I have a confession to make.  We are (mostly) giving up carbs.

Did you die a little?  I know I did when I came to the realization that removing the vast majority of carbohydrates (and ALL super processed carbohydrates) was going to be what we needed to do for our weight control and our health.  I’ve know for  some time that this was going to be the path we needed to take, but up until now, I wasn’t really ready.  It was a big commitment, but last month I realized that losing carbs was the right path for us and Big Daddy and I gave up the majority of them two weeks ago.

My first weigh in found me four pounds down in a little over a week.  I haven’t been perfect, but I’ve been pretty good and I’m realizing that carbs and my body do NOT like each other.  Each of the times in the last two weeks that I’ve eaten a carb heavy meal (just two) I’ve gotten SO sick to my stomach.  Yuck.  Proof.

I tell you all of this not to encourage you to diet or diet like I am, but to explain why you’re going to be seeing a different slant to my recipes from now on.  I am doing a hybrid program that is mostly primal/paleo.  For explanations on how we’re eating around here now, you can check out www.marksdailyapple.com for more information, recipes, message boards and all kinds of goodies.

This turned into some yummy egg muffins for breakfast. We'll ignore how badly the egg muffins stuck to the pan.

But for now?  Menu plan!

Monday Oven fried chicken, asparagus and green salad.

Tuesday Grilled pork tenderloin, zucchini “tots“  asparagus.  I omitted the breadcrumbs and added more cheese.  They were more like fitters and they were DELISH!

Wednesday-Sauteed talapia (grilled chicken for the kids), mashed rutabagas and a Trader Joe’s vegetable medley in sauce.  As a note, rutabagas take a LONG time to boil.  The aboce recipe suggests boiling for 40 minutes. I think closer to 90 minutes would do it and my rutabaga was cut fairly small.  Of course, your mileage will vary, but allow yourself plenty of time.

Thursday-Smoked sausage, broccoli with cheese sauce, salad (a little more processed than we’d normally eat, but sometimes mama needs a break)

Friday-Pizza with the kids (gut bomb.  Total gut bomb).

Saturday-Smoked pork chops, sesame asparagus and salad with yogurt ranch dressing

Sunday-Smoked ribs (this is the rub and sauce we use on most pork we smoke.  It’s very good.  VERY good), corn on the cob and mac and cheese (this was actually Mother’s Day dinner and we wouldn’t normally eat the mac and cheese.  It was a treat that is currently wrecking havoc on my gut)
Making the change from a meat, veggie and starch to meat and two veggie sides really hasn’t been hard.  I’m experimenting with different recipes to create side dishes that give us a carb-like feel without the carbs.  The mashed rutabaga is really so good (like a potato and an apple had a big ugly baby. It’s a little starchy and very very sweet) as are mashed turnips.  I’m looking forward to perfecting zucchini fritters

The best thing?  I feel good about serving (mostly) whole, nutritious foods to my family.  We’re going to be working on transitioning the girls to this way of eating as well (with a little more room for healthy, whole grain (high fiber) foods).

I’m looking forward to weighing in on Thursday.  For the first time maybe ever.

Spring means asparagus.

Well, it means more than that, but if you’re an asparagus fan, spring means cheap, fresh asparagus shows up at the grocery store and if you’re like us you’re taking advantage of that and eating it as often as possible.

We’ve branched out from our usual ways of eating asparagus and now enjoy it grilled, sauteed and roasted, but when I saw this gorgeous recipe show up on Pinterest I knew I had to make it.

It was so good. Soooo good. Despite the fact that my pancetta was slightly salty (and a real PITA to chunk up. I thought I’d be a good foodie and buy a nice hunk at the foodie grocery store and chunk it up myself. Mistake. It’s SO hard to cut).

There’s just nothing about this recipe I dislike. NOTHING. You cook bacon. And then you cook potatoes in it until they get crunchy and brown and then? You add in asparagus.  And onions.

I think that they must serve this for brinner in heaven. I topped mine with a fried egg and called it good. It would make a great breakfast dish and really sets the bar a little higher as far as brinner fare goes.

Another one dish meal.  Are you catching that pattern?  Easy to make, delicious one skillet meals that are full of veggies and good things.  It does take a little more than 30 minutes to throw this lovely dish together, but that’s just because you want to give your potatoes time to brown and crisp and be everything potatoes can be.  You don’t want to deprive a potato of its true potential, do you?

The Menu Plan!

Monday Pancetta and Asparagus hash with eggs. (This ain’t your mama’s brinner)

Tuesday-We had to make a trip to the home improvement store.  I had barbecoa from Chipole and I’m not at all sorry that I didn’t cook.

Wednesday-Smoked chicken with roasted carrots and roasted brussel sprouts (a simple Ina Gartin recipe in both cases.  I haven’t had brussel sprouts in some time and didn’t like them as a child and thought I’d give it a try.  I still hate them, but I hate five very small ones to be a good example.  Littlebit LOVED them).

Thursday-Busy night at our house, so we’re having a very simple pot roast with carrots and roasted asparagus.

Friday-It’s the weekend, homies.  So, Big Daddy is smoking pizzas.  Have a smoker?  Haven’t smoked pizza? You should.  We are NOT making our own.  We’re buying ours from Aldi’s which seems to make a pretty good “take and bake” pizza for a fairly low price

Saturday-Beef Tenderloins were on sale at the store, so we’re having fillet mignon.   Sans bacon.  With grilled asparagus (it’s in SEASON) and Fauxtatoes.

