Stir Fry Filed under ( Turkey )

Hi guys :) Sorry I went MIA yesterday! After work, I squeezed in a quick 6 mile run, an even quicker shower and then I headed out to a dinner with Josh's work. We went to a Greek restaurant and the food was VERY good. I had a ginormous Greek salad with fresh pita bread. Obviously, given the surroundings, I couldn't exactly whip out my camera ;) The coolest part of the dinner- I met a reader! Hi Michelle!!

Due to my OT the last couple days, I got to take most of today off. I used most of the day to play catch up. I got up at my usual time and headed to the gym for 20 minutes on the elliptical and Body Pump. The majority of the rest of the day was spent cleaning the whole house, doing laundry/ironing, getting my oil changed, and doing a little relaxing with the Frankster.

Tonight, I am headed to the cooking class I mentioned earlier in the week. We will be focusing on gnocchi and risotto. I will try and take lots of pictures (if I'm allowed). Since I'm leaving Josh by his lonesome, I threw him together a nice dinner to come home to -stir fry! This one contains ground turkey, water chestnuts, broccoli slaw, pineapple, leftover TJ's grain mixture, and stir fry sauce:

A sweet reader (Hi Melissa!) asked if I could post my typical day to day schedule. I will be putting this together and hope to have it up in the next post.

I hope you're having a good night. Whats on your dinner menu?

Baseball and Cuban Style Pineapple, Rice & Beans Filed under ( Beans, Healthy, Mexican, Restaurant Review, Turkey, Vegan, vegetarian )

You have to love the shortened work week that follows a three day weekend! My week has been off to a great start (and I hope yours has as well!). Monday started with a six miler outside:

Followed by lots of errands and housework. The day ended with dinner at Taco Boy and a Charleston River Dogs baseball game with Lindsay & Patrick. Taco boy is a funky restaurant with two locations, one in Charleston and one in Folly. We hit up the Charleston location. Check out the cool decor inside:

We shared some chips and salsa (their chips were great- not greasy at all!) and I got the taco salad for dinner. My taco salad was missing a few of the ingredients mentioned on the menu and came with one tiny sliver of avocado. I was a little disappointed. On the flip side, the roasted corn in the salad was delicious:

 

After dinner, we headed out to the baseball game. The weather was perfect and the stadium is beautiful:

  Josh & I:

Me, Lindsay & Patrick (hahaha)

The game was ….slow? I have no idea who even won! We left in the 9th and the score was still 0,0.

 

Today was back to the grind! After the usual work, I did a bit of cleaning and taught Body Attack.

For dinner, I made up Cuban Style Pineapple Rice & Beans (with Turkey for Josh):

Ingredients:

• 1/2 or 1 full 15 oz can Cuban style black beans (or you can use regular black beans and add in some additional spices (cumin & chili powder), onion & garlic)

 

• 8 oz can pineapple (either tidbits or chunks), drained or fresh cut pineapple
• 1/2 cup salsa
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1/2 lb turkey (if using)
• 2 cups cooked brown rice (I used Success)
• 1 tablespoon oil (utilize 1/2 tablespoon if cooking beans only)

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add turkey and cook through (until no longer pink)
• Lower heat to medium and add black beans, pineapple, salsa and jalapenos. Heat through (~5 minutes)
• Place cooked mixture on top of brown rice
• Enjoy!

Easy dinner! And can be made for vegetarians and meat eaters alike! You can also play around and add some more veggies (peppers and onions would be fantastic!). Serves 2 or 3.

  

Also, on a side note, look at this adorable apron Lindsay gave me for my birthday (love it- thank you girl!):

 

What is your week looking like? Anything exciting to look forward to?

Fiesta Turkey Meatloaf, Sweet Potato Love Filed under ( Healthy, Turkey, Vegetables )

Happy September 1st all! I cannot believe that it is September and that tomorrow I will be 27! Craziness! Last night, Josh and I did run out to Lowe’s to pickup our new Weber grill! I am so excited to put it together and get cooking ;) You all had some awesome grilling suggestions including:

• Veggies in aluminum foil pouches a la Fitnessista (Gina uses evoo, sea salt, garlic, pepper and fresh rosemary on her veggies)
• Salmon
• Amanda likes grilled zucchini with a little olive oil, Parmesan cheese and seasonings (go to her blog to check out her BEAUTIFUL wedding pictures)
• Pineapple, peaches, plums
• Turkey Burgers
• Janetha likes grilling corn in their husks. She opens the husk, brushes the corn with some olive oil and sprinkles them with seasoned salt, wraps them back up, and throws them on the grill
• Swordfish
• Shrimp
• Asparagus
• Allie likes veggie burgers cooked on the grill and topped with guacamole
• Sweet potatoes

I lost my crabby attitude and had a good day today. Work seemed to fly right on by. I came home, did some laundry, and prepped Josh’s dinner. I decided to play around tonight and made him a Fiesta Turkey Meatloaf (ole!). Here is my on the fly recipe:

Ingredients:
¼ cup diced onion
Olive oil
½ a 15 ounce can of pinto beans
¼ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cumin
½ lb ground turkey
1 egg white
½ cup defrosted corn
2 tablespoons Tomato Sauce or Salsa + more to top
½ cup Bread Crumbs

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a loaf pan or cookie sheet.

