For the love of dresses

I didn't have an aha moment. No epiphany during a winded moment on the stairs. There wasn't a sobbing moment of realization that 'I deserved better'. I just got fat and one day, I didn't want to be anymore. *Disclaimer - At the time of this writing, I'm still fat.

You see, I like dresses. I like to dress up. And when I dress up, I want to feel amazing. Like, really amazing. You know, when you get that walk like you're in the slow motion part of a music video and Beyonce is playing in your mind? Like that amazing. And for a long time, I was there. I was feeling myself. 

But recently, I haven't felt comfortable. There's nothing worse than being uncomfortable in your clothes. I could buy some new clothes, but guys, I have some fly-as-fuck dresses. If anyone 'deserves better' it's my damn dresses. That's right spring floral swing dress, I'm doing this for you. Because damn, girl. 

So what is happening to the blog, you ask? I'm going to share recipes and share a little bit about the changes to my lifestyle. I can tell you already, I'm hungry. I've been hungry for days. But it isn't a stomach-growling, hateful, kill-someone-for-a-cookie kind of hunger. It's more like a pushy, annoying little gnawing. I just pretend it's my stomach gurgling all that fat it's burning and that helps.

In true weight loss montage fashion, let's start with clearing out all the 'bad' foods from the kitchen. Turns out, our kitchen is chock full of fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, whole grains, lean meat....WTF? With the exception of Oreo thins (because I'm human, damn it), we don't have a lot of processed food in our house. We love to cook and the fresher the ingredients the better. But upon closer inspection, portion control was the enemy. Too much of a good thing. 

We also found that some of our favorite 'light snacks' were super high in fat, salt, and served up ridiculous calorie counts. For example, we love these little whole grain breakfast biscuits. They're lovely with coffee and full of fiber. Turns out, they're also full of crap! While the ingredient list is not alarming, those tiny biscuits packed almost 300 calories in a serving. And we were having them daily as a mid-morning snack! So those are gone. 

Here's another perfect example; sausage and peppers. 

We use turkey sausage because we don't eat much pork or red meat in our house. So how could we have been going so wrong? Well, boys and girls, it turns out those turkey sausages still pack a whole mess of calories. 160 each, to be exact. So instead of eating three sausages, which is what I'm inclined to do because they are DELICIOUS, I opted for one and a half. I sautéed the peppers and onions on high heat with only a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil to get that char I love so dearly. It was wonderful and I could have and would have eaten about twice as much. For now, this'll have to do. 

 

Seriously?!

Where the hell have I been?! Long story short, I installed some new virus protection software on my computer and somehow lost EVERYTHING on my computer - photos, recipes...everything. So devastating. After many attempts to retrieve my information, I am giving in and starting from scratch.

So please bear with me as I get back up and running. In the meantime, check out this amazing tabbouleh recipe on one of my favorite blogs, Thug Kitchen.

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew

With this winter being dominated by blizzards and single digit temperatures, hubby and I have been craving warm and hearty meals to stave off the bitter cold. So we turned to the most hearty items in our pantry; sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and carrots.

Once we made this stew we could not stop eating it. We started making variations and ultimately had this for lunch and/or dinner 5 times in one week. It is so versatile. You could probably make hundreds of variations on this stew and never get tired of it. So get started!

 

In a large pot, heat oil. Saute garlic and onion until soft. Add turmeric, paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, and ginger and cook about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add sweet potatoes, carrots, and chickpeas and simmer for 35 minutes. Stir in kale and remover from heat. Cover and allow to rest for 5 minutes. Serve with couscous and garnish with cilantro and greek yogurt.  It's time to eat!

The End of Boring Breakfast

I'm not a regular at Williams-Sonoma but I bought something there recently and now I am getting catalogs. That's all good with me. It's nice to look through and dream of a day when I can spend $25 on a spoon and not feel bad about it. (That day will never happen.)

However, one of these catalogs featured their winter mail order treats and sitting there taunting my tastebuds was a perfect waffle topped with bacon and caramelized apples. And I died. Naturally, I had to make it. My stomach would not let me move on with my life until I tried it.

