The Chic Life

Window Shopping - House Style

I've done plenty of window shopping in my day, but typically at a mall.

Recently, hubby and I have been frequenting home supply stores like Home Depot and Lowes to start scoping out some of our options. Tonight we hit up Lowes for some mad window shopping.

My goal was to scope out the cork flooring options.

Now don't quote me, but I think I heard on TV that cork is a great eco-friendly flooring choice. Supposedly it's naturally water and pest resistant. Cork is also supposed to be good to the feet if you plan to, say, stand in the kitchen for long periods of time. It's also warmer to the touch if you don't like the cold feel of tile. Mostly I like it because it's green, supposedly affordable, and supposedly easy to install. I say "supposedly" on the price because the stuff was the SAME PRICE as the hardwood floors (heard it was 1/2 that on TV) and "supposedly" to the installation because I've never tried and just don't know better.

I need to do some more research but I think cork is seriously in the running for a great flooring option!

I didn't even know I wanted blue-green tiles in the bathroom till I saw these babies. I mean, I doubt we'll actually get these since bathrooms are relatively low on the priority list, but look at them...

...aren't they beautiful!?

The tile is called "dolphin"...I love dolphins...and this tile.

Then, I found something equally as exciting...these gorge tiles!

Not sure if I've mentioned, but my new kitchen, once we have money to remodel will most likely be inspired by Giada DeLaurentiis's kitchen. Not this season's kitchen, but the one from a couple years ago with the open white cabinetry, black-ish countertops, and light-blue-green tile backsplash. I am in love with that kitchen!

This color is the closest to Giada's backsplash that I've seen...of course...I haven't looked very hard...yet.

After our window shopping, hubby and I hit up Five Guys for dinner.

They serve their massive amount of french fries (this is the smallest size!) in a brown paper bag. We've seen different methods to most effectively get at the fries inside:

1. Lay bag on side, rip down middle of top edge and fold out edges
2. Keep bag sitting up right and rip off top half of bag

Tonight, hubby tried the "roll bag down" method.

It seemed to work pretty well.

I had a cheeseburger (with lettuce, tomato, pickles, & ketchup) and coke.

I only finished just over 1/2 the burger and 1/2 the coke and who knows how much of the fries, but they were pretty darn tasty.

Dinner, Shopping

Eatiful Sunday - New Vegetarian Fave

Last week was loooong and I stayed up too late last night, but luckily, hubby let me sleep in. By the time I woke up, hubby had picked up his brother who is visiting overnight for a fantasy football draft.

I decided to cook up a most-awesome breakfast, but the pancake-cooking ended up taking almost an hour due to the lack of griddle in our house. I had to use an iddy-biddy 8" non-stick pan. Totally ridiculous!

We've been putting off buying multiple things because of the ole "let's wait till we have a house" excuse. This excuse has caused me more frustration over the last couple years, but hopefully, we won't have to deal with it any more in the next month of so if things work out ok with the house.

Breakfast is served!

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful and relaxing.

Hubby's brother, Ted, took me out to dinner at a local Mediterranean restaurant.

He got the special - beef and rice stuffed zucchini with a homemade tomato sauce.

I got something that I may now be addicted to - the veggie platter! On this plate: falafel, spinach pie, baba ga..?, potatoes harra, stuffed grapeleaf, tabbouleh, and hummus. So delish!

I even got a pistachio baklava for dessert...it was sooo delish! I think the photo came out pretty nice, too...especially considering the low lighting!

Dinner was so fab, I very well may have to hit them up again some time this week to get a fix...I can't believe a couple years ago I would have skipped over this meal because it was vegetarian. I'm so glad that even though I'm not a "vegetarian", I know I can eat and ENJOY vegetarian meals. Yum!

Organicfest 2009

Just found out about Organicfest 2009 , hosted by Navitas Naturals , in Asheville, NC on Sunday, September 13, 2009 from 10am-6pm. Anyone going? I totally want some of those butterfly wings I keep seeing in the albums!

Brunch, Dessert, Dinner

My Recipes - All Organized

Hey guys,

Just checking in quickly to let you know that I've created a page for all my original and adapted recipes. Click here to view my recipe page.

I've also added the link to the top right side bar.

I've been wanting to organize all my recipes together for awhile now. I mean, sometimes I have a hard time finding my own recipes through all the many blog posts here on TCL! Anywho, hope you enjoy...I know it'll help me out at least...lol.

:) Diana

Caution: Wet Floor

After the bridal shower , I had some time to relax before hitting up a 1 hour Swedish massage! I got a good recommendation for a place in town that has really reasonable prices. I've been so stressed out lately my entire neck/shoulder area has been so darn tight. It's been a long time since I had a massage, so I went for it. It was awesome...I may have to make this a monthly thing...I know it sounds a bit diva, but it just may be worth it!

After the massage, hubby and I headed to the artsy side of town, Noda, to take Bails to the Dog Bar to celebrate his 2nd birthday.

But, before the Dog Bar, we went to Revolution Pizza for dinner. We called ahead and found out they allowed dogs on the patio.

The waitress was nice enough to bring out some water for Bailey when...KERSPLASH! Bailey knocked his water all over the place!

He looks like he's in "time out"...poor guy. The staff was really cool about the mess and quickly took care of the spilled water by mopping up the excess water.

We were really embarrassed...it was like our first step towards parenting except instead of having a kid throwing food everywhere, we had a dog spilling water everywhere. I really hope we are able to teach our future-kids to not be so messy.

Hubby got a brewski and I just got a coca cola.

Our view. I love these vintage-looking storefronts.

Hubby!

Bailey!

Our app - bruschetta...delish!

Our pizza - 1/2 cheese, 1/2 pepperoni + jalapeno. Loved their crust!

Dessert: pistachio gelato...mmm...

After dinner, we hit up the Dog Bar!

Look at all those dogs begging for some pizza someone had delivered to the dog bar. Bailey is right in the action! haha

Bailey had an awesome time and is all tuckered out and asleep on the couch now. Next year, I'm going to have to plan things earlier in advance so our friends can join us. I sent out a last minute invite but no one could make it. I will have to plan something much better for his 3rd birthday.

For now, I think Bails had an awesome time celebrating his 2nd birthday, and that's all that matters!

What do you do to celebrate your pet's birthday?

Dessert, Dinner, Doggie, Life

Vicki's Bridal Shower

I went to my husband's good friend's fiance's bridal shower earlier today. Vicki, the bride-to-be, is an awesome girl, and I'm so glad that one of hubby's guy friends found such a sweet girl to marry.

I had to miss another Farmers Market trip to get ready for the bridal shower and wrap up Vicki's gift, but hubby solo'ed it and picked up some great things on his own. I'm so proud! He even went out of his way to hit up the local farmer's market to get some of my fave mixed cherry tomatoes.

I used some simple silver wrapping paper and dressed up the package using some pink ribbon to coordinate with the bridal shower colors - pink and orange.

The mother of the bride found out about my food blog and being a fan of food photography herself, asked me to take lots of photos of the event's food. I was, of course, happy to oblige.

Here are some of my favorite photos:

Great eats, no? Most, if not all, was home-cooked. I know the sister of the bride made and decorated the cupcakes herself...how Martha Stewart? I love it! I have a cupcake decorating kit, but haven't had the chance to use it yet. Maybe once we have the house I will?!

I won the Bridal Shower Bingo!

The beautiful bride-to-be opening her huge pile of gifts...lucky!

The "bow-quet"

Favors - frosted sugar cookies...mmm...one of my fave kinds of cookies! So festive...so tasty! I've already downed half of this and have tried to hide the other half from hubby to enjoy tomorrow. Heehee. :)

Dessert, Life, Lunch

Rainy Day Roast Chicken, White Bean, + Spinach Soup and Berry Crisp

My zumba friend Katherine was in the neighborhood for a zumba class and stopped by for dinner and to study for the AFAA. The weather was gray and rainy today, so I wanted to make some rainy day soup and a cozy fruit crisp dessert.

Since it's late, I'm going to keep this short on words...here are some photos (some by Kat!):

Rainy Day Roast Chicken, White Bean, + Spinach Soup
soup by me (roast chicken preparation by Barefoot Contessa)
Serves 4-6

NOTE: You could also use meat from a rotisserie chicken or sub cooked boneless chicken breast. I just prefer the texture of pulled, roast, bone-in prepared chicken for my soups. :)

Ingredients:

• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
• 1 onion, chopped
• handful baby carrots, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, rinsed/chopped
• 2-4 garlic cloves, peeled, chopped
• 1 large box chicken broth
• 1 can white beans, rinsed, drained
• 1 can garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups baby spinach, rinsed
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Rub olive oil on chicken breasts. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake skin side up for 35-40 minutes, until chicken cooked through. Once cooked, remove from oven and let cool.
2. Once chicken is done cooking and while it cools, heat medium-large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan. Add onion, carrots, celery to the pan. Season with salt and pepper. Cook till onions translucent, about 4-6 minutes. Add garlic for last 60 seconds of cooking.
3. Add chicken broth and 2 cups water (don't add the water if you don't like your soup very "brothy"). Bring to boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer.
4. Meanwhile, pull chicken meat from bones. Pull chicken into small pieces. Add boneless chicken meat to the soup.
5. Add beans to soup. Bring back to simmer. Season to taste.
6. Add baby spinach, turn off heat, let spinach wilt.
7. Serve and enjoy. I served my soup with Havarti Cheese Paninis on Great Harvest Bread Company Flax Oat Bran...delish!

