Weekly Clean Eats Cheat Sheet :-)!

It's time to clean it up y'all. And I'm not talking about your bathroom or a barbell at the gym, I'm talking about your diet. Through trial and error and feeding myself all kinds of different foods this is the weekly eating template that I've discovered works best for ME. My biggest problem has always been lack of planning when it comes to food. 10 hour work day and no prepared food? Okay I'll just hit the chicfila drive thru and grab something fast. And then feel like crap afterwards. Crap.

So this is what works for ME. It keeps me  honest and fueled with clean, healthy food. I lift heavy weights and do some kind of metabolic conditioning 3-5 days a week (aka, I do crossfit) so I need food that keeps me fueled for heavy workouts and feeds tired muscles post sweat sesh.

I encourage you to find what works for you! It may not be this exact plan, but concentrate on whole real foods- read ingredient lists on EVERYTHING. It's insane the crazy ingredients they put into our food these days. If there's an ingredient listed that you don't recognize, pull out your phone and google it. We live in a time with far too much technology for ignorance to be an excuse. 

You may have noticed this is for Monday- Friday. On Saturday and Sunday I eat tuna dip and drink wine, and last weekend I had a bacon cheeseburger that was heavenly. That keeps me sane. You could totally do this 7 days a week if you wanted to though. I don't eat a ton of fruit. It's high in sugar. I try to stay low in sugar. That's a personal decision for everyone. Again, I strongly encourage you to educate yourself on what you are putting into your body and how it affects you.

Some notes: I use Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oats, microwaved with 1/2 c unsweetened almond milk and 1/2 mashed banana and a sprinkle of cinnamon. 

I "hard boil" a bunch of eggs on Sunday and eat them throughout the week. This is the easiest way to prep them: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/05/easiest-hard-boiled-eggs-in-oven.html

For my balsamic dressing I just mix together 3 parts evoo to 1 part balsamic vinegar, a squirt of Dijon mustard and some salt & pepper. I put this on my salads and my veggies. This is another great, clean option: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/10/easy-mustard-vinaigrette.html
I give options for different types of protein at different meals. Eat what you like. That's clean of course & reasonable. Applegate farms turkey slices are excellent, and pretty much everything else they make if you can find them. Chicken breasts, thighs, tenderloins all great. You can do cuts of fish, shrimp, eggs, Aidell's makes great clean chicken sausages & meatballs. Bunless burgers are a great change-up, my husband eats lots of steak (I'm just not particularly a steak fan) you could do that too. Change it up, don't get bored that will keep you going!

I get the big frozen bags of broccoli that you can steam in the microwave. Easy & fast. You can sub cauliflower or any veggie that you love. When buying frozen veggies ALWAYS READ THE LABELS. They sneak very unnecessary ingredients into some of those veggies. The label should read: broccoli. Nada else. 
For my servings of chicken we grill up a bunch on Sunday/Monday and use it throughout the week. This is my fave marinade: http://unbearablygood.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-very-best-everything-marinade.html

Post workout & in my protein pancakes I use this paleo protein and unsweetened almond milk:

We find the protein at GNC. I like the triple chocolate post workout and the almond vanilla in protein pancakes (recipe below the table). Again, when you're buying protein powder READ THE LABELS :-)

For my sweet potatoes: I clean them and dice them into wedges, coat them all liberally with olive oil, season with salt & pepper and roast in a 375 degree oven for 30-45 min or until crispy. For a serving I eat about 3/4 cup of the wedges. You could just bake or microwave a bunch of sweet potatoes and eat those as well. I like to have as much pre-prepared for grab & go meals as possible.

The meal #6 of cottage cheese/ Greek yogurt & jam is the night time treat meal. Also cottage cheese & Greek yogurt contain casein which helps rebuild your muscles while you're sleeping.

****always drink lots of water! I have a cup of coffee in the morning and usually a cup or 2 of hot, unsweetened tea throughout the day. Beyond that, I just drink water. Lots of it. Hydration is key!

