Reboot...

It's been nearly two years since I've blogged...far too long. So many things have changed in the past two years: many food adventures with Aiden, I purchased a new (to me) home that came with a significantly larger kitchen (WAHOO!) and two persimmon trees, and our family grew by one little guy, Ryan, who arrived last December. So I'm now outnumbered 2 to 1 male to female in my household, unless you count the dog...which I definitely do.

Of course I haven't stopped trying new recipes, and the new kitchen has made so much difference. My old kitchen was small, cave-like, and claustrophobic. I had little to no counter space, the refrigerator eventually had to relocate to the garage, the dishwasher didn't actually wash a thing, and the washing machine was in the kitchen next to the dishwasher. Again, that did not help with the counter space issue.

Now with my new kitchen, I'm trying new things, grilling regularly, cooking regularly, and enjoying being in the kitchen once again. It's therapeutic again. Aiden joins me, and Ryan has plenty of space to sit in his highchair and watch me do my thing. Or to laugh at my awful dance moves...whichever he desires in the moment.

Since I've often had a love/hate relationship with food, and also tend to be very much of an emotional eater, I've been trying hard to adopt much more of a low-carb diet. Again with Ryan, just like with my first pregnancy, diabetes had a firm grasp on me, and I was never far from my blood glucose meter, my insulin, or a sugar source due to a few (very scary) low blood sugar episodes. So my kitchen now boasts much more protein, vegetables, and fewer carbs in pretty much any variety.

So I'm getting back into things. Creating, yet another, new normal...whatever the heck that is. This normal includes now two little guys watching me cook & learning all about food, a much more functional kitchen (that does NOT cause claustrophobia!), and so many more chances for us to make memories around our table...and in the kitchen. Because, after all, life starts in the kitchen!

Routine

I'm a stickler for routines, and I always have been. I like them, I thrive with them...and, I'm anal-retentive. And a prepper. By far not a "doomsday prepper," especially since all of the apocalypse stuff just gives me the heebie-jeebies, but back to topic.

I like routines - morning routines, bedtime routines, routines with my son, and routines with regards to my food. Fridays are meal planning days. I have a meal planning pad that I use, which includes dinners for each night (Sunday through Saturday), then a general area for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. Dinners are what I prep - everything else tends to fall into place after those dinners are planned.

I like to keep my dinners fairly simple on most evenings - as seen above, it's a protein (chicken), carbohydrate (garnet yam), and a BUNCH of vegetables (broccoli, obviously). But again, this was PLANNED.


My lunches tend to reflect, if not copy, my dinners. Seen to the left are two lunches, which were two of about 4-5 I prepared that evening. They all included fried cauliflower rice (riced cauliflower and quinoa cooked JUST like fried rice - amazing flavor, lower carbohydrate than its rice equivalent), plus protein, and vegetables. Thanks to these take-and-go containers, I am able to make as many as 15 meals at once, and the compartments are fantastic! Plus with so many containers, I can have a few in the fridge, and a few in the dishwasher. Oh, and sometimes, one or two left in the refrigerator at work.

Likewise, one of my other favorites is bok choy with garnet yams and chicken, again, in the compartment containers (microwave, freezer & dishwasher safe). But, since I've been so conscious of planning meals, my food budget has decreased, and I've felt so much better - likely due to less processed crap in my body. That's not to say I don't enjoy ice cream on occasion. Or cheese. Or french fries.

So, back to meal planning for the week. Fridays are my typical planning day. That's when I sit down with my grocery list, the grocery store's ad for the week, and my meal planning pad. Then Saturdays can be spent going to the store, and both Saturday and Sunday can be used for preparing foods for the week: marinating meats, cutting vegetables for use later in the week, and just generally putting everything away.

I'm also blessed that my son loves to eat just about ANYTHING, especially vegetables. So what I cook, he eats. Though, at times I have to cook & pack extra vegetables since I know he will take about half of them! (Side note: Perhaps he needs to be the Jolly Green Giant for Halloween....)

So for tomorrow, my breakfast is ready to go, my coffee cup is ready beneath the Keurig, my lunch is packed and in the fridge, and tomorrow's dinner is marinading in the fridge, ready to pop into the slow cooker tomorrow morning before work. No last minute stress tomorrow of what to make for dinner, and the leftovers will be Tuesday's lunch. The cycle, er, routine continues!

