Yeah, It's Friday!!

This week's weigh-in: 178.6
Last week's weight: 181.2
Change: -2.6 lbs!!!!
Total change during ski trip challenge: -4.2 lbs

Well, I wasn't quite expecting such a great loss this week...I have been running and eating like planned but that's a big loss for me! I'll take it! My major goal for this week is to increase my calories up to an average of 2000. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons: 1) my BMR is 1800 calories a day and I should never be going below that and 2) I've increased my weekly running mileage by a significant amount (about twice what I used to average) and I can eat 200 more calories a day without damaging my weightloss. I'm going to try it through April and see what happens.

But I'm really, really glad it's Friday! This week at work has been crazy! (Which is saying a lot because usually I'm twiddling my thumbs.) I now have 4 ongoing projects...they're all in the same industry but still 4 projects! I nearly went crazy yesterday because as soon as I'd start working on one project, someone would stop by and want to talk about another project and so I'd switch over to the second project and then another person would stop by and talk about the 3rd project...I felt like I didn't get a whole lot done because I was just bouncing from project to project. Add that to the fact that my two night classes start in a couple of weeks so I'm trying to get some reading/studying done before the first meeting (yeah, I'm the nerd that the first day of class already has the first chapter read and outlined and answered some of the end of chapter problems...but learning makes me happy!!). Anyways, busy but it's nice for a change! Makes me feel productive and needed. I'm definitely not complaining.

We've got a bit of busy weekend (for us, anyways). Lots of errands to run to get ready for our ski trip and I'm trying my hand at making homemade granola bars (I'll let you know how it goes). Plus we're buying our bikes tomorrow so as long as it's not raining on Sunday, we'll be going for a ride! I think I'm going to end up going with the more expensive bike but I'm still a bit undecided. Oh, and my alma mater's (Oklahoma State) women's basketball team plays in the NCAA women's tournament Sweet 16 on Saturday! Go Cowgirls!!

Last night I tried another new recipe (I've tried 4 new ones this week!) and again, it was so yummy (4 for 4 this week, yes!). I'll post below. I actually didn't make any changes to the recipe so no notes or modifications this time.

Risotto with Italian Sausage, Caramelized Onions, and Bitter Greens
Ingredients
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups chopped onion (about 1 large)
2 teaspoons sugar
8 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 cup Arborio rice or other medium-grain rice
1/3 cup white wine
2 cups arugula leaves
3 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Preparation
1. Bring broth and 1/2 cup water to a simmer in a medium saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.
2. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion and sugar to pan; sauté 7 minutes or until onion is golden. Place onion mixture in a small bowl; set aside.
3. Removing casings from sausage. Add sausage to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble. Add chopped shallots; sauté 2 minutes. Add Arborio rice; sauté 30 seconds. Stir in white wine; cook 45 seconds or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Stir in 1 cup hot broth; cook 2 minutes or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of broth is absorbed before adding the next (about 20 minutes total). Remove from heat; stir in reserved onion, arugula, and remaining ingredients.
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 390(24% from fat); FAT 10.3g (sat 3.6g,mono 3.6g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 21.1g; CHOLESTEROL 54mg; CALCIUM 104mg; SODIUM 900mg; FIBER 4.4g; IRON 2.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 53.1g