athlEAT

12.18.2008

Almond-Crusted Chicken (12.18.2008)

Tonight, I wanted to make a healthy dinner that would make me feel good since last night involved waaay too much alcohol. I used this recipe for Almond-Crusted Chicken Fingers at Eating Well, which is a great little magazine.

The food processor makes things so easy. I don't, however, enjoy cleaning it.

I had thought the almond/whole wheat flour mixture would be dry, but the recipe told me to drizzle in a little EVOO. After I did this - I realized that I just made ALMOND BUTTER for the first time. That was pretty cool, except it made coating the chicken breasts extremely difficult.

It could be because I didn't measure anything I put into the food processor. I tend to just eyeball that stuff. Either way, the chicken turned out moist and tasty.

Check out my cute new plate - given to me by my friend Laura - there are three other that will also be featured soon. I love square plates.I tried every angle to make this chicken look appetizing, but after 10 different pictures, I gave up and just sliced it.I also put together a salad with tomatoes, yellow squash, onions, and goat cheese crumbles. Mixed together EVOO and Balsamic Vinegar as a light dressing. Salad tastes better served in a wooden bowl.View of the whole dinner together...
I really don't like many salad dressings. I have about 5 different bottles in my fridge because I try them once and then never use them again. My favorites are Good Seasons italian dressing or plain old evoo/balsamic.

About to settle in to watch the episode of Celebrity Rehab that I missed. Anyone else enjoy this show? I love it.

Good night all!

Under the Weather (12.18.2008)

Feeling a little under the weather today. Went to the Looney's (this local bar) holiday party last night. Kevin's friend got us tickets last minute. Open bar and lots of food. I drank more than I ate which is never a good thing.

Baltimore ESPN Radio was there. Anita Marks and Jonathan Ogden were interviewing some football player (no clue who he was) about 4 feet from me. Jonathan Ogden is humongous. I also did a shot with the founder/owner of BSSC (Baltimore sports and social club). I told him how much fun the co-ed football league is and that I consider him a local celebrity. I tend to get star struck easily. ;)

I had so much fun, but am paying for it today. Hope to be back with some food talk a little later! Have a great Thursday!

12.16.2008

Cookies for Breakfast (12.16.2008)

It has been a busy few days. I promise I am going to do a product review post next because I am waaay behind on those!

SUNDAY Recap

Sunday morning, I woke up and whipped up some snicker doodle cookie dough for making Christmas cookies later at my parent's house. I substituted whole wheat pastry flour, but everything else stayed the same. I googled a recipe quickly in the morning and now I cant seem to locate it.

There was supposed to be a group of people running from my parent's house starting at 11am, but alot of people bailed last minute. My dad, myself, and my friend Katherine still did it because we are hardcore. ;)

Katherine and I decided to do the 5 mile loop while my dad was going for 15 miles. He tried to talk us into coming with him, but there was NO way that was happening. 5 miles, at an easy pace felt good to me - it was nice to be on country roads with fresh air for a change. My hamstring felt a little tight by the end, but not any real pain. Making progress!

After the run, cookie making began. My job was to help my mom monitor the oven and move cookies from the cooling racks to the tins. My grandmother and sister took care of rolling out the dough, while my niece and nephew decorated.
I just noticed my grandmom's apron - nice!

Cookie decorating is serious stuff.

There was time for a quick lunch. My mom was trying an italian herb flat-out wrap for the first time.

We do the thin/crispy type sugar cookies, but use lots of different variations on the dough.

Grandmom made the regular sugar cookie dough, my sister used a cream cheese based dough, and my mom made a brown sugar cookie dough. Here are my whole-wheat snicker doodles.

Sunday night, I met up with my friends from college for our secret santa gift exchange. We met at PF Changs and there were lettuce wraps, steamed shrimp gyoza, and chicken w/ broccoli and brown rice. Oh and cute shot glass size desserts. I completely slacked on the photos.