What would dinner be without dessert...? I made something sliiiightly on the healthy side using farmers market strawberries and possibly the last of those hand-picked blueberries we got from the farm earlier this year with my fam.

We did ok on the studying, but we did GREAT on the eating! haha.

Thanks for stopping by Kat! Next time, your place with Yogi!

Dessert, Dinner

How to Get Stovetop Oat Texture From Microwaved Oatmeal

If you're like me, you far prefer stove top oats over the microwaved version. For me, there is a huge difference in the texture of the oatmeal when cooked 1 way or the other.

• Microwaved oatmeal seems to be more porridge-like texture - it's like one big bowl of delicious gooey-oatmeal, almost as though the oats had been blended together.
• Stovetop oatmeal seems to have a more chewy texture. It's like the oats stay more separate, like you notice the individual pieces of oats as you chew.

While stovetop oats are delicious, they are also more time-consuming and something I typically reserve for lazy weekend mornings.

Usually during the weekdays when I'm in working-girl mode, I am so busy rushing around just trying to get to work that I'm just happy to eat something quick AND nutritious, like microwaved oats, before jetting out the door.

I wondered why the oatmeal had such different texture when cooked either on the stove or in the microwave. The only thing I could think was that when you cook oats in the microwave, you mix the oatmeal and water together BEFORE cooking.

When you cook oats on the stove, you boil the water and add the oats AFTER the water is already boiling.

So, I decided to do an experiment...

I measured out the water for my AM microwaved oats and added it to my bowl. Then, I zapped the bowl for 2 minutes. After the 2 minutes, the water was nice and hot. AFTER heating the water, I added the oats to the bowl, stirred and cooked for 2 minutes, and guess what?

My experiment WORKED! The oats actually stayed separate, and chewy, and were perfect! Definitely trying that method out again soon!

Which do you prefer for oatmeal: microwaved, stovetop, or something else?

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Today is Bailey's 2 year birthday! We're thinking of getting some friends together to hit up the Dog Bar this weekend, but I'm trying to figure out when to fit it in with everything else we're doing!

Anywho, here are some photos from today's festivities:

Bailey's day started off pretty good when, this morning, I put a dab of one of his favorite treats, peanut butter, in his kong (a hollow toy you can put treats into for your pooch). Sometimes, when I make PB/AB toast in the AM, Bailey brings his kong into the kitchen and drops it repeatedly at my feet as though to say, "Hey woman...put some in here!"

Lucky for puppy, while mommy (that's me!) was busy at work, an appointment, and then phone conference (that lasted till 8pm), daddy (aka my hubby) went out for treats. Lucky for me, he waited till I had a free moment to give the treats to Bails.

Bailey was very excited about what kinds of treats we had in store for him. He jumped up to see what daddy was up to. He is juuuuuuuuuuuuuuust a wee-bit too short to reach the top of the counter.

First up - a new alligator in a Hawaiian shirt squeaky toy. (He has been treating this toy like his new "baby" all night! haha)

Birthday cake!

This is his "please lemme-at-it!" face.

After cutting the cake in half and reserving a half for later, we did let him at it! He gobbled that cake down faster than you can say "Slow down!" At least he liked it. :)

Happy Birthday Bailey!

Doggie, Life

Talk to You Later Gaby! Happy Voyage!

As I mentioned this weekend, one of my good friends Gaby is leaving the country to pursue graduate studies. While I'm absolutely thrilled for her, I am also going to miss her so much!

Gaby was one of the zumba instructors whose Monday class I always made (until my injury, of course). She and I have been taking zumba classes with the same instructor for the last 2 1/2 years but we didn't know each other recently because did different class locations.

(This one's for you Katherine!)

I was so bummed that I would miss Gaby's last time teaching class before leaving for school that I decided to go to class even though I couldn't (well, "shouldn't") dance. However, my other zumba friend Megan told me about how one of the other instructors with a hurt foot did "Sit and Be Fit" while she couldn't dance on her foot. "Sit and Be Fit" is doing zumba class while sitting in a chair.

Though I'm sure I looked like a complete idiot, I decided to do "Sit and Be Fit" for Gaby's last class so I could still participate because that was really important for me. Hey, I got a good arm workout in, too!

Gaby and I were color opposites on Monday...haha...zumba clothes are SO BRIGHT!

Yea...we were pretty bright all over on Monday...lol.

After class, we headed over to our fave post-zumba eats spot for sushi.

We got a special treat to celebrate Gaby's birthday.

Tempura ice cream for the b-day girl!

Dinner was fab - great food + even better company makes for an awesome combination!

There were lots of hugs and some tears, but I'm sure we'll all see Gaby again. We've promised to visit her in Europe, so hopefully we can make that trip sooner than later.

A good friend of mine once said, "'Goodbye' is forever, but 'later' means I'll see you again."

So, Gaby, best of luck to you and I'll talk to you later!

Life

Oh Barney Butter...How Did I Miss Thee...

Kath told me a long time ago (if I remember correctly) that it's after your first jar of Barney Butter that you really fall in love with it. For me, it's been 2 jars.

Don't get me wrong, the first 2 jars I uber-enjoyed, but after the second jar ran out, when I tried using regular peanut butter...it just. wasn't. the. same. Barney Butter has a depth of flavor that others can't seem to compete with.

Lucky for me, I cracked open a fresh jar of Barney Butter, which I picked up yesterday.

Barney Butter makes breakfast better.

I enjoyed my Barney Butter today on hot, toasty Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat.

Breakfast toast + banana = well-rounded.

Breakfast + New Coffee Flavor = Awesomeness!

I got to try my new Fresh Market coffee flavor - Molten Chocolate. After scooping the coffee yesterday, my hand smelled like chocolate the rest of the afternoon - and they didn't even touch any beans! So, this morning, I blended 1/2 Molten Chocolate with 1/2 Breakfast Blend to tone down the chocolate factor.

The result - delicious, rich, chocolate/coffee caffeine. Hubby hated it, but I LOVED it!

So happy to have a fresh jar of BB and some new coffee...ahh...it's the little things in life sometimes, no?

Big Happy Birthday to Kelsey!!!!!!!!

Breakfast

Sunday Multi-Tasking

So behind on everything lately it seems! I have tons of comments to respond to, blog posts to write, de-cluttering to do, flashcards to study...phew!

This past Sunday (yesterday), I tried to multi-task to the best of my ability and decided to take some "me time" to start clearing out my DVR list (which seems to forever be 100% complete). I watched What Would Brian Boitono Cook (a little cheesey, but the figure skater in my LOVED it...and of course, Brian is amazing...the show made me wish he was my friend so we could hang out and cook and talk skating and foodie stuffs) and a DVR'ed Cold Case PLUS I caught a live Cold Case re-run, sans DVR.

While I caught up my TV shows, I made and prepared a jewelry order for my biz D Celestine.

I made a pair of my Tiki Chici earrings. I think these would make AWESOME beach earrings!

Dinner was easy as pie, but I was disappointed by my veggie. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE peas, but I had picked up some brussels sprouts earlier in the day from TJ's and as I prepped them, they had all these icky black spots all over them - some that seemed to go to the deepest layer (I was trying to just peel off the outside layers after trimming the bottom).

My frozen green peas saved the day. They microwaved up quite nicely.

Yummy white wine & herb rotisserie chicken breast from The Fresh Market . I re-heated this in the oven at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes, wrapped in aluminum foil. It wasn't quite enough time, but I was hungry, so I zapped the chicken in the microwave briefly to bring up the heat.

One of those Virginia Rolls from Great Harvest from the Animal Kneads event earlier in the day served as my carb.

Make that two rolls...with a little dab of real butter.

I mean LOOK at it! Could you resist this fresh-baked, tender, deliciousness? I think not.

Anywho, late phone conference tomorrow, but hoping to catch up on comments soon at least. Have a great week!

Dinner

AFFA Studying + Animal Kneads

AFAA Studying

I met up with my zumba friend Megan to do some studying for our upcoming AFAA Primary Group Fitness exam. Our exam is in less than 30 days and I may be freaking out about it just a lil bit.

We met up at Original Pancake House for some study fuel and then headed over to a Starbucks to come up with a plan of action and start on some flash cards.

This book is no joke! It's as big as one of the books I used in college! Here's a photo with a ruler so you can see. I can't believe I have to read most of this by mid September!

Animal Kneads

Directly after brunch, I stopped by the Fresh Market to pick up some quick groceries. I got 2 rotisserie chicken breasts for dinner, along with some Barney Butter (been out for weeks and been craving this stuff like crazy), more Breakfast Blend (on sale $2 off!) and some new coffee in Molten Chocolate....mmm.

Then headed towards the Animal Kneads fundraiser with Great Harvest Bread Company to raise money for the Animal Care and Control Free Public Spay & Neuter Fund.

There were kittens there - I think they were available for adoption.

There were plenty of cute doggies, too! I didn't look at them too closely since I don't think Bailey's quite ready for a brother or sister just yet.

With my $10 donation, I brought home a never-before-tried-Great-Harvest-treat - rolls - I believe they are the Virginia rolls. They were tender and melt-in-your-mouth-looking. The girl behind the counter even let me squeeze the bag to test out the density. I'm a sucker for soft rolls, so I quickly picked them out and brought them home.

I love great bread and I love supporting good causes. Double-win!

The bread was almost sold out by the time I got there, around 3pm (the event ended at 4pm), so it sounds like the event was a huge success. I hope it was!

Doggie, Life

Weekend Celebrations - Part 2

Saturday was certainly a busy day. After helping Michelle + hubby move to their new home, I had some time to rest before the rest of the festivities begin.

