Menu Plan and Meatless Monday, sort of

I fail miserably whenever I try to formally plan out all my meals for a week. I just cannot do it. There are nights when I just want cereal for dinner…there I said it. And cooking for one SUCKS in my opinion.

So this week, I’m going to try something a little different. Rather than spelling out what I’m going to eat every single day at every single meal, I’m going to make it simple. I WILL NOT EAT OUT THIS WEEK. That’s it. I commit to eating what I have at home (or what I buy at the grocery store) rather than eating out at all. What that will most likely translate into is cereal and fruit for breakfast, soup and or sandwich for lunch, and who knows what for dinner. It will NOT involve restaurants, fast food or delivery. I expect you people to keep my honest with this.

I will start my week with a Meatless Monday dinner. I have left over cooked veggies from making shrimp fajitas the other night (y’all know my love of all Mexican food); to those I will add black beans and maybe more veggies. I’ll put those in a tortilla topped with guacamole, hot salsa sour cream and cheese. To make it vegan you could use vegan cheese and vegan sour cream, or just leave them out. I’ll serve my veggie fajita with a side of vegetarian refried beans and brown rice.

For those who don’t have a clue about making fajitas, here’s what I did:
* I start the first 3 and let them cook while I do the veggies*
Heat about 1 Tbls of veggie oil in a large pan
Cook your rice
Heat refried beans
Rinse, drain and heat the black beans
Add sliced veggies (I used green peppers and a yellow onion; I might add red peppers the next time) and cook to your liking. I like my wilty and not really crispy
Heat a tortilla (or however many you want) in the microwave
Put the black beans and veggies in your hot tortillas (that sounds kind of dirty…I like it) and top with whatever you’d like.

Do you have a vegetarian or vegan recipe that you like? If so link it in your comments!

Meatless Monday

With P being gone (read this blog for that story for the next year), I’ve been slacking on cooking and eating real food. I am trying to get better about that so I will actually be cooking *gasp* supper tonight.

Tonight’s Meatless Monday supper will be cocktail shrimp, hushpuppies (the cooking part), steamed veggies and maybe a few fries. I haven’t made hushpuppies in MONTHS but I am craving them today.

So, yeah….there is my simple boring Meatless Monday :-p Maybe next week I’ll have an interesting tasty recipe. But for the record, I heart shrimp and hushpuppies-it reminds me of our time back in Savannah, GA

Meatless Monday

Today’s Meatless Monday is courtesy of my friend Sara at The Baby P Journey and the original recipe is found here. I cannot wait to try this tonight! I will be using frozen corn (because it’s what I have) and will probably add cumin to the recipe (because I love it). My plan is to make this tonight and then use the filling to serve over rice and in tacos later in the week

Black Bean and Corn Quesadillas
Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (10 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons butter, divided
8 (8 inch) flour tortillas
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in onion, and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in beans and corn, then add sugar, salsa, and pepper flakes; mix well. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.
Melt 2 teaspoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the skillet, sprinkle evenly with cheese, then top with some of the bean mixture. Place another tortilla on top, cook until golden, then flip and cook on the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas and filling.

ETA-The verdict, this is delicious but I suck at making quesadillas look pretty when I do them on a stove top I added an extra 1/4 cup of salsa and cumin to taste. I served it topped with more salsa (love that stuff) and sour cream. AWESOME.

Scattered thoughts

Time is going too fast. We are having fun but it’s just too fast. Our weekends are filled with eating out, shopping, drinking and hanging out. I’m cherishing every single freaking second, just wish it would slow down.

This weekend is a long one and we have lots of fun stuff planned Tonight we had dinner out and then went to see the Prince of Persia. It was a GREAT movie! I got teary eyed during the previews because most of them were for movies coming out after P leaves. Nonetheless, it was a great night. Now we’re relaxing at home and I’m enjoying a glass of wine. Tomorrow I go to Zumba (seriously, my new favorite exercise) and then we are going to Territory Days in Old Colorado City. I seriously LOVE that part of town and would love to live there one day. It’s where I take Zumba and it reminds me a lot of Savannah and the Highland area in Birmingham. I feel at home in the Springs but I really feel at home in that area-hippies, local artists, dancers, hip earthy parents all seem to frequent that area. I am taking my good camera out there tomorrow and hope to get some great pictures. Either Sunday or Monday we hope to take the dogs outdoors some where for some walking and I plan to take some pictures then, too. I really need to get back to serious picture taking-at one time it was so therapeutic for me.

