Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


Skinnified Sunday: Maple Bacon Pancakes

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Hi everyone! Man, the weekend seems like a total blur. Today was day 7 of my 33 straight work days. Craziness is beginning to set in especially considering Fiddler officially began today with the audition workshop. Only 26 days left 🙂 Needless to say, not a lot of cooking has been going on in my kitchen, well at least not a lot of exciting cooking, but I did manage to pull out something quick and delicious yesterday morning that filled my sweet and salty craving!

Back in the day, one of my favorite things to order at a restaurant was pancakes with over medium eggs and bacon that I would put on top and cover the whole thing with maple syrup. I LOVE sweet and salty combinations! Salted caramel mocha? The vain of my existence right now. There is no way to make that drink healthy. I’ve been through it in my head 100 times. But this breakfast totally did the trick. Not to mention is was ready in about 15 minutes.

Maple Bacon Pancakes

  • 2 cup of all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon of butter
  • 6 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally and then diced

My swaps:

  • 1/2 recipe (-temptation)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour (+protein, +fiber)
  • Red fat buttermilk for regular (-fat, -calories)
  • Brown sugar and Splenda for sugar (I think I forgot to half the sugar part so honestly calorie and sugar wise it was the same as the original, but I would probably do it that way again and I prefer brown sugar to regular)
  • Egg whites for whole eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Cooking spray for butter (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon for regular (-fat, -calories, – saturated fat)
  • + 1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder (+protein)
  • + vanilla extract (+yum)
  • + maple extract (+yum)

Skinnified Maple Bacon Pancakes

yield 3 servings

  • 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • dash salt
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp splenda
  • 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
  • 1 cup red fat buttermilk
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp maple extract
  • 3 slices center cut or turkey bacon, diced

Optional toppings:

  • Syrup (I always use sf maple syrup)
  • Yogurt
  • Eggs
  • Granola
  • Butter
  • Nuts
  • Chia seeds (I wish I would have added these during the cooking! I forgot 🙁 )

Directions:

1) Cook bacon in a sprayed nonstick pan. Transfer to paper towel to cool.

2) Combine dry ingredients.

3) Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not over mix!

4) Let stand for 10 minutes, then fold in bacon.

5) Cook on sprayed non stick pan until bottom is golden brown and top begins to bubble.

6) Flip, and cook until bottom is golden brown.

7) Top, serve and enjoy!

 

It’s weird–I like my desserts small so I an eat more than one, but I love to just eat one big pancake.

I’ve really improved on my pancake flipping skillz!

Steve topped his with sf syrup and light whipped butter

I topped mine with non fat vanilla Greek yogurt and low fat vanilla almond granola–so good!

 

What do you pack?

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Good morning everyone!! Well, it’s Saturday which should be really exciting, except for the fast that my last day off was this past Sunday and my next day off is October 22nd. What did I sign up for again?? Oh yeah, when asked to work on two shows this fall for a theatre I love and a theatre I’ve been dying to work with, I said HELL YEAH! Not regretting it, but realizing that sanity will shortly become a thing of the past 🙂 Yes, I am kind of a workaholic.

So my question to all you wise people out there, is what the heck do you eat when you’re gone for 6-8 hours straight with no access to a fridge?! I’ve been living off this

I mean, those trail mix bars are delicious, as is the lemon zest Luna bar, and I love me some frosted mini wheats (these ones have fruit inside–YUM!) and fiber cereal, but it does not cut it at dinner. Last time my schedule was like this was during the dark carb-less days so I was essentially living off sugar free low carb protein bars and beef jerky. It was pretty disgusting. I need help because I am not someone who does hungry well–I get GRUMPY! And when you work with kids, that is especially bad. What foods travel well with no fridge?

On the plus side, before I left for my day yesterday, I had time to prep this delicious salad

And even more amazing, I had a legit 45 min break to come home and eat it! Filled with chicken, red fat feta, cherry tomatoes, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, carrots, romaine and a homemade honey mustard. It was the best thing I’ve eaten in a few days…until this morning! Stay tuned for BACON PANCAKES!!!

 

Skinnified Sunday: Chicken Tender Salad

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Steve and I actually did our Skinnified Sunday dinner a day early because tonight we are going out for our friend Kara’s birthday. So we moved our cooking and our 6 month anniversary celebration up a day! That’s right, we have been married for 6 months today. I know a halfiversary may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, but we like to celebrate, and after almost 8 years together, it’s fun to start the counting over and celebrate months!

