Day 115 - I Love Dried Fruit

Leftover cheese pizza, broccoli, dried strawberries.

I love dried fruit.  I do.  I love fruit, and I love crunchy things.  Dried fruit is an obvious win for me!

Packed some leftover  pizza, broccoli, and dried strawberries for lunch today.  I bought them in a weak moment when I decided to go to Whole Foods and spend eleventy thousand dollars on five items.  But man were these good!  Tart, sweet, crunchy, light!  Mmmm...

Don't they look like plump little rose petals?!

In other news, I figured out a great way to pack pizza for lunch.  This was a pre-made pizza from the farmer's market that I baked at home.  I got a piece of aluminum foil and folded it so that it fit perfectly in the bottom of my largest container.  When the pizza was ready, I just used the foil as a template for how to cut the pizza perfectly for the container.  I estimated that I could get four perfect slices, plus scraps, per 12 inch pizza.  I actually just cut out two slices and split the leftover "scraps" (which were pretty big) between two people.  Two dinners and two lunches.  Oh, who am I kidding, two dinners, one lunch, and one snack!  But seriously, how cool is that? Pin It Now!

Day 114 - Wholesome and Easy Stir Fry

Veggie and Chicken Stir Fry with Ambrosia Sauce over Brown Rice, Luna Bar.

 My wonderful friend K over at Il Faut Bien Que Tout Le Monde Mange! gave me some delicious homemade goodies for Christmas this year, which I'm just now getting around to using.  She handed me a bag full of mason jars with delicious sauces, which she is great at creating while I'm only so-so.  One of them was labeled "Ambrosia Sauce," which she said was "like teriyaki."  Yeah, teriyaki wishes it was this good!  I've never heard of Ambrosia sauce, but after a quick Google quest I found that it's a thing...a very delicious thing.  I'm not sure what recipe K used, but it was delicious!  While I was tempted to just dip my finger in the jar and eat it as is, I decided to put it to better use and jazz up some veggies for stir fry!

I mostly threw things together from the refrigerator, but I've approximated a recipe below.  I served it over brown rice, and packed the container above for lunch with a Luna Bar.  Crunchy, wholesome, and delicious!

Wholesome and Easy Stir Fry

2 chicken breasts
1 cup Ambrosia or Teriyaki sauce (or whatever bottled sauce you like)
1 red bell pepper
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup sugar snap peas
2 T toasted sesame seeds
2 T sliced almonds, toasted
1 T minced garlic
1 t sesame oil
brown rice, for serving.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add in almonds.  Stirring frequently, cook until just browned and fragrant; spoon almonds into a small bowl on the side and allow to cool.  Chop chicken breasts into bite sized pieces. Add oil to non-stick skillet and heat to medium high; add in chicken and allow to brown on each side.  Pour in Ambrosia sauce and bring to a simmer; continue to cook for about 5 minutes, or until chicken is cooked throughout. 

While chicken is cooking, chop bell pepper into bite sized pieces.  Add pepper, broccoli, and peas to a microwave safe bowl.  Add about 1/4 cup water to bowl and cover partially with lid or cling wrap.  Microwave on high for 2-4 minutes, or until vegetables are crisp tender.  Once chicken is cooked, add in steamed vegetables, sesame seeds, and almonds.  Toss well and continue to cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.  Serve hot over brown rice. Pin It Now!

Day 113 - Herb and Mushroom Pot Roast

Herb and Mushroom Pot Roast, Rice, Peas, and a Clementine

Leftovers from Sunday dinner are the best!  Yesterday for dinner I made the classic Sunday pot roast, but of course did it my own way.  Naturally, for me, that means slow cooker!  I also add mushrooms and some herbs, and it's just to die for.  I usually serve it with green peas and either rice or mashed potatoes.  I also safe the leftovers to make Pot Roast Soup, which is basically just my riff on beef vegetable  soup.  Today, though, I took a few of those leftovers to work for lunch, with some rice, peas, and a clementine.  The only thing I regret is that it didn't photograph as well as it tastes!

If you're looking for a trusty pot roast recipe, I recommend this one highly!  And don't forget to freeze your leftovers for soup!  I think I'll make some next weekend...

Herb and Mushroom Pot Roast in the Slow Cooker

2 lb beef pot roast
1 cup baby carrots
1 onion
8 oz whole fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup red wine (or beef broth)
1 package Lipton Golden Mushroom Soup
 1-2 Tablespoons Herbs de Provence

Slice onions into thick rounds.  Place them in the bottom of a lightly greased 4-6 quart crock pot.  Then  place in the carrots and raw beef roast.  Add in mushrooms, and feel free to nudge them down and around the roast.  Sprinkle soup mix and herbs over the top.  Slowly pour in the wine.  Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours (preferred), or on high for 5-6 hours.  Roast is done when the meat falls apart at a gentle fork-poke.  Serve hot with potatoes or rice to soak up all that good sauce!

