24 Day Challenge: Day 4 & 5

Day 4 & 5 were pretty much uneventful. It makes sense that some of the challenge days are going to be normal days. On top of that, we're getting to the end of the week, so a lot of our meals are becoming repeats of leftovers. In terms of the products, this Day 4 is the first day off the fiber drink and on the ProBiotic Restore™ ULTRA:. Neither Alice nor I feel any different, but we feel good. Still chugging along. Since nothing new is really happening, I'll get right to the recipe.

Here's the menu:

Day 4:

For Breakfast I made one of the taco bowls but I left out the rice and added one hard boiled egg. It would have been fine to have the rice, but I generally don't eat as big of a meal for breakfast so I cut it out. For lunch I used some of our leftover Tuscan chicken and steamed broccoli to build a delicious
Chicken Quinoa Kale Salad. I found this recipe on Pinterest for Lemon Quinoa Salad with Pistachios & Sun-Dried Tomatoes that looked delicious, so I added that to the salad for some carb energy. I did alter the recipe slightly so here's the recipe.

Quinoa Salad w/ Pistachios & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

1 cup quinoa
2 1/4 cups water
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup shelled & chopped pistachios
1/2 bunch chopped flat-leaf parsley

Lemon Dijon Basil Vinaigrette

A few years ago I found this method for cooking quinoa which changed my life. Place the quinoa in a microwave bowl that either has a lid, or that you can tightly wrap with saran wrap. Cover the quinoa with 2 1/4 cups of water and then cover the bowl. Microwave the quinoa for about 13 mins or until you notice that all of the water is gone. Let it rest for 2 mins before you take off the lid. It will turn out nice and fluffy everytime!!

After the quinoa is done, add the tomatoes, pistachios, & parsley and mix. Since I added this quinoa to a salad, I left off the dressing until I made the salad. But if you wanted to eat the quinoa salad as a side dish with some chicken or salmon then just drizzle a little dressing on then.

Chicken Quinoa Kale Salad 

Lemon Dijon Basil Vinaigrette
4 oz Tuscan Chicken
1/2 Cup of the Quinoa Salad
3 oz of Steamed Broccoli
~2 Cups of Massaged Kale
I decided to assemble the salads using the mason jar method that is all over Pinterest right now. I'll say that I do like it, but you have to have bowl to pour it into, otherwise it'd be really hard to get all the flavors in one bite, which is pretty much my goal for everything I eat.

Start with the dressing on the bottom, then add the Tuscan chicken, the quinoa salad,  steamed broccoli, and fill the rest of the jar with massaged kale. What's massaged kale you ask? Pull the kale leaves off the stem and tear them into bite sized pieces. Then literally just massage the kale. Put it in a bowl and squeeze handfuls of it over and over until the kale turns a darker color. Massaging the kale turns this tough, bitter leaf into a nice soft, easily chewed addition to any salad.

Lemon Dijon Basil Vinaigrette

1/4 Cup of Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 Cup of Water

Juice from 1 Lemon
2 Garlic Cloves
2 Tsp Dijon Mustard
1/4 Cup of Basil
2 Tbsp of Parsley
1/4 Cup of Olive oil

Put all the ingredients, except the oil, in the blender and puree. With the blender on, pour the oil in slowly. I use 1/4 cup of this dressing for the Kale Salad because it's so much lower in calories. When using it for the Quinoa Salad 1-2 tbsp would be enough.

I was home on Day 4 so I decided to prepare a smoothie for my PM snack instead of veggies, which are more of an on the go snack. I bought some powdered peanut butter before we started the challenge, and I was really looking for to using it. I really love PB & J and since I'm cutting out wheat for the challenge I thought I'd try and recreate my favorite childhood snack in the smoothie. 

PB & J Smoothie

2 Tbsp PB2

140 g of Frozen Strawberries

3/4 Cup of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk

1/2 tsp of Truvia

Weigh the strawberries using your kitchen scale. Place those berries in your blender. Add two tablespoons of PB2, trivia, and the Almond Milk. Blend until smooth and enjoy as much as I did. 

Also on Day 4, I completed Week 1 Day 1 the Couch to 5k program I mentioned in Day 3 . Its an easy program to get beginners from couch potatoes to 5K distance runners in 8 weeks. I'd tried it before but weren't as committed. I did like it, and for someone who has never been good at running, it really does help ease you into it. They have a great app that you use that directs you through each session. I even took Bentley with me (our Yorkie) on the run as he too needs to lose a pound (hey it's a lot when you only weigh 11lbs!). Our vet advised me to ease him into exercise just like I would myself, so we did it together and we were both champs.

Day 5 meals were pretty much a repeat except that Alice and I got sucked into some Shrimp Ceviche when we went to the Baja Ranch Market. The deli counter guy told me the only ingredients were shrimp, cucumbers, red onion, and green salsa. It seemed safe, so we ate it. We also had it with a proper portion of tortilla chips. Normally we don't have carbs for dinner, but hey, it was Friday and we weren't having any Corona with our ceviche so we indulged a little.

We also had to go to the brewery where Alice interns to pick up her monthly employee gratis & discounted beer since we're stocking up for the wedding reception in June. Talk about incredibly difficult. Nothing like having 5 cases of your favorite beers in your trunk and not being able to drink any of it!! I'm actually really proud of us though. Although we really wanted it, we both are so committed to the challenge and our results that we aren't letting the temptations get us down. It feels so great to want something so bad that the temptations...don't really feel like temptations. It's a new feeling, but it feels oh so good. Day 6 will be a real testament of our will power though, as we venture into our first restaurant experience on the challenge. Tune in to see how we do.