Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Happy Independence Day everyone!

As mentioned a little while ago, I received a wonderful package of WILD HARVEST Organic products courtesy of WILD HARVEST and SUPERVALU INC. in conjunction with the Healthy Living Summit 2012.  SUPERVALU INC. provided these products to me for free and asked that I come up with a fun and healthy breakfast recipe which included three or more of their products provided.

As soon as I received my box of goodies, my brain started rolling at a mile a minute. I absolutely LOVE recipe creation and was super pumped to get started.

The WILD HARVEST ingredients I chose to include in my breakfast recipe are: WILD HARVEST Original Applesauce, Creamy Peanut Butter, and Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it!

Nutty ‘Naner Bread

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.

Step 2. In mini food processor, process 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.

Step 3: In a small bowl, combine processed granola with 3/4 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix to combine; set aside.

Step 4: In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce.

Step 5: Add two eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla; beat well.

Step 6: Add 3 over-ripe mashed bananas; beat until smooth.

Step 7: In a small liquid measuring cup, measure 1/3 cup almond milk. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to milk and mix.

Step 8: Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat until well combined.

Step 9: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 minutes and test if it’s done by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.

Step 10: Once bread has cooled, melt 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Drizzle over bread. Scrape the bowl clean to get every last drop of the wonderful peanut butter onto that bread!

Step 11: Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Nutty ‘Naner Bread (Makes 1 loaf)

Prep time: 20 minutes; Bake time: 1 hour and 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

Bread:

  • 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola, coarsely ground
  • 3/4 cup almond meal (almond flour would work fine too)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 2 tsp white vinegar
Topping:
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola (for topping)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.
  2. In mini food processor, process WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.
  3. In a small bowl, combine processed granola the flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine; set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar with WILD HARVEST applesauce.
  5. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
  6. Add bananas; beat until smooth.
  7. In a small liquid measuring cup, measure almond milk; add white vinegar to milk and mix.
  8. Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat well until well combined.
  9. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan; bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. (Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 min. and test by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Bread should be lightly golden brown). Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.
  10. Once bread has cooled, melt WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Drizzle over bread.
  11. Sprinkle the top with WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Thank you to SUPERVALU INC., WILD HARVEST, and Healthy Living Summit for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this recipe contest. I had such a great time in the creation process! I hope to do it again.

To all of my readers, the contest is being judged on nutrition, taste, and creativity. I am anxious to see what everyone else came up with!

Again, Happy 4th of July to all! I hope you enjoy your day. Catch up with you soon!

Continue Reading Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Day 2 of SCD Intro Diet

Hi friends! I hope everyone’s week is off to a great start. Can you believe tomorrow is July 4th already? I can’t! For those of you who missed yesterday’s post, you may want to check it out here. Otherwise you are going to look at my diet for the day and wonder what has gotten into me.

Monday

Yesterday was day two of the introductory diet on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. The morning began with a slice of SCD cheesecake which looks pretty good right? I wish I could say it tasted as good as it looked, but it didn’t. You have to use this special dry curd cottage cheese aka Farmer’s Cheese in the recipe, and I despise it. It leaves the world’s worst after taste in my mouth that makes me nauseated.

I also drank a glass of pineapple juice to try and wash out the flavor. No such luck.

After breakfast I was working on my blog when Dana comes rushing in with Moose saying something about how he thinks Moose broke is toe. Holy cow, okay, wasn’t expecting that, what do I do? I ran over to Moose to see that his dewclaw is completely bent to the side and dripping blood. I ran and got a towel to try and catch the blood and Moose howled from pain. We loaded him into the car immediately and headed to the Animal Hospital.

When we got there they weighed Moose (90 lbs–he lost weight!) and headed back to the clinic room to wait for the doctor. I caught this photo of him for the very brief moment that he was sitting. He was so incredibly anxious and wouldn’t sit still. He knows this place…

They ended up numbing the area, and had to tear the dewclaw off which they said is the pain equivalent to us ripping our nail off. That news made me cringe. They sent us home with a laundry list of meds and a cone head to keep him from licking his bandage. Our poor baby. I feel so bad for him. We hate to have to have him wear that thing because he is miserable in it, but we don’t want him licking his bandage or gnawing at it while we are gone.. He can’t relax so he just sits there with his head lifted the entire time.

We gave it a rest after a little while because we were going to be home with him. He was fairly sedated at this point and konked out for the majority of the day.

That was a lot of excitement before 10 am! When I got home I was hungry again, so I snacked on a hard-boiled egg.

