Day 4 Meal 3, Salmon Cakes

Tonight I got home late - 7:30pm. So I am so glad that I decided ahead of time to make salmon cakes with a fried egg! If I hadn't planned this earlier, I would have been lost for what to eat and that is when I start snacking and grazing! I am so happy how these turned out and I have a few leftover for lunch tomorrow and breakfast on Saturday!

The colonic was great, and not getting into any details, I feel amazing. I feel lighter, less heavy, less bloated and energized. Debbie was great and making me feel very comfortable and the hour went faster than I thought it would. We talked a lot about health and wellness and the power food has to heal us! I felt really connected to her and her stories! She told me I was having a great session and everything was being cleaned out perfectly. I don't know what I expected to feel, but I didn't feel urgency or pain; during the session I felt pressure on my stomach, mostly because I was being filled with water, but Debbie massaged my stomach to keep everything moving. I will definitely do this again in a month or after my 30 days!

I got home to feed Haley and cooked up dinner in 20 minutes! On my walk to the colonic I picked up some unsweetened applesauce (made only with organic apples) because I thought it would be amazing for the salmon cakes, and I was right! It added a sweetness to the cakes and I served 1 fried egg that was a bit runny so the salmon cakes took care of the yolk! Loved them!

Salmon Cakes

1 can Trader Joe's Wild Alaskan Salmon (or use leftover salmon from another meal)
1/4 cup almond flower
1/2 lemon juice
1 egg
scallion chopped
salt and pepper to taste
coconut oil

1. Drain canned salmon and flake in a bowl.

2. Add all ingredients, except coconut oil, and mix together.

3. Form 8-10 salmon cakes the size of your palm.

4. Heat pan over medium heat. Add coconut oil.

5. When pan is hot, add salmon cakes (do not over crowd).

6. Cook salmon cakes 7-10 minutes on each side. Do not over cook or the cake will dry out. Flip when each side is golden brown.

 Serve and Enjoy!

I prepped a garden salad for tomorrow's lunch (spinach, carrots, sugar snap peas, avocado, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, broccoli slaw, hemp seeds) and will have 2 salmon cakes with it. I will probably pack them seperately so they don't get mushy and either eat them whole, or flake them into the salad. And Saturday I plan to make a salmon hash with kale and fried eggs! Yum!

After I cleaned and prepped lunch I decided to quickly prep breakfast. I made the ground nuts for the n'oatmeal. I didn't have pecans like most of the recipes I saw called for so I used a 1/2 cup mix of almonds, cashews and walnuts. I really need to get a better variety of nuts! I placed the nuts in the food processor with 2 tbps flax seeds, cinnamon, nutmeg and ground ginger and pulsed (not too much - you don't want nut powder). I set this aside for tomorrow morning. All I have to do now is whisk eggs, almond butter and the nuts until it makes "oatmeal." I hope this turns out well because I used to have oatmeal almost everyday for breakfast and I really miss it. This recipe serves 2 so I can have some with my salmon hash on Saturday!

I am so happy tomorrow is Friday. This work week seems extremely long, even with Monday off! As much as I really want Sashimi for dinner tomorrow, I have leftover balsamic pork and some broccoli so I am wondering if it is better to save the money and make something to eat rather than order in (or go out). I don't want to be tempted by anything on the menu besides sashimi (no soy sauce)! I will see how full I am tomorrow when I get out of work!

Tomorrow I am going to start reading "It Starts With Food!" I am so excited to read the book that supplements whole30.

Have a great night everyone!

XO

Slow Cooked Turkey Meatballs

I love coming home to the smells of a home cooked meal. I think it was part of growing up - my mom would cook dinner every night for the family when we got home from school and the smell of it throughout the house is something I will never forget. And she always had fresh baked bread to go with the meal. On weekends, she would even make homemade bagels.

Last night I walked home from work. It was a little bit cold, but since I had been sitting at my desk all day and I hadn't done a morning bar class, I knew I needed a little activity! So I walked home (that got me to a total of 9,000 steps for the day and 1 WW activity point). I got home within 20 minutes and the turkey meatballs I had prepped in the morning were warming in the slow cooker. I love that I was able to cook them for 6 hours, but still keep them warm even though I wasn't home! Slow cooking is so easy and because I slow cook in large batches, we have leftovers for days! I was already thinking about all of the meal possibilities that we could make with left over meatballs (meatball parm or meatball wraps anyone)!

