Luv What You Do

Balancing a Busy Life with a Healthy Lifestyle

Fiesta Lunch April 21, 2012

Filed under: Chicken,Lunch,Vegetables — Luv What You Do @ 2:12 pm
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I am so lucky to live with a Grill Master!  As I was getting lost in another episode of Cupcake Wars, the BOY got to work on today’s lunch.

Warning: you will be jealous when you see this amazing lunch!

 

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He paraded a plate full of colorful veggies in front of me before returning back to his work zone (the kitchen).  I heard a lot of noise coming from the kitchen, and although that made me slightly nervous, I was really into the Rock of Ages cupcake episode.  I did sneak into the kitchen one time to snap some photos.

 

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It was enough to get my mouth watering and my stomach was already rumbling after this morning’s run.  I was super impressed since we had just run out of taco seasoning, and the BOY created his own mixture.  During a commercial, I took a few minutes to set the table and crack open a beer.

 

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And take a picture of the burning chafe spot on my clavicle.  Ouch!!!  Why does this happen to me???

 

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I took a quick look out back to see how things were heating up on the grill.

 

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What a gorgeous day!  The BOY served up the chicken and veggie fajita medley.  It looked and smelled incredible!

 

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And we both dove right in to this fresh grilled plate, adding sides to finish off our fajitas.  The only sad news was that my avocado wasn’t ripe enough and when I tried to cut into it, it was solid.  Bummer!

 

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Even without avocado, our lunch was a fantastic mid-day treat (our Saturday lunch is usually not this fancy).  The fajitas were juicy and savory.  The chicken was perfectly cooked and the veggies were well-seasoned.  I ate my lunch with a cool, crisp beer.  Everything was so unbelievable that it had me screaming out loud about how much I LOVE grill season!  The only thing left to do…share a dessert!

 

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Now that I have enjoyed my fiesta, it just might be time for a Siesta!

 

CSA Inspired Dinner July 31, 2011

Filed under: Dessert,Dinner,Fruit — Luv What You Do @ 9:06 pm
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The BOY and I made a fabulous fresh dinner tonight, which was perfect after a busy weekend of training and sports.  Did I mention that the BOY picked up a new hobby?

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We took are first golf lesson on Saturday.  We are both newbies to the sport, but the BOY has been wanting to learn for awhile.  We found a very nice and patient pro, which is good because hand-eye coordination is not my strength!  We are all signed up for another lesson next weekend!

For Dinner tonight, I got a jump start on my August goal to use fresh and seasonal produce.  I made a crisp salad using the lettuce, cukes, and tomato from this week’s CSA.  I sliced up the green pepper we got along with some yellow and orange to grill as a side to the Santa Fe and Mediterranean premade Turkey Burgers we picked up from Whole Foods this afternoon.

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As an appetizer, we had grilled feta with my new favorite Kashi pita crisps.  They were sampling them at the Super Target and they are fabulous.  I also saw them at Costco this weekend.  Even the BOY approved as he dug right in to the feta.

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Our grilled peppers turned out good. I loved the taste of my Santa Fe turkey burger, but it was a little dry.  The BOY enjoyed his Mediterranean turkey burger on a toasted sourdough roll which was incredible!  Along with a new beer (for him) and an old favorite for me.  I am still replenishing carbs after this mornings workout.

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But the star of tonight’s dinner was definitely dessert.  We got a lot of peaches and plums in the fruit share this week.  They were all ripe and I was worried whether the two of us would be able to eat them fast enough.  So I decided to turn them into a dessert.  There are tons of grilled stone fruit recipes out there, but I made up my own and kept it simple.  I sliced up the fruit and spread it out over foil coated with cooking spray. I drizzled on some maple syrup, cinnamon, walnuts, and raisins.  Then tented the foil turning it into an enclosed little packet and handed it off to the grill master.

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I’m not sure exactly how he cooked it, but he left it on the grill for about 12 minutes.  When he brought the packet inside, it smelled amazing!  We ate our grilled dessert warm sitting side by side on the couch with everyone’s favorite topping (Reddi Whip).  Can you see the steam coming off the plate?  The fruit was soft and warm and the maple and cinnamon were a fabulous combination.  I was stuffed from dinner, but dessert was so good, I couldn’t stop eating it.  The only feedback from the BOY was that he wanted more raisins next time.  This is definitely a repeat dessert!

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Thank you to the CSA (and Whole Foods) for providing us with a spectacular three course meal. After a busy and productive day, it feels great to sit back on the couch and unwind before the work week.  I am also looking for something to do with the two eggplants I got in this week’s CSA box.

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Any Suggestions???

 

A Simple Something New June 15, 2011

Filed under: Appetizers — Luv What You Do @ 10:10 pm
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As many of you know it has been an interesting and exciting week!  Plus, my schedule has changed (I have Fridays off for the summer instead of Mondays) which always throws me off course.  That being said, I have not had much time at home and certainly no time to play online.  BUT, I made a commitment to trying something new each week, and I wanted to make sure to share this with you since it is AMAZING! 

Although it is probably not new to you, feta is definitely a new food to me. I JUST started eating the crumbled stuff and never tried the block version, especially not like this…

 

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This grilled feta is easy to make and tastes gourmet.  Take a block of feta (I bought mine at WF in liquid).  Drain and bring to room temperature.  Place feta on foil and cover with a pinch of salt and pepper, drizzle with a healthy dose of olive oil, and then sprinkle with dried thyme.  Place on medium-low heat of grill in foil packet (you can tent it, but we did not) for 18-20 minutes.  Transfer to a plate and serve warm with pita chips or crackers.

 

Trust me…you will want to include this at your next BBQ!!!

 

Pizza Night April 10, 2011

Filed under: Dinner — Luv What You Do @ 7:10 pm
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I don’t remember when I started the race day pizza dinner tradition.  I think it was after a half marathon, but I have carried it over to 8K’s, 10K’s and the occasional 5K.  I used to live by a Homemade Pizza Co. and their whole wheat pizza with spinach, tomato, and pineapple was my favorite. I know it sounds odd, but you have to try it!

Since we had the time, I decided it would be fun to do a "Make Your Own" pizza night tonight.  I bought this refrigerated dough at TJ’s.  Whole wheat for me and regular for the BOY.  At 99¢, how could I go wrong.

There’s a place in the city that has an amazing roasted eggplant pizza.  I thought I would try to replicate it.  It is a white pizza with an amazing garlic and olive oil flavor.  The BOY was nice enough to grill me some eggplant and zucchini.  For the first time, I "sweat" my eggplant by adding salt to the cut eggplant and then waiting 30 minutes.  I added some garlic and basil and it tasted great!

I was able to roll out my dough without difficulty.

The BOY, on the other hand, had quite a hard time.  He gave up and tried to throw away his dough like 9 times.

I added some provolone cheese, my veggies, some olive oil and extra spices before placing it in the oven.

The boy made this beautiful pizza (with meat under the cheese and he added more on the top), but couldn’t pry it off the surface.  He was about to give up AGAIN when I suggested turning it into a calzone.  He grilled his calzone and although he wasn’t thrilled, it turned on tasty, but a little undercooked.  He was a bit shy about me taking a picture and sharing his creation.

My pizza came out and the dough was cooked well.  Unfortunately, the veggies lost some of their grilled flavor. I think next time I will use a herbed olive oil (and maybe cut my veggies smaller) AND a store-bought crust for the BOY.

 

 
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