And once I tried it, I could not believe I had been eating REGULAR waffles my whole life. My whole damn life!

Now, theirs may look prettier than mine, but I'm sure mine is better - right? I made my favorite rice waffles, threw the apples in a skillet with 2 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp brown sugar, and made some bacon. Then I made a waffle ladder to heaven and my life was changed forever. Go try this right now. It's time to eat!

Lamb Flatbread with Pine Nuts

Every year my husband and I buy ourselves some new cookbooks at Christmas. This year we bought The Big Book of Breakfast and Jerusalem. While The Big Book of Breakfast is delightful and has some great ideas to spice up your breakfast routine, Jerusalem blows it away.

Written by two men from different parts of the city, Jerusalem is packed with lovely stories, rich history, and stunning photos. In fact, the first time I cracked it open I sat and read it like a normal book. It is full of colorful stories that provide a peek into two very different cultures and all of the ways those cultures combine in a kaleidoscope of culinary joy.

It was impossibly difficult to choose which recipe to try first. So I just chose based on what ingredients were readily available. The great thing is that so many of the ingredients were already in my pantry - chickpeas, paprika, couscous. Once I got started, inspiration swept through me. The flavors and textures were just fantastic.

Now my goal is to make every recipe in this book before the year is over (it's a big book). This recipe is a variation on the Stuffed Eggplant recipe in the book. We didn't have eggplant but we did have some delicious flatbread. We made the stuffing, with a few little tweaks, and piled it on top of the flatbread which had been smeared with tahini. I served it with some chopped cucumber that I tossed with a little salt, lemon and parsley. I could eat this every day. Seriously.

In a large, deep skillet heat oil and saute onion, garlic, a pinch of salt, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon until onion is soft and spices are fragrant. Add lamb, parsley, tomato paste, pine nuts, lemon juice and sugar. Cook until lamb is browned. Serve on flatbread with tahini. You could also add some rice or couscous for some extra texture.

Lumberjack Cake

I saw this recipe in a magazine a couple of years ago and I ripped it out and have magically held onto it all this time. (If you know how many places I've lived, you know that this is a miracle.)

I have tried to figure out why they call it Lumberjack Cake. No one in the world seems to know. No one. So I'm just going to assume that its called Lumberjack Cake because lumberjacks really like delicious foods and this cake is a heavenly piece of gooey perfection. Richard is, apparently, not a lumberjack. He thought this cake was a little too gooey. But I think if you love German Chocolate cake, then you'll love this. Coconutty, gooey tastiness.

A disclaimer: I was not trying to be all Betty Crocker by grating fresh coconut. I would have gone straight for the bagged, shredded coconut but the store was out. However, a very helpful clerk told me "Why don't you grate it yourself? We got fresh coconut." As if that's just something you do every day. 

1 cup chopped, pitted dates
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I substituted coffee liquer and it was great!)
1 apple, peeled, cored, diced
1/2 cup shredded coconut


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 inch springform pan; line the bottom with parchment paper.


In a small saucepan bring dates and 1 cup of water to a boil. Stir in baking soda; set aside and allow to cool.


In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt.

In a large bowl or standing mixer, beat butter, sugar, egg and vanilla on medium speed . Slowly beat in date mixture until combined. Add flour mixture gradually until just combined.

Gently fold in apple and coconut.

Spread mixture evenly into prepared pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool on wire rack. Gently remove sides of pan and then parchment paper.

What have we been up to?

I don't like summer. Sure, the beach is nice and sunshine is lovely. But summer is really one of those things you only love when you're deep in the bowels of winter. After months of freezing snow and long, dark nights you find yourself saying "I can't wait for summer." That perfect Spring weather arrives and you are freed from the shackles of your wintery prison.

And before you know it Summer is all up in your face and every attempt to look remotely put together is ruined the minute you step out into the hell fire of the Summer sun. So please forgive my recent absence as I have been recovering from this, the most unforgiving of seasons.

