busychicky

Goals

2010-01-08T15:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday!

Hope you're having a wonderful week! I must be out of practice because working 5 WHOLE DAYS IN A ROW has been exhausting. Thank goodness I'm on the home stretch and it will officially be weekend time in half an hour. Me= happy.

Hadley from http://sparkyourwellness.wordpress.com/ suggested we all come up with one habit we'd like to focus on in conjunction with the cleanse. So this got me thinking about not just habits, but also goals, resolutions, and the like.

One of my goals is definitely to focus on challenging my body in new ways. Thanks to the fitnessista's review, I purchased the Yogalosophy DVD by Mandy Ingber. She's Jennifer Aniston's yoga guru and if that doesn't offer enough inspiration and motivation, Mandy does the whole workout in itsy bitsy, teeney tiny shorts. And she looks fantastic. I love the workout because it's a combination of traditional yoga poses combined with strength moves. Super relaxing but also challenging. My legs (and arms, and abs) were jello-esque during the workout, and my booty was beyond sore the next day. Love it! I will say that Mandy is a little bit of a ditz. It's endearing if you're prepared for it and willing to not take the whole workout too seriously.

So I'd like to turn the goal of doing this DVD on a regular basis into a habit. I think my booty will thank me for it, if Mandy's is any sign :)

I appreciate Hadley's question and want to think it over in the next few days. What's something that you are willing to think of not only as a goal but commit to as a habit in this new year?

In other news, next week is the gorgeous Ashley's birthday! I am beyond excited to see these amazing girls and catch up- it's been far too long. Here are some photos from our little Christmas get together:

Priceless face, Sharon! :)

Hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing weekend!

New Favorites

2010-01-06T15:42:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season! Sorry I've been MIA- I was busy drinking and eating far too much. It was fantastic :)

I'm excited for a conference call taking place tonight where I'll learn more about the Cleanse that starts on January 18th. I think it will be a great nudge to help cut some of the processed and not so healthy stuff out of my diet. It will also force me out of my daily habits of coffee with creamer in the morning and a glass of wine at night. Well... at least for ten days. Seriously, though I'm hoping this will be the jump start to have herbal tea in the morning and treat wine as weekend rather than nightly treat. Do I sound like a lush? Ah well, it's my source of antioxidants for the day ;) Anywho, there's information about the cleanse available at http://www.choosingraw.com/ or http://sparkyourwellness.wordpress.com/. It's not a "scary" cleanse, but rather one that focuses on real, unprocessed food. I can't wait!

The new year has brought some changes, so my greatest challenge over the past month or so has been learning how to re-tweak some of my old recipes (and learn new ones) that work for dinner and maybe lunch rather than cooking in larger quantities. I can eat a meal twice-max, and then it just doesn't taste good anymore.

So with no further ado, here are some of my new favorites:

Southwest Glop (Perhaps I should work on a new name...)

1 peeled and diced sweet potato
1 can black beans, rinsed
1 can (or about 1 1/2 c frozen) sweet corn
Fresh tomato
Avocado
Yogurt (optional)

Peel the sweet potato, dice into about 1/2 inch cubes, and spread on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle salt, pepper, cumin, and chili powder on the sweet potato and bake at 425 for about 30 minutes, or until they are soft and start to brown. Meanwhile, heat the black beans of corn in a medium size pan with a dash of olive oil. I usually let the s.p.s cook for about 15 minutes before starting the corn/bean mixture. When the sweet potatoes are finished, throw them into the pan with the corn and beans and stir. This mixture is great on it's own, but even better with a little Tabasco on top, 1/2 sliced avocado, fresh tomato. I also discovered that a little plain yogurt is the perfect garnish! Such a quick and easy dinner!

Un-fried Rice (inspired by Caitlin at http://www.healthytippingpoint.com/)

1 c cooked brown rice
1 c mixed veggies
1 egg or 1/4 block tofu
1 tsp garlic
soy sauce

Cube tofu (or scramble an egg) and heat in a medium sized pan with a little olive oil (or cooking spray) and garlic, add vegetables (I used a cheapie frozen mix of corn, carrots, green beans, and peas- it reminded me of old school cafeteria lunches and fresh would be much better) and heat, add brown rice and soy sauce to taste. I was lazy and used the little pre-cooked cups of brown rice you can buy at the grocery store. For some reason I have terrible luck cooking brown rice and using the pre-cooked kind made the recipe perfect for a quick lunch hour meal. I also added a little hot sauce for extra flavor. The tofu ended up falling apart and resembling the consistency of an egg so it worked pretty well. I will admit that the frozen veggies were a bit of a bummer, so next time I'll use fresh and the recipe will definitely be a keeper. I had this by itself as lunch, but it would also be a great side dish.

Black Bean Tostadas (Inspired by Molly and Bon Appetite)

2 small corn tortillas
1/2 c rinsed black beans
1 c chopped cabbage
1 tbsp lemon or lime juice
sprinkle of feta
fresh salsa

In a frying pan with a coat of cooking spray, lay out the two corn tortillas and top each with 1/4 c black beans. Heat until beans are warm and tortillas are crisp. Top with 1/2 c cabbage each (or less if you'd like), sprinkle with lemon or lime juice and feta, and add fresh salsa (I used the refrigerated Albertsons brand). Dinner is ready! Molly's version (a recipe from Bon Appetite)is much more gourmet and tasty, but this is sort of the quick and cheap version. The whole meal also comes in at under 300 calories, which is my perfect lunch size (2 tortillas- 110 cals, 1/2 c black beans- 100 cals, reduced fat feta- about 80 cals).

And the close up:

Happy cooking!

'Tis the Season!

2009-12-22T15:55:00.000-08:00

Tis the season for Holiday treats and looking forward to the New Year!

First, look what I found:

A picture of the yummers banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. My mom still thinks they sound gross, but I promise they're amazing.

It's been a cookie-baking kind of month. I made these yummy monster cookies and used Christmas M&Ms to make them more festive.

Word to the wise: this recipe makes A LOT of cookies. Like 6 dozen. It may have had something to do with my increasing the chocolate chips and candies to 1 cup apiece, but I figured the more goodies the merrier. The overabundance of treats made them fall apart a little more easily while transferring from bowl to baking sheet, so I think next time I'll use 3/4 c of each. I also decided to make the cookies regular rather than monster size so that they were a little more manageable.

Soooooo good. Thanks, Leslie for introducing me to this recipe!

I also found the perfect Chocolate Crinkle Cookie recipe (sorry the photo is terrible). These have always been one of my faves and they're soooo easy and tasty. Slightly undercooked with a scoop of peppermint ice cream and a drizzle of chocolate sauce makes them perfect holiday dessert.

*I only added 1 c of melted chocolate chips and skipped adding the additional 1 c of unmelted chips at the end. I don't think they need them. I really want to try this recipe with the mint chocolate chips- I think they would be so tasty!

Granted, there's nothing healthy about either the monster or crinkle cookie recipe, but a little cookie indulgence never killed anyone. That's what New Years resolutions are for, right?

Speaking of resolutions, I'm really excited about this cleanse I'll be doing in January. It's designed by Spark!Wellness and Choosing Raw. When I first started getting healthy I made a conscious effort to cut way back on the processed and fake foods in my diet, but I will admit that I've fallen back on some bad habits. I know I've come leaps and bounds from where I was before starting this journey, but I think the detox/cleanse will be a great opportunity for me to learn some new healthier habits and get rid of the unnecessary junk that sometimes sneaks into my mouth. Both websites are such fantastic sources of healthy and sound nutritional advice I know I'll be in great hands and can't wait to learn more about making smarter food choices. I'm also looking forward to doing the cleanse in a "group" setting so that if there's questions or concerns I won't be figuring things out on my own. The program starts January 18th with an informational call on January 6th, so don't worry- I still have a few days of holiday overindulgence left. ;)

Hope you enjoy the cookie recipes! Any plans for healthy New Years resolutions?

'Tis the Season!

2009-12-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

This list is too funny: http://ohsheglows.com/2009/12/18/easy-vegan-holiday-party-appetizers-take-3/

Also I can't wait to try the vegan peppermint cookies!

I'll be posting recipes for chocolate crinkle cookies, Christmas monster cookies, and banana blueberry muffins within the next few days.

Hope you're having a fantastic Friday!

Amazing Cookies

2009-12-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

I saw these delicious looking Banana Oatmeal Chip cookies a few weeks ago on Carrots N Cake and decided to give the recipe a try. They did not disappoint! I didn't have agave so substituted 1/4 c honey and 1 tbsp brown sugar. Sorry for not having a photo- my camera ate it :(

This is a great, quick and easy recipe- let me know if you give them a try!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Tuesday!

Food for Thought

2009-11-17T15:29:00.000-08:00

Happy Tuesday! It's a gorgeous day here in Big Sky Country! What an amazing gift that Thanksgiving is right around the corner and it was nearly 60 degrees today. As my grandpa always says about the weather, "You better like it because there's nothing you can do about it." I not only like days like these, I love them!

As batty as I think Oprah can be, she can be quite inspired and profound. So, from Miss O, here's a little food for thought on a Tuesday afternoon. Maybe even a little nourishment for the spirit (we all need some every now and then).

Apologies for being such a delinquent flogger (food blogger) lately. Times, they are a changin'. I've decided to go back to school and work on earning my masters degree in Public Relations. I'll be taking (mostly online) classes at the local university (hopefully) starting in January, 2010. I find that I thrive when things are busier and I'm in the midst of a challenge, and I think pursuing my masters will be a great opportunity to re-engage my brain in an academic setting and acquire a skill set that will work nicely with my career as a real estate broker and developer.

Sooo.... I spent a lot of time studying for the GRE. In the midst of that, my meal planning sort of went out the window. Now that the GRE is over (thank goodness- that exam is horrendous and designed exclusively for torture) I've settled into a lovely, though changed routine. Instead of planning a whole week, I buy a ton of produce on the weekend and plan each day according to what sounds satisfying and needs to be eaten. With the shift in priorities, this day to day approach is much less daunting. I've also relied upon tried and true recipes with a few updates rather than scouring through cookbooks on the weekends with the ambition of trying to create new meals multiple times a week. And I'm alright with that. Now that I eat less meat (almost none) and less dairy (though I still love cheese and yogurt, I sub nut milk and soy when possible) I find myself reinventing the meals that I've found reliable and comforting for years.

Things change, priorities shift, and a healthy lifestyle looks different for each individual and may even vary from month to month or week to week. Embrace the changes, find some stability, and keep taking care of yourself! Even though it requires a little extra effort, the return is well worth the additional time and consideration.