First, we went to one of my all time favorite stores–WILLIAM’S SONOMA!!! and used some of our store credit from the wedding to buy some new toys!

Then we exchanged gifts. I got him a book to assist in his new photography obsession (In case you didn’t know, he takes all the good pictures that show up on the blog. You can see more of his amazing photography @ his blog or on his flicker account). And he got my a framed picture of the whole fam from our wedding!

While I got cooking, Steve started to get creative with the camera and got a super sweet picture of our wedding rings 🙂

This dinner was pretty easy, so I was able to enjoy myself a little more (sometimes I get really stressed about everything being perfect) and play with my vegetables.


Meanwhile, Winston and Clementine were cute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner, I was inspired by the trap of restaurant salads. Have you ever ordered a salad in an attempt to stay healthy at a restaurant, only to look it up later and realize that you could have just had a burger and fries for less calories?! I feel like I’m pretty good at this point in deciphering a menu, but there as a time where I thought salad=healthy. The specific inspiration:

Red Robin’s Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

  • Greens
  • Breaded, friend chicken
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Bacon
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Bread
  • Dressing

My Swaps:

  • More veggies–tomato, cucumber, carrots, red pepper (+vitamins, +flavor, +all sorts of veggie goodness)
  • Faux fried chicken for friend chicken (-fat, -calories)
  • Half whites/half whole eggs for hard boiled eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon (baked) for bacon (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Goat cheddar for cheddar cheese (-fat, -calories, +flavor)
  • Fat free croutons for bread (-fat, -calories, +crunch)
  • Added avocado (+YUM)
  • Home made feta yogurt dressing for full fat restaurant dressing (-fat, -calories)

Skinnified Chicken Tender Salad

yield 6 servings

  • 1 1/2 hearts romaine, chopped
  • 2 1/2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
  • 3/4 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3/4 cup fat free croutons
  • 3/4 cup goat cheese, shredded
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
  • 6 slices center cut or turkey bacon, baked and chopped
  • 2 hard boiled egg whites, sliced
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 lb chicken breast, sliced
  • 3/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
  • 1/4 cup Fiber One Original, crushed
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat parmesean cheese
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 ts garlic pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash cayenne
  • 2 egg whites, beaten

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400.

2) Combine cereals,parmesean, oregano, garlic pepper, salt and cayenne.

3) Dip chicken in egg whites, then transfer to cereal mix.

4) Spray a raised baking rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil.

5) Place chicken on the rack and back for 20-25 minutes.

6) While chicken is baking, put all other salad ingredients together except goat cheddar and croutons.

7) When chicken is finished, chop into smaller pieces and add on top of salad.

8) Place desired serving in bowl and top with croutons and goat cheddar.

9) Enjoy with feta yogurt dressing!

Feta Yogurt Dressing

yield 8 servings

  • 6 oz non fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs light olive oil mayo
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (I used a zester with mine)
  • 4 oz reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled (I suggest Trader Joe’s brand)

Directions:

1) Whisk all ingredients together, except feta.

2) Gently fold in crumbled feta.

3) Enjoy!

And as their present to us, the kids were especially cute and lovey with each other. They know it just melts out hearts!

Happy 6 months, babe!!

I love weekend breakfast!

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Lately, I have been having the weirdest (for me) craving. All I have wanted to do is make french toast for breakfast. This is weird for me, because usually I like my french toast with super thick, fluffy, grainless white bread with a big glob of butter on top. This why I haven’t had it (with the exception of pumpkin bread french toast that I made for Thanksgiving) in years. No matter what I can say about indulging every now and then, I just don’t feel good when I eat that way. Physically or mentally. So I usually go for whole wheat pancakes when I want a sweet carby breakfast. But this time I had an idea and I had been waiting for the right opportunity to try it out. Well friends, today that time finally came!

As usual, I looked at a couple recipes online for inspiration, then did my own thing 🙂

French Ezekiel Banana Toast

yeild 2 servings (2 slices each)

  • 4 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 3 egg whites
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 banana
  • 1-2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (I wanted to use almond, but sadly we were out)
  • 1 tbs sugar free maple syrup + extra for topping
  • chia seeds (optional)

Yogurt Topping

  • 1/2 cup non fat vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs peanut butter (I used PB & Co White Chocolate Wonderful. I suggest you do too 🙂 )

Directions

1) Beat egg whites, vanilla, milk, cinnamon, 1 tbs syrup, and half of the banana with an electric hand mixer

2) Soak bread (the longer, the better!)

3) In a small bowl, beat yogurt and peanut butter together with an electric hand mixer

4) Place soaked bread on a sprayed nonstick pan over medium heat

5) Sprinkle with chia seeds if desired

6) Pour remaining soaking mix on top

7) Flip after about 5 min (when bottom is golden)

8) Sprinkle with more chia if desired

9) Cook approx 3 more minutes on second side (until golden)

10) Slice remaining half of banana in half length wise

11) Place banana on pan, sprinkle with cinnamon and cook for about a minute on each side

12) Plate and serve!

 

Prepping the soaking batter

 

Showing some love for Ezekiel bread–it really is good! No one believes me. Buttholes. 🙂

Ready, set, cook! Notice the scrambled eggs cooking in the background? We were completely out of dog food. Whoops. So the puppies got a specially prepared breakfast. Clementine of course dug right in, while Winston is a big scaredy cat had slight anxiety over the change. I had to feed him by hand assist him in his eating endeavors. No pictures of that–Win has a reputation to uphold!

Topping

TAAAAADDDDAAAAA!!!

It was so delicious. I can’t believe it was my first time making a healthy french toast. It was also super easy and I will definitely make it again and again!

In other news, I finally broke down and tried the tofu I bought @ TJ’s last week. I wanted so badly to like it. I put it in a huge delicious salad. I’m sorry tofu lovers, but I HATED it. I’m throwing the rest in the garbage. My tastes have changed and developed quite a bit, and maybe a different tofu would have been better, but I’m definitely going to be put off by it for quite some time.

Tomorrow is Skinnified Sunday!!! My mom, Hank and Charlie are coming over to enjoy with us. I love cooking for my family. It is probably my very favorite. They have done a lot for me and I like being able to share my love of cooking with them!

Hope everyone is having a fab weekend!!

St Francis

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One of the worst thing about the “dark ages” (otherwise known as my time of obsessing over calories) was that it made going out and enjoying myself nearly impossible. Let’s be honest, in our society, so many social events center around food. And we all know I love food, but I’ve tried to make social gatherings surrounding it either take place at home where we cook ourselves, or a special occasion so I can actually go out and enjoy myself. I am so grateful to be in a place now where I can go out and enjoy myself at a restaurant with my friends, because I think in the dark ages I was probably very little fun.

Now for the sake of money and health, Steve and I try to do all our cooking/eating at home with the exception of 1-2 meals per week. Thursday I had my amazing sandwich from Sacks, and last night we went out to a new (to me) restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try in downtown Phx called St Francis. I’ve seen it in passing and always thought it looked super cute and their menu is full of lots of unique options, including several healthy options. Count me in! We’ve been trying to make our night out be somewhere new so that it’s exciting!

So last night, Steve, Jason and I finally went over to St Francis. As soon as we walked in, I was excited. The atmosphere and entire look of the restaurant was just so cool and different than anywhere I’ve ever been. Steve took a picture when we first walked in, but it just didn’t capture it.

I started with a delicious glass of pinot grigio–my fav in the summer months! In the winter I switch to red, but almost always pinot!


I was torn with what I wanted for dinner. There was a wild rice vegetable bowl that looked delicious, but when I asked the waitress which was better, she enthusiastically responded with the “Roasted salmon super food.” It came with quinoa, avacado, tomato, radish, and soy beans.

I loved that it was healthy AND delicious! I took about half of it home and was so excited to eat it today for lunch until I walked out to my car this morning and realized it had been sitting in the 100 degree heat in my pretty, brand new car that now no longer has the new car smell. Boo. Sometimes my inherent forgetfulness can be so frustrating! Oh well, nothing some Febreeze and fresh air couldn’t fix.

Jason & Stevie’s plates

French onion burger with whipped potatoes and white fish with lots of stuff–I tried a bite of everything (I love to share!) and everything was super tasty! I would definitely go back again!

Super Hero Thursday

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Happy Super Hero Thursday everyone! Didn’t know today was a holiday? Well, don’t worry–I celebrate every Thursday, so you are free to join in at any time. Just buy some sort of super hero clothing item and wear it on a Thursday. Tada. Instant holiday. It started this summer because at my summer job “Thurthdayth are hard!” Yes, we say it in a lisp. We’re theatre people.

Today was an other crazy morning of spin–>dance–>meeting, followed by prep work and work work. But it started out on the right foot with my attire

Sorry it’s blurry. I’m not brave enough yet to ask gym strangers to take my picture haha. Spin class was killer today. Half way through I was D-U-N. It was the first time I actually felt like I had given so much so early in the class that I couldn’t continue to give 100%. That’s okay though, I just focused on getting through it for the rest of the time. Today’s ride was so hill-y and challenging in other ways that I’m not sure how to explain in words haha that I only wound up riding 20 mi today. It was good though,  and I’m taking tomorrow off so I’m glad I worked it out today! Dance class was hard again, but so good. I LOVE this teacher. She reminds me of what classes were like back in the Studio One days!

My lunch meeting happened at Sacks–YUM. If you live in Phoenix and you haven’t been to Sacks, what are you waiting for?! I almost always get whatever the hot special is on 12 grain bread. Today it was chicken and lots of spicy deliciousness. The second best thing about Sacks (the hot specials are the first best) is that with your sandwich, you get a perfectly sized chocolate chip cookie. Not like a huge cookie that constitutes about 4 servings, but a legit cookie serving of deliciousness. I would have taken a picture, but I got camera shy 🙂

When I got home from work, I was huuunnnggrrryyy and had a big craving for a box of Kraft mac n cheese. I remember when that stuff was a staple in my diet. I would eat pretty much an entire box to myself. Gross. You can judge me. I judge myself a little.

I decided to raid my pantry and fridge and figure out a way to satisfy my craving. The most amazing thing about this meal? From the moment I said to Steve “I want macaroni and cheese” to the moment the deliciousness hit my mouth was about 10 minutes–the same amount of time it would take to make the box filled with processed cheese powder!

I immediately grabbed a pretty random assortment of ingredients

And hoped for the best!

I boiled some pasta, sauteed some garlic and veggies

Added in a some goat cheese, cream cheese and skim milk. Mixed in some imitation crab.

And then despite Steve’s disapproval, added some green! And of course the pasta.

Clementine approved and wanted some in her food bowl

Ari’s Crabby Mac

yield 4 servings

  • 1 cup whole grain pasta (whole wheat, brown rice, etc.)
  • 4 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese
  • 1/3-1/2 cup skim milk (we were out of almond milk, or I would have used that)
  • 2/3 cup crab meat (regular or imitation)
  • handful spinach leaves
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/2 red pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1/2 tbs light whipped butter
  • a couple shakes Chalulah
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • chopped tomato for topping (optional)
  • extra spinach for topping (aptional)

Directions

1) Follow directions on the box to cook your pasta

2) Saute onion, pepper and garlic with butter over medium heat for approx 7 minutes

3) When veggies are tender, reduce heat to medium low. Add cheeses, milk, chalulah, and s&p. Whisk together until smooth.

4) Crumble in imitation crab and spinach

5) Add pasta and stir

6) Plate and top with extra spinach and tomato if desired

It totally fulfilled my craving and I had to stop myself from going back for seconds…because I had to save room for desert!

 

I’m Ari, and I am addicted to fro yo. No other dessert cuts it anymore. I just love fro yo and I crave it all the time.

Alright, I have a loooonnng day of teaching tomorrow followed by prep work to teach more Saturday. I plan on spending the rest of the night with the puppies, the husband and Project Runway! Goodnight all!


I love Fajita Wednesday!

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There are few things better than coming home hungry after work to a house that smells delicious with dinner ready and waiting for you. I seriously have the best husband in the entire world. I came home to fajitas cooked perfectly, and the poor guy has a migraine and didn’t even want to eat himself, but still cooked for me. I love him 🙂

Chicken, onions, peppers, fajita seasonings, black beans, goat cheddar, fat free sour cream and salsa. I will have to have him post his secrets to making the perfect fajitas one day, because he is totes an expert!

I definitely went back for seconds and had to stop myself for going back for thirds. I have been SO hungry lately. I don’t know what my deal is, but I feel like a bottomless pit! I’m hoping it’s the fact that I’ve been putting a lot more effort into my work outs making my body hungrier. I mean I don’t like being hungrier, but I do like signals that what I’m doing is working. Plus I’m starting to see a little bit of a difference in my legs, which makes me happy 🙂

I’m gonna go shower the hubby with love and affection. Have a great night everyone!

Happy Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Day!!

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Hooray!! Fall is coming! Pumpkin spice is BACK! Am I a huge nerd for being so excited about this? Don’t answer that…

Today was the craziest day, but it has actually been awesome in every way. It started out with 9:15 spin. Side note: it is time to invest in bike shorts. Anyway, in the middle of peddling my little heart out I realized that the dance class my friend Carson and I decided to take over at MCC started TODAY @ 10:20–OY! So I decided I would skip the cool down, be a couple minutes late to class and everything would be okay. I made it 26 miles in an hour, and I definitely feel like I’m getting stronger. I wanted to get a picture of myself completely soaked in my own sweat, but this home girl was in a hurry!

I sped over to MCC (still covered in sweat–yeah, I’m gross like that), got to the dance class at about 10:30 and realized all I’d eaten was a slice of ezekiel bread with a light spread of peanut butter. Whoops. Class was hard. Like, I kind of wanted to quit. All these 18 year old girls can drop on the floor and roll like it’s nothing. I felt old. But it’s good for me, and I wasn’t the absolute worst one, so I know I’m in the right place. I need to push myself, I just haven’t really danced since graduation and I was expecting to ease back into it, but looks like I took a giant leap.

So class ends at 11:55, and I teach at 12:45 on Tuesdays. I was planning on Tuesdays to just peace out a few minutes early, but today I had to stay to the end to get the ad slip signed. Then I got stuck at the parking lot, and didn’t make it home til 12:10–starving, sweaty, and without my morning iced coffee–EEK! I knew I had to leave by 12:20. On my way home, I called Steve (I knew he was home on lunch) and begged him to get me coffee and being the world’s best husband, he obliged.

Okay, are you ready for the amazing part? I showered, got dressed, made a smoothie to go (and it was like the best smoothie EVER) and left my house in 11 minutes. I am magical.

Got to work, had a great class with my kiddos, then met up with Bethy for a trip to the most dreaded spot ever: The DMV. Gross. I even tried to be nice and funny with the employees and all of my funniness was lost on them. Thankfully, I had Bethy to keep me company. Once we were done, I took her for coffee to say thank you and I finally got to experience what I’ve been dreaming of all day long–PUMPKIN SPICE!!!

I usually try to avoid the sugary syrups, or if I do get them, not to get the full amount. I got a tall iced coffee with 1 pump pumpkin spice, 2 pumps sugar-free caramel, soy milk and light ice. Yes, my coffee is complicated. I usually get a sugar-free caramel iced coffee with soy, light ice. If you don’t say light ice, you get all ice, no coffee–no bueno!

Finally, I came home and made a big, delicious salad out of Sunday dinner’s left over’s (Steve made a sandwich with his half of the left overs and loved it), and went out for some fro yo for a perfect end to a crazy, but awesome day.

Happy Pumpkin Spice Day!!!

Skinnified Sunday: Rachael Ray’s Pesto Presto Chicken

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So because I still love recipe modifying and I still think skinnify is a cute term, Steve and I have decided to do Skinnified Sundays. The name is pretty self explanatory–we take a recipe and make it healthier better. To find our Sunday recipes, we pick a cookbook from the pantry, and both open to a bookmarked page (when I get a recipe book I usually go through and mark all the ones I want to try) and whichever recipe looks better, that’s what we go for.

So I picked up my Rachael Ray “Look and Cook” book that my mom got me for my birthday (thanks mom–it has produced lots of deliciousness!) and I opened to Pesto Presto Chicken and announced to Steve that I won before he even got his turn :O) He looked at the recipe and didn’t even open a page himself. It was decided. Actually, I was pretty surprised by how mostly healthy it was (good job Rachael Ray!), but of course saw a few things I could tweak.

To start the night off, we opened a pumpkin beer (I’ve been whining for days about how I want pumpkin beer) and a vanilla porter

I hoped the pumpkin beer would be…well…pumpkinier. The vanilla was dangerously delicious.

Next we made the pesto

Winston wondered when I was going to drop some

Then got the chicken ready to go

When my food comes out looking fantastic, I pose and gloat and say “Taaaadddaaaa!” How do I have friends again?

