Sunday, Oct. 2

Oooops.  It appears that I have failed to log my last few days.  I just can't keep up with it all.  I do know that my diet over the last three days has included many healthy (halibut, lentils) as well as a few unhealthy things (hot fries, coffee creamer)

Today:

Nothing for breakfast.  Bad panda.
Coffee
Water
Cup o' Noodles....I think I should rename this blog.... More coffee.  I'm pretty sure this "meal" is solely to blame for the headache and swelling in my hands I am currently experiencing.
Navy bean soup for dinner
A miniature Butterfinger

Fail.

Tuesday, Sept. 27

Black cherry almond Clif Bar, coffee with creamer

Salmon burger with a side of leftover salad from Monday's dinner.  Water.

Leftover baked pears and apples with bleu cheese crumbles.  Half of a baked yam topped with brown sugar and honey.  More water.

Shrimp scampi over veggie penne.  Coffee.  I was tired.

Natural vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate syrup on top.

Monday, Sept. 26

Luna bar.

Fast Eddy's lunch: Turkey Tom with melted cheddar and mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, tons of turkey, and mayo.  NOT healthy, but so good.  Beer battered fries with that, too.  And coffee.  With creamer.  Water, too.

Baked yams, pears, and apples -- pears topped with bleu cheese crumbles.  Spinach salad with homemade raspberry apricot dressing.  Water.  That salad could've used some pepper.

And more jalapeno chips from the same bag I mentioned earlier this week.  I did only have a few and then gave the rest of the bag to my kids. This is always a safe way to ensure that I don't eat the whole damn bag.

Red, Green, and Gold

I guess that's a creative enough title for a dinner recipe?

Tonight I literally had 10 minutes to grab dinner ingredients from the store.  Ten minutes until I had to be home and caring for the kids because Maurice has to be at work by 5:00, and it was 4:51, and I was stressing.  No time to tap into my hankerings or cravings; I had to come up with a healthy idea, pay for it, and be home within ten minutes.

So I headed for the produce aisle with some kind of salad on my mind.  I really wasn't in the mood for salad; I wanted something warm and hearty.  That's when it struck me: baked pears topped with blue cheese is one of my favorite devour-able items, ever.  Once the wheels were turning, here is what I came up with:

Baked yams with honey, cinnamon, and brown sugar, tossed greens with homemade apricot/raspberry dressing, and baked apples and pears topped with blue cheese crumbles.  Recipes are as follows:

Baked Yams
6 medium-sized yams
honey
cinnamon
brown sugar

Bake yams in 400* oven for an hour to an hour, ten minutes.  Cut open and pour on about a tsp of honey (I used local honey).  Sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar.  Simple!

Berry/Apricot Dressing
1 cup red wine, reduced
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 lb. raspberries
1/2 lb. blackberries
4 apricots, peeled and quartered
Pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a blender or juicer until consistency is thin enough to drizzle. (I hate the word "drizzle".)  Pour over mix of spinach and romaine lettuce, toss.  You can also top this salad with toasted walnuts or almonds.  I used almonds tonight only because I burned the walnuts when I tried to toast them.  :-/

Baked apples/pears
4 apples, thick sliced
4 pears, thick sliced
Bleu cheese crumbles

Bake in 400* oven for half an hour or until tender but not mushy.  Remove and top with bleu cheese crumbles.

Tuna Melt

Okay, so I made tuna melts tonight; mostly because I didn't plan and I couldn't bring myself to make Tyson chicken nuggets or some other monstrosity.  So I googled "tuna melt" and found this all recipes concoction:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/tuna-melt-sandwiches/detail.aspx

The only alteration I made was substituting the 1/2 cup mayo (we are a family of 7; I double most recipes) for 1/4 cup soy milk and 1/4 cup cream cheese.

I served this with cream of tomato soup directly from a Campbell's can, with goldfish on top.  Of course.  My husband, who isn't normally broad in the palette department, actually called me after picking up one of the tuna sandwiches to go, to tell me how incredible they were.  Miracle.

Sun., Sept. 25

Another damn Luna bar.  Seriously.  So good.  I was pissed when I saw that of the box of 15 I bought on Friday, there were 3 left this morning?  Apparently I'm not the only one who likes them.

A fake meat taco.

3 cups of coffee!  Only one with creamer.

1/2 of a Butterfinger.  I eat chocolate every day.  Sue me.

Tonight I'm making cream of tomato soup and tuna sandwiches for dinner, on account of I have a ton of homework.

Fall Medley Soup

Aromatics

That's the name I came up with on the fly.  This soup was so good, and what I loved is that none of the ingredients are impossible to find (a huge plus if you live in rural Alaska).

Ingredients:
1 bag baby carrots, chopped
1/2 onion
2 braeburn apples, peeled and chopped
1 yam, peeled and chopped
3 cups of Red Mill veggie soup mix (alternatives: red lentil, brown lentil, split pea mix, or any variation of lentils, or split peas alone. It should be a type of dried bean that needs no pre-soaking)

Fall colors

9 cups water
2 cans veggie broth
1 can pumpkin puree
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Gorgonzola cheese, for topping

Boil beans in salted water for 30 minutes.  In the meantime, chop the apple, onion, carrots, and yam and sautee in olive oil to create aromatics. Once tender, remove from heat and set aside. (Note: The yam will cook faster and be easier to peel if you boil it in water for ten minutes and then let it cool before peeling and chopping and adding to aromatics blend.)

Once beans are boiled, add water, pumpkin puree, veggie broth, and the sauteed fruit and vegetables.  Bring to boil.  Add spices.  Allow to simmer for half an hour or more, until flavors are well-blended.  Serve topped with gorgonzola.  (Trust me when I say, the gorgonzola adds so much awesomeness to this recipe.)

It does look quite a bit like baby poop, but I promise, it's good superfood.

(A lot of) gorgonzola on top!