The Culprit

I have been sick all morning. Ugh! I think it was the chicken last night at school. I really only had the chicken!

LOOK- I even havea a picture of what I brought to the hospital and school... NO GLUTEN!!


So, after walking in the snow to and from the gym- I decided gf pancakes would be the best medicine! :)

I even found some pure Vermont syrup to drizze on top!!

I'm off to take Luna for a walk in the snow!

Thai meatloaf with noodles

I seriously think Martha Stewart would be impressed with this meal! :) I modified the recipe from her magazine this month.

In our thai mini meatloafs:
- 2 pieces of toasted gluten free brioche, pulsed in the food processor
- 1 egg
- 2 scallions, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp. of Sriracha sauce
- 1 cup of milk
- 1 lbs of 96% lean ground beef
- 1 lbs. of 96% ground turkey
- 1/4 cup of minced cilantro
- shake of Crazy Jane salt

I made wide rice noodles sauteed with scallions, garlic, and cashews as the side!


Dave and our friend Toby hoovered these little ones!!!

I wanted to try another mini cheesecake recipe, so they were my guinea pigs!!

I hit this one on the head... they taste MUCH better this way...

Mocha Mini Cheesecakes

- 1 1/2 cups of nonfat or lowfat cottage cheese( I used lowfat)
- 1/2 cup of part skim ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 1 tbsp. strong coffee
- 2 tsp. of vanilla
- 1/3 of cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar
- 3/4 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 11 paper muffin cups

Preheat the oven to 275F. Place all ingredients down to the powdered sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth. Then, distribute evenly into 11 muffins cups. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Let cool, and then place in the fridge for atleast one hour. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, and distribute evenly on top of each cheesecake. Let it cool and harden. Enjoy!

Corn & Quinoa Chowder

This afternoon I made corn & quinoa chowder.The red quinoa in the chowder brought a nutty flavor which I enjoyed! I'm trying to stock the freezer, to help us out when the semester gets a little nutty!




Ingredients
3/4 cup red quinoa
1 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. of olive oil
2 chopped leeks, white and light green parts only
1 medium onion, diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 medium sweet potato, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 tsp. of fresh thyme leaves
2 1/2 cups frozen sweet corn
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth( I used vegetable stock)
2 cups plain soymilk
salt and pepper, to taste( I added 1 tsp. of salt & 1 tsp. of fresh ground pepper)




Methods

Heat olive oil in a pot on medium heat and add the leeks, onions,garlic, thyme, and celery and cook for 6-8 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Add the corn, sweet potato and red pepper, and sauté for 5 minutes. Then, add the broth and soymilk and bring to boil. Stir in quinoa and cumin. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cover the pot. Let simmer 15-20 minutes, until the quinoa and vegetables are tender. Makes 2 1/2 quarts of soup= 6-8 servings!

Snow, Sleet, Rain - Oh my!

Today was a mess, weather wise... My car did not want to leave the driveway... so I spent the day working from home!

After walking back and forth to work in the snow, and then taking Luna for a walk in the ice and another walk in the rain- my shoes were soaked! Note: Luna chewed a HUGE hole in one of winter boots, so I've had to wear my hiking shoes to walk in the snow! Bums!

But, on a positive, I got some good cardio in today!


My workout today:
- 3+ miles of walking
- 20 minutes on the upright bike(steady state)
- 20 minutes on the spin bike(intervals)

Now on to the food... I had 2 clementines, coffee and 2 pieces of AAbigail's brown rice and millet toast for breakfast.

For lunch I had the leftover 1/2 cup brown rice and chicken from lunch out on Monday, frozen peas, carrots, and corn, red pepper slices, onions, and a scrambled egg all mix together for a deliciously warm meal. It also made enough for me to have for breakfast or lunch tomorrow.


After my afternoon walk with Luna in the ICE... I came home and worked on our dinner: turkey chili. Today, I added 1 tbsp. of cocoa powder to the chili which added extra depth to the flavor. I loved it!

