skinny goodness!

okay, i promise that this is not becoming a foodie blog, but i just have to share more of the delicious things i've been making courtesy of skinnytaste.

check out this delicious appetizer!

skinny baked mozzarella sticks

and here's the recipe from skinnytaste:

Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks
Skinnytaste.com
Servings: 12 • Serving Size: 2 pieces • Old Points: 1 pts • Points+: 2 pts*
Calories: 86.8* • Fat: 4.8 g • Protein: 7.4 g • Carb: 3.5 g • Fiber: 0.2 g • Sugar: 0.2
Sodium: 168.6 

Ingredients: 

• 12 sticks part-skim, reduced sodium mozzarella string cheese (Sargento)
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 tbsp flour
• 5 tbsp Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 5 tbsp panko crumbs
• 2 tsp parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp dried parsley
• olive oil cooking spray (I used my misto)

Directions:

Cut cheese in half to give you 24 pieces. Place cheese in the freezer until cheese is frozen.In small bowl, whisk the egg. Place the flour on another small dish. In separate bowl, combine bread crumbs, panko, parmesan cheese and dried parsley.
Dip the frozen sticks in flour, shaking off excess, then into the egg, then coat with the crumbs.  Repeat this process with the remaining cheese placing them on a tray with wax paper. Place cheese back into the freezer until ready to bake (this is a must or they will melt before the crumbs get golden).

When ready to bake preheat oven to 400° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and lightly spray with oil.Place frozen cheese sticks on baking sheet. Spray the tops of the mozzarella sticks with a little more oil and bake in the bottom third of your oven until crisp, about 4 to 5 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 4 - 5 minutes watching them closely so they don't melt.

Makes 24 pieces.

seriously SO easy and SO delicious!  

a tasty weekend at our place!

i tried out a couple recipes new recipes this past weekend.  they were both delicious!

friday night we had crab cakes (ww+ recipe) and creamed spinach (skinny taste recipe).

and saturday night we had low fat baked ziti with spinach (skinny taste recipe) along with a bottle of darioush 2007 pinot noir that our friend rachel got us a couple years ago for our 1st anniversary/housewarming gift.  it was definitely worth the wait!

i cannot wait to try more recipes from skinnytaste.  here are the next two i plan to make!

spinach lasagna rolls

Source: skinnytaste.com via adam on Pinterest

hash brown egg white nests

Source: skinnytaste.com via adam on Pinterest

worth the delicious wait

after making reservations nearly two months ago, we finally were able to dine at girl & the goat last night. i must say that it was definitely worth the wait.  we took our happy (and hungry) bellies to the restaurant last night and were seated in a cozy table near the front corner of the restaurant.  as soon as you walk into the restaurant, you feel a warmth from the darkness of the room and the smell of the wood-burning ovens in the exposed kitchen in the back.  even at 9pm, the place was crowded with diners all with smiles on their faces or forks in their mouths.

former top chef winner stephanie izard is the executive chef of girl & the goat.  the menu, divided into three parts (vegetable, fish, meat), is all small plates to share with your fellow diners.  girl & the goat gets most of their ingredients from local farms, so the menu changes often.  though you might expect the menu to change seasonally, our server told us that it's not uncommon for some items to change daily.


we ordered a nice bottle of pinot noir and started with the "apple smacks" bread, served with ginger butter and apple puree.  some of my favorite dishes throughout the night were:

goat chorizo flatbread
sauteed prawns
seared scallops
smoked goat empanadas
ham frites
roasted cauliflower*

*i am not a fan of cauliflower and this dish was amazing!!  after a little bit of research, i was super excited to see that stephanie has the recipe posted on her website!  take a look here!!  

i was a bit nervous when our bill came, but it was nowhere near as bad as i thought it might (or could) have been!

if you live in chicago or are coming to chicago, i cannot recommend girl & the goat enough.  it was so good that we made reservations to go again for my birthday!

photo found here.  

StandUp with Ben

g and i have had a crush on ben cohen, an english rugby player
(we may even have his calendar hanging in our bedroom!) for quite some time.  though he has a huge gay following, ben is a straight man and father of two.  he is a straight ally and does work to combat homophobia, specifically in sports.  after the surge in teenage suicide recently, ben expressed his feelings towards bullying and homophobia.  ben felt so strongly about this that he retired from rugby and went on an acceptance tour last spring throughout the US.  while on the tour he announced the launch of his "StandUp Foundation".

