Tag Archives: food

Grocery Shopping like a Nerd

Posted by Melissa on June 16, 2013 8 comments

Inspired by Tiffany’s post last week, I thought I’d share my OCD grocery shopping and meal planning tactics.

(from top left: Shakshouka, Strawberry Balsamic Pizza, Curried Cauliflower and Chickpeas
with Grains, Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos, White Pizza Lasagna,
Zucchini Cakes, and Double Bean Quesadillas)

Every Wednesday our ads for HEB (local grocery store) and Sprouts Farmer’s Market come in the mail. I sit down and comb each page of the ads, making a list of everything on sale.

Then I make a list of everything in our pantry and fridge. I try to choose recipes where a majority of the ingredients are already in our kitchen since it’s more cost effective.

Next I hop on the internet machine and hunt down some recipes. Lately I’ve become borderline obsessed with Jessica from How Sweet Eats and many of the meals on our list this week are straight from her archives. Melissa raved about a Curried Cauliflower and Chickpea recipe she made recently so that made it’s way onto the list as well. I try to have between 5-7 meals planned out; this will get us through about a week and a half since most recipes have plenty of leftovers.

Then I make ANOTHER LIST with all of the meals on the left and their respective ingredients on the right.

From this list, I make my final grocery list which has HEB on one side and Sprouts on the other. Each side is also divided up by aisle. Yes, I have issues. But you’d be surprised how fast I can get in and out of a grocery store. So don’t judge.

Sprouts is at about the halfway mark in my commute so I’ll stop there on Friday on my way home from work. Once I get home and put the groceries away, Brad and I head to HEB for Round 2. Shopping on Friday night around 6pm preserves your sanity considering most of the city is out having happy hour cocktails or kicking off date night. We’re home no later than 7 and then the weekend can officially begin!

Tell me your best grocery shopping and/or meal planning tip.

LDW Wrap-up & September Changes

Posted by Melissa on September 4, 2012 23 comments

I’d be hard pressed to think of a long weekend that was more relaxing than this one. It consisted of a ton of cooking, three coffee-fueled trips to the dog park, adult beverages, and sleeping in. Sounds terrible, right?

Here’s an Instagram tour of the weekend:

The final meal of the weekend was inspired by a recipe from The Wannabe Foodie: Butternut Squash Mac n Cheese. Because I have a realllyyyy hard time following directions, I revamped the recipe as follows:

1 container DePasquales fresh pasta (or 1 box gemelli) 1 box Ancient Harvest Quinoa Veggie Curls
1 cup butternut squash puree pumpkin puree
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons fat free half and half
1/4 cup chicken broth vegetable broth
1 heaping tablespoon 1/3 fat cream cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese smoked gouda
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 cup onions, sliced thinly leeks, thinly sliced
1 glove garlic, sliced thinly or grated
1 large crispy apple, grated
4 tablespoons crumbled bacon
1 teaspoon dried sage fresh basil
freshly grated Fontina for garnish

Did you think I was exaggerating when I said “revamped”?

I knew I’d end up omitting the bacon so I wanted to add something to enhance the flavor of the dish a little. The smoked gouda was perfect for that. I think it would definitely be better with bacon BUT if you’re a vegetarian, this recipe is still a homerun. Make it. You won’t regret it. I’ll be happily eating leftovers all week.

So back to that whole vegetarian thing. Yesterday I mentioned we were embarking on a meat-free journey for the month of September. I’m trying to broaden our horizons when it comes to meals so this will force me to try a few new (to me) things, like spaghetti squash. Cooking is something I’m really passionate about and I think this month will really push me outside my comfort zone and get a little creative.

I used to be a vegetarian so this isn’t a “see if I can last a month without bacon” challenge. I know I can do it, and physically (and mentally) feel better when following a plant-based diet. I’d like to get back to that point. Brad is joining me for the month, but may not stick to it 100%. If he wants meat, he says he’ll cook it himself. And once that calendar flips over to October 1st I’m sure he’ll go running back to his carnivorous ways. As for me? I wouldn’t be surprised if I remained an ovo-lacto. We shall see.

Are you a vegetarian? If no, have you followed a plant-based diet in the past?

Link to your favorite vegetarian recipes below! {please&thankyou}

Quinoa Stuffed Mushrooms with Goat Cheese

Posted by Melissa on September 2, 2012 4 comments

This is a super simple dinner, perfect for a quick weeknight meal. Start to finish – on the table in less than thirty minutes! Feel free to omit the cheese to make the meal vegan.