Lunch time rolled around and since my options were pretty slim due to the restrictive two-day intro diet, I sipped on a cup of chicken carrot soup.

And some pineapple jello.

I hit the road to go meet my mom during her lunch break and visit with her. I brought a picnic blanket and we sat under a nice shady tree and chatted for a good 45 minutes. Loved it! Dana and I hit the gym in the afternoon. I wasn’t feeling very energetic, so I brought a magazine along and hit the elliptical for an easy 30 minute workout.

For dinner, I made myself scrambled eggs with salt and pepper.

Bearing the 100° heat, I wanted to whip up a batch of SCD allowable bread so that Dana could have something to make a sandwich with. It was super easy and the bread looks awesome. I’ll try to remember to get Dana’s report back so I can let you know what he thought.

And yes, our house was a sauna after this got done baking!

SCD Bread (Recipe from this site)

Ingredients

  • 3 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 cup homemade yogurt
  • 1/4 tsp salt
Directions
  1. Mix all ingredients in food processor
  2. Bake for 55-60 minutes at 350°
**Note: this bread is not meant to be eaten during the introductory phase of SCD. I made this in preparation for the stages to follow.

I spent the rest of the night cleaning up the kitchen, I seriously cannot tell you how many dishes are involved with this SCD. I also watched DVR’ed Bachelorette which I have decided is my preferred way of watching the show. Some of the conversations can become pretty darn boring, so I fast-forward and get to the good stuff. In case you haven’t watched it yet, I won’t say who went home. I will say I was very happy with her decision, but I don’t know how she is ever going to pick between the last three guys. They are all great!

I am in a very good mood today because I have moved past the introductory diet and moving on to incorporating more fruits and vegetables today. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and I will catch up with you soon.

Continue Reading Day 2 of SCD Intro Diet

Sweet and Savory Burgers

Warriors, unite. It’s time for the Warrior Dash!

I am going to be tearing up hills, climbing over walls, crawling through mud, and running through the grassy course at Afton Alps today. I cannot wait to fill you in and hopefully share some good pictures with you.

Friday Breakfast

A classic of mine: banana and PB2.

Lunch 

I was at a conference for work, and they served an impressive taco bar. I didn’t take a photo unfortunately but I can tell ya it looked and tasted great. I loaded my plate with chicken, lettuce, cilantro, tomato, corn, black beans, onions, and salsa. For dessert I ate a small serving of sweet compote with blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries.

In the afternoon we ran a few errands and I munched on sugar snap peas and almonds. I am really anxious to tell you about the “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” book I mentioned to you yesterday. Melanie is going to be cleaning her gut, in a very healthy way. More to come so soon!

Dinner

Sweet and Savory Turkey Burgers (I didn’t measure exactly)—recipe idea from this site.

  • lean ground turkey*
  • 1 small apple peeled, cored and grated
  • 1/4 cup or less onion, grated
  • celery seed
  • dried sage
  • chives
  • black pepper
*You can substitute lean ground beef or ground chicken

I crunched on some watermelon before dinner. Note my fashionista outfit I’m sporting. You can usually find me in something of these sorts while I am home. I am all about the comfies.

I assembled the burgers, and Dana cooked them to perfection on the grill.

Such a great team. I plated my burger up with a small salad with olives and honey mustard, and two slices of cheddar cheese. Look, it’s a Christmas tree!

The rest of the night was spent getting ready for the Warrior Dash, painting my toe nails, and playing with the pooch.

We have a busy day ahead of us. Can’t wait to tell you about it! Have an AWESOME Saturday. 🙂

Continue Reading Sweet and Savory Burgers

Tropical Green Smoothie

Morning Run

Tuesday morning started off with another enjoyable 3-mile run. Just like my run on Saturday, the weather was absolutely perfect. It was 61° and mostly cloudy, with a light breeze. I struggled a bit with the hills but that is pretty typical for me. I kept running and didn’t stop until I was home.

Breakfast

Breakfast yesterday was a refreshing and satisfying  smoothie. I finally remembered to measure and write down the ingredients in my smoothie concoction so I can finally share it with you all.

Tropical Green Smoothie

  • 1/2 medium banana
  • 1/2 cup mango (frozen)
  • 1/2 cup peaches (frozen)
  • 1/2 cup spinach
  • 2 Tbsp strawberry puree
  • 2 Tbsp protein powder (I used Hemp Protein)
  • 3/4 cup milk

Blend all ingredients until smooth and ENJOY. In case anyone is wondering, I calculated this smoothie to be around 250 calories.

