Forgetful July 25, 2012

I don’t know what it is…maybe too many things on my mind lately or just “mommy brain”, but unless I write things down, I easily forget them. With that said, I completely forgot to take a picture of our dinner last night, sorry! I am going to work on this by making sure to keep my camera handy, so I can take plenty of pictures. As far as last night’s dinner goes, it was delicious and very satisfying, especially after another brutal workout (running 2,400 meters and finding your 1 rep maximum of front squats, which I maxed out at 135 lbs)! Here is the recipe that I created, if you are interested:

Sauteed Kale with Sun dried Tomatoes and Onions: (serves 3)

Ingredients:

– 2 bunches of kale (chopped)

-1 red onion (diced)

– 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (packed in oil)

– 1 clove garlic (minced)

– 1 tablespoon olive oil

– 3 Italian sausages

– 1 tsp. Italian seasoning

– 1 tbs. balsamic vinegar

– pinch of salt and pepper

– 1/4 cup of feta cheese

– 1/2 cup cooked couscous

Directions:

1.) Saute onion with garlic and olive oil in a large pan.

2.) Add sausages and cook until browned.

3.) Add kale, balsamic vinegar, spices and saute for 10 minutes, or until soft and vinegar is absorbed.

4.) Divide cooked couscous among 3 plates, pour kale mixture on top and sprinkle with feta cheese. Enjoy!

My morning latte that my husband so kindly made me!

On to today: Keenan had his swim class this morning, so it was rather rushed to get out the door on time, especially since he slept-in to 8:30 a.m. again! I’m loving that he is sleeping-in; I sure hope it lasts! We had a quick “usual” breakfast with blueberries (Keenan’s favorite fruit) and I took my latte to go (thanks to my loving husband for making it). After class, we ran some errands, delivered a meal to a mom in my MOMs Club who recently had a baby, and then headed home for play time before lunch. Since Keenan got his Play Doh ice cream maker set from Uncle E, Auntie Mimi and his cousin, he hasn’t wanted to play with anything else! All he wants to do is make and pretend to eat ice cream cones! Does your child (or children) have a favorite toy that they always want to play with?

For lunch, I made my “typical:” a turkey sandwich on Orowheat whole wheat sandwich thins with lettuce, tomato and a little bit of jalapeno yogurt dip from Costco (it is scary good!), along with carrots and a peach. I made Keenan his favorite: a peanut butter and honey sandwich with blueberries and a glass of milk. He sure loves his peanut butter! As we were eating our lunch, we sang, “The Wheels on the Bus.” Since we got back from San Diego, he has wanted to sing that song over and over…it’s funny, but also tiring at the same time!

My typical lunch, very satisfying!

The best spread for sandwiches and a dip for veggies!

Since today is Wednesday, it is gymnastics day at CrossFit Gold so I’m excited to see what today’s WOD includes. I love Wednesdays at the box, since I used to do gymnastics when I was younger.

Since my husband is gone for the night (for a work event), tonight’s menu is all about salad!! Though I don’t like it when he has to travel for work, I love that I get to make HUGE salads for my dinners (my husband thinks I’m crazy!)! If I had it my way, I would eat salad every night. I love that there are so many things that you can do with a salad: add fruit, nuts, meat, veggies, cheese and different vinegars. You can be as creative as you want. I don’t think there is a wrong way to make a salad. When my husband was gone for four days a few months ago, I made myself a different salad each night, it was great! Tonight, I’m going to make “everything, but the kitchen sink” salad that will include, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, avocado, peperoncinis, kalamata olives, carrots, chicken and a few roasted unsalted walnut pieces with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My mouth is watering just thinking about it! Since I’m having salad, I’m going to make Keenan some chicken with avocado, carrots, bread and some blueberries. What do you eat if you are by yourself for dinner?

Peanut butter hands!

My Little Shopper Helper July 9, 2012

Keenan having fun riding Nonna’s Rocking Horse over the weekend!

We are all home again and ready to start the week (a short one, since we leave early Friday morning for a vacation with my family). Since we had no real food (fruits, veggies, eggs and milk) in our fridge, Keenan and I made a trip to the grocery store after his swim class this morning to stock-up (buying only enough to get us through the week). Keenan is my “Shopper Helper” as I call him, because he loves going to the store and helping me pick out our things and putting them in the cart. He also loves to hold onto the list for me. I enjoy taking him to the store, because it is a great learning experience for him and teaching moment for me. We talk about all of the different things that we see and how they can be prepared/cooked. How do you involve your kids at the grocery store? Do you find that involving your kids in picking-out fresh produce helps them to eat their veggies?

After getting home and unloading the groceries (which Keenan likes to help with; I hope it lasts!), I put together most of our dinner, so it will be ready when we get home from CrossFit (CF) tonight. We always end-up staying late at CF, so unless I prepare dinner ahead of time, it makes it challenging to get it ready quickly, so Keenan can go to bed on time (between 7:15 and 7:30 p.m.). On the menu for tonight is turkey meatloaf (mixed with feta cheese, fresh basil and sun-dried tomatoes), oven-baked sweet potato fries and sauteed spinach with onions, garlic and olive oil. For the meatloaf, I am cooking it in the crock pot which keeps it nice and moist! I put it on low, so it can cook all afternoon. Since our oven has a delay start function (which I recently discovered, thanks to my husband!), I prepped the sweet potatoes, placed them onto baking sheets and put them in the oven to start while we are at CF. The delay start function is AWESOME! I’ve been using it a lot lately, because it makes it easy to prep things ahead of time, like roasted veggies and potatoes (things that won’t spoil while sitting in the oven for a couple of hours) and have them ready when you get home. Just like a crock pot (which I have been using more lately, to save time at night), you can fix-it and forget about it! The only thing I need to do when we get home tonight is cook the spinach, which only takes 10 minutes, at most. How do you save time when making meals for your family?

