The Typical Tuesday Ritual

Another week goes by and another weigh in comes and goes.  We have a few things to go over in this quickie of a blog for tonight.  First off, holy crap its almost Labor Day; it's almost time for 3 of our best friends weddings and it's almost time for Sue & Erik's Halloween party as well.  What will I be this year?? Who knows.

So Irene came and went and luckily we didn't lose power and didn't get the brunt of the hurricanes full force either.  Seeing some of the pictures from Facebook of people in Connecticut, New Jersey and New York is pretty crazy.  I even put up some pictures from the bike trail I ride on the weekends; an entire 1/2 mile area just submerged under water.  Hopefully the river will go back to normal soon and I'll be able to ride it this weekend, we'll see.

Now I know what people have been waiting for (not really but...) the name of my weekend web show.  Well you're going to have to wait some more.  I know, I know, I'm still trying to figure out between the votes and the fantastic "other" submissions (by Mike B) what it will actually be.  Check back later in the week for the winner!

And finally...the weigh in.  So last week I was down 39 pounds...so close to my first goal of hitting my wedding weight.  I have some good news; I was able to hit that this week.  So far down 42 pounds and feeling awesome!  I probably won't hit the ridiculous goal I accidentally set for myself on SparkPeople.com but I will definitely get pretty close by October 31st.  Today was actually the first day I really felt "skinny" as Erin says to me.  I also was able to fit into a pair of jeans I haven't worn since, I think...2001 maybe.  Yes I kept my jeans from that long ago LOL.  Hey what can I say I don't like to throw things away.  This whole thing has been quite a ride so far and I'm loving the results!  I can't wait for hockey to start now!

So to everyone, thanks for the positive thoughts and if you keep em' coming, I'll keep on writing!

Goodnight Irene!

So apparently there is a hurricane coming;  so bring out all your hurricane/Irene reference.  Best thing for a hurricane is alcohol and we have plenty of it.  I'm also playing a storm/hurricane themed playlist but Erin really isn't getting into the hurricane party mood :-(  Anyway, on too the food.

Chicken w/Wine Braised Mushrooms

So we have two nights of dinners to update everyone on.  Last night I made Chicken and Wine Braised Mushrooms with a Quinoa Pilaf.  So to premise this dish, it is the first time I've ever cooked quinoa and also the first time we have ever eaten it.  It has a very nice flavor (I cooked it in chicken broth), has the texture of a split between tapioca and over cooked pasta I would say.  The pilaf was made with some shallots, carrots and then tossed with chopped walnuts and parsley.  We both enjoyed it, but something about the quinoa did not agree with Erin's stomach.  Oh well, more quinoa for me!  The chicken was basically just sauteed with a little oil, salt & pepper.  The mushrooms were cooked down till soft then I added in about 3/4 a cup of white cooking wine and let that cook for a while till the mushrooms started to really soak up the flavor of the wine.  Other than Erin liking, but not being able to "stomach" the quinoa it definitely was a very good dinner.  And the quinoa is very good for you since it is high in Iron and Protein. 

Saturday morning before the bad weather started to come in I wanted to get a bike ride in and luckily I was able too.  Today I did 8 miles from home to the trail, a few laps around that and then back home.  I was even able to get up a portion of the pain in the butt hill that I have to ride up on the way back.  We prepared a little for the hurricane too; went shopping on Friday to pick up some non - refrigerated stuff just in case we lost power.  We made some huge blocks of ice as well to use in our cooler and filled up a bunch of my hockey water bottles with fresh water.  Overkill....maybe, but we'll see.  I also brought in my grill that I haven't really been able to use; being on the third floor really doesn't make it easy to use. Breakfast was awesome and consisted of what I like to call the Sunrise Omelet.  It has so much color it's just reminds you of the sun rising.  Red, orange and yellow peppers, shallots, mushrooms and cheese, just plain great! 

I was going to try and do a quick run through of a taping for my web show (name to be announced Monday or Tuesday) but with the crappy weather and not knowing what will happen, I decided against it.  Tonight's dinner was Grilled Pork Tenderloin with a Lime Peach salsa.  I added a side of green beans to the dish and that was about it.  The pork was grilled with a paste of garlic, oil and pepper on top and if I may say so, cooked perfectly!  The Lime Peach salsa had a nice flavor and the mint that was also in it gave the pork a very light, fresh taste.  Next time I might try to use a little less lime juice and do more of a peach salsa; something a tad bit sweeter.  After cooking this dish, one of my favorite things in the food world is pork tenderloin.  So easy to cook, and there is so much that you can do with it; the ideas are limitless.

