Weekend Highlights & This Week's Menu: Paint Us with ..... COLOR!!!

We started out our Saturday morning around 8 am, yes way too early for me. We prepped all of our clothing with official race bibs and grabbed the wristbands for the iPhones and headphones. We headed out the door and to downtown Baton Rouge. Once we found parking not too far from the start/finish area, we parked and decided to take this pre-race photo. Yup, we are nice and white. I'm sorry that between our pale skin, white clothing, and white buildings that all you see is our hair and sunglasses ;-P

So we set out to get ready and enjoy the day. We followed the trail of the building vibrations until we found the start/finish area, where a girl was leading Zumba on stage. Jesse definitely was feeling the way the girl mixed up the dance moves and added different quarks to the same dances she already uses. I'd say that if Jesse had a choice, she'd re-enroll at Anytime Fitness to take Zumba from her.

Jesse and I had minor goals for the 5K, but the main one was to have a fun time together and finish our first 5K together. We wanted to push ourselves hard, but not over do it. We wanted to have fun, but not slack off where we didn't break a sweat. We wanted to try and be under the 45 minute mark for the 5K. Ok, so you're probably thinking 45 minutes is kind of a long time frame. I admit that I want to better myself even more, but our best 5K mark in exercising previously on open streets is around 46-48 minutes. So 45 would be our goal and if we did better than we'd be ecstatic.

After about 30 minutes, they started letting people gather at the starting line to begin the race at 10 am. Jesse and I over thought things and were under the notion that serious runners (24 min/5K) are at the beginning of the race and the walkers and fun runners are towards the back. So we line up in the middle of the pack. There were 9,000 runners signed up to run/walk in the event. After each wave was sent out, our wave finally left the starting line at 10:45 am. Our thoughts were to walk about 1/4 mile and let the real runners from our pack clear out and then jog ourselves. Nope, not even a chance. Like with anything else, those plans quickly flew out the window. We walked about 5 steps and realized the wave wanted to run, even though runners to the left and walkers to the right, the whole street was running.

We started a jog and before we knew it we were weaving between the slower runners in our wave and the walkers from the previous waves. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a judgmental S.O.B. who doesn't like/want kids, a stick in the mud, or anything like that, but people in a 5K run walking in the middle of a two lane street with the father and mother split apart holding the hands of a 1 1/2 year old waddling his way down the street about to get trampled by a pack of people doesn't seem to be needed. I'm all for teaching kids the value of exercise and being active at an early age, but just push the kid in a stroller as you walk or run, or leave them at the starting line so they don't get hurt by other runners. Sorry, that rant is over.

So we quickly learned that running at a constant pace in direct lines wasn't going to happen. I found myself weaving every 5 steps trying to avoid people or if there was no where to go, coming to a complete stop so that after an opening I could walk around them and start jogging again. Jesse and I had an amazing split for our first mile, 11:31 min. After running through the blue color station, we came upon the yellow color station which started to spell trouble for us. I tended to run through the middle of the color stations while Jesse ran towards the outside. At the yellow station, Jesse had a nice amount of yellow colored cornstarch hit her in the face, getting in her eye/contacts. As she cleaned her face off some and washed the contact, I cleaned her sunglasses as yellow was caked on the front and back of the right lenses. Right past the yellow station we heard my MapMyRun app tell me that our 2 mile pace was 25:35 minutes. We gave each other a high five and pushed on.

Jesse ran into a friend from Project Purr after we passed the pink station. And then the purple station drew trouble for myself. I decided to try and end the race with a little color on my shirt instead of a starch white T-shirt. I headed into the purple station on the outside and as I has hit in the face with purple, a runner in front of me crossed toward the middle while kicking my shin and I had another layer of purple hit me, ending up in my eye. So after I cleaned my eye up, Jesse and I were headed to the finish line.

After dodging a group of men standing in the road, a dumpster on the side of the road blocking runners (including us), and a runner pushing a wheelchair almost into people, Jesse and I crossed the finish line to finish our first 5K together with a total time of 41:49 minutes and 3.16 miles ran. We blow our goal our the water in my opinion since we hadn't been running that type of distance in roughly a month or two.

We pushed our way to grab a bottle of water and cool down and ran into a friend of mine who I grew up playing soccer and baseball on a travel team and locally. He and his wife finished a few minutes behind us. After explaining who Keith was to Jesse, we started walking over to the finish area for the celebration color throw, as seen below.

