family Archives - Page 4 of 4

Ari + Whole Foods = ♥

September 26, 2011 · by Ari ·

Happy Monday everyone! Today is actually my easy day! Subbing a ballet class, teaching an acting class, and one voice lesson. I’ll take it! I actually get to see mi hermano tonight!! We’re going out to dinner. I feel like I haven’t seen him or Cindy (his mom–yes, my family is confusing.) in forever. I’m also excited because for the first time ever, we are performing together for his piano recital! We compromised by picking a song by each of our favs–Turning Tables by Adele and Paradise by Coldplay. I have no idea when we will have time to practice, but I just love creating music with him, and it’s so nice to get a chance to sing!

Last night, Steve and I went on one of my favorite errands–to Whole Foods! YAY! Did you know some things are actually super cheap at Whole Foods? Rolled oats in the bulk section for 69 cents a pound! We totally stocked up on oats for about $2. Also, whole wheat pastry flour for about $1.20 a pound. On the other hands, I might have to break up with chia seeds. $10 a lb just seems so ridiculous to me! I know they’re good for you, but are they really that beneficial nutritionally to be worth $10?! I mean if I want to add extra fiber, can’t I just use ground flaxseed meal for 1/4 the price? Thoughts?

Also not cheap, in an attempt to work on my food packing issue, I jumped back to my 19 year old self and actually bought packaged food.

Only when you’re attempting to be healthy with boxed food, it is NOT cheap. I miss the day of a box of macaroni for 99 cents. The mac and cheese cups and the noodles only require hot water and a microwave and both have decent amounts of protein. I also bought out the bar section

I really try not to do the bar thing all too often, but I hate not having an easy protein fix ready to grab when I need it, so I stocked up. Plus they were on “sale.” I hate when you get something on sale, but it is still overpriced. Oy. I can’t help it, I’m Jewish 🙂

After some wise words from the smartest person I know (my mama!) I have realized that I really just need to invest in a lunch box with some ice packs and go back to making easy to go meals for the week like I did this summer. I love my mom. She always has the smartest advice. Also, before I bugged her to read mine, I don’t think she had ever read a blog in her life and now she calls me and says “So I read on the blog…” I’m a lucky girl to have parents who support everything I do and are just wonderful 🙂

While at WF, I also picked up my fav grain sweetened chocolate chips and white chocolate chips. We were completely out, and this girl likes to spontaneously bake! And lastly, I also spent too much money on these gems

Why is it that anything with butter in the title is always delicious? Nut butter, honey butter, butter butter, pumpkin butter, fig butter. It’s never a let down. TJ’s was out of my fig butter on my last trip, and I used up the very last of my figgy goodness by making oats in a fig butter jar this weekend. Oats in a jar–not just for nut butters. It was delish. So anyway, I spent more money than I should have buying this new kind at Whole Foods. It better be spectacular!

In other news, my Garmin arrived on Friday! Whoot!! It’s pretty 🙂 So this morning I had to take it out for a little test run. I was surprised by how annoying it was at first to have it making my wrist all sweaty, but definitely worth it to track my pace. I feel like I was a little too focused on checking it out and I wish I would have focused more on actual running, but happy to see my pace average around a 10 min mile. I still have to set it up to track my pace for each mile and to pause when I stop. I stopped at the water fountain twice and stopped for a minute or so to stretch at one point. I wasn’t feeling fantastic this morning, so I kept it pretty short. I’m still trying to figure out what to eat right before I go out so that my tummy doesn’t hurt. So distracting! Plus, for some reason it just felt extra hot today. Anyway, not 100% happy with what I pulled out this morning, but it could be worse.

I’m really glad that I bought it already. I read some race recaps this morning from other blogs that were really inspirational to me and really hammered in why I want to some day run a marathon.

Pizza and wine

September 17, 2011 · by Ari ·

Helllllooo, friends! Long time, no blog. I have had the craziest week. Basically, the month of August was pretty dead work wise,which is a big part of what inspired me to really put a lot of energy into the blog. I wasn’t doing much of anything productive and was pleasantly surprised by the feeling of productivity and channeling of my creativity that came from cooking and posting a lot. Then all of then sudden September hit, and I started something like 6 new classes and rehearsals for a show all in one week! It feels great to be busy again, but it does mean I don’t have the time to cook as much as I’d like. Luckily, it isn’t affecting my work out/gym class time!

Thursday, I tried out my new bike seat again in hopes that it wouldn’t fall off this time.

