Sunday food prep (2) – what went down in my kitchen

Hello!

Happy Monday!

Did you have a good weekend?

It rained all weekend over here. Seriously. My grass is so tall!

If it doesn’t stop raining every weekend, my grass will soon get tall enough for this….

source

Just sayin.

We did date night on Saturday – haven’t had one of those in a while!

Dinner and a movie.

Or, actually, movie and dinner. 🙂

We saw Lucy. Have you seen it yet? What did you think?

Then, we went to the mexican restaurant across the street where I had a margarita as big as my head!

And some guacamole that was advertised as “made fresh at your table” but she just brought us the bowl. Guess the guacamole maker didn’t want to push his little cart to each table. Oh well. At least it was fresh!

And not at all spicy. Le sigh. We had to ask for the jalapeno. Oh well. At least the margarita was as big as my head! 😉

Then, I got down to business on Sunday and did some food prep for this week.

Dude, I was EXHAUSTED by the time I was done.

Probably didn’t help that I was doing laundry, cleaning, and trying to pull out a ginormous weed that was threatening to take over my a/c unit at the same time.

First thing that went down were some hard-boiled eggs.

Not for me. Blech.

My sailor and Thing 2 love them. They will be quick grab and go fuel perfect for a sailor’s lunchbox. 🙂

 Then, I made some trail mix.

I like the idea of making our own trail mix because we can control the ratio of ingredients. AND, we’re not stuck with what somebody else prefers or some generic trail mix blend.

I used roasted almonds, shelled pistachios, roasted unsalted peanuts, sunflower seeds, dried berry blend (blueberries, cherries, and strawberries – YUM!), and some M&M’s (my sailor really only buys the trail mix for the M&M’s so he can fool me into thinking he’s eating healthy. 😉  He just doesn’t know I’m on to his little trick.)

We mixed it all up in a big container and then portioned some out into 2 mason jars so we could each have one at our desks at work.

 Pretty fancy, huh? 🙂

 We totally chowed down on Lindsay’s Peanut Butter Banana Oat Muffins last week but I wanted to do something different.

 So, I figured I would give her Quinoa Breakfast Bars a try. HOLY. YUM.

I couldn’t wait for them to cool completely to try one – they smelled so good! They even got a 2 thumbs up from Thing 2!

Shhh….don’t tell that there’s quinoa in them. It can be our little secret. 😉

I took her suggestion and individually bagged each bar for easy grab-and-go in the mornings.

And, they don’t have to just be for breakfast – I have one today for my PM snack with a couple of clementines.

Is it snack time yet? 😉

As you know, I ❤ the sweet potato so I decided I would wedge up 3 and roast them for lunch/dinner combos.

I can seriously eat a sweet potato every day so I’ll be surprised if these actually last 3 days.

 

These are super easy. Scrub, wedge, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, roast at 425 degrees for 25-35 minutes (depending on how big you make your wedges), gobble let cool, put into container for later.

We totally used up all the chicken I roasted last week so I decided to do it again.

Harris Teeter had organic whole chickens in stock this time so I grabbed one and made use of my crockpot.

 5 hours later (on high), I had a perfectly cooked and seasoned bird ready for slicing/shredding.

We’ll use it for sandwiches, salads, etc this week.

 Finally, I decided to make some burgers.

As I said earlier, it pretty much rained all weekend so I was glad I have a cast iron grill pan. 🙂

I used the recipe from my Abs Diet Cookbook.

I had one for lunch today (on its own – no bun) with some of those sweet potatoes, some spicy (for real spicy!) guacamole, and some veggies. Om nom nom!!

So, that’s what happened in my kitchen yesterday. What happened in yours?

Talk to me: When was the last time you had a margarita as big as your head? What movies have you seen lately?

So, I totally kicked my own butt yesterday….

Hello, hello!

Remember that kickass bodyweight WOD I did yesterday?

Yeah.

Totally kicked my own ass.

I am so flippin’ sore today!

I’m so glad today was a run day!

And, it was beautiful this morning!

I absolutely love Fall weather. 🙂

So, the hotel has gas grills available for the guests to use.

We’ve checked them out – they’re not too bad.