After breakfast I ran a few errands, worked on a secret recipe for a big chunk of the day (more to come soon!), and took Moosey for a walk around the neighborhood.

We actually had a good walk together. Usually when I try to walk with him, he decides not to listen to me, or there happens to be a dog on the loose, or something frustrating happens that makes me turn around and head back home. But he did a really great job of walking next to me even when we passed two yellow labs. We made a big step in the right direction there, Mooser.

Lunch 

I ended up munching on my kitchen creations so I won’t be able to tell you EXACTLY what I ate for lunch and an afternoon snack yesterday. You will find out soon though! It sure is delicious. It ended up making up about 75% of my food intake for the day. Sorry for the lack of food photos.

I can tell you that I snacked on some mushrooms and hummus.

I had to make another Target run in the afternoon because I was running low on a few ingredients I needed. I swear I go to Target everyday. Here’s what’s funny. I only needed 3 things, and guess who had to make a list? Yea, I had to make a list for 3 measly items. What is happening to my mind? I don’t know if it’s a bad memory or if it’s just the fact that Target sucks me in and completely washes my brain of the reason why I’m actually there. Probably the latter. I know I’m not alone on this one. You go there for 3 things and you walk out with 10. The good news is, with my list I remembered everything I needed AND I only bought those 3 items. I pat myself on the back for that one.

Afternoon Yoga

I turned on Metal Yoga from Sportskool On Demand. I felt warm and loose as I conquered the “beginner” session. I really disagree with the beginner status on that one. The instructor has us resting in plank. Holding a plank is not considered rest in my opinion.

It was a really great work out though. Something wonderful happened during the session yesterday. I was able to touch my toes without bending my knees! That is proof that my flexibility is improving! WOO!!

That was yoga session #2 for the week so far. I still have three more days to get one more in order to reach my June Yoga Challenge weekly goal. It’s the last week of the challenge, so I am making sure to make it a good one.

Dinner

It was time to experiment with the veggies. I made myself a very small salad that included Boston Bibb lettuce, the tops of broccoli (!!), shredded chicken, avocado, shredded cheese and honey mustard dressing. I can’t tell you how good this tasted to me.

I was a little nervous to include broccoli as it tends to be a veggie that commonly upsets the digestive system, but I wanted to try it and see how I felt. Also, I removed the stem which I would imagine is slightly more difficult for the body to break down.

(FYI: After eating the broccoli, I think I feel the same as any other day. It’s hard to tell with just one experiment meal. With that, I may start to incorporate more salads into my diet again, but will probably continue to cool it on the broccoli).

I also ate a couple handfuls of Wild Harvest’s amazingly addicting animal crackers.

And dipped them into honey PB2.

I was sleeping by 10:10 pm last night; I was exhausted for some reason.Happy Wednesday! Hope you all have a great day.

Continue Reading Tropical Green Smoothie

Mission More Veggies

G’day friends! How is everyone feeling on this wonderful Saturday? I did something this morning that really makes me happy, but you’re going to have to wait to find out because I need to fill you in on yesterday first. This post is a little bit all over the place just to give you the heads up.

I am becoming extraordinarily frustrated in trying to figure out which foods to eat and which to avoid considering my current colitis flare. I have been trying to stick to a low-fiber, low-residue diet, and although I haven’t necessarily been loving it, I have been doing a fairly good job of sticking to it. I am continuing my research as to which other foods I should experiment with incorporating into my diet, because I am getting SO bored of the same old sweet potato and bananas day after day. Don’t get me wrong, I love those foods, but I could go for more of a variety.

Mostly, I want my greens. So, I am going to get my greens.

I read that certain types of lettuce such as Boston Bibb are easier to digest as they are very soft and light. Also, cooked spinach can be consumed in moderation but they do recommend pureeing it.

So, after yoga yesterday morning, I pulled out the blender, added banana, mango, cooked spinach, a squeeze of lime juice, a splash of V8 fusion light, 2 Tbsp Hemp protein and almond milk. I gave it a whirl until all was blended to a smooth consistency. This combination was not one that I will recreate, but it wasn’t horrible, just not my favorite either.

If I have to get my veggies in puree form, then you know what, I’m going to puree like a crazy woman. I feel so much better when I eat my veggies. I presented my green smoothie in a very fashionable Minnesota Wild plastic cup because I was headed out the door.

I am determined to improve my diet, especially with the addition of more veggies which I so love, but I don’t want to falter on the healing process in the colon region which I have been working so hard to improve. I set off for Whole Foods Market to do some creative brainstorming and to buy some natural and organic foods. I was on a mission.