I’ve been doing great with eating and exercising this week I made 3 Cheese Baked Ziti on Monday and literally ate it all week. I never got tired of it-P did but he just ate sandwiches instead. No way was I cooking every night with it being so hot and this house not having A/C. I’ve run once and been to Zumba twice this week. I planned to run today but when I left work at noon (took half a day off) I crashed for a 4 hour nap. I am really not sure why I was so exhausted but I listen to my body so I took the day off from exercising. The weight loss is going slowly but it’s going. I lost 6 lbs, gained 3 back and have lost 2 of those so I guess I’ve lost 4 lbs so far I think that the key for me is staying away from unhealthy snacks and eating out during the week. Last week I did not do well at all with the eating-ate out and snacked A LOT. Must not do that on a regular basis. Also, been doing well with eating vegetarian for the vast majority of my meals. My goal is 1, max 2, non-vegetarian meals per week and so far I’ve been sticking with it. I am proud of me

In less than a week I turn 34 and in just over 2 weeks we have our IVF consultation. I am ridiculously calm about all of that at the moment. My next therapy appointment is on my birthday and P has agreed to go with me at the request of my therapist-LOVE MY HUSBAND. He is so not a therapy person but he didn’t hesitate when agreeing to go with me. I love that he sees how important this is to me. I love that I married him. I hate infertility but I love that he’s the one going through this with me. He is amazing.

I feel guilty about not blogging as much, seriously I do. I promise that I will blog A LOT when he’s gone. So much that you’ll probably get sick of me :-p There is so much that I think of blogging about during the week, then I get home after running or going to Zumba and all I want to do is snuggle on the couch with P and watch iCarly (yeah, I love iCarly-so what?!) I need to just write like 5-7 blogs over the weekends and then post them throughout the week.

To all who read my blog, thank you-for real <3 I promise to catch up on blog reading, too. I am ridiculously behind but I truly promise to read all of them on my Reader.

Meatless Monday and a Lesson

First of all, here’s a lesson that I learned the hard way dear readers-don’t eat a big juicy beef burger if you haven’t eat red meat in months. I gave up ground beef many months ago and switched to ground turkey. Then, of course, a few weeks ago I decided to become a part time vegetarian. Well, after Zumba on Saturday I was CRAVING a big juicy burger. Rather than smartly looking for a turkey option, I opted for the full beef burger with cheese and yummy cooked onions. Let’s just say that I’m paying for it. So readers, if you have given up beef or meat, don’t go all out if you’re craving it-baby steps, people, baby steps. My husband also kindly shared his germs with me and I am now fighting off a cold AGAIN. Yeah a cold and stomach issues are not a favorable combination.

If I brave eating real food tonight, I’ll be eating an Amy’s frozen organic cheese pizza. I felt guilty eating prepared foods for some of my meatless dinners, but then I realized it might actually help by showing that eating vegetarian meals does not mean that you have to actually cook every single night. If you are looking into dipping your toes into vegetarianism, look at soups and your frozen food section. I love Morningstar “chicken” and everything I’ve ever tried from Amy’s Organic line has been delicious. With soups, add your own stuff in there to make it more yours. Get on allrecipes.com and look around at some the vegetarian recipes-there are easy and yummy ones out there, I promise.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go drink my Sprite and eat some crackers. Hopefully I’ll be enjoying pizza later.

Tidbits-A Wordfull Wednesday and a Meatless Monday

I haven’t been around as much because P will be leaving in ___ amount of time. I’m making an effort to stay off the laptop and spend time with him. He’s currently engrossed in some new video game so I’m breaking my own rules :-p

Work is going better. I’m staying busy doing briefs, counseling clients and helping a coworker with some extra stuff. I had my first monthly meeting with my boss and things are good so far. The vast majority of my coworkers are very nice and one-the one who looks like Rita Wilson-is someone I could definitely hang out with outside of work. She works in a satellite office so I only see her once a week during staff meetings. I am hoping to be able to work at the satellite office some in the future.

