Stuffed Peppers

Our lovely friend Sam made these gems as an appetizer for us with some great wine. Lucky for me, I found the recipe online!

Ingredients
Vegetable oil cooking spray
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/2 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
24 (2 to 3-inch long) sweet baby peppers

Directions
Place an oven rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion to the pan and cook until translucent and soft, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes. In a medium bowl, combine the onion, cheeses, and peas. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Using a paring knife, cut 1/2-inch from the stem-end of the peppers. Remove the seeds and veins. Using a small dessert spoon, fill each pepper with the ricotta mixture. Place the filled peppers on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until the peppers begin to soften. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Arrange the peppers on a platter and serve.

Cabbage Soup Diet

So a bunch of coworkers and I decided this was a good idea. The cabbage soup diet is pretty well known in the world of fad diets. I thought it would be a great way to jump start myself into a healthier diet. Was it worth it? You'll have to read to find out. Here we go! Here's the recipe (from online). I made minor adjustments to it since I made so much of it I wanted it to taste different each day.

6 large green onions (also called “spring” onions)
2 green peppers
1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole)
3 carrots
1 container (10 oz. or so) mushrooms
1 bunch of celery
half a head of cabbage
1 package spice only soup mix (In the US, Liptons is a good choice)
1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional)
1 48oz can Low Sodium V8 juice (optional)
Season to taste with pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc. (Little to NO SALT!)

Directions:
Slice onions, put in a pot on medium heat and start to sauté with cooking spray. Do this until the onions are whiter/clearer in color (about 4-6 minutes). Cut green pepper stem end off, then cut pepper in half to take out the seeds and membrane. Cut the green pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot. Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot. Clean carrots, and celery, cut into bite size pieces and toss them in. Add tomatoes now, too. If you would like a spicy soup, add a small amount of curry or cayenne pepper now. For seasonings, you can use a spice soup packet of your choice (no noodles!) or use beef or chicken bouillon cubes. These cubes are optional, and you can add spices you like instead (make sure not to add much salt, if any at all). Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the 48 oz of Low Sodium V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup simmer for a long time – about 2 hours or until vegetables are tender. Remember: This diet should only be followed for 7 days at a time, with at least two weeks in between.

I made Day 1 pretty traditional with the Low Sodium V8 and 2 vegetable bouillon cubes. I also used 1/4 white onion diced instead of green onions. Day One: Fruit: Eat all of the fruit you want (except bananas). Eat only your soup and the fruit for the first day. For drinks- unsweetened teas, cranberry juice and water. The soup was good but the cabbage was hard to eat because I cut it into strips. Note to self: cut it smaller next time! My coworkers did this detox/diet with me and we were all very sluggish by the end of the day. The lack of protein in this diet can do that. It says if you are really feeling like you're going to cheat on Day 1 that you can have one egg or one piece of cheese. I did soooo good until almost 9 pm when I caved in and had my one ounce of cheese. 

I made Day 2 with one chicken bouillon and two Lipton Savory Herb and Garlic packets. I also blended it as I was reading several blog posts that said it was better that way - it IS!!! This was a favorite of almost all my coworkers. Day Two: Vegetables: Eat until you are stuffed will all fresh, raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. Try to eat leafy green vegetables and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat all the vegetables you want along with your soup. At dinner, reward yourself with a big baked potato with butter. Do not eat fruit today. I felt sooo full after my baked potato (and I used fake butter instead of real butter). Oh, I technically lost 4 pounds but 2.5 of those were from me gorging myself over my birthday weekend. Still 1.5 pounds in one day? HOLLA! 

For Day 3 I added kale to the soup (read online about that - only do that though if you get vegetables that day!) I also added Goya Adobe seasoning, crushed red pepper and curry powder. I also lightly chopped it up in a blender. Day Three: Mix Days One and Two: Eat all the soup, fruits and vegetables you want. No Baked Potato. I made spaghetti squash last night and I didn't eat very much of it because my baked potato filled me up. I also topped it with a tomato sauce and chopped cherry tomatoes. That was a very hearty lunch. If you do this diet, I would recommend this. Bad news - I'm getting sick! (Don't you feed a cold?)

Day Four: Bananas and Skim Milk: Eat as many as eight bananas and drink as many glasses of skim milk as you would like on this day, along with your soup. This day is supposed to lessen your desire for sweets. Woke up today and thought, "Yup. I definitely have a cold." Awesome. As a joke someone told me to make some soup. Very funny, Cathy! I was hoping the loss from Day 1 would be the same everyday. It's not. I never lost anymore weight. Also all the cabbage soup makes you super bloated. I didn't like this. I started this day half given up because of my cold. I made a few banana and skim milk smoothies but by dinner time I was done.

