Meatless Monday: Pepper Polenta and Red Sauce

I'm realizing, more and more, that the iPhone photos aren't cutting it. I'll fire up the Canon again soon.

Sundays are for waking after the sun has risen, listening to in-the-spirit morning radio programs, dressing for church, playing ball in the backyard, eating brunch, pushing a stroller in the park and taking an afternoon drive with your sunglasses on.

Then again, maybe that's what Sundays are all about. Maybe not.

Maybe Sundays are about watching it rain, putting away groceries, folding laundry and ripping open the cardboard on a mixed case of Saranac. Maybe they're about watching babies roll around on a homemade quilt from their great-grandmother, stopping them only long enough to pull their tiny hands away from the dogs' tails.

Two things I know for sure, though: Sundays are for family. And Sundays are for red sauce.

Meatless Monday: [When You Need] Pasta & White Beans

I spent $2 on orange juice one morning last week. In fact, I spent $2 on 12 oz. of orange juice. That’s absurd. But I woke up with a little scratch in my throat, and if the momma bear gets sick, this whole ship is goin’ down. So I needed the orange juice.

Needed. It.

It was a need like the need I had to get a Snickers bar out of the vending machine while working last weekend’s consignment sale — a need like the need I had to eat this simple and delicious pasta dinner.

Stuffed French Toast

Lazy weekend mornings when the husband's golfing are for sleeping in with brown dogs. They're for watching bad television the husband would never watch with you and downloading photos you've been letting sit on your camera for far too long.


Mornings like these are for making yourself a good breakfast and topping it with your uncle's homemade maple syrup so when you sit very still in your recliner with you feet up, you can feel the tiny humans in your belly go crazy.

Flaxseed Crackers

The husband  took me plant shopping!

Weekends are for watching basketball, sleeping for 10 hours straight, buying hanging baskets, getting dirt under your fingernails while you plant lettuce seeds and eating dinner out because you're too lazy to cook.


Mondays are for wearing dress clothes, listening to the radio while you drive to work, hoping the dogs were good while they were in the garage all day and for sticking to a menu plan.


Mondays are also for looking for after-work snacks and wishing the husband hadn't eaten all of the flaxseed crackers you had Saturday and Sunday.

What I Ate Wednesday: #9 [and Green Egg Salad]

Technically What I Ate Monday

Breakfast: high-protein pancakes made with cottage cheese, two egg whites and chocolate protein powder, topped with blackberries and sugar-free syrup; half caff and unsweetened almond milk on the side morning snack: greek yogurt, 1/4 cup blackberries, hazelnuts lunch: avocado-egg salad, lettuce, low-fat string cheese, chocolate protein powder + water, coconut la croix snack: 1/2 tablespoon natural peanut butter; cottage cheese; apple (not pictured: rye-pumpernickel swirl bread toasted + topped with 1/2 tablespoon natural peanut butter) dinner: leftover corned beef; carrots; cabbage

And since we're here to talk about going green - because it's March is the month for St. Patrick, because eating veggies never gets old, because Jenn said so and because I've recently discovered I can eat avocado without my mouth itching - I wanted to share with you my "recipe" for avocado-egg salad.

Easy Chicken Spiedies

Chicken Spiedie Salad

I have a feeling that if you aren't from upstate (central) New York, have never visited the area or do not love someone who is from there, you have no idea what I'm talking about when I say "spiedies." 


First, so you don't mispronounce the name and get all embarrassed when you talk to your friends about these, "spiedie" is pronounced "speedy." I won't get into the history and all - you can Google that on your own time. But I thought it was important you know that we're talking about an Italian-inspired meat dish that hails from New York and, once you get past the marinade stage, is speeeeed-ie to throw together.

What I Ate Wednesday: Week 8 [and Garlicky Spinach]

TGIW. Yes, that's right, I just made that acronym my own. I'm so glad it's Wednesday, I can do that. Wednesday means I get to show you all of the crazy things I've been eating lately, and that always makes for a fun time. But today was a pretty great day overall - it was sunny and in the 70s, and I had a fabulous time eating my lunch and reading outside this afternoon. And the dogs are on a roll. They haven't done one naughty thing while I've been at work this week. (I totally just jinxed myself didn't I?)

But the absolute best thing about today? The husband comes home on Thursday from his business trip. And since Wednesday is just about over, that means we're that much closer to Thursday.

