The only thing bad about Super Bowl Sunday is that the grocery store is packed!  That said, we got some really great stuff this week that I thought I would share.

Here are the meats we bought: Tilapia fillets, chicken breasts (bone-in), ground turkey, ground bison and hot italian beef sausages.  All fresh, never frozen and mostly wild caught or range.

Veggies and fruits (YUM!) – bananas, asparagus tips, pink lady apples, sweet potatoes, tomatoes on the vine, plums, onion, carrots, avocado and a gourmet tomato medley.

Staples/other – cereal, the best OJ in the world, ground flaxseed, hommus, PB, Acai sorbet and various energy bars for snacking at work.

So with all of this yummy food, what’s for dinner this week you ask?

Sunday – leftovers from dinner we cooked with my friend Kristine last week.  We made one’s of Giada’s amazing sauceless pastas – recipe here.

Monday – Pistacio crusted tilapia with grilled asparagus

Tuesday -  BBQ chicken breasts with roasted carrots (these carrots are to DIE for!)

Wednesday – Women’s Energy Network (WEN) Happy Hour at Sambuca and then leftovers

Thursday – Homemade burrito bowl – this is one of my favorite new things to make – we make brown rice with chicken, black beans, avocado, tomatoes, salsa, onions and cheese.  Its just like Chipolte’s burrito bowls and is super yummy and very easy to make.  You also control the portions so I can cook the chicken better (not so much salt) and eat less.  We usually have a ton leftover for lunches.

Friday – girls wine night at friend’s house

Saturday – Valentine’s day dinner at our favorite french restaurant in Houston, Cafe Rabelais.  We have a $100 GC to use. SCORE!

The good thing is that Andrew and I have done very well this month with our health and fitness routine.  I’m starting week 5 of insanity this week and loving it so far.  I have a ton of energy and feel so much better.  This program really does work.  We’re also sticking with a nutrition plan during the week which has helped.  Monday-Friday are super healthy meals with no coffee, wine or soda.  Saturday’s are “eat and drink whatever we want” days and Sundays are a combo.  I love brunch so we compromise.  It was really hard to get used to but now we’re settled in a routine.  Healthy food and regularly exercise are truly the secrets to feeling great and living a better life.  We’re hooked. I now cringe when someone wants to go out for Mexican food!

My nutrition kick started quite a few years back when we made some adjustments on what types of food we buy at the grocery store.  Through the years, I’ve done a lot of personal research on where our food comes from and was appauled at some of the things I found.  I first read about the truths about fast food in Eric Schlosser’s book, Fast Food Nation which also became a major motion picture.  Check out this book – you will never crave fast food again.  After I read that book, I never ate at McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell and other “major” FF joints again.  There are still some “good” FF places I will eat at today, Chick Fil-A, Subway (veggie only though- avoid the lunch meat there!) and Chipolte to name a few, but that has become a rare occasion when I truly need something quick.  It’s very hard when you live in a city where food as a convenience is all around you.

Since then, we made the investment (and it is an investment in your life!) to only shop at Whole Foods and/or Central Market 99% of the time.  We try to buy organic when it makes sense but we also switched over our pasta and bread choices to spelt (sprouted wheat).  We are very lucky that our local Central Market makes spelt bread on the weekends and carries spelt pasta.  We also made the switch to buying 90% perishable items when we shop each week.  That means nothing that contains preservatives (no jars, cans or boxed foods) and a lot of things are made from scratch and could spoil with 5-6 days.  At first this was time consuming as we had to look up recipes for everything but now I can whip up an amazing pasta sauce or really anything from scratch within 10-15 minutes.  And it tastes SO much better!! We also heavily invested in spices – we have an entire draw dedicated to spices!  We must have over 100 types of spices on hand.  This makes cooking from scratch super yummy and easy!  We also only buy organic milk and dairy products, when possible.  For your typical gallon of milk at your local grocer, I was shocked to learn at how much hormones they inject into cows to produce more milk.  You are essentially drinking hormones!!!

