Special day

Yesterday was a special day in our house. It was my wife's birthday, but it also marked the 10th anniversary of when we became engaged to each other. Note that on that special evening as I popped the question, I didn't get a "yes" or a "no". I got a "if you're joking I'm going to kill you." Such is the life of the wise guy.

Anyway, I gave my wife a day off from her job watching the kids, and needed both of our mothers to help manage the kids. I have no idea how she does it - she is truly amazing. Anyway, coordinating a special dinner and tending the kids, while doing my job, I didn't have time to go to the gym or workout, and I was pretty beat up, so it was good to rest a day.

Dinner was also excluded from the diet program for the day in order to celebrate. As a side effect of this program, I am completely conscious of the caloric content (at least in a general manner) of what I eat, so I can usually keep a meal within the parameters of healthy. But I didn't want to do the math so we could have a nice meal that was completely enjoyable.

I made a lobster and shiitake risotto, with a fennel and truffle crusted lamb chop topped with shiitake marsala sauce, and a side of brussels sprouts in marsala. And opened a 2000 Calon Segur, which unfortunately did not survive the test of time as well as our love has. Very enjoyable evening.

Today I got back into it with a 5 mile run, today in 47:20 (under a 9:30 mile!). I pushed hard, and had absolutely nothing left at the end - I don't do well with the 5:00 run at the end of the day when I'm at a minimal energy. That being said, that was the best time I ever ran for that distance, which felt good.

Dinner was turkey and butternut squash burgers with a spicy applesauce sauce, and a side of plantain fries. If you're anything like my wife, you're thinking "that sounds disgusting". But it was actually quite good. The butternut squash mixed in the burgers kept them moist and provided extra nutrition, while the applesauce sauce balanced out the flavors and added moisture without fat. Recipe:

Burgers

1 small butternut squash (120 calories for about 1 1/2 cups)

1 pound ground turkey (640 calories)

2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo, ground

1 small shallot, minced

1 tbsp minced ciantro

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice

1 tbsp salt

fresh ground pepper

Roast squash in 400 degree oven until completely tender. Scoop out flesh and mix with everything, and make patties and grill them. They will be somewhat wet, and will stick to the grill if you don't lubricate the grates. Makes 4 nice sized patties.

Applesauce sauce

1/2 cup applesauce (50 calories)

2 tbsp Frank's Red Hot

pinch salt

dash cinnamon sugar

1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

1/2 tsp allspice

Mix together and spoon over burgers, best if applesauce is cold for a temperature contrast. Served over the burgers leads to a 410 calorie per serving meal (not including bread, which isn't really needed)

Plantain "fries"

Cut plantains down the middle lengthwise, and grill in skin fruit side down until lightly carmelized. Flip and grill until fork tender, about 10 minutes total. Remove from skin, cut into nuggets, and toss in 1/2 tsp olive oil, chipotle pepper, salt, pepper, and allspice. About 250 calories per serving, 1 plantain per serving. Riper plantains yield a sweeter dish