  

Monday's Meals
Breakfast: deli ham and scrambled egg whites and low-fat cream cheese; a chocolate protein shake made with almond milk; half caff

Tahini-Free Healthy Hummus

Mr. Chance Pants had to go get shots this morning. So at 8 am, we put Miss Stella Bean in her cage so she wouldn't eat recyclables, magazines, shoes, insert whatever she felt like eating here, and headed off to the vet.

I felt awful listening to her cry as we shut the garage door, but I knew it was for the best. This trip would be easiest just the three of us. 

It's a process when Chance has to go to the vet. We muzzle him because he likes to act tough. Then the husband puts Chance on the exam table, backs him up all the way to the wall and holds him around his rib cage so he can't go anywhere. 

Once they're in position it's my turn to step in. My job is to hold the dog man's head, rub my thumb between his eyes to calm him, look him in the eye to keep him focused on me and tell him "NO" whenever he thinks about making a break for it - and hopping off the three-foot exam table.

It's not easy. In fact, it's hard work. 

Getting your husband to eat things that are good for him and contain fiber can be hard work, too. But I guess not everything can be as easy as making hummus and putting out a box of crackers next to the hummus so your husband will eat it.

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.

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.

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.

Pulled Chicken With White Barbecue Sauce

Pulled Chicken With White Barbecue Sauce

So far, we're two for two. Tonight marks our second night in a row of sticking to my menu plan for the week. I know, it's only Monday, but this is pretty huge for us. Something always seems to come up when I'm so organized as to plan an entire week's worth of meals: the meat doesn't thaw in time, we don't have beef broth when I swore we did, the husband gets mad at the dogs and decides to take me out instead of staying home for the evening.

Nothing got in the way of our pre-planned meal tonight, though, and I'm patting us on the backs. Not only did we eat the dinner I had planned, but we both really liked it. 

I'll admit I was a bit worried about dinner when I was making the sauce this morning. You see, I wasn't even sure the husband would go along with white barbecue sauce. 

Vinegar? Are you kidding me? Why isn't the sauce red? I could hear it coming. 

But he saw the photo in my Cooking Light Cookbook before I could even bring up the subject and told me he thought it looked pretty good. Score!

And then there I was in the kitchen this morning stirring this sauce when I decided to lick the whisk before putting it in the sink.

Menu Planning & Eating Carne Asada

Grilled Steak ... and onions ... and avocado ... and salsa

People who have their lives together enough to plan the entire week's worth of meals impress me. I always imagine those people live in organized houses with clutter-free kitchens. Those people probably even have dogs that don't shed - or roll in dormant grass that gets stuck to their brown fur the day after, yes, the day after you just gave them a bath.

So in an attempt to be one of those people, I sat down this morning with a big cup of coffee and planned our dinners for the week. I'm happy to say I've got us eating a new meal almost every night this week. Who knows, maybe I'll even get around to cleaning up the pile of magazine pages I have sitting on the kitchen cart this week.

Grilled Whole Wheat Pizza

 
Grilled pizza: one of those things I'd only read about in magazines. It was intriguing, but I was scared. You couldn't possibly grill pizza without making a huge mess, could you? 


But the thought of a hot homemade pizza with a nice crisp crust fresh off the grill sounded so good. Mess or no mess, I thought, we had to give this a try. We just had one little issue: I don't grill. I knew I had to get the husband on board. 

Guest Blogger: Comfort Potatoes From The Mom Chef

I first started writing this blog mainly because I needed a good excuse to feed the husband new dishes. I was tired of serving the same old, and I wanted him to hop on the healthy wagon with me. Never in my wildest dreams would I start reading so many blogs, bookmarking so very many recipes and truly looking forward to other bloggers' posts.  

Today I'm happy to share the words of one of those bloggers with you. Christiane, aka The Mom Chef, tests out magazine recipes on her hubby and beautiful little girl, always offering up her honest opinion and often with a bit of humor. I can still remember the first post I read of hers about making a blue igloo cake. She cracked me up - and made a pretty impressive dessert that I'd never imagine tackling. I was hooked.

I have a feeling you will be, too.

Country-Style Potatoes - Comfort From Things That Go Bump in the Night

di·chot·o·my: division into two mutually exclusive, opposed, or contradictory groups.

I am a dichotomy. I love sunlight. I love Mary Poppins and Brigadoon. Many things make me cry; videos of returning soldiers surprising their children, Lassie being kicked, Folgers commercials. I could never go hunting because I couldn't kill anything. Even spiders are sent out of the house, unsquashed, though I loathe the critters. And I never, I mean never, watch horror movies because they scare the bejeebers out of me.

