Everything must go!

You know when you're getting ready to either go on vacation or move and you want to get rid of your food before then? That's where I'm at now.

We're going on vacation (not moving). We're leaving on Thursday morning and it's liquidation time. Everything must go!

I practically forced Scott to eat a bag of grapes last night. I'll finish off the last of the carrots at lunch today and put a good dent in the spinach. The brussel sprouts are slated for annihilation at dinner tonight. I still have a small bag of snap peas to have a lunch tomorrow (at least that's the plan) and the last of the onions and bell peppers will hopefully make their way into fajitas on Wednesday night. And I'll down as many apples as I can between now and Thursday.

Yesterday we fired up the grill for dinner - chicken breasts - and I threw some tamari-sesame pork chops on to join the party as well. Those are now slated for tonight's dinner. I had big plans for meatballs this week as well, but with too much leftover chicken, that is going to fall by the wayside. I did, however, make, bake and freeze said meatballs last night for future use.

So here's the plan for the next three nights:
Monday - pork chop sandwiches (for those that eat such things), sauteed brussel sprouts and leftover rice salad from yesterday.
Tuesday - spaghetti with meat sauce, additional vegetables if we still have some that need to be eaten.
Wednesday - fajitas made with the already grilled chicken we have + sauteed bell pepper and onion add the half a can of black beans I have in the fridge and corn tortillas and dinner is DONE!.

At some point I also have to figure out what food I want to take on the plane with me on Thursday - airport food for people who don't eat gluten and dairy can be someone challenging (and expensive). I wanted to make some "almond joy" bars (still working on the recipe but it will involve dates, cocoa, almonds, & coconut) to take, but I haven't managed to get any dates to make them, so that probably won't happen with judo (twice) and a doctor's appointment on the schedule in the next three days. Plus I want to go get a spray tan. Wish me luck on the spray tan. It's my first time. 

Chicken Chili and Costumes

I made chicken chili last night but I was rushed and I didn't feel like the flavors came together very well.

I had to make a "costume" for my race tomorrow and my supplies were failing me. I'm doing an obstacle course race with a team tomorrow and we're supposed to be "game characters." Since the team captain originally wanted to do Street Fighter characters and we vetoed him, I'm pretty sure he meant we should be video game characters, but I don't like to do the expected all the time, so I went more old school. I wanted a BOARD game character. And I found one! I am going to be the Operation game guy. I modeled my costume after the guy on the board game cover - he's wearing red polka dot boxers on his bottom half.

So I got a pink (closest to skin colored I could find) T-shirt, painted red areas on it for each of my body parts that can be removed then each of those areas received a velcro piece. Then I cut the parts out of white felt and stuck them to the velcro. I couldn't find red polka dot boxers, but I did find black ones so I went with that. And since it will be cold tomorrow, I'll be wearing tights and a long-sleeved shirt under.

Anyway, I bought a fabric marker for the T-shirt and it was dried out when I opened it. So I took it back and approximately four seconds after I started the exchange process with customer service my child has to go to the restroom...like immediately. Ugh. So we stop the process for a bathroom break, then make the exchange. Second marker is also defective. That when I switched to paint. But in the end a 5-minute trip took more like 20 minutes and I had less time for dinner. So that's making a long story longer.

I'm having leftovers of my soup for lunch and maybe it will be better.

Pollen Sucks.

I look outside at green grass and blooming trees and want to be happy about it, but it’s hard to smile through the sneezing, bloody noses and swollen eyes. 

I look like I’ve been crying non-stop for four days. But I haven’t been. Just breathing in the poisonous pollen. I need to find some local bee pollen…you think I can rub it in my eyes? 

I ate relatively well yesterday:

                Breakfast – shakeology with almond milk and a banana

                Lunch – crunchmaster crackers (14 = 1 serving), 1 bell pepper (cut into strips), baby carrots (I didn’t count) and some snap peas, hummus and three slices of turkey from the deli.

                Snack – apple and chocolate almond milk

                Dinner – bell pepper and broccoli stir-fry with ginger quinoa.

Then I slipped up and finished a bag of Sriracha Lays. The good news is they are now gone so they can’t tempt me any longer. 

Today’s plan:

                Breakfast – cantaloupe and blueberries

                Snack – Shakeology with water

                Lunch – crunchmasters again, three slices of turkey, ½ avocado, an apple, two clementines.

                Snack – cashews and a banana

                Dinner – Mexican rice bowls: brown rice, black beans, corn, salsa, avocado and maybe chicken if               I feel like I need meat. 

Boring post. Sorry nothing super exciting to report.

Slump Busting

I’ve been in a slump. I haven’t been posting here. I haven’t been drinking enough water and I’ve been eating too much junk food – too much sodium, too much restaurant food. 