Emily's Birthday Dinner at Olive Garden

We met up with our friends Emily, Justin, Shreya + Corey for an Olive Garden birthday celebration. Dinner was delish and we had a fabulous time. We shared the cheese dip and bruschetta appetizers, salad, breadsticks. Hubby and I split our usual - Chicken Parmesan with Fettuccine Alredo (probably one of the worst things to order - esp that alfredo - but we don't get it too often and we really like it). Hubby and I also shared a Chocolate Mousse Cake and I had a decaf coffee. I really wanted to try the new doughnut bites with chocolate sauce dessert, but they were out! Boo!

No pictures from dinner...I just tweeted them on.

Gaby's "Happy Voyage" Party

After dinner, we headed over to a friend's place for my friend Gaby's Hello Kitty Themed "Happy Voyage" party (Happy Birthday + Bon Voyage = Happy Voyage).

Even though I already had dessert at Olive Garden, I couldn't resist a tiny slice of her Hello-Kitty-Pink birthday cake.

Gaby is moving to the Netherlands next week. I'm so sad she's leaving but excited for what new adventures she'll have in the future. She's a great person and I'll miss her dearly.

Best wishes on your bright future Gaby!! We'll miss you!!

Dessert, Life

Weekend Celebrations - Part 1

This weekend is proving to be one of our busiest of the year. I have roughly 5 get-togethers planned and only 2 down! We have 2 more starting in about 1 hour, so let the festivities begin!

Hubby's Graduation

Hubby recently completed classes to wrap up his MBA. We're very excited and I'm very proud of him.

We started our weekend with hubby's graduation party yesterday, which featured him participating in a beer pong championship. We got to the party location early where the guys were breaking out their measuring tapes to mark toss-spots...they were serious!

Hubby's and teammate Matt actually ended up winning!

Nice job boys!

Pinque's Moving Day

This morning, we missed our weekend Farmer's Market (I can make it up on Tuesday) trip to help our good friend Michelle (aka Pinque-y) move into her new home.

We had a great group effort today with help from Michelle and Ben's family, Kath + Matt , Amanda + Justin , and Kate + Nate. Let's go teamwork!

Everything went pretty smoothly except when we thought the moving truck may not make it up the driveway. It did, and all was well! :)

Prepping lunch in the new kitchen.

Our reward for helping out with the moving - lunch!

Michelle's hubby's parents grilled out in the new backyard, so I enjoyed a grilled Morningstar Garden Veggie burger (with havarti, lettuce, tomato, and onion), veggies dipped in ranch, some BBQ chips, some sour cream and onion chips, some fresh fruit, and a chocolate chip cookie.

Yum!

Congrats to Michelle & Ben on their new house! Can't wait to see the home-blog posts!

Life, Life

TCL's Easy Lasagna (Spinach-Beef Version)

Hubby and I have been working on keeping a food budget. I've set a weekly budget as of last week, but we've been having trouble staying under. We'd like to try to stick to the budget so we can save money for home repairs and upgrades, so we're working to stay closer to our budgets and carrying forward negative balances so we can even out.

Tonight, I decided to make lasagna because it's cheap, easy, and lasts for more than 1 meal. We intended for this meal to carry us to the next budget, which is a good thing because we're already $10 over (which is better than the $30 we were over last week!).

I decided to do a play on my usual TCL Easy Lasagna by adding some frozen, chopped spinach to make this more of a complete meal. Click here for recipe.

Here are some photos from tonight's cooking:

Here's where the variation came into play: Follow the original recipe but mix up the ricotta with the frozen spinach (thaw and squeeze excess water our first) and an egg. Substitute egg mixture where I referenced just ricotta in the original recipe.

Layering up.

Side Salad: Earlier this week, I did a play on a Clean Eating Magazine recipe and made a quick side dish of chick peas, red pepper, heirloom tomato with a balsamic vinaigrette dressing. I topped tonight's romaine salads with some of that chick pea side and it made for an excellent salad topping, indeed!

I used up the rest of the foccacia from this past weekend. It keeps so well in the freezer and is a cinch to heat up in the oven with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkling of salt. Tastes like fresh-baked bread when you do it right.

Three plates tonight because our realtor came over to talk business...and because she's our friend. Surprisingly to me (prob not for you seasoned home buyers), we still have more negotiations on the house. Ugh, I just want the process to be over with! There are a couple things we found out that I don't exactly love about the house, so I hope they don't turn into dealbreakers, which they just may end up being. But, let's hope not.

Such a great meal...wonder why we didn't eat lasagna more growing up? So glad I put spinach in this, too. I suppose you could count the salad as our "veggie", but you can't really have enough veggies, can you? I don't think so.

Reader Question: Did you have a dealbreaker ever in a house buying/selling situation? What was it? What were the results of your situation?

Dinner

Morphing Leftover Collards Brinner

Guess I didn't realize how much those farmer's market collards cooked up because we had them for dinner Monday, then I had some for lunch Tuesday, and we still had some leftover for today!

I decided to use the leftover collards and the rest of the Canadian bacon I didn't use Monday night to re-create a personal fave - the Southern Scramble from The Flying Biscuit. The meal would also be friendly to our food budget since I just used up stuff we had in the pantry/fridge/freezer.

I started by browning 3 pieces of Canadian bacon over medium heat.

I chopped the collards a bit smaller.

Getting everything together.

Putting it all together.

WIth melty-cheese.

All together now. I served the scramble with a leftover blueberry pancake from breakfast at my parent's - the freezer kept it from spoiling and I just tossed it in the toaster to re-heat. I figured it's how they heat up Eggo frozen pancakes (I think...unless I just made that up), so it should work for me.

I thought the scramble turned out great!! I was so glad to find a good use for those leftovers and a delicious and affordable leftover dinner puts the icing on the cake.

Southern Scramble
by me
Serves 2

NOTE: This recipe was inspired by the Southern Scramble from The Flying Biscuit

Ingredients:

• 4 brown eggs
• 3 slices Canadian bacon
• 1 cup leftover, cooked collards (mine had onions and a bit of Canadian bacon in it)
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 2-3 tbps milk
• salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:

1. Heat a small-medium, nonstick saute pan over medium heat. Add Canadian bacon and lightly brown each side. Remove to cutting board. Lower heat to medium-low.
2. Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, dash salt/pepper/garlic powder.
3. Add egg mixture to pan. Gently and occasionally push/mix eggs to cook to scramble.
4. When eggs are almost done, re-heat collards to warm through (about 30 seconds). Cut bacon into small pieces. Add collards and bacon to pan and gently toss/stir. Cook till everything is heated through, 1-2 minutes.
5. Top with cheese and stir a bit to help cheese melt.
6. Serve with buttered toast or pancakes...maybe coffee...however you like breakfast. Enjoy!

Breakfast, Dinner

Jewelry Downsizing - Sale Items

Besides de-cluttering my clothes, magazines, and other belongings, I'm also currently working on downsizing my jewelry inventory, for my jewelry biz, D Celestine Limited. D Celestine features jewelry designs that I create and make with own 2 little hands. :) I'm going to be adding some jewelry designs that I've priced ready to MOVE to my etsy account:

I'll throw a couple full-price items in there, but I'm hoping to mostly use my etsy account to list my sale items. Some of the items are a little on the pricey side, but sometimes the materials used and time it took to make a particular design run my price calculations on the higher side...even after discounts.

Take a looksie and let me know what you think! I'll try to update here on TCL when I add new stuff. Proceeds from my sales going to my (hopefully) new house!! Woot-woot! :)

A Healthy Southern Supper Staple

Healthy Southern Supper

We saw some vibrant, fresh-looking collards at the farmer's market this past weekend, so I quickly grabbed them up with the intent of making one of my fave staple meals - Ellie Krieger's "Fried" Chicken and Short Cut Collard Greens. Both of these dishes are two of my all-time faves and make for a great way to enjoy guilt-free Southern style food.

You can find links to the recipe by clicking here.

Here are some photos from tonight's dinner:

I amped up the health factor of this dinner by using some Nature's Path Organic Flax plus Multibran cereal along with some Multigrain & Flaxseed crackers from Trader Joe's.

I also snuck in some new breading ingredients: chia seeds and flaxseeds.

Pretty green collards with red hot red pepper flakes.

Healthier collard ingredient than the traditional ham hock - Canadian bacon.

Some white wine hubby picked up from Trader Joe's today: Blue Fin 2008 California Chardonnay.

Fresh-fried...er...baked chicken. Crispy-crunchy!

The finished product.

Up close and personal!

This meal is divine - definitely try it out if you like chicken. And the collards - these are the best I think I've ever had! Slightly spicy and sweet and tender greens...mmm. I'm getting hungry again just blogging about this. Guess I can find something for dessert!

A Year Ago...

About this time a year ago, I was completely unmotivated to work out. I made it a priority towards the beginning of this year to regain my athletic ambition and have been enjoying zumba workouts and casual walks all year. I've forced working out before and I've done fun things like tennis, but I'm not sure I've ever had as much fun working out as I have had with zumba. Unfortunately, my leg has been bothering me (think I pulled my groin or something), so although the motivation is there and stronger than ever, I have to try to learn to just...relax.

I really do think that things happen for a reason, and I've been thinking that maybe my leg bothering me is just my body's way of saying, ok, I've had enough...cut me some slack you crazy zumba lady! I'm the type of person who is constantly pushing herself to do better...do more, so it's really hard for me to sit back and take it easy. Sometimes, you get signs here and there that you're pushing yourself too hard...sometimes the signs have to be much more obvious when you're as stubborn as me. :)

So, until I am up for zumbaing again, I'm going to work on relaxing, giving my body a break, and taking time for me. I'm not so good at "me time" but I'm going to work on it.