Ryan and I had meatballs with mashed potatoes (FreshDirect Sides in a Snap) and asparagus. I love crunchy, bright green asparagus and it was a nice break from our usual salad. 4 meatballs with sauce were 5 points and 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes were 5 points. The meat was dense, but still moist from having slow cooked for 6 hours. Next time I might even cook it for 4 or 5 hours since the meatballs are so small. Or I could make 12 meatballs instead of 24 so that 2 meatballs would be 4 points. However, eating more is a mind game so having 4 meatballs (small) instead of 2 (large) seems like a lot more to me. And if I think I am eating a lot more, then I stay fuller longer!

For dessert, I had a Yopa greek yogurt with dark chocolate bits that I had put in the freezer. It was just like eating ice cream, and I topped it with a banana.

Tonight I am going to SoHo for a Bar Method class. I really wanted to sleep in now that the upstairs neighbors haven't been so loud and I wanted to have breakfast with Ryan! He made ham and cheese on udi's gluten free bread with eggs over easy and I had an egg white omelette topped with powdered peanut butter, flax seeds and a banana! It was fun to sit around with Ryan, watching the morning news and getting ready on my own time. However, this morning, I am feeling not working out and I feel a little sluggish. I am excited for an evening class, but I am not excited about it being at 6:30pm. It means I won't be home until 8pm. I hope it warms up a bit so maybe I could bike home. It's been awhile since I took citibike since I got so used to the early morning bus/train commute, so it's about time I took a bike ride!

I also plan to go to spin tomorrow night. If I am going to complain about feeling bloated, sluggish, tired and not happy, then I need to do something about it. A good diet is great, but exercise helps get everything moving and sweating mentally tells me that I am doing something good for my body. I sweat a lot more in evening bar classes because the studios are warmed up, people have been in classes all day, and the air is not as fresh (sounds gross, but the morning classes have cold studios from not being used all night, so I don't break a sweat). It's all mental - I am not working any harder in an evening class than a morning one, but sweating makes me feel like I am pushing myself harder. I also am a bit more flexible at night because my body has been moving all day (well, not really since I sit for 8 hours). I feel more flexible, stronger, and more capable of going lower, tucking harder and even taking some of the challenges like raising my legs in flat back or the L shape in round back. I did hurt my shoulder last night, so unfortunately I will be modifying with push-ups at the bar tonight. I am going to have a Quest Cookies and Cream bar before class (my new favorite flavor) and a pre-made kale and grain FreshDirect salad when I get home for muscle recovery protein! Night classes usually energize me, so I hope that I will be able to fall asleep reasonably early. I have been feeling so refreshed lately now that I have been sleeping through the night!

I also worked to work this morning, again, it was cold, but it felt good to get in some activity before I sat around all day since I didn't do a morning bar class!

Below is the Turkey meatball recipe. Skinnytaste recipe can be found here! I used 99% fat free turkey breast and gluten free breadcrumbs. This can be made with turkey, chicken or beef (WW Points will vary). Enjoy.

Skinnytaste Crock Pot Italian Turkey Meatballs
Servings: 6 (4 meatballs)
Weight Watchers Points: 5

Meatballs
1 pound turkey breast, ground
3 tbsp Schar gluten free breadcrumbs
4 tbsp grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
1/4 cup parsley
1 egg
1 garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper to taste

Sauce
1 tsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, combine turkey, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley, garlic and cheese. Mix all of the ingredients together.

2. Form small meatballs and set aside (24 meatballs)

3. Meanwhile, in a small pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.

4. Add garlic and saute until golden, be careful not to burn.

5. Pour crushed tomatoes into slow cooker with bay leaf. Add garlic and oil from pan.

6. Add meatballs to slow cooker.

7. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve and enjoy!

Warm Chai Cupcakes on a cold snowy night with a green pancake for breakfast!

