I am happy to say I made it a whole week without going to the grocery store – well, except for coffee creamer, but that’s not too bad! I relied on my pantry/fridge/freezer and it just goes to show that if you think outside the box you can always come up with good eats with what you have on hand. It’s just that sometimes, dishes aren’t as pretty as they taste. Case in point? My breakfast. I had 1/2 a baked potato leftover, and I made a hash with that and zucchini. On the side an egg white scramble and 1/2 an English muffin. This looks drab, but it was tasty. The habanero Cabot cheese on the top really kicked it up a notch. Now I am officially out of that cheese.
It was a gorgeous day yesterday. I got my walking shoes on and did 45 minutes around my neighborhood. I’ve been having some lower back pain and didn’t want to overdo it.
When I got back I decided to clean up the back of our patio. I moved the table and chairs under the gazebo, took the hose and washed down the concrete slab and finished putting up the gazebo curtains. No bugs yet, but it will be nice to have them ready to go when they do come out. I also finished planting my romaine lettuce – I could have sworn I saw a sign by the plant that said “good for planters!” which is why I bought them. But when I took the little stick out of the planter it came in, it said “plant 18-24 inches apart.” Huh. So this will be interesting!
I had a taste for macaroni and cheese for lunch, and wanted to see if I could make it a tiny bit healthier. Obviously the cheese and butter are the calorie busters of mac n cheese, but I’ve never made a roux without butter. So I gave it the old college try, and this actually turned out really good.
I actually wasn’t sure that was going to be filling enough, but that held me over until dinner. I mean to defrost some steak for dinner, but forgot, and I don’t like defrosting steak in the microwave – it kind of ruins it for me. I looked in the fridge and I had leftover pulled pork and leftover grilled bone-in chicken. I had lo mein noodles. I had celery, mushrooms and red pepper. Ramen! I heated 1/2 teaspoon of grapeseed oil in my stock pot, and added the mushrooms, celery and red pepper and cooked for 5 minutes. I added 4 cups of chicken broth, 1 tablespoon ponzu sauce, 1 teaspoon sriracha, 1 teaspoon of Thai chili paste (0) 4 ounces of pork and 4 ounces of chicken that I chopped, and on the side I cooked the lo mein. Once I plated, I measured out 1 cup of cooked pasta for my bowl (6), 2 ounces of chicken (1) and 2 ounces of pork (1) and a cup of the broth and veggies and dinner was ready in about 15 minutes. Leftovers to the rescue!
I topped with a bit of fresh basil from my basil plant and this was a spicy and delicious soup. I still had 6 points left for the day after dinner, so the kadults and I enjoyed some popcorn last night.
I can’t believe it’s Friday already – this week went by quick. I actually have no concrete plans for the weekend, which is nice. I guess I’ll just be Bizzy in my Kitchen! Hope you have a great weekend – make it a great day!
I’m playing catch-up over here after two HELLISH weeks at work, but I’m excited to see what you’ve been up to! (and it’s an incredible feat to only cook out of your fridge for a whole week!)
When I have lower back pain it’s a sign I haven’t moved enough. When I don’t exercise enough I get back pain. Walking usually helps me.
Hope you had a great weekend.
I go to Pilates once a week and that has made an amazing difference in my back and hips. I did it years ago and it is actually one type of exercise I like! Love that photo of the sky. Gorgeous, Biz!
I’ve been trying to cook from our chest freezer. Question for you? Do you ever have your ground beef/sirloin smell/taste funny after you thaw it out? Hope your back is feeling better. Low back pain is annoying. Your soups always look appetizing. Love the crafty herb pots.
Nope, I’ve never had a gross smell from beef, but I pretty much freeze it as soon as I buy it. Do you defrost it on the counter, or in the fridge overnight?
My back is feeling much better – I walked it out today and that seemed to help – I think I need to go back to my Classical Stretch. I realized that when I had my day job is was getting up a lot more often – going to the copier, making coffee, etc., and with all the computer work I am doing during the day, I am sitting for a lot longer than I am used to. It’s all good though!
Hope your back is feeling better. Your dishes always look yummy. Went shopping today and planning not to shop till next Friday. JP and I don’t go out to eat anymore so it is nice to have enough food to make different meals. Thanks for stopping by today. Always nice to have visitors. I am trying to comment of Microsoft Edge. For some reason IE and Google Chrome won’t let me. Computers take up so much time when they don’t work properly.
I’ll have to come up and hopefully help you with the computer issues – not sure what’s going on with that! I’ll be in touch 😀
I wish we had a screened in patio, like I’ve seen in North Carolina and Florida. Bugs here send us inside, even when we can stand being out in the heat and humidity.
Have a great, relaxing weekend!
What’s nice about the gazebo too is that we can sit under there when it’s raining, which I love. I think Tony and I spent $179 several years ago and he grounded the gazebo with nails into the cement patio, so it’s not going anywhere. This was the first time I replaced the screen and it cost $39 for replacement panels, which isn’t too bad.
Lower back pain? NOooooooooooooooooo……. (But generally speaking, walking is the best thing you can do!)
I know, right?! But it feels better tonight – I walked for 50 minutes today and it only twinges a bit – but didn’t risk jogging. 😀