I L.O.V.E. Whole Foods. I spent quite a bit of time browsing the aisles, looking for healthy foods that I could add into my diet. I managed to snag a free double chocolate scone sample bite while I was there too. Score.

I ended up buying Sunflower Seed Butter for the very first time which actually ended up being part of my lunch. I smeared some of this deliciousness on half of a banana and ate a spoonful plain as well. I am pretty impressed with this stuff. I like, I like.

I bought these little duckies which were consumed as part of my completely random lunch as well.

I also bought soft Boston Bibb lettuce, frozen peaches, mangos, butternut squash, and spinach, caramel rice cakes, horseradish for the hubby, millet, and baba ghanoush. I have plans for more smoothies in my future and more variety in my diet.

I spent some time in the kitchen working on a recipe for the Wild Harvest contest as part of the Healthy Living Summit 2012. I am in my glory when I am in the kitchen working with food. While I got creative, I snacked on a bunch of gummies that mysteriously jumped into my cart at the grocery store. Weird, right?

This afternoon I was super excited when I picked our first raspberry of the year from our backyard. Berries are on my no-no list right now but I could not help myself. I ate it and it was awesome. We have a bunch more that will be coming soon.

Dinner later…

The baba ghanoush came into play. “Baba Ghanoush!!”  Wedding Crashers anyone?

I tore the lettuce into cups, spread a spoonful of baba ghanoush on each, sprinkled with feta cheese, then shredded chicken from the crockpot, freshly diced avocado, and lastly a squeeze of lemon.

So fresh, light, healthy, easy, and hopefully easy for me to digest. I made myself a second plate but this time ditched the baba ghanoush and instead drizzled a bit of Newman’s Own Lite Honey Mustard and made my plate into more of a salad. I miss my salads so much and eating this last night seriously made me so happy.

I still am not feeling very well lately, but I am trying to stay positive and give it time. If I can at least incorporate a few of my favorite foods back into my diet, yet not upset the healing process, I will be a much happier girl. I just don’t feel like myself when I can’t pack my diet with the fruits and veggies it’s used to. It’s just a matter of finding the right veggies for now, and the right amount for now. After my salad last night all I can say is, I’ve got to get me some more Boston Bibb lettuce!

My Saturday morning news…

I went for a run! It has been about two weeks since I last ran which honestly feels like forever ago. I wanted to give my body a little break from the high-impact activities that could upset my body and have been focusing more on low-impact exercises. However, I have the Warrior Dash coming up next weekend and would feel super intimidated going into that without having run in three weeks, so I want to try to get a few runs in before then. Also, I and missing running a bit and missing that feeling you get after a run. I wanted to give it a go to see how my body reacted.

This morning’s run was glorious. The air was a humid cool and I felt like I could run and run and run.

I kept to about 3 miles because first of all I didn’t want to press my luck, and secondly I have lots on the agenda for the day including the fact that I have house guests. Scotty and Nicole are here! Btw I ran in an athletic skirt for the first time this morning and although the shorts still road up a bit, I really liked the feeling of running in a skirt. I felt so feminine even though I was dripping in sweat. As for my body’s reaction to the run, it held up just fine. It helps that I ran on a completely empty stomach which I know is not always the best option, but is okay to do do sometimes.

Again, sorry for this all over the place post. I guess I had a lot to say! Lots of fun plans today. I hope you all have a great day. 🙂

Continue Reading Mission More Veggies

Tilapia Fish Sticks

Friday is such a wonderful day. I love Friday. But first, we have to recap Thursday.

The day began with a warm bowl of Cream of Wheat with cinnamon, brown sugar, and PB2.

For lunch, more peanut butter, but the real stuff this time. A piece of spelt toast with natural peanut butter and banana. I also ate some watermelon and insanely addicting Barbecue Pop Chips.

After work, Dana, Moose and I hit the pavement for a long walk around the neighborhood. The weather was absolutely perfect yesterday and I was so grateful we were able to get out and enjoy it at least for a little while. We cruised for about 3 miles.

Dinner was a fun one. I must be in a “dipper” food type of mood this week considering Wednesday I made Italian dunkers, and last night I made….tilapia fish sticks!

