Afterthoughts

Afterthoughts was as Claire's-like store and one of my favorite stores as a tween. Since I was tall for my age (yeah, I was the tallest girl in my 5th grade class...hard to believe seeing me stand an even 5 feet now...I know), I didn't like shopping for clothes with my friends who were still little and "dainty". But I loved shopping for accessories. I guess that hasn't changed much in 15 years.

I was recently reminded of how, many times, things we think hold of a lot of importance to us come as an after thought. In reality, we put our own desires, or our own agenda ahead of the people/things we claim take priority in our lives.

This week, I've been given the opportunity of time. Jason works into each evening this week, and I've set a goal to make things that are usually "after thoughts" happen. For example, last night I went to the gym. So many nights I say that I'm going to go, I might even pack a bag to go straight from work, but at the end of the work day, I am tired and I head home for some quality time with my husband. If I do make it to the gym, I take it easy, tell myself that I'm tired and just a short, easy workout will do. But not last night. Last night I went to my first spin class since college...and let me tell you...I felt the two year long break.

Another thing that has been an after thought in my life, is seeking out time with people. I'm good as spending quality time with people who are built into my everyday life, but I'm admittedly bad at keep up with people that it takes effort to see. I realize that this has to change for those friendships to function. So this week, I'm trying my hardest to reach out to people I haven't spent quality time with in a while; people I miss.

Who, or what, are the after thoughts in your life? Is it reading the bible, spending time in prayer, or taking care of yourself by exercising or eating well? I've made all of those after thoughts at some point in my life, and it's tough to face the reality that we put such important things on the back burner. But our lives are complex, and we cannot ignore or overlook such things are relationships, time in the word, time in prayer, and keeping ourselves healthy. At some point, we're going to realize the missing link(s).

In other news, I had a dinner fail last night. Since we've been married, I've only made 2 big dinner whoopsies, including last night. Thankfully, I was only cooking for myself last night...so Mr. Picky (a.k.a my husband) didn't have to relive the vanilla yogurt fail of 2012.

Actually, the recipe was really good. But as you'll see in the recipe below, after everything is done cooking, you're supposed to put everything in the blender or food processor. Well, when I got home from spinning, I was SO HUNGRY, so I didn't want to spend a lot of time on this step. I poured everything into the blender and turned it on (I should have just used the "pulse" mode a few times). After about 20 seconds of going through the blender, the recipe was the consistency of baby food. I don't usually get caught up on the texture of food, but this was just more than I can handle. I may try it again in the future and figure out a way to not turn the soup into baby food.

Fortunately, the flavor of the soup was really good...and it even had some kick to it.

Roasted Red Pepper & Sweet Potato Soup

(Recipe from this blog)
Ingredients

• 2 huge sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed. Measured this is about 6 cups of cubes
• One 12 oz. jar of roasted red peppers in water (drained)
• One 14 oz. can of coconut milk
• 1 c. of chicken stock.
• 1 small red onion, large diced
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. You dump everything into your slow cooker.
2. You let it cook for 4 to 6 hours.
3. You blend it with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender (this is where I went wrong).
4. Garnish it with red pepper flakes or chipotle flakes if you are fancy.

So you can see, it's really an easy recipe. Maybe I'll try it again this fall.

I hope you all have a terrific Tuesday!

Southwest Zesty Salad

Last night I decided to get a little bit creative. I found a recipe on Pinterest that looked pretty good, but I wanted to add a little more umph to it. If I was going to eat this as a meal, it needed to be pretty filling. Here's what I came up with -

Southwest Zesty Salad

Yield: 5-6 Servings as a side, about 4 as a meal

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 c. red onion, diced
• 1 tbsp. lime juice
• 1 dash of sea salt
• 1 Hass Avocado, diced
• 1 can of black beans, drained
• 1 can of corn, drained
• 1 can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/2 c. cooked salad shrimp
• Sea salt
• Pepper
• OPTIONAL: Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning
• OPTIONAL: Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle seasoning
• OPTIONAL: Club crackers

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine EVOO, red onion, lime juice, and sea salt. Mix and set aside in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
2. Cook your shrimp. I poured a bag of frozen shrimp into the skillet over medium heat for about 15 minutes. Every few minutes I'd go and flip them, but they cook pretty easily while you put together the rest of the salad.
3. In a large bowl, combine avocado, black beans, corn, and tomato. Stir well. 
4. Pour in onion mixture to the large bowl. Stir well. 
5. Add salt, pepper, and additional seasonings.
6. Once your shrimp are cooked, drain the water, add a little salt, pepper, and maybe some Fiesta Lime seasoning. Pour shrimp into the large bowl. Mix well.
7. Let your salad chill in the refrigorator for a few minutes (about 5 minutes?), or until the shrimp are cool. 
8. Serve on Club crackers, in a tortilla, with chips, or eat it with a fork by itself!

Honestly, I'm usually pretty good about taking pictures, but I was so hungry at dinnertime that I forgot!

Recipe - Three Cheese Ziti Bake

Three Cheese Ziti Bake  

(or, Three Cheese Pasta Bake)
Ingredients

• 3 c. cooked whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 c. fresh spinach leaves
• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1.5 jars three cheese marinara sauce
• 2 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened 
• 1 c. shredded mozzarella
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. oregano 
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. Meanwhile cook ground turkey in a large nonstick skillet, until meat is cooked through, (no longer pink). Stir in cream cheese, crushed tomatoes, spinach, and spices and turn off heat. When pasta is done, pour into a colander to drain. Add pasta to sauce mixture.
3. Pour everything into prepared casserole dish, and sprinkle mozzarella over the pasta. Cover casserole dish with foil. Bake for 15 minutes, remove foil, and bake an additional 5-7 minutes, or until mozzarella is melted. 

