Sunday:Dinner on the deck;  it was nice enough out Sunday night to eat outside.  The nights will soon be too hot and humid to eat outside, so we took advantage.
Dinner: last night grilled baby bokchoy, salad and grilled lakeside turkey burgers
Our first grilling experience of bokchoy; 1. it doesn't take very long, like 3 minutes, mixing together sesame oil and teriyaki sauce, baste on the bokchoy and grill.  Very tender and tasty. The salad was the same as Saturday's.  The Lakeside Turkey Burgers was our latest endeavor with turkey burgers.  I found the recipe on Whole Foods, it was delicious.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
1/2   pound white ground turkey
1/2   pound dark ground turkey
6      sun-dried tomatoes in olive oil, thinly sliced, plus 2 tablespoons olive oil from the jar
2     tablespoons chopped parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried)
2     tablespoons chopped basil (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1     teaspoon garlic powder
       salt and pepper
4     whole wheat buns or rolls
4     teaspoons mayonnaise or your favorite sandwich spread
       lettuce and sliced tomatoes
Method:
Place turkey in a bowl.  Gently work in sun-dried tomatoes plus 2 tablespoons oil from the jar, parsley, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.  Take care not to overwork the mixture.
Note: The the reason for the mixture of the two typed of turkey is moistness, the burgers are much more moist with this mixture of light and dark. 

Saturday: Vegetarian:  The Belmont Stakes, we were really hoping California Chrome was going to win it; it’s about time for another Triple Crown winner.  It would have been a nice fairy tale story.  But that’s not what I’m here to talk about today.  

I’m here to talk about food, yes that’s right food. I have been delinquent these past few months. We have tried two new recipes this past week, which we really enjoyed.  Keeping in the line of fewer calories these were pretty good.  I found a recipe in Fitness Magazine, February 2014 issue. 

Indian Enchiladas;  Can I say YUM, see recipe below.  We added to the dinner a green salad made with extra arugula and spring mix, dried cranberries, sliced jicama, sliced radishes, avocado and our favorite dressing Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette.  (See July 18, 2013 for recipe)

Serves 8 

Nonstick cooking spray

½       tablespoon canola oil

1        medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes  (we used 1 large size new potato)

1        medium shallot, chopped (recipe calls for onion)

¼       teaspoon salt

1        16-ounce bag fresh spinach (recipe calls for frozen chopped spinach, thawed)

1 ½    cups light coconut milk

2        teaspoons curry powder (next time Andrea will make her own curry)

6        ounces queso blanco or feta cut into ½-inch cubes (we used the queso)

8        8-inch corn tortillas (recipe used flour tortillas)

2        teaspoons cornstarch

1 ½    ounces shredded Monterey Jack (about ½ cup)

2        tablespoons finely chopped cilantro (we use flat leaf parsley)

 1.    Preheat the oven to 375°.  Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with the cooking spray and set aside.  Heat oil in a large skillet over high heat; add potato, shallot and salt and cook, stirring occasionally until the shallot is soft and translucent about 8 minutes.  Stir in spinach, ½ cup coconut milk and curry powder and saute’ 2 minutes.  Remove from heat and gently fold in queso blanco or feta.

2.      Lay a tortilla on a clean surface.  Scoop 1 loosely packed cup filling mixture into the center of tortilla.  Fold in sides, top and bottom and place tortilla, seam down, in prepared baking .  Repeat with remaining tortillas packing them tightly. ( You may need to put a clean bowl or plate on top of the first few to hold them in place.)

3.      In a small bowl, whisk together remaining coconut milk and cornstarch; stir in Monterey jack and pour mixture over enchiladas.

