Jan 27, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 27, 2012 in chicken, Dinner Idea, Half marathon training, Team in Training | 0 comments
I have Mara to thank for my dinner last night! After reading her blog post about her Chipotle bowl at home I thought I had most of my ingredients to make it.
Her recipe also is inspire by Iowa Girl Eats.. It was super easy to put together and my whole family devoured it – not a morsel left!
I had lime rice on the bottom, topped with black beans, the seasoned chicken and cheese!
For the chicken, I made a rub from these ingredients:
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
In a cast iron skillet, I added 5 cloves of garlic, sliced, 1/2 a white onion sliced and sauteed that for a few minutes. Next I added 1 jalapeno – seeds removed and cooked for another minute. Add the juice of 1 lime and the zest of 1 lime.
I added the chicken (however much you need to feed your family), then the seasoning (a few tablespoons) and cooked that until the chicken was no longer pink in the middle.
Meanwhile I cooked some brown rice. I used a quick cooking version of brown rice that’s ready in 15 minutes. Cook the rice according to your package directions. Once that is done, then I squeezed the juice of 1 lime and the zest of 1 lime into the rice. I unfortunately didn’t have cilantro 
.
For the black beans, rinse 1 can of black beans and I added 2 tsp. of the seasoning I used for the chicken and cooked that in the microwave for a minute so it was warmed through.
Next – build the bowl. I put the rice on the bottom, then the black beans, the chicken and topped with a little cheese. The only thing I really missed was not having any avocado. BUT, for making this with what I had on hand – I thought it was pretty deluxe!
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So tomorrow my husband and I are going to be running on the Lakefront for Team in Training. We are running the Christy Clinic Illinois marathon (I’m doing the half). My run tomorrow is 6 miles, my husband has to run 10!!!
We are raising money for The Leukemia And Lymphoma Society – we have started a $5.00 buck Friday – do you have an extra $5.00 to spare?
HERE IS OUR DONATION PAGE – PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN
I just read an e-mail from one of our coaches that there is a half marathon on the Lakefront path tomorrow with 1,200 participants, so that should be interesting! We will probably cross paths at some point.
Have a great weekend and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!
Jan 24, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 24, 2012 in Dinner Idea, general ideas, kid friendly, Team in Training, vegetables | 3 comments
So quick and easy!
I made this quick and easy recipe last night for dinner and it turned out great. All it was was turkey kielbasa, potatoes, peppers and onions and put on Kabob! Since it’s colder than heck here in Chicago, there was no outdoor grilling, but your broiler can work in a pinch!
I didn’t peel the potatoes, I used red potatoes and just washed the skins really good. I cut those into quarters and cooked in a pot of water for about 20 minutes or until they were cooked through.
Since the kielbasa is already cooked, you just need to cook these for about 5-7 minutes per side until it’s heated through. Just watch it if your broiler is really close to the flames and maybe place it lower so they cook and don’t get charred.
I will definitely be making these again soon.
Now on to my Half Marathon training. My husband and I are raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma society. If you can make a donation – here is our fundraising page – no amount is too small! THANK YOU FELLOW BLOGGER FRIENDS LORI AND JOANNE WHO HAVE MADE DONATIONS!!! I REALLY APPRECIATE IT
On schedule this past Saturday was a 6 miler for me and 8 miles for my husband who is doing the full marathon. We opted out of the group training, since we had a lot of snow late into Friday and it would be super cold at 8:00 a.m. we thought the path wouldn’t be cleared by then. So we had to train by ourselves. My husband runs way faster than me, and the thought of running laps at the local high school didn’t seem too fun, so I went on to Map my Run and mapped a 6 mile loop from my house.
To be honest, after sleeping in and hanging out in my jammies all morning, the thought of getting bundled up and running by myself did not appeal to me AT ALL! I really wanted to just blow it off, but I have to run another 6 this weekend and already 8 miles the weekend after that, so I can’t miss the long runs. I think that’s how I was able to finish both marathons I did, I didn’t ever miss a long run.
It took me a long time to finish – because some of my neighbors hadn’t shoveled their walks AT ALL from the day before. So I would run a half a block, climb over snow, run a block, walk a block over snow pretty much the whole way. But, I thought about all the people we’ve met dealing with cancer, and other people in my life who are in poor health and I thought about how lucky I am that I am healthy and I can do it – so that kept me going! And in reality, once I got started I wasn’t cold at all and it was 22 degrees outside!
