A Day in the Life of... Me!: 2015 Week One

Tuesday started off great!

My breakfast consisted of 2 slices of bacon, chopped and cooked with 1 tbsp of minced onion; then I added 2 scrambled eggs and 1/4 cup shredded cheese and finished cooking it all together, making the cheese all gooey and melty. YUM!!!

Yes, it's Tuesday, and that means Pint Night at The Happy Viking! Of course Captain had his pint; I had my Bloody Mary. I stayed on track at dinner by having chicken strips (dipped in ranch dressing, of course!) and a salad.

We came home and watched Maleficent, had a glass of red wine, and called it a night. That's it! Nothing else. Zip... Zilch... Nada. Tuesday was successful!

Wednesday started off with 2 cups of coffee. Then I was off with my mom to see her financial adviser. The appointment was at 10:30. We got in to see him about 11:00 and didn't get out until 1:30. Fortunately we got 98% of the things done that we needed to get done. But by this time we were both starving!

The local recommendation was Rocco's Bar & Grill. I must say, great food and a great atmosphere. I wasn't too sure when we first walked in, as you walk directly into the bar, but the dining area is just past it and behind that partition. Whew!

Mom ordered the Firehouse Chicken Sandwich, which was spicy chicken breast, roasted red peppers and Pepper Jack cheese with chipotle BBQ served on a French roll. Her chosen side was garlic fries.

I ordered the Hickory Burger, a one-third pound Certified Angus Beef ® burger topped with fried onion straws, BBQ sauce, applewood-smoked bacon and Cheddar cheese served on a fresh bakery bun. Wait... Hold the bun!!! My chosen side was a salad with ranch dressing. I ate most of the salad and brought home half the burger for dinner later tonight.

Back to the parents' house we go. A successful outing for the day! But at their house they have nuts to snack on. I had maybe a 1/2 cup of these smokehouse bad boys. So salty good!!! And a few peanuts. Before I went any farther I decided to come home.

Now it is dinner. But I'm not really THAT hungry. Thus, leftovers. The rest of my burger from lunch and the remaining chicken strip from the night before.

Thus ends Wednesday. Doing some grocery shopping tomorrow so I can have a little variety.

And then it happens...

A midnight snack attack!

NO!!!

I resisted.

Well, sort of...

One of my favorite sandwiches is a dill pickle and peanut butter sandwich. Preferably on rye bread. However, I just needed to assuage my craving. So I ate just the pickles and peanut butter.

Whew! Dodged that bullet!

After my late night snack attack I slept in until 8:30. Had my coffee, which I am now drinking only with half & half but no sweetener. Eventually my decision for breakfast was easy cheese crisps. I just didn't feel like cooking. Easy-peasy, no muss, no fuss. Love them!!!

My parents wanted to go to Costco later in the afternoon, so I drove them there, dropped them off, went for a facial, came back and picked them up.

As we were leaving Mom said, "Are you hungry? We can go to Jack in the Box! You said they have good salads!"

Seriously? NO!!!

Dad felt like Mexican, so we went to On the Border. And as hard as mom tried, I did not give in and eat those yummy tortilla chips and salsa. I did, however, eat their brisket tacos (hold the tortillas, please) and refried beans with extra cheese.It was a yummy way to end my day!

Friday was a girlfriends day. Susan and I went out for brunch and a movie! We ate at Mimi's Cafe. I ordered quiche and fresh fruit.

But wait! There's crust on it, right? Yes indeed, there is. However, I ate the inside and left the outside. Thus avoiding those evil carbs.

Off to the movies we go. No popcorn, no soda, no candy, just a movie. Selma. Amazing movie! I highly recommend it!

I finally went to the grocery store and did some shopping. Ham, chicken, steak, garlic, cabbage, antipasto, onions. Tomorrow I'm making Stephanie O'Dea's Slow Cooker 20-40 Clove Garlic Chicken, although I did initially find this #recipe on my friend Kathy's website.

The rest of my day was quiet, as was my eating - just a handful of almonds and a dill pickle. So on that note I bid you good night!

I wasn't feeling too good this morning so I didn't really eat anything until late in the morning. I had eggs I needed to use so I hard boiled 8 of them and made egg salad. I ate it just by itself (no, not all 8 eggs) and put the rest in the fridge till later. I can eat it with crudete or lettuce wrap later.

Earlier in the morning I new I wanted to get the chicken in the crockpot, so I prepared everything and got it cooking. I used all thighs, and I probably should have taken the skin off before cooking, as it has a lot of fat in it. But it skims off really easy, and as we all know, fat does add flavor!

That is broth around the chicken; it's that color because of the paprika. From sampling I can tell you it's fabulous, but I needed to add more salt. Season to your own taste! Cannot wait to dig in!

I may have mentioned before about having arthritis in my knees and getting steroid injections, which I did last Monday. But my doctor has been telling me I need to walk. Between (a) the fall I took and skewing my entire body, (b) the arthritis in my knees and (c) having been diagnosed with restless leg syndrome, it has been very painful for me to walk. And the doctor won't give me any pain meds that help. However, with this last injection my knees are not hurting as much. (I'm working on not crossing my legs as that might aggravate everything. Bad habits are hard to break!)

So I have started walking. He says only 5 minutes an hour, which is about all I can do for now. I really don't have anyplace to walk, so I am just pacing thru the house. But at least it's motion. And today I ordered myself a treadmill. Small and compact, I can't wait for it to arrive!

And my first week has now ended - successfully, I might add! After walking yesterday I did have issues with the cramping in my ankles and feet last night. That was not good. But I'm going to work thru this and am hoping it does get better, like my doctor says.

My morning started at 3:38 a.m. when I realized, after getting up 5 or 6 times walking out the cramping, that I wasn't going to go back to sleep. So I gave up, grabbed my quilt, and parked myself in the recliner. How pathetic is it that I am entertained by The Weather Channel? Eventually The Twilight Zone came on the SyFy Channel and then... {drum roll, please} Food Network! Yeah! Thank you, Rachael Ray, for saving me from boredome! LOL!!!

Ironically, about halfway thru Rachael's Week in a Day, I fell asleep and slept for 2 hours. I woke up feeling pretty good, in spite of the fact that a slight cramp was lingering. But gosh, those darn shows sure make me hungry, so I decided I would cook that little New York steak I bought the other night.

I sliced up an onion and caramelized it. Then I cooked that steak... in a hot pan... 3 minutes per side... Medium rare, please!

This is what my breakfast looked like:

Drooling here!!!

Lazy morning ensues, followed by a lazy afternoon. Lunch time! This is what my lunch looked like:

Drooling again!!!

Yes, I had it for both meals. And it was amazing!!! I can't eat a lot of meat in one sitting because it sets to heavily in my stomach, so I relished it.

My BFF Peggy called and said she was working, so I decided to go to her office to visit her. We don't get together nearly as much as we used to. As in, we used to get together everyday when our babies were babies. Now they are grown up and we are lucky to get together every 3 months or so!

After a fun visit it was time to go... time to go eat dinner with Captain! We met at Brookfield's in Roseville. They make the best breakfasts! But being focused, I had a Chef's Salad.