Well the storm continues, and will only get more severe over the next 12 hours or so.  Probably no blog till late tomorrow or Monday.  Nothing interesting planned for dinner tomorrow, we have a bunch of leftovers and canned stuff that we make pretty quick.  If you're in the path of Irene, please be safe and I'll talk to everyone after the storm is over.  Night all! 

Good Food Ends with Good Talk

And that's exactly why I love writing this blog.  Especially after a pretty spectacular dinner.  However before we get to the food of the day, we're going to touch on life for a second.

So one of the other reasons I started this blog was to talk about my entrance into being a parent.  Unfortunately that is still on hold, but I have hope that soon, things will turn around.  Work is going pretty good too; a lot of big changes coming up and some great opportunities.  With some hard work, good planning and teamwork we should be seeing some positive results.  As far as sports...hockey starts after Labor Day, and i'm looking forward to a much better season than we had last time.  I mean we can't do much worse than 3 wins and with those new jerseys for color changes...we are gonna look sharp!  Music (my third love) is going to get pretty awesome very soon.  I've missed a few great concerts, namely Def Leppard, Journey, Skynyrd, just to name a few.  However the BIG 4 is just a few short weeks away - Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax!  It's going to be at Yankee Stadium (boo), but all in all it will be EPIC!  So that's life in a nutshell.

Ginger Beef Stir Fry

Back to food; tonight's dinner was by myself...sad face, but it was damn good.  The only thing I would change about it was the sauce.  Possibly something a little bit sweeter.  On the menu was Ginger Beef Stir Fry with steamed broccoli over rice.  I know I always say this, but again, one of the best things about this diet and cooking in general is the food is so fresh and good that 9 times out of 10 it leaves you nice and full and not wanting more.  OK, back to the meal...some diced ginger and garlic sauteed to get some nice flavor into the sesame oil.  The steak was cut into thin strips and then added to the wok to cook till just golden brown.  Add in some thinly sliced scallions and orange bell pepper and let that all mix together and become yummy for a bit.   The sauce was some water, light soy sauce and corn starch.  Mix into the wok and cook until the sauce thickens.  The original recipe called for edamame (sp), but I substituted in some broccoli instead.  I plated it over some brown rice and that's it!  The stir fry (minus the rice) comes to about 325 calories per serving and only takes around 20 mins to prep and cook.

This mornings smoothie was a thrown together one...no fancy name...sorry.  It was basically a banana and mixed berry smoothie.  Still very good.  Ice, 1 banana and frozen blueberries, raspberries, blackberries & cranberries.

This weekend we are apparently having a hurricane up here in Connecticut, so the blog may be delayed depending on weather/power and crap.  My first attempt at a webisode may be shot this Saturday too, but we'll see.  Hope everyone has a good night and remember voting for the naming ends at 12pm tomorrow.  Make your opinion heard!

It's All About The Flavor

Bland, tasteless food just sucks!  It was definitely one of the things I was worried about when Erin said she wanted to do the South Beach Diet.  I was worried that we'd be having chicken or fish with no sauce...cardboard tasting pasta just to name a few.  However this is not the case!  This morning we started off the day with the Metabolism Charger smoothie.  I've made this one before but didn't use one of the key ingredients.  The smoothie is made with mango, green tea, yogurt, and ice.  The piece that I was missing was agave syrup/nectar.  A little bit of that stuff adds sooooo much flavor.  It's a cross between a simple syrup and maple syrup.  I chose to go with the amber colored agave nectar which has a little more body to the flavor.  This one is definitely one of my favorite smoothies;  I absolutely love the green tea in it.

Chicken Puttanesca

Now onto dinner.  I had recommended this one and Erin definitely wanted me to try it.  Tonight was Chicken Puttanesca.  DAMN...was this one good!  One of the best things is we have not bought jar pasta sauce in months and I was saying to Erin that I enjoy the "freshly" made sauce so much better.  Well like I said in one word....this dish definitely hit a home run.  I wasn't really sure what to expect; tomato's, olives & capers??? I was intrigued to say the least.  All put together, the flavors of this dish were great.  Now a traditional puttanesca sauce is made with anchioves (those were not in this one - but maybe next time), crushed/diced tomato's, capers, olives (we used Kalamatta), red pepper flakes and of course garlic.  A little basil and some lemon juice to finish off and done.  The sauce started out a little too watery for my taste, so I added in some tomato paste to thicken it up a bit.  The chicken was just seasoned with salt and pepper and then cooked in about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.  Set aside the chicken and then add in all the sauce components.  Once it comes together, add in the chicken to reheat and then plate.  We used some whole wheat penne, but you could use any kind of pasta or even couscous. 

