Turkey Burgers

I love burgers! My treat to myself the day after the cleanse was to make turkey burgers and, yes, they were as good as I expected them to be. Even Alice had her very own mini burger and ate the whole thing AS a burger instead of deconstructing it. WIN! The seasoning mix is my tried-and-true mix I always do except I added paprika and a touch of cumin. The rest of the ingredients I use for almost any meat. I used 1 lb. for the burgers and prepped the other pound for the Stuffed Peppers I made for dinner the next night.

Ground Turkey Burgers

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

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1 lbs. ground turkey (I used white and dark bought locally)

1 tbsp. Garlic Garlic
1 tbsp. Onion Onion
1 tsp. Celery Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Cumin

Handmix the meat and spices. Work the meat really good so you can't tell it's "ground" anymore. Separate into 4 equal parts. Make a ball and toss back and forth from hand to hand to work out the air inside the ball. This really helps to compress the meat so it doesn't fall apart in the pan or on the grill. Flatten. Hot pan with just a touch of oil to keep it from sticking. Cook about 5ish minutes per side until juices run clear.

Top with ... whatever you can find!

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I was out of lettuce so I improvised my greens and add all the yumminess you see in the pic: avocado, sprouts, tomoatoes, tri-pepper mix, Baby Swiss (my first cheese in 11 days!) all on a whole wheat kaiser roll. I was in-between multi-grain cibata and kaiser and went with the latter for chewing sake.

Notes: I make damn good burgers. Nuff said.

Day ... Aw hell I don't know!

So the days are running into each other now. We finished the cleanse last Wednesday with great results. I was down 7 lbs. and Dave was down 10 lbs. I had lost 4.5" and 2" of that was off my thigh which was totally impressive to me. Dave lost mostly off his belly and chest (4" total) which is where he needed it. He only made it to the evening of Day 10 without a beer ... I held off until the next day LOL

I've had some good meals going on the past 5 days and some failures. I'm not even going to post the failures because ... they just weren't that good. I think I'll start posting individual posts for particular recipes though.

Alice is still trying all the food! I'm so excited that she actually asked to try things I'm using to make food, too. She asked for a bean sprout the other day ... didn't like it, but she tried it!

This entire process of eating fresh has been very time consuming but I'm happy to say that I am gettign faster. I'm letting things slide here and there to save me sanity (like not cutting veggies for the day until the morning when I'm rushing around getting ready for work), but it's allowing me to relax int he evenings a little bit. But really: I think that my overall energy level is higher. I don't feel nearly as run down and exhausted as I had been. I wake up in the morning feeling AWAKE instead of half dead and I want to say it's because I feel better inside and I'm seeing results on the outside. My runs are getting longer as I progress through C25K and I look forward to them instead of dreading getting on the treadmill.

So far, so good! I need to buckle down and finish off this last week+ and make some really good progress!

Day #9

Menu #9

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Chicken on Salad with Sweet Onion Dressing
Dinner: Blackened Tilapia with Mango Salsa

Assessment Day 8:

I should NOT be weighing myself everyday. All that does is bum me out if I'm not lighter. Not craving so much as just wanting certain foods. Everyday is more of the same and it's ok :)


Blackened Tilapia with Mango Salsa




Recipe adapted from: Blackened Tuna Steak with Mango Salsa on AllRecipes.com

I thought about using salmon but went with tilapia for my fish this time. I made the "salsa" up the night before so it could stew in the lime juice and get yummy. Also added yellow, orange and red peppers so bulk it up and give it more flavors. For frying the fish, I went really light on the oil with just a splash in the pan. Who really needs THAT much oil for cooking meat? This was a gorgeous plate!

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Mango Salsa

1 fresh mango - peeled, pitted, and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 green onion, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil

Combine the mango, bell pepper, Spanish onion, green onion, cilantro, and jalapeno pepper in a bowl; stir. Add the lime juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and toss to combine. Chill in refrigerator 1 hour (I left overnight).

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Blackened Tilapia

4 tilapia steaks

2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon red pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder (Onion Onion)
1 tbsp Garlic Garlic
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil for the pan

Stir together the paprika, cayenne pepper, onion powder, salt, pepper, thyme, basil, oregano, and garlic powder in a bowl. Remove the tuna steaks from the refrigerator and gently rinse with water and then dip each side of each steak in the spice mixture to coat.

