WIAW #51

May 222013

First of all, I just want to take a moment to send my thoughts and prayers to everyone who was affected by the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. I can’t begin to imagine what they must be going through, and it really makes me stop to think about how lucky I am. In case you’re interested, here’s a link with tips for how to help victims.

Hey guys. I have to admit, I’m feeling a bit down today.

Work has just been super, super stressful lately, and then to top it off we just got out of a meeting with the head of our department where we all got yelled at for not working hard enough. Apparently there are some people on our team who are shouldering all the work (read: me) and some people who have been seriously slacking off (enough to gain the attention of our finance department and get us all in trouble).

Even though I know the meeting wasn’t about me, and I know I have been working by butt off at work, it still sucks to be a part of a meeting where you’re disappointing your senior-level management. No one wants to be a disappointment, especially when you are already overworked and stressed.

At least I have an awesome manager, who said the following to me after the meeting:

“Hi – in case I don’t see you before I leave for the doctor, I wanted to let you know that meeting was not about you; they just needed everyone to be there to hear it. You’re wonderful and everyone loves you. I’m happy to talk with you tomorrow about any questions you may have.”

She is amazing. She seemed to know exactly what I was feeling after the stressful meeting and said exactly the thing to cheer me up (at least a little).

I know I usually try not to ~~talk~~ rant about my real job on here, but sometimes it really affects the way I’m feeling and I can’t just brush it off and go on cheerfully like usual. This week has been one of the most difficult weeks I’ve ever had at this job, and I’m having a little trouble staying positive. I know things will slow down again, but it’s hard to keep that in sight when I’m running around like a crazy person.

But you didn’t come here to read about my work life, so let’s get back to today’s regularly-scheduled programming. It’s What I Ate Wednesday, after all!

Thanks to Jenn for hosting the link up! Here’s a little peek at what I ate on Monday.

Breakfast

Check that out- new cereal! In addition to my usual Multigrain Cheerios, I recently bought some Oatmeal Squares and have been enjoying them for breakfast this week (I measure out 1/2 cup of each, Cheerios and Oatmeal Squares,) with skim milk, a banana, and blueberries. I love this breakfast. I actually get really excited in the morning when I think about eating it (it’s one thing that helps get me out of bed in the morning – is that weird?).

Lunch

Luch was pretty standard around here on Monday- I had turkey, mustard, and American cheese on a sandwich thin, with carrots & hummus on the side. I also had a mini Babybell cheese. This lunch is definitely my favorite go-to It never gets old!

P.S. I hate when my carrots get like this. Why do they turn all white and gross-looking??? I washed them before putting them in the container…so weird.

Snack

A little later in the afternoon I headed into the kitchen to chop up my apple and make some unsweetened green tea, when I saw there were some pretzel crisps leftover from a meeting. Score!! I had a few pretzel crisps with my apple and tea and was very satisfied with my snack. Yum.

Dinner

My dinner on Monday was pretty good, but admittedly not my favorite. I had a piece of tilapia (seasoned with a few herbs, salt, and pepper), some cilantro-lime quinoa (this actually was really good), and roasted brussels sprouts and yellow squash mixed with some goat cheese. Everything about this meal should have been delicious, but for some reason it just wasn’t doing it for me.

Oh, I still ate every bite, but it just wasn’t my favorite dinner ever.

Dessert

Ahhh, nothing like a bowl of low-fat cookies & cream ice cream to end a hard day

Daily Activity: Now that my half marathon is over, I’ve gone back to running 1 mile every morning with Jack and completing Jillian Michaels workout DVDs in the evening. I’m going to try to do all 90 days of the DVD program as scheduled this time (since I actually have 90 days and am not training for anything), so you know I’ll keep you posted. Right now the DVDs seem too easy and I’m actually missing my runs a lot, so I put a 5 mile run on the schedule for this weekend. I hope I get to it!! I’m missing my running!!

Question of the day: What do you do when you’re stressed at work??

Psst…I was really hoping to get my half marathon recap up for you guys yesterday, but with my work schedule that just didn’t happen. Hopefully I can get it up tomorrow!!

Asian Steak & Mango Salad

Recipes 1 Response »

May 302012

Good evening everyone! Can you believe it’s already Wednesday night? I love how the week after a holiday weekend flies right by. Plus work has slightly calmed down for the moment (though it is going to pick right back up again next week- ugh) so I had a great day Smile

. Dinner was another amazing salad that you must try. Seriously, I know I say that a lot but it really is so good! Gah!

Before I tell you about dinner though, let’s go over my workout!

