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Thursday night I made Polenta Pepporoni Pizza Bake.  It was basically like putting all your pizza toppings on top of sliced pre-cooked polenta.  Pretty simple and I loved it!  I'm really loving Polenta. After I put the polenta bake into the oven, I looked into our almost bare refrigerator and saw some Arugula that was 1 day away from being on it's way out.  I remember seeing Giada make an Arugula soup once, so I quickly looked up the recipe.  Gotta love the internet.  I had all the ingredients needed except yukon-gold potatoes.  I knew that ingredient would make the soup thick and creamy so I improvised and looked around my kitchen.  Low and behold, I found rutabaga.  I had originally bought rutabaga to use it in a Root Vegetable Gratin that I never got around to making.  Never using or tasting rutabaga before, I asked my good friend Google if I could use it in place of potatoes and sure enough I found something that said it a good replacement.  So I diced it up and threw it in!  But before I talk about that recipe.  Let me get you the Pepperoni Polenta Pizza Bake.  This recipe was inspired by Whole Foods.
Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
1 (18-ounce) roll precooked polenta, cut into 9 rounds
1 cup marinara sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup sliced roasted red peppers
9 thin slices (about 1 1/2 ounces) pepperoni
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup sliced pepporoncini's
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange polenta rounds in an even layer in the bottom of the dish. Spoon marinara sauce over the top, then scatter with oregano. Arrange peppers and pepperoni over the sauce, then top with cheese and bake until hot throughout and bubbly, about 35 minutes. Serve hot.

There is polenta under there, I promise.  Okay, moving on to the Creamy Arugula Soup.
 Ingredient:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 medium rutabaga, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken stock
1 cup chopped, about 2 ounces, assorted lettuce (I used Romaine)
2 cups (2 ounces) arugula or spinach leaves
1/4 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a medium pot warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until tender and starting to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the rutabega and the stock. Bring the stock to a simmer over high heat. Reduce the heat and continue to simmer, covered, until the potatoes are almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add the arugula and lettuce to the pot and continue simmering, uncovered until the greens are tender, another 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the rutabega and greens to a blender. Pour in enough of the stock to cover the vegetables. Add the cream, salt, and pepper.

*Blend the ingredients together until smooth. Be careful to blend slowly at first with a kitchen towel held tight to the top of the blender lid. Blending hot ingredients can cause the lid to blow off. Pour the blended soup back into the pot with the remaining stock. Stir to combine. Cover and keep warm.

 

 I of course, garnished with some Kale Chips and served with a side salad. 

Last night, my husband and I went to Haru in the Prudential for some sushi.  It was okay but the service was pretty bad. I went to bed early and woke up early today to plan my grocery shopping and menu for the week.  Yes, I know I'm a dork and I actually look forward to checking out recipes and deciding what to make for the week.  I'm getting ready to leave the house soon, but we just got into "How to Make it in America" on HBO and now can't stop watching!

Here's what I got planned for the Week:

Sunday: Swiss Chard & Sweet Potato Gratin with Swiss Chard Wrapped Salmon

Monday: Pear, Proscuitto & Goat Cheese Pizza with Balsamic Brussel Sprouts

Tuesday: Swiss Chard Pie (maybe this week I will actually make it!)

Wednesday: Quinoa Loaf and Quinoa Salad with Mushrooms & Asparagus

Thursday: OUT after work to celebrate the end of Biggest Loser

Friday: Leftovers

Also, I made a pretty tasty breakfast this morning.  I made a clean-out-the-fridge fritatta which was basically 5 eggs, some skim milk, tomatoes, pepperoni, pepperoncini's, red peppers, green peppers, monterey jack cheese, salt and pepper. Combined these ingredients in a small saute pan, then transferred it to the oven. 

I served this with some toast and butter... My favorite!  Nice little breakfast.

While the oven was still hot, I made another batch of Baked Banana Oatmeal.  

I have to be honest about something.  I REALLY REALLY hate the texture of oatmeal but baked oatmeal, mmmmm.  Here's what I do:

Baked Banana Oatmeal

Combine the dry ingredients:

2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 teaspoon of brown sugar

(Toppings of your choice, I've used chocolate chips, coconut, heath bar chips...)

Combine the wet ingredients:
1 egg, beat
1 mashed banana
1.5 cups unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp vanilla
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Mix well.
Instructions:
Spray some cooking spray in a loaf pan then add the mixture and bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes.

I cut this into individual serving sizes for the week.  I've been eating a piece a day after I workout in the morning.  Speaking of workouts- I went to the gym every morning this week!  And tomorrow I am running the 20 Mile Race!  Eeek!

Monday: Upper Body Lifting Workout

Tuesday: Speed Tuesdays 10X400 starting at 1:50 down to 1:29, 6 miles

Wednesday: 20 Minutes on the Big Step, 5X1Minute intervals running backwards on treadmill at incline of 15

Thursday: 6 Miles Easy

Friday: 4 Mile Tempo (15 Min Easy 6.0MPH, 5 Min at 7.5-8.0, 5min slow, 5 Min at 7.5-8.0, 5min slow)

Saturday (today): off

Sunday: 20 Mile Road Race!

Total Mileage if all goes well: 36 Miles

Off to enjoy my weekend. Will report back on the race!