Day 457-458: In Heat Monday

Good weekend for me, hope yours was good as well. Some of my highlights...


As noted already my wife & I started our weekend with a date night & saw Winnie The Pooh movie which I have renamed appropriately The Eeyore Movie. Best line from the movie, "Send the Pig." -Roo

Did C25K-W1D1, felt great.

Brunch w/ Mom. Gave her a gift from Hawaii; Koa wood wine stoppers. She gave me my birthday gift; Bass Pro gift card which I'll use towards my hunting license; sweet!.

Saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. Should rename this film to "HP7, The Rise of Neville Longbottom". We went at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, my wife & I were the youngest in the theatre by at least 10 years, kind of funny.

Grilled a delicious Garlic-Dill Halibut fillet. OMG it was so good.

Went to see son play in a soccer camp, on way home we got some ice cream because y'day was national ice cream day; I went with pretzel-marshmallow ice cream! Thankfully it wasn't liverwurst day.

Listened to the world cup game on radio, what a let down that was. You are welcome Japan!

Wife downloaded all of the Hawaii pictures from the cameras. Up top there you see one of them, our deep sea fishing trip results; 2 mahi-mahi (left) and 3 skipjack tuna (right).

Monday is here & so is the heat wave. Bring it on I say, but please let the power stay on. Today we get to better ourselves in any & every way we choose. How cool is that?

For me that means doing C25K-W1D2 after work. Going to drag our youngest son with me, he jiggles more than he ought to.

What about you, at days end how will you be better than when you woke up?

 
Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 135 - Snap To It

No exercise for me Sunday, decided to take a day of rest. Felt good, and needed. It's back to the exercise today for me.
These photos were snapped the last few days, thought I'd share.
Some are health related, all are fun related. Fun I tell you, getting healthy is FUN...

Have an idea what this is a picture of? Yep, another picture riddle, so take a guess if you dare. 

I'll reveal the answer tomorrow, or earlier if someone guesses correctly...

-_-

This was at the family gathering a couple weekends back;

somebody wanted my chair and I couldn't comprehend such nonsense.

-_-

The time is now, for new walking/jogging shoes that is.

So many of you have talked about your new shoes, Asics have been chatted up the most it seems.

I chose a pair of Asics GT-2150, they were the only pair of Asic's the store had in a 4E Width.

I've worn them out & about to break them in, they get their maiden exercise voyage this week.

-_-

This tomato and feta salad was part of our anniversary dinner with my wife Saturday night. Simple and tasty!

I also took a picture of my entree but the picture came out looking dull and disgusting, the complete opposite of the actual dish; it was awesome...

A grilled Cobia fillet with a bacon & jalapeno sauce. Not sure what Cobia is, a tasty warm water ocean yummy-fish.

It is also known as Black Salmon although it's skin is what is black, the flesh is white, firm and similar to Salmon. Here is a pic of the fish...

source
-_-

Need more food porn, Ok, there is our dinner last night.
Halibut pan seared in garlic infused olive oil with a side of Green Beans tossed in Onions and a bit of Bacon (yes, I has a touch of bacon twice this weekend).
-_-

What, still not enough? Tough crowd you are...
Here was dessert last night, a treat shared to us by Karla.
Greek Yogurt, Apples (Fuji) & Cinnamon - So simple yet an amazing trio of flavors, perfect for dessert.
-_-

A guilty pleasure of mine this weekend while I was hanging with my wife while she shopped for a bridesmaid dress.
Saturday I took her to Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom's, Carson's, and multiple locations of them, I needed some GUM!

-_-

Speaking of my wife there she is arriving to a soccer game last week. I was sitting in the top row of the bleachers.

She ascended the stairs to join me which shows how far she has come in healing from surgery nearly 4 weeks ago.

-_-

My daughter also came to the game, but would she sit by me? Nope, not until told too. Teenagers!
-_-

For those who need a cat picture fix, here is Nacho. He seeks flat surfaces to sleep on most of the time.
Here he is on my dresser. He'd be sleeping if I had left him be.
Need another? Here you go, sleeping on what will be our wedding gift to Brian & Eileen...