Workout

When I woke up this morning I was exhausted again because I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. I kept having anxiety dreams about work that I couldn’t cross anything off my to-do list. In fact, in one of my dreams I even planned how I would blog about time-management. Isn’t that nuts? I guess I was really stressed. Anyway, because of my lack of a peaceful night I had a difficult time waking up this morning and skipped half of my workout and just ran a mile with Jack, as I did yesterday. However, I made up for it when I got home by running to and from the dog park after work (another 2 miles) and doing a few crunches/leg workouts while watching TV.

I can already tell my jogs with Jack are going to get more difficult as the weather heats up. By the end of our evening run Jack was lagging behind on his leash (he never does that!) and I was drenched in sweat.

Yuck! I‘m not sure what we’re going to do when it gets to be really hot in July and August. Ew.

Recipe

Dinner tonight was delicious. I was so excited to be eating such a flavorful salad (me? excited about a salad? Idk who I am these days) and could not stop myself from slowing down. By the pace I ate this thing you would have thought I was a starved child. Not so, just a girl with a tasty dinner.

I found this recipe yesterday on Our Best Bites when I was researching my chicken orzo summer salad recipe and I was so intrigued by the ingredients. This delightful summer salad features mango, avocado, steak, and an Asian dressing. The flavors really came together and I loved it! Here’s how I made it…

First I assembled the Asian dressing which doubled as both the marinade and the salad dressing. It was made from orange juice, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, sesame oil, and olive oil. Every time I make these Asian sauces I’m amazed at how simple and delicious they turn out. I was a fan.

I reserved about 1/3 cup of the sauce for the dressing and added the rest into a Ziploc bag a small piece of skirt steak. I let the steak marinade in the sauce for about an hour, although the original recipe suggests leaving it in the marinade for much longer. While I’m sure this would have helped pump up the flavor even more, I didn’t have enough time and thought it tasted delicious with only an hour in the marinade.

When I was about 30 minutes away from cooking the steak, I took it out of the refrigerator and allowed it to come up to room temperature. Then I set the oven to broil and placed the steak on a baking rack on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet. I seasoned the steak with salt and pepper and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

I let the steak rest for a few minutes while I got everything else ready so the juices wouldn’t leak out when I cut into it.

Next I assembled equal parts romaine lettuce, arugula, and spinach in a large bowl. Then I chopped up a mango, an avocado, and half a red onion and added them to the bowl with the greens.

When the steak was done resting I cut it into pieces on a diagonal and added it to the bowl along with the reserved salad dressing. I gave everything a good toss and topped it with some goat cheese.

The creamy avocado tasted delicious with the tender steak and the mango brought a nice sweetness to the plate. It was also super filling- I was only able to eat about half of what’s shown above. The rest will be saved for leftovers, but I’ll probably add a bit more lemon juice to make sure the avocados don’t turn brown. Or I could just eat it later as a midnight snack Winking smile but I’ll try to save it!

Asian Steak & Mango Salad

Recipe type: Entree

Author: Chelsea Eats Treats (Adapted from Our Best Bites)

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

This steak salad features creamy avocado and sweet mango and comes together with an Asian dressing.

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice
3 tbsp. lemon/lime juice
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 lb. skirt steak
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 mango, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
lettuce of choice (I used spinach, arugula, and romaine)

Instructions

Combine first eight ingredients (through sesame oil) and whisk together in a small bowl. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mixture for salad dressing and add remaining liquid to Ziploc back with steak. Allow to marinade for at least an hour.
Bring steak up to room temperature and remove from marinade. Grill or broil on high heat for about 5 minutes or until steak is done to your liking. Allow steak to rest before cutting.
Meanwhile, combine diced mango, avocado, and red onions to lettuce mixture. Mix well.
Slice steak on a diagonal and add to salad mixture. Top with reserved dressing and toss to combine.
Sprinkle with goat cheese, and enjoy!

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Please tell me you guys will try this salad! It’s so good! What are some of your favorite salad recipes? I’m still trying to get into eating them (I always used to hate them) so I feel like I’m way behind in the salad department.

Also I just got a new plugin for displaying recipes. What do you guys think??

Sweet Potatoes Stuffed With Feta, Goat Cheese, & Basil

Recipes 8 Responses »

May 222012

Last night I went shopping with my friend Britt to pick up a few more items for our Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza. I know I mentioned it to you guys briefly, but allow me to give you all the full run down of details. Friday morning around 7:00 am, I will skip my morning workout in order to head over to Britt’s house (which is right by the dog park, only a mile away) where we will embark with our other friends Jess, Megan, Lauren, and Turk (nickname) to Dewey Beach, DE. There we will meet up with our New York friends, Kristen, Megan, Catrina, and Victoria. We will be there from Friday through Monday and will be hanging out on the beach with a ton of people we know from college. A lot of my coworkers will also be there, so it’s going to be a ton of fun!