A Nor'easter has come to NYC and it has brought winds, snow, ice, rain and a lot of unhappy commuters with it. I am so ready for winter to be over and for the warmer weather to be here! I hate being cold and bundled up and not being able to walk a lot! But in preparation for the storm, Ryan and I mad Carrot, Walnut, Chai cupcakes with a vanilla maple frosting. The chai mix was something I found at Home Goods last weekend with my mom. It is gluten free and if you use non-dairy milk, it is dairy free as well. I don't like to use mixes a lot but when I do, I love added my own ingredients to it to make it more special! To a chia mix, the thought of a walnut carrot addition sounded perfect. I used Wholesome Chow Chai Mix and Wholesome Chow Vanilla Frosting Mix and to the frosting I added maple syrup and vanilla extract. The cupcakes were so moist and the added carrot and walnut added so much to a simple mix and the maple in the frosting made this cupcake super delicious!

Carrot, Walnut Chai Cupcake with Maple Vanilla Frosting
Servings: 12 Cupcakes
Weight Watchers Points: 9 per cupcake

Cupcakes
Wholesome Chow Gluten Free Vegan Chia Spice Cake Mix
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup Lactaid Milk 2% (Use non-dairy milk to make these dairy free)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Frosting
Wholesome Chow GF Vegan Vanilla Frosting Mix
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp Lactaid Milk 2%
2 tbsp Pure Maple Syrup
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

TO MAKE CUPCAKES
1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees. Line or grease cupcake pan.

2. In a medium bowl, combine Milk and Apple Cider Vinegar. Let the mixture sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.

3. Meanwhile, shred carrots and chop walnuts.

4. Add olive oil to milk and vinegar mixture and whisk well.

5. Whisk (or use stand mixer) baking mix with the liquid ingredients and blend until smooth, about 30 seconds.

6. Add carrots and walnuts and continue to mix until blended well..

7. Pour batter into cupcake pan and bake for 20 minutes.

8. Let cool before adding frosting.

TO MAKE FROSTING
1. In stand mixer, whip butter until creamy and smooth, about 2 minutes.

2. Add frosting mix, maple syrup, vanilla extract and milk, whip on low speed for 1 minute until mix is well combined.

3. Increase speed to high and beat for 5 minutes until frosting is fluffy.

TO PREPARE FROSTED CUPCAKES
After cupcakes are cool, add frosting to each. Frosting can be stored in fridge if not used immediately.

Serve and Enjoy!

It's snowing a lot and when I woke up this morning, a lot of my coworkers were working from home. Now that I moved so close to the office, I didn't think it was fair to not try to come in and work. But I did get to sleep in a little until 7am. I decided to make a warm breakfast at home before trekking out in the snow so I decided to make my usual egg white and oatmeal pancake. This time though, I added spinach to the mixture and blended all of the ingredients in the nutribullet (similar to my green eggs). I blended the oats as well, though next time I might blend all ingredients and add oats at the end. The batter was super green and Ryan even thought I was making a bullet to drink. 3 hours since breakfast and I am still full and satisfied which is my biggest struggle when I eat breakfast at home before coming to work. I try to eat lunch at 1pm to make the day spread out so that I am not starving by 3pm/4pm which is when I will start snacking and craving sugar. But that means I usually try to eat breakfast at 9:30am so I don't have to wait too long until my next meal. I cooked up the batter and topped it with almond butter, flax seeds and a banana. Ryan made corn bread for breakfast and a spinach, grape, orange and raspberry bullet! We ate breakfast together before I layered up to go to work.

Ryan is working from home and doing some work around the house. I don't mind being at the office when its a snow day - the work day is slow but its a different experience than when everyone is here and busy! We are ordering pizza for lunch and I got to order a separate salad since I am not eating pizza that isn't gluten free.

I hope everyone stays safe and warm and dry today in this crazy weather - just remember, the more snow storms we have, the closer we are to winter being over!!!!! My biggest problem with this weather is how little activity I have. I can't wait until its warm and I can start walking to and from work and biking more. I probably have to take the bus/train to Bar Method tomorrow morning - the citibikes are buried under 3 feet of snow right now!

XO