Turning Shepherd's Pie into a Casserole

This is how my Shepherd's pie began. I had the great idea of subbing barley on top instead of mashed potatoes. Unfortunately my barley ended up like this...


Needless to say I had to sweep up all the barley and scrap that idea so I made a mixed veggie casserole instead. The colors were so pretty.



I also tried my hand at making some GRANOLA bars. I made some Cran-Orange, Apricot and Almond bars. There were a little dry but had a great flavor!






Today I struggled a little with my workout. I worked out with Joey (my trainer)and I usually am able to push a little harder and we only did BACK and BICEPS but I was wiped out. I am afraid I may be trying to beat a little cold (runny nose, slight sore throat this AM) which may explain the unexplained wimpiness. I was wanting something cold on the throat when I got home and I tried making Banana "SOFT SERVE" for the first time. I had cut up a bunch of sale bananas yesterday and froze the slices all spread out on parchment paper so they wouldn't be stuck together. After frozen I dumped them into a big gallon Ziplock bag. I threw 1 1/2 cups frozen bananas, about 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk, 1 tbsp chia seeds, and 1 scoop vanilla protein powder in the blender. Once it was thick and smooth and topped with pecans and semi-sweet chocolate chips. Yummy! That made me feel a little better, but now I think I want a big mug of hot tea now that I have cooled off.

Cooking Bug

Made it back from ATL today and went directly into SPRING CLEANING mode around the house. After lots of laundry, organizing, bill paying, and dusting it was time for the gym. Worked out with the trainer today CHEST, TRICEPS, and SHOULDERS. I was a little surprised when he told me he wanted me to alternate 4 minutes of walking with 4 minutes of running (not jogging, running) repeated 4 times. I have not been running for more than a minute at a time and I didn't want to fail, but I think he has a better idea of what I can do than I realize myself. I am not going to lie, the first set was really hard but then it got easier. After my 4 sets I was at 2.7 miles and I decided I had to get to 3.2 miles so I did another set and completed my 3.2 miles in 42 minutes. I can't wait to keep seeing improvements like this!

I left the gym feeling great (sweaty=great). I am sure people at my neighborhood Ingles wondered why I would visit their store in such a condition. After being gone for 4 nights I needed some vegetable/fruit matter for the house. I picked up some asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, and CHIPOTLE sweet potato fries which I roasted together with a little olive oil and more chipotle flakes and celery salt.

I pulled out 2 frozen tilapia fillets and misted them with olive oil, sprinkled them with dill, and covered them with capers and lemon slices and baked until done. YUMMY and super easy!

I also threw together a broccoli and cauliflower casserole. I added navy beans for some protein, cream of celery, sharp cheddar, brown and wild rice, and 1 egg. In the crock-pot eggplant curry is cooking away. I try and cook ahead when I have a stretch of work coming up so I have items to take for lunch and stuff to eat when I come home in the morning so I am less likely to make poor choices.