My First Shepherd's Pie

Tonight, I made a shepherd's pie for dinner.  I had never tasted it, and thought it would be a good hearty winter meal.  I slaved over my stove for all of 40 minutes or so.  My daughter asked for hot dogs for dinner, and I obliged since I knew it would take me a while to make the shepherd's pie.  My son fell asleep before dinner, so I let him sleep.  That thang was a holy terror from the time I picked him up from daycare, and I knew he was exhausted.  But I'm sure he'll like the pie tomorrow, because I dumped cheese all over it.  He loves him some cheese, my little mouse.  The hubs is working late tonight, so I ate shepherd's pie all by my lonesome.  That's okay, because I made a whole pan full, and we'll have leftovers tomorrow.

Since I'm timing my carbs and today was not a workout day, I topped off my shepherd's pie with mashed cauliflower in lieu of taters.  So, by default this is a low-carb recipe.  I have an aversion to anything labeled as "low-carb" but 'tis what it is.  It's also a great dinner for diabetics, and others who are watching (or should be watching) their blood sugar levels and/or waistlines.  I'm listing ingredients that I used, by the way.  My cooking style is primarily "semi-homemade" (ever watch Semi Homemade with Sandra Lee?  The blonde chick with the elaborate table decorations and themed cocktails? 




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THAT'S my style.  Keep it simple sweetie).  So while I would prefer to pick up a container of Trader Joe's "Mirepoix" soup starter, you may apply a li'l elbow grease and dice your own carrots, celery, and onions.  To each his/her own.   Tweak as desired.

This pic does it no justice

A Simple Shepherd's Pie
Serves 6
Prep time:  As long as it takes
Cooking time:  20 minutes in the oven

96% lean ground beef
1 tb olive oil
1 head fresh cauliflower (or 2 bags frozen)
1 container of Trader Joe's Mirepoix (or 1.5 cups diced carrots, onion, and celery)
1 tb minced garlic
1/2 c shredded cheese (I used a cheddar-jack blend)
4 tb butter
1/2 c chicken broth/stock
2 tb tomato sauce/paste
worcestershire sauce
cumin
chili powder
salt
pepper

Boil the cauliflower in a large pot until it's kinda mushy (the cauliflower, not the pot).  Drain off the water.  Add butter and chicken broth to cauliflower. Add a li'l salt and pepper.  Dump all that in a food processor, stand mixer, or blender.  Blend until smooth and creamy like mashed taters. 

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Heat a large skillet to medium heat and heat olive oil.  Add the beef and cook until no longer pink.  Add veggies and garlic, cooking until translucent.  Add a li'l cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper.  Douse with a little bit of worcestershire sauce. Stir well.  Add tomato sauce or paste and stir until combined.  Remove from heat.

Grab a baking dish (whatever size you have--I used a 9 x 13), and spread the meat mixture across the bottom.  Gently spread cauliflower on top.  Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.  Add cheese and bake for 5 more minutes, or until melty.  The sides of the pan should be bubbly too.  Enjoy that mess!  If you're super healthy, whip up an extra side of veggies to go with it.  Overachiever.

Nutritional Info (per serving)

Calories:  222

Total Fat:  8g

Saturated Fat:  5g

Sodium:  332 mg

Total Carbs:  10g

Dietary Fiber:  4g

Sugars:  5g

Protein:  25g

Percentage of Calories

Protein:  44%

Carbs:  18%

Fat:  33%

***Please note that nutritional info is estimated, and varies based on the ingredients you use.***

What's new????

Guess what!  I added a few things to the blog, like:

• New tabs at the top of the page, "About Me" and "Contact Me."
• Follow me on Twitter @TenBy30.  I am fairly new to Twitter.  It's seriously like a whole new world to me.  Follow me and I'll follow you.
• Did you notice the Pinterest button at the tippy-top left?  If you Pinterest, hit me up!  I try to stay away because it's a gigundo time-suck (much like Facebook).  But there is SO much inspiration I can't resist!

And stay tuned for more great stuff, like:

• A tab at the top for Recipes, where I'll add links to some of my favorite recipes.
• More details on the workout program I've been doing (The Female Body Breakthrough).
• My latest adventures in bargain shopping.

FBB: 4-week Results!

So, I just finished the Base Phase of the Female Body Breakthrough.  Annnnd here are my results from the first 4 weeks:

Weight lost:  6 pounds

Chest:  -1 inch
Waist:  -0.5 inches
Hips:  nada (buildin up the booty, y'all)

Arms:  0
Thighs: + 1 inch??

