Good Evening!
I hope everyone survived their Monday. We had a fun but not as productive as I would have liked it to be kind of days. Where does the time go? The next thing I knew it was 4:00pm and time to start thinking about dinner.
We have been sleeping in and are not in a routine yet but it has felt great to get a few extra zzz's. The air here is amazing. We do not have air conditioning in the house so we sleep with the windows open and the fresh cool air is wonderful. I do not miss the hot Texas heat at all and am actually excited to get a little bit paler and work on repairing all the sun damage on my skin. Speaking of sun damage, we made a trip to the Blush Beauty Bar today and splurged a little on some skin care products that promise to help with discoloration, pigmentation and wrinkles! The "young" sales woman (who happened to have flawless skin) swore I would love Somme Institute skin care. She was very generous with samples and I will let know what I think.
The kids and I also went to 24 Hour Fitness today. I took a Step and Sculpt class and I was really super impressed with the instructor and the class. We did not actually use the steps today, instead she lead us through a super tough circuit weight training class. I suspect that I am going to be super sore from the "spider" lunges and core work.I am slowly getting back into shape after weeks of travel and moving. I love it because the kids end up getting a workout as well because they have one of those 3 story climbing walls and they came out of the gym sweatier than I was. Yah!
I did have to do a little baking today. I had the best Bran Muffin at Whole Foods and have been on the hunt for a good recipe to recreate them. I ended up making Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins.
Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup wheat bran
1 1/3 cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 tbsps ground flaxseeds
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 apple, grated
1 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped Nuts (optional)
Preheat oven to 325°F. Combine wheat bran, flour,flax, baking soda and baking powder, salt. Stir in nuts and raisins. In a separate bowl, blend sugar, milk, molasses, butter, eggs and grated apples. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until moistened. Spoon into greased muffin tin (or paper muffin cups) and bake for 25 - 35 minutes. Makes 12 marvelous muffins.
I am looking forward to enjoying one of these babies tomorrow morning with a cup of Joe!
It was Zoe's turn to help make family dinner tonight and she came up with Homemade Tri-Color Macaroni and Cheese, Pork Chops and Fruit Salad.
Zoe's Fruit Salad
Pineapple
Mango
Grapes
Raspberries
Blueberries
Zoe's Homemade Mac & Cheese
4-5 cups tricolor corkscrew macaroni noodles, cooked according to package, drained
2 1/2 cups 1% milk
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt [or to taste]
1 tsp fresh ground pepper [or to taste]
1 tsp ground mustard
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese, grated
1/2cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour milk in medium saucepan and bring almost to a boil. Slowly whisk in flour, salt, pepper ,mustard and whisk as the sauce begins to thicken. When sauce thickens, remove from heat and add cheese. Stir until cheese is melted. Stir in cooked noodles and then pour into baking dish and bake until the top is golden brown.
Zoe's Pork Chops
We had picked up "happy" pork chops at the Farmer's Market and I honestly did not know how to cook pork chops. I marinated the chops in:
Soy Sauce
Mango Ginger Sauce
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
I then heated a little olive oil in a skillet and cooked the chops for 5 minutes per each side and then popped them in a 450 degree oven for 5 more minutes. I took them out and let them rest for another 5 minutes and then prayed that they were not going to taste like leather shoes!
The concensus was that they were moist and delicious!
I am not a huge meat eater so I had whipped up a quick pasta dish for my own dinner. I also need to use a couple of items in the fridge before they went bad. I made a delicious Swiss Chard, Mushroom, Tomato WW Pasta dish.
Rainbow Chard, Mushroom, Tomato Whole Wheat Pasta
Whole Wheat Pasta cooked according to package
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp pasta water
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp cracked red pepper flakes
sea salt and cracked black pepper
1 bunch rainbow chard, chopped
handful of grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tbsp feta cheese
Saute shrooms, chard, tomatoes in olive oil, garlic and cracked red pepper. Add cooked pasta and cook for a few more minutes. Add pasta water to make sauce. Remove from heat and top with feta cheese.
Delish!
In the recent issue of SELF magazine they had a list of the Superfoods that we should be eating more of. The list included:
Almonds
Barley
Bison
Black Beans
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Coffee
Curry
Farmed Rainbow Trout
Grapes
Kiwifruit
Mushrooms
Onions
Oregano
Peanuts
Pumpkin Seeds
Shrimp
Skim Milk
Tart Cherries
Watermelon
Whole Wheat Pasta
Yellow Corn
Tonight I got in mushrooms and whole wheat pasta.