I promise I'll be back with new recipes and old favorites soon! Thanks for bearing with me during the transition. :)

Hope you're having a fantastic day!

Apple Oats

2009-11-05T10:22:00.000-08:00

After squeezing apples for cider at a friend's house last month I had some beautiful apples that were begging to be used.

My dad with our friend Henry who was visiting from Oregon.

When the weather cools off a little I always crave oats, and I figured I could make the homemade version of the oatmeal packets with those skimpy little dried apples.

Voila! Apple Oats!

I followed the oatmeal directions on the package and added a chopped apple as the oats were cooking. I mixed cinnamon to tastse into the oats and sprinkled brown sugar on top. So delicious!

Definitely my new favorite fall breakfast! Based on Rhodey Girl's suggestion I made a big batch on the weekend and reheated them for breakfast during the week. It saved time in the morning and they were just as delicious reheated in the microwave with a little almond milk. Take that instant oats! ;)

Hope you're having a beautiful Thursday!

Pumpkin Muffins

2009-10-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/3 c sugar
1 large egg
1/2 c canned pumpkin
1/3 c nonfat, plain yogurt
1/4 c honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1.) Preheat oven to 425 F. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

2.) Beat together butter and sugar until smooth; Add the egg and combine; Add the pumpkin, yogurt, honey and vanilla and combine until smooth.

3.) In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Fold the dry mixture into the wet ingredients and combine until smooth.

4.) Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the muffin tops begin to turn golden brown.

Makes approx 12 delicious muffins!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

2009-10-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

I am not a fan of eggplant. I know, I know, gasp! I had eggplant Parmesan at a friend's house when I was in middle school and I think it scarred me for life. I remember it being so mushy, slimy and well, gross. However, in an attempt to broaden my vegetable horizons, I purchased an eggplant at the store. P was a bit stupefied. "I thought you didn't like eggplant...." he mentioned when he saw it sitting forlornly in the vegetable bowl. Well, all good things must come to an end- my spiteful relationship with eggplant included. I can now officially say that I am an eggplant fan. Well, alright, that might be a little extreme, but I think I'm finally on my way there!

Something about Autumn seems to require meals involving roasted vegetables. I had an abundance of them in the kitchen, and chopped them all up and spread them ac cross large baking sheet with a thin spray of Pam along with salt, pepper, and a little Cayenne cumin. I baked everything at 425, flipped the veggies when they started to brown, and removed them from the oven when everything looked sufficiently squishy and browned (I really need to get better about paying attention to how long I bake things!).

From left to right: Eggplant (no skin- I'm not quite there yet), onion, acorn squash, red and orange bell pepper. I also added a zucchini and some mushrooms one everything else started to soften up.

I then boiled some rosemary pasta and threw a few stalks of asparagus into the hot water when the noodles were almost finished. I used about a cup of pasta and put tons of the roasted vegetables on top (I promise there's some pasta under there!).

Over the whole lot went some organic spaghetti sauce and goat cheese. Yum!

It was great to have leftover roasted vegetables and pasta for lunch the next day as well. And I'll admit, the eggplant was my favorite part of the whole meal. Any other good eggplant recipe suggestions?

Hope you're having a Happy Friday!

Amanda's Ice Cream Sandwiches

2009-10-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

As a belated birthday present to Ryan, we gathered with the Kabearys for a homemade pizza dinner. Amanda and Ryan graciously offered to bring dessert and wine, so I was immediately excited for some of Amanda's famous homemade cupcakes. She's such an amazing baker and always comes up with the most creative recipes so I couldn't wait to see what she had whipped up for all of us. I was even more excited to learn that Amanda had baked homemade molasses cookies to stuff with vanilla ice cream to make.... homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches! The cookies were soft and delicious but not overly sweet- a perfect taste of fall!

Here's the wonderful cookie recipe from Amanda:

soft molasses spice cookies

1/3 c sugar + more for dipping2
1/4c. all purpose flour- i use Pillsbury
1t baking soda1
1/2t cinnamon
1/2t cloves
1 1/2t ginger
1/4 t allspice
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter- softened but still cool
1/3 c dark brown sugar
1 egg yolk1 t vanilla extract- it's worth it to buy a high quality vanilla.
1/2 c. molasses

preheat oven to 375.
whisk flour, baking soda, spices, and salt until combined in bowl (use paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) cream butter, white sugar, brown sugar on medium high until light and fluffy. about 3 min. reduce speed to med. low.
add yolk and vanilla. beat until well incorporated. add molasses and beat until mixed. scrape sides of bowl.
w/ mixer on lowest setting add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined- do not over mix!stir dough w/ rubber spatula to make sure no flour remains unmixed.place 1/2 c sugar in a bowl
form dough into 1 T size balls and roll in sugar before placing on baking sheets about 2 inches apart.
bake 1 sheet at a time about 11 min until cookies are brown and puffy. (cookies will look undercooked between the cracks)cool 5 minutes and enjoy immediately or...wait until cooled completely and scoop 1/4 vanilla ice cream, (or peach or ginger or whatever you feel like) on flat side of 1 cookie- top w/ another cookie and enjoy your ice cream sandwich!

Thank you Kabearys for a wonderful evening and the yummy treats!

Time Flies

2009-10-15T15:15:00.000-07:00

Another week and a half has flown by and I've been a delinquent blogger!

For the past month or two I've eaten little to no meat. I think reading "Skinny Bitch" scared the bajesus out of me and the idea of buying meat at the store just creeps me out now. Likewise eating meat at restaurants. So on Monday night I planned on making one of my new favorite veggies recipes: Sloppy Janes. Then I started craving meat. Weird, since that hasn't happened at all in my meat-free adventure. However, I am a firm believer that when your body is craving something you should listen. This doesn't always mean you should give in (my body often craves ice cream- I have learned to say no at least once in awhile), but it's worth evaluating to see if the craving has any merit. This craving seemed reasonable and I figured the perfect way to satiate my appetite. Granted, this task was made far easier by the fact that I grew up on a working cattle ranch. My parents still live on the ranch and we preg test, brand, bangs vaccinate, the whole nine yards. My "payment" for this grunt work is a freezer full of beef. Natural, local beef from an overly-familiar origin. The reason I stopped eating meat was because wondering where it came from freaked me out. Having access to our own beef removes all the guesswork, allowing me to enjoy a delicious, meaty meal every once in awhile. So, in a moment of sheer genius, I decided simply to add ground beef to the meal I had already planned for the night. Triumphant in my resourceful and creative solution I browned a lb of hamburger along with a sweet onion and then added a can of kidney beans along with two cans of diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, cumin and cayenne. And then I realized.... I made chili. OK, so I'm not the culinary genius I fancy myself to be, but it was pretty darn good.

Here's my plate along with baked sweet potato "fries" and steamed broccoli:

I also had some BBQ sauce with my fries and broccoli. Who knew steamed broccoli and BBQ sauce would be such a delicious combination?

Here's the calorie break down:

Ground beef (about 2 oz): 100 cals

Kidney beans (1/4 c): 50 cals

Diced tomatoes (1/2 c): 25 cals

Sweet potato (3/4 medium, no skin): about 80 cals

Broccoli (1 c): 50 cals

BBQ sauce (1 tbsp): 30 cals

Grand total: Just under 350- (my) perfect dinner size!

Quick Lunch

2009-10-06T20:13:00.000-07:00

Butternut squash soup*

Carrots and broccoli with red pepper hummus*

*Pacific Brand Butternut squash soup- good, not amazing, a little sprinkle of cayenne added a nice kick

*Sabra hummus- the best!

Autumn Squash

2009-10-06T20:02:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about fall is acorn squash.

Inspired by Rhodey Girl's Recipe, I came up with this variation for a quick weeknight to enjoy one of Autumn's best treats.

The biggest hassle is prepping the squash, but it's well worth the effort. I think the easiest way is to quarter the squash, scoop out the seeds, and then remove the skin with a vegetable peeler. I then cut the squash into approximately 1 inch cubes. I baked them on a cookie sheet sprayed with Pam and sprinkled with salt, pepper, and cumin at 425 until tender (about 20 minutes?). I'm used to eating acorn squash with butter and brown sugar, but this simple preparation was much tastier (not to mention guilt free!). I ate about 1/3 for dinner and reheated some of the leftovers in the microwave the next day and they were equally delicious.

Definitely a new fall favorite!

Long Overdue

2009-09-27T15:26:00.000-07:00

Have two weeks really flown by so quickly? It's been such a whirlwind lately that I've been a delinquent blogger. I always think of fall as being a time when things slow down in preparation for the dormancy of winter, but this fall has been anything but slow.

This Wednesday we cruised up to Bozeman for the Jason Mraz concert. What an amazing show! Despite my losing our front row seats due to a near fainting spell, the show was amazing. Mr. Mraz is a hippie if there ever was one, and his message of spreading love and joy radiated through the crowd as everyone danced, sang, and soaked up the fantastic music. The impact of a positive mental outlook simply cannot be overrated, and if his joy spilled into listeners and continues to spread to those around us it's a beautiful thing. Hmmm, maybe hippie is contagious?

Last night I tried my new favorite pizza dough with exclusively wheat flour and I'm thrilled to report it was just as delicious as the versions I've tried with half white and half wheat flour. One more way to health-ify an already great recipe. I topped it with carmelized onions, dates, gorgonzola, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fresh basil. It was reminiscent of the Mom Naan and nearly as tasty. Sorry I forgot to take photos- it went from the pizza stone to our tummies very quickly!

Apologies for taking so long to share this fantastic recipe. It's perfect for this time of year when the leaves begin to change and there's a little bite in the air.

The original Corn and Potato Chowder recipe is from Cookinglight, but of course I didn't stick to it exactly. We don't have a grill (well, we have one, but it's currently residing in our overgrown backyard. That's a project for next summer...) and I couldn't find any small sweet corn (I hate the starchy late summer variety) so I simply used a bag of frozen corn. Though Parker was a bit dismayed at my choice to cut this particular corner of the recipe, I think it turned out just as well. Canned corn would work nicely, or of course fresh if it's available and you're ambitious. I also skipped the milk and half and half and substituted almond milk. It was just as delicious and the food processed corn added the necessary creaminess. I used 1 tbsp of butter total since I didn't need any to grill the corn, but next time I'll leave it out entirely- makig this a great, easy vegan recipe. I forgot the chives and thyme from my grocery list and simply relied on salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes for seasoning.

