A Minor Food Slump

Haaaaaaaappppy Friday!

You may have noticed that there weren’t too many food photos this past week. That’s because I went on a lazy hiatus this week with my meals.

Breakfasts have been my typical banana and peanut butter, lunches have been leftover meatloaf or whatever I can throw down during my lunch break…

turkey meatloaf energy bite mah ball apple peanut butter

…and dinners have been more leftover meatloaf! Lame!

meatloaf

However, yesterday morning I did attempt to be more creative and I made myself what turned out to be an egg pancake made with one egg and 1-2 egg whites. I cooked the eggs over too high of heat on the stove and they quickly turned from an omelet into a pancake.  In the pancake was sautéed onions, green peppers, and kale, topped with avocado and Parkers Farm salsa.

eggs

It wasn’t my proudest breakfast moment, but it did taste alright and kept my tummy satisfied well until lunch.

Once lunch rolled around, I ate my usual breakfast of pb and banana (haha I just couldn’t go a DAY without it) and had a bunch of other random bites. I have got to turn this food slump around, because it is NOT exciting.

To tell you the truth, this entire week has been one of those weeks where everything seemed to take twice the effort; preparing meals, workouts, work, daily chores…everything. I really think that it has to do with the cold weather around here that keeps droning on and on. I am so ready for warm weather. I feel like I did pretty well this winter without feeling any symptoms of seasonal affective disorder, but now that it’s technically spring, I am realizing I have had enough of the cold and I know I’m not alone on this one.

Out with the cold and in with the warm please!

I did try to get snazzy with my workout yesterday afternoon. I was feeling sluggish and slightly under the weather after work, so decided that a calm 30-minute yoga session might be nice.

I rolled out the yoga mat and started flipping through the selections OnDemand looking for some yoga, but ended up scrolling across a 45-minute session called Grace and Gusto which combines Pilates and ballet. Being that I used to dance and miss it dearly, I decided to give it a whirl.

sweatpink

The verdict: It was fun and different and was the perfect pace for my mood (not super fast). It didn’t include a lot of jumping around, which was what I was looking for, and the instructor did a great job of combining both ballet and Pilate moves into the session. I was glad I did it and it reminded me that I need to step outside of my comfort zone more often and try new workouts.

As for today’s workout, my tentative plan is to go for a run. We will see what kind of mood I am in though! I seem to be kind of a rollercoaster lady lately.

My goals for the upcoming week are to jazz up my meals and to reenergize my motivation for more intense workouts. Who knows, maybe my body was telling me to lay low this week, but I’m ready for amp it up again!

Question of the day: Have you tried any new recipes lately? Any new workouts?  

 

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Hearty Lentils with Spinach

Hello there! Happy Sunday my friends. What’s everyone have on the agenda? Resting and relaxing or running errands and prepping for the week ahead? Whatever it may be I hope it’s a good one so far!

I still have yet to recap the second part of our Colombia vacation but I was really itching to write a “normal” post plus I have a recipe I want to share with you all, so the second recap will have to wait a little while longer. Here’s the Miami recap, and Colombia Part I recap if you’re interested.

I have a little bit of catching up to do from Friday first so we’re going to be starting off there right at lunch time. To celebrate my birthday (a week early) my co-workers and I went out to Houlihan’s for lunch. I received a free $15 coupon for my birthday to the restaurant so that’s why we decided to go there.

I ordered the french onion soup and a caesar salad with grilled chicken and polenta croutons. I was very happy with both of my selections.

Tasty!

Moving on to dinner…

This is your forewarning that the meal you are about to see is one of the most unappetizing dishes ever to appear on BN. However, I promise you that although unappealing to the eyes, it is very appealing to the palate.

Hearty Lentils with Spinach.

After I plated the lentils over the spinach, I stirred the warm lentils into the spinach and decided that I liked it that way better.

Oh yes I am falling in love with lentils. First the Curry Stew and now this.

Hearty Lentils with Spinach
Print
Ingredients
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1½ cups lentils
  • ¾ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. ginger powder
  • ¾ tsp. cumin
  • ½ tsp. curry
  • ¼ tsp. paprika
  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 3 cups reduced sodium chicken broth*
  • 3 cups spinach
  • *Use vegetable broth if cooking vegetarian
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, saute onions and carrots on stovetop for 3 minutes.
  2. Add in spices and stir.
  3. Add in chicken broth, stir, reduce heat to simmer, cover and let simmer for 2 hours; stirring occasionally.
  4. Before serving, add spinach and stir in until it wilts into lentils.
  5. Serve hot.