DINNER! (I also made a salad with no recipe–sorry! Essentially romain, part skim mozz, basil, fat free croutons, tomato, cucumber, fat free balsalmic. It was also yummy.)

Pesto Presto Chicken original recipe:

  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 10 fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 5 1/2 ounces boursin cheese, garlic and herb
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesiano-reggiano cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 12 slices tomatoes

My Swaps:

  • Roasted unsalted pistachios for pine nuts (-calories, -$$, +protein)
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese + 3 TBS low fat ricotta cheese for boursin cheese (-calories, -fat, +yummy goat cheese flavor)
  • Asiago cheese for parm (-$$)
  • I only had room for 8 tomato slices–those must have been some big chickens!

The results? Ummm YUM! I would absolutely make this again for guests. It was my first time making pesto, and my first time using one of my fav wedding presents–my red Kitchenaid food processor (thanks Janie!). For those of you who don’t know, before Thanksgiving of 2009, Steve surprised me with the sparkly red Kitchenaid stand mixer I had been drooling over–and not even as an early Christmas present–as a “just because” present. Jealous yet? I totally married the most amazing man in the world :O) Anyway, ever since, I have been mildly obsessed and every other appliance has followed suit in Kitchenaid and in red.

Have you ever seen a food processor in action? It is magical. So was the pesto. Plus, pesto with no oil? Sign me up!

New Recipe

Skinnified Rachael Ray’s Pesto Presto Chicken

yield 4 servings

  • 3 tablespoons pistachios, roasted
  • 10 fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese
  • 3 TBS low fat ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated asiago or any hard Italian cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 oz each
  • 8  slices vine ripened tomatoes

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2) In small bowl of a food processor, combine pistachios, cheeses, basil and parsley. Process until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl half way. Set aside.

3) Butterfly the chicken breasts.

4) Divide the cheese mixture equally between the chicken.

5) Fold like a book.

6) Place on a non stick baking sheet (I foiled and sprayed with nonstick spray–less dishes=happier Ari!)

7) Top with tomato slices.

8) Bake for approx 20 minutes, until browned and chicken is cooked throughout.

9) Let meat rest for approx 5 min, and enjoy!

And of course there has to be dessert. I was inspired by the sweet potato sitting on my counter. Sweet potato cupcakes. Yes please.

I love how round the tops turn out!

Original recipe (from bakerella.com):

  • 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
  • 1/3 cup bourbon

My swaps:

  • 1/2 the recipe. I don’t need 24 cupcakes sitting in my house.
  • Splenda brown sugar blend for brown sugar (-calories, -sugar)+unfortunate fakey crap–I’m so on the fence about fake sweeteners!)
  • Non fat vanilla greek yogurt for butter (-fat, -calories, +protein)
  • Egg whites for whole eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour (+fiber, +protein)
  • Unsweetened vanilla almond milk for whole milk (-fat, -calories)
  • Add cinnamon (+yum)

New recipe

Skinnified Bourbon Sweet Potato Cupcakes

yeild 12 cupcakes

  • 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS firmly packed splenda brown sugar blend
  • 3 TBS non fat vanilla greek yogurt
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 tsp vanilla (I didn’t half the vanilla–I LOVE vanilla!)
  • 1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS unsweetened vanilla milk
  • 1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes
  •  2 TBS bourbon

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Mix dry ingredients

3) Mix wet ingredients

4) Combine

5) Evenly divide between 12 lines muffin tins

6) Bake for 12-15 min until a toothpick in the center comes out clean

I liked them more the next day. Weird right? They’re good, but I must admit they are probably better with real butter. However, my 14 year old brother ate 3 in a row, so they obviously didn’t taste too healthy :O) Clementine asked for one, but sweets are bad for puppies. When I said no, she made this face.

I didn’t make a “frosting” til the next day and never got a picture–whoops! But here’s what I did

Bourbon Maple Glaze

  • Powdered sugar
  • Tiny drop bourbon
  • 2 tiny drops pure maple syrup
  • Milk of choice until desired consistency

In case you’ve never made a glaze before and think they sound fancy, let me explain. All you do is take a bunch of powdered sugar, add liquid very small amounts at a time, and whisk together until your desired glaze consistency. Generally that liquid is milk. Tada.

Oyyyy! That was a long poooossstttt. I have to work on my wordiness :O) Happy Labor Day friends!

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