Reader question: Do you take "me time"? What do you do for "me time"?

Dinner, Life

Pesto Shrimp Fettuccine with Zucchini

I wasn't sure at first exactly what to do with all the farmer's market goodies we picked up Saturday morning, but thanks to a tip from one of the stands, my first stab at making pesto from scratch seemed like a good idea.

When I saw this recipe by Sunny Anderson for Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Pesto Pasta, I got the idea to use the local shrimp we had picked up along with some fresh pasta from a local pasta joint - Pasta & Provisions.

I wasn't in the mood to follow a recipe, so I just made something up with a pesto recipe primarily eye-balled but loosely based on the Classic Pesto recipe by Cooking Light.

Prepping the zucchini

I started by rinsing and drying some fresh basil.

I used some pine nuts I had stowed away in the freezer, along with a couple cloves of garlic (extra garlic b/c I like it like that)

I added some grated cheese mixture from Pasta & Provisions, along with the fresh basil. I ended up adding a handful more of basil leaves when the mixture didn't turn quite as green as I wanted.

AAAAAANNNNDDDD....we have PESTO!

The foccacia loaf we got is delicious but HUGE, so I halved it and put the other half in the freezer.

The one we'd be eating, I drizzled it with olive oil, sprinkled a wee bit of salt over the top and stuck it in the oven at 300 degrees F for 5 minutes (while the rest of the food cooked) to heat through and crisp up a little.

The main dish started with some zucchini chopped small and sauteed in olive oil.

After a couple minutes, I added the local shrimp (which hubby so kindly prepped for me).

With 2 minutes left of cooking time, I dropped the fresh pasta into some boiling water to cook.

As I cooked the shrimp, I was getting some real brown bits working in the pan. So, I did what any pasta-cooking-chef would do and used some of the pasta water to deglaze the pan. I just added a half ladle or so to the pan and scraped up the brown bits.

When the pasta was done, I added it straight to the pan a la Giada.

Then, I added my homemade, freshmade pesto.

Then I got my stir on and mixed everything together (after turning off the heat) with a little help from some leftover pasta water. The mixture came together quite nice! I was really pleased with my little experiment.

Altogether now.

Up-close...mmm...

Perfect with some white wine and "fresh-baked" foccacia bread. Yum!

Pesto Shrimp Fettuccine with Zucchini
by me
serves 2-3

NOTE: Different pasta makers may have different cooking times - use time for the pasta you purchase - mine just happened to cook in 2 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1/2-3/4 peeled, de-veined shrimp
• 1/2 lb fresh fettuccine pasta (we used spinach pasta cut like fettuccine)
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped zucchini
• 2 cups basil
• 2 tbsp freshly grated cheese (i.e. parmesan)
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/8-1/4 cup olive oil, plus 1 tbsp
• salt and pepper

Directions:

• Start medium pot of water boiling for the pasta.
• Add pine nuts and garlic to a food processor. Process till ground almost fine. Add basil, cheese, and some olive oil. Process till everything is finely minced. Add extra olive oil as needed.
• Meanwhile, heat pan over medium heat with 1 tbsp olive oil. Add zucchini to heated pan and saute for 2 minutes. Add shrimp to pan. Season with salt and pepper. Saute till shrimp are cooked through, about 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, when shrimp have about 2 minutes left to cook (I put a timer on when I start the shrimp so I know when there are 2 minutes left - btw I used 2 minutes b/c that was the cooking time for my pasta), add salt and then the fettuccine pasta to the boiling water and stir. Use pasta water to de-glaze the pan, as needed.
• When pasta cooked through, add pasta directly to the pan of shrimp and zucchini using pronged spoon (some pasta water added to the shrimp mixture is ok).
• Add pesto to the pan.
• Stir ingredients in pan till the pesto is evenly distributed. Add a bit of pasta water here and there to help the pesto spread (I added about 1/4-1/2 cup).
• Serve pasta with foccacia and offer extra grated cheese to top, as desired. Enjoy!

Dinner

Late Entry #4: Raw "Tapioca" (Chia Seed) Pudding

I found an interesting-sounding recipe via chiativity.org for a Raw "Tapioca" (Chia Seed) Pudding from Elana's Pantry and decided to try it out for an entry to the Chia Seed Weekly Food Challenge.

Here are some photos from my cooking - I prepared this before lunch on Saturday:

I was a little surprised at how well the cashews blended up. I was expecting pieces of cashew, but the liquid was all liquid!

I didn't have a mason jar, so I used a tupperware-style container.

All Shook Up

The next day:

The end result was really interesting. The chia seeds had plumped up and were soft, but slightly more crunchy than tapioca pearls in regular tapioca pudding. The flavor was far from overly sweet - I may add more agave next time. Still, it made for a nice, simple snack.

I saw over at Elana's Pantry that she used the concoction in smoothies, so I'll probably be tossing some of this into my morning oatmeal and smoothies and whatever else I think needs some extra chia in it. :)

Dessert, Food Challenge, Food Challenge

My Dad: The Healthy Trailblazer

I've mentioned before about how I like to think of myself as First Generation organic , thanks to my health-loving dad. I used to fight his healthy ways when I was a kid (and only wanted fast food, soda, and white bread), but I'm so glad to finally be coming around to what I've always known better, thanks to him. This makes going home extra fun because now I can pick his brain for nutrition advice and what not.

My dad has been into healthy living for many years now. He reads books on nutrition, frequents farmers markets, and has long subscribed (on and off again) to Organic Gardening. In past houses, we've even had gardens of all sizes. He took me and my sister to pick vegetables from local farms when we were kids to show us where are food came from. He tried to teach us to make healthier choices when it came to food. My mom has always welcomed the healthy habits, too, and currently maintains a lovely herb garden with a blueberry bush that gives them enough berries to make an occasional blueberry pancake breakfast.

My dad has some really interesting literature on health, nutrition, and organic foods/gardening. I love checking out the literature he has at home.

This weekend, I found an old-school copy of The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt. The book is apparently no longer being printed, which is too bad because it seems like a real gem.

This book looks to have been printed in 1972.

Inside was a plethora of interesting recipes that I wanted to try. I took photos of a few because they seemed so interesting:

There were tons of ingredients in the cookbook that are commonly found today, like the soybeans called for in this recipe - "Marinated Soybean Salad". As I flipped through the book, I remarked out loud, "I didn't realize people ate soybeans 30+ years ago." My parents said people did - the hippies! haha I guess that makes them hippies then...that and the younger pictures of them in bell-bottoms. :)

"Quick Health Bread" - I want to try this one soon! Not sure I'll be able to find kelp, but I'll check the health food stores.

"Parker House Rolls" - calls for soymilk! Who knew they had soymilk 30+ years ago?

"Macrobiotic Super Soup with Buckwheat Dumplings" - And here I thought macrobiotics were a new trend in nutrition. Guess it's not so new if they were in this 30+ year old book!

My dad had some other good reads, but more on those some other time. I was sad to learn he had donated his original copy of Julia Child's cookbook and his Adelle Davis book. Doh!

Luckily, dad let me bring this copy of The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook by Jean Hewitt. I can't wait to try out some of these recipes!!

Who or what inspired you to live your healthy lifestyle?

Books, Life

Impromptu Trip to the Rents' House

I've been working hard on downsizing and de-cluttering in preparation for our (hopefully) big move in a month or so. I've filled about 10 Trader Joe's paper bags full of stuff to donate or move to my parent's house over the last several weeks.

Yesterday, as I enjoyed some leftover Smoky Tomato soup and a smoked gouda panini, I was remarking to hubby about how I wished we could take all those bags of stuff to my parent's house (a day trip away). He said, "Let's go now."

So we did.

I took a couple bags of craft supplies and randomness that I thought my crafty sister may enjoy.

I also took several bags of clothes, which are the clothes that I wasn't quite ready to donate but didn't really LOVE. I purge my closet (and apartment) on a regular basis, and I've donated a ton of stuff so far this year. My goal is to have a smaller closet of clothes I LOVE instead of a larger closet of clothes I just like.

Thoughts of the clothing I dropped off:

• The clothes I dropped off I just "liked"
• They will help me out in the event I go to my parents' house and forget to pack something
• If within a year, I haven't worn these clothes, haven't missed them, and haven't thought about them, I will consider consigning or donating them.

As usual at my rents' house, we ate a ton of food. Here are some photos of our weekend eating adventure:

Dinner

Breakfast

Lunch

So nice to clear out some stuff from our apt...so nice to have such good eats...so nice to see my family. The next time we see them, we will, hopefully, be HOMEOWNERS!!!

Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Life, Lunch

Ota.bar-licious AM

Bailey woke me up bright and early this morning (too bad b/c I wanted to sleep in), so I caught up on my google reader and made a yummy breakfast:

Egg scramble (TJ's cage-free eggs, red pepper, onion, baby spinach, cheddar cheese), GHBC whole wheat toast with real butter, and Fresh Market Breakfast Blend coffee.

Hubby must have smelled breakfast cooking because he woke up just in time to set the table, make my coffee and eat.

Then, we were off to the Farmer's Market!

I knew it was the last week Ashley from oat.bars would be at the market, so I quickly found her booth and stocked up.

I hit up her sample tray.

I tried the cinnamon-apple-y one and the peanut-buttery-y one - they were both dee-lish. I didn't need to try the berry one to know I'd love it.

