Mission baby fat loss - day one

So it's been a year and the baby weight isn't gone. A year and 2 weeks actually. I lost all but 6 pounds within a week or two of delivery and have basically maintained that weight. I did get sick and got as close to 2 pounds away from pre-pregnancy weight, but now I'm back up. I am terribly out of shape. I have gotten used to this enormous appetite that pregnancy and breastfeeding has given me and now that I stopped breastfeeding, the pounds are actually going up.

So starting today, I will watch what I eat and I am committed to trying to exercise during the week. I know this is probably of no interest to anyone, but I'm going to journal it here because I think I will make wiser choices and not opt for that doughnut or slice of cake in the breakroom if I have to record it somewhere. And I do not want to start a separate blog for this. So I'll record stuff here throughout the day and hopefully hold myself accountable and hopefully not bore any readers I have to tears.

DAY ONE
Weight this morning:
153 (after workout and drinking two large glasses of water)

Exercise:
I woke up at 5 am today and I actually did the 20 minute turbo jam. I'm patting myself on the back for that one.

Eaten/drank:
1 whole grapefruit
8 oz Coke
1 Bagel Thin with about 1.5 tbsp cream cheese
1 Fiber One Oats and Chocolate bar
12 oz Coke
2 cups veggie rice casserole (see below)
5 mini carrots
handful of peanuts
2 smallish bean and cheese burritos with green sauce and sour cream

Yahoos:
I declined the crueller offered by my coworker and have resisted the bowl of candy outside of my cubicle all morning. Did I mention I woke up at 5 AM to work out? Oh and I stretched TOO!

Yikes:
2 glasses of coke? Totally unnecessary.

Impromptu Veggie Rice Casserole
While cooking 1 cup of dry wild rice in a separate pot. I sauteed some celery, onions and carrots in a little canola oil until soft in a medium saucepan. I added 2 tbsp of oil to that and 2 tbsp of flour and cooked over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Next I added in about a cup and a half of milk (any variety of milk works) and cooked another 10 minutes to make a basic white sauce. I added in a frozen bag of corn and stirred and removed from heat. I seasoned to taste with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Once cooled, I cracked and mixed in 2 eggs. I microwaved fresh cauliflower and broccoli (about 4-5 cups) for 2.5 minutes to soften a little and mixed into the pot of veggies. When the rice was done, I mixed that in too. I preheated the oven to 400. I poured my soupy mixture of veggies and rice in a 2 quart casserole dish and baked it until the eggs were set (about 35 minutes). I topped with about a cup of shredded sharp cheddar and returned to oven. I turned the broiler on and cooked until cheese was melted and bubbly. All in all, not too bad on the calorie intake. A cup of cheese to 5-6 entree servings and minimal oil used.

My favorite Irish Soda Bread recipe

Make this tonight and devour it tomorrow with some corned beef and cabbage. This is the easiest bread ever. If you don't have buttermilk, you can sub regular milk. Just measure out the 2 cups and add 2 tbsp of vinegar to the measuring cup. Allow to sit 5 minutes. It will curdle. Then add it to the recipe as specified! It's soooo good.

Irish Soda Bread (adapted from allrecipes.com)
Makes one loaf
Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup of raisins

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt and baking soda. Blend egg and buttermilk together, and add all at once to the flour mixture. Add raisins. Mix just until moistened. Stir in butter. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the bread comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. Wrap in foil for several hours, or overnight, for best flavor.

Yellow cupcakes with raspberry buttercream and cream cheese icing

I made cupcakes for my daughter's first birthday. It was important to me for her first bite of dessert to be not only homemade, but from scratch. I used Martha Stewart's, "Yellow Butter Cupcakes" recipe with a modification. I couldn't find cake flour so I used all all-purpose flour. The cupcakes, while being very good, weren't what I had in mind. They were somewhat dense and didn't resemble yellow cake. They were closer to white cake. Oh and I should have trusted my intuition when I read in her recipe to fill muffin cups. I know better then to go over 2/3 full...I ended up with less then 36 but that's okay.

I made two icings for these cupcakes and the combination of the two was DIVINE. First I made a raspberry buttercream and a basic cream cheese icing. The cupcakes were a hit and I had lots of fun decorating them. I did have to refrigerate them both to harden slightly before piping them. It was a little warm in the kitchen. I also had quite a bit of the raspberry buttercream leftover. After taking "frosting shots", I ended up throwing out about 1.5 cups. This cupcake was devoured by the birthday girl. Well worth the effort :)

Chocolate chip cheesecake dip

I made this for my daughter's first birthday party this weekend. Yes it's really been a year already! Hard to believe! If you're a cheesecake lover, you must try this recipe. It's incredibly easy and delicious. Her party was the perfect excuse to whip it up.