"The Ben Cohen StandUp Foundation, Inc. is the world’s first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying, and funding those doing real-world work to stop it. We stand up against bullying regardless of to whom it happens. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are often targeted by bullies, we give particular attention to this community. We include removing homophobia from sports as central to our mission."

last week, while in chicago for the 2011 gay softball world series, ben scheduled a meet and greet at a local bar to raise money for his foundation.  unfortunately i had to work, but g was able to go!  not only did he get to hear ben discuss his excellent organization, but he got to meet ben!!

(he said he's nicer and hotter in person...duh!)  when i got home from my trip, i was surprised with a few ben cohen gifts of my own!  a StandUp t-shirt and bracelet and this personalized and autographed picture of ben!  thanks, g!

in all seriousness, it's nice to have someone like ben cohen as a straight ally, fighting for what's right.

tasty frozen treat!

if you have a costco membership, then you must buy these delicious frozen treats immediately!

yasso frozen greek yogurt

g and i happened to see them and thought they were worth the try.  so that night when we had them for our dessert, we were more than pleasantly surprised!  so much, in fact, that we went back two days later to stock up on some more (and a couple more bags of chip's!)!  only 70 calories and 6g of protein!!  the perfect healthy summer treat!

nom nom nom!

g and i went to costco today to pick up various household items.  going during the day on a weekday is the best time to go.  there are fewer people, shorter lines, and easier access to the samples on every aisle!  we tasted tangerine beef, a delicious artichoke and jalapeno dip, and then we saw these popcorn chips.  i have had something similar, but not this particular brand.  let me tell you, they're FANTASTIC!  at $4.99/bag it was hard to pass them up...obviously!

we chose the white cheddar (our favorite), hot buffalo wing, and sea salt.  the sea salt are a perfect tortilla chip substitue!

the girl offering the samples informed us that costco would not be selling these popcorn chips and that these were just a promotional item for the week.  she did, however, let us know that you could find them at whole foods!

atomic salad

my friend tracy hooked us on her infamous atomic salad a few years ago.  last weekend i was in the mood for the salad and began searching for the recipe.  thought it might not be exactly how she makes her, i must admit that my atomic salad dressing was quite tasty!

this is for those that love garlic!

3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
2 T. lemon, freshly squeezed
1-2 T. grated parmesan cheese
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
(other recipes call for 1/4 tsp. dry mustard but i didn't use it.)


add to salad:
romaine lettuce
green pepper
green onion
fresh tomatoes

it's a very flavorful salad!  just don't plan on fresh breath for those sharing it with you!

noon o kabab

for years, my mother has been telling me that i have to go to noon o kabab, a local persian restaurant that she absolutely loves!  (now, before you start to think that my mom has such a broad range of foods that she likes, you're wrong.  her typical order is a chicken kabab and pite bread.  that's.it.)  i'd always poopooed her suggestion and it became a long running joke between us.  so imagine her laughter when i told her that our friend ann suggested it for the joint birthday dinner for her and g!

we made our reservations for noon o kabab and were treated to some amazing food!  we all started off with a pomegranate martini.  a plate of feta, radishes, and parsley were brought to the table with hot pita bread!  we ordered  hummus, tabouli salad, baba ghannouj, and dolmeh felfel (stuffed peppers like typical stuffed grape leaves) as appetizers.  the hummus and toubli salad together were fantastic!

for my entree, i ordered one chicken and one lamb kabab served on dill rice with grilled tomatoes on the side.  it was delicious!

we were absolutely stuffed when they asked us if we wanted dessert.  though many of the items listed on the dessert menu sounded great, we all declined.  imagine our surprise when they brought over free dessert for all of us!  the highlight was the bastani, which is persian gelato.  we sampled all the flavors they brought for us: chocolate hazlenut, strawberry, chocolate mint, blueberry, and spicy mango.  all were fabulous....except for the spicy mango which none of us cared for.

i cannot wait to go back!  my mom is excited that i loved it so much!  i'm sure she'll be here to visit soon so we can go eat at noon o kabab!  and the best part is, it's a short 5-minute train ride away!!

let the grilling begin!

one of the things i enjoy most about grilling is the ability to come up with things quite easily.  g was on a trip and i was home by myself a few nights ago, but i wanted to make something yummy for dinner.  i had some chicken, a couple tomatoes, and a red onion.  voila!  a tasty dinner is born! 

i grilled the chicken with just some salt and pepper.  after i chopped the red onion, i tossed it in some balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and evoo.  after cutting the tomatoes in half, i removed the seeds and extra juice (from what i read, the flavor from the seeds and juices will cook away when grilled anyway), drizzled it with evoo, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. 

