Book Review: Still Missing

May 312012

Good afternoon everyone! How is your day going so far? Today I want to share my review of Still Missing, the book chosen by Julie’s book club for the month of May. Although I was too late to post for the blogger link up (somehow I didn’t see when she asked for our reviews?) it’s still fun to participate and I did read the book so I might as well post my review! I will warn you that it does include spoilers so if you haven’t finished it yet you should stop reading this post now (Britt this means you)!

Brief Summary

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens tells the story of Annie Sullivan, a 32-year old realtor who gets abducted during an open house by a man who she deems, “The Freak.” While she is abducted, she is forced to live in an isolated cabin with The Freak and adhere to his strict rules, which include using the restroom only at specific times during the day, never leaving the cabin, and being raped by The Freak every night. Eventually Annie gets pregnant and grows to love her baby, only to have her die at the hands of The Freak. This is when something inside Annie snaps and she realizes she will do anything to escape from The Freak, and manages to kill him while he is chopping wood. Annie then finds her way home and attempts to solve the mystery of who The Freak was and why he abducted her.

In the second half of the book, when Annie is solving the mystery of The Freak, she realizes that her own mother was responsible for her abduction as a type of get-rich-quick scam. Through this discovery and a few bumps along the way with her friends and potential love interests, Annie grows to understand herself better and begins to get over this horrible time in her life.

My Thoughts

On the one hand, I really enjoyed this story. It was well-written and fast-paced and there were times when I just couldn’t put it down. I needed to know what was going to happen and blew through this book in about a week. I love when books hook me from the beginning and keep me turning page after page (or, you know, kindle-button-click after kindle-button-click). I was really happy with the writing style and was so thankful that the story is told with a mix of past- and present-tense events so that even during the most suspenseful parts, you know that somehow Annie will be safe in the end.

On the other hand, I found this book pretty disturbing and creepy. I made the mistake of reading it while I was home by myself, and found myself crouching under the covers and jumping at small noises in my apartment. The detail and level of description in the scenes with The Freak were great because they were so realistic, but they were really sick. It made me sad that this actually happens to women way more often than I realize and I need to be more mindful of my safety (my parents are probably thrilled to hear me say that…).

All in all I thought it was a really good book. It was pretty simple and gets the job done if you are looking for a quick thriller to read. I would recommend this book to a friend (and I have) and think it was definitely worth reading.

Discussion

What did you think of the book? How did Annie’s relationship with The Freak affect you? How about when she started to feel sorry for him? Personally I almost lost it when he killed that duck, but we all know I’m a duck lover. What did you think of Annie’s relationship with her friends and family? Who do you think was the worst?

Asian Steak & Mango Salad

Recipes 1 Response »

May 302012

Good evening everyone! Can you believe it’s already Wednesday night? I love how the week after a holiday weekend flies right by. Plus work has slightly calmed down for the moment (though it is going to pick right back up again next week- ugh) so I had a great day Smile

. Dinner was another amazing salad that you must try. Seriously, I know I say that a lot but it really is so good! Gah!

Before I tell you about dinner though, let’s go over my workout!

Workout

When I woke up this morning I was exhausted again because I had a lot of trouble sleeping last night. I kept having anxiety dreams about work that I couldn’t cross anything off my to-do list. In fact, in one of my dreams I even planned how I would blog about time-management. Isn’t that nuts? I guess I was really stressed. Anyway, because of my lack of a peaceful night I had a difficult time waking up this morning and skipped half of my workout and just ran a mile with Jack, as I did yesterday. However, I made up for it when I got home by running to and from the dog park after work (another 2 miles) and doing a few crunches/leg workouts while watching TV.

I can already tell my jogs with Jack are going to get more difficult as the weather heats up. By the end of our evening run Jack was lagging behind on his leash (he never does that!) and I was drenched in sweat.

Yuck! I‘m not sure what we’re going to do when it gets to be really hot in July and August. Ew.

Recipe

Dinner tonight was delicious. I was so excited to be eating such a flavorful salad (me? excited about a salad? Idk who I am these days) and could not stop myself from slowing down. By the pace I ate this thing you would have thought I was a starved child. Not so, just a girl with a tasty dinner.

I found this recipe yesterday on Our Best Bites when I was researching my chicken orzo summer salad recipe and I was so intrigued by the ingredients. This delightful summer salad features mango, avocado, steak, and an Asian dressing. The flavors really came together and I loved it! Here’s how I made it…

First I assembled the Asian dressing which doubled as both the marinade and the salad dressing. It was made from orange juice, soy sauce, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, sesame oil, and olive oil. Every time I make these Asian sauces I’m amazed at how simple and delicious they turn out. I was a fan.