4.      Bake 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and let sit 3 minutes; garnish with cilantro.  

 Nutrition facts per serving: 303 calories, 13 g protein, 34 g carbs, 13 g fat (5.9 saturated), 2 g fiber,

 764 mg sodium

Monday March 3, 2014

Hello again, So its the third month into the new year.  Yes, I have started a diet and restarted a diet and now I'm restarting again.  Ugh, why is it so hard.  It's not like I eat a lot, it's just if I eat anything but protein and vegetables  I gain weight.  Not that I didn't have a good time in the interim, too many parties.   My birthday, my mom's 90th and what a party that was...So Andrea made 8 different cupcakes and they were amazing (about 150 of them).  I'll tell you what kinds and I posted them all to Pinterest. Cappuccino Cupcakes, Peanut Butter filled Chocolate Cupcakes topped with heavenly Marshmallow Frosting, Cinnamon Roll-Stuffed Cupcakes, Caramel Cheesecake Cupcakes, Chocolate Ganache Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting, Salted Caramel Apple Cupcakes, Lite Triple Coconut Cupcakes, and last but not least Caramel Apple Cupcakes, my favorites were Cinnamon Roll, the Lite Coconut, and the Caramel Apple.  I did not try the Chocolate Ganache, but everyone raved about that one and the Peanut Butter one.  The Lite Coconut one melted in you mouth, if you like coconut you will absolutely love this cupcake.  We had Prosecco for the toast (that's my mom's favorite).  We did have beer, wine and a few hors d'oeuvres to start out with before the toasting began, every one had a great time especially my mom (Anne).

Starting over: An introduction to Andrea an amazing chef.

Well, where shall I begin.  So I have decided to revamp the blog and introduce my partner in crime, Andrea.  Andrea (A) is the real chef here, I love to look for the recipes.  I look on several web sights and in several magazines.  Andrea has a collection of magazines and cook books you wouldn't believe, so I will show you. Andrea loves to cook for people who love to eat and love to experiment with food.  I just love to eat.
We have been fixing up our small townhouse so that we could begin entertaining in our small house.  Since I was working full time plus... we never had a very neat place, it always looked like an office.  But now that I am retired we have had a chance to get the place in shape.  Our first guests will be Thanksgiving dinner.  My niece and her friend are coming from Atlanta and my friend from Brandon and my mom who lives two miles away.  I will keep you informed on the planning, preparation and eating of the meal.

Yes I am on a forever diet, I have my good and bad days.  But I have dropped about 8 lbs since I begin this blog.

Starting in September Andrea and I started an interval running/walking program.  We met these two gals this summer that were using it to train for a marathon, so we decided to give it a try.    It was developed by Jeffery Galloway.  On the days we don't run we go to the gym and work out with our friend Nan.

So now it is January 7th, 2014, I lied I haven't been blogging because we've been cleaning and painting and doing a little traveling.  I should have been because we have had some amazing meals.  When I have time in the next few days I will see if I can put them together for you, because there have been a couple I really liked.  I call them keepers, that way Andrea knows to mark that one down for repeats.

We did enjoy company for Thanksgiving, as Andrea's children put it, "now we have a grown-up house" well I doubt that, but at least it's a work in progress.  We did everything gluten-free this year, which was interesting.  Everybody seemed to like it especially my neighbor, who keeps a gluten-free kitchen. She was so excited because we had gravy and dressing that she could eat,  oh and dessert.  I of course liked everything.

We started out with an Aperol Spritz very tasty and a cheese tray.  Dinner consisted of a fresh organic Turkey, cornbread stuffing, green-beans with a pesto, roasted brussel sprouts with red grapes, smashed garlic potatoes, sliced oranges with olive oil and black pepper (an old Italian recipe).  2 desserts, peanut butter chocolate malt ice-cream thing that was amazing, and butterscotch pie that had a crust to die for,  so all in all it was a success, there were 7 for dinner and 3 more for dessert .

Monday:  Sorry for the laps, I'm vacationing now at my sister's in Sandpoint, Idaho.  She grows several things in her garden, so it's been fun helping her harvest her garden.  We've been using lots of our harvest in our cooking.  She has raspberry bushes that produce quite a haul.  Tonight we're using some of the raspberries in a pie. Raspberry Cream Pie with Coconut Crust.  I think I got the recipe out of Dash (a small magazine that comes in our news paper). Believe it or not, we still have a ton of raspberries.  So I guess I'll include the recipe here since I don't know how to attach it from my documents.

