It’s Beginning to Look a Bit Like Christmas

Hello Wednesday. I must say, after last week’s all-over-the-place schedule, this week’s “normal” routine is feeling sluggish. I’m ready for Friday already. Although I did just get a ton of work, which is sure to make the rest of the week fly by – I hope!

BTW – check out my latest Examiner article, inspired by my great run at the gym yesterday morning:

Taking it to the treadmill and thriving

So who watched The Biggest Loser finale last night?! I did, I did! It was amazing. Everyone looked soo different. I have to say that Danny, Rudy, Tracey and Rebecca all blew me out of the water. I’m almost inclined to say that Tracey and Rebecca might have gone a bit too far. I hope they reached that weight in a completely healthy and appropriate way.

Spoiler Alert: Stop reading if you don’t want to know who won.

I am THRILLED that Danny won! I was almost certain that Rudy was going to take the crown, but I’m really glad Danny walked away with it. For some reason, Rudy bothered me. He was always preaching the “anyone can do this, I want to inspire others” rhetoric. What I really wanted to hear was: “I am doing this for me, for my health and for what I’m going to gain from this experience.” It’s great to be a role model, but come on, we know why you’re there.

What was your reaction to the finale?

So onto yesterday’s food.

Breakfast after yesterday’s run at the gym was sort of pathetic: a banana and coffee. As well as a bottle of water (not shown).

It was the best I could do in my scramble to get out the door in the morning. Miraculously, it held me over until my 11:00 a.m. granola bar snack.

Lunch was a bit later than normal and consisted of a salad with romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese, carrots, chic peas, walnuts and dried cranberries. Yum!!

My snack later in the afternoon was Greek yogurt (honey flavored) with granola and an apple.

As the day came to a close, I began to look forward to dinner and the chance to prove myself after yesterday’s crock pot disaster. I chose to make this simple recipe, adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

• 1/2 (16 ounce) package uncooked penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 clove of chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/8 cup of frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 chopped roasted red pepper

 Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Place penne pasta in the pot, cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until al dente, and drain.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the garlic until lightly browned. Mix in lemon juice, stir in the pine nuts and sun-dried tomatoes. Defrost spinach, drain, add and cook for 1 minute. Toss in the cooked pasta and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

It was really good and light. The hubby seemed to like it as well.

My mini dessert:

And then after dinner – we decorated!! I feel bad, the Hubby had to do some digging in the basement to get out our big holiday container and he was none too pleased. But I think it was well worth it (although he may not). Here is our mini tree! Our apt is too small for a full-sized tree. I managed it our first year in the city, but quickly gave up the large tree idea the following year.

And here is our fireplace with our stockings! And Murphy’s!

And here is Murphy biting the tree. I’m sure I’ll find stuff on the floor when I get home this evening.

I was very satisfied with my minor decorations once everything was complete. I need to have a little something up. I then sat back and watched the end of the Biggest Loser while sipping on this tea.

And with that, my night was complete. I failed to mention that I was doing laundry will cooking and eating as well. So a night filled with laundry, delicious dinner, decorating and Danny winning The Biggest Loser. Awesome!

Until tomorrow – Happy Hump Day!