Bacon Wrapped Steak

Wow, it's been a while since I last posted, apologies for my absence. Ryan and I have been consumed with moving and packing and we have barely had a home cooked meal at all this week. We go to work, come home, pack and go to bed in an apartment filled with cardboard boxes. I go to Bar Method in the morning so that I can stretch and hopefully get my muscles to stop hurting from all of the packing and lifting and sorting and cleaning! It's a crazy mess and I just cannot wait to be officially moved this weekend! I have been getting a steady 3 Activity Points per day between morning Bar Method classes and spending the evenings packing! I feel good this week - I feel healthy, strong and my clothes are fitting, I am not over eating. I am happy! And that is the best part! I feel good. I have a positive attitude and everything else is falling into place around me!

The last home cooked meal we made last weekend was delicious though and I have been meaning to share the recipe. It is a quick, easy, delicious one that is sure to please everybody!

Bacon Wrapped Steak
Servings: 2
Weight Watchers Points: 10

1 pound Premium Black Angus Beef Sirloin Filet (or any steak/meat of your choosing)
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 slices of bacon

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2. Salt and pepper both sides of steak.

3. Wrap each steak with a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick

4. Heat coconut oil in a pan over medium heat.

5. Add steak and sear on both sides, 1 minute per side.

6. Transfer steak to a baking sheet and place in the oven for 10 minutes for medium rare.

7. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes

Serve and enjoy!

We had this with a side of broccoli florets and Ore-Ida steak fries (gluten free)!

Because all of our food and cooking supplies are now boxed up, I have been eating breakfast and lunch out which is getting to be expensive, but I have been enjoying it. Breakfast has been a rotation of Acai Bowls from Juice Generation. I have switch between Amazing Green (9 WW points), Almond Butter Bliss (12 WW points) and Coco Acai (11 WW Points)! They have all been extremely delicious and filling. Sometimes I don't even realize it's lunch time when I check the clock at 1:30pm. I am full, but not stuffed and I feel light and good after eating them! I might have to budget these in a couple times per week even after the move! The points values are high for the bowls (a lot higher than my usual 4-6 WW points I allocate for breakfast), but they are keeping me full longer and I have found myself not snacking throughout the day. Even with the higher WW points, I am still sticking to my daily 26 points and not going over! It's a different feeling to be full and satisfied by a meal and not hungry all the time.

For lunch I have been sticking with salads and have been surprised by Subway chopped salads. The Double Stuffed chicken salad (5 WW points) is filled with all of the veggies they have to offer, 2 pieces of chicken and a little olive oil (though it doesn't really need the dressing) and it is clean, light, simple and really good. The oven roasted chicken salad is only 3 WW points, but the double stuffed is a lot more filling! I have also been enjoy lemon chia seed water which is really great for a satisfying beverage and the chia seeds help keep you full for a long time! The seeds expand in the water and become like a jelly paste and expand in your stomach to trick you to think you're really full! I have been having this at night since we don't have much at home for dinner besides Garden Lite Souffles and Quest Bars. I love the refreshing taste!! It is just 1 tbsp of chia seeds and a slice of lemon (1 WW point).

I have also spent this week listening to The Institute for the Psychology of Eating Online Future of Nutrition Conference. Its a 5 day podcast with experts in the field of health, wellness, nutrition and fitness. My favorite podcasts have been with David Perlmutter (author of Grain Brain), and Mark Hyman. I will share some of their insights in a separate post. I have learned so much and am excited to be on a path of self wellness that is supported by experts and becoming more popular and less of a fad or trend.

I hope everyone has stayed warm this week despite freezing temperatures. Surprisingly, we are going to have a heat wave of 40 degrees this weekend so I hope everyone has a fun Super Bowl weekend!!!

XO

Gluten Free, Grain Free Pasta and Cookies!!!

Yes, gluten free, grain free pasta and cookies do exist! I just ordered gluten/grain free fettuccine, gnocchi and lasagna and cookie dough from Cappellos. My friend Victoria placed an order and is raving about the taste!!! I can't wait to make crispy gnocchi with bacon and spinach and a pesto sauce! YUMMMY!

Amazing Green Acai Bowl

This mornings bar classed kicked my butt! I didn't go to class last night so I knew I had to get up, bundle up and get to the studio no matter what! Amanda K. had me shaking during warm-ups so I knew it was going to be a good class. She pushed me deeper, made sure my form was perfect and got me so far into my stretches! The exercises themselves were great, but today, the stretches felt even better. In this cold weather, when all I do all day is sit at a desk and sit in my house, I needed to stretch. And after not going to class for 2 days (and only going Sunday and Tuesday this week), I wasn't as flexible as normal and Amanda helping to push my legs father apart during the final stretch is something I really needed (even though in my head I was screaming in pain).

