Throwing my hat in the ring...

OK...so I liedJ  While we actually DID NOT have a dinner that included avocados last night (we had "Cornbread Salad"...check it out!  It's soooo good!), the recipe I thought I'd show you today STILL included avocadoJ  I just can't get away from it...hehehhehehehehehe  Anyways, here was a great dinner we had a few weeks ago (which I *ahem* never got around to posting) that is still brimming with veggies:

Fajita Sloppy Joes!

Don't get me wrong, I love a good ole' fashioned sloppy Joe, but I love seeing all the new cool, variations that they've made over the years. (Here's a delicious Philly Cheesesteak Joe, which reminds me that I need to make this again ASAPJ)  So here's my attempt to throw my hat in the ring with my own version.

Into the pan, I tossed a pound of ground turkey.  I broke it up with the spoon and cooked it until it was all browned up... 

I spiced up my 'joe with a bit of chili powder... 

...and a little cumin for a bit of a southwestern flairJ 

Then, to make the sandwich a little SAUCY, I mixed in a couple tablespoons of beef broth...(just enough to coat the meat) 

...and a couple shakes of Worcestershire.  Because, well, everything is better with WorcestershireJ 

Finally, into the pan went some peppers & onions.  You can certainly use FRESH (especially NOW!), but I just so happened to have this bag in the freezer and they worked out great...

I would use a small onion, 1 red pepper & 1 green if using fresh...and bag of frozen.  I had only used half a bag and wished I had tossed in more.  Because you can never go wrong with MORE vegetablesJ

Simmer everything together for about 10 minutes... 

...and you're good to go.   

Top your burger bun with fajita meat on one side andddddddd.....

...wait for it! ....

...GUACAMOLE on the otherJ   

Are you surprised?J

Savory, spicy meat, cool & creamy avocado and tangy peppers & onions...definite winner in my bookJ

And Scott & I have been on a COLE SLAW KICK all summer!  I think I finally made Scott a 'cabbage convert'J  He used to say he hated the stuff and is now polishing off the bowls anytime we have leftoversJ  SUCCESS.  

(ps-to lighten up the slaw, use my trick of 1 part mayo to 2 parts non-fat greek yogurt for the mix!)

Alrighty, I must head off to go prep myself for the gymnastics TEAM FINAL in about 1 hour (watch live online here!).  I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE gymnastics, so OLYMPIC TEAM FINAL is definitely a little like  Christmas day around hereJ

Have a great Tuesday!

A new "journey"??

I may just have to change the blog's name to "Avocado's Tasty Journey."

It just might happen.

Why???  BECAUSE I CAN'T STOP COOKING WITH THEM THIS SUMMER!  And why not?  They're pack full of Vitamin E, full of "GOOD" fat (fyi-bad fat makes you gain weight, like in cakes & cookies, but GOOD fat helps you LOOSE weight!) and they make a pretty darn good mayo swap to help boost the flavor AND the nutritional count.  WALLAH!  The first success was the Guacamole Potato Salad...and next up:  

Avocado Chicken Salad

And this is most excellent for those dog days of summer because there is "NO. HEATING. THE. KITCHEN. REQUIRED."  (file this one away for the 973487234 heat wave this summer!)

No stove AND it all comes together 1,2, 3.  Ya ready?

Dice up a 1/4 of a red onion...

...and a little green onion... 

Toss the onions, an avocado & a scoop of non-fat Greek yogurt in a bowl and mash together... 

...toss in some shredded chicken and mix... 

OK...you MAY need to turn the oven on for this if you poach the chicken in some boiling water before hand (like I did) OR you can just grab one of those rotisserie chickens at the grocery store and shred it up in a jiff.  Whichever is easiest.

Lastly, I rinsed & dried some lettuce leaves ...

...and filled them up with the chicken salad for a low-cal/no carb finish... 

