Clean Out the Pantry Week: Day 1

Is anyone else watching The Next Food Network Star? I am. Last season was the first time I watched with any regularity and I’m hooked back in this time around. I’m really pulling for Melissa d’Arabian to win this time around. I love all of the tips, tricks and info she shares during her demos and feel like her show would be something I would actually watch.

As a soon-to-be-stay-at-home mom, I enjoy her frugal shopping strategies and home cooked meals that are both healthy and picky-eater approved. On a recent episode, she talked about how she likes challenging herself to skip the grocery and make meals for a week using what she already has in the house.

I find myself going to the grocery just for fun sometimes and end up spending waaaaay more money than is really necessary. I decided to adopt Melissa’s strategy this week, skip my usual Saturday grocery trip and get creative. When I sat down to menu plan, I was extremely surprised at how much food we already have in the house. I’ll be posting our meals as they appear this week.

Lunch

I snapped a pic of my eats for the work day before sticking them in my lunch bag.

In the picture:

• Dannon Light ‘n Fit blueberry yogurt
• fresh pineapple chunks
• grapes
• Laughing Cow Light Swiss wedge
• Arnold’s Multigrain Sandwich Thin
• Gardenburger Sun-Dried Tomato & Basil (it’s hiding)

Dinner

We purchased a roast on sale several weeks ago and it’s just been chillin’ in the freezer since then. I popped it into the crock pot (still frozen) with a can of beef broth and a small can of mushrooms. To season, I sprinkled the top with some Garlic, Garlic and Onion, Onion. 8 hours later, voila!

I saw a commercial for these the other day and it reminded me that I’d received a package from the generous folks at Buitoni to sample.

***Product Review***

Wild Mushroom Agnolotti

Here’s what the manufacturer’s website says about them:

A blend of earthy mushrooms, including sweet, rustic portobellos and delicate criminis, creates an impeccable pairing with fresh-roasted garlic and imported grana padano and parmesan cheeses, wrapped inside thin layers of stone-ground semolina pasta.

I’ve been waiting for the perfect moment to break them out and this seemed to be it. The verdict? Delicious! My husband and I both agreed that this pasta needs no heavy sauce to make it flavorful. The rich mushroom filling does the trick just fine. We topped ours with just a bit of beef broth that cooked in the crockpot with the roast. The nutrition information wasn’t necessarily the most figure friendly, but I found that 1/2 of the recommended portion was more than sufficient as a side dish. These were nice for a casual weekday supper and I think they’d also be great for a more formal event as well.

Tonight’s veggie was zucchini from our garden, cooked just until tender in a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and garlic. I topped mine with a little paprika.

Dinner is served!

My meat and potatoes husband, was over the moon with excitement for this meal. It makes me feel great when I can prepare something that he really enjoys.

After dinner, I straightened up the kitchen, packed lunches, this workout (3 sets, 15 reps of the advanced moves) from FitPregnancy.com, tossed in a load of laundry and chilled with the hubs and the pup.

It’s off to bed for me now. Hope everyone had a great Monday!

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Weekend Recap

It was a crazy weekend and a dead-camera-battery Monday so I’m just getting back into the swing of things. Here’s a quick recap.

Friday: Husband was in an accident on his way to work. Dark+fog+stopped garbage truck=bad news. Everyone was fine save his sore shoulder/back and bruised ego. His company sent him home early from work to rest so I left at lunchtime to meet him at home.

Saturday: Went to the outlet mall near our house with my husband, cousin-in-law and his wife. They’re expecting in July and found some major baby bargains. Despite all of the adorable baby things, I only bought one pair of maternity jeans. I haven’t purchased even a single baby item yet because I know once I start, I won’t stop.

Sunday: Dinner theater with my mom, my friend and her mom. I had every intention of taking pictures, but everything on the buffet was greasy and gross looking. I did eat my body weight in their signature cheese bread!

Monday: Drive. Work. Drive. Sleep.

