Parents Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend was a pretty relaxing, which is pretty good because I needed it with how crazy this month is going to be. My parents came into town Friday, and M started working second shift that same day, so it was a little weird at first. I had some already baked, semi-mashed sweet potatoes in the refrigerator that needed to be used up, and since it was Lent, I decided to try my hand at making a curry sweet potato soup.

I found the Roasted, Curried Sweet Potato Soup recipe on Pinterest and had to go buy curry powder for the recipe, but that wasn’t a big deal. I didn’t include the yellow onion (just some chopped, dried onion). And, since I had already baked the potatoes, so there was no need to roast them (but it’d be interesting to try this recipe with them actually roasted with the coconut oil). I served the soup with a very veggie salad mix and whole wheat biscuits to my parents. They liked the soup, as did I, except we all agreed there was too much curry powder in the recipe and it wasn’t very sweet. I didn’t want it to be very sweet, but this had way too much curry powder. Next time–less curry, roast the potatoes, and maybe add a little bit of brown sugar.

That night I decided to make sweet potato bread quick bread with the remaining sweet potatoes for us to have for breakfast all this weekend. I was excited that I had all of the ingredients listed, so I dove right into the recipe. This was a great success! When I came home from my 13-mile run Saturday morning, this was a great breakfast, along with some chai latte. Sooo yummy! I am totally going to make this recipe again (recipe to come later this week).

Sweet Potato Success–Roasted, Curried Sweet Potato Soup and Sweet Potato Quick Bread

The rest of the day, Saturday, was spent enjoying a big lunch with M and my parents, followed by camping out on the couch while my parents read and I dozed–exhausted and starting to have sore legs from my run. We splurged and ordered a pizza for dinner and watched Sherlock Holmes (with Robert Downey, Jr., and Jude Law) on television–so good!

Sunday, after polishing off the sweet potato bread along with some scrambled eggs with sautéed spinach, low-fat shredded cheese, and some turkey), mom and I set about to check out Kentucky Crafted: The Market, to see if it was a show she should try to get a booth in for her shop. It was a fun outing with her, checking out different artisans and some of the unique foods (apple salsa and pineapple chutney?? So good!) while it snowed outside. Then we met M and my dad for dinner at a barbecue joint before they hit the road back up to Indiana.

After the parents left and M headed off to work, I decided to add some layers and hit up my new friend, and fellow blogger, Nicole to meet up for a dog walk around the University of Kentucky’s Arboretum. We’ve chatted online and text for a while, and we’re both training for the Run the Bluegrass, we just haven’t gotten a chance to meet up. Luckily she and her vivacious Goldendoodle, Bentley, were up for a cold walk. Nicole writes over at Fruit N Fitness about her half marathon training (this will be her first race ever–brave girl!), and healthy eating while still studying for her graduate degree. (Plus she’s a horse girl, too–can’t beat that!)

The walk was a brisk one, but we got in 2.4 miles (perfect to stretch out our legs from our long runs the day before) and we got to know each other a little better. Thanks for meeting up with me, Nicole!

After the walk and a little cleaning, I tackled some food prep for the week, part of the HealthysELF challenge for the weekend. Unfortunately I didn’t get to do much prep, because I had an interview for a story I forgot about, but I was able to get a double batch of the Chunky Turkey Veggie Soup prepared and a few hardboiled eggs made for dinner and snacks this week. It’ll be interesting to see what I do while I have most nights to myself–I’ll still need to make dinner, so I can continue to eat healthy and make M dinner to take to work with him the next day. So while I figure it out, I’ll have to do more food prep later.

My extent of weekend food prep: double batch of Chunky Turkey Veggie Soup and hardboiled eggs. I’m going to do better next time, I promise!

Now it’s time to tackle yet another week!

Leftover Spaghetti Squash? Make Mac n’ Cheese!

After cooking my first spaghetti squash on Valentine’s Day, I still had some leftover that I knew needed to be eaten quickly. Luckily, I have a few different spaghetti squash recipes pinned on Pinterest, so I just dove into my boards and found one that resembled macaroni and cheese (my all time favorite).

I just so happened to have everything already (give or take), so it was a no-brainer that I should try this. I was pairing it up with grilled chicken breasts (55* in February at night? Hello, grill!) and some steamed veggies.