Heat oil in pan. Cook 3-5 minutes. Flip. Cook another 3-5 or until the fish is no longer translucent and easily flakes with a fork. I also put a lid over it after the flip to ensure the meat didn't dry out while cooking all the way through.

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Notes: This turned out better than I had hoped! The dry seasonings on the rub helped to "blackened" the fish and roasted up really nice on the outside to give it a thin grilled layer. Making the salsa the night before was the way to go: I got home, pulled the fish out, seasoned it while the pan got hot, plopped the fish in, got the salsa out and plated while it was cooking and easy-peasy! There was dinner! Alice wasn't in a fish mood though ... and she wasn't liking the lime flavored mango .. but that's life.

The Challenge - In Depth

Ok, so I have had some requests to further explain WHAT I'm doing exactly.

There are 2 Challenges I am completing currently. One is a system cleanse and burn; and the other one is a person challenge for myself.

The Overall Goals

The goal of both of these challenges is to:

1. Create a Healthy Eating Environment in our home

This will encourage Alice and David to eat food that is better for them and make healthier food decisions when they are on their own.

2. Jump start Weight-Lose

I plateaued, backslide, yadayadayada and I need a jump-kick to get me going. This is it.

3. Create a healthier food mentality for me

I have always went without (eating lunch and dinner and maybe a snack) because I thought it would be easier than having to worry about all the extra cals I was putting in my body. I'm seeing now that I was wrong and that I NEED all this good food to help keep me energized during the day. We'll see how that goes after the 24-challenge is over.


Challenge #1: Advocare 24-Day Challenge

What it is:

The 24-Day Challenge is dietary and supplement driven system of cleansing your body, introducing GOOD eating habits and learning to maintain those habits.

It includes a 10-day Herbal Cleanse that uses Fiber Drinks, Pro-biotics and Cleanse supplements on a daily schedule to help get everything out of your system ... and this is while piling foods that are GOOD FOR YOU into your mouth. It requires 3 meals a day and at least 2-snacks, lots of fruits and veggies, and lean protein. Yes, there are some things that should be avoided if possible like dairy, refined sugars, ALCOHOL (eeeeek!) but I personally haven't found myself "lacking" ... except for craving junk foods and those are just not good for you! They have a whole meal-plan, checklist thingy available (you can even find it online) if you are really wondering. I'm totally amazed because I'm eating MORE than I have every ate and I am losing ... but I'm learning new habits and my body is responding to being fed properly. Me having coffee for breakfast previously was obviously not helping my weight lose.

The next phase is the 14-Day Burn that includes meal replacement shakes for breakfast and several supplement doses during the day. It is supposed to fuel your nutritional intake, give you energy and appetite control, and help shed more pounds. I'm getting ready to enter that phase and happily look forward to having diary in my life again!

On both phases we are taking Omega 3 tablets for lunch and dinner (bad fats out and good fats in!) and Spark: their nutritional-energy drink. Really: I've been Sparking for a few weeks now and it's made a HUGE difference in my energy level. Weekends especially. When I could barely function on a Saturday or Sunday morning and I "needed" diet coke ... this has totally replaced it and my head feels MUCH better than with soda.

Why this one:

My friend, Dre, hosted a Biggest Loser competition back in Janaury (and at the time I wasn't able to afford to do it). I watched as many of my friends lost between 10-20 pounds over the course of 24 days. What's more impressive to me are those that are STILL losing and those that are maintaining. When it comes to any "lose weight quick" scheme, I worry about the long-term effects it has on weight-loss. I can't look for a short term solution because that won't help me lose and maintain in the end. THIS is not just a weight-lose challenge; it's a learning to create a healthier lifestyle. We forget how we are meant to feed our bodies and how to eat right and more and more we turn to the quick solutions and fast food. This is a constant reminder for 24-days, that you can eat well and right and STILL lose weight in a healthy manner.

So Dre became a distributor. I tried out Spark here and there. I decided we were going to do the program. Dave said, "What you want to do, I will do it with you," and we are doing it. Thank goodness he is too because I NEED to have participation around me or I will fail. I always do! We are doing this program and we will see how we end up at the end. I would like to maintain my lose at the end without help so that will be the next step after the 24-days is up.

