At least all this lutien is good for my poor eyes !

Strange but productive day yesterday ! We got an early start, got in our 30 minutes of exercise right off the bat. It is official- I like Wii sports resort cycling and canoeing a lot better that The Biggest Loser Workout for Wii. With the cycling and canoeing game you are moving for longer periods of time with less interruption and you get your heart rate up faster and for a longer duration. Also, with the Sports Resort there is no "motivational chatter" which becomes kind of annoying after you have heard the same phrases for the last 20 minutes. With Sports Resort my son and I can talk while we work out. We did our 30 minutes and then broke for breakfast- a little variation from oatmeal

two hardboiled eggs and an apple. Some mornings we just feel more egg than oatmeal- not that we have anything against oatmeal !

The morning was busy with school and my own work. I encountered something rather important that required a fair amount of research, so I wound up bouncing between helping my son with things he had gotten stuck on, research and household matters. Between things I would check my email, and a friend of mine forwarded me a copy of a newsletter she received with some yummy recipes. Nick glanced over my shoulder while I was reading and BEGGED me to make one of these, and we added a little variation of our own

Kale with Garlic Angel Hair Pasta. Take a bunch of kale, remove the stems and chop into strips. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add the kale. Cook for a minute and then add 6 oz pasta and cook till al dente ( keep the kale in the pot while cooking). While the pasta is cooking crush 2 cloves garlic and slice 1 medium onion into moons and saute these in 1 t olive oil ( add a little water ) till "wimpy". Chop 4 tomatoes into bite sized wedges. Drain the pasta and rimnse in cold water to stop the cooking. Toss with garlic mixture, tomatoes and 2 t dried basil. Place in bowls Top with 1 T parm cheese . Amazingly good - fresh flavors and really eye appealing !

My research continued through the afternoon ( found the answer I needed but my eyes were crossed by evening). Dinner was simple - at least simple for me. I ADORE any kind of meal that I can mix or cut up, toss in the oven and move about other matters. This was one of those kinds of meals. As the heat works it's chemical reaction magic, I am free to do other things. Like shower- something that I STILL struggle to get in some days because there just is not a good time ( most of you moms understand that one !)

Southwest chicken over brown rice with roast Italian vegetables and baby spinach with walnuts and sweet sour dressing. For the chicken take chicken breasts or thighs( I used these because they were on sale last week) , mix one cup black beans, one cup of corn and one cup salsa. Place your chicken in a baking pan, cover with the salsa mix and marinate for 1 hour. Bake 375 for 1 hour, uncovered. The veggies I used were zucchini cut in wedges, mushrooms cut in quarters, eggplant cut in thick slices and wedged, oinions wedged and red pepper chunks. Sprinkle with garlic and Italian seasoning- bake 375 for 1 hour. Turns out baked eggplant has a much stronger flavor this way nd neither son or I preferred it like this. Roast broccoli, brusselsprouts, asparagus, cauliflower, kale and many other veggies roast like this are wonderful. Eggplant I think really needs tomato as a partner !