MATRON MONDAYS

Our weekends are usually not low key. Jimmy plays electric guitar, so most weekends he is scheduled to play at a few different churches in the area. This weekend was a unicorn weekend (they do exist). One of those weekends where we both had a clear schedule to just relax and unwind. Saturday we had time with our friends. The husband hit up the gun range with his man friends and I had some brunch crepes at the only French Cafe in town. I also was able to go to my happy place, the country. Spent some time getting a few shades darker by the pool. The relaxation had by the two of us separately joined together in our evening homebody party. We always say we're boring. We hit up the hulu and went to bed before 10pm.

Sunday was yet another unicorn like day. We got ready for church together, ate breakfast together & drove to church together. If you are a spouse to a musician at church, you know how rare this kind of Sunday is. I'm such a creature of habit, once I'm ready for church I am ready. Here's the deal, I absolutely hate being late to church. I blame it on my grandma who would be at service an hour early for prayer meeting. I was at church an hour early until I got my drivers license. Sunday is that bizarre day where breakfast never existed. Maybe the message soaks in better on an empty stomach, or getting ready & out the door is more important than food. That was until I met my husband. The dude is not a functioning member of society without breakfast -- Sundays included. On days off, my guys is on leisure time as opposed to his call-time punctuality. All those who have been married longer than 3 days know what "discussions" happen in moments like this. In the end, we were on time for church.

Since we are young, wild & free, we like to explore. So we drove around Houston all day. Ate terrible barbeque food down on Kirby, walked the aisles of Whole Foods and then ended up in Old Town Spring (random). I would say the highlight of the day was just laying in sun next to each other. Quality time is something we are good at. It was a good unicorn weekend! So good I didn't get to grocery shopping until 6:30am today. Surprisingly, I didn't mind having the entire store to myself and morning shift. I spent the majority of my time in the produce section.

I am in week two of the Simple Green Smoothies. So far I skipped Saturday & today I couldn't finish my smoothie. Today I made a cacao powder smoothie that was not for me. I have come to the conclusion, I really don't like savory smoothies. I like pineapple or berry based smoothies. What I like the most about this challenge is the lack of waste of produce. I usually don't finish a box of spinach. We start strong with eating salad on Monday, come Friday we might have finished half the box. Our vegetable intake has definitely doubled.

Meal planning is focused on protein and vegetables. Last week I ventured out and tried some new recipes. This week's plan focuses more on a variety of vegetable sides.

• Asparagus (modified)
• Broccoli
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Thyme Cauliflower (see recipe below)

I made what you see above, tonight to get rid of the rest of our cauliflower head & use a bag of frozen cauliflower I bought for this recipe a while back. I did a bit of experimenting and this recipe is based off of a recipe I found here. Lucky for my husband, this experiment was delicious. 

Thyme Cauliflower 

• Medium-Size head of Cauliflower, florets
• 3/4-1 cup Unsweetened Coconut Milk
• 1 tbsp of Thyme
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, heat the coconut milk for 5 minutes.
2. Add Cauliflower florets, Garlic and thyme. 
3. Heat until Cauliflower looks translucent and tender. (about 5-8 minutes) 
4. Blend, using an immersion blender stick or blender. (Don't over blend)

A few things I would probably change next time would be adding another texture and don't over puree. My husband loved it and I loved it. We paired it with barbeque baked chicken. I honestly didn't expect cauliflower to give the same texture as mashed potatoes. These were tastier than the powder mashed potato mix my grandma makes for holidays and easier. I really like knowing that there was nothing unhealthy in this recipe. 

SIMPLE GREEN MIDWEEK

We are at Day 3. The smoothies have been going splendid. I made the beginners luck smoothie Monday and finished the other half on Tuesday. I have to admit, its either the organic banana or the unsweetened almond milk that almost makes me think something is fermented. If I want to drink fermented awkwardness, I'll try kombucha again. This morning I made the Peach Berry (recipe at end of the post). I don't think this one will be a favorite. The bok choy is probably what did it. I know this week is all about rotating greens, but I think spinach and kale will probably be my go-to greens.

For the most part we are sticking to a leniently modified paleo plan. I have only replaced breakfast with smoothies and eat the paleo dinner leftovers for lunch. Dinners are also paleo/whole30.  I have tried two recipes. One was a total success and we will have this all the time, while the other wasn't our favorite.