Have questions? Contact Andrea! She. Is. Awesome. One of the best friends I have, seriously. She'll answer your questions and help you out! SparkYourDiet.com

Or you can ask me on FB and I'll be happy to help you find the answers!


Challenge #2: Buy Fresh. Make Fresh. Eat Fresh.

I already posted some of this on a previous post, but I want to reiterate this challenge here and let y'all know: this 2nd challenge is going above and beyond what is required for the 24-day challenge. You can buy bagged salad and low cal dressings at the store. Buy your meat where ever and season however. This personal challenge came about as a result of knowing that we needed to change the way we think about meals in our house.

In an effort to get my family's eating habits on track and stop consuming processed crap, we decided to take a huge step in our dietary adventures: go as natural as possible! Buy Fresh. Make Fresh. Eat Fresh. This is my new mantra. Have we bit off more than we can chew? That remains to be seen. But if I can get my 2.5-year old to start eating real food and vegetables instead of just surviving on fruit and crackers, I'll consider the entire food-plan a success! Because we need to eat healthy to get the best benefits from this program (the 24-day challenge), I decided this would be the best time to launch our new "fresh" menu.

So far, I have been successful in buying most of our veggies/salads, turkey, lamb etc. at the local Farmer's Market. I feel that the price is comparable to shopping at the grocery store and I personally think the food has more/better flavor ... but maybe that's because I'm used to veggies coming from Indiana soil considering I grew up on garden foods! Maybe I'm just crazy ;) And I LOVE that I can get fresh ground white turkey right there on the spot. I was planning on buying chicken, too but didn't plan right when I was there. Anywho, between buying organic oats, nuts etc at the Health Food Store, veggies and meat at the Market, and most of my fruits and some meats at the regular store, we are eating a lot of GOOD FRESH FOOD in my house.

The challenge of not using processed anything has been not tough but time-consuming. Even when I'm prepping ahead of time, I barely feel like I'm keeping up. I'm trying to implement more cooking systems that give me even more leftovers for future meals, too. Plus, having no dishwasher makes for a longer time in the kitchen cleaning between all steps of the process. I have mostly successfully navigated this step. While my spices/vinegars are store bought, I have also caved and bought frozen corn, chow mein noodles, and soy sauce. Life happens :)

As many of you might notice, I'm making all sorts of different foods! Why?

Because 1. I wanted to try making things I've never made before;

2. I'm learning more and more about flavor combinations with each thing I try;

3. we aren't getting bored nor are we lacking in flavor! Eating healthy doesn't have to be boring and I'm making it fairly lively for myself. Probably a bit too lively sometimes but such is life.

As part of our challenge: we are eating dinner as a family. We all sit down at the table together. Alice eats what we eat (plus usually a fruit) but she's only allowed to eat what's on her plate and if she wants more of anything she has to eat everything on the plate first. She only gets a "treat" after she takes a certain number of bites of whatever food we are eating. Some nights that's been a struggle. After a week, she's at least putting it in her mouth, making a face, and swallowing several bites. She's learned the age-old trick of putting food in your mouth with juice and chewing to dilute the flavor of the food LOL BUT it's worth it. When she kept asking me for bites of my salad this last weekend: it was totally worth it! And David has now tried fish, chicken and smushed pieces of whatever we eat. He will be on whole foods in no time!

This second challenge is really the biggest game-changer of everything. Getting Alice to participate in what we do and eat is FABULOUS. Plus I know everything I'm making I can feed to any person in my family without fear of what it contains ... because I know exactly what I put in it!

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Questions? Let me know and I will be happy to answer any of them! Thanks!

Day #8

Menu #8:

Breakfast: Leftover banana raisin oatmeal from this weekend
Lunch: Tuna Veggie Salad
Dinner: Chicken and Roasted Radishes and Asparagus

Day #7 Assessment:

I'm GLAD the weekend is over. It was impossible to get in snacking. There was no fiber drink for 4 days and that kind of was disappointing. Made it through. Now I'm rushing posts if you can't tell :)

Tuna Veggie Salad

Same salad as last week, just used canned tuna in water instead of salmon.


Chicken with Roasted Radishes and Asparagus

Probably going to blanch the chicken when I get home and roasted the veggies in the oven with oil, seasoning and lemon. I really want to throw it all on a tortilla ... but alas not yet :(

Day 7

Menu #7:

Breakfast: Oatmeal ...again :)
Lunch: Asian Salad
Dinner: Lamp chops with mint sauce and Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup

Day 6 Assessment:

I want a freaking drink. And I didn't drink enough water (it's the weekend ... kid wrangling doesn't always allow it). BLAH.