However, in the absence of posting, the hubby and I have been trying out all manner of new and interesting ideas.

First, we thought it would be the best hing ever if we made our own pickles. We were right. Richard loves half sour pickles and I've recently grown to love them myself. So I thought I'd try to make some using Persian cucumbers instead of Kirbys. Having never made pickles before, I consulted the all-knowing wisdom of the internet and discovered this recipe on Brooklynfarmgirl.com. After just 4 days, we had some seriously awesome pickles. We ate 2 jars in 2 days. I'm not ashamed. You should definitely try this recipe.

In August we attended the wedding of two people we love very much. It was a beautiful ceremony with the most amazing sunset view of Manhattan I have every experienced. But before any of the festivities began, the wise bride got us all boozed up and properly fed with some delicious hors d'oeuvres. One that really stuck out was a blini with cream cheese and caviar. Like most people, I keep cases of caviar sitting around my apartment. But my order must have been delayed or something because there was no abundance of caviar when I needed it. So we made these little beauties instead:

I used my usual pancake batter recipe and poured it out in bite size portions on the griddle. Then I piped cream cheese on top, wrapped smoked salmon around the cream cheese and topped it with capers and green onion. This was beyond easy and insanely delicious. If you are having a party, then you better serve these or I am NOT coming.

Stay tuned for our next post - Lumberjack Cake! Oh yeah!

Meal Makeover: Jambalaya

Frozen meals are great when you're in a pinch and need something fast and delicious. But one or two additional steps can take that one bag meal from this:

To THIS:

Bumblebee has these new frozen seafood meals and we got to try one for FREE! The meal itself looked good enough, but I couldn't help trying to kick it up a notch. So I decided to use their Spicy Shrimp Romesco to make jambalaya. The result? A festival of awesome.

2 cups diced peppers
1/2 cup diced yellow onion
3 cloves garlic, sliced
5 sausages, sliced
1 tbsp vegetable oil*

1 tbsp paprika

1/2 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp worchestershire sauce

1/3 cup chicken broth

1 package Bumblebee Spicy Shrimp Romesco 

1 can small red beans, 14 ounces, rinsed and drained

2 cups cooked rice

Salt

Hot sauce

Heat a large pan over high heat. Add peppers and onions. Caramelize until golden.

Add oil, garlic and sausages and cook until garlic is golden brown. Reduce heat to medium and add chicken broth to deglaze the pan.

Add paprika, onion powder, pepper, worchestershire sauce, beans and Spicy Shrimp package contents. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes.

Stir in rice. Salt and hot sauce to taste. It's time to eat!

*Don't use olive oil or any other oil with a low smoking point.

Cherry Hand Pies

Sitting around on a Saturday morning, Richard and I are trying to decide what dessert I should make for the weekend. I am having a serious sweet tooth attack and everything from cookies to cakes to cupcakes sounds good. So we head to the store to just pick up a few baking staples that we need: chocolate chips, cherries, nuts. Having these things in the house means we'll have what we need to whip up a tasty treat once we decide what that is.

I wanted to make something familiar but that would give me a new challenge and BOOM! It hit me. Hand pies!

Although Americans didn't invent pies, we certainly are the country that has most embraced the concept. Hand pies used to be the go-to food for many American field laborers and travelers. But homemade pies became rarer after WWII and convenience foods took over. A recent resurgence in pie popularity has brought some lovely innovations to the most beloved favorites. But today's pie recipe is simple, classic and freaking delicious! I did have about a cup of filling left over, but we're going to use that as a tasty ice cream topping. Genius.