Heat up a few teaspoons of olive oil on the stove, add onion and cook over medium low heat for about 5 minutes. Add in pinto beans and chili powder/cumin. Cook for a few more minutes, remove from heat, let cool.

Mix egg white and salsa/tomato sauce. Once the onion/bean mixture is cool, combine it with all remaining ingredients. Feel free to play around with amount of salsa/tomato sauce and bread crumbs until you get your desired consistency. Pat mixture into loaf pan and, if desired, top with additional salsa/tomato sauce. Bake for 35 minutes or until cooked through (no pink).

Tonight, Josh ate this as a loaf and tomorrow I plan to make him a meatloaf sammy lunch. On the side he also had a plum & steamed green beans.

After the prep work, I hopped out the door to teach Body Attack. When I came home, I made my veggie friendly dinner of a baked sweet potato topped with refried black beans and salsa.

On the side you know I had some fruit!

Did anyone read this article about milk? Interesting stuff! Have a WONDERFUL night :)

Bars, Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatballs & Winners Filed under ( appetizer, Dessert, Turkey )

First off, thank you all for your sweet words on my post yesterday! I was in no way fishing for compliments, just trying to be honest! BUT, I more than appreciated all of the comments!!

As I mentioned yesterday, we went to a wine party on Saturday night. I baked up two batches of bars and mozzarella stuffed turkey meatballs.

First up, I made Katie’s amazing vegan pumpkin chocolate chunk bars:

Next, I made Jessica’s oatmeal peanut butter snack bars. I used unsalted almond butter instead of peanut butter and also used unsweetened vanilla almond milk. These bars were just slightly sweet and oh so good!

 

All together now:

I also used my baked Italian turkey meatball recipe, and stuffed the balls with mozzarella prior to baking. The outcome:

I popped these bad boys into the crock pot with some marinara sauce. They were a big hit!

And last, but not least, the winners of the Activia giveaway are…..

Christina, Debbie, Stephanie, Julie & Amy!

Congrats!! If you won, you should have received an email from me. Please send your address to itzyskitchen at gmail dot com!

Any exciting plans this week? Friday is my birthday!!

Stir Fry, Lame Salad, Bad Picture Day? Filed under ( Turkey, Vegetables )

Thank you guys for all of the exercise variety ideas. Some of the suggestions were swimming laps, playing tennis (or sports in general), Pilates and hiking.

Thursday was a quick day at work (hooray). I came home and prepped dinner and got to work on my weekly house cleaning. I had planned a run today but one of my friends was in desperate need of a Body Step sub, so I ended up teaching for her.

For dinner, Josh got a traditional stir fry with ground turkey, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, snow peas, baby corn and stir fry sauce. The whole bowl was topped with sesame seeds:

My original plan for myself was re-fried beans with veggies, but I was a little more time constrained (due to having to drive to the gym to teach), so I made myself a salad (romaine, spinach, broccoli slaw, broccoli, green bell pepper, pinto beans, salsa) and a side of cantaloupe (mmmm):

Any Twilight fans out there? Did you hear about the conventions going on? There are two that are coming near me: Charlotte and Atlanta. I may have to go!

Tomorrow is FRIDAY!! What are your weekend plans?

Turkey Meatballs & Lots of Veggies Filed under ( Healthy, Turkey, Vegetables )

Monday, Monday!

First order of Business- Thank you all for the kind words on my post yesterday! I was amazed by the number of you who were sweet enough to leave me your thoughts/offer support…your comments kept me smiling all day. Sunday was a roughhhh day and I’m glad its over (and even more glad that Josh is ok).

Second, the winner of the Chobani yogurt is (based on a random number generator)….Katie!!! Please send an email with your address to itzyskitchen at gmail dot com and I will have your Chobani sent out to you!

How was your day? Mine was actually very nice. My manager was sweet enough to let me work from home (after my emotionally draining Sunday). As a result, I was able to get up and get a run in before starting my day. I did a quick 2.5 miles outside then showered and started on work. When work was through, I headed to the gym for a 45 minute spin class. It was just as fabulous as last Monday! Then I ran some errands.

For dinner tonight, I made Josh some of Ellie Krieger’s turkey meatballs and put them on a sub roll with some provolone cheese. He had a side of broccoli and cantaloupe:

I had been doing a lot of nibbling prior to dinner (crackers and nut butter), so I just ended up having a salad of romaine, steamed broccoli, red bell pepper, pinto beans and salsa. I also had a LARGE side of cantaloupe (not pictured):

Josh and I are going to go watch a movie. What are you up to tonight?

TJs Opening!!! & Summer Turkey Chili Filed under ( Soup, Turkey )

AH! Our Trader Joe's opened today!! And we were there when the doors opened! I wanted to share some pictures from the opening:

 

Me & Josh’s Mom:

Yup…the Mayor was definitely there:

Be still my heart:

And we’ve got wine, beer and liquor!