The recipe made four servings, and I quickly ate 1 1/2 and Parker chowded down the rest. Though I love having leftovers, when an entire batch of soup is consumed in one sitting, I consider the recipe a success. I'm looking forward to making this one again. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Happy Sunday :)

Encouragement

2009-09-17T13:09:00.000-07:00

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."

~ Confucius

SPIRALIZER!!!!

2009-09-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

For my birthday P not only gave me a beautiful wine rack, but also a SPIRALIZER!!! Or, a noodleizer as we call it around here :) It is fan-flippin-tastic!

Here's the little guy in action:

The first photo is of freshly noodleized raw zucchini- yum!

Dinner tonight was homemade pasta sauce with spiralized zucchini alongside stuffed mushrooms. Pretty darn good for made up recipes!

Pasta sauce:

About a dozen fresh tomatoes, chopped (about the size of canned diced tomatoes)
2 cloves fresh garlic, slivered
1 tbsp brown sugar
salt and pepper
a few red pepper flakes
3 random peppers from my parents' neighbors' garden chopped into small pieces; sorry I have no idea what kind they were but here's a photo:

I threw everything into a medium sized sauce pan on fairly high heat- about an 8 on my little burner :) I cooked it all for about an hour, reducing the heat as the sauce cooked down, eventually letting it simmer for the last 20-30 minutes, depending on how much liquid is remaining. When we were just about ready to eat I threw the zucchini in with the sauce to heat up. The spiralized zucc tasted almost like pasta and the angel hair noodle consistency was amazing. I can't wait to try the noodleizer with other veggies!

I made up this stuffed mushroom recipe after reading a bunch of others from cookbooks. I wanted to use things I had in the house and simplify the recipe along with making it healthier. Here's the mixture I used to stuff the mushrooms:

1/2 pack frozen spinach, thawed and drained
3 tbsp low fat ricotta cheese
1/3 c bread crumbs
1 tbsp pesto

I combined everything in the food processor and scooped it into 16 (give or take- I could have easily filled 20) mushrooms with the stem removed placed top down on a cookie sheet sprayed with pam. I scooped the mixture into the mushrooms and then topped with a little fresh Romano cheese. They baked for about 20 minutes- or until golden brown on the top- at 400 degrees.

They were surprisingly filling and tasty. I'm not always a huge spinach fan so I'm always trying to find new ways to incorporate the green stuff into recipes without having the taste overpower everything else. Parker declared it a "repeater." If only the Bills had won, it would have been a perfect evening ;)

2009-09-14T19:38:00.001-07:00

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." ~John F. Kennedy

~homemade birthday thank you cards~

Motivation

2009-09-14T09:52:00.001-07:00

"If you want to know your experiences from the past look at your body now. If you want to change our body change your experiences now." ~ Deepak Chopra

Variations on a Theme

2009-09-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

We've been on a pizza-making kick lately. I think it's because I'm so excited that I can make homemade ww crust and the topping possibilities are endless. Last week I made a batch of dough for dinner one night and froze the rest to use this week. Half a batch of dough was more than enough for dinner for the two of us and some leftovers for lunch the next day.

Here's the pizza pie I whipped up last week:

His (right side):
Homemade sauce, fresh sliced tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and a sprinkle of fresh basil (added after baking)

Here are the ingredients for the homemade sauce:

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
Red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar

I dumped everything into a saucepan and reduced until it was the right thickness. Since it's fresh tomato season I'll use about 5 chopped tomatoes next time. I don't bother removing the skin or seeds because I don't even notice them (and I'm too lazy to mess with all that!).

Hers (left side):

Caramelized onions, blue cheese crumbles, fresh sliced tomatoes and a sprinkle of fresh basil (added after)

Here's a link to the original post that includes the crust recipe.

And here's the pizza I made this week using half of the leftover ball of dough (1/4 of the original recipe):

My pizza toppings were a thin, thin layer of pesto, fresh tomato slices, goat cheese and mushrooms. I also added fresh mozzarella after baking. Parker got his own pizza topped with the leftover sauce (the recipe last week made enough for two or three pizzas so I froze the rest), fresh sliced tomato, fresh mozzarella, and tons of sliced mushrooms. Unfortunately the photos didn't turn out :(

The pizzas were extra good this week because of a fantastic birthday present from the Blakeslees- A PIZZA PADDLE! Mom gave me a stone for Christmas and I'd used it for crisping pitas, tortillas, etc, but hadn't had a chance to use it for fresh homemade pizza. It was so much fun to roll out the dough so it was extra thin and then transfer it from the paddle to the stone. I loved how the crust got extra crispy and the stone gave it much better flavor than just using a cookie sheet. Thanks Matt and Kate for the great gift!

Zucchini Chips

2009-09-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

This time of year always seems to offer an overabundance of produce- zucchini included. I found this recipe at cookinglight.com and gave it a shot last week. Tasty, crispy, delicious. I decided to recreate the "chips" tonight with a few changes.

The following steps yeiled baked, crunchy, flavorful fall zucchini:

1.) Slice zuccs into approx 1/4 in thick "chips"
2.) Dip into milk (I used almond milk) so the breading sticks. I put the zucc chips in a tupperware, poured in a little almond milk, adhered the top and shook the whole mix so the zuccs were coated
3.) Mix together approx 1/2 c bread crumbs, dash of salt/pepper, and lemon pepper (or a "flavor packet" of your choice). Last time I used cayanne but I wanted a more acidic flavor this time
4.) Move zucc chips from milk to breading mixture and toss a few at a time so they're evenly coated
5.) Spread chips on a baking sheet coated with Pam
6.) Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes
7.) Remove from oven, turn chips, and sprinkle with a little fresh grated parm
8.) Return to oven and bake an additional 15 minutes or until lightly brown

The end result:

They're such a great side dish. We enjoyed them this evening along with sloppy janes (with fresh tomatos- yum!) and sweet corn. I'm not sure late summer meals get much better!

Hope you enjoy! :)

Confession

2009-09-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

So I have a wee confession to make: when cooking, I RARELY follow recipes. When I bake, I measure everything, use the right ingredients, and follow directions. When cooking, however, all bets are off. I use cookbooks, cooking magazines, and other flogs as a huge source of inspiration, but it's seldom that I use the exact ingredients and methods described. I like using what I have around the house or know I can easily buy and adapting recipes to make them quick and easy. Sometimes, this is disastrous (Sorry again about dinner on Monday P!) and other times it's amazing.

Case in point: I found this recipe for black bean burgers with mango salsa at http://testkitchenette.wordpress.com/. The little wheels in my head started to churn as I realized I has almost all the ingredients in my kitchen and mangoes that needed to be used much sooner than later. After previously trying this recipe from 101cookbooks.com with moderate success, I figured I'd blend the two together and see what happened.

The results? Amazing.

Here's a big bowl of the delicious salsa:

1 mango
1 avocado
3 small tomatoes
3 chopped green onions
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper

I assembled my burgers much differently and stuck with the more traditional approach suggested in 101 cookbooks and used an egg as the "glue." I also skipped slicing the "burger" in half and just piled all the salsa on top. I was hungry :) The fresh corn and asparagus rounded out a perfect summer meal.

Just because a recipe seems odd or looks intimidating doesn't mean it's not worth a try ;)

Lunch Munch

2009-08-31T16:02:00.000-07:00

Last week I met Bruce at home for a quick lunch. She (yes, her name is Bruce. Bruce Lee Brown to be very specific) baked in the sun while I threw together a quick quesadilla and salad.

"Quesadilla" Ingredients

Whole wheat tortilla
2 tbsp red pepper hummus
2 tbsp homemade guac

By request... Quesadilla Cals: 150 + 40 + 80 = 270

Salad Ingredients

Romaine
Fresh tomato from Mom's garden (does it get any better?)
Tons of salsa
2 tbsp light sour cream

(I rarely count vegetable calories unless it's something substantial. Lettuce and tomatoes are freebies in my book. The salsa was "fresh" from Costco)

Salad: 20 + 50 = 70

So the whole lunch was about 340. I usually shoot for about 350 cals at lunch time and then have a 150-200 cal snack at 3:00 or 3:30.

Rediculously simple, and the most satisfying lunch I've had in a long time. Definitely worth a reapeat.

Happy Monday :)

My first attempt...

2009-08-24T14:45:00.000-07:00

I've been lusting over the delicious-looking food and beautiful photos in Heidi Swanson's Super Natural Cooking since purchasing the cookbook last month.

Last night I made "Otsu," and it was even tastier than I hoped. A must-read/cook/taste.

We didn't have the suggested noodles so I used some rice noodles that were stashed in the cupboard and they worked quite well. Next time I'll remember to add the cilantro and toasted sesame garnish. It's hard to imagine this dish being any better, but those finishing touches might just be the icing on the cake.

My new favorite breakfast

2009-08-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

1/2 container honey Oikos
Heaping tsp ground golden flax seeds
Generous handfull of blueberries (raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
1/4 cup granola

Even better in the lovely cherry blossom bowls from Parker's mom.

A delicious way to start the day :)

Quick Weeknight Pasta

2009-08-24T14:32:00.001-07:00

Parker and I stopped by City Vineyard last weekend in search of Organic wine and got sidetracked by some of their new food offerings. I purchased some rosemary flavored whole wheat pasta along with some artichoke hearts and threw together a quick pasta when we got home.

I combined the following ingredients and the finished product made about 3-5 servings:

2 cups rosemary pasta
5 sun dried tomatoes
1/2 sweet onion
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini
10-12 small brown mushrooms
salt and pepper
sprinkle of red pepper flakes

After chopping the 1/2 onion finely, I warmed a medium frying pan over medium-high heat with a splash of olive oil. While letting the onion cook down I occasionally added a splash of water to prevent the onion from sticking to the bottom of the pan. When the onions became transparent I added the chopped sun dried tomatoes and let the mix continue to cook (while adding more water) until the liquid had evaporated, the tomatoes were rehydrated, and the onions were caramelized. I then added the chopped bell pepper, chopped zucchini, and seasoning. When the pasta finished cooking I stirred in the mushrooms into the mixture. To serve, I put about 2 cups of the mixture over about 3/4 cup pasta and topped with 2-3 quartered artichoke hearts. Delicious dinner, even better leftovers.

Mountain-o-muffins

2009-08-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

After receiving a huge bag of fresh apples from a friend, I decided to try this recipe for WW Apple Muffins from Suite Apple Pie. I had small apples rather than large ones so I added five, along with a splash of vanilla and about 1/2 tsp each of allspice and cinnamon. They were the perfect snack yesterday and a delicious breakfast this morning.