Stock up I did! I got 16 bars - 2 of the cinnamon-apple-y flavor, 4 of the triple-berry-y flavor, and 6 of the peanut-buttery-y flavor. Can't wait to try one of these in entire bar format!

Good luck with your move Ashley!!

After buying granola bars (one of my fave EVER snacks) to my heart's content, I hit up the rest of my farmer's market, gave one of my precious ota.bars to a homeless man, visited a second farmer's market, and hit up our fave doughnut bakery.

Here are the goods:

We got: 3 heirloom tomatoes, fresh basil, green squash, scuppernongs, red potatoes, bananas, collard greens, a kiwi, and some local shrimp (not pictured).

We even got some free bug art on our squash. Look at those spirals!

From the bakery, I got a glazed donut and single doughnut hole. Together they looked like a speciality doughnut the bake shop features calls a Texas doughnut b/c it's so HUGE. Thankfully, mine was just big enough for me, but even the bakery guy noticed the resemblance of the two together and placed them in the bag just so.

Wow, this makes 3 days of some serious sweets...I just cannot control my sweet tooth sometimes. Sometimes, I don't want to try. :)

Groceries

Extra Easy Chicken Parmesan

So, this is a bit of a cheat recipe and doesn't actually contain parmesan, but it's easy and tastes good.

I bought some frozen, breaded chicken tenders from Trader Joe's awhile back with no exact recipes in mind.

Towards the end of this past week, we were running low on our food budget, so I decided to throw stuff together from ingredients we already had on hand, sans grocery store trip. It was also nice that this meal required very little effort from me to put together.

I used:

• frozen, breaded chicken tenders from TJ's
• TJ's small jar of marinara
• angel hair nests by Colavita
• leftover fresh mozzarella balls from TJ's (used earlier in the week)
• and leftover green beans from last weekend's farmers market trip

I love these angel hair nests - they are already balled up and only take 3 minutes to cook!

local green beans to steam up

The finished product...yum yum! So easy!

Extra Easy Chicken Parmesan
by me

Ingredients:

• frozen, breaded chicken tenders (I used Trader Joe's)
• jar of marinara sauce
• mozzarella

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven according to chicken package instructions.
2. Place chicken in oven and cook to minimum cooking time.
3. Once chicken is cooked, remove from oven, top with marinara sauce, then mozzarella cheese
4. Place back in oven and cook till mozzarella is melted, about 5 minutes.
5. Serve with pasta topped with more marinara and steamed veggies

Enjoy!!

Dinner

My Happy News + a Delicioso Cupcake

I promised good news today and I aim to deliver!

Thanks to everyone for their guesses...we had some close ones, but two people guessed right! Kristin (ChasRunner) guessed correctly first via twitter, and then Lola guessed correctly via TCL. Nice work ladies!

For those who haven't figured it out, hubby and I think we've FIIIIIIIIIIIIINALLY found a HOUSE! I saw "finally" like that because for those of you who have been reading TCL for awhile or those I know personally, you probably know that we've been house-hunting for roughly 4 years now. Yes, 4 frustrating and excruciatingly long years.

When I started The Chic Life, I wanted to blog to be well-rounded and encompass many things, one of which was supposed to be about home and decorating. Well, as you can imagine, it's a bit hard to blog about house + home when 1. you don't have a house and 2. you're trying to not buy anything new (furniture/decor-wise) until you get a house.

I know there are blogs dedicated to successfully decorating apartments and they rock, but hubby and I (mostly hubby) didn't want to invest in new stuff till we had a more permanent home.

Well, hubby and I are finally "under contract" on a house. We're already scoping out home/decoration magazines, we shop Lowes + Home Depot for fun, and we've been watching HGTV/TLC/DIY/Fine Living like CRAZY!!!

We won't close on the house for a few more weeks, so it's not ours yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I'm just hoping things go smoothly from here.

So, while I'm bummed about missing zumba for a few weeks, not going to NYC, and my fashion blog (which is starting to come around)...I'm super excited about all the wonderful possibilities that I see with this new house.

Check out this yummy cupcake hubby picked up for me today. I've been craving one of these for weeks and sweet-sweet hubby was thoughtful enough to pick one up for me while I was at work today. Aww...

Anywho, this cupcake is calling my name from the kitchen, so I'm off to enjoy.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Who's ready for some Farmer's Market trips??!!

Dessert, Life

Happy News (Twitter Clues)

I'll be twittering some clues to what my good news is. Check out my twitter to see if you can figure it out, or check back later for when I post the news.

Click here to view my twitter

Cheers! :)

Life

Pastries Make It All Better

Ugh, I'm having a bad day. I hate to be negative, but I feel like people can relate when things aren't rosy 100% of the time...we all have bad days/weeks, no?

So, today I found out my fashion blog has been marked as an "Attack Site" and blogger deleted the site from my account, so I can't even get into the code to try to fix it or request a review. :(

Additionally, my leg has been bugging me for the last couple weeks. I think I pulled my groin muscle and may have to skip zumba for a FOUR to SIX weeks! Argh! I've been going to zumba 3-5 times a week, so going 0 times for 4-6 weeks is going to be flat out painful. Not to mention pulled muscle = no NYC trip.

All the news isn't bad and I have some good news to share, but in the meantime, here are some pictures from me and hubby's impromptu trip to the local French bakery for some pick-me-up-pastries.

The good news far outweighs the bad, so I'm trying to stay positive and think about the good things. I'm hoping to spread my good news (and hopefully some of the bad will turn to good, too!) later this week...possibly tomorrow! :)

Dessert, Life

Dance Off Song + Stormy Skies

Long day at work followed by an awesome hour of ZUMBA!!!

My instructors were kind enough to stay behind to teach me one of my all time favorite songs - El Alacran, which we call the "Dance Off Song". El Alacran has some simple moves, including a fun "Don't Take My Picture" series of arm movements, but we split the room in half during the middle and each half does a Dance-Off against the other. It's so fun! My instructors also helped me with my meringue, which needs work!! Yikes!

It's been raining like cats and dogs here.

The sky cleared up just after zumba and the skyline looked so cool with the lower lit background and deep blue of the upper skies - all against the big gray buildings.

I love the sky!

Btw, still on the fence about NYC...can you believe it?! If I can score a last minute deal, I'm there...otherwise, I'll have plenty to do here. :)

Life

Easy Chicken Penne Arrabiata with Mozzarella and Basil

Penne Arrabiata is one of my hubby's all-time favorite meals.

I often make this dish with different tomato sauces, but the basic concept is always the same: spicy tomato sauce, grilled chicken, fresh mozzarella mini balls, penne pasta, fresh basil served with a side tomato/mozzarella/balsamic salad (to use up some more of the basil and mozzarella you use in the pasta).

Lacheteau loire-valley white wine - a cross between riesling and pinot grigio. Light and just sweet enough. I sampled this at Trader Joe's this past weekend and fell in love at first sip.

After gathering my ingredients and getting some pasta water done and chicken cooking in the griller, I poured myself some vino to sip on whilst cooking.

I usually make my arrabiata sauce using some canned tomatoes, some fresh tomatoes, and lots of pepper, but I recently picked up this jar of Arrabiata sauce at Trader Joe's and was looking for a short cut tonight.

While my pasta cooked and chicken grilled away, I made another mozzarella caprese-like salad (made before dinner was ready so the flavors could mesh) - click here for "recipe."

I chopped extra tomatoes to toss into the Arrabiata sauce since I had them on hand.

Penne Arrabiata needs lots of spicy! Red pepper flakes are a must.

Grilled chicken, allowed to rest, then sliced.

Pasta, chicken, and Arrabiata sauce.

A few minutes before you're ready to eat, add a few mini mozzarella balls to the top of the pasta, turn off the heat, and cover the pot.

A few minutes later - ooey, gooey, melty deliciousness in the form of mozzarella!

Here's a close-up...mmm....

Serve

Top with fresh basil and enjoy!!

Chicken Penne Arrabiata with Mozzarella and Basil
by me
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• .5-1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 box penne pasta
• mini mozzarella balls
• 1 large jar tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's Arrabiata sauce)
• fresh tomato (I used a handful or two of cherry/roma tomatoes, chopped)
• red pepper flakes
• non-stick spray
• salt + pepper
• fresh basil, rinsed, chopped
• aluminum foil

Directions:

• Spray an electric griller with non-stick cooking spray. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Grill chicken till cooked through. (I used an electric grill that didn't require pre-heating time). Once chicken is cooked through, remove to cutting board and cover with aluminum foil tent.
• Meanwhile, boil water for pasta in a medium-large pot. Add salt and pasta to water and cook a couple minutes under recommended cooking time.
• Once pasta done, drain in colander. Rinse pasta with cool water to stop cooking. Add sauce and chopped tomatoes to the pot you used to cook the pasta. Cook over medium heat till sauce starts to boil, lower to simmer. Stir in a dash (or 2...or 3...depending on how hot you like it) of red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
• Once sauce is simmering, add chicken. Cook till chicken heated through (about 2-3 minutes).
• Add pasta to pot. Cook till pasta heated through (about 1-2 minutes).
• Top pasta with several balls of mozzarella (try to space them out - they will stick together if they touch). Turn heat off and cover pot.
• Once mozzarella has melted down a bit, serve the pasta and top with the fresh basil. Enjoy!

It doesnt have anything to do with the pasta, but tonight's dessert will be an adora (dark chocolate calcium supplement). I get to eat this little piece of chocolate as soon as I'm done blogging. I hope I like it! A mini dessert of dark chocolate will be the perfect dessert for this dinner...I always overeat on Penne Arrabiata night because it's so delish!

