Dinners Archives - Page 10 of 36 -

Baked Falafel with Kale

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 25, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:11 Comments

Well hello hello! Happy Saturday! Anyone have any fun plans this memorial weekend? We have a fairly quiet weekend planned but we hope to work out in the yard (in between the bouts of rain forecasted), maybe get a bike ride in, and get a few other things done around the house. It should be a productive and relaxing weekend yet again.

I can happily say that I am officially out of my food funk. I know that if I want to continue to be creative in the kitchen I need to take a small amount of time and PLAN out our meals before the week, buy the appropriate groceries, and be realistic when planning. I find it realistic to have three meals planned out for the week(days) so that I’m not overwhelmed at the thought of making some thing every night, and then on the nights where I have nothing planned, we can eat leftovers or do our own thing. This has been working out really well.

The last recipe on my meal planning agenda for this past week was…

Baked Falafel

Falafel is a traditional Middle Eastern food made from ground chickpeas, herbs, and spices formed into patties, which is often deep-fried, and usually served in a pita or flatbread and topped with veggies and a tahini sauce.

I love these little patties, but you all know I’m not about to go deep-frying my falafel, so I decided to bake them in the oven instead.

I used a family recipe as a guide to my falafel recipe, and created some seriously delish and extraordinarily healthy little bites.

I started by thoroughly rinsing and draining a can of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas). Then I tossed them into my food processor along with parsley, cilantro, garlic, almond flour (I made them gluten-free), lemon juice, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and the special guest ingredient….KALE. I had to sneak just one more veggie in there. 😉 I pulsed these along in the food processor until they reached a paste-like consistency. Detailed recipe below.

Using my hands, I shaped small handfuls of the mixture into patties which I placed on a lightly sprayed cooking sheet. I sprayed the tops of the falafel with olive oil spray and popped them in a 400°F oven for 20 minutes, turning the little guys half way through.

We didn’t have any pita pockets or wraps at home, and we were running low on lettuce too, so I made an impromptu base for my falafel using the remains of an iceberg lettuce head, broccoli slaw, tomatoes, and green olives.

I plated the falafel on top of the salad, spritzed it with some fresh lemon juice, and topped it with yogurt sauce. The yogurt sauce was made from Greek yogurt, cumin, garlic powder, and lemon juice, but I actually wasn’t really feeling it so I ended up taking it off hence the reason I’m not going to share that recipe with you all. Sorry.

The flavor of the falafel was right on point. The texture was slightly soft, and the flavor combination from the herbs and spices tasted perfect. I enjoyed them on the salad, but next time I make these I really want to throw them into a whole grain tortilla and top it with tomato, lettuce, possibly some pickled veggies, and maybe a drizzle of tahini-based dressing. But really, I can’t complain about the way I ate them last night, because they tasted great.

Baked Falafel with Kale (GF)

Serves: 2-3

Yields 12 falafel

Ingredients

3 garlic cloves, quartered
3 Tbsp cilantro
¼ cup parsley, chopped
½ cup kale
2 cups chickpeas (or 1-15 ounce can)
¼ cup almond flour
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
½ Tbsp ground cumin
¾ tsp paprika
a pinch of salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet with aluminum foil and a light coat of olive oil.
Add all ingredients into food processor and process until mixture resembles a paste-like consistency.
Use hands to shape small handfuls of mixture into falafel patties and place onto prepared pan.
Spray the tops of the falafel with olive oil.
Bake for 20 minutes, turning once half-way through baking time.
Remove from oven and let cool for a few minutes before plating.
Serve on top of a salad, in a whole grain pita wrap, or in a whole grain tortilla with tomatoes, lettuce, and tzatzilki sauce if you wish.

These could also be enjoyed as an afternoon snack! They can be eaten warm or cold and the leftovers taste just great as the first day you made them.

Question of the day: Did you make any fun recipes last week?

Health Supplements & Insanity Month One

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 22, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Gluten-Free / Health / Workouts
Post comments:8 Comments

I have bunch of little tidbits to catch you up on so I’m going to get right in there and be a little random today.

First off, I hope everyone is having a good week so far. We are half way through the work week already. These weeks have been flying by lately crazy fast.

Moose had his second tooth extracted on Monday and he is doing very well. They didn’t have nearly as much trouble with this tooth as they did his other one, and he didn’t have to be under anesthesia as long. We are happy that is over with, and so is he. Thanks again for all of your sweet comments.