Jesse and I thought the signage they had displayed around the start/finish area was pretty catchy, so we took some pictures with them, as seen below.

And as anyone can tell you, when you come to Baton Rouge from outside of Baton Rouge, all you hear about is LSU from them. So in the traditional manner, The Color Run wanted to have a celebration color throw in purple/gold for LSU. (Saw that coming) But unforeseen, a few people mixed in some green and made it a little more like Mardi Gras!

Apparently Jesse and I wanted to inhale paint toxins in different formats this weekend. On Saturday we have paint thrown on us and on Sunday, we are brushing paint on a canvas at Painting with Pinot. The event was a fundraiser for the non-profit Jesse participates with, Project Purr. So like any cat lovers they are, the only painting involving cats was the one chosen for us all to paint. Jesse and I enjoyed spending time together and getting back in the mood to start our artistic sides back up, since we both used to paint some when we had more time on our hands.

Marco de Marco de Marc, yup, I call him that. Or we call him Banshee when he terrorizes the apartment. But usually we just call him Marco, as sweet and cuddly as he is. He wanted to play in the bag, even though we were trying to empty it, so Marco was picked up and seemed quite alright with it.

With our first 5K behind us, we both know that where we are now is good, but not anywhere's close to where we want to be. So we've been kicking back and forth between low carb and eating clean. Both seem to work for a lot of people, but the more and more Jesse and I kicked the idea around and by the time we got to Barnes & Nobles, we had talked about eating Paleo. The idea is scary for what we are giving up, but exciting with the expected results from the thought of getting where we want to be. We both agreed that we can do this together and not let the other off the hook. Our plan is to get where we want to be and either stay with it or stay with it and introduce minor things like lentils back into the equation for Jesse. Since we had dinner arrangements with my parents and already had a crockpot dinner cooked for Monday & Tuesday, we are starting Paleo on Wednesday, no excuses.

This week's menu:

Monday: Crockpot Spaghetti

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Buffalo & Chicken Kabobs

Thursday: Bacon Wrapped Filets covered with Bleu Cheese

Friday: TBA

Saturday: TBA

Wednesday: Enchiladas & LSU Baseball

Tell me this little guy isn't the cutest thing you've ever seen. He can have a good time with anything. Jesse was getting up this morning and put the rest of the bottled waters into the refrigerator and threw the empty plastic and cardboard container on the floor. Two minutes later, she finds Marco nice and cozy inside the plastic cover and ready for a little cat nap. How at 7:45 am, does this not cheer anyone up for a good morning? I know when Jesse texted me good morning with this picture, and it pepped me up.

I already knew Jesse was a good cook, but she decided she wanted me to be experimental and try enchiladas for the first time. So she cooked up some slow cooker salsa chicken enchiladas. Now little did I know that Jesse had some salsa in the freezer from a kitchen fail earlier in the year, but she used it in the slow cooker to help flavor the chicken which turned out to be a good idea. I admit that my first taste of enchiladas was a good one and as Jesse and I say, it'll be added to the repeat list.

Jesse's Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken Enchiladas

Makes 6 servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

220g Calories, 11g Fat, 44mg Cholesterol, 622mg Sodium, 0mg Potassium, 20g Carbs, 11g Fiber,

0g Sugar, 21g Protein, 4% Vitamin A, 0% Vitamin C, 21.3% Calcium, 6% Iron

Ingredients:

12 oz Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast

1 package Enchilada Sauce

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

6 flour tortillas

2 cups Salsa

Steps:

1. Place chicken and salsa in a crockpot and cook on low for 3 hours.

2. Take the chicken out of the crockpot and shred with two forks.

3. Roll chicken in 6 flour tortillas.

4. Place tortillas in a baking pan and cover with enchilada sauce and cheese.

5. Cover and cook on 400 degrees for 20 min.

6. Serve and enjoy.

We decided that we weren't going to over do it on the workouts this week since we had our 5K on Saturday and I was getting over feeling sick. So instead of hitting the gym for Jesse to do Zumba and hitting the weights and cardio for myself, we headed over to Alex Box Stadium for the LSU baseball game versus Grambling. We had a good time cheering on the Tigers and visiting with long time friends of my family.

