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 ;) 

The Radius Burger. Finally.

Last Thursday was a really fun day!  Even with work mixed in ;)

I was headed to a “ladies night” with some lovely bloggers later that evening at Aragosta, but first I had a date with mom…

My mom came into the city to meet me for lunch!  Ever since I started working in the city, I’ve wanted to be able to enjoy the lunch menu at some of the top restaurants in the city that I have only ever dined at for dinner before.  You get the beautiful atmosphere and superb service with, generally, a smaller bill at the end of your meal.  However most of those restaurants only offer lunch on weekdays.

Finally it was time!  I actually had a tough time deciding where to go, but I am really happy I went with one of my first thoughts…Radius! 

(source)

I haven’t been to Radius in years…Brian took me there on one of my birthdays, definitely before we were married…or even engaged.  I’ve been wanting to go back, specifically for a reason though: The Radius Burger!

I’ve read and heard so many amazing things about that damn burger, and was just waiting for the right time to try it!  Ideally, my “right” time would be with someone who would split it with me as I’ve also heard it’s pretty substantial.

I called ahead a few minutes before we arrived, just in case we’d need a reservation.  Though we got a table with no problem, it was pretty packed for a random Thursday lunch!  Business suits everywhere I looked…Radius is definitely a “power lunch” spot, or in our case a “special” lunch.

It took a bit of time before our waitress even brought the menu’s over (my only complaint of the day was the service…not bad, per se, but not what I’d expect from a place like that). 

Anyways, we both started with a fresh roll and some iced tea.  Not only did they bring over the usual options for sweeteners, but also a small pitcher of sugar water!  How clever!!  I’m sure you know, but sugar doesn’t dissolve very fast in cold drinks so sugar water /simple syrups are better.  I love when restaurants pay attention to little details like this.

I talked up the burger to my mom on the way, and it took little convincing to determine our order…The Radius Burger and their High Street Salad.  We shared both.

It can never hurt to mention you’re sharing.  In our case they, pre-portioned the burger for us, serving us each out own plate with half a burger and our own fries and ketchup.  Seeing other burgers go by, i realized we each received full servings of fries!

LOVE those mini copper pots the fries came in!

So this burger… the menu describes it with Vermont cheddar, crispy onions, and horseradish sauce.

What it really is, is a perfectly cooked, juice 9 oz burger, topped with melted aged cheddar cheese, a mild and creamy horseradish sauce, and thin crisp onions! 

I was debating on medium vs. med-rare.  Mom wanted medium, so we went with that and I”m glad we did.  They air on the rarer side it seems.  It was perfect for me.

I was pleasantly surprised by the horseradish sauce!  I’m not a huge horseradish fan, but it’s oh so subtle that I almost forgot about it.  For a moment I thought it was another creamy cheese on the burger…with a hint of horseradish.  I loved it. 

1/2 of that beauty was perfect.  I think I would have been overly stuffed if I ate a whole one…that is one big burger!!  The fries were also delicious, crisp, and not greasy. 

Also if you’re a ketchup lover, I’d urge you to try a few bites of the burger before immediately adding ketchup…the flavors are so amazing on their own.  I tried it with ketchup, but it totally overpowered everything.

Oh right!  We ordered a salad too!  Not that it wasn't good, but it was nothing compared to the burger.  This was a beautiful chopped salad with lots of different veggies, cheese, and pieces of meats as well, all in a light vinaigrette!

I wasn’t wild about it, but it was good and would make a good meal on it’s own.  Next time I’d try just their seasonal greens salad to accompany the burger.    

With a full satisfied belly, I headed back to work with the anticipation of another fun time to be had later that evening.

I had intended to focus this post on my dinner/ladies night…but apparently I had a LOT to say about that burger!  Well, it’s that good.

I forgot to get a photo of mom and I  unfortunately, but I did get an outfit shot later at home :)

It’s all about the tights!

