Wheat Berry Enchiladas

For months I've been staring at the bag full of cooked wheat berries in my freezer. I keep moving them around watching the freezer burn slowly take over, but I had no idea what to do with them. I'm not even sure why I had them in the first place.

Then, I saw a wheat berry enchilada recipe in a cookbook. Brilliant.

I didn't follow the recipe, though. Instead, I took the lazy way out. I used random veggies from the produce drawer that I needed to use up and canned enchilada sauce. Sometimes winging it just works. Feel free to try any veggies you like or swap brown rice for wheat berries.

I was pooped anyway. My parents were out of town for the day and asked me to stop by to check on their dog, Hannah. She's had terrible allergies and has been on meds so they are nervous leaving her in her crate for too long.



How can you say no to a face like that? So, I took for a long walk around the block. My high school friend's dad even gave her a treat when we stopped to say hi.

That still didn't stop her from politely begging for a Pup-Peroni.



She didn't get one. I love Hannah. I didn't like her much as a puppy because I still missed my childhood dog, but she's grown on me. Now she's probably the most spoiled dog I've ever met. I can't wait to get a dog of my own.

Wheat Berry Enchiladas
Serves 4

1 tbsp olive oil
3 oz mushrooms, sliced
1/2 small zucchini, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1 small jalapeno, seeds removed, minced
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup salsa
3/4 cup or so cooked wheat berries
salt and pepper to taste
8 small corn tortillas
1 can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar
cilantro for garnish

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat a large skillet with oil over medium high heat. Add the vegetables and cook a couple of minutes until beginning to soften. Add the oregano, chili powder, cumin and garlic and cook until the vegetables completely soften — about 5 minutes. Stir in the wheat berries and salsa. Season if necessary.

Warm the tortillas according to package directions. Spread a little of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Fill each tortilla with 1/4 cup of the vegetable/wheatberry mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the dish and repeat until all tortillas are filled. Top with the rest of the enchilada sauce and the cheese.

Bake 30 minutes or until cheese is melted and tortillas are crispy. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Spanish Chicken and Rice

I'm procrastinating. I should go to the gym, but like always I find a zillion and one other things to occupy my time — like cleaning the bath tub, folding laundry, etc. Things that could wait and things that aren't enjoyable, but are apparently more enjoyable than exercise.

Some argue that housework is exercise. And it is, in the sense it's better than sitting on the couch watching TV. But, I don't think of it as a replacement for cardio or strength training.

As soon as I'm done with this, I'll go. I always feel better when I'm done. Plus, I've been doing really well this week with eating and exercise overall. I met my old coworkers from my last company at a local chinese takeout place for the lunch special. I skippped my egg roll and didn't even eat my whole entree. I was satisfied, but not stuffed. That's unlike me when chinese takeout is involved.

Even if the scale isn't as kind.. I'm just glad to have made progress with saying no when I know I'm satisfied. I think like lots of people who struggle to maintain a healthy weight, I'll eat just to eat or because it smells good or tastes good.

Last night's dinner definitely smelled good while it was cooking. It wasn't anything super special, but it tasted good. It was Spanish Chicken and Rice. It had so much going on with the peppers, onion, tomatoes, parsley and olives that it was hard to make it look as good as it tasted. It's one of those one pot meals that are good for busy weeknights.

I cooked my chicken and tented it while the rice cooked and added it back at the end to warm through because I use a thin chicken breast. But if it's thicker, definitely cook the chicken with the rice to get it to cook through.



After I get back from the gym, I'll heat up the leftovers of this for a late lunch.. vegetable stir fry and snow peas, minus the egg roll. Just a basic fried rice recipe with mushrooms since I had some in the fridge. No real recipe. Just stir frying the veggies with ginger and garlic in some oil, cooked the egg.. added in the brown rice and doused with a little sherry, soy sauce, and sesame oil and cooked through.

OK. Seriously leaving now. No more excuses.

Staycation Blueberry Pancakes

Yesterday started off rough. I woke up at 4 a.m. sweating, with all the covers kicked off, and it was really stuffy in my bedroom. The air conditioning was on because my allergies have been bothering me, so I was really confused. Why was it so freaking hot? And you know that smell when you first turn on the furnace for the first time in the fall? That hot smell? Well, that's what it smelled like.

At first I thought I was dumb and switched on the heat instead of the A/C. That's something I would totally do. It did said it was on cool, but the thermostat also said it was above 85 degrees in the apartment even though it was set to 85. To make matters worse, hot air was blowing from my vents. Ugh. The A/C broke and because it was so hot, I couldn't fall back to sleep.

Luckily, maintenance fixed it yesterday while I was at work, but work was torture for my sleep deprived body. The good thing about being up so early, though, was that I got a yoga workout in. I guess when life hands you lemons, you make lemonade.

I wanted to get another workout in after work, but I was way too tired. Instead, I grilled up the hamburgers I put out in the morning. I wanted something I could grill without having to turn the stove or oven on — since I wasn't sure when they'd be able to fix my A/C.



It's nothing out of the ordinary.. just a burger with lettuce, ketchup, mustard and pickle relish. Just the way I like them. I also had a beer, because a.) I had a rough day and b.) I was on VACATION.

I woke up this morning with the sun streaming through my window. It really felt like I was on a vacation instead of just hanging out around town. To celebrate, I made buttermilk oatmeal blueberry pancakes. I used a Weight Watcher's recipe, but I'm not sure why I did. I never have much luck. These were OK, but not something I'd make again. Might be my fault because I only had old-fashioned oats. I ground them up, though, to make up for the fact they weren't quick cooking. It could have affected the outcome, truthfully. But in general, WW recipes don't usually work for me, and it's rare for me to make on of their recipes more than once.

I also altered the recipe by skipping the cherries and low cal syrup, threw blueberries in the batter and topped with real syrup.

Now, I'm off to wash my car and get a workout in. Then, I'm picking up the cupcakes my sister ordered for a tasting (she's having cupcakes at her wedding instead of wedding cake), going with her to meet with the florist, and spending time with my family while she's in town.

Question: Did you take a vacation this year? Where did you go?