Ari's Menu

Little changes making a big difference.


The Return of Fajita Wednesday!

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It feels like forever since Steve and I had Fajita Wednesday! This afternoon when I noticed the meat thawing in the sink, I got so excited! As I was driving home from work I was so hungry I kind of wanted to start chewing on my limbs, but walked in the door to the smell of delicious fajitas!! One of the best things in life–walking into a house that smells like food. In case you didn’t know, I am the luckiest girl on Earth and my hubby is always game to make (or at least go retrieve) me dinner when I work late. I love him. Tonight’s fajitas were extra special because they included TJ’s Carne Asada! I very rarely eat red meat. For a long time I would not under any circumstances, but now I just choose lean meats as a healthier alternative unless I REALLY want that red meat and let me tell you, this carne asada is WELL WORTH those extra calories! I’ve tried the pollo asada and it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but it isn’t the same.

As Steve finished up the cooking, I added some romaine, cilantro, fat free sour cream (yes, I DO eat sour cream and not just plain yogurt AND I use the fake full of additives fat free sour cream and I like it), and salsa to my bowl, topped it with the cooked veggies and carne and then added some red fat cheddar cheese on top. So amazingly delicious.

He cooks and takes amazing photography, and sometimes does my laundry and he can fix anything and is the BEST home DIYer. He’s PERFECT! Oh and he’s BUFF! Added bonus 😉

Off to watch some Top Chef and ice my achilles!

So Much Coffee

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Every time I wake up early, Winston stays in bed and stares at me with the saddest longing eyes like he’s saying “Mom, please don’t go. Come back to bed and snuggle with me.” Yes, I legitimately cuddle with my dog in bed. You are free to judge me. It won’t stop me. I got up at 5:45 to meet Kara for an early morning run around the lake. I love this route. Each lap is almost exactly a mile, slight hills, adventurous travels through the apt complex, nice scenery and of course, the ducks!

This time we must have encountered them 3 or 4 different times and each time they angrily quacked at us like they were pissed that we were interrupting their important waddle time. Those ducks crack me up. We finished 3 miles with a 9:55 average pace. Whoot.

Mile 1: 10:45

Mile 2: 9:50

Mile 3: 9:13

Talk about negative splits! My first mile is always soooo slow. It’s like it takes my body the entire mile to get warmed up and ready to actually run. I need to work on that my next week day run. Tomorrow is a rest day because Friday we are running 6 miles!! Every long run makes me equally nervous and excited. New challenges, new accomplishments! After our run, we headed to Starbucks for water and iced coffee. I got my usual: Grande SF caramel iced coffee with soy, light ice (light ice=MORE room for coffee!) I also ordered Steve a coffee to take back to him, but then I got home and this happened

Second time in a week I’ve tried to surprise him with coffee and he had the EXACT same idea. Ironically there were no days in between where either of us got each other coffee. Steve laughed and said “We need to coordinate or something.” I don’t know, looks like we’re pretty in sync to me! Two iced coffees hanging out in my fridge, soon to become one 🙂

After our I showered and got ready, I met the other Kara (hair Kara) at Forever 21 for some shopping. The new-ish one in AZ Mills is HUGE and I’d been wanting to go. I got a pair of shorts that are about 10 years too young for me, a super cute emerald green shirt that I didn’t even try on because I loved the color so much annnnnnd, the most exciting part, an ALADDIN SWEATSHIRT!!!!! I saw it and new I had to have it since we open on Friday (get your tickets, peeps–these kiddos are amazing!) I will take pictures of the new clothes (including my super awesome pumpkin shirt I bought at Target for $10 to be festive) once I have Steve around to take actually good pictures.

After shopping I had to make a super annoying trip to the tmobile store because my battery full on died–like unable to be brought back to life died. Soon my over heating phone will kill this battery as well and then MAYBE they will give me a new phone that actually works. By the time I got home I was soooo hungry and wanting the fastest lunch possible, so I took out this frozen pizza I bought at TJs a while ago.

I jazzed it up with some crumbled red fat feta cheese and sriracha on top, but I was so hungry I didn’t want to wait for the oven to preheat. My oven seriously takes years. It’s annoying. So I set it to burn broil and cut the cooking time almost in half. Well the burn button did it’s thing and I ended up with a pizza that was cold in the middle and burnt on the outside. I’m an awesome cook, can’t you tell?

Well, like I said, I was ready to gnaw my left arm off hungry, so I put it in the microwave for 40 seconds and then ate it anyway. It was not great my friends, but not awful. It did the trick. I would buy it again for an easy meal, but even cooked correctly, I don’t think it would have been anything too fantastic. Alright, off to get some life errands done that I’ve been neglecting, then off to work. Have a good day everyone!

Date Night: The Yard House

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With my crazy schedule, I almost started to forget what Steve looked like there for a while! Saturday my friend John Luke offered me comp tickets to go see a show with him after Aladdin tech, and as much as it would have been a great opportunity (he wanted to introduce me to a producer he works with), the idea of being at the theater all day, and then going and putting on my professional face and talking myself up seemed about as fun as shoving an ice pick in my eye to maybe not be the best choice for my mental health. Steve and I had been kind of talking about having a date, but I wasn’t sure what was going to be happening that night, so mid way through rehearsal I texted him and said “Date night!” He immediately responded asking where to which I replied “Anywhere new with beer.”

Last weekend he had gone to The Yard House with his brothers and told me they had over 100 beers on tap! I was obviously beyond jealous, so that is where he picked 🙂 Aaaaannnd the restaurant was super close to the theater so my amazing step dad ended up giving him a ride so I could meet him and only have one car. The Yard House has an upscale pub feel–you can drink beer and feel classy. Perfection. The second I sat down, I opened right to the beer page. I started with a vanilla porter that was absolutely delicious.

I tried to make it last as long as possible, but I am a fast drinker. I down my iced coffee in about 2 seconds, and when beer is delicious, it is hard for me not to just down it. Bad habit, Ari. Just before dinner arrived I ordered a blend of a chocolate stout and some fruity beer. I had high hopes.

But I did not like it AT ALL. Yuck. Gross. Icky. Boo. Luckily, Steve thought it was good.

“Look at meeee! I have two beers!” What is it with people and needing two of things? I’m not happy at home unless both of the puppies are sitting on my lap and I can pronounce “I have two puppies!” When I was little my dad would give me two desserts. One in each hand. It is seriously the best. I’m in tech week and Steve gets two beers? Boo. In gross beer’s place, I ordered a mix of the original vanilla porter with Sam Adams cherry wheat. This one was better, but honestly, I shouldn’t have messed with a good thing and I should have just stuck with what I was enjoying. I only ended up finishing about half of the second one. Trust me, I did not need any more haha.

For dinner, I ordered a roasted veggie sandwich on wheat bread with sweet potato fries.

I was sooooo hungry and it was beyond delicious. I only ate a few of the sweet potato fries, but they were so freaking good. So crispy on the outside, so soft and mushy on the inside and perfectly seasoned. Sweet potato fries are one of those eat sparingly foods that just make me so happy. I also really really love veggie sandwiches. It may not sound that exciting to you, but it’s something that I get all happy about when I see it on the menu. I’m weird.

Steve got fish. His was delicious. Mine was better 🙂

It was so amazing to get to spend some time just the two of us. I did not speak about work the entire night. After dinner, we walked around Scottsdale Fashion Square for a little bit, before heading home and being old and lame sitting on the couch and going to bed at 10pm. Perfection. I love my life long boyfriend. He makes my heart happy and my life full! Date nights are an important part of marriage or any relationship. Make them happen. You need it! 🙂

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

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Tonight is an other Starbucks birthday! In about an hour, Steve and I will be heading out to PF Chang’s to celebrate our friend Eddie’s birthday. In case you missed Kara’s and Bekki’s birthday posts, I am the resident birthday treat maker and Steve is the resident photographer amongst this group 🙂 Eddie asked for peanut butter chocolate rice krispy treats, and although I was less than excited (these are so easy!), I’m a good listener 🙂 And it ended up being nice because they were fast and I ended up really liking them. Plus they are one of the least unhealthy desserts anyway, so I didn’t have to make too many adjustments.

While I started “baking”, Steve played with his fancy new camera lens and insisted on taking pictures of me. He caught me with only one chin–that’s all it takes to make me happy in a picture 🙂

Maybe next time, he should let me shut the fridge first 😉 Anyway, onto the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats

yield 25 servings

  • 10 oz marshmallows (I used organic vanilla ones from Whole Foods. They’re made with Kosher gelatin so my dad can approve! 🙂 )
  • 2 tbs Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful (or any pb you like really), divided 1 1/2 tbs & 1/2 tbs
  • 1 tsp vanilla nut butter flavoring
  • 6 cups chocolate brown rice cereal such as Koala Crisp
  • 1 tbs fat free half and half
  • 1/4-1/3 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips

Directions:

1) Place marshmallows, vanilla nut butter and 1 1/2 tbs peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for approx 2 minutes, stirring after 1 minute, until marshmallow and peanut butter melt together when mixed.

2) Mix in cereal 1 cup at a time.

3) Transfer into wax papered & sprayed 13×9 pan.

4) Use a sprayed  piece of wax paper to push down and evenly distribute.

5) Evenly disperse chocolate chips, pressing them in upside down.

6) Melt remaining 1/2 tbs peanut butter in the microwave.

7) Stir in 1 tbs fat free half and half and a drop of vanilla nut butter.

8 ) Spread in a thin layer on top of bars.

9) Let cool for 1 hour, cut and enjoy!

 

Notice how AMAZING Steve’s photography is getting? Look at that!

I may or may not have already sampled them…

They are delicious 🙂

Bekki’s Birthday Dinner

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Good morning friends! I started off today by returning to bodyworks class for the first time in I think 3 weeks? Craziness. Kara has been working Monday mornings and I have been too lame to go by myself, but today I put my butt into gear and went all on my lonesome. I’ll admit, it is not as fun alone, but I need to be able to go to classes for what I get out of them, and not just when I have plans with someone else to go. Especially considering my gym buddy is going out of town for a whole weeeeeek! Boooo. I’m going to miss you friend! But bodyworks was fantastic as always and it was good to get some strength training in. My solo plan for the week is

Tues and Thurs: Spin

Wed and Fri: Run & yoga

Sat: Rest

Sun: Run for the Cure 5K!! My official first race ever!

Backing up, yesterday I made those fabulous Salted Caramel Mocha Brownie Cupcakes to celebrate Bekki’s birthday. By the time Steve and I headed over to Riga Tony’s at 7:15, I was so hungry I was ready to start chewing my arm off. I don’t do hunger well. That must be why I usually eat all the time 🙂 Thank goodness for the bread and appetizer salad they brought out almost immediately! The staff were so friendly and accommodating of our huge loud group.

I had never been there before, but I’d always heard great things. I loved the way it looked and the atmosphere.

When we arrived, they brought us all our these super cute little wine shots. Have you ever heard of a wine shot? I did not shoot it. I sipped mine. Like a lady. I knew hardly anyone, so I spent most of the evening chatting with the Starbucks crew. I was SOOOOO happy because my amazing friend Amelia came! She was the officiant in our wedding and she also gave us the BEST wedding gift…CLEMENTINE! I’ve hardly seen her since then, so it kind of made my night!

The rest of the usual Starbucks crew was also there of course

Bekki announced that she likes taking pictures where her mouth looks huge.

 

Everyone loved the cupcakes….HOORAY!

 

I love these girls and I am so happy that I’ve been seeing them more lately! I love having lots of different groups of friends that all fulfill different aspects of my personality! And of course, I love this guy and his constant amazing photos! 🙂

Flip flop fail

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Who would have thought that getting done at 8 would actually make Wednesdays my early day? They are one of my favorite days because I get to come home and eat dinner with Steve and every week he has food waiting for me when I walk in the door. Love that. Love him!

This morning I went and did some lifting before yoga with Kara, but silly me, I wasn’t thinking and thought “Oh, I’m going to yoga, I can wear flip flops!”

Then proceeded to feel super embarrassed in the weight room in my flip flops, then to make matters worse some man came up to me and told me to be careful because dropping a weight on my foot would be bad. Yes, I have lifted before, but thanks for the advice haha. Oy.

By the time we got to yoga, my arms felt like jello and it made class super challenging, but I was glad to feel jello-y after spending most of my time on cardio lately. By the time class was over, I was starving and excited to actually have an hour and a half before work–I LOVE having time to cook for myself, and surprisingly find things like chopping veggies to be relaxing and therapeutic. I guess I’m a freak 🙂 Holy huge salad, I guess after a work out eyes > stomach.

Or not…because I ate the entire thing. Apparently eyes understand stomach.

Between jobs, the most amazing thing happened! Rush hour traffic yielded just for me! I got to Mesa so early that I had time to buy myself a treat!

Yummm. Don’t let them tell you they can’t make a chai frapp with the light base, just ask for it with the regular light coffee base, and it is soooo delicious. It totally picked me up mid day 🙂 Then I came home to take out from Pita Jungle!!! Pita Jungle is def one of my favorite restaurants and Steve picked up a glazed chicken lavosh pizza and broiled chicken salad for us to share! I jumped right on it 🙂

Alright, off to spend a little time with Stevie and get all my prep work done for tomorrow.

PS: Tomorrow, I FINALLY get to get my hurrrrrr did! Whoot! Three inches of gray is not cute on a 26 year old. Thank you genetics. I’m so stoked to get all prettified 🙂

The highlight of my weekend

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I have a confession. Working this much definitely makes me want to drink more. Earlier this week after setting one of the biggest numbers in the show, I felt exhausted and came home, went straight to the fridge and grabbed a pumpkin ale. Then Friday night, I called Steve on my way home and asked if he wanted to get out of the house. We ended up at the Santan Brewery, each had a beer and called it a night. Then last night we had dinner plans with Jason after I got out of rehearsal. First we met up at hise house and I got to see my favorite niece Nico!

Nico, look at the camera!

I was tired from rehearsal and wanted iced coffee in a bad way. We stopped at a Starbucks that closed at 6pm. It was 6:01. Honestly, FML. So we popped into this old 50s-esque shop that claimed to serve coffee. All I saw on the menu was burgers and ice cream. Both things I loved, but we already had a dinner spot in mind. On the plus side, it was connected to this super cute vintage shop where Steve got to be artsy with the camera.

Finally, we went to a different Starbucks (I have a Starbucks problem), I got my iced coffee and we were off to dinner. We had decided to go to The Main Ingredient, a super cute restaurant downtown with fun outdoor seating. It used to be a house and is right on the corner of an old neighborhood. There was this super cool water fixture in the side yard area. We thought it was neat 🙂

The second I picked up the menu, I noticed this baby

White chocolate ale? Are you kidding me?! It might be my favorite beer ever. It is sweet, but still bubbly and not super heavy. Steve was supposed to share with me (it was 22 oz!), but then he took like three sips and gave me the rest. Yeah, thanks for that 🙂

Jason ordered one too. We were both pretty impressed. For dinner, I got a roasted veggie and goat cheese sandwich on focaccia bread. They give you a choice between salad or chips. I ALWAYS choose salad. I don’t know what came over me, but I ordered mine with chips!

Then ended up eating a total of about 4 chips haha. I guess I just wanted the option. But honestly, my sandwich and my beer were so delicious that I was set! Then, we migrated over to Four Peaks because I had never been there and they just recently came out with their seasonal Pumpkin Porter!

Jas and I got the pumpkin (duhhh—SOOOO good!, but white chocolate ale was better!) and Steve got some fruity beer. He cracks me up with his drinks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him order a wine cooler if it was an option 🙂

On the way there, we had a natural disaster experience when we got stuck in a sudden 90 second dust storm. There were winds of what must have been very high mileage and rain and dust, and then in 90 seconds, it was back to being 95 degrees and still. Oh Phoenix. Once we got seated, it was like we were all 16 again or something. We were being totally immature, but cracking ourselves and each other up. I haven’t laughed that hard in such a long time. Jason seriously has one of the best senses of humor of anyone I have ever met. We always find the same things hilarious and laugh when no one else does. We saw Scary Movie 2 together about 7 times and laughed so hard every single time. Plus Steve always knows how to make me laugh. Jason gave us a fascinating demonstraion of how to smell and taste your beer which Steve captured perfectly on camera.

Then I had a surprise run in with my friends Kelsey, Marisa and Liz. I love those ladies and I hadn’t seen them in forever! It was such a nice surprise! We ended the night by meeting Bethany for frozen yogurt at Yo Love after a navigation experience that was so funny I could never fully explain. Seriously, I just spent the entire night laughing my face off. I really really love my friends!

Celebrating My Spin Buddy!

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Today is my wonderful, amazing friend Kara’s birthday! You may recognize her from yoga, spin, or bodyworks. Last night, a group of us went to Gordon Biersch to celebrate.

Ok, so would you like to know just how addicted to Starbucks I really am? I promise, it’s related. I met Kara because she is a barista at one of my Starbucks (yes, I have 2 that I go to–one by the gym, and one by the house. Don’t judge me). In addition, every single other person I knew at this table (other than Stevie of course), I know from Starbucks as well. When they start inviting you to their birthday dinners, you may have a problem. OR you just might be so cool that everyone you encounter wants to be your friend. Let’s go with that one!

We had a super fun night. I was actually a little nervous because other than Kara and her roommate Charlie, I had never really interacted with anyone there outside of Starbucks or the gym, and sometimes, believe it or not, I get pretty shy and nervous around new people, but everyone welcomed into their group and was super nice and I had a great time. Of course someone as amazing as Kara would come with great company!

 

Bekki hates pictures, but she’s so pretty!

Of course, I made dessert!

Which Kara and I fed to each other


It was a great night and I was happy to be able to celebrate with everyone! And of course while we were leaving, Steve had to stop and take more pictures 🙂

His pictures are getting so good! Visit his blog and send him some love! 🙂

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!!

Pizza and wine

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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

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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!!!!

I love weekend breakfast!

· by ·

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!!

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