Assembly Line Preparation (in this order)

  • Plate: Cut two defrosted tilapia filets into 1 inch strips, cutting with the lines of the filet. Season the fish with cracked black pepper.
  • Bowl: In a wide bowl pour about 1 1/2 cups egg whites.
  • Plate: Pour a heaping pile of almond flour, salt, and pepper. **
  • Baking pan: Spray with non-stick cooking spray
**Notes: If you like a little kick you could add a pinch of cayenne to the almond flour. If you don’t have almond flour, you could use breadcrumbs or cracker crumbs instead. I picked up a bag of almond flour at Trader Joe’s and this was my first time using it. Almond flour is completely gluten-free; the only ingredient is almonds. It also packs 7 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber per 1/4 cup. I am anxious to use it in baking in the future.

Assemble:

Dip fish sticks into egg whites.

Roll and cover in almond flour.

Place on prepared pan. Once all of the filets are on the pan, lightly spray the tops with non-stick cooking spray.


We had plans to grill these bad boys outside but our plans were halted when we realized we ran out of propane. Hence the reason you see the fish filets on our outdoor grill pan versus and indoor pan. We moved the process indoors to the oven but I didn’t feel like dirtying up another pan so we left it on the other pan.

In a preheated 450° oven, bake for 12 minutes, turning once. Finish by broiling for 3-5 minutes until the fish sticks begin to crisp (keep an eye on them!). Serve with your favorite dipping sauce. In my case, ketchup.

These reminded me of childhood in such a huge way. They are perfect for adults and kids alike. You feel like a kid when you eat them. It’s wonderful. They are slightly crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. They are a very healthy alternative to frozen fish sticks!

**********

Now, back to Friday. It’s that time to check in on the June Yoga Challenge. Just a reminder to you all that my goal is to complete three yoga sessions per week. Time and intensity do not matter in my challenge, only completion of the sessions.

  1. Sunday: Gentle Yoga by Sportskool On Demand
  2. Wednesday: Back Challenges by Sportskool on Demand
  3. Friday: Metal Yoga by Sportskool on Demand

The session from this morning was by far the most challenging to me. I am still working at beginner level but am hoping to step-it-up to intermediate in the future!

I am loving yoga more and more each day I practice. I am continuing to notice that I am able to better control my stress now that I have added yoga into my routine. If my day is becoming stressful, I will remind myself to breath and slow down. I still have a LONG ways to go on increasing my flexibility, but I have already noticed a slight difference and it’s only been a short while. I can’t wait for another week!

Happy Friday to you all. I have two special guests coming to stay with me this weekend, my brother Scott and his girlfriend Nicole (our Boundary Water tour guides). I have to decide what to make them for breakfast tomorrow morning. I’m off to go brainstorm, run errands, and get some stuff down around the house.

Continue Reading Tilapia Fish Sticks

Blueberry Lemon Bars

It’s a rainy Tuesday morning here in MN, so how about a recipe to get you into the cozy baking mood?

In charge of dessert at your next potluck? Tired of bringing the same old thing? Well then you HAVE to try this light and summery dessert. Fresh lemons make this bar slightly tart and the blueberries add to a perfect sweetness. I made this recipe for our Father’s Day celebration on Saturday. The entire thing came together so easily and my family absolutely raved about it. The boys even went back for seconds! I adapted this recipe from Mandy’s Recipe Box.

Blueberry Lemon Bars (makes 9-12 bars)

Ingredients

Crust:

  • 1 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
  • 5 Tbsp. butter, melted
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • zest from one lemon

Filling:

  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1- 14 oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • zest from one lemon
  • 1 cup fresh Driscoll’s blueberries

Topping:

  • Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Spray an 8 x 8 inch square baking pan with cooking spray; set aside.
  3. In a medium bowl, mix together crust ingredients until moist; press crumbs into prepared baking dish; bake for 10 minutes.
  4. Remove from oven, sprinkle with 1 tsp sugar; let cool.
  5. In a medium bowl, beat together filling ingredients except for blueberries; whip until slightly thickened.
  6. Gently fold in blueberries; pour onto cooled crust.
  7. Bake for 15 minutes until bars have set.
  8. Remove and let cool; refrigerate for at least one hour.
  9. Cut into bars and serve cool with whipped cream.
Crust:

Filling:

Bake:

Blueberry Lemon Bars! Ta da!

Enjoy!

Continue Reading Blueberry Lemon Bars

Pasta Bolognese Per Request

Hi friends! I hope everyone is having a good Monday so far…

It’s time to recap a super awesome Sunday that was spent with my husband and the dog. It started with BOGO coffees at Caribou. I stuck with a decaf coffee with sugar-free hazelnut (num) and Dana went for the Milk Chocolate Mocha with a shot or two of espresso.

