Monday, February 27, 2017

It's not really a weekend unless you spend at least an hour of it at Target and/or Home Depot

Ohhhhhh, glorious weekend.

It was that perfect ratio of lazy/productive.

Like I’m sporting new pink polish on the toesies and am halfway done with my new book, but then also the toilets are scrubbed and the groceries are stocked.







My soon-to-be 3 year old is obsessed with banana bread. Asks for it nightly. No surprise then when he asked to make some on Friday night. Try explaining to a soon-to-be 3 year old that we can’t make banana bread because we don’t have any  bananas.

(Whine) “Let’s maaaaaake some banaaaaaaaaanas.”

UGH WE CAN’T.

Fortunately I had plenty of frozen blueberries on hand and he threw me a bone and was ok with that.

Now I’m calling this a pound cake, even though there’s not a lick of butter (pound cake traditionally uses a pound of butter). The Greek yogurt (!) adds density and the olive oil keeps it moist (!). Yes, using that word.

Blueberry Almond Pound Cake
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup olive oil
2/3 cup white sugar (plus 2 teaspoons)
2 eggs
1 cups white whole wheat flour (or whatever you’d like really)
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries
1-2 tablespoons slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9x5 loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine applesauce,  oil, and sugar in a large bowl. Stir until combined. Beat in eggs on medium speed (stand mixer or hand mixer) for a minute. In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and baking soda. With mixer running, add half to the egg mixture, followed by half the yogurt. Repeat- add remaining flour, then yogurt, and beat on low until just combined. Stir in extracts, then blueberries.

Pour batter into loaf pan. It will be thick. Top with slivered almonds and remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar. Bake for 40-50 minutes, or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.



Makes 8 nice thick slices. Per serving: 275 calories, 45 g carbs, 15 g added sugars, 8 g protein, 9 g fat. A bit of a calorie splurge if we’re talking a snack here, buuuuuut, compare those stats with the “Blueberry Muffin with Yogurt and Honey” from Starbucks and you’re saving 105 calories, 8 grams carbs, 15 g added sugars, 7 grams fat.

This one’s a winner, for both me and the kid.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Small stuff counts

This weekend had me majorly spoiled





60 and sunny? I’ll take it, and 90+ more days just like it.

Today? It’s still mild out, but the rain has me feeling bleh. Mondays are tough enough to get in a workout.



It has me thinking about how easy it can be to *not* follow the advice I give patients allllll the tiiiiiime:

“Be ok with doing little things.”

What I mean by that is that it can be SO easy to be black-and-white, all-or-nothing when it comes to exercise. I chose to sleep in instead of go jogging. Fine- plan B: lunchtime workout. But then things got busy, and I contemplated not sticking with my plan B of going for a walk.

(Internal dialogue)
“Why bother going for a walk when it’s only 20 minutes?”
“Well you’ve got your sneakers ready and waiting, and you’ve got time…”
“Yeah but what is a little walk really going to accomplish?”

You get the gist of it, and are probably nodding your head ‘cause you’ve been there too. The bottom line is that any little bit counts. Am I going to be sporting six pack abs and a sub-7 minute mile because I ended up doing that 20 minute walk? Of course not. BUT what it does do is the whole MENTAL change. Any exercise gets you going with that dopamine- the happy hormone in your brain. I’d quote Elle Woods for you, but you don’t need me to.

If you sneak in a bit of exercise, you could be more likely to make a smart snack choice, followed by a smart meal choice. You would potentially sleep better at night and be able to wake up feeling refreshed, ready for an active day.

Ya get my drift?

I’ve never had a moment where I’ve thought to myself “Well THAT walk/run/bike ride/strength session was a waste of time.”

We regret the exercise we DON’T get.

Aim big, but don’t be afraid to do the little things. They count too!

Thursday, February 16, 2017

Unnecessary apostrophe's and some pork

Did you all have a LOVEly Valentine’s Day?

Why does it look weird to have an apostrophe in “Valentine’s?”

That’s how I see it written everywhere…but is that correct? Like I suppose if you are someone’s Valentine, it’s possessively your day. But then on the other hand, if you’re getting those paper Valentines, it’d be like “The day of your Valentines” and not be possessive.

AND THEN WOULD THE “V” BE CAPITALIZED?

Merry Christmas is just soooooo much easier.

We did our usual V-Day Feast at home with steak and lobster and cheesy bread and cheesecake and it was high cholesterol and high carb and an awesome splurge.

Of course last night it was back to reality with a health minded meal. Not that it’s a chore though when it’s something as yummy as Schmipotle bowls. Not at allllllllll associated with the restaurant chain. Clearly.

