Week 3: Eat In Challenge

We're halfway through the Eat-In Challenge, where you eat at home (or eat food from home) for all of your meals. This week is week 3 of the Eat-In Challenge and I am glad to report that we have not gone out to eat. I am craving a little Starbucks, though.

This week's meal plan was mostly planned last week.

Sunday
Breakfast - Cinnamon Buns
Lunch - Leftover Linguine with Clam Sauce
Dinner - Flame Steak with Salad

Monday
Breakfast - Cinnamon Buns
Lunch - Leftover Chicken Tikka Marsala, Rice
Dinner - Slow Cooker Turkey Chili, Bread

Tuesday
Breakfast - Smoothie, Cranberry-Clementine Scones
Lunch - Leftover Chili
Dinner - Grilled Chicken Salad with Cranberry & Slivered Almonds

Wednesday
Breakfast - Smoothie, Bagel with Cream Cheese
Lunch - Turkey Salad Sandwiches
Dinner - Avocado Pizza

Thursday
Breakfast - Smoothie, Cranberry- Clementine Scones
Lunch - Leftover Avocado Pizza
Dinner - Tenderloin Roast, Salad, Mashed Potatoes

Friday
Breakfast - Smoothie, Bagel with Cream Cheese
Lunch - Leftover Steak, Mashed Potatoes
Dinner - Teriyaki Salmon with Easy Brown Rice, Broccoli

Saturday
Breakfast - Eggs with Toast, Bacon
Lunch - Salmon & Cream Cheese Crackers, Sliced Apples
Dinner - TBD

Week 2: The Eat In Challenge

So, Week 2 and I'm glad to report that we have not gone out for food. We mostly stuck to our meal plan, although we did have some lighter meals just because Nick had been feeling under the weather. Also, we traded out Teriyaki Salmon for some snow crab legs because they were on sale this week. We'll make the salmon (frozen) later instead.

This week, I guess he's feeling better, because his meal requests were varied and frequent. I almost have two weeks planned already!

Sunday
Breakfast - Waffles
Lunch - Leftover Pasta Rustico
Dinner - Steak with Red Pepper Risotto, Broccoli

Monday
Breakfast - Potato Bagel with Cream Cheese, Smoothie
Lunch - Chicken Salad
Dinner - Burgers, Mac & Cheese, Coleslaw

Tuesday
Breakfast - Potato Bagel with Cream Cheese, Smoothie
Lunch - Leftover Enchiladas
Dinner - Chicken Pot Pie, Stuffing

Wednesday
Breakfast - Potato Bagel with Cream Cheese, Smoothie
Lunch - Leftover Pot Pie
Dinner - Turkey Cranberry Ravioli, Cheesy Cauliflower

Thursday
Breakfast - Potato Bagel with Cream Cheese, Smoothie
Lunch - Mac & Cheese, Coleslaw
Dinner - Pork Chop with Cranberry Compote, Salad

Friday
Breakfast - Potato Bagel with Cream Cheese, Smoothie
Lunch - Leftover Chops, Veggie
Dinner - The Saccameno's Linguine with White Clam Sauce (recipe coming soon!), Salad

Saturday
Breakfast - Eggs, Crispy Potatoes, Bacon, French Bread Toast
Lunch - Leftover Linguine
Dinner - Chicken Tikka Marsala, Brown Rice, Cheesy Cauliflower

Beer Review - Bitches Brew (Dogfish Head)

We recently came across this beer at Whole Foods. We were so excited since Dogfish Head's Punkin Ale is probably one of my favorites of all time but I rarely can snag more than a 4 pack a year since it is sold in such limited quantities since it's seasonal *boo-hoo*, so I was thrilled to try another beer from Dogfish Head.

Yes, it was New Years, so we did, in fact, drink this out of our fancy wedding champagne glasses.

By the way, have you seen Brew Masters on Discovery? It's a pretty interesting show following Dogfish Head's beer making process. I was pretty tickled that they started this show, because I love their beers and it's been fun to see their behind the scenes conceptual process (and their antics of course!). Their first episode looked at how they make Bitches Brew - a collaboration with Sony for the re-release of the Miles Davis record of the same name. The concept for the beer, as explained on the show, was to have a fusion of a dark (Stout) and light beer (Tej), similar to how the record combines African and American music styles. The tej beer is a traditional Ethiopian brew using honey and gecho sticks and leaves.

The beer itself is very dark in color, as expected considering the 3 parts stout. But unexpectedly, the flavor is not heavy, syrupy or oppressive as it is with more common dark beers. I suspect that by combining the dark beer with the light beer, it lightened it's flavor enough to make it a quite drinkable dark beer. It has a bold, slightly sweet flavor, but is surprisingly light in mouth feel considering the color. You can also taste the gecho - I suspect this is where the woodsy flavor comes from. The flavors definitely hit you on the front end, but they don't linger too long - which is a plus in my book. Ours was sold in a 1 pint bottle, which was perfect when split between Nick and I. It has only 9% alcohol by volume, which is pretty low for Dogfish Head, but pretty high for a dark beer. This also makes it fabulous for drinking.

