Breakfast:

Veggie Quiche Cups To Go (egg beaters, spinach & asparagus)
V8 Low Sodium Veggie Juice
Coffee w/ Fat-Free Milk

Morning Snack:
1 Reduced-Fat Colby/Cheddar Cheese Stick

Lunch:

Butter Beans, Arugula and Spinach Salad w/ Green Goddess Dressing
Sugar-Free Cherry Creamsicle

Afternoon Snack:
Oops! Missed this one. My bad.

Dinner:
Left-over Buttermilk Salmon Chowder

Dessert:

Peanut Butter Cup

Exercise:

4 Mile walk up Runyon Canyon!!!
Finally a day without cool temperatures and rain!
I saw 2 firsts today. In Runyon I’ve seen people walk their dogs, horses, birds, lizards, and even a goat, but today I saw a lady walking her… cat!!!! I felt so bad for the little one. Poor thing must have been terrified, since the dog park is filled with DOGS!!! My 2nd first was actor, Julian Sands. Hubba hubba! (I used to have a crush on him in my early 20’s)
Tomorrow the storms will be back, so I guess the pilates will be too!

Breakfast:
Scrambled Egg Beaters w/ Soy Bacon Strip
Vegetable Juice
Coffee w/ Fat-Free Milk

Morning Snack:
Celery w/ Peanut Butter

Lunch:

Greek Salad

Afternoon Snack:
Mozzarella Cheese Stick

Dinner:
Buttermilk Salmon Chowder (had a picture, but D said it didn’t do this yummy dish any justice)

Dessert:
Peanut Butter Cup

Exercise:
60 Minute Pilates

Today was a bit more of a challenge. Saturdays we are lazy. We don’t like to cook on Saturdays. We managed to make a nice breakfast (thanks to D), but lost all motivation to make a good lunch. We decided on yesterday’s leftovers. By the afternoon guilt was setting in. So we exercised (which kicked our butts) and had our planned lunch salad for dinner. All is well in the world again. We were hoping to get some more exercise in by walking to our movie theatre, but it has been raining for the past couple of days. So we were forced to take the car. Saw “Taken”. Quite the action-packed movie, but a whole lot of violence. Our day went as follows:

Breakfast:

Asparagus & Feta Cheese Omelet
1 glass of vegetable juice
Coffee w/ fat-free milk

Morning Snack:
Mozzarella Cheese Stick

Lunch:
Left-overs (Greek Soy Crumble & Eggplant Slices)

Afternoon Snack:
4 Sticks of Celery w/ Natural Peanut Butter
(D had 19 peanuts)

Dinner:

Crispy Tempeh Salad

Dessert:
None

Exercise:
60 Minute Pilates!! Whoo Hool We rock!

Breakfast:

Egg, Soy Canadian Bacon & Tomato “Sandwich”
Coffee w/ fat-free milk

Morning Snack:
1 Mozzarella Stick
(D had a reduced fat colby/jack cheese slice)

Lunch:
Mixed Salad (greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers & kidney beans) w/ homemade balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1 Cherry Creamsicle

Afternoon Snack:
4 Celery Sticks w/ a wedge of Laughing Cow Light Swiss Cheese

Dinner:

Greek Mini Soy Meatballs that became Greek Soy Loaf that ended up Greek Soy Crumble (Note to self: When using soy in replace of meat, avoid any food that needs to be molded, ie: meatballs or patties)
Grilled Eggplant

Dessert:
Mocha Ricotta Crème

Exercise:
YES!!! 20 MInute Pilates

My wonderful husband, Deutsch, made me a very special Valentine/Oscar dinner. The reason why it was also an Oscar dinner is due to our annual Oscar Challenge. The Challenge is simple. Before the Academy Awards, we both vote for a winner in each category. At the end of the show, we tally up the numbers and the person with the most predicted wins is the “Dinner Guest”. The person who has the least predicted wins is the “Host/Chef”. The Host is required to serve a several course meal with two rules: 1) Make dinner from scratch; 2) Prepare something that he/she has never attempted before. Unfortunately for Deutsch, he has been the Host more times than the Guest.

This year he out did himself with a fantastic African meal. The menu consisted of three courses. For the appetizer, he started with West African Peanut Soup.

It was so rich and flavourful. A perfect soup for a cold winter night. A meal on it’s own with a smooth blend of peanut butter, tomatoes and rice. He garnished it with some roasted peanuts, that gave it an additional texture. It’s a definite keeper.

For the entree, he prepared a terrific Marrakesh Vegetable Curry served on a bed of couscous.

This dish had so many wonderful vegetables: sweet potatoes, eggplant, bell peppers, spinach, zucchini and carrots. It was definitely colorful. It even had some odd (but great) ingredients like cinnamon, raisins and orange juice. He was worried about the success of this dish, but he shouldn’t have been. It was delicious!

His final dish was dessert, Eastern Africa’s Kashata.

It is described as something in between candy and cookie. I found it to be more similar to candy. In fact, I thought was very much like peanut brittle. It is a mixture of sugar, coconut, peanuts and cinnamon. Deutsch was most concerned with this dish, fearing that the final product was a total disaster. Obviously, he did not try it before he made his assumption. It was fantastic. A great little snack to tame that wild beast known as the Sweet Tooth Monster.

The final note is to my Valentine. Thank you for your wonderful gift. I am aware that you were fulfilling your Oscar Challenge duties, but I also know that all your love went into your meal for me. I am a very lucky girl. I love you. My only wish is that on March 5th (Oscar night), I am victorious once again. The challenge is on, baby!