Tomorrow night I am on my own for dinner since Erin is headed off to a work outing.  My dinner will consist of Ginger Beef Stir Fry with steamed broccoli.  Should be another good one!  Have a great night everyone and remember only 1 more day to vote for my web show name.

The Simple Things in Life

Yet again we hit another Tuesday and you know what that means...

It's weigh in day!!!  So i've pretty much lost track what week this is, but no big deal.  As of this morning I am down another 2 pounds!  This so far brings the total weight loss up to 39 pounds, which is pretty effing awesome!  I am currently 1 pound away from my first goal...my wedding weight.  After that, it's another 30 pounds to the second goal.  That would bring me down to 240, something I haven't seen on a scale since sometime before junior year of college I think.  We'll see how well the second phase goes. 

Anyway, onto the eats portion of the blog.  Voting is still open for name my webisode game.  If you are voting, also check out some of the options Mike B. put down on one of the comments.  Definitely some good options in there.  So last night we had a California Turkey Salad with Tomato Lime dressing.  The salad itself had some cubed deli turkey (low sodium), cubed mozzarella, diced avocado and tomato.  The dressing was made in a blender or food processor with 3 plum tomato's, 3 tbsps of lime juice and 3 tbsps of extra virgin olive oil.  Salt and pepper taste.  I also added some Italian seasoning to the dressing as well.  The dressing was very good, tasted super fresh...but as many of you know, I'm not big on uncooked tomato's;  that was the reason I added the herbs.  Like I said good, but not one of my favorites.  Erin however really like the dressing and even had the leftovers for lunch today.

Tonight's dinner was Baked Tilapia with Asparagus and Shitake Mushrooms.  Now this dinner was more up my alley.  The veggies were roasted with some garlic, rosemary, scallions and oil.  Of course some salt and pepper to taste as well.  That baked for around 7-10 minutes then the fish was added to the same sheet pan after.  The fish was seasoned with salt, pepper and some lemon juice, then placed in the middle of the sheet.  Ten more minutes or until the fish flakes with a fork and your done.  Very quick, simple and although it sounds very plain...the vegetables had a great flavor from the scallions and rosemary.  The original recipe called for halibut, but any fish could be substituted in its place. 

On an ending note the other great foodie stuff we've been having are smoothies in the morning for breakfast.  Monday we had the Vitamin C Monster and Tuesday I made the Brain Booster.  This one had pomegranate juice, yogurt, ice, blueberries and basil.  The pomegranate gives this smoothie a nice tartness to it and the basil is a very subtle flavor that just hits you at the end.  Tomorrow we're going for one of my favorites...the metabolizer!  More information on that one tomorrow.  If you've read my blog, you already know what's in that one.  Night everyone. Only a few more days to vote too!!!

The Best in Life & Food

Some of the best things are just thrown together on a whim!  That was pretty much the motto of today.  First off, the day started very early...6am.  I wanted to get a jump start on the day and get my bike ride in before a lot of the annoying walkers clogged up the trail.  Everything was going great;  had a plan in mind for the ride - was going to do 9 miles and get some grocery shopping in before Erin woke up.  I hit the end of the trail and took the turn a) a little too fast and b) a little low on the left side.  BAM...my left peddle hits the ground and I go flying.  Skidded knee, busted up left cheek, sore palms and the peddle cut my ankle.  It was awesome!  The little Asian guy who was walking stopped to make sure I was OK...now of course my knee is bleeding, my chain is totally off, I'm hot, sweaty, my face is sore and now I'm all dirty...fantastic.  After sitting down and finally getting my chain back on the bike...I got back up, semi cleaned off and did another 4 miles.  Didn't hit my goal of 9, but I had to get home and clean my wounds LOL.