Let’s see, Monday evening’s dinner was one you have seen a million times by now, my favorite salmon recipe, but I still snapped a photo because it’s always so pretty.

And breakfast yesterday: banana with almond butter, honey, and cinnamon = Num.

Insanity Update

Two days ago I finished Month One of Insanity. If you’re new to my blog, you can quickly catch up on my weekly Insanity reviews here:

Here is what went down this last week:

Body and Strength Changes

I don’t feel like I went through many body changes this past week although I do feel my core continues to get stronger day by day. I feel this has helped tremendously with my back pain. I continue to see my chiropractor for adjustments but we have been able to stretch out my visits to every two weeks now versus what began as twice a week visits. That is great progress that I am super happy about.

Besides that, I may have hit a bit of a plateau, where my strength isn’t improving much, and my endurance is at a standstill.

So, this week I have started the recovery workout. The focus of this workout is on recovering from all of the cardio madness, giving muscles time to relax, yet still working them so as not to fall back in your progress. It is a slightly more mellow workout which focuses on core and balance. For the next six days the program has you repeating the same workout daily. I’m a little nervous that I will get bored from the repetition because I usually can’t handle doing the same workout day after day. That being said, the next week of recovery may take me longer than six days to complete because I may throw in some runs or other workouts here and there.

Soreness, Fatigue, or Aches

The sore elbow that I mentioned last week which has been persistent for the last month or so is no longer an issue. Who knows what that was I’m just happy it’s gone!

Every now and then I will get a little tenderness on the top of my feet and occasional knee discomfort. When this happens, I try to take a day off to rest and then get back into it the following day once the tenderness has subsided.

Overall Thoughts and Feelings

I can’t believe month one is complete! I did take before and after photos but I think I may keep them to myself (I haven’t 100% decided either way yet), but what I can tell you is that I see some great results. My stomach is flatter, leaner and stronger, my legs are more toned and much stronger, my arm strength has increased greatly and I am now able to do hands and toes push-ups much more easily. I see more definition in my arms and my shoulders, and I have less back pain! Besides training for the half-marathon, I don’t know if I’ve ever been so diligent with a workout program before, especially with one this intense. I am very proud that I have kept with it this long. Time will tell how the second month goes. If I feel it is too intense for my body, I may scale back. We will see though.

I’m happy to have this week to “recover” before starting up with the even more insane workouts to come. My body could use a little rest, plus I am missing running and hope to get some of that in this week.

To any of you contemplating the Insanity program, I will tell you right now that it is not easy, but it is so worth it! The results are worth it. The way I feel about myself and the strength I have built, is so worth it. If you want to see results and build a stronger body, absolutely complete this program.

But first…Please consult with your physician before you begin this program if your health is compromised or if you are hesitant about the intensity of the program.

A Sneak Peek at Last Night’s Dinner

I’m hoping to share this barbacoa recipe with you all sometime this week. It was a spicy one and SO good!

Health Supplements

Last topic of the day I promise. It has been a little while since I have given an update on my current health supplements I am taking in the journey towards my total wellness. I want to share this with everyone in case there are others out there who are fighting for wellness (in my particular case Ulcerative Colitis), and to give others some hope that alternative medicine can really truly make a difference! I plan to go into this in further detail another day, but today I would just like to keep it to a brief update.

Again I want to reiterate that I truly believe that if you are eating a healthy and balanced diet, and if you are completely 100% healthy and not fighting any type of disease, that you may not need to take supplements. You can get the nutrients you need from foods (Vitamin D is a probable exception) and your body is able to utilize those nutrients properly, but for those of us with compromised health, supplements can be a very good option in helping to find balance. I continue to work with my chiropractor and naturopath, who are working with me to find proper supplements to suit my particular health needs.

Last time I checked in with you all on this subject, I was taking:

cod liver oil
a multivitamin
calcium plus vitamin D3
probiotic

Today, I am taking these:

cod liver oil
multivitamin
folic acid
calcium plus Vit D3
probiotic
digestive enzymes

Digestive Enzymes are enzymes that break down food molecules in our body, which helps the body to digest and absorb food and nutrients from foods. I don’t take the enzymes with every meal as recommended, but I take them when I feel my body may need extra help in digesting a meal. For example, if I am eating a meal with broccoli or cauliflower, I will most likely take one beforehand. They really do seem to ease the digestion process for me and they make me feel better and able to tolerate more foods.