Ingredients

quinoa (or grain of choice)
portabella mushroom caps
small onion, sliced
goat cheese (1oz per mushroom cap)
bread crumbs
olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Prepare quinoa as recommended on the package.

While quinoa is cooking, sauté one small onion until soft and translucent.

Brush the mushroom caps with olive oil and season with salt & pepper.

Pop into the oven for 5 minutes, par cooking them.

Once the quinoa is done, add to the onion and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle in a small (<1 tbsp) amount of breadcrumbs into the quinoa and stir. This will help hold the mixture together as you transfer it into the mushroom caps.

Line the caps up on a baking sheet coated with non-stick spray. Evenly distribute the filling between the mushrooms until the caps are full. (Depending on the serving size on the grain you chose, you may have some left over.)

Top each mushroom with goat cheese, and place the baking sheet in the oven for 5-7 minutes or until the cheese starts to melt.

If you have a little bit more time, try roasting cherry tomatoes in the oven until they burst. Add to the top of each mushroom, and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Those two simple steps really enhance the flavor of the dish.

Enjoy!

Dinner with Chobani at EVOO

Posted by Melissa on August 22, 2012 5 comments

While in Cambridge last weekend I had the opportunity to attend an event at EVOO hosted by Chobani. Ashley, Kristin and I met up in our room for a glass of wine and then caught a cab to Kendall Square for dinner.

photo credit: caitlin

Chef Peter McCarthy put together a special menu for us, incorporating Chobani into every course.

While chatting excitedly over the menu, we ordered a round of cocktails and snacked on spiced nuts & cheeses. After much deliberation I strayed from my usual wine order and went with the Lemon Basil Mojito.

I liked this combination much better than the traditional lime and mint mojito.

First Course was Heirloom Tomatoes, Yogurt Gelee, Spearmint, Basil, EVOO, and Coarse Salt. Caprese Salad is one of my favorites so once this dish was set down in front of me I knew I’d love it. Although I was skeptical at first, the texture of the yogurt gelee was very similar to fresh mozzarella. The salt also brought out the sweetness of the heirloom tomatoes. This one was a winner.

Second Course was Lobster-Vanilla Yogurt Succotash. I loved the presentation of this dish. The subtle hint of vanilla paired perfectly with the lobster, complementing the fresh crisp vegetables.

The Main Course was Seared Yogurt & Spice Sous Vide Lamb Loin with Crisp Eggplant and Raita. A little back story: I went vegetarian for a year in 2009. I started eating meat again in 2010 but lamb was one thing (along with veal) which I just couldn’t imagine eating again. I figured if anything, I would at least try it.

The lamb loin was very tender and the raita flavorful. The two components worked really well together, rather than the raita simply being a condiment for the lamb. The fried eggplant was a nice touch – I definitely wouldn’t have minded an extra piece. Or two!

Dessert was a Nectarine-Basil Crisp with Frozen Berry Yogurt. This was hands-down my favorite of the night. The contrast of the cold strawberry yogurt and warm crisp was incredible. You could have heard a pin drop during this course – everyone was too busy enjoying their food to talk!

Overall the dinner was absolutely phenomenal. The flavor in each course was spot on and Chobani never overpowered the dish. Chef Peter McCarthy came out afterwards to discuss his menu a little and it was interesting to hear the thought process for each dish.

We snapped a few photos after dinner and then hopped in a cab to drag our full, happy selves back to the Hyatt.

Emily of Chobani, me, Ashley, and Kristin

Awesome meal, amazing bloggers, great company!

Huge thanks to Emily, Amy, and Ashley of Chobani for giving me the opportunity to attend this wonderful dinner and EVOO for hosting. I felt truly honored to be a part of it. If I had to describe dinner in only three words…

Nothing but good.

And the award goes to…

Posted by Melissa on July 30, 2012 17 comments

On Friday afternoon I was nominated by the fabulous Running Bun for the Beautiful Blogger Award! If you don’t already read Ashley’s blog, I seriously recommend you subscribe or add her to your reader. Immediately if not sooner! She is freakin’ hilarious, inspirational, and fast as hell. She pretty much rocks and I love her – you will too!! Thanks so much Ashley for nominating me!

Here are the rules:

Copy the Beautiful Blogger Award logo and place it in your post.
Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.
Tell 7 things about yourself.
Nominate 7 other bloggers for the Beautiful Blogger Award, and comment on their blogs to let them know.

