Thank you, thank you for all of your wonderful comments yesterday – I think I proved Tony wrong (and while he still will never believe me) that this blogging community is friendship based – thanks to each of you for being my friend!

I did only reply to one comment – my step-son commented!!  You can see some pictures of him here. 😀  He’s been living in Austin, TX since July and we really miss him – glad to know you are still reading the blog too! 😀

I was a cooking fool yesterday morning – I woke up with the idea of making homemade “refried” black beans for breakfast, making chicken tikka masala for my lunch, and cooking up a spaghetti squash!

For the beans I just put 1/2 cup black beans and 1/4 cup of salsa in a pot and burned simmered until warmed (I may have had the heat a bit high, so some stuck to the bottom) and then using a fork, mashed the beans together.

At work I cooked up 1 egg, added 1 ounce of cheese and sprinkled with diced red pepper.  This was so delicious and very filling!  I ate this at 9:00 and I didn’t eat lunch until 1:30!

345 calories, 24 carbs, 20 protein, 16.6 fat and 4.8 fiber

I went to the gym at lunch and ended up doing 45 minutes on the treadmill, 2% incline, tossing the 4 pound medicine ball back and forth.  My arms were really feeling it by the end!  I was watching Paula Deen and she actually took a piece of cheesecake, but chopped chocolate on the top, wrapped it in an egg roll wrapper, deep fried it, tossed it in powdered sugar out of the fryer, then drizzled strawberry and chocolate sauce over the top – I think she went a bit over the top on that one!

So because I worked out for 45 minutes, I have to be a quick change artist to get back to work on time.  Only one little glitch.  My locker wouldn’t open.   No big, I’ll just have them open it with a key.  Well, they couldn’t find the key . . . for 25 minutes!  I was getting madder by the second – I could feel my blood sugar dropping, my glucose tabs were in the locker – when I finally got in the car I called Tony and I was in a shitty mood – he wanted to know why I was upset and I yelled “It took them 25 minutes to find the fucking key!”

So I apologize to Tony, but he knows by know when I am mad its because my blood sugar is low.  And after I ate my lunch, I thought of Skippy and immediately felt horrible for getting upset in the first place.   Here is a woman whose health issues make it so difficult to go up and down the stairs, she has to make a decision of going downstairs in her pajamas and then maybe staying in her pajamas all day, and gets tired after making her daughters lunch.  So thank you Tony for calming me down on the phone, and Skippy for putting the incident in perspective for me.  😀

Now onto chicken tikka masala!!  It’s all about the spices!  You haven’t made this yet??  What are you waiting for?

the flavors just pop in this dish - a hint of cinnamon, the kick of the curry and red chile peppers

Biz’s Tikka Masala (adapted from BlogChef) (makes 6 servings, 3 oz. chicken per person) (printer friendly version here)

326 calories, 4.5 fat, 3.6 carbs, 1.0 fiber and 43 grams of protein

  • 1.8 pounds chicken breast

Marinade for Chicken:

  • 1 6 oz. container of plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
  • 2 teaspoons of salt

Sauce

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (I removed the membrane)
  • 2 teaspons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon curry powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon sriracha sauce
  • 6 dried chiles
  • 8 ounces tomato sauce
  • 1 cup heavy cream

Mix the marinade together and let sit for an hour.   Heat grill pan (or skewer and grill outdoors) and grill chicken until 3/4 done.   Meanwhile, melt butter and saute garlic and jalapeno.  Add seasonings and stir for 2 minutes until fragrant.  Add in tomato sauce and heavy cream.   Add chicken into sauce and cook an additional 10 minutes.  Serve of rice.

So for my lunch, I made all of the sauce, but just used 5 ounces of chicken breast for my individual lunch – I’ll save the rest of the sauce for next time, although truth be told, the sauce is so good I could eat that by itself. 😀  Lunch comes in at 363 calories, 44 carbs, 27 protein 9.6 fat and 6.3 fiber.

the spaghetti squash was a perfect match - the slight sweetness balanced well with the spicy heat of the sauce

I know I’ve made this dish before, but I am including it in Christina’s Friday Firsts, since its the first time I’ve had it over spaghetti squash.

I had another sugar free vanilla latte in the afternoon – that really helps keep me full until dinner, and all for 105 calories and a serving of dairy 😀

snowman mug of the day 😀

I had an idea for BSI – Bacon – and while I am submitting this, I am going to do better!

Spicy Szechwan Lime Bacon Wrapped Shrimp

Sprinkle shrimp with szechwan pepper flakes (or crushed red pepper if you don’t have that) and squeeze 1/2 a lime and let sit for 15 minutes.  Cook bacon until it is half cooked in the microwave.  Wrap each piece in bacon and broil until the bacon is done and the shrimp is cooked through.  No, I don’t see the snowman on my plate! 😀

I grilled up steaks on the side:

I am a total geek about grill marks!
469 calories, .1 carbs, 69 protein, 19 fat and 0 fiber

I dotted each shrimp with a bit of sriracha sauce.  I had left it on the counter – its in a squeeze bottle and Tony said “I found out the hard way that the bottle on the counter isn’t ketchup!”  Luckily he could smell it was hot before he put it on his burger!  I had marked it, but it wore 0ff, so now there would be any confusion:

I think the flames will steer him in another direction 😀
bacon makes everything better

And I wanted to show you how klassy my photo set up is:

yep, I am a complete professional 😀

Hot 100 Update!

I’ve had a great week – I think I have been very creative with the south beach phase I diet.  I’ve gotten a minimum of 45 minutes of exercise every day.  And while I won’t weigh in until Monday, my size 14 pants are getting a bit loose, so that’s something!

Stats for Thursday:

  • 1503 calories (including 1/4 cup mixed nuts I ate while watching Glee last night on the DVR – loved that episode!)
  • 91 carbs, 131 protein, 66 fat and 13 fiber
  • 45 minute walk on treadmill with 4 pound medicine ball
  • 20 minute leisurely walk with my dog

Speaking of our dog Ed, he absolutely LOVES toys that make noise.  He loves them, licks them, sleeps with them, and then one day we’ll wake up and walk into the living room and it will be ripped to shreds.

CVS had all of their Halloween stuff on sale, so I bought this dog for $1.  It didn’t last long though!  I’ll leave you this Friday with this video.  Make it a Great Day!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2RVK5dqJ2s]