Which brings us to yesterday’s eats:

I was craving something really carby for breakfast so I headed to the cafe across the street from my office. I had a toasted blueberry bagel with a little real butter (Are you proud, Erin?) and cream cheese. That’s Twinings English Breakfast tea on the side. Yes, I realize this is not the healthiest breakfast, but man was it good!

I switched back to healthy mode for my morning snack, a pear. I think it looks a little like a flower when it’s still in the slicer like that. Pretty & delicious!

It was measurement day for our workout at work group. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as I though. Since the middle of February, I’ve gained 2″ in my waist, an inch in my thigh and half an inch in my bicep. The place that really shocked me was my hips. I feel like that’s where I’m getting bigger (thanks to baby), but it actually stayed the same. Since I’m in my 2nd trimester now, doctor says I shouldn’t do anything flat on my back, exercise included. There were just 2 ab stations that I had to modify yesterday.

***PRODUCT REVIEW***

The fabulous Kristin of Stoneyfield Farm was nice enough to send me some Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt samples since I was having trouble finding it in the grocery stores near me. Yesterday I broke out the honey flavor and, lemme tell ya, I was impressed. The texture was really creamy and the flavor was rich. I loved that it was both fat free and organic. The 5.3 oz. containers are the perfect single serving size and contain just 120 calories.

I topped mine with a little Bear Naked Fit granola and a couple dried dates. I didn’t realize that the honey was in the bottom until after the picture so you can’t really tell what it looks like all stirred up.

My verdict: I’ve never tried 0% Fage (can’t find it at my grocery either), but I liked the Oikos a lot better than that brand’s 2%. There was just the right amount of sweetness from the honey without making it overly sweetened like lots of other popular brands. I stayed full the entire afternoon and through my commute (from about 2PM – 7PM) without needing to eat again which is quite impressive. I’m going to speak with the manager at my usual grocery this weekend to ask them if they’ll pretty please start stocking this ASAP.

After work, I headed to my parents’ house to pick up the pooch. The yummy smell hit me as soon as I walked in the door: soup beans with ham. I know a bunch of you just wrinkled your noses and said “ewww” which is how my husband feels about them. These were a staple in my house growing up and we had them at least once every other week because my mom LOVES them. I hated them until a year or so ago and now I miss having them regularly.

My mom hooked me up with a container to take home since she always makes a huge pot. They came in real handy when I got home. My husband wasn’t at all hungry and I didn’t feel like making anything elaborate. My parents eat them with cornbread. I prefer mine served over brown rice:

With a lovely, leafy salad:

Dinner is served!

Our kitchen table is becoming a catch-all because the mail basket is overflowing so, after I ate, it was time for sorting and filing. I’ve come to the conclusion that I HATE JUNK MAIL. It’s wasteful of natural resources and causes annoying clutter. I know about Catalog Choice to opt out of receiving catalogs, but if anyone knows of a good way to make the other stuff stop I’d greatly appreciate your tips.

Are there any foods that you hated/wouldn’t eat as a kid and now love?

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A Day Late

I got so wrapped up in blog reading and commenting yesterday that I forgot my own post. Oops! So, here are Tuesday’s eats:

Breakfast didn’t look great, but it tasted good. This was part of what was in my lunch bag when I left it in the fridge. No worries. though. Day old (refrigerated) yogurt with Bear Naked Fit granola and blueberries is a little mushy, but a-ok.

***PRODUCT REVIEW***

Stonyfield Farm Organic Lowfat Yogurt

The lovely Kristin of Stonyfield Farm sent me some extra coupons along with those for the Oikos and I advantage of a few at the grocery last weekend. I thought this plain yogurt was really good. The taste reminded me a little bit of Greek yogurt which I LOVE so that was cool. The texture was really smooth and it mixed well with my add-ins. The combination left me feeling full for several hours which is rare for my tummy. I’m glad the tub is big because I plan on incorporating it in for more breakfasts very soon.

