Quick and Protein

That seems to be my theme around here lately. 

Now that I’m on a steady schedule of Crossfit, there are a number of nights during the week where I will come home, change, head to 7pm Crossfit, and then home around 8.  Luckily it’s only a 5min drive for me. 

So now it’s 8:10pm, lets say, and I need dinner and faster the better.  I’m also trying to up my protein intake, and when I can, lower some of my carbs.  If your familiar with Crossfit at all you probably know they promote a Paleo style of eating.

Basically, Paleo = eating the way our early ancestors (cavemen) ate.  Meats, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds…etc.  You can read the wiki page here!  Paleo also means no grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugars, and processed oils.

(source)

I was pretty uninterested in this when I first started Crossfit, and I’m still not interested in following this style of eating to a T…I mean, I am just NOT going to give up certain foods I love.  I’m not talking about the processed foods here…I have no problem getting those out of my diet and already try to do that as much as possible.  But the legumes, beans, grains, and dairy???  Not so much.  Nothing makes me happier than a good cheese plate and a flaky croissant ;)

I just can’t believe that things like beans, oatmeal, and Greek yogurt are causing that much harm to my body.  I’ve read the arguments against them, I see both sides, and I know that a huge portion of the population has some sensitivity to dairy and gluten….however I really haven’t found myself to be one of them.  Or if I am, it’s not bad enough for me to notice. 

I could keep going on about this but basically what I am doing, for now anyways, is just cutting back on some of my carb intake, slightly on the dairy, and upping my protein. 

I’m paying a lot of money for my Crossfit membership.  Which in some ways is good…it makes it a LOT harder to just “skip” a workout, and I am a lot more motivated to clean up my eating so that I can experience my best possible results. 

I also stumbled across this article about the Thyroid-Gluten connection when I was searching about Paleo.  Interesting, as thyroid issues are present in my family. 

http://chriskresser.com/the-gluten-thyroid-connection

Again, not planning to go gluten free at all, but I just thought it was interesting and something I’ll keep in the back of my head. 

So now that I’ve explained my current “status” if you will, I can get to the eats!

A classic Quinoa Salad.  This is not “Paleo” at all, but it is gluten free and high in protein for a “grain” salad (even though quinoa isn’t actually a grain).  

I cooked up 1 cup dry, rinsed quinoa in some chicken broth the same night I made the shrimp stir fry. 

The next night I added:

• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 3 oz crumbled feta cheese
• chopped fresh dill (big handful)
• 1/2 red onion, diced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2T olive oil
• salt and pepper

Great, served with some sliced tomato.  I didn’t add tomato to the salad because I don’t like the texture of tomatoes after they are refrigerated.

Dollop of TJ’s tahini on top :)

This was packed for lunch a couple times this week. 

Turkey Burgers 
(p.s. ground turkey was on sale at Whole Foods this past Sunday…the one on River Street in Cambridge anyways)

These were also made around 8:30pm one night.  In fast by that point I think I had a protein shake plus some quinoa salad but wanted to cook these up for lunch.

For something literally thrown together, these were AWESOME!

• 1lb ground turkey breast
• dried Italian seasonings: basil, parsley, oregano, garlic
• 1/2 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I had the ones in the bag, not in oil).
• grated Pecorino Romano cheese, about 1/4 cup

We made 3 patties, and cooked on the stove with about 1T olive oil.  Sear each side over med/high heat, then turn heat down to med/low.  Cook until they are cooked through.  I find covering helps cook while keeping them from drying out.  

I had one the next day with some quinoa salad.   Those sun dried tomatoes added SO much flavor. 

Side note:  people balk that buying meat can be expensive, but this ground turkey cost a LOT less than turkey deli meat!  So there’s a thought, cook up some little burgers…a lot less processed and cheaper than deli meat per pound.  Granted, 1lb of deli turkey usually makes more than 3 or 4 sandwiches, but maybe that means we don’t eat enough meat on sandwiches?  Who knows.  Just wanted to share that thought. 

