Legendary.

I just found my new favorite pasttime. But you have to promise not to laugh.

Please tell me that all of you have seen this show?!

A woman at my work is retiring, so to send her off appropriately, the only logical thing was to take her laser tagging (?)!!!  This is the first time I have ever played, and let me tell you, after the first game I got so intense that I started screaming “You can leave now!!!!!” to every opponent I hit…..let’s just say I enjoyed the game : ) It also was a wicked good workout (yes, I am originally from Massachusetts), as things started to get a little smelly by the second game.

Once I got home, I still had the adrenaline rush from the games, so all I could think of was having a big chunk of meat for dinner (I guess aggression brings out the caveman in me…).  Since the only thing in the fridge that was defrosted was chicken, I went with that. 

BBQ Chicken Lettuce Wraps

By: Me!

(this is for 1 serving, but can be easily doubled, or if you are feeling really hungry...tripled!)

1 Chicken Breast

1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's; use as much to cover the chicken entirely)

1/2 Hass avocado

Squeeze of lime juice

3-4 Romaine leaves, with the stalk taken out (1 leaf per sandwich)

Sprinkle of feta

Salt and Pepper

Pound out chicken to ensure even thickness.  I used a soup can and pounded the heck out of that chicken (I think I still had some "energy" left over from the laser tag!). 

Cover in BBQ sauce and marinate for 30 minutes to overnight.  I just thought of the idea when I got home, so 30 minutes it was!

 Grill chicken until cooked, about 8-10 minutes on each side.  Let rest.



Don't worry, I didn't eat both of them--one's for lunch tomorrow!

 Cut up half of avocado and roughly chop.  Sprinkle with lime juice to prevent oxidation and add salt and pepper (I used garlic pepper...yum!).


I put this stuff on.everything.



Sidenote: Check out this cool Salt grinder that my roomie
 got me for my birthday!!!

Take romaine leaves and cut out the thick stalk in the middle so you will be able to roll up the lettuce with the filling.  Lay on table and add avocados and feta.

Cut up chicken on an angle and arrange.

 Roll up and serve!

It is a little messy, but it is so crunchy and good!!!!

These are so good, folks and so easy to make! You can use basically whatever you have in the fridge for protein and veggies.  Traditionally, lettuce wraps are used with Bibb lettuce, but (once again) since I thought of the idea when I came home, I used what I had in my fridge--adaption is the key to cooking! One shouldn't spend $343 million dollars (ok, a little exaggeration) for one ingredient that you will use once, when you can substitute efficiently.  Check this website for other substitutions, or just use your noggin : )

Now on to dessert....

Kristin made cheesecake stuffed strawberries (omg!) the other day, but since I don't like cheesecake, I decided to do my own thing...with this:

I walked past this in the supermarket and couldn't leave it there with a clean conscience.  Dark.Chocolate.Peanut.Butter?!?!?!!? 

So I cored the strawberries, and spooned that magical concoction into the strawberries. 

Delish.  It would be even better with a topping of fresh whipped cream, but alas, my fridge was lacking that as well.  Maybe I should go shopping...

The pb didn't detract from the sweetness of the strawberries--in fact, it reminded me of chocolate covered strawberries, with a little "oomf".  One would think that peanut butter would clash with the strawberries, but trust me.  The peanut butter flavor isn't really prominent in this spread--the chocolate is.  And isn't that how life should be?

Enjoy!

Avocado. Doughnuts.

I love Fridays. Especially when my “Friday” is actually Thursday.  Now that school is out for the summer, I have been working four 10-hour days at work—so Thursday night marks my weekend!!! 

I love having Friday off, because I then I have an extra day to do all of my errands.  I got up early, went to spinning, and came home and did a Yoga video.  

Have you ever done spinning? O.M.G.  Whenever I sit on that bike, I go through three phases of emotion…

For the first ten minutes I feel happy, thinking,“ Oh, this isn’t so bad, I could do this forever”

But then, I start to feel it in my legs, and begin to feel out of breath. The next feeling, anger, comes and I think “Only 15 minutes have gone by?!?!? How is the instructor able to talk and smile and move her legs so fast!!!..." 

This phase lasts for about half an hour…

Finally, with the last 10-20 minutes left, I feel so happy and strong and proud of myself that I accomplished this feat.  I can’t stop smiling through the sweat streaming down my face and lower back.  I love workouts that push me like this.

Spinning and I are like “this”. 

After my workout, I cleaned the house and started sorting out the fridge for food that has long been forgotten. 

This gave me an idea, and a segway into today's recipe : )

So today, I plan on giving you some tips on what to do with leftovers.  After, all I am a grad student, and I need to get creative so money doesn't get thrown away.  

Example 1:

What am I supposed to do with a large container of plain yogurt leftover from doughnut-making the night before?

A simple, yogurt parfait with fresh fruit from the farmers’ market:

Omigosh Yum

 And for lunch....

A Healthy Curry Chicken Salad (1 serving)

¼ cup plain, non-fat yogurt

Rotisserie chicken, shredded

Handful of chopped almonds and grapes

¼ teaspoon of both cumin and curry

This recipe is totally an estimate, but is really delicious.  Also, it doesn’t have the dreaded mayo that I hate to have in salads!  You can use whatever you have on hand to make this salad--instead of curry, you can add a dash of ground mustard with some celery and craisins to have a classic chicken salad.

After letting it rest in the fridge for a bit, so the flavors can get to know each other, I made a quick wrap.

 I used:

1 tomato wrap

1 wedge of Laughing Cow Swiss

Some lovely, peppery arugala and some sprouts (love the crunch it gives)

A perfect, light sandwich for lunch!!!

Example 2: 

I also found a lonely avocado on my counter that desperately needed attention.  See, Jill and I have an (un)healthy obsession with this tasty fruit (?) and we want to use it in everything that we eat!

SO that led me back to doughnuts.

Avocado doughnuts.

No, that wasn’t a typo.

I looked around for recipes, and apparently, there are no (non-vegan) recipes that incorporate avocados into these tasty treats.  (Surprise Surprise) I guess no one else is crazy enough to do this.

I looked at this avocado bread recipe and used it to start from.

Avocado Doughnuts

By: ME : )

2 cups flour

¾ cups granulated sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

1 egg

1 mashed avocado

½ cup plus one tablespoon buttermilk

1 tsp cocoa powder

½ tsp allspice and nutmeg

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix flour, sugars (I thought this weird, but just trust me!), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, allspice, and nutmeg in a large bowl.

Mix mashed avocado, vanilla and egg together.  Then add buttermilk.  Add this mixture to the dry mix.  Mix together and fill doughnut pans.

It may not look pretty now, but trust me.

This makes A LOT of doughnuts—36 by my count.  After they cooled for 10 minutes, things started to get a little crazy. 

I brought out the powdered sugar.  And let my skirt fly up, as Pioneer Woman would say.

Then I brought out caramel—o dear me.  I would have made it from scratch, but I got a little antsy and couldn’t wait that long.  So I melted some caramel in the microwave, added some cinnamon, and went to town on the second batch.

For the non-avocado lovers, have no fear.  When I told my roomie about them, she was said, "Dear God get them away from me." Then I made her take a bite. And she said (and I quote!) "O crap, these are good!!"  

So give them a try : )

Enjoy!!!