Stuffed Chicken and Twice Baked Potatoes

I am off on my big adventure in a few short days so over the weekend I went on a baking and cooking binge.  In part,  I needed to clean out my fridge and in part because I realize that as of next weekend I won't have a kitchen for almost 6 weeks.  Beside the chicken and potatoes, I also made a family favorite, egg bake and an almond cake.  The stuffed chicken is easy to make and oh so tasty. Twice baked potatoes are a hit no matter what you do.  They take a little more time but are worth the work.


Stuffed Chicken:
2 chicken breasts
2 handfuls of fresh spinach
1 handful fresh grape tomatoes
goat cheese to flavor
4 pieces of bacon

1.  Cut the fat off the chicken breasts and flatten with a meat tenderizer
2.  Once flat and fairly thin, put the spinach, tomatoes and cheese on one side and roll up
3.  Wrap the bacon around 
4.  Cook at 350 for 40-45 minutes


Twice Baked Potatoes
4 baking potatoes
2 cups non-fat greek yogurt
1 cup skim milk
3-4 green onions
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper

1.  Clean the potatoes and cook until soft, I had large baking potatoes that took 40 minutes at 350
2.  Cut the potatoes in half
3.  Scoop out the middle of the potatoes and put in a mixing bowl
4.  Combine the greek yogurt, milk, green onions and cheddar cheese with the potatoes 
5.  Salt and Pepper to taste
6.  Fill the scooped out potatoes with the mixture
7.  Sprinkle with some cheese
8.  Cook at 350 for 10-15 minutes

The potatoes can easily be frozen and heated at a later date.  I have several in the freezer.  

Black Bean Soup

Black beans are a tasty way to get protein in your diet from a non-meat source.  I have been working on this recipe making little tweaks here and there.  I think I have finally found the recipe that works best for me.  Its easy to make and I usually have everything I need  on hand.  Sorry I forgot to take a picture.

4 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock or chicken stock
1 cup medium salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

1.  In a large pot sauté the onion and garlic with just a little olive oil
2.  Add in 2 cans of black beans, stock, salsa and cumin
3.  In a food processor or mixer puree 2 cans of black beans 
4.  Add the pureed beans to the pot
5.  Simmer over medium for 30 minutes
6.  Serve.  I like to serve with avocado, low fat greek yogurt and green onion on top.

Trip Anxiety

T-7 days until my adventure in Laos begins.  Its amazing how fast this trip came up and I still can't believe I am going to work at a hospital halfway around the world for a month.  My co-worker and I have been talking about it and I have slowly been laying out the stuff I might need but now its time to pack for real.  The good news is since we are staying in a relative large city of 50K people, I am hoping I will be able to get things I might forget here, although I am pretty sure there is no Target down the road.

We got out schedules the other day and turns out the jet lag won't me as much of an issue as I though since half my time will be on overnights.  I guess it will make FaceTime with family and friends easier.  The biggest bummer is Anna and I never seem to be in the same place at the hospital.  At least we are staying in the same guesthouse so we will be seeing each other.

I have managed to make an incredible list of medications to take with me just in case and my dresser looks like a mini pharmacy.  I am nervous about getting sick after my last medical mission trip where I had to come home 2 weeks early due to illness.  While this trip is very different (not in the desert, electricity and running water everywhere) this is probably my biggest source of anxiety.

There are just a few more things to buy before my trip and then its off on a crazy adventure.    I look forward to keeping everyone updated on my adventures here and will be trying to post often with pictures.

Homemade Crusty Bread

I don't think anything smells better then homemade bread and putting peanut butter or butter on warm bread is happiness.  This is an easy to make bread that rises overnight in the fridge and does not require a lot of kneading.  I have a base recipe that can easily be modified depending on what you are craving.  Today I made it with oregano from my garden and roasted garlic This mades about 2 loafs of bread and the dough can be saved in the fridge for about 5 days.

1.5 tablespoons dry yeast

3 cups warm water

pinch of sugar

6 cups bread flour

pinch of salt

1 tablespoon oregano

3 cloves roasted garlic

1.  In a stand mixer bowl put in the yeas , warm water and sugar.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes

2.  Add in the bread flour 1.5-2 cups at a time with the salt and any herbs you want.  Mix with a bread hook until well incorporated before adding additional flour.  

