I'm around!

Just have been on vacation and then playing catch up! I've got some great recipes to share (and some not-so-great pictures of the food). Stay tuned, please!

*image courtesy of: nail-biting.net

Super Easy Sunday

I'm prepping myself for 3 days worth of gluttony. Ha!

So, i decided to keep it super easy this week. My lunches will consist of salads and my snacks will be stuff that I have leftover in the fridge.

Breakfast (tastes like a chocolate chip cookie!!)
1/2 C Oatmeal
1 T brown sugar
1 T mini chocolate chips


Lunch
Spinach
Quinoa
Roasted Garbanzo Beans (recipe below)
Avocado
Goat cheese
Tomatoes
Honey crisp apple for "dessert"

Snack 1
Caramel greek yogurt w/Blackberries

Snack 2
Butter toffee almonds w/banana

Snack 3
2 T Chocolate PB2
Banana
Graham cracker
(make it all into a sammich)

And, on to my one recipe for today...
Roasted Garbanzo Beans
These are crazy delicious on their own, but I'll be adding them into my salad for an extra crunch.

1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas), drained

2 t olive oil

seasonings of your choice (I went with garlic powder & salt.... but, you can also do cinnamon and brown sugar)

1. Preheat to 450°F
2. Lay parchment paper over sheet & arrange garbanzo beans on top
3. Bake for 30 minutes (DO NOT ADD EXTRAS YET!)
4. Once they are done, mix the garbanzo beans with the oil & your seasonings of choice
5. Try not to eat them all at once!

And, I also want to share some crafts that I've been working on.

Super Easy Mod Podge Magnets

Supplies:

Scrapbook paper

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Clear pebbles (for vases, etc)

Magnets

Hot glue gun & glue

1. Trace the pebble on the paper & cut out

2. Mod podge the paper and adhere to pebble. Then, mod podge it again.

3. Once dry, use hot glue to attach magnet to back

Trash Bag Container

I followed the instructions from Tater tots & Jello.

Supplies

10-12 plastic bags

1 empty disinfectant wipe can

1 sheet of scrapbook paper

Mod podge

Foam brush

Ruler

Scissors

1. Measure your container's height & circumference.

2. Cut out a strip with the measurements from the paper

3. Mod podge the paper onto the can.

4. Follow the instructions from the blog regarding how to roll the bags. And then, stuff them in, and you're done!

 

I store mine in the half bath so that we're never out of bags for the trash can!

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone!

Forgive me for last week!

But I promise that I've got a ton of pictures to make up for it this week!!

Easy cooking day, but i wanted to also show you all my food prep for the week, and possibly give you all some ideas. :)

• Apple Chips
• Baked Eggplant Fries (SOO delicious!)
• Dr. Oz's Green Tea (supposed) Fat Booster

Apple Chips

These suckers were so easy to make, but unfortunately take a little bit of time. Make sure you allow yourself enough time for prep & 2-3 hours of dehydration time.

2 large apples, cored (I used Red Delicious)

2 T. sugar (optional)

1 t. cinnamon (optional)

canola oil spray

Core apples

Have your trust assistant core the apples while you...

slice them thinly

Feed a few to the dog

Eat a couple yourself

Mix in bowl

Arrange on baking sheet

Devour

1.       Preheat oven to 200 degrees.

2.       Thinly slice apples crosswise about 1/8-inch (2 mm) thick with a mandoline or sharp knife. 

3.       If using sugar, combine in a small bowl with cinnamon.  Place apples into bowl and ensure everything is covered evenly.

4.    Arrange apple slices in a single layer on two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets, and spray with canola oil cooking spray.

5.       Bake in the top and bottom third of the oven until apples are dry and crisp, about 2 hours (mine took about 2.5 hours, and I probably could've let them sit in there for another 30 minutes).  Remove from oven and let ‘chips’ cool completely before transferring to a sealed container for up to 3 days. 

Baked Eggplant Fries

Another SUPER easy one, but takes a little bit of time for prep work.

2 eggplant, cut into strips

2/3 cup plain greek yogurt (original recipe called for regular yogurt, but I wanted to boost the health factor)

1 tbsp dried parsley

¼ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp paprika

¼ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp onion powder

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 can of Whole Wheat Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Assemble ingredients

Peel eggplant

Cut into fries

Mix the ingredients for coating

Get bread crumbs ready for dipping

Coat eggplant

All of it

Then coat with breadcrumbs

Arrange on baking sheet

Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping half way (I baked for longer because my batch was big)

Let cool, and then eat.

1. Preheat Oven to 450 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper.

2. Cut your eggplant into fries

3. Combine yogurt, parsley, garlic powder, paprika, ground cumin, onion powder, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl.

4. Toss eggplant fries in soy yogurt mixture, coating evenly.

5. Place breadcrumbs on a plate and lightly coat eggplant fries with breadcrumbs.

6. Spread out evenly on trays making sure they don’t touch.

7. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Turn halfway during baking to brown evenly.

8. Serve immediately with sauce of choice.

Dr. Oz's Concoction
1 Tangerine
4 Bags of organic green tea
1 t Honey (or more to taste)

Slice and de-seed the tangerine

32oz jug

4 organic green tea bags

I love my electric kettle

Place everything into jug & let it cool off

1. Boil water
2. Cut tangerine into slices
3. Pour hot water into 32oz jug and add the tea bags. Let stand for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add honey for sweetness while water is still hot (easier to mix)
5. Add tangerine.
6. Let stand until cool. You can add ice if you want to drink it immediately, or put into fridge to drink later.
7. Drink at least 1 L of this a day.