One serving = 1 cup (227g)

Calories: 120
Total Fat: 2g
Saturated Fat: 1.5g
Trans Fat: 0g
Cholesterol: 10mg
Sodium: 150mg
Potassium: 530mg
Total Carbohydrate: 15g
Dietary Fiber: 0g
Sugars: 15g
Protein: 10g

Ingredients: CULTURED PASTEURIZED ORGANIC LOW FAT MILK, PECTIN, VITAMIN D3. CONTAINS OUR EXCLUSIVE BLEND OF SIX LIVE ACTIVE CULTURES INCLUDING L. ACIDOPHILUS, BIFIDUS, L. CASEI AND L. RHAMNOSUS.

Tuesday turned into a blah day after my adventure with new yogurt. I don’t remember too many details.

Lunch was ravioli.

Post-”workout at work” snack: a juicy anjou pear. (NOTE: Pampered Chef’s apple slicer works perfectly on pears, too!)

Another afternoon snack: celery sticks and Sabra hummus with hot sauce:

Right before leaving work I had a Blueberry Crisp Clif bar. It’s one of my favorite flavors. I’m allergic to artificial blue coloring (which is in more things than you would think) so I’m glad these are natural. They’re deliciously fruity and crispy, all at the same time.

After seeing what I ate during the day, it’s probably no surprise that I wasn’t too hungry come dinner time. Eggs sounded good so we had sammies. Mine was egg, cheese, a little corned beef (heated in the microwave to kill the listeria bacteria) and mustard all on low-cal wheat bread. WordPress is being funky for me today and it won’t upload the rotated picture. Here it is all sideways like:

Be sure to check back tomorrow. I’m a attending a foodie event tonight and I’m really excited about sharing it with you all!

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My First Giveaway!

All the technical gods are smiling upon me today. My camera and laptop are communicating effectively so we’re all systems go.

First, you have to suffer through my eats and ramblings of the day.

I woke up STARVING which is becoming a daily thing lately. I had (another) bowl of Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares with organic skim milk and a POM (“pregnant lady”) spritzer. No picture today. If you really want to see, check out breakfast yesterday.

Morning snacks were a Yoplait Light yogurt (Raspberry Yogurt flavor) and a Cookies ‘n’ Cream Luna Bar.

We’re starting month 2 of the workouts at work and I’m really glad. We lost 2 members, but gained 2 new ladies so that cost stayed the same. Our trainer forgot to bring the hand weights so there were more core stations than normal in our circuit. Loved it!

After my workout I had the leftover egg noodles from last night. I packed chicken breast and Italian dressing to put on top, but icky tummy syndrome has been hitting me in the afternoon and the only things that sound appealing are bland & carby eats. I just tossed them with a little EVOO and parmesan cheese. Forgot to snap a picture, but it would have been a really boring one anyway. I wasn’t hungry the rest of the afternoon so I guess my body got whatever it needed from that.

I was, however, hungry again at dinner time. I rubbed some pork chops with garlic, baked them and served baked potatoes on the side. The potatoes were HUGE. I only had half of one, but it was plenty.

See that delicious looking sauce served on the side? That’s Country Bob’s All Purpose Sauce and it is DEEEE-licious! The very generous Al from Country Bob’s sent me some of their yummy sauce to sample. My husband and I were instant fans. The flavor is really unique without overpowering the food it’s accompanying.

*****CONTEST ALERT******

The generous folks at Country Bob’s have offered to send a not one, but TWO lucky readers their very own bottle of All Purpose Sauce to try and enjoy. All you have to do is this:

1) Comment on this post. Be sure to include your name and blog URL (if you have one) so that I can check out what you’re blogging.
2) Post a link back to this contest on your blog.

If you don’t have a blog, e-mail me at upfitcreek@gmail.com with just a quick blurb including your name and where you’re from. No need to be super specific unless you want to be. Just your state (or country if it’s outside of the US) will be fine.

