Recipes

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Shopping Success

First I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the family…and no it’s not a dog (yet)…

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This past weekend was mission: “Mama needs a brand new bag!” I would like to thank the gorgeously stocked handbag department at Nordstrom, and my wonderful husband for keeping himself occupied in the Men’s section while I “wandered” around for a bit. This lovely is by B. Makowsky, and BONUS: it was on sale :)

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I was really hoping for the double whammy: new purse AND sunglasses weekend…but I forgot how much I loathe sunglass shopping. I love sunglasses, but I go, try on 20-30 pairs, and call it a day. Oh well, still a successful shopping weekend.

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Other than that, it was a pretty low key weekend, which is a RARE occurrence for us so it was very enjoyable.

Saturday we slept in (for me that means around 9am), and I made us some French toast! The bread was Pepperidge Farm Soft Honey Oat bread. We needed a break from the Arnold Double Protein, and this was a superb choice. It’s super soft, and a touch of sweetness :)

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I used 2 eggs, skim milk, vanilla, and cinnamon for the French toast.  With banana slices and cantaloupe.  So fast and easy. 

topping options

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I just stuck with my maple syrup…pure and delicious. 

Iced Cap. with lots-o-foam

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After digesting, Brian and I headed out for a run to enjoy the unseasonably warm weather! We did a 4.7ish route down to a nearby pond, around the pond, and back. We stopped a few times to walk, more than I’d like lately, but his pace is faster than mine so even though I try to keep a slower pace I always end up running faster with him! I guess this is good, but does make me lose steam faster. Either way it was a gorgeous day and I did better than him anyways ;)

The various errands + Bridget’s shopping mission commenced after running (and showering…etc, of course).

Even though I had snacks after the run: nineteenth hole trail mix
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and a Strawberry Oikos with Kashi Autumn Wheat
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we made a trip to the S-Bucks!

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His and hers Vivano Smoothies :) The strawberry and chocolate smoothies looked very pretty together…I heart Pink + Brown (they were my wedding colors after all).

Later that night we hit up Border Café to fulfill our Mexican Food craving!

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Chips + salsa

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Chicken + Veggie Fajitas…they have the BEST fajitas, and I always have lots of leftovers.

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Sunday was pretty uneventful again, aside from a trip to visit the grandparents…and actually purchasing my purse (yeah I slept on it).

However I had a super relaxing breakfast, waking up 1+ hour earlier than the husband.

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Iced cappuccino + banana oats

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Other eats that day included a ripe red grapefruit, segmented.

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TJ’s Reduced Guilt Brownies and some new icy treats!!

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best low-fat brownies ever!

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For the first time EVER, our grocery store had Coconut Milk ice cream on sale! (now by sale I mean $4.50/pint as opposed to the usual $6). They only had 3 flavors…vanilla, chocolate, and coconut so I went with the vanilla to enjoy with the impending brownies that night.

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However at the end of the grocery trip I happened to notice this guy…

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Unlike me to every buy 2 ice creams…but I have a mild (ok not so mild) obsession with Almonds and almond flavored…anything! This sounded like heaven.

And it was…I obviously took a little spoonful out of the container as soon as we got home. Smooth creamy base with swirls of marzipan and pockets of almond cookie!!

However I had my brownie with a smear of PB and vanilla coconut milk ice cream…SO GOOD!
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I was a little skeptical because the time I tried coconut milk yogurt I was grossed out, but that was more of a texture issue. Anywho, the Coconut Milk ice cream is delicious…initial taste of vanilla bean followed by a subtle coconut flavor.

Work is really interfering with my workouts this week:

Sat: 4.7ish mile run

Sunday: did some strength training at home

Monday: Body Combat – kicked my butt per usual

Tues-Wed-Thurs – nothing, various classes/work things after work…
                                         grrrrr.
Possibly a morning workout Thursday, we’ll see…I’m a newbie when it comes to working out before work.