Dinner

Grocery Goodies + Adora!

We got some grocery goodies today:

Compromise Milk!

Hubby likes 2% milk. I like skim milk. Hubby wanted to take turns alternating 2% and skim milk from one purchase to another. Today, I decided some "compromise milk" sounded good and got 1% milkfat Trader Joe's milk.

Some Honey Whole Wheat bread from Great Harvest Bread Company . We haven't had this one in awhile and I'm thinking that it's going to taste darn good with some Dark Chocolate Dreams!!

More coffee...thank goodness! We ran out of coffee yesterday and I had to get ready and go to work without caffeine. Me - caffeine = Not Happy Camper in the AM.

Hubby picked up this Fresh Market Breakfast Blend for us today (and the bread, actually!).

I saved the BEST for last - adora calcium supplements. I had to call 4 stores before I finally figured out that Earthfare sells this stuff. Phew!

As some of you know, I'm working on my calcium intake and though I don't think I can afford to eat 1 (let alone 2) of these every day (not at 30 chocolates for $16 - roughly $16 a month), they will certainly help in my efforts.

Adora nutrition info - only 30 calories! Nice! 50% DV calcium...sweet!

I can't wait to try one of these. I'll probably have one for dessert...yum-yum!

Groceries

PB Chia Seed Toast (WFC #3)

I slept in a little late today and my soon-to-be-stale loaf of bread was calling my name.

I have to admit, for days when I'm a bit on the late side, PB (or almond butter) toast is a great go-to. Peanuts and wheat are one of the food combos that amp up nutrition that I blogged about awhile ago.

I usually pop my bread in the toaster while I make my coffee (getting the coffee pot set up is the FIRST thing I do in the AM - I could set it up at night, but...well...I just don't). I usually get a couple sips of my cuppa joe before the toast is ready for a topping.

Todaty, I toasted up some Great Harvest Bread Company bread in Dakota.

On top, I added about 1 tbsp of Trader Joe's Valencia Flaxseed Peanut Butter.

In the spirit of my Weekly Food Challenge, I added some black chia seeds on top. I really hardly tasted them OR noticed their added texture (prob b/c the peanut butter and bread were already a little on the nutty side). I should probably do this more often!

That's super-simple entry #2 (here's the other one) for the WFC...what are you making?

Breakfast, Food Challenge

Cereal with Chia Seed Topping (WFC #2)

It may seem slightly odd to enter this for the Weekly Food Challenge (Chia Seeds) since it really didn't take much effort, but the main point of the challenge is to incorporate the challenge ingredient into your week's diet, so effort doesn't matter. It just matters that you eat it! Simple as that! :)

Tonight for dessert, I had a mini bowl of cereal for dessert - Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran.

As a healthy addition, I added a sprinkling of white chia seeds to the top.

I also added a drizzle of honey and a pinch of sliced almonds.

See! Eating chia seeds is just that easy...and tasty! Enjoy!

Dessert, Food Challenge

Rainbow Chia Seed Smoothie (WFC Entry 1)

Today was the first day of my Weekly Food Challenge with the ingredient chia seeds.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to make a Chia Fizz drink or a smoothie, but smoothie won out because I feel like I haven't been getting as many servings of fruit as I should.

I, of course, started with the key ingredient: chia seeds. I used white chia seeds (about 1 tbsp).

Add milk (about 1/2 cup).

Stir. Place in fridge for 10 minutes. Wait.

When the 10 minutes were up, I gathered the rest of my smoothie ingredients: frozen papaya, frozen (hand-picked) blueberries, frozen banana, frozen strawberries, organic baby spinach, and a TJ's Greek Style Nonfat Blueberry Yogurt.

My ingredients looked like a rainbow in my blender!

So pretty!

Next I added my TJ's yogurt and some milk.

Then, I blended till everything was smooth, but still thick (I had more milk to add with those chia seeds).

I got my chia seeds from the fridge and stirred them well. They had gelled up quite nicely!

I added the chia seeds and milk to the mix and blended till everything was combined.

My rainbow smoothies were perfect for me and hubby to enjoy post-lunch today. Yum!

Rainbow Chia Seed Smoothie
by me
Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 1-1.5 cup milk
• 1 TJ's individual Greek yogurt (any flavor)
• handful frozen papaya
• handful frozen strawberries
• handful frozen banana
• handful frozen blueberries
• handful organic baby spinach

Directions:

1. Place chia seeds and 1/2 cup milk in a container. Stir and place in fridge to rest for 10 minutes.
2. After 10 minutes are over, add all frozen fruit (about 2-3 cups worth) and spinach (about 1/2 cup) to a blender. Add yogurt. Add milk. Blend till all ingredients blended smoothly. Mixture may be a bit thick.
3. Remove chia seed/milk mixture. Stir well. Add to blend. Blend until mixed well.
4. Serve and enjoy!

I pretty much just eye-balled everything for the above recipe, so sorry for no exact measurements. Just add a few handfuls of fruit, a bit of yogurt and a little milk. I didn't use any additional sweeteners. Add milk till it's the consistency you want. Remember, you can always add more milk, but you can't take it back out. Add the milk gradually and you should be good to go!

Anyone else working on some awesome chia seed recipes for the Weekly Food Challenge?

Food Challenge

Simple Sunday Lunch: Annie's Creamy Shells & Cheese

Hubby and I enjoyed a simple Sunday lunch today using stuff from the pantry and fridge.

Farmer's Market veggies (green beans, mung bean sprouts) and leftover veggies (TJ's organic broccoli florets and baby carrots)

I decided to try a box of Annie's Creamy Deluxe Shells & Extra Cheesy Cheddar Sauce when I saw it on sale at the grocery store.

I cooked the mac and cheese following the box instructions and steamed the veggies.

The veggies got a light drizzle of melted, real butter.

I thought the mac and cheese was really good - definitely better than the boxed version with the dry mix. I kind of still prefer the other mainstream cheesy-mac-and-cheese brands, but I know that Annie's is better for me. Annie's is also a bit more expensive, so I'll probably have to try to buy it in bulk or wait for sales. Annie's creamy shells & cheese still made for a great, convenient lunch.

Lunch

Weekly Food Challenge (8/9 - 8/15) - Chia Seeds!

The Weekly Food Challenge is BAAAAAACK!!!

Click here to learn more about the weekly food challenge and how you can play along. But, basically, you just make something during the challenge week with the weekly challenge food item and add your link to this post (leave a comment with your URL). See, simple!

This Week's Challenge Item (8/9 - 8/15) - Chia Seeds:

Yes, chia seeds are related to the ch-ch-ch-chia infomercial product, but they are actually a nutritious addition to your diet.

According to WHFoods.com, chia seeds are a great source of fiber.

According to an article I found over at HealthyAlterEgo.org, chia seeds have "6X more calcium than milk, 3X more antioxidant power than fresh blueberries,15X more magnesium than broccoli, 20X more omega-3 than salmon, more fiber & omega 3's than flaxseed and more protein than soy." The article also goes on to explain that chia seeds are easier than flaxseeds to store and last longer without going rancid.

I'm a fan of using chia seeds in recipes involving liquid, because I just love the way those little seeds plump up in liquids and become all gelatinous. It's so neat and the plumped-up seeds sort of remind me of one of my fave drinks - bubble tea.

Check out Chia Power for some more information on chia seeds.

You can find chia seeds in some health food stores and online.

Recipe Ideas:

• Sprinkle over oatmeal, salads, yogurt, toast (with PB or jelly, etc)
• Add to smoothies
• Cook in your oatmeal
• Chia Fizz drink by Clean Eating Magazine
• Chia Fresca Breeze by Kristen Suzanne - Courtesy of Navitas Naturals
• Chia Seed Raw "Tapioca" Pudding by Elanas Pantry (hoping to try this one later this week)
• Chia Raw Banana Coconut Pudding via Chia Power
• Raw Ginger Snaps by To Live Long and Prosper
• Chia Muffins by RealAge
• Pumpkin Chia Seed Muffins via Oprah.com
• Breakfast Bars by NuchiaFoods.com
• Dairy Free Chocolate Pudding by HealthDiaries.com
• Lemon Poppyseed Bread by Gluten Free Goodness
• Chia Gel (to use in other recipes) via mychiaseeds.com - see site for tips

How to Play:
Everyone is welcome to play, but unfortunately, there's no prize this week. :( I hope you'll still play along for fun, though!

• Cook/prepare something during the challenge week (8/9 - 8/15) with chia seeds
• Do a blog post about what you made
• Add the Challenge banner (the muffin photo - available here - click) to your blog post, optional
• Leave me a comment on this post to let me know you did your post so I can add you link to the list

Happy cooking!

The Players:

• Fat Buster - Mix1 with chia
• Fat Buster - Blueberry chia pancakes
• Moi - Rainbow Smoothie with chia seeds
• Moi - Cereal with chia seed topping
• Moi - PB Chia Seed Toast
• Moi - Raw "Tapioca" (Chia Seed) Pudding

Food Challenge, Food Challenge

Ostrich Stir-Fry

So, I bought something kind of crazy at the farmers market Saturday. Something I've never cooked with (or eaten?) before:

OSTRICH!

I was a little afraid of the little ostrich steak I bought just because I'm so unfamiliar with this type of meat, but I was excited about trying something new. I love to experiment with food!

We decided to try out an ostrich stir fry.

I started by doing a quick marinade and then sauteing the meat. I set the meat to the side and then got to the veggies.

The stir fry used lots of veggies, including some goodies from the farmers market: a red bell pepper and some mung bean sprouts

(I LOVE sprouts in stir-fry).