I reserved about 1/3 cup of the sauce for the dressing and added the rest into a Ziploc bag a small piece of skirt steak. I let the steak marinade in the sauce for about an hour, although the original recipe suggests leaving it in the marinade for much longer. While I’m sure this would have helped pump up the flavor even more, I didn’t have enough time and thought it tasted delicious with only an hour in the marinade.

When I was about 30 minutes away from cooking the steak, I took it out of the refrigerator and allowed it to come up to room temperature. Then I set the oven to broil and placed the steak on a baking rack on top of a foil-lined cookie sheet. I seasoned the steak with salt and pepper and let it cook for about 5 minutes.

I let the steak rest for a few minutes while I got everything else ready so the juices wouldn’t leak out when I cut into it.

Next I assembled equal parts romaine lettuce, arugula, and spinach in a large bowl. Then I chopped up a mango, an avocado, and half a red onion and added them to the bowl with the greens.

When the steak was done resting I cut it into pieces on a diagonal and added it to the bowl along with the reserved salad dressing. I gave everything a good toss and topped it with some goat cheese.

The creamy avocado tasted delicious with the tender steak and the mango brought a nice sweetness to the plate. It was also super filling- I was only able to eat about half of what’s shown above. The rest will be saved for leftovers, but I’ll probably add a bit more lemon juice to make sure the avocados don’t turn brown. Or I could just eat it later as a midnight snack Winking smile but I’ll try to save it!

Asian Steak & Mango Salad

Recipe type: Entree

Author: Chelsea Eats Treats (Adapted from Our Best Bites)

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 20 mins

Serves: 2

This steak salad features creamy avocado and sweet mango and comes together with an Asian dressing.

Ingredients

1/4 cup orange juice
3 tbsp. lemon/lime juice
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. grated ginger
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 lb. skirt steak
1/2 red onion, chopped
1 mango, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
lettuce of choice (I used spinach, arugula, and romaine)

Instructions

Combine first eight ingredients (through sesame oil) and whisk together in a small bowl. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mixture for salad dressing and add remaining liquid to Ziploc back with steak. Allow to marinade for at least an hour.
Bring steak up to room temperature and remove from marinade. Grill or broil on high heat for about 5 minutes or until steak is done to your liking. Allow steak to rest before cutting.
Meanwhile, combine diced mango, avocado, and red onions to lettuce mixture. Mix well.
Slice steak on a diagonal and add to salad mixture. Top with reserved dressing and toss to combine.
Sprinkle with goat cheese, and enjoy!

WordPress Recipe Plugin and Microformatting by EasyRecipe

Please tell me you guys will try this salad! It’s so good! What are some of your favorite salad recipes? I’m still trying to get into eating them (I always used to hate them) so I feel like I’m way behind in the salad department.

Also I just got a new plugin for displaying recipes. What do you guys think??

WIAW #5

WIAW 12 Responses »

May 302012

Hello everyone! Happy Wednesday! I am starting to notice that every week when I write my WIAW posts I am insanely busy at work. I used to think Thursdays were there really busy days around here, but I guess it depends on what projects I am working on. Anyway, I’ll keep this brief so I can get back to ~~being a slave~~ work.

If you’re new around here, WIAW stands for What I Ate Wednesday and it documents what I ate for a whole day. The idea was started by the ingenious Jenn over at Peas and Crayons and it’s a fun thing to participate in each week so you can keep track of your eating habits. So, without further ado, here’s a compilation of everything I ate yesterday!

1. My morning started out with a bowl of Frosted Mini Wheats cereal with fat free milk. This is one of my favorite breakfast cereals because it has a lot of fiber but doesn’t taste like crap. I first bought it when my Fooducate app (everyone needs to download this app!) showed me that it was a better choice than many cereals, and I’ve been buying it ever since! It also fills me up for the entire morning, which I know from experience that a lot of cereals don’t (at least for me). I’ve tried switching up my cereals a bunch of times, but this one always finds its way back onto my shelf. It’s a keeper!

2. For lunch I had another staple for me: turkey breast on a whole wheat sandwich thin with reduced fat American cheese and mustard. I also, not surprisingly, at this with a handful of raw almonds from Trader Joe’s, pretzel twists, and yogurt-covered pretzels for dessert. I know, I know, this is a very boring lunch and I eat it almost every day, but I like it! And that’s all that matters, right?

3. Midway through the afternoon I was feeling hungry again so I munched on a banana. I was happy that I remembered to bring one to work because sometimes if I’m running low on fruit or rushing out the door, I forget. Nom nom nanner

4. I also sipped on half a bottle of All Natural Nantucket Nectars Apple Juice. I didn’t drink the whole bottle because I was saving the rest for later (mostly because there was too much sugar in it for me to consume in one serving), but the juice gave me a quick boost of energy when that end of the day drag started creeping up on me.