• cream cardigan: Banana Republic
• light pink top: F21
• purple skirt: Banana
• grayish/purplish lace tights! : Nordstrom
• Navy wedges: Nine West (from Nordstrom)
• Gold belt: grandmother
• gold shell necklace: other grandmother :)

 
So, have you tried the Radius burger??  Or where is your favorite burger from??

Grilling for the 4th: Giveaway!

Maybe some of your have already checked out of work for the long weekend and are heading to the lake or the beach for the 4th of July.  Maybe you’re going to stick around at home, have a cook-out, and just watch some local fireworks!
Either way, I’m willing to bet 95% of you are going to be firing up the grill at some point this weekend.

If you’re local to the Boston area, have you checked out the Eversave happening right now?? 
$10 gets you $20 worth of goods from McKinnon’s Meat Market in Somerville’s Davis Square!!
McKinnon’s is known for quality meats at great prices.  You could come home with a party-size amount of meats for the grill for that $20!
They also have all your other necessities too such as fruits, veggies, breads, and other dry goods.
There has already been over 4500 of these saves sold!  That should say something right there.
Luckily for you, the lovely folks at Eversave have offered to let me giveaway one of these saves!!
Here’s the ways you can win!
Leave a separate comment for each entry: 
You do NOT need to have a blog to enter!

1. Let me know what you’ll be grilling up this 4th of July weekend!
2. Follow me on Twitter @yogurtberries
3. Tweet about the giveaway:  “I want to win a free Save from @YogurtBerries and @EversaveBOS!”
4. “Like” Eversave and Yogurt and Berries on Facebook
5. If you have a blog, mention this giveaway and comment back letting me know.

I’ll choose a winner by the end of the day Saturday!   EDIT:  I'll be choosing the winner on Wednesday, July 6th, by 10pm!

Good Luck!
Also, if you’re eyeing that beautiful looking burger above, that was a Turkey burger I made Monday night for dinner:

What I did:

• Took just over 1lb of lean ground turkey and mixed it with:
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T ketchup
• 1 T Dijon mustard
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• Formed 4 patties
• Grilled until cooked through
• Provolone cheese on top
• Classic toppings:
• whole wheat hamburger bun
• lettuce (ok, actually arugula)
• sliced tomato
• sliced red onion
• sliced pickles
• whole grain mustard
• ketchup

I could barely bite the whole thing, but it was delicious!

Happy Grilling!

Dinner. Now, please.

I love to cook, but I really hate to make anything complicated or too involved after being at work all day.  Even worse is when I go to the gym after work: when I get home, I need food in mouth ASAP!

The past couple weeks I’ve really enjoyed some of our weeknight dinners, and the best part was how fast they came together! 

Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan

I had a package of chicken tenders, and my new favorite way to cook them is based on Giada’s method.

• 1 package (approx 1 lb) chicken tenders
• buttermilk or an egg
• bread crumbs (and kind you like)
• parmesan cheese
• olive oil
• olive oil cooking spray
• your favorite tomato sauce
• shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

I don’t have set quantities for this dish because it’s one that you just eyeball.

1.  Clean chicken
2.  If using the buttermilk, place in a shallow dish and let chicken sit in the buttermilk for 15-20 min
2a.  If using an egg, crack 1 egg into a shallow bowl and lightly beat with a fork.
3.  Place bread crumbs and parmesan cheese in another shallow bowl.  I use about 2 parts bread crumbs to 1 part parmesan cheese
4.  Brush a baking sheet with olive oil
5.  Take chicken from buttermilk (or dip in egg), then dip in bread crumbs/cheese to coat, and place on baking sheet.
6.  Spray chicken with olive oil spray (or drizzle oil over tenders)
7.  Bake at 500 for about 12 min

Heat up your sauce in a pan or in the microwave.  Assemble cooked chicken in a pan, topped with sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Broil until cheese is melted.