Asian Salad



Ok, real quick: leftover chicken from last night. Salad is cabbage, spinach, bean sprouts, snap peas and peanuts.

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Asian Peanut Dressing

• 1 slice ginger (quarter size piece)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut butter
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/3 cup light olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper

Blend and add to salad beforehand to get the flavors to break down the cabbage beforehand

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Notes: WONDERFUL! I caved and bought some chow mein noodles to add some crunch to the salad so that was an awesome addition. Very Flavorful combination all around.

Lamp chops with mint sauce and Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli Soup

THIS was mostly a fail. I thought it started out great and Dave decided it was too bland so he added spices and we ended up with a Curried Soup with lamb. Not too bad, but not the flavor I was going for!

The original soup recipe: Roasted Cauiflower Soup from Elana's Pantry and Quick Lamb Roast with Mint Sauce from No Recipe

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Roasted Cauliflower & Broccoli Soup

1 large head cauliflower

1 small head broccoli

4 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon celtic sea salt

1 large onion, diced

4 cups water or stock

Garlic to taste

Rosemary to taste

1. Place whole head of cauliflower in a Pyrex baking dish
2. Rub cauliflower/broccoli with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with salt
3. Add ½ cup water to the dish
4. Bake uncovered at 350° for 1 ½ hours, or until a knife cuts easily through the core
5. Remove cauliflower from oven and allow to cool
6. Coarsely chop and set aside
7. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
8. Add onion and cook until soft and translucent, about 15 minutes
9. Add cauliflower and 4 cups water or stock
10. Simmer until cauliflower is very soft, about 10 minutes
11. In a blender puree, in small batches until smooth
12. Transfer back to pot and bring to a simmer - flavor more to taste

ADDED: Indian seasoning, tons more garlic, red pepper flake

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Lamp chops (nix the mint sauce ... not worth it IMO)

for rub:
1 Tbs kosher salt (halve if using table salt)
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp fennel
1 tsp cumin
Garlic Garlic

Remove the lamb from the refrigerator about an hour before starting to bring it up to room temperature.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the salt, black pepper, fennel and cumin in a spice grinder, or use a mortar and pestle to roughly grind

Rub the outside of the lamb with the grated garlic. Then sprinkle about half the rub onto one side of the lamb in a relatively thick layer. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium heat until very hot. Add a splash of oil and put the lamb, seasoned side down. Sprinkle the remaining rub on the other side of the lamb. Fry until golden brown (about 5-6 minutes) then flip. Put the pan in the oven and cook until an instant read thermometer reads 135 degrees F for rare (15-20 minutes). Remove the pan form the oven and let it sit uncovered for 15 minutes. This relaxes the proteins in the meat allowing the juices to reabsorb into the fibers, which keeps the meat moist when you cut it.

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Notes: Everything was good on it's own! Even after combining the lamb into the soup, it was still good. Alice ate about 10 bites. She kept calling the lamb in her soup "meatballs" LOL

Day 6

Menu #6:

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Lunch: Greek style salad
Dinner: Healthy General Tso's Chicken

Assessment of Day 5:

Yesterday was a YUMMY day! The food looked great and tasted just as great! Right now, I really want ice cream ... with chocolate ... and I big fat greasy burger ... but I still abstain :(


Greek Style Salad



So I took the salad greens I had and made the base. Added cucumber, chopped tomatoes and extra kalamata olives all cut up. Chicken on top. And this dressing was pretty darn good.

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Greek Dressing

4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp pepper
Squeeze of Lemon juice

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Notes: Alice ate lettuce! And chicken! And I even snuck in a couple of tomatoes! She was eating a peanut butter sandwich when I sat down to eat my salad with her and she wanted a bit ... and then another bite ... and another. TOTALLY AWESOME. The salad was good, but her wanting to eat some was better.


Healthy General Tso's Chicken




Sooooo this started out as a good idea, but didn't end quite like I wanted. It was good but as good as it could have been. I let the sauce cook too long because I was in the middle of cutting up chicken and that's where is went bad. If I would have just warmed it enough I think the peas would have held better and crunched more. Plus it needed more UMPH. More ginger, red pepper, something!