Good ole Marco can find comfort any place he looks, so he climbed on top of the laundry and snuggled up between a pillow and my arm, using my arm as a "paw rest." I have to say, he's the sweetest and cutest cat, too bad we can't keep him, but someone will get a great cat once they take a chance on him.

Tuesday Night Food Prep: Makin' Soup

I teach a night class on Tuesday night from 6:00-8:45, so typically by the time I get home, I'm completely wiped. This Tuesday, however, was different. My students took a test in class, so I actually made it home by about 7:45, which was perfect because I had some food prepped in the fridge just begging to be turned into some delicious soups!

Over the weekend, I made Whole Chicken in a Crock Pot, one of my favorite recipes because it's just so darn easy and frugal. Once the chicken is cooked, I pull all of the meat off the bones and return the bones and other scraps to the crock pot, add in whatever leftover veggies scraps I have on hand (this time, it was a bit of onion, some baby carrots, a jalapeno top, and some bay leaves) and fill the crock pot with water. I let the crock pot go on low over night and wake up in the morning to delicious, homemade, free chicken stock. And because I used an organic chicken from Whole Foods, I have the added bonus of organic chicken stock as well. 

That stock had been hanging around the fridge since Monday morning, so it was high time to make soup. On the menu? Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (I tweaked this recipe from sparkrecipes.com) and Red Lentil Dal (I followed this recipe from The Picky Eater with a few changes. I'll post my tweaked recipe for the Red Lentil Dal one day soon; it was my first time making it, so I want to try it out first.) 

 Here is my tweaked recipe for Thai Coconut Chicken Soup. I'll note the things I changed.

Ingredients
12 oz cooked chicken breasts (I used both dark and white meat chicken from my Crock Pot Chicken; I didn't weigh it)
1c coconut milk (I used light; it doesn't affect the flavor!)
1 1/2c chicken stock (used my homemade stock)
5 slices fresh ginger
8oz sliced white button mushrooms
2T Sriracha (original recipe calls for 1t, but that's not NEARLY enough!)
1 lime (original calls for a lemon)
Fresh basil

Directions
In a medium saucepan, bring coconut milk, chicken stock, ginger, and mushrooms to a strong simmer/low boil.

Then, add the sriracha and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the cubed or shredded chicken.

Finish the soup with lime juice and fresh basil.

If your chicken is already cooked, this soup takes only about 15 minutes! Definitely can't beat that! I had a delicious, healthy meal despite my late Tuesday night.

After my little cooking spree, Stephen definitely has some cleaning ahead of him! Think that comment will work to make him do the clean-up even though he won't eat the fruits of my mess labor?

Oh, I even have quite a bit of chicken stock leftover! Into the freezer it goes for some more quick soups :)

Monday Maniac's: Exercise & Cooking up a Storm

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Quesadillas were on the menu for our Monday night dinner date with my parents. Jesse and I typically pick one night of the week when we are out at the gym near my house to share a dinner together with my parents. They are just as adventurous as Jesse when it comes to food, so they are always up to try a new recipe with us. I ended up changing the recipe a little with the types of cheese and going on the healthier side of things.

So before I left to head to campus, I combined the ingredients into the slow cooker and set it on low. When we got back from the gym, it was time to shred the chicken and make the quesadillas. After standing over the stove for all of ten minutes, we all gathered around the table for a delicious dinner. 

Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

430g Calories, 19g Fat, 68mg Cholesterol, 934mg Sodium, 0mg Potassium, 44g Carbs, 22g Fiber,

7g Sugars, 42g Protein, 8% Vitamin A, 0% Vitamin C, 40% Calcium, 0% Iron

Ingredients:
10 oz boneless skinless chicken breast (Market Pantry)
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp BBQ sauce (Jack Daniels No. 7 Original)
1/4 cup Chicken Broth
1/2 cup shredded cheese (Cheddar Cheese - Market Pantry)
8 flour tortillas (80 calorie - Market Pantry)

Steps:

1. Place chicken, 1/4 cup BBQ sauce, and 1/4 cup chicken broth in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

2. When the 5-6 hours is finished, take out the chicken and shred with two forks.

3. Mix shredded chicken with 2 Tbsp of BBQ sauce in a bowl.

4. Place 1 flour tortilla in a skillet with 1/4 cup of cheese on it. Let the cheese start to melt.

5. Add 2 1/2 oz of shredded chicken on top of the melted cheese, also add any other toppings, such as: pineapples, caramelized onions, peppers, etc.

