Homemade Surf 'N' Turf.

Earlier this month, I was offered a new job. Yesterday was the last day at my old job and I start the new one on Monday. To celebrate, Doug surprised me by buying all of the ingredients for a bitchin' surf 'n' turf dinner:



Bone-in NY Strip, grilled lobster tail (with melted butter & lemon slices), fingerling potatoes (with butter & chives), roasted brussels sprouts (!!!) and wheat french bread on the side.



*bites knuckle*



I also busted out some cheap raspberry-flavored fizzy booze. Not the best picture, but I was mostly trying to get a shot of Randal, who has decided he's camera shy these days, apparently.

Not pictured is the special ice cream Doug bought as well: Caramel Hazelnut Chocolate Truffle.

Definitely a bit more than we spend on food in a typical week, but worth it for the occasion and still way more affordable than going to a steakhouse. Oh, and friggin' delicious, of course! Looking forward to leftover steak and potatoes for lunch.

Treats in the heat.

Last night's dinner was another specialty a lá Doug. There was brief talk about taking advantage of a special at Domino's Pizza, but remembering how much cake I ate over the weekend and into Monday, I quickly shut that idea down. So back to healthy meal planning we went.

We ended up with a Quinoa salad, topped with grilled chicken and homemade vinaigrette dressing:



For the salad mix, Doug tossed together diced tomatoes, sliced radishes, green onion and cooked quinoa. For the dressing, he whisked together:

• Minced garlic
• Lemon juice
• Olive oil
• Dijon mustard
• Apple cider vinegar
• Cayenne pepper
• Ancho chile powder
• Dried cilantro flakes
• Salt & pepper

The chicken was cooked on the grill and brushed with Famous Dave's Texas Pit BBQ sauce. If you want to go meatless, this salad would go great with black beans and corn.

Fresh, clean flavors and a great summer dish that required minimal use of the stove. Works for me! And apparently it also worked for Randal, who did a great job of cleaning up some quinoa that spilled on the floor:



Before dinner, I already had dessert on the brain, so I decided to try a couple of recipes I had seen in the latest issue of Oxygen Magazine, both of which featured whey protein powder.

The first recipe was a batch of Almond Butter Whey Cookies:



Bite-sized, of course:



For this recipe, you'll need:

• 1/2 cup Oats
• 1 tbsp creamy almond butter (I used Barney Butter; it's so smooth!)
• 1 scoop whey protein powder (I used Designer Whey's chocolate variety)
• 1 egg white (or 1/4 cup liquid egg whites)
• 2 packets Stevia (or sweetener of choice; I used a generous tablespoon of granulated Splenda)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 cup carob chips (optional; I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

(I also added about a tablespoon of cocoa powder for extra flavor, along with a dash of salt.)

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl, then stir in the wet ingredients with a spoon. The dough will be really sticky and kinda difficult to work with, but mix as well as you can.

Use a teaspoon to make the dough into golfball-sized portions. Bake in a 350˚F oven for 10 minutes. I ended up with 10 cookies instead of 12, but whatevs. Each cookie is about 30 calories!

Things to do differently next time: While the chocolate flavor in these cookies was spot-on, Doug and I both agreed that they were DRY. Like really, really, I-need-copious-amounts-of-milk-stat! dry. I'm already planning to make another batch, but I will definitely play around with adding milk and/or unsweetened applesauce to give them some much-needed moisture. A little softer, and these could be a pretty satisfying, guilt-free treat when the chocolate craving hits.

The second recipe I tried was for Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups:



In a blender, add:

• 4 oz water
• 1 scoop of chocolate protein powder (I used Designer Whey)
• 1 tbsp peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co's Dark Chocolate Dreams)
• 1 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1-2 packets of preferred sweetener (I used a generous tablespoon of granulated Splenda)

Blend until well mixed, pour into a muffin tray and freeze for 1-2 hours. (I used a mini muffin pan and ended up with 10 cups total.)

Things to do differently next time: As far as the recipe goes, I don't think I'd change much because they tasted pretty darn good. But they're also super-messy to eat because it's basically like eating pieces of a frozen fudge bar without the stick. That said, I think this recipe would work as a really great base for a low-cal ice cream. I'm going to try mixing it with a few cups of almond milk, freezing it and seeing what I end up with. Given the creaminess of the cups, I think the ice cream would turn out pretty good.

Perspective; I has it.

The summer has been pretty insane and non-stop so far, thanks to various appointments, social gatherings, adopting Randal, making time for family visits, traveling to Vegas, weddings, graduations and of course, making time for the usual workouts and healthy eats.

On top of all that, I also applied for a new position in my department. I've completed the two interviews, but I'm starting to think I won't get an offer. As with any position, I recognized and accepted the possibility that I wouldn't get it, and that's totally ok. No hard feelings. Playing the waiting game has still been a bit stressful though, so when I found myself lying awake at 4 am this morning, wondering if today would be the day I finally get some news, I rolled out of bed and changed into my workout clothes. I made my way to the gym and did something I haven't done in a loooooong time; I ran 4 miles.

I wasn't particularly fast and I took my share of walking breaks, but I felt so damn good, I just kept going. And although my running can be sporadic at times, one thing's for sure; I almost always clear my head in the process and feel pretty damn optimistic about, well, everything.

When life gets busy (see last two months and counting), I tend to lose sight of how good I have it right now.

So, how about a quick recap of the things I'm thankful for, eh?