Spaghetti Squash Mac n’ Cheese

1/2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
1/4 cup milk (I used non-fat)
1/4 cup blended shredded cheese (Colby Jack for me)
1 1/2 cups spaghetti squash, cooked
1 slice green bell pepper, diced
1 tbsp frozen peas
Salt & Pepper to taste
A pinch (or 2) shredded parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350* F. Prepare a small square casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine the flour with some salt and pepper, and slowly whisk in the milk over medium heat, until smooth. (This part was frustrating to me, so if you can’t tell if it’s smooth, that’s alright, just move onto the next step.)
3. Stir in the cheese and mix until the sauce is thick and cheese is melted (I ended up adding a little more cheese to this, so just do to your tastes). Remove from heat. Poor over the spaghetti squash in a small bowl and combine the two until the “noodles” are covered in cheese sauce.
4. At this point, I added about a teaspoon of diced green pepper to the mixture for extra flavor. Then pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Top with the remaining green pepper and frozen peas (next time I’m going to mix in some peas as well). Sprinkle the parmesan cheese on top.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the squash is heated through.
6. Enjoy!

The original author said for the entire dish (not just one serving), the stats were: 220 calories, 9 g fat, 20 g carbs, 17 g protein.

Cheesy, yummy goodness!

M loved it and so did I! Next time I will add more peas to the mix (in addition to the topping) to get some more veggies in.

 

Valentine’s Dinner Recap

It was my night to fix dinner on Valentine’s, so I decided to try to make it special, but healthy. So I found a recipe for a skillet chicken parmesan and decided to pair it with a salad with my pumpkin vinaigrette and spaghetti squash. This was my first time making chicken parmesan and spaghetti squash, so I was a little nervous about how it would all come out.

My “romantic” candlelit dinner was serenaded by a song list on my IPhone.

FIrst of all, the spaghetti squash. It was so much easier than I thought it was! First I stabbed it (quite) a few times with a fork, then put it in a shallow pan in the oven at 350* for an hour. While that was cooking, M was playing a video game and I took the dogs for a walk (productive!).

After the hour was up, I removed the squash from the oven and let it cool for about 10 minutes. I pulled out a serrated knife and cut the squash in half and then cleaned out the seeds. Finally I scraped out the insides with a fork into a bowl, and there you have it: spaghetti squash!

Next came the skillet chicken parmesan. I had gotten a couple of chicken breasts out to thaw that morning, and then did a light coat of a roasted tomato vinaigrette marinade that afternoon.

1. While the squash was cooking, I took out the chicken, placed it in some plastic wrap and then used the side of a hammer (we don’t have a meat mallet) to pound the breasts to about a 1/4 inch thick.
2. I then placed them in a skillet with some olive oil and minced garlic for about 3 minutes on each side, then removed them to a plate.
3. I added some more minced garlic and some diced onion to the pan to cook down a little, then poured a can of crushed tomatos into the pan. I added a little Italian seasoning and some garlic power, then stirred to mix it together.
4. I remembered I had some roasted zucchini and summer squash from earlier this week, so I added that to the sauce.
5. In a bowl, combine some bread crumbs with garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Coat the two chicken breasts in the bread crumbs.
6. After the spaghetti squash was done, I turned the oven to broil at 400*, then placed the two chicken breasts in the tomato mixture (I was using an oven-safe pan), topped with some part-skim mozzarella  and place the pan in the oven to brown the cheese and crisp the breading. (Keep your eyes on the cheese so it doesn’t burn.)
7. Once complete, I assembled the plates with some spaghetti squash, some of the sauce with veggies, and then the chicken breast.

The result: Deliciousness!!

Dinner: complete with a salad and homemade pumpkin vinaigrette.

I was going to make a (healthy) strawberry shortcake cupcake for our desert, but M brought home some cupcakes from a local bakery (Caramanda’s) that were decorated for the holiday. So, I figure Valentine’s Day is the one respite from Lent and we could treat ourselves.

Valentine’s cupcakes from Caramanda’s.

 

Kicking Off Two New Challenges

Monday was all about kicking off two new challenges I’ve signed up for: healthysELF and FlexibleFebruary.

Remember how over the holidays I was doing #Elf4Health? Well, everyone who participated loved the camarderie and activities of the challenge and wanted to continue it, so Elle and Lindsay decided to extend the challenge for a longer time (I can’t remember exactly how long), with a new Facebook group and new hashtag–#healthysELF. If you are looking to get healthy and want a great support system, I urge you to try it (it’s free!).

Also this month, I’m participating in Clare’s challenge of #FlexibleFebruary, where we’re challenging ourselves to get in at least 60 minutes of stretching every week. I do a lot of stretching already, but it can’t hurt to do a little more. Again, this is a free challenge with some cool prizes.

