Growing Into Rebecca

Not too much to report on happenings around the house lately.  We have just been doing a bit of this and that and trying to keep cool.  The heat and humidity is just about enough to make you want to sit in a pool while eating a popsicle.   Going to a movie in a freezing cold theater is a good substitute for the pool and ice cream:)  Today I saw Inception.  This is the best movie that I have seen this year!  It is such a visually and intellectually stimulating movie I do not even know where to begin.  I found myself being captivated for the two hours I sat there enjoying the icy cold conditions.  This is one of those movies where after seeing it you could talk for hours about all of the different layers.

Have you seen this movie?  What did you think?

As of late we have been keeping the meals low key.

Last night was Taco Tuesday!

Ole!

I always forget how much I love hard shell tacos!  We just filled them with ground beef, black beans, lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.  Simple, but great!

Side salad topped with leftover grilled veggies

Tonight I had a plan to have pork chops with potatoes and carrots.  Scratch that, I was in the mood for something cold, simple, and required no cooking.

This and that

Instead of tuna sammys we had tuna wraps.  We just took a tortilla and filled it with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and tuna.  On the side we had some apple, orange, carrot, and snap peas.

The star of the sides had to be these:

Food Should Taste Good Cheddar Chips

I have found my new favorite flavor!  It was like combining everything that I love about their muti-grain crisps and took it to the next level with an full cheddar flavor!  It reminded me a little bit of Sun Chips for some reason, must have just been the cheddar flavor.  I am so glad that I found these at Whole Foods!  If you see these, try them!

Week is half over, a few more days till the weekend!

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Who said fiber did not taste good?  For me I love veggies and for the most part do not have a problem fitting the recommended minimum of 25 grams of fiber in a day.  I realize this is not true for most Americans and they are looking for ways to get their fiber in without eating things they don’t like.  Enter Kellogg’s FiberPlus cereals!  As part  of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program I received the two new editions to the Kellogg’s line up of cereal.

cereal+fiber= a good way to start the day!

I love cereal just about as much as I love ice cream so I was thrilled to give these a taste.  We actually had already tried the Cinnamon Oat Crunch and we both loved the sweet crunch flavor so I was curious about the Berry Yogurt Crunch.

Well obviously I loved the Cinnamon Oat Crunch just as much as the time I paid full price for the box at the store.  It has a really great slightly sweet flavor that lends itself to being a stand alone with milk player or just eat it from the palm of your hand right out of the box:)  You can’t go wrong with this flavor.

The Berry Yogurt Crunch was better than I had anticipated!  The yogurt clusters were really big and they added a nice texture to the flakes and clusters.  The flakes held up really well as far as crunch factor goes in both skim and almond milk.  The best part by far are the fruity crunch clusters that add a just picked berry taste.  This cereal is great alone, topped with blueberries and strawberries, or as a yogurt topping.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed both cereals.  The nutritional stats were not too bad and with each serving providing 40% of your fiber needs it is a good go to choice.  If you want to find out more information on Kellogg’s and the cereals go here.

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Another Monday come and gone.  Nothing too exciting to report today.  It is getting super hot and humid again and as the weather guy reports…don’t be too upset with the heat as it was only a few months ago we were cursing the snow.

The days happenings:

Frothy grounds

The day started with a pot of the Roasterie’s Hazelnut coffee.  YUM!

Amazing grilled veggies!

I just cut up 3 mini eggplants, a yellow squash, and a zucchini misted it with olive oil Penzy’s Northwoods Seasoning & Turkish seasoning and amazing things happened!  Kevin did such a great job with the grill tonight.  The veggies were still a bit crunchy but cooked to perfection.

The main event

For the lonely heart’s dinner tonight we had the grilled veggies, fresh corn, fresh beans (they were purple, but when cooked turned green) and grilled turkey breast.  All in all a great meal and full of farmer’s market goodness!

It is like crack, what can I say?

We may have made our way back to O Red Mango where I came full circle and enjoyed the Madagascar Vanilla yogurt.  The blackberries and granola with pumpkin seeds didn’t hurt either:)

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Today was probably one of my top 10 days as far as pure bliss and happiness.  The weather was pretty cool and sunny this morning all things considered and I woke up feeling semi-good:)  We decided to have a do “whatever” day.