You have until midnight EST on Sunday, March 8th to comment and link back or e-mail. I’ll randomly select two people to receive this fabulous prize. Winners will be posted on Monday after I’ve had a chance to review all of the entries and draw names. (Yes. The deadline has been extended!)

GOOD LUCK to everyone who enters!

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Weekend Recap

Sorry for the sporadic posting lately. It’s been a hectic past few days and my mind has been going in a million different directions. Unfortunately, none of those directions has involved my camera so it’s been spending more time at home than in my purse.

It’s time to spill the beans on my surprise now that we’ve shared with our parents and my sister-in-law. In case you haven’t figured it out, my husband and I are expecting our first child. We’re absolutely thrilled! My first doctor’s appointment is on Thursday so I should find out my due date then. Right now my best guess is early October.

On to the weekend eats!

For breakfast on Saturday I had a biscuit with spray butter and blueberry jam along with a glass of milk. Afterwards I headed out to the grocery.

The good grocery news: I found some Clif Iced Gingerbread bars! The bad grocery news: My store is no longer carrying plain Fage. Yes, the very same Fage I was so excited to find just weeks ago. I almost cried when the lady told me. It was a sad, sad day.

I was STARVING when I got home so I made some Annie’s Whole Wheat Shells & Cheese.

I also made a mini-parfait of organic vanilla low-fat yogurt, blueberries & Bear Naked Fit granola.

My appetite and my energy headed south for the rest of the day. I did a little laundry, cleaned out the refrigerator and took the recyclables to the bins in town. My husband was craving pizza for dinner so we ordered from the little local place. It smelled really good when he brought it in so I had two small squares. We spent the rest of the evening curled up on the couch watching TV with the dog. I enjoy lazy evenings like that every once in a while.

Sunday I slept in waaaay later than I had intended. Honestly, I probably would have slept longer if my growling stomach hadn’t woken me up. I wanted something quick and filling. The result is something I can see myself eating on a regular basis. It was just an organic banana (cut in half lengthwise) spread with peanut butter and sprinkled with granola. It tasted like dessert!

I took advantage of my morning energy to finish up laundry, scrub the kitchen and clean the floors. While I was doing that, my husband was busy cleaning all of the vehicles. My car looks so shiny and new!

Lunch was four Ling Ling’s vegetable dumplings drizzled with reduced-sodium soy sauce and dipped in Ben’s Sweet & Hot mustard. I bought these the first time because I had a coupon and they looked interesting. Now they’re a regular purchase. They’re frozen, but taste pretty fresh and flavorful after they’re cooked. The bag comes with a sauce packet, but I don’t care for it. The mustard is a local favorite.

I also had the rest of my Annie’s Mac & Cheese.

After lunch I cut up lettuce to make a big salad for the week. Then I headed back out to the front porch to enjoy the sunshine and my February issue of Martha Stewart Living. It’s amazing how quickly the temperature changed! Early last week it was in the low teens. Sunday it was almost 50! It makes me so ready for spring. In fact, when I took my break from reading we wandered around the yard and planned a few landscaping projects.

I had something new for snack, a CocoaVia bar.

*Product Review*
CocoaVia Crispy Chocolate Bar

Yum, yum, yum! This was the perfect cure for a chocolate craving. It’s dark chocolate (which I prefer) and has a really rich taste. My take on the texture was that it’s both chewy & crispy. The nutrition information was very reasonable. I can’t wait to try the other varieties I bought!

Dinner was kind of rushed and frazzled. I was getting everything together for our nachos when my in-laws pulled in for an unexpected visit. I put them on hold so we were both pretty hungry when they left. No picture, but I can assure you they were good.

After dinner I got clothes ready for the work week and made sure everything I needed was in my bag. I don’t typically watch awards shows, but I somehow got sucked into the Grammy’s this year. All of the performances I saw were really good. However, it seemed like their sound was a bit off and I could barely hear the people singing over the musicians. I was disappointed that I fell asleep before Sugarland performed. Love them!