Also I try to avoid alcohol during the week. It's just not conducive to a healthy, clean eating lifestyle. Save it for the weekend friends!

Meal	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
1	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes	2 Egg omelet with 2 Cups your choice veggies. I like peppers, spinach, broccoli. Top with 4 Tbs Salsa or 2 Tbs shredded cheese	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes	2 Egg omelet with 2 Cups your choice veggies. I like peppers, spinach, broccoli. Top with 4 Tbs Salsa or 2 Tbs shredded cheese	½ C GF oatmeal, 2 eggs (however you like them!) ½ banana or your choice ½ fruit -OR- Protein Pancakes
2	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)	1 Banana or choice of 1 serving of fruit & small handful of unsalted almonds or choice of nut!	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)	1 Banana or choice of 1 serving of fruit & small handful of unsalted almonds or choice of nut!	1 hardboiled egg (or 1 clean sausage or 3 slices turkey- a small serving of protein!) & a small handful of unsalted almonds (or choice of nut)
3	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette	6 oz chicken (or choice of protein) 1 cup cooked broccoli (or cauliflower), & 1 small sweet potato (I like to top my chicken & broccoli with balsamic vinaigrette!)	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette	6 oz chicken (or choice of protein) 1 cup cooked broccoli (or cauliflower), & 1 small sweet potato (I like to top my chicken & broccoli with balsamic vinaigrette!)	Salad with 6 oz chicken (or choice of protein: turkey, tuna, etc), 2 cups lettuce (I like Spring Mix), small diced tomato, 1 diced hardboiled egg, ½ avocado, & balsamic vinaigrette
4	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese	1 scoop protein powder, 8 oz unsweetened almond milk **workout days only, post workout shake. If not a workout day sub 1 hardboiled egg (or small serving protein) & string cheese
5	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato	6 oz. Fish (or choice protein) 2 Cups choice of cooked veggies	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato	6 oz. Fish (or choice protein) 2 Cups choice of cooked veggies	6 oz chicken (or fish or choice protein) 1 Cup cooked broccoli 1 Small Sweet Potato
6	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in	½ Cup cottage cheese or unflavored., unsweetened Greek Yogurt with 1 Tbs All Fruit Jam ( I like Polaner) mixed in

Protein Pancakes Recipe:

These are a quick morning fix that are high in protein, low in carbs and will fuel you all morning long. Also, they're freaking delicious. You can eat them plain on the run, top with a smidge of almond butter or real butter or a small amount of 100% pure maple syrup. 

Ingredients: 

1/2 banana (the riper, the sweeter your pancakes will be)

1 Egg

1 Scoop Protein Powder (I Like Vanilla- Almond "Paleo Protein)

2 Tbs unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp Cinnamon

1 Tbs Ground Flax Seed (or meal)

Mash your banana in a bowl, whisk in your egg, protein powder, milk, Cinnamon, & flax seed until well mixed. Heat a skillet on medium- high heat and melt some real butter in the pan, cook in small batches, 1-2 minutes on each side. Enjoy!

SO that's all I've got for now. I'm sure I missed some stuff. Ask away! Let's do this y'all. Let's clean up our diets and do work in the gym :-)

How To: Clean Your Produce!

Happy October everyone! I am so super syked for this month BECAUSE my husband might come home! I say might, because this is how the military works, they tell you nothing. So while October 17, he will officially have fulfilled his 180 day deployment (180 days is such a long time y'all!) I most likely won't see him until around November 1. Bummer. But that's better than December 1, right? Right. I have to take the little wins. ALSO (and I'm far less excited about this part) today I started my Whole 30 paleo challenge. 30 days of protein and produce, basically. So this morning I went and re-loaded on a bunch of fruits & veggies and I thought I'd give everyone a quick look at how I clean them so they are all prepped for the week.

I used to just give my produce a quick rinse with plain water and think I was home free, but of course now that I actually give significant thought into what I put into my body I realize the majority of produce is covered in a bunch of BS. SO this is what I do now:

Start with a clean sink, fill half-way ish with warm water. Add a full cup of white vinegar and stir. 

