Salmon with Avocado-Pineapple Salsa

Apparently, I'm not all that great at making a salsa topping.  Steve never seems to like it.  Maybe I make it with too much onion...I don't know.  I always seem to enjoy my salsas, but Steve is not as big of a fan of spicy/oniony items as I am.

This recipe sounded good to me because it had both avocado and pineapples in it.  It sounded really refreshing so I thought I'd give it a shot.  While not a favorite of Steve's, if you like salsa maybe you'll like this!  I think this recipe would be amazing during the long hot days of summer!

2 avocados, diced small

2 cups finely diced pineapple

1 jalepeno, minced

1 small red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped

1/4 cup fresh lime juice from 2 limes

coarse salt and ground pepper

nonstick cooking spray

3-4 salmon filets

arugula for serving

Basically, chop up all the veggies and fruit and mix well.

I cooked the salmon in the skillet.  

Salsa

 Ready to eat

 The salmon

Happy cooking!

Beef and Tomato Stew

Instead of soup this week, I decided to make a beef stew because I didn't want to burn myself out on soups.  This recipe is also in the Everyday Food monthly magazine.

Instead of carrots, I used butternut squash.  Really tasty.

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 large yellow onion, diced small

3 medium carrots, cut into 1/4 inch rounds (or 1 butternut squash peeled, cored, and chopped)

3 celery stalks, cut into 1/4 inch pieces

2 lbs beef chuck, fat trimmed, cut into 1 inch pieces (I just threw the whole thing in and tore it apart after it cooked)

1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

3 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

coarse salt and ground pepper

4 cups cooked brown rice (or basmati rice)

6 tbsp greek yogurt (plain, non fat)

1/2 cup fresh parsley

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium.  Add onion, carrots (or squash), and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened, 10 minutes.  Transfer mixture to 5 to 6 quart slow cooker and add beef, tomatoes, broth, garlic, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp ground pepper.

cover and cook on high, 6 hours, stirring occasionally.  To serve, divide brown rice and stew among six bowls and top with yogurt and parsley.  

Steve wanted to show the squash...

Again, genius slow cooker bags save the day on clean up!

Happy cooking!

P90X, Running, and Weight Loss

Alright y'all moment of truth.  I NEVER do this.  In fact, I'm hesitant to do this.  Usually what happens when I get on a diet or workout kick, I fall out of it...but for some reason this time feels different to me.  

So I started P90X on Sunday.  Yoga.  Y'all that one is a killer for real.  But man, do you feel good after you're done.  Anyway, so I've been pretty good at sticking with it.  I thought I'd try to take pictures once a week (wear the same thing and the same poses....) and even :::GASP::: post my weight loss (I'm assuming I'm going to lose weight running and doing P90X, but I mean...crazier things have happened!). 

So right now, I am officially 151.  Ugh.  But don't even ask me what I was at the beginning of January.  It was scary. I hadn't weighed that much since I first turned 21 and I was drinking pitchers of beer every other night of the week and EVERY night on the weekend (don't act like you didn't do the same thing).  So anyway, when I weighed myself and saw that scary number I was like "No ma'am!  You're getting this in check right now!  Plus, I really want to wear my skinny jeans with boots again" (Uh, I WISH it would be cold enough to even try wearing skinny jeans with boots...dang this Texas weather).  So my goal was to try to fit back into my skinny jeans by TMEA weekend (which is next weekend).  I'm not going to try those on until this coming Tuesday night because I don't want to stress myself out if they don't fit (which I'm going to be honest-they probably won't) ::so by telling myself they probably won't fit I won't get my hopes up...and then when they DO fit, I'll be queen of the world::

ANYWAYS, so my new goal is to lose another 15-20 lbs by the end of the school year.  Totally doable if I stick to what I'm doing right now.  I'm watching what I eat, I work out 4-5 days a week (which will now, because of P90X, be every day-give or take a rest day).  I'm just really trying to eat when I feel hungry and not because I'm bored.  I try to keep myself busy so that I'm not tempted to make bad decisions and I try to remind myself when I'm not feeling the motivation to work out how good I feel afterwards and the huge difference I can already see in my body after just 4 weeks.

