WW Week 1 & 2

Okay I have no idea what happened.... last week I published a short and then insanely long post.... somehow they got combined into one blob of pictures with no words!! I'm feeling very annoyed so I am going to kind of rush this post.

WW Week 1: -1 pound (boo)

WW Week 2: -2.6 pounds (yay!)

More on WW when I'm feeling more in a writing mood.

What I've been doing lately:

Lots of wedding planning! Narrowing down invitations. Last week we went from 48 to 34. Yay! Here are some samples.

Seeing one of my favorite babies; Brooklyn

What I've been eating/cooking lately:

Froze these for a perfect little snack. Only 2 WW points

JOKING! I actually resisted this entire table during one of the many bake sales at school.

I literally think cream swirling around in iced coffee is one of the most beautiful things on earth.

And I love how my new pans look boiling eggs! I don't know why, I just do.

WW = tons of fruits and veggies, because they are zero points! One of my meals last week.

I'm getting so good at omelets! Seen here is egg whites with asparagus, peppers, and lowfat mozz.
Oh and those flowers... they just happen to get in the pic! And I love the way it looks.

I actually wound up getting really nauseous about 2 bites in but Marvin finished the rest :-(

Spaghetti squash with homemade sauce and turkey meatballs

"Grilled chicken parmesan" with homemade sauce, lowfat mozz & sauteed zucchini

Baked lemon chicken with sauteed zucchini

Kale chips! Lots of em.

Goal

I'm going to lose 10 pounds in 30 days. 

The goal is lofty but I was inspired today but Billy Mills story http://youtu.be/Tv-ZfEqxQGg and how he basically made himself believe the impossible until it became a reality. I can do it too. 

Here's how I'm going to do it. 

1. Every morning when I wake up I'm going to visualize how I want to look and feel. Then I'm going to weigh myself. 

2. I'm going to do some sort of exercise every day unless I have a headache or something planned after school. 

3. I'm going to eat as healthy as possible, including:

-No grains after breakfast (except for occasional: whole wheat pasta, quinoa, brown rice, sweet potato)

-Snack only on fruits, veggies, nuts (or combination of that like Kashi/KIND bar)

-No casual alcohol

4. I'm going to cook as much as possible in order to meet the goal above. 

 Motivation:

1. April 7th - Engagement shoot!!

2. April 9th - Miami!!

3. May 16th - Shower!!

4. July 3rd - Wedding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5. July 6th - Honeymoon!!

White Rabbit!

What I've been eating/cooking lately:

Lots of baked chicken thighs. I typically don't like chicken thighs, but they are soooo cheap and when you bake them this way... the skin gets super crispy and delicious!

This was a pretty awesome passion fruit infused beer we got from Bierkraft. Not sweet at all, but just sort of smelled like passion fruit

This might have been one of the best pizzas I ever made. We walked to the pizza store and bought some dough for 5 bucks. We split the dough in half and each made our own. Mine has red/green peppers, pineapple, and black olives.

This literally may have been the best Trader Joe's cake mix I ever had. This was the state of the cake nearly 2 hours after we baked it. I also loved how it gives you some options to lighten it up.

Ive been eating a lot of baked sweet potato fries. I can't seem to get these exactly right (always wind up a little too burnt or a little too mushy) but either way they taste great.

Another new beer we tried. This is actually one of (3?) beers brewed in Manhattan

One of my fav cheaper beers. These cans cost $3 at the bar and even cheaper at the supermarket.

I cooked up a storm today. Including these oat bran muffins (you can see how I need to immediately eat something after its baked). I had to alter the recipe a bit (used mashed banana instead of applesauce) so they came out a little less sweet. Which is fine with me.

In effort to keep up with Saucy Sundays, I'm making some sauce - complete with some Italian chicken sausage cooking inside.

Also trying a new super easy crockpot recipe to use up some more of the chicken thighs.

What I've been doing lately:

Well right now, I'm actually staring at the snow. I had no idea it was even supposed to snow today... and we had to cancel our long island plans :(

Another snowy view

I've also been painting my nails some brighter more fun colors. I <3 this blue from Essie

I've been obsessing over and updating my registry as usual. I'm really fixated on serving trays for some reason. I absolutely love this Beck tray from C&B!

I also love these "Teeny Bud Vases" from C&B. I am always wanting a vase small enough to just hold one or two flowers.

What I've been reading lately.

Even though I sort of hate Jodi Picoult, I sort of love her too. The books are just so easy to read and mindless. I just finished Picture Perfect... I read it in 24 hours!

Now I'm reading this book... but its a little strange and a bit wordy for my liking so I might move on to another Jodi Picoult.

The Pastor is also making Marvin and I read this... which is hilarious.. .but hey I guess it couldnt hurt.