It’s such a hearty and healthy dish that I truly enjoyed (and Dana did too).

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Saturday

I enjoyed two cups of Dunkin Donut’s Pumpkin Spice coffee with hazelnut creamer to kickstart my morning.

Have you tried this stuff?! If you haven’t please go buy some. You won’t regret it. NUM.

Next was breakfast. I topped one banana half with Parkers Farm creamy peanut butter and the other half with Peanut Butter & Co’s Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. Yes it is a dream how good that stuff is. A dangerous dream. Thanks to Peanut Butter & Co. for sending me some coupons for their heavenly product.

I gave breakfast time to settle while watching two episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, Dominican Republic and Maine. Both episodes were great. His humor cracks me up.

Then it was time to lace up and head out the door and face the dreary morning with a run. Moose surely didn’t care that it was drizzly and dreary, he was so ready to go. We trekked through the neighborhood and covered about 4 miles.

The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house, “helping” Dana dig out the window well to prepare for egress windows so that we can finish our basement at some point, putting the patio furniture away for the season, hanging out with Moose, and baking up a treat for the worker crew.

Recipe to come soon!

I hope you’re having an excellent weekend. Catch up with you all later!

 

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Peanut Butter’s Third Appearance

My appetite has been super goofy lately. The last couple of days I haven’t felt very hungry especially for breakfast. I preach the importance of eating breakfast to my clients and even though I haven’t had much of an appetite, I am still making sure to feed my body to kick-start my metabolism within 2 hours of waking up.

For breakfast yesterday, I made myself a bowl of diced banana, peanut butter, and cinnamon.

After a couple cups of coffee, and checking off a few items on the to-do list, I headed out the door with Moose with the intention of going for a quick mile walk around the neighborhood. Well, the beautiful fall weather got the best of me and my walk turned into a 3 mile run. I can’t believe how much I am loving this fall weather lately. It motivates me to run and run and run outside!

Moose wasn’t too phased by the run. He was ready to go for more.

After the run I baked up two loaves of my Nutty Gluten-Free Bread. The house smelled muy deliciouso after those were done baking. The smell of baking bread… yet another comfort.

Lunch time rolled around, and again I wasn’t hungry, but I made myself a great salad anyway. Romaine lettuce with grapes, walnuts, chicken, feta cheese, and Ken’s Lite Poppyseed Dressing.

I made a trip over to mom and dad’s in the afternoon to go for a walk with my mom and Abbie, and give mom a mini tutorial of her new food processor as well as her new iPad.

We walked around their neighborhood for a good half hour and the weather was still perfect. Walks are so much more fun when you walk with good company versus by yourself. They go so fast too!

Dinner…

Again, not hungry, but I knew better than to not eat. I sautéed some mushrooms, onions, broccoli, lima beans, and chicken, seasoned with garlic powder and ginger powder. I embedded the sautéed mix into two butter lettuce cups, and topped them with a squeeze of lime juice, cilantro, and a drizzle of Pb2.

I always make room for dessert so I finished the night off with a handful of dates with peanut butter. That was peanut butter’s third appearance yesterday. I guess that’s what I feel like eating when I don’t feel like eating? 🙂

I’m hoping my appetite gets back on track. Eating isn’t as enjoyable when you don’t feel hungry. Alrighty, I’m off to change the world…Catch up with you all soon!

 

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Reinstated Confidence in My Running Capabilities

I am pretty pumped about my morning and want to share it with you, but first a quick recap of my evening last night.

After a little bit of cleaning and a couple of errands, I had very little energy left to make dinner so I kept it real simple with Fresco Shrimp Tacos. I cooked the shrimp on the stove top for 3 minutes with some seasoning just to warm them up.

To assemble the tacos: Butter lettuce cup as your shell, then chickpeas (because that is what we had on hand), tomatoes, cilantro, shrimp, and salsa if you feel like it.

We didn’t have any ripe avocados but if we had you better believe there would have been some in the mix. These tacos were simple, fresh, and very tasty.

