The More You Eat, the More You....

Tee hee hee...

For starters, I had some leftover Penne with Roasted Tomatoes, Garlic, and White Beans (served cold) for my lunch appetizer - there was only about 1/4 cup left :)

You can click on the link above, but the recipe is under the pic if you just want to read it on here!

• 3 large tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 4 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 salt
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 15-oz can of cannellini beans
• 1/2 pound penne pasts (whole grain if possible)

Preheat oven to 450. Put wedges and garlic into a 9x13 pan and drizzle with 1 Tbsp of olive oil. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes. Drain and rinse beans. Cook pasta according to package directions (I like mine al dente). Drain pasta and return pasta and beans to hot pot. When tomatoes and garlic are done, remove garlic from peels and mash with a fork. Add tomatoes, garlic, remaining Tbsp of olive oil, salt, and pepper to the pasta and beans, stir, and serve! This recipe is from Ellie Krieger, and it ROCKS!

Finished my lunch with about 3/4 of a cup of pinto beans and about 10 tortilla chips crunched on top, and some Julio's seasoned salt (it's OMG delicious!)

Tonight was my turn to make dinner, so I decided on Mahi Mahi, and marinated it in this seasoning:

While that was marinating, my mom and I went to Petsmart to pick up some food for Bunker (Nate and I neglected to realize he was almost out when we left Colorado), and to the grocery store to pick up some essentials. When we got back, I started chopping veggies for the rice pilaf side for the Mahi Mahi, and put it all in a bowl in the fridge til it was time to cook dinner.

The recipe is:

• 2 cups of cooked brown rice
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1 red, yellow, OR orange bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• handful of grape tomatoes, quartered
• salt and pepper
• sprinkle of cumin
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley

Cook the veggies (except the garlic and tomato) over medium heat in a nonstick pan for 7-10 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic and tomatoes, and cook for 2-4 more minutes. Add the rice, and stir in the salt and pepper and sprinkle of cumin. Heat through and serve!

Once that was done, I realized that I hadn't had any coffee this morning, so I made a small cup with a packet of Truvia and some vanilla soy milk:

I was time to start dinner, so while the pilaf veggies were cooking, my mom and I threw together a salad with romaine, carrots, dried cranberries, walnuts, apples, and a side of Raspberry Hazelnut dressing:

We grilled the Mahi Mahi on the George Forman grill (about 8 minutes total cook time), and served it with the rice pilaf, salad, and some brussel sprouts!!!

Holy yum! I used this recipe for the brussel sprouts, and broiled them for about 3 minutes toward the end. I love how the Worchestershire sauce makes them so salty and delightful!

Finally, my mom made some Wholegrain Jam Squares for dessert...she's so funny though, when my dad asked what they were called she said they were Fart Cookies (since there's so much fiber)! Y'all might think that's gross, but I laughed for about 10 minutes since she never says anything like that :)

Here's the recipe:

• 2 cups uncooked oats
• 1-3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup butter or margarine (we used Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend)
  
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts (we used pecans)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup preserves (we used cherry preserves, but raspberry would probably rock too)!

Combine all ingredients except preserves in a large mixing bowl, beat at low speed on electric mixer until mixture is crumbly. Reserve 2 cups of the mixture; press remaining onto bottom of greased 13x9 baking pan. Spread preserves evenly over base and sprinkle with reserved mixture. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Perfect way to end such a great meal!

We are going to watch some football (go Washington so the Cowboys don't win...sorry Texas friends!) and the end of The Sound of Music. Then, before bed, I'm going to do a Dave Farmer power yoga podcast, an idea I got from Jenna, to wind down and stretch out.

I can't wait to see my sweet husband tomorrow at 11:15am! I've missed him :)