Now, here is my food for the week:

If curiosity has gotten the best of you...

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Breakfast- Green Smoothie (recipe below)

Snack 1- Apple chips w/PB2

Lunch- Pizza burger (recipe below) w/egg plant fries & apple

Snack 2 - 2 Craisin-Almond balls (just Monday), and then the rest of the week: 1/2 C cottage cheese, 1/2 C canned peaches, 1/4 C granola

Tuesday, Thursday

Breakfast- Green Smoothie

Snack 1- Apple chips w/PB2

Lunch- Tomato-Goat Cheese salad (recipe below), salmon, apple

Snack 2- 1/2 C cottage cheese, 1/2 C canned peaches, 1/4 C granola

My "Green Smoothie"

2 C spinach

1 T flaxseed

1 C mixed frozen berries

½ frozen banana

¼  frozen mango

1 C almond milk

½ C oat meal

1. Blend all ingredients together

Pizza Burger

1 vegetarian burger (I chose Boca Bruschetta patty)

1 can of tomato sauce (split between 3 containers)

3 t italian seasoning (1 t per container)

1 slice part-skim mozzarella cheese

1. Warm burger per instructions

2. Top with tomato/italian seasoning mixture and cheese slice

3. Microwave for 20 to 30 seconds to melt cheese

4. Use the extra sauce to dip the eggplant fries in!

Tomato Goat Cheese Salad
1 Tomatoe
1/4 C crumbled goat cheese
1 t olive oil
Salt, to taste

1. Cut tomato into chunks
2. Sprinkle olive oil & salt over tomatoes
3. Add goat cheese
4. Devour!

And yet another Sunday has gone by...

Let's start out with the "menu"

• "Fried" chicken breast
• Israeli couscous
• Craisin-almond balls
• Egg "muffins"
• Banana Walnut Muffins
• Hummus

Yeah, not a very exciting menu. I was pretty lazy this Sunday & was VERY dehydrated. No idea why (no, I did not drink Saturday night!).

My Crazy Chicken Creation (that failed)
3 chicken breasts
Olive Oil
Rosemary
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Mix all ingredients in a bag
2. Let marinate
3. "Fry"

 

 I'm gonna be honest. I have no idea what I did wrong, but I ended up burning it so bad that I've given up on eating it this week. But then again, I hate any burnt foods.

Israeli Couscous

I honestly didn't try anything unique this time, but I did want to try this. I cooked by the instructions on the box so it came out tasting a bit bland.

But that's ok, I have plenty more left so I'll be experimenting with this in the days to come. I'm envisioning cooking this with chicken stock & spinach. Yummmm.

Craisin-Almond Balls
These are so delicious, and so easy to make. I've made these in all sorts of variations (and you can substitute raising for craisins, but lets be honest here-- who actually enjoys raisins?)
1 C Craisins
1 C RAW Almonds
1/4 C Maple Syrup
Cinnamon to taste (optional)
2 T mini chocolate chips (optional)
etc. etc. etc.

1. Scoop out 1 C of craisins
   
   
   
   
   
2. Thoroughly rinse craisins
   
   
3. Scoop out 1 C of raw almonds
   
   
   
4. Thoroughly rinse almonds
   
   
5. Process craisins and almonds until fine
   
   
6. Add 1/4 C maple syrup to almond-craisin mix
   
   
7. Process until sticky
   
   
8. Lay out a sheet of parchment paper
   
   
9. Scoop out balls
   
   
10. Refrigerate balls until they harden
11. Place balls into container to enjoy later
    
    

Egg "Muffins"
2 C egg beaters
Handful (or more) spinach
Handful (or more) mushrooms
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Spray a 12 muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray
3. Mix all ingredients in a bowl
   
   
4. Pour all ingredients into muffin pan
   
   
5. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, or until eggs harden
   
   
6. Let cool, and then scoop into a container
   
   
   
7. Nuke for 30-40 seconds in the morning for a quick breakfast

Hummus
('cuz you all know how much I love me some hummus & pretzel crisps!)
1 can Garbanzo/chickpeas
2 T lemon juice
1 T garlic
Dash of white pepper & dash of red pepper (yeah, I wanted a little kick to my hummus this week!)

1. Process all ingredients
   
   
2. Place into container
   
   

Banana Walnut Muffins
(Same ingredients & instructions as the past weeks)
3 ripe bananas
1/2 C (or more) chopped walnuts
1 c lowfat buttermilk
1 c whole wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/4 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 whole egg
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
3/4 c brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Spray muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with paper cups
3. In a small bowl, combine the oats and buttermilk, and let stand at room temperature for five minutes.
4. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt; mix with a fork to blend and set aside.
5. In a large bowl and using a hand mixer, beat the egg, applesauce, brown sugar at medium speed for 3 minutes.
6. Blend in the oat-buttermilk mixture
7. Stir in the flour mixture only to combine, try not to overwork the mixture
8. Mash up the bananas and then stir into muffin mixture.
9. Fold int he walnuts
10. Fill muffins cups 3/4 full
11. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean