May 15, 2013

WIAW: Recipe Dump Edition

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Despite the fact that I’ve been cooking a lot of awesome shit lately (and even photographing it afterwards), it’s been ages since I did a What I Ate Wednesday post. So here are some cool new recipes I’ve tried over the last few months.

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Thanks to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting.

Gluten-Free Quinoa Salad with Creamy Tahini Dressing

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I added some grilled chicken strips to this one to increase the calories and make it more filling. With lentils, quinoa, chicken and lots of healthy fats, this was really satisfying and yummy.

Creamy Chicken and Spinach Pasta

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This recipe is really the best of both worlds – comfort food with lots of vegetables, which I don’t always get enough of.

Swiss Chard Lasagna

I’m using the Food Network’s picture of this lasagna because mine was so ugly, I couldn’t bear to have it mar an otherwise pretty post. Given that this recipe is like 80% cheese, it’s not surprising that it tasted heavenly. I need more asiago cheese in my world.

Lamb with Fennel and Tomatoes

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I’m not crazy about lamb but Josh loves it so we make it occasionally. With this recipe, I prepared the lamb a little differently; first, I breaded it and then I baked it instead of grilling it (I have a grill but it’s tiny so it’s a pain in the ass to cook multiple servings of meat on it).

African Chicken Peanut Stew

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This might be my favourite recipe ever. It’s supposed to make 6-8 servings but Josh and I crushed, like, half the pot the first night we made it – it’s just that good.

Mascarpone and Strawberry Tarts

And, finally, a dessert recipe that is dirt easy but will make you super popular when you bring these bad boys to potlucks:

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Ingredients:
- 36 mini Tenderflake tarts
- 1 package of strawberries, sliced
- 475 grams mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 cup brown sugar

Directions:
- Bake tarts according to package directions
- Mix sugar and cheese in a bowl. Let sit for a few minutes
-  Once tarts have cooled, fill each with a tablespoon of cheese and top with strawberry slices

Until next time (which could very well be three months from now) – Happy WIAW!

Filed Under: Daily Eats, Recipes, Uncategorized · Tagged:
Jan 2, 2013

Shaking It Up in 2013

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Hey there, welcome to 2013!

I don’t go back to work until Friday, which is great because I’m still recovering from New Year’s Eve. Josh and I hosted a wine and cheese party at our house and while it was tons of fun, I don’t recover as easily from four hours of sleep and copious amounts of alcohol as quickly as I used to. I’m still pretty pooped even though I spent most of yesterday napping.

I was a total lazy bum yesterday but got back into the swing of things this morning by doing BodyPump 79. This was the same release I did on Monday morning, so my last workout of 2012 and my first workout of 2013 ended up being the same.

I don’t really do New Year’s resolutions but I still like that feeling of having a “fresh start” when entering a new year. I want to shake up my current gym routine a little, so I bought a Groupon for Body Discipline fitness studio.

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I’m trying to chill out on the fitness Groupons (I get so many e-mailed to me every week) but the class descriptions looked interesting. In particular, I want to try these two classes:

Body Blast

Led by a Certified Personal Trainer, our BODY BLAST class uses our Keiser Pneumatic – Air Resistance Machines to help you achieve your goal of a lean, toned and strong body. The class will include a light warm-up, strength training, and ends with a short stretching routine to cool down body and mind.

Tabata

One of the hottest fitness trends today, this high intensity class will boost metabolism, blast body fat and have you burning more calories long after the workout is over! Incorporating short bursts of maximum intensity cardio with brief rest periods, this class is guaranteed to make you sweat! Try one class and we are sure that you will be hooked.

I’m signed up for Tabata tomorrow afternoon and I might do Body Blast on the weekend. The studio also offers hot and regular yoga, Zumba, boot camp, spin and pilates, so plenty of options to keep my fitness routine from getting stale over the next three months.

I’m also looking to freshen up my cooking repertoire so I picked up Food Network Magazine’s Great Easy Meals: 250 Fun & Fast Recipes.

The biggest selling point here (other than the fact that the word EASY is emphasized in the title) is that every recipe comes with a picture. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a beautifully staged and airbrushed pictures of food.

Can’t wait to flip through this and find some new meal ideas.

Hope your 2013 is off to a great start so far!

How are you shaking things up in the New Year? 

Filed Under: Cardio, Daily Eats, Motivation, Recipes, Strength Training ·
Oct 3, 2012

Cook Once, Eat for Days

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It’s What I Ate Wednesday and for once I actually have an original recipe to share.

Well, it’s not my recipe – I got it from Josh’s sister-in-law, who got it from a Portuguese friend of hers. Not sure what it should be called ($10 for anyone who names it) but for now let’s just call it “big ass serving of chicken and rice.”

This kind of meal is great for when you’re too busy/lazy to cook dinner during the week. Josh and I prepared it on Sunday night and have been living off the leftovers since. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
750 g Italian rice
2 hot house tomatoes
1 bunch parsley
500 mL white cooking wine
1 tall can of Hunt’s tomato sauce
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp garlic powder
2 cubes chicken boullion
Frank’s red hot sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high and sautee onions and garlic until soft

3. Add tomatoes and parsley

4. Pour in bottle of cooking wine and can of tomato sauce; fill about half of the empty can with water and add to pot

5. Mix in chicken boullion, salt and pepper, to taste, garlic powder and splashes of hot sauce

6. Add chicken thighs, reduce heat to medium and let simmer for 7 minutes

7. Meanwhile, layer rice at the bottom of a large greased basting pan (you’ll need one that has a lid). After seven minutes, pour a layer of sauce over the rice using a ladle. Place chicken thighs on top of rice and top with remaining sauce. Cover and bake for 45 minutes.

8. Add hot sauce, to taste (the more the better, as far as I’m concerned), and get out your tupperware! This is what was leftover after we ate dinner:

Makes 10 servings (390 calories per serving)

While I love this recipe, I don’t want to eat it at every single meal so I make sure to mix it up by alternating my leftovers with quick, easy meals. Using that strategy, here’s what I ate on Monday:

Breakfast

I got my morning started with a P28 bagel topped with almond butter and strawberries and a cup of green ginger tea.

Lunch

For lunch, I ate leftovers with a handful of spinach thrown in for good measure (gotta sneak in those extra veggies somewhere).

Pre-Workout

My pre-workout snack was Greek yogurt with blueberries and granola. The workout of the day was a BodyStep class at the gym near my work.

Dinner

For dinner, I didn’t feel like eating chicken and rice again so I whipped up an omelette and salad.

To make the salad, I mixed spinach, grape tomatoes, yellow pepper, avocado, couscous, olive oil and lemon juice – one of my favourite throw-it-together-in-minutes meals.  For dessert, I had a mini Crispy Crunch bar (from my Halloween candy stash).

Snack

VitaTops have been on sale for the past couple of weeks so, as you can imagine, I’ve been hoarding them like crazy. My bedtime snack was a VitaTop with raspberries.

So there you have it – as always, thanks to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting this little party! Have a fantastic Wednesday!

Have any recipes that could feed a small village? Share them!

Filed Under: Daily Eats, Recipes · Tagged:
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