I have stress about potential stress

This past weekend we took the boys to Detroit for my grandparents' 60th anniversary.

SIXTY.

By the time my husband and I reach that, we'll be all...

Flying with two littles ended up being just fine, but man, I felt like the whole time I was stressed out and anxious about potential meltdowns. Potential blowouts. Potential ANYTHING.

It all went juuuuuuuust fine.

Got home Sunday afternoon and needed an easy-ish filling meal. Enter taco stuffed baked potatoes. I had prepped this before we left, so feel free to make the potato and/or meat in advance and refrigerate or freeze. They bake up quickly once assembled.

Taco Stuffed Baked Potatoes
-4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and dried
-1 lb 93% or 96% lean ground beef
-1 packet taco seasoning (I found reduced sodium)
-1 cup shredded Colby Jack cheese
-Assorted toppings (I used salsa, diced avocado, plain Greek yogurt, and some green onions)

Pierce potatoes with a fork twice. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. While those cook, saute the meat, add 1/3 cup water and taco seasoning. Set aside.

When potatoes are slightly cooled, cut in half and scrape out majority of the insides, leaving ~1/4 inch in the skin. Discard insides. You could refrigerate/freeze both at this point, or proceed.

Distribute meat amongst potatoes and top with cheese. Bake at 350 for ~20 minutes (or longer if refrigerated). Top with your...toppings...and eeeeeeeeeeat.

Serving is two potato halves. Per serving: 430 calories, 34 g carbs, 16 g fat, 33 g protein.

Necessity is the mother of…hot chocolate cake.

I’m three weeks deep into half marathon training. It has been kind of a rough start. 

5 am running. Not fun.

0 degree temperatures. Not fun.

Starting your day with a nice dose of endorphins? Pretty nice.

Now I’m getting back into the groove of feeling like a runner. The only downside I’ve noticed is that I’m pretty much infinity times more hungry during the day and evening. Makes sense right? I’m burning more calories so my body wants to recoup those calories through food.

Too bad that the food I’m craving is chocolately carby cakey deliciousness.

I know better than to keep cake laying around- it would only end one way- in my stomach. Some cake every now and then though is A-OK, so last night I whipped up an individual microwave cake. I used, yep, you guessed it- hot chocolate. This cake was all about the shortcuts.

Single Serve Hot Chocolate Cake

-2 teaspoons tub margarine spread

-1/2 beaten egg

-1 teaspoon white sugar

-1/2 packet hot chocolate (preferably the kind with mini marshmallows)

-1 ½ tablespoons all purpose flour

In a microwavable ramekin or mug, melt the margarine spread. Let cool for a minute or two. Stir in the half egg and the white sugar. Next add the  hot chocolate mix and the flour. Stir until combined. Microwave for ~45 seconds. Cake will be puffy and springy to the touch. Let cool for a minute before digging in.

Not only is this super fast and super satisfying, but it’s only 200 calories. Aaaaaaand portion controlled.

Date night and such

My husband and I went on date night this weekend.

Wanna know how we whoop it up? A nice dinner out followed by a stop at…

That’s right. The baby needed dipes, we needed toilet bowl cleaner, and it pretty much doesn’t get more romantic than that.

Though I suppose in 50 years we’ll be stopping by Target to buy diapers for ourselves.

Ohhhh, aging.

On a less graphic note, the weather yesterday was solidly decent so we grilled kaaaaaabobs. I like to say it like “Daaaaaa BEARSSSS.”

I have pretty much stopped buying pre-made marinade because really, most of what’s in it is stuff you have in your cabinet. And if you don’t have it in your cabinet, you should strongly consider it.

Honey Garlic Marinade

1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons honey

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons dried basil

1 ½ tablespoons dried parsley flakes

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

Whisk all ingredients together. Pour equal parts marinade over veggies and meat, and ideally let sit for ~30 minutes, stirring occasionally to evenly coat.

We ended up with ~20 kabobs. The total calories for the marinade (which makes ~2 cups worth) is 1200. Seems like a lot, but it’s a LOT of marinade. Typically for 1 lb meat you’d need only ½ cup. The sodium content is acceptable too when broken down- about 1/8^th of the recommended daily sodium intake.

I made a dessert of Chia Rice Pudding. With all those veggies and protein, I had some room for carbs. Sometimes a meal in is just as fun as a date night.