Raspberry Cream pie with Coconut Crust

Hands on 30 min  total 2 hr 30 min serves 8

1       (5.3 oz)  package shortbread cookies

2/3    cup packed, shredded unsweetened coconut

½      cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1         1       heaping cup fresh raspberries, plus more for topping

3        large egg yolks, beaten

2         1       tsp cornstarch

1       (14  oz) can sweetened condensed milk

¼        cup cream cheese

+ grated zest of 1 lemon

+ confectioners’ sugar, for topping (optional)

1.     Finely grind shortbread cookies in a food processor.  Add coconut; pulse to combine.  Add butter; pulse to combine.  Spoon into 8-inch pie plate and press across bottom and up sides.  Freeze 15 minutes.

2.     Meanwhile, put raspberries in a fine-mesh strainer set over a small saucepan. Press berries through strainer with back of a large spoon, catching juice in pan below.  Scrape juices from underside of strainer with spoon.  You will need 1/3 cup raspberry juice.  Discard solids.

3.     Whisk raspberry juice with egg yolks, cornstarch, and condensed milk in saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it just starts to simmer, about 8 minutes.  Remove from heat and beat in cream cheese and zest.  Let cool 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

4.     Pour filling into crust and refrigerate at least 2 hours, until set.  Pile raspberries n top and dust with confectioners’ sugar.

 Per serving: 430 cal, 46g carbs, 7 g protein, 26g fat, 115 mg chol, 140mg sodium, 2g fiber.    

We're having several people over for dinner tonight, some of whom are vegetarian.  Except for the desert it's sort of a Mexican dinner. The coleslaw recipe is from July 2013 Bon Appetite.  Snap Pea and Cabbage Slaw, the snap  peas came from the garden, why is it that things taste so good fresh from the garden? We added about a teaspoon of hot dijon mustard to the dressing to add a little spunk.
Enchilada's are the main course, Black Bean, Corn and Zucchini Enchiladas. We used most of the ingredients from the garden, such as the zucchini and corn.

Note: I don't think we would do the pie again, it wasn't as good as I expected it to be.  The flavor was good the consistency was a little strange for me. 

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette

Wednesday: Workout with Eric. A few days off, doctors appointments for mom running errands no new recipes, except for a new salad dressing.
Breakfast and lunch are pretty much the same thing with few variations.
Dinner: Arugula Salad; arugula, crumbled cheese (whatever kind you like), sweet seedless grapes, an Asian apple pear-sliced thin, candied pecans or walnuts -  chopped fine, vinaigrette, coarse salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Combine all in a canning jar (or salad jar), cover tightly and shake well to combine.

Very tasty and we have used it on other salads.  You can add other seeds or lettuces, whatever strikes you that day.



  

Long Weekend Vacation

Tueaday: Ok, so I took a little break while we were away at Anna Maria, Is, Florida enjoying the beach for 4 days. Had a great time, watching the rain fall, taking in the sun, walking on the beach and Kayaking in the Gulf of Mexico.  Cute little town, I've lived in Tampa for 50 some odd years, Anna Maria is only an hour away from Tampa and I've never been.  So needless to say I didn't get much in as far as blogging.  I didn't eat to poorly during the day, stayed on my usual routine but at night we picked a different restaurant every night.  The first night, Friday, we walked down to the Rod and Reel Restaurant and I had fish and chips, yum haven't had french fries in a while and these were good.  Saturday night we ordered out from Island Cafe Andrea and I split a Caprase Salad and Grouper Tacos, pretty tasty.   Sunday night we ordered out at Havana Cabana I had what they called a Caprese Cuban, that was pretty good as well.  So needless to say didn't mind the diet too much.
Anna Maria, Island, Florida