Friday Fun

It's Friday! Woop! This shortened week has flown by and when I started brainstorming topics for today's post, I couldn't believe it was Friday already. And Friday calls for some randomness. I mean, you don't want to read recipes or deep thoughts on Friday...amiright?

Apparently everyone in the tri-state area is super psyched because the Rangers won last night and I guess will go to the Stanley Cup finals. I thought the series before this last one was the finals, so clearly I don't know anything about hockey, other than it seems to go on forever and is really eating into my Justified time.

Last night Shaun and I just could not take another meat filled dinner and so I made this mustard roasted cod which turned out really great. I used a combo of Recipes from the Dukan cookbook as well as an old Ina recipe of yore. I'll share the recipe next week! I don't have the prettiest photos of it, but when you are sitting down to finally eat dinner on a Thursday night at 9PM and your stomach is eating itself, well, you work with what you have.

I've gotten a lot of positive feedback since writing about our Dukan journey and some of you are even joining in! I'm so happy! I really hope that it works for you and that you get through those first three days...those are the worst but just know that it does get so much easier and you won't always feel so miserable. Godspeed!

Oh! I also wanted to give you an update on my Tieks since a lot of you asked for updates on them. They have gotten a lot more comfy as I've worn them and broken them in. I can now wear them all day (walking about 1.5-2 miles per day) and keep them on at work and only when I arrive home at night are my feet starting to bother me. So all in all, what else can I ask for? I wouldn't even expect more out of sneakers honestly and these are way cuter. While I do like them, $175 is still $175 and so be sure you do some other research before taking the plunge. Meanwhile I'm saving up and dreaming of what color to get next...these, these and these are in the running.

I'm home solo tonight and so I'm excited to maybe possibly {finally!} watch the Veronica Mars movie!! If I can stay awake past penny's bedtime, I'm going to make it happen. Are any of you VM fans? My sisters and I were truly obsessed with this show and I still maintain that the first season is one of my all-time favorite seasons of television ever. LoVe!

And finally, this weekend Penelope and I are heading to my parents' house tomorrow after music class for the rest of the weekend since Shaun will be away. I can't wait to sit by the pool and maybe take P to the park. I also see some Dukan recipe testing in my mom's kitchen in my future...

I hope you have a GREAT weekend!

What are your weekend plans?

Are you a Veronica Mars fan?

What about hockey?

What Are You Watching Lately?

For those of you asking about the cauliflower pizza recipe mentioned in yesterday's post, I've added links back in the original post, and also linking to the original recipe here. I edited this to be Dukan friendly (e.g., I used all fat free cheese, skipped the parmesean, added oregano, used plain tomato sauce with no sugar added, and topped mine with turkey pepperoni!)

As summer approaches, it seems as though there's simply nothing left on TV. I know that the wave of summer shows will hit soon, but for now we're in that in between time of season finales and summer premieres. With that in mind, here's what we are still watching as of late.

 

Game of Thrones.
Oh how I love this show. I think this season is its best yet. So much action, great storylines and I really just can't get enough. They left us hanging this week with no Memorial Day weekend episode and I am dying to find out how this trial by combat turns out. I haven't read the books, so I'm going into it completely blind...and I'm totally riveted. Peter Dinklage 4E.

Jeopardy.
An old favorite and great standby. We really got into the Tournament of the Decades which really renewed my love and desire to watch it every night. Since there's no way to watch it at 7 each night, we have a stockpile on the DVR...you know, for those romantic evenings on the couch...

Justified.
We're still plotting along with this one, and every season, I just don't get tired of it...even when the storyline gets thin and I'm not entirely sure what's going on...I still can't get enough Raylan or Boyd...And there's never, ever enough screen time of the two of them together. The writing is phenomenal and we find ourselves laughing as much as cringing at the violence. We're in the throes of season 5 and I'm quite unsure as to what we'll do when that ends since we've had this series in the hopper for the last 8 months.