Would you rather watch an awards show for acting or one for music?

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Farewell, My Lip Gloss

My day started off with a cup of coffee with the hubby. I fixed a light breakfast of peanut butter and blackberry jam on low-cal wheat toast. This is not any jam, ladies and gentlemen. This is amazing-mouth-water-crave-it-in-your-sleep jam made and sold at the Amish store just up the road from our house. The people there are extremely friendly and I could stand in there for hours watching them make pasta, pastries, jams, jellies & bread. They also sell a lot of unique and natural ingredients. That’s a great thing considering the closest TJ’s is an hour away and the closest Whole Foods is around an hour and a half. Anyway, here’s the picture:

The drive to work was a little slower than usual. Snow was still covering some of the roadways and I ended up in a huge line of traffic that formed behind a car doing 15 MPH. This was a bit unnecessary in my opinion. It wasn’t *that* bad. Oh well. I arrived safely and immediately got to work on a cup of hot tea. It was a variety I’d never tried before; Tazo Passion. I liked it a lot. Definitely something I’d have to be in the mood for though. It was really fruity and tart. It was a really pretty color, too.

Around 10 I started to get hungry again. I was still cold so I had another cup of tea (Tazo Lotus) and a container of Dannon Light ‘n’ Fit Peach yogurt. It was tasty. I wish I’d brought some fresh fruit to bulk it up because I could tell it wasn’t going to stick with me.

I pack my lunch from home almost every day, but today I was going out with my friend and former boss, Miste. We went to a place called Seasons Bistro & Grille which is right across the street from my office. Their menu changes 4 times a year to reflect what’s in season. They also use organic and local produce and meats whenever possible. Good thing it’s close because it was 2 degrees outside and we didn’t want to walk very far.

I started with a mixed greens salad (didn’t eat the onions because I don’t like them) tossed with a lemon vinaigrette. Yum!

For my entree I chose a veggie sandwich on wheat toast with herbed cream cheese spread. Oh, and a pickle spear! The veggies were cucumbers, roasted red peppers, greens & shredded carrots. This was really good although I wish the bread had been a little more hearty because the moisture from the veggies made it a little soggy. Still, very enjoyable.

We bundled back up (it was 12 degrees) and headed back to the office where I spent a productive afternoon…and commented on some of your blogs. Lunch kept me full until around 4 o’clock when I ate 1/2 of a green pepper, sliced and topped with a wedge of Laughing Cow Light cheese.

I was rushing across the street on the way to my car in order to beat the crosswalk sign. I heard a faint *click* sound, but waited until I was safely across to turn around and see what it was. When I did, I saw lipgloss laying in the middle of the road. I was NOT going to let it go without a fight and decided to wait until traffic had passed and I could safely retrieve it. That was not to be. A car ran right over the tube and smashed it. My heart sank. This was not just any lipgloss. It was my favorite. The perfect shade, the perfect consistency, the perfect applicator, EVERYTHING! Of course when I told my husband he was confused by my extreme reaction. “Just go buy another one,” he said. That’s the real problem, though. It was part of a set my mom gave me for Christmas and it’s only available in that set. She bought it from QVC at a special introductory price on the first day it was available. The price is now more than double what it was that day and I really don’t need 2 of the other things in that set. I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that they release the stand-alone version sometime soon.

It was soo tempting to just take a hot bath and change into warm PJs, after my drive home. I didn’t, though. Instead, my husband, sister-in-law and I hit the gym. I did 10 minutes on the elliptical, then 3 sets of some upper and lower body with 10 minutes of brisk walking at an incline between each set. I was really glad I went. It helped me warm up and felt good to use my muscles.

Neither of us wanted a big dinner by the time we got home so it was more leftover turkey meatloaf muffins (it was a big batch) and some won ton soup.

I just finished cleaning up the kitchen so I’m going to head to bed. Good night!

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