Let the Father’s Day fun begin! Today was all about the hubby. Moose even made sure to get his dad a sweet card for Father’s Day. How thoughtful, right?

For breakfast I made myself a pb banana sandwich (I ate half of it before remembering to snap a photo). I ate my banana ‘wich and sipped on my coffee while we cut coupons.

Once again, the coupons were completely lame this week. We cut two measly coupons. TWO. And they were for household type things so they weren’t even exciting.

Next, we hit the Sunday usuals: Target and Costco. We stocked up on some good eats and even bought Mooser a new chicken. His last one had to be tossed due to a terrible stench that really raunched up his breath each time he played with it. Gross.

We got a few things done around the house, I completed a relaxing yoga session, and then I made Dana a special Father’s Day sandwich.

This beautiful creation is made up of:

  • Two pieces of whole wheat bread
  • 1 slice of lower-sodium turkey breast
  • 1 slice cheddar cheese
  • Sliced tomato sprinkled with onion powder and pepper
  • Mustard
  • 1 drippy egg.

All grilled to perfection with love.

I LOVE making special meals for the ones I love.

In the afternoon, we had to run a few more errands which included plans to take the pooch out for a walk around the lake. Our plans were hindered when the clouds opened up and mother nature watered our grass from 1:00-5:00 pm. I wasn’t sure if it was going to let up, so I decided to head down to our treadmill to get a little walk in just in case. I walked for 35 minutes while watching The Blind Side. Such a great movie.

Towards the end of my workout, the skies had cleared up and Moose really wanted to take his dad out for a Father’s Day walk :wink:, so we headed out. It had cooled off quite a bit after the rain and the sun was even peeking through. It was a perfect evening walk with my guys.

Since today was all about the dads, I told Dana he could have whatever he wanted for dinner. His decision: Pasta Bolognese. My version of course.

I started by sautéing 1 cup diced yellow onion, 2 minced garlic cloves, and 1 cup of chopped mushrooms in a light amount of garlic infused olive oil. After about 3 minutes, I added a jar of No-Added Sugar Ragu, added a shake of garlic powder, basil, and oregano. I gave this a stir, covered, and let simmer while I prepared the rest of the meal.

In a separate pan, I started browning up a package of lean ground chicken and began boiling my water for the pasta. Once the meat was browned, I sprinkled it with oregano and garlic powder. I like to flavor each part of the dish when I can. I added the meat to the sauce, then finished the sauce by adding about 3/4 cup of chopped green olives.

Once the pasta was finished cooking to al dente, I drained it and served up two heaping plates full of pasta and Bolognese sauce and topped with parmesan cheese.

Great decision, honey.

After dinner, we just had to have dessert because it was Father’s Day after all. So what did we decide to do? Head to the Frozen Yogurt shop down the road of course. Jeez louise this is the third Sunday in a row now that we have done this. We are getting a lot better at controlling our frozen yogurt pour and limiting the toppings at least. Last night we spent $7.00 between the two of us which was our cheapest fro-yo purchase yet.

Last night I chose non-dairy, non-fat Valencia Orange Sorbet mixed with the tiniest bit of sugar-free vanilla fro-yo (to get the orange creamsicle effect). I topped it with gummies and was extremely happy with this combo. You are probably aware by now that I usually opt for the chocolately, rich toppings when it comes to my fro-yo and ice cream, but I am trying to cool it on the dairy, and since the only sorbet flavor option they had last night was orange, I didn’t think topping it with cookie dough and brownie pieces sounded very appetizing. The gummies were just perfect.

Any time I eat gummies I am reminded of my childhood, and my college years. Growing up we had gummies as a special treat, and through my college years, my girlies and I would buy a huge bag of mixed gummies from the grocery store when we were having a girl’s night in. Sweet memories.

What a great Father’s Day weekend with my papa on Saturday, and Dana on Sunday. We will be celebrating Father’s Day with Dana’s parents next weekend. Let the fun continue.

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I keep forgetting to tell you all, that last week I DID reach my June Yoga Challenge weekly goal. When I posted on Friday I had only completed two yoga sessions and my goal is three per week. Well, you better believe that after I posted on Friday I hit up the yoga. I am really loving it and am feeling pretty sore from it as well. Work it baby!

I still need to share that awesome Lemon Blueberry Bar recipe with you all that I made on Saturday. I didn’t forget! It’s still comin. Have a great Monday.

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Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

There is only one word I need to say to describe how I am feeling: Friday.

