Super Saturday!

All we did really did today was housework, but I sure did enjoy it!!!

Saturday Accomplishments:

• Entire dining room painted with two coats!
• All rooms dusted
• All rooms vacuumed
• Painting supplies organized
• Trunk cleaned out
• Bathroom trash cans emptied
• Clothes laundry done, folded and put away
• Sheets and comforter cover changed and washed
• All mirrors cleaned
• Grocery shopping done
• Carpet spot-cleaned
• Wood furniture polished (selected pieces)
• 45-minutes walking done
• Meal made and cleaned
• Dishwasher emptied

Husband and I decided we need to start taking reusuable bags to the grocery store. There’s no reason to use plastic bags and plus, we HATE dealing with the plastic bags – in the store, from the car and in the kitchen. So I found these super-duper cute bags at www.reusuablebags.com for $19 each. They are BHappy Bags (www.bhappybags.com) and they come in all different colors. I ordered the Victoria and the Lucy:

Using them was SOOO fun!! I put all my heavy produce (butternut squash, carrots) on the counter first and then put it in the bottom of the first bag. All the light produce followed on top (pears, kiwis). The other bag got the boxed things and toiletries, turkey meats, maple syrup, Smart Balance, etc. Basically anything that wasn’t produce. I fit $76 worth of groceries between the two bags, with the milk by itself. Harris Teeter usually packs your bags for you, but today they were busy so I did my own, but I have no idea how I’ll handle this if a bagger is there. Maybe just dismiss them? And the best part: getting home. I could carry one bag per shoulder (I usually take 2-3 trips or command the husband to carry them in) AND unloading in the kitchen was SOOO EASY!! All my produce was there together and I didn’t have plastic bags flying all over the place. YAY!!

Dinner:

For dinner we had to use up this cornish hen we had thawed and some leftover cauliflower. I also picked up a bag of whole carrots while at the grocery store because they were only $.99 for the whole bag – one of the cheaper vegetables! Husband did the meat searing, and I did the veggies –

Steamed cauliflower, mashed with 3/4 an oz grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tbsp smooth goat cheese, plus S + P.

Ginger-Brown Sugar-Butter-Orange Carrots. These were A-MAZING! First I steamed the carrots in 1/2 a cup of water with half the ginger. Once they were fork tender, I drained them and added 1 tbsp Smart Balance Light to the pan and sauteed the other half ginger, added the carrots, then added 1 tsp brown sugar. Once cooked through, the brown sugar started to caramelize on the bottom of the pan – YUM!! i removed the carrots and needed something to de-glaze with and chose a splash of orange juice I made from half a leftover orange. They were soooo good. Husband said his first bite of carrots was the highlight of his whole night! Go ME!

And finally, 3.5 oz Cornish hen breast. (Husband loves “weird” meats and these are just like little chickens.) He seared it in a little EVOO and then de-glazed the pan with a splash of white wine to pour on top. I took the skin off of mine.

All three for 340 calories:

Would have been even better with a glass of wine (but I was not allowing myself any tonight despite the open bottle) and a big leafy green on the side for some more volume because I was still a little hungry an hour later….

…..so I made an oatmeal pancake in a bowl!!

• 130 grams pumpkin
• 1/4 c egg whites
• 1/4 c quick oats
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla

Nuked for 3 minutes. Drizzled with honey!! ~175 calories. A little high for after dinner for me, but I had (surprisingly) plenty of calories left to spare tonight!! This version doesn’t even compare to the stove-top version (the skillet browning adds a nice crust and this guy was a little soggy) but for an after-dinner mess-free dessert, it was great. I would probably leave out the oats next time to save 75 calories, but I have a long run in the morning and didn’t have any grains with dinner, so I figured I needed some.

Total Saturday calories: ~1475

-369 through over an hour of good housework and 45 minute afternoon walk with the husband

= net of 1105. Way to recover from last night!!

Before and after photos of the dining room to come in the AM. I need some natural light for the afters. It’s gorgeous!!!!!!