The last six weeks have been very stressful – some work, some family, some general life stuff. Annyka started judo twice a week, I got a new (to me) car, we redid the floors and paint in the main part of our house, spring break was in there (which wasn’t a break for me, but a shake-up in the routine nonetheless)…it’s been a little crazy. 

The final piece of the painting should be done today though. The new furniture can come in and things can get back to “normal.” So my health needs to get back on track too. 

I got up and drank two glasses of water right off the bat today. Also, for the next several weeks – until we go to San Francisco – I’m only eating foods that are on the top two tiers of Michi’s Ladder. I’ve already built a skeleton meal plan and done the shopping for the next week or so. 

Next week, I’m going to start P90X again. And I’m going to graduate this time! If you want to join me in your own fitness challenge, or would like more information about my meal plan, let me know.

Chopped-worthy dinner dish

I feel like tonight’s dinner was almost Chopped worthy. It had a variety of ingredients that I wouldn’t normally think to combine but it worked. Here’s what went in it: 

Sweet potato puree

Chorizo

Gala apple

Frozen mire poix

Garlic

Cajun seasoning

Almond milk

Brown rice

 

I made a sauce that I put over the rice. It was inspired by a soup recipe in a magazine, but I didn’t feel like soup, I wanted something a little heartier. 

First I made the brown rice. 

I chopped one peeled gala apple and combined it with a little bit of olive oil and two cloves of minced garlic. If I hadn’t already browned my chorizo a couple nights ago, I would have put the apples and garlic in with the chorizo. However, since the sausage was already done, I sautéed apples and garlic for just a little bit, then added about half a bag of frozen mire poix and some Cajun seasoning. 

Then I added the browned chorizo and sweet potato. I had some cubes of frozen sweet potato puree in the freezer leftover from when I made chili a couple weeks ago. I threw four cubes in the pot with the apple and veggies. I tossed in a couple tablespoons of almond milk to the sauce. 

I brought everything to a simmer and let it thicken a little bit. Then I spooned it over the brown rice. 

It turned out pretty yummy.

Breakfast casserole...GF and vegan

I love other bloggers that post gluten-free recipes. They make me happy. A friend - thanks, Dee - posted a gluten-free oatmeal casserole on Facebook. I'm not saying it is the same as a hashbrown casserole with eggs and cheese and sausage and all that jazz, but it's got to be better for me, right!?

So I tired it out. I followed the recipe closely this time, but next time I'll make a few changes. Here the blog that had the original recipe is below. The recipe I will post will include the changes I will make next time. I baked this, then put it in the fridge. Each day for the past few days, I've cut a piece and warmed it up in the microwave. It only takes about 1 minute, 30 seconds to be warm and yummy.

http://alwaysamrsforeverakidd.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html

Baked Oatmeal Casserole
2 cups gluten free oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup fruit - I made it with mixed berries last time, I want to try it with diced apples or diced peaches
2 cups almond milk
1 "flax egg" (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water. Mix together then let sit about 5 minutes until it gels a bit)
3 tbsp melted vegan "butter" or coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375. Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Mix dry ingredients together. Place the oat mixture in the casserole dish. Mix wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Pour wet ingredients over the oats. Bake for about 35-40 minutes.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips before serving if you prefer.

I thought the chocolate and bananas in the original recipe were too overpowering. I think this would be awesome with apples and butterscotch chips though....

The mother grain

Quinoa...have you tried it yet? It's good stuff. I tried quinoa for the first time a little over a year ago and now we always have it in the house.

Quinoa is technically a seed rather than an actual grain, but you can use it in just about any recipe that calls for rice or oats. It has a nutritional profile that is very close to milk - with more protein than other grains. I have friends that use it in place of meat in tacos. Since quinoa takes on the flavor of whatever you cook it or mix it with, you can make it just about any way you want.

I had a bag of sugar snap peas and baby carrots in the fridge that I hadn't figured out what to do with. I've been eating out a lot the last several days so I felt like I needed to stick to the veggies today.

So for breakfast, I had GF baked oatmeal, Shakeology with a banana for lunch, an apple for a snack and for dinner I made a Asian quinoa salad with a cup of miso soup.

Asian Quinoa Salad
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 ready to steam bag sugar snap peas and baby carrots (or other veggies of your choice)
3 tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp rice vinegar

Bring water and quinoa to boil in a medium sized pot. Reduce heat to low and cover for about 15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and leave covered about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, steam veggies and mix with tamari, sesame oil and rice vinegar. Add quinoa and toss. I tossed some sliced scallions on top and added some sriracha for heat as well. I bet the leftovers will be even better for lunch tomorrow.