Oh, and though I'm too shy to post progress pics just yet, I swear my tummy is much flatter.  I've got baby biceps trying to bust through my arm fat.  And, *drum roll please*......... I am now an early morning exerciser, y'all!  Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?  Those are 3 words I would have NEVER used to describe myself four weeks ago.  I'm pretty freakin proud of myself!  I feel like I got a great start.  I cleaned up my eating tremendously, although I still allow for a "splurge meal" once or twice a week.  Don't worry, I imagine I will post my bikini progress at some point. ;) 

I am happy to have cardio back in my life--although, truth be told, the strength workouts provide plenty of cardio, as moving from circuit to circuit is great for getting that heart rate up.  I am now working out 4 times a week, which is totally manageable.  I do my strength workouts at the gym at work on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.  On Saturday, I do my HIIT workout at home.  I am already excited to add in another HIIT workout at Week 9, but I'm only at Week 5 so I guess I need to slow my roll...  How bout, lemme figure out how to do some chin ups?  I was supposed to do like, 6 of them in today's workout.  But I got shy (as I was not alone in the gym) and wimped out by doing some lat pull-downs instead. Ha!

I haven't had my body fat professionally tested yet, which is something I really, REALLY need to do.  I don't go to a regular gym and I ain't gots a trainer, so I'll have to figure out how to get that done.

So, I started the next four-week phase, which means I'll be doing more intense exercises and lifting heavier for fewer reps in order to define my newfound muscles.  And it means learning how to do a motherlovin chin-up.  My focus will be on eating even cleaner,  timing my carbs around my workouts, and eating just 2 servings of fruit per day (as opposed to 3 or 4).  The nutrition aspect is always the hardest for me, since I luurrrrve food, like forreal.  Like, food is my BOO, y'all.  Deprivation is no bueno, and variety is key.  For instance, I had steak tacos for dinner on Friday.  I grilled some marinated sirloin.  Added some of my favorite veggies.  Instead of wrapping all that up in a low-carb tortilla (or 2), I cut the tortillas into quadrants, sprayed them, and baked them.  I topped the whole deal with cheese and... healthy NACHOS.  Twoulda been bangin, but apparently whole wheat low-carb tortillas get pretty chewy when baked.  Oh well--at least the flavors were still there *mwah*.  That reminds me, I am hoping to post some of the recipes I've tried along the way.  I've come across some good ones!  Except for this one...

This is a homemade chocolate peanut butter protein bar, believe it or not.  It definitely tasted much better than it looks...
So yeah, stay tuned. ;)

Random Wednesday: Intrepidacious(ness)

I made up a word today.

I don't remember exactly how I tried to use it--you know how people talk about experiencing "fear and trepidation"?  I think I was thinking of that phrase.  Which would have been redundant anyway, because--wait for it--trepidation is just a schmancy word for fear.

As it would turn out, intrepidacious (which I was using wrong as the day is long because in-trepidation is pretty much the absence of fear) is not really recognized by dictionary.com as a word.

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In other news, I had a seemingly 10-year-long conversation with a gentleman at work about why he paid $400 for a blender.  That's right.  He got himself a Vitamix.  His reason:  he was sold on the lifetme-lasting blades and the delicious smoothie demos.   Seriously though, I was jealous.  Not because I'm not ballin quite at the level where I can drop point-4 G's on a blender.  But because I have seen rave reviews and tons of recipes online that I have been dying to try.  For now, I'm content to try out recipes with my Ninja blender.


Why do I always forget that *one thing* whenever I pack my stuff the night before I need it?

The first time I packed myself up early to hit the gym first thing in the AM--I forgot my shower shoes.
No biggie...

The second time, I forgot my bra.
Plan B:  I MacGyvered one out of a bandana, toliet paper, and a couple of staples.  Don't ask.

This morning, I forgot to pack my daughter's snack for preschool.  Thankfully my amazing husband packed her a much better snack than I would have--celery and peanut butter.  Everybody happy.


One of the things I'm diggin about changing my diet is that I have better skin, hair, and nails.  One of the things I hate is the ridiculous egg-farts I get from veggies and dairy and anything that has tons of fiber in it.  What kind of trade off is that?  Sure, I look and feel better.  But now I smell worse??? 

Would you rather be out of shape and smell wonderful all the time (like, ALL the time)...

...or...

...be really fit and healthy, but always smell of egg-farts?

Living Social

I be'd more social this weekend, y'all.  Number 2 on The List... check.

The hubs and I braved snow, sleet, freezing rain, and fog to hide away in the mountains of West Virginia with some of his friends.  It was our first weekend away together sans kiddos, but they were in great company this weekend.  My sisters-in-law graciously agreed to care for them at our house while we were away.

They. Rock.

So we finally left around 9:30 Friday night, and were met with treacherous weather conditions.  At one point, the fog was so thick that we could barely see the front of our car.  A couple of closed roads and an overturned bus later, we finally arrived at the cabin just before 2 am. 

The next morning, we set out to do some skiing/snowboarding.  Still lagging from the previous night's travels, I decided to hang out at the tubing park while everyone else was skiing and boarding. 