So for the healthysELF challenge, we were to have a Meatless Monday. I started the day with a morning spinning class (first am spin class, and I loved it) and 10 minutes of stretching (in the Flexible February bank!). I ended up running late for work and didn’t have time to fix breakfast, but I grabbed a key lime Oikos Greek yogurt and had half a PowerThin protein bar at the office. Lunch time I needed some comfort food, so I fixed tomato soup and grilled cheese. But the best part was dinner.

I found a recipe on Pinterest that I just knew M would love, even though his comment about Meatless Monday was “Are you trying to kill me?” But this recipe bowled him over and he’s set for more meatless meals, I think!

I found this recipe for Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas and bought most of the items Sunday at the grocery, but forgot the spinach and cauliflower. I ended up just buying a bag of cauliflower already cut up because it was simpler and much less expensive than a head (shocked at the price!). I changed the recipe up a little bit, so here’s my version:

Roasted Veggie Stacked Enchiladas

1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
2 cups’ worth cauliflower cut up
1 small sweet potato peeled and diced into 1″ cubes
1 cup corn kernels (you can use fresh, frozen, or even canned)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin (I think I might have done more than that, I didn’t measure)
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt & pepper
Chopped onions (M doesn’t like whole onions)
2 cups baby spinach leaves (two big handfuls)
Salsa
Whole wheat tortillas (I only needed 2)
Shredded cheddar cheese, or Mexican mix
Cilantro (only if you like it, we don’t, so I didn’t use it)
Plain Greek yogurt for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 425* F and prep a shallow baking pan with nonstick spray.
2. Cut up your veggies: peppers into matchsticks, cauliflower, sweet potato, and place on cookie sheet with the corn. Drizzle olive oil on the veggies, then sprinkle minced garlic, cumin, chopped onions, salt and pepper, over the veggies. Use your hand to mix them around until coated. Spread out on the sheet.
3. Roast your veggies for 30-40 minutes, stirring them up every 10 minutes. Veggies are done when they are tender and starting to brown in some places. Remove from the oven and set aside.
4. Turn the oven down to 350* F. Prepare an 8x8x2 (or 9x9x2) square baking pan with nonstick spray.
5. (If you like cilantro, dice up some and mix it in about 2 cups of salsa.) Spread some of the salsa on the bottom of the pan (just a thin layer). Add a layer of tortilla (I ripped mine into three pieces that fit perfectly in the pan)., followed by half the roasted veggies, a layer of spinach, and a layer of cheese. The second layer will be: tortilla, salsa, veggies, spinach, and cheese (use up the remainder of the salsa and veggies in this layer).
6. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and everything is heated throughout.
7. When you’re serving it, you can top it with some plain Greek yogurt for a little bit of tang. (I did and loved it!)

The whole family helped in prepping the veggies for dinner!

At first M was skeptical with the “odd combination” of vegetables, but one bite and he was hooked. The sweet potato gives the mix a little bit of sweetness to counterbalance the spices.

This is definitely going to be one of our favorite meals. I served it with leftover cornbread from Sunday’s chili and some pears.

What is your favorite Meatless Monday meal?

Related articles

• Recipes: Healthy Meatless Burgers to Try This Weekend (davidvalefitness.wordpress.com)
• Meatless Monday: Spinach Lasagna (foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com)
• Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Taco Salad (chronicinthekitchen.com)

Yummy Autumn Dinner – Skillet Chicken w/Apples & Cranberries

Happy Halloween everyone!! I promise I’ll put together a post about the honeymoon soon–I’ve got lots of great photos to share with you of my first-ever (yep, you read that right, first time) seeing the ocean and being on a beach.

But first, I wanted to share this delicious meal I made for M and I tonight after the trick or treaters were done. It’s perfect for Fall, and it’s pretty good for you, too! I was lucky to find this recipe on Pinterest and have been wanting to try it (reminds me a lot of something my mom would cook).

Skillet Chicken with Apples & Cranberries

1 lb chicken tenders, trimmed and cut in half on the diagonal (Or I thawed out two big chicken breasts and sliced them up after they thawed)
3/4 tsp dried thyme, divided
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp canola oil, divided
2 crisp red apples, such as Braeburn, Fuji or Gala, thinly sliced (I used 1 large Gala since it was just for M and I)
1 large red onion, quartered & sliced (I did not have red onion, so I omitted it, and it still tasted great)
3/4 cup apple cider or apple juice, divided
1 cup cranberries, fresh or frozen (thawed)
1 tbsp all-purpose flour

1. Sprinkle both sides of chicken tenders with 1/4 tsp each thyme, salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium and add the chicken. Cook, stirring, until lightly browned on all sides, 3-4 minutes total. Transfer to a clean plate.

