Happy Valentine’s Week!

Yes, I have decided to extend Valentine’s Day all week long.

I’m not a big romantic (as Manatee will attest) but I still just love the idea of a holiday that celebrates pink, chocolate, and telling people (friends, families, pets) that you love them. How can you go wrong with that?

Today I am going to share with you my Valentine’s Day eats and some ridiculous easy and elegant healthy recipes, including a vegan recipe for marinated, roasted portobella mushrooms. Yum!

And today we are also celebrating What I Ate Wednesday–  a day where bloggers all over the world share a day’s worth of eating and we celebrate that yes, all of us do eat.

And this month we are celebrating veggie love. Jenn has asked all of us to share tips about getting more veggies in your diet. I have some great ideas to share with you!

Breakfast

Started the day off with some scrambled eggs (3 whites and 1 full egg), 1/2 Ezekiel muffin with butter, and ketchup. 

Morning Snack

I did P90x2 Plyocide in the morning and then over the lunch hour, went to Master’s Swim. I had some errands to do afterwards and I have learned that after swimming I go from 0 to starving, so I always keep snacks in the car.

This morning I had some blueberry granola. I keep paper cups in the car so I don’t make a huge mess from the granola.

Lunch:

Shakeology!

This was Chocolate Shakeology with nut butter, a frozen banana, and flaxseeds. Yum!

While I was sipping my Shake-O and tidying up the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I found an amazing package of roses waiting for me.

 

 

Attached was an IOU for a romantic night out. He outdid himself. Now I just need to figure out where we should go. Any suggestions fellow Madisonians?

Afternoon Snack:

We were going to be having a late dinner and my stomach was rumbling around 5:00, so I decided to have a quick snack.

 

I had some leftover spicy ground chicken with spinach and lime juice. Yum! Perfect combo of veggies and protein.

Dinner:

Manatee and I decided to stay in for Valentine’s Day this year. I wanted something that would be special but that wouldn’t be labor intensive. We just got back from vacation and we are both feeling super overwhelmed.

I decided to go with marinated mushrooms (recipe below), roasted asparagus, millet with sun-dried tomatoes and green onions, and a spinach salad topped with dried cranberries and toasted walnuts. 

Here is one of my favorite veggies tips:

Put away your salad bowl!

That’s right. Get rid of it! Pile your salad right on your plate and then cover it with your other food. Manatee and I do almost every meal like this. You don’t need any dressings and you get tons more greens than if you would be eating your salad separately.

Dessert:

This is the easiest dessert you will ever make.

The first time I made it, I was having people over for a dinner party and ran out of time to make a dessert. I always have berries on hand to use as a garnish and I searched my pantry for inspiration and found a jar of Nutella.

Check this out (and excuse the pictures, it was Valentine’s Day and my focus was somewhere else).

Scoop a heaping tablespoon of Nutella in the bottom of a ramekin.

Cover with strawberries.

I like to serve this with a small spoon, so I can get every last bit of Nutella.

Marinated Mushrooms Recipe

adapted from Veganomicon

4 medium to large portabella mushroom caps
1 cup red wine
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
5 cloves garlic, minced

  1. In a square pan or casserole dish, mix together wine, olive oil, vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic.
  2. Place mushrooms upside down and spoon marinade into each cap, forming a small pool.
  3. Let sit for 20 minutes. During that time preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  4. Cover pan or casserole dish with foil. Roast for 20 minutes.
  5. Remove foil and roast an additional 10 minutes.
Recipe Review: This is one of our go-to dinners. We love mushrooms. We make 4 so that we have 2 leftover for the next day. 🙂
For this meal, I got mushrooms started with their marinade and then started the millet (made with 2 cups beef broth, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes, and 1 cup millet). Then I cleaned and prepped the asparagus (cut off the ends and drizzled with olive oil).
I put the mushrooms in the oven, and ten minutes later put in the asparagus (which roasts for 20 minutes). While it was in the oven, I toasted the walnuts which took all of 5 minutes.
When I write it down, it sounds like more work than it was. I should also note that I was sipping wine throughout the whole process. 😉
What are your favorite easy, fancy recipes? 
and
What are your healthy on-the-go snacks for the car?
Happy WIAW!

 

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