Fishies and dedication

It looks like a theme of this week is tiredness....Not to complain {and yes I am complaining}, but I got really spoiled with Kiki sleeping through the night. All of a sudden two nights in a row of waking up in the middle of a night and I am cranky and "gumpi", as Kiki would say. I really hope this is not becoming our norm, but just a temporary something - teething, full moon, growth spurt, whatever it is, I hope it ends. But my "gumpiness" needs to end too so I am calling it a night - early. This FFG needs her beauty sleep. 

Thankfully the chef took care of Kiki and dinner tonight. He made one of my favorite high protein dinners - tilapia, black bean and peppers salsa - yum, yum, yum.

It's not the most photogenic food, but it's so delicious. I am sure some parsley would do the magic but I am not the parsley girl.

It is such a filling, refreshing and healthy dinner. The fish was good, good good - fresh and flaky, just the way I like it.

While enjoying my dinner, I was watching Olympics, more specifically the swimming competition. It's absolutely incredible how those men and women become one with water - the gracefulness, the strength and the beauty of their bodies moving through the water is absolutely astounding to me - just like fishies. 

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I think more than anything, it's dedication that these athletes have. Absolutely incredible! Tonight I will be dedicated to my decision and go to bed early. Hope you are enjoying the Olympics and getting a good night of sleep...

Weekly Menu

This weekend was exhausting. How sad that I consider Monday a recovery day!!!!

Everyone said once you have kids all you will do on weekends is run from one birthday party to another, well "they" {who is they anyway...} were right.  We attended not one, not two, but three birthday parties!!!! Happy birthday Lili, Ian and Alain!!!! Even though it was exhausting it was so much fun seeing little kids celebrate and how at each age they view birthday parties differently!  

Besides running from one party to another, I managed to put a delicious {yup, I already know it will be a delicious week} weekly menu together.  A formula for a successful weekly menu is preparation and keeping the meals at 5 ingredients.  5 ingredients keeps everything simple - preparation, flavor and enjoyment. So without a further adieu - here is what we will be feasting on this week....

Sunday: The Chef is off - Kiki and I will be doing some al fresco dining

Monday: Chicken pita pockets

Tuesday: Pinto, black and red bean salad with grilled corn + avocado + grilled flank steak

Wednesday: Our corporate chef is in town and I will be having dinner in the office while chef and Kiki will probably have stir fry

Thursday: Tilapia with black bean, red and yellow pepper salsa

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Leftovers - we will probably end up going out

Tonight we had the simplest and most delicious dinner you could possible ever make - chicken seasoned with the pre-packed Italian mix, olive oil, feta cheese on bed of "super greens" with warmed pita pocket.

Don't these greens look wonderful - the darker the better!

Kiki is having tough time sleeping for the past two nights, so the crying coming out of her room is my cue, the blogging must come to an end. I only hope this is not some kind of a new trend, but a little cold she is fighting or her molars coming out.

Spicy and Delicious

This was a good week. We pretty much followed the weekly menu to a "T" with the exception of the steak night. I am completely OK with that because that turned out to be a girls' night out at the "To Live and Dine in Miami" event organized by MIAMI magazine. 

I was really happy to spend some time with my girlfriends, enjoy good food and mingle with all the hottest chefs in Miami. Besides having a girls' night out, I really liked that each restaurant was required to have their chef present at the event. I know this is a big sacrifice for a restaurant to have their chef out of the kitchen on a busy restaurant night, but it made a huge difference to be able to speak with the chef directly about the foods they were presenting.  My only complaint was the heat - it was very warm on the first floor, but the second floor was unbearable. I was so hot that I could barely enjoy the food, but all in all fun night and very much needed!

Tonight like every night was rush rush rush from the moment we walked in. Kiki was in a great mood, and right around 8pm she zonked out, and while chef prepared dinner I did my 45 minutes of Tracy Anderson exercises - oh boy am I feeling all the muscles. But I am loving the burn I feel!!!!