Later, we got the itch for some Fro Yo and made our way to Cherry Berry. I tried to control myself but ended up getting a little wild. I went with a mix of cake batter and s’more Fro Yo. S’more what? S’more FroYo. On top was a lot of chocolately heaven, a few sprinkles and a gummy cherry on top.

Should I have gotten frozen yogurt…probably not, but I don’t regret it.

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Saturday

So here we are now onto Saturday. I began with a piece of pumpkin bread with Parkers Farm peanut butter and honey…

I also drank 1.5 cups of coffee while getting dinner ready in the crock pot. Tonight my family is coming over to celebrate my mama’s birthday and it is going to be F.U.N. and DELICIOUS!

Any guesses on what’s for dinner? I am making enough food to feed an army even though there will only be 6 of us. I would rather have too much food than not enough!

Run Time

Once those crocks were rolling, it was time for me to get rollin’ outside. I geared up, laced up my pretty pink laces,s grabbed the dog and we headed out for a run.

The weather could not have been more perfect. It was about 50 to mid-50’s and overcast. I didn’t have a mileage goal set as I was leaving out the door, I had just planned on seeing how I felt throughout the run, and going as long as I felt like.

Well…something happened that hasn’t happened in quite some time. Let me premise by saying there is major road work going on in our neighborhood including sidewalk closures, which makes finding a running route slightly challenging. As I made my way through the known neighborhoods I was feeling really good. Like so good I wanted to keep going and going and going, which worked out in my favor because as I was trying to make my way home, I hit about 3 detours which led me back the way I came from. The mileage started piling up and I ran a distance that I haven’t seen in quite some time…

4.6 miles. 

I know that to many, 4.6 miles is a walk in the park, but considering I haven’t accomplished this distance in a very long time, it reinstated my confidence in my running capabilities and I owe thanks to the road closures I guess? Nahhh.

The run this morning really motivates me to sign up for a race, and to start running more often. The feeling you get post-run is indescribable and I always wish I could bottle that feeling up and release it during a time where I am feeling highly unmotivated.

After the run I headed to the living room and did 20 minute pilates stretch and breathe video OnDemand. It was just what I needed.

I am in such a great mood today. I’ll be excited to fill you in on the festivities taking place tonight. It’s looking mighty cozy in our humble abode.

Have a wonderful Saturday my friends!!!

 

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Curry Squash & Lentil Stew

Guess what I did again on Wednesday night? I got my dance on at my old dance studio! For anyone who may have missed it, you can catch a little blurb about my dance journey if you click right here. Since I was sick last week I didn’t make it to class, but was able to go this week and it felt GREAT. I am really feeling the aftermath of it. My body is screaming. I love it.

Onto Thursday…

Lately I have been making myself a breakfast smoothie to enjoy on the ride to work. Yesterday I threw together what was sure to be a delicious smoothie. In the mix: cherries, blueberries, banana, coconut almond milk, and hemp protein powder.I gave it the standard whirl in the blender, poured it into my to-go cup, and made my way to work.

I was so looking forward to this smoothie but to my dismay there was some crunchy bits that kept coming through my straw. I thought it was just a fluke and maybe it was a bit of cherry skin that hadn’t quite pureed completely, so I kept sipping. More and more hard little bits. I came to the conclusion that it had to have been a cherry pit that was accidentally missed. So much for my breakfast smoothie.

I made a pit stop at the gas station for an impromptu banana and string cheese. Carbs and protein. I did my best given my time constraint and options available.

Enough of the smoothie rant. Lunch was great. I made myself a bowl of shredded chicken (crock pot style), peas, and avocado. I seasoned it all with salt and pepper and called it a protein packed bowl of goodness. Alongside the chicken I had an apple and carrot sticks and some chocolate chips and peanut butter for dessert.

After work my body was seriously sore. Dance really kicked my rear. I wanted to get some type of physical activity so I opted for yoga. The particular OnDemand yoga session was about 25 minutes long and focused on ab strengthening. It was a doozy and I mean that in a good kind of way. It was a “beginner” level but I would not have categorized it as such. Intermediate would be more appropriate. I’m not that out of shape.