-Doug
-Randal
-My awesome, smart, hilarious friends
-My family
-My current job (money's tight, I'm a little bored, but bills are still getting paid; others haven't been as lucky in this economy and I need to remind myself of that.)
-Shelter
-Wholesome food
-My strong body
-My confidence and sense of self-worth (didn't have either of these for a good chunk of my life; changing my lifestyle these past few years has made all the difference.)
-My intelligence
-My sense of humor (Doug tends to roll his eyes at most of my jokes, but if I can still make myself laugh every day, that's good enough for me.)
-Peanut butter
-Studying for my PT certification
-Music
-Netflix

I guess I'll stop there, but the point is, I've got a lot going for me already. That's not to say everyday has been smooth sailing; there's been ongoing financial struggles, arguments, tears, crappy eating and terrible workouts. But that's life. You can't control most of the things that happen to you, but you can control how you respond. Choosing a positive attitude is easier on some days than others, but it's always an option with little-to-no risk involved. What have you got to lose by recognizing the good things in life?

This morning's run helped me come to such a conclusion. Since I don't know what the rest of the day will bring, I at least know that for 50 minutes this morning, I was centered and at peace with myself and my body. I'm thankful that my legs carried me though and that those endorphins lifted me up to a new level of optimism.

Alright, enough of the hippie stuff. In short, no matter how the day (or month or year) ends up, life, as it is, is pretty bitchin'. And really, how can I ever be upset when I know I've got this face to come home to?



So, with that said, I suppose I'll close this post with a gentle reminder to pause and reflect on the good in your life. Sure, things could be better, but they could also be much worse. Make the most of what you have. And run! (Or walk.) And eat your veggies. Heh.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Great minds think alike.

Not that I needed more proof that Randal is a great fit for our household, but the places he falls asleep crack me up:

Hope everyone had a great weekend! Got a busy couple of weeks ahead of me, followed by some much-needed R&R in Vegas. How's your summer going? Busy? Cool travel plans? Work? 

Q-Q-Q-Q-Quinoa.

I'm pretty terrible at post titles. Whatevs...

So, I'm a new fangirl of Oxygen Magazine. I was about to give up on women's health/fitness magazines, but Oxygen seems to know what's up. It's great to see ripped, fit women doing tough workouts as opposed to the usual underweight bikini model pretending to be disappointed by what she sees on the scale in an article about weight-loss. ANYWHO, rant aside, I found a great Spanish-style quinoa recipe on the Oxygen site and decided to give it a try last night.

I opted for the version that used pinto beans instead of peas. I also left out the green onion because we were out.



Turned out great! I sometimes (well, all of the time) find myself stuck when thinking of new ways to jazz up quinoa and this recipe was just what I was looking for. It reminded me of really well-seasoned, hearty Spanish rice.

To boost up my protein intake, I served it with some salmon:



I seasoned the salmon with taco seasoning (we likes to keeps it classy like dat) and topped it with my new obsession:



There are only a billion different jarred salsas out there, so I don't usually buy it, but I'm officially a whore for Frontera. One of my new goals in life is to eat at a Rick Bayless restaurant, based on this salsa alone. There's also a red pepper-garlic variety that's pretty great too.

Turned out to be a tasty meal, no thanks to my lazy sous chef:



Oh well. Being cute does give one a lot of free passes in life.

This dish would also great with grilled chicken, pork, ground beef or turkey. And to keep it meatless, add more beans (black or kidney, perhaps?) and/or tofu. Looking forward to trying the leftovers with cheese & sour cream.

Hope everyone's having a great week!

A new partner in crime...

Hope everyone had a safe & fun weekend! Things were a little busy at our house, but for good reason; we finally got a dog!!!











His name is Randal (a nod to the movie "Clerks"), he's one and a half years old and so far, he's the best beagle ever. Sure, he's misbehaved a few times, but I mean, look at that face! We're quick to forgive him once he goes back to being a goofy sweetheart.

I've been looking at dogs for over 3 years now and Randal is proof that patience is a virtue. The local Humane Society was having a really good deal on dogs over the holiday weekend, so I twisted Doug's arm to go look after I left work on Friday. I figured if we didn't see/meet any that we liked, we could leave, but I think I knew better; visiting a shelter is pretty heartbreaking, so leaving empty-handed is a challenge.

I saw Randal on the website earlier in the day and he was definitely one of my top choices. He was a stray who had already been there a week; can't believe he lasted that long! He had just been neutered, had a clean bill of health and no behavioral problems. When we went to a visitation room to meet him, he immediately went to Doug and put his paw's on Doug's knees. It's almost as if Randal planned that move, since Doug was being really resistant to the idea of getting a dog that day and I was already won over from the beginning.

About an hour after the visit, we were new dog parents and taking Randal to his new home. It's been like the Summer of Love ever since, but without the psychoactive drugs and, y'know, hippies. For $100, his adoption included getting neutered, shots, license tags, a free first vet visit, microchip and a free month of pet insurance. He was originally $200, so aside from being the coolest dog ever, his adoption process was a pretty rad value too.

But not everyone was happy about Randal joining our family...





This is my sister's Shih-Tzu, Chato. Chato has stayed at our house a few times in the past and was kind of a "practice" dog for me and Doug. He's usually cheerful and energetic, but when he stayed the night this weekend with Randal, he quickly became super-jealous and would go into our bedroom by himself because he thought he'd been replaced. He's not used to being around other dogs, but hopefully he'll eventually warm up to his new cousin.

So that was this weekend's excitement! Once Randal heals up from his neuter surgery, we're looking forward to taking him hiking and to the dog park. He's already a bit spoiled and I expect that will only get worse as time goes on.