While your chicken is baking, prep your sides!  Pasta, salad, veggies…whatever you want.

We had some steamed asparagus and a few slices of leftover baguette, toasted. 

  

This all took about 30 min from the time I came home, to dinner on the table.

Next: Mediterranean Style Burgers

The inspiration for these burgers came from Whole Foods, and it came to me when I was in Whole Foods!  There were samples of a similar burger sometime last year and I remembered that Brian and I both loved it but hadn’t made them yet!  Essentially it was a mix of ground beef and ground lamb with cumin and lemon juice.

• 1/2 lb ground beef (I used 93%)
• 1/2 lb ground lamb
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• juice from 1 lemon
• lemon zest from about 1/2 of the lemon

Combine all of the above ingredients and form into burgers.  I made 3: 1 big one for Brian and two smaller ones for me so I’d have one for lunch the next day.

We even fired up the outdoor grill!!  First time this year I think, since the snow was preventing us from even getting to the grill. 

While Brian handled the grilling, I cooked up some caramelized onions, made salads, and roasted some thin cut potatoes.

** microwave your potatoes for a few minutes first to soften them up, then brush on olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning you want.  Bake at 450 for 15-20.  If you cut them thin, and pre-cook them a little they will be ready much faster!

I had picked up a few items from the WF’s antipasto bar for the salads: olives, sundried tomatoes, and marinated artichoke hearts.

Salad was dressed in lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Burgers served medium/med-rare, on whole wheat buns, topped with caramelized onions and a spread of some Trader Joes parmesan-artichoke dip (optional).

I had half a bun, and ate my burgers in the same bowl as my salad :)

Grilled anything gets me excited for warmer weather.  I REALLY loved these burgers.  I refrained from using ketchup because I really wanted to taste the lamb/cumin/lemon.  All the flavors are very subtle but everything tasted so fresh.

  
Once again, this dinner came together in about 30 min! 

I have a couple more I want to share, but we’ll save that for another post!

Don’t forget to SPRING forward tomorrow morning!! 

Brian and I are running a 5K tomorrow morning, and I’m pretty sure a whole bunch of other local bloggers will be running it as well…time to get some sleep!!

dinner b. good

Last week, Brian and I were graciously invited over to Elina’s condo in Boston for a deliciously catered dinner by b. good!

It was a warm night in the city and it was so nice to relax on her patio.

Some other bloggers in attendance were:

Lauren and her husband, John

Shannon

Alicia

Josh and his wife Melissa

After a drink (wine for me, beer for Brian) served by Elina’s husband, Adam, we mingled for a while until the food arrived!

Of course we all we’re snapping pictures before anyone even thought of digging in.  Brian was pretty amused by this as he’s never been around multiple food bloggers at one time haha!

b. good specializes in burgers, salads, sides, and shakes!  On their menu they offer your choice of Veggie, Turkey, and Beef burgers as well as Chicken Sandwiches.  Then you pick your style: Cousin Oliver, West Side, Buffalo, El Guapo, Adopted Luke, or a Seasonal Special.

Our dinner included a variety of MINI burgers!!  LOVE anything mini :)

Buffalo chicken sandwich:

 Cousin Oliver Burger – lettuce, tomato, pickles

Veggie Burger!  I’m not sure the style, I didn’t have this one.

 

El Guapo Turkey Burger: bacon, homemade jalapeño ranch, lettuce, tomato.  That jalapeño ranch had a big kick to it!  But so tasty!

If someone could make this for me everyday I’d be a happy girl…

Southwestern Chicken Salad – mesclun, avocado, corn, tomatoes, black beans, toasted corn, and chipotle balsamic dressing!

  
Sweet Potato Fry heaven :)

Smoothies!  Mango and Strawberry – Banana!  These were incredibly refreshing on a warm night.