I can't wait to try some of the other recipes from Sarah's great blog.

I'm having a lovely Monday- hope you are as well :)

Summer Veggies

2009-08-18T16:06:00.000-07:00

Happy Tuesday!

I am so excited that the lovely Ms. Molly gave the Sloppy Jane recipe a try and it was a success! When I saw this recipe at Itzy's Kitchen I was so excited to give it a try and it turned out even better than I hoped- I'm thrilled that Molly and Ryan loved it, too!

Last night I was excited to make dinner with tons of fresh summer veggies. We stopped at the health food store after work to pick up some staples for the week:

Ezekial Muffins
Oikos Yogurt (the honey flavor is amazing!)
Ginger Beer for P
Bananas
Quinoa for Zucchini boats

We also buzzed by City Vineyard and I decided to try a new bottle of wine made with organic grapes:

It was sooooo tasty! Just what the doctor ordered after a very long Monday :) I used a little self-restraint and only had a glass (plus a little splash) but it is definitely one I'll buy again.

For dinner, I chopped up some fresh new potatoes my mom bought at the farmers market and tossed them in the juice of one lemon, salt, pepper, herbs de provence, and a little olive oil. I poured the whole mix onto a baking sheet and popped them in the oven at 425. I think they baked for about 40 minutes but I didn't pay too much attention. I stirred them around a few times and pulled them out of the oven when they looked nice and crispy. A delicious late summer treat!

Along with that I made a "glop" that Parker said looked like barf. And then he ate a giant plate of said barf ;) It used the following ingredients and added them to a saucepan on medium high heat in this order:

splash of olive oil
1/2 sweet onion cooked thoroughly
5 chopped carrots
fresh peas (about 1 1/2 cups)
10 sliced mushrooms
lemon juice
salt and pepper
2 tbsp low fat sour cream
about 1/4 c fresh grated Romano cheese

I cooked the onion for about 15 minutes before adding the carrots, waiting until those started to soften before adding the peas, and then threw in the mushrooms and lemon juice after the peas softened. I put a lid on for a little bit so the peas would steam and threw in the sour cream and Romano at the last minute before serving.

My plate:

It was a great, fairly quick, very easy and fresh summer meal!

Hope you're having a lovely week!

Success!

2009-08-14T13:32:00.001-07:00

I'm back in the real world this week after an amazing vacation with my incredible family in one of the the most beautiful places I've ever been.

We are so incredibly fortunate so have a place to reunite every year that remains so unchanged.

At the lake, we all take turns cooking meals so this week has been a slow start getting back into the practice of making my own food every day- I was so spoiled having delicious meals prepared every day and not having to worry about anything other than overeating!

I finally worked up the courage to make my own pizza crust using this recipe. Miracle of all miracles, it worked! Parker and I made his and hers sides on the same large crust:

My side (on the left) was topped with a little pesto, fresh tomato slices, a sprinkle of goat cheese, and then I added fresh basil after it came out of the oven.

Parker's side (on the right) was topped with homemade tomato sauce (his own creation of diced tomatoes simmered with whole garlic cloves- so good!), fresh mozzarella cheese, and fresh tomato slices. He also added fresh basil after the pizza finished baking.

I took a note from the Mom Naan and pre-baked the crust until it just started to turn golden brown before adding the toppings. I think that helped the crust stay crunchier and allowed the dough to fully cook without overcooking the toppings.

Here was my plate (well, my first plate- I ended up eating this x 2!):

The dough made enough for two large pizzas so I refrigerated the rest to use the following night. I'm so thrilled that I finally had success making my own pizza dough and can't wait to try other toppings.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Friday!

I'm outta here!

2009-07-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

This week has been such a whirlwind! Although it feels like I say that every week over the course of the summer, this week it has been especially true!

My meals this week were all just.... meh. Hence the lack of photos. It didn't make sense to take pictures and post recipes for things that were just alright. I made pad Thai that was missing the flavor packet, curried veggies that were a complete sogfest, and then just gave up and ordered Thai takeout last night. Fresh spring rolls made my tummy very happy!

The only true culinary success was the oatmeal cookies I made for a friend on Monday night. But it was a Paula Dean recipe. Healthy? Not so much. Delicious? Absolutely!

Tomorrow morning I leave to go visit my family in Ontario for 2 1/2 weeks, so I'll be out of the loop until August 11th. In the mean time, I will be reading, eating, soaking up the sun (covered in screen, of course) and laughing like crazy.

Until then, hope you have a wonderful couple weeks!

Salsa, Sloppy Janes and Goat Cheese

2009-07-20T13:12:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday! Hope everyone is recovering from a great weekend and that your week is off to a wonderful start!

Last week I made a quick black bean and corn salsa in the evening so that we'd have ingredients for lunch the next day.

In a big bowl I mixed together:

1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed
1 can sweet corn (I'll use fresh next time but I was going for convenience!)
1 large handful grape tomatos, halved
1 yellow bell pepper chopped into small pieces
1/2 c chopped cilantro
juice of 2 limes
Sea salt and pepper

I stirred everything together and let it sit overnight so the flavors would blend together. The next day for lunch I scooped a couple huge spoonfuls over a whole wheat tortilla, cheddar cheese and avocado quesadilla.

It was a great lunch and the salsa recipe made a TON! This would be a good party recipe but it was almost too much for just the two of us to eat. I love leftovers for a couple meals but after that I get sick of them. Luckily Parker is a human garbage disposal :)

Reading Itzy's Kitchen last week I was inspired to fix some Sloppy Janes for dinner. Such a wonderful recipe idea and I just made a few modifications.

I started with a large sweet onion and sauteed it until the stank was cooked off. I love onions but if they are even a little raw I'm not a big fan. Stinky breath = bad news! When the onion was cooked down I added a chopped red bell pepper and let that cook down a little. I then added a can of diced tomatos, a can of kidney beans, 1 tbsp brown sugar, a few dashes of chili powder and cumin, some Frank's hot sauce, and salt and pepper. There was a lot of liquid so I brought it all to a boil and then reduced the heat to let the mix cook into a sloppy joe-type consistency.

Along with that I made (actually burnt!) some sweet potato fries and roasted zucchini. I added a little bbq sauce to dip the fries and some fresh romano cheese on top of the bean mix and zucchs.

Parker had his jane over whole wheat bread to make it more like the real deal. We both LOVED this recipe and it was a great way to satisfy a craving for a "meaty" meal without having to eat meat. We've both made the switch to veggie for the most part and it's been a great transition to encourage the healthy eating path we've been on.

I wasn't feeling up for cooking much of anything on Friday night, but was craving pasty after Rhodey Girl's salad pasta creation last week.

My version made enough to serve 4 and contained the following:

1/2 box Barilla rotini
large handful grape tomatos, halved
2 c broccoli
1 c cauliflower
1 zucchini, chopped
3 large carrots, chopped

After the pasta water boiled, I added the rotini and let them cook for about 4 minutes, then added the carrots and about a minute later added the cauliflower and broccoli. Zucchini went in last and I just stirred in the tomatos at the end. It was a great easy way to make a fresh, quick and delicious one pot dinner. Before serving I added salt and pepper and sprinkled some goat cheese on top. Goat cheese makes everything better.

Hope you're having a great day!

Perfect Weekend

2009-07-13T14:59:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

I'm not sure mine could have been any better.

Thursday's pre-weekend activities involved lounging with Brucer:

After peeling myself off the couch I took my first crack at making black bean "burgers."
The patties included

1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed

1 egg

bread crumbs (I started with 1/2 c and ended up adding more to get the right consistency)

Sauteed onion (the fajita leftovers mysteriously vanished (cough- Parker!- cough) so I quickly cooked some more

3/4 fresh yellow pepper chopped into small pieces

chili powder, salt and pepper to taste

I put the beans, egg and bread crumbs into the food processor until it looked like thick hummus, then stirred in the remaining ingredients. We cooked the patties up in a fry pan and served them with avocado and tomato. Dinner also included some roasted sweet potatoes with cumin (and BBQ sauce- yum!) and zucchini with a little fresh parm and too much paprika:

Such a delicious, fresh, (spicy!) summer meal!

I also used one of the leftover bb burgers to throw together a quick salad for dinner on Friday night before heading out to meet the girls.

The salad included

Spring mix lettuce

Black bean burger

1/4 avocado smushed up with s and p and a little lime juice to make a quick guac

A drizzle of soy ginger salad dressing

Since Tami loves my salad pictures so much, here goes ;)

It was a great, light dinner followed by a wonderful evening with lovely friends.

Saturday we headed up to the cabin. Mom and Pattie made a delicious curry dinner, and we all consumed way too much wine followed by a game of Cranium. Verdict- I am terrible at the 'Humdinger" clues. My dancing didn't seem to help. Thank goodness there aren't any photos.

The next morning we woke up bright and early for Kathleen's "32 minute scrambled eggs" and homemade bread. I can't imagine a better way to start the day! After that, we headed out for a hike up to the waterfall. We were excited to see the river:

Of course we posed for the required touristy shot. When travelling with an out-of-stater you're allowed to do such things :)

The hike was absolutely gorgeous and the scenery was accompanied by wonderful friends and a beautiful sunshine filled day. I can't wait to go back!

Hope you had a lovely weekend and your week is off to a great start!

Contest Link!

2009-07-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

The lovely Gina at Fitnessista has a great giveaway today! Click on this link to check it out.

I'll post later with photos of the black bean "burgers" from last night- they were delish!

Luncho Muncho

2009-07-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Thursday! Only 10 (work) days until I leave for vacation!

I am lucky enough to go home most days to chow down at my casa over the lunch hour. Sometimes, however, it's a challenge trying to figure out what to eat. Leftovers are ideal, but the past couple of weeks have been so busy I haven't been cooking in the evenings nearly as often. So, what to do?

I bought Sabra brand red pepper hummus last week at the store and got the idea for these lunches from a great, funny, smart and creative website called LovIN My Tummy. Two words: Crack wrap. These are a slight variation, but the same idea.

Luncho numero uno:

I loaded the following ingredients into a tortilla and cooked it in a saucepan with a little pam until melty, oozey, and delicious:

2 tbsp hummus
1/4 avocado
1 oz fresh mozz cheese

So amazingly tasty and easy.

Luncho numero dos was a variation that included sauteed onion, yellow and orange bell pepper. I also used shredded cheddar cheese rather than mozz and just tossed it in the microwave to heat everything up since I wanted it to be in taco rather than quesadilla form.

