Cooking/Recipes, Health & Fitness

Good recipes and general fitness

I tried a new recipe and rehashed an old favorite this week.

First of all, I took another go at this Quick and Easy Meatball Soup.  To make things go quicker, I made the meatballs and cut up the veggies the night before.  I also altered the meatball recipe a tad; since I was short on almond meal, I flushed out the requirement with some coconut flour.  In regards to the veggies, I had no onions, zucchini or squash, but I did have a green pepper, so I threw that in instead.  I cut up all the veggies, including the garlic, and stuffed it all in a ziploc baggie.  The next evening, I threw it all in a pot, and we had delicious soup 30 minutes later.  I don’t know if the herbs had time to soak into the meatballs or what, but the soup turned out fantastic.  The recipe also makes a ton.  We had it for supper, breakfast, lunch, breakfast, and lunch.  So good.  And yes, it’s perfectly acceptable to eat soup for breakfast.

I also tried a new recipe – Grain-Free Zucchini Pancakes.  Timmy Tee was sweet enough to  go to the Farmers Market for me on Saturday, so we were flush with zucchini, and I felt like trying something new for breakfast.  I have to say that I believe the name “pancakes” is a misnomer here.  These were more like omelettes than pancakes.  They were still tasty, but they were super runny.  I ended up scrambling a few of them because I tried to flip them before they truly set up.  Not sure I’ll make these again.  If I want paleo pancakes, I’ll make these Carrot Cake Pancakes again.  These are what I actually wanted to make, but we were all out of damned almond flour.  Greatest Grains was out in their bulk section, and HyVee’s was $11.99 per package, which I refused to pay.  I’ll have to get some one way or another before next weekend.

Overall, it was a good weekend, food-wise and life-wise.  I volunteered for a few hours at the Nahant Marsh Fall Festival, helping to gather seeds of the Partridge Pea and the False Aster. It was a COLD job, but at least I am 3 hours further into my 32 hour Master Conservationist volunteer commitment.  Plus, I was rewarded with hot cider and roasted chestnuts afterwards.  Well, I had to pay for them, but they were still tasty.  I had never had roasted chestnuts before.  They kind of taste like raw potatoes.  I really liked them, but Tim wasn’t a fan.  They do taste much better warm.

After that Tim and I ran 5 miles and then biked downtown to the Front Street Tasting Lounge, where we indulged in a a pint and watched the river.  Then we headed to  Great River where some Chatty Cathy talked our ears off while we had a Brown Pumpkin (Farmer Brown mixed with Pumpkin Ale) and a Pale Ale.  After supper at the real Front Street, we tackled the chilly ride home.  And here is where I get to the “general fitness” portion of my title.  It is so obvious to me biking home from downtown Davenport how much more fit I am this year than last.  Sure, the hills up the valley still tire me out, but I can OWN them.  I no longer feel like crying biking up them.  I love that feeling of strength.

It was a fun day, and it was great to be outside, but 3 pints is too much beer for 125 lb Hlo.  My throat hurt, and I slept horrible.  So, today I had to buy some whiskey so I wouldn’t be tempted to drink more harmful beer. 😉  I got Buffalo Trace whiskey.  It was only $1 more than Jack, and I thought it would be fun to try something new.  Plus, I liked the picture of a buffalo on the bottle.  Yes, I’m distracted by pretty pictures.  Anyway, it’s pretty good.  My boss picked me up some Templeton Rye from Fareway last week ($37 at Fareway – $47 at Target!!!), but I figured I should save the expensive stuff for something special.

Hope you had a great weekend!  Tim bought a duck at the Farmers Market, per my behest.  Now I need an awesome duck recipe!  The freaking bird was $25, so it better be damned delicious!!  Send me a recipe if you have a good one.

Take care! Hlo-out!