I had a terrible experience with the cod liver oil a couple of days ago however. The one I currently have is a liquid cod liver oil with cinnamon tingle flavor. Apparently I coughed right as I was swallowing the liquid and it got caught in my throat. For the next couple of hours my throat burned and all I could taste was fish. It was terrible. I continued to feel nauseous well into the afternoon. I asked my chiro about other options and thankfully there is a gel that has a chocolate flavor and there are also tablets available. The only downfall to the tablets is that you have to take 7-8 a day. I am going to try the chocolate one next and hope that I can tolerate it better because my cinnamon experience totally ruined any chance of me taking that one again. My body LOVES this stuff though. It’s like liquid gold. It’s full of omega-3’s, and Vitamin A and D. Before I take it I imagine it coating my intestines like a cozy blanket to protect them. That’s weird, huh? Then I chug a gallon of water to get the taste out of my mouth.

Anyway, this is getting a bit lengthy. I do want to write another post about my experience with the naturopath and go more into detail about the specific brands of supplements I am taking, what they are primarily used for, and other health changes I have made to aid in my healing process. But for now, I am going to call it a day.

Happy Hump Day!

What are your thoughts on supplements?

Sweet Orange Chicken

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 20, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Family / Gluten-Free / Home Life / Recipes / Sweet Treats
Post comments:8 Comments

Well this weekend just like every other weekend, flew by very quickly, but it was packed with a lot of productivity and relaxation too!

A few scenes and tidbits from the weekend

A little change-up to my standard pb and banana breakfast. I made bananas with strawberries with a spoonful of homemade almond butter. This batch of almond butter turned out perfectly and I am so diggin’ it.

Throughout the course of the weekend I munched on a couple of these ALT bars by LARABAR which they so kindly sent me last week. This is their new protein bar made from pea protein that has 10 grams of protein. These bars are absolutely delicious and satisfying. So far I’ve had the peanut butter cookie (obviously I chose that one first) and the lemon pound cake. I let Dana taste test too and we both gave them two thumbs up.

Oh the joy of finding a package of these bars on your front step when you aren’t expecting it! I don’t think I could ever get tired of it.

Dana and I actually sat down and watched a movie on Friday night. We have been wanting to see Silver Linings Playbook for quite some time, and by chance I checked out our local RedBox and it was actually there!

Holy cow, have you seen this movie? If you haven’t seen it, please do. It was a little dark but there was humor throughout the entire movie which lightened it, and the ending made me happy. I seriously loved it. And I love Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

This weekend we worked on the yard: we pulled weeds, cut the grass, planted flowers in the window boxes, mulched around one of our front trees, painted the exterior trim that needed touching up, planted herbs in pots, and hung up a decorative piece above our garage door. It felt great to be so productive and the house is really shaping up!

This weekend we celebrated my father-in-law’s birthday. The weather was beautiful that evening. We grilled burgers and sat outside for a while and soaked up the sun. It felt like a summer evening finally! We finished off the birthday celebration with Dairy Queen ice cream cake which I thoroughly enjoyed.

To end the weekend, I threw together a sweet and tasty dinner in the wok…

Sweet Orange Chicken!

In the wok I cooked one large chicken breast in a touch of sesame oil. I then added the veggies, some orange juice, coconut aminos, ground ginger, garlic, rice wine vinegar, honey, and salt and pepper. I let it all cook through for a while (more detailed recipe below) and then served it up!

I was going to chop up some iceberg lettuce and have that as a base under the orange chicken but I completely forgot. You could serve this just as I did, or with cooked quinoa or brown rice.

It was sweet with a little hint of salty which is a flavor combination I adore.

Sweet Orange Chicken

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 tsp sesame oil
1 large boneless skinless chicken breast, or 2 small, cut into chunks
1 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
¾ cup carrot, diced
1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped
1½ cups broccoli
½ cup red bell pepper, chopped
sprinkle of dried ground ginger
2 Tbsp coconut aminos (or soy sauce)
1-2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
½ cup orange juice
2 Tbsp honey
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp orange zest

Instructions

In a wok or large sauce pan, heat sesame oil. Add chicken and cook for about 6-7 minutes until almost completely cooked through.
Add vegetables and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add in remaining ingredients; let cook and boil for 4-5 minutes.
Turn off heat, use microplane to grate 1 tablespoon of orange zest over the chicken and veggies. Serve warm with brown rice, quinoa, or enjoy by itself!