Chicken Sausage + Kale with a Sweet Potato

In 1T of olive oil, I sautéed:

• 2 Italian chicken sausages, chopped/crumbled
• 1 shallot, diced

After cooking for about 5 minutes, I added a few big handfuls of chopped kale (about 1/2 of a bunch of kale).  Stirred it around, added a splash of low-sodium chicken broth and covered.  Cook until chicken sausage is done and kale has wilted.  I stirred in some Dijon mustard at the end, about 1 tsp.

Sweet tater was cooked in the microwave.

Topped with grape tomatoes and some grated Romano cheese.  (Man it was “so paleo” until the cheese ;)

The sausage/kale mixture would of been even better on top of, say, spaghetti squash or in a tomato sauce base.  Must do that sometime. 

So there you have it.  I have no intention of giving up bread, cheese, milk, coffee…pastries!  But if I can cut back in some of my meals here and there, then why not?!  Either way, it’s still healthy food and I’m not feeling deprived…and if I do feel deprived, I’ll fix that ;) 

A Monday Mélange

Happy Monday Friends! 

What better way to start off the week than a nice post chock full of randomness!  But really, these are my favorite types of posts :)

So the weekend:

I had two Birthday’s to celebrate this past weekend…and exactly 29 years apart!

My friend’s daughter turned 1!!

There’s nothing better than watching a 1 year old go at it with her very own birthday cake!

She was particularly fond of the frosting…my kind of girl!

Later that night it was back into Boston to celebrate a friend’s 30th! 

I swear 30th birthday’s are the new “wedding” of 2012 for me…I have 30th birthday parties the next 2 weekends as well!

Saturday the party started with dinner at Marliave in downtown Boston.  I’ve never been before but it had some great reviews and it turned out to be a great spot!

It’s in a very old building downtown and they like to play up the old 1920’s speakeasy vibe.

I ordered the Tres Curieux and it was one of the best drinks I think I’ve EVER had!!  Perfect “Bridget” cocktail…tart, citrusy, not too sweet, refreshing, and best of all can’t taste the alcohol ;)

I had 2.

I’d go back just for this drink!  After dinner we headed over to Ned Devine’s for some drinks, music, and dancing!  I haven’t been there in a while…and still not my favorite place.  I felt slightly old too haha…but man the people watching was top notch!  And why are so many girls wearing like super tight super short black skirts!?  Like SOOO short, I was wondering if they were shorts or skirts?!  Ok, now I just sound old.

Side note:

I hung my super cute new kitchen-theme calendar my bff got me for Christmas

It’s from Anthropologie, and each month has an adorable water color image!  

Speaking of Anthro…I was LOVING my outfit today, unfortunately I had no luck with a photo.  I was too busy this morning, and Brian wasn’t home when I got home, then I had to run off to Crossfit.

So it was this Anthro dress I got 50% off after Christmas

Gold belt, red cardigan (Banana Republic)

(my sad attempt at the photo)

Fun off-white knit tights and navy wedges (Nine West)

New hair do!  Got my 12-week cut and color this weekend too!

Love that “new hair” smell and feel!

Some Food?

How about super fast, super convenient stir fry!!

I know I’ve mentioned it before but keeping a bag of frozen shrimp in the freezer is a great staple to have in the house.

Then to make your life even easier, once in a while it’s ok to cheat it and have the lovely folks at Whole Foods chop your veggies.  I admit this is the first time I’ve ever bought their pre-cut “stir fry” veggies, but it was nice for a change. 

Add in 60 second Brown Rice…and dinner is served in NO time!

We did a quick stir fry with the following:

• chop 2-3 cloves garlic and sauté over med/high heat
• Add your veggies 
• start to season:  I used soy sauce, ground ginger, juice from 1/2 of a large orange, plus some zest, siracha sauce.
• Cook for 4-5 minutes, then add in shrimp.
• Add any more seasonings and sauces that you want.
• Cook until shrimp are done, if I don’t have a lot of liquid in my pan I’ll throw on the cover for a few minutes too.
• serve over brown rice

Boom!  Dinner.