Filling
3 cups jarred pitted sour cherries, reserve 1 tbsp cherry juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tbsp cornstarch

Dough
2 cups unbleached flour
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup plus 2 tbsp butter, unsalted, cubed
5 tbsp ice water

Wash
1 egg yolk
1 tsp water
granulated or turbinado sugar

In a stand mixer, combine flour and salt. Add butter and mix on high until crumbly (about the size of small peas). Using a spatula add one tablespoon of ice water and toss into mixture. Continue until a soft dough is formed. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap and flatten into 2 inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

In a large saucepan, heat cherries, sugar, cinnamon and salt over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Bring to gentle boil and lightly mash cherries with a wooden spoon. In a small bowl, combine reserved cherry juice, 1 tbsp of cooked cherry juice and cornstarch. Stir to dissolve then stir cornstarch mixture into cherries. Simmer gently for 5-8 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. Allow to cool slightly.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and water.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut chilled dough into 6 equal parts. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface. Cut each piece into and 5.5-6 inch circle. I used a small saucer and cut around it with a butter knife. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of cherry mixture into the center of the circle. Using a pastry brush, brush the edge of one side of the circle with egg wash. Fold the other side over and crimp with a fork. Repeat for each circle. Arrange pies on cookie sheet and brush with egg wash and sprinkle liberally with sugar.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes then 350 for 5 more minutes.

Your Midweek Dinner Menu

I'm on a big peanut butter kick right now. I have always loved peanut butter, but this week I'm really feeling the PB love. So I've put together a meal menu using peanut butter in every course. You might think this could be peanut butter overload. But it's not! It's the perfect showcase of how versatile this pantry staple can be.

Salad Course

NourishingFlourishing.com is the genius behind this delicious peanut salad dressing. If you are a big fan of Thai food, you're going to love this! Pair it with crisp romaine, grated carrot, sliced cucumber and chopped nuts.

Main Course

Over at Kitchen Confidante, Liren is busy putting together recipes that are definitely drool-worthy. This Indonesian Pork Tenderloin is just one of them. Serve it with some grilled veggies and rice for a perfect meal.

Dessert Course

Fresh & Simple Kitchen is killing me with these super simple and fantastic peanut butter coconut truffles. They only have three ingredients and almost no prep time. Just don't eat them all before dinner starts!

Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Those of you that follow me on Facebook know that these little beauties started on a whim at 9pm on a Friday. They would probably be amazing with chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or a smear of raspberry preserves but since I didn't plan ahead I worked with what I had. 

These bake at a high heat so I would not recommend substituting the peanut oil with something like butter or vegetable oil. They may breakdown under the high temperature and cause your muffins to brown too quickly.

We grind our own peanut butter because I think it tastes better. If you use store-made peanut butter, you may need to adjust the amount of sugar since store-made peanut butters contain a good amount of added sugar. 

½ cup Peanut Oil
2 Large Eggs
½ cup Granulated Sugar
2 Ripe Bananas, mashed
1/4 cup Smooth Peanut Butter
1 2/3 cup Unbleached Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Salt



1) Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, line a muffin tin with liners or lightly grease with oil or butter and set aside.

2) In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside.

3) In a large bowl beat together the oil, eggs, sugar, peanut butter and mashed bananas.

5) Add the dry ingredients and mix them in to combine well but making sure to not over mix.

6) Fill your muffin tins 3/4 of the way and bake them for 15 to 18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.And it's time to eat!

Lobster rolls!!!

When I was a kid I always thought that if you were able to eat lobster then you were rich. I really thought that. And after a night of singing fervently into a hairbrush in my room, I would imagine I was being interviewed by some fabulous magazine. They would always ask me about my wonderful life as a superstar and of course I would tell them that "I'm just a normal girl like you. Except I eat lobster every night and drink fancy, bubbly drinks."

Well, dreams do come true! I eat lobster more often than I should, but I really don't care. You can judge me all you want as I sit happily with a belly full of lobster meat and butter running down my chin.

Preparing lobster:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Put live lobster in the water head first. Boil for 10-15 minutes depending on size. While lobster is cooking, prepare a large bowl of ice water.

Submerge cooked lobster in ice bath immediately after removing from the boiling water. Allow to cool in bath for 5 - 10 minutes. Crack shell and remove all meat from tail and claws. Be sure to rinse any green gunk (bile) from the tail. Pull lobster meat into bite sized pieces.