So back to the on a whim thing...after grocery shopping with Erin I decided to make some seafood salad for sandwiches.  I remembered from my days at Associated (in RVC) that we used to do a seafood salad there that had some mayo, celery and dill.  I decided to take that a little bit further and created what turned out to be an awesome Lemon Herb Mayonnaise.  Threw that into the crab and lobster meat with some onion and celery and it was a perfect match for the salad.  The mayo had a mix of dill, basil, cilantro, salt and pepper and lemon juice.  In addition to that mayonnaise, for dinner we had hot steak sandwiches with a Roasted Red Pepper mayo (sorry no pictures).  This one I didn't just come up with myself so i can't take all the credit.  But wow...what a flavor.  It really cut through the seasoned steak and added a perfect fresh layer to the sandwich.  I added a little cole slaw on the side and a very quick dinner, but very tasty.

We are finally back to a set menu for the week and we have some great things coming up.  Tomorrow night is a salad; turkey, mozzarella cheese over romaine lettuce with a tomato lime dressing.  I'm not big on tomato's but this recipe definitely caught my eye in the book.  Following that we have some chicken dishes that are sure to please, a roasted pork tenderloin, a lovely tilapia dish and some more steak.  Can't give everything away right now. 

Finally don't forget to vote for the name of my web show.  Only 5 votes so far...I definitely need more than that to make my final decision.  Be back tomorrow night with a review of the tomato lime dressing.  Vitamin C monster smoothie in the morning.  Mango, pineapple, orange juice, banana, ice and a bit of milk.  Had to substitute some things since I forgot to buy yogurt today...oh well, night!

The name game

So for the past few days I have been racking my brain (and Erin's, and a few others) to come up with a catchy title/name for my webisode (web show) idea.  I've come up with a few options and the poll is on the right.  Please vote for the option you think is best or if you think you have a better idea...vote for Other, and write it down in the comments.  I've thought of a ton more, but I wanted to get something that someone didn't already have in some way, shape or form.  So that's the story...SO...LET THE VOTING BEGIN!

Not much going on for food this week, but most definitely this weekend we will have some good eats going on.  I've been watching Food Network all night with Erin and all I want to do is get in the kitchen and cook.  Don't care what it is, but I just want to start throwing dishes together.  Really makes me wonder why I never went to culinary school...who knows.  Maybe it will be my second coming; probably not, but one can always dream.

The next few weeks are really going to be tough.  I'm almost at my wedding weight, and that is where I kind of hit the wall last time in my weight loss campaign.  Great advice from my good friend Jimmy Lynch (shout out), I think gave me the motivation to really break through the wall and get over the hump.  The "red" line is creeping up on me and I don't want to be on top of it.  This I feel is going to be the hardest part of my journey so far.  Never surrender, never give up!

The one great thing that has happened since starting this blog has really been the support and guidance that my friends and others have given me.  So a big thank you to everyone who has commented and read my blog over the past few months.  THANK YOU!

That's all for tonight...a 6-10 mile bike ride in the morning (as long as weather holds up) is in store for me.  I can't wait to start playing hockey again too.  Don't forget to vote!  See ya all tomorrow.

Do you choose to simply know the path...

...or do you choose to walk it?

Right now we've been doing this for 3ish months. For the most part I've been  walking right on the path usually ahead of where I should be.  Occasionally I have strayed from the path...but have gotten right back  on; and that's OK I don't want to get content with what I've  accomplished so far; I also don't want to get frustrated with not  achieving consistent results every week. Yesterday was weigh in day  and...I'm down another 2 pounds! This brings the total weight lost to  37 pounds and now all the clothes I had that were tight, that went to  fitting are now loose. Oh well!

With getting back into the fold being away we have slacked a little bit on  the South Beach style dinners. So time to get back on that horse ASAP! Also I've said this before...but now I really have to keep myself to  it, but I have to stick to a workout routine. Whatever it is...elliptical at home, bike on the weekends (the only thing I've  really stayed with), resistance bands, crunches, pushups...whatever it  is...I need to stick to it. Many people have asked me...what are you  doing differently? And really the only thing so far has been eating more  healthy. Which is fantastic. We've got the eating healthy part down, now we really have to get full life style change going and get the  working out thing done! At work I try to walk about 2 miles a day, so  that helps...but I need to kick it up a notch. I think with that added  in, I'll be a weight loss force to be reckoned with.

On  that note...I've had a few people comment about the webisode thing and  thanks for the input. Now I have to come up with a catchy, cool name. I  have a few ideas...some good, some bad. If anyone has any thoughts  definitely let me know.  Next week I'll put up some options and see if  we can get a vote on which one people like. That's all for tonight  people, see you tomorrow! Stay strong and keep going!

Here I go again...

Here I go again on my own
Going down the only road I've ever known
Like a drifter, I was born to walk alone
And I've made up my mind
I ain't wasting no more time.