Not only was it a delicious lunch, but I also have leftover cooked veggies to throw into my black bean burgers for tonight. I love cooking once and eating twice :)

My bathroom floor was replaced this week so I stayed out at my parents with Pman the dog and Bruce burger the kitten. They spent the entire first night pacing around but following that we all slept soundly.

Dinner on Monday was veggie tostadas- one of my faves. Parker is O-V-E-R this recipe, and I adore it so I took advantage of the opportunity to make my parents eat them. Tuesday we grilled chicken marinated in balsamic dressing and I made a caprese salad along with a big green salad. I was so hungry both nights I forgot to take photos. Le sigh.

Last night was a different story. I was craving mom's pizza crust so I suggested a pizza-ish dinner with different toppings thanks to this recipe at Carrots 'N' Cake. Mamacita kindly obliged and made the BEST CRUST EVER. I am still working up the guts to give it a shot. We precooked the crust without toppings so it was nice and crispy.

Voila- Mom Naan! While that was going on I chopped and carmelized a sweet onion along with about 10 dates pitted and cut into small pieces. When they were almost finished cooking I added some balsamic vinegar to help cut the sweetness of the dates. After the crust finished crisping, we piled the onion/date mixture on top along with blue cheese and walnuts. The original recipe called for feta, but I'm not a huge fan and I love the flavors of blue cheese and balsamic together.

The finished product was ah-ma-zing!

I planned on eating one piece but it was so delicious I woofed down 2 1/2 along with a big green salad. Mom and Dad both gave it a big thumbs up so this will definitely be on the repeat list.

My bathroom is all finished today so I get to move back home. Hooray! I had a blast at the ranch with moms and dads this week, but I am looking forward to being back in my own casa. I am also looking forward to black bean burgers, sweet potato fries and roasted zucchini for dinner. I promise to take pictures :)

Hope you're having a wonderful day!

Positive Thoughts

2009-07-07T15:39:00.000-07:00

Healthy Tipping Point is a wonderful blog that provides me with so much inspiration and motivation.

Today, Caitlin has some really wonderful and positive thoughts about "Negative Noise and Energy Vampires." I think we all deal with these types of individuals to a greater or lesser extent, and I found her comments today especially profound and helpful.

If you have a chance, click on the link and welcome some positive thoughts and energy into your day!

On to the food...

Over the weekend I tried this great veggie burger recipe while some of the people I love the most chowed on hot dogs that looked amazingly tasty. My new goal lately is to limit my meaty meals to a maximum of three times per week. So far it hasn't been too much of a challenge and it's fun to find new recipes and think about food in a non meat-centric way. The veggie burgers were a huge failure when we tried to grill them, and a tasty success when we moved them to a pan like the recipe suggested. The cilantro was a great "flavor packet" and I'm looking forward to trying this basic recipe with variations. I think a southwest burger is next...

In other news...

I have been encouraged to post an update on the weight loss part of this adventure. To date, I have lost 15 lbs. This seems like a small miracle to me, but all the hard work has been so worth it. The fact that my old jeans once again fit is amazing, but even better is the way I feel about food, exercise, nutrition and myself. I feel like I now approach the world in a much different way, armed with a set of tools and new knowledge that make me embrace the world of food and have replaced my old emotional associations of resentment and guilt. I am also far less intimidated by all things fitness :) I am inspired by those who are further along in the journey than me- friends who are running 5ks, training for marathons, or eating raw. Maybe someday I'll get there, but I am thrilled with the progress I've made and excited to see what happens next.

Thank you so much for the encouraging thoughts and comments. They mean far more than you know. I am so incredibly lucky to have such supportive family and friends.

Sorry no food photos today- My flogging (food blogging is still very much a work in progress.

Hope you're having a lovely week!

Bake-a-thon (or bake-o-rama)

2009-07-02T13:58:00.001-07:00

Thank goodness it's Thursday and a long weekend ahead!

Yesterday was bonkers at work, so after leaving the office I ran to the grocery for some dinner fixins. Yes, this was my first trip to the grocery store this week. Yes, I have been a slacker.

I've been dining sans-meat for the past few days, so dinner last night was a Gardenburger with 1/2 an avocado and organic ketchup, plus a huge salad:

It included:
*butter lettuce
*1/2 orange bell pepper
*6 fresh strawberries
*sprinkle of blue cheese
*balsamic dressing

Well, that was the plan, but I didn't have any balsamic so I mixed together a teensey bit of evoo, balsamic, salt and pepper, and fresh basil. The basil and stawberries together were so tasty!

After I chowed down the bake-a-thon commenced. I made a peach cobbler thanks to Erica @ Itzy's Kitchen.

I accidentally bought 4 lbs of peaches instead of 2, but the more the merrier, I figured. I used brown sugar for everything rather than white sugar or sugar in the raw since I already had it in the cupboard. Such a tasty recipe! I took the pup for a walk, waited for the cobbler to cool, and dished up a bowl with some cool whip scooped on top. I know cool whip is just whipped chemical ick, but it's so good. It's on my list of things to quit eating someday, but last night I enjoyed every delicious, highly processed bite.

I also made some peanut butter bars , another recipe from Erica's great site. It included:
*peanut butter
*oats
*chocolate chips
*egg beaters
*flour
*honey

Rather than making them into bars I smushed the mix into muffin cups and baked them for about 15 minutes.

Next time I won't bake them quite as long. They were an eensey bit dry (Parker may have thought differently since he consumed a GIANT glass of milk while eating his this morning) but they were also really tasty and a great afternoon snack. They definitely tasty healthy, but hit the spot for something sweet.

(sidebar: sorry for the terrible bake-o-rama photos. I'll have to bribe Parker into helping me take some pics with his far superior camera. Hopefully you get the idea of how everything turned out...)

Lunch today was another gardenburger. Yes, I might be hooked. This time I skipped the avocado since the one last night wasn't quite ripe yet. Unripe avocados are not nearly as tasty as their ripened, squishy, delicious counterparts. I just stuck so some ketchup shmeared on top. I also made a caprese salad:

*2 tomatoes
*1 1/2 slices of fresh mozz, chopped up into small pieces
*lots of fresh basil
*a little evoo and lots of balsamic
*salt and pepper

I may have been a bit overzealous because I couldn't finish the whole plate, but it was so tasty! I love those summer flavors mixed together.

Lately I've been hearing a lot about coconut water. It's low cal and supposedly really tasty. I often crave juice in the afternoon so I thought this would be a great alternative:

(pay no attention to the miscellaneous junk all over my desk in the background)

It was....just.... meh. Mom and I were laughing yesterday that sometimes things that are healthy taste too healthy. Sometimes I would rather they just taste like cheez its or diet coke. There were a couple other flavors of coconut water at the store so I'm not sure I've given up on this possibility just yet, but I'm not jazzed up about this new snack option either. I used to dump crystal light into my water in the afternoon (or have a diet soda- gah!) but now I stick to water. Sometimes something sweet around 3:00 is a lifesaver, so the search continues...

I hope you have a lovely, relaxing holiday weekend!

TGI... T...

2009-06-30T14:37:00.000-07:00

I am currently snacking on a larabar, polishing off a big bottle of water, thanking the good lord that it's a short week, and totally procrastinating at work (sorry, Dad!). I don't know if it's the heat, the time of year, or what feels like a desperate need for vaca (hooray I leave July 24th!) but my brain just feels a bit mushy today. And yesterday. Hmmm....

Bruce the rambunctious kitten burger decided to wake up at 5:30 and try to climb everything in the house. Twice. And then race around in circles for good measure. So the pup woke up, wanted to go out, and I couldn't fall back asleep. Boo. The good news was that I decided last night to head to the gym this morning so I was up bright and early to work up a sweat pre-office. Here is the part where I made a guilty admission: I have been a total exercise slacker lately. I was on such a great streak before the Chicago trip and then I came back and slugged out. I did purchase the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred and I've been doing that twice a week from home. Holy Moly, there's a reason people on the Biggest Loser drop the lbs- that lady is a beast! But with the exception of the rediculously intense 20 minute workouts I've been lazy. I did, however, montitor my calorie intake more closely to offset the lack of burn. Fewer snacks and desserts = bummer. So back to the gym this morning I went. 30 mins on the elliptical isn't much, but I am getting back in the groove and we all have to start somewhere. Day one- check.

Breakfast this morning was low sugar Quaker maple and brown sugar oats with a tbsp pb and half a banana. In an ideal world, the oats would have been homemade, the sweetener would have been organic, and the pb would have been almond butter. But who am I kidding? I am not perfect and it least it wasn't a giant coffee and scone from the coffee shop down the street (yum cinnamon scones and white chocolate latte).

I've been a bit thrown this week since I had dinner with the beautiful Ms. Molly, her handsome husband and too cute for words bambino last night, and I am joining some lovely and amazing friends for a baby shower this evening. So no menu. Yet. I do need to restock on some healthy food before the weekend so I don't get takeout and DQ again (that was not me you saw doing those things last weekend).

I'm a work in progress and this is a day by day project to improve (let's be honest) the way I look, but far more importantly the way I feel. And I'm getting there. Sometimes it feels like an uphill battle when I read flogs (food blogs) about how amazingly healthy some folks are. Maybe I'll get there, eventually, but for now every healthy choice I make moves me in the right direction and for now that's good enough. There is lots of room to grow, learn, and improve, but I think it will continue to be a great adventure.

Day two, here I come...

Hope you are having a gorgeous Tuesday (and not melting if you're in MT!).

Lovin' Summer

2009-06-25T12:58:00.000-07:00

Whew- this week has been such a whirlwind! High: my brother being home and spending tons of time with my fam. Low: finding a huge tick in my pup's ear. Hopefully that's the worst thing that will happen this week and the rest is smooth sailing!

Happy belated birthday to the lovely Tami, who is such an amazing friend! I don't know what I would do without you! Tami turned a year older on Tuesday and we celebrated last weekend:

I am so grateful for all the amazing people in my life- I feel lucky to call such lovely people my friends. Of course Parker is especially high up there since he not only puts up with all my silliness, but tastes my food attemps with a smile every day. I am the luckiest girl in the world!

Here's a photo of the chicken tacos with mango jicama salsa we made earlier this week:

Parker ate his in traditional taco form and I scooped all the fillings into a bowl over beans and rice:

Here's the recipe link: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1880013

I also made the spicy asian noodles for lunch on Wednesday:

They were just OK. Maybe it's because I made them over the lunch hour and rushed through the recipe without paying much attention to the ingredients and no attention to the quantities. That tends to happen when I'm in a hurry! I also need to find a new variety of noodle to use- I've stuck to rice noodles for awhile and they just aren't my favorite. So maybe it's worth a re-try- I think it definitely has potential.