That's about it for tv viewing these days. Our time is always limited in the evenings anyway, but I'd love some suggestions for Netflix or Amazon Prime viewing...any suggestions?

I am also looking for suggestions for a series to watch on our annual Aruba trip, coming up in just 5 weeks! Last November, we started Justified and it was perfection. I'm tossing around the idea of Suits or White Collar. And aside from that, I'm looking for a series to watch on my own without Shaun (for those nights he is out or wants to watch something I dislike, like the Mets). That shortlist includes Scandal and Revenge.

Please share your viewing pleasure in the comments!

Dukan Do It: Week 2

Shaun and I are 10 days in and still going strong on the Dukan diet. When I left you last week, we had made it through the Attack Phase and into the Cruise Phase, which felt like such a relief! In the Cruise Phase, vegetables are added to your meal plans and it makes such a refreshing difference.

Once in the Cruise Phase, we are to alternate days between Pure Protein (PP) and Protein Vegetable (PV). Somehow now going back to those Pure Protein days doesn't seem so terrible and the vegetable days feel like a treat. #whowouldhavethoughtit

One thing that has become apparent and pretty frustrating is that I feel as though I am ALWAYS cooking. There is always something to prep, chop, shop for or clean up. By last night, I have to admit, I was pretty tired of doing it all. After just a week of this, I'm questioning how I'm going to find the time to squeeze all of this in. On Monday afternoon, amongst other prep, I processed two heads of cauliflower and froze them to be used as pizza crust, fried rice or as a taco bowl base throughout the week, thinking that it would make such a difference in prep time on the weeknights. Well, it still required defrosting, heating, draining, mixing, shaping and baking, negating a quick dinner. Instead we sat down to eat at 9:00 last night. It wasn't great. But on the upside, the cauliflower pizza was!

I made two personal pizzas using half a head of finely chopped cauliflower. These came out great! And we were stuffed afterwards. I topped mine with turkey pepperoni, while Shaun added some sautéed mushrooms to his.

Updated to note: I made the crust by following this recipe/tutorial. I used half of a large head of cauliflower for 2 hearty personal pizzas, which fed 2 people generously, and froze the rest in a plastic bag for another night. I made a few adaptations to the crust: I used only fat free mozzarella, I did not use parmesean cheese. I also added oregano and a pinch of garlic powder to the crust. On top, I used plain tomato sauce that I seasoned with oregano and basil (fresh basil would be awesome on this!), fat free shredded mozzarella, and turkey pepperoni. Yum!

It was a great dinner, but was for sure a lot of work.

On the grocery side, I've found that we are certainly spending a significant amount more over the last week+. I hope it's due to ramping up, buying the diet staples and finding our footing, but I'll be interested to track it over the next few weeks.

Also - the dishes. They are never ending honestly. Our dishwasher is full to the brim every night, and there's more piling up.

But...all complaining aside, overall I'm feeling pretty good. My clothes are fitting better than they have in a long time and I've lost 5 pounds in just over a week. I wish I had taken my measurements before I started since I'm pretty positive I'm losing a lot in inches as well. And lastly, I sat and flagged a ton of recipes from the Dukan Diet Cookbook last night and can't wait to dive into some of those in the coming weeks and will be sure to share as I try them out.

Meanwhile, here's some samples of what we've been eating:

Breakfast: mushroom & FF feta frittata, hard boiled eggs, turkey bacon, smoked salmon scrambed eggs, smoked salmon galette

Lunch: turkey burgers, deli turkey slices & FF cheese roll-ups, smoked salmon & FF cream cheese roll-ups, taco bowls over broccoli slaw or as lettuce wraps, grilled chicken breast

Dinner: cauliflower-crusted pizza, steak, chicken, fish, chicken sausages, roasted vegetables on the side

Snacks: FF cottage cheese w/cinnamon & vanilla, sugar-free Jell-O, string cheese, turkey pepperoni, veggies & yogurt dip

So that's my wrap up as we embark on week 2!

Any other Dukan-ers out there? What have you been eating lately?