So, for tonight’s dinner, I’m going to make some hamburgers with the leftover sirloin and italian sausage from Sunday’s chili.

I bought a jar of BBQ seasoning to throw in.

Should be pretty interesting!

I’ve never used hot italian sausage in a burger.

I’ll let you know how they turn out!

Question: What’s your favorite season? 

I’m a big fall girl.  Football, beautiful trees, cool weather – LOVE!

– jennifer

Beer, donuts & Pork Patties with Plum Sauce and Napa Cabbage

Hello! Happy Friday!

Yesterday was such a long day! Up at 3:30am for Crossfit, physical therapy at 10:00am, plus a full, ridiculously busy day at work. I was totally ready to go home at 5:00! But, I didn’t – ended up going to one of our favorite local joints to have someone else make dinner for a change. I had the blackened catfish. I should have had the burger. Oh well, at least I can always rely on my old pal, Stella. 🙂

Happy National Donut Day! Did you celebrate today? I did! I haven’t had a donut in almost 2 years – not kidding! – and I was definitely ready. Also tried my first iced coffee this morning. I got the hazelnut flavor. It was pretty tasty! I can see why people enjoy them so much.

I got a Bavarian cream donut. Those were my favorite when I was growing up. I can’t remember the last time I had one of those. It was definitely worth the wait! And, in the grand scheme of things, relatively harmless as an occasional treat. One is only 270 calories with 15 grams of fat (7 saturated). Compare that to their cinnamon cake donut (340 calories/22g fat with 10 saturated) and that’s a major win! (In case you’re interested, Dunkin Donuts provides nutrition information on their website.) If you’re a glazed fan, those are decent too but I always want more than one. Then, that becomes not so decent. Anyway, with my banana, my morning snack/treat was pretty decent today. 🙂

Donuts? Yes or No?
What’s your favorite kind?

So, what’s on your menu for dinner tonight? Tried out a new “burger” recipe the other night. Pork Patties with Plum Sauce served with some Napa Cabbage Slaw. Definitely not your traditional burger – no buns, hon! 🙂 Seasoned with Asian seasonings like ginger, sherry, and garlic and rounded out with some cooked bulgur, these patties are lighter than you would expect. The plum sauce was SUPER easy and was supremely delicious. And Thing 2 is a fan of Napa cabbage so the salad/slaw was a win, too. Seriously, if you’ve never tried Napa cabbage, you should use it in place of lettuce in your next salad. It has a great flavor that marries so well with other vegetables and it stands up to dressing without getting all wilty and soggy (yuck).

You can grill the patties or cook them inside in a skillet or a grill pan. The perfect follow-up to this meal? Grilled pineapple for dessert! Om nom nom!

Have you ever grilled fruit for dessert?
If you haven’t, you totally should give it a try. It’s fabulous!

Pork Patties with Plum Sauce and Napa Cabbage
serves 6

1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped plums (about 1/2 pound)
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon Sriracha (hot chile sauce)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup uncooked bulgur
1 1/2 pounds ground pork, 80% lean
1 cup diagonally cut green onions, divided
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
2 tablespoons dry sherry
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
6 cups shredded napa (Chinese) cabbage (about 1/2 large head)
3 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Place plum mixture in a blender or food processor; process until smooth.

2. Combine 1 cup boiling water and bulgur in a medium bowl; cover and let stand 20 minutes. Drain well. Combine bulgur, pork, 1/2 cup onions, 1/4 cup cilantro, sherry, garlic, ginger, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Divide pork mixture into 12 equal portions, gently shaping each into a 3/4-inch-thick patty. Press a nickel-sized indentation in center of each patty. Heat a large skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add 6 patties to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until done. Repeat with remaining 6 patties.

3. Combine remaining onions, remaining cilantro, remaining salt, cabbage, vinegar, and oil; toss gently to coat. Serve patties with slaw; drizzle with plum sauce.

Per serving (2 patties, 1 cup slaw, 2 tablespoons sauce):
Calories 296; Fat 10.8g (saturated 4.1g, monounsaturated 4.3g, polyunsaturated 1.5g); Protein 25.4g; Carbs 24.1g; Fiber 4.2g; Sodium 724mg
Recipe from Cooking Light, June 2012

– jennifer