The bright side of lazy

Sometimes laziness is bad...like when I'm too lazy to do the dishes and before I know it there isn't a clean fork in the house and we all have to eat with our grubby little paws, or when the kids are asleep but I'm watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse because I'm just too damn lazy to get up and get the remote so I can change the channel.  But then there is laziness that forces you to think outside the box and possibly come up with things you wouldn't have otherwise. 

Enter moi trying to make a ricotta bake and realizing that I have no eggs in the house.  ZERO ZILCH NADA.  So, I sat around half the day debating if I wanted to change out of my pajamas and go to the store for some eggs, and by 1pm I could sense that it would not happen.  So, I got creative.  I googled ways to replace eggs in recipes and there are whole bunch of options.  The option I chose was a banana.  So, here you go!

Ingredients:

16 Ozs. ricotta
1/3 cup liquid egg whites
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
4 Tbs cream of wheat/farina
1 banana
1 Handful of dried fruit (optional)

Directions:
Beat egg whites until they are foamy and smooth.  In a separate bowl mix ricotta, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, farina, and mashed or pureed banana.  Add in a handful of dried fruit.  You can, of course, substitue dried fruit for just raisins or chocolate chips or nute or ALL THREE!  Fold egg whites into the mixture, and bake in a 9x9 pan at 300 degrees for about one hour.

Enjoy!

Stuffed Tomatoes

My hubby has been on a stuffed pepper kick.  He has literally made them three or four times in the last couple of weeks.  I, however, despise all things pepper.  Can NOT stand the smell.  So, yesterday for dinner I decided to make stuffed tomatoes.  These were not originally going to be vegetarian until I realized I had no defrosted meat.  YAY for planning ahead! And after that they became a complete improvisation.  But they were pretty yummy so here goes:

Ingredients:
4 Tomatoes
1 cup of quinoa
1/4 onion
1/2 small pack of mushrooms
5 Basil leaves
3 cloves of garlic
salt/pepper to taste
1 handful of cheese (Parmesan would be great- I didn't have any so I used Mexican blend)

Directions:
Cut the tomatoes in half, scoop out the insides and toss (or eat for fun).  Sprinkle a little salt in the tomatoes and turn upside down to drain the moisture (10-15 minutes).  Chop up mushrooms, onion, basil, and garlic.  Mix in a bowl with quinoa, salt, pepper, and cheese.  Spoon into your tomato cups.  Sprinke some more cheese on top.  Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Oopsy Daisy

I have a weakness for all things carby and especially sweet.  I simply can't resist a brownie, cake, chocolate, etc.  You get the idea???  So, in my quest for healthy treats I have been trying to substitute things here and there and see what I can come up with.  I don't want to pretend that it is easy or that I have found this miraculous way to eat whatever you want and still be healthy and/or skinny.  So, I present to you this failure of a banana bread. Gluten Free, blah blah blah, it tastes like a damn baked banana. 

Another Yumsy in My Tumsy

I remember when I was little, I loved helping my mom in the kitchen.  I wanted so much to be her little helper, and learn how to do everything she does.  That woman can do no wrong in the kitchen.  But as I grew up, I never really developed that love for cooking and all things domestic.  I am a self-proclaimed messy girl.  I'd rather spend a day in the park than at home cleaning and cooking.  Can you really blame me???  But the more I learned about the dangers of processed foods and thought about the long-term effects of how I was eating, the more I realized that in order to be able to go to the park and chase my kids I needed to start enjoying making food for myself.  I have to say, I am loving coming up with new recipes and different ways to mix flavors.  Homemade, organic, healthy, AND delicious!  My latest creation is Mango Shrimp Salad:

Ingredients:

1 Avocado
15 Cherry Tomatoes
1/3 Large English Cucumber
Cilantro (Eyeballed)
1 Mango
1/2 White Onion
20-30 Medium Shrimp
1T Lime Juice
1T EVOO
Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:
Chop, mix, EAT!

 

But I love to eat...

