What I Ate Wednesday: Week 6

If there's anything this whole What I Ate Wednesday business is teaching me it's that I eat a whole lot of food that may not be that eye-catching. The husband's always giving me a hard time about what I eat. 

He gives me a little laugh, shakes his eye while he raises his eyebrows and says, "Whatever makes you happy, Honey."

I'm used to that. I thought he was just giving me a hard time 'cause that's just what he does. But I'm starting to think he may be on to something: I really do put some strange things together. And they don't always look that appetizing.

Cheesy Venison Sausage Strata

Along with our company that came to visit a couple of weeks ago came a delivery of venison from Da, and we've been eating venison like it's going out of style ever since. We've got to get tired of it soon, don't we? You'd think. I have a feeling, though, that we might run out before we actually get sick of the stuff.

Somehow I've managed to keep things quite fresh with all of this venison eating. In the last week or two we've had it pan-fried, grilled and even slow cooked. All of those dinners were made with ground venison, venison steaks or venison roasts - all variations we've had before.

Tonight, though, I pulled out a package I'll admit I was a bit hesitant to cook: venison sausage.

Curried Coconut Chicken

The first home the husband and I shared was half a house with a tiny kitchen, no room for a washer and dryer, and no off-street parking, which resulted in both of our cars getting rear-ended on separate accounts. But it had a huge fenced-in backyard that Mr. Pants just loved, and we lived close enough to the husband's aunt and uncle that they let us run over there and do laundry when we weren't feeling the laundromat (which, I'll admit, was often).

The best part about that first home was definitely the location. We moved there because it was close to my first real job, where I worked second shift and wanted a five-minute commute so I could scurry home for dinner and be in bed not long after my shift ended at midnight or 1 am.

But being mere miles from the husband's family was the true benefit of living in that first home. 

Slow-Cooked Venison With Apples and Sweet Potatoes

I ate venison four days in a row last week. We had it for dinner a couple of nights; I ate leftovers for lunch. 

After the third day I started to feel a little like a cavewoman, but I was cool with it. I guess It never got old because we go so long without venison that when it's in the house, it's a huge treat. 

So I didn't mind one bit last night when the husband suggested we eat venison again tonight. But I needed a new way to make it that didn't require grilling or pan-frying - our trusty usual methods.

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 5

I tend to eat too much Chex Mix and not enough veggies when we have visitors saying with us. My protein consumption seems to take a back seat, as well, and I find myself asking the husband, "But what is your brother going to think if we go out to dinner and I order steak and ribs?"

So when it's just me and the husband at home with the brown dogs again, I eat my protein shakes and 8 ounces of meat in one sitting without worry. I don't serve potatoes with every meal - and I eat any green vegetables I can find in the fridge that haven't gone bad yet.



My Monday Eats
Breakfast: nutty homemade granola in a vanilla whey protein shake; half caff; egg whites and cream cheese microwaved and topped with cinnamon

 

Frozen Yogurt Dessert

Whipped Frozen Strawberry Yogurt With Macadamia Nuts

Before visitors arrive it's all clean the house, bake a coffee cake, make sure the sheets are washed, simmer a pot of homemade barbecue sauce and clean the house again.

When company's visiting, we stay up past our bedtime, turn our heads when the dogs snack on table scraps, let the laundry pile up and eat far too many meals out and about.

Once our guests are back in the car, the house is too quiet. We return recyclables, the washer runs nonstop for two days, I no longer worry about how many people have to shower after me and shave my legs again, and the husband balances the checkbook.

We get used to not sharing the loveseat. And go back to my strange after-dinner eats.

DIY Chalkboard

After spending months and months drooling over magazine photos of kitchens with chalkboard-painted walls, I finally got myself some paint. Although I was a little sad the husband wouldn't let me paint the kitchen wall - or the laundry room wall or even the kitchen door - he didn't have a problem with a chalkboard.

And since he said that we could make room for my highly desired chalkboard in the kitchen, I thought that was fair.

The project took a bit longer than I had anticipated, but I couldn't be happier with the way it turned out. Unfortunately our garage isn't conducive to photos. The lone window doesn't let in much light, we keep dirty stuff like shoes, garden gloves and the husband's tools out there, and Stella has a habit of getting out recyclables while we're out work, so we always have tiny shreds of paper on the floor.

Long story short, I didn't take a single photo of this project. But trust me, it's super simple.

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 4

I'm living one of those weeks in which I can't seem to keep the days straight. Monday dragged on and on, and then Tuesday somehow felt like Wednesday. This morning I missed the traffic reporter on TV drawing the Wednesday camel - the camel so we can "slide on down to the weekend." (No, I can't explain that. I don't really understand it either. That's just what he does. He does it every Wednesday.)

So that's the reason I took only some pictures of the food I ate Monday, a few of the items that went into my pie hole Tuesday and remembered to grab a couple today. 

We have company coming this weekend. We've been extremely busy prepping for our guests, but, as busy as I've been running around, I haven't forgotten to love my veggies.




That's right: Even though I took the easy way out and didn't bother to serve a dang thing scratch-made for dinner tonight, I did make time for my veggies. I ate a ginormous chef salad with grilled chicken for dinner.

I'd like to say the husband had salad with his dinner, too, but I wasn't around when he ate dinner. He ate a frozen pizza. I told him last night to put some leftover peppers and onions on the pizza he was to eat tonight, but I have a feeling he forgot. If I bring it up, he'll probably just look at me and ask, "When did you say that?" 

I don't think he knows what day it is anymore either.

Valentine's Day, With Chocolate

Celebrating Valentine's Day the weekend before the official holiday is becoming the norm around this place. We did this last year, too, I remember. Except last year the husband played golf the weekend before Valentine's day, and I made fabulous cannoli. 