As I said in my last post, usually on Sundays I cook a longer, more thought out meal, but that just doesn’t always happen.  Then nights like tonight where I go to Crossfit from 7-8pm, these fast dinners are REALLY helpful. 

Well I think that about does it for 1 post.  Have a great night!!

What’s your favorite seasonings/sauces to use in stir-fry's??  I always go right to the soy sauce, but it would be nice to switch it up!

White Turkey Chili & Favorite Roast Chicken

If I can make 2 or 3 home cooked dinners in a week, I’m happy.  I’ve actually felt pretty good about this lately.  Usually one of these meals takes a while, so I save those for Sundays or another night during the week where I know I’ll be home at a good time and have nothing else planned.

About a month ago I picked up a whole chicken at Whole Foods when they were on sale.  At the time I was in no mood for roast chicken with all the turkey we’d been eating during the holiday season but I knew it would be good to have in the freezer.

Well I was finally in the mood for roast chicken!

I’ve tried a few different recipes, but I have to say the most simple and MOST delicious is Thomas Keller’s method!  I’ve always put butter or olive oil on my chicken’s skin but Keller just adds salt and pepper to a dried off chicken and that’s it!

But seriously the skin gets SO crisp and the meat is so moist and flavorful!  I highly recommend you try this out sometime!  So easy!  Plus it roasts at a higher temp which takes less time…win win!

Note: I tie up the bird to truss the legs, but I don’t remove the wish bone beforehand…if you know how, go for it. 

For our chicken dinner, I also threw 2 sweet potatoes right in the oven with the chicken to bake. 

Meanwhile I sautéed some Brussels sprouts with olive oil, salt, pepper, and stirred in a little Dijon mustard at the end.

Nice rounded meal and tasted delicious too. 

Ok enough about the chicken (I just wanted to tell you guys about that recipe!), what I really wanted to share was the chili recipe!!

My best friend, Jocy, came up with a white turkey chili one day and it became a favorite of her family and friends :)  Since, you know, I got married and moved in with Brian, it’s been a while since I’ve had the chili!

She emailed me the basic recipe, and I tweaked it ever so slightly :)

J’s White Turkey & Bean Chili
4-6 servings

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 jalapeños, diced
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
• 2 cans cannellini beans
• 1 can garbanzo beans
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp cumin
• 10-12 shakes tobasco sauce
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2T half & half
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar or other Mexican cheese, plus more for toppings
• sour cream
• cilantro
• tortilla chips
• avocado

In a large heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven, heat oil over med heat.  Add onion, garlic, and jalapeños.  Sauté for 4-5 minutes until onions start to soften.  Add turkey and continue cooking until mostly cooked through.  Add broth, beans, and spices.  Stir, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 min partially covered. 

Now take a potato masher and mash the chili until the beans are partially mashed.  Don’t worry you’re not making everything mushy, but breaking down the beans a little bit will add creaminess without adding cream!

But I still added a couple Tablespoons of half & half for some extra creaminess, along with the cheese.  Add the cream and cheese and stir until the cheese is all melted. 

Time to dig in!!

Top with sour cream, chopped cilantro, more cheese, and tortilla chips for dipping!

Add more tobasco sauce if you’d like as well. 

This was warm, creamy, and filling!  It was also still chunky enough to scoop up with some blue corn tortilla chips!  At this point I remembered the avocado..delicious on top as well. 

This chili also came together pretty fast!  Brian helped chop the onion, garlic, and jalapeños while I was at Crossfit then I cooked it up when I got home!  Only took about 25 min to get dinner on the table :)

So glad this week is half over!!  What’s been your favorite meal this week??

2012: A little Champagne with my Cupcakes

Happy 2012!!

I’m enjoying the last few hours of my glorious 4-day weekend, and feel fully relaxed and ready (sort of) for work tomorrow.  At least as ready as I’ll ever be. 

Some highlights from my weekend?

A fun Friday night dinner date with Elizabeth and the husbands.  We decided to cash in on gift cards we received at that Blogger Bash earlier this fall at MJ O’Conners. 