One other thing that helps this beers drink-ability is the carbonation. It is carbonated since it's beer obviously, but it's not so overly carbonated like some other beers. For me, this is a two-fold blessing. First, because it is that much nicer to drink and secondly, because it saves the sofa. Nick, not a fan of highly carbonated beers, holds his thumb over the top and shakes them to release the excess carbonation to make them easier to drink. Usually this works out okay; however, sometimes this leads to a beer explosion and it spews beer all over the place. And beer stains. (Thank You Dogfish Head!)

Be prepared for the price though, our one pint bottle cost about $15. Dogfish Head beers in general cost more than the average beer ($10-$12 for a 4-6 pack around these parts), but for a reason - these are not average beers. Personally, I would rather pay for one glass of a good beer than drink 3 glasses of a not so fabulous beer.

We thought of what foods we would pair it with if we have the opportunity to purchase this brew again and have thought to do something meaty, but spicy. Ribs came to mind, but the sweetness in the beer wouldn't go well with a sweet BBQ rib, so we were thinking a spicy dry rubbed rib, charred a bit on the grill or smoker. I think the combination would be fabulous. The spice would contrast the sweetness in the beer and the char would compliment the woodsy flavors in the beer. Click on this link to see Dogfish Head's recommendations.

Eat In Month Challenge

So, here's the deal. Diana at The Chic Life has challenged anyone who wants to join in with her on her Eat In Month Challenge. The premise is pretty simple: All your meals must come from home. The idea is to make things at home in order to save money. Check out all the rules on her site.

Honestly, it seems pretty easy at first glance, Nick and I usually eat dinner at home since we are big proponents of sweatpants and well, it's frowned upon to wear those in public. And we usually take leftovers for lunch. But the more I thought about it, I started thinking about the bagel I got one morning when I ran out of cereal. I remind myself of the morning I was too lazy to clean the coffee filter and went out for a cup. The sushi we picked up at the grocery store because we were too tired to cook. It adds up.

The rules of the challenge were not really as stringent as I feel I would have them for it to actually be challenging for us. Sooo, we've added a couple of our own to really make it tough.

1. No prepared grocery items (from the sushi bar, cafe, bakery, etc.) excluding breads.

2. No store prepared frozen meals. (Making ahead meals and then freezing at home is okay though!)

I'll try and post as many pictures and tips as I can as we go through the month,  and I'll keep you posted if there's any cheating. If you are interested in signing up to take part in the challenge, just click the button at the top of the post to go to Diana's website to sign up!

Here's our meal plan for the week:

Monday
Breakfast - Clementine Cranberry Scones, Coffee
Lunch - Apples with Crackers and Cheese, Salad
Dinner - Green Enchiladas

Tuesday
Breakfast - Smoothie, Coffee
Lunch - Green Enchiladas
Dinner - Coffee Crusted Steak, Artichokes and Macaroni and Cheese

Wednesday
Breakfast - Clementine Cranberry Scone, Yogurt, Coffee
Lunch - Grape & Almond Chicken Salad, Crackers, Apples
Dinner - Rustico Pasta

Thursday
Breakfast - Smoothie & Coffee
Lunch - Rustico Pasta
Dinner - Cranberry Walnut Grilled Chicken Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing

Friday
Breakfast - Yogurt & Granola, Coffee
Lunch - Enchiladas or Chicken Salad
Dinner - Teriyaki Salmon, Brown Rice, Veggie or Salad

Saturday
Brunch - Eggs, Bacon, and Crispy Potatoes
Dinner - Jalapeno Pyrohi with Caramelized Onion

A New Year

So, 2011, I've got big plans for you. With all the planning and organizing and studying and running around that happened in 2010, I am glad that this year is looking like it will be a little more relaxing. I have 5 goals for the year, all of which should be attainable. I think it's ridiculous to set yourself up for failure. Setting goals to better yourself and keep yourself on the track you want to follow makes a whole lot more sense to me than making a resolution that is so lofty it lasts two weeks and leaves you feeling down on yourself for the entire year.

1. To have more fun. Nick and I spent so much time last year on projects and didn't get the chance to go out and check out local attractions. I want to make a more conscious effort this year to go out and make fun memories.

2. To read 26 books. Or, to read one book every two weeks during 2011 and keep record of those that I read.

3. To photograph more. Because I'm forgetful.

4. To study for and take Part 3 of the NCIDQ. To get it the heck out of the way.

And lastly, a real lofty goal and probably the one that I will have the hardest time reaching:

5. To fold and put away laundry after washing. I have serious problems with this. I absolutely hate it.  But I guess it's not that cool to go through the hassle of digging through a pile of clean clothes to find two matching socks every morning.

What are your goals for the upcoming year?