Stir frying the veggies. We totally need a non-stick pan...or a wok!! That would be awesome!

Cooking up.

All done and ready to enjoy.

The verdict...

Ostrich = Healthy & Delicious!!

We will definitely be buying ostrich again soon. The meat is nice and tender and almost fat free (at least the piece we got was). Click here for more nutrition information on ostrich - according to this comparison, the ostrich is the healthiest meat of the bunch.

Ostrich Stir-Fry
By me with marinade adapted from Clean Eating Magazine
Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• Ostrich steak (1/3 - 1/2 lb) sliced thin (against grain)
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 red bell pepper chopped
• 1 cup broccoli florets (in small pieces)
• 1 baby carrot, cut
• mung bean sprouts, handful
• 3-5 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or white wine)
• 1/2 tbsp apple butter
• 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
  
• salt + pepper
• sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Meanwhile, make marinade by whisking 1 tbsp soy sauce, apple butter, sesame oil, garlic powder, and dash salt and pepper in a bowl. Add ostrich, stir to coat, let rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. Heat a pan (or wok) over medium heat. Once pan is ready, add 1 tbsp peanut oil, coat pan, then add ostrich. Cook till meat browned on both sides, about 5 minutes. Move meat to a separate plate.
3. Return pan to heat. Add other tbsp peanut oil. Add all veggies, except mung beans. Saute till till veggies are crisp tender, about 4-5 minutes. Use vegetable broth to de-glaze pan or just to help veggies cook (broth is optional).
4. Add ostrich meat and mung bean sprouts back to pan. Add soy sauce as needed. Cook for 1-2 minutes to let flavors mesh.
5. Serve with brown rice. Top with sprinkle of sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Dinner

Tomato, Mozzarella, Basil, Balsamic Salad, Etc.

After our farmers market outing, we decided to use some of our new goodies for lunch, including a no-measure tomato, mozzarella, basil, balsamic salad.

Here's our mixture of locally, organically grown tomatoes.

Now, you need basil, too.

Slice tomatoes

Slice fresh basil

Slice fresh mozzarella

Top with drizzle olive oil, salt, pepper

Top with drizzle balsamic.

Stir, let flavors mesh, then enjoy!

I had my salad with a turkey panini using some of our new jalapenos

Jalapenos!

Smoked gouda

Into the panini press

Beautiful!

Look at all those lovely seeds on the Great Harvest Bread Company Dakota bread!

Altogether now. I only ate half the sammie to save room for dessert.

Got a new Better Homes decorating magazine last night - it has some good tips - can't wait to get reading!

Hubby and I love stopping by a local bakery on Saturdays.

I find their glazed donuts irresistible.

They were out today, so I got a pretzel twist instead. The twist proved to be a little too much for me...think I'll stick with the donuts next time (if they're available), but I love their doughy-ness with that yummy glaze. Yum! Pair this with a little milk and you've got a nice afternoon!

What did you do on your Saturday?

Dessert, Lunch

Farmers Market Shopping Saturday

I'm really loving my Saturday morning/afternoon trips to the Farmers Market. It's so nice to find some great deals, support local farmers, and meet some of the people who grow the food you eat. I think I need to print up some business cards so I can give them to the farmers so they can see what I do with their food!

This morning, I woke up with a horrible charlie-horse/crazy-leg-cramp at 6:30 am. It was awful...I get them every once in a blue moon and they're really annoying. I was able to get back to bed but woke up around 9 am with a huge headache! Ugh...crappy way to start Saturday, but I was looking forward to some fun to get over it.

My bananas were starting to brown, so I put some in a tupperware to put in the freezer for smoothies later and put some in a bowl of oats I cooked up in the microwave with flaxseed to mash up.

I also added some 2% milk, sliced almonds, ground flaxseed, and a tiny spoonful of Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams.

Oddly enough, the only difference between this bowl and the one above is a tsp of unsweetened cocoa powder. Funny how that cocoa powder makes the other bowl look so much more decadent.

I also had a Morningstar "sausage" since I haven't had one in awhile and have been craving one...and because I wanted something savory.

After breakfast, we hit up a couple farmers markets.

The goods: red grapes, sweet potato, lemons, limes, apples, red pepper, mung bean sprouts, pickled jalapenos, green beans, tomato mixture, and something new - ostrich!

I love my farm fresh goodies!!

Check out your local farmers market! Meet the people who grow your food - they are fabulous! :)

Groceries

Thank You Trader Joe's For Dinner

No, Trader Joe's did NOT send me a free dinner. I am thankful that Trader Joe's selection of healthful and quick options made dinner a cinch last night. Using food products from TJ's, I was able to make a dinner without cutting, chopping, measuring, or otherwise breaking a sweat.

Here are some photos from dinner:

Pre-cut organic broccoli florets (just needed a lil rinsing)

Frozen Battered halibut (we LOVE these things!)

Something new to try - frozen Sweet Potato Fries.

Our package halibut only had 7 pieces, so I picked the biggest piece for moi and baked up 2 for hubby.

Dinner spread: halibut, sweet potato fries, steamed broccoli (with drizzle of real butter)

I cooked the sweet potato fries at 425 (following directions) for the first few minutes and then took the temp down to 400 (for the fish) when I added the halibut. They still came out nice and crunchy (I did add on a couple minutes extra cooking time to make up for the lower temp).

This dinner wasn't quick, but it was so easy and I was able to multi-task and do some other errands around the house while the food cooked up.

Thank you Trader Joe's for your awesome selection of food!

Dinner

Smoky Tomato Soup and Smoked Gouda Paninis

I'm a little behind on posting, so the text on this one will be sparse. I stumbled upon a Comfort Food post over at Another One Bites the Crust last week when it was cold and rainy here. The next time I hit the grocery store, I picked up a couple small cans of fire roasted tomatoes in preparation of the next rainy day.

I didn't have to wait long. It rained last week and the Smoky Tomato Soup by Rachael Ray sounded perfect for the cold and dreary weather.

Here are some pictures from cooking:

I tried to do cheese toast broiled in the oven, but the darn smoked gouda wouldn't melt!

Paninis it was! I added some mozzarella cheese to make it extra cheesy.

Simple and delicious!

Check out Another One Bites the Crust for a recipe. I pretty much followed this version but used 2 14.5 ounce cans and blended one can in the blender and left one for some extra texture. I also cooked the finished soup for a few minutes because my veggies were still a little too crisp for my liking. Easy-peesy recipe!

Dinner

Have You Gotten Your Chia Seeds Yet?

Have you gotten your chia seeds yet?

Next week's Weekly Food Challenge will be - CHIA SEEDS!!!

Chia seeds are available both white and black. A quick google search told me that they are pretty much the same thing, just different colors (let me know if your research proves otherwise - I didn't look long). Anywho, you can find them in most health-food stores (found mine with the spices/dried herbs) or online.

Go get yours!! :)

Groceries

Dark Chocolate Dreams Choco-Banana Oats

I may or may not have designed this bowl of oats around my new love - Dark Chocolate Dreams PB by Peanut Butter & Co:

Unsweetened cocoa powder in the pre-cooking oats and water.

Sliced banana to add to cooked oats.

Yummy breakfast! Perfect with delicious Fresh Market coffee!

Mmm...

These pictures are making me want BREAKFAST for DESSERT!

Pre-cooking ingredients:

• 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup water
• pinch flaxseed
• stir in 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Cook: Microwave 2 minutes

Post-cooking:

• Stir in 1 sliced banana
• Splash of skim milk
• Top with sliced almonds
• Top with ground flaxseed
• Add spoon full of Dark Chocolate Dreams on the side

ENJOY!!

Breakfast

Pot Roast Encore...This Time with Swiss Chard

One reason I like pot roast so much is because it makes great leftovers. I heat them up the same I cooked them...in the slow cooker (on high). It's slow, but if you start it when you get home from work, it's usually ready after an hour or so depending on how much meat you have left.

Not that it was a big change, but I thought adding some farmers market swiss chard to the roast while it reheated would jazz it up a bit. It certainly raised the nutritional value, and I'm working to eat more green leafy veggies, too.

I simply triple-washed my chard, tore it into smaller pieces, and added it to the slow cooker about 30 mins before we were ready to eat.

I think the leftovers of Sunday's dinner even LOOK more appealing with the green balancing out the other others. The spikes of red are nice, too.

Hot, cozy yumminess!

I enjoyed my last Nature's Path cereal so much , I was anxious to try another variety. I wanted to try the honey almond bunches flavor, but I was craving a non-flavored/non-sweetened, heartier version, so I went with...

...Nature's Path Organic Flax Plus Multibran. I love the richer, crunchier, thicker textures of these whole grain kinds!

Box Info: USDA Organic

More Box Info: High Fiber - WHole Grain - Contains 23% DV of omega 3

NutritionFacts

I love cereal for dessert! I had mine with skim milk for calcium! (I'm working on getting enough calcium lately...can you tell?)

I topped my bowl with a sprinkling of white chia seeds and sliced almonds...

...a drizzle of honey (just like I had in France) makes this bowl perfection! Yum, just looking at this post is making me want to eat a bowl right now, but I'm about to take off for dinner! Maybe I'll save room for dessert? ;)

Breakfast, Dinner

Cook Chia Seeds In Your Oats

Have chia seeds? Cook them in your oats...they are AWESOME!

Before

• 1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/2 cup water
• pinch flaxseed

Microwave 2 minutes (I prefer stove top but am pressed for time during the work week)

AFTER!!!

