Late Night Planning

Although I am exhausted as it nears 9:00 p.m. each night, my morning goes so much smoother when I plan ahead.  Last night I took some time to prepare for today.

Overnight oats were prepared…breakfast check.

Of what remains of an empty peanut butter jar, I made my Overnight Oats in a Jar.  The mixture included:

~1/3 c plain 0% greek yogurt

~1/3 c old fashioned oats

~1/3 c lowfat milk

~cinnamon

~1 ripe banana

~less than a tsp of honey

~less than tsp of peanut butter remnants (it looks like more, but it really isn’t much)

~small handful of granola added in the a.m.

All ingredients were mixed up in the jar and set in the fridge til morning.  This may very well be my favorite breakfast.  I had some hot  chai on the side.

                                Salad was made…lunch check.

Spring mix, grape tomatoes, celery, strawberries, reduced fat feta cheese with…

Workout gear was packed…exercise check.

On my way home from work, I stopped at the gym for some cardio.  I started with 18 minutes on the bicycle until one of the ellipticals were available.  I then did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.  To end today’s session, I did ten minutes of stretching and abdominal floor work including basic crunches, planks, leg lifts, and torso twists using the medicine ball.

Red beans simmered on the stovetop for three hours…dinner check.

Thanks to hubby, the beans were reheated and the brown rice was cooked when I got home from the gym.  I measured out 2/3 cup of brown rice and topped it with a cup of the beans. 

I did end up going back for a couple more spoonfuls of beans and rice.  They were delish!!

I’m in the mood for some sweetness so hot chocolate is in the making and a perfect accompaniment to this frigid winter night.  Good night!

N’awlins Tradition

Back to basic eating habits and back to work I went.  Today’s breakfast was light yet did the trick.  I fixed a yogurt bowl made of a sliced banana, 1/2 cup plain 0% greek yogurt, and less than 1/2 cup granola all drizzled with honey. 

Hot, plain chai tea was sipped alongside my yogurt bowl as I leisurely read emails and blogs.  In the morning, I like to take some time to breathe before the start of the busy on-the-go day. 

Lunch was made this morning pretty hastily because I knew I would need any extra minutes to get to work this A.M. due to the rain causing traffic.

  

Deli Turkey Breast, Laughing Cow Light Mozzerella and Sundried Tomato and Basil Cheese Wedge (I am trying to use this flavor up because I don’t particularly like the strong herbed flavored cheese), shredded lettuce, celery sticks for crunch and an apple for some sweetness.

Funny question came about during lounge talk; another teacher asked me what a good detox was since feasting on so many Thanksgiving treats and eats.  I recommended fruit and vegetables for their natural fibers and cleansing powers because that is all I “use” so to speak.  Do any of you reading recommend any detox methods to cleanse the system?

I had my mind set on making the traditional Monday food fare for dinner tonight—N’awlins style red beans.  So before leaving this morning I took out the frozen creole vegetable seasoning, pickled meat, and smoked sausage.  However, once I arrived home I realized I was missing one ingredient, the main ingredient—the Red Beans.  Hello!?! Can’t make red beans without the beans.  Luckily the husband worked a little late and called me on his way home, so he picked up a pound of dry red beans. 

Now they are simmering on the stove top and I may have to have them tomorrow since I got a late start.  For the recipe I use check out the tradition behind red beans on Mondays in New Orleans on my recipe page or by clicking here.

While waiting for MY BEANS (I always think of the Blue Runner Beans Commercial whenever I say “my beans”) I had some snackage to hold me over.  Almonds, strawberries, and bread and butter.

 

And for giggles, the bean commercial…

 

I now want to share one of our traditional Thanksgiving recipes that I made this year; mom has been making these for a while now.  When you are in the mood for cheesy, fattening, rich crawfish pie or dip that tastes delicious this recipe is for you.  Otherwise, stand back.

This recipe can be used as a dip on its own or filled into miniature pie shells that have been cooked according to package directions.  For Thanksgiving I doubled the recipe, but certainly did not need to for the 16 mini pies that I made.  I had a ton of the crawfish filling leftover and brought it over to a friend’s house for the depressing LSU game on Saturday.  There, it was eaten as a dip with tortilla chips.  Delish either way!

 

Mom’s Cheesy Crawfish Dip/Pie Filling

1 stick butter, salted

1 chopped onion

1 rib celery, chopped

1/4 c green bell pepper, chopped

1- 10 ounce can diced Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chiles

1 can reduced sodium cream of mushroom soup

1- 8 ounce block of Velveeta cheese, cubed

1 pound crawfish tails, cooked and peeled (I used defrosted from frozen)

1/4 c scallions/green onions, chopped (shallots as mom calls ‘em, but scallions are needed)

miniature pie shells*

Melt butter over medium heat.  Saute’ onion, celery, and green peppers in butter until wilted.  Stir in canned tomatoes, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 30 minutes.  Next, add cream of mushroom soup, cheese, crawfish, and scallions.  Cook 20 minutes. 

*At this point you can enjoy as a dip with chips. If making pies, fill prebaked shells with filling.  Once pie shells are filled, bake in 350* oven until tops are set and golden about 25 minutes.

Enjoy!

Enough Already

I have not had enough of this little guy and girl on my week off because I didn’t get to see them as much as I wanted to.  😦

 

But enough Thanksgiving leftovers that is.  I have not only had the rich, buttery foods on Thursday, but also on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  Tomorrow, I am going back to my normal eating habits, fingers crossed.  Each year, we only have about ten people eating Mom’s Thanksgiving cooking, but it seems we have enough for forty.  So I took quite a bit of leftovers home on Thursday night and kept  on eating, and eating, and eating.

This year my sister and I decided to help mom with the cooking; she still did most of it, but we eliminated some of her normal menu items by cooking them ourselves. 

Michelle, my sister, did the baked macaroni and cheese and ham.

Mom did the potato salad…

dirty rice…

praline sweet potatoes…

green bean and artichoke casserole…

 

and the turkey, but no picture was taken because it was still in the oven at this point.

I cooked the cheesy, crawfish pies…

mirliton and shrimp casserole…

And we each cooked dessert, but I did not get pictures of all of that.  Mom made pumpkin bars, jam bars, brownies, cupcakes for the baby, apple pie; Michelle made a pumpkin cheesecake, and I made chocolate dipped almond meringues using this Cooking Light recipe.

These must be meant to be cooked in Northern winter climates because with the high humidity and heat we had on Wednesday and Thursday the meringues did not keep their crunchy texture.  Though my sister thoroughly enjoyed the chocolaty almond taffy that resulted.

As for my plate, I tasted everything except the praline sweet potatoes because I chose to eat pumpkin cheesecake for dessert in place of the potatoes.  Hey, they both provide some beta-carotene right? 😉

A little lacking of natural veggies, but that is how we roll down South for Thanksgiving. 

So this is what I’ve been eating the last four days and it has been good while it lasted.  Check back this week for when I will share my unhealthy recipes from the two sides I cooked.