So, that's it. I made it four days without protein and fat and lost 1.5 pounds. While the soup isn't bad, you do get sick of it. My pros for me: I lost 1.5 pounds. My cons: Fresh fruit and veggies are expensive.   Also, making a ton of soup is time consuming (I made the soup for everyone and carried it to work every day). I had no energy and couldn't exercise. If you're interested in doing this diet, you can find the rest of the days online. IMO you're better off calorie counting and eating a balanced meal.

Five Leaves

 I celebrated my birthday weekend by having brunch at Five Leaves in Brooklyn yesterday. The mussels were amazing.

 Initially the mussels came like this. We took all the crap off of it. They were prepared with saffron, coconut sauce, chilies, scallions & grilled sourdough. 

Chopped Black Kale with spicy anchovy dressing, aged gouda & hazelnuts. Soooo good!

 Truffle fries. Best fries I think I've ever had.

 My honey had the Five Leaves Burger with grass-fed beef, fried pineapple ring, house pickled beets, harissa mayo & sunny up egg. Reminded me of the Bondi Road burger with all that stuff on it.

I forgot what this drink was called. Purple something... It was amazing. Over all, I enjoyed this place immensely. I will definitely come back. 

Kale and White Bean Soup

A friend of mine mentioned that she made this the other day and I thought I'd give it a try. I bought all the ingredients from the grocery store based on what I thought would go in this. When I got home I googled the recipe. I was a little off, but my version came out pretty good! 

I used 2 tablespoons olive oil and 3 cloves garlic, chopped (recipe called for 4). I also used 1 small onion, chopped (recipe called for large). That's it. The recipe online suggested adding 2 stalks celery, sliced as well. I didn't have this in mine, but it was fine. Directions: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, celery, onion, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 4 to 6 minutes.

My next steps vary a bit. The recipe says to add canned beans to the soup with the kale. I didn't do that. It also says to use water and I didn't do that either. First, I added chicken stock. 3 cans worth and then 1/2 a quart of water. Then I added 1 bunch kale, thick stems discarded and leaves torn into 2-inch pieces (8 cups). I let that cook for a few minutes. I spiced it up with a hint of crushed red pepper flakes. Then I added 1 15.5-ounce cans cannellini beans, rinsed. I also added 1 cup whole wheat penne. I didn't add any rosemary (which the recipe called for), but I did add a teaspoon of sea salt with truffle. Oh, I also found out you could add a Parmesan rind to this while it's boiling. What? I WILL do that next time!

Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the pasta and kale are tender, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove the Parmesan rind (if using). Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice (didn't do) and sprinkle with the shaved Parmesan (also didn't do) before serving.

Daisy Cakes

My boss quit last week. Friday was her last day. We had a send off for her and we got Daisy Cake to do it. This bakery is in South Carolina, but they packaged the cakes in dry ice and shipped them to us. Apparently the owner was on a TV show called Shark Tank and she won. The concept of the show is to convince investors to back your idea/product. Was it a good investment? I'd say so... This was carrot cake.

I had the coconut cake. It was really good but also really sugary. One serving is 1/24th of the cake. And it contained 60% of your daily allowance of fat. Seriously! 1/24th of an 8"cake! 

This was a seasonal cake: Apple Caramel. A lot of folks said it reminded them of carrot but it had hunks of apple in it and a caramel frosting. I thought the coconut was better.

3 cakes and $165 later...

Oh, we washed it down with bubbly 'cause that's how we roll...

Meat (Hidden Vegetable) Lasagna

If your household is anything like mine, you probably have some picky eaters. My sous chef doesn't like squash, zucchini, or big chunks of onions or peppers. But he likes this lasagna and all those things are in it. My trick is to mask the veggies by shredding them in a food processor and mixing into different layers of the dish. The result: a wonderful dinner full of vegetables. I put meat into this lasagna but you could make it without and just double up on the veggie sauce.

Ricotta mixture: 15 oz part skim ricotta, 1 egg, 3 tbsp parmesan cheese, 1 yellow squash, shredded using food processor. Combine in a bowl and set aside.

 Veggie Mixture: Sautee 1/4 c yellow onion, diced. One green pepper - chopped finely and one zucchini chopped finely (again-I used the food processor). The pepper will be very watery if done in the processor. If you can- chop it finely. If your making this for someone who's not the hugest fan - then process it.

Add one container of high quality tomato sauce. Stir and set aside.

 Meat mixture: half pound italian sausage (ground without casing) and about half a pound of ground beef. I used 90% lean sirloin. 

 Add another jar of high quality tomato sauce. Set aside. 

 Now we do our layers. I like to put a bit of water in my tomato sauce jar and dump the watered down leftover sauce into the bottom of my baking dish. This is a trick my mom taught me. It helps to keep the lasagna from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of lasagna pasta.