I am so happy it’s Friday as I always am. This week was absolutely exhausting and I’m thrilled it’s the weekend. We have some very fun plans for this weekend with friends and family.

But before I jump  ahead, I will back track to yesterday. I am getting so completely bored with the low-fiber foods I have needed to be eating as of lately…Cream of Wheat, bananas, sweet potato, chicken, rice. It’s becoming very boring boring boring. This can’t last too much longer because I am going nutso. I am trying to continue to be creative with my options, but it is very challenging.

I thought I could at least make the monotonous breakfast look pretty by putting them into collage form. Cream of Wheat. Oooo Ahhh. And yes, this is what I had yesterday morning if you couldn’t guess.

A tried and true lunch of mine, banana and peanut butter has continuously been making its way into my diet. This is one combination I don’t think I will ever get tired of. At least I hope not. It’s a beautiful thing. It’s like they were made for eachother.

During lunch break, I decided to conduct an experiment. I wanted to know if whole sweet potatoes would cook properly, and stay moist, if cooked in the crock pot. I am getting tired of eating baked potatoes and sweet potato fries, and was in need of something new; a new way to prepare the sweet potato. I hypothesized that they would cook perfectly in the slow cooker just as everything else does. I swear that machine is magic sometimes.

I scrubbed up two sweet potatoes and placed them into my mini crock pot. I added two cups of water, covered, and set on low for the afternoon.

About 6 hours later, I removed the sweet potatoes from the crock pot. They were very tender and I was able to peel the skin right off. Now, just a reminder for you all, that normally I would eat the skins, but considering I have to be on the low-fiber kick for now, and the skins hold the majority of the fiber, I had to removed them.

I placed these beautifully orange potatoes into a bowl and whipped them into a puree with the hand mixer.

I plated up a heaping spoonful, sprinkled with cinnamon, a touch of ginger, and salt. Alongside the whipped potatoes I got my protein fix with leftover crock pot chicken with BBQ sauce.

My experiment was a success. I wasn’t sure how the potatoes would turn out being that I just plopped them into the crock pot and let them rip, but they were very sweet and tender and moist and very tasty. Talk about easy peasy right? I would do this again in a heart beat. You could do it with any type of potato. Oh, how I love my crock pot. It makes life so much easier.

Yesterday’s day of eats pretty much sums up my current diet. I miss my greens SO much and cannot wait for the day when I can pile my plate high with dark green leafy lettuce and spinach, add a ton of broccoli, beans, and every thing else that I’m not able to eat right now, and just scarf it down.

But, if I want to get to that point, I have to stick to the easy to digest stuff for now. I am trying to keep it tasty, but I am losing my gusto for creativity with  my options! I did find a recipe for sweet potato gnocchi which intrigued me. I may have to give that a whirl.

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Since today is Friday, that means it is time to check in on the June Yoga Challenge.

I challenged myself to work three yoga sessions into my weekly routine. I didn’t begin the challenge until Tuesday however, and was only able got in two sessions this week (Tuesday and Wednesday). I know that had I had a full week to complete my challenge, I would have met it in a second. Although, I am still contemplating getting one in today. Then I would reach my goal!

So, how do I feel after my week one Yoga Challenge? Pretty good. It’s too early to really feel any  major differences, but I do notice when I am at work that I am starting to gain better control of my stress when certain chaotic situations arise.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I will get there.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday!

Question of the Day: Anyone have any fun recipe ideas for me that are low-fiber?!

Continue Reading Crock Pot Sweet Potatoes

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Haaapppy Hump Day! I AM so happy because I just found out last night that will be attending my first ever healthy living conference this August! I will have the opportunity to meet so many wonderful healthy living bloggers who I have been following forever, meet fellow blogging friends, learn about how to improve my blog, talk about healthy living and food, and soak up every other bit in between! I am on cloud 9 seriously. I cannot wait. WOOOO!

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Yesterday I briefly mentioned how I will be gearing my workouts towards lower impact activities, at least for a couple of weeks until I get my colitis under control. I notice that my body doesn’t respond well recently to running and jumping which makes sense as I am putting a lot of impact on my body (organs included I guess). This might explain my not so beautiful half-marathon experience.

I absolutely will continue to be active through this all. My activities can include: walking, biking, yoga, elliptical, swimming, strength training and more. I will just be limiting my running and jumping exercises for a short time.

Let’s talk about yoga for a second shall we? I haven’t always been a huge fan of it, and I think the one of the reasons why is because I’m not good at it. I am embarrassed to say as a former dancer that I can no longer touch my toes without bending my knees and have lost all flexibility whatsoever. Well, what’s the best way to get better at something? Practice.