Dinner

We still had a few varieties of squash lying around from our last trip to the farmer’s market. Actually, that’s not true. The squash on the left is now gone. I ate half of it a couple of weeks ago. It was okay but nothing to write home about. 😉 So that means I still had a spaghetti squash and a buttercup squash to work with.

I made a quick scan of the cupboards and then got creative in the crock pot. I threw together brown lentils, chickpeas, cooked and cubed buttercup squash, chicken broth, and other spices (recipe below). I let this simmer on low for 6 hours, covered; stirring occasionally.

After it was done mingling, I ladled it into my pretty blue ceramic bowl from our wedding, and topped the stew with fresh chopped cilantro and chopped unsalted peanuts.

The stew turned out so great! The flavors all worked together so nicely and the dish was hearty, warm, and comforting. I’m pretty sure this was my first time ever cooking with lentils and it was my first time working with buttercup squash. Double score! I have lots of lentils leftover and will definitely be using more of them in my future. I am thinking lentil sloppy joes.

Here is the recipe for ya and my inspiration came from Eating Well.

Curry Squash & Lentil Stew
Print
Cuisine: NOTE: To make SCD legal, remove chickpeas and add in your favorite SCD legal white bean instead
4 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 cups buttercup squash, cooked, and cubed
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • ¾ cup chickpeas
  • ¾ cup brown lentils
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • ¼ cup no added sugar spaghetti sauce*
  • 2 cups chicken broth**
  • 1 tsp. dried ginger
  • ¾ tsp. cumin
  • ½ tsp. curry powder
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • ¼ cup unsalted peanuts, chopped
  • ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
  • *Tomato paste can be substituted; you would need about 1 Tbsp.
  • **Vegetable broth can be used if cooking vegetarian.
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients except peanuts and cilantro into slow cooker.
  2. Cover and set on low for 6 hours; stirring occasionally.
  3. Ladle stew into bowls and top with peanuts and cilantro.

 Exciting News

I mentioned in my last post that I would be traveling out of the country in less than two weeks. It’s reveal time. The destination….

Bogota, Colombia!

Dana and I are going to visit my brother Jeff who lives and works out there. I am so insanely excited and can’t believe it’s so soon! I can’t wait to spend time with him, meet his friends, see where he lives, and learn more about Colombia (and hopefully drink some really great coffee and eat delicious chocolate). That is my fun news! I will be snapping lots of photos to share with you all when I get back.

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Anyone else thrilled that it’s Friday? I can’t hide my enthusiasm. Apparently it’s strong coffee Friday too. Usually it’s me that accidentally  makes the coffee a little too strong, but this week the finger points elsewhere. Maybe that’s why I’m extra enthusiastic this morning.

We have plans to celebrate mom’s birthday this weekend. It’s a special year for her. We will be hosting dinner over at our house on Saturday night. I have a great menu planned and am excited to have some of the family over. More on that later gators.

Have a super Friday friends! xoxo. I hope this enthusiasm rides out all day.

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Turkey Meatloaf, Veggie Loaded

I had such a productive weekend I feel like a new woman today. I need to do some catching up from Saturday’s dinner, but I am going to start with Sunday morning first. Excuse me as I jump around throughout the post. Jump, jump everybody jump!

Sunday Morning

It was my last chance for the week to get my yoga on in order to meet my October Yoga Challenge, so first thing in the morning I headed to the living room to set up. The routine before a yoga session is to push all of the furniture aside, get Moose’s toys off of the carpet, and vacuum the area. I love our pup but he sheds like a maniac so vacuuming often is necessary in our house.

I turned the heat up in the house to create a “hot yoga” atmosphere, and got moving to yoga OnDemand. This particular session focused on jump kick-backs aka burpees.

It was a 22-minute session and it really got me sweating! I guess that could have been because I cranked the heat up too. Either way, I was still sweating. I got in my weekly session and it felt SUPER once again.

After yoga, Dana and I took a trip to Caribou Coffee to get our BOGO on. First, yoga, then BOGO. I am still trying to be careful with dairy in my diet so I ordered a french roast with sugar-free hazelnut. I did put a touch of cream in my coffee when I got home. I love the creamy smoothness that cream adds to the coffee. As much as I’ve tried to switch to almond milk, or no milk, or no cream, I just don’t enjoy it as much as I do with the cream. So, I’m sticking with it. It’s my special treat in the morning.