Stir in:

• 1 sliced banana
• skim milk

Tiny gelatinous chia seeds

Toppings = drizzle of agave, sliced almonds, ground flaxseed

So simple yet so good! I made this using stuff from my pantry!

With coffee and skim milk (for calcium!) - perfect breakfast!

Breakfast

Sunday Pot Roast (With Grass-Fed Beef)

Hubby and I picked up a lovely grass-fed, eye of round roast from the Farmers Market on Saturday. The roast was from a local farm, too! I love supporting my local community.

I knew the roast would make a perfect Sunday Pot Roast.

We also had a lot of farmer's market veggies to toss into the roast.

I followed the recipe listed here with some extra spices and the addition of celery.

Campbell's Soup creates the cooking liquid. We also added some leftover tomato juice from those Turkey Stuffed Peppers.

All ingredients in and ready to cook up. We let this 2.8-ish lbs roast go for about 5 hours on high while we ran errands and what not. Slow cookers definitely help your day be more productive since you save cooking time.

5 hours later (and I cooked a rice cooker full of brown rice to go with this at about 4 1/4 hours in)...

We had a big steamy crock pot full of delicious Sunday dinner.

Oh-so-good! This is a classic in our house!

Super yum!

Dessert was pretty amazing, too! I enjoyed another piece (or two) of my VeggieGirl-esque Dark Chocolate Dream blondies. So hard to resist eating them ALL in ONE sitting! I managed...barely.

Do you have a traditional Sunday dinner? Roasts aren't one for us, but I know a lot of people do them.

Dessert, Dinner

Dark Chocolate Dreams / Chocolate Chip Blondies

I recently saw some mouth-watering Pecan and Date Blondies over at Another One Bites the Crust, which were adapted from the famous VeggieGirl Blondies. Nothing inspires you to bake like another frustrating day of house-hunting. Hubby and I drove around looking for open houses and found 1 we liked, though it didn't knock our socks off.

Nothing cheers you up like baking, though, right?

I decided to do my own play on the recipe.

I wanted to try the Pecan and Date version because it sounded delish, but I didn't have pecans or dates on hand and I was feeling too lazy to go to the store (especially after driving all around town looking for houses). I knew I had chocolate chips, though, so I zeroed in on those. I also noticed that the recipe said to dollop PB on top of the batter and since I've been infatuated with my Dark Chocolate Dreams since finding it last Thursday, I knew some DCD PB just HAD to be added to my blondies. (Have you noticed I haven't gone 1 day without eating DCD yet??? Sad, I know)

Wet ingredients

I guess baking wouldn't be baking without a slight mess in the kitchen?

A little ground flaxseed for fun.

Mini Chocolate Chips stirred with a little flour to keep them from settling.

And since I have it in my pantry now, I figured a couple dollops of my Dark Chocolate Dreams were in order.

I baked half the blondies topped with sliced almonds as an experiment.

The almonds were, IMO, a mistake because they didn't cut very well. Perhaps if they were more broken up they'd make for a better addition?

Holy yum!

Dark Chocolate Dreams / Chocolate Chip Blondies
Adapted from the recipe by Another One Bites the Crust who adapted the recipe from VeggieGirl

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tsp molasses
• 1 + 1/4 cup Trader Joe's White Wheat Flour, plus 1 tbsp
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams PB (a couple tsps)
• 1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
• handful sliced almonds, optional

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray 8x8 baking pan with non-stick spray and line bottom with parchment paper.
• Whisk together milk, oil, sugar, molasses, and vanilla extract.
• Sift 1 + 1/4 cup flour and baking soda into the wet ingredients.
• Stir until combined.
• Stir chocolate chips and 1 tbsp flour in a small, separate bowl. Add to the batter and stir gently.
• Pour the batter into your baking dish.
• Dollop a couple tsp of Dark Chocolate Dreams and gently swirl into the batter.
• Optional step: sprinkle sliced almonds on top.
• Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Let blondies cool, then cut into 16 pieces, and see if you can stop yourself from eating the whole batch...lol. jk :) ENJOY!

Dessert

Pepper Stuffing Leftovers Turn Into a Simple Soup

Remember all those leftovers we had from the Stuffed Turkey Peppers from last night's dinner?

We had a small tupperware full of cooked ground turkey, cherry tomatoes, wild rice, and other goodies. I didn't have to wonder long what to do with my pepper stuffing leftovers.

I decided to turn my pepper stuffing leftovers into a simple soup for lunch today. I gathered up the leftovers with some swiss chard from yesterday's Farmer's Market visit along with some low sodium chicken broth.

I brought the broth to a boil and added the turkey stuffing, which promptly disappeared into the broth. I knew I needed to add something else...

...so, I rinsed up a can of kidney beans and added those to the pot.

While the broth had been heating up, I triple-washed my swiss chard and tore the leaves into smaller pieces. After adding the beans, I added the swiss chard and cooked it down for about 4 minutes.

Lunch was as simple as that!

I love finding a good way to morph good leftovers into delicious, new eats!

Have you ever made stuffed peppers and had leftover stuffing? What did you do with yours?

Lunch

Lazy But Productive Sunday

Hubby and Bailey let me sleep in this morning till 10:30 am! It was awesome. Apparently I needed sleep more than I thought since I napped for an hour yesterday and then slept in so long today. So glad I'm getting my sleep in on the weekends at least.

Hubby brought me coffee in bed and then I slowly woke up enough to make something quick for breakfast. In keeping with my plans to work on getting enough calcium, I thought a yogurt parfait was in order.

I busted out my last of the free Stonyfield Oikos Organic yogurts I had in the fridge (have more coupons, need to get more STAT!) and since the flavor was "plain", I topped the yogurt with a drizzle of honey.

I added a light sprinkling of white chia seeds.

Meanwhile, I prepped some toast: Great Harvest Flax Oat Bran bread toasted and topped with some Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams PB and some banana slices.

I put the rest of the banana slices on top of the yogurt and then added some sliced almonds and ground flaxseed.

All together with some skim milk for extra calcium. Excellent breakfast!

After starting off the day slowly, things picked up in productivity.

I managed to get a few things done:

• Cleaned 1/2 of bathroom
• Washed bathmats
• Cleared off dressers
• Visited an open house
• Drove around neighborhoods scoping out potential houses.
• Cooked lunch (separate post for that)
• Prepped dinner
• Baked something (post on the way for that)

Do you prefer lazy or productive Sundays?

Breakfast

Clean Eating Mag: Stuffed Turkey Peppers

I'm leaning towards "Yes!" on subscribing to Clean Eating Magazine...their recipes are just awesome and I love how truly "clean" they are.

I finally got to test out another CE recipe I've been dying to try: Stuffed Turkey Peppers.

Ingredients gathered.

Cooking the turkey filling.

Pre-cooking the peppers in boiling water. The different colors are so pretty!

Finished filling with the wild rice now.

The recipe made SO MUCH FILLING! Look - those peppers are fully stuffed and there's still a ton of filling left in the pan.

I filled a tupperware with the leftover stuffing - will have to figure out something to do with these leftovers...I'm thinking soup!

Stuffed peppers - check!

Top with a little mozzarella...

...and then the pepper tops.

Bake.

OH NO!!! Some of my peppers fell over!

No worries, though - they will taste the same later.

All cooked up and ready to enjoy.

Yummy, melty cheese. Mmmm.....

Delicio-so!

And for dessert...

I made a little something with the Stonyfield Oikos Organic Greek Vanilla Yogurt I got for free with the coupon they sent me, along with some toppings I purchased on my own.

Yogurt parfait!

Toppings: 1/2 banana (sliced), Trader Joe's dry-toasted almonds, whole flaxseed, and ground flaxseed.

Closer look at the yummy toppings.

20% Calcium. I think I haven't been getting enough Calcium lately, so I'm going to work on that.

On the container: "We give 10% of our profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth." Love that!

So simple, but so good...I'm enjoying another parfait as I work on this post, actually! I probably won't blog about it, but it is on my Twitter!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

Dessert, Dinner

Dark Chocolate Dreams Morning

You may have seen on my Twitter that I finally found and bought some of that Peanut Butter & Co Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

This stuff is the bomb! I love the flavor of this PB, and it's just so nice and sweet and creamy. I also like that you don't have to put this product in the fridge so your PB stays easy-to-spread.

I happily woke up to a nice toasty piece of Great Harvest Bread Company Flax Oat Bran bread topped with some of my new DCD PB. Delish! I love how glossy the PB looks while you spread it. I also enjoyed a nice mugga Fresh Market coffee - 1/2 Breakfast Blend + 1/2 Summer Breeze. Great way to start the day!

I probably could have made breakfast more nutritious by eating some other goodies, but we were in a rush to go to...

...the Farmers Market!

We hit up two today - the first features all local farmers and businesses, many of which use eco-friendly farming methods (like using rainwater to water their plants), and the second features just a whole buncha fruit and veggies. I prefer the first one to support the local community and because of their principles, which I support. The second one is nice because the selection is just so great. Tons and tons of stuff there!

At the second market, we checked out their greenery options.

I really liked these little yellow guys (whatever they are).

And, whenever we finally get a house, I'd like to grow some of these big pink flowers (hibiscus) because they remind me of our Bahamas wedding.

Our stash...

Broccoli sprouts, tri-color green beans, swiss chard, and some local grass fed beef - eye of round (for a roast on Sunday).

The chard is so pretty! I love the rosy-red stems.

Peppers (1 red, 1 orange, 1 white), red potatoes, celery, and bananas.

We ended up using the peppers for dinner and they were quite good! Dinner post up next!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

Breakfast, Groceries