Stormy Weather

Wow, two night in a row I’ve been woken up with major thunder storms.  Last night was crazy loud!  Thank goodness our sump pumps are working, this is what I woke up to this morning in our back yard.  A mini lake!

No wonder, when I went on ChicagoTribune.com this morning, we got 4.5 inches of rain over night – crazy!!

Thanks for all your well wishes for my Momma – I swear nothing can slow that woman down.  Turns out no surgery was needed, but she has a cast and not one that can get wet sadly.  So no floating in the lake, but I know we can figure out a way somehow.  I told her all the positives though!

• she can still eat my delicious food – I am making deep dish pizza one night and biscuits and sausage gravy one morning
• she can sip wine
• she can dip her toes in the lake
• and she can be a passenger on a jet ski!

Weather permitting she’ll leave this morning and I’ll meet up with her on Sunday.

So my camera battery was dead when I went to take my “4th of July” parfait, so I used my iPhone and plugged in my camera battery.  Come lunch time, I went to get the battery and um, I had it in backwards, so no charge!  I fixed it, plugged it back and and promptly left the office without it!  Gah.  So thanks to my iPhone for stepping in.  I puffy heart that phone.

Breakfast:  Plain greek yogurt, strawberries, blueberries and granola.

Parfaits and smoothies, I have a hard time figuring out how much insulin to take, so I thought I gave myself just enough so my blood sugar would be in the low 200’s before working out.  Imagine my surprise that 30 minutes before I left, it was only 144.  I ended up having a Nature Valley salted bar as pre-workout fuel.  These are so good!

It was stormy in the morning and I thought I’d have to swim inside yesterday, but by the time I headed to the pool around 1, there wasn’t a single person outside!  I swam by myself with two lifeguards, before a family of four kids came in five minutes before I was finished.  30 minutes was refreshing!

My store has pre-seasoned chicken breasts, so I picked up one for my boss and I to split – it was lemon garlic, and it was only $1.80.  I pan fried it the night before, almost until done because I knew I would be heating it up yesterday for lunch.  I decided to make some pita chips, so good, cut up some carrots and cucumbers, sliced apple, and for dipping, a spicy hummus.

Spicy Hummus

• makes 1.5 cups, 6 servings, or 1/4 cup each at 111 calories, 5.8 cat, 11.2 carbs, 2.6 fiber and 3.47 protein

Ingredients:

• 1 can of chick peas (about a cup)
• 1/2 cup tahini paste
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2 teaspoons lemon
• 1/2 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Just add everything to the food processor and mix until the desired consistency.  I like a creamy hummus so I probably blended mine for a good two minutes.

This plate was delicious and took me like 45 minutes to eat.  The hummus was spicy, but not too spicy – the only thing is that the store marinated chicken was a bit salty to me, but my boss ate every morsel of her plate, so this must have been a winner!

So, I’ve been kind of getting sick of the Detox water.  The cucumber water is kind of tasting gross to me, so I think I’ll only drink that a few times a month.  My new favorite drink?  Making iced tea with this tea:

Ha – I love that you can see the recipe on my desk for the creamy polenta I was making for dinner!  This tea has a natural sweetness to it, so no sugar or artificial sugar is needed.

I adapted my polenta for two from Bev Cooks.  I do like her idea of making it with the chicken sausage and veggies though – I’ll have to try that sometime.

Creamy Polenta for Two

• 2 servings:  254 calories, 10 fat, 29 carbs, 2.2 fiber and 11 protein

Ingredients:

• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup polenta (or cornmeal)
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• (I added 1 cup chopped spinach to my serving, and added a bit more cheese and butter to Tony’s!)

Bring the water and milk to a boil.  Add the polenta, stir so that there aren’t any clumps, and stir occasionally for 6-8 minutes.  Remove from heat and add in the butter, cheese and salt and pepper. 

I did grilled steak on top.  I actually loved the raw spinach in the polenta, it kind of wilted just a bit, but still had texture.

I have to admit I was tired when I got home from work.  I don’t know if its because my sleep got interrupted the night before with the storms or what.  As I was eating dinner I told myself “just take the day off from Insanity – it’s okay!”

Well, I cleaned the kitchen after dinner and I got my second wind and I didn’t want to give in.  I ended up doing 90% of the workout – and that 90% I gave it 110%.  #winnersneverquit

I have to say though, I am looking forward to Cardio Recovery tonight!

Stats for the Day:

• 30 minute swim at lunch
• 40 minute Insanity Day #19
• 1545 calories, 63 fat, 136 carbs, 19 fiber, 106 protein
• 36% of calories from carbs, 37% from fat and 27% from protein

Alright, time to get this how on the road.  I may not have taken a shower before I went to bed last night, and sitting here as I am typing this, I am offending myself!

Make it a great day!