5. Apparently I was really tired at work because I also munched on two Hershey kisses. These kind are the air delights, which have more air and less chocolate so they kind of break down when you eat them. They taste pretty similar to the regular ones but are only 200 calories for 11 of them. Yes, I said 11. Who eats 11 Hershey kisses in one sitting anyway?? For two little kisses it’s only about 35 calories, which is not bad at all if it cures my chocolate craving.

6. For dinner I had Chicken Orzo Summer Salad with asparagus, tomatoes, and bell peppers. If you missed this recipe yesterday you should check it out immediately. It. Was. Awesome.

And that concludes today’s WIAW post! As my friends will tell you, it’s a good thing I didn’t decide to write a What I Ate This Weekend post because it would have included a ton of fattening foods like chicken tenders and pizza. Ugh! I’m trying to squeeze a lot more fruits and veggies into my meals since we’ve been back, and last night’s salad definitely helped! Hopefully I can keep the streak going

How do you guys recover from crazy weekends? I’m thinking a detox shake might be in order. You should see all the greens I picked up yesterday. Oy!

Chicken Orzo Summer Salad

Recipes 2 Responses »

May 292012

Ah, my favorite time of the day is right now. Dinner is done, the kitchen is clean, and I can relax on the couch and blog. This evening is especially welcome after the tough day I had at work. Coming back from vacation is always difficult, but today my to-do list was never-ending and I had a ton of assignments that needed to be finished by the end of the day. It was super stressful so coming home and enjoying an easy and fresh dinner was exactly what I needed! Before I share the recipe with you though, let’s talk about my workout.

Workout

Last night Fabio didn’t get home from New York until after midnight. To make things worse, he needed help bringing in all his bags and, since it was late, he had to park far away. This meant I had to stay up waiting for him and didn’t get to bed until way past my bedtime. So, when the alarm rang at 6 am for my morning workout, I opted to snooze for an extra 30 minutes and only ran a mile with Jack. I felt a little guilty for skipping the other half of my workout, but my body was so drained from Memorial Day Weekend and I knew it made more sense to sleep in. I will just have to vamp up my workout tomorrow!

Recipe

I was feeling pretty uninspired today when I was thinking about dinner (must have been that lack of sleep/busy workday bringing me down) so I turned to Cooking Light for some inspiration. I saw this beautiful Chicken Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese which looked bright, colorful, fresh, and easy. I was immediately hooked! Although I had most of the ingredients on hand, I didn’t have any orzo or arugula so I picked some up from Trader Joe’s after work. I couldn’t wait even one day to make this delicious recipe!

Luckily, it lived up to its expectations! It was so flavorful and I loved all the different elements. I actually wound up omitting completely forgetting to add the goat cheese, but it honestly wasn’t missing a thing! I loved this light summer salad and was happy I could incorporate so many veggies into one dish. Here’s how it came together.

First I cooked the orzo according to the package directions. If you’ve never had orzo before, it’s a rice-shaped pasta that makes a great base for salads. I used Trader Joe’s brand (shocking, I know).

While it was cooking, I got all the veggies together. I first chopped up some spinach and arugula. Then I plucked a few leaves (about 3 tbsp.) from my basil plant, julienned them (remember when I talked about that?), and mixed them with the other greens.

Then I moved the greens to the side and got started chopping some red onion, grape tomatoes, asparagus (not pictured- woops), and bell peppers.

The bell peppers I used were frozen (I always buy them in bulk, chop them, and freeze them) so I tossed them in a skillet with the asparagus for a few minutes until both were tender. I used my handy Misto olive oil sprayer to keep the oil to a minimum. I bought it for just a few bucks from TJ Maxx/Ross/Home Goods/one of those stores ages ago and it’s one of my favorite kitchen gadgets!

Once all the veggies were ready, I got the chicken going. I cooked two frozen chicken breasts on the George Foreman grill and seasoned with them with salt and pepper. I love my George Foreman because you just have to plop the frozen chicken down and walk away Smile What could be easier?

Then it was time to make the vinaigrette. It took me literally three seconds to bring together and included some olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. So, so easy.

By this time the orzo was finished cooking so I drained it and allowed it to cool for a minute or two. Then I combined everything (the arugula, spinach, basil, asparagus, bell peppers, red onion, tomatoes, chopped chicken, and vinaigrette) together in a large bowl until everything was mixed thoroughly.

Then it was time to serve!

All the flavors came together beautifully. Plus the recipe made enough for us to have leftovers for lunch! Woohoo!

Chicken Orzo Summer Salad (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Serves three

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
3 cups chopped grilled chicken breast strips
1 cup trimmed arugula
1 cup trimmed spinach
3 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper (I used a mix of red and yellow)
1/2 cup chopped asparagus
1/4 cup red onion, diced
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain well.
Chop the next 6 ingredients (through red onion) and add to a large bowl; toss well.
Combine vinegar, oil, salt, and black pepper in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
Drizzle vinegar mixture over pasta mixture; toss well to coat.