6. Add 1/4 cup of cheese and a second flour tortilla and flip over. Let cook for about 2 minutes roughly.

7. Remove and repeat process for others eating with you.

8. Serve and enjoy.

I mentioned earlier that Jesse and I hit the gym as part of our being Monday Maniac's. Typically on Monday and Wednesday, Jesse and I head out to Snap Fitness for Jesse to go to Zumba while I do cardio and free weights.

Usually everything goes smooth and normal, we both get a great workout and feel refreshed when we leave. Of course that is typically, not this Monday though. I wanted to push myself on the treadmill since Jesse and I are running our first 5K on Saturday, The Color Run. So I knew that the 5K is 3.1 miles roughly. I started with a nice pace of 13:04 for my first mile, which I was excited about since I haven't pushed myself for time in about 2 weeks. My second mile was 13:19 which impressed myself. But for some odd reason I started feeling really horrible, like stomach in knots, overheated, wanted to throw up, etc. So I walked about 4 minutes until I reached the 30 minute mark. I got off the treadmill and grabbed some water, which I thought would help.

So I jumped on the elliptical since its easier on my knees, is less intense for me (odd I know!), and would still get a workout while trying to feel better. After spending 30 minutes on the elliptical, I was toast, done, stick a fork in me and roast me over a fire. I don't know how or by what means but in 65 minutes I burned just over 840 calories. I can honestly say that it was the first night that Jesse left the gym feeling better than me after getting her butt kicked in Zumba.

Hopefully I'll get over whatever had me feeling bad, so that I can keep getting in shape and ready for our 5K on Saturday morning.

This Week's Grocery Haul & Menu: April 15-April 20

Protein:
Two whole chickens (on sale for $3.30!)
1 package boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 packages of Jennie-O extra lean ground turkey

Produce:
Lots of bananas
2 8oz containers sliced button mushrooms
2 packages broccoli/cauliflower florets (on sale for $1.37!)
Chopped garlic
Ginger
Lime
Red onion
Yellow onion
Cherry tomatoes
Spicy yellow lentil hummus

Beverages:
The Devil's Brew (or Diet Coke... a.k.a. Stephen's idea!)
2 gallons of water

Miscellaneous:
Goat cheese
Shredded Mexican-style cheese
Grated Parmesan
Pretzel Crisps (Everything flavor! Yum!)
BBQ pop chips
Enchilada sauce
Flour tortillas
Colby-jack cheese squares
Classico pizza sauce (on clearance)
Jack Daniel's BBQ sauce
Reduced-Sugar ketchup
On the Border medium salsa (our fave!)

We also got some other necessities: laundry detergent, all-purpose cleaner spray, cat litterbox liners, face powder... fun stuff!

What's on the menu with all of these groceries? Some will obviously last us longer than just the week, but here's what we have planned so far!

Monday: Slow-cooker BBQ chicken & cheese quesadillas (with Stephen's parents)
Tuesday: Every Man for Himself (you'll see this tomorrow!)
Wednesday: Slow-cooker salsa chicken enchiladas
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Pizza (chicken/goat cheese/avocado for Jesse, pepperoni/jalapeno for Stephen)
Saturday: Wing-It (likely out with one of Stephen's friends, or leftovers!)

While we were at Target, Stephen and I intended to just grab something for lunch since it was already nearly 2pm... Well, Stephen had other ideas. I knew as soon as I saw the wheels in his head turning just as we were about to head to the checkout.

I'll let him tell you about the delicious lunch he made.

As Jesse said, we were at Target and decided to grab something easy to eat for lunch. Well I couldn't find anything that I wanted to waste my calories on since most things in the ready made deli section were all about 600+ calories and all the frozen items didn't look appealing. So Jesse walks back towards me holding a serving of sushi for her and asked what I picked up for my lunch. I said, "I'm not sure nothing looks real good, but I think......" and basically the wheels started turning from there. Of course Jesse says, "Oh boy, your wheels are turning and theres no telling what you're thinking." So I start to pick up ingredients and she finally asks what I'm makings and my response, "BBQ Turkey Cheeseburgers with Jalapeños and Onions. Jesse quickly puts the sushi back on the shelf and says she'll eat my version of lunch.