Well...at least two of those statements are true!  I've made up my mind and I'm not going to waste any more time.  After a rather long hiatus I am finally back...thought you got rid of me huh?  With the wedding and flying out to Las Vegas for the annual AlphaGraphics conference there just wasn't a lot of time to write.  Also since I didn't have a laptop with me in Vegas....and I wasn't even going to try to write a blog on my phone, I decided to take some time off.  

But like I said, I'm back!  So a few things first...I've hit my halfway goal of 35 pounds.  Which is also only 5 lbs away from my wedding weight!  Very excited and even after a wedding and being away eating some very awesome food in Las Vegas, I am proud to say I did not gain any weight!  

Now speaking of food...some great meals while out there!  The first major meal was at BOA Steakhouse in the Forum Shops at Caesar's Palace.  We were looking for a steakhouse and this one was recommended by the concierge assigned for the AG conference.  They had a number of signature cocktails which we all had one of, unfortunately I can't remember what it was, but it was called the New Fashion.  We started off with some appetizers; since I was getting steak for dinner I went with a little surf before the turf.  I decided to have the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake over grilled hearts of palm salad with a Cajun remoulade.  This was fantastic!  A nice size cake...with freshly flown in crab.  The best part of this was the Cajun remoulade, very refreshing with a little spicy kick at the end.  A perfect compliment to the crab.  For dinner I went with the Petite Filet Mignon paired with a Cabernet sauce.  Very tasty, very tender and perfectly cooked.  We also went for some family style asparagus, mashed potato's and sweet potato fries.

We also had lunch one day at P.J. Clarke's (also in the Forum Shops), which is a New York import into the desert.  They fly in all there seafood (especially there shellfish) from the east coast...notably Long Island!  Since we only had a short time to eat lunch we didn't have any apps or extra's.  I had the Torn Basil Chicken on ciabatta bread with fresh mozzarella, arugula and tomato.  Once again, this sandwich was fantastic...so fresh tasting, just the right amount of chicken on the ciabatta that it all didn't fall out.  A perfect dish to even make at home with some leftover chicken if you have it.

Finally for the last hooray, we decided to eat at the famed Bay area chef's restaurant, Bradley Ogden's.  Ogden has won awards for Best Restaurant, Best Chef and numerous others.  His cooking is traditional American cuisine, using farm fresh and organic ingredients.  I went with the Prix-Fixe tasting menu and chose to have the Ogden Caesar Salad presented on full leaves of Romaine Lettuce, the pan seared Alaskan Halibut in a watermelon broth over cucumber noodles and bok choy.  Finally for dessert I had the Banana's Foster Cake (macerated bananas, a fresh made chocolate candy, chocolate banana bread and cream cheese ice cream).  I also tried some of the Twice Baked Maytag Blue Cheese Souffle which was out of this world good!  Everything here was amazing, and the watermelon broth was a perfect match for the cucumber and the halibut.  Definitely a perfect light meal to a very good week in Las Vegas.

All in all a worthwhile trip both for work and the culinary delights!

I've also been thinking about possibly doing a weekly webisode to add to the blog.  Basically I would pick one of my weekend meals (a good one of course) and basically tape it like I had my own cooking show.  Who knows...if you think it's a good idea...or would want to see a "cooking with Chuck" webisode, let me know.  Since no one will respond to it anyway...I'll probably end up doing it anyway.

Have a great night everyone.  Weigh in is tomorrow, we'll see what happens.

I am a Slacker, with a capital S!

Yea I pretty much suck!  Monday I'd said I'd be back on Wednesday....I lied!  I wanted to go grocery shopping on Tuesday but started driving home and just wanted to go home, relax, have a quick dinner, play some Rock Band and watch America's Got Talent with Erin.  So instead we went to the grocery store yesterday and just picked up a few things since we have a wedding this weekend and I'll be out pretty much all next week in Vegas.  So for being missing for a few days I do apologize (not that many of you care LOL). 

So let us backtrack to Tuesday; WEIGH IN DAY...This week I lost another 2 pounds to bring the total loss to 34 pounds!  Very excited, like I said on Monday I was a little worried about any weight loss, but any pounds lost is progress.  So we are only 6 measly pounds away from my first goal (wedding weight), and almost halfway to the ultimate goal for October 31st...70 POUNDS!  Keep plugging away...I kind of feel like that train in the kids story - I think I can, I think I can...
Good news for Erin too, she is down a total of 20ish pounds!  That was her last update to me, it may be more as I write. 