I really think I could eat all my meals from a bowl...

A day off...

Dave and I went up to LLBean today to try and find me some new boots. Luna had eaten one of mine while I was in VA and with all this snow my feet are FREEZING!!!

We then met our friend's Chris & Anastasia for lunch at La Carreta. We started off with some chips, salsa and guac!
I ordered their lunch portion of chicken fajitas. It was a HUGE portion. I had two corn tortillas with onions, beans, and chicken and was STUFFED!! So, I brought the rest home!

We came home and took the pup on a walk in the ice and snow... She fell asleep next to me while I was working on the computer afterwards...

For dinner we had LEFTOVERS... lentil & sausage soup with a new batch of corn muffins. Dave and I both admitted we didn't really like the ones from last night.

My new corn muffin recipe and this time I really like this one!!

Ingredients:
1 cup of gf Hodgson Mills pancake mix
1/2 cup of Bob's corn flour
1/4 cup of Bob's corn grits
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. of salt
1 cup of 1 % milk
2 tsp. of baking powder
1/4 of melted unsalted butter, slightly cooled
2 tbsp. of sugar


Preheat oven to 400F. Place the flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Then, whisk the eggs into the milk, and add the melted butter. Place the liquid mixture in the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir together. Place in muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Makes 10 corn muffins.

Back in Beantown

The first thing I had to do when I got home.... give this little ball of drama a big hug!!!

Then, of course spend some QT with Dave!!

Then, he told me we had nothing to eat in the house and I had to go grocery shopping! HA!

So, this morning WE were off to Market Basket to grab some essential items... $117 dollars later... we have ALMOST everything we need for the week!

Some of our meals for this week:
- Ina's lentil & sausage soup
- Arepas
- White bean & sweet potato chili

I made Ina's lentil & sausage soup for dinner. It was a perfect meal to have in all of this Boston snow! The recipe made 4 1/2 QUARTS of soup... enough for lunches and to freeze for stressful weeks ahead!

To go along with it... gluten free cornbread muffins made with Bob's gf corn flour.

Then, for dessert tonight I tried a new recipe: ricotta mini cheesecakes.

- 1 cup of part skim ricotta

- 1 egg

- 1 egg yolk

- 1 tbsp. strong coffee

- 1 tsp. of vanilla

- 1/4 of cocoa powder

- 3/4 cup of powdered sugar

- 1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

- 6 paper muffin cups

Preheat the oven to 275F. Place all ingredients down to the powdered sugar into a food processor and blend until smooth. Then, distribute evenly into 6 muffins cups. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until cooked through. Let cool, and then place in the fridge for atleast one hour. Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave, and distribute evenly on top of all 6 cups. Let cool and harden. Enjoy!

Last Day in C'ville

The road to the farm... will be missed...

But most importantly the faithful steads... Note: the black and white blobs on the front lawn



I had my last morning of making kid lunches for awhile...



Below is Carly's lunch box contents



Then after a HARD BodyPump class I went to Feast to grab some lunch.

The vegetables are always so beautifullly displayed...


My favorite sign: Buy Fresh Buy Local... and cheese- WHAT could be BETTER!?!?


Fruit from the south...


I decided on their specials for lunch: vegetable pesto soup & a beet salad.


I took it home to enjoy in the farm light :)




Later in the afternoon, I had my Cleo salad from Bodo's Bagels . I had stopped there to to grab some bagels for the kids.
Tomorrow, back to Boston to my sweetie and Luna b.

The Countdown Begins...

Where did today go? One minute I was working on my essays and an article, the next I was having to rush out the door to make Kettle & Pedal. I was glad I made it because it was great class and I was a sweaty mess afterwards.

I came home and made a lunch of Twin Oaks tofu with brown rice noodles with butternut squash, green beans, and carrots in a thai yellow curry sauce. It was DELICIOUS!!