Getting My "Fix" with Quinoa Cauliflower and Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

About a week ago, I started a new meal & fitness plan - the 21 Day Fix. The premise is it takes 21 days to start a new habit and/or break an old one. So in the past week, my eating has changed a lot with more vegetables, more protein, lower carbohydrate (good for me as a diabetic), and fruit, and my exercise plan has gone from sporadic to daily - at least 30 minutes per day.

The first week, I mainly stuck with raw, whole veggies and fruits, without much muss or fuss. It was just easier for me - plus I'm one of those oddballs who actually enjoys raw vegetables. A lot. Lots of carrots, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, etc. I find it easy to have a quart-sized Ziplog bag filled with prepped veggies at work, so then I can mindlessly snack without sabotaging my food intake. I mean, it's not like I'm going to gain 50 lbs eating cucumbers and celery sticks.

One thing I've always struggled with is that I like to eat VOLUME. I want my plate and my belly full. I know some foods are nutrition dense, but are also just...small. None of those dinky little portions for me, thanks.

Tonight I knew I still had to eat some more protein and some carbohydrate as well (twist my arm on that one!). I cooked up some quinoa with a splash of soy sauce for last night's dinner, had riced cauliflower in the freezer (thank you, Trader Giotto's!), and tonight picked up some tilapia at the store. That was my starting point...

For the Quinoa Cauliflower:

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup riced cauliflower
• 1 onion, cut into a large dice
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 oz. grated Parmesan

I sauteed the onion in a bit of butter until they browned, then added in the quinoa and cauliflower to heat (they were both already cooked). Once it was all hot, I tossed in the green onions and Parmesan, stirred it up, and served it onto my plate.

For the Tilapia:

• Olive oil to thinly coat the pan
• 1/2 oz. grated Parmesan
• 1 tilapia filet

I heated the oil on med/high, sprinkled half the Parmesan on the fish, and laid the fish cheese-side down onto the pan, sprinkled the rest of the cheese onto the other side of the fish, and covered the filet with a lid for about 2 minutes. Then, I flipped the fish to cook the other side. Once done, I laid it onto the Quinoa Cauliflower. 

And here is the final result...

Prepping for Success

I've battled the scale for years. We don't have the best relationship. Though, in the past few years, especially since Aiden was born, I've have accepted and realized that my self-worth is not tied to the number on the scale. That said, I would like to be a healthy, happy mom for my son, who is becoming more and more active with each given day.

With that said, I've been following a few online coaches who emphasize meal planning and prep, 30 minutes of exercise daily without going to a gym (a must for a single momma like me, so then I can exercise after the little guy's bedtime), and tracking how many veggies, fruits, proteins, carbs, healthy fats, etc.

So far, I'm only on Day 2 of 21 - and I can repeat the 21 days as much as I'd like. The premise is that it takes 21 days to make a habit..so I'm 2 days in, 19 to go. This might be just the challenge I've been looking for to get myself back into the kitchen, and back into meal planning.

Last night, I knew I HAD to cook the ground turkey in my fridge, so I opted to make some turkey burgers - ground turkey, scallions, diced red onion, teriyaki marinade, salt & pepper, and a little ranch seasoning. I then pulled out the portion cup for protein, and used ONLY that amount to make each burger. So as of last night, I had nine portioned turkey burgers.

The red cup in the bowl is my portion cup for proteins - and there's 4 burgers ready to hit the grill!

Four burgers are on the grill, and four more ready to go. Thank goodness for my Cuisinart grill!

The cabbages were used to make pickled cabbage - something I used to have all the time at my favorite Japanese restaurant growing up. It's just thinly sliced cabbage, sprinkled with salt, and then weighed down. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage, and leaves this "pickled" salad. Two cups of that salad accompanied my dinner last night.

Now, onto tonight. This evening, I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Even in the past two days, I've noticed a drastic increase in the volume of vegetables, fruit and protein that I've been consuming. So it was time to stock up on a bunch of veggies, more fruits (in addition to half a watermelon in my refrigerator already), and some other goodies to stock my fridge. A girl can only live on carrot sticks and pickled cabbage for so long without something mixing it up!