Luckily it wasn’t a late night because I was RIGHT about the “300” workout at Crossfit, only it was slightly different than the version I found online.  Our workout went like this:

• 25 pull-ups (green band)
• 50 deadlifts (65lb)
• 50 push-ups
• 50 Ab-mat sit-ups
• 50 box jumps
• 50 ground to overheads (25 each arm, I used 15lb)
• 25 pull-ups (green band)

I can never remember my time…but I think it was 16:50, definitely in the 16’s. 

Sometimes the green band for pull-ups feels easy, but the blue band (next one down), is usually too hard.  What’s a girl to do.  I think I’ll still with green until they feel easier.  Those 2 sets of 25 were by no means easy.

Looking back I also could have done a higher weight for the ground to over-heads but I’m fine with it. 

I like box jumps!  They never seem hard, but all of a sudden I’m so out of breath!! 

Great workout in our new location!!  It was really fun with so many people too!  I think there were around 35 which is the most I’ve experienced.  Before the WOD, we did a team drill with flipping those HUGE tires down and back.  4 teams, my team beat our first opponent but ended up in 2nd :)  Those tires are massive and I found myself using my leg a little to flip it!

(taken from my Crossfit’s website…you can kind of see me in the line on the left in the pink)

I also really wanted to get in a run this weekend, but well that just didn’t happen. 

What I did do was make the most beautiful cupcakes to come out of my kitchen to date!

Pretty right??  I think so :)

For New Years Eve, we got together with a group of friends and the plan was to go out to dinner then eventually head back to one of their condo’s in South Boston and maybe hit a bar or two on the way back.

I decided to make some Champagne cupcakes to have as dessert for when we got back to the condo.

I even bought new fun liners and was excited to finally use the decorating pearls I had!

 

After scouring the internets for the best recipe, I found a bunch of different blogs that all referenced the same recipe…must be good right??

I used the version here, but I think it originated from this recipe at All Recipes.    The All Recipes version was for a 10” round cake, and others I saw converted it to 36 mini cupcakes, but I wanted regular cupcakes!  The version I used made 20 regular sized cupcakes and the frosting recipe was a perfect amount. 

The recipes I saw all suggested using a sweet Rose champagne instead of the usually dry version most people drink.  I went with a cheap $8.99 bottle…

I know everyone says to use what you like to drink when cooking with wine…but I knew I’d hate any sweet champagne plus the amount used in relation to the cupcake recipe was not enough that I was worried. 

It was great for sweet cupcakes…not so much to drink.

My alterations to this recipe:

• I added flavorings:
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp almond (basically just a few drops) 

The egg whites make the cake nice and fluffy.

They smelt so good that I had to try some plain warm cake!!

YUM!!!  These are good as is!! 

But not so pretty….so I went on with the champagne butter cream!

I was also excited because I finally picked up a coupler for my large icing tips!! 

I had plans to decorate with the sugar pearls and sliced strawberries…but in the end I thought they were pretty enough without the berries.  

 

I tried a strawberry in one…

Not needed :)

I also baked them in the silver linings, and added the black/white ones after.

I was very pleased with the taste and appearance :)

It was a really fun night out with our friends!! 

However, after dinner one of our stops was at a Mexican restaurant where everyone got margaritas…bad idea!!  Sugary mixed drinks and me do NOT mix especially since I’d had my fair share of champagne at this point.  I’ve learned this lesson in the past too…apparently not memorable enough ;)  Needless to say, we headed home around 12:30…not the end of the world though…still had fun and wasn’t out ridiculously late.

Sunday was an awesomely lazy recovery day, if you will.

Woke up, immediately craved pancakes, made said pancakes…

With iced coffee, banana, strawberries, syrup….yum!

Then took a lovely nap on the couch, woke up, at lunch, took Bromley to the dog park, picked up some BBQ at Blue Ribbon, ate, fell asleep on the couch again, cleaned, lounged, and bed time.  Haven’t had a day like that in a LONG time!!!  LOVED IT!!

I haven’t really thought much about resolutions yet for this year, but I’ll be sure to update when I do!

Completely unrelated, but I’m in the market for a new blender and looking for recommendations!?!  Ideally under $100…I know I’d love a Vita-Mix but that just isn’t happening. 

