Dinner on the Fly, Biggest Loser Makes Me Cry

Well, unfortunately my tentative plan to run outside with the hubby last night did not come to fruition. He’s been very stressed and busy with work lately and he ended up having to work later than he thought. So I was forced to hit the gym and treadmill after work. My workout consisted of:

4 miles. increasing speed from 6.3 to 7.2 (averaging a 9 min mile)
100 crunches
25 alternating leg lowers (for abs)
Extensive stretching

Check out this article in the NY Times about running in tough weather: Train the Mind to Run Right Through Winter. I don’t mind a little rain or snow, it’s the absence of light that holds me back. I think NYC is a pretty safe place, but I don’t like to test the limits more than necessary.  

When I got home from the gym I began throwing together dinner. I wasn’t working from a recipe or anything, but it ended up turning out delicious! Here is my make-shift recipe for it:

Tomato and Goat Cheese Stuffed Balsamic Chicken

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
10-12 grape tomatoes halved
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of goat cheese
salt and pepper to taste
sprinkle of Asiago cheese

Preparation
In a small bowl or measuring cup combine the balsamic vinegar, chopped onion and grape tomatoes. Set to the side. 

Slice a pocket into each chicken breast starting in the thickest area of the breast. Fill the pocket with as much of the tomato, balsamic and onion mixture as will fit. Then insert 1 tablespoon of goat cheese into the pocket as well, spreading it out as much as possible.

Place the filled chicken breasts in greased baking pan. Drizzle lemon and balsamic vinegar over the top, salt and pepper lightly, and sprinkle a dash of Asiago cheese. Cook in the oven at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Remove and drizzle the remaining balsamic vinegar, onion and tomato mixture overtop. Serve over lettuce or rice. Here’s what it looked like:

The hubby gave it his seal of approval.

After dinner I had…can you guess?

More pumpkin bread!

The rest of my night consisted of watching The Biggest Loser and getting emotional (why do I always end up crying?!), and then reading David Copperfield for a bit (I’m 440 pages in – moving slowly but surely).

I have to say, I didn’t really want Shay to leave BL yet. And did I miss her “big reveal”? I only saw Daniel’s. My bet is that they are going to have her on again next season – just like they did with Daniel. I’ve never watched the show before this season, but for some reason I got hooked this time around. I think the transformations are amazing. I’d like Jillian to come train me for a day or two.

I got to bed later than I wanted, but had a very good night’s sleep (no kitty waking me up at 5 am!)

Breakfast this morning was a multi-grain English muffin topped with peanut butter and banana. I got a little eager and started eating it before I took a picture – notice the big chomp taken out:

Today’s lunch is a repeat of yesterday’s leftovers. Why did I have so many leftovers you may wonder? Well, the hubby took one look at the Quinoa dinner I was preparing on Monday night and promptly decided he would not eat it. He went out and got two slices of pizza for himself instead. Hence, I ended up with more leftovers than anticipated. Note to self: for the time-being, only make Quinoa dinners when Bill is not home for dinner. Hopefully he’ll come around later.

Snacks for the afternoon will be two clementines and a bag of raisins and walnuts:

It looks like I’ll be hitting the treadmill again tonight to up my mileage for Pile on the Miles. I’m praying this weekend is nice so I can do a nice long run in Central Park.

Are there any recipes you make that your significant other refuses to eat? How do you accommodate varying likes and dislikes in your household?

Am I the only one who cries when watching The Biggest Loser?