So tonight, while Aiden played in the backyard at his water table & in the dirt (aka, mud), I started prepping a BUNCH of stuff. That watermelon was soon cut up into a one-gallon bag, now ready to go. I pulled a value pack of chicken from the freezer two days ago, and it's finally defrosted, so it was time to skin those legs and get them sitting in some marinade. That, too, took up another gallon bag. Then the 4 lbs. of strawberries, that I measured out into two serving containers (1 serving = 1 cup). Finally, I prepped veggies for tomorrow's lunch - 1 cup of sliced carrots, and 1 cup of sliced cucumber.

Food prepped and ready to go - with the exception of the chicken, that is still in its marinading phase.

So there is my evening - nicely laid out in containers and bags. And the best thing - it's all real food. I've actually felt like I've had to eat SO much more food lately, but it's just because I'm eating the right foods, finally. I'm curious to see how I do after the first week, the second week, and then...day 21. I did my workout today (and I'm feeling it, too!), and look forward to tomorrow's.

I can do this. I'm taking control of my life, my eating, and my health, and it feels damn good.

Piece Meal

Probably one of the hardest questions I must ask myself daily is what the heck to make for dinner. Some weeks I'm great at meal planning, and I make sure my shopping trip is just what I need, and so on and so forth. Lately...not so much. It's more me making sure I'm stocked up on Aiden's favorites - apples (ah-poh!), bananas (nah-nah), grapes (he doesn't have a word for these yet), eggs, and the like. Plus the items I eat regularly.

I would love to say I make every meal he eats from scratch...but then I'd be lying through my teeth. Yes, he has eaten chicken nuggets, corn dog bites, and cheeseburgers. I know...Gasp! Say it isn't so! I try hard to make them special meals, but it does happen.

Some nights, I totally wing it. A few weeks ago, that's exactly what I did. The day prior, I luckily stopped by Sam's Club and picked up a rotisserie chicken for $5. Those are AMAZING. Plus, I got a whole cooked chicken without heating up my house. Aiden and I can make at 3-4 meals if not more from one chicken. This one had already been part of a dinner for the two of us the night before, and my lunch earlier that day.

Then...what to make WITH the chicken? Luckily, Aiden loves vegetables, so that was easily covered, but he needed something else. I headed to my "pantry," which is now a shelf on a metal rack in my garage, just beside my dryer. There they were - potatoes. Some were Yukon gold, some Idaho...so I gathered a few, washed them up and popped them in to microwave to cook them, and THEN I could brown them in a pan.

I'm most certainly blessed that Aiden likes to know what I'm doing in the kitchen. He likes to see, likes to be picked up, and is curious about every step. Though that means I'm often cooking dinner with one arm while he's in the other. But, he's learning. I see him doing similar steps in his play kitchen, and he's started telling me what play foods are in the bag that he carries around the house, and often hides in my bed. If I'm not holding him while I cook, it's more likely than not that he's underfoot. And so is the dog. 

My "helpers" while I cook. Aiden wants up. Ruby just wants me to spill.

So in the pan is a bit of olive oil, and garlic salt. Nothing fancy - I'm just making home fries. I cooked them until they browned, and then first pulled a few out for the little guy so they could cool, and then served myself. The little guy's plate was much more festive when I added his favorite "sauce" as well - ketchup. Gotta have ketchup with home fries, right?

He ate his peas while I finished up making dinner, which is my sneaky way to get him into his seat so I can finish cooking without a 28 lb. boy in my arms, or underfoot. Plus, he loves peas. Straight from the freezer. No joke. 

Luckily, I think he liked it.

Making "Cents" of a Budget

My house isn't in perfect condition. Aiden and I were busy playing today with cars, his kitchen, and reading LOTS of books. And this weekend we went on a few excursions, as well. Some that I often prefer not to do with Aiden, but I decided to be brave this weekend: we went grocery shopping. AND...we went to Costco on a Saturday. 

I've typically placed a limit on how much I'd like to spend each month on groceries, but it used to be much different a year ago. I didn't worry as much about the cost of meat, and I had plenty of pantry space to store a stockpile of sorts with canned goods, dry goods, and a fridge large enough to store a decent grocery trip. 

Since I've moved, I've been very aware about how much I'm spending on everything - groceries included. My goal each month is to stay around $200, which has been fairly attainable...with some work and planning. I could have taken a trip to the Farmer's Market this weekend, but instead, I opted not to since I didn't know what I really needed to buy. So why go if I didn't have a plan? So I finally came up with a plan for the week, and headed to the store. 

