Week 2- ILP

My second week of my baking challenge hasn’t been as fancy as my first week was!  Being away from home makes it difficult to do much food prep for yourself, but I have done some!

Since I left my Hubby at home, I got some food prepared for him so he could have something to munch on while I was gone! He gets actual meals at his parents’ or grandparents’ so I knew I didn’t need to worry about that!

The first thing I did was some vegetable prep.  As I’ve said, we are trying to eat healthier, which is hard purely on a time level.  A snack of potato chips is much easier and less time consuming than a salad! Therefore, I got some of the components of a nice, healthy salad ready so he(we) could have one very quickly!

Peppers were on sale at the store, so I couldn’t resist them! I just cut them in half and then sliced one half of each color into a container.  The other half of each color got wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in a baggie (just like the cheese slices!) so the freshness would be kept in the fridge.  This was almost a silly step because we ate them so quickly!

Something I’ve learned in the last year is how much longer a head of lettuce will keep over a bag of salad.  This is so important for me because I can buy one a week before I need it and it will still be good when I use it, unlike a bag of salad! The heads are also cheaper since you have to put some work in on them yourself.  For me, they’re a win! Just peel off the outside few leaves and then cut/rip up the rest. Place in another airtight container!

Another yummy snack we enjoy is celery with peanut butter…Probably too much peanut butter for it to still be considered “healthy,” but protein is good, right?!  Wash the celery well and then chop it up.  Make sure to take off the tops and bottoms.  I tried to be frugal and eat more of the tops…I don’t recommend that!  Now we can quickly have a healthier snack! (I’m a salt-addict, so I discovered that sprinkling a bit of rock salt on top of the peanut butter makes for an even better snack! The crunch of the celery with the sweetness of the pb plus the saltiness makes me crave salty potato chips less!)

The preparations took some time, but then when it was time for lunch, it was easy to choose salad since all I had to do was throw it in a bowl! Being healthy isn’t always horrible! 😉

The other thing I made for my Hubby was peach cobbler.  Peaches had also been on sale, so I bought some.  They were quite green so I left them on the counter in a paper bag.  After a few days they were perfectly ripe! I justified myself that this wasn’t a horrible treat for him since the peaches were fresh and all natural and there are oats in it. I also use brown sugar, which is healthier than white sugar.  I found a super easy recipe in a cookbook I am borrowing from my mother-in-law.  The hardest part was peeling the peaches.  I didn’t think of doing it before I sliced them, so I had to peel each of them individually! Since they were so juicy, it took forever because they kept slipping out of my hands! But the husband really enjoyed it and wants more, so that makes the work worth it!

My kitchen supply suggestions for this week are a dough cutter and non-skid bowls.

The cutter makes cutting butter into crumb crusts or pie crusts super easy! The non-skid bowls are amazing.  They’re durable and they suction themselves to the countertop so they don’t move as you’re stirring or whatever!

I’m very excited for next week’s blog! My favorite holiday is the 4th of July! I have a few fun, festive items planned out for it! 🙂