 

i made some basmati rice and added some dill weed.  i then added the onion, tomato, and chicken and i had a healthy, tasty dinner!  ....now if only i would have had some tzatziki on hand....

i scream!

i cannot get enough of this stuff!  it's a bowl full of happiness and yum! 

photo found here. 

the food bag

when i'm working, i pack a food bag.  this prevents me from eating airport and bar food on a regular basis.  it also saves quite a bit of money in the long run.  there are pros and cons to packing a food bag. 

pros:

• you know what you're eating
• saves money
• healthier
• always have a small snack available to you 

cons:

• preparing everything can be tedious
• tend to pack the same things each trip
• you've packed something that doesn't sound good to you three days later
• you have to keep cold food on ice constantly

in the long run, the pros always outweigh the cons.  so i continue to pack food to take with me on all of my trips.  so, since i mentioned that i tend to pack the same things in my food bag, here is a variety of what might be found in my food bag.

• cottage cheese
• hard-boiled eggs
• turkey sausage
• babybel cheese
• celery
• grapes
• strawberries
• apple slices
• turkey/cheese roll-ups
• leftover meals
• pretzel thins
• rice cakes
• granola bars
• peanut butter cups

pretty healthy for the most part, huh?  i really do try to be healthy on my trips.  i find myself eating better on the road than at home.  i'd be fooling myself if i said that i never eat food from the airport or from hotel restaurants.  it's nice to have a hot meal that didn't come from a ziplock bag!

so how do i prepare the hot foods?  it's actually quite simple.  the turkey sausage (and occasionally chicken breasts and turkey burger patties) are warmed up by placing the meat, wrapped in foil, on the hot plate of the coffee maker.  flip it a few times and it warms up nicely!  my leftover meals are put into a ziplock bag then stuffed into the coffee pot where i brew hot water over the bag a couple times.  those flight attendants are quite crafty! 

any other food suggestions to help me mix it up in the future? 

yum yum!

i received rocco dispirito's cookbook, now eat this!, for christmas and was eager to try out some of his revamped comfort dishes.  last week i tried out his "no cream-no cry penne alla vodka" and it sure was delicious!  along with tasting so good, it was extremely easy to prepare.  i highly recommend it!

no cream-no cry penne alla vodka
8 ounces whole-wheat penne
2 cups low-fat marinara sauce
pinch of crushed red pepper
7 oz of 2% greek yogurt
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper
6 T. grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1.  cook the pasta and drain.
2.  bring marinara sauce and crushed red pepper to a simmer,
     about 5 minutes.
3.  stir 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce into the yogurt until
     smooth (this prevents the yogurt from curdling).  when
     whisk the yogurt back into the marinara sauce
4.  toss the sauce with the drained penne and the basil.  season
     with salt and pepper to taste.  sprinkle the choose on top.

and for those on weight watchers, it's only 8 points!

super tasty salad!

our friend ann brought over a delicious spinach salad for new years.

8 oz. fresh spinach
1/2 cup feta or goat cheese, crumbled
1/4 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup craisins
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

top it with raspberry vinaigrette

try it!  it's super tasty! 

photo found here.  photo is a similar salad. 

NOM! NOM! NOM!

what do you get when you take the refreshing taste of cheerwine


and the mouthwatering taste of a krispy kreme donut?



you get this! cheerwine-infused krispy kreme donuts!!

for a limited time, the two brands join together for those that love cheerwine and krispy kreme donuts! it's only available in select grocery stores in the carolinas!

i sure do hope that my dear friend teresa picks me up a box and freezes them until my next visit!!! *hint, hint!*

new summer favorite

shaken iced passion tea

i'm not a coffee drinker and not really a fan of tea (hot or iced), but this is a tasty, refreshing treat from starbucks!

i like my shaken iced passion tea with lemonade, sweetened. mmm!