Week 1 down!

This week we have eaten a LOT of chicken, pork loin chops... and a couple of days ago I made pasta using Barilla Pasts Plus, as well as ground turkey. Lunches have been a wrap or a huge salad, with romaine, spinach, peppers, mushrooms, cucumbers, green onions, tomatoes, chicken, and a little feta. Fat free Balsamic vinaigrette, or sometimes just a bit of lemon or lime juice with balsamic, and dijon mustard, shaken up in a clean baby food jar with a lid. Some days I put about a teaspoon of julienned olive-oil packed sundried tomatoes in there as well.

Last night, we had 4 chicken breasts to use up. We had some Whole Wheat tortillas, and pinto beans. Jeff had gone to Trader Joe's and bought some frozen brown rice. HUGE time saver... 3 minutes in the micro, and poof! Brown rice!! So, since I had both cilantro and parsley, I whipped up a Chimichurri sauce. I just went to Epicurious and typed in "Chimichurri Sauce" and made the recipe from Bon Appetite, October 2002. Using my food processor made short work of this... it literally took me more time to locate the blade for my mini work bowl then the actual recipe did to prepare.

Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (packed) fresh Italian parsley
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup (packed) fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

Puree all ingredients in processor. Transfer to bowl. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Cover and let stand at room temperature.)

I preheated the oven to 425, put the 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts on a foil-lined baking sheet, and spooned about a Tablespoon of sauce over each chicken breast, turning to coat completely. I baked them for around 35 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Then, they were sliced thinly on the diagonal, and we had them wrapped up in the Whole Wheat Tortillas with beans, brown rice, chimichurri sauce, and salsa.

I also grated some cheddar (not for me!) but for hubby to put on his burritos, and also so our pre-schooler could have quesadillas.

So, although I am not 100% sure of my starting weight at the beginning of the week... I need to find my bathroom scale, it is still packed away. I did weigh myself, fully clothed, holding the baby at her well visit yesterday. I subtracted her weight plus 2 pounds for clothes and shoes (a conservative estimate... I was wearing jeans)

Anyway, I weigh about 10 pounds less than I did at Thanksgiving, also fully clothed weighing myself at Jeff's Grandma's (after eating Thanksgiving dinner) - highly unaccurate? Yes... but still, it's LESS even AFTER the holidays eating, the cookies, eggnog, "holiday cheer", the take-out... and after only a week of this new way of eating.

1/6/09 - Day 3

Breakfast:
1 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax & milk
Water

Lunch:
Leftover dijon pork loin chop (recipe follows!), cut into strips, w/a squeeze of lime, salt & pepper, microwaved.
~2c romaine lettuce
1/4 c orange bell pepper
1 t.oil packed julienned sundried tomato, chopped
Smart & Delicious whole grain tortilla
Lime juice, balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper
Water

Dijon Pork Chops:

• 4 pork loin chops cut 1/2 inch thick
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 Tbsp Dijon style mustard
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large skillet cook meat in hot oil over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or just until brown, turning once. Spread mustard mixture over meat. Cover and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes or until done (160 degrees F) and juices run clear.

Dinner 1/5/09

So... dinner last night was great! I made Toasted Quinoa Pilaf, and also some really good chicken. My additions are in bold.

I got this recipe from 3 FatChicksonadiet.com

T's Easy Chicken:

Chicken breast, mushrooms and tomatoes cooked with a little olive oil, lemon and onion. A simple one skillet dish that's sure to please.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used 4 Costco boneless skinless Foster Farms chicken breasts, each cut in half.)
• 1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 c chicken broth
• Salt & Pepper

DIRECTIONS
Heat oil, lemon juice onion, and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. When onion is tender, add chicken, mushrooms and tomatoes.
Cook over medium high heat for 5 to 7 minutes each side, stirring occasionally, or until chicken is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, I cooked the chicken a lot longer than that... probably 7 minutes a side, and then added some chicken broth, covered, and turned to low for 15-20 minutes. It was still quite pink inside after the first 14 minutes... and also hubby had a late work night, and I was trying to keep dinner warm, and not overcooked or dried out.

Served the chicken with the veggie mixture and some of the "sauce" spooned over the top, over the Quinoa Pilaf. Also had broccoli (steamed in the micro with some water, as well as the already juiced cut lemon halves, for a little extra flavor)

Toasted Quinoa Pilaf

PREP: 20 minutes
COOK: 20 minutes
MAKES: 12 servings (I cut this recipe in half - so if you want to as well, just halve the recipe below!)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots or onion (I used onion)
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (1 tablespoon minced)
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups quinoa,* or barley, rinsed and well drained
• 3 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed (was out of thyme, but used basil instead!)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup bottled roasted red bell peppers, diced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan cook shallots and garlic in hot oil over medium heat until tender. Carefully stir in quinoa or barley. Cook and stir about 5 minutes or until quinoa or barley is golden brown. Carefully stir in broth, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender and fluffy (cook barley about 10 minutes or until tender) and liquid is absorbed.

2. Discard bay leaf. Gently stir in roasted peppers. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.

Back on...

Well... a lot has happened in my life since last post, years and years ago. I lost weight....was in a wedding, went to Mexico, got pregnant again, gained weight, had another baby in April 2008 (a girl). We bought a house, moved.... see... a lot!!

So, now here I am once again... this time 9 months postpartum with baby girl, while that sweet little baby boy is now 4. More chaos, more laundry, more rooms to try and keep clean... This all means I have even LESS time to spend on myself...less time to spend on cooking, planning, and grocery shopping.

But, once again, the time has come to shed the baby weight, and then some! So starting yesterday, it's back to the Sonoma lifestyle.

I need to figure out shortcuts to help make things easier, more streamlined, and ways to make meals take less time to prepare. Like, last night, I washed and dried the produce...roasted and chopped chicken for salads, wraps, etc, and put everything into ziplocks. Not as much as I would have liked to get done, sure... but any head start is good, right? As Ashley gets a little bigger, I will be able to spend more time prepping, pre-chopping, etc.