We try to mix things up each week and never make the same thing more than 2x per month.  We enjoy cooking this way and trying new things so it makes it super easy.  Right now, I’m addicted to allrecipes.com for most of our meals.  I love how I can type in what ingredients we have on hand and it will bring up some great recipes.  We’ve also taken some cooking classes while on our international travels but also at local places in Houston.  This keeps things fresh and interesting.  As for meat, we eat a lot of organic, free range chicken; grass-fed beef; lamb, turkey, fresh caught shrimp and fish (mainly snapper).  We don’t eat pork – I know its the ”other” white meat but I just can’t eat an animal who lays in its filth all day.  I’ve also started to push Andrew to eat more veggie meals but I usually have to surprise him with it.  He’s very much a meat guy so its been an adjustment!

If you are curious about where your food comes from, I highly encourage you to read the book and see the movie, Food Inc.  It will really make you think about the types of foods you buy from the store and also what you eat at your local family restaurant.  There is a reason that “value meals” exist in this country.  You pay for what you get.

I didn’t mean to get on my soapbox but this is a topic I’m very passionate about.  I sometimes wish I could go back to school and become a nutritionist to better educate people about this important subject.  I hope some of my resources in this post will help you make better eating decisions for your family, and most importantly, yourself!

Monday: Moroccan Lamb Shanks (using my tagine!)

Tuesday: Grilled chicken mango goat cheese salad (self explanatory)

Wednesday: Braised short ribs with polenta (drooooooool!!)

Thursday: Sweet italian chicken sausage stuffed red bell peppers and caramelized brussel sprouts with pistachios.

Friday:  Indian street food – Sheekh Kebabs (these are to die for and soooo easy!!!)  Here is the recipe:

Sheekh Kebabs - makes 10 servings

3 slices firm white bread (we only eat spelt bread which works just as fine!)

1lb ground lamb or sirloin – twice ground

20 blanched almonds, ground to a powder

½ cup minced onion

1 green chili

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon peeled and minced ginger

1 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 teaspoons coriander powder

1 teaspoon garam masala (in spice aisle)

¾ teaspoon cayenne

½ teaspoon turmeric

1 ½ teaspoons salt or to taste

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

bamboo skewers soaked in water for 20 minutes (or metal skewers)

Mango chutney (store bought or make your own!)

Very quickly, dip bread in bowl of water, one at a time and squeeze dry between palms of your hands.  In a bowl, combine lamb, almonds, onion, cilantro, ginger, garlic, chilies, coriander, garam masala, cayenne, turmeric, salt, egg, and bread.  Mix by hand.

Divide mixture into 10 portions.  Form each portion into a 6-inch long roll around skewer.  Brush with oil and grill 6-7 minutes turning once.  Serve with mango chutney or side of your choice.

These may get switched out between days but it’s a start! Trying to mix things up around here. So, what’s on your menu this week?

1.  Become an expert in my new job within six months: this one is very important to me as I just started a new job that was a great promotion in my career.  I’m still a bit nervous about the job as its something I haven’t done before but I’m very excited about the long term prospects.

2. Develop a health and fitness routine within 30 days: I’ve been slowly heading this direction but I need to stick with a routine.  I’ve recently started the Insanity program and already overhauled my eating habits… more on this later.

3. Re-evaluate our financial situation and set long term personal finance goals within the next 14 days:  With a substantial increase in salary in my new job and Andrew’s strong financial situation at his job, its time we start an aggressive financial investment plan.

4. Invest more time in friends and family by increasing my contact time with them by 20% each week throughout the next year: family and friends are one of the foundations to happiness.

5. Re-evaluate my involvement with community organizations and choose to focus my efforts on only 1-2 organizations this year:  I’m involved with too many organizations so I can’t give them 100% of my time and efforts.  I need to reassess my personal and professional interests and decide what organizations I can help further but are also helping me achieve my long term goals.

6. Spend 20% more time on my hobbies but also try at least 3 new hobbies this year:  I love photography but I’m still sub-professional because I do not spend enough time practicing – I need to change this!  I also have a LONG list of things I would like to try out this year so now I’m going to put it on paper and then DO IT!