-_-

That's it, all I have for this Monday. Have a great day, great week.

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 104 - Miles & Fillets

Home again and that means the hard work has resumed in earnest.

My son Andrew & I were going to go tackle Stanton Hill yesterday but the soccer team was using the field adjacent to is so it didn't seem like the right time. So we went off to Grant Forest Preserve instead. That preserve is divided into two loops, a north & south. Each loop in itself is a good workout. There is also a trail that connects the two loops. Combined the total distance is 5.6 miles. Since I was looking to replace the challenge of the hill workout we walked them both and covered that distance in 84:19 minutes. A great walk and time spent with my son.

Eating was dialed in yesterday as well. First day back so we had to hit the stores and stock up. Enjoyed some fresh fruit during the day and some grilled halibut for dinner. Eating out is fun, trying new restaurants is something we look forward to especially when we travel, but cooking at home is hard to beat at times.

Halibut is an awesome fish, I've never caught one on my own, hope to make it up to Alaska someday for that pleasure. Hey, did you know, The largest Alaskan halibut ever caught while sport fishing was 459 lbs? A mighty big grill would be needed for that catch.

Just a great tasting fish and one that is very versatile for cooking with. It stands up to grilling, bakes well without disintegrating, absorbs flavors well or tastes great on its own. Oh and cats, cats will flock to you when you bring it inside from the grill to set it on the table. If cats like it then it must be good; no?

Last night I made two fillets, one was rubbed in a buttermilk-ranch powder which I picked up at Williams-Sonoma as an impulse buy, one of my better unplanned grabs. The other was dusted in a spicier concoction - so sorry I didn't take any pictures; that why you get that Native American tribal art picture of a halibut instead.

Walleye is my favorite fish to eat by far, but I think Halibut is a close second. Third, probably tuna (not in the can silly) which I like raw or with just a quick sear.

What is your favorite fish and how do you like it?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!

Day 59 - This is Fun

When I started this mission nearly two months ago I never expected to say anything about it would be fun. Not eating what I want, exercising when I'd rather be watching re-runs of M*A*S*H, stalking the scale; not much fun there. The many previous attempts to get healthy were never much fun, why would this one be any different?

Well this time around has indeed been fun. I can think of a few reasons why but will focus on just one of them now. See that picture there? Does that prompt a fun response in you? Perhaps the cell phone shot doesn't do much justice so let me add a little color commentary.

It is a fillet of Pistachio Crusted Halibut. A 5ounce hunk of luscious wild caught halibut. Something this gorgeous needed a massage, a Greek yogurt massage; just a thin coat on the top. Wanting more I rubbed her gently with minced pistachios. She lay there ready, though still raw definitely inviting enough to have right there as she was. But this affair was not to be rushed. A hot skillet ready, she got her sear on in a kiss of olive oil. The sweet tang of the yogurt, the salty chew of the pistachios, the aroma of the oil; all getting to know each other & still wanting more. And more came in the bliss of a 400F sauna, I mean oven. Eight minutes later, approaching the height of perfection, she emerged ready to satisfy my hunger.

On the plate a simple side of cucumber slices and watermelon wedges with a bit of home made Greek yogurt & black pepper dressing anxiously awaited her arrival. A tall glass of ice water with lemon stood ready to wash it all down, um and cool me down. I was worried the pistachios would over power but the first bite was amazing, the flavors blended wonderfully. Halibut is such a great fish to work with and was a great choice for this recipe.

Oh, fun, I forgot this post was about the fun of getting healthy. So what was fun about this dish other than it tasted great. The fun came from creating it. No recipe was followed. Never have I crusted a fish before and then modified an old recipe here today (actually this was dinner this past Sunday). Getting healthy means finding new foods, new ways to make food, new ways to enjoy them. And that means experimenting. Whether you do so by following recipes others share, or just winging it to see what you can come up with. That in my mind makes getting healthy FUN.

It seems fitting too that I call this unexpected fun a NSV; and I shall.

Are you having fun getting healthy?

Responsibility 199 - Gotta Do It!!