September 8th- Day 25

It's been a pretty rough week thus far. Today was the first day I've been able to work out in a few days. It started with Dominic getting a little sick with a really stuffy and runny nose. That made him pretty cranky and tired, so I couldn't in good conscience leave him with care workers at the child care center in the gym. So I took a day off to give him some time to get better.
Then, it was a preschool day for Sophia, so I couldn't go at 8:00 in the morning like normal. But we had scheduled to do a swim day with her buddies, Luke and Ava, at the gym after school. That was a whole lot of fun, but everyone crashed for a 3 hour nap when we got home. By the time we woke up, it was time to make dinner, give baths and go back to bed. I wasn't able to work out that day either.

That brings us to yesterday. I had the opportunity to go at 4:00 pm since Pasquale even called and made the infant room appointment for me. But when 4:00 rolled around, I just couldn't bring myself to go outside- seeing as how it was ridiculously hot and humid. So, I skipped yet another day. To add insult to injury, I picked up McDonald's for dinner because it was too hot to cook. At least that's how I felt at the time. Looking back, I see that I was just tired and lazy. I also haven't been feeling the best since we went swimming either.
And today, I took the opportunity that a new day brings to get back on track. We hit the gym this morning at 8:00 like normal. Then, I took Sophia to her dance class and watched her start practicing for the Christmas recital. She's going to be doing a tap dance routine to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas". Isn't that just the most adorable thing ever? I can't wait to see how it all turns out and what their costumes are going to be.

I also stuck with the eating plan all day. I started off with a Cliff bar and  V8 fusion drink from the gym. It was actually really good. I let Sophia taste the protein bar and she said, "It's not yucky at all. I like it." I love how she forms her sentences- the words she chooses to use. So funny. Then I made breakfast for Pasquale and ate a scrambled egg, cheese, and salsa wrap with a wheat tortilla with some orange juice. Then I took a nap. When I got up, I had a peach and cheese stick. The peach was so big, I had to share it with both Sophia and Dominic.

That's when we got around to making dinner. It was a recipe for a really good, fix-it-and-forget-it chili. Here's the recipe. (I only used 1 jalapeno, but I added another orange bell pepper in it's place.)
Ingredients:
8 portions lean ground beef (about 2 lbs) (I thought about using ground turkey. I may try that next time.)
1 white onion, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley, chipped
3 jalapenos, seeded and chopped
1/3 cup fresh red chili powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 cans (15 oz) low-fat, reduced-sodium beef broth
1/3 cup dry vermouth (optional) (I didn't use)
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes (I didn't have crushed, so I used diced tomatoes)
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 oz) chili beans
1/2 cup sharp reduced-fat cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions:
1- Place a large pot over medium heat. Add ground beef, onion, garlic, bell pepper, parsley and jalapenos. Cook, stirring occassionally, until ground beef is no longer pink, about 8 minutes.
2- Stir in chili powder and cumin; cook for another 2 minutes.
3- Add beef broth, dry vermouth, tomatoes and beans; bring to a boil over high heat.
4- Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 90 minutes.
5- Ladle a portion of chili (about 1 1/2 cups) into each bowl and top with about a tablespoon of cheese.

I really liked this chili for how easy it was to make after all the chopping was done. I did notice, however, that it was brothier than I normally like in chili. I think I'll use less beef broth next time. It turned out more like chili "soup" than thick and hearty chili. But it was good and light. You should definitely try it at least once.
I'm going to finish off the evening with cottage cheese and pineapples. All in all, it's been a pretty good day. I was telling Pasquale that I'm amazed that I'm still down a few pounds even after I skipped out on the gym for a few days and ate McDonald's last night. I must have gained enough muscle mass for it to keep burning fat even when I'm stagnant. It looks like my consistent effort is starting to work for me instead of me working for the results.

Yay!