Nothing says Fall like crisp red apples, cranberries, and Trader Joe’s Spiced Apple Cider.

2. Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the pan. Add apples, onion, 2 tbsp cider (or juice) and the remaining 1/2 tsp each thyme and salt. Stir to combine. Cook, stirring often, until the apples and onion are softened, 3-4 minutes. Add cranberries and sprinkle flour over everything in the pan; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

3. Return the chicken to the pan and pour in the remaining cider (or juice). Cover and cook, stirring once or twice, until the sauce has thickened and the chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes more.

At this point I was salivating.

The blogger recommended serving this with wild rice, but I didn’t have any, so I just steamed some broccoli and some leftover cornbread from my company’s chili cook-off we had today. (I won for spicy chili! I’ll post that recipe later.)

Yum!!

The kitchen smelled great when I added the cider to the apples, and the flavor didn’t disappoint. I never thought about the thyme and salt with the apples, but it was a great combination. Here are the stats from the recipe as it was in the blog:

Per serving: 287 calories; 10 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono); 63 mg cholesterol; 26 g carbohydrate; 0 g added sugars; 24 g protein; 4 g fiber; 496 mg sodium; 415 mg potassium. Nutrition bonus: Vitamin C (18% daily value).

Give it a try and tell me what you think!

A Great Weekend & Yummy Ending

This weekend was one that was desperately needed because it was fun and relaxing, even if it was a little busy.

Saturday, after completing my 11-mile comeback run, M and I headed up to Dayton to meet up with an Air Force buddy of his and his girlfriend to tour the United States Air Force Museum. It was a lot of fun to see all of the different planes from the different eras of the Air Force (or the United States Army Air Force, as it was called before the inception of the Air Force in 1947). I love classic cars, and I decided that the same goes for classic planes. M and his friend regailed us with different stories about their time in Japan together, which was a lot of fun to hear about M’s life before we met.

After the museum we went to a favorite restaurant of mine when we’re in the area for agility trials–Company 7 BBQ in Englewood, Ohio. This place it great, with great beer and food! M has been wanting to go there, and his friend hadn’t been there, so it was fun introducing them to a favorite place. After a few hours there, M and I had to make the 2.5 hour trek back to Lexington and crashed.

After a filling breakfast on Sunday, we ran errands and came home to accomplish a few tasks–mowing the lawn, washing the dogs, washing the trucks (mine and his work truck), laundry, pack away the winter clothes, and clean out the garage. Whew! Lots of things that needed to be done, and we got them done together. So to celebrate, I fixed us a delicious, but healthy and easy, dinner, part of which I found on Pinterest.

Grilled yumminess - grilled bruschetta chicken and grilled zucchini

I made my grilled zucchini with grilled bruschetta chicken, and a side of salad with dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and a new vinigerette. So delicious, and so easy. I can’t wait to make the chicken again (and I’m happy to say that yes, I actually do make the things that I pin on Pinterest!).

Here’s the recipe:

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup Kraft Sun-Dried Tomatao dressing, divided
1 tomato, finely chopped (I cheated and got a can of petite diced tomatoes)
1/2 cup shredded, park-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, or 1 tbsp dried basil leaves (I used dried)

Doesn't this look like a scrumptious summertime meal?? It was!

1.) Place chicken in resealed baggie with part of the sun-dried tomato dressing, seal, and turn over to coat the chicken. (I did one breast in each baggie.) Set aside in refrigerator for at least 10 minutes (I was able to have mine set for five hours–nice!).
2.) Place a large sheet of heavy duty foil over half of the grill and heat.
3.) Take chicken out of the baggies and set on the grill (not on the foil) for 8 minutes.
4.) While the chicken is grilling, combine the diced tomatoes, basil, cheese, and a little bit of the dressing in a container and mix thoroughly.
5.) Flip the chicken over and place on alumnium foil on the grill, then top with the bruschetta mixture. Close the lid and grill for another 6-8 minutes, until the chicken is cooked thoroughly.
6.) Enjoy!!

Related articles

• Grilled Bruschetta Chicken (paonblanc.wordpress.com)
• Grilled Chicken with Plum Salsa (thecocinamonologues.com)