My Seven Things

1. I’ve seen every single episode of Friends AT LEAST five times each. I own every season on DVD (except for seasons 1 & 2 … which are on VHS – remember those?!) but will still watch every time it’s on TV. If you know what Bamboozled, Unagi, and “I’m an EIGHT?!” means, we can be BFFs.

2. I never put my purse on the floor because of the superstition that it will make me lose money. I’ll eat an entire meal with my purse in my lap or sit on the edge of my chair with the purse behind me. If I don’t have a carry-on with me on the plane to set it down on, I will hold my purse in my lap for the entire flight. It will never touch the floor. EVER. Who knows if its true or not, but I don’t want to test it out.

3. I’m fluent in sarcasm. Really ridiculously good at it. Enough said.

4. I have two younger sisters, and somehow I’m the shortest. Not sure how that happened.

5. I was a vegetarian for a year in 2009. While waiting for a flight out of the Atlantic City airport, I came across and purchased Skinny Bitch. By the time I returned home to Florida, my mind was made up: I was done eating meat. I lasted one year. I blame Texas and it’s abundance of steaks. And bacon. And other deliciousness.

6. I used to have black hair.

And really blonde hair.

And probably every color in between.

7. I have no interest in getting married. Okay, that’s not entirely true – maybe SOMEDAY. But for right now? Completely content with the way things are. Brad and I have been together for seven years (minus one year, 2008, when he first moved to Texas) and I operate on this principle: if it ain’t broke? don’t fix it! I don’t need a ring or a wedding or a piece of paper that says I’m married to solidify the fact we’re in a committed relationship. We’re happy, don’t fight, and love each other to death – I mean, how much more do you need?

Annnnd now for the nominations! A few of my favorite beautiful bloggers

Amanda from Running on Waffles
Paula from Eat Watch Run
Michelle from Crazy Running Legs
Melissa from Hungry Healthy Happy
Courtney from C is for Courtney
Chelsea from Masher 52
Carly from Carly Bananas

Hope everyone enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me & thanks again Ashley for the Beautiful Blogger Award nomination!

A PR Attempt

Posted by Melissa on July 2, 2012 7 comments

Sunday morning I found myself rested and wide awake at 7am, thanks to the magnesium I’ve been taking every night before bed – holy deep sleep! After catching up on blogs and Twitter, I decided to take advantage of an early start on the day. On Saturday I had given the house a deep clean and came across a Starbucks card with some money still on it so I made trip out to grab us some iced coffees.

We’ve cut way back on coffee, as in we don’t even keep it in the house anymore, but it’s nice to have every once in awhile. I’ve been loving this So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer lately.

The consistency is nearly identical to that of regular flavored coffee creamer but with less fat, calories and sugar. A small splash of it in iced coffee is delicious.

Once back at the house I got to work on our meals for the week:

It was just after 8am when the pots and pans hit the stove. I had a secret {lofty} goal to be finished with cooking and cleanup before noon. Whipping up breakfast would need to happen at some point too, adding another obstacle in my way. But the thought of breaking my, ahem, Sunday Cooking PR time was very appealing.

I’ve made the chili countless times but this time added more beans (garbanzo rather than cannellini), used fat-free sour cream and fat-free half & half.

The Green Chile Corn Muffins are simply a box of cornbread mix

with one cup of reduced-fat cheddar cheese and one can of fire-roasted diced green chiles added in.

The crock-pot pulled pork is another Eat Live Run recipe and honestly one of the easiest recipes ever. Season pork, brown in a pan, and then add to a crock-pot with diced onions and BBQ sauce. After 6-8 hours of simmering, the pork is so tender it falls apart on its own. Perfect and amazing.

This macaroni salad from Skinnytaste far exceeded my expectations! I didn’t think it would be very creamy but it tasted every bit as good as any full-fat mayo-laden macaroni salad you’d find at a 4th of July BBQ. The recipe yields 16 cups so unless you’re bringing it to share with a party, I’d recommending halving it.

The egg salad recipe was made up on the fly: hard-boiled eggs (shocking ingredient, no?) less than a tablespoon of reduced-fat olive oil mayo, a few teaspoons of Dijon mustard, cayenne pepper and S&P to taste.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering if I nailed that PR:

Now I need to work on a goal for next week…

Wordless Wednesday: Meal Prep & In Our Fridge

Posted by Melissa on June 27, 2012 No comments

Suncakes

Posted by Melissa on June 26, 2012 6 comments

Last week I whipped up a batch of these for a quick dinner and it was love at first bite. Imagine what would happen if you combined corn muffins and pancakes. With only a few ingredients they were super simple to throw together and knew I’d be making them again soon.