Recipe adapted from: Healthier General Tso's Chicken from Kitchen Simplicity

What I did different: no brown sugar. Easy on the soy. More ginger. Added sesame seeds and bean sprouts to the sauce.
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Healthy General Tso's Chicken

Sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch (flour)
1/2 cup water
2 cups snow peas, trimmed and halved diagonally
4 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Chicken and Coating

2 large egg whites

3 tablespoons cornstarch (flour)

dash of sea salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound chicken, cut into bite-size pieces

1. For sauce: Mix together water and cornstarch until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Set aside.
2. For chicken: Whisk together egg whites, cornstarch, salt and pepper. Stir in chicken.
3. To cook: Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Add a small amount of oil. Add half of chicken to pan, dripping off excess coating. Cook, stirring occasionally until golden brown and cooked through. Remove from pan, add more oil if necessary and repeat with remaining chicken. Set the chicken aside.
4. Add sauce to skillet and cook until snow peas are tender and sauce is thickened. Add chicken (and any collected juices) to skillet.Toss to coat.
5. Serve with rice.

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Note: Follow directions and prep beforehand. I was rushing and tried mixing stuff together and it got mushy. Good ... but could have been better!

DAY 5

ALMOST HALF WAY DONE with the cleanse!! YEAH!

Menu #5

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Snack: Egg and Apple
Lunch: Leftover Taco Wraps with Extra Slaw Dressing
Snack: Hummus and Veggies
Dinner: Greek Chicken and Quinoa

Assessment of Day 4:

Well, after being exhausted 2 days in a row, I said screw it all and went to bed at 10:30. I ended up with 7 hours of sleep THANK GOODNESS and I think my body is finally happy with me today for doing that! Not really achy today nor too tired. I need to make sure I'm getting my sleep in for the rest of this challenge.

No weird cravings except for the vinegar still. Dave was wanting beer yesterday. Ice, cold, refreshing BEER. I told him to SHUT IT because I didn't want to start thinking about it LOL. Once I get past a couple of days, the alcohol thing isn't too bad for me since I've done it before. Now, I would love some ice cream at this point. Or cheese soup. Later in the day: I'm wanting BW3s ... I'm in so much trouble!

Leftover Taco Wraps and Slaw Salad with extra Dressing



Easy peasy lunch again: leftovers. I cut the slaw up smaller and added the rest of the romaine to it to bulk it up for lunch. Added the leftover turkey. Threw chopped tomatoes on mine. I threw together a quick dressing but I didn't measure anything so I'll try and give you a decent description:

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Avocado Balsamic Dressing

1/4 c. Balsamic
1/4 c. EVOO
Cracked Black Pepper
1/2 an avocado
Squeeze of lime

Blend. Pour over the salad the night before so it blends the tastes together
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Notes: MUCH better flavor-wise this way over the way we had it last night. Letting that dressing sit turned it into a perfect mushy of taco salad. OH YUM.


Greek Chicken and Garlic Quinoa



I WANT A GRAIN! So I'm making quinoa. You can't go wrong with it. It's yummy and mushy and GRAIN. 10,000 different ways to make it up (like pasta). Mmmmmmm And I'm going to go ballistic over the kalamata olives I have a feeling.

Recipe is adapted from: Greek Chicken Thighs from For the Love of Cooking

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Greek Chicken

1 tbsp of EVOO
1/2 onion thinly sliced
1 clove garlic

Heat and saute in a pan. Set onions aside

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Pepper
Dash of sea salt
oregano to taste
Garlic Garlic

In same onion pan, rub and season the chicken. Sear on each side for about 2 minutes per side.

Place Chicken in a glass baking dish.

1 lemon
zest from 1 lemon
Handful of kalamata olives
handful of grape tomatoes
oregano to taste
(feta ... next time)

Pour juice and zest over chicken. Place onions, kalamata Olives (halved), and grape tomatoes (halved) over chicken. Cover and bake in 425 degree oven for 25-30 minutes.

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Garlic Quinoa

1 c. Quinoa
2 c. water
Onion Onion
Garlic Garlic
Squeeze of lemon
chop some kalamata olives up small

Place everything in pan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes. Let set 5.
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Notes: YUM! Everyone ate this! Alice even ate the quinoa and the chicken. The lemon really brings it all together but isn't overpowering. Chicken was moist and searing before baking really did help seal in the juices. This was a great eating day!