You can use up whatever veggies you have on hand for this recipe. It is truly so easy (like the majority of my recipes) and it was something fun and different from your standard stir-fry!

Did you cook up anything nummy this weekend?

Fresh Vegetarian Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 18, 2013
Post category:Dinners / holidays / Moose / Recipes / Workouts
Post comments:8 Comments

Happy Saturday! So, yesterday when I was driving to work, it dawned on me what day it was. It was May 17th which means it was Moose’s 5th birthday! Our little guy is now 5 years old which is just pure craziness! We celebrated by giving him a couple of pieces of cheese with his pain meds and antibiotics last night and he got to lick the end of the peanut butter jar. 🙂 Lucky guy, huh?

Another thing I was remembering while driving was that last year at this time we were in the Boundary Waters with my brother Scotty and his girlfriend Nicole. The weather was a whole lot different last year and we were actually bathing in the water! It was cold, but it was tolerable. It was definitely an adventure I will never forget. If you want to reminisce with me you can check out this boundary water post!

I’m slowly pulling myself out of my food rut and I got creative in the kitchen again last night! It was a Vegetarian Spring Roll night in our casa!

I began by prepping my veggies: cutting cucumber, red bell pepper and carrots into strips, chopping up fresh cilantro, and opening up a bag of broccoli slaw.

Next, I prepared the peanut sauce. Into the bowl went 1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter, 2 tablespoons of hot water, the juice of half a lime, 3/4 tablespoon coconut aminos (you could use soy sauce instead), and 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil. After I made all of the rolls up I decided I should have added some heat to the sauce, so I recommend adding either red pepper flakes or a dash of hot sauce to the peanut sauce!

Next, we submerged the rice paper into a hot water bath one by one, rotating it until it becomes slightly floppy and pliable. Don’t be intimidated by rice paper, it is really SO easy to use! I placed the paper onto the counter and smeared on the peanut sauce and piled on the veggies (broccoli slaw, red bell pepper, cucumber, carrots, and cilantro).

I rolled the long side over first, then tucked each side over, and continued the rest of the roll.

And the end result is these gorgeous spring rolls!

You could also use the peanut sauce as a dipping sauce on the side instead of inside the wrapper, but I was in the mood to tuck it inside.

Aren’t they gorgeous?! They tasted so fresh and delicious and they were actually very satisfying as well. The best part about these rolls is you can use up whatever you have on hand as the filling. The last time I used these rice papers to make rolls I made a warm baked Santa Fe version and they were super good too! The kids would love these rolls especially if you served them with a dipping sauce.

Have a fabulous day! I have to go get Insane…

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Marinara and Parmesan

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 17, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Recipes
Post comments:4 Comments

Well, my creativity level in the kitchen has been at an all-time low this week. I had zero motivation to make anything, especially for dinner, and wound up eating lots of taco chicken leftovers from Mother’s Day as well as quite a few snacks for dinner types of evenings.

Note: The peas are frozen in this photo but defrosted by the time I ate my salad. Just in case you were wondering. 😉

Not my proudest week of creativity but I guess we all have our moments. I did however make my best attempt to get out of this rut by using up a cauliflower head that was in the fridge and making it into…

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Marinara and Parmesan!

The original plan was to use the cauliflower to make homemade cauli pizza crust, but since the lazy vibes were still lingering I thought I would go a more simplistic route.

After washing and drying one head of cauliflower, I cut into it vertically and made four “steaks” out of it. I made sure each piece had a little bit of the cauliflower stem attached to it to keep the steak intact. The two middle steaks held together a lot better than the outer ones because of the stem.

I sprayed each side of the steaks with olive oil, then sprinkled them with garlic powder, salt, and pepper. I threw them on the grill where they cooked for 6-7 minutes on each side.

Meanwhile, I pulled some leftover marinara out of the freezer from a couple of weeks ago when I made roasted veggies with marinara sauce and heated it up on the stove. The sauce already had cooked Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, garlic and some added herbs, but I went one step further and added chopped green olives and capers. It was so nice having the sauce pretty much ready to go so that all I needed to do was heat it up and use! The beauty of the freezer.

In case you haven’t noticed, I sort of LOVE red sauce. When we were in Italy for our honeymoon, I ordered marinara sauce on everything. It was so darn good but the heartburn that coincided wasn’t so great. It probably didn’t help I was also drinking red wine and eating hearty meals late in the evening. All things I recommend staying away from if my clients are experiencing heartburn. 🙂 When in Rome though, right? Literally. Ha! I was just thinking, wouldn’t it be fun to do a food recap from Italy? I didn’t take a TON of food photos (that was before my blog days) but I know I have some I could show you. I also kept a food journal so I could remember what I ate! I just may have to do that. Keep your eyes peeled!