On Saturday night, we had dinner, after which point I got a little too social, and ended the night asleep in the bathroom.

*crickets*

Yeah, don't ask.

Oh, here's a pic of our cabin, by the way:

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Creamy Seafood Soup

Serves 8-10

Prep time:  About 40 minutes

Cook time:  About 20 minutes

Total time:  About 1 hour (give or take--I didn't really time it)

Ingredients:

1 pound extra large or jumbo shrimp, cleaned and deveined (shells on)

1 tb extra virgin olive oil

5 cups water

1 dozen littleneck clams, scrubbed

1 pound scallops (I used frozen jumbo sea scallops from Trader Joe's)

1 quart fat-free half & half

4 tb butter

4 tb flour (I used coconut flour)*

2 cups diced carrots, onion, and celery (or 1 container of Trader Joes's Mirepoix, which is diced carrots, onion, and celery)

2 tb garlic

salt

pepper

Old Bay seasoning

2 tsp fresh, chopped cilantro

Directions:

Steam shrimp until cooked, saving shells and broth.  Set the shrimp aside.  Add olive oil to a large skillet or saucepot on medium heat.  Add 1/2 cup of diced carrots, celery, and onions and cook for a few minutes until translucent.  Add shrimp shells and stir.  Add reserved broth and 5 cups of water.  Add salt and Old Bay to taste, and simmer for 30 minutes.  Strain stock and set aside, making sure all shells have been removed.

Heat a large soup pot to medium heat.  Melt butter and add celery and onions.  Stir and cook until translucent.  Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds.  Add flour and stir to make a roux.  Carefully pour in half-and-half and let the mixture thicken.  Add shrimp and carrots.  Once the mixture thickens again, add shrimp stock and stir well.  Add clams, scallops, cilantro, and seasonings.  Cook until clams open, discarding any clams that did not open.  NOTE:  To save time and ensure that your clams won't be extra-tough, you may want to steam the clams separately and add after the scallops.

Enjoy with a salad (and a nice piece of crusty bread... *drool*).  I was thisclose to busting open a can of crescent rolls in a final act of desperation. This would also be *bangin* with a glass of white wine (or white grape juice), unless you're on a journey of total body sufferi--I mean transformation, like me.  In that case, water would do just fine.

*Additional notes:  I used coconut flour to make this gluten-free for no good reason, and because I am currently avoiding regular white flour.  But you could use whatever flour you have.  Probably even whole wheat white flour, which I once used in a pot of cream chipped beef, and no one was the wiser.

Nutritional Info (per serving)

Calories:  223

Total Fat:  6g

Saturated Fat:  3g

Sodium:  380 mg

Total Carbs:  13g

Dietary Fiber:  3g

Sugars:  7g

Protein:  18g

Percentage of Calories

Protein:  32%

Carbs:  23%

Fat:  28%

***Please note that nutritional info is estimated, and varies based on the ingredients you use.***

To Infinity {Dress} and Beyond

A couple of weekends ago, I cleaned out a portion of my bedroom closet, as part of my campaign to Be Less Triflin’ in 2012.  The hubs and I share a closet that I could easily take over if I wanted to (which I do, but that wouldn’t be nice).  When we moved into our house two years ago, We set up our clothes so that we each had a side, but our clothes decided to co-mingle, and eventually they threw themselves into a heap all over our bedroom. 

I just forgot what point I was trying to make.  Thanks, Mommy-brain. 

*crickets*

OH yes.  I found a couple of unfinished sewing projects—surprise, surprise.  See how we do?  That reminded me of #7 on The List.

Last summer I was a dress-makin-son-of-a-gun.  I realized that I had not yet broken in the sewing machine my hubby so thoughtfully gifted me with like, 3 years ago.  So I made an infinity dress:

I lurve my infinity dress.  I can wrap and twist and drape it in several different ways.  It's like a bajillion dresses for the cost of one. Can't be mad at that!

Also in my closet, I found all the stuff to make a boned corset as part of a Renaissance costume… because I *thought* I was going to Renn-Fest this year, and I *thought* I would dress up like a schmexy wench, because I’ve never done that before.  Yeah, yeah, I practically live under a rock. 

I kinda wish it was Fraggle Rock.

Bikini or Bust

Numero seis on my bucket list is "Wear a bikini."  How's that going, you ask?  Welp...

Two weeks ago, I embarked on a journey called The Female Body Breakthrough, a workout plan designed by Rachel Cosgrove, a renowned fitness guru and owner of a gym called Results Fitness somewhere out in California. The FBB is a 16-week strength training program in which I will be busting tightening my hind parts.  I am banking on killing two birds with one stone on this program---getting into a bikini and training for the Warrior Dash (number 4 on The List).

