It is the chocolate and kisses of life that make us rich. Enjoy what brings a smile to my face and love to my life.....
Showing posts with label Panera Bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Panera Bread. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

No sweatin' the sweets day one

Well, so far so good. Those yummy cookies I baked the other day, you know the ones that that oozed with chocolate and butterscotch, that called out to me every time I walked near the kitchen. Well, they were removed from the house today *tear* and given to my family and friends. Better off near them than wasted since our house is a NO SWEETS ZONE.

Today started off nice and early, thanks to my lovely other half who decided to blast some sort of music from a website right next to my once peacefully sleeping ear. He is lucky that I'm still not 100% and it's too much effort to speak to have made a nasty comment.

Breakfast: Wasn't in the mood to make anything extreme, so made up a nice chocolate peanut butter smoothie to enjoy in my most favorite mug (at the moment, it changes well regularly!)
I spent the morning getting some wedding things figured out in regards to flowers. When I first started all the wedding planning, my vision for the wedding was unclear. Now I know that I am definitely in a traditional romantic theme with little hints of Melissa flair. It's all coming together quite nicely!

Since I was out and about with two of my favorite girls today we decided to stop at Panera Bread for a late lunch.

Lunch: I chose the BBQ chopped chicken salad again and because I was so hungry I failed at photographing my food before it went into my belly. Food bloggin' FAIL! Here's a repeat, not very appealing picture of my favorite salad of the moment. (It does not compare to Chili's Quesadilla Explosion Salad BUT being that that salad is over 1200 calories, I think I'll pick my battles!)
My sister, and my BF Lauren helped me to get a lot accomplished today with the flowers, and we were able to get my centerpieces figured out. Now I am in full blown wedding planning mode again. So off to do more planning! I leave you with a little tidbit of my future.....

But everything will be much better than this. *Big smile*

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

100 days

- 2 lbs (Decided I'm going to post my daily weight gain/loss in the beginning of the post. That way it's a slap in my face every time I log on :-) We shall see!)

In 100 days I'll be getting my hair done, having my make up be all pretty and wearing the white dress. I can't explain in words how excited I am, but I can explain how nervous I am to be the "spotlight" of the day. I am not good with attention, pictures, or compliments. So for the next 100 days, I'm going to have to psych myself into accepting those three things that terrify me the most about our special day. I'm sure that I'll be so happy that day that it won't phase me, I hope.

Today is a good day. I get to spend it with my man, who I've missed terribly. His schedule has always been an issue being that he works in a restaurant, but I've only recently started to be upset about it. I think it's because I see how hard he works and how little they respect him at his job. Also, we will be starting a family sooner than later and I don't want him to miss seeing our children grow up. So, we are yet again on the job search, we'll get it right one day!

Breakfast: I was craving a breakfast sandwich today. So I took 1 egg + 2 egg whites, added a few tablespoons of shredded mozzarella, a piece of bacon and put it on two pieces of wheat toast. Of course I drizzled cholula all over it.
It was scrumptious!

Lunch: We were out and about getting errands done today so we stopped at Panera Bread. I got the BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad. It was fantabulous.
Of course on our adventures I got an iced coffee. I have an addiction. Although, I do not need one every day. So, I'm good. *smile*

Dinner: Tonight I made a version of chicken marsala but with pork instead. I got the recipe idea out of my Eat what you Love cookbook. I had been eyeing it multiple times at Costco but didn't want to splurge. Being that Borders is going out of business in EVERY place I can go to, I decided to do some shopping. Maybe I'll show you what I got at the end of this post. Now back to dinner. The recipe calls for pork tenderloin, but I had some pork chops in the freezer that I needed to use up.


20 Minute Pork Marsala
Ingredients
1 lb pork tenderloin, well trimmed (like I said, I used the chops)
2 tsp olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp tomato paste (I omitted this since I didn't have it on hand)
1 tsp flour
1/2 cup dry marsala 
1/2 cup red wine or reduced sodium beef broth (I used beef broth)
8 oz or 2 cups mushrooms
1 tsp butter
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley


~Cut the tenderloin into 3/4 inch thick slices and pound to 1/8 inch thickness. This is a great way to get your frustrations out. 
~Spray a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Add the cutlets, and brown for about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm.
~Heat the oil in the same skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. In a small bowl, whisk together the tomato paste, flour, marsala, and red wine or beef broth, add mushrooms and pour into pan. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the mushrooms are tender. Add butter and stir.
~Return cutlets to the pan, turn in the sauce, and heat until warm. Garnish with parsley.

The End. We changed it up a little bit by using the pork chops. We browned them in the pan and then put them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. The mushrooms were sauteed in the pan with minced garlic and olive oil before adding the wine & beef broth. We also omitted the tomato paste and then added some caramelized onions on top. I had a craving so I gave in! On the side, some green beans that are always delicious.

When you cook from a recipe, do you always follow it or change it to your liking? When I cook, I take what I like and then what I know to form a recipe that hopefully tastes good!

Now it's time to get some wedding stuff done in the last hours of the evening. My mantra for today:

It's not a new diet, it's a new way of life.

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