BBQ Turkey Cheeseburgers with Jalapeños and Onions

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

229g Calories, 5g Fat, 79mg Cholesterol, 548mg Sodium, 24mg Potassium, 9g Carbs, 1g Fiber,

7g Sugars, 37g Protein, 6.5% Vitamin A, 2.5% Vitamin C, 43% Calcium, 5.8% Iron

Ingredients:
20 oz Lean Ground Turkey Breast
1 Jalapeño
1/2 Medium Yellow Onion
1/2 cup Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese
4 Tbsp BBQ Sauce

Steps:

1. Dice up the jalapeño and 1/2 of the yellow onion.

2. Mix diced jalapeño and onion in with the ground turkey.

3. Add the BBQ sauce to the mixture.

4. Portion out the mixture into 4 equal patties. Place on griddle, skillet, or grill.

5. Cook for roughly 4-5 minutes on each side.

6. Place 1/8 cup shredded cheese on top of the patty. Circle the patty with water, cover the burger with a metal bowl and let the steam melt the cheese.

7. After roughly 1 minute, remove the bowl and the burger from the surface.

8. Serve and enjoy.

Saturday Happenings: Baton Rouge Blues Fest

This weekend, Stephen and I went downtown with some friends to enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather, hear some local musicians, check out some local art, and sample local food. 

I've already said the weather was gorgeous, but seriously. Perfection. High in the low 80s with a nice breeze--perfect chance to break out the shorts and show off my ghostly-white legs! Stephen and I even bought our first piece of art together.

There were also lots of delicious eats to be had. Several local food trucks showed up, including Curbside burgers and my favorite, Taco de Paco! I had the shredded pork tacos with Thai slaw and sriracha, served with a side of chips and spicy salsa. 

                                                                                                   

                                               

I tried to get Stephen a burger topped with praline bacon from Curbside, but by the time we were hungry for dinner, they were (gasp!) out of meat! Instead, he settle for a link of crawfish boudin and a link of alligator sausage. He wasn't a fan of either (since they weren't fully cooked), and my friend and I actually ate most of the crawfish boudin. 

Because Stephen wasn't thrilled with either of his choices, he and my friend went to buy something else to eat. They both came back with more sausage... Now, I should say that I don't eat sausage. At all. Ever. Any kind. 

For whatever reason, I decided to be brave and try what I thought was alligator sausage. It wasn't until the next day that I found out it was actually pork sausage (which, rest assured, had I known, would have never entered my mouth). I'll let you watch the clip below to see my reaction to trying the sausage. 

Don't worry. I'll even wait while you finish laughing.

...

Done yet?

...

Ok. After the festival ended around 8PM, we found ourselves at a nearby bar, The Roux House. We sat outside for awhile while we waited for the 80s cover band, Werewolf, to take the stage.

There may or may not have been a few shots involved. Okay, there were... Skittles shots! My friends are notorious for buying shots once the drinking has gotten underway, and it would have been rude not to accept them. Obviously. 

Cinco De Mayo? Nope, Just Taco Meatloaf Night

Slow Cooker Taco Meatloaf (50% Beef & 50% Turkey)

Makes 8 servings of meatloaf

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

311g Calories, 12g Fat, 129mg Cholesterol, 1042mg Sodium, 16mg Potassium, 17g Carbs, 1g Fiber, 10g Sugars, 31g Protein, 12.8% Vitamin A, 5.5% Vitamin C, 12.5% Calcium, 12.8% Iron

Ingredients:

1 lb. Lean Ground Beef 93/7

1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey Breast

1 cup Salsa

2 Eggs

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 envelope Taco Seasoning

1 cup Partially Crushed Tortilla Chips

1 cup Ketchup (Reduced Sugar)

3 Tsp. Hot Sauce

4 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

Steps to cook:

1. Mix together ground beef, ground turkey, salsa, eggs, shredded cheese, taco seasoning, partially crushed tortilla chips.

2. Form a loaf-type block of the mixture.

3. Place foil in the bottom of a slow cooker with foil folding over the edges of the pot. Place the meat mixture loaf in the middle of the foil.

4. Cover the pot and cook on high for 3 hours.

5. Mix together ketchup, hot sauce, and brown sugar.

6. Spread the mixture over the top of the meatloaf and cover.

7. Cook for 1 hour on high.

8. Let stand and serve.

Chef Creations: Delicious Healthy Dishes Created by a Home Chef

I'm serious when I say that I think I missed my calling as a chef. Don't get me wrong, I don't need a show on Food Network or anything, but I make some pretty darn good dishes. I had the inspiration for our dinner tonight from a trip to Houston where I saw an item on the menu and thought it was interesting. I'll give you a hint, I made mine more delicious, more healthy, and a quarter of the cost of the meal at their restaurant. If you want to know how, keep reading.

