Skinnytaste Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Friday bowling was so much fun! Ryan and I usually go bowling alone and it is so fast - 2 games, 30 minutes, $60. It's just crazy and doesn't always seem worth it to go. But with 6 people, it took us 2 hours to bowl 2 games, and we had a great time! The first game we played boys vs. girls team which we knew going into it would not be very motivational to the girls - of course, we lost. But the second game, the boys picked the girls names from a hat and we played 3 teams of 2. I was paired with Aaron (Stephenie's boyfriend) and we won! The scores were really high, I bowled 108 and Ryan bowled 138! After the game we went to Stout, a pub in Herald Square. I ordered the grilled chicken salad, but Ryan's weakness for Buttermilk Fried Chicken got the best of him and he ordered that for dinner. I don't blame him, they looked amazing. I never want to tell Ryan not to order something, or not to eat something because it contains Gluten. I want him to make decisions regarding food and his health for himself and sometimes, buttermilk fried chicken is worth it to him. If he feels deprived than living gluten free becomes a diet, a struggle, a pain rather than a way of life, and a healthy choice. It's important to make a lifestyle work for you. No one pressured Ryan to eat the chicken, it was what he wanted and since we are not celiac, the pleasure of eating the fried chicken was worth it to him - and to see him happy, makes me happy.

Ryan is really busy at work and has to work from home in the evenings and weekends right now while he waits to hire a coordinator to help him with his research studies. This weekend he went to work to write a research paper and I stayed home and relaxed and watched TV, which, after not getting a good nights sleep for the past month, felt amazing! Saturday night, Ryan cooked dinner for us. He made gluten free chicken francaise with gluten free fettuccine. It was delicious! And I let go of all of my controlling tendencies when it comes to cooking and trusted that Ryan was measuring, weighing and serving everything as it should be! I never want to let my tracking get in the way of enjoying food so it's good every once in awhile to let go and not worry about points and calories as long as I understand portion sizes and ate well the rest of the day! Ryan was so excited to cook for me that he made sure everything was measured following the directions of the recipe (which he emailed to me so that I could upload it to my WW Recipe points tracker).

Sunday, I cooked dinner and made a simple, easy, delicious recipe from Skinnytaste. I made Cilantro Lime Shrimp which I paired with gluten free chicken dumplings and a salad. The shrimp would have gone perfectly with pasta if we hadn't had it with the chicken the night before. The recipe was so easy to follow, and the points were really low so I was able to have a couple of the dumplings which were 2 points each! I had more than one serving of the shrimp since it was so good and because heating shrimp as leftovers isn't that great. So Ryan and I each had about 1.5 cups so it totaled 7 points. I went a little overboard with dessert though because Ryan made King Arthur's Gluten Free Brownies and I had a cup of So Delicious Purely Decadent Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Coconut Milk Ice cream. I found different gluten free, dairy free, soy free flavors and stocked up. Ryan thinks I have a problem now since the door of our freezer is filled with ice cream! I may have a slight addiction. The only problem with having it in the house is that I will eat it...and then I'll complain that I ate it, and then I'll eat some more because I feel bad about myself and the cycle will go on and on until all of the pints of ice cream are gone (and then I'll buy more). I wish I didn't have such a sweet tooth!

The Skinnytaste recipe can be found here, or I have listed it below!

Skinnytaste Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Servings: 6 (2/3 cup)
Weight Watchers Points: 3

1.5 pounds shrimp (peeled)
1/4 tsp + 1/8 tsp cumin
2 tsp olive oil
5 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp lime juice (from 1 medium lime)
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

1. Season shrimp with salt, pepper and cumin

2. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil to the pan. Add shrimp and let cook for 2 minutes.

3. Flip shrimp and let cook for 1 more minute.

5. Add garlic to the pan and let cook for 1 additional minute.

6. Add cilantro and mix well.

7. Remove pan from heat. Squeeze lime juice all over shrimp and mix once more before serving.

Serve and enjoy!

