Currently Browsing: lunch
Jun 11, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Jun 11, 2011 in chicken, lunch, pasta | 3 comments
It was a short work day for me on Friday, I get off early every other Friday, so I was home @ 12:30! Time to make a great lunch. I had 3 oz. of leftover chicken, the kids wanted bow tie pasta, and I had some home made pesto in my freezer so that’s what I had for lunch. So easy and tasty!!
Pesto goes a long way, I only used a few teaspoons for my one serving:
So since it wasn’t raining yesterday I was able to ride my bike to work. So for my day 7 of working out for 100 days straight was riding my bike (3.6 miles).
The kids and I ran some errands then when I got back I was thinking I should do something else. I am lucky to have an elliptical at my house, which is MOSTLY unused, so I dusted that baby off and got on. I picked a 20 minute workout on level 5. It was hard and I was super sweaty when it was done. I finished with a 5 minute cool down. I don’t know if this is accurate, but this is what it said for calories burned – not bad!
So far I am shocked that I’ve kept up the exercise every day. Before I started last Saturday, I really haven’t done any kind of exercise in months and that’s not good!! Food wise I’ve been doing fantastic, so putting the two together, I’m hoping for great results!
Have a super Saturday!!! Our softball games for our daughter Claire have been cancelled because of too rainy fields this weekend, so I am off to the library with Claire to sign her up for the summer and reading math program. The library is about a mile from our house and Claire suggested we walk instead of taking the car – so that’s what we are going to do! 
Mar 30, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Mar 30, 2011 in a day in the life of me!, chicken, Dinner Idea, lunch, salad | 6 comments
From Cooking Light Magazine
I made this last night and it is by far the best potato soup I’ve had. I’ve made it dozens of times over the years and I never get tired of it. It’s from Cooking Light Magazine. Click Here for the recipe
This time I forgot to add the cheese in the soup and it still turned out great. On top I sprinkle turkey bacon, green onions and a little parmesan cheese. On the side, I cut up a few of my homemade pita (more…)
Feb 20, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Feb 20, 2011 in dieting, Dinner Idea, lunch, soup, vegetables | 5 comments
It’s been a dreary, rainy weekend here in Chicago-land, so what better thing to do than make a big pot of soup. This is also a great way to use up veggies you didn’t use during the week. Also, my daughter Claire has been sick the last few days, with a fever and sore throat, so even better to make soup to help her feel better.
I looked in my fridge to see what I had on hand:
3 red peppers
2 tomatoes
1/2 white onion
3 carrots
2 parsnip
6 cloves of garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried basil
few pinches of crushed red pepper flakes
I decided to roast the veggies. I just washed them and placed them whole in a 9×13 baking dish. You can also leave the paper on the garlic too. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sea salt and pepper.
Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees, turning the veggies half way through.
This is what it looked like after roasting:
After roasting, remove the paper from the garlic, the garlic will be super soft. Remove the stems and seeds from the red pepper, cut the tomatoes into 4 wedges, and cut the onion in half. You can also cut the carrots and parsnips into smaller pieces.
Place all the veggies in a big pot. Add 6 cups of water, 6 tsp. of powdered chicken stock. The only spices I added was a little oregano, a little basil and a few pinches of red pepper flakes.
Bring the pot to a boil and then simmer for about an hour. Puree with an immersion stick blender, or transfer to a food processor or blender. *If you use the blender, remove the top and place a towel on top so the heat escapes, otherwise, it will explode all over the place (I’ve done that before and it is not fun!)
So with the big pot of soup, I bought a nice loaf of artisan Italian bread, and everyone could make their own sandwich.
My sandwich was 2 slices bread, 2 slices turkey bacon, 1 slice of muenster cheese, 1 oz. smoked turkey with a slather of chipolte mustard. AMAZINGLY good to go with the soup!
New blogs to share:
Nibble me this – bbq master!
My Bueno Cookbook – 3 generations of women making great food
Triangle Good Eats, best eats in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
So, what did you make this weekend?
I also am making a pesto asiago cheese bread from the 2001 cooking light cookbook! The dough is rising as we speak and I’ll post the recipe in a few days.
Feb 6, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Feb 6, 2011 in lunch, recipe make over | 4 comments
Jenn's fast food lunch
Usually on Friday’s a lot of people in my office get take out. I would LOVE to join in getting a nice burger and fries, but thinking of eating 1000+ calories to do so while I am trying to lose weight won’t get me to where I want to be.
So, I decided to make my own fast food. I used the pretzel roll I made last week as my bun. I made a 4 oz. ground sirloin burger mixed with roasted garlic and very finely diced red onion.
I cooked the burger on a non stick skillet until it was medium. I wrapped it in foil to assemble once it was lunch time at work.
For the fries. I took 1 baked potato and while I was cooking the burger, I cooked the potato in the microwave on the baked potato setting.
I cut the potato into 4 nice big wedges, added them to the same skillet I cooked the burger in and added about 1 tablespoon of chipolte mustard to flavor it up.
Awesome mustard!
If you haven’t tried this mustard, its available at most supermarkets in the condiment aisle. You can also check here if its available at a store near you.
So my fast food lunch was less than 400 calories and really hit the spot!
Is there any favorite fast food re-make you do to make it healthier at home?
Jan 31, 2011
Posted by Jennifer on Jan 31, 2011 in chicken, Dinner Idea, lunch, soup, vegetables | 5 comments
Before going to the grocery store this weekend, I thought I would make a batch of soup for my lunches this week. I just put in whatever veggies I had leftover from the week so I wouldn’t have to throw them out. My daughter Claire, who is 9, was helping me chop veggies. She asked if I got this out of a cookbook and I told her I was just using up what was in the fridge. She asked me what should we call it, and I said “What about Claire soup?” Her face lit up and she said, “Can you put that on your blog!” Of course I had to say YES!
I had ground chicken, parsnips, carrots, quinoa, green pepper and I just started throwing stuff in the pot.
Ingredients
1 lb. ground chicken (I used Purdue brand)
1 can spaghetti sauce (the 26 oz. can)
3 parsnips, cut into circles
3 carrots, cut into circles
4 cloves of garlic chopped
1 green pepper, diced fine
6 cups water (with 6 tsp. powdered chicken stock) (or you can use canned chicken broth
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1-2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
In a big pot, add the chicken and break up and cook until no longer pink. Next add the veggies, spaghetti sauce, water and spices.
Bring to a boil and turn down to a simmer and cook for about 25-30 minutes until the veggies are soft.
Add the quinoa and cook another 15 minutes on low.
The good thing, is Claire and my son Paul both had 2 servings over the weekend, and I ended up having some for lunch today, the bad thing is I may only get a few lunches out of it this week! Oh well, I’m glad they liked it!
The quinoa kind of absorbs a lot of liquid once you put it in the fridge. When I heated it up, I added another 2 cups of Chicken broth to thin it out some more.
*******
My sister turned me on to a great grocery store tip: Cheese ends!
If you ever go to your local deli and they have a variety of cheese ends that they can’t sell, they’ll package them all up for a great price.
Check out what I got for $3.00:
I’m not even sure all the cheese in there. I know there was muenster, swiss, mozzarella, american, etc…
Using my food processor, I shredded it all up. My food processor manual said its good if you freeze the cheese for a little bit, so it’s easier to process. I froze it for about 30 minutes. I ended up with 3 pint size bags of shredded cheese!
It’s perfect for adding to eggs, put in a salad, make quick nachos, grilled cheese, whatever you want. Thanks Biz, that’s a great tip!
Have a great Monday!!! Tune in tomorrow for my week 4 weigh in results!
