Salad and Silliness August 16, 2012

As promised, here is a picture and the recipe for the salad that we had for dinner last night. It was good, but I had to tweak it a little to add more flavor. I found that if you follow the recipe exactly, it is a little bland.

Basil Peach Salad (aka Peach Salad with Basil Oil) adapted from Women’s Health Magazine:

Ingredients: (serves 4)

3 ripe peaches, sliced into thin wedges

3 cups arugula

4 oz. fresh mozzarella cut into 1 -inch cubes

2 Tbsp chopped roasted walnuts

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 cup fresh basil

1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, toss the peaches, arugula, mozzarella and nuts.

2. Put oil, vinegar, basil and salt in a blender or food processor and combine until smooth.

3. Drizzle dressing on salad and toss. Divide salad amongst 4 serving plates.

Since the salad was our entire dinner (not as a side) and I only had one bag of arugula, I added a head of romaine lettuce. I also halved the amount of cheese, since the salad was only for the two of us (not 4 people as the recipe states) and added 3 oz. of chopped chicken (for each of us) for additional protein. For the dressing, I added 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar and pepper for more flavor. Also, I was too lazy to get our food processor or blender out, so I finely chopped the basil and just added it with the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper to my salad dressing maker/emulsifier. Even though the dressing was not pureed, it came out just fine.  My husband really liked the salad, so I think we will be making this again! I guess it was hearty enough for him, Lol!

Show me the ice cream cones!

Today has been all about the silly’s and being goofy! Keenan has been in a giggly mood all day, which has been a lot of fun! This morning, after our “usual” breakfast (and my latte), we played with his ice cream cones. Keenan was laughing every time an ice cream scoop fell off! He also kept telling me to take bites from the “high parts,” what we tell him when he eats a real ice cream cone! After we played for a bit, we headed to my favorite store, Nordstrom, to return a few things.

Once we got home, we had lunch. Since we got home a little late, I made Keenan his favorite sandwich again (peanut butter and honey) with applesauce and a glass of milk. Since we had some leftover mozzarella cheese from last night’s dinner, I made a caprese salad for myself, using the rest of our grape tomatoes and fresh basil from our yard, along with some baby carrots, of course. It was delicious! While Keenan and I were eating our lunch, he wanted to try one of my carrots. Since he only has 10 teeth (2 top molars), it is hard for him to chew really hard things like carrots, so we have to cook them. I gave him a small carrot and he did a pretty good job of crunching it with his front teeth. Though, he had a hard time chewing the rest, thus keeping the pieces of carrots in his mouth for FOREVER! As I was getting him ready for his nap, i.e. changing his diaper and sitting him on the potty, I asked him to swallow the rest of the carrots and if not, give them to me, so he wouldn’t choke on them while he slept. As he spit the carrots out and into my hand, a few pieces of carrots fell on my arm and onto the changing table which made Keenan laugh hysterically! Keenan kept laughing and saying, “What’s that? A piece of carrot!” It was so funny, we were both laughing so hard, that we had tears in our eyes! I haven’t had a good belly laugh like that in a long time! It reminded me of a scene from an “I Love Lucy” episode, my favorite TV show!

Yumm…a Caprese Salad! It brings back memories of Italy.

Caprese Salad: (serves 1)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup basil (chiffonade)

1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

3 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese (cut into 1-inch cubes)

1 tsp olive oil

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

pinch of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Place basil, tomatoes and mozzarella into a small bowl.

2. Toss salad with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper, until well mixed. Enjoy!

This afternoon, we are heading to CrossFit for our third workout, after getting back from Alaska. My quads are STILL so sore from Tuesday’s WOD of 150 wallballs! Today is supposed to be a long workout, so it should be good! On the menu for tonight is Kale sauteed with mushrooms, red onion, sun dried tomatoes, italian sausage and feta cheese! What are you having for dinner tonight? Do you have any other ideas for cooking with kale?

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!