Eating my Brussel Sprouts

Someone pointed out to me that I haven't posted anything in awhile, so I figured I would post something tonight and give an update.

I am still cooking and a large portion of my dinners have been located via Pinterest. I don't remember everything I have made, but I will give you some of the high points. First I should probably note that the Sunday before last I decided to try a wheat-free diet for a couple of weeks to see if I notice an improvement in allergies, energy, etc. I am not calling my diet "gluten-free" because I am really only avoiding wheat based products and gluten is often found in salad dressings and other such condiments. I don't have celiac disease, so I figured a little gluten isn't going to kill me. That being said, here are a few of the things I have been eating.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic, and Feta via Food and Wine - I made a few alterations to the recipe by using Quinoa pasta to make it wheat-free and exchanging mozzarella for the feta and basil for the parsley. It turned out super delicious.

Quinoa Taco Salad via gluten-free goddess - I didn't really follow the recipe per se but used it more as inspiration. For my version I used some spring mix for my "lettuce" and added some quinoa on top. Then I added some black beans and roasted vegetables (corn, red bell pepper, and red onion), an avocado, and then topped it all off with some cilantro-lime dressing.

The dressing is something I just threw together, but it turned out delicious. I put about 1/2 a carton of sour cream in the blender along with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, the juice from one lime, and a bunch of fresh cilantro. I blended it all up and it was scrumptious.

I have been craving something sweet and through the magical search feature in Pinterest, I came across these PB 'Nana Cream Bites from the Nom!Nom!Nom blog. I was super excited since they are easy and look delicious. Unfortunately I have to report that I am not a fan. I like the three flavors together but apparently not when they are frozen. Next time I might just simplify the idea down to a cut up banana with some peanut butter and a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top.

Tonight I was feeling a little tired and not really in the mood for cooking "from scratch" so I went with a go-to meal that is easy to make in a pinch. Basically it consists of spaghetti, a sauce, and some additional ingredients. This is what I went with tonight.

Quinoa pasta + sun dried tomato pasta + black olives + artichoke hearts + fresh Parmesan cheese = YUM

I also added some meatballs that I had in the freezer  to make my husband happy. The meatballs are quick and easy to make and freeze well. I base the recipe on one from The Biggest Loser Family Cookbook. You can find the original recipe for the New Favorite Meatballs here. I follow the recipe for the most part - substitute fresh diced onion for the dried and then I change it up by adding different herbs. Sometimes I use fresh basil and other times I might go with cilantro. Anyway, it is a good base recipe to work from and you can change the flavor easily by just adding the herbs and seasoning of your choice.

And then as a side to the pasta, I served some sauteed brussel sprouts.

I think brussel sprouts get a bad rap. They are tasty and good for you. I challenge you to give them a try!

I kept this dish pretty simple. I cleaned the brussel sprouts by peeling off the first few layers of leaves and then cut off the bottoms. Then I cut them in quarters, sliced them in to little pieces and sauteed them in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil along with 2 minced garlic cloves and salt and pepper. They turned out pretty yummy.

So, those are some of the things that have been cooking in my kitchen lately. What have you been making?

<random side note>

Oh, and I have failed miserably at the decluttering goal I set for myself at the beginning of January.

<additional random side note>

BUT, I have been doing pretty well in my photography class. Here are a few of my favorites from the pictures I have taken so far.

You can check out the other photos on my portfolio page if you are interested.

A Little on the Late Side

So, here is my belated post from Thursday's dinner. Wednesday and Friday we just had lefovers so I don't have anyting new for you there.

Thursday I decided to try the white checken enchiladas recipe I keep seeing come up on Pinterest. I'll go ahead and say, this recipe is not really my usual taste, but I thought I would give it a try and I new my husband would like it. The only thing he ever orders when we eat at Mexican restaurants is sour cream chicken enchiladas. So, I made these babies from Joyful Momma's Kitchen.

They looked and smelled pretty tastey when I pulled them out of the oven! And honestly, they were pretty good, but just not my thing. I followed the recipe exactly except for the addition of some black beans. If I were to make them again I would decrease the amount of sauce and I would add to the enchilada mixture - onions, garlic, and some spinach.