Last night, Ryan and I had breakfast for dinner! Bacon and egg white and oatmeal pancakes. We both just wanted a warm and simple meal and this heat the spot. However, I followed this up with cereal and some dessert, so not my best eating moments. I was still full this morning from my late night snacking.

After class I headed to Juice Generation to get an Amazing Green Acai Bowl (9 WW Points) for breakfast and Coconut Cerviche (2 WW Points) and Daily Detox Juice (3 WW Points) for lunch. I just wanted clean, light and good foods today.

The bowl included acai, banana, spinach, kale, almond milk, hemp seeds and hemp granola. All of the Acai bowls are gluten free (though the hemp granola is not certified gluten free because the oats are made in a facility with other gluten products) and they are so filling and delicious. Don't let the green color turn you off; this bowl is sweet, crunchy and healthy!! The spinach and kale are not bitter like you would think, and it's like eating a green juice with a spoon. I love the crunch of the granola too. The green bowl is the lowers in WW points of all the bowls (PB Acai has 14) and I prefer to keep my points lower in the morning just so I can have a larger dinner or room to snack during the day, but the bowl keeps me full for a long time and I find myself not as hungry in the early afternoon so I can eat lunch later. I want to try Coco Acai next :)

Countdown to our move is officially 1 week and I could not be more ready - I am excited for a new start and ready to decorate and feel at home in a new place! I am overwhelmed with excitement and joy and happiness!!!

Tomorrow I have a busy day with bar method and packing and hopefully going to an LIU Brooklyn basketball game. I want to make a filet mignon wrapped in bacon for dinner too so let's see if I can get it all done!

Stay warm everyone - temperatures are still dropping and I keep piling on the layers! Welcome to the days of stretchy pants, leg warmers, bar socks and sweaters!!

XO

Quest Bars to the rescue

Last night was another amazing dinner with my parents - homemade gluten free chicken pot pie. And of course I ate more than a serving and loved every indulgent bite. But I got home and was full and woke up and was still full and despite my really wanting to go to a morning bar method class, I slept in and commuted with Ryan to work. So I got to work and was extremely full still and couldn't imagine eating breakfast. But as we all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day so I had a quest bar! I had the white chocolate raspberry bar (5 weight watcher points) and it was so delicious.

Just look at those huge white chocolate chunks! You can't go wrong. I had an early morning meeting that lasted a couple of hours and this held me over until lunch. I loved every bite of this quest bar and even though I usually only choose chocolate flavors, this might become part of my regular rotation!

I am hoping to get to the 5:45pm bar method class with Danielle tonight but I will absolutely be going to the 7:15am tomorrow morning. Going 2 days in a row without class is my maximum before I start getting down on myself for not going! Going in the morning is the best for me because I work out before I even think about how early it is. But going in the evening is so difficult because I have time to talk myself out of going and sometimes I can't leave work on time to get to class. There's too many distractions at night so the morning becomes my time where nothing gets in the way of me and the bar method studio!

Countdown to moving: 8 days!!!!

Stay warm today everyone. 

XO

Cold, Snowy Day in NYC

It's cold...like really cold. 8 degrees outside with a real feel of 0. Why would I want to go out in this weather? The snow storm last night left a lot of snow in New York - well, a lot of slush. The roads are slippery, it's hard to see the sidewalk from the street and everyone is just slushing around trying to get to work this morning. The cold winds are brutal and all I want is to be in bed with a warm cup of tea watching reality tv with Haley and Ryan. But instead, I bundled up and went to work. The trains were crowded and everyone was packed in like sardines. It was wet, it smelled bad and everyone was moaning and groaning and complaining. Snow in NYC is not fun - it's pretty from our windows, but down below it's a mess!

This morning I had a very different breakfast then anything I am used to. It was a delicious plate of assorted meats, egg whites and a lot of vegetables. Normally I would have had this for lunch, but I had a leftover Juice Generation Cashew Ravioli in the fridge at work and I wanted to eat that (although, I could have had the ravioli for breakfast). The plate reminded me of being back in Italy on our honeymoon. Meat and cheese for breakfast was a different concept to us when we first got there, but honestly, it is just a deconstructed omelette and it's a lot healthier then the bagels, breads and danishes a lot of people eat! My breakfast was colorful and healthy and filling which is always the most important thing. And it was only 4 points!

The starting lineup included:

Salami (14g)
Uncured Ham (2 oz.)
Egg white
Rice cake
Laughing Cow Blue Cheese Wedge
Broccoli
Baby Carrots
Blood Orange
Grapes
Tomatoes
Cucumber

It was a delicious breakfast filled with healthy nutrients, fiber and protein. I will be making this again soon because it was the perfect breakfast/lunch that had a lot of things to it but it was so simple and filling.