Yesterday, I flipped to OnDemand yoga on the TV and found a workout called “Gentle Yoga.” That sounded nice, and guess what? It was nice. It was a little slow moving at first which is something one has to get used to when you’re used to doing majority cardio type exercises. I focused on my breathing like the woman was telling me to do, and took the 36 minutes to really relax and stretch and listen to my body.

Wow. If I can actually let myself be patient enough to ease into yoga, I think I could really benefit from it and even enjoy it! I would love to regain flexibility and I KNOW yoga would help me with this. Also, I believe that if I can learn to manage my stress more effectively, including yoga and breathing exercises, I can heal faster. I am really hoping to try and add yoga into my weekly routine. Maybe start off with a goal of one time per week, see how I am liking it, then increase to two times per week. Huh, I like this idea! A fellow blogger Courtney at Sweettoothsweetlife, started a June Yoga Challenge and although I’m a little late on the ball, I just may join in. I never thought I would say it.

After my relaxing yoga, I headed out for an easy 30-minute walk, and then it was time for breakfast. Do I even need to tell you what I had? You could look at my last whole entire month of breakfasts practically and learn real quickly that breakfast was indeed a bowl of Cream of Wheat cereal mixed with cinnamon, stevia and just a touch of brown sugar. This is my ‘makes my tummy feel fine’ breakfast and it’s a must on days I have to work; for now at least.

We had a potluck meeting at work over the lunch hour and I didn’t snap any photos mostly because my plate wasn’t very colorful or pretty. Continuing to stick with the low-fiber meals, I managed to find a few options that I was able to enjoy: tuna noodle salad, turkey wrapped mozzarella (courtesy of moi), and a piece of the most fabulous homemade lemon blueberry bread.

I had an evening shift at work and managed to munch on five handfuls of peanut butter M & M’s (my absolute favorite alongside Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups OMG) throughout the course of the afternoon. I ate a banana around 5:30 which held me over until I got home at 7:30. I’ve mentioned this before but whenever I work later, I can never figure out what sounds good to me for dinner when I am home. I am in deed hungry, but I just can’t put my finger on what it is I’m hungry for. So I usually end up having a few small snacks.

I began with a piece of toasted Spelt Bread from Trader Joe’s with peanut butter and jelly.

After that I moved on to a small serving of Fage Non-fat Greek Yogurt with maple syrup, a half of a pair, and one more spoonful of peanut butter. That would have to do. I crawled into bed and read my book but the strangest thing happened to me last night…I could not get tired for the life of me. I read and read and read and instead of getting my normal droopy eyelids after about five pages, I just got more energy as I went along. At about 11:00 (already one hour past my bedtime), I decided I should shut off the lights and try and sleep. I laid in bed for almost 3 hours before finally falling asleep. Then, every time I woke up in the middle of the night I felt like I was ready for the day and full of energy. Is this what insomnia feels like? I didn’t like it. I hope I survive my day today, keeping in mind I am off the caffeine. Yikes.

Recipe Time!

Moving on….I mentioned this past weekend that I was busy in the kitchen whipping up a batch of pureed butternut squash soup. Well, here it is ladies and gentleman. Enjoy!

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup (makes about 4-6 servings)

Ingredients

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 cups butternut squash, skinned, seeds removed and cut into cubes
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots, chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cup celery, chopped
  • 4 cloves of garlic
  • 48 oz. reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/4 tsp dried sage
  • salt and pepper
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. If you have an option for convection roast, use that, if not standard 350 roast or bake is perfect too.
  2. Lightly grease large baking pan with olive oil; place squash, carrots, celery, onion and garlic on pan; use hands to stir and coat veggies with olive oil.
  3. Roast or bake in oven for 25-45 minutes. Baking times vary greatly depending on cooking method (convection roast, roast, bake, etc.). You should be able to pierce the carrots easily with a fork when roasting time is complete, and onions start to take on a sweet scent.
  4. On the stove top, in a large soup pan, add vegetables and broth; cover and bring to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes then reduce to simmer for 20 minutes.
  5. Add thyme and sage; stir.
  6. Using an immersion blender or standard blender, puree soup until smooth.
  7. Return to pot; add salt and pepper to taste.
  8. Spoon into bowls,  garnish with fresh herbs and serve with whole grain bread or croutons.

After the soup was cooled, I ladled the soup into 6 Ziploc baggies and froze them for an easy and healthy meal in minutes.

Have a great day!

Continue Reading Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
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