Woke up, got outta bed...

Ahhh.  There's nothing like a full nights sleep (anything over five hours constitutes a full nights sleep for me) to get cha goin'... 

Saturdays are kind of lazy for us.  My husband usually makes the coffee, and we sit and watch back to back episodes of Sell This House on A & E.  I like the ideas, and Dave likes to see what Tanya is wearing.  We enjoy mocking some of the people and critiqueing the designs. 

I love these "before & after" shows.  On my DVR, I recorded "Sarah's House" (the best, new to HGTV design show out there) it's fast paced, funny and smart so we threw in an episode of that this morning as well. 

Enough about home design.  This is supposed to be about food.

I said on my last post that I'd include something more colorful and healthier than my last recipe, so I thought I'd share this breakfast idea with you. 

Since I'm now middle age (What? I am too middle age! I plan to live well into my 90's, so yes, I'm my own middle age~) I've recently begun changing my food choices and habits.

Even though I hate it, I know breakfast is important for maintaining healthy weight. The problem for me is that I'm not into pre-packaged processed foods, or eggs, or pancakes.

I needed to come up with something that appealed to my finicky taste while contributing some sort of notable "fuel" or "purpose" to my body.

This little dish is something I've been eating a few times a week lately.  I really like it and it appeals to my taste. 

I realize this has crumbled bleu cheese in it, but if you're going to eat a higher content of calories, doesn't it make sense to eat them in the morning to give you more time throughout the day to burn them off?  That's my thinking, anyway...

Besides,  I break less than an ounce off the block and crumble it myself.  The whole block is only 4 ounces, and I get at least five servings out of it.  The calorie count is high (100 cal. per oz.) in the cheese, but it's real food, and since I've started eating this 3 weeks ago, I've already lost 8 pounds..."yay."

*3 big strawberries, quartered.
*7 black or red seedless grapes, halved.
*3 or 4 walnut halves, crumbled.
*1 ounce bleu cheese, crumbled.
*1 or 2 tablespoons nonfat vanilla yogurt (I like Greek yogurt)

Add them to a cereal bowl in the order I have them listed and enjoy!  (ok, ok, you can add them in whatever order you choose--I'm working on my control issues...)

This is a picture of my breakfast today...both before yogurt & after...

                                                                                      

The Lazy, Thrown Together Dinner of an Exhausted Woman...

Today was hard.  I'm not going to bore you with the gory details, but trust me when I tell you that all I wanted to do all day was crawl into bed and hide under my blankets. 
I love Blanket World...
But alas, with my minions depending upon me for the satisfaction of their every need & whim, it was not to be.

This evening, I found myself moving  from freezer to fridge to pantry, opening their doors and staring vacantly into each one.  I guess I was secretly hoping that something in there would jump out and shout, "MAKE ME!  MAKE ME!!!  EVERYONE WILL LOVE ME, AND I'M SOOOO EASY..."    Yeah, right. 

Arrrrrgh...It was time to get my tired butt in gear.  Hmmmm...What to make, what to make...I had a couple of thinly sliced,  frozen boneless chicken breasts in the freezer, and I believe the chicken flavored Rice-a-Roni gave me a nod when I was at the pantry earlier.  Ok, protein and starch out of the way, how about a veggie?  Ahhh...the old reliable small can of sliced carrots.  I know what your thinking.  Ewww...canned veggies.  Tough.  They're easy, and like I said earlier, I'm all about easy.  (Just ask my husband;)

So, here's how I made my easy one dish chicken surprise for my peeps if you'd like to give it a try. 

*Add 1 tablespoon of oil or butter to a large, deep frying pan, set to med. high heat. 
*Quickly pan sear chicken on both sides until brown.  Remove from pan and set aside.
* Dump two boxes of chicken Rice a Roni (store brand's cool, too) into the same pan and toss around until the rice turns a golden color.
*Add 5 cups of hot water and both seasoning packets to the rice and bring to a boil.
*While you're waiting for the water to boil, cut up the chicken into cubes (it should still be raw inside--it's supposed to be so that it doesn't overcook when you add it back in)
*Drain the water off the canned carrots, and with a knife, roughly cut them up while they're still in the can.
*Toss the chicken and the carrots into the rice and give it a stir.  The water should just be starting to boil.
*Turn the heat to low, cover the pan, and cook for 15 minutes or until all of the water is absorbed by the rice.

              Is this a colorful dish?  Nope.                          Did my family devour it?  Yup. 

            Will eating like this every night make you look like this?   Maybe.


The important thing was that my one dish wonder was on the table in under a half hour.  Everybody's fed, my guilt is subsiding, and I'm off to Blanket World...

I'll do something healthier and prettier next time! 

By the way... the chicken was $4.23, the two boxes of rice were only $1.39 each (store brand), and the little can of carrots was .59 for a grand total of $7.60. 

Not bad for a hot meal for five, huh?