Steak or Cereal?

After work, Les and I went to the gym together for the first time in about a year. I am so proud of him too, he spent about 25 minutes on the treadmill doing the hill program at 6.5 mph! That's tough work for a first time out! Since my body still feels a bit like mincemeat from the race on Sunday, I just did 30 minutes of weights working my arms.

Les said he was feeling a bit queasy after his workout (not surprising!) so I wasn't sure what to make for dinner. I had some really nice T-Bone steaks ready to go, but wanted to see if he'd eat them. So, we stood in front of the open refrigerator door and stared at those mammoth pieces of beautiful meat for a few seconds. I eventually asked Les, "What do you want for dinner? Steak or Cereal?". He looked at me like I was just a tad insane and said that cereal should never ever be a choice!

I seasoned the steak with Morton's Hot Salt and cooked it in my handy-dandy grill pan. Set a Japanese Eggplant under the broiler with a cubed sweet potato. Mixed up a cucumber/tomato/yogurt salad. Sauteed some shrooms to serve along side the steak.

chix and pasta, can it get any simpler?

Hubby went to the store and got all the "buy one get one free" deals that he could fit into the basket! Among these finds, were some fresh Bertoli Three-Cheese Pasta from the refrigerator section. I really like the fresh taste of the fresh pasta. I paired this with some steamed broccoli and grilled chicken and Alfredo sauce.

Simple, quick, and satisfying. Perfect for a Sunday after doing lots of laundry and house cleaning.

mmmmm....breakfast

Eggs and potatoes! We don't get too creative around the Carter house for breakfast. Les does not like pancakes or waffles...and we both want something more than oatmeal on weekends. This time, I used Egg Beaters and scrambled them into hash browns, mushrooms, and onions. I topped it all off with some goat cheese and basil. Side order of baked beans and tomatoes are always good (typical english accompaniment to breakfast).
Yes, a three hour nap insued immediately afterwards:D

Parme Crusted Chix

Saw this watching Rachael Ray's 30-minute meals. This chick is seriously my heroine. I am not the kind of person to spend more than an hour on cooking. I am always watching this program to get new ideas.
Les really liked it, and I did too. The salty parmesan cheese made this so incredibly yummy. I love fried cheese, so this was right up my alley. The spicy roasted potatoes and red onions were nice too. Although the onions got a bit burnt, it was still nice. I added a side of brushetta for a cool topping to the chicken and spicy potatoes.

lazy Sunday morning

Breakfast in bed again for the hubby, I love to surprise him like this. It's amazing how quickly breakfast can be prepared and eaten. And how long of a nap we take afterwards!
This is eggs, turkey bacon, hash browns, english muffin with lingonberry jam, and orange juice. Breakfast of champions...champion slackers, that is....we slept for another three hours after we ate:D

Lasagna, yum

Les was in the mood for lasagna tonight so he went to the store and bought all the fixin's. I put it all together and am very thankful for non-boil noodles. It seriously cut down on prep/cook time. I used two bottles of pasta sauce (we like it very saucy), lean meat, and ommitted the ricotta. This definitely hit the spot.

Love the nights that hubby cooks!

Tonight Les made a london broil (yes, he broiled it), broccoli, and a rice dish. Simple and yummy and necessary after I ran for just over an hour in the rain. I think Huggy is turning into a duck because the rain doesn't stop her from wanting to get out and run too!

Les did Xi Gong without me tonight as I have twisted my ankle. I was two miles into tonight's run and my foot got stuck in a hole that was covered by an unassuming looking puddle....I still ran, despite the pain 4 more miles to finish my workout. Probably not the smartest thing to do because it hurts like a son of a beaatch right now. However, I was not going to waste a perfectly good hour-long workout:P

mmmm...chicken...does not taste like pork

Tonight, I sat myself on the trainer as I watched Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom. Awesome-awesome-awesome flick to ride your bike to. Whenever he's getting chased (which is a LOT), you pretend like you're being chased and it's excellent cardio! Okay, maybe it's just me, but I really love my trainer. It's make my outside riding much more efficient.