So over my birthday weekend I was in Houston. For my birthday lunch we went to Saltgrass Steakhouse. I'm not exactly sure the name they gave their steak, but it was a filet wrapped in bacon with bleu cheese on top and served with two sides. My two sides were a caesar salad and mashed potatoes. The item was on the dinner menu only for a list price of $24.99. Kinda steep for a steak I'd say.

Well, I recreated that dish for under $5. Simple delicious flavor, a ton fewer calories, and in the comfort of my own home. I bought two filets wrapped in bacon from the grocery store.... $5.25 for the pair. I bought a package with (7) 1 oz. servings for $7.29 (you only use 0.5 oz per steak). Butter melted on top was only 1 Tbsp, so roughly $.10. I bought three potatoes for $3.19. The rosemary I had growing outside on the patio. The shredded parmesan cheese was $3.50 for 10 servings. The mashed potatoes made 6 servings.

So we'll break it down this way. 

Steak - $5.25/2 = $2.63. Bleu Cheese - $7.29/14 = $0.52, Butter - $0.10.   

2.63+0.52+.10 = $3.25 for the steak itself. 

Potatoes - $3.19/6 = $0.53, Butter - $0.20, Parmesan cheese - ($3.50/10)*2.5 = $0.88, Rosemary - FREE. 

$0.53+0.20+0.88 = $1.61 for cheesy mashed potatoes with rosemary, which was better tasting that the mashed potatoes from the restaurant.

So instead of eating in a restaurant paying $24.99 for one or $49.98 for two, I recreated the dish for one person for $4.86 or to dine with someone, two people for $9.72.

Cheesy Mashed Potatoes with Rosemary

Make 6 Servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

105 Calories, 4g Fat, 6mg Cholesterol, 1437mg Sodium, 325mg Potassium, 14g Carbs, 1g Fiber, 

1g Sugars, 4g Protein, 7% Vitamin A, 23% Vitamin C, 18% Calcium, 4% Iron

Ingredients:

3 Medium Potatoes

1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

3/8 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1 Tsp. Diced Rosemary

Steps:

1. Cut off the skin of the potatoes and then dice into 1 inch cubes.

2. Place pieces into a pot and cover the potatoes with water.

3. Bring potatoes to a boil.

4. After cooking for 6-8 min., check the potatoes with a fork to see if they are soft enough for mixing.

5. Add almond milk, rosemary, and parmesan cheese.

6. Blend together by hand or a blender. Add almond milk if the mixture starts to harden when mixing.

7. Serve and enjoy.

Saturday Happenings: A Wedding!

If you followed our last post, then you know we enjoyed spending our Friday evening inside, relaxing, and cooking Texas Chicken Burgers. The rest of the weekend, however, wasn't so laid-back.

On Saturday, Jesse graded some papers for class and I worked on some school work myself.

After a quiet morning/afternoon, Jesse and I got semi-dressed up to attend a friend of Jesse's wedding. I must say that even though I knew no one at the wedding, I actually had a fun time. Of course, if you got there at 7:07 pm and not 7:00 pm, all you came for was the reception and not the wedding at that point. I think it's safe to say, and Jesse would agree, that it was the shortest ceremony we've ever attended.

Still, though, it was nice for  Jesse to see her friends from her home town and from her time at The University of Louisiana at Monroe.

We didn't take many pictures at the wedding, especially of the food--we thought that might be rude. The food, though, wasn't bad. There were quite a few local favorites to choose from: jambalaya, blackened chicken alfredo, mini muffalettas, and crawfish bread. 

Surprising as it may seem to Jesse, I actually started reading other people's blogs and found some interesting recipes to try out. One of the recipes that looked interesting to me was a slow cooker lasagna. Of course lasagna always sounds delicious, but the ease of the recipe really grabbed my attention: mix the ingredients and walk away, come back and serve. You had me at "walk away."

So I decided that if I'm going to be making some fun recipes that maybe it would be fun to show us actually making them in a video. So the video below is our first experience at a cooking video; don't worry, they will improve over time.