We are having dinner with my parents again tonight. My mom's fresh direct food delivery was cancelled because of the storm so she is throwing together a chicken pot pie. No matter what she makes it is always delicious and I can't wait for a warm home cooked meal - although she is hurting my daily WW points with her heavy meals! Chicken pot pie is over 20 points!!! But for a family dinner and time together, it is worth dipping into my extra 49 weekly points for her delicious, gluten free meals!

Stay safe and warm

XO

Skinnytaste: Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love having an extra day off from work...3 day weekends should be the norm. It was extra time to sleep in, extra time to work out, extra time to catch up on TV shows, extra time to spend with family and friends, one more awesome meal to cook at home before the hectic work week begins!

Yesterday Ryan and I spent the day together - no Bar Method, no work, no errands, just time together at home. We watched The Following season premier on demand and Weeds all day and cooked a delicious dinner: Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breast. The recipe is from my favorite recipe blog, Skinnytaste. I love Skinnytaste recipes because they are delicious, healthy and so easy to make.

The Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken recipe on her blog had a serving size of 8 which is just too large for me and Ryan alone. My friend Allie made this recipe a few weeks back and froze the extra chicken, which is a fantastic idea. But with us moving next week, I didn't want to freeze the leftovers and ruin them in the move, though I'm sure the first weekend in the new apartment when we have no groceries or time to cook I will wish I had the leftover chicken! The recipe is all fresh ingredients, dill, spinach, onions, garlic and chicken but it is an extremely difficult recipe to cut in half and make less because the serving for 8 calls for 1 egg as a wash before breading the chicken. How do you split an egg in half? Well, you could either split the recipe and use only half of the egg wash, or, you can make a flax meal egg. Now what the heck is a flax meal egg - well it's a vegan substitute for eggs. Now I have never made one but in order to split this recipe in half perfectly, I was going to experiment...and it paid off! The flax meal egg was the perfect consistency for an egg wash, the breading stuck to it and it tasted exactly as an egg wash would. And it was cheaper then buying eggs for recipes.

So, how do you make a flax meal egg? You take 1 TBSP of flax meal and 3 TBSP of water. Whisk together and let it sit in the fridge for a minimum of 5 minutes before using. This allows the meal to solidify into the consistency of an egg. My advice is to make the flax meal egg before you prep anything else for your recipe so it is ready to use right away! The above measurements are to replace 1 egg in a recipe, so for the chicken, I split this in half to be 1.5 TSP and 1.5 TBSP of water!

I also made the recipe gluten free by using Schar's gluten free bread crumbs. They didn't brown and crisp as well as regular bread crumbs, but the taste was perfect and it looked pretty (and presentation is half the success)!

The link to Skinnytaste Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken is below and I also outlined the steps with photos from last night's dinner, which splits the recipe in half with a flax meal egg and gluten free bread crumbs. This is really easy to make and Ryan and I will certainly be making this again. Skinnytaste Buffalo Stuffed Chicken also looks amazing and that might be our next recipe for Sunday night family dinner! I have to start practicing making larger serving sizes though because we just ordered our first ever dining room table for our apartment so I know my mom and dad and brother will be popping by for diners. I'm sure my mom is relieved that someone else can start hosting family dinners and holidays :)

Skinnytaste: Spinach and Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 5
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/03/spinach-and-feta-stuffed-chicken.html

1/2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup onions (chopped)
1 clove garlic
2 tbsp. scallions
1.5 tsp dill
2 tbsp parsley
5 oz. frozen spinach (thawed and drained)
2 tbsp fat-free ricotta cheese
1.5 tsp flax seed meal
2 tbsp water (1 tbsp for flax meal and 1 tbsp to be added after it has set)
3 tbsp gluten free bread crumbs
1 pound chicken breasts, 4 pieces (pounded thin)
salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking pan with spray.

2. Whisk together flax meal and 1 TBSP of water. Place in fridge and let sit until ready to use.

3. Heat a sauce pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and onions, garlic and scallions. Cook for 1 minute.

4. Add spinach, dill and salt and pepper to the pan and cook for another minute.

5. Remove spinach mixture to a bowl.

6. Mix ricotta cheese and feta into spinach mixture and set aside.

7. Lay chicken breasts on baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Add 2 TBSP of spinach and cheese mixture to the center of the chicken.

9. Roll the chicken and place seam side down on the pan. Repeat with all pieces.

10. Remove flax meal egg from fridge and add remaining TBSP of water. Whisk together.

11. Brush flax meal egg on chicken and then roll in bread crumbs. Place chick back on baking pan. Repeat with remaining chicken rolls.

12. Spray the top of chicken rolls with spray and place in oven.

13. Bake for 25 minutes.

14. Remove from oven and serve.

Enjoy!