Love is you

What I've been cooking/eating lately:

Valentines Day Dinner!
Seared Filet Mignon (we actually went to the butcher for this!), roasted red potatoes, sauteed string beans.

Skinnytaste chicken cacciatore with spaghetti squash. I love the way this picture looks!

This one too: stewed curry chicken with "roti" (spinach tortillas)

My breakfast a few days in a row at work... hard boiled eggs with avocado toast

Decadent Chocolate cake with chocolate ganache... also for Vday. As much as this cake was NOT exactly healthy... it wasn't terrible either. Ingredients for the cake include only one egg, plain greek yogurt, a small amount of  oil, brewed coffee, unsweetened cocoa powder, vanilla flour, baking soda & powder, and a small amount of sugar. No butter or artificial ingredients (aside from the sugar and flour I guess, but I used raw sugar and unbleached flour) 

My attempt at a hear with two pomegrante seeds. The ganache was a little worse than the cake.. semisweet chocolate chips + heavy cream (I used half & half)

Home-made bacon egg & cheese sammies for breakfast last weekend

I dont know how all these pics got mixed up... champagne with pomegrante seeds for Vday!

What I've been doing lately 

Upgrading my kitchen! With the our brand new set of multi-clad pro pots & pans... I had to do a little reorganizing and decided to finally order another storage/prep piece for our kitchen. We actually wound up finding this at Costco for only $75 and free shipping!

Our beautiful new cuisinart set... the first official wedding gift! I think I've already used every one

Reorganization

Wedding Planning! The bridal suite at Coindre Hall- I toook this pic... and then just played around with it to make it nice. I've been keeping a bank of and editing pics so I can show the photographer the style I like

Thinking about my bachelorette party!!!!!!! I literally CANNOT wait to be in Miami

Spending some QT with my fiance - Flowers I came home to one day last week... and it wasn't even Valentines Day Yet! I <3 my hubby-to-be :)

What I'm reading lately:

159 days!

For you, Jul, since you think I don't update it!

What will I title my posts once the wedding is over?? I think I'll probably have some sort of PWD (post wedding depression). What will I do with all my free brain time when there's no more wedding-related things to do? Ahhh!!

Looking over past posts I realized that most of them cover the same 3 topics:

1. What I've been cooking/eating lately.

2. What I've been doing lately (other than the norm)

3. What I've been reading lately.

So... here goes!

What I've been cooking/eating lately:

Baked my second to last TJ's baking mix. I can't even begin to describe how awesome it smells right now.

In the oven

Finished product

A close up of these babies

And on my plate. YUM. This was definitely the easiest mix (just add water and mix around with a fork) and SOOO tasy!

I guess this doesn't count as "what I've been eating/cooking" but, we love this beer and its only 15.99 for a 12-pack.

Blood oranges. YUM. I cannot get enough of these. I also squeeze the leftover into a glass with seltzer and ice.

This was new in the dairy aisle of Key Foods yesterday so we tried it, its actually really good!

It seems way better for us than even the organic half and half, so I'll probably start buying it more.

One of the best breakfasts I've made in a while... sauteed turkey bacon, onion, broccoli and peppers in a pan with a little bit of olive oil...

Poured about 6 beaten eggs on top of it....

Baked at 375 for around 15 minutes. I couldn't help myself and had to have a piece as soon as it came out!

Definitely one of the more indulgent meals I've eaten lately on Marvin's Bday: Rice & peas, stewed pork, stewed curry chicken, stewed chickpeas, roti, scalloped potatoes, macaroni pie, cornbread pie, green beans.... aaand missing from pic: carvel ice cream cake!

Another one of the more indulgent things I've eaten... breakfast at Perly's Jewish Deli in Richmond VA over Lesley's wedding weekend. This was actually Marvin's plate... Challah French toast with some sort of brown sugar, banana, pecan thing. It was absurd(ly good).

What I've been doing lately:

Lesley & Adam's wedding at the Jefferson Hotel in Richmond Virginia

Last weekend we drove down Richmond for Lesley & Adam's wedding! It was an exhausting weekend but SO good to spend time with some of my BC favs. Here's Lesley  Kelly & I the night before the wedding at Penny Lane Pub.

Kelly, Lesley Alex & I at cocktail hour at the Jefferson Hotel

Pretty much the only pic of Marvin & I from the entire weekend!

Marvin's 31st Birthday

Here's an adorable pic of Marvin with his beer tasting at Dinosaur BBQ

And the AMAZING mud pie they brought over on the house!

The carvel cake I got for Marvin... we just ate the leftovers Friday night!

Marvin tickling one of his smallest (and cutest) nephews, Mathias.

What I've been reading lately:

This book is amazing but seriously is making me DEPRESSED! I honestly don't understand how Joan Didion keeps going on every day after all of the things that happened to her and her family. Despite that, this book has taught me more about grief and grieving than I ever knew.