Life (mostly Food) Update In Photos…

Hi there!

I know… I have so much to catch up on in the blogging aspect of things. This weekend was Strides for James and it was so much fun! I’ll be doing a post that details a little bit of everything… but I honestly haven’t had a moment to sit and collect my thoughts. So, to keep you until then, it was awesome. Our first year was a success.

So, I’ve been taking a lot of random pictures on my phone lately. Mostly of food and some other things…but mostly food.

So here’s a look at what I’ve been eating and doing lately. 

I have a serious weakness for scallops…and margaritas.

Cinco de Mayo Seafood Paella…totally not local, but so good.

I’m seeing a food theme here…

Crock-pot Mexican chicken over rice with avocados, sour cream and NY Cheddar.. Yum.

This is what happens when you are planning a fun run and go to the grocery store at 6:00 am…you leave with two cases of free bananas and one discounted case.

Winning!

After the race…we had a lot of leftover bananas…so I’ve baking a ton of banana bread (gluten-free–recipes coming!) and making things like this (sorry the picture isn’t great)…

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake!

Speaking of baking banana bread, I was checking to see if one of the loaves was done…and stupidly burnt the tip of my finger, through a towel. Only me…

I’m also happy to report, after taking home about a half case of bananas, we are down to seven. Farmer Ben and I are a great team in the kitchen!

A mid-week run past a neighbor’s house… somehow we came home with two dozen eggs!

What?! It’s warm enough to wear shorts?! And we got free eggs?!

Another sunny day was spent out working in the garden (a week later, it went down to 28 at night… gah!)

Tomato cages are serious business

And this last piece… just made me chuckle.

saw this on Facebook…

Happy Wednesday!

What have you been up to lately? 

Eaten anything exciting?! 

Wow.

I’m going to make this short and sweet.

Today, I realized that we have 102 registered participants for Strides for James. And there is still time to sign up!

I am just speechless. And overwhelmed. And ecstatic. And so excited for this  event.

Tomorrow I am going up to the park so I can do a race day timeline. And it’s going to be beautiful out there!

Fifteen days til race day.

Do you have a cause you are passionate about? Any races coming up? 

Happy weekend!

Overnight Black Beans

I woke up this morning to a delicious aroma wafting ever so delicately into my bedroom. Wiping the sleep from my eyes, I thought about what this smell could possibly be…. after about five minutes of sniffing and drooling, I finally realized…

“Oh yeah! Overnight Black Beans!” 

Last night, I pulled out the slow cooker and set it up so I’d have lunch ready at 6 am. Special thanks to Aunt Terry for our sweet crock-pot. So fancy!

Love this thing!

You see, I am all about food prep/easy cooking these days. I’ve been ridiculously busy and I don’t see any signs of my schedule opening up…in fact, it’s only going to get busier in the next few months. So, in order to keep myself (and Farmer Ben) sane, I’ve been scouring some of my favorite food blogs, and discovering new ones, to find easy-to-put-together meals…and when that fails, I pester the hubs.

Luckily, we keep a supply of good staples in our house and that makes the whole food prep thing a lot easier. I can take no blame for this, Farmer Ben is totally responsible for keeping the kitchen well stocked and for that I am so thankful. He’s the best…and not a total space cadet like his wife.

Anyway, I was going to do a chicken crock-pot meal…but I over-estimated our chicken supply (see space cadet note, above). Black beans were next on the list.

Let me tell you, these beans were the such a good idea!  So easy and soooooo gooooooooood.

Perfection

The beans came out perfectly, just a little bit of crunch but not too hard and not too soft.

What you’ll need: 

• ~2 cups dried black beans
• **3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (water will also work)
• About half an onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 3 Serrano peppers (I was going to chop but after squirting pepper juice all over myself, I threw them in whole).
• 1 tbsp. taco seasoning (cumin, pepper, paprika, salt, pepper, etc.)
• About 1/3 cup of Farmer Ben’s JD Barbecue Sauce (you could also use a hot salsa, chili sauce or a savory/spicy barbecue sauce–avoid the sweet stuff!) 

What to do: 

Rinse and drain beans. Pick out any stones/non-bean items.

Throw all the ingredients into crock-pot and give it a quick stir.

Turn crock-pot on low and forget about it for 8 hours (I started mine before I went to bed).

Serve over rice, with a fried egg or with tacos/nachos. Perfection.

**Note: Depending on how dry/wet you like your beans, adjust the liquid. These would have been just as good with 2 cups of chicken stock for a drier bean, I had some extra liquid but the beans were still firm and so not mushy. If you’re using 3 cups of beans (or a 16 oz package), use 3-4 cups of liquid. 

Enjoy!

Repeat offender

I have a confession to make. It is a two part confession.

First , I made another batch of fro-yo bites today and they were tasty. A new favorite snack…better than the last.

-1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
-1small banana chopped
-1/3 cup dried cranberries
-1/3 cup dried coconut, shredded
-1 handful cocoa nibs (1/2 cup maybe?)
-1cup heritage o’s (or cheerios)

Mix in large bowl, scoop into ice cube trays and freeze.

The second part of my confession?

I happened to sneak a bite of the vanilla yogurt and–gasp!–I kind of enjoyed it!

I don’t know what to say. Was it a fluke? Or have I turned over a new leaf in the yogurt department? I just don’t know!

