Lucy wore her first pair of big girl jeans today.  They have a REAL button and a ZIPPER.  Plus she has on a long sleeve tee-not a onsie.  She looks CUTE but definitely not like a baby.

As for me, yesterday was a success! And today is on track to be another success! I got up before my alarm today and did arms and shoulders plus abs. I feel great!

Here’s the food plan:

B: coconut Larabar (best flavor IMHO)
S: oatmeal with chia and banana (no Barney Butter today-I forgot!)
L: Leftovers from last night-Spicy Apricot Chicken (recipe below), Chinese long beans, brown rice
S: almonds, apple, and ryvita cracker
D: homemade marinara with spinach and whole wheat noodles

Here’s Lucy eating the marinara the other night-it was her first experience with spaghetti and she loved it!

I have a HOA meeting tonight-BOO! We have to talk about the budget and those meetings always suck. Plus, I don’t get to really see Lucy 🙁 Oh well-hopefully it’ll go by quickly. Wednesdays are normally knit night but the HOA meeting is killing that. I am OH SO CLOSE to finishing Lucy’s sweater and hopefully can do that while watching So You Think You Can Dance (dance, dance, dance…) tonight. My goal is to get it done in time for this weekend when we’re down in Bakersfield.

Here’s another cute one of the bug:

And here’s the recipe for the chicken. It’s another weight watchers recipe.

Spicy Apricot Chicken:

• 3 teaspoons dark sesame oil
• 4 (6 ounce) skinless chicken breasts, bone-in (the bone-in part is important-I didn’t use bone-in and I regretted it)
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce (I used Siracha)
• 2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce (I used Bragg’s Amino)

Directions
Heat 2 teaspoons of the sesame oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook until browned, 2-3 minutes on each side (I didn’t do this and wish I had). Transfer the chicken to a 5-6 quart slow cooker. Combine remaining 1 teaspoons of oil and the remaining ingredients and pour over the chicken. Cook covered until the chicken is fork tender, 3-4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low. Transfer the chicken to a platter, keep warm. Pour the sauce into a small saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, 3-4 minutes.

Lucy and Daddy were playing with his hat the other night:

I woke up this morning before my 5:30 alarm (at 5:20) to do Cardio X. The workout was good but I think I prefer Plyometrics. Food for today:

-I had half a banana Larabar before and half after
-A really great bowl of oats for my “snack”
-Lunch is leftovers from last night-Peanut Butter Chicken (recipe below), brussel sprouts, and potato cauliflower mash
-Snack is a pear and maybe yogurt? Something protein-y at least 🙂
-Dinner is Spicy Apricot Chicken with Chinese long beans and brown rice. This is a new recipe as well and I’ll let you know how it turns out.

This is a weight watchers recipe that I modified:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp peanut butter
4 (6oz) drumsticks- I used boneless, skinless thighs (Shaun will ONLY eat chicken thighs-*sigh*)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp honey
1/2 cup plain dried bread crumbs-I just toasted some Ezekiel bread really well
1 tbsp hot pepper sauce
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 tbsp low-sodium chicken broth
2 garlic cloves, mashed to a puree

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil. Spray foil with non-stick cooking spray (I used a silpat). Remove chicken skin. Set aside.
In a large bowl combine peanut butter, honey, hot pepper sauce, broth, garlic and soy sauce. Whisk until smooth.
In a gallon resealable bag combine bread crumbs, paprika and cayenne pepper.
Add the chicken, one at a time, to peanut sauce and thoroughly coat.
Shake in crumb mixture.
Do this with all the chicken.
Bake for 20 minutes and turn drumsticks over carefully. Bake another 20 minutes. (I did 15 and 15 since there was no bone.)

Next time I make this I think I’ll serve it with rice and some sort of Asian side. A friend recommended the potatoes with it and while I liked it, it screamed ASIAN (just like that) at me. Shaun really liked it and said he would have added creamed corn to the plate (no surprise there!).

In this house we don’t eat much chicken because Shaun really doesn’t care for it. The fact that we’re having it 2 days in a row is quite uncommon. We’ll see if I get by with no complaints tonight-I used chicken breasts so I doubt it. Wish me luck =D