Sunday-TBD

What spring yummies are you cooking this week?

We’re in a bit of a lull right now. Not many weeknight commitments to make things harried. Honestly? I kind of like it, but I know it won’t be long until we’re under the gun again and running and scraping for every second we can find between the end of the school day and bedtime.

My favorite meals to cook are healthy meals that are, essentially, one dish. Everything in one that requires no side dishes or extra vegetables. I don’t really like to cook and serve too many casseroles. I really make a push to cook whole foods and to use products that don’t contain preservatives.

That’s why this dinner is so awesome. It meets all those requirements and has the added bonus of being able to use up leftovers. It can be as simple or as complicated as you like. It’s all up to you.

Easy One Skillet Risotto with Chicken and Veggies

1) Assemble your ingredients.  Remember when I said this could accommodate nearly any ingredient you had on hand?  It’s true.  The night I made this dish, I added the vegetables we had on hand along with some  boneless, skinless chicken.  Fresh vegetables WILL take longer to cook.  As will raw chicken.  You can hurry up the process by using frozen vegetables and precooked vegetables.

2) If you’re using raw chicken, chunk it up into bite sized pieces and cook it through.  The smaller the pieces, the quicker it cooks.  You can season your chicken to taste.  I’m currently having a relationship with Montreal Steak Seasoning.  It’s basic, but delicious.

3) While the chicken cooks, chop up any fresh vegetables.

4) When the chicken is finished (of course, this could be a vegetarian meal as well.  Just omit the chicken and substitute vegetable broth) remove it from the pan.  Swirl in a little bit of olive oil and add vegetables and 1 and 1/3  cup of uncooked risotto.  Cook it for a few minutes until risotto has begun to brown and veggies have begun to brown/soften.

4) Stir in four cups of your choice of broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat after it boils and cover, cooking for twenty minutes.  As an aside, if you’re using frozen vegetables, you can wait until the last five minutes of cooking time to add them.   This dish is actually very good with some of the frozen vegetables in light sauce like Green Giant makes

5) Once the risotto is cooked, stir in your chicken and stir until chicken has warmed up.

Click Image for Printable Copy of the Recipe

6) Serve.

One pan, one bowl, balanced and healthy AND done in about thirty minutes. Isn’t that great?

The Menu Plan

The weather here has been unseasonable.  That’s the best way to describe it.  After a mild weather, we’re experiencing June temperatures in March.  It means, I’m afraid of what June will REALLY be like.  Thank goodness for a/c.

Monday Thirty Minute One Skillet Risotto (seen above.  Young spring asparagus would be amazing in this dish).

Tuesday Steak on the grill, couscous (another super versatile dish) and corn

Wednesday Grilled hamburgers, potato chips and fire roasted vegetables

Thursday Slow Cooker Corned Beef and Potatoes (NO CABBAGE!)

Friday Date Night.  Thanks to Auntie Awesome.

Saturday It’s Family Movie Night!  I’ll be sharing our dinner, dessert and crafts next Friday.

Sunday Guinness boiled brats, home made potato salad and veggies.  Too good (and too warm) to pass up this favorite).

Still having 99 problems, including not having my lap top back yet AND we’ve not even managed to mail it out yet, which means from today it will still be gone for two weeks, but I’m kicked Big Daddy out of his big comfy chair in the office and have taken over!

Sort of.

After I begged for the password.

As with most people, with the start of the new year, we’re working on being more healthy.  We’re trying to exercise more (I have a goal of 20 days this month and it looks like I’m going to make it!) and eat better.  After the gluttony of the holidays, simple light fare in January seems to taste that much better.

In December, Baby Bee and I hit the Scholastic Warehouse Sale (Have you been?  If not, you should go.  You can sign up on-line at Scholastic.com to be notified of the sales).  At the sale, I picked up a Cooking Light compilation entitled Fresh Food Fast: Weeknight Meals.  For the past three weeks, 90% of our at home cooked meals have come from this book, and I’m betting we can try new things we like for several more weeks as well.  I’ve never had such good like from stem to stern with any other cookbook except for maybe the old Betty Crocker standby.

This cookbook is available on Amazon (I get no kick back.  Full disclosure and all that stuff).

Two weeks ago, Big Daddy and I had the Smokey Black Bean Soup with Avocado-Lime Salsa for lunch

It was so good, we’re having it for lunch again this week.  I would like to enter in the statement that neither Big Daddy nor I are big bean eaters, but this soup was really very good AND fast.

The long and short of all this, is that the most of these meals will be coming from Cooking Light and the aforementioned cookbook.

Monday Pressed Italian Sandwiches with Pesto and oven baked potato chips

Tuesday Grilled Romaine Chicken Caesar Salad (more disclosure.  We’ve already had and enjoyed these recipes over the last few weeks.  Since I haven’t done a menu plan I’m able to blog things we’ve actually eaten and give my opinion.  The dressing for this salad was very good, but the recipe calls for you to GRILL your lettuce.  I get the point, but I thought it just made it wilty and soggy. SO, use the dressing recipe, skip the grilling of the lettuce)

Wednesday Zucchini-Potato Pancakes with Eggs and Spinach Salad with Strawberries

Thursday Panko Pan-Fried Talapia with Dijon Green Beans and Crash Hot Potatoes

Friday Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce and Roasted Potato Wedges

Saturday Out!

Sunday Lasagna Cups, garlic bread and salad A Pinterest Find

What’s on your menu this week?  Have you been eating healthier this year?  Trying to?  What’s working for you?