This salad made me so excited for summer because of all the great produce that’s available. I loved the crunch of the asparagus, the soft tomatoes, and the buttery pasta. Yum!!

What are your favorite seasonal foods? As much as I love fresh tomatoes and asparagus in summer, there’s something to be said for apples in the fall and butternut squash in winter!

Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

Random 5 Responses »

May 282012

Hey everyone! Happy Memorial Day to you all! I hope everyone had a great weekend; mine was awesome and I truly had a blast, but I’m so happy to be home. There were definitely a ton of unhealthy decisions this weekend (lots of booze-drinking and fried-food-eating) and I can’t wait to get back on track.

Friday morning I headed over to Britt’s house and we hit the road at about 8 am. Traffic wasn’t too bad so we made it to the beach by around noon. Luckily our rooms were ready so we were able to get right in and unpack our stuff. Our hotel was on the bay side and we had a nice little walk-out porch. Check out the view!

Our New York friends got there before us so we quickly got changed and headed to the beach!

Hi Britt! Hi Vic!

After a few hours at the beach, we relocated to a bar called Bottle & Cork which had a really great band playing 90’s music. We ran into a ton of our friends from college at the bar and had a really great time dancing.

Later that night, my friends headed to another bar called the Rusty Rudder, where apparently my dad used to hang out in college, but Britt was feeling so hot so we stayed in. It wound up being a great decision since we had already had such a long day and still had the whole weekend ahead of us. We needed the sleep!

The next day we planned to take a bus to Seacrets with all of our friends from college! Our buses embarked for Ocean City around 10:30 am and we quickly arrived.

When we got inside it was packed and there were literally thousands of people there. I saw friends I knew from college, high school, and work. It was crazy! Seacrets is a really fun bar because it’s on the beach and there are tables in the water. It was definitely a fun day. When we got home around 6 we “napped” which turned into us all waking up at midnight and being unable to fall back asleep. This wound up being one of my favorite parts of the weekend because we just sat around chatting and watching crappy late-night TV and ordering a pizza. It was great to just be able to sit and catch up with the girls!

The next day we went to another bar on the beach and saw more friends from college. I wound up seeing these three Labradors swimming in the water near the bar, so what did I decide to? I jumped in the bay and swam with them. Like, literally, they swam to me and I was hugging them in the water. This was obviously an alcohol-induced decision and later on I realized how silly I must have looked swimming around with the dogs. Ha! Oops.

There was also a photo shoot with the Megans:

And one with me and Lauren (pre-bay frolicking):

It sure was a fun day!

This morning Megan, Lauren, and I left the beach pretty early because Megan had to work this evening. It was hard leaving the beach when the rest of my friends were staying for the day, but it was totally worth it to be able to come home and get everything organized. This afternoon I was able to clean the apartment, unpack, and do some laundry. Now I am ready to tackle the week ahead!

So, how was everyone else’s weekend? Mine was fun but definitely not relaxing at all. I need a vacation from my vacation haha!

Update on 6/1/12: My friend Catrina sent me this beautiful group picture of all of us from Sunday. Here’s the whole crew!

Bottom row from left to right: Britt, Catrina, and Emily

Middle row from left to right: Megan M, Kristen, Jess, and me

Top row from left to right: Megan C, Lauren, and Vic

Love you all!

Guest Post From Stephanie @ My Freckled Life

Guest Post 2 Responses »

May 272012

Hey everyone, while I am frolicking in the sand and the sun, I asked my friend Stephanie over at My Freckled Life to write a guest post for you all. Today she’s going to give you some motivational tips for working out, which will be super helpful as we all get ready for bikini season! Her blog is amazing and very similar to mine, so go check it out and leave her some love And behave while I’m away! Haha.

Hey guys! This is Stephanie, and I blog over at My Freckled Life. I am so excited to be guest posting for Chelsea today, not only because this is my first ever guest post (newb alert!), but because I adore Chelsea! I started reading her blog a few weeks ago, and it immediately became one of my daily reads. Plus she’s a newbie blogger like me!

Anyway, at My Freckled Life I tend to write about my workouts, recipes, healthy living ideas, random
craft projects, my upcoming wedding (eek, 5 months!) and of course, ridiculous pictures of my rabbit-
wannabe dog, Laney!

Since the summer is practically upon us, I thought I’d talk today about how to keep your workout
motivation once the weather gets nice!

I don’t know about you, but as soon as the temperature gets above 80 degrees, my motivation to
workout takes a nosedive. Of course, there is part of me that remembers that summer = bathing suit
season (ew) and that I SHOULD be in the gym, but the other half wants to lay out in the sunshine with a
good book and eat my weight in froyo. Don’t pretend that doesn’t sound amazing to you too!