3.  Cover with saran wrap and put in the fridge overnight

4.  When you are ready to bake, let the bread warm up for 20-30 minutes before cooking.

5.  Cook at 425 for 35 minutes in a dutch oven covered, then 10 minutes uncovered

Variation

-Today I was making breakfast and wanted a warm roll to make an egg sandwich.  I only used a small handful of the dough and cooked it in a smaller dutch oven for 20 minutes covered and 5 minutes uncovered

Quinoa breakfast

As I was preparing for the week, I knew I worked a lot of mornings so I needed something to fuel my morning.  If we are busy at work, its hard to sneak away to grab lunch so its often a granola bar or something in between patients.  I came across this recipe on 101cookbooks.com thought I would give it a try.  I did make a few modifications due to what I had in the kitchen and also added some nut butter.  Overall not a bad breakfast that you can make the night before.  Makes 2 servings.  It tasted better then the picture looks.  

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup almond butter
1 tsp agave nectar 
1 cup berries

1.  boil the water, almond milk and quinoa in a small saucepan.  Once it reaches a boil, turn down to low heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes
2.  After cooking, add in the cinnamon, almond butter and agave.  
3.  At this point I refrigerate until needed.
4.  Just prior to eating, heat up and fold in the berries.  

Approximate nutrition
cal 430 protein 15 carbs 57 fat 21 sodium 170 sugar19

Chocolate Chip Walnut Scones and Blackberry White Chocolate Scones

I love scones with coffee anytime of the day.  They are awesome and you can make them so many different ways depending on what you want.  I uses just about anything from fruits to nuts to chocolate.  For brunch I made 2 different mini scones, chocolate chip walnut and blackberry white chocolate.  Both were huge hits.  

Chocolate Chip Walnut Scone
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
6 tbsp butter, warmed to room temp
1 egg
6 tsp fat free half and half
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup walnuts

1.  In a large bowl add flour, sugar baking powder, butter.  Cut with a pastry cutter until well mixed.
2.  Add in egg and half and half until well mixed
3.  Fold in chocolate chips and walnuts
4.  On a floured counter, press into a circle shape and cut into 8 pieces with a pizza cutter
5.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes



Blackberry White Chocolate Scone
1 3/4 cups flour
3 tbsp sugar
2.5 tsp baking powder
6.5 tbsp butter, warmed to room temp
1 egg
4 tsp fat free half and half

1.  In a large bowl add flour, sugar baking powder, butter.  Cut with a pastry cutter until well mixed.
2.  Add in egg and half and half until well mixed
3.  Fold in berries and white chocolate chips
4.  On a floured counter, press into a circle shape and cut into 8 pieces with a pizza cutter
5.  Bake at 400 degrees F for 12-15 minutes

Bike Rides and Trying Vegan

Do you every feel like you need to give your eating a kick in the butt?  I tend to eat pretty healthy but recently I have slacked a little and I can tell my body is craving better foods.  In order to give myself a kick start, I am attempting to go vegan for a week.  For those that know me, this will be a huge challenge since I am an egg lover.  I am working out my meal plan and will share the best (and maybe the worst) recipes I try.  The biggest challenge for me will be making sure I get enough good protein in my diet and behaving while I am at work.  There is always tasty food to snack on and in the middle of the night, its hard to have good self control.  In order to get ready for this challenge, I have been doing research on recipes and found a great website for grocery delivery, thrivemarket.com.  I have ordered the staples for the week and will head to Costco tomorrow to pick up fruits and veggies.  If you have any great vegan recipes to share please let me know, the adventure starts Monday.  

On a side note, here is a fun pic from our first bike ride outside.  I ride with 3 other ladies and we tend to really push each other.  Today was a windy ride at the downtown airport but we conquered the conditions and even managed to have some fun.   This group is women is awesome and each one of us has our strengths, there is Mary the queen of the hills, Nichole the speedster and Amy who never seems to tire no matter how far we go. Our group has 4+ Ironmans, 8+ half Ironmans, countless shorter triathlons and 4 broken arms from bike crashes among us.  I do have to share a funny story about these girls.  The first time I went biking with Amy and Nichole I crashed about 100 feet into our bike.  Yes we had just started and I flipped over the handlebars going down a hill and crashed.  I got up laughing and finished the ride but have to admit-it hurt a lot.  Despite this rough start, they still let me ride with them.  


This is what 20K in TT bikes looks like with downtown KC in the background.  Looking forward to many more rides this season with this powerhouse crew of women!