Sooooo creamy, refreshing and filling.  And strangely enough, unlike the potato salad, this one tasted EXACTLY as if it was mixed with mayo.  It was so rich & perfect.  We liked it so much, we had it 2 weeks in a rowJ

Capped off with our favorite 'side' of the summer:  watermelon (didn't I say 'no stove required'??J)

So I think this shall be my last avocado post...at least for a few daysJ  Since the summer is more than half way over (yay!), my goal is to plan ALL of our dinners for the next month + week with LOTTTTSSSS of fresh summer produce.  Truth be told, I'm STILL craving a lot of my 'pregnancy cravings', which just so happened to be the three dastardly C's : Crunchy, creamy & carb-y!  Eeeeeee....not the best for wanting to shed these lasting pounds.  Soooooo I figured what better way to 'realign my taste buds' then to focus on all the beauty of the season (honestly, my only REAL favorite part of summerJ hahahahahhahaha)  We stocked up this week on lots of lettuce, green beans, corn, cucumbers, avocados (yes, moreJ), tomatoes, onions, peaches & watermelon and I have plans for every last things.  Hopefully I'll get to blog a bit this week and show you all of my 'veggie plans' for the week!

Until then...have a great Monday!

Classic Summer....

Hey everyone!  Hope you guys had a great week and a great holiday.  Scott was off from work last week so we were here, there & everywhere trying to squeeze in as much "Family of 3" business as we couldJ  (aka-not spending too much time behind a computer)  But here's a brief glimpse of what our 4th of July partially looked like, as we continued to have another classic summer feast on Sunday night....

How can you go wrong with a classic hot dog....grilled to charred perfection, of course!

And my new picnic all-star???

GUACAMOLE POTATO SALAD!

This is Knock. Your. Socks. Off delicious!  Trust meJ  And soooooooooooo darn easy.  First up you start, as all potato salads do: with some diced, boiled & cooled potatoes...

Next, gather up the rest of your ingredients...

• 1 avocado
• 1/4 red onion, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Squeeeze of lime juice
• Salt & pepper 

Mash everything together like soooo....

Anndddd here's a way to keep this salad on the lighter side.  To keep the creamy consistency, ditch the traditional mayo and add 1 tablespoon of nonfat Greek yogurt....

I had used mayo on the 4th and Scott said you could TELL the difference, but that it didn't really make that much of a change.  The mayo just made it richer where the yogurt makes it a little tangier.  So it's up to you!  Whatever your preference.

Annnnyyywayyyy....mix the guacamole with the potatoes and WALLAH!  Your new picnic BFF! 

Rich, creamy & flavorful (with the added health benefits of the avocado!), Scott proclaimed this is how all potato salad should be made from now onJ  I might just oblige that one!  hehehehhehehehehe

To round out our summer fest, we also had some corn on the cob.  But did anyone else hear how the mid-America drought is going to affect corn crops this year?  And guess what THAT means??  Soaring prices for corn PLUS the cost of milk & meat.  Y.E.A.H.  I wonder if Jersey will be affected since we have quite a bit of our own corn crops??  We shall see.

Well I think you've heard about corn enoughJ  Now for one last thing I promised you:  my weekly workout schedule.  Let's just say this is what I AIMMMMMM for, and try my best to fit it all in as best as I can...

Monday:  1+ hours Beginners Power Yoga

Tuesday:  1 hour pilates DVD  (broken up into 2 parts while the baby is napping)

Wednesday:  1+ hours Power Yoga

Thursday:  1/2 hour dance + weights

Friday:  1 hour Zumba

Saturday:  1+ hours Power Yoga

Sunday:  1 hour Zumba

Obviously, ALLLL of that doesn't happen every single week.  The ones that I hardly EVER skip, though, are all of the yoga classes.  I'm just starting to fit Zumba (cardio) back into my workout and let's just say my first class back was TOUGH!!  Holy gasping for air!  But already by my next class I felt a LOT better, but it made me laugh how you can take for granted your "capacity" after you've been 'slacking' (or having a babyJ) for a bitJ

Alright, well that's about enough from me today.  Have a great Tuesday, everyone!