The last couple of days I have very minimal activity. Despite going to Bar Method Monday morning, I wasn't able to hit 10,000 steps goal, or 2 WW activity points. It is absolutely due to me sitting at my desk all day and not walking around for 8 hours. I also didn't go out for a walk with Ryan last night, which I should have, but we were waiting for our dining room table & chairs to be delivered. Unfortunately, it was delivered, but with a box missing so we were unable to build the table. It is really frustrating and now we have to wait another week for the box to ship and be received. I am just so ready to not be working on the apartment and just have it complete. I try not to think about what we still have to do to "finish" the apartment like hanging art, building the desk, building the table/chairs, because I just want to enjoy living there. It's just so shocking how big the apartment is and how much time and effort it is taking to fill it and make it homey! And March is a very busy month for me and Ryan so we have to finish this stuff now, otherwise, before we know it, it will be April!

Today I woke up early to prepare a slowcooker meal for dinner tonight. I am making Skinnytaste Crock Pot Turkey Meatballs with a side of mashed potatoes and asparagus. It was so quick and easy to prepare and I love that it is cooking while I am at work so as soon as I get home, I just get to eat! Here is a sneak peek!

I made a delicious cobb salad for lunch today with salami, turkey, grapes, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber and avocado and Lentil chips for an added crunch. It really hit the spot because I was craving something salty and sweet so the grapes and avocados balanced perfectly with the cold cuts and Lentil chips.

Work has been steadily busy which is great because the day is going by, but it is hard because I am stuck at my computer and only getting up for a few minutes each hour. I can't wait until it warms up so I can go for a walk around the block just to get some activity in.

I am going to start spinning at Pablo Fitness again this week. I love his studio - it is the first time and only time I have ever enjoyed spinning and I am excited to start classes again. Mentally, with all the ice cream I have been eating, I just need to sweat. Bar Method is amazing and nothing will make me want to work out more than a Bar Method class, but I need to push myself a little harder and sweat out some of the sweets I keep eating. Pablo has amazing energy and even though I can't stand riding a bicycle in place for 45 minutes, when the lights go off and I just get inside my head, it's a mental game to push myself harder and faster and I feel great afterwards. I have a 10 class pack so hopefully in the next 2 months before it expires I will use it all!

Can't wait for dinner tonight! I will be sharing more photos tomorrow!

Stay warm everyone.

XO

Baked Gluten Free Chicken Parmesan

Well, Ryan could not wait to make chicken parmesan until Valentine's Day and honestly, Valentine's Day is just another day, so we made a "love" dinner on February 13th and made our favorite dinner! We both love chicken parmesan, but we both hate how greasy and heavy and filling it is. Instead of pan-frying the chicken is oil, we decided to bake the chicken and make individual chicken parmesan (I didn't put it in a baking dish with sauce and cheese either). This was the best chicken parmesan we have ever made and it was so easy, and this is a recipe that can be made for 1, 2, or more so this could be the perfect individual dinner if we want chicken parmesan, but not a lot of leftovers! We supplemented the chicken with a big salad and some broccoli on the side. It was a perfect evening, valentine's day or not!

This recipe was adapted from Skinnytaste's Baked Chicken Parmesan. I made this gluten free using gluten free bread crumbs and used an egg instead of butter as the coating ingredient. The ingredients and the recipe are really easy to adapt to make this your own - use an arrabiato sauce to make it spicy, use panko bread crumbs, use butter (instead of eggs)...the possibilities are endless. And that's the great thing about recipes - we all share our recipes, but we have to make them work for us. Just because I prefer gluten free, does not mean someone needs to make this recipe gluten free. It can being anything you want, whatever you crave, however you like to cook. Cooking is fun and it should not be a step by step guide on how to get a good meal. A good meal is one that is made with love and tastes great for the person eating it!

Baked Chicken Parmesan
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 7

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thin sliced), 4 oz. each
5 tbsp Schar Gluten Free Bread Crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/2 Cup Low-Moisture Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Tomato & Basil Marinara Sauce
1 egg
1/4 cup egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 450. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. If your chicken breasts are not purchased thin, place a piece of chicken in between saran wrap and pound them thin. Make sure they are even to allow for even cooking.

3. Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg and egg whites.

5. One at a time, dip a piece of chicken into the egg mixture, followed by the breadcrumb mixture. Coat both sides of chicken with egg and breadcrumbs and place on baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining chicken.

6. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes

7. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and put 2 tbsp of sauce over each chicken.