Dump all your fresh goodies in the vinegar/ water mixture and let sit for 10 minutes. This includes anything where you eat the skin or if it has a very thin skin. You don't need to wash bananas or avocados etc. that have a super thick protective coating. As you can see my haul today included 4 sweet potatoes (my obsession!), 3 apples, 2 pears, 2 zucchini, and a crate of grape tomatoes I just dropped in without even opening. :-)

Drain the water.

Give 'em a good rinse. Now all your goodies are ready to go all week! Yay! 

I am doing a chicken recipe tonight too that I will post tomorrow:) Mustard- balsamic chicken YUM! Everybody have a good night! Happy Monday!

Healthy Hotel/Dorm Room Meals :-)

Early (EARLY!) Saturday morning  I got this text from my brother-in-law: "I just thought of something!! Why don't you try making some healthy recipes that would be available to students who live in dorms but want to still try to eat healthy and not instant crap. I think it's a good idea, and it'll help me eat healthy in hotels where I only have a microwave and a mini fridge." First of all, he's lucky I was already half- awake, my dogs had woken me up because all 3 of them were apparently dying to go outside. I re-read his text and thought about it for a minute. Just a mini fridge and a microwave? EEK. So I texted him back, "Challenge accepted" and thought about it allllllll weekend.

Not only do I think these ideas would great for a college student living in a tiny dorm room with limited resources or a traveling businessman, I also think they'd be great for all of my military family friends who at any given time could be living in temporary housing! I didn't really think about that until this morning when I was thinking about our upcoming move (In December- January ish we are PCSING). We will definitely be in a temporary housing situation (like a hotel room) for at least a week or so while we are house hunting, and I'm glad I have some ideas to feed us healthily for that time. I tried to keep all the recipes as close to paleo/gluten-free healthy stuff as possible too. NOT AN EASY TASK!

All of these recipes/ ideas are based on the fact that you have access to at least a mini fridge & microwave & also a local grocery store to buy your supplies. This is gonna be a long post (with LOTS 'o information) so Bear with me. Or just scroll down to what you're interested in. And forward it on to anyone you know in college or traveling or who may ever be in a temporary housing situation!

BREAKFAST:
It's the most important meal of the day y'all! But really, it is. Do you know what breakfast means? It's literally "BREAKing the FAST" the fast of course being while you were sleeping. Your body needs fuel, stat! Here's my ideas:
Microwaved scrambled eggs (see recipe below)
Microwaved crispy bacon (see recipe below)
Store-bought hard boiled eggs (I found these at my local grocery store in the refrigerated section w/ the fresh eggs. Would be great for an on-the-go breakfast or crumbled in salads!)
Peel-able fruits (IE: fruit you don't need a knife for. Bananas, oranges, etc. Swipe some almond butter on top for added protein)
Microwaved sweet potato (or regular potato. Wash, poke all over with a fork, put on a paper towel in the microwave, nuke it for 5 minutes or until soft & cooked through, slice open and eat plain or with desired toppings)
Granola with coconut milk or almond milk (like cereal, but better for you)
Microwaved sausage

Scrambled eggs in the microwave:
1. Add 2 eggs, about 1 tbsp. of milk or water, pinch of salt & pepper to a microwave safe bowl.

2. Whisk together with a fork until combined.

3. Microwave 1 1/2- 2 minutes or cooked until desired consistency.

ENJOY! The texture is a little different that skillet cooked eggs, but tastes exactly the same.

Crispy bacon in the microwave: (Seriously.)
1. Line a microwave safe plate with paper towels and top with slices of bacon.

