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By Courtney on September 5, 2013
Having a job is big part of why I liked our recent trip to Joshua Tree. In past trips, I’ve stood around holding my sleeping bag while everyone else sets up and I just spin in circles looking for someway to be helpful. But in the end, it just ends up being me and my sleeping bag spinning around in circles off to the side. Having the job of Chef Nature’s Miracle, made me feel useful… and full of quality food.
If you’ve never been to Joshua Tree, it really is amazing. It almost feels like you’re on the moon. Amazing boulder/rock formations coming out of the ground that you can climb all over and see for miles and miles and miles. It’s huge and stars at night make you feel like you’re in a planetarium. Soooooo cool. You know what wasn’t cool (but just totally tells you so much about what Adam and I do when no one is around to roll their eyes), we listened to U2′s Joshua Tree album more than we did in the 90′s. We’re, like so…. cliche.
So, here’s the breakdown of all the meals we created during our trip. In case you missed it – yesterday’s post gives you the rundown of all the prep work you can do in about an hour the night before. So worth it! I made the recommendation to bag each meal’s ingredients in individual shopping bags in the cooler (so you can just grab and go). I’ve listed out each meal with those bags in mind, for easy planning.
Last but not least, before we dive into it. COOLEST CAMPING FIND (via Pinterest, obbbvvss) – a gallon water jug and a head lamp = amazing ambient light! We tried it and it worked. You MUST do this your next trip out! Check out the picture at the very bottom.
Recipes and Ingredients after the jump:
Continue reading ““Camping For Foodies” Part 2″
Posted in Beef Recipes, Breakfast Recipes, Camping, Family Life, Recipes, Seafood | Tagged Breakfast, Camping, lemons and lunges, salmon, skewers, steak, Vegetables |
By Courtney on September 4, 2013
We’re baaaaaaaccck! I made it through the desert heat and all I got was a meeeaaan neck tan. How was your Labor Day weekend? If you had told me a few years ago that I’d be peeing in a bush and sleeping next to ants on Labor Day weekend… and liking it… I’d call you Nancy Grace (read: crazy). But, the verdict is in and I really had a great time. We camped in Joshua Tree for two nights and while I can get over the idea of going out into the middle of nowhere to set-up a makeshift version of what you already have at home (i.e. bedroom, kitchen, living room), I CANNOT get over eating like a college faternity boy for three days. So, I made it my mission to put together a Camping For Foodies guide that will make you forget you’re anywhere near coyote poop.
The key to Camping for Foodie success is preparation. I prepped the night before for about an hour and I was able to put together meals all weekend quickly and super easily. To make this easier to digest, I’m going to separate this into two posts. Today, I’ll run down the night before prep!
Please note this picture of Adam: He insisted I get on higher ground to take this photo of him. We were about 200 feet up and the angle he requested makes him appear like he’s on the ground. bahahahahaha. So much for drama.
Night Before Prep: Continue reading ““Camping For Foodies” Part 1″
Posted in Camping, Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged Camping, Foodies, Healthy, Joshua Tree, LemonsandLunges |
By Courtney on August 31, 2013
While I’m still in Joshua Tree trying to concoct recipe miracles, Lexie is back to share an AWESOME workout you can do at home this weekend! The floor is yours, Lex:
I love a good workout challenge and my most recent obsession is jumping rope. It’s a fast, easy way to burn A LOT of calories and get in a full workout quickly and lets not forget how hard it is…
(Whoa… that one looks INTENSE! Can’t wait to try it when I get back… and then throw-up.) I’ll be back on Monday to share some of the recipes I tried this weekend. Hope you’re having a great one.
Posted in Lexie's Guest Blogs, Workouts | Tagged Jump Rope, lemons and lunges, Workout |
By Courtney on August 29, 2013
While I’m in Joshua Tree, I asked one of my favorite people to guest blog – so I present to you… the mom, the myth, the Lexie!
I’m super excited to have the opportunity to be a guest writer for Lemons and Lunges. The fabulous Courtney White is a great inspiration and a hard act to follow!
Ever since I became a parent seven years ago, I tried time and again to find a way to maintain a good workout and diet routine. Its been a struggle to fit this time into our crazy schedule and not sucumbing to eating the leftover nuggets and cheese pizza dipped in ranch can be tough.
Finally it occurred to me that I needed to make the routine not just about me but about all of us. I needed to make working out and cooking healthy meals a family affair… a new Sunday funday routine has been born! An afternoon spent together preparing food has made my week less stressful and the kids love to be involved. If they cooked it they will usually even eat a bite or two.
I love…no I actually LOVE vegetables and I love cooking them. The best veggies are fresh and local harvest. Do I have time to tend to a vegetable garden, um no. I don’t even have time to go to the farmers market. I discovered several years ago that for a small fee you can join a Community Supported farm and have veggies delivered to a close-by drop-off location weekly… genius! Recently we’ve also joined a CSA that delivers fresh sustainable seafood. 2 different types of fresh caught fish each week, might as well take advantage of the great fish caught locally in our Monterey Bay!