Then, I got a couple of things down around the house, and got ready for one of the kid's basketball games.

Since all three were meeting at the gym, I decided to make a quick snack of FoodShouldTasteGood chocolate tortilla chip sandwiches with peanut butter. Those little gf sandwiches had fiber, protein, and chocolate- what more could the kids want in an afternoon snack!?!?!


Alas, only Carly liked them...


For dinner I made a salad of greens, green beans, carrots and GF chicken nuggets(the kids leftovers) with a couple Alexia sweet potato fries. I'm STUFFED!!

My picture picture isn't very good... I don't know what happened...


Tomorrow, I'm going to Body Pump to commemorate my time with Kath as well as my two weeks at ACAC Downtown.

My workouts for the past two weeks:


Last week:
Tuesday: Cycle Circuit
Wednesday: Cycle/CORE[ I left because it was awful & got on the elliptical!]
Thursday: Body Pump with Kath
Friday: elliptical, bike & treadmill workout
Saturday: rest
Sunday: two mile walk with Eleanor


This week:
Monday: Bosu,Pedal & Kettle[AWESOME class!]
Tuesday: elliptical & treadmill workout
Wednesday: Biathlon
Thursday: Pedal & Kettle
Friday: BODY PUMP!!!

Woo hoo, two great weeks of workouts, and a great start to 2011! I'm starting a countdown til our wedding day. My goal is to feel as strong and confidant as I can on July 9th! So, I'm going to start posting my workouts weekly to keep myself in check. It has felt so good to get some really hard workouts in, and I can't wait to keep it up at home!

Snow Delay

Due to the two hour school delay this morning, I had time to pancakes for the kids. I used Hodgson Mills gluten free pancake mix.




They turned out really well. But, I did add about two tsp. of vanilla and some chocolate chips to give them a little extra something ;)


What goes well with pancakes on a SNOW delay... french press coffee(Thanks Geoff!)


Then, since Eleanor has the day off from work, I dragged her to a Biathlon class. It was a pretty good class, but I should have pushed myself harder on the running portions. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to take a Kettle & Pedal class or a full kettle class. We'll see.


We then had a quick stop at EG, off the Downtown mall. We found these bracelets made from recycled rubber by women in Djenné, Mali. They provide means of support for women and are sold to raise funds for L'Empire des Enfants, a school for homeless children in Dakar, Senegal. Of course, I purchase a couple...


Then, post workout Eleanor and I went out to lunch at Brixx at Barrack's Road. We had a Mediterranean salad that was ok, but not amazing.


Then, we ordered a caprese pizza with chicken, gluten free. Our first pizza came out RAW in the middle, so we asked for a do over! Our second one came out, and looked good but tasted like sweet gluten free pancake dough. It was disappointment. So, we each had a small piece and then left.


Still hungry, we walked over to Greenberry's to get a latte, and recover our spirits! It was the BEST latte I've had in awhile.


Then, after picking the kids up from school we came home and did a round of homework and french braiding...

For dinner tonight, I used Annie Chun's brown rice noodles to make a curry noodle dish with sesame toastedtofu and veggies. It was amazingly delcious, so much so that I might need to make some tomorrow for breakfast!

My poor poor bag

Today, after a fantastic workout on the elliptical and a run on the treadmill, I came home and tried to make an oatmeal-like meal with coconut milk and quinoa.

You see, I am not oatmeal's biggest fan, and yet I continue to try to find a substitute that would warm me up on those cold Boston mornings...
I even added a few nuts to sweeten the deal...

And alas, it was a flop. I literally had to choke it down. Maybe oatmeal and its relatives just aren't in the cards for me....

Dave then called and told me that Luna had eaten my favorite Cole Haan bag.

He even sent a picture... ugh...


To make myself feel better, I decided to drown my sorrows in something I love to do--cook (big surprise there!). I made a yummy shrimp fried rice with tons of veggies. It was warm, and made me feel better... well a little better ;)