Before I get to the delicious food, I want to wish my MIL a speedy recovery – she had knee replacement surgery today and while the surgery went very well, she’ll probably have a tough couple weeks ahead of her – send good thought her way! šŸ˜€ 

Breakfast was a good ole bagel sammie – this version is a smaller Lender’s bagel with egg white, spinach and 1/2 an ounce of Volpi salami.  I had 5 ounces of cantelope on the side – I finally picked a ripe one!

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Breakfast comes in at 328 calories, 8 fat, 21 potein, 42 carbs and 2.2 fiber
Breakfast comes in at 328 calories, 8 fat, 21 potein, 42 carbs and 2.2 fiber

I hate sweet potatoes.  My Mom loves them baked with a simple pat of butter, and she makes a mean sweet potato pie.  I have never been a huge fan of them by themselves.  Until one day with the BSI was sweet potato, I had to put my thinking cap on.  How do you create a dish when you hate he main ingredient??!!

But that’s how I came up with Sweet Potato Ravioli with Red Pepper Sauce.  Holy yum!  (and a reminder that I need to make these again – soon!).

So in my Eating Well magazine this month there was a recipe for Sweet Potato-Peanut bisque and I was immediately drawn to it.  I am sure you could make this with canned yams (same thing?), but I used fresh – a total of 24 ounces.

Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque (adapted from EW – you’ll see the changes I made)

  • 24 ounces sweet potato (this was about 3 medium)
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 1 small yellow onion (NOPE!)
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 3 cups vegetable juice (I bought a generic brand)
  • 1 4 ounce can diced green chilis (I used two tablespoons of Giardiniera)
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
  • 1 teaspoon ground allspice (left this out too, don’t like allspice!)
  • 1 15-ounce can vegetable broth
  • 1/2 cup natural peanut butter (I used TJ brand with flax seeds)

Bake the potatoes in the microwave for 8 minutes.  Remove and let cool.  Meanwhile heat oil in large pot, add garlic and onion if using, and cook for 5 minutes until they start to brown.

At this point I threw everything in the pot, the peeled sweet potato, juice, spices and let it cook for 15 minutes on a low simmer.  Then I use one of my favorite kitchen tools – the stick blender!  While the recipe said to only puree half the sweet potatoes so its a bit chunky, I like my bisques to be smooth – and you know what?  It tastes like there is cream its so rich!

I love the slightly sweet, kick of the giardiniera, the touch of ginger – this is definitely company worthy soup!

Each 1 1/2 cup serving comes in at: 291 calories, 16 fat, 30 carbs, 6 fiber and 10 protein.  And a whopping 300% of Vitamin A and 100% Vitamin C per serving!

no pantry is complete without giardiniera!
no pantry is complete without giardiniera!
I love this peanut butter!
I love this peanut butter!
Lunch comes in at 390 calories, 17 fat, 5.8 protein, 51 carbs and 6.6 fiber
Lunch comes in at 390 calories, 17 fat, 5.8 protein, 51 carbs and 6.6 fiber

Dinner is also from Eating Well, but its from my cookbook.  Here is the link with the recipe for the herbed butter, but since I have my scampi butter already prepared from the farmers market, I decided to skip that step and just use my butter.

is there anything more gorgeous than scampi butter?
is there anything more gorgeous than scampi butter?
I bought this at the farmers market, and sadly I only have one and a half sticks of butter left - the woman who makes it is having a baby and day now!
I bought this at the farmers market, and sadly I only have one and a half sticks of butter left – the woman who makes it is having a baby and day now!

I had three pieces of  corn I needed to cook, so they went on the grill first.

the multi-colored ones are from my CSA box, the bigger one was from my mom - and while a bit wrinkly, it was still good!
the multi-colored ones are from my CSA box, the bigger one was from my mom – and while a bit wrinkly, it was still good!

Okay, so I have seen grilled Caesar salad on other blogs, and thought it was interesting.  Um, can I just say that Tony and Hannah were a bit suspect?  My fire was a bit hot, so I may play around with this one on the gas grill.  I thought it would be “smokey” flavored, but not so much.  I just drizzled a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper on the romaine after I sliced it in half.

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We like our steak on the rare side, so these filets only took 5 minutes tops.  And these were on the small side – mine weighed in at 4 ounces and Tony’s weighed in at 6 ounces – both only cost $8!

after I moved the steaks to the cool side, I added 1 ounce of scampi butter to each steak
after I moved the steaks to the cool side, I added 1 ounce of scampi butter to each steak

I then put Healthy Life wheat bread on the grill to toast – only 35 calories a slice!  But the best part was resting the steak on the bread, because the juice of the steak soaked into the bread – it was DELICIOUS!

And I may have rolled my corn into some of the scampi butter! :D
And I may have rolled my corn into some of the scampi butter! šŸ˜€
I may need to figure out how to make my own scampi butter - Tony and I both thought this was more flavoriful than the shrimp scampi I made - maybe because the butter was still solid?
I may need to figure out how to make my own scampi butter – Tony and I both thought this was more flavoriful than the shrimp scampi I made – maybe because the butter was still solid?

Dinner with the salad comes in at 508 calories, 25 fat, 34 protein, 37 carb and 8.3 fiber.  This recipe is a keeper!

But what I enjoyed most was sitting outside for an hour after we ate, enjoying a glass of Pinot Grigio with Tony and just enjoying the weather – it was perfect outside tonight!

I love this time of year!
I love this time of year!

My friend had plans with her husband at lunch today, so I hit the elliptical.  I was only 35 minutes in and my blood sugar was taking a nose dive – it was 62 when I got back to my desk!  But at least I got some exercise in!

Stats for the Day

  • 1226 calories
  • 52 fat
  • 61 protein
  • 131 carbs
  • 17 fiber
  • 35 minutes elliptical

Thanks for everyone’s comments on Hannah’s senior year – she appreciated it!

Off to make chili for tomorrow nights dinner – its a new recipe (Tony and I are chili challenged) so I am keeping my expectations pretty low!  See you tomorrow!