Shit Happens

I love having leftovers of roasts – they are great to dice up in morning hashes and tonight we’ll be having roast beef sandwiches (and broccoli soup).  Shhhhh.  Don’t tell Tony about the broccoli soup.

Yesterday I made a breakfast hash of 3 ounces diced up leftover roast from Saturday night, baby spinach, 2 eggs, egg whites and 2/3 cup of canned sliced potatoes.  I had to stop at Big Lots over the weekend to get ziplocs and foil and they had canned potatoes for .50 cents each.  On the side – cantaloupe and blueberries.

It was in the high 70s and sunny, so I got to swim outside.  I had to kick the kids out the lap lane though – love it!

A swam for 30 minutes, then relaxed for 10.  I need to remember to bring my headphones out to the pool next time.   And looks like I need some serious eye brow threading done.

Rachel had sent me some red quinoa a while ago and it somehow got pushed to the back of my pantry.   I looked online and stumbled upon Oh She Glows Quinoa, black bean cumin lime salad.  Huh, sounded interesting!

4 servings:  274 calories, 6.5 fat, 45 carbs, 7.8 fiber and 10.2 protein

For the salad:

• 1 cup uncooked quinoa (or 3 cups cooked)
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans (or 1.5 cups cooked), drained and rinsed
• 1.5 cups cilantro, finely chopped Wow, that’s a lot of cilantro, even for me!  (Rhonda look away from the cilantro) I used 3 tablespoons
• 3 small/medium carrots, julienned (about 1.5 cups)
• 4 green onions, chopped NOPE
• fine grain sea salt & black pepper, to taste

For the dressing:

• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil I USED 1 TABLESPOON
• 1 large clove garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)  I used honey
• 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt

1. To prepare the quinoa: Rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Add into pot along with 1.5 cups water or veggie broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low-medium, and then cover with a tight-fitting lid. Simmer for 15-17 minutes until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is fluffy. Remove from heat and steam with the lid on for 5 additional minutes. Fluff with fork and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.

2. In a large bowl, toss the quinoa, drained and rinsed black beans, cilantro, carrots, and green onions.

3. Whisk together the dressing in a small bowl or jar. Pour onto salad and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I prefer to enjoy this salad chilled, so I usually throw it into the fridge for at least an hour. This is a great make-ahead salad too – prep it the night before and let it sit in the fridge for up to 24 hours.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2013/07/19/cumin-lime-black-bean-quinoa-salad-quick-easy/#ixzz2bqrnzFKd

I ended up adding 4 ounces of grilled chicken to round out my lunch.  I ended up adding a bit of hot sauce because it was a tiny bit bland, but other than that, I really liked it.  Except I heated it up – I didn’t like it cold at all.

I have to say, this was surprisingly filling. Only one tiny problem.  Um, the quinoa got stuck in just about every nook and cranny of my mouth.

On my way home from work, I had to pick up my fast acting insulin – the one that I take whenever I eat anything.  We got new Insurance at my office last month – which saved the office a lot of money and my contribution was reduced by 1/3 – winning!  That is until I was asked to pay $358 dollars for five insulin pens.  I almost cried right then and there on the spot. 

Since it’s new insurance our deductible hasn’t been met yet – so the first $2500 is our responsibility, then everything – medicine, office visits, etc. will be covered at 100%.   I have to call our insurance company today to see why we don’t get any kind of discount – it’s like paying retail for it.  I normally only paid $40 for TWO boxes.

What do I normally do when shit hits the fan?  Eat.  or Drink.  or Both.  I seriously was driving home and thinking “I could fry up some french fries and melt some cheese over the top and have cheezy fries with dinner – and fuck it, I may as well have a glass of wine!”

But I didn’t.  Shit happens all the time.  Good or bad.  You get invited to a party so you think “I’ll just have a bit of everything because I don’t want to be rude to the host, I’ll get back on track tomorrow.”   Everyone at the office is going for happy hour “so I guess I’ll have a couple margaritas.”

Something is always going to “get in the way” of being healthy in making good choices.  But I am in control.  We’ll figure this out one way or another, but eating cheese fries and drinking 4 glasses of wine isn’t going to change the price tag of my insulin.

So I stayed on plan.  I made panko crusted chicken with Pam fried broccoli on the side, dipped in fat free ranch dressing.

And after Tony and I watched Ray Donovan (getting really interesting now!)  I did my 40 minutes of cardio power and resistance.

I drank my lo cal Gatorade after my workout, and didn’t eat or drink anything else.

Stats for the Day:

• 1605 calories, 58 fat, 142 carbs, 24 fiber and 127 protein
• 35% of calories from carbs, 33% from fat and 32% from protein
• 30 minute swim
• 40 minute Insanity cardio power and resistance
• NSV – not eating or drinking during a stressful situation

I have a spinach and green chile breakfast casserole in the oven almost ready to come out.  I always joke with Tony when I make something I KNOW he won’t like and will say “did you want me to leave you a slice of that spinach casserole to have for your breakfast?”  Ha – pretty sure just reading that sentence made him throw up in his mouth just a tiny bit.

Question of the Day:  How do you handle a stressful situation? 

Make it a great day!