My entire receipt from my trip to the store - $43.28

This trip was a bit for stocking up - pasta, guppies (generic goldfish) for Aiden, and the ever-important...toilet paper, which took up 25% of my grocery bill. Nothing fancy on the list. Popcorn for Aiden & me, since we like to have an after-dinner snack of popcorn, and a bag was only $3.39 and that will make about 8 batches of popcorn. Cheese is my splurge at $4.99, which is the sale price for the generic brand. 

My little guy hogging OUR popcorn

That shopping trip, with the exception of probably purchasing some more milk later in the week, will get me through until next weekend, without a doubt. Though my meals are quite simple, they're good, healthy, delicious, and...economical.

I often try to cook for at least two meals - dinner and the next day's lunch. Tonight, I noticed a leftover chicken thigh that needed to be cooked, plus I have fresh zucchini & mushrooms, and I cooked up some garnet yams last weekend, so they're ready to go. 

Tomorrow's lunch, and tonight's dinner
 (the chicken was still cooking)

So I started up a skillet with the mushrooms (and of course, a bit of butter), and then added 3 zucchini, cut lengthwise, then into semi-circles. While that cooked, I fired up another smaller pan for the chicken, and peeled two chunks of cooked yam. At the same time, I pulled out a container for tomorrow's lunch, peeled yams for that container, and left room for the zucchini/mushroom mixture. I estimate I spent about $1.80 on the zucchini for both meals (so, maybe $0.90 each), half the container of mushrooms (about $1), and the yams were passed onto me before my mom left for Italy (so...free!). So except for the chicken, and my yam...my lunch and dinner were around $1.90 each. 

So now, it's time to wrap up the last of the meal planning for the week, which includes planning for lunches. It just makes...cents.

From Scratch

I've loved having adventures in my kitchen for years. There are so many things to explore, and it's fun to see just how much can be done from scratch. Through the years, I've created cinnamon rolls, peanut butter balls, asiago & onion bagels, pot-stickers, breakfast burritos with beans, bacon, eggs and cheese, pulled pork, roasted chicken and vegetables, grilled pork tenderloin, cookies of all sorts, citrus stuffed turkey, my grandmother's enchiladas, stuffed shells, lasagnas, corned beef and cabbage, soups and chili, stuffed cabbage, mocha cupcakes with Bailey's icing...and now I'm drooling on my keyboard. And that's just the short list of what I can think of right now off the top of my head.

When I'm in a good mood, I love to cook. I don't necessarily want to eat it all, but I want to cook it. Thankfully, I can bring some of the items into work. Now, it's a bit harder to get into the swing of cooking. Half of the time, it's just me at the dinner table, so it has been a little bit of a challenge for myself to make real food, rather than another turkey sandwich on wheat, not that I don't do that on occasion.

The other half of the time I have Aiden, and though I try hard to just make something I would eat, and have him eat it too, I've resorted to shortcuts on occasion. Any mom who tells you they never had, is likely lying through their teeth. I'm already proud to say that I never fed him jarred baby food - I made my own, and had control of the ingredients. Plus, meats should not be any shade of gray.

In the past few weeks, I've been making a sincere effort to meal plan both for when it's just me, and when Aiden's with me. When Aiden's here, he often wants to see everything I'm doing, so I make sure to lift him up, he reminds me the stove is "hot," and I show him what I'm doing as best I can. His interest in what I'm cooking spurred me to get him a play kitchen for his birthday. Together we go through the play foods, and I let him know what they are.

Momma's kitchen helper in his very own kitchen

So tonight, I decided to make something...from scratch. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't gourmet. But it was good, satisfying, and I got myself back in the kitchen. Tonight it was just dinner for me, so I was able to eat after the sun went down rather than before. It was simple, and it was delicious: teriyaki marinaded chicken with sauteed snow peas & onion. Again, not anything fancy. No high tech gadgets used, no huge prep time (other than marinading the chicken, but that was passive prep).

So it wasn't anything fancy, but it was GOOD. It's small steps getting me back into my kitchen. Some of my kitchen is still packed in boxes somewhere in my garage, but I'll get to them soon. In the meantime, I'll just have to "settle" with dinners like these!