I was so proud of myself Sunday night.  My blog was already written for it to be published Monday morning, my gym bag was packed, my lunch bag was in the fridge – I was all set!

I am putting my stuff in the car, and it feels as if I am missing something, but I dismiss it and head to work.  I did a few things right off the bat, and around 9:00 I went to reach for my lunch bag to heat up my pumpkin pancakes, but it’s not there.  So I think I left it in the car.  Um, no such luck.  Then I retrace my steps before I left the house, and I never took it out of the fridge.  Doh!

Tony came to the rescue though!  He brought it to me.  I had an apple on my desk that I ate around 9:30.  Tony got to my office around 11:30 and I ate some cantaloupe and honeydew melon.  I didn’t want to eat more than that because I was going to work out.

I didn’t leave for the gym until 12:45.  I think I like going later in the afternoon because by the time I got back and ate my lunch it was already 2:30 in the afternoon!

I did the HIIT app on my phone – 7 reps of 3 minutes running and 2 minutes walking.  I think next week I am going to go 4:1 on the run/walking ratio.  It felt good!  (p.s.  I love instagram!)

So I bought a package of zucchini off the dollar rack – I don’t know what I was thinking buying that many – have any of you ever used them in smoothies before?  Anyway, I decided to make meatballs to go with spaghetti squash for one of my lunches.  I just bought chicken breasts on sale for $1.69, so I decided to make chicken zucchini meatballs.

Long time readers will know that I don’t buy ground chicken breasts at the store.  I have these strange visions of workers in a chicken factory just picking up any kind of chicken pieces parts, grinding it up and slapping a sticker on it that says “ground chicken.”

Chicken Zucchini Meatballs

• this made 44 balls – each ball is 17 calories, .45 fat, .8 carbs, .1 fiber and 2.5 protein

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chicken breast
• 2 cups (about 3 medium) zucchini, chopped
• 1/3 cup cilantro
• 1 egg
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• 1/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Just throw everything in the pool and pulse until combined.  These meatballs have a tender texture.  I think next time I’ll partially freeze the chicken before adding it to the food processor.

I used my small melon baller to portion out the balls.  I really like saying balls.  I love these plastic cutting boards – can you tell how much I use it?  The paint is coming off!

Then I just dusted and rolled the balls around in the bread crumbs.

I sautéed them in Pam and a scant amount of olive oil.

My lunch – one whole small spaghetti squash tossed into some pasta sauce, then topped with the balls and a sprinkling of blue cheese.  Here’s another photography trick.  Always try to make sure your fork is dirty before placing it in the photo.   You’re welcome!

These balls were good – but not great.  I need to go back to the drawing board – maybe add some sriracha to kick them up.  Either way, this was a filling lunch.  And for the record, Tony just threw up in his mouth seeing this picture.

I was making Tony meatloaf for dinner.  While I know it’s just like burgers, I just don’t like it for some reason.  I ended up making a 4 ounce burger with 1/2 an ounce of swiss cheese on it, some carrot “fries” dipped in fat free ranch, and I had a Green Monster for dessert. 

The only change in my green monster was that I had unsweetened almond milk, and I didn’t have any frozen bananas, so I used 3/4 cup of frozen pineapple.  I think I prefer the original version better because this version was just barely on the sweet side.  But, I knew it was healthy, so I drank it up.  Oh, and having a green monster for dinner really turns you off from having a glass of wine with dinner.

It was super filling and delicious, and I think I got all my veggie and fruit servings in for the day!

Who’s watching Biggest Loser this season?  I just zipped through the first episode last night. 

Spoiler Alert++

One of the contestants I felt sorry for was TC.    He weighed in at 376 pounds at 30-years-old. TC  tried on to make his way on the show for two years after injuring his own son in a car accident. Because of his size, when the family’s vehicle was impacted, TC’s seat broke and smashed into his young son that was in a car seat behind him. The boy underwent emergency brain surgery and suffered a broken eye socket and broken skull. “I promised him, I promised God … I’d lose the weight for him,” TC says.

Sadly, he had the lowest percentage of weight loss, so he was the first one to go.  Hopefully, he’ll see what he was capable of in just one week and be able to continue the journey at home.

Alright, I have to jump in the shower and get ready for work.  Make it a great day!