Meal 1: Stuffed Peppers
I personally haven't cooked beef in my adult life ( I will post about the time I went vegan/vegetarian in college), so my loving husband gave me grace on this dish. If it had been chicken centered, I would've totally knocked it out of the park. I am only good at following recipes where I like all the ingredients listed. I also fail at taking accurate measurements. Please note from the first picture, how many pans and bowls I had going. I really dislike super messy recipes.

Where I know I made the mistake was in how I treated the onion. That white fleshy guy is totes sensitive. I have become increasingly obsessed with my ninja food processor attachment. It's the easiest clean up ever. Just three pieces: cup, blade, top. The motor is a one speed attachment. I pulsed the onion a bit too much. It became pulp and way too juicy. I had also pulsed the garlic with onion. The result was a meat that tasted way too oniony for our preference. It was almost Greek spiced. We had to jazz it up with BBQ sauce or Tabasco. We also served it with Feta, which I know isn't paleo, because we have a sams club container of feta crumbles we don't want to waste.

Due to the fact I have NO IDEA how to make beef, I cooked up almost 2lbs of it. So now we have about 1lb of this already seasoned & cooked beef. If you have any ideas as to what we can do to repurpose it, that would be totally rad. We're toying around with making a quick chilli or sloppy joes. The husband has been using it in his omelette in the morning. In the end, we probably won't make this recipe again.

Meal 2: Slow cooker cilantro lime chicken & Mango Jalapeño Guac

Holy crap! This one made my husband want to hug me a lot.

Confession, I don't have a crock-pot. I have no more mental space or kitchen space for another appliance. My dutch oven usually treats me well enough for the slow cooking recipes. It wasn't until a really good friend informed me that I probably shouldn't have left my stove on all day with the dutch oven on it, alone. Yes, I went to work. Yes, I left a warm stove unattended. Before you call the apartment complex (who are already on my poop list), I have a glass top electric stove. Practically the same thing as a slow cooker, right? In my defense, I came home at lunch and it still was on the lowest warm setting ever and I only turned up the heat a little bit only when I was home.

I prepared everything for the chicken yesterday morning before I left for work. Thankfully my smoothie was already made. The chicken itself was probably the tastiest, lightest, healthiest version of Tex-Mex I have ever had. I swear, the longer I live in the Texas, the better my Tex-Mex is getting. I am also becoming more adventurous. If there is a recipe I am following, I use it more as a suggestion, but go with my instincts.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken (serves 4-6)

4 Boneless Chicken Breasts, completely thawed
24 oz of Homemade Salsa
(In a Blender- 1 can rotel, 1 can diced tomatoes, a splash of tonys seasoning & tobasco )
1 bunch of cilantro leaves, chopped
Paleo Taco Seasoning
( 1 tsp of each : Cumin, Smoked Paprika, Garlic Powder, Red pepper flakes & Mexican Oregano)
1 Lime Juiced
Ice berg lettuce (for wraps)

Directions:

1. Prepare Salsa, Cilantro & Seasoning. Place in the dutch oven/slow-cooker
2. Add chicken. Cover completely with Salsa
3. Cover and set stove/cooker to the low setting.
4. Let cook for the day. (I had mine started at 8:30am and we ate at 6pm)
5. When it gets closer to serving time, I boiled down some of the excess salsa juices and pulled the chicken apart. It should shred by fork.
6. Serve over iceberg lettuce wraps.

Mango Jalapeno Guac (super easy- just dice up and serve)
2 Small Avocado
2 Small Jalapeño (no seeds)
1 Mango
Salt

Smoothie Recipe:
PEACH-BERRY
1 baby bok choy, with stems -- accidentally on purpose left the stems off, wonder if those would've helped
1 1/2 cups almond milk, unsweetened regular milk, our almond milk is bad-- were switching to coconut
1 cup raspberries, fresh
1 cup peaches, frozen
1 banana
2 tablespoon chia seeds (optional topping)  not for $15 a bag, not yet ready to make that plunge

SIMPLE GREEN DAY 1

After an insanely busy Easter weekend, I didn't get to my grocery shopping on Saturday as planned, so I opted for shopping this morning. I get that April Fools day is today, so when I walked outside to find my car not parked where I left it -- I wasn't amused. I was even more unamused when I called my husband to find out it wasn't his joke, it was towed. Our apartment complex has a severe lack of parking, so I opted to take a $300 gamble in parking in an old parking spot turned striped tow away zone. Not my idea of a fun Monday morning. Guess this is what good people pray for, justice for those of us who try to bend the rules.

