No we’re not headed to Amarillo (who would go to Amarillo on purpose?!) I’m listening to all George Straight all the time on Pandora!  I grew up listening to King George, my dad is a big fan, and I still love him to this day.  Great singer (not the greatest actor, despite the fact that Pure Country is one of my favorite movies) and he just seems to be an all around great dude.  Not that I know him or anything, LOL.  This is all in my head of course.

Anyhoo to quote another one of my favorite peeps, Rachael Ray, last nights dinner was delish!

Creamy mushroom linguini.  It’s from my William Sanoma Vegetarian Cookbook and it’s amazing!  I altered the recipe a tiny bit to make it healthier.  Cut down on some oil and used nonfat greek yogurt in place of sour cream.  SO GOOD!

I just sauteed some mushrooms in a little EVOO, added some thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper and a little white wine.  Cooked up some whole wheat linguini, added mushroom concoction and greek yogurt (about 1/2 cup) to the mix and voila!  Very easy and supper yum!  I topped it with some parm cheese and served with some whole wheat french bread and dinner was served.

Here’s what it looked like…

And there was lots leftover so I’ll be having this for lunch for the rest of the week probably.

This morning I tried a new oatmeal combo.  I took my Nature’s Path apple cinnamon oatmeal and added a sliced banana and a spoonful of almond butter.  I wanted to add some stuff to it to see if it would last me a little longer and it definitely did!!  I think the fat from the almond butter was what really made it stick to my ribs!  Really tasty too!

Lunch was more of a snack today since on Wednesdays I have class during lunch.  Some baby carrots and hummus.  Tasty but no pic.  I still haven’t had “lunch” yet.  I’ll probably have another snack here in a bit.  I don’t feel like having a whole meal.

I did pretty well on my Chem test the other day.  It looks like I have a good strong B in Chem.  Which for me is great- I’m not so good with the science!  Of course I would love an A, but I’m not sure it’s possible at this point in the semester.  I did feel better about my B when I found out that the class average was a 65 and that someone made a 35 on the test- yoinks!

Anyhoo- I have an intro to nutrition test on Thursday so I better get cracking on that.

See ya at dinner!

We’re making these for our meal management class in food prep lab, so I thought I’d give them a try first and make sure they taste good.  Boy do they!!  I made full size versions, but for class we’re going to make them as they are in the recipe- sliders.  I will definitely be making these again, and the BBQ rub is amazing!  I’m so glad the recipe made a lot because I’m going to be using that stuff on everything!  Such a delicious smokey/sweet/spicy-ness!

Here’s the recipe.  The recipe for the BBQ rub is included as well.  Take the time to make it, it’s worth it!

Smoky Baby Portobello Sliders

Ingredient List

Serves 4

• 8 baby portobello mushrooms, stems removed
• 3 Tbs. olive oil, divided   (I cut way down on the oil, I used maybe 2 tsp)
• 2 Tbs. Classic BBQ Rub (see recipe)
• 2 medium yellow or white onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tsp. herbes de Provence
• 1/2 cup prepared barbecue sauce
• 2 oz. shredded smoked Gouda (3/4 cup)
• 8 mini challah rolls or dinner rolls

Directions

1. Toss mushrooms in bowl with 1 Tbs. olive oil and Classic BBQ Rub. Set aside.
2. Heat remaining 2 Tbs. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and herbes de Provence, and cook 30 minutes, or until golden, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.
3. Heat grill or grill topper over medium-high heat. Rub grate or grill topper with vegetable oil. Place mushrooms stem-side down on grill. Brush mushroom tops with barbecue sauce, and grill 3 to 4 minutes, or until soft and charred around the edges. Flip, and grill 3 minutes more. Divide cheese among mushrooms, placing in center of each stem side. Grill 1 minute more, or until cheese is melted.
4. Meanwhile, warm buns on grill. Spread barbecue sauce on bottom buns, then top each with 1 mushroom, sautéed onions, and top bun.

Classic BBQ Rub

Ingredients:

1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet smoked paprika
3 T ground black pepper
3 T kosher or coarse sea salt
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp celery powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in an airtight container.  Shake well to blend.  Store in refrigerator.

I’ll leave that at that.  I don’t even have time to talk about time! LOL

I’m going to try to post shorter posts, more frequently.  Maybe then I’ll be able to post more often.  We’ll see.

Well, we’ll start with breakfast I suppose.

I got some new oatmeal at the grocery store last week.  Since I have to have breakfast on the go so often these days I decided on some organic instant oatmeal.  Paired with a piece of fruit this usually sustains me to lunch pretty well!

I put it in my handy dandy thermos and off I go!  These thermos things are awesome, not like the cheapy ones that you have in grade school that come with your plastic lunchbox (lol).  I put soup in this one day and 7 hrs later it was still HOT!  It’s like magic!!

Anyway, I had a test in Chemistry today.  I think I did okay, probably a B.  I’m ok with a B in chemistry I think.

On the way home I stopped at Kroger to do my pricing for my meal management lab for food prep- we’re going to make Smoky Baby Portobello Sliders and sweet potato fries!  Can’t wait!!

Lunch was a pita stuffed with turkey breast, lettuce, a little cheese, and some light honey mustard.  Served with some toasted pita chips, baby carrots, and hummus!

YUM!!!

Now I get to study for another test!  This one is Intro to Nutrition and it’s going to be a tough one!!

Adios!

not.  gah, this stuff is boring!

I didn’t have one of my classes today, so I just decided to stay home instead of traveling for a 50 min class and then driving right back.  That’s just silly to waste that much gas for one class.  Especially when she posts her lecture word for word on blackboard.  But that meant that I needed to spend some time with my buddy chemsitry today because I had some homework due.  So 7 hrs later I finished ch 7 homework and about half of ch 8 homework. There are TWENTY pages of homework in ch 8!!!  My brain is on overload right now.  Enough was enough and I couldn’t think straight anymore so I had to call it a day for Chem homework. 

I’m about to go for a run and then I’m going to get started on my next assignment for food prep- my recipe modification, I decided to do something that I have already modified to make it a little easier on myself since I have a few tests coming up.  I’m going to do my assignment over the pumpkin muffins that I made the other day.  Perfect!!

Breakfast was in two parts since I had to get the pup to the vet to get her stitches out and to get started on her dips for mange.

Part 1 was a banana…

Then when I got home from the vet I had the rest of breakfast.

Yogurt with chia seeds, flax, and 2 T Udi’s granola…

oh and looots of coffee!

Then work work work!

Lunch break!!

Sammich with turkey breast, mashed up avocado and sprouts on oat bread…

I only ate half- it was good but I just wasn’t digging it today.

and a pretty organic pear.

Time to hop on the treadmill!

Can’t decide what’s for dinner yet.  I’m thinking maybe stir fry?

I’ve totally been AWOL lately and I’m going to make up for it with a deeeeeelicious muffin recipe!  These are so freaking good you’ll think you died and went to heaven!

You must try these ASAP!

I modified this recipe from a random recipe I found on the interwebs to make it healthier.  The modification turned out great!

Here ya go…and your welcome! (heehee)

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup skim milk
1/3 cup applesauce
1tsp vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a muffin pan with liners and set aside. 

Whisk together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, milk, applesauce and vanilla in a medium bowl and stir until just moistened.  Add in chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups.  Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20-23 mins.

Try to let them cool off a bit before you chow down lest you burn your mouth.  Although they are hard to resist!!