Schmipotle Bowls
-16 oz cooked and shredded pork or chicken (see slow cooker pulled pork recipe below)
-2 cups fresh corn
-1/4 teaspoon black pepper
-1/4 teaspoon chili powder
-2 cups cooked brown rice
-1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
-2 limes
-1 cup cilantro, loosely chopped
-1 cup your favorite salsa or pico
-2 ripe avocados, peeled and cut into thirds.

Easy Shredded Pork
-1 1 to 1.5 lb pork tenderloin
-2 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon pepper
-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon onion powder
-1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I have ancho chili powder)

Spray the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Place pork in the bottom. Whisk seasonings in with broth and pour over the pork. Cook on low for 7 hours. Remove pork loin and shred with a fork, then return to broth mixture until ready to serve.

If you wanted to get fancy you could toss in some peppers (fresh or canned) or even whole cloves of garlic.

Back to the bowls-
In a saute pan, heat up 2 teaspoons vegetable oil over medium high heat. Saute corn until the color is golden and it starts to make a popping sound. Remove from heat. Stir in pepper and chili powder.

This is an easy recipe because you’re pretty much serving yourself 1/3 cup of everything. I added the cilantro and lime to the rice itself (which, ahem, I'm still out of brown and used white), but you could definitely just sprinkle the entire top of the bowl with it instead.




Makes six servings.

There you go- Schmipotle Bowls. COMPLETELY UNIQUE AND UNLIKE ANYTHING OUT THERE.

Per serving: 404 calories, 54 g carbs, 11 g fat, 26 g protein

Oh, and happy belated day of the Valentine…s…to you.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Still not dead

Well the good news is that I’m still not dead. 

But that doesn’t mean I’m 100% alive either. I find myself crashing in bed as soon as the boys go to sleep. 

That would be, ahem, 7:45. I’ll eventually get better, right??

Thank goodness for easy slow cooker meals. This was a recipe I’d found a few months ago and just never got around to trying. I ended up really digging it, as did my husband and the boys, so I think this one will get in the rotation.

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken Stew
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced (or sub ½ teaspoon jarred minced garlic)
5 large carrots, peeled and cut into ~1/2 inch chunks
5 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ~1/2 inch chunks
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts or thighs (no need to cut these- just put them in whole)
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (sounds weird, but do it!)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon salt

Dump all this stuff in the slow cooker and give it a good stir to combine. Set it on low for 7 hours.
I ended up making some basmati rice to go along with this, but it could definitely be hearty enough on its own. The combination of seasonings is unique but works well. This is awesome kid-friendly food too- great way to sneak in some veggies!



Makes six servings. Per serving: 304 calories, 33 g carbs, 2 g fat, 35 g protein. If served with ½ cup rice, add 100 kcal and 22 g carbs.

Now that I’ve shared this recipe with you, it’s 8pm, and high past my bedtime : )

Monday, February 6, 2017

Now that I'm *not* dead

I've had pneumonia for the past two weeks.

It has pretty much kicked my butt.


Thanks to hardcore antibiotics, I can...talk...and breathe...without horrendously coughing.

Before that hit, I had written a post about enchilada pizza. 'Cause...why not.

I totally get that there are tons of recipe websites and infinity food bloggers out there, but why am I always stumped for what to make for supper?

I mean, shoot- Google search “What’s for dinner tonight” and you literally get 28,300,000 results.

Man, what did people use for excuses before the internet?

On Sunday I did some powerhouse bulk cooking and one component was crock pot salsa chicken. I’ve posted this before but it’s worth reposting- such a simple recipe and it can be used in so many different ways.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
-1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, fat trimmed
-1 ~16 oz jar your favorite salsa

Place chicken in the bottom of the slow cooker. Pour salsa on top. Cook on low for ~6 hours, or until internal temp read at least 165 degrees. Shred with a fork. I like to package mine into two separate containers and freeze one.

I kept the fresh cooked chicken and ended up making a quick and easy fajita pizza.

Chicken Fajita Pizza
-1 premade thin whole wheat pizza crust (I like the kind that comes with the sauce packet)
-1 tbsp fajita seasoning (hint- you could have used the rest of the packet stirred into the salsa at the start of the slow cooker chicken if desired)
-1 ½ cups shredded chicken (or could do grilled- whatever!)
-2 cups sliced and seeded baby sweet pepper
-1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
-1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Colby Jack cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Stir fajita seasoning into sauce. Spread sauce over the crust.

Layer chicken, sweet peppers, and onions. Top with cheese.

Bake for ~20 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted and you can see the veggies starting to char.




Makes 6 servings. Per slice: 348 calories, 22 g carbs, 16 g fat, 25 g protein