Steve and I actually did our Skinnified Sunday dinner a day early because tonight we are going out for our friend Kara’s birthday. So we moved our cooking and our 6 month anniversary celebration up a day! That’s right, we have been married for 6 months today. I know a halfiversary may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, but we like to celebrate, and after almost 8 years together, it’s fun to start the counting over and celebrate months!
First, we went to one of my all time favorite stores–WILLIAM’S SONOMA!!! and used some of our store credit from the wedding to buy some new toys!
Then we exchanged gifts. I got him a book to assist in his new photography obsession (In case you didn’t know, he takes all the good pictures that show up on the blog. You can see more of his amazing photography @ his blog or on his flicker account). And he got my a framed picture of the whole fam from our wedding!
While I got cooking, Steve started to get creative with the camera and got a super sweet picture of our wedding rings 🙂
This dinner was pretty easy, so I was able to enjoy myself a little more (sometimes I get really stressed about everything being perfect) and play with my vegetables.
Meanwhile, Winston and Clementine were cute
For dinner, I was inspired by the trap of restaurant salads. Have you ever ordered a salad in an attempt to stay healthy at a restaurant, only to look it up later and realize that you could have just had a burger and fries for less calories?! I feel like I’m pretty good at this point in deciphering a menu, but there as a time where I thought salad=healthy. The specific inspiration:
Red Robin’s Crispy Chicken Tender Salad
- Greens
- Breaded, friend chicken
- Cheddar cheese
- Hard boiled eggs
- Bacon
- Cheddar cheese
- Bread
- Dressing
My Swaps:
- More veggies–tomato, cucumber, carrots, red pepper (+vitamins, +flavor, +all sorts of veggie goodness)
- Faux fried chicken for friend chicken (-fat, -calories)
- Half whites/half whole eggs for hard boiled eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
- Center cut or turkey bacon (baked) for bacon (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
- Goat cheddar for cheddar cheese (-fat, -calories, +flavor)
- Fat free croutons for bread (-fat, -calories, +crunch)
- Added avocado (+YUM)
- Home made feta yogurt dressing for full fat restaurant dressing (-fat, -calories)
Skinnified Chicken Tender Salad
yield 6 servings
- 1 1/2 hearts romaine, chopped
- 2 1/2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
- 3/4 cup carrots, chopped
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3/4 cup fat free croutons
- 3/4 cup goat cheese, shredded
- 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
- 6 slices center cut or turkey bacon, baked and chopped
- 2 hard boiled egg whites, sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 lb chicken breast, sliced
- 3/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
- 1/4 cup Fiber One Original, crushed
- 1/4 cup reduced fat parmesean cheese
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 ts garlic pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- dash cayenne
- 2 egg whites, beaten
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 400.
2) Combine cereals,parmesean, oregano, garlic pepper, salt and cayenne.
3) Dip chicken in egg whites, then transfer to cereal mix.
4) Spray a raised baking rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil.
5) Place chicken on the rack and back for 20-25 minutes.
6) While chicken is baking, put all other salad ingredients together except goat cheddar and croutons.
7) When chicken is finished, chop into smaller pieces and add on top of salad.
8) Place desired serving in bowl and top with croutons and goat cheddar.
9) Enjoy with feta yogurt dressing!
Feta Yogurt Dressing
yield 8 servings
- 6 oz non fat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tbs light olive oil mayo
- 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
- 1 tsp mustard
- pepper to taste
- 1 clove garlic, minced (I used a zester with mine)
- 4 oz reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled (I suggest Trader Joe’s brand)
Directions:
1) Whisk all ingredients together, except feta.
2) Gently fold in crumbled feta.
3) Enjoy!
And as their present to us, the kids were especially cute and lovey with each other. They know it just melts out hearts!
Happy 6 months, babe!!
