Sunday Food Prep – what went down in my kitchen (10)

Hello, hello!

Welp, Monday’s back…

…and that means I get to share my Sunday food prep adventures with you!

I was feeling less than inspired – much like the Redskins offense – and only accomplished a little – much better than the Redskins offense. *sigh*

I decided that I needed to make some brownies. Because … duh … brownies.

I’ve been fiddling with my recipe a little and I like what I did this time around. I decreased the flour (gluten-free) to 3/4 cup, only used 1 egg, subbed peanut butter chips for the dark chocolate chips, and threw in some chopped pecans from the pecan tree in our backyard. We have a few so I figured why not?

I also added a couple teaspoons of this new chia, hemp, and buckwheat cereal I found at the Fresh Market.

These are definitely winners! Not overly sweet and dense but still thick and fudgy. Just the way a brownie should be! Have you tried them yet?

I roasted a chuck roast in my crockpot.

I defrosted some homemade chicken broth and used that as the liquid. I skipped all the fanciness and just went with salt and pepper and a little bit of garlic powder as my seasonings.

For a girl who doesn’t like pot roast, I was really reluctant to share!  So good!

My sailor and I had some last night for dinner with some quinoa and roasted broccoli and there’s plenty leftover for a few sandwiches or to top a sweet tater throughout the week. 🙂

This broccoli. It’s like veggie crack. Seriously, I could eat the whole pan.

Finally, I decided to make a loaf of The Lean Green Bean’s Dutch Oven bread.

Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m not doing that whole gluten thing right now.

Well, I’ve been gluten free for a few weeks now and I’ve been assessing my tummy situation. I’m not exactly sure that gluten is the problem (I see my doc tomorrow and we’ll discuss all the tummy things then) and I read Erin’s post about why she stopped being gluten free and it really resonated with me. I mean, I don’t eat a lot of gluten anyway (as long as I don’t eat an entire baguette in one sitting!) but I also wasn’t having any of those other, more serious issues like balance and headaches, etc.  So, unless a test comes back indicating that I need to eliminate all gluten, I figure I’ll eat it in moderation. And maybe only in homemade foods so I can control all the ingredients.

Like in this bread.

Which, incidentally, I made with 2 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of gluten-free flour and, while the loaf might be smaller than one that uses all gluten-y flour, it was still pretty delicious toasted and smeared with avocado this morning. And my tummy wasn’t mad. 🙂

Random Spam Comment Time!

…in response to this post

“Today, I went to the beach with my kids. I found a sea shell and gave it to my 4 year old daughter and said “You can hear the ocean if you put this to your ear.” She put the shell to her ear and screamed. There was a hermit crab inside and it pinched her ear. She never wants to go back! LoL I know this is totally off topic but I had to tell someone!”

Talk to me: Have you ever done an “elimination” diet? What did you eliminate? What did you learn about yourself?

– jennifer

Weekly eats!

Hi there!

So, sometimes I get questions about what I eat or how I can even eat as much as I do!

Well, for starters, my muscles are HUNGRY! And, once I get back to running, I’m might even need to ADD a little. I’ll be RUNGRY. *tee hee*

It’s weird – some of the people I work with at my day job have these huge misconceptions about my diet. Some think I’m vegan (make vegan muffins ONCE for a colleague who actually IS vegan and suddenly, they’re glaring at me when I’m heating up chicken or meat sauce or whatever in the kitchen), others think I’m only organic (which is not too far off base but I’m not quite there yet), and some think I never eat sweets or junk food. Um, hello, have you even MET me?

Anyway, I decided it might be a good idea to do a weekly eats post for a couple of reasons: one – to give you an idea of what I really eat outside of all those healthy recipes I like to create and/or share; two – to show you that I actually do eat what I’ve prepped on Sundays; and three– to kinda keep track of what I’m doing so maybe I can figure out what’s been bugging my tummy lately.

It’s not an allergy, I’m fairly certain. There’s just something with my diet that, well, makes my tummy a little disagreeable at times. Or mostly every day. I will spare you the gory details. You’re welcome. J Back when I was running, I attributed it to the dreaded “runner’s tummy.” But, um, yeah, haven’t been doing that running thing for like 9 weeks now so you think that would have righted itself. It hasn’t. *sigh*

Additionally, I don’t have a gall bladder so I have to be really careful about the fat I consume – both good and bad. I could literally eat nut butters all day long but that’s not really a good thing for me to do. No matter how much I want to. Makes my tummy angry in a whole different way. Ugh. So, I have to be smart and not eat too much nut butter and avocado on the same day. Where’s the fun in that? Gah! Separately, in my own private journal, I’m keeping track of how my tummy reacts to the foods I’ve eaten. Again, you’re welcome.  🙂

Breakfasts:

Monday – 2 egg white omelet with mozzarella cheese, 2 Al Fresco maple apple chicken sausages, 1 sliced tomato (from the Farmer’s Market!), 2 pieces bakery Brioche toast with grass-fed butter and low-sugar grape jam and orange juice

Tuesday – oatmeal with cinnamon, honey, chia seeds, almond butter, banana and blueberries & orange juice

Wednesday – 2 egg white omelet with mozzarella cheese, 2 maple apple chicken sausages, 1 sliced tomato, 2 pieces bakery Brioche toast with avocado mash (sorta) and orange juice

Thursday – same as Tuesday – oatmeal with cinnamon, honey, chia seeds, almond butter, banana and blueberries & orange juice

Friday – see Tuesday and Thursday. Nope, not boring at all.

