Chef for a Week in One Day!

I am exhausted!!!

After my earlier post, Kyle and I headed out for a 3 mile walk around Lake Artemesia. It was so nice outside, really warm with light breezes. I definitely prefer more intense workouts, but it was nice to take advantage of the weather before it got too hot.

Lunch was supposed to be at home, but again we made a last minute switch to grab something out. Of course no camera, but I had a pita with falafel, lettuce, tomato, tzatziki, and onion. The wrap fell apart, so I only ate half of that but finished the falafel and veggies. Also, I had my daily ration of diet coke!

I then went to the grocery store FINALLY! Considering how little food we have, I was able to plan out the week and get everything we needed plus lightbulbs, TP, and toiletries for $140... no small feat!

Produce:

• HUGE spaghetti squash :-)
• gala apples
• 2 packs portobello mushrooms
• baby carrots
• red onion
• jumbo yellow onions
• 1 mango
• 3 avocados (1 ripe, 2 to ripen his week)
• bananas
• 2 green peppers
• spinach
• serrano pepper
• jalapeno pepper

Deli:

• pack of thin sliced chicken breasts
• 1/2 lb. lean turkey
• roasted garlic hummus
• plain greek yogurt
• mexican blend cheese
• smoked salmon

Non-perishables:

• salsa verde
• ZEBRA CAKES!
• hot fudge/mint topping
• jar of marinated artichoke hearts
• 2 bottle of CHOLULA
• 2 cans no-salt diced tomatoes
• 4 lunas
• 1 cliff bar

Beverages:

• 1/2 gallon of milk
• 4 Fuze slenderize

FUN!

I also got some bread, but it got tucked away before my camera caught it!

This afternoon I worked in the kitchen making 3 dishes that can be used to make several different meals.

1. Spaghetti Squash
2. Chicken Verde
3. Tomato Artichoke Pasta Sauce

I did this because Ky and I are both trying to finish up our final papers to graduate, so we wanted to have to do as little work as possible this week in terms of meals. Luckily everything I made is really healthy, not to mention quick to throw together!

Spaghetti Squash

I have made this on the blog several times before, but I usually bake it. This time I boiled it... takes a little longer than baking but so worth it!

1) Scrub squash clean

2) Place in a put that is either large enough to cover the squash with water, or be prepared to rotate the squash every 5-10 minutes for it to cook through

3) Fill pot with water and set to boil.

I let this guy cook as I made everything else, turning it with wooden spoons every 5-10 minutes for 40-45 minutes.

5. The squash is done when it is fork tender

6. Cut in half, and gut the seeds (SO MUCH EASIER WHEN ALREADY COOKED!)

7. Shred with a fork

Chicken Verde

I have also made this before on the blog, but I decided I wanted to make a batch that could be reused in multiple ways over a few days. That meant that instead of baking it, I needed to prepare it in a way that wouldn't dry it out while cooking or sitting in the fridge.

• 1/2 yellow onion
• 1.5 jars of salsa verde
• 1/2 bag of mexican cheese
• 1 can diced chiles
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1.3 lbs chicken breast

1) Boil chicken as you dice garlic and onion

2) Transfer cooked chicken to a bowl, and shred by hand or with two forks

3) Heat one tablespoon oil in a skillet; sautee onions until translucent

4) add garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant

5) Add in salsa verde and shredded chicken, blend well and let simmer 10 minutes

6) Blend in the cheese, and voila!

A delicious, creamy filler! Can be used

• in a salad
• burritos/tacos
• pumped up with mixed, roasted veggies

Pasta Sauce!

• 1 large jar marinated artichokes, coarsely chopped
• 1 pack sliced bellas
• 2 cans no-salt tomatoes
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• salt and pepper
• hot pepper flakes

1) Drain excess liquid from artichokes into a bowl with chopped onions

2) Sauté onions in oils until translucent

3) Add in baby bellas, cooking thoroughly with some salt and pepper

4) Stir in artichokes and as many hot pepper flakes as you want

5) When thoroughly mixed, add both cans of tomatoes, with juices

6) let simmer a few minutes to heat through and blend all the flavors

Can be used:

• to make a soup with added veggie broth
• a tasty wrap by straining extra liquid
• pasta sauce on squash or regular pasta

Now we have three delicious items to use throughout the week without worrying about calories or wasting time!