This week we've just decided to do quick meals for dinner.  Last night Erin made one of her specialties - Enchilada's!  This time made with ground turkey and not chicken.  Everything came out great.  We also used some of the fantastic guacamole that I made the other day as well.  Tonight's dinner is going to be steak, with mushrooms (maybe a quick red wine sauce) and sweet potato fries with a salad.  Pretty quick and with the salad added gets you a little bit of everything! 

Well today is my last day of work for about a week...so looking forward to it.  Not just the wedding this weekend, but the fun of going to Las Vegas as well.  I have a chance to once again learn a lot of things, make some more connections at the corporate level and plain and simple have a good time.  I've been debating on if I want to do anything else while i'm out there; one option was to go see the Jabbawockeez show, those guys are just so fun to watch and it's pretty cheap.  ORRRRR maybe Blue Man Group...who knows.  I will certainly try to write while i'm out there but who knows.  Well thats about it for the afternoon edition of slacker blog!  Write again tonight or tomorrow!

Holy hail storm Batman!

Wow some pretty crazy weather here today in Connecticut!  I was sitting by the window literally watching dozens upon dozens of lightning strikes in the sky, followed by very ominous, lengthy and loud thunder.  It always amazes me how something so beautiful can also be so menacing.  Once it started raining we had about a good 45 minutes of just pure down pour.  The hill in the back of our apartment (Hillside Ave) like usual started to look like a raging river and then the dime - quarter size hail started.  It was a pretty awesome event to watch.  Our bathroom kind of flooded, since I by mistake left the window open and no matter what happens the rain and wind always seem to blow right into the windows on that side of the house. 

Well it was back to work today; after a very enjoyable birthday weekend.  A surprise party on Friday night, house/condo hunting on Saturday and a big Dragons Hockey win on Sunday to end the season...the weekend was very good.  Speaking of hockey; this season did not go too well.  3-9 we ended the year with only I think 31 goals scored.  Needless to say we didn't have much offense and it definitely wasn't consistent.  But the last few games of the season I think we really started to play better as a team.  A few 1 goal loses and two wins.  What sucks now is that we have at least a month off before next season starts.  I believe we are adding a new forward to the team as well and hopefully the schedule will pan out better since we never had offensive lines stay the same from game to game.  On another quick hockey note...the Devils signed Zach Parise, and also waived Colin White!  So many Devils fans are now saying "what the f**k took so long Lou!".  One eyed Whitey is gone.  I could deal with him when he was a fighter and a big hitter, but after his whole eye injury thing he just sort of went through the motions and forgot what kind of player he used to be.  Let's Go Devils!  Also hopefully the Islanders vote went well today; it would really suck if the Isles had to leave NY and go elsewhere.

Chicken with Cremini Cream Sauce

OK, before we wrap up for the night a quick look at the meals for Sunday and Monday.  Tonight was literally a throw together dinner;  I had some shrimp left and some frozen veggies, so I did my go to meal as of late Shrimp Scampi.  Comes together quickly and tastes good!  Sunday however was another awesome keeper meal as we dined on Chicken with a Cremini Mushroom Cream Sauce, rice and roasted asparagus.  Now usually I would say...a cream sauce on a diet...not possible.  However this one was pretty darn good.  The sauce was basically chicken stock and a little low fat cream cheese (with the mushrooms-for fantastic flavor & scallions).  Came together very nicely.  The chicken was just browned in the pan with a little olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.  Nothing real fancy about this dish, but people will think it took you a while to make.  The asparagus was great as well.  Growing up my mom always used to make asparagus, broccoli & cauliflower the same way...boiled and topped with either butter or in the cauliflowers case a white sauce.  Now it was always good, but roasting the asparagus and broccoli I think really makes the flavor of the vegetable stand out more.  And cauliflower...not a huge fan, but the mashed cauliflower we did wasn't that bad I must admit.

Tomorrow is weigh in day along with grocery shopping, so there might not be a blog tomorrow night.  I'm a little worried about weight in...last week I was at 278...I'd like to see 275 on the scale tomorrow but I don't think that will happen.  Just gotta keep working!  By the way...4 day work week this week with Sarah and Bubba's wedding on Saturday then it's off to VEGAS!  Not for fun...but for work.  So if anyone reading is going to be or lives in Vegas and wants to get together for a drink or something...let me know!  Night all!