Category Archives: Meatless Mondays

Meatless Monday-Speedy Weeknight Dinner/SIDI

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I had the hardest time getting out of bed today.  My weekend couldn’t have been any more fabulous and I absolutely hated to see it come to an end.  My long lost sister and my mom stayed with us the whole holiday weekend.  We celebrated Thanksgiving at my in laws.  This was my first gluten-free Thanksgiving and I’d say that it went pretty well.  My mom & I made the cornbread stuffing, apple crisp and pumpkin pie.  It was all so tasty.  We made two pans of stuffing because I wasn’t sure of how many people would be there.  We ended up bringing one one and needless to say, it was gone by the end of the weekend.  I love that stuff.

Our weekend was filled with lots of food, laughs, Breaking Dawn, and Zoo lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.

Me, my mom & sister having brunch at Chicago Firehouse Restaurant. Highly recommended!

Because I was tired from the weekend & still wanted to do a test run on cookies for The Great Food Blogger cookie swap, dinner had to be effortless, yet delicious (and somewhat nutritious).  I resorted to an old college staple: grilled cheese & creamy tomato soup. 

The soup was a gluten-free kind from Whole Foods.  It was a pretty tasty tomato soup.  I threw away the box before I wrote down the brand name.   My grilled cheese contained a slice of American, provolone, a tomato slice, and pesto all melted together on Udi’s gluten free bread.  That’s what I’d like to call a “grown-up” grilled cheese sandwich.  I easily could’ve had another one, but I refrained.  Udi’s is the only gluten-free sandwich bread I’ve ever tried.  I almost grabbed another brand today, just to shake things up a bit, but it’s so good and I’m scared to try another brand only to be disappointed.  I can’t wait until we live closer to a gluten-free bakery so that I can buy fresh baked sandwich bread…  :-)

For this week’s Say it Do it, I’m going to attempt to follow the TurboFire schedule.  I bought the set from beachbody last spring, right before I fell and sprained my ankle, so I haven’t had a chance to do it straight through.  The TurboFire schedule is a 20 week program where you workout 6 days a week.  The workout times vary from 15 HIIT to 55 ez cardio.  It’s a lot like Tae Bo/kickboxing.  So far, I’ve had a lot of fun doing the DVDs.

Monday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10
Tuesday: Bar Method & HIIT 15 / Stretch 10
Wednesday: Zumba/rest
Thursday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10/Bar Method
Friday:  Fire 55 EZ/Bar Method
Saturday: Fire 30 / Stretch 10
Sunday: Core 20 / Stretch 40

While I think it’s kind of unrealistic (for me anyway) to lose a considerable amount of weight over the holidays (I just love cookies too much!), I would like maintain what I am now or lose a few lbs/tone up. As of right now, my only goal is to maintain. 

And I leave you with this video.  I took this while we were at Zoo lights this weekend.  Dancing light trees coordinated with Christmas music.  My favorite display at Lincoln Park Zoo!  The holiday season is here :-)

http://www.youtube.com/get_player

Meatless Monday-An Oldie but Goodie

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Today, I’m thankful that it’s a short week. The week following drill weekend is always an exhausting one, so I’m looking forward to relaxing, spending time with family and eating my little heart out.

Because of all the cooking that will be taking place this week, I wanted tonight’s dinner to be pretty easy and low key.  So the black bean & sweet potato chili made an appearance again.  Always so good and the perfect fall, meatless meal! And I made enough for leftovers.

Last week I stayed pretty on top of my workouts.  With the exception of running, I did pretty much everything including random zumba dances in my living room.  It doesn’t even feel like a workout to me because I have so much fun doing it.  So here’s this week’s SIDI.

Monday: 20 minute elliptical interval + upper body
Tuesday: Bar Method + 3 mile run
Wednesday: Bar Method & mom comes to town! Lots of cooking :-)
Thursday: My own 5k turkey trot
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Bar Method
Sunday: Yoga 

I’m off to drink some wine & catch up on mindless TV (aka-Gossip Girl).  Short blog post, but I’m exhausted!

  

Meatless Monday: Wok it Out

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In an effort to cut down the consumption of meat in my diet & to add in more veggies (and try new recipes), I’ve declared Mondays to be ‘Meatless Mondays’. 
 Tonight we broke in one of our wedding gifts: The Wok.  This was my first attempt at a homemade (not frozen) stir-fry, and I’m pretty sure I nailed it.  I served it over jasmine brown rice, which I boiled in a vegetable broth instead of water and it turned out so much better!
I found the recipe on Foodnetwork.com and made a few minor adjustments.  I overestimated on the veggies, mostly because I didn’t want any to go to waste and I wanted leftovers for another day.   Make sure to read the directions all the way through before cooking.  I mixed most of the vegetables in a bowl as a I was chopping them and then come to find out that they needed to be added at separate times.  Good thing I could easily pick them out. 
Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons canola oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and julienned
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion (I used about 1/2 an onion)
  • 1 cup half-moon sliced yellow squash (used the whole thing)
  • 1 cup small broccoli florets
  • 1 baby eggplant, cut into chunks
  • 8 ounces firm tofu, cut into large chunks
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 cup GF teriyaki sauce (check the label: no more than 2 grams sugar per serving)(ended up using about 3/4 cup)
  • 2 cups sliced bok choy
  • 1 cup fresh mung bean sprouts
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup snow peas
  • 2 tablespoons sesame oil

Directions
In a wok or large skillet, heat up the canola oil until the oil is smoking.  Add in the peppers & onions and stir constantly.  After they are browned, add in the broccoli, squash, tofu, eggplant, garlic and gluten-free teriyaki sauce.  Stir constantly and make sure the sauce covers all the vegetables and tofu.  Stir for about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in pepper, bok choy, sprouts, and salt.  Stir this for about two minutes.  You still want the vegetables to be crisp so make sure not to overcook it.  Eat alone or serve over rice.  Enjoy!