I also love butter but butter and I have recently parted ways and I’ve begun a new love affair with coconut oil. The recipe below is for a local fish called sand dab, but it works for any white fish, is full of protein and can be prepared in under 20 minutes – now thats my kind of fast food!
Sand Dabs & Rainbow Chard
Sand Dab Ingredients: Continue reading “A Cool Mom’s Perspective”
Posted in Lexie's Guest Blogs, Recipes, Seafood | Tagged CSA, lemons and lunges, Low Carb, Seafood, Vegetable |
By Courtney on August 28, 2013
One reason why I love summer cooking so much is the easy clean-up when you grill up your dinner. Today was suuuuper hot in San Diego and after an extra sweaty session of boot camp, all I could think about was eating a light, fresh dinner. Adam is back from another out of town trip and the last thing I wanted to do was waste any time cleaning dishes, so this dinner hit the spot and checked all the boxes – Clean Eating, Low Carb, Fresh Ingredients, Easy Clean-up. CHECK!
This would be a great meal for this weekend as well! Any fun plans for Labor Day? Not laboring, I hope. That’s unpatriotic, tell your boss I said so and proceed to your bbq/pool party/etc.. Adam and I are going to Joshua Tree for some hiking, camping and off-the-gridding, I’m really excited to figure out some creative camping food. This gal doesn’t do hot dogs more than once a year. And I’ve already been to a baseball game, so…. you do the math.
Chicken Chipotle Skewers with Avocado Creme
Ingredients: Continue reading “Inspiration: Labor Day”
Posted in Chicken Recipes, Family Life, Recipes | Tagged avocado, Bacon, Chicken, Chipotle, clean eating, Healthy, lemons and lunges, Low Carb, tomato |
By Courtney on August 27, 2013
My junior year of college our school built a new gym that got national attention for how state of the art it was. I was back earlier than most from winter break and was excited to be able to check out the new digs before it was overrun by the rest of the returning students. Let me preface this story with the fact that I was no gym rat and was very unfamiliar with most of the equipment. So, obviously, I pretended to know EXACTLY what I was doing as I made my way down to the the weight area. I saddled up to a machine and began working on my stretching. About one minute later, one of the more popular guys in our school locks eyes with me from across the gym… and STARTS APPROACHING. ”Clearly, he’s impressed by my fitness level and knowledge and is coming over to ask me to be partners… in the gym and out ;)” were my exact thoughts.
Well, JK (we’ll call him that for now), finally gets over to me and asks if I know that the machine (that my foot is in the strap of, with my leg is over my head), is an arm machine. AN ARM MACHINE. Well, no I did not. Thanks. So, I did what any other girl in my position would do, I immediately shot back with, “Yeah, I know. This is just a stretching technique my trainer taught me.”
Then, I removed my foot from the hand strap, after a three minute struggle because shoes are bigger than hands, and left the weight area with my butt cheeks clenched in horror.
That moment when you realize you’ve been doing something wrong the whole time… awwkkkkarrd. Well, I just recently found out that I’ve been doing something else wrong the whole time, thanks to my friend Matt (hheyyyyy Matt!!). For years, I’ve been diligent about making sure I clean and prepare chicken properly to avoid cross contamination and last week I found out, my efforts have been more dangerous than helpful!
So, I wanted to share with all of you, so you no longer find yourself putting your foot in the hand strap of chicken preparation.
BIG LESSON: Don’t wash that chicken! Food safety experts have recently found that when you wash raw chicken, something called aerosolization happens — an invisible spray that’s going to potentially carry that bacteria for a foot or two feet. That means your cutting surfaces, food on the counter, utensils, etc. could all be getting hit with the spray.
You’re better to just pat the chicken down with a paper towel and the cooking process with take care of the rest. Can you believe we’ve been doing it wrong all along?? How awkward.
Now that we know, let’s not kill ourselves with e-coli spraying around the kitchen and enjoy this skinny chicken alfredo “spaghetti”. The recipe is made with spaghetti squash – and while it’s no noodle impostor as some people want to trick you into thinking – it IS a great alternative for a super healthy dinner. And this has tons of flavor and none of the guilt. THAT’S doing dinner right, if you ask me.
Skinny Chicken Alfredo with Spaghetti Squash
Ingredients: Continue reading “That awkward moment when…”
Posted in Chicken Recipes, Recipes | Tagged alfredo, Chicken, Healthy, lemons and lunges, spaghetti squash |
By Courtney on August 22, 2013
I’m an only child. Surprise, I don’t like to share my toys or my food, so don’t ask. I think my parents were pretty good with trying to combat the dreaded “only child syndrome”. However, there are just some things that I’ve seemed to develop as a result of growing up as the only person under 3 feet in the house for many years. First, I hate books on tape. My parents once listened to books on tape for the entire trip from Maryland to Florida. I think I would have rather not gone to Disney World than have had to listen to Dean Koontz for 12 hours. Second, I also really enjoy time alone. I’m a very social gal, but I need some time to recharge my battery. I think that’s one reason I enjoy my time in the kitchen so much, it’s focused and quiet.