In other news… stir-fry for dinner. I am so spoiled!

Local beef, butternut squash, carrots, beet greens,  red onion, mushrooms, garlic and Farmer Ben’s Thai sauce, cooked in coconut oil and served over rice.

What did you eat today?

Cheers! Happy eating!

Fro-Yo Bites-2 ways.

I wanted to make the Lean Green Bean’s Frozen Yogurt Bites, but I didn’t have any granola on hand…and I didn’t feel like making any.

So I took everything out of the cupboard that was almost gone and dumped it into a bowl improvised.  I think I did pretty well…but I’ll let you be the judge.

These bites are so easy to make, it’s just silly. Seriously, I can’t even call this a recipe. I’m going to give you two ways to make these, the first what I actually made and the second, what I would have done if I had these items on hand.

Before the freezer

The sky is the limit with these, so play around with your ingredients!

Fro-Yo Bites-2 ways:

Adapted from the Lean Green Bean

First Way-What You’ll Need: 

• 1 cup Greek Yogurt, I used Strawberry
• 1 small banana chopped
• ~1/4 cup flax-seed meal
• ~1/3 cup  chopped cashews
• ~1 cup Heritage O’s (or Cheerios)
• ~1/3 cup cocoa nibs

Second Way-What You’ll Need: 

• 1+ cup Vanilla Greek Yogurt.
• 1 small banana, chopped
• ~1 cup puffed/crispy rice cereal
• 1/2 cup pistachios, chopped
• 1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
• ~1/4 cup cocoa nibs
• Optional: coconut flakes, to taste

What to do-Either Way:

Combine ingredients until everything is well coated. You may need to add another spoonful or two of yogurt, depending on your taste (I did).

Scoop mixture into ice cube tray and place in freezer until  mixture hardens. If you don’t have a free ice cube tray, you can also line a pan with wax paper, freeze and cut into bars.

Evidence…

If you’re feeling adventurous, dip frozen bites into melted chocolate. Re-freeze. Definitely do this step with the second variety. Yum!

Makes 14 bites. Store in freezer.

Enjoy!

Happy Monday

Last night the hubby surprised me with a beautiful bouquet. Just because.

And then he does things like make dinner, do dishes and remember things that constantly I forget. I think he’s a keeper.

Anyway, it made my week… especially because I’ve been crazy busy. Farmer Ben, you’re the best.

Update: I forgot to mention… he also bought two dozen eggs. He knows the way to my heart. 

Happy Monday!

Easy Peas-y (Tuna & Egg) Pasta Salad

I’ve been really into salads lately. Farmer Ben and I went grocery shopping on a rainy Monday night because I desperately needed to eat something green. We purchase Olivia’s Organics brand when the greens are out of season, they are an (awesome) east-coast based company. Check them out!

Since Monday, I’ve eaten approximately 47 salads. Now, I know this sounds crazy. But I get creative.

His & Hers Salads for lunch.

Yesterday, my salad consisted of leftover chicken, avocado, tomato (grown in VT!), radishes, red onion, sprouts, a Serrano or two…and some spring mix/spinach as an after thought.

I can totally fit more in this bowl.

You see, I belong to the school of thought that believes that the salad is not about the lettuce. It’s about the toppings. Some days, I’ll cover my greens with bleu cheese, other days, I’ll pick seeds, nuts and other crunchy goodness… Lately, I’ve been loving Serrano peppers and cranberries. Tomorrow it could be steak. Most of the time I have so much on my salad that I don’t even use dressing. That would be overkill.

I guess I’m just trying to say that salad is delicious.

Today, my greens are covered in a tasty pasta salad and a few other veggies.

I opted to use olive oil instead of mayonnaise (mayo would work just as well and probably be more just as delicious) to make it a bit healthier. And per usual, I didn’t really measure, so this recipe is more of a guideline.

Easy Peas-y Pasta Salad

*Makes about five 1-cup servings (because if you’re like me, you usually have seconds).

What you’ll need:

• About 8 oz (half a box) of pasta uncooked. I used elbows.
• 1 can tuna fish, drained
• About 3/4 cup peas (I used the canned variety)
• Green Olives, pits removed and chopped, about 1/4 cup…or more.
• Spices of your choice, to taste (I used dill-lots, smoked salt-just a pinch, smokey paprika-about 2 tsp, garlic powder-a couple of pinches, and a lot of cracked pepper)
• 2 Serrano peppers, chopped (These are super hot, jalapenos would also work really well)
• 1/2 cup red onion, chopped (I left this out because a certain husband doesn’t like raw onion, sigh.)
• A few splashes of Worcestershire Sauce
• ~1 tbsp.Dijon Mustard
• ~1 tbsp. olive oil (enough to coat the pasta)
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, peeled and chopped
• A splash or two of balsamic vinegar (This was a brilliant afterthought…that I forgot)

What to do:

Cook pasta according to package. Drain and let cool (I stuck mine in the fridge to speed up the process).

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Using a fork, be sure to break-up tuna fish and stir.

Loving all the green, yellow and red!

Serve over a giant salad, as a side dish, or… right from the bowl.

*Nutrition Highlights According to MyFitnessPal: 

265 calories, 31 carbs, 7 g fat, 16 g protein, 2 g sugar, 285 mg sodium, 27.5 mg potassium, 4.3 g fiber, 20.1 % Daily Value iron

Happy Friday!