Anyway, back to the cauli. After we pulled them off the grill they looked like this…beautiful.

I grated fresh parmesan cheese over the top so that it melted into the crevices. Then I spooned on a large portion of the leftover marinara sauce and dug in.

The cauliflower was cooked perfectly and took on a whole new flavor and texture from the grill. The texture was slightly “meaty” especially in the stem, and it was satisfying and fun way to eat cauliflower! Between the cauliflower pizza crust, cauliflower fritters, and cauliflower steaks, I’m finding that this is the veggie that keeps on giving. What will I come up with next?

Grilled Cauliflower Steaks with Marinara and Parmesan

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
olive oil
salt and pepper
garlic powder
parmesan cheese
marinara sauce

Instructions

Preheat grill.
Keeping the stem attached, cut cauliflower head vertically into 4 steaks (make sure each of the pieces has some of the stem so that the steaks stay intact).
Lightly spray olive oil on each side of the steaks, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place on grill.
Grill on each side for 6-7 minutes.
Remove from grill and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Top with warmed marinara if you wish and enjoy!

Happy Friday!

Do you ever get into food ruts? What do you do to pull yourself out of them?!

Nummy Leftovers & Puppy Dental Work

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 14, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Home Life / Lunch / Moose
Post comments:11 Comments

Only in Minnesota can it snow one day, and then two weeks later reach 90 plus degrees. I guess it keeps us on our toes right? All I can say is the winter coat and boots have officially retired to the basement for the summer and they are not making a return for a loooong time. I am pretty excited for the warm weather and the thunderstorms too!

Yesterday was a fairly quiet one around here. The pooch had a rough day–I’ll get into that in a second.

Lunch yesterday was one of my favorites. I kept it very simple and did a slightly modified version of my sweet and creamy salad. In the mix was baby spring lettuce, fresh mozzarella, strawberries, avocado, black beans, and Newman’s Own Lite honey mustard dressing.

I also munched on a bunch of trail mix.

For dinner I threw together a plate of leftover taco salad from our Mother’s Day lunch. Why I don’t make large batches of food at all times and have leftovers frequently, I am not sure? Who doesn’t love a meal that comes together in a matter of minutes? Leftovers are the best! I think it tasted better this time around actually. Seriously so good.

After I snapped these photos I realized I forgot to add shredded cheese and a couple of crumpled up whole grain chips.

I may have to get creative with the rest of the chicken leftovers though—I do get tired of the same meal if I have it more than 2-3 times in a row. I may freeze it for another time too. We’ll see if I catch any creative vibes later on and that will be my deciding factor.

Moose’s Dental Work

Anyway, let’s talk about the pup. Last Friday, we were cleaning Moose’s teeth and noticed that one of his molars was completely cracked all the way up to his gums. My stomach turned when I saw it because it looked so painful, yet Moose wasn’t giving us one single sign that he was in discomfort or pain. After agreeing that we needed to call the vet asap, we first continued on to the other side of his mouth and noticed ANOTHER tooth that was cracked. What had this dog gotten in to?! Again, he had given no signs that anything was wrong meaning he probably was feeling just fine. However, you can’t just leave these two huge cracked molars sitting in his mouth because the risk of infection, abscesses and other dental related issues are sky-high. So, we called the vet and made an appointment for him for yesterday.

First of all, dropping him off at his appointment yesterday was heart breaking. As I handed him over to the vet and started to leave, he looked back at me with his puppy eyes that said, “Mom, where are you going? No, don’t leave.” My heart broke and I had to turn away. I know some of you are thinking come on, he’s just a dog, but he is my little man, he’s my child and his pain is my pain! I can only imagine how tough it’s going to be when I actually have a human child. Geez louise! I’m such a sap.

Going in to the appointment, we knew that they were for sure going to have to extract one tooth and possibly two, but for some reason I was thinking positively and thinking they would really only need to pull one. Well, at about 8:30 yesterday morning they called us and gave us the news that they would definitely need to be pulling both teeth. My heart fell to my stomach. My poor guy!