2. Top slices of bacon with another paper towel (to soak up the grease)

3. Microwave for about 1 1/2 min per slice, or until desired crispy-ness. My 4 slices took 6 minutes!

LUNCH: My FAVORITE idea for lunch/ dinner is to use the convenience of a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Buy one at your local grocery store and ask your deli to cut it up for you (they don't mind, I swear!) then shred it with your hands (if you're an animal, like me) or chop it up and use it for salads, wraps, sandwiches, or just eat it straight up.
Jarred Salads (recipes below)
Lettuce wraps (roll up chicken or canned tuna in a piece of lettuce with desired veggies)
BLT wrap (lettuce wrap, microwaved bacon from recipe above ^^, tomato slices)
Canned tuna or chopped rotisserie chicken with microwave steamed veggies
Peel-able fruits
Nuts
Nut butters slathered on fruits/ veggies

Mason Jar Salads: I realize  if you're traveling for business you probably don't have access to mason jars. That portion of the idea is more for college dorm living. You MAY however buy a salad mix that comes in plastic- type container (Like below) and fill it with your veggies, protein, salad toppings (everything BUT the dressing) and dole it out into individual salad servings. No jars necessary. The BEST thing about the jars is that they will keep your salad goodies fresh for up to a week. You can make them all ahead of time and grab and go as needed. Awesome.

Step 1: Put your dressing in the bottom of the jar (the KEY is for the dressing to not touch the lettuce, that's what keeps the lettuce fresh.)

Step 2: Top dressing with desired protein & salad toppings. For this jar it was a cobb salad with hard-boiled egg pieces, bacon bits, sliced tomatoes, & chicken.

Step 3: Shove as much salad mix as you can into the top of the jar & Seal.

I made 2 varieties when I was making these, the cobb salad as mentioned above, and a cranberry walnut salad that I used dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, hard- boiled egg pieces, tomato slices, chicken, & salad mix. Some other great salads would be a greek salad with olives & onions or a buffalo chicken salad- just toss your chicken into some Frank's Red Hot and build salad as desired.

DINNER: okay so dinner is kind of just a repeat of lunch. The only thing I would really add is maybe a microwaved potato to make your meal heartier. If you have a Whole Foods handy you can always hit up their ready-made foods section, it is STELLAR. I picked up a very paleo friendly curry chicken salad there last week that was to-die-for. I will be trying to replicate it ASAP. Canned soups seem really easy, but read the ingredients list because some of them are really sketchy. 

Do YOU have any other great dorm/hotel living healthy food ideas? Please share below :-D And share this article with anybody you think could use it! Have a great week everyone!

A Day in Paleo-Land {So What CAN You Eat?}

Soooooo since "going paleo" I keep getting the same question again and again. "You don't eat grains, wheat, dairy, legumes, processed foods, or sugars. What DO you eat?" I actually eat a lot of really good stuff so I thought I would go over a typical day of eating for me and add in a couple of ideas if you're considering trying the paleo lifestyle :) If you are even an iota interested (and you really, really should be!) I HIGHLY recommend reading Robb Wolf's "The Paleo Solution" (link at the bottom of this post!). Yeah, I've said this on like every single post for the past 2 weeks and I will continue saying it, it's THE paleo book. Just is. Sure, you can start eating paleo and implementing it into your daily life without reading the book but at some point people are going to start asking you WHY you are doing this. And sure you can say you feel way better yada yada yada, but having the scientific reasons behind it will really make you stick to it (as well as really freak you about bread and gluten in general). So just read the book. You can buy it for like $9 on your kindle (I read it on my kindle app on my iPad and then I went and bought the hard copy so I could pass it along to family members). Okay ONWARD:

Breakfast: This was my actual breakfast from this morning and it's a very typical breakfast for me:
2 Eggs, Scrambled w/ salt & pepper
Sweet Potato Hash Browns! (use raw honey instead of brown sugar, I'm obsessed)
Slices of avocado

Some other great breakfast options:
Frittata w/ chicken sausage
Sweet Potato Hash Browns (again, I eat these almost daily I'm really obsessed)
1 Banana

Don't like eggs? Try:
Fluffy Paleo Pancakes! 
Mango- Banana Smoothie! 
2 Ingredient Banana "Pancakes" 

Lunch: This was my actual lunch last week @ Mellow Mushroom:
Spinach salad greens w/ jerk chicken & tomatoes (IT WAS SO GOOD!)
 & PS: that's my brother's calzone in the background, NOT paleo.