Although Fabio is not coming with me on this trip (he is going up to NY for a friend’s graduation party and is taking care of Jack), he is planning to do a similar trip with his friends in July which should be a good time. It’s important to have our separate friend time after all!

Dewey Beach is located right in between Ocean City, MD and Bethany Beach, DE. Ocean City is known as more of a hangout for high school kids and Bethany is more for families. Dewey, however, is basically a bar town on the beach and we will be having fun all weekend. We will also be venturing into Ocean City on Saturday via a large bus that is taking us to Seacrets, a huge bar in the water on the bay. Can’t wait!

Seacrets, Ocean City, MD

Source

Anyway, by the time I got home from shopping with Britt, it was already 9:00 so I quickly made dinner. By the time I was done it was too late to blog, but I snapped some pictures so I could share this awesome recipe with you guys today. But, first things first….

Workout

Yesterday’s workout was another good one. I have been loving waking up early to run with Jack and then jumping into an Insanity DVD. It’s so amazing how the warm-ups kick my butt every day even though I’ve done them a million times. It is pretty much guaranteed that I will be drenched in sweat by the end, no matter what. I love it!

After Insanity I spent about 5 minutes doing some extra ab exercises (I do have to be in a bikini on Friday, after all) and then hopped in the shower to begin my day. It was a great workout, as usual!

Recipe

When I got home from shopping last night I was pooped! I wanted something quick and easy for dinner that would be filling and comforting. I looked in the cupboard to see what I was working with and I saw two sweet potatoes that I knew needed to be used soon. I looked through the recipe list I keep on my phone and saw a recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen for twice-baked sweet potatoes with feta. I had made this recipe back in the fall and remembered loving it, so I decided to give it another go! Here’s how it came together.

First, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Then I washed two sweet potatoes and cut off the pointy ends. Using a fork, I poked holes all over the potatoes and microwaved them using the baked potato setting until they were soft (about 8 minutes for two).

While the potatoes were “baking,” I started getting together the filling. First I mixed feta (I used fat free), goat cheese (I used chevre), garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, and olive oil together in a small bowl. Then I julienned (basically chopped, see video here) a few basil leaves into long strips and mixed them in with the cheese mixture.

Kalyn’s original recipe suggests letting this come together in the fridge for about an hour, but I didn’t have time so I nixed this step

Once the sweet potatoes were done cooking, I sliced them down the middle and removed the insides to a separate bowl. Be careful, they are hot!

Then I took ¾ of the cheese mixture and mixed it up with the insides of the sweet potato until everything was well combined. I then put the cheesy insides back into the potato skins.

Then I divided the remaining cheese and sprinkled it on top of the potatoes.

Then I baked the potatoes for about 10 minutes until the cheese started to get bubbly.

I served these potatoes with a small piece of grilled chicken and some asparagus.

Yum! This weeknight meal was so easy and delicious! I loved the flavor of the sweet potatoes with the salty, garlicy, cheese. You must try this!

Sweet Potatoes Stuffed With Feta, Goat Cheese, & Basil (Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Serves two

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes or yams
1 oz. of crumbled feta (fat free)
1 oz. of crumbled goat cheese (could omit and double the feta)
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
¼ tsp. paprika
1 pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. olive oil
6-7 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash potatoes and cut off pointy ends, if desired. Poke all over with a fork. Microwave on baked potato setting, or for about 4 minutes per potato, until a fork enters potatoes easily.
While potatoes are cooking, mix together feta, goat cheese, garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in a separate bowl. Julienne basil leaves and add them to the cheese mixture. Stir to combine.
When potatoes are cooked, slice in half and use a spoon to remove sweet potato insides to a separate bowl. Mix ¾ of cheese mixture in with sweet potato insides.
Place cheesy sweet potato insides back into potato skins and top with remaining cheese.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

This recipe was simple and delicious and made the perfect weeknight side dish. I love mixing sweet and salty flavors, so this one was right up my alley. Yum!

So, do you guys like sweet potatoes? During Thanksgiving I like them in a casserole topped with marshmallows, but during the rest of the year I like them to be paired with savory flavors. So good!

By the way, I am looking for someone to guest post on my blog on Sunday while I am at the beach. I will be able to post on Friday and Monday, but if anyone wants to write a guest post for me on Sunday, I’d appreciate it! Send me an email at chelseaeatstreats@gmail.com if you’re interested!