The do “whatever” day started with this…

The downtown farmer's market

Look at some of the gorgeous things we saw!

Beautiful flowers

Another flower

Doesn't this make you want to have your own garden?

This could make a whole lotta onion rings!

Sadly this baby pug was not for sale:(

My favorite buy from the market: purple beans

After the market we headed to midtown to eat here.

Enter Ingredient take 2

We thought that we would give Ingredient a 2nd chance as last time we were there they just did not have anything that I wanted on hand.  Seriously, when the manager comes out after you finally pick your 5th choice for brunch to apologize you know you have either entered into a bad meal or the place is trying to find its footing.  In this case I have decided hands down it is the later.  Here is the menu.  I ordered the dim sum wrap and had fries as my side because it was our do “whatever” day and hell, I just was in the mood for fries.

The wrap

What I liked:

• The wrap was delicious.  The peanut sauce added the right amount of sweet/savory flavor without being too heavy or overpowering.  The texture of the whole thing was spot on!  The glass noodles, peanuts, and diced veggies had a great crunch in each bite.
• The fries rocked!  Nothing better than a well cut fry that comes out crisp on the outside and still a bit soft on the inside.

What I thought could have been better:

• The chicken was supposed to have a curry flavor.  If it had curry flavor I could not taste it.  What I could taste is the fact that the chicken was of good quality and was grilled.  I love the fact that it was grilled, just wish that I could have had more of a curry flavor.

Overall thoughts:

• We would go back again for sure.  The menu is so huge and I had a hard time choosing today so I know that it would be no trouble to find something new order.  Plus I would love to try the sides of grilled veggies!
• I would say that Ingredient is similar to a Panera (price wise), but with lots of choices and of higher quality.
• You can tell that the staff is still trying to find their way and that they are still in the process of working out the kinks.  Even so I would gladly go back a third time without hesitation!
• I love the fact that they source local suppliers and products!  They even have The Roasterie as their coffee/tea selection.

As if the day the day could not get any better look where we ended up this afternoon thanks to a radio spot.

O-mazing!

I am a huge fan of ice cream and yogurt and when I heard that the new yogurt shop opened up today we made a b-line to west O for O Red Mango.

Just the facts

Looks like a deal to me

I <3 coconut!

Toppings Bar

Kevin's

Mine

How it works:

• You get a cup and choose from 10 different self serve flavors of frozen yogurt (tasting is welcome)
• Once you are happy with your yogurt you then move on to the buffet of toppings.  They range from nuts, to cereal, to fruit and everything in between!
• You then weigh your yogurt concoction and pay up
• Finally, you get to enjoy some frozen paradise!

Brett the manager of this place did an amazing job!  We did not know that due to the grand opening today that all yogurt and toppings were free until we got to the register.  We were more than happy to wait in line for over 20 minutes even before we knew it was free.

Overall thoughts:

• The yogurt was hands down the best that I have EVER had!  I tried most of the available flavors today, but settled on some coconut, blueberry, and Pom.
• Each flavor tasted amazingly fresh like they had captured the essence of what the fruit or flavor actually tastes like.  There is no “fake” taste or flavoring.
• I love that there is a buffet of toppings.  Sometimes you want fruit and sometimes you want to drench your frozen treat in chocolate.  You get to decide just how much.
• It is a gluten-free option for those with allergies.
• Sadly, they were out of Madagascar Vanilla when we went through, I guess that just means I will have to go back:)
• I have a sneaking feeling that this will now be our go to treat, especially when I am back up in riding condition.

There you have it, our do “whatever” Saturday in which we did anything we liked and tasted whatever we wanted.

LIFE IS GOOD!

Enjoy the weekend!

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Thank you all for understanding while I took a week off.  I had some surgery-I am fine, personal in nature, skipping questions, and moving on….However I am back!

This week while I was recovering and looking like this….

This is what recovery and not taking a shower for a few days does to a girl

Either way I have not been doing the cooking, this guy has been hard at it!

Enter Kevin as head chef!

Earlier in the week I had simple requests like a bowl of cereal and you know I was out of sorts when what I wanted for lunch was McDonald’s chicken nuggets.  Seriously, what got into me?  Either way my taste buds were on the rebound in quick order.