And yet, that contradictory flipside of me relishes reading the king of horror. Sitting directly behind my desk sit two bookcases. One entire case contains over fifty Stephen King books.  I'm entralled with his writing style and I adore his humor. The fact that he can make me laugh in the midst of scaring my pants off is amazing. In print. 

Low-Carb Cheese-Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Old spices and all, the husband really liked dinner. I just wish I liked the photo better!

We keep a clean, well-organized house around here. At least, I liked to think that. 

I sweep, vacuum and mop; the husband always makes sure the dishes are put away. We change our sheets regularly, clean the bathroom, you know the drill.

And then company will come and I'll realize the baseboard in the hallway has a big brown dirt spot on it. Yes, a huge dirty mark running about a three-foot span. 

Green Goddess Smoothie

Still working on the camera settings ... this smoothie is greeeen!

Many o' my childhood mornings were spent at my Mama and Pa's house. I have fond memories of opening up the lower cabinet door directly beneath where Mama's plastic cookie container always sits - full - and swinging out the pullout drawer to grab a prepackaged crumb muffin. Who am I kidding? They came in pairs of two, and you know I always ate both of them.

I've basically always been about breakfast.

But it wasn't until recent years that I started eating what you'd call exceptionally nutritious breakfasts. Crumb muffins, sugary cereals and white bagels with butter were my staples. And boy oh boy did I love Carnation instant breakfast shakes.

Healthy Southwestern Burgers

The husband's Southwestern burger, served on a whole wheat bun with rice on the side.

Whenever we have company we end up eating out more than usual. Sure, I enjoy cooking for our visitors, but when we're out and about it's a given we're going to end up at a restaurant - at least when it comes to lunch.

We ate our last lunch with Da and my stepmother last weekend in a downtown pub. None of us had ever been there before, so it took us awhile to order, but eventually we all chose typical pub grub - sandwiches, wraps - and Da ordered a burger.


The thought of ordering a burger crossed my mind, but I hate ordering the same thing as someone else when we go out to eat ('cause I'm weird). So I went with a Buffalo chicken wrap that had the husband asking me in front of the bartender if I needed some sour cream to go with my meal, embarrassing me all to heck and making me want to kick the husband under the table, but that's another story.

Caramelized Onion Dip

Caramelized onion dip and baked chips = good stuff!

I'm a planner. OK, maybe I often forget the grocery list when we go to the store, but I almost always make a list. I like to plan ahead - especially for special occasions, like when we have company coming. I get super excited about what we'll do when our guests are visiting, and I really look forward to the food I'll be able to serve.

This dip is perfect for those occasions, as it's best made a day ahead. I made this the day before New Year's Eve as our visitors were readying for the day and served it the following afternoon when everyone was ready for a snack. All I had to do was grab a serving dish, lay out some chips and veggies, and scoop the dip into a bowl. How simple is that? So simple. 

The most beginner of beginner cooks can make this, and I have a feeling even the most forgetful shopper will be able to remember these ingredients at the store.

Caramelized Onion Dip
Adapted, I think, From Cooking Light

4 tablespoons light butter
2 large onions, chopped finely
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup low-fat sour cream
4 ounces neufchatel, softened
salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the onions and cook, stirring regularly, until the onions are light brown and have caramelized. This process may take 20-30 minutes. Just keep stirring. Just keep stirring.

Remove the onions from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Once the onions have cooled, add in the yogurt, sour cream and neufchatel. Season with salt and pepper. 

Refrigerate until ready to serve; serve with chips, carrots, celery or whatever you'd like.


Enjoy!

Monkey Bread, With Whole Wheat Flour & Love

It drives me insane when a writer uses an exclamation point in place of a question mark. Everyone should know a sentence no longer makes any sense if it's supposed to have question mark but it instead is finished off with an exclamation point.

It is unnecessary to yell. You're asking a question.

It gets under my skin. I am the wife who went to college for words, the husband told everyone on Facebook after he beat me at Words With Friends for the third time. So, there you have it: The misuse of the exclamation point drives me batty.

It is true I sometimes write in incomplete sentences, though I scold everyone at work for doing it. And I sometimes struggle with when to use a semicolon. (My solution? Avoid the semicolon. Write around it. Do whatever you have to do to get out of using one.)

It also makes me a bit crazy when I've had a regular ol' breakfast, a salad for lunch and (hot!) leftovers for dinner, and I'm left with not a whole lot to blog about. I guess that leaves me no choice but to rewind to Christmas Eve when the husband talked me into making him monkey bread for breakfast.