Friday Weigh In and Happy Things

The Irish believe that things happen in threes. 

Bad things tend to happen in threes. 

But good things also happen in threes. 

Last night when I got home from work there were three deer in my back garden. I was happy to see them as I had been hearing the hunters in the woods not so long ago. 

This morning when I was leaving for work there were three turkeys at the end of my lane. Which is rather unusual as they generally travel in much larger groups, known as a rafter of turkeys. 

And this morning when I weighed in (remember, Friday is weigh in day!) I lost exactly three pounds. 

YIPPEEEEEEEEEE!!

Is there some significance in the number 3 on this day? I don' t know. 

But I was happy. 

I feel much better than I did at the start of the year. 

My body is no longer craving cookies. Instead it craves fruit and greens. And whole grains. 

Yes, I still eat cheese. 

Yes, I still drink wine. 

But I have been trying to eat more whole foods and stay away from processed foods. I still eat 'regular' dinners - I just eat smaller portions. 

I am mindful of what I am putting in my body. 

And it's working. I'm down 7.4 lbs so far this month. And I feel so much better for it!

Other things that made me happy on this beautiful morning:

The sunshine through the kitchen window making the bottles glow. 

The daffodil that my daughter brought home from Trader Joe's last night and put in the kitchen window to make me smile. The rest are in her room. She adores daffodils!

The new fridge magnet the pups bought me for Christmas. Bold little furbabies!

And the one I bought for myself! Ha ha, I could have written this one!

The way the sun was streaming in the guest room window this morning. No wonder those plants are so happy!

The reflection of the Swiss Dot Sheers on the Big Green Monster. I have always, ALWAYS loved Swiss Dot Sheers on my windows!  And my paperwhites are starting to respond to all that morning sunshine. 

And both horses came to my bedroom window to say good morning on this fine day. 

What made you smile today? 

Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy Weeknight Dinner

Hi All! I hope you are having a great week so far! I know a lot of kiddos went back to school this week - those days are over for me but somehow the mind still goes into "back to school" mode in early September regardless. The summer is unofficially over, and it's time to buckle down and get back into a routine. 

For me, I need to get back into a workout routine. But that's a whole different post for another day. Sigh.  

For you moms and dads out there looking to put a quick meal on the table on a weeknight - this one's for you! It's quick, healthy, and amazingly delicious! (Amazeballs according to my daughter.....)

This would also work well for a daughter looking to impress her date with a nice home cooked meal. Ahem. 

My meal plans during the growing season generally start with whatever the garden is spitting out en masse that week. This week it's TOMATOES - we've been pulling in bucket loads, many of which are sort of a large grape tomato (or possibly a small plum tomato?)

So a quick gathering of what I needed:
Tomatoes (duh)
Fresh Cheese Tortellini  (Note: You could also use angel hair or linguine in this recipe, I just happen to love it with cheese tortellini) 
A Decent Olive Oil
Freshly Ground Sea Salt & Pepper
Salted Butter
Fresh Basil
2 Large Garlic Cloves (not shown, it was fresh out of the garden and I still had to wash it!)
Romano or Parmesan Cheese 
Low Sodium Fat Free Chicken Broth

And a Nice Glass of Wine for the Cook. I chose a Provence Rose. Just because. 

Slice your tomatoes in half if they are large grape tomatoes/small plum tomatoes like mine. Cherry tomatoes I just put on the baking sheet whole - they will pop when they heat anyway.

Drizzle lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. I baked mine in the toaster oven because it was quite warm out alst night so I didn't want to turn on the oven - and it worked perfectly.

While the tomatoes are roasting, put your water on to boil - I use a large pot to give the tortellini lots of room. And I don't think they need any salt since there is salt in the filling so I omit the salt I usually use in my pasta cooking water. That whole "salty like the ocean" instruction for pasta water certainly doesn't apply here!

I also took advantage of the cooking time to scrub the garlic we harvested. Look how beautiful it is!

Next I chopped some fresh basil and put it aside. Then I chopped two large cloves of fresh garlic - that brought my daughter into the kitchen! What an amazing aroma!! There is a huge difference between supermarket garlic and home grown organic garlic - wow. LOVE!

When the tomatoes were nearly done I cooked the tortellini according to the package directions and dumped them into a colander to drain. 

Into the same pot went a light drizzle of olive oil and 2 tbs of salted butter. 

And then the garlic.Oh my, the GARLIC!!! Cooked just until golden....and the aroma throughout the entire house was pure heaven. I'm surprised the bears didn't come knocking at the door. 

The tomatoes were done roasting - look how beautiful they are! They kept their shape but released their flavor, as roasted tomatoes do so well. Gorgeous!

Into the pot they went, with about a cup of chicken stock, more or less. I do make my own chicken broth and keep it in the freezer in ziplock bags but for something quick like this I always keep some low sodium fat free broth in the panty. 

Back into the pot went the cooked tortellini along with the chopped basil. 

A quick gentle stir to combine (you don't want to break the tortellini) and this was the end result. 

Some freshly shaved romano tops off this dish - pure heaven in a bowl, right there. 

Note: this served two for dinner plus two light lunches the next day. 

Mangia! 

Monday Morning Musings

Happy Monday, everyone!!  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend - the weekends sure fly by, don't they?

Monday mornings are always tough for me. I have to get up extra early, and I rarely sleep well on Sundays. Plus, there's always the thought that Saturday is FIVE whole work days away!! FIVE! Count them!!