I didn’t hear anything after that until about noon when the vet called me to tell me how the procedure had gone. Unfortunately, they were only able to pull the one tooth yesterday because of his size (he’s 95 lbs again!), and because of the size of the tooth. They were having a hard time getting all of the roots of the tooth and the one tooth had taken 2 1/2 hours which means he was under anesthesia for 2 1/2 hours. The vet didn’t want to risk the same thing happening on the other side that day, because that is a long time to be under anesthesia, so we had to schedule the other extraction for next Monday. He has to go through all of this again. 🙁

He was so groggy when we got him home last night. He is on a lot of pain medication and he seems to be doing fine. He does have a little swelling this morning but again, he shows no signs of pain and doesn’t wince or whine when I look at his mouth. The vet is so kind and told me to bring him by this afternoon if I feel it isn’t going down and they can take a peak at it. I know he is probably just fine but I’d rather be safe than sorry and I will probably bring him in.

You can see a little swelling in this photo on his right side…

Needless to say, after we picked him up last night he did a whole lot of lying around.

Despite being a little groggy, I was actually surprised at how coherent he really was. He wanted to be outside, and he wanted to play, but I had to keep him inside for the most part and make sure he continued to rest. Oh my little baby!

Anyway, that’s what is going on around here!

Questions of the day:

Have you ever had to deal with any health issues with your pets? Does it break your heart as much as it does mine?!
What is your favorite “leftover” food?

I enjoy leftover tacos, and meatloaf always seems to taste better the second day for some reason!

Pure Happiness

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 7, 2013
Post category:Breakfast / Dinners / Recipes / Snacks
Post comments:12 Comments

Happy happy hump day!

Since I decided to post about my new adorable Ellie workout gear yesterday, I failed to update you on my nummy day of eats from Monday. Since I had a major lack of food photos yesterday (zip-zero), I am going to catch you up to speed from Monday.

Breakfast

Breakfast was a piece of toasted almond bread with organic natural peanut butter and raw honey, served with a cup of coffee with my new favorite cream!

This picture makes me so happy. Photographed is one of my favorite foods: peanut butter, my favorite morning drink that comforts my soul: coffee, and gorgeous yellow roses that my mom gave to me: love and friendship. Pure happiness.

Lunch

A bed of mixed spring greens topped with deviled eggs, red bell pepper, celery, olives, peas, avocado, sunflower seeds and Annie’s Green Goddess dressing. Way good!

I ate it outside in the sunshine which probably made it taste even better!

Dessert

Driscoll’s beautiful organic raspberries. Nature’s candy.

There was definitely more snacking that happened in the afternoon. There are no pictures of it but I am guessing I had some mixed nuts, some carrots, and maybe an apple. 🙂

Dinner

For dinner I roasted up brussels sprouts and broccoli with olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. To go on top of the veggies I made a marinara sauce using Ragu No-Sugar-Added spaghetti sauce, with one Italian turkey sausage, and sautéed onions, mushrooms, and garlic. I sprinkled in some dried basil and oregano too!

To plate it up I started with a layer of veggies, next I grated some fresh parmesan cheese, and then finished it with a huge serving of the sauce which in my opinion is the best part!

I wasn’t loving the brussels sprouts that night. I had bought them fresh and then froze them, and feel they take on a bit of a different flavor once I use them out of the freezer. Anyone else experience this? Anyway, I still enjoyed the dish and ate all but three bites.

************

Alright, it’s time for me to go pack up my lunch and think about what I want for breakfast! I am so food-minded; always prepared for moments when I may need to eat. 🙂 The hardest part is not knowing what I will be in the mood for come lunch time. I usually pack myself a couple of options so that I can pick and chose what sounds good.

I am super excited that thunderstorms are possibly going to happen this afternoon. I LOVE a good thunderstorm, as long as no one gets hurt and no damage is done of course. They remind me of being young and hanging out with my family in our safe home. As the thunderstorm approached we would watch the news and make sure we didn’t have to go to the basement. Then, as it whooshed over us I would watch safely out the window as the lightning struck and the thunder rolled (Garth Brooks anyone?) and it would make me so thrilled! I still feel that way when a thunderstorm rolls around! My mom also loves watching storms; she must have passed that gene down to me. 😉

Watch, we won’t even get one now that I got all hyped up about it.

Do you enjoy thunderstorms?

Have a great day my friends!

The New Kitchen

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 6, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Family / Home Life
Post comments:13 Comments

Hoowddddy, howdy, howdy, how. I just finished my morning cup of joe and I am feeling fantastic! I would feel fantastic either way but it really gives me that extra little boost some days.