Dia de Quatro

Menu #4

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Snack: Strawberries & Egg
Lunch: Spinach Salad with Leftover Chicken and Sweet Onion Dressing
Snack: Hummus and veggies
Dinner: Turkey Taco Wrap-Ups

Day #3 Assessment:

Day 3 ended up being better than 1 or 2 except for the fact I'M EXHAUSTED. I don't know if it's because my body is in overdrive or that I haven't had any downtime since I work, come home, clean up, make dinner, clean up, prep for next day, clean ... go to bed at midnight. Making food for my family is a PITA truthfully! I'm almost glad I don't have any sessions right now because I don't think I would have the energy to do it all right now.

And I'm craving vinegar. Since we haven't been eating processed foods, there is little to no sodium going into our diet and I think that my tastes are evolving to compensate by making other flavors more satisfying: like vinegar. I've never been a huge vinegar fan. Just a touch here and there. Right now, I could down a whole bottle and still want MORE. And having 4 types on hand is awesome, too. White, Red Wine, Basalmic (which is REALLY surprising since I've never liked it before) and apple cider all grace my cupboard for use currently.

Spinach Salad with Leftover Chicken and Sweet Onion Dressing



Ok, so using the leftover chicken (shredded) from last night, I put together a spinach salad, added green onion, sliced zucchini into slivers, and made up a fresh batch of the Sweet Onion Dressing. You can find all the details for the recipes on that on yesterday's post.

Notes: I think y'all know how in love with this dressing I am, so THIS was perfect, of course. I added a touch more vinegar to the mix than I had for the chicken and I was in heaven!

Turkey Taco Wrap-Ups



This is soooooooooooo pretty! Seriously, I was excited about the possible flavors and putting it together was even more eye and nose candy.

The recipe is based from Lettuce-Wrapped Tacos from Nutrition and Wellness Bytes Blog. What I did different: I used ground white turkey that I purchased from the local Farmer's Market; didn't use green salsa, salt or cilantro. I bought fresh romaine while at the market for the wraps.

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Cabbage Slaw Topping

2-3 cups red cabbage, chopped (try to get it thin - more slaw like)
1 cup cucumber, chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup mango, diced
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Cracked black pepper to taste

Mix together and set aside to let the flavors mesh. Leaving overnight would make it stronger.
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Turkey Taco Meat

1 lb lean ground turkey
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 Tbsp cumin
1 tsp red pepper
1 tbsp red pepper flake
1 tsbp apple cider vinegar (this was a last minute addition to try and give it more flavor)

Lettuce leaves, for wrapping (Romaine or green leaf work well.)
Avocado, chopped for topping

Flavor meat in pan and cook through. Take place meat on a lettuce leaf topped with the Cabbage Slaw and avocado.
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Notes: Well, Alice kept trying to steal my mango! I was cutting it up and gave her some and she fell in love. Just another fruit to add to her menu (Buddy already eats mango as part of his line-up). She DID eat it after I put the balsamic on so I was very happy with that fact plus she had a few bites of turkey (WIN). Lettuce didn't hold in the filling very well; we shouldn't have filled them so full. Also, that turkey needed SODIUM. I miss sodium. It was REALLY good turkey, but if I could have seasoned it to my liking, it would have been better. Overall, VERY pretty dish and good. And I would definitely make the slaw the night before and let the vinegar break down the cabbage more.

La La La Day 3

Menu #3

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Snack: Kiwi and Egg
Lunch: Veggie Salad with Salmon and Rosemary Vinaigrette
Snack: Hummus and Veggies
Dinner: Sweet Onion Marinated Chicken and Roasted Butternut and Summer Squash

Day #2 Assessment:

I still want a drink. And it's my birthday. And I'm not going to have a drink. Because I'm cleansing. Lordy fraking hell!

Still hungry all day long for the most part. Eating an egg for snack yesterday was HEAVEN! I'm doing that again today. That hummus has my heart and stomach because it rocks. And I think I'm more tired than normal? I'm not feeling fully rested with 5-6 hours of sleep which is odd for me. I'm thinking it has to do with my body working overtime getting all the crap out of my system. I NEED SLEEP.