The chef made another one of Cooking Light's "30 Minute Meals" - can you see a pattern - quick, easy, healthy and delicious!!! Cooking Light is a great resource for quick dinners and lightened up versions of classics.  Most of the recipes are pretty simple, and leave a lot of room for interpretation especially for those that don't follow recipes but use them as a guide…adding spice, herbs, and proteins to your taste or whatever you have on hand.

I absolutely loved the glazed chicken and szechuan noodle salad!  The cold noodle salad was my favorite, but it was spicy. Be ready for your mouth to burn! The recipe calls for bottled Szechuan sauce, and I found something in the grocery store called Spicy Szechuan Stir Fry sauce, so the chef used that instead. Thank God for the peanut butter in it as it really calms the spiciness.   But still it was spicyyyyyyyy, so tread lightly with that one!

The chicken was packed with flavor from the ginger, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce and it gives the meal an incredible punch. But the noodles were definitely the star of this meal. The combination of the Szechuan sauce, peanut butter, soy sauce, and lime juice was very powerful.

Enjoyed with a glass of Pinot Gris of King Estate....I am getting ready for my trip to Oregon and enjoying Oregonian (Is that even a word) wines :)

I have to admit I extra enjoyed tonight's dinner as I was looking at it as a "Last Meal". I am having my wisdom tooth taken out tomorrow and something tells me I won't be eating much. As much as I am trying not to think about it, I am getting more and more nervous. Urgh...hope I survive...yes I am being overly dramatic, but I can't help it.

Need I say more

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Getting back ME time

As soon as after Kiki was born I created a plan in my head how to get back into shape. I kept saying "It took me 10 months to gain it, I will take 10 months to take it off".  Well somehow we are at 15 months later and I am still struggling with the last 10lbs and soft spots. I know a body changes and never goes back to what it used to be, but at the same time I know I want to go back of feeling good in my own skin. I've been trying to get back into the mind set where exercise is priority but I can't seem to get there. There are days I schedule it in my day and do it with ease and than there are days when I find every possible excuse why not to exercise. 

Right after I was cleared to exercise by my doctor I bought Tracy Anderson's* post pregnancy workout. I guess I was looking for a miracle, and I should have known better. The first time I did the workout, nothing felt good, everything hurt and I got upset with the whole DVD and what I should be able to do, so after the first try I gave up. 

13 months later, I pulled out the DVD and tried it again and this time around it felt great. I actually broke some sweat. It was challenging without being strenuous. The bulk of the workout is abs. It is all tough but doable. Various crunches followed by some weighted moves. I felt every muscle in my body and what I look forward to the most is continuing with it 4-5 times a week and than seeing results. And if results are anything like Tracy's, I will be very happy ;) 

The DVD is only about 35-40 minutes and I know I can spare that kind of time especially since I don't need to go anywhere and I am hoping to include some cardio twice a week. This will have to become my ME time. 

After my little work out session I had dinner. The chef made chicken and mixed vegetable rice burritos.  The recipe was inspired by Cooking Light's Vegetable and Rice Burritos with Quesadilla Cheese, but he added some protein [chicken] and avocado and since we were out of mushrooms and zucchini, it was sauteed onions/peppers/corn/black beans burrito. 

I also made a little side salad, more for the photo than for the taste, but it was nice and refreshing. My burrito was a bit on a dry side, and when I said that to the chef he asked whether I added cheese and sour cream - duhhhhh!!!! I totally forgot, no wonder if was dry!!!! There is plenty left for tomorrow's lunch and I am sure to include cheese and sour cream, or actually in this case I will substitute sour cream with greek yogurt. 

SInce the night has gotten away from me it's time for bed...a few birthday gifts to wrap and prepare my coffee for tomorrow morning and than I am off to dream land - 6:30am will be here before I know it.

* This is not a sponsored post. I purchased this DVD with my own money for my own pleasure/torture. Tracy Anderson or the production company does not who I am not do they care. 