End of the Week and Year!

Hey friends!  I’m in a great mood today :)  It’s Friday AND I made the executive decision to not work today.  It was kind of a slow week, lots of people on vacation, and I thought it would just be wonderful to have a day to get stuff done around here.

Now in true Bridget fashion, I’ll never finish my to-do list but that’s ok!  I slept until 7:30am, which felt awesome (side note: it’s kind of sad that 7:30am is considered sleeping in…on a weekday anyways). 

Took the pup out and made a nice bowl of oatmeal.  I’m a very weather-influenced eater and I’ve only made stove-top oats a handful of times since the weather has gotten colder around here.

Also used my new “b” mug from Anthropologie for my cappuccino!

Oats: oatmeal, water, milk, strawberries, brown sugar, coconut, PB, a few pecans, and a little berry preserves.  I forgot how good oatmeal with lots of toppings is! 

Workouts

I went to Crossfit Tuesday night.  The Workout of the Day (WOD) was:

10 to 1: Deadlifts, Burpees, and Abmat sit-ups.  So, 10 of each, 9 of each, 8 of each…etc.  I did 75lb for deadlifts and my time was 8:28 (I think…around there).

Before the WOD we worked up to our heaviest set of 2 deadlifts.  I PR’d at 120lb. 

I still feel very new to Crossfit, and I’m so so nervous about pushing myself too hard.  I probably could have gone further than 120lb but right now it’s just not that important to me…I know I’m getting stronger and don’t care how long it takes :)  I just know I love these workouts!! 

I had planned to go last night, but ended up working a little later after I decided to take today off.  I’ve been doing Crossfit for almost a full month now, averaging 2-3 times a week.  I started with a 10-class pack which will be used up after tomorrow, so I think I’ll sign up for 3 months unlimited and see how that goes :)

I’m also nervous about tomorrow’s workout!  My Crossfit gym (or box I should say) just moved to a bigger location today and tomorrow is the first workout in the new location!  They never post the workouts ahead of time so people can’t pick and choose, but the new address number is 300 and there was a hint that the workout would be related to that!!

I googled “Crossfit 300” and this is what I found:

Pull-ups – 25 reps
Deadlifts with 135 lbs – 50 reps
Pushups – 50 reps
24-inch Box jumps – 50 reps
Floor wipers – 50 reps
Single-arm Clean-and-Press with 36-lbs Kettlebell – 50 reps
Pull-ups – 25 reps

My weight for the deadlifts and kettlebells will be lighters but STILL!  I think I like NOT knowing what the workout is ahead of time!!  Happy NYE to me…I’ll let you know how it goes.

The other reason I was OK with missing Crossfit last night was dinner!  Seriously, every time I DO use the Crockpot I wonder why I don’t use it more often!!

I prepped this
Cooking Light recipe for Slow Cooker Char Sui Pork Roast

on Wednesday night, let it marinated in the bowl of the crock pot overnight, then turned it on Low before leaving for work yesterday.

My favorite slow cooker recipes are the ones where you just add in all the ingredients…no pre-cooking anything!

Shred the pork with 2 forks.

Cook down the sauce

Serve with rice, broccoli and spinach!

I added extra hoisin sauce to my bowl

LOVED the flavors here!!  I’ve actually never cooked with Chinese 5 Spice powder before, but it’s delicious!

The only change I’d make next time is to leave out the chicken broth.  It diluted the sauce a bit too much and didn’t really thicken up.  That’s why I had to transfer it to a sauce pan and cook down for a while.

I think this would also be delicious with chicken, beef, or use a leaner cut of pork like a tenderloin.  We trimmed as much fat off as possible but it was hard to get enough of it. 

Well it’s time to take the pooch for a walk, get some more done around here and then get ready for a fun night out!!  Well not too much fun…Crossfit tomorrow morning AND then it’s New Years Eve!! 

What are you doing for NYE??  I wish I was going OUT out…like dancing out, but just wasn’t happening this year I guess.  Still really excited for a dinner out with a group of friends and then back to party at a friend’s condo!