8. Top each piece with 2 tbsp of shredded cheese.

9. Bake for an addition 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

10. Serve and Enjoy!

This morning was surprisingly warm considering yesterday we had a 3-part storm and have another round of snow coming tomorrow. I decided to walk to work since I hadn't done that before. The streets were very slushy, a few were icy, and there were puddles everywhere. But besides that, the walk was extremely enjoyable. I walked up 1st avenue from 23rd street to 42nd street and it took 25 minutes door-to-door to get to work! The views from 1st Avenue across the East River are beautiful too - a lot of 1st avenue in the 30's is NYU buildings including Bellevue (translated to Beautiful View) and the hospital and once you come up on 39th street, there are unobstructed views of Brooklyn/Long Island City! It was a beautiful sight and I can't wait to see what it looks like in the summer when I walk to work on a warm spring day! I didn't go to Bar Method this morning because I wasn't sure how the weather and streets would be. I wanted to try to go to an evening class tonight, but honestly, I didn't sleep well last night and I would prefer to get the activity from walking home rather than deal with a Friday evening in SoHo on Valentine's Day. I am going to go to class tomorrow morning but I might have to leave early and walk to the train or take the crosstown bus because I am not sure if a citibike is the best choice since most are buried under snow and the bike lanes are pretty icy. I will play it by ear and maybe bike home from the studio if the roads don't seem too bad (but there is more snow in the forecast so who knows).

Are you tired of hearing me talk about snow, because trust me, I am tired of writing about it! I can't wait to see with Peter Cooper/Stuy-Town is like in the summer with movies and concerts on the green and a farmer's market and the community of people out and about together. It's beautiful right now in the dead of winter, but it's too cold and icy to be walking around exploring. We haven't made it to the East River Promenade either because it's been too cold to go for a long walk on the water. That is something I really miss about Brooklyn - our promenade only 3 blocks from our house with the most spectacular views of Lower Manhattan. I can't wait to see what the view looks like from this side though! Funny enough, I used to have my 12th grade Science Class along the Easter River promenade 9 years ago! It's so crazy to think that my life has come full circle in NYC and I am living across the street from my Middle School and down the block from my High School.

I love NYC (maybe not this winter) and I am so happy with how everything has worked out for me and Ryan. We are a family and we have to think as a family and living and working in NYC is the best thing for us right now. I have thought about moving - possibly to the West Coast, where it's much warmer, but Ryan and I are in a great place right now. We have family close to us, we have great jobs, we have friends here and we are comfortable in a new apartment. I would love to travel more together - Italy was our first big trip together and I fell in love with traveling and sight seeing. It's expensive, but it's something worth saving for! There's so much to see and do outside of New York City and I don't want to feel like I was stuck in one of the greatest cities, but never experienced anything outside of it. I love having my family in the city, and Ryan's is so close in Boston and I wouldn't want to put a strain on our relationship by being far away from our families, but as long as we take time to travel and have new experiences, our relationship together can only get stronger. We are planning to go to Puerto Rico in June - Ryan is going for a conference as part of work and I am going to tag along! He has been going to this conference for 2 years now and both times it has been in California and I have not been able to take time off of work to go. I want to go this year since I have never been to Puerto Rico and I have the vacation time to do it. I wanted to also plan a trip to San Francisco this year for us - it is my favorite city and I only went once with my family many years ago and I fell in love and want Ryan to experience it so much! I think we will have to wait on that trip until 2015 because the amount of money we put into our move and making our new home beautiful has been the same as a second trip. I am so happy with our home and wouldn't change the amount of money we spent, as long as we now know we need to start saving again!

Our dining room table should be delivered next week; it was delayed because of the snow storm (surprise, surprise). I can't wait to start having people over for dinner - it's getting hard to cook and bake for only 2 people. We get stuck with so many yummy leftovers and we just have to eat them all, right? I've been bringing some of the cupcakes and cornbread to work so that we don't let it go to waste sitting at home (or eat it all ourselves). I love cooking and sharing my food and time with others and having a dining room table will be the best thing for us. Ryan and I love being home rather than going out, so entertaining at our house is the best for us. We just haven't been able to the past 3 years because our house was too small - I didn't think people would appreciate sitting around a coffee table on the floor as much as we did!

Stay safe and warm everyone and have a beautiful Valentine's Day!

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