I have to give quick props to my BF because while I was out and about all day Sunday, he planned the entire week's worth of meals (breakfast, snacks, lunches and dinners), went grocery shopping and then prepped everything on sunday night. I was impressed and he gets credit for anything I eat this week!

MONDAY Recap

Yesterday's eats included ALOT of veggies and proteins (thanks to Kevin) and a few too many cookies (thanks to me). I only managed to snap photos of dinner, which was very tasty. I cleaned my plate of marinated, broiled steak, Cauliflower Mash, and Stuffed Mushrooms (I made these).

yum. yum. The stuffed mushrooms were extremely easy, so I will definitely make them again. Recipe below...

Spinach Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms (for
two)

2 large portabella caps, rinsed
2 1/2 cups baby spinach
1/4 c onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
4 small slices monterey jack cheese
sprinkle of grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion and garlic in the EVOO for about 3 mins over medium heat. Add portabella mushroom caps to skillet to cook a few minutes on both sides.

Remove the caps and stick in toaster oven (350 degrees) to continue cooking. Meanwhile, add two huge handfuls of baby spinach to the skillet and cooked until wilted, adding a little salt and pepper. Top each mushroom cap with the spinach/onion/garlic mixture and add sliced monterey jack cheese and a few sprinkles of parmesan. Push the caps back into the toaster until the cheese is nice and bubbly.

I took the Monday night spin class and it was tough, which is just the way I like it. I, of course, watched the HILLS and all I have to say is, Spencer is evil.

Today, I brought my tin of cookies to work because I can not be trusted with them at home. I put them out with a note to all that said "Cookies are great for breakfast - please help yourself!"

I left them out at 8am - they were all gone by 9am. Mission accomplished.

12.13.2008

Frittata Recipe (12.13.2008)

Last night was a first for me. I took a spin class. On a Friday night. Since I took Thursday off, I wanted to get a workout in on Friday. This gym membership thing is really good for me.

The spin class itself was just ok. The girl teaching the class used the microphone and said "up", "down", and "push" waaaay too much. And she would ask us questions about how we were feeling to which a few people in the class liked to scream back "awesome" or "great". This annoyed me for some reason. I like my Monday class alot better. The guy is tough, turns the music way up and doesn't talk much.

After spin, Kevin and I decided we wanted sushi again. This time, we went to Chiu's Sushi which is in Harbor East and where we went on our 2nd date. :)

We discovered the best roll of all time. Lump Crab Meat Roll. It is filled with lump crab meat and then topped with lump crab meat. Any Marylanders (or crab loving folks) out there will agree - unbelievable!We also ordered a Maryland roll and shrimp tempura. For apps, we got the edamame and gyoza. It was all delicious.

This morning we woke up to 30 degree weather with 10 mph winds and Kevin wanted to go for a 9 mile run. I did not want to go for a run. But his motivation helped get me out the door which is really the hardest part in the cold weather.

We did 2.2 miles around the park with Oscar and at one point, I felt like my eyes were literally freezing from the cold wind. Blinking hurt. We made a pit stop back at the house to grab water and by this point, I was hot and wanted to strip all my layers off. I kept going because my hamstring was doing ok. We tried to leave Oscar in the house, but he sprinted out the door after us - he didn't want to stop either. The cold weather is perfect for him, seeing as he was in a fur coat.

Oscar and I turned back after another mile because I was starting to feel my hamstring a bit, so we ended up doing 4 miles. Kevin pressed on with his ipod and did a 9-miler. Good for him! I have to admit that I was jealous and annoyed by the fact that my hamstring was holding me back - ugh! I guess I am just being impatient with this whole healing process...

I decided to try making some frittatas when I got back.

Ingredients

2 eggs
4 egg whites
splash of skim milk
turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
handful of baby spinach, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
ground black pepper
ground red pepper
pinch of salt

Cook the turkey bacon, blot with paper towels before chopping. Saute onion and spinach in same pan for about 5 minutes over medium heat until spinach is wilted. Pre-heat oven to 350.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs and milk. Season with salt and peppers. Add cooled spinach and onions to egg mixture. Mix in bacon and cheese. Spray muffin pan with PAM, pour in egg mixture - filling almost to the top, as you can see below.