Dieting was always a struggle for me. It is such an ugly word and such a despicable concept.  Ask anybody- the word diet in and of itself implies sacrifice.  Oh, I'd love to eat that, but I'm on a diet.  Let's be honest with ourselves, food is yummy.  I would love a piece of cake, and some ice cream, or some chocolate, or a heaping bowl of mac and cheese.  This is why I am NOT on a diet.  I am being healthy, and thinking about the effects food has on my health and my longevity.  Also, I'm a fan of all the compliments I have been getting.  I digress.  My point is that I am trying to find ways to make being healthy still delicious.  For example, my new fave is Green and Black organic chocolate.  http://www.greenandblacks.com/  I am not suggesting you should eat a pound a day, but when the urge hits, I allow myself a couple squares.  They are delicious and organic, and I am convinced that the fact that they are organic prevents me from gaining weight even when I indulge.  Also, this means making food I enjoy in alternative ways.  One of my childhood faves is stuffed cabbage.  The problem is it is typically stuffed full of rice.  I present to you my fabulous stuffed cabbage:

1. 1 Pound of grass fed beef
2. 1 Cup of Quinoa
3. 1/2 Large zucchini (chopped)
4. 1/2 Large yellow squash (chopped)
5. 1 head cabbage
6. 1 jar tomato sauce
7. 1 container Plain Greek Yogurt

***I buy everything I can find organic.

I made this in my slowcooker set on low for 8 hours.  You can either take a leaf of cabbage, stuff and roll, or you can do my lazy alternative.  Mix meat, quinoa, zucchini, squash, salt, pepper, parsley.  In a separate bowl mix tomato sauce and Greek yogurt.  Layer cabbage leaves on the bottom of the slowcooker.  Top with meat mixture, followed by sauce.  Then, add another layer of cabbage, followed by meat, cabbage, and sauce. 

Enjoy!

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up?  This is easily the most common question adults ask children.  It is always fun hearing the answers, and wondering if that little boy might really become an astronaut or if that little girl will be a doctor.  Now, my little lady, she wants to be a rainbow ballerina princess.  I'm cool with that!  I remember people asking me this question at various ages in life.  My answer was usually that I wanted to be a doctor, but mostly because it seemed like the right thing to say.  The truth of the matter is I am definitely not a doctor, and I still don't feel like I am doing what I want to be doing.  By what age are you supposed to have it all figured out?  And HOW do you figure it out? 

National Splurge Day

What should I post right after I post about how I am eating healthy??? Obviously, the most divine yummy ever.  Holy Amazing Ricotta Pancakes!  I changed them up a tiny bit by baking them for 15 minutes at 350 degrees instead of frying. And instead of lemon curd, I topped with a bit of sour cream and berries!  See, healthy!!!  Go make them NOW!!!

Girl in Progress

"You are prone to being chubby".  A dance teacher told me this once.   I never paid attention to my weight; my parents didn't either. Nobody ever told me there was something wrong with my belly.  My grandma encouraged a second helping of pasta, and even a third.  I was completely ignorant until I started dancing.  That was the first time I ever heard that I was fat or that there was something wrong with not being tiny.   I love food, and as I stopped dancing and got a bit older, I started gaining.  I got married at about 155 pounds, and after my first baby I was 169.  My weight climbed to 186, before I got my booty in check and started working out five times per week.  Then, I got pregnant again, and the day I gave birth I was 203 pounds.  In this vain pursuit of skinniness I forgot about the most important and irreplaceable thing in this world: health.  And so, I finally decided to stop lusting after being thin, and instead focus on being healthy.  Giving my body the fuel it needs to have energy, play with my kids, run around.  And guess what, today I was 151 pounds.  I guess if you really want to find something, you have to stop looking for it.  At the heart of it, I am still a work in progress, and I will forever be a work in progress because that dance teacher was right.  There will definitely be days when I eat a piece of cake, but I am learning to give myself what my body really needs.  And feeling good in my skin is a pretty great feeling too!

Welcome!

Welcome to Chasing Happy!  I am just a 28 year old girl married to a boy (R) I have known since I was 17.  Yep, we were practically babies!  And now we have two babies of our own!  Our little lady, M, is four years old.  Little dude, S, is six months.  We have recently started a journey to getting healthy and maybe, hopefully skinny along the way.  I finally finished my MBA, and realized that sitting in a cubicle all day kinda stinks.  So, now we are also trying to embark on an entrepreneurial adventure.  The blog is called Chasing Happy because it is my story of finding happiness in this crazy world!