Skinny Chocolate Strawberry Pudding

And the 4-day weekend has begun, woo! Matt and I both have off work Monday for Presidents Day, but I needed to use up some vacation time before it expires so decided to take off today with him as well. For once we have no travel or major things planned, and I'm really excited to have a mini "stay-cation" at home. Next week will be crazy busy at work, so I plan to rest up while I can.

Last night I celebrated Valentine's Day with my two favorite boys by making breakfast for dinner.

Matt loves breakfast for dinner, and Riker loves anything carby and sweet (of course) so strawberry French toast was a no-brainer. I cut a few of our French toasts into heart shapes with a cookie cutter (abandoning that method after a few pieces) then topped the toast with a strawberry compote made with fresh berries, Truvia, maple syrup and vanilla. It was a special occasion, so powdered sugar had to be dusted on top as well.

We ate our French toast alongside Morningstar Farms soy "sausage" links. Always a favorite around here.

As if dinner wasn't sweet enough, chocolate was on the menu too.

On my lunch break yesterday, I whipped up some homemade chocolate pudding based on a recipe from Joy of Cooking. My mom always made homemade pudding when I was a kid, so I never buy the box stuff. It's so easy to make and much healthier.

Into a pot went:

- 1 3/4 cup skim milk
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

I cooked it over medium heat until it was all melted together, then added 3 Tbsp. of corn starch mixed with some vanilla. I brought the mixture to a low simmer, then whisked it over low heat for a couple minutes until it thickened up. Voila! I poured it into wine glasses - it was Valentine's Day after all - and put plastic wrap snugly on top so it wouldn't form a skin, then popped it into the fridge for the afternoon to set up.

Right before serving I topped it with chopped strawberries and a few more chocolate chips. Yum.

***

Today started off with a simple cereal breakfast and a sweaty workout at the gym. Unless I'm doing a circuit workout at home, I usually spend half my time doing cardio and the other half doing strength training. I was getting a little bored with my routine, though, so took a queue from a recent cardio mash-up workout on Peanut Butter Fingers and decided to mix things up a bit. Today's workout included:

- 15 minute treadmill run
- 10 minute abs
- 15 minute elliptical
- 10 minute squats & lunges
- 5 minute stretch

The 50 minute, 900-calorie workout flew by in a flash.

I'm not sure where the rest of the day will take us, but it's beautiful out so we're thinking a trip to the park is in order. Then it's date night! :)

Happy Friday!