The BEST thing I ate this week wasn't actually anything I made, though it was homemade! I had dinner with my fam last night and mom made her ah-ma-zing pizza crust. We topped it will some tomato paste, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomatos (can't wait til they're actually in season) and fresh basil and oregano from the garden. I also cooked up some chicken with Hungarian Paprika and garlic salt and threw that on top. Delish!

I've decided one of my goals for the summer is to master the art of pizza crust. Mom makes it look like the easiest thing in the world, but all my attempts have been utter failures. I am sticking with the thought that practice makes perfect so I'm determined to give it another shot. I'll have to add it to the menu next week :)

My menu plan went out the window in a hurry this week. Oh well. It makes me think of the saying "life is what happens when you're busy making plans." Taking advantage of the moment is definitely more fun- and has turned out to be quite tasty, too :)

For some reason I've had quite the hankering for cobbler lately. My attempt earlier this week was not an utter failure, but I'd only give it a 4 or 5 on a scale of 1 to 10. Thank goodness for Cool Whip- it saved the day! Any good reasonably healthy cobbler suggestions?

Hope you're having a great week!

The game plan

2009-06-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Here's the food plan for this week- things have been so hectic lately who knows how the week will turn out, but this is the starting point for dinner plans:

Monday: Chicken tacos w/mango jicama salad and beans and rice (for P!). I've never cooked with jicama before so wish me luck!
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1880013

Tuesday: Dinner with friends

Wednesday: Spicy asian noodles with chicken. Instead of serving extra veggies on the side I think I'll just add them all to the pasta.
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1880019

Thursday: Chicken and mushrooms in garlic sauce with green beans or summer veggie tostadas/tacos

Friday: Friend's wedding

Saturday: Whatever I didn't make for dinner Thursday :)

Hope your week is off to a great start!

Playing catch up

2009-06-22T13:12:00.001-07:00

Whew- last week was such a whirwind! As some of you know, my dad had his knee partially replaced on June 9th. This is his second knee replacement in less than three months, but he's doing so well! I played chauffer a bit last week, driving him home from PT, helping run errands, etc. Needless to say my schedule was a bit off from the norm so planning fell a bit by the wayside. In addition to helping my dad out, my 90 year old grandfather went to the doctor on Monday and they immediately scheduled him to have a pacemaker installed the following afternoon. His oxygen levels were way down so they wanted him to have the procedure as soon as possible so that he'd be on his way to feeling better. Things went very well, and at our father's day BBQ yesterday he was doing so well! Not only was he happy, funny, and chatty, but he looked at least 5 years younger :) The pink was back in his cheeks and it was great to see him enjoying the beautiful day. I am so grateful that both my dad and gpa are well on their way to feeling better!

Here are some highlights from food last week:

"Stuffed" Chicken with roasted potatos and asparagus
Here's a link to the recipe: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1886438

And a photo:

OK, so the plan was to make stuffed chicken breasts, until I realized that I bought chicken tenders rather than breasts. Whoops! So I made the filling, cooked the chicken in a saucepan until almost done, then spread the filling on top and popped the whole pan in the oven for a few minutes until the filling melted on top . The dish tasted great and it was so much less work than cutting, stuffing, and skewering the chicken according to the recipe. It seems like there are a lot of great stuffed chx recipes out there but sometimes it just seems like sooooo much work- I may have to resort to this method again! I found a "poultry seasoning" mix of fresh herbs at the store so in addition to adding them to the chicken filling, I also chopped them up and sprinkled them on top of the potatoes along with salt and pepper using cooking spray to coat the pan and make the seasonings stick- so good! The mix included rosemary, thyme, and sage. The red potatoes were a nice change from the sps I usually make and a great addition to the chicken and asparagus.

I also make an African Peanut Stew recipe that Molly made about a year ago. It was so tasty when she made it and even though I've had the recipe for awhile it took me forever to get around to cooking it myself. I was motivated to cook a big pot of something since P gave me an awesome new pan the weekend before. What a great bf :) If you google "African Peanut Stew" you'll find a lot of variations, but this one included:

Onion
Celery
Carrots
Sweet Potato
Diced Tomatoes
Fresh ginger
Fresh garlic
Vegetable broth
Edamame
Curry
Peanut butter (I used almond butter)
Molly also suggested adding golden raisins and Siracha (sp?) sauce, both of which were great additions
A few other things that I'm undoubtedly forgetting

There are tons of potential variations to this recipe and it's a great one for using what you have around and varying the quantities of different ingredients according to your taste. I chose to serve it plain, and my mom served her leftovers over brown rice with fresh avocado and yogurt on top. Thanks for the great recipe Mols!

The other new recipe I tried was spiced pork chops with apple chutney. Here's the recipe link: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1880022

I've always loved chutney but never attempted to make it myself. It was sooooo good! Although it calls for dried cranberries I didn't have any so used diced dried apricot instead and loved the flavor. I served the dish with green beans and couscous and it's definitely one I'll try again. Sorry no photos, I must have been super hungry and forgotten that evening :)

Hope last week was a great one for you!

Best laid plans....

2009-06-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

Happy Friday!
Hope you're having a great week!

Although I had my whole food week planned out, real life happened and I got a little off track.

Here's how food actually went:

M- Thurs breakfast as planned- thank goodness cereal is easy!
Monday lunch: light veggie rockets ginger wrap on wheat tortilla
Dinner: stir fry (I was horrible about taking photos this week- but I'll include the recipe for this dish!) and gellato for dessert :)

T lunch: subway turkey wrap (6" wheat bread with turkey, swiss, banana peppers, lettuce, tomato, black olives and sweet onion dressing), baked bbq lays, diet coke. Boo for hospital lunches. I also had half a bag of peanut m&ms as a snack along with two huge handfuls of cheez-its. Those little crackers are so tasty I swear they are evil!
D: leftover stir fry since I got home late

W lunch: lean cuisine mad cheese. So gross- I can't believe I used to eat those all the time!
D: Curried veggies (the recipe from cooking light minus the tofu and with some extra veggies. I used zucchini, baked yams, onion, carrot, pineapple and great beans) over rice noodles. The recipe was.... good. Not great, but good. It tasted like it was missing something so I'll have to keep experimenting... Skinny cow skinny dipper bar for dessert.

Th lunch: leftover curried veggies over rice noodles with a little goat cheese sprinkeld on top :) much better with the extra flavor!
D: Veggies tostadas- corn, zuchhini, onion and yellow squash with jalepeno, lots of cilantro, a little green salsa, tomato, avocado and cheese on a corn tortilla crisped in the oven. So good! This is a recipe I keep coming back to it's so fresh, yummy and easy!

Tostada filling:

Toppings:

All together!

F breakfast: My first attempt at smoothies! I blended (for two of us)

2 c frozen strawberries
1 1/2 c frozen mango chunks
1 light lemon yogurt
1 light vanilla yogurt
4 scoops of vegan protein powder (following the serving suggestions)

I was so excited to dump all this in and push the blend button until.... nothing happened. I stirred it all up and tried again.... nothing. Then P suggested I add a little soy milk and it finally started to work. Next time I may nix one of the yogurts and just add more soy milk. The protein powder gave it sort of an odd consistency/tast, but it was a good first attempt. I will keep messing with the recipe but I love the idea of smoothies for breakfast. I need a break from cereal!

Here's what I brought to work with me today- the smoothie and a couple snacks (larabar and vitatop):

Lunch today will be thai (yum!) and for dinner- who knows.

The point of this long rambling post is that even though I planned out a great week of food, things inevitably change and my biggest challenge is to go with the flow and make healthy choices along the way. Obviously I had some slip ups (hello Cheez Its!) but all in all things weren't too bad. I don't want to give the impression that just because I post a menu on Monday that's what I eat all week- far from it! That is sort of the goal I strive for and a provides a shopping list for me and then things go from there.

The only time I ate meat was in the stir fry which was a nice change and I stayed away from booze other than the skinny margaritas last night- it was just one of those days! One of my challenges is to get right back on the horse when I slip up rather than figuring that day is a bust and I can eat whatever I want and start over tomorrow. I am realizing that it's about a series of consistent, healthy, postive choices and that a treat here or there isn't the end of the world.

Here's the recipe for the stir fry in the order I add ingredients to the pan:

2 chopped onions (cook until transparent- add chicken broth if needed to keep from sticking to pan)
2-3 chicken breasts chopped into small pieces- add when onions are almost done
2 bell peppers (yellow, red or orange) chopped into small strips- add when chicken is about halfway cooked
1 1/2 c orange juice
2 tbsp peanut butter
1 tsp chili oil
1 tsp sesame oil
Ginger freshly chopped or grated (I use tons- maybe 3 or 4 tbsp)
2 cloves freshly pressed ginger
1 cup chopped carrots- cook until carrots soften slightly
1 can of chopped pineapple with juice (I usually add the juice along with the oj)
1 can of bamboo skinny strips
3 celery sticks chopped

After adding the celery I let everything simmer for a few minutes and then serve over rice or rice noodles. This is a really easy recipe to add or subtract ingredients and doesn't take too long- the chopping is definitely the most time consuming part. You can also tinker with the amounts- this is a rough guess since I usually just dump things in and add to taste. Happy cooking!

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Home again, home again

2009-06-08T14:42:00.000-07:00

Hi All!

We had such a fabulous time in Chicago and it was so amazing to see some great friends and spend time in the city. Not to mention all the amazing food we ate!
P has a day by day recap with lots of amazing photos on his blog: www.parkerbrownsmusic.com
He took some incredible photos that really capture the feel of the city and our super fun long weekend.