So, my work out area in my basement is now all nice and clean. Thanks to my son Mark for hooking up the VCR – I bought one at Good Will for $2.50 so I can play my VHS work out videos. When I brought it home, he said “where are the cords for the TV?” Ummmm… I don’t know – it didn’t come with that! So he went digging in a basket where we have all sorts of cords, found one that would work and set it all up for me! 
It pays to have a teenage son who can figure all that out for me!
Over the last 2 weekends I bought about 9 more work out videos so I won’t get bored. Taebo, The Firm, etc… most were 3 videos for a dollar, so you can’t go wrong with that.
Have a great day everyone!
Jan 19, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 19, 2012 in breakfast, drinks, general ideas, kid friendly, vegetables | 2 comments
For the last week I’ve been drinking a smoothie for breakfast. Not just any smoothie, but one chocked full of nutrition!
I think it’s a great way to start the day on the right foot, and if you have trouble fitting in fruits and veggies – this could do the trick!
My power smoothie
What am I making my smoothies with??
This week it’s been:
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice
handful of frozen mango chunks
2 kiwi
1/2 cup fresh cranberries (which I keep in the freezer)
1 leaf of kale (too much will make the smoothie taste gross)
1 carrot
squeeze of honey
1 tablespoon chia seeds
1 tablespoon flax seeds
I just put everything in my blender and blend until it’s super smooth.
It’s about 300 calories, I bring it to work and sip on it and it’s been keeping me full until lunchtime – which is nice!
Also, I have a site to share www.thislunchrox.com. She has great ideas and recipes!
One of which is no bake granola bars. I’ve made them before, but they NEVER stay together and end up just being granola. This takes no time to make and is great for your lunch or your kids lunch!
Ingredients
Granola Bars (based on a recipe from This Lunch Rox!)
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 cup oats
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons other dry ingredients (like flax seeds, chia seeds, sunflower seeds, nuts, protein powder, etc)
(I used 1 tablespoon of chia seeds and 1 tablespoon of flax seeds)
In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate and peanut butter
Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until combined.
I used an 8×8 pan, and just pressed the mixture into that dish. Refrigerate 10 minutes of until set.
These were delicious and it’s nice to know all the ingredients that are in there vs. buying a granola bar that is store bought – and it’s cheap too!
Not the best picture - but you get the idea!
Do you have a recipe for granola bars you like? What’s your favorite things to put in a smoothie??
Jan 15, 2012
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 15, 2012 in breakfast, cookies, dessert, dieting, kid friendly, oatmeal, recipe make over | 3 comments
I have a HUGE pile of cooking magazines in my house. Some are mine, but the majority I got from another Mom in my hometown, and I have at least 50 cooking magazines! Vegetarian times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, Rachel Ray, Food TV, etc…
So, when I am looking for inspiration – I just grab a few and see what there is that I can make. This recipe is based off of a 2005 Vegetarian Times recipe. I used that as a guide, but added what I had on hand. Their recipe called for currants, and I was going to use fresh cranberries, but then I also wanted my kids to eat these, so I subbed in 1/4 cup chocolate chips instead.
You don’t even need to get your mixer out, you can mix everything in a bowl with a rubber spatula.
This made 19 mini scones
1.5 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 tablespoon baking powder
2 tsp. sugar
2 tablespoons corn syrup (the recipe asked for Maple syrup – but I didn’t have any…)
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup chocolate chips
5 tablespoons of butter
*Melted chocolate for drizzle if desired
In a big mixing bowl add all the dry ingredients and stir. I sliced the butter into small pieces and using your hands, just start incorporating the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles course crumbs.
Add the milk and corn syrup and stir until the dough comes together. On a floured surface, remove the dough and knead a few times until it’s all combined. I made it into a log, then sliced it with a pizza cutter.
Bake on cookie sheet coated with cooking spray for 15-17 minutes at 425 degrees – they will be golden brown on top.
Jenn's 110 calorie scone bites
These were great – not too sweet, but just the right thing to hit the spot if you want a little special treat after dinner, or make an afternoon hot chocolate/tea/coffee to go with these.
I will definitely make these again!
EACH SCONE IS:
110 CALORIES
4.3 GRAMS FAT
15 GRAMS CARBS
2 GRAMS PROTEIN
.9 FIBER
