Get Used To This

I think you'll be seeing a lot of this guy in the coming week.  I just put the above 5+ pound turkey meatloaf into the oven.  I used Ina Garten's recipe, except I substituted 2 of the meat pounds with some chicken sausage that we have had in the freezer for a donkey's age.  I also used some dried mixed herbs instead of fresh thyme.  Here's pretty much what I put into this sucker, try for yourself:

Turkey Meatloaf

Ingredients

• 3 cups chopped yellow onions (2 large onions)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon herbs de provence
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 3/4 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tomato paste
• 3 pounds ground turkey breast
• 2 pounds chicken sausage (peel off the casing first)
• 1 1/2 cups plain dry bread crumbs
• 3 extra-large eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup ketchup

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium saute pan, over medium-low heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until translucent, but not browned, approximately 15 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato paste and mix well. Allow to cool to room temperature.

Combine the ground turkey, chicken sausage meat, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well and shape into a rectangular loaf on an ungreased sheet pan. Spread the ketchup evenly on top. Bake for 1 hour until the internal temperature is 160 degrees F. and the meatloaf is cooked through. 

Adventures In Burritoing

 I made a risky move with lunch today.  I essentially put soup in a bag.  But it worked:

• roasted Brussels sprouts
• vanilla cake with chocolate frosting (all organic, but still fattening)
• beef chili with low fat cheddar cubes wrapped in a TJ whole wheat tortilla
• raspberries

Day 3 of eating this awesome chili for lunch and I decided to try having a chili burrito.  It was a little drippy but really delicious.  

I actually used a smaller portion of chili than I would normally eat to accommodate the tortilla.  I could have done with a bit more cheese, but I didn't want to make it any more unhealthy than it already is.  And that's another thing.  My lunches this week are not doing me any favors in the weight loss/don't get any fatter department.  I know I should be eating lighter and more vegetable based meals if I'm ever going to shift this pudge.  But, man...meat and sugar have got me twisted!  I wish I was one of those people who could do some sort of "detox" from sugar and meat but I don't have it in me.  Besides, I like them too much quit cold turkey.

Are there any foods that you feel you need to detox from?  Do you even believe in the whole detox thing?

Beefy Beefy

 I know I said I'm going to stop eating leftovers, and I'm trying.  But when your man brings home a pound of grass fed organic beef and makes a delectable pot of chili...you eat it, man. YOU EAT IT!

• Brussel sprouts
• homemade organic vanilla cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting
• creepily long green grapes
• Texas style beef chili with light white cheddar on top

And, technically, it's not leftovers because we didn't even have it for dinner last night since it took 8+ hours in the slow cooker.  But, oh boy was it worth it.  Anyway I chopped up one of these cheeses.  What do you think of my attempt at galaxy nails?

Yummy!  And yes, I did bake and ice and entire cake (it's sort of small, but still).  The Dude and I plan on taking a little piece for lunch every day.  I LOVE having a real dessert waiting for me in my lunchbox.  Also, it's great to finally contribute to something to our weekly meal bank.  He does most of the cooking these days, but I'm working on picking up the slack.  Dessert is a great way to start.

Do you guys put a dessert or sweet treat in your lunch? 

Face Face

Looks like my favorite fruit is back and in full effect.  Take a look-see:

• herb turkey and light provolone cheese on a TJ's sandwich slim
• sugar snap peas
• cara cara oranges!!

I have professed my love for these oranges in the past and my love for them has not changed.  I got a big bag of them this weekend and I've already eaten about half the batch.  Lunch was supplemented with 2 hardboiled eggs today.  I've been trying to get more protein with my snacks lately, so I popped an egg around 10:00 a.m. for a late breakfast.  The second egg was devoured around 3:00 p.m. when those familiar hunger pangs/cravings kicked in.  I felt satisfied, so I guess there is something to this thing about eating healthy/filling snacks.  Who woulda thunk it!

Oh yeah, "cara" means "face" in Spanish, hence the clever title of this post. 

Leftover Slump

Classic leftover lunches this week.

• garlic chicken (here's the recipe)
• mashed potatoes
• sugar snap peas
• clementines
• cinnamon Puffins

Coming back from a vacation to a short work week is a blessing and a curse.  I had to catch up on some stuff from the week I was gone (boo) but I'm only working 3 days this week (yay).  So I kept it simple with my lunches this week.  I ate this yesterday and today and I will eat it tomorrow.  Anyway, have I told you guys about my love for Puffins?  I had a love affair with then as a lunchtime dessert/snack over the summer.  Well, now I'm all about the cinnamon flavor.    

I've been having a bowl of this stuff in the morning before I leave for work.  But I love it so much that I eat them dry after having my savory garlic lunch.  It's a perfect palate cleanser.  Sweet and crunchy and not too much sugar and a bit of fiber.  Ugh, do I sound like I'm advertising for them? Sorry. I'm just a girl standing in front of a box of cereal and asking it to love me.

The upcoming holiday is the Super Bowl of lunch leftovers and I'm going to try not to bog down my box with a bunch of turkey and fixins.   I want to be more creative and lunch specific in the coming weeks.  I love the food I eat but I feel like I'm lacking variety because a lot of times I eat the same lunch and dinner 2 or 3 days a week.  Leftovers are easy (and delicious) when you know your food is great from meal 1 to meal 5.  On the flip side, it can get really boring and predictable when I open my box and see the same chicken dinner from the night before staring back at me.  Hopefully I'll get my creative mojo back after turkey day.  Wish me luck.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

I'll Fly Away

Lunch is a simple affair today as I'll be boarding a flight directly after work to take a family vacation:

• 2 turkey bologna sandwiches with light provolone cheese on multi-grain flatbread
• a whole bunch of clementines

Hopefully one of the sandwiches will be used as a snack/dinner before the flight.  I cleverly stashed my sugar snap peas from yesterday's lunch in the office fridge last night, so I'll also have those for today's lunch as well.  Since I'm trying to be as unencumbered as possible today I chose this for my lunch bag:

 

It works for today.  Have a great weekend!

Repacked for Today

This is what I had for lunch today:

• pulled chicken on a hamburger bun
• sugar snap peas
• clementines
• extra BBQ sauce

Yep, it's exactly the same as yesterday.  And let me tell you people at work were Jell-US!  Everyone was asking what smelled so good.  Don't worry tomorrow will be something different because we're all out of pulled chicken.  My lord and master made a vegan broccoli potato leek soup that's probably very tasty and healthy but it's pureed...and green...and, well, I call it the "glue soup."  That color and texture is so unbearable to me.

Anyway, tomorrow is Friday and I'm on vacation for a week.  Yippee!