To go along with my coffee I made myself some breakfast: a smoothie with blueberry, strawberry, banana, almond milk, crushed ice, and a tablespoon of hemp protein powder. Fabulous.

Now to recap the weekend’s events…

Saturday was an incredibly productive day. After getting organized at work on Thursday, then seeing a guest on Rachael Ray’s Show demonstrating how to organize your home in no time, I was inspired to tackle my own home.

Throughout the weekend, Dana and I organized: the front closet, the kitchen cabinets, my desk, my closet, the guest room closet, and the dining room cabinets. Not bad right? We also went crazy on the backyard and cut down all of the plants for the winter. Sort of bittersweet.

It’s amazing how good you feel after getting your house reorganized. Now, to keep it that way.

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Now, reverse back to Saturday evening. Let’s talk about dinner. After spending the day cleaning and organizing, I was in the mood for a hearty meal. I took the inspiration from my cute little turkey meatloaves to create this bomb of a dinner, and I mean bomb in a good way.

Turkey Veggie Meatloaf and Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

I included carrots, zucchini, onions, and olives in this meatloaf and it turned out great! Parents, if you have a picky eater and are looking for a way to camouflage some veggies into their diets, this just may be the way to go. The veggies add a bit of a light crunch to the loaf, and all of the flavors from the veggies, seasonings, and meat all meld together to form a perfect combo. Plus there’s ketchup in meatloaf, kids love ketchup. 🙂 As do adults (right, Kev?).

Last weekend, Dana and I stopped at the farmer’s market in our area. We bought a few squash (that I still need to use) and a carton of brussels sprouts. Since I was set back this past week with the stomach bug, we didn’t get around to cooking up those sprouts, so we pulled them out on Saturday.

I washed and trimmed the ends and let them drain. I then sauteéd them in a small amount of coconut oil and simply seasoned with salt and pepper. I only used about half of the brussels sprouts in this side dish, so I froze the unprepared ones for a later time. They freeze perfectly.

Such a cozy comforting meal on a cool fall evening, and so very tasty too. I’m all about that lately. Did you check out my soup from Friday night? NUM!


Turkey Meatloaf, Veggie Loaded
Print
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • Loaf:
  • 1¼ lbs lean ground turkey
  • ½ cup carrots, grated
  • ¼ cup zucchini, grated and drained
  • 1 cup onion, finely diced
  • ½ cup green olives, chopped
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp. celery seed
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • dash of cumin
  • 2 tsp. worcestershire
  • 1 tsp. mustard
  • ¼ cup ketchup
  • Topping:
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 1½ Tbsp. mustard
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease standard bread loaf pan; set aside.
  2. Combine all "loaf" ingredients; do not over-mix.
  3. Press into prepared pan.
  4. Mix together topping ingredients. Spread over loaf.
  5. Bake for 1 hour and 5 minutes, then place under broil for 2 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven and let sit 5-10 minutes before slicing.

I am off to take on this Monday once and for all. I hope you have an enjoyable day. Check in with you all soon!

Continue Reading Turkey Meatloaf, Veggie Loaded

Petite Squash Puffs with Bacon Saute

Well hi there. How is everyone doing this week? You survived Monday I see so that is a good thing.

I want to get to that top-secret squash recipe I mentioned yesterday, but first a little run down from Monday’s festivities.

In the morning I headed downstairs for an easy 35 minute treadmill walk before heading out to Mall of America in search of a dress for an upcoming wedding. After walking the mall for a good hour, I think I decided that I would just wear a dress I owned already that has actually never been worn. It’s not as pretty as the orange little number I showed you but it’s still very pretty. I just need to work on that whole accessorizing part.

Darting around the mall definitely made me work up an appetite. As soon as I got home I headed to the kitchen and whipped up a salad.

In the mix: mixed greens, celery, strawberries, grapes, sunflower seeds, and a drizzle of homemade honey mustard (just honey, Dijon, and a splash of red wine vinegar).

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I got to working on updating the blog and figured out how to add a print recipe gadget so that you will no longer have to print the entire page of my post if you want to print one of my recipes. However, it will be from this point on with new recipes unless I have the chance to go back and update all of my old ones (which I do hope to do someday). That was pretty exciting.