Slow Cooker Lasagna Makes 6 servings Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving): 363 Calories, 16g Fat, 77mg Cholesterol, 670mg Sodium, 88mg Potassium, 30g Carbs, 1g Fiber,  15g Sugars, 22g Protein, 9% Vitamin A, 25% Vitamin C, 31% Calcium, 14% Iron
Ingredients: 1 lb. Lean Ground Beef 93/7 15 oz. Ricotta Cheese Part Skim 1 bag Kraft Italian Cheese 2 Tbsp. Shredded Parmesan Cheese 24 oz. Tomato Sauce (6) 2 oz. Lasagna Noodles, Uncooked 1 Egg
Steps:
1. Brown the ground beef.
2. Drain the beef, then place back in the pan.
3. Add tomato sauce, egg, 1.25 cup italian cheese, parmesan cheese, and ricotta cheese.
4. Blend mixture together.
5. Pour 1-1.25 cup of mixture into the bottom of the slow cooker.
6. Layer the lasagna noodles across the mixture.
7. Add a layer of the mixture and then add a layer of lasagna.
8. Add the remaining layer of mixture and cover.
9. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or until the liquid dries up.
10. At 3-4 hours add the remaining Italian cheese.
11. Serve and enjoy.

Hooked on Mexican? Apparently!

I think that we are hooked on tacos, yet we haven't eaten actual tacos in about a month. Over the course of our relationship, we've created Sweet Potato Tacos as well as Slow Cooker Taco Meatloaf and now we've made Texas Chicken Burgers, which have the flavor of tacos.

Texas Chicken Burgers

Makes 4 servings

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

201 Calories, 8.4g Fat, 70mg Cholesterol, 665mg Sodium, 115mg Potassium, 4.3g Carbs, 1.4g Fiber, 1.9g Sugars, 24.6g Protein, 42.6% Vitamin A, 12.8% Vitamin C, 2.0% Calcium, 8.2% Iron

Ingredients:
1 lb. Lean Ground Chicken Breast
12 Baby Carrots
1 small Zucchini
1 tsp. Cumin
1 Tbsp. Chili pepper
1 tsp. Sea Salt
1 tsp. Cajun Seasoning

Steps to create:

1. Dice up the baby carrots and zucchini. 

2. Once diced, blend them finely in a food processor with the ground chicken breast.

3. Divide the mixture into 4 equal parts and form patties. Try and make the patties thin, with the thinnest area in the middle for equal cooking time.

4. Cook on a griddle, in a skillet, or on a grill.

5. Cook on each side for roughly 3-4 min. Do not smash down the patty while on the grill or it will lose any juiciness and become dry.

6. After flipping a second time, if you want to add cheese, feel free to do it 1 min before removing and use the below listed tip to melt it.

7. Let stand for 2 min., serve and enjoy.

Tip:  So I've been dying to try this trick I saw Bobby Flay use on a cooking show to melt the cheese on a burger, rather than the typical slice of cold cheese or microwaving it. So when the opportunity presented itself, I took it. Right before the burgers were ready tonight, I grabbed out some shredded cheddar cheese and covered the top of my burger. I pulled out a small metal mixing bowl to use to capture the steam. Unlike Bobby, I didn't have a squirt bottle to quickly circle the burger patty so I improvised. I grabbed a glass, filled it with about 1/4 cup of water. I slowly circled the burger and then as the steam started to kick up, I covered the burger. After about a minute or two, I grabbed the bowl to remove it (yea dumb move on my part) and about burned off my hands it was so hot. But below is the pleasant result I got from my first attempt at melting the cheese on a burger by steaming it.

Let's play a quick game. If you keep up with our blog, you probably already know I'm a meat-and-potatoes kind of guy and Jesse is the veggie lover. So with that in mind, how hard is it to figure out who's meal is which?

Obviously, mine was on the left and Jesse's was on the right. I had a Texas Chicken Cheeseburger with chipotle roasted potatoes and baked beans. Jesse topped her burger with tomato, mayonnaise, and slaw. She also enjoyed some slaw on the side as well as baked beans. Jesse will have to write up the slaw recipe; she used a bag of shredded cabbage but created a vinaigrette type mixture to combine with the cabbage rather than using mayonnaise.

Don't fear, even with Jesse's famous "coma nap" she takes every Friday for two to four hours, we still got our cooking in and made it to the gym for a nice hour and fifteen minute workout. Sometimes I think she thinks I'm a little overboard when we head to the gym at 10 pm for an hour.