Going non-processed is taking A LOT of time. I think everything tastes better, for the most part, but it really cuts into any downtime I have. A.K.A. between cooking and cleaning and prepping and working 40 hours: I have no downtime nor extra work time to work on ABD stuff. I'm going to have to break and take shortcuts at some point if I want to time to work on my business. We'll see.

On to the food ....

Veggie Salad with Salmon and Rosemary Vinaigrette



Ok, the main base to this is from yesterday's dinner: The Salmon and the marinade

I kept about a quarter of the marinade in the processor and put the rest on the fish to cook. We had probably about 4 oz. of fish left over each for today's salad. After adding the vinegar to the marinade, it totally reminds me of cucumber salad (with vinegar and sugar - you know what I'm talking about??). Salmon will go over it at lunch time. Here it is all mixed at lunch. BEAUTIFUL.



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Rosemary Marinade turned into Vinaigrette

1/4 of the previous marinade
Add about 1/4 c. white vinegar
Blend and pour over salad

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Veggie Salad

Green Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Red Pepper
Cucumber
Zucchini
Onion
Grape Tomatoes

Prep beforehand and add vinaigrette so the veggies can soak up the flavor.
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Notes: IN LOVE. At first bite, I was wondering if I should have added more vinegar. As I made sure it was ALL mixed, the flavor ended up just perfect. Not too heavy to accompany this wonderful mash of mostly crunchy textures in my mouth! It's so pretty and delicious.


Sweet Onion Chicken with Butternut and Summer Squash



OMG I can't WAIT to eat this. I prepped the marinade last night and I want to take a straw and suck it all down ... it is THAT GOOD.

The dressing idea came from my friend Ashley since she uses a pre-made one to make the chicken that goes with her Strawberry Vinaigrette (see Day #1 for that salad dressing). I went and found a from-scratch recipe that would fit the bill. Sweet Vidalia Onion Dressing on SparkRecipes. Differences: I used agave instead of sugar (and less!) and used fresh garlic over garlic powder. Opppps didn't add any pepper either.

I pulled the chicken from the freezer last night and defrosted it enough to get it started and threw it in a bag with these evil yumminess to marinade before dinner tonight. I plan on baking it when I get home. Leftovers for lunch salad tomorrow and I'll make up more dressing if I have to. I could eat this every freaking day!

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Sweet Onion Dressing

1 yellow onion
1/4 c. EVOO
6 tbsp. white vinegar
2 tbsp. agave
1 1/2 tsp. dry mustard
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tsp. celery seed

Cut the ends off the onion and take off the outer layer and pierce it in several places. Place in a microwave safe bowl with water and cook 3-4 minutes until soft. Either set aside to cool or rinse with cold water. Cut up into smaller pieces. Put all ingredients into blender and blend until "smooth."
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Butternut & Summer Squash

Garlic Garlic
Fiesta Party mix
Onions
Oil


Toss together in a pan and cover for about 12-15 minutes. Let it brown for more flavor.
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Notes: YUM. Nuff said.

Challenge Day #2

Menu Day #2

Breakfast: Fridge Oatmeal
Lunch: Salad with Beans from last night, Avocado, Tomato and Avocado Cilantro Dressing
Dinner: Rosemary Salmon and Roasted Asparagus and Zucchini
Snacks: Strawberries, Egg, Homemade Garlic Hummus and Veggies

Assessment of Day #1:

I want cheese. And a big glass of milk. And a fucking DRINK. Otherwise I was STARVING all day and I'm usually someone who "starves." I usually eat twice a day and I'm good. Drinking the fiber drink and eating oatmeal first thing in the morning must be kicking my ass into gear because I'm never starving to the point that I would bite someone's arm off for something to chew on like yesterday! Lordy fraking hell ... Also, by the time we got to dinner, I couldn't finish it. TOO MUCH BEAN SOUP even though I portioned out like a cup.

Onto FOOD:


Spicy Bean Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Based off of this recipe: Southwestern Salad with Black Beans from Delish.com

Salad base is easy again: spinach and organic greens. I chopped up green onions, tomatoes and avocado for filler and garnish. The beans are left over from dinner yesterday that I pulled out before we ate and put on the salad cold.

Let me say on the dressing: this would be much better with yogurt instead of using EVOO. Right now, I'm not too thrilled with the taste (since I made it last night). Hopefully is macerates into something more yummy by lunch.