I usually do a salad with grilled chicken for lunch. Or scrambled eggs again. I really like scrambled eggs. Salad is the easiest thing to do when you're eating out, just order it with no croutons and no cheese and you're awesome.

Dinner: This was my mom & I's dinner the other night, this fed us for like 2 days so don't think we ate ALL of this in one sitting :)
Grilled chicken & Grilled zucchini

I usually just try to center my dinners around protein (chicken, beef, pork, seafood, etc.) and veggies. I love grilled veggies and it makes it super easy just to throw everything on the grill. ALSO as a side note we had a curry chicken salad that was 100% paleo from Whole Foods the other night and it was freaking awesome. I will be trying to replicate that on here, ASAP.

SNACKS: I love snacks. Justin's nut butters makes these crazy fabulous little squeezey packets and I like to squeeze them on fruit for a snack, it is SO GOOD.

Maple Almond Butter w/ Apple Slices!

Chocolate Hazelnut Butter w/ Banana Slices!

When I'm in a snacking mood I look for fruit, typically. Because I really like fruit. But nuts are a great choice, avocado (nom nom nom), cucumber slices, sliced marinated tomatoes, etc. 

The point is, really, just to eat real food. No processed, yucky, fake stuff. REAL food, that you can identify it's point of origin. It will blow-yo-mind how much better you will feel. Real food, seems like an easy concept right? Read the book. And have a great weekend! And GO JAGS! (look for me at the game on Sunday!) And GO NOLES! :-D

THE BOOK:

 

How To: Motivate Yourself to Cook More!

SO I was thinking this morning about why I started this blog in the first place. The original reason was just to share my recipes with my friends and family who frequently asked for them, but then something unexpected happen and a bunch of NEW friends were reading too. I now realize, the purpose of the blog is to encourage y'all to do what I love- COOK! To get your booties in the kitchen whipping up something fantastic and show you that it's EASY. Really, there's nothing hard about cooking. Whenever someone tells me "I don't cook." Or "I can't cook." I just stare at them. "Um, what do you mean you don't cook? How do you eat?" Eating out every single meal of the day would be SUPER expensive, so your other alternative is pre-packaged frozen-type meals- have you ever read their ingredient list? ICK-- if you can't pronounce it it's probably not good. You have the ability to make something SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT. Yes, shouty capitals because I've got my serious face on now. You're better than frozen food, your family (or whoever you're cooking for, even if it's just yourself) deserves more than that. Seriously. Nutrition is important, ignorance is NOT bliss in this situation. This is a "knowledge is power" situation and if you have google, you don't have any excuses. So without further ado- here's my list of motivators to get your butt in the kitchen! :)

1. Cook something you LOVE. Nothing will motivate you more than knowing you're about to have your fave food on the table. One of the best things about cooking yourself is that you get to put whatever you like in the meal, not like at a restaurant where they give you the choices. Love chicken? Sit on Pinterest for 30 minutes, pin every chicken recipe you see. Cook one. Love a specific chicken dish? Google "Chicken ______ recipe", you'll get a ton of recipes. Why pay Olive Garden $12 to make you chicken alfredo when you can make it for $5? And that feeds like 4 people. And on that same note, Olive Garden has their actual alfredo sauce and many other recipes on their website. Just google it.

2. Plan ahead. The saying goes "fail to prepare, prepare to fail" and it's true. You're far more likely to hit the drive-thru if you know you don't have anything to cook at home. Plan a trip to the grocery store Sunday afternoon and layout meals for the whole week, make sure you have ALL of the ingredients on hand and then you have no excuses. You'll also be more motivated to cook because you don't want those ingredients you spent good money on going bad on you! No sir. I was going to stop by a local smoothie joint this morning, but I remembered I have 2 bananas that are EXTRA-ripe sitting on the counter. If I don't use them ASAP, they will be rotten, so I came home and made my own dang smoothie. I'm cheap, so that strategy almost always works for me. 