Exhibit 1:

Homemade pizza with a whole wheat crust

Last time I made pizza dough I made extra so this pizza was super easy to make since all Kevin had to do was thaw, roll, top and bake.

On the pie:

• Bertolli spicy arrabiata tomato sauce
• green pepper
• onion
• baby bella mushrooms
• ground turkey
• turkey pepperoni
• mozzarella and grated parmesan cheeses

Exhibit 2:

Protein

• grilled steak with Penzy’s Chicago Steak Seasoning
• baked sweet potato
• veggie blend

Exhibit 3:

Chicken Stir-fry

• diced chicken
• tri-colored peppers
• baby bella mushrooms
• onion
• water chestnuts
• garlic
• green beans from the garden
• lemon sauce spiced with pepper and Penzy’s Bangkok blend

Served over brown rice and topped with sesame seeds

As you can see I have not been going hungry…also add copious amounts of frozen yogurt to the mix!

Today was a big day, I actually got to leave the house.  Went to the doctor, but still it was progress!

In honor of the big day out my mom treated me to lunch at the foodie haven a la Whole Foods!  I have been searching for these:

Cheddar Flavored Food Should Taste Good Chips

I have been looking at the stores close to our house (Target, Hy-Vee), but I knew that WF would have the treasure that I sought!  I also found these and could not pass up a tasty opportunity to try another new flavor, plus they were on sale!

Blue Corn!

I think I see a Mexican night in our near future!

I of course did the salad bar!

YUM!

I could go on and on about how many great things were in this bowl but what really made the lunch for me was the seeduction roll (bet you could not guess that) and the curried turkey salad.  So good and I love getting in tons of different veggies and colors all at one time!

Tastes like summer!

I also picked up a few of these!  This is by far my favorite summer drink!  Tazo, how I love thee tea!

Ok, enough is enough.  I am alive and well and obviously well fed (thanks Kev).

Hope your week has been great and that you have plans to enjoy the weekend!

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I will not be blogging for awhile, possibly a week or two.  Things are fine and I look forward to getting right back on track where I left off when I return.  Have a marvelous couple of weeks and have fun!

Becky

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Today was H-O-T!  I was glad that around 7 it cooled off enough for me to take out the new set of wheels for a spin!

Lately I have been enjoying lots of berries.  The last bunch of blueberries that I purchased had some huge ones!  I am not saying they are genetically modified but geesh, I did not know they came this size!

In this case the bigger the better holds true!

We also found this funny carrot in our bag. We treated it like a wishbone and Kevin won.

Burgers were on the menu for dinner! Real beef too!

Burger recipe:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup mashed blueberries
• 1 cup diced bella mushrooms
• 1/3 cup of oats
• Sprinkle of French Thyme
• Sprinkle of Sate seasoning

Kevin did his grilling magic and there you have it, another great summer dinner!  We had grilled squash and zucchini along with sweetcorn.  YUM!

So good with pickles, grilled onion, tomato, and spicy mustard!

Ignore the sweaty Becky, 11.2 miles of sweet sanctuary!

Who wants to ride bikes?

Another summer evening enjoyed!  Best part of my evening was riding down the trail and spotting a $1 bill.  When I got off my bike to pick it up it was tugged back by the three guys who were on a deck adjacent to the trail.  I guess they like to have shenanigan time and see who will fall for the dollar.  Either way I was cracking up and I realized that one can never take life too seriously.

Enjoy the rest of the week, tomorrow is the midpoint!

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Lots of things going on around here as of late.  Lots of good things, lots of things on my mind.  I don’t think that I have had a full night of sleep in a few weeks now.  I think last night I woke up every hour on the hour and finally fell asleep hard just as the alarm was going off.  I think that the stress of life in general is finally getting to me.  I broke down and took a half day of work on Thursday even though last week was only a three day week.  Going to a movie before noon on a weekday is a sweet treat in and of itself.

Kevin and I have been having all sorts of fun enjoying the weather and going for lots of bike rides.  I could not stand having a sub par bike for long rides so I finally gave in and bought one yesterday at the bike rack’s sale.  It set me back a pretty penny, but it has already been worth it so far.  I can not wait to ride this fall when the air is cool and crisp.

Photo recap anyone?

I bought Molly these peanut butter flavored frosty paws.