A Kiss Worth a Million

Today was a big day, Kiki learned how to give a kiss. Well, her version of giving a kiss is to come to you and lean her lips onto yours. It's the best kiss I have ever gotten. There is so much sweetness and love in her kiss. I think I love it even more because she could be playing on the floor, and will get up walk to where ever I am pucker up her lips and lean into me or if you ask her to come and give you a kiss she just leans over and that's a kiss. She also loves to give kisses to the sous-chef and her bears. So much love to be shared. What's even cutter is when I kiss her good night on top of her head she moves her head and wants me to kiss her face - ah to be able to bottle up these little moments! 

But I was able to capture a delicious dinner the chef made tonight. We actually had this stir-fry couple of weeks ago, but it was so good that I couldn't wait to have it again. So much flavor packed in this meal - spicy, crunchy and savory!

Since I don't actually cook it's always nice to hear from the chef if I have picked the right recipes. The recipe might look good to me, but since I am not familiar with the process it's kind of hard to tell the degree of difficulty or if it all makes sense or the timing or anything else. So any time the chef has a comment about the recipe I always find it helpful in understanding the type of recipes I should be looking for. One compliment that the chef gave to the recipe tonight is that the ingredients are listed in the order they appear in the recipe so it's easy to follow it. Of course, it's a simple recipe too - 5 major ingredients - easy peasy and perfect for a work night, or so says the chef. You are really looking at 20 minutes tops and the flavor is fantastic.

My back is still hurting and my tooth is no better so I am taking it easy and spending the evening with my DVR. Despite being it summer, there is some good TV going on - Political Animals, Newsroom, Weeds - have you seen any of it?

Manic Monday

After a really nice weekend, I have a crazy week ahead of me, but than again who doesn't. There is so much going on right now - a complete chaos. I am looking for inner peace and to get there I really need outer order. It seems so trivial, but clutter and disorganized space drive me crazy and I can't move on with my thoughts if the space around me is in chaos.

Well, this morning I walked in to my office and started cleaning, organizing, filing, labeling, creating multiple to-do lists for various projects, getting rid of hundreds of posted notes. I even dusted. My next project - cleaning out my email INBOX. I have a feeling this will take a lot more than an hour, but it's much needed. Any lingering email is usually a sign of an unfinished project which really makes me uncomfortable. So if you don't hear from me, I am lost in my email inbox...

I am hoping that by getting this Monday started of on a good foot {read: organized} will bring inner peace.

Q: How do you create an inner peace? Do you work in chaos, organized chaos or superbly organized space?

Weekly Menu

We tried really hard to follow the weekly menu last week, but with the Chef out of town, my tooth ache,  and life getting in a way, a few meals just didn't happen. I am not sure what I was thinking when I planned for chicken on a night the chef was out of town...we all know I don't dare to touch chicken. So let's try it again - last week was a warm up - this week we will get through the whole menu :)

Sunday: Skinny chicken & broccoli alfredo {yeah I know this was supposed to happen last week, but I can't touch chicken, so it just didn't happen. Of course I have a funny story to tell about this recipe - stay tuned}

Monday: Honey cashew chicken with rice

Tuesday: Pinto, black and red bean salad with grilled corn + avocado and grilled flank steak

WEDNESDAY: Glazed chicken +szechuan noodle salads

THURSDAY: Rice burritos with quesadilla cheese

Q: What are you making this week? What's on your menu?

The Family Routine

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It's been a long week and all I want this weekend is to spend time with my little family. I don't really have anything in particular planned or anything that must be done, but just to be together, doing whatever makes us happy!

Q: What are your weekend plans?

Week through my Instagram - Insta-Friday

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today i’m linking up with the fabulous jeannett from life.rearranged!
follow along with my instagram feed online,
or search @fauxfoodiegirl through your iPhone/droid app :]

Sometimes for dinner Munchie's is a perfect choice

So proud she loves books like her momma

Loveliness

For a good night of sleep

Yummie

Delicious salad - must have it again

"Wanna join us for lunch?"