Morning snacks:

Monday – Banana oatmeal bread, pecan butter, strawberries

Tuesday – Chobani nonfat plain Greek yogurt with ¾ cup Kashi Toasted Berry Crumble and strawberries

Wednesday – Banana oatmeal bread, almond butter, banana

Thursday – Chobani nonfat plain Greek yogurt with ¼ cup Love Crunch granola. Totally BUMMED that I forgot my strawberries!!

Friday – Chobani peach Greek yogurt with 1/4 cup Love Crunch granola, and blueberries. I don’t normally do flavored yogurt because of the extra added sugar but something made me want to try it. It wasn’t bad. I still prefer the plain.

Lunches:

Monday – roast chicken, roasted sweet potato, ½ avocado, 2 mini cucumbers

Tuesday – Ginormous salad with roast chicken, ½ cup black beans, mini bell peppers, sliced cucumber, and feta cheese.

Wednesday – roasted sweet potato topped with roast chicken and ½ cup black beans, red bell pepper, and sliced cucumbers and a Clementine for dessert

Thursday – sandwich – roast chicken on Bakery Brioche bread slathered with hummus and topped with mozzarella cheese, field greens, farmer’s market tomato and cucumber, some baby bell peppers, Boulder Canyon Avocado Oil kettle cooked chips, and a clementine for dessert. 🙂

Friday – sandwich – pretty much the same as yesterday except the bread is homemade whole wheat (thank you bread machine!), red bell pepper strips, blue corn tortilla chips and Wholly Guacamole.

PM snacks:

Monday – Laughing Cow cheese, pretzel chips, seedless red grapes

Tuesday – Bacon jerky and 2 Clementines

Wednesday – Bacon jerky and red seedless grapes

Thursday – Carob Chip Perfect Bar – HOLY. YUM!

Friday – my office closed early so I went to the 4pm CrossFit class. Snack is in the next category.

Pre-CrossFit eats

Monday – Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar

Tuesday – GoMacro Protein Paradise cashew caramel bar

Wednesday – GoMacro Protein Purity sunflower butter + chocolate bar

Thursday – no CrossFit today so no pre-CrossFit eats

Friday – Think Thin Brownie Crunch High Protein Bar

Dinners:

Monday – Gilbert’s Beef & Blue Sausage, leftover roasted acorn squash & Asian pear

Tuesday – a bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal with some blueberries. #dontjudgeme

Wednesday – 2 slices Pizza Hut ham and pineapple pizza (hey, it was waiting for me when I got home!), a piece of pumpkin pie, and a bourbon. Yes, a bourbon.

Thursday – 2 taco boats: Ortega Fiesta Flats taco shells, black beans, farmer’s market ground beef with taco seasoning, cheddar cheese, field greens, fresh farmer’s market tomato, and sliced avocado. Green beans on the side. Om nom nom!

Friday – Gilbert’s “The Froman” beef frank with spicy mustard and sweet relish and Maple Bacon kettle chips

The weekend kinda got away from me what with our social life and food prep and all so I didn’t document anything. Next week, I promise!!

Although, I’m definitely not as strict and focused on the weekends.

Talk to me: Do you tend to eat the same things every day? What do you like to eat after a workout?

– jennifer

Tasty Tuesday – Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Brownie Cookies

Hello!

It’s Tasty Tuesday and I have a fabulous Fall recipe to share with you!  Whoop!!

Make sure you head over to Lena’s page and check out all the other Tasty Tuesday yumminess! 🙂

I decided it was high time I jumped on the pumpkin bandwagon because it really seems like Fall is here to stay.  I figured we would have somewhat of an Indian Summer and have warm weather through October but…..according to the meteorologists, these temps are going up any time soon.

Of course, how much can you really count on a meteorologist but still…….I’m doing it because I want some pumpkin stuff!

I’ve been dreaming of brownie cookies lately – as well as of running. Anxious much? – and I decided I needed to incorporate pumpkin somehow.

I’ve made a couple of pumpkin brownie recipes and I’ve made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies so it seemed that the logical next step was pumpkin brownie cookies!

I’m really stoked these turned out so well on my first shot!

They are soft, chewy, pillowy, chocolatey, pumpkin spice-y, and delicious.

Thing 2 said they were really chocolatey but … really, what’s wrong with that?!

You would think they would be dense but they’re not. It’s gotta be the pumpkin that makes it like little pillows.

Little pillows of chocolatey goodness.

 

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Brownie Cookies
makes approximately 18 cookies

1 cup white whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup cocoa powder
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In small bowl, whisk together dry ingredients – flour through nutmeg.

3. In large mixer bowl, mix pumpkin, sugar, and vanilla until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition. Slowly mix in dry ingredients until incorporated. Fold in chocolate chips.

4. Drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared sheets. These will not spread so don’t worry about them running into each other.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Let cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes before removing to cooling rack.

6. NOM them down!!

 

Talk to me: Do you dream about cookies? Do you love Fall? What’s your favorite season?

– jennifer