Back in the Swing of Living and Eating Healthy!

I must admit that returning to a healthy lifestyle is a good thing, but it definitely takes more effort to get me in the mood to workout right now. I guess that's a downfall of Jesse and I having our birthdays exactly two weeks apart as well as having Easter the following week this year.

Fortunately for Jesse and I, I'm tired of looking in the mirror in disgust and want to do something about it. Granted I have lost a nice chunk of weight, but I know I won't be satisfied until I'm near my goal weight from my earlier years. So with that in mind, I think Jesse is about ready to strangle me at night when I want to work out at 10 pm, if we hadn't worked out earlier. We both agree that it's a good habit to have and we both feel better after we get the workout over.

I can happily say that since Easter Sunday, we've run on the Mississippi River levee, Jesse has gone to Zumba while I was working out at Snap Fitness, and we've been to the gym together with plans for a workout for Friday afternoon and Saturday morning before getting ready to go to an evening wedding.

On Monday night, Jesse and I cooked up some salmon burgers we bought on our trip to Trader Joe's in Houston. Sadly, at the age of 28, it was the first time I had tasted salmon. I actually enjoyed the salmon and didn't find it too fishy. I tend to like fish either thinly sliced and/or fried to cover the fishy taste that some can have. I'm one of those picky eaters that finds thick cuts of fish ruin the flavor. I also cooked up some turkey sausage and hot dogs for an easy grab-on-the-go breakfast.

We recently tried a recipe I found for Taco Meatloaf. Growing up, I loved tacos and liked meatloaf, but when I saw this recipe, I loved the concept. However I was unsure of how the flavors would mix together. Boy, let me tell you, this was delicious!! The flavors from the beef, taco seasoning, salsa, and ketchup all coming together just blended perfectly. It might seem like a stretch when you read those ingredients, but I'll just say to try it and you'll be adding it to your favorites when you finish.

Slow Cooker Taco Meatloaf (100% Beef)
Makes 8 servings of meatloaf

Nutritional Facts (per 1 serving):

348g Calories, 16g Fat, 126mg Cholesterol, 861mg Sodium, 16mg Potassium, 23g Carbs, 1g Fiber, 16g Sugars, 29g Protein, 6.2% Vitamin A, 1.5% Vitamin C, 10.5% Calcium, 11% Iron

Ingredients:

2 lb. Lean Ground Beef 93/7

1 cup Salsa

2 Eggs

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 envelope Taco Seasoning

1 cup Partially Crushed Tortilla Chips

1 cup Ketchup

3 Tsp. Hot Sauce

4 Tbsp. Brown Sugar

Steps to cook:

1. Mix together ground beef, salsa, eggs, shredded cheese, taco seasoning, partially crushed tortilla chips.

2. Form a loaf-type block of the mixture.

3. Place foil in the bottom of a slow cooker with foil folding over the edges of the pot. Place the meat mixture loaf in the middle of the foil.

4. Cover the pot and cook on high for 3 hours.

5. Mix together ketchup, hot sauce, and brown sugar.

6. Spread the mixture over the top of the meatloaf and cover.

7. Cook for 1 hour on high.

8. Let stand and serve.

Happy Easter!! Starting of a New Tradition

Our first Easter together was a great day. We started the morning early for 10 am mass at St. Joseph's Cathedral with my parents. Mass was presided over by Bishop Robert Muench of Baton Rouge. After mass, my parents wanted a picture of us, which worked out because we wanted an Easter photo as well. Unfortunately, Jesse hates this picture. In fact, she hates dresses and heels... how did I find such a girl?

We then headed over to the Hilton in downtown Baton Rouge to eat at The Kingfisher for brunch.

After over indulging in lunch that could have satisfied us until Wednesday, we headed home to change and fry the homemade boudin balls we started cooking for a party later in the day.

After frying the boudin balls and braving the cold rain, we drove over to my buddy Greg's house to hang out with some friends and enjoy a great traditional Easter dinner. When we arrived at Greg's, the power was out, which was ok since we all started playing card games and chatting. We enjoyed playing with Greg's new puppy, Sassy, and visiting with Greg, John, Ryan, and Jason. Being able to share the holidays with family and friends was a reminder to both Jesse and I of what we envision our holidays being each time they come around, year in and year out.