Chocolate chip cheesecake dip (frome recipezaar)
Makes 12 servings
Ingredients:
16 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 cup butter, softened
1.5 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1.5 cups semisweet mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Mix in sugars and vanilla.
Stir in chocolate chips.
Cover and store in refrigerator. Serve with graham crackers, vanilla wafers or graham cracker sticks.

Pea Puree

Pea Puree
Makes 24 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 lb. frozen sweet tender peas (I used frozen for convenience, but you could use fresh)
water

Directions:
Bring a cup of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add peas, cover and reduce heat to low. Steam until just tender/thawed, but not mushy. Drain peas and reserve some cooking water.

Place peas into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a food processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding cooking water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Apple Puree

Apple Puree
Makes 16 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
5 ripe apples
water

Directions:
Peel apples, core and cut into cubes. Steam until tender (about 5 minutes). Reserve cooking water.

Place apples into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding cooking water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Pear Puree

Pear Puree
Makes 10 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
3 ripe pears
water

Directions:
Peel pears, core and cut into cubes. Steam until tender. Reserve cooking water.

Place pears into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Sweet Potato Puree

Sweet Potato Puree
Makes 10 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato/yam
water

Directions:
Peel sweet potato and cut into 1 inch cubes. Steam until tender. Reserve cooking water.

Place potatoes into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I used a mini-processor. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Shepherds pie

This was my first go at an old recipe. I've never eaten Shepherd's pie, but I've seen it. I know it usually has peas and is made from lamb. This was not traditional, but was extremely tasty. My hubby informed me that it's usually also made with cubed meat and has more gravy. If you like it that way, adjust the broth and flour amount and use cubed meat.Shepherd's Pie
Makes one pie (4 large servings)
Ingredients:
5 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 tbsp oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 carrot, sliced thick
1 celery stalk, sliced thick
4 large shallots, chopped
4 oz. button mushrooms, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
3 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup beef or vegetable broth
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and boil until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, reserving about 1/2 to 1 cup water. Add 1 tbsp butter and adding back cooking water, mash until smooth. Whip with a spoon until light and fluffy. Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, shallots, thyme, rosemary and a pinch of salt. Cook 10 minutes. Add ground beef and mushrooms and saute until beef is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Break up any chunks and salt and pepper to taste. Add flour and stir well to combine. Cook another 2 minutes. Add broth and cook until thickened, another minute or 2.

Dump meat and vegetable mixture into a 9 inch pie plate and level. Pile mashed potatoes on and smooth to edges with a spoon. Using a fork, create fun little ridges with the potatoes. Break up 2 tbsp butter and spread evenly over top. Bake in oven 30 minutes. Broil until potatoes are lightly browned, about 3 minutes.

Avocado puree

Avocado puree is probably pretty self-explanatory, but unless you plan on feeding baby the entire thing in one sitting, you'll want to freeze some for later. Avocado can be a little tricky with it's tendency to brown almost immediately. I figured I'd share the method I used.

Avocado Puree
Makes 6 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 ripe avocado
breast milk, formula or water

Directions:
Slice the avocado in half and remove the seed. Running a tablespoon along the inside of the skin, gently scoop out flesh and place flat side down on the counter. Slice lengthwise into 1/2 inch slices. Keep 1-2 slices out and place the rest in a freezer bag or plastic container. Take the 2 slices and mash with a fork in a small feeding bowl until smooth. Add breast milk, formula or water until you achieve your desired consistency.

Now with those frozen slices, I just remove 2 and drop in a bowl and nuke for 15-20 seconds and mash and add liquid as described above. It works great for keeping the avocado from turning brown.

Acorn squash puree – baby's first vegetable puree

I'm making my own baby food, surprise of all surprises. So far baby has had avocado, rice cereal (not homemade) and oatmeal(not homemade). Earlier this week I prepared her first vegetable, acorn squash. It was super easy. I can't wait until she's old enough for me to begin adding spices to things. The squash was a hit!
Acorn Squash Puree
Makes 12 1 ounce servings

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place flat sides down in a deep dish (I used a 9x13 casserole). Pour about an inch of water into the dish and bake uncovered for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Reserve cooking water.

Scoop flesh from skins and place into your preferred pureeing mechanism. I dropped mine in a bowl and used an immersion blender. In retrospect, this was messy and splattered me and my kitchen! I'll be using a mini-processor from now on. Puree until smooth, slowly adding water until you achieve your desired consistency. Serve immediately once cooled or pour into ice trays, cover and freeze. Once frozen, dump into freezer storage bags. Serve within 4 weeks. To thaw, place one or 2 cubes in covered container in fridge overnight or microwave until thawed (be sure to allow to cool before serving).