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Lime Cilantro Dressing

1/2 ripe avocado
3/4 c. packed fresh cilantro
1/2 c. non-fat plain yogurt (I used about 1/4-1/2 c. EVOO - I'm going yogurt next time!)
2 scallions, chopped
2 clove(s) garlic, quartered
1 tbsp. lime juice (I used half a lime ... kind of overkill

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Notes: Not as bad as it could have been. Mixing it with everything else helped ease the flavors everywhere. I had a hard time eating it again though. Those damn beans need cheese ... Dave LOVED it as is. He said he liked all the avocado (which I did, too). But he liked it better than day one for sure.

Homemade Garlic and Garlic Jalapeno Hummus

Recipe based off of: Roasted Jalapeno & Lime Hummus from theKitchn.com AND my friend Shauna's personal recipe.

I have never made hummus. Ever. I always let everyone make it for me or I buy it from the store. Making chickpeas from scratch ... was a lot of waiting ... and soaking ... and then slow boiling. The way I saw online was "soak for 8-10 hours then low boil for 2 hours." So I soaked them for about 20 hours - by the time I got around to making them - and then boiled about 2 hours. I had to add what I thought was quite a bit of water but apparently that can happen (which no one had mentioned when I was getting recipes ... but I'm glad I did it). Shauna did clue me in about fast boiling this morning: "Basically, you just boil, turn off the heat and let sit for an hour and then drain and add more water and cook on low for an hour." <<< next time I'm doing that!

Truthfully: I'm in love with this stuff! Dave's jalapeno version is way too much for my tastebuds but the base is perfect for me!

Things I did different: I didn't roast the jalapenos. They have enough flavor as is IMO. Dave also left the seeds in with his diced pieced to give it extra kick. Shauna uses sun dried tomatoes or roasted red peppers in hers and lemon juice; I opted to leave those out and use lime instead (because I love lime). Also, I particularly think that the cumin and, secondarily, the coriander I added gave it that super familiar flavor that you find in the store bought version! I also divided this up and did it in two batches: so 1 cup chickpeas per batch and halfed the ingredient per batch so we have the regular and the jalapeno versions. This is also better for my blender as a full batch wouldn't have fit. LOTS of garlic. I love garlic and it's good for you!

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Homemade Hummus

(1 big jalapeño - for a tangy version for a half batch - use 2 for a whole batch)
2 c. chickpeas (prep from scratch otherwise canned)
3-4 tbsp. lime juice (squeezed a 1/4 of a lime per batch - 1/2 a lime total)
4-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp. tahini (or substitute extra-virgin olive oil)
½ tsp. cumin
½ tsp. coriander
½ tsp. sea salt
4 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Water

(optional - about a 1 tsp. dill weed)

Add ingredients to blender and mix up. Add water until consistency is your preferred thickness.

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Notes: I'm still in love with this today. I'm eating it now. I want more. Now.

Rosemary Salmon and Roasted Asparagus and Zucchini

I was going to make tuna but the store only had salmon. I'll live :)

Recipe based from: Roasted Asparagus from shewearsmanyhats.com AND #2 marinade for grilled tuna steak (with oregano).

Simple and easy ... or so I hope! I just hope Dave has my prep done when I get home! I'm getting tired of this cooking thing every night so far LOL

Also, I kept some of the marinade aside and added vinegar to use for tomorrow salad. It's yummy and fragrant!

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Rosemary Marinade for Salmon

1/4 c. EVOO

1 tbsp. Rosemary

1 tbsp. Basil

2 tbsp. Lemon Juice

2 cloves garlic

dash sea salt

Toss in blender to combine. Spray or oil foil so fish doesn't stick. Rub down fish with mix (let set for 30 minutes if you have time). Close and cook at 400 for 20-25 minutes.

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Roasted Asparagus & Zucchini

1 lemon - sliced

handful of rosemary sprigs

2 tbsp. EVOO

salt and pepper to taste

Toss everything in foil together (or on parchment on a pan). Cook on 400 for 7 minutes. Toss. Cook another 8 or until done.

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Notes: Mmmmmmm good dinner! Alice even tried a tiny bit of her asparagus top which was good and David ate the crap out of the fish she didn't eat! I looked at my plate when I plated it thinking, "I wish I had more food to eat," but I was full by the time I finished.