the treadmill diaries

Though we usually enjoy beef in our house occasionally, we made an exception one day this week when the hubby was craving it for lunch and dinner. So, we ended going with a double-header.

For lunch, we grilled up two small steaks….

Sliced and threw them on top of mixed greens

added croutons, feta and hardboiled eggs

And had some tasty steak tip salads.

While we were enjoying these, the crockpot was slow-cooking a hearty Beef Stew for our dinner. If you’d like to try this recipe, here’s what you’ll need:

• 1 lb lean beef, cut into cubes
• 2 cups baby carrots
• 2 cups celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 red onion, rough chopped
• 1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
• ½ cup red wine
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 tsp thyme leaves (fresh or dry)
• Salt & pepper to taste

Making this prep it and forget it dish is pretty simple. Here’s how…

Heat pan over medium-high heat & coat with cooking spray. While pan is heating, coat beef cubes in flour, salt and pepper. When coated, sear in pan for 1-3 minutes per side. Remove & place inside crockpot.

In the crockpot, also add your carrots, celery and onion.

Now, it’s time to deglaze your pan. Pour in your tomatoes and bring them to a boil/simmer. Be sure to work up all the browned bits from searing the beef. Add in your ½ cup of red wine and bring to a slow boil for 1-2 minutes. Salt & pepper to taste and remove from heat.

Pour the tomatoes & wine into the crock & mix everything together.  Set your crockpot to low and allow to continue slow cooking for 6-8 hours until everything is fork tender.

The final dish will look like this -we served ours over carba-nada egg fettuccine. Warm, comforting..and it really hit the spot.

For any of you following the WW program, this turns out to be 6 pts plus per cup of stew ..and 3 pts plus for the fettuccine. Worth every point for sure.

After this back to back beef extravaganza, I’m ready to feature some of my other favorite proteins like chicken and pork over the next couple of days. I’m sure I can make this happen. J

And what did I have for breakfast, you ask? Breakfast #25 out of the 30 Days of Breakfast is A Chive & Cheese Egg Scramble. Simple. Cheesy. Perfect.

If you’d like to make this at home, you’ll need to scramble the following together: ½ c egg whites, 1/8 c light Italian 4-Cheese blend, 1 tsp chives, 1 tsp chopped onion (dry), salt & pepper to taste.

Besides tasting great, this breakfast dish is only 100 calories per serving (or 2 points plus). Yay!!