I am fortunate, however, to have a job that I actually like, only 2 miles from home. And a boss that I respect and admire. Plus an office to myself, which is a huge bonus.  Did I mention that I have a terrific view of the mountains out my office window?  Not too shabby, I'll tell you!

But.....it's still Monday.  Eek. 

But walking outside and seeing this beautiful sight is a fabulous way to start the day....and the week. 

And that got me thinking about the many things that make me happy in my new home. It's truly the little details that make me smile as I walk around my home. 

Today I thought I'd share a few with you!

This overflowing tower of fresh fruits and veggies makes me so happy to see! This was our farmer's market weekend (every other Saturday) in a town nearby, and we always go stock up on fresh produce. Those donut peaches are better than candy when they are ripe, which will help me kick those evil sugar cravings to the curb! Combined with a few items from the local grocery store, we're set for the week. 

I get tons of sunshine in my house, which makes getting out of bed just a little bit easier! Combined with the sight of some fresh flowers out of the garden the morning task of unloading the dishwasher becomes that much more pleasant. While my morning coffee is brewing, the dishes get put away and the kitchen tidied and ready for my evening return. 

Hydrangea season is winding down but there are still enough fresh blooms for a little bouquet on the dining room table. 

These little guys always makes me smile!

As does this little happy snoozing piggy - even with his chipped ear he's the cutest little thing!

Over my fireplace there's a reminder to stop and enjoy the peace. My angel watches over us in her little glass globe. 

My daughter captured this shot, looking into the living room from the dining room through the french door. 

I've always adored this painting, entitle "End of the Perfect Day III", by the late Thomas Kinkade. The painting was a treasured gift from my parents many years ago, and is now shining brightly as it should be with the addition of a picture light overhead, installed by my sweetie yesterday. 

 

This is how we end our perfect days in the mountains....I'll be looking forward to this relaxing ritual tonight after we share an evening meal with some good friends. 

Have a great Monday, everyone!

The Party's Over

Friday is Weigh In Day. It has been for me for many years. Sometimes I skip it, when I know I haven't been "good" lately. Lately I've been skipping it a whole lot. 

This morning I decided to face the music, even though I knew I wouldn't be happy with the results. 

And I wasn't. 

Most people would lose weight when they move to a new house, right? I truly thought that would be the case, that I would certainly drop a few pounds lugging all those boxes and working my butt off to get the house organized. 

Nope. I gained 3 lbs. On top of the weight I already wanted to lose. Which I hadn't lost yet. 

And I know why, too. 

I love good food. Love. Like, truly love. LOVE. Did I say love? 

I get excited at the thought of making a great meal for my peeps. I've been photographing my food for years, long before I ever thought about creating a blog. (FYI: Many of these photos are from the archives, from past homes, taken with my iPhone. Excuse the quality!)

This one is from my new home. A recent meal. Black angus cheese burgers made with the most amazing ground beef from a local farm. Garden fresh salad with all sorts of yumminess tossed in. Yumzers. 

And I also love cocktails. Many types, but especially my infusions. Like raspberry gin with a slice of lime. Pure heaven, right there. 

And sometimes I make food with cocktails. Like this bourbon vanilla cranberry sauce that I made the past two Thanksgivings. Best cranberry sauce EVER! Made with cherry bourbon to make it even more amazing!
http://www.eatliverun.com/bourbon-vanilla-cranberry-sauce/

And let's not forget a nice glass of wine paired with a great meal. More love. 

And sweet stuff like chocolate. Especially when made with....you guessed it, COCKTAILS! Like this Black Forest Cake made with cherry liqueur. Yup. Amazeballs. 

Did I mention cheese? I put it in/on almost everything. Cheese might just be my greatest weakness. 



Cheese is a big problem for me. Huge. Ginormous. 

And we can't forget my weakness for nuts. And nut butters. Which are actually good, in small quantities. However, not great if you are trying to drop some pounds. Or if you inhale them. 

Can you tell? I love food. Good food. And occasionally food that's not good for me. Like chips. And candy. And cookies. 

And lately I've been eating more of that "bad" food than I usually do, which does not make me happy at all. It's a vicious cycle. Once you have it, your body craves it. And I need to break the cycle. 

And eat more of this food.

Which I also love. But, let's be honest -  it doesn't quite satisfy the same way cheese does when your body is craving cheese. Or craving crunchy salty snacks. Or sweets like candy and chocolate and ice cream.  A pea pod out of the garden just isn't going to have the same satisfying effect, not immediately. 

But there's hope - because......the beauty of the whole thing is that the more you eat this type of food, the more your body craves this type of food - that's the magic!

Aren't our bodies wonderful? We can retrain them, and break the craving cycle. You just have to be ready. And now I'm ready. It took me a while, I had to "nest" in my new house for a few months and be ready to get back to taking care of me, not just the house, house, house. Well, I'm ready. It's time to break the cycle. It doesn't mean eliminating all the stuff I love, it just means reining it in and following the 80/20 rule again, where 80% of the time I make the healthy food choices, and 20% of the time I loosen up a little. 

Fortunately I love to cook. And I have a fantastic vegetable garden right outside my door. And it's the heart of the summer, when the farmers markets are in full swing. 

So, here we go again. For reals. I'm ready. 

Who's in?

xo