If you like to drain your pot roast of the juices before serving, I highly recommend saving these for future use in soups and sauces.  You can even freeze them and scrape off the fat that floats to the top.

If Herbs de Provence aren't your thing, feel free to replace with Italian Herbs or any other mix of your choice!  A little salt won't hurt either, but I find it unnecessary.

Serves around 6, unless you have teenage boys.  Then it could very well only serve 2.  Increase the size of your roast up to 4 lbs without adjusting the cooking time.


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Day 112 - Ham and Asparagus Roll-ups

Ham and Asparagus Roll-ups, string cheese, orange sections, wheat thins.

I'll be honest today....this was not nearly as cool as I had intended it to be.  I made some ham and asparagus pinwheels (faux sushi, really), and they looked like a Pinterest Fail.  On the upside, they tasted a lot better than they looked!  They were roll ups of white sandwich bread, ham, asparagus, almonds, dijon mustard, and mayo.  A pretty tasty combination, but I think it would be a lot more effective with a tortilla or some sort of flat bread.  

Anyway, I added some string cheese, wheat thins, and orange sections.  Pretty tasty, even if it's not pretty attractive.

I'll give you the recipe, but really...I wouldn't repeat this exactly as I did it.  But the flavor combo is great, so feel free to experiment.

Ham and Asparagus Roll-ups

1 slice white sandwich bread
1 thin slice ham
4 stalks raw asparagus
1 T sliced almonds
1/2 t  dijon mustard
1/2 t mayonnaise

Cut crusts off of bread (or whatever you use) and flatten with a rolling pin; spread mustard and mayo over one side of bread.  Sprinkle almonds on top Lay on ham slice, cutting to fit.  Trim asparagus stalks so that they are no longer than the bread, and lay on top of ham.  Gently roll up sandwich, like a cigar, with the asparagus in the middle.  Slice into 1/2 inch sections and serve with asparagus ends facing up. Pin It Now!

Day 111 - Hash, Revisited

Potato and ham hash, baked egg, orange section.

Remember when I made hash a few days ago?  Remember how delicious it was?  Well, I made it again, and I made a lunch container picture for you!.  I replaced the sausage with chopped deli ham, and added a baked egg and some oranges on the side.

All the pertinent recipes are linked.  Not much else to say except it was so good.  Pin It Now!

Day 110 - Ham and Asparagus Quiche

Ham and Asparagus quiche, tomato wedges, orange wedges, triscuits.

Ok, friends, it's mini quiche time!  I said I would keep making them, but it's been way too long.  These are so good...they're good cold, they're good hot...just perfect.  Not exactly low fat, though, so I made sure to amp it up with lots healthy stuff.  Tomato wedges, orange sections, and triscuits rounded it out.  Nice lunch.

These were so easy - I just popped these in the oven while I made dinner, let them cool while I ate, and them boxed them up for the next day.  The recipe makes two mini quiches, which is great for a single serve.  Feel free to multiply!

Ham and Asparagus Mini Quiche

1/4 cup heavy cream
1 egg
2 T ham, finely chopped (I used once slice of deli ham)
2 T goat chevre, crumbled
2 stalks fresh asparagus
pinch each of salt and pepper

In a very well greased muffin tin, divide the ham and goat cheese into two muffin cups (you may use a silicone liner if you prefer).  In a separate small bowl, whisk together cream, egg, salt, and pepper.  Gently pour over ham and chevre; the mixture should reach almost the top of the muffin cup.  Trim asparagus and chop into 1 inch pieces.  Place on top of your uncooked quiches - some asparagus should sink just a little, and that is fine.  Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until quiches are golden and puffy.  Let cool for 10 minutes before gently removing with a spoon; expect the quiches to fall quite a bit during this time.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate overnight for lunch. Pin It Now!

Day 109 - Ham Sandwich

Ham sandwich with mustard, sugar snap peas, orange sections, wheat thins with low fat cheese.

Today is just a plain ham and dijon sandwich with traditional and healthy sides - orange sections, wheat thins and little low fat cheeses, and sugar snap peas.  Nothing overly exciting, but sometimes you just have to throw together a sandwich in the morning and get to work.

Watch this week for common ingredients - I bought deli ham, oranges, and asparagus this week.  Of course, I bought other things also, but these came in bulk and will stretch through the week.  I'll even incorporate them at night, too.  This is fairly impractical if you're cooking for a large family all week, but if you're just feeding yourself (or only concentrating on lunches), it can be good to plan a menu with lots of common ingredients.  I usually buy what's on sale to increase my savings and streamlining even more! Pin It Now!