Bake in pre-heated oven for 20 mins. Enjoy.

These were tasty, easy and pretty healthy. I will definitely be making them again.

Tomorrow, my dad planned a group run in the morning starting from their house, so I am planning to run that. The group is doing 15 miles, but I am going to shoot for 5. That way I will have done 9 miles this weekend too. ;) Afterwards, my mom, grandmom, sister, and I are making Christmas cookies and then I am doing a secret santa dinner with my friends from college at PF Changs. Busy holiday times!

Oh and a quick Oscar/Lucy update. They are BFF.

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday. I am off to start my Christmas shopping!

12.11.2008

Dinner Times Two (12.11.2008)

First, thanks for all your tips and well wishes regarding my hamstring injury. They were very helpful and everyone is so supportive!

My hamstring wasn't really hurting after the run on Tuesday, which is a good thing. However, my hip flexers were definitely sore. I figure that just means it has been awhile since I had a good run.

Last night (Wednesday) I made it to the gym for a 40 min workout on the arc trainer. My legs felt tired and I was sweating profusely, but I pushed through. Tonight (Thursday), I am resting at home - no workout!

Getting back to food...last night, I made a dish out of the Top Chef cookbook! This is the first recipe I have made out of it, only because alot of them seem pretty complicated. I enjoy just reading the recipes and learning more about the show and contestants. If any of you are a top chef fan, I would definitely recommend it.I decided on the Turkey and Pork Meatballs with Orecchiette Pasta and Spinach-Almond Pesto made by Casey and Dale on Season 3. I felt like I was participating in a Top Chef challenge because it said 2 hours prep time and I was trying to get it all done in 1 hour, so we could eat before 9pm! And before I took a bite out of Kevin's finger.Link to the recipe can be found here. I did make a few ingredient changes - all turkey in the meatballs, no pork. I also substituted whole wheat pasta that just arrived in the mail! I ordered some after reading MacDuff's post HERE. You should check it out.Overall, the recipe was good, but didn't blow me away. It was extremely garlicky, maybe too much for my taste. The meatballs took forever to make and most of them fell apart as I was cooking them. The ww pasta was great - so I am looking forward to trying some of the other varieties! (My picture looks exactly like the one in the cookbook, right? almost. I tried.) Will I make this recipe again? Yes. Although I will use less garlic in the Spinach-Almond Pesto and more almonds. Maybe even throw in some basil. I will also use pre-made turkey meatballs because those things took the most time and made a mess.

Thursday

Breakfast was broccoli, yellow squash, egg whites, and mozzarella with toasted ww bread w/ almond butter and a drizzle of agave nectar. This breakfast held me over really well!Getting home from work today, I was pumped to find the Smoothie King coupons that I won in Healthy Ashley's Smoothie King Giveaway contest. She also sent a sweet card - thanks so much Ashley! :)Skipping on to dinner tonight - it was a long overdue pizza night. I found some whole wheat boboli crust and wanted to give it a try.I introduce you to the best pizza sauce in the entire world. This stuff is incredible. I eat it with a spoon.Pour some sauce on the crust, then top with sauteed onions, yellow squash, red pepper, and spinach. I feel like something is missing.CHEEEEESE makes everything better. Especially fresh mozzarella cheese. man-oh-man.Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 20 mins. I broiled it for 3 mins at the end to make sure the cheese was nice and bubbly.Two slices later, I was full. But my sweet tooth is currently screaming at me, so I am going to have to find something in a few minutes!

One more thing. I am long overdue with product reviews from my Trader Joe finds, but I need to show you one thing immediately. Edamame Hummus.
Go buy this right now. If you live in Maryland - go quick, because it took us 2 days to get through this and next time - I plan on stocking up.

Good night!