Fall off the bone spicy baby back ribs

Have you ever wanted to try to make ribs, but been worried about tough meat? Fear no more! I made these for memorial day. It starts with a dry rub and a slow roast and is finished off with your favorite sauce on the grill. It's super easy!

Fall off the bone spicy baby back ribs
Makes 4 large servings
Ingredients:
2 racks baby back ribs
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt
Your favorite barbeque sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all spices in a small bowl until well blended. Using your hands, rub spice mixture over the ribs until coated evenly. Place ribs, rounded side up, in a shallow baking dish and cover with foil. Bake 2 hours.
Preheat grill on high heat. Brush barbeque sauce over ribs and place on the grill. Cook covered 6 minutes. Brush more sauce over ribs and flip and grill 6 minutes more. Serve alongside with some corn and asparagus salad (pssst I blanched my asparagus and used canned corn as a shortcut) and dinner is done!

Best damn turkey meatloaf

I've decided to share my beloved meatloaf with you folks. It's only cause I like you and I feel guilty for not blogging much these days. I prepared this Sunday and just tossed it in the oven last night for 55 minutes and it was delightful.
Jeni's Best Turkey Meatloaf
Makes a 9 inch loaf (about 5 servings)
Ingredients:
20 ounces lean ground turkey (breast)
2 eggs
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I use store bought dried stuff)
1/4 cup ketchup
3 tb ketchup (for topping)
5 large white button mushrooms, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 tb oil
1 tsp ground sage
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp salt, divided
dash of black pepper
handful of parsley, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Saute mushrooms and onions (sprinkled with 1/2 tsp salt) for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Combine all remaining ingredients in a large mixing bowl, except the 3 tb ketchup. Add mushrooms and onions. Knead ingredients with hands until everything is mixed evenly. Dump into a nonstick 9 inch loaf pan and form a loaf with a rounded top. Top with remaining ketchup and bake for 55 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Chocolate chip banana nut muffins

Yum! I modified a banana bread recipe from allrecipes.com and made muffins this morning. They turned out fantastic!Chocolate Chip Banana Nut Muffins
Makes 16 muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
4 mashed overripe bananas
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar. Stir in eggs and mashed bananas until well blended. Stir flour, baking soda and salt into wet mixture; stir just to moisten. Stir in chips and nuts. Pour batter into muffin cups. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick is clean after being inserted into the center of a muffin.

Lemon herb roasted fingerling potatoes

We don't actually celebrate easter, a tradition which will likely change with the addition of a child, but that doesn't keep us from using it as an excuse to have a tasty meal! For Sunday dinner, I made a slow roasted chicken, roasted asparagus, and lemon herb roasted fingerling potatoes (hmmm seems roasting everything was in the cards).
Lemon Herb Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
1.5 lbs mixed fingerling potatoes, washed and sliced in half lengthwise
juice of one lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp (2 cloves) crushed garlic
2 tbsp chopped italian parsley
1 minced shallot
1 tsp kosher salt
cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400. Combine all ingredients but potatoes in a large bowl. Stir well. Add potatoes to bowl and toss to coat. Spread potatoes on cooking sheet and roast in bottom half of oven for 10 minutes. Flip potatoes and roast 10-12 minutes more.

Blog-iversary Chicken and Black Bean Empanadas

It's pretty hard to believe a year has already passed since I began this blog. Though I haven't been writing much here lately, I'm still trying to keep up with most of the blogs in my reader. It's been difficult. Hell, as I write this, I'm rocking my three week old with my foot. I've become quite the multitasker. Yesterday, however, I came across a post for empanadas over at Thursday Night Smackdown that captured my attention. With my multitasking abilities increasingly improving, I set out to make some empanadas. Nevermind that I spread it across 3 naptimes and it basically took me all day with clean up. Making empanadas was a first for me. I had leftover shredded chicken and black beans from tacos the night before so all I really had to worry about making was the crust. These were great.
Chicken and Black Bean Empanadas (Dough recipe taken verbatim from Michelle at TNS)
Makes 14 empanadas (7 servings)
Ingredients:
For the filling:
1 1/2 cups shredded seasoned chicken
1 6 oz can black olives chopped
1/2 can black beans, drained and seasoned
1 cup shredded cheese (your choice)

For the dough:
3 c. AP flour
1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter
1 egg
1 tbsp. white vinegar
up to 1/3 c. ice water
pinch of salt

Directions:
Combine all filling ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Don't be like me and forget the cheese. Can you believe I forgot the CHEESE???? This is what multitasking does to you!

This is easiest to make in a Food Processor or stand mixer, but you can also use a pastry cutter, 2 forks or your fingers to cut the butter into the flour.