This morning we woke up to a thermometer that read 16 degrees. No golf for the husband today.

And when I tried my hand at making flourless chocolate cakes for us to have after opening cards tonight, they came out nothing like the cannoli from 2011. Flourless, in my book, does not yet equal fabulous.

Versatile Blogger Awards

*Sometimes there's a little more to my life than food. Friday's the day I'll share, I mean, most Fridays I hope to share those bits with you. We'll cover crafts, music, travel, who knows.

Last week I was lucky enough to receive an award. I didn't get a trophy or a nice shiny ribbon, but I did receive some acknowledgment from a fellow blogger, and because I found it pretty cool that he thought of me, I'm going to share the love.

My good friend P.J. over at A 'lil Hoohaa beats me at Words With Friends on a weekly basis, but he writes a good blog that touches on many topics from photography to geocaching to disc golf. Did I mention he takes awesome photos? Yeah, so even though he makes me feel like a fool when he plays three-letter words for 60 points, he's pretty cool, and I owe him a big thank you for giving me The Versatile Blogger Award.

And now it's time I pass the torch.

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 3

This month What I Ate Wednesday is all about loving your veggies. Do you love your veggies? You should. I think I ask the husband every day how many vegetables he's eaten. (How the boy who ate only beets grew into the man who doesn't usually want vegetables with dinner is beyond me.)




I never have a problem eating my vegetables. I often eat lettuce and celery or carrots with lunch, almost always have a salad with dinner and cooked veggies to accompany my lean protein. It took me a while, though, to try new veggies. I was fine with broccoli, green beans and the usual for many, many years. 

But boy was I missing out. I went a long time not eating things like spinach, okra and edamame, but I'm lovin' 'em now. My most recent fave? Baked spinach "chips." I need to work on the process a little, but basically I bake fresh spinach leaves that I've sprinkled with mixed-up salt for about 10 minutes in a 400-degree oven. 

OMG. I can't get enough of them. When I asked the husband to try them he said, "Yeah, they taste a little like chips, but mainly gross."

OK, so my spinach chips are lost on him. At least I know I can get him to eat a salad with dinner.

Monday's Meals

Breakfast: Egg whites, two slices of bacon, two chicken fingers left over from Super Bowl Sunday, a little low-sugar ketchup, black half caff, and a protein shake made with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and a scoop of vanilla whey protein powder

Lunch: More leftover chicken fingers on a bed of iceberg lettuce, 1/2 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt, a reduced-fat cheese stick and celery, a coconut La Croix and an orange

Snack: Another protein shake with almond milk

Dinner: Baked spinach "chips"

... And a bowl of leftover beefy chili topped with a tablespoon of cheddar cheese.

Snack: 1 single container carbsmart yogurt (frozen) and blended in the blender until the husband couldn't take the noise a second longer with a scoop of protein powder and 1/2 cup almond milk ... and two tablespoons natural peanut butter on the side

It's Like Pizza

Low-Carb Pizza 

He folds my laundry, makes sure the air filter is changed regularly, takes the garbage out and balances the checkbook. The list of things the husband does goes on and on. I probably shouldn't list all of them, though, you know, in case he decides to read this post. We wouldn't want all of this praise to go straight to his head.

Long story short: I already knew I married a good man. But when I suggested we have low-carb pizza for dinner - pizza that wouldn't have a nice wheaty crust - and my carbaholic husband went along with it, I knew I picked the best husband of all. 

Tackling the Laundry Room Part II ... Oh, and Super Bowl Food

After: It-Makes-My-Dreams-Come-True Red Laundry Room

The laundry organizer has finally been removed from the middle of my kitchen. Woo hoo! True, I painted only one wall of the laundry room, and it's not even a very big wall. But we had a lot of rearranging to do to get to that wall, and that meant a big mess in the laundry room and kitchen for the last two days.

I'm happy to say, though, that by 2:30 this afternoon the laundry room was put back together. My kitchen no longer looked like a disaster area, and I was able to do a little cooking without the frustration of having to work around the laundry sorter.

Tackling the Laundry Room

Before: Boring Beige Laundry Room

*Sometimes there's a little more to my life than food. Friday's the day I'll share, I mean, most Fridays I hope to share those bits with you. We'll cover crafts, music, travel, who knows.


We got a new business card in the mail yesterday from the good Southern man who helped us buy our house. He was absolutely fantastic, laid-back, honest, knowledgeable and personable, so I'm happy he's kept us on his contact list. The husband and I have already talked about how "when we want to sell this house," we're definitely going to enlist the help of our favorite Realtor.

We're not going anywhere for a while, but we have dreams of a charming Craftsman and built-in bookshelves that we just can't shake. We know we're not living in our forever home.

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 2

It's Wednesday! Oh, What I Ate Wednesday, how I've been looking forward to you. How I ever survived without this (what some might consider) silly weekly roundup of what I've been shoving in my pie hole is beyond me. I can't get enough. Thank you, Peas & Crayons!





So here you have it: everything I ate ... Monday, brought to you with play-by-play commentary.

5:45 am - A pint o' water starts my day.


6:10 am - While packing our lunches - yes, I pack the husband's lunch every day - I decide to make the white barbecue sauce we'll be eating with dinner. I like the whisk before putting it in the sink and think the sauce tastes way too apple cider vinegary. But I cover it and put it in the fridge anyway, crossing my fingers the mayo/Greek yogurt just needs the day to balance out the vinegar flavor.

6:15 am - I have 3/4 cup egg whites scrambled with leftover lean ground turkey along with black half caff for my sit-down breakfast.