Had a lazy Sunday at Tara’s house with the whole group which was just what I needed, I miss those girls so much. David spent Sunday in a love affair with Scott and Hugo in the basement playing a made-up bottle cap game that was like the greatest thing ever invented to them. Several times one of us girls would poke our head in to check on them and there seemed to be more talking about the rules than actual playing of the game. Rules of which made absolutely no sense… “he got a blind raven!!!!! **massive giggling and yelling** “ So we stayed later than I initially wanted to, getting home to SOMD at 11pm, but it was worth it. I ate some great greasy food, totally chillaxed and got to catch up with my girls, and overall had a great Sunday. I agree that if we ever find a genie in a bottle, our first wish is to be able to teleport. On the drive home, David sang and air-drummed his little drunk self out through about 3 songs before muttering something about not being able to wait until he can play that game again with Scott and Hugo and how they are the most chill friends ever, and then passing out and sleeping the rest of way.
David was so sweet this Monday morning! I knew I’d be dragging getting out of bed this morning and he had off today, so I woke up to him bringing me a cup of coffee in bed <3
So that was my ‘epic’ weekend recap, and now for some recipe/exercise updates as promised:
First, the stew recipe I promised. For me, red wine and tomatoey beef broth is a match made in heaven, so I loved this easy dish:
Recipe #1- One Dish Beef & Vegetable Stew
(I can’t remember where I found the original recipe, but I believe it called for lamb and white wine, and I used beef and red wine. It also called for everything to be cooked in a dutch oven, moving right from stove to oven. I don’t have a dutch oven so technically it turned out to be a two-dish process. Also, the main vegetables you need are the tomatoes and onions, all other can be changed as desired depending on what you like or what you have on hand!)
Ingredients:
1-1.5 lb Stew/Lean Beef, Cubed
1 Small Onion, Sliced
1 Box Button Mushrooms, Halved
2-3 Stalks Celery, Chopped
1-1.5 Cups Baby carrots
1 Large Potato, Diced
1-2 Cloves Garlic, Minced
1 Can Stewed Tomatoes
1 Can Fat Free Beef Broth
1 Bay Leaf
1 Tsp Thyme
½ Cup Dry Red Wine
Salt & Pepper to Taste
In a large and deep frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil, brown the beef cubes on all sides (does not have to be cooked through). Set beef cubes aside in a 13X9 glass baking dish (or do it all in dutch oven if you have one) and add carrots, onions, mushrooms, garlic, celery, potato to pan to lightly brown. Once browned but still al dente, add to baking dish with beef. Pour in can of stewed tomatoes, wine, and spices, and mix around. Add beef broth as needed if not liquidy/“stewwy” enough. Cover with aluminum foil and stick in 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, stirring/checking on it occasionally.
The first night I made parmesan risotto (from a box) to eat with it, and another night had it over mashed potatoes. It would also be good over rice or egg noodles too! The stew itself is pretty low cal, if you trim the fat off of the beef and load the stew up with vegetables!
Recipe #2- Meatloaf Burgers -à A m a z i n g
(Recipe adapted from http://healthy-delicious.com/2011/01/beef-and-zucchini-burgers/. I only made a couple minor changes but the premise is that the burgers turn out ½ vegetable and 100% juicy and awesome!)
Ingredients:
1 lb Lean Ground Beef
1 Large Green Zucchini, Grated
1 Small Onion, Grated
1-2 Tbsp Bread Crumbs
1-2 Egg White
1 Tbsp Tomato Paste
Salt & Pepper
Provolone Cheese
Rolls (I recommend Potato Wheat Rolls!)
When I did this, I only did it for half of the beef since I wasn’t sure if David would like it. The mix really turned half of a lb of beef into 5 decent sized burgers, while the other half only made 3-4 small burgers. Basically you just mix it all together with your hands, really making sure it will stick together well, and form patties. Not sure exactly how much zucchini and onion to use, I just eye-balled it so that the mix would be about half and half (or maybe a little more beef than veg), and use less onion than zucchini (like 25/75 % onion to zucc veg ratio). I topped my burgers with more tomato paste and cheese and thought they were out of this world awesome!!!!!! And you are eating an amazing burger that is half veggie! So of course I ate two!
For the exercise, starting off from my where I left my post last week…
Workouts:
Wednesday:
Free Body Step class on base! 60 mins (Note: I didn’t win anything this time)
Thursday:
Rest (Looked at townhouses)
Friday (Gym scale said 131.0 lbs):
Treadmill, total 45 mins / 3.7mi
Saturday:
Elliptical 30 mins / levels 5-11
Sunday:
Rest
Monday:
The Firm ‘500 Calorie Burn’ Video 60 mins (sosososo sore after this one)
Tuesday:
Rest
Wednesday:
Body Step class on base! 60 mins
Thursday:
Played Kinect (Squats/Jumping/Kicking) 30 mins
Friday (Gym scale said 128.4 lbs!):
Treadmill, 5 mins walking 4.0mph incline 2%/25 mins running 5.5-6.5mph incline 2%/10 mins walking 4.0mph incline 5% ~ totaled about 3.7 mi.
Saturday (Drove to Bmore):
The Firm ‘Maximum Cardio Burn Plus Abs’ Video 50 mins
Sunday (Drove Home):
Rest as previously explained J
Monday (Today):
Rest- just going to grocery store.
I also ordered something called “Core Fusion” videos last week (Only $7-8 on Amazon). I heard good things about it- and I am expecting something like a pilates/cardio/yoga mix. I have always wanted to try pilates and I feel more comfortable trying it by myself in my own home before taking any related classes at the gym. I will do a review on it once I get them!
TTFN (lol)…
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