Today the temperatures are dropping again in NYC and it started to snow this morning. I had an amazing bar method class this morning with Amanda K. I could barely walk to the subway let alone actually sit down without my glutes continuing to shake. My arms were shaking during warm-up, my thighs were burning for all 3 sets of thigh and for the first time in awhile, my leg was shaking during seat work. It felt so good to shake and burn and Amanda pushed me deeper to each of the routines and even helped me stretch deeper than I thought I could. The class was small so there was a lot of individual attention which is sometimes very scary, but I loved the focus that she gave each of us. She helped us correct our form, helped us get lower and deeper into our thigh sets and this made all of the stretching that much more rewarding and intense. A good mood comes from a good work out so my mood is lifted today, despite freezing temperatures, snow and re-routed subways. So thank you Amanda for pushing me today and making it very difficult to sit without my glutes being in a lot of pain!

XO

Homemade Granola Bars

Ryan and I love granola bars - they are a quick and easy way to satisfy our sweet tooth, but they are not healthy at all, no matter how many whole grains and fiber the box claims they have! We decided to make our own - the recipe needs work and I plan to experiment with it a lot, but I wanted to share it with you. Our bars did not stay together as well as I would have liked, but now we have a healthy, gluten free granola for topping yogurt, ice cream or as a snack. Hopefully I can perfect this recipe to have granola bars! I used honey as the ingredient to get the oats to stick and along with the almond butter and egg, it baked really well and the tops crisped. But the bars didn't hold together as well as I would have like. I might need less oats next time! Let me know if you try this and have any great ideas!

Homemade Granola Bars
Servings: 16
Weight Watchers Points: 6

2.5 cups gluten free rolled oats
1 tbsp honey
1 egg
1 package m&ms
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup slivered almonds
3/4 cup chex, corn (crushed)
3/4 cup almond butter
1/4 cup flax seed meal

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

3. Pour granola mixture into an 8 x 8 pan (sprayed with oil)

4. Bake for 20 minutes

5. Allow bars to cool completely before cutting

Enjoy!

Maple Glazed Pork Chops

Yesterday was a very busy day! It started with an early morning Bar Method class. Amanda did pretzel so I was in a great mood the rest of the morning (even with 20 minute train delays)! Bar Method helps me feel stronger mentally and physically and even though waking up and working out early on a Saturday morning seems crazy sometimes, I feel like I can take on the weekend after I workout.

For breakfast Ryan and I had egg white and oatmeal pancakes topped with powdered peanut butter (Ryan added Nutella), flax seeds, and coconut. We made a nutribullet filled with kale, pineapple, cucumber, goji berries, and pumpkin seeds. This was the perfect breakfast and kept us full and energized all day!

After breakfast we went into the city to go furniture shopping for our new apartment!!!!! It's so exciting to be able to furnish a new apartment and start fresh as a married couple. I feel like a real adult! Our current apartment was our first home living on our own as a couple. We have a lot of amazing memories in the apartment but it is time to move on and get a new start. The apartment is so much bigger so we need a lot of furniture that we don't have. We bought a couch, entertainment center, bedroom dresser an rugs! We still need a dining room table and chairs and some other small things. It's really exciting and I want everything right now but Ryan keeps reminding me that it will all come together slowly and work out. I'm just so anxious!!

We then went to see St. Francis College vs. Sacred Heart men's basketball game. It was bittersweet because it was our last "home" game living in Brooklyn. The games are so much fun to go to and they are right around the corner from home - I hope we still come to a game even when it's not so close! We have LIU vs. St. Francis Battle of Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center next month and we have court-side center seats!

We got home from the basketball game at 7:00pm (my day started at 7:00am). Ryan joked that it was getting close to my bed time and we still hadn't had dinner! So we whipped up a quick and delicious meal. We've been eating a lot of chicken lately because it's easy and quick to make during the week. Tonight we decided on french cut, bone in pork chops - something different! This recipe was so easy and after getting home late, we wanted something that would be quick. By 7:30pm we were eating, so Ryan was very happy!!! We ate and watched the SAG awards before making homemade granola bars for dessert. It was a fun, busy day and today we are taking it easy waiting for the New England Patriots football game this afternoon!

Maple Glazed Pork Chops
Servings: 2
Weight Watchers Points: 15

2 Bone-in Pork Chops
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp 100% pure maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Season both sides of pork chops with salt

3. Heat pan over medium heat and add coconut oil. Allow oil to melt and get warm.

4. Add pork chops to pan and sear on each side for 3 minutes.

6. While pork chops cook, mix cinnamon, vanilla extract and maple syrup in a small bowl.

7. Transfer pork chops to a baking and evenly spread maple syrup mixture over both pork chops.

8. Bake chops for 15 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

We had vegetables and Amy's Gluten Free Cheddar Broccoli Bake on the side!