 Top with the veggie mixture then add another layer of pasta. 

 Top with ricotta cheese mixture and then add another layer of pasta.

 Add meat mixture...no more pasta.

 Top with one package of part skim mozzarella cheese and sprinkle parsley on top.

  I made one normal sized lasagna and one small sized lasagna with this recipe. You can freeze one and cook it later. Woo hoo!

Antika

I went to visit a friend in the hospital the other day and we decided to break all the rules. We didn't leave the room during a shift change and we ordered in take out: pizza and salad. I was pleasantly surprised when the pizza arrived. It was amazing. The tomato sauce was delicious. The cheese was chewy, salty and wonderful. The basil was aromatic. I would totally order this pizza again.

We also ordered a Caesar Salad. We got a large so we could split it - it came large like banquet sized large. It was a lot. And it cost as much as the pizza! But the large slivers of parmesan were heavenly. If you're up in Harlem near Columbia (168th St), hit this joint up. 

Devils on Horseback and Stuffed Bacon Jalapenos

My friend, Kenny, made these one night when we came over to hang out. I was super impressed. I know it's football season again. This could be a good game day snack.

Devils on Horseback
Ingredients
20 wooden toothpicks
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
20 dates, pitted and left whole
20 whole smoked almonds
10 bacon slices, cut in half crosswise

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Soak the toothpicks in a bowl of water. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce and ground ginger. Place the brown sugar into a shallow bowl. Spread open a pitted date, then stuff it with a smoked almond. Wrap the date with half a bacon slice, secure it with a toothpick, dip the bundle in soy sauce mixture, and then dip it into brown sugar. Place the wrapped dates into the prepared baking dish. If desired, sprinkle a little more brown sugar over the bundles.
Bake in the preheated oven until the bacon is brown and crisp, 15 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool for about 15 minutes before serving; serve warm or at room temperature.

Stuffed Bacon Jalapenos
Ingredients
6 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved lengthwise and seeded
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
12 slices bacon

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread cream cheese to fill jalapeno halves. Wrap with bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Place in oven and cook until bacon is crispy.

Katie's Southern Mac 'n Cheese Pie

Don't you want to dive into this and bathe in it?

Make it:
1 LB ELBOW MACARONI (I USE WHOLE WHEAT NOW)
1 1/2 LB EXTRA SHARD CHEDDAR CHEESE SHREDDED
1 LG ONION CHOPPED
1 LG JAR CHOPPED PIMENTO
PARSLEY 
6 EGGS
7 CUPS MILK
BUTTER
2 TBLS MUSTARD


COOK MAC IN SALTED, PEPPERED WATER W/HANDFUL OF CHOPPED ONION HALF RECOMMENDED TIME. DRAIN WELL, RETURN TO POT. ADD BUTTER, MUSTARD, PIMENTOS, REST OF ONION, PARSLEY, SALT & PEPPER & MIX. SHOULD TASTE and SMELL GOOD NOW. SET ASIDE.
BEAT EGGS & MILK, SALT & PEPPER. LAYER MACARONI MIXTURE, CHEESE, MAC, CHEESE, MAC, IN LARGE BUTTERED CASSEROLE. POUR EGG/MILK OVER TO COVER SLOWLY. IT WILL FILL ALL THE ELBOWS AS YOU PAT CASSEROLE WITH SPOON. SPRINKLE CHEESE OVER THE TOP. SPRINKLE BLACK PEPPER OVER TOP.

BAKE AT 350 DEGREES FOR APPROX 1 HR 15 MIN. STICK KNIFE IN MIDDLE TO MAKE SURE CUSTARD IS DONE. COVER WITH FOIL IF TOP BECOMES TO BROWN BEFORE CUSTARD IS DONE.
Optional: You can add basil or garlic. Change the cheese up-any kind you want. The trick is the custard. This is what no one else does.

Sonoma Wine, Town Center

 We took our newly wed friends out to dinner the other night and we decided to try out Sonoma Wine. We ordered a Pinot Noir that was very lovely and then we ordered entrees. Curtis had a play on chicken parmesan. I think he wanted something with more tomato sauce and cheese, but he still ate all of his dish. LOL. Truth be told, this isn't chicken parmesan. It's fried chicken over Israeli couscous with a cucumber slaw. 

I had the monk fish. It was cooked to perfection. The asparagus and potatoes were good too. I enjoyed it immensely. I really liked this restaurant but I had 2 down points: 1. Our table was really high. I felt like a kid sitting at the table. 2. It was REALLY hot in the restaurant. I would've ordered more red wine but I was already flushed and sticking to my chair. Not a pleasant dining experience. I have been here before (I try to go whenever I'm in town) and even though it's pricey - it's one of the pricey places in Town Center that's worth it. Also - the servers are top notch. Super knowledgable and professional and they leave you alone. I don't have Kelli (Yes, with an i) trying to serve me AND be my best friend or deal with her writing cute notes on our check. If you're in around, you should grab a flight and check out the wines...and the food.