As I said, they were good, but they were too heavy for my taste. Dylan didn't like them either. He tried a bite and then opted for the green beans and corn I served as sides.  So, they got a mixed review at my house - Kyle enjoyed them; I thought they were okay, and Dylan wanted nothing to do with them.

They are worth trying if you like chicken enchiladas, but you might tweak the recipe a bit to make it fit your personal tastes.

On a random and unrelated note, Dylan and I drove to Iola, Texas, yesterday to visit my best friend since second grade (that's a long time, folks). We had a good visist and Dylan had fun playing with her kids and running around in their yard. Here are a couple of the photos I took while there.

Carson

Relaxing

What are you looking at?

That's a chicken folks!

Collapsing Crow and Dinner

So I took time out to go to yoga today even though I was tired (didn't sleep well) and felt like napping instead. If you think I am going to say, I am glad I went. I'm not.
I had an awful class. I took the core class which is usually one of the easiest for me, but I guess my body WAS actually tired and would have rather I listened to it and took a nap. I know this because when I attempted my second headstand I fell... somewhat gracefully. And if that isn't enough, when I attempted Crow/Crane pose I fell forward on my head. Seriously, the front of my head. I'm not going to lie. It hurts. I did, however, get back up and finish the class because I am nothing if not a trooper.

I am hoping for some decent sleep tonight and a good yoga class tomorrow. We will wait and see how it goes.

Oh well, at least dinner was good. I made Creamy Broccoli-White Bean Soup today via Pinterest and Whole Living. I actually did take some pictures but they were awful, so I decided not to share them. :) The soup was VERY tasty. I changed up the recipe a bit by adding double the garlic and double the beans. I pureed part of the soup but not all of it because I like to have some whole pieces. I also just threw the broccoli in the stock because I didn't really see the point in steaming it first. Anyway, it turned out yum. I served it with a piece of french bread.

I did use the pine nuts and Parmesan cheese for garnish, and I can't believe I'm saying this because I LOVE cheese, but if you are trying to cut calories, I think you could leave off the cheese and not miss it. Easy and awesome.

Hopefully I will start taking some better photos soon since I began the online digital photography class I am auditing today. I did my orientation and made my online portfolio page. Yay me! Hopefully you will see evidence of learning happening there soon.

What did you make for dinner? Was it good?

Recipe Challenge Day 2 and Other Stuff

Today was my first day back to work in three weeks. Let me just say, I had a lot of grading and webmails to catch up on, but fortunately, I am a fast worker and am pretty well caught up now! Woo hoo! The kids start back tomorrow, so I'll have lots of calls to make as well as some lessons to plan. Today I got to try working while Dylan was home with me since his school was closed, and I did have to work past my scheduled hours to get accomplished what I planned to, but I did AND Dylan and I walked and fed the ducks (which I a counting as my exercise for the day) so all is good.

And now to the good part... food. Tonight I made Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas via Pinterest and Perry's Plate. I even took some photos (although the one's on Perry's Plate are better.) The finished version was quite tastey. I did deviate from the recipe a bit as far as ingredients go. I roasted the following veggies for my version - poblano pepper, red pepper, carrots, red onion, garlic, cauliflower, corn, and black beans. Here is a close-up of the pre-roasted beauties.

I used pre-made salsa, white corn tortillas, spinach, and a cheddar-jack mix for the after roasting step. I used more cilantro than the recipe calls for and added a couple of tomates to my salsa because I only had a little salsa. I think this would have tasted even better with homemade salsa, but I worked with what I had and the veggies I needed to use. I opted out of sour cream because I just wasn't feelin' it tonight, but I am sure it would be a tastey addition.

Here it is all melted and bubbly.

I served it with some fresh fruit salad (just cut up apple, orange, and strawberries) and called it a meal. This little guy enjoyed it, so I guess I did something right.

And in other news, I have a "lead" on one of my goals for this year. One of my friends asked me to audit the on-line photography course he has put together, and I jumped at the chance! I am hoping to learn some photography tips and tricks especially since I have been trying to familiarize myself with my dad's camera and its plethora of lenses.

