Ramblings

What the heck?

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Some of you may be wondering where the heck I’ve been for the past weeks and what the heck I’ve been doing.

I’ll give you some hints.

Thoughts?

A couple months back, the BF got an awesome job offer to transfer with his existing company to good ole’ Charlotte, NC.  Since then, approximately 93% of my time has been dedicated to helping him get ready for the big move (which officially occurred at 4:30 AM this morning). 

While I’m very sad and distraught over him moving, I’m also excited and hopeful that everything will work out.  I don’t want to bore you all with the emotional roller coaster that I’ve been on the past couple of months, so that’s all I’m going to say about it.  Just be ready for a lot of airplane blogging and Charlotte restaurant hopping 🙂 

I’ve already purchased 11 (I wish I were kidding) Groupons to give us incentive to explore different areas in the city 😀

And now I’m off to prepare for tomorrow’s competition…stay tuned! 

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Ramblings

How co-workers can make or break your workday

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After running lunch errands the other day, I returned to my desk to see:

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My very first Operation-You-Are-Awesome post-it! 😉

Not only am I awesome, but…. 

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Now you’re just giving me a big head… and lord knows my head is already abnormally large…

 And what’s that in my drawer of random food and junk?

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 Come closeeerrrr:

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Haha…. why thank you.  Given the amount of food I keep at my desk, you’d think I was an even bigger deal… 

Miss June? 

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Never gets old!

And under the giant container of oats I keep at my desk:

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42 ounces of oats at your fingertips at all times = necessary.

And my personal favorite was found in my top desk drawer…

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What, you don’t keep 50 single serve packets of blackberry preserves in your desk??

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I surrrrrre do 😀

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Ramblings, Recipes, Slow Cookin

Some like it hot

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There is a small portion of the population out there that crave heat in their food.  These are the people who actually enjoy the runny nose you inevitably get when eating something hot.  The people who know when others say something is “hot” it won’t even phase them because of their extreme tolerance for heat.  The people who’ve contemplated carrying around a bottle of hot sauce in their purse/bookbag/car.  The people who have found a way to incorporate buffalo sauce in to breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.  The people who constantly get asked “you put hot sauce on that?!”

You know who you are.

This recipe is for you.

I bring you slow-cooked buffalo chicken sandwiches:

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When I first stumbled upon this recipe, I KNEW it was destiny.  Buffalo chicken dip is a staple in my circle of friends and family, so how could a buffalo chicken sandwich NOT be amazing?

Simple answer.  If you like hot food, you will love this sandwich.

The recipe was very easy to throw together. 

Throw the following into a plastic baggie to marinate overnight:

  • 4 raw skinless boneless chicken breasts
  • 3/4 of a Quart (24 ounces) buffalo wing sauce (use your favorite brand–we used Gionino’s, of course)
  • 1 package dry ranch salad dressing mix

The next morning toss the marinated chicken into a crockpot, and cook on low for 6 hours.  Once the chicken is cooked, pull the breasts out of the crockpot and shred them up with two forks.  Toss the meat back in and then add:

  •  2 tablespoons butter
  • 8 ounces of buffalo wing sauce (which is the remainder of the quart)

Cook for one hour more, and then serve on top of a toasted kaiser roll. 

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To make the sandwich even more amazing, add some pepper jack cheese. 

Awwwwww yeeahhhhhhh.

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WARNING:  Things may get a little sloppy.  But true hot sauce lovers like to become one with their food, am I right? 😀

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Recipes

Eggcellent.

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My kitchen is no stranger to eggs.

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Shortly after starting this blog, it dawned on me that I really do eat an excessive amount of eggs.  So I started thinking about possible substitutions I could make.  Something healthy, clean, and full of protein.  Something filling and delicious that gave me energy without spiking my temperamental blood sugar.

I searched high and low and ended up right where I started.

Eggcellent. 

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One of the MANY things I LOVE about eggs is that I can make them in a big batch.  Typically, I cook up a 5 serving egg scramble Sunday night and that serves as my breakfast #1 for the workweek.  Each serving of my scrambled eggs consists of 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, which I season up with S&P, Red Pepper Flakes, and some Franks Red Hot. 

I was feeling lazy Sunday night, so I ended up pushing back the egg-makin til Monday night this week.  After work I headed to the grocery store to get the goods.  I typically have some roasted broccoli alongside my eggs, but made a last-minute produce aisle decision to use up some of the frozen veggies in the freezer instead.

Low and behold I didn’t have any frozen veggies (dangit).  You know, I actually think this was co-worker karma come back to haunt me.  Recently, I discovered that roasted broccoli heated up in the community microwave makes the ENTIRE floor smell like butt.  Apparently, I was oblivious to this smell for the last 9 months… Whoops!  I guess it’s just pay back for those afternoon snackers who always burn their popcorn in the microwave leaving us with a 3pm funk.  YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE! 😉 

Luckily, I had 1 lonely large potato on hand (leftover from my Zuppa Tosacana).  Eggs and potatoes. Can’t go wrong with that!

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I tossed the potato into a bowl and seasoned it up with a drizzle of EVOO, some S&P, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper:

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Then I popped them into a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes to get their roast on.  Once everything was done cooking, i evenly divided the goods up into four containers:

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Tuesday through Friday B#1:

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Now repeat 52 times and you have B#1 for the whole year… hahahah 🙂

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  What are your go-to workday breakfasts?

 

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Recipes

Jambalaya. Jealous?

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Every time I think of New Orleans, I hear the Zatarain’s rice commercial in my head.  You know… Zatarain’s!  (Said with much sass and flavor while jazz music wails in the background).  Even before my trip to the Big Easy, I had this funny mental quirk.

This thought popped into my head tonight when I began to think about what to make for dinner.  I was presented with the following challenge:  what do you make when you’ve got leftover meats out the wazoo?

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JAMBALAYA of course!  It seems like ages since I last made Jambalaya!  Well at least four months anyway.  I had some chicken leftover from last week’s lunch and the turkey sausage was leftover from my Zuppa Tuscana…

Lucky for me, I keep frozen shrimp in the freezer at all times in case of emergency.  So whipping together a 3-meat entre was easy peasy tonight!

3 meats, one dish:

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The meats were ready to roll, so I heated the oven up to 400 degrees and got to choppin 2 roma tomatoes, 1/2 a white onion, and 1 green pepper:

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I tossed the veggies into a bowl with:

  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tsp minced garlic

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I gave everything a good toss, then added:

  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 1 cup low sodium chicken broth

I intended on using 1.5 cups of brown rice, but I ran out!  Ooops!  That’s what happens when I grocery shop without taking inventory first!  Dangit!

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I divided the mix up evenly among three foil packets that I had sprayed down with some nonstick cooking spray:  

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One for my dinner, one for my lunch, and one for the BF’s lunch because I’m clearly dabomb.com. DSCF4046

I popped the packets into the oven for 30 minutes, and VOOOOILLLAAA!

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Oh so spicy, and ohhhhh so delicious! 

Yes, the jambalaya we had in New Orleans (and again) was a teensy bit tastier than my healthified version, but I’d like to see NOLA try and stack up to these stats:

Stats on 1 serving:  314 calories, 33g carbs, 9g fat, 27g protein, 3g fiber  :mrgreen: 

Jambalaya Ingredients List (serves 3):

  • 6 large shrimp, tails removed
  • 2 links Jennie-O Hot Turkey Sausage
  • 3 ounces grilled chicken
  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 2 plum tomatoes
  • 1/2 a white onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp onion powder
  • 1 cup reduced sodium low fat chicken broth


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