  
Brian and I started by sharing these 2 plates…

We tried a buffalo chicken, Cousin Oliver burger, and turkey burger…all delicious!  I haven’t had a real beef burger in a long time and it hit the spot.  I think the buffalo might have been my favorite but they were all very very good!

(totally took this picture from Elina’s post, but I was lacking any good pictures of the group :)

Thank you so much to Elina and Adam for such a fun night!  I wish b. good would open closer to me, but since we’re only like 15min out of the city I think we could make the trip.

p.s. all “B” tags for this post ;) I resisted adding a tag for Brian and Bridget

Summer Weekend

I can't even believe the weather we've had here in Boston this weekend!! I would of been Sooooo pissed if I would of had to study this weekend. It was almost 90 degrees Saturday and in the low 80's today!! Right now its cooled down but the breeze still feels great.

Everything about this weather makes me happy (well except one thing...BUGS!!), I HATE BUGS!! That's the BIGGEST drawback to warm weather :(

Other than that I am in a great mood! We just had a nice little BBQ with my roomies Brother and his gf. We grilled all sorts of stuff, but I'll get to that in a sec.

It started waking up to warm sunshine on Saturday and I made Brian and myself some multi-grain pancakes! I LOVE this recipe...it's in the classic "Joy of Cooking" cookbook and its the 4-grain pancakes!

They are made with whole wheat flour, corn meal, oats, and a little all purpose flour. There is some honey in the recipe as well which makes them SO delicious, even just plain with nothing on them. I, however, am a Real Maple Syrup LOVER!! I can't get enough!!!

some of the finished product extras that went into the Freezer for another day.

Then we headed into Boston to enjoy our lovely city on a perfect day. We walked all the way down Newbury St, and eventually decided to dine "al fresco" at one of the trendy little restaurants on this street: Cafeteria Boston.
We had a table right along the sidewalk and it made for some great people watching. I ordered an iced tea while Brian went with the Sangria.
I ordered a perfect salad for a hot day: "Buffalo Mozzarella, Marinated Peppers, and arugula".
This was the BEST fresh mozzarella I've ever had!! I made Brian eat some so I wouldn't eat it all :)

The city was jam packed with people, the atmosphere was so energetic!

This morning I got up early and got to cleaning the apartment. Studying always trumped cleaning so I was super excited to clean this place!

I had a pre-breakfast snack of an incredibly juicy pear!! Probably one of the best pears I've ever eatenjust look at that juice!!

A little later I had a Chobani before Brian and I went out for a run at my favorite place: Castle Island in South Boston! Could of used some more of that ocean breeze but it was great to run after a week of not-so-much exercise last week. Plus I burnt 5o0 calories! Yay!

I was STARVING when we got back and so I made a quick little sandwich on Arnold's Double Protein Bread with American Cheese, sliced tomato, and sliced Avocado! The Avocado was perfect!! Mmmm!Then we headed to a couple grocery stores for some grilling supplies...but first got distracted by the Gelato stand INSIDE whole foods.

I got a small with Passion Fruit and Chocolate-Strawberry....crazy delicious!
We had plans to grill so many things but didn't even get to them all.

Brian made some skewers with marinated steak tips and veggies. I made up some "Spanikopita" turkey burgers based off this recipe.

I used:

• 1 package of lean ground turkey
• 1 package frozen spinach (drained)
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 med red onion
• about 1/2 package (maybe less) Feta crumbles
• dried Oregano
• S&P

These came out AWESOME!! I didn't make the yogurt sauce, but I can guess that it would be a fabulous addition.

We also grilled asparagus, corn, broccoli and a few regular burgers! We were too full once the corn was done so I'm going to take it off its cob for a salad tomorrow.I had 1 skewer and 1 turkey burger on a whole wheat potato bun. I also munched on asparagus and broccoli. Delicious summer dinner.

It feels so great to be back to my non-studying life. Guess I better get back to wedding focus...next up I need to pick invitations!!! For someone who loves paper products as much as I do, I am not really looking forward to this part!