When it comes to my workouts, however I am NOT a lone wolf. I like a partner to compete with, to push me to take it beyond my comfort zone. So, I have a fun partner work-out to share that you can complete in under 30 minutes. This can be done at home, (esp. if you have TRX straps and a resistance band to help modify the pull-ups) or at the training room at your gym. Just turn up your music and prepare to sweat.
*In case it’s not clear – the total number of reps for each exercise is split between the two partners (100 burpees = 50 each partner)**
We did this work-out at boot camp today, followed by 50 massive tire flips. NBD. Stretcher, please.
After doing all that work, I wanted to keep it clean and delicious for dinner so I whipped up a Very Veggie Turkey Bowl. This recipe makes more than enough for 4. I’m going to freeze the leftovers or use them for lunches… that I won’t share with anyone for obvious reasons.
Clean Eating Very Veggie Turkey Bowls:
Ingredients: Continue reading “Only Child Syndrome”
Posted in Recipes, Turkey Recipes, Uncategorized, Workouts | Tagged brown rice, clean eating, partner workout, Spinach, squash, Turkey |
By Courtney on August 21, 2013
The more you know… the more you wonder how the f@#% you’re still alive. That’s what I’ve found the more I learn about the food we eat and more specifically the food that is most readily available to us. I recently saw an article about ten American foods that are banned in other countries. Let’s just say, it’s not just Cheetos and high fructose corn syrup. It’s things like farm raised salmon (the kind that many, many restaurants serve), certain food coloring (used in things like Goldfish crackers, Kraft Mac & Cheese) and flame retardant drinks… yes you read that right FLAME RETARDANT DRINKS (think Mountain Dew). These foods have been found to contain cancer-causing agents, drugs and chemicals not safe for human consumption and other disturbing additives.
Now, don’t worry, I’m not going vegan (not that there’s anything wrong with that) anytime soon, but I do try to be more conscience about the foods we eat in Casa de L&L. It’s still baby steps, but this baby is movin’ in the right direction.
So, tonight’s meal is fresh to death and legal in not only the US… but also Australia and New Zealand. Phewwwwyy. We’ve got wild caught grilled Sockeye Salmon with a light and fresh mango, avocado and black bean slaw.
Wild Caught Salmon with Organic Summer Mango Slaw:
Ingredients:
Continue reading “Legal Seafood”
Posted in Recipes, Seafood, Uncategorized | Tagged avocado, Black Beans, Conscience Eating, lemons and lunges, Low Carb, Mango, Organic, salmon, Spinach |
By Courtney on August 20, 2013
This weekend Adam and I were walking the dogs and we took a new route. As we turned the corner to make our way up our street I turned to talk to him and rammed my sandal-clad foot into a cactus. To add insult to injury, I was turning to hear what he had said, which was… “Watch out for the catcus.” After pulling the spines out of my toes I limped up the street with a bloody foot and big question: We live is an urban area of a southern california beach town… why is there a cactus in the middle of the sidewalk?? Some things just don’t make sense.
For dinner, Adam requested a big fave, since we got back from our first trip to Cabo in March – Steak and Shrimp fajitas. Midway through the meal, I realized I had missed an incredible opportunity for revenge. Cactus Salsa. Next time… next time, Mr. Cactus. Payback is a bitch.
Check out tonight’s kitchen creation – you can keep this lower carb by eliminating the tortillas and tossing this over some chopped romaine.
Tomorrow I’ve got a great no excuses workout to share – no equipment needed, done in 30 minutes!
Shrimp and Carne Asada Fajitas:
Steak and Shrimp Fajitas
Ingredients: Continue reading “Here’s the (Cactus) Kicker”
Posted in Beef Recipes, Recipes, Seafood, Uncategorized |
By Courtney on August 15, 2013
If you told me two days ago that Ashton Kutcher was going to say some of the most inspiring words I’ve heard all year, I’d punch you and then I’d punch myself (just in case it was true). But, somehow, that’s exactly what happened. Did everyone see Mr. Kutcher’s speech at the Teen Choice Awards? (If you are a fan of L&L on The Book, you probably saw me post it today).
Holy moly. I was NOT expecting that. And the fact that it came out of Ashton Kutcher’s mouth and was so thought provoking makes me uncomfortable. However, it was out of Kelso’s mouth and it did make me take stock in a few things. Big takeaways: Opportunity looks like hard work; sexy is being smart, thoughtful and kind; build your life, don’t just live it.
It’s so nice to have the two of you, plus that homeless dude outside of bootcamp, reading L&L. Thanks for paying attention to my little something that makes me feel like I’m checking the box on all three of those things. What is the thing that drives you?
As a thank you, I’ve prepared a super simple, summer-tastic, pizza that you’ll be coming back to all summer. Promise.
Fresh Peach, Basil, Prosciutto & Brie Cheese French Bread Pizza
Ingredients Continue reading “Dude, Where’s My Inspirational Speech?”
Posted in Recipes, Uncategorized | Tagged Basil, Brie, Healthy, lemons and lunges, Organic, Peach, Pizza, Prosciutto, Summer |
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