Tag Archives: fruit

We’re A Crock Pot Family

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I spent a lot of time today on my binder project and I’ve barely made a dent in it; I had a backlog of more than a year!

I’m super excited to get down and dirty cutting and pasting this weekend.

I spent time on other housewifey endeavours too, isn’t she beautiful?

Yes, I am finally a crockpot kitchen kind of lady!  The Cuisinart Slow Cooker CSN Stores kindly sent me to review finally came.  As I mentioned yesterday, I pre-prepped everything so all I had to do today was turn her on.  I felt so 1950’s organizing magazine clippings at the table while dinner simmered away on the countertop.

But before dinner, what about breakfast and lunch?  Breakfast was 1cup of Total with skim milk and blueberries.

And lunch was a roasted veggie bonanza.

Roasted green/wax beans are one of the husband’s favorites now and prior to last month he thought he hated them.  Behold the power of roasting!

He also ended up being a fan of the nut-butter crusted parsnip and carrot fries.

But really, who wouldn’t be?

I also snacked on a random baggie of trail mix,

and handful of dried apricots for dessert.

And then we headed out on a glorious walk!  Since my running sessions have to be so short they are a lot more enjoyable if I incorporate them into other activities.  We walked for 10minutes, ran for 7minutes, and then spent another 25 or so ambling home.  All total we covered 3.43miles.

Dinner, of course, came from the crock pot.

I figured for my first go I’d use a recipe from the booklet that came with it.  Sausage & Lentil Soup with Tortellini, makes 8cups

  • 3/4T evoo
  • 1lb chicken Italian sausage links
  • 8oz mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (we went with sliced)
  • 3/4 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed and drained
  • 8oz chopped yellow onions
  • 8oz carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped (skipped)
  • 3/4t basil (skipped)
  • 1 1/2t thyme (skipped)
  • 3/4oz sun-dried tomatoes, slivered (I used extra here, along with s&p to make up for the skipped spices)
  • 4 1/2cups low sodium chicken stock or broth
  • 6oz cheese-filled tortellini, refrigerated

Heat the olive oil in a Cuisinart 12inch Nonstick Skillet over medium-high heat.  When hot, add the sausage in a single layer and brown evenly on all sides, about 10minutes.  Remove and let cool.  Add the mushrooms to the same pan and cook until brown, about 3 to 4 minutes.  When the sausage is cool enough to handle, cut into 1/2inch slices.

Place the lentils in the ceramic pot of the Cuisinart Slow Cooker.  Add the chopped onions, carrots, garlic, browned mushrooms, basil, and thyme; stir to combine.  Sprinkle the mixture with the slivered sun-dried tomatoes and top with the slices sausages and any accumulated juices.  Add the chicken stock.

Cover and press the On/Off button to turn the unit on.  Set time to 3 hours and press High; once Slow Cooker switches to Warm, set time for 5 hours and press Simmer.  Slow Cooker will automatically switch to Warm when cooking time has elapsed.

Forty-five minutes before serving, reset the temperature to High – if soup is every thick, add up to 2 cups of water.  After 15minutes, add the tortellini.  Cover and cook for an additional 30minutes, until tortellini are tender and cooked. 

Nutritional information per cup:  Calories 312 (31% from fat) – carb. 30g – pro. 24g – fat 11g – sat. fat 3g – chol. 51mg – sod 1015mg – calc 96mg – fiber 6g

My thoughts?  The recipe was good, but certainly not socks rocking; my favorite part was the tortellini.  I do think the nutritional info was pretty stellar though, and I like things with leftovers.  I didn’t really understand having to go back to reset the damn thing multiple times, isn’t the whole point of a slow cooker that you can set it in the morning and walk away?  If I wasn’t a bum I wouldn’t have been able to make this.

Tomorrow I’m going to school with the husband in the morning because my bat wings have a date with the pool and the gossip-center of my brain has a lunch date with Katie 😀 

Do you have a crock pot?  Any major fails you’d like to share from it?

On The Road Again

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We had a nice drive to visit the in-laws this afternoon and even made it to Ohio in time for dinner!  We split driving responsibilities 60/40 because I have the best husband in the world.  While he drove I ate some fresh mango,

and part of a cheese stick.

And while I drove Adam shared a few of his Pretzel M&M’s with me.

