Helllllooooo!  I finished my deadline!!!!!!!!!  WooHoo!!!!!!!!  That means that I should be posting regularly again, until I go out of town this weekend...no promises then.  :)   THANK YOU ALL!!!! for the sweet comments on my blog yesterday!  Aww, you totally made my day and reinforced that I made the right decision for my body. I am constantly amazed at the support you all give and am truly appreciative of your thoughtful messages.  :)  And you're right, I made the decision for me and was totally secure with it before posting, I just love that you all recognized that and supported me fully.  So, THANK YOU! Yesterday's eats are not even worth mentioning.  I did have a lovely bowl of oatmeal as I was writing my tome about running, but it all went downhill (WAY downhill) from there.   My time in the office wound up being far longer than I anticipated (11 hours!  on Sunday!) so I found myself completely unprepared for meals.  I didn't bother with pictures...you wouldn't be interested.  Trust me.  I did manage to make it to my favorite Sunday YOGA class though (are you proud, Heather?!?!  :)   ) so all was not lost. I woke up early so that I could have extra time in the office before my submittal at 4pm.  Knowing that today was going to be extremely stressful I decided to treat myself with chocolate for breakfast...!   Well, healthy chocolate, in the form of PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams... Breakfast:  toasted Ezekiel muffin with 1-1/2 tbsp dark chocolate dreams PB and 1 cup of sliced strawberries...divine! [336 cal] This weekend, in the midst of my V-Day activities and crazy work schedule I found time to make a trip to the grocery store.   I was short on time so I decided to go to Harris Teeter instead of Whole Foods because it was closer, bigger, and had a better chance of being less crowded.  The trip was pretty exciting...I found two blog-famous items that I've never tried before, Arnold's Sandwich Thins and Flat Out Wraps!!!   Lunch:  veggie + hummus on a whole grain Flat Out Wrap [176 cal]  I know this is really light, but I had intended on eating the snack below with lunch.  I just didn't have time... I was so busy today right at lunch, so I wolfed down the wrap and saved the rest of my lunch for a snack later.  The flat out wrap was REALLY good!  The shape is genius.  Seriously.  The texture was lighter than my typical whole wheat tortillas, and only 100 calories as compared to 130 calories.  So far, I'm impressed.  I've heard that the ingredients aren't particularly thrilling, and I honestly don't have the energy to get up and go to the kitchen to look at the back of the bag.  So I'll report on that some other time.  :) Snack:  1 orange, 4 strawberries and 1/4 cup Fage 0%. [156 cal] Tonight I finally made it to another yoga class at the studio where I have an unlimited pass for the month. What timing.  I don't think I could have picked a worse month to invest in an unlimited yoga pass!  My work schedule has just been way to crazy.  The class was awesome, I'm so impressed with both instructors that I've met at the studio.  It was a 90 minute Ashtanga class and I loved the pace and time taken to really get into poses.  We did lots of back bends and plank variations...I'm definitely going to feel it tomorrow.  There's nothing like going to a class and having an instructor help you to improve your practice.  I feel like its worth the money not only for the class itself but for the added benefit I get when I practice on my own at home.  I've got lots of catch-up to do to make my pass purchase worth it, and I'm hoping that now that my deadline is over I will be able to make yoga a more regular part of my routine again. Exercise:  90 minutes of Ashtanga While I was at yoga my hubb started on dinner.  I picked out a recipe for Root Vegetable and Mushroom Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping out of this month's issue of Bon Appetit.  When I walked in the door at our house I was hit by an aroma so amazing...a home cooked meal!  It had been way too long.  There was still a lot of work to do...this recipe is NOT a quick one, and I definitely don't recommend it for week night cooking.  My hubb started when he got home at 6:45 and we didn't eat until 9:15!  However, it was worth it.  SO worth it.  Just make it when you have LOTS of time and well before you anticipate getting hungry! Dinner:  Root Veggie Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping [446 cal] We had to modify the recipe quite a bit because I was missing a few ingredients.  I have a terrible habit of not reading recipes thoroughly before going to the store...often missing ingredients and minor details such as the ridiculously long prep time. Root Veggie Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping [modified from Bon Appetit, March 2009] makes 6 servings 446 calories, 14.3g fat, 8.1g sat. fat, 65.2g carbs, 12.5g fiber, 15.2g protein Ingredients: Filling

• 6 cups beef broth
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped to 1/2" dice
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 large parsnips, chopped to 1/2" dice
• 1 large rutabaga, peeled and cut to 1/2" dice
• 1 large turnip, peeled and cut to 1/2" dice
• 1/2oz dried shitake mushrooms
• 3 tbsp butter
• 3 cups chopped onions
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp minced fresh rosemary
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• salt + pepper

Biscuits

• 2-1/4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 tbsp chilled unsalted butter, diced
• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk

Method:

1. Bring broth to a boil over medium heat.  Add carrots, celery, parsnips, rutabega, turnip, mushrooms and onion.  Simmer until veggies are tender, about 7 minutes.  Drain, but reserve veggies and broth separately.
2. Melt butter in same pot over medium heat.  Add garlic and rosemary and stir for 2 minutes.  Add flour, stir for 1 minute.  Gradually whisk in reserved broth, then soy milk and wine.  Cook until sauce is thick and reduced to 4 cups, whisking often, about 8 minutes.
3. Mix in reserved vegetables and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.
4. Transfer filling to a buttered 13x9x2-inch baking dish.  Preheat oven to 400* and bake until bubbling, about 60 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare biscuits by mixing flour, baking powder, rosemary and salt in a mixing bowl.  Add chilled butter and use fingertips to blend until mixture resembles course bread crumbs.  Gradually add buttermilk, tossing with fork until dough is evenly moist.  Add more buttermilk if needed to make dough bind.
6. Pull filling from oven when ready.  Drop biscuit dough onto hot filling by heaping tablespoonfuls.  Bake uncovered for an additional 45 minutes, until toothpick inserted into biscuit comes out clean.

photo courtesy of my hubb I also made my favorite drink using one of winter's best fruits, the Meyer Lemon.  You know, in celebration of completing my deadline.  :) Bella Eats Lemon Drop Martini makes 2 drinks, 300 calories each

• 2 parts vodka
• 1 part limoncello
• 1 part sour mix
• 1/2 part simple syrup (1:1 sugar and water)
• juice from 1/2 lemon

Just shake it all up with ice and enjoy! And...its bed time.  Or, at least, reading a good book in bed time.  :)  I hope you all have a great Tuesday!