Luckily, it stayed on this time and definitely made a difference! I can’t say that sitting on the bike is comfortable or anything now, but it is definitely less painful than before! Unfortunately, while my bike seat stayed on, when I took my left foot out for unilaterals, I apparently placed it in the exact wrong spot, spilling the half unused contents of my venti Starbucks water cup. Embarrassing and hard to clean up. Oy!

Yesterday I got done with work at 4–Hallelujah! It’s my one off night probably for a while, so Steve, Jason and I went over to my mom’s for dinner. Of course, there was wine.

Hank picked out one of the most delicious bottles of wine I’ve ever tasted! The guy at Trader Joe’s recommended it. It was a sparkling pinot grigio and tasted like champagne! This girl loves champagne and now I can get the same taste from a >$10 bottle of wine–yes please!

For dinner, we picked out pizzas from the new Papa Murphy’s that opened right down the street. I’ve always loved Papa Murphy’s–I only wish that they had a whole wheat crust. Instead, I settle on the thin crust. If you’ve never had it before, essentially you go, pick out your pizza (they have a million different kinds) and they give it to you put together, but uncooked, then you take it home, pop it in the oven and feel like you’re having a home cooked meal without any of the work! Genius. I got to choose the flavors and I went with the Mediterranean DeLite and the Thai chicken DeLite both on the thin crust.

I had a small slice of each and they were both delicious. It was really hard to pick a favorite, but I think if I had to, I would say the Thai chicken! The whole night was exactly what I needed. I’ve been so busy, it was nice to just relax with the fam!

This morning, Steve brought out the new toy he got for Clementine (for some reason Winston almost never plays with toys), and started playing around with the shutter speed on his camera to catch her in full cuteness.

My favorite picture of her ever.

Tonight Steve and I are celebrating (a day early) our 6 month wedding anniversary! The last 6 months have flown by and I am excited to celebrate with him–we look for any and all excused for celebration 😉 Have a good weekend everyone!

Skinnified Sunday: Rachael Ray’s Double Bacon Beer Burgers

September 13, 2011 · by Ari ·

Sorry this is so late! Life has been crazy. Yesterday I barely spent any time at home, and that time was spent choreographing and getting the pumpkin spice latte cupcakes up! Anyway, Sunday was a pretty amazing day, and in addition to all the food pictures, Steve took lots of pictures of the family

Like mother, like daughter 🙂

We even finally got one together!

I love my children!

Me & Jasy

But mom, when do I get a burger?

Onto the food! I guess I’ve been in a Rachael Ray kick lately. Next week I will have to open a different cook book. These burgers turned out pretty spectacular. At the end of the dinner everyone was like “Well this wasn’t the ‘skinnified’ part, right?” Ohhhhh yes it was! Here we go…

Original Recipe:

1 tablespoon EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil
10 slices smoky bacon, 2 of them chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
3/4 pound ground chuck
3/4 pound ground sirloin
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
A few hearty glugs stout beer, such as Guinness, half a bottle
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
3 tablespoons grainy mustard
1/2 pound sharp white aged cheddar, sliced
8 leaves red lead lettuce or red leaf romaine
1 red onion, sliced
4 Kaiser rolls or crusty rolls, split open

My Swaps:

I made 1.5 of the recipe because I was cooking for 6 instead of 4. We’re popular 🙂 (+fun!)
~~Olive oil~~ who needs it?! (-fat, -calories)
Center cut or turkey bacon for regular bacon (-fat, -saturated fat, -calories)
1 slice bacon per burger (-calories)
2 lbs 96% lean ground beef for chuck/sirloin–the first time I’ve used actual beef in FOREVER! (-fat, -saturated fat, -calories)
Fat free sour cream for sour cream-you could also use non fat Greek yogurt (-fat, -calories)
Light havarti for sharp cheddar (-fat, -calories) But to be honest, next time I would skip the cheese for myself because with all the other flavors, I just didn’t need it.
~~Red onion~~ ehh just didn’t feel like slicing one haha
Whole wheat sandwich thins for Kaiser rolls (-calories, +fiber, +protein)
Grilled instead of pan friend in bacon drippings (-gross, -fat, -calories, -heart attack)

Skinnified Double Bacon Beer Burgers

yeild 6 servings (well it actually ended up making 7 burgers)

9 slices center cut or turkey bacon, 3 of them chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 lbs 96% lean ground beef
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
Salt and ground black pepper
A few hearty glugs stout beer, such as Guinness, half a bottle
3/4 cup fat free sour cream
1.5 tablespoon prepared horseradish
4.5 tablespoons grainy mustard
6 slices light havarti
8 leaves red lead lettuce or red leaf romaine
6 whole wheat sandwich thins

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Bake 9 slices of bacon for approx 15-20 minutes on a slotted broiler pan until crispy.