Checking out:

The stash:

Pop Chips, veggie burgers, edammmus, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, Hawaiian coffee, dark chocolate/caramel wedges, bars, pizza dough, almond and sunflower butter, refried black beans, ginger chews, pineapple salsa and crab cakes!

Moving on, I love chili year round! Its just such a comforting meal! On Tuesday night, we had Josh’s Mom over for dinner and I knew I wanted to make up a batch of summer chili. I had made a similar recipe previously in the crock pot….but couldn’t find the exact recipe. I went off memory and made it on the stove top.

Summer Chili:

Ingredients:

• Olive Oil (~2 tablespoons)
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 lb ground turkey or chicken
• 1 Tbsp teriyaki sauce
• 12 oz crushed or strained tomatoes
• 12 oz crushed pineapple, drained
• 12 oz can kidney beans or white beans, drained and rinsed
• 12 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2/3 cup corn (if frozen, defrosted)
• 2/3 cup peas (if frozen, defrosted)

Directions:

In a large pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder. Cook until fragrant (~ 5 minutes). Add ground turkey and cook through. Add remaining ingredients, turn heat to low/medium low and cook/simmer for at least 20 minutes (preferably an hour or two). Serve with your favorite toppings.

I used Pomi tomatoes in this chili. I’ve heard so many bloggers RAVE about this product that I had to give it a go! Totally delicious!

Toppers (Greek yogurt, cheddar cheese & jalapenos):

Sides (bread & butter and melon-straight from our garden!):

I only wish I had taken pictures of our completed bowls!

What are you up to this weekend? I’m hoping to fit in a couple easy workouts and good meals. Then…baby time???

Baked Italian Turkey Meatballs Filed under ( chicken, Italian, pregnancy, Turkey )

Wednesday already! I think with the hectic-ness due to my broken computer, this week has just flown by! Anything exciting going on, on your end? Other than the usual work, teaching & working out, I had a hair appointment Tuesday night. Heaven! My last one pre-baby. I also made some pretty delicious, super moist (yes, I hate that word too) meatballs!

Baked Italian Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey or chicken breast
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs (panko or regular)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons pasta or tomato sauce

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare a baking sheet by covering it with aluminum foil, placing a cooling rack on top and spraying the rack with non-stick spray (heavily).

Mix all ingredients (by hand is best!) in a ball until well combined but not over worked. Divide mixture into ~18 meatballs. Place meatballs on cooling rack and baked for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Mix all ingredients (by hand is best!) until well combined but not over worked. Divide mixture into ~18 meatballs. Place meatballs on cooling rack and baked for 20 minutes or until cooked through.



Serve your meatballs however you'd like! They're awesome on top of a salad, a bed of steamed veggies, on top of pasta, or in sandwich form:
As a side note, I've received a couple cute items for the baby from family and friends. Josh's sister Jenny and her boyfriend got the baby an Elon (the school they both went to) t-shirt for a little later on in life. Its totally adorable (the back shows the back side of the mascot):

And Sabrina sent me an awesome set of bibs:



Two more quick items:

1. Do you guys have any recipes that freeze well? I'm planning on doing a bundle of cooking (pre-baby) to freeze up for after she is born.
   
2. The wonderful MizFit is trying to meet Ellen! Check out her post.
   

Chicken Ricotta Meatballs in Broth Filed under ( chicken, Family, Turkey, Vegetables )

Sometimes I see recipes on other blogs that I instantly fall in love with and know I’m going to make. THIS is one of those recipes. Ricotta chicken meatballs? How delicious does that sound? And sitting in broth? What a simple and delicious meal!  I followed this recipe almost exactly, but made smaller meatballs (around 40). I made the meatballs in the broth ahead of time:

 

     

and reheated the pot later, adding in spinach.

I served the dish with garlic bread rolls & pineapple:

 

Super tasty.

I also drool over Jessica’s dishes on a daily basis. Not only is Jessica an awesome cook & baker, she is hilarious! When I saw her Buffalo Chicken Pasta, I knew I wanted to make it…but lighten it up a bit. Soon after, I saw The Healthy Apron’s version and put it on my to make list. I did make two changes: 1. I used all 2% milk vs. 2% and almond (I only had unsweetened VANILLA almond milk….I don’t think that would have jived), 2. I used cheddar and mozzarella (vs. cheddar and monteray jack). The outcome:

Yum!

Are you having a good week so far? Mine has been great. A few things I’ve been enjoying:

1. Josh’s Mom & Sister were in town. Josh’s parents purchased a house very close to ours and we celebrated it up (ok, well I watched them celebrate it up with champagne). Champagne in solo cups? Very classy:

   

2. I got my toes done. It was heaven:

3. I had another good doctors appointment this week and Josh’s Mom and Sister got to hear the baby’s heartbeat.

4. Frank:

Weekend plans? My plans are a little up in the air but am hoping to go to Body Step tomorrow, spend time in the sun, go on a date with the man, and brunch on Sunday with Lindsay (formerly of Pancakes N Pajamas) and her fiancée!