WIAW: Happy 4th of July..and Sausage & Quinoa Stuffed Portabella Mushroom

Hello there!
I usually like to start my What I Ate Wednesday posts with my favorite picture I've taken this week...and this one is one of my favorites EVER!  These are flourless chocolate brownie cookies with beautiful, crackled tops and a sprinkling of sea salt--I mean, come on!  Recipe will be at the bottom of the post.

So, it is July and Bizzy just wanted to say "Happy Birthday, America!"

She really loves pictures..can you tell?  She obviously is not a huge fan of the headband I got her, but that's okay ;)

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Breakfast: Cereal & Berries

For breakfast I had a cup of the new Honey Nut Cheerios Medley Crunch.  It was pretty good, kind of like mixing Cheerios with Honey Bunches of Oats.  I had some strawberries on top..and I added almond milk after the picture.  I had some coffee on the way to work, too.

I woke up with indigestion (which is strange--does not happen often to me) that continued throughout the day, so I did not eat a snack..unless you count Tums!

Lunch: Lettuce Wraps

For lunch I prepared some leftover ground lamb (the possible culprit of the indigestion? maybe) with black olives, cheese and sour cream in a lettuce wrap.  Carrots and a few flatcrisp crackers on the side.

After lunch we went to Starbucks to get a tea.

This is their new blackberry mojito tea lemonade.  I did NOT like this the second time around.  I tried it last week and asked the barista to make it unsweetened and it turned out perfectly herbal with just a hint of sweetness from the blackberry and a pop of tartness from the lemonade.

So, the deal with this drink is there's tea and lemonade--both which can be unsweetened, leaving the only sweetness to be the blackberry syrup.

The lady who made it for me yesterday insisted that unsweetened was not an option.  I should have argued with her but I was in a hurry to get back to work.

Long story long, this was waaaaay too sweet and speak up for yourselves..even if you're late..or you will spend $4 on an undrinkable tea!

Aaaand...rant over!

Snack: Cherries & Granola Bar

My afternoon snack included beautiful fresh cherries.  I heart cherry season.

And a granola bar.

Dinner: Sausage & Quinoa Stuffed Portabella Mushroom

Oh, my stars, these are some simple and delicious stuffed mushrooms!

 Sausage & Quinoa Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms
serves 4

4 portabella mushroom caps
1 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
1 lb turkey breakfast sausage (I got the lean kind in a tube)--you could use any ground meat, really
3 wedges Laughing Cow-Swiss Lite
1/3 cup Italian breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup liquid egg whites (or two egg whites)
1-1 1/2 cups Italian blend shredded cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Cook your quinoa in the chicken broth.  I put mine in my cheap-o, little rice cooker I bought at Aldi a million years ago, and it cooks it perfectly.  Or you could cook it per the package instructions on the quinoa.  Cooking it in chicken broth adds alot of flavor!

Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp paper towel.  Remove the stem and carefully scrape a spoon along the gills (underside) to remove those, as well.  Salt and pepper your mushrooms on both sides and set in a casserole dish.
Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.
Cook your breakfast sausage, breaking it with a spatula as it cooks.  Sprinkle salt and pepper on the meat.
Combine cooked quinoa, cooked sausage, cheese wedges, breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan and egg whites in a big bowl and mix until combined.
Scoop a heaping cup of mixture into each upside down mushroom cap--if you have extra mixture, distribute it evenly among the shrooms or save it for your morning omelet the next day.  Top with shredded cheese.
Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.

YUM!  I had a little spinach salad on the side.

*if you wanted to make this a meatless meal, add a can of beans or some crumbled veggie burgers in place of the sausage (and use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth for cooking quinoa)

For dessert, I had a big ole flourless cookie (as seen above).  They are so rich and sweet that you really only need one.  I'm kind of obsessed with the flourless cookies at Starbucks, but they are usually pretty crusty and dry from being out in the display case all I day (or just being old..I don't know for sure--I don't really mean to be dogging SB today, but whatever).  So instead of spending $2 for a dry, crusty cookie I made these fresh, chewy and choco-licious treats!

Also, they are a decently healthy cookie with NO flour and NO butter!  What what?!

Without further ado, here is where I got the cookie recipe--it's so easy!!  Barefeet in the Kitchen Blog

Thanks for reading and have a great Independence Day!

WIAW: Curry Chicken with Coconut Rice & Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake {2 Recipes!}

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I'm back!  I haven't fallen off the face of the planet or anything.  I just sometimes need a little bloggy break (said the girl who blogs once a week--ha ha!).

Back with daily eats.  This day has 2 really good recipes I will share with you!

Breakfast: Egg Toast & Berries

This is basically how my breakfasts have looked for a week now.  Over easy egg, wheat toast, strawberries & coffee.  It's a no brainer!

Snack: Cereal

Back to my cereal snack after a hiatus of about 2 weeks.  I love, love, love chocolate toast crunch!
Everybody keeps their froyo spoons for cereal, right?
Nope, just me?  Okay...