I am EXHAUSTED today but looking forward to a week of well rounded, healthy, fresh meals and getting back to my workout schedule. The healthy food will start tonight, but the workouts will have to wait until tomorrow since we're having dinner with family :)

Here's the meal plan for the week:

Monday
bf all week: Fiber One shredded wheat with lt vanilla soy milk
l: light veggie ginger wrap from rocket burrito with no crunchy noodles on a whole wheat tortilla (I ate 3/4 and gave the rest to P!)
d: Stir fry with rice (garlic, ginger, bell pepper, carrota, celery, onion, chicken, pineapple, and bamboo- I'll take photos tonight and post the recipe tomorrow)

Tuesday
l: leftover stir fry or pear/walnut/gorg flatbread
d: curried tofu w/rice noodles http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=686184

Wednesday
l: leftover curried tofu or flatbread
d: Summber veggie tacos sans chicken (the tostada recipe from last week in taco form- they were so tasty and I have been craving them since- plus they make for great leftovers! http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1215924) If P is super hungry I'll make Vigo yellow rice with black beans as well. Here's a photo of the tostadas from last week:

Thursday
l: leftovers (there should be lots by this point!)
d: three bean chili with cornbread http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1696625

Friday we will likely go out for dinner to celebrate the big closing that happened on Friday :)

I put together a shopping list every week in spreadsheet form (yes, I am a little OCD and a huge dork- I think my mom literally laughed out loud when she saw it for the first time!) that has helped make grocery shopping a lot easier. If you'd like a copy let me know and I'm happy to email it your way.

My goals for this week are to cook without meat (with the exception of dinner tonight since we're having company) and to not drink until Friday. We had so much fun on the trip but my body feels like it needs a bit of a break and I feel like this will be a good way to de-tox!

Here are a couple photos from our trip:

The fountain at Millenium Park

The bean!

Hope you're having a great day!

Chicago

2009-06-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday and we'll be eating amazing food and enjoying the city until Sunday. I'll update on everything when we get back home.

Hope you're having a great week!

Lucky girl

2009-05-29T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have spent the past few days being completely overwhelmed with gratitude. How incredibly fortunate to live in such a beautiful place and to be surrounded by such amazing people. Everyone has been so incredibly supportive and complementary of this humble little blog and all I can say is THANK YOU! The sun is shining, the grass is green, there is so much love in my life right now, and I am a lucky girl. The fact that it's Friday doesn't hurt, either :)

Lunch today was a little black bean, cheese, and whole wheat tortilla quesadilla. I have to admit that we didn't polish off the mango salsa from last week so I dumped that on top of the melty goodness along with half of a smushed avocado. There was a brief moment when it occured to me that it was a little gross to be eating almost week old salsa, and then I figured it's newer than whatever was in the jar lurking in the back of my freezer. It still tasted good so I went for it. Apparently it is time for another trip to the grocery store.

Dinner last night was a repeat of the mushroom chicken and green beans from last week, sans egg noodles.

Of course P added more cheese (fresh pecorino). This recipe is so tasty and really quick and easy. I didn't add any onion and stuck more closely to the recipe this time, although I rarely measure anything exactly and added a lot of fresh basil.

This morning started with a 6:15 workout so tomorrow is my DOR.

Hope you have a fabulous weekend! :D

And the verdict is...

2009-05-28T14:13:00.000-07:00

The bbq chicken last night was definitely a success! The sauce really thickened up and had an almost molasses flavor and the chicken was really tender. It ended up making way more food than I thought- enough for 6 or 7 sandwhiches which sort of surprised me. Maybe I'll only do 2 chicken breasts next time, although I'm sure the leftovers will be eaten! I didn't add any extra spice to the sweet potato fries since the chicken was spicy and just stuck to s&p and some cumin. I made my sandwhich open face and P added the top of the bun along with some fresh parmesean cheese.

Tonight I'm going to try the mushroom chicken from last week but skip the noodles. I felt like they didn't add much to the dish. I have a sweet onion to use instead of scallions (I'll probably juch chop up half) and some white cooking wine to add along with tons of fresh mushrooms. The cheesy asparagus was so good earlier this week I'm excited to recreate that dish along with fresh green beans tonight. I'll remember to take pics this evening so I can post them tomorrow :)

I can't believe our trip to Chicago is less than a week away! We made reservations for Le Colonial on Wednesday night and I'm stoked that we can walk right there from our hotel. I'm also really excited for dinner at Blackbird on Thursday. We saw the chef on Anthony Bourdain and Top Chef and I can't wait to try the food! I was also thinking this morning how excited I am to eat Chiptole :) It is probably good that we don't have on here since I would eat there every day! P also wants to get sushi at some point, although I'm not much of a fish eater, so hopefully we can sneak that in for lunch on Friday or Saturday. I wonder if there's anywhere that's tasty and conveiently located to downtown that isn't crazy expensive...

It's such a gorgeous day here- hope everyone is having a fabulous week! :D

2009-05-27T13:34:00.000-07:00

What a gorgeous day! I am looking forward to going to the gym this evening and eating the (hopefully!) yummy dinner I put in the crock pot this morning. It may not have been the brightest idea to use the crock pot on a day when it's 85, but it sure smells good! I've been slacking a little this week with my morning workouts, probably because I feel like I'm still trying to catch up on sleep after the busy weekend! I did time time to make it to the gym yesterday after work and will do the same today and likely tomorrow. Friday morning I'll be up at 6:00 and off to the gym- I know if I sleep in I'll skip working out after the office in favor of more fun plans and I want to be able to have a few guilt-free drinks that evening- have to start the weekend out right :D

I tried a couple new recipes yesterday and both were wonderful! For lunch I put a little evoo, a sliced tomato, some goat cheese, and fresh basil on top of a whole wheat pita and broiled it for a few minutes until it was toasty. The margarita version of the pear, walnut and gorg flat bread I've been making lately. It was a good change for lunch, so quick, light, and really delicious! For anyone that counts calories this is right around 250 and surprisingly filling, although P might disagree with me on that one. He always reminds me that he needs to eat more than I do and I think he could have woofed about three of these down and been content. I was quite satisfied with one :)

Dinner last night was pork chops with sage, blackberry and balsamic sauce. I found the recipe in the new cooking light and modified it to use ingredients I had and also to simplify the recipe a bit. It only took about 30 minutes total and P decided this was the tastiest meal I'd EVER made. That is what I call a success! We also had asparagus with a little evoo, salt and pepper, and just a bit of fresh Romano grated on top. Here's a link to the recipe:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1898555

I used the following ingredients:

2 shallots chopped finely
3 tbsp sugar free blackberry jam (the cheap store brand)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white cooking wine
1 1/2 tbsp chopped fresh sage

I let all of that reduce until it started to thicken up and then added:

1/2 c chicken broth
sugar (not sure why I bought the sugar free jam and then added sugar...)
2 tbsp balsamic
a little salt and pepper

When it reduced down to about 1 cup I pulled the pan off the burner and added 1 tbsp Brummel and brown (yogurt butter). After the butter melted in I dumped it all into a little bowl and cooked the pork chops in the same pan. When I pulled them from the pan to rest I added a few of the drippings into the blackberry sauce. The sauce was so delicious and would be really tasty over beef or chicken if you're not a pork fan. This is absolutely a meal I will make again! (P took pictures but I haven't had a chance to upload them- hopefully this evening or tomorrow).

Last week I saw this recipe on Itzy's kitchen blog and knew I wanted to try it: http://itzyskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/05/pulled-chicken.html

This morning I put the following in the crock pot:

3 frozen chicken breasts
1 sliced sweet onion
almost 1 bottle of BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays since it was on sale for $1!)
about 1 tbsp of Tabasco

I put the crock pot on high and then pulled the chicken apart at lunch (about 3 1/2 hours later) and added 2 tbsp brown sugar and about 1 tbsp of "cock sauce" as P calls it (otherwise known as saracha sp?). It smelled amazing and I can't wait to try it for dinner! We'll have cole slaw (I buy the pre-cut cabbage and make my own dressing- a little salt, pepper, light mayo, and cider vinegar) along with some sweet potato fries. I loved the cumin on the ones I made last week and I'll add some Cayenne if the chicken isn't too spicy. If it tastes as good as it smells it will be a great dinner and so easy!

Hope everyone is having a fabulous day!

Long weekend

2009-05-26T09:28:00.000-07:00

The weekend was a bit chaotic with tons of family in town and lots of get togethers, but so much fun! I spent all day Saturday cooking and baking for pot lucks and didn't do a great job documenting, but made sure to snap photos of some of the tastier concoctions. I was left to my own devices taking pictures so forgive the poor quality!

Our office was closed on Friday so after a trip to the gym there was more time than usual to make lunch. I've been craving mango salsa so chopped up and tossed together the following ingredients:

2 mangoes
1/3 red onion

2 tomatoes

1 jalapeno

juice from 1 lime

I also smushed up an avocado with a little lime juice, salt and pepper and melted some sharp cheddar and organic black beans between a whole wheat tortilla. It was so delicious and fresh tasting!

There was more than enough salsa so I dumped some of the leftovers over couscous the next day for lunch and it was equally yummers.

Saturday night I went to a BBQ and offered to bring a side dish so made tabbouleh after some begging from my cousin :) I think I've only made it once before but she happened to be in town and loved it so I figured I'd give it another try. I used Far East brand (I think that's what it's called) tabbouleh to start but only mixed in a little of the flavor packet that comes in the box so that I could add my own. After the grain was ready I added the other ingredients. Even though here were tons of people at the BBQ this recipe made A LOT and we ended up with leftovers:

3 boxes of grain, 1 packet of seasoning

2 cups grape tomatoes

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

1/3 cup Greek dressing

1 1/2 chopped cucumbers

1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper chopped

1 can drained chick peas

It was great that night and even better the next day!

Yesterday afternoon I made a quick ricotta cheesecake and berry topping with some fresh blackberries and raspberries. Of course when I was ready to dump the mix into a pan to bake I realized I didn't have a spring form pan so just used a 9 x 13 baking pan. They were a little thinner than they should have been but tasted great.

The recipe is from cookinglight.com (of course!): http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=104186

Although the recipe calls for homemade ricotta cheese I bought park-skim ricotta at the store instead. I figured baking a cheesecake was ambitious enough without making my own ingredients!

I also gave this recipe a try:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1891917

I couldn't find sugar snap peas at the grocery store so used green beans, and also added about 1/3 cup lemon and 1 tbsp of capers to the sauce as it was reducing so it had a piccata flavor. No photos since I was starving by the time it was ready! I wasn't a huge fan of the mint flavor in the bean and asparagus salad, but it was nice to have a change from the lemony green bean/asparagus I've been making lately. The chicken was pretty tasty and very tender, but I'm curious about how it would taste if I stuck to the recipe- something to try next time!

This blog is still very much a work in progress so if you have any suggestions, comments or ideas I'd love to hear them. My brother informed me that it's the most boring thing he's ever read, so there's that! I'd also love recipe ideas if you'd like to share your favorites.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

My Friday

2009-05-21T10:45:00.000-07:00

Holy yum bucket- the cat barf oats were even tastier this morning! They looked extra gross since the bananas are even soggier on day two but the taste and consistency was awesome. It's nice to take a break from cereal and have a new fave breakfast.

