Home Sweet Apartment

Med Diet Day 3

Breakfast: apple & cinnamon lower sugar oatmeal, 1/2 red apple

Lunch: chicken stir-fry leftovers, 1/3 rosemary Wasa cracker thin with garlic hummus, Tangerine

Snack: vanilla & honey greek yogurt with blueberries and strawberries

Dinner:

Med Diet Day 2

Breakfast: WG English Muffin with 1/2 Avocado and 4 small slices of Cracker Barrel Vermont White Cheddar block

Snack: Seeded Grapes

Lunch: Pepper Feta Salad in WW Pita Pocket, 1 Rosemary Wasa Cracker Thin, Carrots and Broccoli with Garlic Hummus, Tangerine (or Tangerlo? some small, seedless, yummy orange citrus bought in a bag of 8 for $1.99)

Snack: Vanilla Oikos Greek Yogurt (0%) with Blueberries and Strawberries

Dinner: Brown Rice Stir Fry: Boil-in-a-Bag Brown Rice, 2 chicken breasts, red peppers, green peppers, mushrooms, can of baby corn, can of water chestnuts*, peas, white onions, spinach, garlic red pepper sauce, soy sauce, olive oil, sesame oil. 

This was basically any and every vegetable I had available. I sautéed the veggies together before I added the rice and chicken, and let me tell you, the veggies were an entire frying pan full. That made me feel pretty good about the meal!

Dessert: small caramel drumstick (oops!)

Fun Fact: water chestnuts are actually a vegetable that grows in swamps and mud. And they taste amazing.

Mediterranean Diet Day 1

Just trying to keep track of our meals and since we don’t ever seem to use this blog anymore, I guess this is the perfect place for it.

Breakfast: Whole Wheat Toast, 1/4 Avocado, 1/2 Cup Pepper & Onion mix, 1 Egg

Snack: ~3/4 Cup Grapes

Lunch: Pepper Feta Salad*, 1/2 C Imitation Crab, WW Tortilla, Romaine, Pear

Snack: Tangerine

Dinner: Salad (tomato, cucumber, red onion, mushrooms, feta, croutons, goddess dressing), Baked Salmon with White White and Italian Seasoning, Fresh Green Beans and Cannelloni Beans with Dill

So much fruit! And I drank at least 64 oz of water. And went to the gym. Good day!

*Pepper Feta Salad: 1/4 red pepper 1/4 green pepper 1/2 jalapeño 1 stalk green onion 1/4 cucumber 3/4 small tomato Olive oil Red wine vinegar 1/4c Feta Dice vegetables and add OO and vinegar. Add salt and pepper to season to taste.

Matt’s Au Gratin Potatoes

Matt’s Au Gratin Potatoes

4 Potatoes, Peeled and Sliced
1/4 cup Flour
2 1/2 cups 2% Milk
4-5 Garlic Cloves, Minced
2 tsp Butter
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar
1/2 cup Monterey Jack
1/2 cup Cheddar
8 thin Onion Slices
1 cup Ham, Cubed 
Salt & Pepper
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Salt 

(Preheat oven to 350)

1. Put potatoes in a bowl and season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and garlic salt. 
2. In a large saucepan, stir together flour, milk, garlic and butter. Bring to a boil while stirring. Stir in cheeses and continue to stir until melted.
3. In a 8x8 (or 9x9) pan, layer potato slices, onions and ham. Pour cheese sauce over layers.
4. Cover and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook for another 40 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

I wish the photo did it justice (its just a phone pic). This stuff was AMAZING! Hopefully you will see more Matt recipes on here soon…

My Mac & Cheese

I have always loved mac and cheese and might even go as far as saying that I am a mac and cheese connoisseur. My favorite, from a wonderful, little restaurant called The French Laundry, is a white cheddar mac and cheese. After three attempts and inspiration from several different recipes, tonight I finally enjoyed the perfect bowl of homemade mac. Its pretty damn good, if I don’t say so myself.

Damn Good Mac and Cheese

1/2 cup Butter, Divided
2 tbsp Flour
2 cups Whipping Cream
10 oz bar Cracker Barrel Vermont Sharp White Cheddar Cheese (or any other white, extra sharp cheddar cheese)
8 oz Gruyere Cheese
4 oz Monterey Jack Cheese
1 1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 lb elbow macaroni noodles
3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
Salt & Pepper
Paprika  

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Cook macaroni pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
3. In a medium saucepan on medium heat, add 1/4 cup butter and cook until melted.
4. Remove saucepan from heat and add flour. Whisk constantly for 1 minute.
5. Return saucepan to medium heat and add whipping cream. Stir to combine.
6. Heat mixture until cream is hot but not boiling.
7. Cut cheese into slices (or grate cheese) and add to cream mixture. 
8. Cook for 8 minutes or until cheese is completely melted. Stir in a dash of paprika.
9. Add macaroni noodles to saucepan and stir to combine pasta with cheese sauce.
10. Pour into a 9x13 casserole dish.
11. Melt remaining butter and mix into bread crumbs. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste preference).
12. Sprinkle bread crumbs on top of macaroni.
13. Cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Let sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

(Feel free to add more or less cheese according to your taste preference. I prefer mine to be very flavorful and add salt and pepper along the way as well)

So much cheese! But well worth it.

Chicken Nachos!

On Tuesday, I made some amazing nachos with a great cream sauce on it. Here is what I did…

Chicken Nachoes

Topping:

1/4 Red Onion, Diced
1 Roma Tomato, Diced
1 Avacado, Cubed
1 Can Black Beans
1 Can Corn

Mix all together in a bowl and add salt, pepper, cheyenne, cumin and lime juice to flavor. Set Aside.

 Cream Sauce:

1 Block light Cream Cheese, Softened
1 Can Green Enchilada Sauce (you could use red if you want, but I’m not a fan)
~1 Cup Milk
Mexican Crema, if desired

Heat half of the milk in a saucepan over low-medium. Add the block of cream cheese and stir every once in a while until it is mostly melted. Add small amounts of the Enchilada sauce and Crema while stirring to de-lump cream cheese and until desired taste. Season with salt and pepper if desired.

Putting it together:

In a 13x9 pan (or smaller if wanted), place a layer of tortilla chips then cover with shredded cheese (mexican blend or Monterey jack, or whatever you prefer). Sprinkle with chicken. Add another layer of chips and cheese. Top with topping mixture if desired.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Drizzle with cream sauce and enjoy!

Ours got a little soggy in the middle and this could be because we put on the sauce before we put the nachos in the oven. They were still great! I would also consider using the cream sauce on enchiladas or any other mexican dish as it was delicious! 

Hi Again!

We haven’t written in a while and I need to get better about that! Although our apartment hasn’t gotten too many additions (our attention and money went to Bonnaroo for a few months), we have had a lot of fun making some food and trying different beers. So maybe we will write about that for a while. And keep you updated on the great deals we find (which hopefully included a dresser from Craigslist in the near future!) Stay tuned!

The Best Daily Deals in Nashville: Flowers for Mom

I would really love this poster.