Pan Fried Steak with Avocado, Corn and Black Bean Salad

All I can say is Yum!

Dan and I made this Weight Watchers recipe on the weekend and it turned out fabulously. WW recipes are usually hit and miss. I sometimes wonder if anyone had even tried the recipe before they published it.

Luckily with my few tweaks this recipe was a hit and we will definitely be making it again.

Here is my version:

Pan Fried Steak with Avocado, Corn and Black Bean Salad

Ingredients:

for steak:
400-450 grams raw lean steak (approx. 1 large boneless steak)
1 medium clove of garlic
1 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
pinch of ground pepper

for salad:
1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper
1 cup cooked corn (we used frozen opposed to canned as they are more crunchy)
1/2 medium diced avocado
1 cup rinsed, drained, black beans
4 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice
pinch of salt
pinch of ground pepper

Pre-heat pan to medium-high.

Score steak on one side; rub garlic over scored surface. Brush steak with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Let steak marinate for 10 minutes.

Combine salad ingredients in medium bowl, stir and put aside.

Pan fry steak to your liking, we did approx. 5 minutes per side. Once steak is cooked set aside for 10 minutes to allow it to absorb its juices. Thinly slice steak into thin slices, portion into 4 servings. Plate salad into 4 servings (about 1/2 cup per portion). Serve with 1/2 cooked brown rice on the side.

This recipe is only 9 PointsPlus per serving including the rice. Amazing and filling!

Enjoy.

p.s. Like my picture? I finally bought white plates to showcase my food. :)

Weight Watchers Commitment

Since achieving my lifetime Weight Watchers member status, I've stopped tracking my food all together. It's been about a year and a half since goal and I've done really well staying on track with my weight fluctuating up and down about 5 lbs.

One thing I've learned is you need to be able to adjust your eating habits to coincide with your activity goals, and when I was training for my marathon my food intake changed drastically compared to when I was losing weight. I was eating nearly double (if not triple) what I was before. Now that I am no longer in intense training, I need to once again change my eating habits.

I've decided to get back on the tracking train so I can get in the habit of how much food I should be eating for this low-medium activity level. I've put on 6 lbs since the marathon, and I need to shed that and get back to reality. The key to weight loss and maintaining is recognizing when you are falling back into old habits and nipping it in the butt as soon as possible. There is no need to get depressed and continue on that negative track. You need to remember how happy you were when you were at goal weight, and that is all the motivation you need to get through a bad eating day, week, month or lifetime.

 

Upon re-signing up, I've noticed they have a new weight loss plan called Weight Watchers 360. I was a little disappointed as I soon realized the tracker and program was identical to the Points Plus program. So, if you were once comfortable with the Points Plus program, don't be discouraged because nothing but some marketing has changed.

I wish you luck with any weight loss/maintenance program you choose. Please stay posted for some new WW recipes I will be posting in the New Year!

Photo Shoot

Dan and I had the pleasure of having our photo's taken by a very talented Niagara photographer a couple of weeks ago.

She posted on her blog today about our session and I am still at a loss for words. We are so thrilled to of had the opportunity to get some updated photo's of ourselves. These pictures truly show our passion, love and goofy sides.

I honestly think having the right photographer is key to capturing all these moments and I cannot recommend Jessica enough. Whether it be for a wedding, engagement, family or couple shoot.

She took her time with us and has a true passion for her photography. She knew exactly how to direct us to get the right shots, but also let our own personalities shine through. She was fun, talented, patient and a true artist at her work.

Thank you Jessica.

Please check out our session here.

Merry Belated Christmas!

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday! For those of you who are off until the New Year, enjoy the rest of your time off (I'm slightly jealous too, haha).

We had a lovely Christmas this year and hosted dinner for 15 close family members. This was the largest crowd we had hosted at our home before and it turned out wonderfully. Lot's of smiles, laughter and good ole fashioned holiday fun. We had an extensive menu of full-fat goodness that kept the family happy, and I wouldn't of wanted it any other way. These were our eats:

Appetizers:

- Buffalo chicken wing dip
- Homemade cheese balls
- Cheese and veggie tray
- Calaprese skewers
- Pizza rolls

Dinner:

- The best damn turkey I've ever made in my life
- Ham
- Corn
- Stuffing
- Potato hash
- Salad

Dessert:

- Rhubarb and apple pie
- Assortment of homemade cookies

I have had the pleasure of participating in a bake exchange over the last few years with a great group of girlfriends. I always leave my baking till the last possible moment, and stress like a mad-woman until they are done. It is totally worth it though! My guests and myself are always crazy over the goodies. It is well worth the effort and the late night bake-a-thon.

Daniel and I were busy leading into the holidays. We decided to furnish our empty basement to make two full functional living spaces. It was quite the ordeal to take on the week before Christmas. But - we are happy we did it as it gave us so much more square footage for entertaining.

Here are some photo's of our new formal living room, our old furniture we moved into the basement:

 

 

We need to stain the legs on our new sofa/loveseat to match the rest of the dark wood, but that can be done in the New Year. Once we get our basement painted I will post photo's of that too. I love how our formal room turned out, it seems so much bigger with our new layout.

We've been in our home for 3 years now and were slowly started to fall out of love with it. With the TLC we gave it over the last week it rekindled our old feelings. It's nice to have a fresh new look to start off the new year.

From our home to yours... Happy Holidays!

I Miss Running....

I've been neglecting my blog for the past little while, mainly due to the holiday season being in full swing! I've been taking the time to enjoy every bit of the holidays as I know they will be over in an instant.

The problem is, I've been enjoying them too much and neglecting my healthy living. I know, I know... I'm supposed to be the one with the healthy living blog that is supposed to be inspiring others to be good to their body. But - as well all know life has set backs.

As mentioned in past posts, I was dealing with an injury after my marathon. I finally received a re-diagnosis and it was in fact a stress fracture. They were wrong the first time. About 4 weeks after the marathon I decided to go out for a light jog - but my body screamed at me the next day. I clearly wasn't healed. So, I then decided to make myself a nice gym plan to keep active during the injury. Needless to say that didn't pan out as I wanted. In 2012 I dedicated my life to running, why did I think I would be happy doing something else?

I'm passionate about running! I love how it makes me feel. The sense of accomplishment is addictive. I've realized I miss it and need to get back into it. Now, many people wonder how to you get back into running after an injury? I did a lot of research on this topic - and the answer is "take it slow". After 8 weeks I've totally lost my base and need to start off fresh again. I went for a 3 km warm up on the weekend and it felt like death.

So this is my new plan:

• Spend the last of December and all of January getting my body back into a schedule
• Run 3-4x per week
• Build up my endurance by running 3-4 km per run in the first couple of weeks, and increase by 10% per week from there
• Lastly, enjoy every step I take...

I think I suffered from runner's burn-out by the end of the marathon. So I need to fall back in love with it again.

I'm COMMITTED to myself.