Lunch: Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley

Today we had the BEST lunch leftovers ever!!!  Got this recipe from Bev Cooks and totally didn't even look at the recipe while cooking.  Typical of me, really.  Here's how I made my version:

Curry Chicken w/ Coconut Rice & Veggie Medley
serves 4

3 big, frozen chicken breasts, thawed and diced.
curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper
1 cup jasmine rice
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (plus more for garnish)
1 zucchini, diced
1 yellow squash, diced
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 ear of corn, cooked, then cut off the cob
1 cup baby kale, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp coconut oil (maybe more)
salt & pepper, to taste
1/2 lime

Get your jasmine rice, cilantro and coconut milk in a rice cooker.  For some reason, mine did not cook it completely in the 20 minute run time, so I turned the cooker back on and added 1/2 cup of chicken broth (so it would not run out of liquid).  Season the rice, once it's cooked, with some salt (to taste).
Heat a large skillet on medium heat, add oil to coat, throw in the zucchini, squash, onion and peppers to cook for about 7 minutes, then throw in the kale and corn.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
In the same skillet, add more oil if needed and throw your chicken in to cook.  Season liberally with curry powder, paprika, salt & pepper.
Serve it up, squeeze some lime over the top and garnish with cilantro.
Soooo goooooodd!!!!

Snack: Orange Veggie Puffs

I brought an orange to work, but was too lazy to peel it.  I snacked on some of these when I got home.  Because...veggies, am I right?

Dinner: Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 

This was a really good meal!  It is pretty healthy and meatless.
Plus it made a ton, which I promptly packed up for lunches for the week!
I served it up alongside some roasted brussels sprouts.

Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Bake 
serves 6-8

1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa

2 cups water

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb frozen spinach, cooked per package directions

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped

2 tbsp lite butter

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup reduced fat milk

1/2 cup plain, fat free Greek yogurt

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/2 cup reduced fat feta cheese

Salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Parmesan Panko Topping:

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

canola oil spray

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

Cook quinoa in rice cooker. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. Set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and artichoke hearts. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Remove from the pan.

In the same skillet, add 2 tablespoons of lite butter and flour and heat over medium heat. Whisk continuously until a paste forms. Whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium/high and bring to a boil whisking the whole time. 

In a large bowl, combine quinoa, spinach and artichoke mixture, flour/milk mixture and greek yogurt. Stir well. Stir in the shredded mozzarella and feta cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.To make the topping, combine Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a small bowl. Sprinkle over the quinoa bake and spray with canola oil.

Bake for 35-40 minutes. 

Recipe adapted from two peas & their pod

We had this for lunch today and it's really good as leftovers!

After dinner, I made a quick little mug cake by combining 2 tbsp dry sugar free devils food cake mix with 2 tbsp almond milk and microwaved for 45 seconds.

Topped with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream, it was not a bad end to the day.

Have a great rest of the week!!!

WIAW: Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole

Hello, hello!  Happy Wednesday to you all :)

We've had a break in the cold weather and finally get to walk the dogs again (as you can see above).  Bizzy and Reggie are very happy about it, indeed. (My boyfriend is so nice to pose for a picture with them.  He looks thrilled, no?)

Wanna talk about food?  Ok, let's do it!

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Breakfast: Half PB English Muffin & Fruit Smoothie

I made a quick breakfast this morning of half of a toasted wheat English muffin smeared with natural peanut butter.  I also made a fruit smoothie that I didn't finish (until snack time).  It contained: 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/2 cup cherries, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, a sweetener packet and almond milk.  Yum!
Oh, I also had coffee.  It rarely makes it to the breakfast picture...

A.M. Snack: Muffin Top & Shake

I used to buy Vita Tops all the time, but found out Target had their own version of this 100 calorie delight for $2 less!  So, I had a chocolate muffin top with the rest of my shake from earlier.

Lunch: Taco Stuff Sweet Potato & Roasted Veggies

This looks like a mess in a bowl, but it was the most delicious lunch ever!  In the bowl is a medium sweet potato that I baked, topped with taco stuff (93% lean ground turkey cooked with diced chilies, corn and black beans) and cilantro, surrounded by roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts.  Pure amazingness.
Anyways, I ate this after we took the pups on a great lunch walk!

P.M. Snack: Cheerios!

I had brought an apple to work for afternoon snack but did not get a chance to eat it.  So, I made a snack to eat when I got home of 1/2 cup of Chocolate Crunch Cherrios with almond milk.  Bizzy watched.

Then I went to p.m. boot camp to get my twice weekly butt-kicking.;)

Dinner: Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole

Dinner was very tasty and simple to throw together.
I had made roasted cauliflower, brussels and broccoli on Monday, so my veggies were already cooked and ready for a casserole.  In case you are curious on how I roast my veggies, I usually cut them all about the same size, toss them in some sort of oil (here I used 1 1/2 tbsp melted coconut oil), season them with salt and garlic powder and roast them for 25 minutes at 425 degrees.  I heart roasted veggies.  Forever-ever.