Here are the recipes for my meatloaf and oven-baked sweet potato fries. They are both my creations!

 

 

 

Turkey Meatloaf in the Crock Pot: (serves 6)

Ingredients:

– 2 lbs ground turkey

– 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil)

– 1/4 cup fresh basil (chopped)

– 1/4 cup feta cheese

– 2 eggs

– 1/4 cup of ketchup

– 1 cup oatmeal

– 1/2 onion (finely chopped)

– 1/2 cup ground flax seed

– 1 clove of garlic (minced)

-1/2 teaspoon pepper

-1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

– pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Spray non-stick cooking spray or rub a small amount of olive oil on the bottom and sides of your crock pot (to prevent the meatloaf from sticking).

2. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

3. Put all ingredients in crock pot and form a “loaf” shape.

4. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours. Serve warm and enjoy!

The turkey meatloaf before I set it to cook.

Oven-baked Sweet Potato Fries: (serves 3)

Ingredients:

– 3 medium-large sweet potatoes or yams

– 1/2 cup ground flax seed

– 1/4 cup olive oil

– 1 clove fresh garlic (minced)

– 1/2 teaspoon pepper

– 1/8 teaspoon salt

-1 teaspoon cumin

– 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

– 1 teaspoon all-purpose (no-salt) seasoning *I use Costco’s Kirkland brand

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If you have baking/cooking racks, place them onto 2 baking sheets (if you don’t have any racks, drizzle olive oil or spray non-stick cooking spray on each baking sheet).

2. Peel sweet potatoes, slice into wedges (or large steak fries size) and place into a large bowl.

3. Pour the rest of the ingredients on top of the sweet potatoes and mix well, to ensure each wedge is coated with an equal amount of seasoning.

4. Place sweet potatoes on baking sheets and bake for 25-35 minutes, until golden brown and crispy. Enjoy!

Ready to go into the oven!

Happy 4th of July! July 4, 2012

Keenan licking the batter!

Happy 4th, everyone! I have always loved the 4th of July because it means barbecue, ice cream and swimming! In our family, it is a day of cooking, making ice cream, swimming, playing bocci ball and having good conversations. It is a nice day of relaxing and spending time together.

Today started out with Keenan and I baking the most moist and easiest peanut butter cookies to compliment my husband’s homemade vanilla ice cream with peanut butter chunks and fudge swirl (YUM!!). Keenan loves to be my “Baking Assistant” or “Sou Chef,” as I call him. He loves helping us in the kitchen (including setting the table). I love that he has taken an interest in cooking; maybe he will be a chef when he grows up! He enjoys helping me measure out the ingredients, pouring them into the bowl and adding spices. Once we are all finished, he absolutely LOVES to lick the batter when we are baking (only if the recipe does not include eggs, of course). The nice thing about this peanut butter cookie recipe is there are no eggs, so Keenan can lick away (as you can see from the picture!). He was in hog heaven, since one of his favorite foods is peanut butter! How do you involve your kids in the kitchen? Do you find that involving your kids in the kitchen helps them to eat better?

The finished product: yummy peanut butter cookies (some with Hershey kisses!)

After Keenan and I made the cookies, I started on my grilled corn salad (we grilled the corn last night to save time today) that consists of tomatoes, red onions, black beans, cotija cheese, avocado and cilantro. Once we are ready to eat, I’ll add the avocado and chopped cilantro (since they tend to brown if they sit out for a while). Before dinner, we will enjoy linguica (a 4th of July tradition in my family), cheese, crackers and guacamole with chips (my husband thinks it’s funny to see linguica and guacamole together, but that is how we roll!). For the rest of our dinner, we are having watermelon feta salad (my sister-in-law is preparing), ribs, tri-tip and bread. For dessert, we will be having cookies with my husband’s ice cream and homemade cherry ice cream that my dad is making (another 4th of July tradition, made with our own cherries!). It will be quite a feast, to say the least!

If you are interested in my salad recipe, I adapted it from one I saw in Cooking Light a couple of years ago. It is super-easy to make and it is always a crowd pleaser!

Grilled Corn Salad: (serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

– 8 ears of corn (my husband seasons them and wraps them in foil; grilled and kernels cut from cob)

– 1 red onion (medium dice)

– 2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved or quartered, depending on the size)

– 4 avocados (large dice)

– 3 cans black beans (low sodium, rinsed)

– 1 bunch cilantro (de-stem and finely chop 1/4 of bunch for dressing; repeat with the rest when finishing salad)

– 4-5 cans sweet corn (depending on the size of your ears of corn)

– 1 block of cotija cheese (cut into small cubes, or crumbled)

– 1/4 cup olive oil

-4-5 limes (juiced, to taste)

– 1/2 teaspoon of cumin (to taste)

– pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Put all ingredients in large bowl, except for avocado and cilantro.

2. In a small container, mix lime juice, olive oil, cumin, salt, pepper and 1/4 of the chopped cilantro and whisk together.

3. Pour dressing over salad and mix well.

4. Put plastic wrap over salad and let it sit in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

5. After 2 hours, add diced avocado and the rest of the cilantro and mix. Serve and enjoy!

My Grilled Corn Salad before putting it in the fridge to sit for two hours.

Keenan will be waking-up from his nap soon, so it’s time to get ready for swimming and having some munchies, before digging into to our delicious dinner and later, dessert! Today, I am definitely not watching my food intake! I will be gladly enjoying a little bit of everything! Tomorrow, I will be getting back on track with eating and exercising!