We mixed together some mayo, lime juice, old bay seasoning and tabasco and then tossed it with the lobster meat and scallions. You could also skip the mayo and use butter or olive oil.

Preparing the rolls:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wrap rolls in foil and place on top rack of the oven for about 0 minutes. Carefully remove from foil and brush insides with melted butter.

8 Kitchen Gadgets I Can't Believe I Don't Have

Why don't I have these things in my kitchen right now? Seriously, Green Army Man toothpicks? My parties just got so much more amazing.

1. Monkey Peeler - Buy it here.

2. Food Fighters Toothpicks - Buy them here.

3. Frog Head Oven Mitt - Buy it here.

4. Ninjabread Cookie Cutters(Disclaimer - I DO have these and they are awesome!) Buy them here.

5. Bomb Kitchen Timer - Buy it here.

6. Chimpsticks - Buy them here.

7. Dynamite Candles - Buy them here.

8. Constructive Eating Utensils - Buy them here.

Googa Mooga and Homemade Hummus

This weekend we ventured out to the Great Googa Mooga in Brooklyn. If you aren't familiar, it is a food and music festival that allows eateries around the city to showcase their finest eats while guests sway along to the tunes of up-and-coming bands. While there are some booths that cater specifically to foodies (Foie gras donut? Come on.), there was great representation of simple food done very well.

We started on the foodie end of the spectrum - Rabbit and Snail Paella from Toro. Set to open its doors in the Meatpacking District this fall, Toro is hoping to make a name for itself with standout dishes like this. Luckily, they have plenty of time to perfect this dish between now and then. The snails had a muddy taste that did not play nicely with the gamey rabbit.

Some NYC institutions like Big Gay Ice Cream and Blue Marble were representing but I ultimately went with a delicious ice cream cookie sandwich from Melt Bakery. Simple, well-made vanilla ice cream artfully sandwiched between two of the most lovely chocolate chip walnut cookies I've seen in a while.

Then we decided to go traditional and pick up chicken fingers at Dirty Bird. These folks are doing it right. Juicy, flavorful chicken with a light and savory crust. The honey mustard sauce was the perfect blend of sweet and punchy.

As we strolled along and sipped our overpriced Blue Moon, the unmistakable smell of lobster wafted our direction. Red Hook Lobster Pound and The Lobster Place were somewhere in the area, but I went straight to my favorite - Luke's Lobster. These people do a lobster roll right. There's no photo because I did not even care about getting a picture. I just wanted to devour that sweet, buttery piece of heaven.  Why even bother with the others? That would be like cheating on your perfect girlfriend with her evil twin. I'll never stray, Luke's Lobster. You're the only roll for me.

We had a good time eating our way through the grounds - or passing up things that were simply laughable. (Again, foie gras donut? Why?) But honestly, you could get an even better experience by creating your own food safari in the city. Prices at the festival were twice the in-house prices for these restaurants and you'll probably enjoy exploring the city. So make a list of the restaurants you've really been wanting to try and make a plan. Go out and share one thing at each place and enjoy good food and conversation with your best friend.

After leaving Googa Mooga, we decided we'd go exploring. We came upon a great specialty food shop called Sahadi's. They sold zataar bread, a wide variety of spices and some well-priced dried fruits and nuts. We snatched up a little bit of everything and were inspired to whip up some hummus today.

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

1 can garbanzo beans (14 ounces), drained
1 tbsp fresh cilantro
1 medium roasted red pepper
1 large clove garlic
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt

Put all ingredients in a food processor and blend well. You can add more olive oil if you like a creamier texture. Garnish with some cilantro and a squeeze of lemon and it's time to eat!

Tarragon Sweet Potato Chips

I've recently discovered that tarragon is an entirely underutilized herb. After having french fries with a tarragon seasoning, I knew I had to start using this more often.

This herb has a soft texture and a flavor that is like a mix between fennel and anise. In other words- it is heavenly. So pick some up and start experimenting! Chicken stock or roasted chicken with tarragon. Mashed potatoes with tarragon sauce. The possibilities are endless!