For the Food Processor version, put the flour, butter, egg and salt into the Food Processor and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and the butter is pea-sized. Add the vinegar and 2-3 tablespoons of water, pulse a few more times. Keep adding ice water and pulsing until the dough just starts to pull together - you don’t want so much water that you end up with one big, wet dough ball. Dump the dough out onto your work surface and briefly knead/mush it around until it comes together. Flatten it into a disc, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat your over to 425.

Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick and cut out rounds the size of your choice. Add a spoonful of filling to the center of each round, moisten the edges with water and fold the rounds in half.
Crimp the edges closed with a fork to seal. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
Allow to cool a few minutes before eating.

"Get Induced" Chocolate Chip Scones

On the morning of Friday, March 13th, I decided to make a recipe for chocolate chip scones that my dear friend Vicky shared with me. This recipe is incredibly easy and sooooo chocolatey and satisfying. I did manage to snap some photos, but somehow those got lost in the shuffle of baby photos. While eating these scones for breakfast, I got the call from my OB/GYN office to come in to discuss some test results. The appointment resulted in them wanting me to be induced and so the epic 3 day saga of my labor began.

It all began with these scones. Enjoy. And big thanks to Vicky for the recipe.

"Get Induced" Chocolate Chip Scones
Makes 8 large scones
Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar + 2tsp sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup milk
1 large egg, separated
3/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter until it's small crumbs. Add chocolate chips. Mix egg yolk and milk together then add to dry ingredients. Mix with fork.
Plop whatever size you want onto a baking sheet. Bake until slightly golden about 20 minutes.

Asparagus pesto lasagna

I've had this recipe clipped from Vegetarian Times for a couple of years in a binder of things I've been meaning to make. Rather then republish the recipe, I'll link to it.The modifications I made were to add 2 sliced green onions (which I sauteed with the asparagus). I used 1 tsp of crushed garlic instead of the 1 clove of chopped garlic. I used mozzarella instead of fontina because it's what I had on hand. Oh and I used whole wheat lasagna noodles. The noodles on the very bottom didn't cook all the way. I'd suggest putting a thin layer of sauce under them. Other then that, I stuck to the recipe!
I liked the different take on the lasagna. I'm sure I'll make it again. It was pretty easy, but I have to say that getting 10 servings out of a 13x9 dish is a bit of a joke. For a main dish, it's more like 6 or 8 ;)

Crispy polenta with mushrooms, sausage and creamed spinach

I still cook, I promise. I know it's been awhile since a post. Life is hectic. Here's what I made last night. It was by no means a gourmet, painstaking meal. Speed is the name of the game these days. I love the combination of textures and flavors in this. It's comfort food without being artery-clogging.
Crispy polenta with mushrooms, sausage and creamed spinach
Makes 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
1 tube cooked polenta
3 spicy italian sausages
1/2 lb mushrooms, sliced
canola oil
1 tb butter
1 tb flour
1 cup skim milk
1 tsp crushed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

For the spinach:
1 pkg frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1/4 cup whipped cream cheese
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook sausage in non-stick pan or iron skillet over medium heat until just barely pink. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Unwrap polenta and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Add 1 tb oil to hot pan and slowly add in half of your polenta. Cook without disturbing 5 minutes. Meanwhile, slice cooled sausage into 1/2 inch slices.

Flip and cook 5 minutes more, adding a little more oil if necessary. Remove from heat and repeat with remaining polenta. Drain polenta on paper towels. Add another tb of oil to hot pan. Add mushrooms and sausage to pan and continue cooking until mushrooms are just softened and sausage is no longer pink. Remove to bowl, leaving behind little sausage and mushroom bits.

Add butter and flour to pan and cook 1 minutes. Slowly add milk and crushed garlic, stirring constantly. Allow to thicken some and reduce heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes until a thick sauce is achieved. Salt and pepper to taste.

Lay slices of polenta on plate, top with sausage and mushrooms and pile on the creamy sauce.

For the creamed spinach, combine the last 5 ingredients well, cover and nuke for 2 minutes. Easy as can be.

Spicy rigatoni with spinach and mushrooms

I wasn't in the mood for marinara or pesto last night so I opted for a simple treatment of ricotta, red pepper, garlic and salt and pepper. This was actually much better then it looks.
Spicy Rigatoni with Spinach and Mushrooms
Makes 4 entree servings
Ingredients:
1/2 lb rigatoni
2 spicy Italian sausage links, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 lb frozen chopped spinach
2 tbsp crushed garlic
1/4 cup part skim ricotta
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cook rigatoni al dente in salted water per package instructions. Drain, reserving 1/2–1 cup of the pasta water. In a large saute pan, cook sausage until no longer pink over medium heat. Deglaze pan with a little water and add mushrooms. Cook another 3–4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and gently stir in pasta, spinach, ricotta, garlic and crushed red pepper. Add reserved water until desired consistency and continue cooking until spinach is heated through. Salt and pepper to taste.