While cooking I had 1/2 cup of juicy juice, and some zebra cakes!

While tasty, my falafel pita did not fill me up, and my sugary snack sure didn't, either! I had dinner at about 5:30, my leftovers from last night topped with 1/3 and avocado!

It was pretty good.... love the veggies topped with fresh avocado! I also had a miller:

Now I am settling back into work mode, looking for a nice early bedtime tonight!

I Hate School Sometimes.

Last night I had a much healthier salad than I had for lunch:

Herb salad mix with chorizo/lentil/carrot/mushroom mix, homemade guac (1/3 from a blend of 1 avocado with tomato, onion, and garlic), fresh chopped tomatoes, and a tiny blob of greek yogurt.

I felt much more cleansed after that! I also had 2/3 cup of low fat chocolate ice cream for dessert:

I have a self imposed deadline of finishing my first comprehensive exam TONIGHT, so I am a little haywire right now, and very tired and hating the topic of mathematics registers. Really.

After a terrible night of tossing and turning, I ate half a Luna and begrudgingly went to the gym.

• 15 minutes elliptical (was NOT feeling it today)
• 30 minutes bike (level 13) as I read for my seminar paper

I then rushed to the grocery store, munching on the rest of my Luna on the way:

I have a few interesting meals planned for this week, but mostly shopping was done around leftovers and frozen stuff we already have so that we don't waste much food.

I cooked some Annie's Mac and Cheese while I unpacked... I am seriously stressed out if all I want is mac and cheese out of a box!

Produce Power!

• spring mix
• large leaf spinach
• 3 jumbo white onions
• 2 red peppers
• 1 bunch of campari tomatoes
• bananas
• 3 avocados
• carrots
• 2 sweet potatoes
• 3 jalapeno peppers
• SPAGHETTI SQUASH!
• 2 packs of baby bella mushrooms

Deli

• ground lean turkey
• turkey deli meat
• brats
• non-marinated pork tenderloin

Fridge:

• No pulp, calcium OJ
• 2 greek yogurts (wtf? Shoppers never has the large tubs in stock!)

Pantry

• 1 jar vodka sauce (so effing good!)
• 2 cans no salt added diced tomatoes
• low sodium beef broth
• 2 cans diced green chilies
• large can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• organic low sodium black beans
• low sodium corn (I wish I could by it fresh considering what I am using it for!)

Grains:

• Arnold's whole-wheat 100 calorie sandwich thins
• extra large flour tortillas

As you can probably see, I have one big mexican themed meal coming up this week. I know it seems like we eat Mexican flared food a lot, but I think that is because when you cook at home, Mexican food involves a lot of fresh produce and spices... and I love fresh, HOT food! So, Mexican food is a big part of my diet, and I can't wait to prep what I am planning for Friday :-)

After I put everything away, I had a big bowl of Annie's:

And am currently locked in my room trying to finish this stupid paper. Wish me luck!

YAY!!!!!

Wonder of wonders! I finally got to the gym today!!!!

We slept in (of course), but Kyle said that even though campus was closed he was going in to the office for a while. I naturally begged to tag along so I could go the gym for the first time since last Friday. I was soooo happy!

This means the snow is clearing up, which further means that:

1. I will stop sleeping until 11 every day
2. I will have three square meals a day again instead of only two and then snacking in excess
3. I can do some real cardio 4-5 times a week
4. No more sitting allllllll day!
5. My blog posts wont be so boring and a pain to write

In the past week I have gone on two 2 mile walks, and had two lengthy shoveling sessions. That's all well and good, but when you spend the rest of the day sitting on the couch that doesn't amount to much. Even before I exercised I still walked around campus, went to the grocery store, ran errands, etc.... all of that does make a difference. But I have been a lump, trapped in my house for SEVEN days.

I needed some fuel before my first workout in a week, so we headed to Atlanta Bread Co. I have never looked up their nutrition, but I know that most of their sandwiches and salads come pre-prepared, so I am confident they are full of sodium up to wazoo.