So here are some tips to help you get motivated to keep with your workout routine now that the
sunshine is out and the beach is calling your name. Whether you need a real kick in the tush to get
going, or are just having one blah day, hopefully one of these tips will get you out of your rut!

1. Find a way to enjoy your workout outdoors!

Now that the weather is nice, there is a whole new world of possibilities for getting your sweat on
outdoors! There are all sorts of strength training and cardio workouts specifically designed to be
completed at a park or on a playground. You can take your kids, your friends, your dog, or even just
yourself and take in some sunshine while you sweat (just make sure you bring some sunscreen – no
lobsters please!)

If plain old workouts don’t strike your fancy – no problem! Find something outside that does. Find
a new trail to hike, or take your bike out for a joy ride around your community. I live in a small
town and summers are FULL of street festivals, farmers markets, and concerts which allow for lots
of walking around and exploring. Get involved in your community and see what kind of fitness
opportunities you can come up with. Summer is also the perfect time to train for races, triathlons, or
other fun events! Find something that appeals to you and get in your Vitamin D!

2. Put some spunk in your old gym routine and change things up!

If your gym routine is feeling old and just is not inspiring you to get into the gym when the
sunshine is calling your name, it’s now a perfect time to change things up. Take a new class at

your gym (or local YMCA/community center/etc.) that you’ve always wanted to try. My favorites
are BodyPump, BodyCombat, BodyFlow, and spinning! Gyms seem to be a little emptier now that New Year’s
resolutions have worn off, so it’s the perfect time to rustle up some courage and try something
you’ve never done before.

3. Two heads are better than one – get yourself a workout buddy!

If you’re not already working out with a friend or significant other, now is the time to start. Workout
buddies are a great way to hold yourself accountable when you’re feeling lackluster, and they can
also push you to work harder. Besides, working out with a friend is just way more fun! You can
gossip while you run, make faces at each other during cardioboxing class, and go out for froyo
afterwards (Hey, it IS summer after all!)

Summer can also be a good time to get your significant other involved in your workouts, if they are
not already. Summer schedules seem to be easier for everyone, and the sun is out for most of the
evening, so sometimes people are more willing to join you in working out than they would be in the
winter. Besides, getting your significant other involved is like bonding in a whole new way. My fiancé
and I love to workout together (even if we’re just at the gym at the same time), because it’s kind of
like a casual date, and you burn calories in the process!

4. Turn to the old world wide web for inspiration!

In today’s day of social media, it is so easy to find inspiration on the internet. If you’re a social
person, turn to places like facebook or twitter. Follow your favorite athletes or trainers, tweet
questions to them, check out their facebook pages for workouts or ideas; there are so many
resources out there! If you’re more of a visual person like me, Pinterest is like
heaven. I love looking through the fitness page when I’m feeling totally unmotivated. I get tons of
ideas for workouts, I love the inspirational quotes, and usually after about 5 minutes I’m revved up
and ready to lace up my shoes!

5. Take a few minutes to remember WHY you are working out.

If you’re really struggling, take a few minutes to reflect on why you started working out in the first
place. Was is to lose weight or feel more comfortable with your body? To feel strong and powerful?
To look better in your summer bikini? To get your health under control? To rehab an injury?
Take whatever it is and hold on to that. Make it your mantra whenever you’re feeling less than
enthusiastic. Remember that fitness is a marathon, not a sprint – so you can’t give up. No matter how slow you go, you’re still lapping everyone on the couch!

Well thank you for letting me fill in for Chelsea today! I had a great time writing this post, and I hope
that you enjoyed it too!

Fashion Friday #6

Fashion Fridays 1 Response »

May 252012

Good morning people! By the time you read this I will either be in the car heading to Delaware or I will be lounging on the beach soaking up the sun. Either way, it’s going to be a heck of a lot better than going to work! I had such a busy week trying to get everything finished by today and I’m so happy to be free! Yay!!

For today’s Fashion Friday post I’m going to show you an outfit I wore to work earlier this week, since I figured no one wants to see my comfy traveling outfit haha.

Dress: Necessary Clothing (small store in NYC)

Belt: Necessary Clothing (came with a different dress)

Cardigan: Nordstrom Rack

Flats: Tory Burch (via Bloomingdale’s)

This outfit gives you a better idea of what I wear to work on a typical day in the summer, as opposed to always seeing my casual Friday outfit. Luckily my office is not super dressy so I can usually get away with a nice sundress and sweater. Works for me!

Workout

Today’s workout was another good one, and I woke up early to run with Jack and do Insanity. Since I’m heading to the beach tomorrow (or today, by the time you read this) I tried to burn a few extra calories during the day and found myself squatting randomly when I had to pick up something heavy and contracting my core more than usual. I guess you could say I am just getting really excited? Haha I felt like such a nerd but I’m sure it had to help a little, right? Every muscle-contraction helps?