Rather than go the normal muffin route we’ve been taking lately, I decided to double the recipe so we could have them for breakfast throughout the week.

I came across the recipe from a reader in this month’s issue of Clean Eating Magazine.

Substitutions I made:

maple syrup –> SF syrup
soy milk –> almond milk
fresh corn –> canned
Earth Balance –> Smart Balance
omitted the oil

Whisk milk & vinegar until frothy. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder & salt.

Whisk buttery spread & syrup into the milk mixture.

Fold in cornmeal mixture.

Add in corn, and then pop into the fridge for 5 minutes.

After the batter is chilled, cook them the same as you would pancakes, using a griddle or skillet.

I doubled the ingredients to make two batches so they would last us through the week. One batch is definitely enough for breakfast for two people (with leftovers!) or an easy mid-week dinner.

Serve topped with berries and greek yogurt or SF syrup.

Hits & Misses

Posted by Melissa on June 25, 2012 9 comments

An obscene amount of food has been coming out of my kitchen as of late. There’s been quite a few of “need to make this again” meals, some “ehh, it’s definitely missing something” items, and a “let’s not repeat this” breakfast.

Among the winners were the Banana Walnut Muffins

Dark Chocolate Chip Banana Bread (same recipe as the muffins, with chocolate chips instead of walnuts)

Grilled Pesto Chicken with Tomato & Mozz

Potato Leek Soup

Sweet & Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa

Then there were the recipes that were just missing something: Baby Red Potato Salad and Creamy Cilantro Tomatillo Dressing.

And then there were the muffins that we didn’t even finish, Mixed Berry Whole Wheat Muffins.

I had high hopes for them but they refused to separate themselves from the muffin cups. The batter was really thick and baked up incredibly dense. I ate three or four but ended up tossing them mid-week.

Up this week:

Spinach Feta Turkey Burgers
Bourbon Maple Pork Tenderloin
Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous
Suncakes, from Clean Eating Magazine
Gazpacho

Gazpacho

2 red bell peppers
1 large red onion
4 tomatoes (on the vine, plum, campari – your choice)
1 large cucumber, seeded
1 jalapeno, seeded
3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup of olive oil
3 cups of tomato juice
1/2 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp black pepper

I’d recommend making this recipe with a larger food processor than I have. It’s definitely doable, but you’ll be able to finish in less batches with a 7 or 9-cup rather than the Mini-Prep.

Roughly chop each of the vegetables separately, combining in a large bowl. Then add the garlic, olive oil, vinegar, tomato juice and S&P. If you like your food with a little extra kick, swap out the tomato juice for my secret ingredient:

Yup, bloody mary mix. Same consistency as tomato juice but MUCH more flavor.

Mix all ingredients together, adding additional S&P if needed.

Garnish with a dollop of fat free greek yogurt and a few slices of avocado.

Back on track

Posted by Melissa on June 10, 2012 6 comments

A couple months ago Brad and I decided that after our wounds healed from the Spartan Sprint we would allow P90X to kick our ass for, well, 90 days starting May 28th.

Days of picking up Sonic on the way home or ordering a pizza for dinner are over. Our eating habits have been completely revamped. Saturday mornings are now spent meal planning and making a detailed grocery list.

The combination of list-making and shopping only the perimeter of the store allows us to knock our grocery shopping out in less than 30 minutes, even on a busy Saturday morning.

Sunday mornings are spent cooking for the week, which allows me to avoid picking up a single pot or pan on a weekday. (HUGE fan of this!)

I’ll get into meal planning in another post, but for now here’s what’s set to come out of my kitchen today:

Sweet & Fiery Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salsa and Baby Red Potato Salad {Tues-Thurs}
Grilled Chicken with Pesto, Caprese Salad and Quinoa {Mon-Wed-Fri}
Low Fat Banana Nut Bread & Low Fat Banana Muffins with Dark Chocolate Chips {breakfast option / evening snack}

It’s a bit of work for a Sunday morning, but you know what? If it grants me a cooking-free week, I will gladly slave away in the kitchen for a few hours on the last day of the weekend with the CMT Top 20 Countdown blaring in the background. Also, our one cheat meal for the week is on Sunday so after I’m done playing chef I am rewarded with a crisp glass of wine and someone else cooking for me.

Last week our cheat meal was at the Alamo Drafthouse while seeing Snow White & the Huntsmen. Delicious food was consumed, including fried pickles, fresh baked-to-order chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream, and multiple adult beverages. Cheat meal, INDEED!