How was everybody’s weekend? Mine was full of family time so in my book that means it was a great weekend. We celebrated Dana’s grandma’s birthday, my dad’s birthday, and had an early Mother’s Day celebration with Dana’s family. So many wonderful people to celebrate and celebrate with. The fun continues over the next couple of weeks with Mother’s Day and a few more birthdays to come! Wooo!! I love it.

I’m starting to adapt to this whole giving the camera a rest on the weekend bit, so again, I didn’t snap too many photos. Here’s a few that I did get…

My favorite salmon dinner on Friday.

A smoothie to-go as we ran errands on Saturday: strawberries, blueberries, kale, coconut milk, Jay Robb chocolate egg white protein powder.

Sunday’s birthday meal.

I realize I say this all of the time but I feel like the luckiest gal in the world to have such amazing families. My love for them is endless.

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Kitchen Countertops

Changing gears. I have some revealing to do! No more anticipating, the time has finally arrived. It is time to reveal our new kitchen countertops!

I forgot to do an official “before” photo, but I was able to dig up a few to give you a reminder of what it used to look like. So, without further ado…

Before

After!

Isn’t it beautiful?! I really don’t think it would be possible for me to be more excited about these countertops. They are exactly what I was hoping for. We were able to pick our the exact slab of granite that would go into our home. It’s hard to imagine what it will look like in your kitchen until it is actually in your kitchen and then there is no turning back. I was thrilled at the outcome. I feel like we have a brand new kitchen. It motivates me to do more baking and cooking too!

So there you have it. You can finally sleep tonight now that you have seen the official reveal. 😉

I’m off to tackle my Monday. I hope you have a BEAUTIFUL day.

What was/were the highlight/s or your weekend?!

Quinoa Tabouli Recipe & Switching to Raw Honey

Post author:Melanie
Post published:May 2, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Gluten-Free / Lunch
Post comments:2 Comments

Oh happy day! Who’s doing their Friday happy dance? I am.

Yesterday was a day of great eats. Although I didn’t get too creative with breakfast and went with my fav; banana with peanut butter, cinnamon, and a touch of honey, I did change it up just a bit. I am now using raw honey instead of the good old honey bear and this stuff rocks my socks for multiple reasons.

Why I switched to raw organic honey

It tastes incredible.
I bought it locally and could tell you exactly what farm in MN it came from.
It has health benefits such as: wound healing, boosts immunity, traditionally has been used to heal ulcers, diarrhea, and other gastrointestinal issues.
Rich in B vitamins and vitamin C and contains healthy minerals too!
In the processing of your everyday honey bear squeeze bottle honey, beneficial enzymes, nutrients, and antioxidants are often destroyed. Instead of reaping the wonderful health benefits of honey, you are really stripping away the goodies.
I love it.

some information was gathered from this source

The only downside is it is definitely a little more expensive than the traditional honey bear, but you can see why right? It’s worth it! Another FYI, buy organic if you can.

A friendly reminder: children under the age of one should not consume any type of honey as it has the potential of causing botulism.

Lunch

Anyway, moving on. After my Insanity workout, I was craving nutrients in a huge way. Usually I hedge toward smoothies post workout, but today I went the salad route. I must say this turned out to be one pretty darn beautiful salad.

What’s in it: mixed spring lettuce, grated carrot, grated pepper cheese, peas, red bell pepper, sunflower seeds, Applegate roasted turkey from the deli, and homemade mustard dressing.

Dressing: deli mustard, red wine vinegar, dash of garlic powder and black pepper, and a touch of water.

Yum-o.

Mediterranean Feast

For dinner, we had my mom and dad and brother Kevin over for a Mediterranean themed dinner.

On the menu: chicken and veggie kabobs, hummus, veggies, fresh fruit, and quinoa tabouli!

Quinoa Tabouli!!

Oh my goodness I love this food so much. I especially love making it at home because I can control EVERYTHING that goes into it–including the salt content.

This was my first ever attempt at making tabouli. Traditional tabouli uses bulgar wheat, but I wanted to make mine with protein-rich quinoa, and am THRILLED with the result. If you are a tabouli fan, this is a recipe you are absolutely going to want to try! It’s truly so easy too!

