Fitness Friday

This Week

Saturday 4 miles

Sunday 4 miles

Monday 4 miles

Tuesday 2 miles

Wednesday 4 miles

Thursday 2 miles 

Friday  3 miles

This week 23 miles

Total in 2011: 563

Tried and True Grilled Veg and Steak

Need a great suggestion for this terrific grilling weather.  We recently got a new grill. This dish will be one of the first I make.  The combo of veg is great.  You can do the steak skewered or mixed in.  If you prefer your steak whole, that works too.  What is excellent is you change up the marinade (think italian dressing, cilantro lime sauce, teriyaki...you name it ) and the veg or protein and it's a new dish. Easy, Peasy!

Grilled Veggies and Steak

Portabella mushrooms (diced)

Pearl onions

Halved cherry tomato

Sirloin cubed

Balsamic Vinaigrette

Marinate ingredients in vinaigrette.  Drain and grill

Tried and True...Orecchiette alla rustica (adapted from RR)

Have you ever watched a chef show and thought I can make that better?  or I can make that using different things? or I can make that with what is in the pantry?  That is where this recipe came from.  I used more things from a can, so this would be a great winter recipe.

Orecchiette alla rustica

1 lb orcheiette pasta

sauce”

2 tbsp olive oil

3 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1 can cannellini beans (not drained)

Some pitted Kalamata olives

½ cup each fresh parsley and diced bottled roast red pepper

1. Cook pasta
2. Heat oil, add garlic.  Saute until golden, add beans with their liquid, olives and seasonings (save some parsley)
3. Transfer ½ cup cooking water to skillet.  Then then add pasta.
4. Toss to mix. Add remainder of parsley to garnish

PTM

Look:: This year we've enjoyed numerous wonderful mornings at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia.  If you are ever visiting with children, this is the place to go!  We got a membership for the year and have used it so many times I can't count them all.  On this day we were celebrating Spring Break with my teacher friends.  We played in the grocery store, pretended to eat at McDonalds, rode the carousel and much more.

Learn::  Looking at these photos and recalling all my time spent with Sue and Em, I realize how much our relationships have changed (in a good way!).  When I met Emily and Susan seven years ago our common bond was being new teachers in the Wissahickon School District.  Then we grew to be good friends because of loving teaching.  Oddly enough we all bought homes within miles of each other and proximity made it even easier to be friends.   After being friends for many years now it's moved on to enjoying time together with the kids too.  It's such fun that our friendships have grown and changed since meeting at Stony Creek.

Love:: I loved Jack and Bruce the first moment I met them and even more when I held them.  But that doesn't compare to getting to know their little personalities too.  It's such fun to see smiles, laughs and even sad times  ( I think we had a bit of each at the PTM that day!).  Hoping the summer provides a few more great chances to spend with all of our friends.

Tried and True Tuesday...shrimp and penne

This one is a yummy dish that I adapted from a meal I had a great local restaurant known as Winberie's. 
We ate their before kids and I had a to die for dish on their patio. We can't really make it with the cheese here now, but I have done different forms.  The last time I had a girl's getaway, I made a version with mixed greens and penne for a lighter feel.  I could also see these ingredients (sans pasta) made a delicious wrap or sandwich.  It also makes a great dinner party dish because you can make the pasta and shrimp ahead.  Then have the ingredients ready and saute together just before eating. Uh, oh.... now I am getting hungry!

Winberie’s Shrimp and Penne

Penne Pasta (cooked)

Shrimp (cooked)

Spinach

Pine nuts

Crumbled Feta Cheese

Grated Parmesan

Diced Tomatoes (no juice or seeds)

Olive Oil and minced garlic

Saute spinach in olive oil and garlic mixture.    Add pasta and shrimp.  Next add pine nuts and tomatoes.  Last add cheeses to just get warm.

My new favorite thing with Tried and True Recipe

Look:: My new favorite thing is lunch.  I love to have play dates that stay for lunch.  It makes it so my kids can have their usual morning, then have friends come.  After a bit of playing they get a fun meal and more playtime.  What is really neat is that Chelsea gets the sense that others like to eat the same things as her (usually she has something separate at meals and snacks).

Learn::  I have learned to put most things out in advance, this leaves me free.  I set the table for a ladies' lunch.  Put a yummy dish in the crock pot (in summer this will change to a great salad). and get the kids' stuff prepped.  I adore testing out my recipes.  The best entertainment for any lunch is listening to 2, 3 and 4 year olds' conversations.  Hysterical.

 

Love:: This activity combines my friends, my kids and cooking.  Goodness, what a winning combo!  I've included the recipe for a recent tortilla soup that seemed to work out well, flavor wise.  