3. Make a playlist. Put "Beyonce" radio on Pandora and turn it up! Trust me, cooking to 'Bootylicious' is wayyyyyy more fun than cooking to silence. Not a Beyonce fan? Ugh, I feel bad for you- but just put on whatever gets you jazzed :). On the same note, that reality TV show that you just have to watch- blare it in the background. You don't need to see the housewives faces to know what they're arguing about, let's be honest we see that same fight every week! Someone in the house complaining about your choice of tune-age while you're in the kitchen? Tell them to kiss it, or they can cook themselves. 

4. Don't overestimate yourself. I'm so proud of you for getting in the kitchen! But you really need to be realistic with yourself. If you're busy during the week, planning to cook coq au vin is NOT realistic. Stick to something quick & easy that you're really comfortable with during the week, save the harder, newer stuff for the weekend when you have plenty of time to work at it. Nothing is more frustrating than having a burnt meal finished at 8pm when you have to be at work bright n early. Don't be that guy.

5. Buy yourself a new toy. When I was in a cooking rut about a year ago I picked up this fab Kitchenaid knife with a lime green handle. It wasn't expensive, it was around $7 at T.J. Maxx, but it made me so excited to use it because it was so bright and happy! New kitchen gadgets are exciting and fun, and usually pretty inexpensive. Just browse the kitchen aisle in Target- so many cute things! I have a can opener that looks like a toucan, a bottle opener that looks like a shark, a potato peeler that looks like a monkey, and kitchen clips shaped like duck bills. They make me happy. Being happy in the kitchen is important, you want it to be your happy place so that you will be there MORE.

6. Think of all the benefits of cooking. By this I mean both nutritionally, and financially. Nothing drives me crazier than when I see little kids scarfing down Mickey D's chicken nuggets and french fries. Have you seen those pictures of what McDonald's chicken used to look like? That pink sludge? Ick. I understand if you're in a major pinch or you're on a road trip fast food is sometimes necessary. Don't make it a habit! Not only is it a poor choice nutritionally, but it's expensive! A $5 kids meal? If they love chicken nuggets, go home chop up a chicken breast, toss it in some bread crumbs and bake. You'll get like 25 chicken nuggets for around $2-3. And you'll know exactly what's in them. Yes, I know I don't have kids- maybe I don't understand? Maybe I don't. But when I think about having a little mini-me in the future I can't even begin to imagine stuffing them with fake, processed foods. 

7. Just do it. Okay, I'm gonna get a little Nike on you. Just cook. Just do it. Just get in the kitchen and start. Here's some really good, EASY recipes to start with:
Hot {or not} Baked Teriyaki Wings! 
Hot Turkey Sammies! 
Chicken Satay & Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce 
Spinach- Mozzarella Chicken 
Lasagna Stuffed Pasta Shells! 
Bacon Cheddar Ranch Chicken 
Chicken Enchiladas in Sour Cream Sauce 

There's 7 meals, for 7 nights of the week! No excuses. :-D  

Gallon Sized Ziplocs, my BFF!

Today I don't have a recipe for you, sorry :-/, however I am sharing with you one of my true kitchen loves. A product I could not SURVIVE in the kitchen without. An expensive knife? A $5000 blender? No, sir- my true kitchen BFF is the gallon sized ziploc bag. I am not kidding you, I use the gallon sized ziploc for EVERYTHING. Like, daily use, on the reg. We are pals, BFFs, soul-mates, the ziploc was made for me. And for you too. Are you really getting the most out of your plastic baggy friends? Here I share with you my top 5 all time favorite uses for the gallon sized ziploc bag.

There they are, just sitting in the pantry so unsuspecting. They don't even know how great they are!

1. Marinating Meats. I mentioned this yesterday in my spinach-mozzarella chicken post(spinach-mozzarella chicken), throw the meat in the bag, top with marinade, close the top (MAKE SURE IT'S CLOSED), shake, marinate, cook meat, toss bag. No cleanup. Done deal.

