are their special treats and it is better to enjoy them in moderation rather then killing yourself to not have it.

When I first started losing weight I labeled a lot of things ‘off limits’ in the beginning such as beer and ice cream. You all know I love my beer and ice cream, but I also know they don’t love my hips. Over the past 2 years I learned life is too short to just say no and have gradually added both ice cream and beer back into my diet in moderation. I don’t have them every day and when I do it’s usually in small amounts.

I also stopped drinking sweet tea and soda. It’s weird, but now I actually prefer unsweet tea and enjoy sparkling water just as much as I did soda.

It’s all give and take that we have to learn on our own. As always moderation is key. :)

Have you ever gave up on something for the sake of healthy? Did you learn to enjoy it in moderation or find you prefer the alternative more?

{ 41 comments }

A Speedy Morning

July 28, 2009

My run this morning was amazing. It is as simple as that. I credit the amazing run with the little extra effort I gave this morning. Instead of taking it easy I made my legs work harder and pushed them to the edge. I was actually surprised how great my legs felt after the first more »

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