Quinoa Tabouli

Ingredients

juice from ¾ of a large lemon
2 Tbsp. olive oil
½ tsp. dried oregano
3 garlic cloves
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
2 cups parsley, chopped
¼ cup mint, chopped
½ cup cucumber, diced
½ cup onion, diced
1 Roma tomato, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, and use a fine cheese grater to grate garlic cloves into juice mixture.
Add remaining ingredients into bowl, stir to combine.
Cover and refrigerate overnight if possible to let flavors blend together.
Serve cold on a bed of lettuce (optional). Great with chicken kabobs and hummus.

Happy Friday to all of you beautiful people. Catch up with you later!

What are your favorite ways to enjoy honey?

My favorite ways are of course drizzled over pb toast or pb and banana with a touch of cinnamon, or in a mug of hot water with fresh ginger.

California Cheeseburger Salad

Post author:Melanie
Post published:April 30, 2013
Post category:Dinners / Health / Recipes / Workouts
Post comments:6 Comments

April Fitness Challenge Recap

Today is the last day of April which means that today is the last day of my April Fitness Challenge. If you will recall, at the beginning of April I challenged myself to work towards the goal of being able to do at least one solid chin-up by April 30th.

We bought a pull-up bar, I hit the weights but not nearly as much as I should have, and I began Insanity workouts about two weeks ago.

I have to report today that unless a miracle happens in the next 24 hours, I am still not able to do an unassisted chin-up. However, I refuse to claim this challenge as a fail because I have seen major progress in my attempts and I know it won’t be much longer before I am able to do one.

And yes I use my legs to help shimmy myself up–I don’t care if that’s considered cheating.

Am I disappointed? Actually I’m not, not at all. I am very happy with my progress and excited to keep reaching toward my goal. It has been very helpful having a pull-up bar in our house so I can give it a go at my leisure.

You WILL be hearing from me as soon as I reach that goal! I think I will be rolling this goal over into May. Yea, I like that idea.

Anyway….changing tracks. I have a super tasty meal to share with you all from last night.

This dinner was extremely easy, it came together in about 15 minutes or less, and it was SO delicious!

I made what I like to call California Cheeseburger Salad!

What usually comes on a California burger? Tomato, lettuce, avocado, and mayo right? Well I excluded the mayo but used the other ingredients. In addition to the California burger, I also incorporated an all-American classic: the cheeseburger. Instead of a bun, I turned this concoction into a salad.

Let’s break it down…

I began by sauteing about 1/4 cup of diced onions on the stove top. I then added 1/4 pound of lean ground turkey, seasoned it with salt and pepper, and let it brown.

Meanwhile, I chopped up the lettuce, tomato, avocado and arranged them on my two plates.

Next, I made a mustard dressing which was simply deli style mustard (about 2 tablespoons), apple cider vinegar (about 1 tablespoon), garlic powder, onion powder, and a little water. I gave it all a good stir and then drizzled it over the salads.

After the turkey was finished browning and fully cooked through, I shredded 1/4 cup of natural cheddar cheese over the hot meat in the pan. I let it melt and then used a spatula to scoop it onto our salads.

You put it all together and what do you get? California Cheeseburger Salad! So very simple and it was the perfect dish for a warm spring evening.

California Cheeseburger Salad

Prep time: 15 mins

Total time: 15 mins

Serves: 2

Ingredients

¼ cup onion, diced
¼ lb lean ground turkey
salt and pepper
As much mixed spring lettuce as you wish, chopped
½ small avocado, diced
1 Roma tomato, diced
2 Tbsp deli mustard
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
a sprinkle of garlic powder
a sprinkle of onion powder
1 Tbsp water
¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

In a small pan sprayed with olive oil, sauté onions for 2-3 minutes.
Add ground turkey, season with salt and pepper, and let brown.
Meanwhile, arrange lettuce, avocado, and tomatoes onto two separate plates.
Prepare mustard by mixing together mustard, vinegar, garlic powder, onion powder, and water in a small bowl. Drizzle over plated lettuce.
Once meat is finished cooking and lightly browned, sprinkle cheese over the top and let melt. Once melted, use a spatula to transfer the meat on top of the salads.
Enjoy!

You could easily make this vegetarian by substituting pinto beans or black beans instead of the ground turkey! Give it a go tonight! You won’t regret it.

Have a fabulous Tuesday my lovely readers!

What are your go-to summer dinners?

I notice that once the warmer weather rolls around, my meat consumption goes way up because we are grilling so much more. In the summer our go-to dinners are probably grilled chicken or turkey burgers and grilled veggies or a huge veggie and bean salad.

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