3) Spray nonstick pan and cook three chopped slices of bacon until they begin to crisp.

4) Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Approx 5-7 minutes

5) Remove, place in a large bowl and cool.

6) Add meet, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper and combine with hands–the fun part!

7) Form into desired size of patties (we had enough for 7) with a small thumb print in the middle for even cooking *see picture below

8) Grill until desired “doneness”

9) Place in a cake pan, and pour room temperature Guiness over to soak in.

10) Crisp up sandwich thins in the oven with cheese on top.

11) While buns are crisping, combine sour cream, horseradish and mustard.

12) Top buns with burgers, lettuce, sour cream mixture and any other desired toppings (I added tomatoes)

13) Enjoy!

Steve, me, Hank, mom, Charlie, Jason!! The best friends feel just like family!

TAAAAADDDDAAAA!!!!

Labor Day=More Lavosh Pizzas!

September 6, 2011 · by Ari ·

Happy Tuesday after long weekend! I don’t know about you, but my weekend seemed like a whirlwind and right now I am enjoying some much needed time in a comfy chair at home watching trashy reality tv (ANTM–I can’t help it, I love it).

Yesterday Steve and I brought mi hermano (ever since Jacob started taking Spanish in school and insisting that he is a “double threat”, we only refer to each other by hermano and hermana) over to Jason and Nacho’s for Labor Day. Nacho volunteered to make his delicious baked artichokes (YUM), I volunteered to make lavosh pizzas (and of course dessert), and hermano’s mom (yes our family is confusing–we have the same dad) offered to go to Serranos and pick up queso 🙂 On the way over we completed a madlib that begam “Hello. Hermano pickle here to tell you about the jo mama.” I love madlibs.

As soon as we got there, I got to cookin! 4 different lavosh pizzas. I made way too much food. And ate too much, but it was worth it :O) I tried a small slice from each pizza and was lured in by the huge bag of kettle chips sitting on the counter–whoops!

In order of my favorite to least favorite 🙂

Bruschetta Lavosh Pizza

yeild 8 slices

1 whole wheat lavosh crust
1-2 tomatoes (vine ripened or roma), chopped
3-4 basil leaves, chopped
handful spinach leaves
1/4 cup part skim mozzarella, grated (friendly reminder that cheese is ALWAYS better when you grate it yourself!)
4 oz herb goat cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced (I didn’t use any sugar)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 450

2) Place lavosh crust on a foiled cookie tin and crisp in the oven for 3-4 min

3) Top with tomatoes, basil, spinach and mozz

4) Use a spoon to dollop goat cheese in the center of where each slice will be

5) Bake for 5 minutes

6) Slice and plate

7) Drizzle with balsalmic reduction and enjoy!

Mexi Lavosh Pizza

yeild 8 slices

1 whole wheat lavosh crust
1/2 tomato (vine ripened or roma), chopped
1/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 jalapeno, chopped
3 tbs chopped onion
3 tbs chopped red pepper
3 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
2 tbs taco seasonings
1/4 cup part skim mozzarella, grated

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 450

2) Saute jalapeno, onion and red pepper with non stick spray and 1/2 tbs taco seasoning

3) With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese and remaining taco seasoning

4) Place lavosh crust on a foiled cookie tin and crisp in the oven for 3-4 min

5) Evenly spread cream cheese/taco seasoning micture

6) Top with tomato, onion, jalapeno, red pepper, and mozz

7) Bake for 5 minutes

8) Slice and enjoy!

Spinach and Artichoke Lavosh Pizza

yeild 8 slices

1 whole wheat lavosh crust
2 handfuls spinach, chopped
1/3 cup artichoke hearts, chopped
2 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
1 ounce low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup part skim mozzarella, grated
1 tsp lemon pepper
1 clove garlic, chopped

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 450

2) With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, ricotta cheese, lemon pepper, garlic, spinach and artichokes

2) Place lavosh crust on a foiled cookie tin and crisp in the oven for 3-4 min

3) Evenly spread cream cheese mixture

4) Top with mozz and extra spinach if desired

5) Bake for 5 minutes

6) Slice and enjoy!

The last one was an imitation crab + spinach. We were all luke warm about it. It was good, but just didn’t compare to the other three, so I’m gonna leave it off from here. If you really want the recipe, ask and I will share.