Back to Work

Today is my first day back to work in about a month. Not impressed. I forgot that there are two 4 o'clocks in the day and I wasn't ready to see this one yet.

Last night for dinner I made the stuffed acorn squash, which of course, I did not follow the original post exactly. So, here we go:

Stuffed Acorn Squash
(9 points - sweet potato, black beans and avocado)

-1 acorn squash
-1 can of black beans
-1 sweet potato
-1 tomato
-banana peppers (my hubs doesn't like spicy, so I switched the jalapeno for the banana peppers)
-garlic seasoning

1.  Peel the skin off the sweet potato and cut it up into little cubes, sprinkle with garlic seasoning and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes, or until soft

2. While those are baking, rinse the black beans and let them drain a bit

3. Cut up the tomato and banana pepper and mix together with the black beans. Put this mixture in the fridge to let the flavors marinate together

Isn't that beautiful!

4. Once the sweet potatoes are done, add them to the bean, tomato, pepper mixture and put it back in the fridge

5. Preheat the oven to 400 and cut the squash in half, length wise. As I've mentioned before, this is easier said than done. Use a sharp knife and a mallet if you need to.

It's no joke

6.  Scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff from the center

7. Spritz the inside with butter and bake face-down on a foil-lined baking sheet for half an hour

8. Pull it out, score the inside with a knife, spritz with more butter and put back in the oven for 15 minutes, facing up

9. Pull back out, and let it cool for about 15-20 min.

10.  Scrape the goodies off the sides of the shell and fill each side with the bean, potato mixture, sprinkle with more garlic seasoning and put back in the oven for 15 minutes

11. Pull out of the oven and let cool. It will be hot!

12. Cut up the avocado, and put it on top.

Because I'm going back to work, my workout schedule is going to be a bit screwed up. This week, it's all up in the air and I'm just going to workout as I can.

Yesterday, I also did a little crafting and made a maxi-skirt, so I got my dress-up on:

If you don't hear from me in the next couple days, it's because work is taking everything out of me. I'll post later.

On the road again

I definitely did not workout yesterday. I was so tired, it was like I was going in slow motion. Shouldn't I be over this jet lag by now?

Well it doesn't help that I'm on the road again, either. I do try to fit in some exercising at each gas stop by traveling with a jump rope, and you wouldn't believe the looks you get when you pull out a jump rope while pumping gas. My husband hates it, but I figure I'll never see those people again. You gotta do something to get your heart pumping when you're sitting in a car for 9 hours!

I also bring food with me so that I don't have to eat fast food and end up feeling even more sluggish. I had a Special K protein meal bar and a banana for breakfast, those bars really stick with me and I'll usually have one before a morning run because it's not too heavy, but still has some substance. For lunch, I had a tuna lunch-to-go kit with cut up cucumber, broccoli and cauliflower dipped in Bolthouse Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing, which is only 2 weight watchers points for 2 tablespoons and you won't get much better than that for blue cheese (they also make a thousand island yogurt dressing that is tasty). I keep away the boredom munchies by drinking A LOT of coffee and diet soda, and I sneak in a little water every now and then. Of course, this makes me have to stop about every hour and a half or so for the bathroom, but that just gives me a chance to stretch a bit and jump a little rope.

Even though I didn't workout yesterday, I did have a really good home-cooked meal for dinner. Have I mentioned how amazing a home-cooked meal is when you just ate out for an entire week? It's the best. Me and my sister-in-law made dill-lime salmon, acorn squash with brown sugar and sautéed mixed veggies. Heather made the salmon on a George Foreman grill and grilled fresh dill directly on it then we spritzed it with fresh lime when it was done. Delish! The veggies were broccoli, green peppers, red onions, green onions and garlic, with an extra dose of garlic and the acorn squash does really good for substituting a sweet potato, but is 0 weight watchers points (just count whatever you top it with).

If you've never had the acorn squash, it's too easy:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 and cut the squash in half, length wise (this is easier said than done. It's a bit tough, so use a sharp knife and don't let your sister-in-law watch you cut it if you're not trustworthy with a knife)
2. Scoop out all the seeds and stringy stuff from the center
3. Place it facing up on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil and spritz the inside of the squash with some spray butter
4. Cook for half an hour, then pull it out, score the inside with a knife, sprinkle with brown sugar (if you use Splenda brand it's still 0 points), spritz with  some more butter and bake for another half hour, or until very tender
5. Let cool for a couple min, then scoop out of the skin. Enjoy!