These are new variety and they are go-oood!  I love chocolate pretzel confections and this might be the best kind I’ve ever tried.  The consistency was like a whopper and it was a good balance of salty and sweet.

Once we got to Ohio we met the in-laws for dinner at Adam’s favorite Mexican place.  I went with an order of veggie fajitas.

Astonishingly my meal was pretty healthy; lots of veggies.  I wrapped 4 tortillas around broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, and onions and beans and guacamole.

It’s likely I’ll do some snacking this evening, but I’ll update later if when that happens.

Veggies eaten today: 2.5cups.

What is your order from the local Mexican joint?  I adore chile relanos but they aren’t the healthiest, I try to at least always get something with lots of veggies.

P.S. Iowa Girl is giving away some Cascadian Farms goodies.

Boo Hoo Hoo

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The husband got up extra early for school today so I decided to get up too ….. and watch some tv!  Seriously though, I watched the season finales for “Mercy” and “Private Practice” and sobbed at both.  I am not even much of a crier but for some reason these both really got to me!

Between tears I ate a nice juicy breakfast.

0% Oikos with blackberries, a bit of honey, and fresh mango.

This combination was perfect, my berries are a bit under-ripe and very tart but the sweetness of the mango helped to balance it out.

Breakfast also helped fuel me for another treadmill visit.  10minutes walking + 5minutes jogging + 10minutes walking = 1.64miles and 25minutes.

Afterwards I headed home and put lunch into the oven before I did 25minutes of strength training and final packing.  While I continued sweating, some fresh green beans with salt and a portobello mushroom cap with balsamic vinegar were roasting up in the 450* oven.

The green bean fries made a great side,

and my ‘shroom was served sandwich style on a ww bun with miracle whip and a sprinkle of 2% Colby cheese.

Now I’ve got to hurry up and shower before I make us late!

Veggies eaten so far today: ~1.5cups

What was the last tv show or movie that got you teary eyed?

My “First” Run

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It’s a late evening, but I’m not that worried about bedtime because Adam and I actually took a long nap this afternoon!  We haven’t been sleeping very well and it felt great to catch some daytime zzz’s.

Post-nap, we headed over to the gym for my 1st run in 2months!  I hopped on the treadmill for 5minutes walking, 5minutes at a slow jog, and 5minutes of walking for 1mile and 15minutes.  I can’t even tell you how hard it was to make myself stop running!  I ended with 15minutes of strength training.  My fracture didn’t hurt at all, but I had a twinge higher up in my leg so I did use a cold pack when I got home.

I was dying to eat dinner, so I snaked on a big handful of dried apricots while I waited.

Dinner was mostly an excuse to demolish my daily veggie goal.

Here is the recipe link, but I basically topped thin ww spaghetti with roasted broccoli, mushrooms, and tomatoes.

Delish!  P.S.  I also ate a small serving of dark chocolate whilst Buffy watching.

Veggies eaten today: 3.5cups

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

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It is soooooo windy here today!  I’m a little afraid that if I take a nap I’ll wake up exclaiming “we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!”  Or maybe that’s just on my mind because the latest episode of “Bones” had a witch in red slippers 🙂

However,  as always, hunger > bad weather so we braved the gales and headed to the grocery store.  Our weekly salad bar trip is kind of my favorite date!

I didn’t eat breakfast so I really made lunch count!  A little bit of general tso chicken,

a big scoop of ginger eggplant (the same pretty healthy, super tasty stuff from last week),

a bit of broccoli,

and some delicious fresh fruit, i.e. mango, watermelon, and pineapple.

Yums!  It made perfect fuel for sale scouring.  I also had a few undocumented samples.

Now we are going to follow the yellow brick road on down to the movie theater.  Hope everyone else is having a great Saturday!

Fruit eaten so far today: ~1.5cups

*****Updated to add –

Everything I didn this weekend seemed to be very picture unfriendly – dark movie theatres, bars, etc – so I decided to spare you the bad pictures and start fresh on Monday.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Yes, Of Course I’ll Hold

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I gritted my teeth and silently pictured the people I had to deal with on the phone today getting punched in the face and got all my to-do’s done.  I also watched some tv 😉  Anyone else into “Private Practice” this season?  I starting bawling at the end the most recent episode.

I ate while I lived vicariously through the lives of the tiny people on my laptop.