I had half a greek salad and half a california avocado sandwich:

The sandwich was okay, I liked the tomato/onion focaccia it came on, and that there was a lot of avocado. However, the avocado did not have a ton of flavor. Since I had no idea what the salad dressing was made of or how bad it was for me, I dipped my fork into it before spearing the salad:

That way you get a lot less dressing, but what you need more or less tastewise. This salad was disapointing; it had three tomato chunks on it and 1/2 cup of olives and a ton of feta. It wasn't very balanced. Oh, well!

I didn't care, because I was finally out of the house and one my way to break a sweat.

When I got the gym, I settled into my regular routine. I figured I would be slow because I had not worked out in a while, but I actually had my fastest time ever.... 2 miles in 17:55! I was pumped!!

• 20 minutes on the elliptical at level 9, random setting
• 20 minutes on the stationary bike, level 6, weight-loss interval setting
• 30 minutes on the treadmill, 3.5 mph on a 3.0 incline

Yeah, I worked out a lot today. I think it was because I was SO excited and happy to be doing something good for my body again. This week was rough in terms of being so lazy and not having quality food and too much booze; it was a relief to be back at the gym!

Look how crazy the snow is on campus! This mound is as high as the third floor of the parking deck!

Crazy, huh?

After my awesome workout, Ky and I headed to our local neighborhood grocery store, which is also an organic grocery store... My Organic Market, or MOM's.

Perishable:

• Odwalla superfood!
• Amy's breakfast burrito... my favorite frozen item ever!

Pantry:

• 3 Lunas (ONLY $.95 here!)
• Annie's cheddar bunnies
• Annie's organic 4 cheese mac and cheese
• pasta sauce
• whole wheat pasta (I have been using the dregs of our white pasta supply, so happy to have whole wheat again!)
• channa masala mixes
• Chocolate superfood packet, just to try!
• whole wheat bread (bye-bye, sour dough!)
• capers

Produce:

• bananas
• spinach
• mixed baby greens.... yesss! Salads are back!

For a snack I had 1/2 of my Odwalla, and trail mix:

For dinner, we wanted a very filling pasta sauce. I got everything ready to go, cutting up our last two jalapeno chicken sausages, 1 green pepper, half a large onion, and 3/4 tub of baby bellas:

I also measured out two 3oz servings of pasta:

In college, I used to overload on carbs all the time. Back then, I was walking a few miles to and from campus every day, and didn't spend my days sitting behind a desk. Now, however, I recognize that I can't just eat half a bag of pasta for dinner because I missed lunch.

I started to weigh it out a year or so ago, when I really started paying attention to how the serving sizes are presented in ounces instead of cups:

I know, I know. You can just divide the weight of the package by the weight of the serving size to see how many servings per bag of pasta, but I actually found it pretty eye-opening to start weighing my food and seeing just how much (or how little) a serving size can be.

I honestly thought 2-3 oz of pasta would be nothing, but it is a lot more plentiful than I thought it was... in terms of visually speaking and hunger satisfaction. My weigher was about $6 from wal-mart, and I use it frequently.

Back to dinner...

As I started the pasta to boil, I heated a skillet with 1 turn of the pan of evoo:

Once it was heated through, we put in the peppers, onions, and chicken sausages for about 5 minutes, and then added in the mushrooms, a tbsp of minced garlic, and splash of white wine:

Once the onions become translucent, and the peppers are no longer crunchy we knew it was just about done:

If this gets done before your pasta is cooked and drained, turn the heat to low so the veggies don't over cook and get soggy.

When the pasta is ready, mix in a jar of sauce:

And heat through.

Voila!

Because it was basil tomato sauce, it was a little sweeter than I would like, but still amazing because of the volume of veggies and the pasta. I mean, if you look at my plate 3 oz is a lot of pasta, it covered half the plate! This was a nutrient packed dinner because of the whole wheat pasta, the chicken sausage protein, and the fresh tomatoes and greens. Delish!

Alright guys, it is only 7pm, but I am le tired. I am gonna hit the hay early tonight, and do my best to enjoy this weekend before I am back to the grind!