Lots of lip smacking ensued:)

Sausage and red beans over rice

This recipe is so easy and each time you make it, it can be so different.  This time it was extra hot because a can of diced tomatoes with habanero peppers.  Even hotter as leftovers the next day!

Who wants a Mounds?

I made a coconut pie and we served it with dark chocolate velvet ice cream.  It was the best dessert ever, tasted just like a Mounds candy bar.  I have a request for this pie for a December birthday already:)

We visited Midtown Crossing for the farmer's market over the weekend

Lots of different types of vendors! So Fun!

We tried a new place for brunch!

We went to the new Ingredient restaurant in Midtown Crossing.  We had always wanted to try the place when we were in Kansas City, but just never did.  Now we do not have to as we can go to the Market and enjoy great food at the same time.  We ran into a bit of a snafu when I tried to order.  I tried 4 different combinations and they were out of everything that I wanted.  It was not that big of a deal, but it was made better when the manager Brian came out to talk to me.  He asked what he could go back and make me as they were out of everything.  He was really awesome and even though they did not have whole wheat pancakes due to a supplier shortage I still ended up with something tasty!  I got an English muffin sammy with tomato, gouda, egg white, and basil.  (I am branching out and trying to eat eggs, just no yolks).  There were skillet potatoes on the side which were not my favorite due to the greasiness.  Overall, the breakfast was really good and we will be going back for sure!  A big bonus is that they serve coffee from The Roasterie!

Grilled Veggies anyone?

Grilled Delight

Tonight for dinner we had a grilled feast!  Chicken, zucchini, yellow squash, mushrooms, and corn.  I love the summer harvest of fresh veggies!

Lots of fun is being had over here along with lots of running, cycling, spinning, and enjoying summer ice cream and berries!

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I am enjoying the last bit of my long holiday weekend.  I had a rare four day weekend because of the 4th and the way my schedule falls.  Kevin and I have had a lot of fun over the last couple of days hanging out and just spending time together.

We did a huge grocery shopping trip

We did not go to the grocery store in the month of June and so we more than made up with the time off.  Two carts, $175 in coupon savings later, we fulfilled our grocery list for the month of July.

We ate a tasty chicken dish that had paprika and cloves:)

We wore Molly out with long walks and lots of playing

We took a peach and blueberry cobbler to our 4th celebration dinner

I made a Runza casserole (this is the filling)

If you are from NE you know what a Runza is.  If not it is a meat, onion, and cabbage filling baked into bread.  So good!

We also painted our spare bathroom

All in all the weekend has been nice, relaxing, and all together productive.  I could really get used to a long weekend every weekend:)

What did you do over your long weekend?

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I have been asked many times if I am a vegetarian, even Kevin asked the other day if I was transitioning to becoming one.  Let me set the record straight, no I am not now or am I planning to take the all veggie route.  However, I do L-O-V-E veggies!  They taste amazing, have a low energy density (i.e. I can eat a ton and not have consumed a million calories), and for the most part I do not miss meat if a meal does not contain it.  I do once in awhile love a good hamburger, Indian anything w/ chicken, or on a very rare occasion eat a steak.  With that said I do not only cook for myself so sometimes I make a meal with the carnivore in my life in mind:)

With that said….here is dinner!

Beefy!

With June being the no grocery month (except for produce and dairy) I am pretty impressed with what I came up with!

I kind of hand a beef stroganoff or the like in mind when I came up with this.

Here it is:

• 1 lb of lean steak of your choice
• 1 onion chopped
• 8 oz of bella mushrooms chopped
• 12 oz beef broth
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 Tb cornstarch
• 1/2 Tb spicy mustard
• sprinkling of salt and pepper

I took the sliced steak and garlic and cooked it until it was just slightly pink.  I then added the mushrooms and onion along with the salt and pepper.  When the onions and mushrooms were reduced I added the broth, mustard, and cornstarch mixture.  Once everything had cooked and the sauce was reduced we served it over rice (that is the last grain we had in the pantry.  We are even out of brown rice….good thing I am going shopping this weekend!)

Meaty!

Dinner was really good and I would make it again for sure!  The salad on the side was tasty as well!

Molly says hi! Look at her poor litte allergy face:)

Only one more work day this week!  WOOT!  I am looking forward to the long weekend for relaxing and movie watching!

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