My tasty fruit salad contained 2 kiwis and a honey tangerine.

I also dug into the stewed tamarinds.

Tamarinds grow inside a pod, and to eat one you have to split the pod and suck the meat off of the seeds.  Even when they are stewed, West Indian style you still have to worry about the seeds.

The deliciousness is worth the mess though, I promise.

I also dug into the freezer for something I bought on super sale last week.

Weight Watchers pizza bagels sounded a little iffy, but for less than $1 I figured it was worth a shot.

They were actually pretty good.

Back to the couch!

What was the last company that put you on hold?  How long did you have to wait?  I feel like everything I’ve done this week has been extra ridiculous, but one time this summer Budget put me on hold for 45minutes!  Their company is so unprofessional I finally just gave up trying to get reimbursed for the insurance money they owe me.

Fruit eaten so far today:  2+cups (I’m not really sure how to count the tamarinds)

Fridge Traffic JAM

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It’s officially the first work-week of May!  Where has this year gone?!?  For that matter, where has today gone, it’s all felt a little rushed.

Adam and I both had another lackluster sleep last night 😦  Isn’t it just the worst feeling to toss and turn when you’d like to be resting up?  The morning felt like it came way too quickly and the snooze buttons were pressed several times.  I had to drive the husband to school so I could use the car to run errands, so I rushed out the door with him.  How happy am I that it’s finally throw on a sundress season?

I was a little irritated to have to go to the post office when I hadn’t even eaten breakfast but it ended up being a good thing because my parents send me an amazing package!  It was Carnival in St. Thomas last week and they sent me all sorts of goodies –

I packed the soursop jam away into cabinet before I could even look at it.  I have a problem –

Seriously, Emily?  6 open jars of fruit spreads!

However, I tore into the stewed tamarind immediately.

A few spoonfuls in I managed to stop myself and actually assemble breakfast.

Stonyfield plain fat-free yogurt with stewed tamarind and 1/2cup raspberries.

I couldn’t get over how pretty it was and the taste combination was amazing!

Eat More Fruit Tip # 1 – Instead of buying “fruit on the bottom” yogurts, make your own!  Plain fat free yogurt with berries and fruit spread stirred in has less sugar than the ones you buy at the store, and is a whole lot tastier too!

Lunch was pretty gorgeous as well.

Eat More Fruit Tip # 2 – Smoothies are a very tasty way to eat your fruits, just be sure not to add too many high-calorie/sugar additives.

I had a whole slew of annoying phone calls to make and the morning slipped away while I was on the phone.  By the time I was headed out the door I was already late so I made myself a to-go smoothie for lunch.  1 small frozen banana, 1/2cup frozen blackberries, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj, and 1/2t xanthan gum.

The smoothie was supposed to be swim fuel but sadly that didn’t pan out.  When I got to the pool all of the lanes were full and I was too late picking up Adam to wait. 

The swim no-go is especially annoying because I don’t want to swim, I want to run, and I can do that any where.  My hopeful date to start running again is May 10th and I’m getting a little nervous because my leg still hurts.  The doctor said it would hurt up until it was healed (and then I could get moving again) but I’m so afraid that the 10th with come and go and I’ll still be stuck.  I’m so eager to run again that it physically hurts when I see other people out on a job.  I made get-well wishes on several of these today.

What would you wish on a dandelion for?

Fruit eaten so far today:  3cups

May 3rd – May 9th: Eat 2 Cups of Fruit Each Day

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I’ll be back with a breakfast/lunch post later, but I wanted to introduce my goal for this week before I headed out.

I’m challenging myself to eat a more healthy diet this month.  You can check this post for more information, but essentially I am turning to the USDA’s food pyramid for inspiration.  This week’s goal is to hit or surpass the daily recommended allowance of fruit.

Here is a chart from MyPyramid.gov with the recommended allowances –

Since I’m a woman in my 20s my goal will be to eat at least 2 cups of fruit each day this week.  I actually think that cups is a pretty arbitrary size assignment, I wish that the pyramid would be updated to include weight measurements.  Maybe when I’m an R.D.?  For now I’ll work with what I’ve got; here are some examples of what “1cup” of means for the common fruits –

The website has good tips for including more fruit into your diet, and I’ll being give my own ideas this week as well.

[All images and facts in this post sourced from http://www.mypyramid.gov]