If I can achieve at least a few of these goals for myself this year then I will certainly become a better person.  The problem is always time.  I always let myself get too involved and then let a few other important ones lag behind.  The key to achievement is setting measurable goals – always give yourself a deadline, number and/or percentage to achieve your goal (see mine in bold above).  MAKE YOUR GOAL MEASURABLE AND KEEP YOURSELF ACCOUNTABLE!  This part is VERY important. More on how I plan to achieve these goals in a later post.  I feel that writing these down in a public setting will encourage me to achieve them.  I also need your encouragement to keep me motivated so please check in with me!

I hope you find the inspiration for setting your own personal goals in 2010.  Happy New Year!

In the spirit of the season, I’m going to “borrow” an idea from some of my friends who started this weekly post called, “Ten on Tuesday.”  Each Tuesday you post ten random things that you’re thinking about or something that happened that week.  This will be first one so here it goes…

TEN ON TUESDAY – HOLIDAY EDITION

1. My favorite thing about the holiday season is spending them with family and close friends.  I’m so lucky to have wonderful family and friends that are so good to me!

2.  My dog has a stocking and is completely spoiled.  We bought her an elf costume from the Target dollar spot to wear on Christmas Day and I’ve already made her wear it a few times. 

3.  I still have a lot of shopping to do and haven’t wrapped a single gift.  I’ll be one of the crazies still shopping on Christmas Eve!

4. We are hosting Christmas Eve again with Andrew’s dad, sis and my nephew.  It’s becoming a tradition I guess!  We make Norwegian meatballs (which are to die for!!) and basically pig out all night.  I’m going to be doing a lot of cooking this year!

5. This year Christmas REALLY snuck up on me.  I say that every year but this year its true.  I think starting a new job really put me behind.  For that reason, I’m just not in the spirit this year. 

6. We have received a TON of Christmas cards this year.  I didn’t realize that we knew so many people!   I love all of the kid and pet pics!

7. I think I’ve mentioned this on here before but Andrew and I really dont do gifts for holidays.  I personally think it gets way out of hand so we just fill our stockings with little stuff.

8.  I’ve realized in my early thirties that I’m becoming a total cheapskate.  I didn’t even do Holiday cards this year because I hate spending the money!

9. I cannot wait to eat Thanksgiving dinner at my parents house on Christmas day!  I missed it this year since we were in NYC (although our sushi Thanksgiving was fantastic!!) so I’m ready for some turkey, stuffing and pumpkin pie!!

10. I want to wish each and every one of you a very happy holiday and prosperous 2010!  May Santa or whatever holiday spirit you believe in bring you everything you wished for!

I know we say this every year but I cannot believe how fast this year flew by.  I truly mean it this year.  I was looking at my calendar earlier and realized that Christmas is NEXT WEEK and I have not even made my shopping list yet!  How did that happen???  Forget sending out Christmas cards this year!  I have some shopping to do!

The good news is that I don’t have much to buy since both families decided to forgo gifts this year.  I’m happy about it because it tends to get out of hand anyway.  The only shopping I need to do is for my cute nephew and the Adam family drawing.  Easy.

So… since October I started a new job, had a horrible experience in Panama (the country), had an OK time in Aruba (way too commercial for me), did some fabulous shopping in SoHo (scored the CUTEST kate spade laptop bag), traveled to Detroit for Andrew’s weird company holiday party and booked a trip to Vegas for NYE.  Yup, that about sums it up!

I’m really excited about next week.  Not only is Andrew’s dad coming in town but I’m also off work for 1.5 weeks!  Great way to start the new job!

No pictures today – most of you are on Facebook anyway so you can see my smiling face on there. 

Here are some other favs:

Last night, Andrew and I attended the World Oil Awards.  This awards gala is to celebrate the achievements of the upstream oil and gas sector.  Lots of great contenders but only one company wins each category.  I keep telling them to re-name the event, “the Oilies” but alas, it’s still the same.  Here is a picture from last night’s ceremony.  Pictured from left to right is Andrew, Morgan Mascio (World Oil’s district manager) and Hadley McClellan (Events Director).