Oh, and I am also following the declutter and organization plan over at My Simpler Life. Today's assignment was to set up a donation station which I already have - my garage (well a corner of it anyway.) The goal is to work consistently throughout the year to get rid of the excess I have and hopeful put it in the hands of someone who might need/want it via Freecycle, giving to friends, and/or donating to charities.

So, what about you? What did you do/cook today?

2012 is Here

So, it is 2012, and I have been reflecting on 2011 and resolutions. I have come to the following conclusions.

All but the closing of 2011 was good. And even with my dad's passing, I am blessed beyond measure. I am hoping 2012 will be a year of growth and productivity and my blessings will continue.

With that said, I'm not really in to resolutions; they tend to be very specific and often short lived. Instead, I am just going to keep working on becoming a better person mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I figure that pretty much covers it all. ;)

Some of the specific goals I have are to work out consistently. I am really good at exercising hard for a month or so and then falling out of the routine and doing nothing for a month or two until I start the cycle again. That pretty much sums up me and exercise for the majority of my life, so my goal is to work on consistency. I am hoping that since I have found a yoga studio I like and can work into my schedule that I will be able to accomplish this goal. Plus, I have also seen a resurgence in my running and cycling desire, so maybe I can hang on to something for a consistent bit.

The other goals I have all center around being positive and focusing on strengthening the blessings I already have - becoming a better, more patient mom and wife, expanding my knowledge of the topics I enjoy (nutrition, gardening, sewing, fitness, technology, photography, and education) and maybe even familiarizing myself with some knew topics, and increasing my faith. I also want to work on letting go of things that I can't control... because, well, I can't control everything (even if I desperately want to.)

So with all of these things in mind, I thought I would start out the year with a fun "challenge" of sorts. I enjoy cooking and Pinterest so I am going to work on cooking some of the new recipes I come across on Pinterest and documenting my thoughts on the recipes here. I am going to shoot for 4-5 Pinterest recipes a week for a month or so, but we will see how it goes.

I tend to cook pretty healthy and don't use a lot of pre-packaged foods and people always seem to be interested in what I cook at my house, so I shall do my best to share with you all. If I am feeling particularly feisty, I might include some photos, but don't count on it.

So I shall go ahead and begin with tonight's dinner. For dinner tonight I made Yoshinoya Beef Bowls via Pinterest and Iowa Girl Eats. I didn't take any photos, but there are some good ones on the Iowa Girl's page, so you can get a peek there.

I followed the recipe as it is laid out on the site and it turned out pretty darn tastey. I served it over brown rice with Mukimame and freshly steamed broccoli and carrots. By the way, as far as vegetables go, I usually just steam them. And, if you don't have a vegetable steamer, I would suggest investing in one. It is the most often used kitchen "gadget" I have.

The men folk seemed to enjoy the meal. Dylan tasted the meat but then opted for just the veggies and the rice, but that is his normal routine; he is the most unusual three year old eater ever. At least he didn't spit the meat out. :) One bite was it though.

Kyle on the other hand ate everything on his plate as did I. So, I am thinking it is a keeper. It is a quick, easy and pretty nutritious meal. I think I will try it with chicken next. You should give it a try. :)

If you use Pinterest to pin recipes and I am not following you, please let me know so I can get you added. I need all of the ideas I can get.

I hope you all have a fantastic 2012. Feel free to let me know what you ave cooking in your kitchen as well!

Faux Play-Doh

I bought Dylan some Play-Doh a couple of weeks ago and he really seems to enjoy playing with it. So in the spirit of keeping Dylan happy and occupied this summer, I decided we would try making a homemade version of Play-Doh. We used the base recipe from this site as our guide. We didn’t scent it but we added some coloring. Although I think the scented Play-Doh would be fun, I didn’t want any encouragement for Dylan to desire eating the Play-Doh… maybe we can try scenting it when he is older.

Anyway, the faux Play-Doh turned out pretty well and we have been playing with it for the last couple of days.

Here is a riveting photo of the faux Play-Doh as it is cooling. I mixed the green and Dylan mixed the purplish dough. He was quite proud of himself.

And here are some photos of Dylan having fun with the faux Play-Doh and some cookie cutters.

It has been a good time and a fun little activity for all of us.