Dinner

Tonight’s dinner wasn’t really a recipe, so I won’t bother going into too many details, but I had a huge veggie omelet with (burned- oops) turkey bacon and an English muffin.

Can you tell Fabio bought the English muffins? I would never buy the plain white ones (I always get whole wheat with high fiber), but I forgot to specify when I asked him to pick some up the other day. Oh well!

My omelet featured two eggs, chopped onions, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, and sharp cheddar cheese. It was so good! Breakfast for dinner has always been one of my favorites Smile

After dinner I had to hurry up and pack everything for my trip. Jack was helping.

Everything was pretty neat and organized, however you should have seen the mess I made trying to figure out what to bring. It looked a little something like this…

Oops! Haha. In the end I found what I needed, packed everything up, and now I am all set for the morning! I can’t wait!

While I’m gone, Stephanie from My Freckled Life will be guest posting, so don’t forget to drop in to see what she has to say! She’s great and I know you all will love her.

See you when I get back!

Asian Chicken Wraps with Mango Salsa

Recipes 2 Responses »

May 242012

So, remember yesterday when I promised a delicious recipe involving mangoes? Well the aforementioned recipe just happened to involve ground turkey, which I just happened to leave out on the counter all day to defrost. I also happened to leave Jack out of his cage because he was “being a good boy” and “looked like he didn’t want to go in the cage.” Can you see where I am going with this? Stupid, stupid, stupid, Chelsea. About half way through the day yesterday I turned to my coworker with a horrified expression on my face and I think all I said was “turkey!” and “Jack!”

So it was not really a surprise when I got home and saw the bright green Jennie-O wrapper in the middle of the living room with the turkey nowhere to be found. This would have been fine if it meant a) I knew what to make for dinner or b) I didn’t have to spend the night picking up dog vomit and poo from the carpet because Jack can’t digest an entire pound of ground turkey. Ew.

In the end, I got creative with the recipe (it actually turned out great!) and lost a few hours of sleep cleaning up after Jack, but hopefully he I have learned my lesson.

Workout

Yesterday’s workout was another great one! I woke up bright and early for my run with Jack and another Insanity DVD. Since I will be in a bikini and about 24 hours (gahh!) I kicked up the intensity of my workout and added a few of my own moves into the circuit. For example, I know the jump rope move is really good for working my calves, but I wanted to focus more on my arms so I replaced them with some tricep dips. I also switched out floor hops for planks and pushups, which I felt was a really good idea (floor hops are just awkward anyway).

Now that I have done these DVDs a million times, I know which moves work really well for me and which ones were just ok. I loved the creative liberty today!

Recipe

Despite not having any ground turkey, this recipe still turned out amazingly, deliciously, well. The original recipe came from Kristin over at Iowa Girl Eats. Obviously I changed things around a bit to fit what I had on hand, but it still turned out awesome! The wraps feature crispy chicken flavored with an Asian peanut sauce and are topped with a spicy mango salsa. Yum! Here’s how I made it.

First I got the salsa ready by dicing mangoes, red onions, cilantro, and jalapeño peppers. I added all the diced goodies into a small bowl and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. I let the flavors come together while I prepared everything else. Then it was time to get the peanut sauce together. For this I added rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, hot chili garlic sauce, honey, garlic, ginger, hot water, and peanut butter to the food processor and pulsed everything until it came together. It was a lot of ingredients to include, but these are flavors I use pretty frequently so I had them all on hand. Later I divided the sauce into two parts: half for cooking the chicken and half for spreading on the wrap. Once the sauce came together, it was time to cook the chicken. I chopped a boneless, skinless chicken breast into bite-size pieces and added them to a Ziploc bag with two tablespoons of cornstarch and some salt and pepper. Then I shook everything up so the chicken had a nice, thin coating. If you want your chicken to have a really thick, bready coating (like chicken tenders) you can add more cornstarch, but I just wanted to give my chicken a little texture so two tablespoons was plenty.

Then I heated a teeny bit of peanut oil (just enough to barely coat the pan) on a skillet and brought it to a medium-high heat. When the pan was hot I added the chicken and allowed the pieces to cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until the edges started to brown and the chicken was cooked through.

Next I added in half of the peanut sauce and coated the chicken with it. It didn’t take much to get it coated, so be careful not to go overboard!

Then I spread more of the peanut sauce onto two whole wheat wraps and topped them with the chicken. Then I added on the spicy mango salsa and topped everything with fresh spinach for some crunch.

Then it was time to roll everything up! In true Chelsea form, I overstuffed the wraps and they were pretty difficult to roll up, so I used some skewers to hold it all together.

I served these delicious Asian wraps with some roasted Brussels sprouts on the side! I loved the crunch of the spinach, the sweet/spicy combo of the salsa, and of course, the peanut sauce takes the ~~cake~~ wrap. It is so good! I would have eaten it off a spoon. Yum!