Bethenny Frankel's Guilt-Free Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Took this right off Bethany's site. My friend Katie made this and she told me this is where she got the recipe. I ate it for three days straight. It was heavenly! 

"Spinach artichoke dip is so good, but so incredibly rich that it’s normally not a great investment at a party. This version, however, cuts the fat way down so you can indulge and still feel great.

Makes 6 Servings
1 box or bag frozen artichokes (about 9 ounces), defrosted and well drained
1 box or bag frozen spinach (about 9 ounces), defrosted and liquid drained (using paper towel)
¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (grate it yourself)
¼ cup Monterey jack cheese shredded
¼ part skim ricotta cheese
½ container (8 ounces) reduced fat cream cheese
2 tablespoons lowfat mayonnaise
½ tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
2 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Preparation:
Don’t worry about exact amounts for this recipe. If you can only find artichokes or spinach in slightly smaller or larger amounts, that’s fine. In this recipe, frozen is actually better than fresh because the softer texture works better for dip, so take the easy way.
Defrost the vegetables in the refrigerator overnight, then drain them a colander in the sink or over a bowl. You can drain them together in the same colander because they’ll get mixed together anyway, and that makes fewer things to wash. After they are drained, press on them with paper towels to get rid of any extra moisture that would dilute the dip’s flavor.
Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all the ingredients except 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese into a large bowl or into a food processor. Blend or pulse until mostly smooth but leave some artichoke chunks for texture.
Pour the mixture into an oven-proof dish or casserole. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Bake for 20 minutes, or until heated through and just starting to bubble.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve hot or warm with thin slices of baguette, raw vegetables, baked tortilla chips, or crackers."

Lemon Icebox Cake

This is what we call an "Aunt Marge" dessert. It's flavors remind you of childhood and yet, you still can't quite figure out from where exactly.

Ingredients:
One Angel food cake (already prepared)
1 can mandarin oranges, strained
2 bananas, sliced
1 package lemon custard
1 container fat-free Cool Whip

Make it:
Follow the lemon custard according to the package. Let thicken and cool. In a baking dish take the angel food cake and break up into bite sized pieces and lay out one layer in the pan. Top with the fruit. Do another layer of cake and fruit. Top with custard. Then top with cool whip. Fridge it for about an hour and serve.

Saffron

 Went to an Indian Bistro with my brother and his wife the other day. This place is located in Town Center, but it's a little more modestly priced than some of the other restaurants in that area. Plus, the food is amazing...and we had tons of left overs. This is Butter Chicken. It looks crazy spicy, but you can order it "American mild" and it's not too bad. It's boneless chicken with a cashew cream sauce with bell peppers and onions. It served with jasmine rice. 

 I ordered Mussels Porial. These mussels are steamed in a coconut broth, southern India style. This is an appetizer portion. 

I also ordered the Seafood Soup. It looks the same as the mussels - ahaha! It was amazing! And full of blue crab, jumbo U10 shrimp, salmon and scallops. I would definitely recommend this dish!

 We got the naan bread basket so we could try all the different naans. I liked all of them.

 This was Chili Chicken. Also an app for the table. Boneless chunks of chicken with bell pepper and onion with tomato and spices.

This was Mango Scallops. Yummy scallops served in a sweet and sour mango sauce with ginger and mango.

Cutty Shark

Despite the rolling black clouds that looked like "The Nothing", I went out with my brother and my sous chef on a skiff last week. A skiff is a tiny boat. Holds about 2 to 3 people. Even after the first drop of rain, my brother tried to convince me all was well. 5 seconds later he says, "Yeah...maybe we should pull over into the Marina." Yeah. Maybe indeed. As we were docking the bottom fell out and we JUST made it to safety. Oh - and we had NO ROPE. So we tied our life jackets together and tied the skiff up that way. Ghetto ass shit. Good thing Cutty Shark had food and beer to keep us occupied for an hour. I stole some of the steamed shrimp from Will. They were delicious. Love dipping them in hot butter then cocktail sauce. Delish!

 My sous chef ordered hush puppies. The trick to eating them: cut one in half and dip each end in butter. Reconnect the puppy and pour on the malt vinegar. Perfection! 

I had a cheeseburger (which I also split with my sous chef). It was a frozen patty (bummer) but I didn't seem to mind. I also enjoyed eating my fries dipped in ranch dressing. I think we weighed the boat down quite a bit on our way back. Oops.