Today starts Day 1 of the Simple Green Smoothies 30-Day Challenge. It was a rough start, so I didn't get to start the day off exactly as planned. I didn't get to my smoothie making until lunch time. In spite of the shenanigans, I accomplished grocery shopping. Normally, I don't have weekday afternoons to shop, so I am not trained for battling the SAHM & Elderly crowds.

I think my favorite part of the smoothie challenge, is the grocery list & recipes they give you for the week. After careful discussion with the husband, we are going to start a modified paleo/Whole30 switch. Why modified - we JUST went grocery shopping not so long ago & we don't want to waste some of our big staples just yet.

Some recipes we are going to try this week:

- Sweet Potato Medallions
- Slow-Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken Wraps (modified seasonings)
- Cedar Plank Grilled Tilapia
- Cauliflower Rice
- Stuffed Bell Peppers


Today's Smoothie I tried:

BEGINNER'S LUCK WITH TOPS

1 1/2 cups spinach

2 carrots, include leaf tops (omitted)

2 cups water  unsweetened almond milk

1 banana

1 cup mango, frozen

1 cup pineapple, frozen

I don't think I am a fan of mango flavored smoothies. I like mango salsa, mango fresh, dried mango - but a mango drink isn't my favorite. Overall, you don't taste the spinach & you taste the pineapple and banana the most. I liked this smoothie & it filled up my mason jar to the very top. Since it is only day 1 I have no health miracles to report. We shall see how the meal preparations & menu go this week. I am the queen of planning meals for the hubs and I and then change my mind. My hope is to gain more energy this week.

SMOOTHIE LIFE

I am obsessed with smoothies. More or less, I am obsessed with healthy. I am no nutritionist (I barely made a B in my College Nutrition class because it required more science that I can handle) but I know what is healthy. Leafy greens, unprocessed foods, non-gmo produce and organic dairy are a few things I consider part of a healthy balance. I have dabbled in Veganism, was a vegetarian for many years (another post later as to why I became a vegetarian), and have seen forks over knives. Here is where I stand on the whole healthy eating/living:

If I have a choice between premixed shake powders or fresh produce smoothies... I will ALWAYS choose fresh produce. I have many friends who swear by "shakes" (my husband is an avid protein shaker cup guy), but I know I feel healthy when I am living the smoothie life. 

Starting in April, I will do the 30-day Simple Green Smoothie Challenge. I am excited for all the new recipes and of course the instagram community that is super encouraging. I no longer feel bad that I instagram my smoothies. Please unfollow me. I no longer take it personal when people unfollow me on instagram (I used to feel a twinge of pain when its friends I know, I always give the excuse they deactivated their account-hah!) For those of you that like my smoothies, brace yourselves. 30-days of smoothies will begin April 1st! 

Why do I love smoothies? Partly because I can't stand the thought of eating a leafy green salad everyday of my life. I ate soo many salads for 5 years of my life that I no longer even entertain salads as an option most meals. The only salads I crave are greek salads from Zoes Kitchen or Panera (if I'm desperate) or a Chipotle salad where I use tortilla chips as the utensil to get the salad in my belly. I love love vegetables though! My favorite vegetable are Brussel Sprouts. Mostly, it's laziness. I am way too lazy to make a salad everyday. Making a spinach based smoothie is so easy! 

How do I feel when I smoothie for breakfast? I feel energized. I feel healthy. I feel good about my choice. I feel like I am using my money wisely on food. I feel like I don't waste produce when I do smoothies. We mix it up sometimes and juice, and that right there is so not sustainable everyday. I have to allow like 40 minutes extra in the am for juicing, as opposed to 15 minutes for the smoothie clean up. 

Here's how I smoothie:

Blender - Ninja Master Prep Professional

I couldn't be more obsessed with this blender. I love that i have the food processor option and blender bowl. Though its one-speed, I feel like its a non-issue. Clean up is EASY! The blade comes out and everything stacks neatly together. I live in an apartment and kitchen storage is always tight. I didn't want an on counter blender. This thing blends like a champ.

Mason Jar - Container Store

Straws - Ikea 

Cutting Board - The Obsessive Chef 

1. Spinach Banana Walnut | 2. Non-GMO Carrots from friend's garden | 3. Citrus-Blast Carrot Smoothie | 4. Mango-Banana Spinach