Asian Chicken Wraps with Mango Salsa (Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats)

Serves two

Ingredients

For the Salsa:

1 mango, diced
¼ red onion, diced
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced (I have a jar of pickled jalapeños and chopped a few of those)
2 tbsp. cilantro
1 tbsp. lemon juice (or lime)
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

For the Peanut Sauce

3 tbsp. smooth peanut butter
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. hot water
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. sesame oil
1 tsp. chili garlic sauce
1 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

For the Chicken

1 large boneless, skinless, chicken breast
2 tbsp. Cornstarch
¼ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. pepper
1 tsp. peanut oil (or vegetable)
2 whole wheat wraps
Fresh, baby spinach, for topping

Instructions

Combine all ingredients for mango salsa and allow flavors to come together while you prepare everything else.
Pour all ingredients for peanut sauce into food processor and pulse until everything is combined. Set aside.
Add cornstarch, salt, and pepper to a large Ziploc bag. Chop chicken breast into bite-size pieces and add to Ziploc bag. Shake until chicken is coated in cornstarch mixture.
Thinly coat a large skillet with peanut oil (don’t use too much!) and set to medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add chicken to pan and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until coating turns brown and chicken is no longer pink.
Drain oil from pan and add half the peanut sauce. Toss chicken in the sauce until well-coated, and allow chicken to cook for 1-2 minutes more.
Meanwhile, spread a thin layer of the remaining peanut sauce on each wrap all the way to the edges (to help it stay closed). Place chicken, mango salsa, and spinach on wrap and fold over. Use skewers to secure, if needed.

Now I have to finish some things up for work and then I’ll be heading home to pack for this weekend! Yay!!

So, what’s your favorite type of wrap? These Asian-flavored ones were phenomenal, but I also really like buffalo chicken wraps and veggie wraps with hummus. Yum Yum Yum!!!

WIAW #4

WIAW 1 Response »

May 232012

What a busy week this is turning out to be! Since I am taking work off on Friday to head to the beach, my workload for five days has now been somehow crammed into four. How come no one tells you that in the real world when you take a vacation you still have to get the same amount of work done? What kind of deal is that?? Anyway, as I said, things have been busy around here!

Not too busy for another What I Ate Wednesday post though! Today’s eats are actually what I ate on Monday. I know my WIAW collection usually show my meals from Tuesday, but last night I had dinner with my dad and I knew Mexican food in a poorly-lit restaurant does not photograph well, so I decided to document what I ate on Monday instead. So, enjoy this WIAW!

1. Monday morning as I was getting ready for work, Fabio decided to be the-best-boyfriend-in-the-world by making me breakfast. He made an omelet using 1 egg, 1 egg-white, onions, and chopped tomatoes. On the side he cut up an avocado because, as he says, he “didn’t know if you could cook avocados.” Ha! I would have liked a few veggies thrown in with my omelet, but he was being really sweet and I didn’t want to make any special requests. Beggars can’t be choosers right?

2. For lunch I had the usual: turkey, cheese, and mustard on a sandwich thin, eaten with a small handful of almonds and three pretzel twists (I know, I know, I eat this combo every week. I’m just not sick of it yet!). I did have some yogurt-covered pretzels for dessert, which are tastier than the prunes I usually have. Yum!

3. Later in the day I started getting hungry again, so I snacked on a few Kashi crackers from my snack drawer at work and slurped a huge cup of green tea. It definitely filled me up!

4. For dinner I had a small piece of grilled chicken, some asparagus roasted with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and a sweet potato stuffed with feta, goat cheese, and basil. It was so good!

After reviewing my WIAW collection, I am noticing that Monday was sadly low on the fruits & veggies. Part of this is just because of the day I documented (for example, I have already eaten 3 bananas this week, although none of them were on Monday), but the other part is because when I get busy, fresh fruits & veggies seem to be the first thing to go. I tend to just gravitate towards what is easy, and sometimes reaching in my desk for some crackers is easier than remembering to pack a healthy snack the night before. Hmm…this is something to work on!

To see what else I have happily and hungrily consumed, take a look at the past WIAWs:

WIAW #1

WIAW #2

WIAW #3

And come back later tonight for a new recipe involving one of my favorite summer ingredients…mangoes! Yum!

Sweet Potatoes Stuffed With Feta, Goat Cheese, & Basil

Recipes 8 Responses »

May 222012

Last night I went shopping with my friend Britt to pick up a few more items for our Memorial Day Weekend extravaganza. I know I mentioned it to you guys briefly, but allow me to give you all the full run down of details. Friday morning around 7:00 am, I will skip my morning workout in order to head over to Britt’s house (which is right by the dog park, only a mile away) where we will embark with our other friends Jess, Megan, Lauren, and Turk (nickname) to Dewey Beach, DE. There we will meet up with our New York friends, Kristen, Megan, Catrina, and Victoria. We will be there from Friday through Monday and will be hanging out on the beach with a ton of people we know from college. A lot of my coworkers will also be there, so it’s going to be a ton of fun!