Mushrooms
Make room for 'shrooms. Adding mushrooms to animals' diets stimulated the animals' immune system in a way that might help ward off infections and cancer, researchers from Penn State University at University Park say. They speculate that the same would likely be true in humans, and that beneficial bacteria or nutrients within fungi's cell walls may strengthen your defenses against disease.
Reap the rewards. Aim for 2 teaspoons per day. This amount can cut women's breast cancer risk by about two thirds, a study in the International Journal of Cancer indicates.
Whole Wheat Pasta
Surprise! These heart-helping noodles have a lower glycemic index than whole-wheat bread, says SELF contributing editor Janis Jibrin, R.D. That means they won't cause blood sugar spikes. "Pasta gets a bad rap, but 1 cup of whole-wheat pasta has triple the fiber of regular pasta, so it's really satisfying" Gans says. And people on a diet featuring whole grains lost more belly fat than those on a plan that included refined carbohydrates, a study from Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey indicates.
Reap the rewards. Not a fan of whole-wheat pasta's chewy texture? Mix it with regular pasta at first, then slowly skew the ratio.
We took our nightly walk/bike ride and am ready to hit the sack soon and read my new book that I am thoroughly enjoying,
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larrson.
Off for now.
I hope everyone survived their Monday. We had a fun but not as productive as I would have liked it to be kind of days. Where does the time go? The next thing I knew it was 4:00pm and time to start thinking about dinner.
We have been sleeping in and are not in a routine yet but it has felt great to get a few extra zzz's. The air here is amazing. We do not have air conditioning in the house so we sleep with the windows open and the fresh cool air is wonderful. I do not miss the hot Texas heat at all and am actually excited to get a little bit paler and work on repairing all the sun damage on my skin. Speaking of sun damage, we made a trip to the Blush Beauty Bar today and splurged a little on some skin care products that promise to help with discoloration, pigmentation and wrinkles! The "young" sales woman (who happened to have flawless skin) swore I would love Somme Institute skin care. She was very generous with samples and I will let know what I think.
The kids and I also went to 24 Hour Fitness today. I took a Step and Sculpt class and I was really super impressed with the instructor and the class. We did not actually use the steps today, instead she lead us through a super tough circuit weight training class. I suspect that I am going to be super sore from the "spider" lunges and core work.I am slowly getting back into shape after weeks of travel and moving. I love it because the kids end up getting a workout as well because they have one of those 3 story climbing walls and they came out of the gym sweatier than I was. Yah!
I did have to do a little baking today. I had the best Bran Muffin at Whole Foods and have been on the hunt for a good recipe to recreate them. I ended up making Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins.
Apple Cinnamon Bran Muffins
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup wheat bran
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
I am looking forward to enjoying one of these babies tomorrow morning with a cup of Joe!
It was Zoe's turn to help make family dinner tonight and she came up with Homemade Tri-Color Macaroni and Cheese, Pork Chops and Fruit Salad.
Zoe's Fruit Salad
4-5 cups tricolor corkscrew macaroni noodles, cooked according to package, drained
1 tsp ground mustard
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
Rainbow Chard, Mushroom, Tomato Whole Wheat Pasta
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp feta cheese
Reap the rewards. Aim for 2 teaspoons per day. This amount can cut women's breast cancer risk by about two thirds, a study in the International Journal of Cancer indicates.
Whole Wheat Pasta
Surprise! These heart-helping noodles have a lower glycemic index than whole-wheat bread, says SELF contributing editor Janis Jibrin, R.D. That means they won't cause blood sugar spikes. "Pasta gets a bad rap, but 1 cup of whole-wheat pasta has triple the fiber of regular pasta, so it's really satisfying" Gans says. And people on a diet featuring whole grains lost more belly fat than those on a plan that included refined carbohydrates, a study from Penn State University College of Medicine in Hershey indicates.
Reap the rewards. Not a fan of whole-wheat pasta's chewy texture? Mix it with regular pasta at first, then slowly skew the ratio.
We took our nightly walk/bike ride and am ready to hit the sack soon and read my new book that I am thoroughly enjoying, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo by Stieg Larrson.
Off for now.