I made a tikka masala tonight with chunks of chicken and a side of Lipton Sweet 'n Sour noodles. I had none of this, but as usual, Les cleaned his plate. Sometimes I think I can cook dirt and he'd still eat it because I made it...he's such a good boy:)

I had a Morningstar "chicken" patty on two slices of wheat bread and some string cheese for dinner. I'm so simple, I could eat like that all the time. I have even been known to eat asparagus right from the can!! Sure that sounds bad, but it's not really...it's quite tasty. But this comes from someone who also eats tuna fish and grape jelly sandwiches....believe it or not:P

I wasn't going to tell you about this...but I will anyway....I devoured a piece of that evil chocolate V-day cake (thanks a bunch Amy, that cake rocks!) before I got on the trainer....I don't feel guilty about at all because I'm pretty sure I worked it off!

Happy Love Day

Wow, let me just tell you that one day I really didn't care for baking...and the next day, I fell in love with it! All thanks to a wickedly sinful chocolate cake recipe that's been floating around the Pork Cracklins family.....Thank you Amy for bringing this rich little heart shaped piece of heaven into my life! Les does not like dessert, but he fell for this one and I have to say, I did too...in a major way!


We had Krung Thai for our Valentine's Day dinner. This is a special place for us because we were eating dinner here the first time he told me that he loved me. He was just giddy all night and then just kinda whispered it in my ear all shy-like. Awwwww....isn't that sweet? My husband is a stud, I know this:D

Return of Pork

Did a 3.5 hour bike ride today with Sheri and Melissa. It was some hard climbing and rolling hills and was just fecking awesome! Started at Aquatic Park, through Chrissy Field, over the Golden Gate, into the Marin Headlands, over to the beach and marshes, through the Sausalito tunnel and back over the bridge. It was work, but worth it. Sheri kicked major butt today. Her "I'm recovering from pneumonia" excuse will no longer work with me....she's a sleeper!

I came home, showered, had some lunch with Les and took a 3 hour nap!

Tonight's dinner was Pork Verde with non-fat refried beans and asparagus with red onions. Such an easy meal to make and Les cleaned his plate.
My dinner was substancially less than this...I had a chocolate Slim Fast shake as I had a lot to eat at lunch and still not that hungry:D

Broken Pork Cycle

Went swimming today, first time in two weeks. Wasn't a stellar performance. I had the endurance, but really need to learn to breathe right in the water. I get headaches and can't figure out if it's because I don't breathe often enough, or if it's my swim cap.

Tonight I had even less time to cook anything. I opened up a *gasp* can of beef stew and some grilled cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread. Comfort food at it's best and it made me smile on the inside.

Les and I went to our weekly Xi Gong class after dinner and my life force is back where it should be:D

The Week in Pork

The husband finally got out and ran with me tonight and it was great. We did three miles and I was very proud of him. We'll get to do the Big Sur Half Marathon in November after all:-)

Tonight I made cheese tortellini with portobello alfredo sauce. The dish was surprisingly low in fat but full of flavor. I added some sweet corn and more mushrooms to the sauce....and...leftover pork tenderloin:D I served it with the signature spinach salad, this time with hearts of palm and seasoned rice vinegar. Les really liked the pasta, I love quick and easy meals.

Pork...again

I broiled a pork tenderloin, mashed some purple potatoes in yogurt and parm cheese, and grilled some grey zucchini tonight. This all cooked while I was running around the neighborhood. It was fast and easy....unlike tonight's run....I'm hurting a little bit after pushing so hard on the damn trainer yesterday...but I do love Spinervals!

Lloyd's Hickory BBQ Pork

Yummo! Very nice on a sesame bun served with a small spinach salad. Perfect for a quick Monday meal right off the trainer:-) Les always loves this...and Manwiches...but I like Lloyd's better.