"I'm ready for the beach...are you coming?"

My dad sent me this photo today and I absolutely LOVE it!!!! This picture was taken in May when we visited Croatia during my niece's recital. It was such a lovely day and every time I look at this photo I am reminded how lucky I am to have such a great family around me.

"Who will fall asleep first?!? My bet is on ME!"

Brinkley on baby monitor watch

Silly times

 Bed hair!

 Education time

It's finally here!

Kale chips and broken tooth

Last week I broke my wisdom tooth and my dentist says I don't really need it so I should get it extracted. Unfortunately I've been taking my time to schedule the extraction and now the pain is getting unbearable. In addition to my broken tooth, my back is giving me difficulties - I am experiencing a lot of muscle spasm and tightness. No I am not being a drama queen, but I am being whiny! I really dislike feeling "off" and I don't function well like this, so just ignore me.

All of this not feeling well, especially broken tooth has not deterred me from eating. My appetite has never been better ;) But than again I always have a "healthy" appetite!

The chef is back in town but did not feel like cooking so we had some spicy black bean burgers, sweet potato fries and kale chips. Can you tell it was comfort food night?!?

The black bean burgers were not homemade - we took a short cut and had some Morning Star spicy black bean burgers - still very tasty. They look a little burnt in these photos, but they were really good.

I absolutely love kale chips and every time we make them I wish I make them more often but somehow forget about them. Such a simple recipe too: wash kale and tear to small peaces, heat up oven to 375, drizzle kale chips with some olive oil, salt, pepper and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. I usually bake it for about 12-15 minutes or until edges get crispy golden.

Since there is not much on TV tonight I am off to bed and will be reading my book {I am currently reading BLOOM...it's such a beautiful book of mother's unconditional love} and no blogs. I am definitely behind in my blog readings but I have to get back to my regular book reading and it feels really good. 

Tuesday Things

Today was a very random day. So this post will be all about random thoughts of Tuesday things.

-- Kiki can now say "OKO" which in Croatian means an eye and "mama kaba" which should really be "mamina kava" and means mom's coffee {you know, the important stuff}

-- Kiki can also say "Aqua", "Hola" and "Papi" in Spanish

-- As you can see Kiki doesn't speak any English...I guess it's time we start working on that, better yet the chef better start that since I am in charge of Croatian

-- I absolutely love Disney Junior cartoon Doc McStuffens. Kiki could care less about it

--I am loving the Real Housewives of New York this year. Carol Radziwill is my favorite. Such a refreshing character and addition to the show. I think we would be great besties talking about politics, books, lands far away, and all that intellectual stuff

-- I could also see myself being besties {I guess the new way of saying bestiest is BFFs} with Bethenny Frankel and Giuliana Rancic

--I watch way too much television. I need help

-- I am completely and utterly over Florida summers. I have become a huge fan of Florida winters. Oh an by the way I bought a patio sofa in hopes it will help me survive this summer

-- I believe we need a bed upgrade. Queen size bed is just not cutting it any more. King size, here we come. Oh wait, we need a bigger bedroom to fit a king size bed.

-- I obsessively read blogs and keep finding new ones. My Google Reader will explode if I subscribe to any new ones.

-- I hate to admit but I've not been reading books as much as I would like too. It's time to make a change - no more blog reading in bed, books only.

-- I cooked tonight. I made dinner. I didn't burn down the house. My dinner was delicious. I wish I could claim this recipe, but I found it on Pinterest and Pinterest led me to this amazing foodie blog. You should make this recipe... It was really good - easy to make, healthy, and simple.  

I loved the bitterness of the baked brussel sprouts - the more bitter they are the healthier I think they are...totally not true, but it makes me feel good :)

But I also loved the spiciness of chicken sausage - great balance of flavors complemented by pesto and shaved Parmesan.

I was a bit worried it would be too many flavors but it all worked out. Hey, I didn't burn down the kitchen - that alone is a victory.

Q: How was your Tuesday? A bit random?