Many women do tons of cardio to slim down.  I've been there and done that.  Even after losing dang near 60 pounds over a year and a half, my body never looked better than when I started weight training last summer.  This was me before I even started working out:

And this was me last March, when I started P90X:

I've changed my diet quite a bit since starting the FBB.  Since your body needs protein to feed the muscle (and burn the fat), I've been focusing on getting more protein.  I've also been eating a lot more fruits and veggies... sometimes in juice form.  Several months ago, my husband told me about a documentary he'd watched about some dude who did a bajillion-day juice fast.  He was motivated to start juicing for health benefits... so I bought a juicer.  Fast forward a few months, and here I am just starting to use the thing.

This weekend I made a recipe from this book:

Four carrots, one apple, and half a pineapple later...

...I had a frothy orange potion of detoxifying deliciousness. 

I wonder how many more carrot drinks I can have before I start to look like this:

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10 Things to Do Before I'm 30

I've jotted several mini-bucket lists in my day.  1,299,102,472 things to do before I hit puberty.  23,382,190 things to do before I finish high school.  289,192,018 things to do before the Apocalypse...  I'm a list-makin son of a gun, folks.  I love to start projects.  But I lose interest pretty quickly, especially when there's a glitch in my plans.  And then, it's on to the next, leaving fragments of unfinished projects all over the place.  My life is a lie mess!!!  Well, kinda but not really.  Seriously, I just need to work on my follow-through.  So, I am giving myself until November 17, 2012--my thirtieth birthday--to accomplish all 10 things on this list.  For if I do not, the spell cannot be broken, and I shall remain a beast forever.

Without further ado *toot that horn*:

1)  Create--and regularly update--a blog.  I've blogged a bit before, through LiveJournal and Yahoo Geocities.  I pretty much used my blogs as an online diary, venting my woes to my closest friends and perfect strangers.  *blink*  This blog is perfect for my commitment phobia. It's only relevant until I turn 30.  After my birthday, I can drop it like a hot potato.  Hasta la vista sucka.

2)  Be more social.  This should really say "Be less socially awkward" but you are what you eat, so...

3)  Paint more often.  Ever since I was a tiny tot, I have loved art.  I love drawing, painting, sculpting... the whole shabang.  I took a painting class in college and made a whole lot of crappy paintings, so I'm going to devote the next several months to pretending that never happened, and I am actually an artistic prodigy. 

4)  Do the Warrior Dash.  In case you didn't know, the Warrior Dash is a 3-mile obstacle course chock full of rope climbin', tire hoppin', fire dodgin' adventures. That's right.  I'm a fire dodgin' son of a gun. Training is already under way for the race, which takes place in my home state in May 2012.

5)  Train for and complete a 10K.  Notice I did not add "race."  I randomly decided to start running (like, for the first time in my life) in June 2010.  I did the Couch to 5K program to work up to running 3 miles.  I never actually did a race.  Just kidding--I did a 5K at work before I started running, but I walked most of it.  Anyhoo, I am perfectly happy not running with tons of other people.  I will settle for running all by myself, 6.2 miles straight without dying.  My life will not be a lie.

6)  Wear a bikini.  In a public place, you may ask?  Ha HA! *twirls mustache*  Maybe.  Maybe not.  I haven't worn a bikini since I was 6 years old.  It was black with multicolored stars.  (Just kidding--I wore a bikini to the beach last summer, but quickly destroyed the evidence.)  Why is this a big deal?  I am conquering my weight and body image issues once and for all.  Plus a healthy life is a happy life, cleanliness is next to Godliness, a penny saved is a penny earned...yada yada blah blah splat.

7) Design and construct a wearable garment from scratch.  When I was 5, I wanted to be a doctor.  When I was 8, I wanted to be a lawyer, and then a teacher.  As I got older, I fell in love with fashion.  I sketched constantly.  I watched my mother sew and became totally inspired.  I made my own bell bottom pants, a couple of dresses, a pair of PJs, and doll clothes galore.  The one thing I haven't done yet, is to see one of my own designs come to life.  I'm totally gonna do it.

8)  Sell stuff on Etsy.  Okay, I have to admit--this one makes my stomach hurt.  I wouldn't know what to sell... can I sell my car?  I wish I could sell on Regretsy, because I would totally sell the humidifiers I bought that sound like a freaking airplane engine.  Whatever that sounds like... they're loud, dangit.

9) Grow my biggest fro ever.  I've been growing my hair out, naturally, sans chemicals, for over a year now.  I have no frame of reference for my biggest fro to date, as it's been a jolly good 17 years or so since I last wore my hair un-chemically treated.  If my fro ever made the Guinness Book of World Records, I'd want my pic to be captioned:  "Fro-growin son of a gun."

10)  Take a birthday trip.  I've narrowed it down to two places.  The question is... Vegas or NYC?