Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Protein Shake

Sunday was another bad day. I couldn’t even bring myself to write up a post for Monday (you know it’s bad when that happens!). But enough about my bad days. You don’t need to hear more about my lack of sleep and cranky mood. Enough is enough!

I finally got my schedule back in order by taking a big ol’ sleeping pill around 10:30pm last night and ended up passing out around 12:30am. Luckily, no car alarms woke me up (I hope I didn’t jinx myself!), so I was able to wake up naturally around 9am. Woohoo! Getting up at a normal time means that I get to kick ass on my daily health goals, so I was excited.

Around 10:00am, I started my day off right with 4oz. of delicious strawberries. A few months ago when I really started to make a concerted effort to lose weight, I found myself pouring a packet of Splenda on my berries to make my sweet tooth happy. While I’m not a Splenda-hater, I’m happy to say that I’ve officially stopped doing that. My tastebuds now think that the strawberries are sweet enough on their own!

Look at this weird one I found… It looks like a tooth!

Normally I’d have a much bigger breakfast (I’ve been loving soft-boiled eggs lately!), but I knew that I’d be eating lunch in only two hours and didn’t want to ruin my appetite.

By the time noon rolled around, I was pretty hungry. I made myself some Israeli couscous topped with broccoli florets and leftover chicken (from the delicious recipe you’ll find at the end of this post!). This tasted amazing and is quickly becoming one of my new favorite lunches. But, of course, it’ll never beat my love for turkey sandwiches

After lunch I went to the gym! It’s been a while since I went, so I knew it was time. I did a half-hour using the strength machines, focusing on arms. I didn’t write down exactly how many sets/reps I did because I just wanted to concentrate on sweating as much as possible, but I did tricep extensions, bicep curls, chest press, and lat pulldowns. I tried to do some time on the bike before leaving, but they weren’t working! Oh well, maybe next time.

Unfortunately, I then remembered why I don’t exactly love going… because my feet were basically crippled later that night. As soon as I got home, I pampered myself with a hot Epsom salt bath and a protein shake for muscle recovery (pictured above). I came up with an awesome new concoction! Can’t believe I didn’t think to do this before…

Chocolate-Covered Strawberry Protein Shake

(recipe by Miranda Mowbray, Biting Life)

Ingredients:

1 cup fat-free milk

1 scoop chocolate protein powder

4-6 whole frozen strawberries

Directions:

Blend, blend, blend… Enjoy!

For dinner, I enjoyed cauliflower and mushrooms in a curry sauce over white rice. I used this Peas and Thank You recipe, which is one of my favorites!

Last night, Brent and I had this amazing meal that I can’t wait to share with you. Seriously, you should all make this ASAP!

Buffalo Chicken Mac ‘n’ Cheese

(adapted from Taste and Tell)

Ingredients:

1/2 lb elbow macaroni

1 lb chicken breast, diced into very small pieces (about 1/4-inch)

Salt and pepper

Canola Oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

Sriracha

1 tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp ground mustard

1 1/4 cups fat-free milk

8 oz. reduced-fat sharp cheddar shredded cheese

2 oz. Pepper Jack shredded cheese (I grated my own)

1/4 cup light sour cream

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Cook pasta according to package directions in salted water; drain and set aside.

Sauté garlic in canola oil over medium-high heat in a sauté pan.

Add chicken, salt, and pepper to pan and cook until chicken is done (about 7 minutes).

Squirt Sriracha in with the chicken, to taste.

Pour a few tbsp of canola oil in a saucepan and heat.

Add flour to oil and whisk together. Slowly whisk in the milk.

Sprinkle in both cheeses and continue whisking until fully combined and thick, making a cheesy sauce.

Add Sriracha to the cheese sauce, to taste.

Line an 8×8 baking dish with tinfoil and grease with cooking spray.

Pour half the macaroni in the dish. Add half the chicken. Pour half the sauce over the top.

Repeat the last step, then sprinkle the top with panko crumbs.

Bake for 30 minutes, or until panko crumbs are golden brown and crispy.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

I KICKED ASS today on these goals. I’m so proud of myself!

Healthy Goals Checklist

1. At least 100g of protein. Check! I got 128g today! Wow.
2. At least 4 servings of fruits/veggies. Check! I got 9.5 servings today. What?! That’s crazy.
3. No more than 1 treat. Check! I had 3/4 cup of Ben&Jerry’s Half Baked Frozen Yogurt after dinner. Yummmm.
4. Exercise and/or stretch. Check! I went to the gym today and did a bit of stretching.