Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, dear readers! This month has been yet another whirlwind! I've been busy as can be! Since the last time I've blogged, the Gamecocks beat Alabama, Adam and I went back to Hampden-Sydney for the first time since May for Homecoming and we went on a ridiculously fun trip to Butler Orchard in MD for a bonfire and hayride with some of our great friends! Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera to any of these events, and therefore you will have to take my word that they were so much fun. 

I managed to steal some photos from Facebook of Mallory, Heather, Ashley and Rachel's trip to DC! The weekend was so much fun! I can't wait to reunite at Christmastime for our annual Christmas Party!

Although I hardly ever remember to take photos of anything I do or see, I do, however, always remember to take photos of my food, which could be good or bad... 

Zucchini Chips

These are super yum. Eat them with Ranch. I promise you won't regret it.

Ingredients:

1/4  cup  dry breadcrumbs
1/4  cup  (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4  teaspoon  seasoned salt
1/4  teaspoon  garlic powder
1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
2  tablespoons  fat-free milk
2 1/2  cups  (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)
Cooking spray

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 425°. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Minestrone

This soup is delicious when served super hot. We ate it with grilled cheeses. Make sure cook this in a "souper" big pot though!* This recipe makes ALOT! Note -- this picture does not do it justice!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced white onion (about 1 small onion)
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup frozen cut green beans
1/4 cup minced celery (about 1/2 stalk)
4 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 cloves)
4 cups vegetable broth 
2 (15 ounce) cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 (15 ounce) cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (14 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1/2 cup carrot, cut into bite-size chunks
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup small shell pasta

Recipe:

Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus drained tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 20 minutes or until desired consistency. Makes about eight 1 1/2 cup servings.

Chili

Um, yeah. I've never made chili before on my own, but when I came across this recipe, I knew I couldn't mess it up. So I made it. And we are chili for three nights straight. It's the bommmmmmb! Eat it with cheddar corn muffins! Use Jiffy cornbread mix and dump in a ton of cheddar. Then bake them according to to the box. SO GOOD! And, I forgot to take a photo..

Ingredients:

6  ounces  hot turkey Italian sausage
2  cups  chopped onion
1  cup  chopped green bell pepper
1  pound  ground beef
1  jalapeño pepper, chopped
2  tablespoons  chili powder
2  tablespoons  brown sugar
1  tablespoon  ground cumin
3  tablespoons  tomato paste
1  teaspoon  dried oregano
1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
1/4  teaspoon  salt
2  bay leaves
1 1/4  cups  Merlot or other fruity red wine
2  (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
2  (15-ounce) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese

Recipe:

Heat a large (once again, I mean LARGE) Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Remove casings from sausage. Add sausage, onion, and the next 4 ingredients (onion through jalapeño) to pan; cook 8 minutes or until sausage and beef are browned, stirring to crumble. Add chili powder and the next 7 ingredients (chili powder through bay leaves), and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine, tomatoes, and kidney beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the bay leaves. Sprinkle each serving with cheddar cheese. Like most chilis, this version tastes even better the next day.
On to the MOST exciting news of the month yet.. 

Adam and I are..

MOVING INTO OUR OWN APARTMENT!!!

We move into the area of Arlington called Courthouse on November 13, and we couldn't be more excited!! All the odds and ends are falling into place and we will be ready when the move comes! 

So many fun things will be happening in November! Lots of football games, BIRTHDAY, November Supper Club, Mom and Jessica visit, HARRY POTTER 7 in theaters and THANKSGIVING!

It's the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

As always,

 

*Bahahahahaha.

Side note: I found all these recipes on www.myrecipes.com.

Steak with Golden Zucchini

Well, here it is!! Tonight's dinner was sooooooo good! It looks a bit strange in the picture, but it was delish! If you're interested, here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 ribeye steak

1 zucchini

1 small clove of garlic

1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon Italian-style breadcrumbs

Salt

Pepper

Recipe:

Heat one turn of olive oil in a pan on medium high heat. Season steak with salt and pepper. Cook until desired doneness, I did about 4-5 minutes per side (only flipping once) for about medium. Transfer to a plate and tent with tin foil. Cut zucchini lengthwise, season with salt and pepper and add to same pan. Cover with a lid and cook for about 6 minutes until soft. Transfer to plate and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. In a small bowl, combine lemon zest, garlic, and bread crumbs. Sprinkle the mixture over the zucchini and serve with the steak. This dish is 321 calories per serving.

I worked out for about an hour alternating between several aerobic exercises on Wii Fit and about 30 minutes on the elliptical. My abs will be paying for it in the morning, but it was worth it! One day down, 27 to go! 

Now on to The Bachelor.. nothing better than a good dinner, exercise and trashy, reality TV :).

The Beginning..

So, it's here folks! The first day of February! I have officially started my new diet and exercise plan. I have also decided, that since I will (hopefully) be posting everyday, this will be my last post that I make as a Facebook or Twitter status. I think it will get old not only on my own wall, but also on people's mini and news feeds. So, if you wanna read my blog, you have to put in the teeny bit of extra clicking to get to it. It's located on my FB under Web site, if you are interested. Which I hope you will be!

This morning, I had my usual coffee with Splenda and half and half. I am trying to limit caffeine intake as well, so I will try to drink water for most of the day rather than soda. I enjoyed a Nutrigrain bar as well. Nutrigrain bars are my favorite breakfast bar. Since I moved out of my parent's house and went to college, I didn't have a lot of time to eat breakfast,* so breakfast bars became a regular thing. They are only 130 calories and they come in lots of different flavors as opposed to other breakfast bars that only come in a variety of about three or four. My favorites are raspberry, apple cinnamon and strawberry.

For lunch, I ate a salad (that I prepared at home last night, yay!) loaded with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and red onion. The best part about this salad: the dressing. Red wine vinegar. I kid you not. It is amazing. It is straight out of the bottle and I am obsessed.** It also has ZERO CALORIES. That, my friends, is awesome too. Because that means you can use as much as you want, and IT DOESN'T MATTER!*** Wahoo!!  Around 2:30 p.m., I'll eat a banana as an afternoon snack.

Later tonight, I am working out in the gym for about an hour. I hope to do about 30 minutes on the elliptical and about 30 minutes back in my apartment on the Wii Fit doing some strength training and some yoga.

The part I am most excited about though is dinner. Every night this month, I have a dinner planned that is under 400 calories. Tonight, I am making Steak with Golden Zucchini. Hooray! I will post pictures and recipes tomorrow.

Have a great day! Again, if anyone is interested in hearing about the plan, I have some more info that I made for myself outlining the plan that I can share. Just e-mail me at sugarandspicedc@gmail.com.


*Clearly, this is because I never woke up more than 10 minutes before class started back when I lived on campus at USC and before jobs and internships set in. And when they did, I only woke up in exactly enough time to get ready, grab a Nutrigrain bar on the run out the door and get there on time. Isn't that what everyone else did? Mmm, hmm.

**Shoutout to Katie M. for introducing me to the wonderful world of RWV!

***Well, unless you use too much, in which case you may get heartburn from the acidity.