Here's how I made it:

Roasted Veggie, Chicken & Quinoa Casserole
serves 4

2 large chicken breasts, diced and cooked
1 cup roasted broccoli
1 cup roasted cauliflower & brussels sprouts
1 recipe of faux-fredo sauce (below)
1 cup quinoa, cooked (I didn't have quite enough quinoa to make this, so I added some whole wheat couscous to make this a full cup)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup of shredded cheese for the topping (I used Muenster)

Combine all except shredded cheese. Grease an 8x8 pan (with non stick cooking spray) and pour it all in.  Top with cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes.

"Faux-fredo" Sauce
makes 1 1/2 cups of sauce

1 1/2 tbsp light butter spread
1/4 cup flour
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
2 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss Lite cheese
salt & pepper

Heat a small skillet to low-medium and add butter and garlic.  Once the butter has melted, add in flour and whisk.  Pour the chicken broth in and whisk some more.  Let this cook for about 5 minutes on low-medium heat.

If you like this, you should check out my cajun quinoa casserole!

Clearly I have no patience for food photography when I'm hungry-ha!  Oh well...

For dessert I had a 100 calorie ice cream sandwich.  Bizzy watched.

Here's a picture of my little Bizzy girl after our walk yesterday.  Doesn't she look like a sleepy sea lion?

Ok, have a great week!  Thanks for reading :)

WIAW: Cheesy Cajun Quinoa Bake

Hello!  Happy Wednesday to you all :)
Why has nobody told me how difficult it is to get a good, clear picture of a lit Christmas tree?  Hmm, well above is as good as it's gonna get, I suppose.
We are all decorated for Christmas...now to get started on gifts-lol.  Yep, only 13 more shopping/crafting days left!  Eek!!!

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Breakfast: Omelet & Toast

This morning I put together an omelet that consisted of one whole egg, thinned out with 1 tbsp of almond milk.  Once that cooked a bit, I added a sprinkle of mozzarella, 1/4 of an avocado and 2 slices of deli turkey; then I folded the egg over the filling.  On the side I had a piece of wheat toast with strawberry jam...and coffee, of course.

 A.M. Snack: Yogurt

Discount yogurt!!  There was a bunch of mark downs on yogurt this week, so I stocked up.  This was not my favorite.  It was too tangy and not enough strawberry flavor.
But you can't beat yogurt at that price!

Lunch: Frozen Meal...Jazzed Up

For lunch, I grabbed some frozen meals by Kashi.  They were pretty good.  I added 1 cup of cooked, frozen spinach, fresh avocado and cilantro and that really jazzed it up.

 P.M. Snack: Pear

I've had a couple of really good pears lately!  I am very much looking forward to our annual office Christmas gift of Harry & David pears...they are the best!!  Hopefully those happen again this year.  But, for now, just grocery store Bartlett pears will be consumed.

P.M. Snack #2: Chips

After work, I popped into Aldi to get paper towels and grabbed an impulse buy of veggie chips.  I snacked on a handful before heading out to a boot camp workout.

Dinner: Cheesy Cajun Quinoa Bake

For dinner, I made a quick and comforting casserole thingy.  It was pretty healthy too!

I saw these bags of 90 second quinoa at Target and I was sold!

For this casserole I took the idea of my skinny alfredo and the delicious heartiness of quinoa and mashed them together for a meal I will definitely make over and over again.

Cheesy Cajun Quinoa Bake
serves 4

olive oil
Cajun seasoning, salt & pepper
1 1/2 cup shrimp, shelled & deveined (and chopped in bite sized pieces)
1 cup chopped smoked turkey sausage
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
splash of white wine or chicken broth for de-glazing of the pan
1-2 cups chopped fresh Brussels sprouts
2 bags of microwavable quinoa (or 2 cups cooked quinoa)
"faux-fredo" sauce (recipe below)
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Season shrimp with cajun seasoning, salt & pepper.
Coat a large skillet with olive oil, saute shrimp on medium heat until pink.  Remove from pan and add the garlic, onion, green pepper and sausage.  Cook until the onions are tender (about 5 minutes).  Pour in a splash of white wine or broth to deglaze the pan and cook for another 2 minutes.
Remove everything from the pan, add a little more olive oil and the brussels sprouts.  Saute for about 3 minutes, then cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until tender.
Microwave quinoa & prepare sauce.

"Faux-fredo" Sauce
makes 1 1/2 cups of sauce

1 1/2 tbsp light butter spread
1/4 cup flour
1 clove garlic, minced
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 wedges Laughing Cow Swiss Lite cheese
2 oz goat cheese
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
cajun seasoning, salt & pepper

Heat a small skillet to low-medium and add butter and garlic.  Once the butter has melted, add in flour and whisk.  Pour the chicken broth in and whisk some more.  Let this cook for 2 minutes or so and then add the cheeses and seasonings and cook for another 2 minutes.  The sauce should thicken upon standing.  I didn't let it sit for too long, though, before I used it for this recipe.

Mix everything together in a bowl (except shredded cheese), spray a small dish (I used 8x8) with non-stick spray and spread the mixture into the pan.  Top with cheese & bake for 25 minutes at 400F degrees.

This is also very good without baking it, but firms up a bit when baking, making it more like a casserole.

I hope you try it!!!

 After dinner, I had a serving of mint chocolate chip-yum!!!

I hope everyone has a fantastic rest of the week!  See ya on the flip side!