Tomorrow I have a workout date with a new girl friend It’s weird making friends again but I know that I’ll make plenty here. Anyway, tomorrow I am doing a dance class with my friend S, a waitress that we met at BWW. I haven’t seen here in a couple of weeks because we’ve been going to BWW at lunch rather than dinner so I’m excited to see her and try the class. The class is $10 which it first made me cringe, then I realized that some weeks I spend more than that on Starbucks. Exercise and making new friends is way more important than coffee

Next week I have my first therapy appointment and I’m looking forward to it. It’ll be nice to have someone objective to talk to about infertility and the stress it brings. Plus she’s been through it, so she can relate to what I’m going through. I will be sure to blog about it.

My workouts are going better and my foot seems to finally be healed. Hopefully the tax refund comes in soon-damnit, I wanna start with my personal trainer!

Out IVF consultation is next month. Since I fully realize that IVF won’t happen until July or August, I am determined to get down to my goal weight before we do it. As of last week I was down 6 pounds I’m not weighing this week because of AF but I will weigh again next Thursday.

I finally got my tragus piercing in my left ear and now I want one in my right! P and I are also getting tattoos before he leaves and I promise to pot pictures of them. It might be a few weeks, though because the artists that we want are booked up.

Eating vegetarian is going well. I’m only eating one non-vegetarian meal per week and I’m loving it. It’s forcing me to think outside the box when eating dinner. Well, some of the times I think outside the box. This week’s Meatless Monday was organic mac & cheese, corn on the cob and organic frozen fish sticks. Hey, it was still meatless :p I really need to try that black bean burger recipe this weekend.

Ok, more later-have to watch Lost on the MacBook

Meatless Monday

Well, tonight’s was not my favorite meal. I tried The Pioneer Woman’s recipe that I posted last week and let’s just say that it wasn’t a hit. I should’ve known better-I don’t like spinach unless it’s in a smoothie or a salad. I think that I have figured out that P and I are pasta purists. No more fancy sauces for us.

I think that others would definitely love this dish. If you like cooked spinach and blue cheese, definitely give this one a shot. If you are a pasta purist like I am, skip it and move on to one of her other delicious recipes

On a side note, I’m calling my therapist tomorrow to set up my first appointment. I am way too anxious and moody right now. I figured out that part of my heart racing/anxiety last night (which caused me to get next to no sleep) was due to dehydration. I have mild mitral valve prolapse and dehydration can aggravate the symptoms. I have been drinking water (and 32 ounces of my green smoothie) all day which seems to have given me some relief. I know that the MVP isn’t all of it, so I am considering getting sleeping pills to take on an as needed basis. Something mild, not like the ProSom that I used to take. Last night was especially bad because not only could I not fall asleep, once I finally did I couldn’t stay asleep. Brother deployed, husband about to deploy, new job, new city, trying to start IVF…..yeah, no wonder I have issues sleeping.

Meatless Monday (or Wednesday, whatever)

I neglected to write a Meatless Monday post this week. It’s not that I didn’t go meatless-in fact the only day I’ve eaten meat was Saturday, more on that later-but it’s that I don’t really consider macaroni and cheese from a box to be a recipe :-p So I thought I’d talk about we ate the past couple of nights and share a couple af recipes that I want to try in the next week.

Tuesday night we ate a frozen pizza from Kashi. I was not impressed and will stick to eating Amy’s Organic frozen pizzas. I didn’t like the texture of the Kashi crust and I couldn’t seem to get it crispy.

Last night we ate Amy’s Organic black bean soup and I added a few things to it. I added a can of black beans (rinsed and drained) and then topped off each serving with organic sour cream, cheese, salsa and a few Mission tortilla chips. I know that I should probably make my own soups but buying them and then adding a few ingredients to them is so convenient for me. Plus I really love everything that I’ve ever tasted from Amy’s Organic

Tonight I plan to make shrimp and a frozen side from Alexia-it’s potatoes and some other veggies with seasonings. I might even add in some corn on the cob because I know that P likes that wih seafood.