So yo here I am, rockin' the guns.  Or lack of them.  Whatev.  You know you wish you looked this good.

Gonna get rid of that belly yo and firm up the tush.

Again, the belly.  Ugh.  The bane of my existence. And I'm going to try to get those hips in check.

Anyways, there ya have it blogging world.  Me.  At least I'm wearing clothes.  I wasn't about to post what I look like in just a sports bra and sports shorts.  No sir.  No one needs to see that.  Though, if I get down to my goal, I may just do it!  :)  

So I've been doing a pretty decent job of running.  I was going to sign up for a marathon in April, but I'm on a strict budget and just don't see spending that money on a race.  So I'm still going to train like I'm going to run it, and then just run a 26.2 around the area I live in.  Of course, the HH will be around to cheer me on and give me some water/Cytomax/food/extra push to finish.  I figured this was good....the only thing I'll miss out on is the medal.  ::sad face::  Maybe I'll change my mind...but I already need a new pair of shoes to run in (that in itself is $100) and going to TMEA is going to cost me money and the hope of taking my Orff Schulwerk Level 2 class in June (assuming I don't get any scholarship to help out with that) is going to cost a pretty penny.

Follow my running on the side bar.  I post my latest run pretty much as soon as I come in the door and catch my breath.

What keeps you motivated to continue working out?  

Chicken Saltimbocca

This week was kind of slim pickings for us...I'm trying to use up what we have in the house and what's in the freezer...so this was something that I found that sounded good.  Ham and chicken with some swiss cheese mixed in?  I'm game!

Also, can I just rave about these little plastic slow cooker bags??  Oh.Em.Gee.  Love. LOVE.  LOVVVEEE.  No clean up.  Fantastic!  Genius I tell you!

Chicken Saltimocca (from Taste of Home Casseroles, Slow Cooker, and Soups)

6 boneless chicken breast halves

6 thin slice deli ham

6 slices swiss cheese

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 can (10 3/4 oz) cream of chicken soup, undiluted

1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth (I used chicken broth)

Hot cooked rice

Flatten chicken to 1/4 in thickness.  Top each piece with a slice of ham and cheese.  Roll up tightly; secure with toothpicks.  In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Roll chicken in flour mixture; refrigerate for 1 hour.

In a skillet, brown roll ups in oil on all sides; transfer to slow cooker.  Combine the soup and wine or broth; pour over chicken.  Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Remove roll ups and stir sauce.  Serve with rice.

A watched slow cooker never cooks....

Ready to get on my plate!

Aw, yeah!  Winner, winner, chicken dinner!

Give this one a shot.  Not too hard, filling and very tasty!

Happy cooking!

Lemon Pudding Cakes

Alright, y'all what can I say, I like my desserts.  This recipe is also in my Everyday Food magazine.  Little Ms. Martha Stewart knows what she's talkin' about yo.  These little babies are only 197 calories a pop and they're very rich and filling.  If you like citrusy foods this is for you!

Lemon Pudding Cakes:

2 tbsp unsalted butter, plus more, room temperature for ramekins

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp finely grated lemon zest plus 1/2 cup lemon juice from 2 lemons

1 1/4 cup whole milk

confectioners sugar for serving.

Preheat oven to 325.  Butter 8 6 oz ramekins. Set in a shallow baking pan.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks with 12 cup granulated sugar until pale and smooth.  Whisk in butter, lemon zest, and juice, milk, and flour mixture.  Refrigerate mixture up to 3 hours.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer,beat egg whites with 1/4 cup granulated sugar until stiff peak forms, 5 minutes; fold batter.  With ladle, divide batter among ramekins (keeping sides clean).  Pour enough hot water into baking pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins.  Bake until cakes are puffed and slightly golden on top, 30 minutes.  Dust with confectioners sugar and serve immediately.

The mixture ready to go into the ramekins

In their water bath..

Ah, yeah, man! Yum, yum!

Happy cooking!