Slack ... er

Today was pretty productive with various deadlines and applications to complete. Sadly, I slacked on the exercise front. Ryan and I had plans to attend another Yoga course, but wussed out to focus on work and our upcoming camping trip. Total lamesauce, I know.

I'm keeping with the fruit this week in an effort to use up as much food that's stored in the refrigerator prior to our mini vacation. So breakfast featured lots of strawberries (four large berries, quartered to be exact) and one banana with two Nutri-Grain low fat Eggos with two teaspoons of Ghee.

Lunch saw my third day with the Taco Bake with Turkey. This stuff is just too good. Check out my recipe at SparkPeople here. I also added a nectarine to the mix. Can't get enough of these either.

Also in preparation of our camping trip, I prepared some Cranberry and Almond Granola for Ryan. He LOVES this stuff. Eating Well has a great and healthy recipe, too. Check it out.

Ingredients:
- 2/3 cup frozen unsweetened apple juice concentrate, thawed
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup canola oil (or almond oil, if you like)
- 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 5 cups rolled oats (not the instant kind)
- 1 cup toasted wheat germ
- 1 cup whole almonds, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, (2 ounces)
- 1 cup dried cranberries, divided

From there, preheat the over to 325 degrees and coat two large baking pans with cooking spray. Combine the apple juice concentrate, maple syrup, oil and brown sugar in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer at medium high heat. Add cinnamon and salt.

In a separate large bowl, combine oats, wheat germ, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Add juice mixture so oats are covered. Evenly spread granola to fill each baking pan.

Bake granola for 15 minutes, stirring once or twice with a spatula. Switch baking pans to opposite racks for another 15 minutes, until fragrant. Add 1/2 cup dried cranberries to granola and let it cool.

Granola can be stored in an air-tight container for up to two months! Ryan usually works through this stuff in a week. Only 262 calories per serving (1/2 cup) and 7 grams of protein.

Prior to dinner, I snacked on a pickle and had some Lucerne low fat string cheese. And dinner found us resorting to the August 2010 issue of Real Simple for Spiced Kebabs and Minted Watermelon Salad. The cover inspired me to try this, for it's just too beautiful to ignore. Right?

LOVED THIS! We cookrf our top sirloin on the grill and added a 1/2 cup of a grilled red pepper.The minted watermelon salad was really refreshing and lite. We added some Athenos Reduced Fat Feta Cheese, per Two Peas and Their Pod's recent adaptation, too. Perfect!

We have enough for tomorrow's dinner. Hooray!

So yeah, it's time to call it a night with some Criminal Minds and some Skyr.Is Strawberry Yogurt. Back on the exercise schedule tomorrow. Anxiously awaiting word on some potential freelance gigs. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Thanks for reading.

Calorie goal 1,210-1,560: 1,453
Carbohydrates goal 164-237: 184
Fat goal 32-57: 45
Protein goal 60-128: 87

Taco Bake with Turkey and Then Some

Another week in ... summer is going by so fast! BOO!

This morning's breakfast featured Cybros' multi-grain flatbread with Ghee and a sliced banana. I had to have some cantaloupe too, so I included a half-cup with a fourth-cup of blueberries.

Operation Sweating Buckets continued on my elliptical trainer for 45 minutes today. Weird thing, though: my feet always fall asleep around the 30-minute mark. I've been taking a quick break around this time to walk it off, but I've been trying to refrain the last couple of days. My shoes are pretty comfortable and I'm not tying them so tight where I wouldn't have any movement. Does this happen to anyone?

I also completed various dumbbell exercises with 10 sets of 10. Even though I only lost a pound in two weeks, I feel like I'm toning up and losing inches. I am starting to notice that some of my clothing is fitting much more comfortably.

For lunch, Ryan prepared his tasty Taco Bake with Turkey recipe on Sunday night. I know there's various versions of this recipe, however this is one that Ryan came up with years ago. It's mighty filling and tasty, and it lasts us all week long and we love it.

Ingredients:
- 1 package of extra lean ground turkey (we used Jennie-O)
- 1 packet of McCormick taco seasoning
- 1 15 oz. can of black beans
- 1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
- 1 8 oz. can of whole kernel corn
- 1 jalapeno, chopped
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 bag of Tostitos' Baked Scoops
- 2 cups of 2% milk reduced fat Mexican cheese
- Juice of one lime
- Hot sauce to taste

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Cook the ground turkey accordingly until no longer pink. Once cooked, add to a large bowl with tomatoes, black beans, and corn, mix with garlic, chives, jalapeno, red pepper, and juice of one lime, and set aside.

Take a rolling pin and roll over the bag of Tostitos' Baked Scoops until bag is full of crunchy pieces.

In a large casserole pan, spread taco turkey mixture to fill the pan. Sprinkle with crunchy Tostitos' Baked Scoops and top with cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serving size about 3/4 cup. Serves 10-12.

I like to top mine with salsa, which I did today with a fourth-cup of Ortega's Thick 'N Chunky Medium sauce. I can't forget about my cold ice coffee, either.

I noshed on 10 sweet cherries prior to dinner, which featured a selection from the August 2010 issue of Real Simple. Tonight, Ryan and I split the prep work for Spiced Chicken and Couscous Salad. For the couscous, we used Near East's Toasted Pine Nut and it nicely complimented the chicken. The basil included was from our herb garden. Love me some basil!

I think a Siggi's Yogurt is calling my name! Have a fab evening everyone.

Calorie goal 1,210-1,560: 1,407
Carbohydrates goal 164-237: 206
Fat goal 32-57: 37
Protein goal 60-128: 65