Although Fabio is not coming with me on this trip (he is going up to NY for a friend’s graduation party and is taking care of Jack), he is planning to do a similar trip with his friends in July which should be a good time. It’s important to have our separate friend time after all!

Dewey Beach is located right in between Ocean City, MD and Bethany Beach, DE. Ocean City is known as more of a hangout for high school kids and Bethany is more for families. Dewey, however, is basically a bar town on the beach and we will be having fun all weekend. We will also be venturing into Ocean City on Saturday via a large bus that is taking us to Seacrets, a huge bar in the water on the bay. Can’t wait!

Seacrets, Ocean City, MD

Source

Anyway, by the time I got home from shopping with Britt, it was already 9:00 so I quickly made dinner. By the time I was done it was too late to blog, but I snapped some pictures so I could share this awesome recipe with you guys today. But, first things first….

Workout

Yesterday’s workout was another good one. I have been loving waking up early to run with Jack and then jumping into an Insanity DVD. It’s so amazing how the warm-ups kick my butt every day even though I’ve done them a million times. It is pretty much guaranteed that I will be drenched in sweat by the end, no matter what. I love it!

After Insanity I spent about 5 minutes doing some extra ab exercises (I do have to be in a bikini on Friday, after all) and then hopped in the shower to begin my day. It was a great workout, as usual!

Recipe

When I got home from shopping last night I was pooped! I wanted something quick and easy for dinner that would be filling and comforting. I looked in the cupboard to see what I was working with and I saw two sweet potatoes that I knew needed to be used soon. I looked through the recipe list I keep on my phone and saw a recipe from Kalyn’s Kitchen for twice-baked sweet potatoes with feta. I had made this recipe back in the fall and remembered loving it, so I decided to give it another go! Here’s how it came together.

First, I preheated the oven to 350 degrees. Then I washed two sweet potatoes and cut off the pointy ends. Using a fork, I poked holes all over the potatoes and microwaved them using the baked potato setting until they were soft (about 8 minutes for two).

While the potatoes were “baking,” I started getting together the filling. First I mixed feta (I used fat free), goat cheese (I used chevre), garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, and olive oil together in a small bowl. Then I julienned (basically chopped, see video here) a few basil leaves into long strips and mixed them in with the cheese mixture.

Kalyn’s original recipe suggests letting this come together in the fridge for about an hour, but I didn’t have time so I nixed this step

Once the sweet potatoes were done cooking, I sliced them down the middle and removed the insides to a separate bowl. Be careful, they are hot!

Then I took ¾ of the cheese mixture and mixed it up with the insides of the sweet potato until everything was well combined. I then put the cheesy insides back into the potato skins.

Then I divided the remaining cheese and sprinkled it on top of the potatoes.

Then I baked the potatoes for about 10 minutes until the cheese started to get bubbly.

I served these potatoes with a small piece of grilled chicken and some asparagus.

Yum! This weeknight meal was so easy and delicious! I loved the flavor of the sweet potatoes with the salty, garlicy, cheese. You must try this!

Sweet Potatoes Stuffed With Feta, Goat Cheese, & Basil (Adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Serves two

Ingredients

2 small sweet potatoes or yams
1 oz. of crumbled feta (fat free)
1 oz. of crumbled goat cheese (could omit and double the feta)
1/2 tsp. finely minced garlic
¼ tsp. paprika
1 pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
2 tsp. olive oil
6-7 fresh basil leaves, julienned

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash potatoes and cut off pointy ends, if desired. Poke all over with a fork. Microwave on baked potato setting, or for about 4 minutes per potato, until a fork enters potatoes easily.
While potatoes are cooking, mix together feta, goat cheese, garlic, paprika, red pepper flakes, and olive oil in a separate bowl. Julienne basil leaves and add them to the cheese mixture. Stir to combine.
When potatoes are cooked, slice in half and use a spoon to remove sweet potato insides to a separate bowl. Mix ¾ of cheese mixture in with sweet potato insides.
Place cheesy sweet potato insides back into potato skins and top with remaining cheese.
Bake for about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

This recipe was simple and delicious and made the perfect weeknight side dish. I love mixing sweet and salty flavors, so this one was right up my alley. Yum!

So, do you guys like sweet potatoes? During Thanksgiving I like them in a casserole topped with marshmallows, but during the rest of the year I like them to be paired with savory flavors. So good!

By the way, I am looking for someone to guest post on my blog on Sunday while I am at the beach. I will be able to post on Friday and Monday, but if anyone wants to write a guest post for me on Sunday, I’d appreciate it! Send me an email at chelseaeatstreats@gmail.com if you’re interested!