In the afternoon I headed to the gym and pounded out 20 minutes on the elliptical followed by a monumental moment for Melanie…

I REACHED MY SEPTEMBER PUSH-UP CHALLENGE!

I headed over to the nasty mats at the gym after getting nice and warmed up on the elliptical. Onto hands and toes push-up position I went, and I got to work. The first 7 were fine, but the last 3 were very challenging. It doesn’t matter though, because I reached my 10 push-up goal! I won’t be stopping there because I want to continue to build on this strength. I know this may seem like not a big deal to some but I don’t know the last time I was able to do 10 real manly push-ups like this!

It’s incredible to see what changes can happen in just one month’s time. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. I just proved that to myself this month. Now, to get back into the running and the yoga…that may be my next goal.

Dinner

On the menu was a simple yet satisfying salad in the form of Chicken Fajita.

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I mixed up my own fajita seasonings (cumin, chili powder, cayenne, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, I think that was it). Then, sautéed onion, bell pepper, and mushrooms. I added the already cooked chicken into the pan lastly just to warm it through. Then I added the seasonings, a splash of water, and boom. Placed the goodness on top of a bed of greens, a sprinkle of cheese, and a drizzle of salsa, and called it dinner.

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So back to this squash recipe.

On Sunday evening I had plans to work with a nice acorn squash I had bought from the farmer’s market on Saturday. I originally had planned to make squash gnocchi out of it, but my plans derailed slightly and I ended up doing my own thing and what turned out to be mini squash pillows.

After baking the squash, scooping out the seeds, and spooning out the good stuff, I placed the squash into a bowl. I sprinkled in a small amount of salt, an egg, and about a heaping cup of almond flour. I mixed this together.

I then took pieces of the dough into my hands and began rolling.

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Then I placed the dough onto a floured surface.

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I got to gently rolling the dough out to long breadstick like shapes. I ended up adding quite a bit of flour in this process.

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I used a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 1-inch pieces.

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These cooked on the stove top for about 5 minutes on each side.

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While the squash puffs were cooking, I sautéed onion and garlic in olive oil while cooking three slices of turkey bacon. Then I mixed them all together.

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To plate this dish simply pile on the squash puffs, drizzle with the bacon and olive oil mixture, and top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

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Dana and I both LOVED this dish. It was so different and the flavors were incredible. Next time instead of rolling them out into long strips like I did, I would probably just break them off into little bits and place them right into the pan. They would be more rustic looking but that would be completely fine with me!

I hope you all have a tasteful Tuesday! Catch up with you soon.

**This recipe is written after adapting what worked/what didn’t work with my attempts.**

Petite Squash Puffs with Bacon Saute
Print
SCD-Friendly Acorn Squash Dinner
Ingredients
  • 1 acorn squash, prepared, and pureed
  • 1 egg
  • 1½ cups almond flour
  • ¼ tsp. salt
  • 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 3 pieces of turkey bacon
  • ½ cup onion, chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • Parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Combine squash puree, egg, flour, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
  2. Use fingers to shape mixture into 1-inch puffs; use flour on hands if necessary.
  3. Place puffs onto a lightly greased pan on the stove top and cook 5 minutes per side.
  4. In separate pan, saute onions and garlic in olive oil. On the other side of the pan cook bacon.
  5. Once bacon is crispy, remove and cut into small pieces. Add back to onions.
  6. Plate the puffs, drizzle with bacon mixture, and finish with a sprinkle of Parmesan.
  7. Enjoy!

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Zucchini Bread & Adjustments for Health

Goood morning to you all. Hope everyone’s week is off to a great start.

I have some news to share. After my colon “procedure” vaguely mentioned a couple of weeks ago here, I have not been feeling well on the U.C. front. My body is having a hard time recovering from the invasiveness of the procedure and I feel like my progress in feeling better was set back about a month. Besides that, I have deviated further than had planned from the SCD and/or Paleo diet, specifically on the added sugar part.

After Friday’s absolutely amazing date night, I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty darn sick. I felt awful all day. My body was not happy with me.