Recipe - Chicken Roll Ups

Chicken Roll Ups 

(adapted from Dashing Dish recipe)
Ingredients:
for the chicken

• 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. EVOO
• 2 tbsp. water

for the Tzatziki sauce 

• 1/2 c. 0% fat plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 medium cucumber, grated and squeezed dry
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. lemon juice  

for the pita toppings

• High fiber/low carb tortillas (or pita) 
• Reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

1. Place all of the ingredients for the chicken in the crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
2. To make the sauce, start by grating the cucumber over a small bowl. Blot the excess moisture with a paper towel until dry.
3. Add the yogurt, garlic, salt, and vinegar to the grated cucumber. Whisk until everything is well combined. Cover and refrigerate until serving (I put mine in a medium sized mason jar and kept the excess for other meals).
4. Place one sliced chicken breast onto each tortilla or pita bread. Top each with 1/4 cup yogurt mixture, feta, and onion if desired. Roll pita over chicken, and enjoy!

Recipe - Chicken Skillet

Chicken Skillet 

(adapted from Betty Crocker recipe)

Yields 4 servings
Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2 diced red peppers 
• 1/2 chopped red onions
• 1 can reduced sodium black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup Old El Paso® Thick 'n Chunky salsa
• 1 Old El Paso® flour tortilla for burritos (8 inch) (from 11.5-ounce package), cut into 2x1-inch strips
• 4 oz. low-fat shredded Cheddar cheese 

Directions

1. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Cook chicken in oil 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in center.
2. Stir in vegetables, beans and salsa; reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender.
3. Sprinkle with tortilla strips and cheese. Cover and cook about 2 minutes or until cheese is melted

Recipe - Spice Cake Pumpkin Muffins

Spice Cake Pumpkin Muffins

(makes 24)
93 calories per muffin
Ingredients

• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 box of spice cake
• Cinnamon to taste
• Powdered sugar to taste 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven according the the directions of the spice cake. 
2. Pour entire contents of pumpkin into a mixing bowl along with the box of spice cake. 
3. Mix together until blended evenly. I used my stand-mixer, but I've also used a handheld mixer as well as my hands in the past. 
4. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Sprinkle cinnamon on each muffin.
5. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes depending on how soft you want them in the middle. 
6. Once you're done baking, sprinkle powdered sugar on top of each muffin and let cool. 

Recipe - Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

(recipe adapted from this one)
Yields 12 muffins
80 calories/muffin

Ingredients

• 1.5 c. all-purpose whole wheat flour
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar (I used baking Splenda)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 (6-ounce) container nonfat Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1/4 c. unsweetened almond milk
• 1/4 c. canola oil (I used unsweetened apple sauce)
• 1 egg (I used egg whites)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1.5 c. fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. 
2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl combine, Greek yogurt, milk, oil (applesauce) and vanilla. Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients just enough to combine. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top. 
3. Bake for 12-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Recipe - Curry Quinoa Salad with Chicken

Curry Quinoa Salad with Chicken

(recipe adapted from here)
Yields 3-4 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/4 c. uncooked quinoa
• 1 c. water
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 diced peeled ripe mango 
• I can't cut a mango to save my life so I used 2 of the little cups of fruit and just drained out all of the liquid first
• 1 lb. chicken 
• I used Tyson's frozen grilled chicken strips and put them in the crockpot for 4 hours with a little bit of curry powder. About half the bag was the perfect amount
• 2-4 c. baby spinach (or whatever lettuce you want to use)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add curry powder and garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add quinoa and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 16 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat; stir in salt. Cool completely. While doing this, pull chicken out of the oven or crockpot and let it cool as well.
2. Add mango and chicken to cooled quinoa; toss gently.
3. Combine cucumber, mint, and yogurt in a small bowl; stir well. Divide spinach evenly among plates, and top each serving with about 3/4 cup quinoa mixture. I added a little bit of feta cheese and paired with a light raspberry vinaigrette.

Recipe - Chocolate Strawberry Homemade Pops

Chocolate Strawberry Homemade Pops

Yields: 4 Popsicles
Ingredients

• 1 c. Light Chocolate Silk milk
• Handful of frozen sliced strawberries (make sure the buy the bag that has no sugar added)
• Popsicle molds (Target has them for $2.99 on the seasonal summer isle in the back)

Directions

1. Place strawberries in the molds.
2. Pour milk over strawberries.
3. Freeze overnight.
4. Enjoy!!!

Recipe - BBQ Chicken Flatbread

BBQ Chicken Flatbread

Yields: 1 Serving
Ingredients

• Flatout Spinach Flatbread
• BBQ Sauce
• 3 oz. cooked chicken, diced
• About 1/4 c. of shredded, reduced fat cheese

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cover a cookie sheet with foil and spray cooking spray on the foil.
3. Lay your flatbread on the foil and spray the top with a little bit of cookie spray.
4. Put 1-2 tbsp. of BBQ sauce on the flatbread and spread around.
5. Spread your chicken around on the flatbread. 
6. Sprinkle with cheese.
7. Bake in the oven for 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it. You'll want the edges to almost look burned. That's how you know it's crispy. 
8. Enjoy!

Sorry this picture is a little dark...my lighting was not the best.