Tortilla Soup

1 carton chicken broth

1 cooked chicken breast (diced)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can black or pinto beans

1 can corn

1/2 bag of frozen chopped peppers

1/2 bag of frozen chopped onions

2 Tbsp taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot and set on low for 4 hours.  If you need it sooner high for 1 or 2 hours should work.  You can play with the amount of veg you want, or leave something out entirely if it isn't to your liking.  Fresh cilantro is a great addition once you've put soup into the bowl.  Another idea that would be great is tortilla strips baked in the oven served atop the soup.

Tried and True Tuesday: A stirfry

This picture doesn't do this meal justice.  I first found these ingredients together in a pack from Wegman's in the veggies section.  I've added to the ingredients and come up with my favorite stir fry recipe ever.

1 small bok choy diced
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1/2 cup assorted mushrooms diced
1 container of tofu cubed
1 small can of water chestnuts
1 bag of soy noodles
a few dashes of soy sauce
1 chunk of ginger grated
3 scallions diced

I start with the veggies and stirfry them in my wok.  As they are cooking up I grate the ginger over and mix.  Next I add the soy sauce, followed by tofu, then noodles.  In just a few minutes I have a really yummy dinner with leftovers (no one in my family would touch this with a ten foot pole...well maybe Gavin).  I make this as a treat for myself whenever I know Chris is not eating at home.

Tried and True Tuesday.....Milk, Egg and Nut Free

Many of the recipes I use are adapted from recipes I find in books and on the internet.  We adapt because of the food allergies in our home.  At this point we keep our home free of her allergens.  So even if it is a recipe just for Chris and I , I make it safe.  Here are three of our most used recipes.

Pancakes

2 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder ½ tsp salt 2 Tbsp sugar

½ tsp vanilla extract 3 Tbsp oil or applesauce 1½-2 cups water (this really varies....sometimes I use silk)

These babies freeze really well.  I make a large amount when I have time, we eat another serving a few days later and I freeze the rest.  It's also fun to make them into sandwiches or cut them into strips for easy dipping.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ C butter (Earth Balance-vegan)

9 T sugar

½ C light brown sugar

3T silk

1 1/3 C flour

1 t baking powder

½ t salt

Choco chips (Enjoy Life-milk and egg free)

350 for 15 minutes

This recipe is super easy and makes great cookies.  But I have found if I put the dough in a brownie pan, they are completely amazing cookie bars.  These also freeze really well.  If you store them in an airtight container with a slice of bread they stay moist for most of a week.

Tried and True Tuesday....Lettuce Cups

I love, love, love recreating restaurant food.

First I searched the internet for a recipe.  Had to doctor it up a bit because I never have exactly the right ingredients.  This is the recipe I came up with.

• 16 Green Lettuce leaves
• 1 pound ground chicken breast 
• 1 large onion -- chopped 
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic 
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Asian chili pepper sauce 
• 1 can (8 ounce size) sliced water chestnuts
• 1 bunch green onions -- thinly sliced 
• 1 head mini bok choy-- diced
• 1 cup shitaki mushrooms--diced 
• 2 teaspoons Asian sesame oil 
.  The first time I made it added more than 2 ts of the chili pepper sauce (which I am in love with by the way).  The second time I stuck to the recipe, much better. Also I couldn't find ground organic chicken so I used my food processor.  I ended up liking the texture better that way.  I've made them several times and loved them!

Tried and True Tuesday... A yummy homemade whole grain bread

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  I can make really yummy french bread in my bread machine.  It's a great side for salads and soups...then I can turn it into kickin croutons.  But why, oh why, can't I make some delicious bread with wheat, bran, oat and flaxseed.  The photo below is one of the duds....this stuff was really nasty.  It was hard little blobs that looked more like chicken then bread, am I right? 

 

So I turned to the library and requested a bread machine cookbook for help.  Yesterday I put all the yummy ingredients in before we headed off to the zoo.  We came home to smell of warm bread (LOVE THAT!).  I sliced off an end piece, took a bite and was pleased that I found a winner!  Here is the recipe.

1cup milk (we used silk)

3 T water

4 t honey

1 T butter (we used earth balance)

1.5 c wheat flour

1 c flour

.5 c oat bran

2 T ground flax seed

3/4 t salt

1 t yeast

Tried and True Tuesday...Soft Pretzels

We had so much fun making soft pretzels when the kids were sick last week. 
The recipe begins by putting the things below in my bread maker

1 (1/4 ounce) package dry active yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

3 cups flour

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil

Divide dough into 4 parts.  Each part will make 3 pretzels.  

Take the dough and roll it into long ropes to make pretzel shaped (Chelsea made hers into hearts...love that kid).  

Dip each pretzel into 2 quarts water boiling with 1/3 cup baking soda for about 10 seconds a side. 

The bake in a 425 degree oven 4 minutes per side.  

Yum!