Last night I was excited to find 2 delicious looking vegetarian recipes when I wasn’t even looking for them. The first one is a lasagna recipe from All Recipes:

Black Bean Lasagna
9 lasagna noodles
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (16 ounce) can refried black beans
2 3/4 cups canned tomato sauce
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1/4 cup sliced ripe olives (I hate olives so I will probably omit these)
8 sprigs fresh cilantro
Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

Coat a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray, and place over medium heat. Saute onion, red bell pepper, corn and garlic until tender. Stir in black beans, refried beans, tomato sauce, salsa and 1/4 cup cilantro. Cook until heated through and slightly thickened; set aside.

In a large bowl, combine cottage cheese, ricotta, sour cream, shredded Monterey Jack cheese and remaining 1/4 cup chopped cilantro; set aside.

Coat a 9×13 inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Arrange 3 of the cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of the dish, cutting to fit if necessary. Spread with 1/3 of the bean mixture, then 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layers twice more.

Cover, and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes. Garnish with sliced black olives and sprigs of cilantro.

The second one is a pasts recipe from The Pioneer Woman. LOVE her recipes and her website.

Pasta with Tomato-Bleu Cheese Sauce
1-½ pound Pasta (angel Hair Or Thin Spaghetti)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
1 whole 28-ounce Can Diced Tomatoes, Drained
Dash Of Sugar
Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, To Taste
¾ cups Crumbled Blue Cheese
¾ cups Heavy Cream
4 cups Baby Spinach
Half And Half, For Thinning
Extra Blue Cheese Crumbles, For Garnish

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil. When hot, add minced garlic and cook for a minute. Pour in drained tomatoes. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Reduce heat to low. Stir in crumbled blue cheese. Add cream and stir, then a little splash of half-and-half if sauce is too thick. Cook for a minute or two, tasting and adding more seasonings as needed.
At the very, very, very last minute. toss in spinach. Immediately toss in the cooked and drained pasta. Serve immediately!

Definitely check out TPW’s Cooking site-here’s the link for the pasta recipe. You can see the amazing pictures of the process and the finished product.

Since I’ve been eating vegetarian the majority of the past couple of weeks, I’ve found that I want meat less and less. This past weekend we went to Buffalo Wild Wings, one of our fave places, and I couldn’t finish my wings. The whole eating off a bone thing almost made me sick. It’s weird because I have never felt that way and have been eating wings for many years. I LOVE the taste of buffalo sauce so I might try the boneless next time. I can’t imagine giving it up completely.

I definitely like eating less meat and it seems to be helping in the weight loss department as well. Now excuse while I peruse the internet for more yummy vegetarian meals.

Meatless Monday

This is my first Meatless Monday post and I’m excited I am trying to eat more vegetarian and less meat (not including seafood-not giving that up). I have toyed with the idea of becoming vegetarian but I seriously love Buffalo Wild Wings so I’ve decided that if I can eat vegetarian the majority of the time then it’s a step in the right direction. Here’s what I ate today:

Breakfast:
2 organic wildberry waffles with a little crunchy peanut butter on them
16 oz of decaf coffee

Throughout the day:
32 oz of Tropical Tango Green Smoothie (recipe to follow)
2 Kashi granola bars
2 boiled eggs
approx 50 oz of water

Supper:
Amy’s organic fire roasted vegetable soup with a can of black beans (drained) added and topped with cheese, sour cream and crushed tortilla chips

We actually had a meatless supper last night as well-salmon burger patties (premade from Whole Foods, think I might make my own some time), garlic & rosemary potatoes and corn

I am looking forward to finding more yummy vegetarian food and recipe ideas so if you have some, let me know!

Tropical Tango Green Smoothie
1-2 cups fresh pineapple chopped
1 banana
1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (I cheat and just use organic orange juice)
1 cup water
big handful of greens

I blend the spinach and the water first, then add the rest of the ingredients and blend again until smooth This is where I got the smoothie recipe.