Tarragon Sweet Potato Chips

1 tbsp butter, unsalted
1/2 tbsp fresh tarragon, minced
1 medium sweet potato, thinly sliced

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Very lightly grease baking sheet with olive oil.

Place sweet potato slices on baking sheet in one layer. Melt butter in a small pan and remove from heat. Stir in tarragon and brush butter mixture lightly on top of potato slices.

Cover with aluminum foil. Leave a small part open to release steam. Place on middle rack in oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove foil, turn off oven and place baking sheet on highest rack in oven for 10 minutes. That's it! It's time to eat!

3 Mother's Day Meal Ideas

Moms are special creatures. I work with children, so I see snippets of a mother's everyday life and I am awed by their superpowers. I'm sure you were the most perfect, well-behaved child in the world, but your mom probably deserves a nice meal anyway.

Here are three meal ideas to help you make up for your torturous youth:

For the Veggie Mama

These Grilled Cabbages from Breanna's Recipe Box may not stay around as long as a bouquet of flowers, but they look just as pretty.

For the Hot Mama

Steamy Kitchen's Coconut Curry Shrimp recipe is so easy, you literally have no excuse not to make this.

For the Foodie Mama

These Breakfast Stuffed Poblanos from A Spicy Perspective are chock full of delicious layers of flavor.

Feeling inspired? Go on! Get in the kitchen an make your mama feel loved. (And don't forget to do the dishes afterward.) It's time to eat!

10 Essential Ingredients

There's nothing worse than trying to scrape together a meal with what you've got hanging around and realizing you are missing a few little things that could take your meal from edible to epic.

But if you make sure you always keep these items stocked, you will never again try to justify a bowl of cereal as a dinner option.

In no particular order:

10.

Liquid smoke - This little bottle is full of big flavor. A little bit of this magical elixir transforms ground turkey, tofu, or portabella mushrooms into an amazing beef substitute. Or try a few drops in mac and cheese, potato salad or guacamole.

9.

Onions -  In our house yellow, white and red onions are essential staples. White onions are very strong and are best used in fresh salsas or roasts. Yellow onions are sweeter and are perfect for sautéing. Red onions have a lightly sweet and pungent flavor that is best utilized uncooked.

8.

Garlic - I think this is self explanatory. It's garlic. It's delicious. Use it.

7.

Oils - Sesame, Olive, Chili, Sunflower - Having many different oils available can change the whole flavor profile of your dish. Want it spicy? Use chili oil. Want to stir fry at a high heat without scorching your food? Use sesame oil.

6.

Lemons/Limes - A squeeze of citrus can brighten up any meal and balances out strong flavors. Got a slightly-too-salty sauce? A squirt of lemon will fix it. Got a too-spicy stew? A shot of lime will mellow it out.

5.

Rice or Pasta - If your meal needs a little more substance, this is a great way to bulk it up. Add it to soups or toss with veggies and you've got an instant meal!

4.

Beans/Legumes - These protein-packed little nuggets of tasty are my go-to for quick, high protein meals. Throw some chickpeas in your salad and suddenly it's a filling meal. Toss some red beans with broccoli rabe and sausage and you won't regret it.

3.

Fresh herbs - If you're using the dried versions of any green herb, you might as well be sprinkling your food with sawdust. Green herbs get their flavor from chlorophyll and once that is gone, so is the flavor. They cost a little more but this is NOT the area you want to be cheap.

2.

Dijon mustard - This little condiment is a lifesaver. Mix it with a little butter and lemon and you've got a killer dressing for veggies. Whisk with olive oil and herbs and BAM - your salads and pasta have never tasted better. Brush it over chicken, add it to potato and macaroni salads or use it in marinades for poultry and pork.

1.

Chicken stock (not broth) - Chicken stock (not broth) is the base for the most flavorful gravies, soups, sauces and brines. If you don't have this in your kitchen all the time, you're doing it wrong.