It’s time for change folks. I am regaining control and made a decision Saturday morning that I was going back to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. I am not starting at day 1 and beginning the whole thing from scratch, I will beginning somewhere around 1 month in. My body is used to the significant amounts of fruits and veggies. The biggest part I will be focusing on is watching the added sugars and starchy ingredients on food labels.

mellys kitchen

For any new readers, I tried giving the SCD a try a couple of months ago. You can read about some of it here and here. I did my very best to stick with it, but then decided to go the gluten-free route instead because I felt like I wasn’t seeing the progress I had hoped for especially given all of the effort I was putting into it.

This diet involves A LOT of food prep, and I think with all the activities of summer, wanting to be outside all of the time (versus in the kitchen), and the immediate stress of beginning the diet, I just couldn’t keep up with it.

I am going into it this time with a different mindset. I already know what I “can and cannot eat,” I am aware that more time will be spent in the kitchen, I learned last time that I need to make large batches of foods and freeze them to cut down on future kitchen time, and mostly, I need to remember WHY I’m doing this. I want to be healthy again. This flare has lasted way too long.

This time around I will not be so hard on myself if I slip once and a while. I’m not perfect and it’s bound to happen. I also am going to be aware that this diet may not work for me, and if it doesn’t, then that’s okay, I will continue to adjust my diet so that I figure it out one day. I sure hope it works though!

Prior to the colon procedure a couple of weeks ago, I was feeling so much better. At that time I was following a mostly SCD and slightly Paleo diet, the only thing I was slipping up on was the chocolate. I was eating it daily. It’s one of my favorite treats and I’m hoping in the future I will be able to incorporate it into my diet again.

So that’s what’s happening over in my Beautifully Nutty home. Basically I spent a lot of time in the kitchen Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday

On Saturday Dana and I went grocery shopping, went to the Farmer’s Market, got the car washed, did laundry, and cleaned all of the windows in our house inside and out. It was a busy active “rest” day. I also made some “fauxmeal” raisin cookie bites. Num.

Breakfast: 1 egg and egg white omelette with sautéed bell peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, topped with avocado, cilantro, and salsa.

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Lunch: Sugar snap peas, an apple, and homemade zucchini bread (SCD) with homemade cashew butter and honey…recipe at bottom of post!

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Dinner: almond crackers that I burnt to a crisp(!) and tomato and olive bruschetta topping that we bought from Target a while back. All ingredients on the label are SCD friendly.

Such an ugly photo! Bleh! But it tasted great!

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Sunday

Breakfast on Sunday looked like Saturday’s with another piece of zucchini bread with cashew butter and honey.

I made my way to the gym (haven’t been there much lately) and jogged for 35 minutes on the elliptical then hit the weights for a back and bicep workout. I managed 6 hands and toes push ups yesterday! Just 4 more to go to reach my goal of 10 normal (non-knee) push ups before the end of the month!

Lunch: Apple carrot salad with a homemade rosemary honey mustard vinaigrette. Then a large spoonful of cashew butter.

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While I ate my salad I got to working on making some homemade apple sauce. This was so incredibly easy and I will share the recipe with you soon.

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In the afternoon I brought up the fall stuff from the basement and realized I have about 5 fall items to decorate my house with. Lame. I just may need to hit up the craft store with my coupons and get some more??!

I took the pup for a 3 mile walk around our neighborhood in the afternoon.

Dinner:

For dinner I headed over to mom and dad’s which is always such a nice treat. Mom and dad made pork chops, asparagus, and summer squash. I made myself a honey mustard topping for my pork chop.

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It was a really amazing weekend once again. I have the day off work today and plan to do some more food prep, hopefully relax a bit so I can HEAL, and run a couple of errands. I had planned on running today but am going to keep that tentative and see how I feel. I need to learn how to RELAX.

Here is the SCD Zucchini Bread Recipe!!

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread (SCD Legal): Makes 2 Loaves

Ingredients

  • 3 cups almond flour
  • 1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. all spice
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 egg whites
  • 2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained of liquid
  • 2 over ripe bananas
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two standard bread loaf pans; set aside.
  2. In medium bowl combine dry ingredients.
  3. In large bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add remaining wet ingredients; mix until well combined.
  4. Gradually add dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
  5. Divide batter into each prepared pan.
  6. Bake for 55-60 minutes until toothpick inserted into center of loaf comes out clean and top of bread begins to brown.

The bread tastes great toasted, plain, with cashew butter, peanut butter, butter, apple butter…get creative!

Have a happy, healthy day.

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