2. As a pastry bag. I showed you this technique the other day in the Lasagna Stuffed Shells post, also in the Hard boiled eggs... in the oven post, and the Strawberry- Lemonade cupcakes post. Clearly, I do this often. Don't buy expensive pastry bags, just put whatever filling you have in your ziploc, push to one corner, twist the top to push it down, cut the corner, and pipe out of the hole. 

3. To keep leftovers fresh. Open bag of chips, and no chip clip to be found? Transfer those babies to a ziploc. I do this weekly when I buy frozen fruit for my smoothies, open all the bags and dump the fruit into one communal ziploc that can be reused week in and out.

My communal bag of frozen fruits :)

4. As a freezer bag. This one is kindof obvious and a repeat of number 3, but I feel it needs to be stated anyhow. Freezing leftovers? Flash freeze on a cookie sheet, throw in a ziploc. Wham bam thank you ma'am. 
5. To keep your hands clean when crumbling food. Like mashing a banana for banana bread, peel & throw the bananas in the ziploc, close, mash with your hands, cut a hole in the corner and pipe out into mixture. Bacon? Throw cooked bacon into bag, crumble with fingers, dump into recipe, grease free hands! Nuts, chips, crackers, whatevs it all works here. 

Now make sure you're stocked up and start getting those ziplocs to work. :-) What are YOUR fave ziploc uses?! I'm always up to add more to my repertoire... 

The Easiest Hard Boiled Eggs... In the Oven.

Today I don't have a recipe for y'all as much as I have a technique. Of all the things I feel like I do well in the kitchen I will let you in on something I've always had trouble with, hard boiled eggs. Seriously. It seems like the most simple thing but you've got to boil them for so long, then rest them for so long, then chill them for so long? And I seem to never get the equation right. Seriously if you looked at my Pinterest board I have like 6 different hard boiled egg methods. Makes me feel pathetic, isn't this a basic technique? But then I found THE method I needed. Hard boiled eggs---- IN THE OVEN. Wait, what? Aren't hard boiled eggs supposed to be, ummm, boiled? But, whatever I was ready to try anything. So here's the tutorial I used: http://www.theburlapbag.com/2012/03/make-hard-boiled-eggs-in-the-oven/

So I'll give you the 411 quickly, because this is seriously quick, easy, and fool proof. Even I get perfectly cooked, hard- boiled eggs every time. Plus you can make a ton at one time, no need to fill a pot, just fill a couple muffin pans with eggs and you can make deviled eggs for the masses!

Directions:
Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Put the eggs in a muffin pan (or mini muffin pan if you have it) that way they all have their own little place and they can't roll around on you!

Step 2: Put the muffin pan with the eggs in the oven, set a timer for 30 minutes and walk away. Catch up on your DVR, call your mom, do your nails, take your pups for a walk, whatever you may do with a free 30 minutes- now's your time! 
Step 3: Fill a bowl with ice water and drop in the eggs in when they've finished their 30 minute cook time. Let them chill until they've cooled enough to peel, approximately 10 minutes? Peel those babies, and enjoy! Perfectly hard boiled eggs. Fool proof. Easy breeezy! 

You may notice in the above picture the eggs do come out with some little brown spots on the shell, disregard these the insides look perfect it's just from the heat of the oven! Also I was cooking these today specifically for deviled eggs so I'll throw in a little deviled egg tip while we're sharing egg tips. The easiest way to go from hard boiled egg to deviled egg heaven? Scoop out the yolks, throw them in a ziploc, mash them with whatever you add to your deviled egg mixture (I use mayo, mustard, salt & pepper), zip the top of the bag, cut a hole in a corner, pipe the mixture into the egg whites, and toss the bag when you're finished. Zero cleanup. Wahoo!

Side note: Those pictures didn't come out the greatest because I took them as an afterthought. Sorry. But you get the idea right? What kind of brizziliant methods do you use in the kitchen?