update & some takeout salad

What have I accomplished since I last updated? Stopped cooking. Ate just about every meal out. Drank a lot of vodka. And wine. Forgot what working out felt like. Lost some confidence. Gained some good drinking friends. And most recently? Moved my butt back to the state of Texas.

Faced with a clean slate and the chance to see my family (healthiest people I know) on the weekends, I'm motivated to get back to the kind of lifestyle I know I want and should have.

At Kelly's recommendation, we recently embarked on the Paleo way of eating. Our main source for info has been Everyday Paleo. While the strictest of Paleo plans teach no liquids beyond water and absolutely no processed food, like Everyday Paleo, we're including nitrate-free bacon, black coffee and tea, and the occasional deli meat such as the ones included in this salad:

As a perk of my new gig I get some comped food, so we picked up a few gluten and dairy-free items to try. The Market Chop includes chopped turkey, salami, artichoke, tomato, carrot, radish and pumpkin seeds with balsamic vinaigrette. We asked them to leave out the provolone and forgot about the chickpeas, but those were easy to pick out. This salad easily made two meals when halved and then supplemented with several handfuls of additional greens and some grilled chicken.

I didn't have the patience to roast vegetables when I got home from work (too hungry!), so I made the other half for dinner with (indoor) grilled boneless, skinless chicken thighs I left marinating all day in sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary.

Somewhat related...a kitchen find:
Upon moving I was forced to abandon most of my kitchen at a Goodwill in Seattle, but I'm happy to have a reason to start from scratch. A few Targets and a Wal-Mart later, I found this grill on sale for just $39. First impression? Awesome. I was wary of indoor grills after years of dry chicken using George Foreman grills in their heyday, but this seems totally different. And sure, it's not a substitute for an outdoor grill, but given my choices - an indoor grill or none - I am a happy, happy grilling girl.

here goes nothing

So obviously, it has been a long time since either my lovely sister or myself has posted.....um, errr, no good excuses here. I would love to say it is because I have been too busy surfing in Hawaii or backbacking in Europe, but really I have just been in Katy, TX living life. I DID see Bourdain last night and he did, in fact, confirm that there is a valid reason I watch so much food tv- I wouldn't have understood what the heck he was talking about in his lecture if I didn't! No surprise, he was awesome and I loved every minute of his dissertation.

Despite my lack of posting, it regretfully does not translate to saved money at Heb or Whole Foods. Nah, I am still there 1-2 times per day (insert pouty face here).

Today, I stopped because I had read about a super stress reliever in my gym's magazine. Oh yeah, that gym I never go to. Is $60 a month too much to spend just because I like their monthly publication? Geesh! As I am 33 and on blood pressure meds, I thought it might be a good investment to help me get a grip and stop the stressin'!

4 drops of Bach's Rescue Remedy at the earliest moment of stress or anxiety and well......we shall see if it works. Needlesstosay, it will be in my purse at all moments.....especially at work. Not pictured, but I did bring my handy 32 oz tervis tumbler with me to work today. I have received 2 comments on it and little does everyone know, but my water has an extra kick to handle whatever is thrown at me.

Bring it. :-)

social networking soup

Thanks to good old social networking, I came across a posting of one of my friends mentioning Dr. Bastyr's Vegetable Soup. As a misplaced Texan in Seattle, Lara is definitely a TexSea Girl so I had to ask her for the recipe. The simplicity of the "recipe" can't be beat and I couldn't believe it, but I actually had everything to make it. Despite record heat indexes in Houston, soup was the meal for the weekend and it was delish! I threw in a pot a carton of Thai Coconut Curry Chicken Broth (any broth would do), some cabbage, carrots, a potato, some ginger, celery, a couple of japs, garlic, grape tomatoes and let it simmer for about 35 minutes. I added some salt, pepper and curry powder and finished off with some fresh spinach. Of course, I topped my bowls with some Parmesan! Lara also suggested adding some chicken to add to the heartiness of the soup, but it was great without as well.

Thanks to her posting, I also checked out the other recipes listed on Bastyr University's site and I can't wait to try them out. She also shared her favorite cooking method for Swiss Chard and that was last night's dinner. I had never cooked Swiss Chard (or tasted to be honest), but it has been on my "to-do" list for quite some time. Time to scratch that off! :-) Saute some garlic, ginger in olive oil, add the greens with some basalmic and let cook down. Fast, easy, healthy and tasty!!!

savory oatmeal

When I was browsing through 99 Ranch, I was expecting to try out some new soups, veggies, exotic fruit. I was completely surprised to become obsessed with...get ready.....savory oatmeal. WHAT??? Yep, Tangy Lemon Chick'n oatmeal! Oh and get this....it isn't even "chick'n"...lol! Completely vegetarian and I love it! Great for breakfast, lunch, or a snack and for a mere 95 calories, I don't even feel guilty eating 2 servings. I actually ran out of this stuff pretty quickly and upon reading a blog stating that 99 Ranch was going to stop carrying the product, I ran yesterday and picked up 4 more boxes! Oh, lest I forget I also picked up a giant bottle of Sriacha for the office as I douse my oats with it! If you can find it, give it a try....I promise you will like it!

homemade yogurt tastes like...

yogurt.  Win! 

After many a glass of wine last night, I made tzaziki with my crockpot yogurt. Let me just virtually pat myself on the back right now for taking pictures.  If not for my dedication to chronicling the mundane, I might not remember what I had.  I drank... a lot.

Here's a picture of my messy mixing bowl of a whopping FOUR cups of tzaziki:

I don't know what I was thinking using all of the yogurt for this, but ya know, I just wasn't thinking at all. I also don't know how I'm going to use up even half of this.  Guess what I'm eating for every lunch and dinner from now until Saturday?

An unfortunate photo (I blame the wine) but delicious toasted flatbread overstuffed with cumin-rubbed chicken, sauteed sweet onion, tomato slices and tzaziki.  I had tagged this meal via lifeflix a while ago (it was on my list) because it's one of those take-out fake-outs (ugh, I sound like Rachael Ray) and doesn't really require a recipe.  Making this reminded me to add grilled onions to everything I eat. Yum-O.

working lunch

Begging for some cottage cheese or prosciutto, but restaurant email marketing must go on!

doin' it - my list

For whatever reason, given a full weekend of time, I tend to spin my wheels and think more than do.  However, unintentionally waking up at 4am?  Crazy productivity.

Remember this list?  Last week I took care of the probiotics issue, yesterday/this morning crockpot yogurt (to be made into the cucumber mint salad served with marinated chicken for dinner tonight) and today's breakfast? Savory green oats.

I've only used oat bran for "pancakes" and never alone as a hot cereal, so I really had no idea what to expect. (Do know that you can add an over-easy egg to just about anything, and I'll try it.) 

I cooked 1/3c oat bran in 1c of boiling water for 2 minutes, then blended with a huge handful of fresh spinach. I found it needed tons of salt to give it some flavor (you really can't taste the spinach), so I couldn't help but wish I had some sharp cheddar to melt in.  Petty complaints aside, this was a mega-filling, nutrient-rich bowl and if it didn't use so many dishes - or if I had a dishwasher - I'd be happy to eat this several mornings a week.