Hi Blog Readers – Happy Monday.  

I don’t really know what to say about my day. I survived? All in all, it was not all that bad. Work was interesting, I did not snack all day (always a victory in my world!) I talked to a great friend on the phone, I enjoyed a glass of wine and a lovely dinner where I did not have to do much cooking. The sad thing about my day was that I worked later than I intended to, and I missed my post – work run, and that was a big disappointment.  But tomorrow I plan to pack a bag and I will run at work if it is not raining when I wrap up my work day. 

But on to much better things. On Saturday my mom and I went out to dinner at one of our favorite places in Providence – Pizzico, of course! We split the arugula and cranberry salad (fantastic, light, a great balance of sweet, tang and pepperiness coming from the play of the vinaigrette dressing, the cranberries and arugula. Everything was so fresh and vibrant!  

After the salad (which they so nicely plated on two side plates for us because our server knew we were sharing the salad – they are always so thoughtful!) our entrees arrived.  I love that the courses do not arrive right on top of each other at Pizzico. It gave us time to chat, enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy our drinks (mom had a cosmopolitan and I had a glass of pinot gris).

Mom ordered one of the specials – pan seared scallops with a sweet corn and pea risotto. I had a couple of bites off of her plate, and everything was amazing (and rich!)

I opted for the grilled salmon over sautéed spinach: 

Oh my goodness. The garlic and capers, with lemon on top of the salmon. All of the flavors played so nicely together.  I ate maybe half of my salmon… and took the rest home. This made for the most wonderful dinner tonight after a long day at work.  Yet again, I am trying to increase my protein intake at all meals so that I can keep my hunger away longer. Your body burns carbohydrates really quickly, so if you eat mostly carbs, you will be hungry sooner than if you have a balance of some carbs, lean proteins and healthy fats.  Salmon is FULL of protein, and healthy fats. A win win protein! 

Tonight when I got home I had a piece of babybel cheese (six grams of protein, 50 calories!) and three whole wheat crackers (I have a weird thing about cheese – I really have to have a vessel to eat it with – yes, I’m strange) which kept me happy until seven o’clock when my dinner was ready (and three hours later I am still full!)  To go with my grilled salmon tonight, I made couscous and steamed zucchini… 

I added dollops of sriracha hot sauce to the zucchini. This was such an easy dinner – I heated the salmon up in the toaster oven (perfect method to reheat the salmon because it kept it crispy, I would have hated to heat it in the microwave. Mushy salmon? No thank you!) I cut up the zucchini in half inch slices, put them in a microwave safe dish and added two tablespoons of water. I covered the plate with a paper towel, and heated the zucchini for 45 seconds in the microwave. I flipped the slices and heated for another 45 seconds. The perfectly steamed zucchini – sometimes I will put a little bit of butter or brummel on top. But today I opted for the spice. 

All in all, I got a lot out of my salmon on Saturday night. It reminded me that I really need to make salmon more than I do. 

Well, it’s about ten o’clock and I have another long day ahead – hopefully with a run squeezed in somewhere! Stay tuned for an interesting week blog readers! I have some reviews coming up that you might find interesting. Take care and eat well!