This may be the most boring photo ever, but here's how the lemon bars turned out:

They were so tasty and definitely didn't taste like a "diet" recipe. Parker must have agreed because I think he ate about half the pan which is a baking success in my book :)

I skipped the sweet and sour chicken last night and made Parmesan and sage crusted pork chops with sweet potato fries and lemony asparagus. I tried the pork chops last week and just made a few changes the second time around. The pork chops we bought this time were extra thick so I cut them into thinner and smaller pieces and also added more sage and some red pepper flakes to the breading. I also added a little extra mustard to the egg glop. Cutting them thinner cut the cooking time way down and the extra flavors in the breading were delish. Here's a photo of the crispy choppers:

For some reason I was really craving sweet potato fries yesterday and happened to have one at home so I cut it into small pieces, sprayed with pam, and sprinkled salt, pepper, and some cumin on top. They baked at 425 for .... hmmm should have timed those.... between 30 and 45 minutes I think. I stirred them around a few times and just kept and eye on them. Amazingly easy and tasty. These are a new favorite!

I also made some quick lemony asparagus with just a little bit of evoo, salt and pepper, and lots of garlic and lemon juice.

Here's how the whole thing turned out:

At 6:00 this morning when the alarm was going off I wondered if my earlier post this week about morning workouts was written in a fit of delusion. Getting out of bed to work out this morning was the last thing in the world I wanted to do. So I snoozed for another 20 minutes while Bruce tried to chew on my face and finally got moving. It really does feel so good to wake up and get moving and have that extra burst of energy to start the day out. I think I'm finally figuring out that just because it's not easy doesn't mean it's not worth it :)

Oooh- and I forgot to mention yesterday how grateful I am for my lovely, er handsome, talented and helpful photographic assistant. These photos are my doing, if you hadn't already guessed. I may have to make another batch of those lemon bars to bribe Parker to keep helping ;)

If you have an extra minute today check out this blog: http://healthytippingpoint-fattalk.blogspot.com/
Really inspiring ideas about how we think about weight, food and ourselves. Lots of food (har, har) for thought.

Hope everyone is having an amazing day and enjoying this gorgeous weather!

DOR

2009-05-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays have unofficially become my day of rest workout-wise. It feels good to have a break mid-week and leaves me re-energized to focus and stay motivated for the rest of the week rather than burning out and being lazy on the weekends. I realized yesterday that I didn't watch any TV last weekend. Another small miracle. As Parker pointed out I used to spend the majority of Saturday and Sunday with my booty firmly planted to the couch. No doubt, the fabulous weather helps my motivation immensely. I feel guilty wasting such gorgeous days by laying around and eating ramen. Ramen is so gross.... bleh.

Not gross, however, was the mushroom chicken pasta last night. So delicious! I modified the recipe a little: no white wine, added shallots, and used fresh basil rather than whatever the recipe suggested (dried tarragon, maybe?). I also cooked it all in one pan rather in shifts like CL suggested. I love one pot meals and separating it out just seemed like way too much work and way too many dirty dishes. Plus letting all the flavors mix together worked perfectly. Coating the chicken in a little flour made it really tasty and tender. We also used whole wheat noodles instead of regular egg noodles. I think next time I will ditch the noodles entirely and just cook whole chicken breasts and dump the mushroom mixture over the top.

The green beans were super tasty, too, although at the last minute I decided to ditch the pine nuts and just stick with gbs, lemon, a little olive oil, salt and pepper. So fresh and easy. The pine nuts would have been great flavor, but it just seemed like lots of unnecessary fat and cals. I thought I made enough for leftovers but we woofed them all down which is always a good sign.
Here's how everything turned out:

For some reason I was super motivated last night (morning workout?) and made the lemon bars (yummy, gooey, lemony, sticky, delicious, and only 70 cals a bar!) and a morning oat glop. Maybe I should work on a new name for that... glop doesn't make it sound to appetizing... Anyway, it sort of looked like something the kitten hacked up but tasted awesome and has kept me full all morning. Last night I mixed together:

1 cup oats
1 cup light vanilla soy milk

2 tsp sugar

2 mashed overripe bananas

2 tbsp banana

I covered it up and let it sit in the fridge all night. This morning I scooped about a third of the mix into a bowl, sprinkled a little pumpkin pie mix on top and stuck it in the microwave for about a minute. Yum! Way better than the pumpkin oat mix I tried last week, although I think that still has potential. Berries also would have been good- I'll have to give that a try next time.

For lunch we had some delicious pizzas:

whole wheat pita brushed with a little evoo
1/2- 3/4 pear (whatever fits)
gorgonzola cheese crumbles
chopped walnut
fresh sage
sprinkle of salt and pepper

They were tasty and I burned the heck out of my hand pulling one out of the oven. Not so smart. My hand still hurts like crazy but my tummy is very happy :)

Thank you all so much for the nice comments and encouragement. Further affirmation that I am so incredibly lucky to have such amazing family and friends.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day!

Morning workouts

2009-05-19T12:34:00.000-07:00

Last week I decided it was time to stop finding excuses and start working out in the morning. It's so beautiful this time of year I can always come up with a million reasons to skip the gym after work. Like wanting to go out for a cold drink, or make a great dinner, or go get ice cream. None of which are terrible on their own, but no gym + food/drink indulgence = tight pants. So beginning last week I set the alarm for 6, went to bed early, and hoped for the best. Miraculously, it worked. I made it out of bed, got dressed, and drove to the gym. Bruce and Pman seemed terribly confused, and I was still half asleep. Other than the fact that all the television programming at 6 am is terrible, I now love working out in the morning. Today was my fourth time, and I think I'm becoming a regular. I recognize the faces of other folks at the gym who are willing to put exercise before sleep and get moving in the morning. If you had told me six months ago, heck six weeks ago, that I would be one of them I would have laughed. Wonders never seem to cease.

My adventures in peanut crusted chicken were a relative success. Besides the fact that I inadvertantly purchased kidney beans instead of black beans to add into the rice the dinner was pretty tasty (I think I was so focused on finding the low sodium kind I forgot to pay attention to the type of bean. Oops!). I added some red pepper flakes to the breading, used store bought bread crumbs instead of homemaking them (no food processor) and also added some lime juice to the salsa. I think next time I'll try peanuts and penko for the breading, per mom's suggestion. Having an amazing cook for a mom makes for some great advice :)

I'm going to give the mushroom chicken pasta a whirl tonight. Not sure how I can screw it up too badly. I'm skipping the white wine and adding shallots for some extra flavor. I think pasta likes to stick to my ribs once I eat it, so I'll just have a few noodles (whole wheat egg noodles to Parker's dismay) and cook some fresh green beans with a little garlic, olive oil, and some toasted pine nuts to have on the side. The picture at the top is what it's supposed to look like, I'll try and remember to take a photo of how it actually turns out :) Here's a link for a recipe that comes close to the green beans, but imagine a few crispy pine nuts on the top: http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549731

I'm also going to take a shot at making these lemon bars tonight if I find the motivation. I have been craving them lately and a friend found this great recipe for me:

http://www.foodfit.com/recipes/recipe.asp?rid=1929

One of my big goals since getting on this eating well/working out kick has to eat 5 fresh fruits and veggies per day. Although it sounds like a snap it can be a little tricky. Thank goodness spring is here! If I was starting this plan in the winter I would be doomed for failure. As it is, I've done pretty well but definitely need to be diligent. I snuck in some leftover asparagus with lunch today so that along with fresh pineapple, mushrooms and green beans will get me pretty close.

Hope you're enjoying this gorgeous day! :D

Fresh Start

2009-05-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

A couple of months ago I started getting serious about leading a more healthy and active lifestyle. A combination of the winter blahs, a closet full of clothes that had "shrunk" overnight, and a feeling of complacency culminated, motivating me to make a change.

I always thought it would be too hard, that I didn't have enough time, that I wasn't that unhealthy... lots of excuses and no serious willingness to commit. Until I found a website where I started counting calories. Not just counting the calories of what I ate, but also what I burned. It was like the lightbulb finally came on! So now I not only cook and exercise more, I enjoy every day more :D I am having so much fun trying new recipes, new exercises and challenging myself to learn more.

The biggest shift which is really a miracle in itself has been planning my weekly menus. This coming from the person who used to make a trip to the grocery store every day. Sometimes twice. I've also started going to the gym 5 days a week and taking two rest days to relax and recoup. I always used to dread working out and now not only love going, but sometimes get disappointed when my rest days roll around and I need to take a break. This surprises the heck out of me, but I am thrilled and grateful.

My goal has been to try at least two new recipes every week, so cooking Monday and Tuesday evenings will be a bit of an adventure!

In the midst of all this planning and moving and eating and learning I have lost 11 pounds. Not a huge deal in the world of The Biggest Loser, but a major accomplishment for me. My remarkable friends and family have not only been phenomenally supportive, but have also started asking me to share some food ideas. So here I am.

Here's a look at the yummy food on tap for this week along with links to the recipes:

Monday 5/18/09
bfast every day: Fiberone shredded wheat with lowfat vanilla soymilk (Silk brand)
lunch: Ceasar wrap (lemon pepper chicken breast on the Forman grill, lettuce, tomato and cucumber tossed in lowfast ceasar dressing all wrapped up in a wheat tortilla)
dinner: Peanut crusted chicken with pineapple salsa and lime asparagus(http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1714551)

Tuesday 5/19/09
lunch: leftovers from Monday's dinner and some steamed asparagus with lime juice
dinner: chicken and mushrooms with garlic white wine sauce (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1545708)

Wednesday 5/20/09
lunch: whole wheat pita with 1 tsp evoo, sliced pear, gorgonzola, fresh sage and crumbled walnuts broiled for a few minutes
dinner: Sweet and sour chicken (http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1599631)

Thursday 5/21/09
lunch: same as Wednesday but with apple rather than pear
dinner: friend's birthday dinner

Friday 5/22/09
bfast: breakfast cookie from fitnessista.com (Soak raw oats overnight in milk of your choice and some sort of produce- last week was pumpkin and vanilla soy milk, this week will be vanilla soy milk, peanut butter and banana. The first one was a bit bland so hopefully this attempt will be better!)
lunch: whole wheat quesadilla with black beans and mango salsa
dinner: Sage and Parmesean crusted pork chops with lemon and pine nut green beans http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1860082

My goal will be to update at least once a week with new recipe ideas. Happy eating! ;)