Friday: Gym – probably a treadmill run

Anyone else just itching to buy all the adorable spring/summer clothes that are coming out NOW?  It’s such a tease…  well I did buy a dress at Target that I clearly can’t wear for another 2-3 months.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Domestic Goddess Day

I was all super-domestic wife this past Monday. I use “domestic” in a good sense though…I love it sometimes! I had President’s Day off while the boy went off to work.  I woke up to what almost felt like a mini-hangover from my “heavy” drinking at Valentine’s Dinner…I’m such a light weight, that champagne cocktail + glass of wine had be buzzin all night!

First task at hand was to get my butt to the grocery store for some milk, we ran out Sunday and I was not spending my day off without a cappuccino!

As soon as I returned I made a super creamy bowl of banana oats and a comforting cappuccino.

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The Oats:

  • 1/3 cup oats
  • 1/3 c. skim milk
  • 1/3 c. water
  • 1/2 ripe banana
  • pinch of salt
  • dash of cinnamon
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Toppings:

  • Kashi Go Lean Crunch Honey Almond Flax
  • shredded sweetened coconut
  • bit of trail mix (including some choc. and pb chips)
  • spoon of raw crunchy almond butter

Mmmm perfect breakfast.

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The rest of the day consisted of errands and things, including trips to a some of my favorite grocery stores :) 

One thing I picked up was this:

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I’ve bought this before and totally missed blogging about it, Chocolate Oikos!!!!!  I was a little skeptical at first.

Looks like this when you open it…

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the chocolate is hiding on the bottom

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Stir it all up real good.  My very first bite was interesting.  I didn’t know what to make of it, but couldn’t stop eating it!  Tangy yet rich and chocolaty!  I’ve decided now that I’m kind of OBSESSED!  I couldn’t put the spoon down :)
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I made it into even more of a treat with some natural marshmallow cream, and crushed graham cracker.

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Now onto dinner.  I wanted to make a classic home cooked dinner, and decided on a delicious roasted chicken and roasted vegetables.

I picked up baby Yukon gold potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts and onion.  Tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper.IMG_8276

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I based my chicken of the recipe for “Perfect Roast Chicken” from the Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.  I heart my cookbook stand :)

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The chicken was stuffed with lemon, garlic, fresh thyme, and fresh rosemary.

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Brushed with olive oil and added kosher salt, black pepper, and more herbs to the skin.

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It was now time for Body Combat…hey it may have been a day off from work, but I wasn’t about to miss my new favorite workout of the week.

I left Brian nice detailed instructions for when to add the veggies to the oven, and to check the temp of the chicken when the timer goes off. 

When I returned, the house smelt amazing and this was waiting on the stove.

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Mmmm juicy chicken!

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I even got ambitious and made a batch of the infamous Super Charge Me cookies!

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Love these!

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Hope you’re having a great weekend.  It was unseasonably warm today (by warm I mean high 40’s)…so I got in a great run with the boy.  It’s almost bed time…yeah it’s a low-key weekend.  I’d love to post about today…today, however I think that’ll have to wait until tomorrow :)

Good Night!                  

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Fried Banana Love

Oh yes, I told you there were fried banana’s involved, but first lets start at the beginning of Valentine’s Day. 

A friend of mine gave me a loaf of this delicious, dense, rye bread with lots of nuts and seeds, made at her bakery.  This bread was the inspiration for a delicious Valentine’s Day Breakfast!

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We picked up a package of smoked wild salmon, some fresh chive cream cheese, and red onion. 

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Including our delicious Santorini Capers, we had a fabulous breakfast on our hands.  Plus it’s something we don’t have often at all!
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This bread was hearty and dense and my 1 slice was plenty to fill me up and keep me full til lunch. 

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We also enjoyed iced lattes with cinnamon :)

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Then we headed up to Portsmouth, NH to spend the day and to have our Valentine’s Day Dinner.  Originally I was thinking about making reservations at The Oar House because that was our very first Valentine’s Day dinner together senior year of college :)  But, I quickly got over that because I wanted to try something new!

Once we arrived it was lunch time and we headed into one of my favorite little cafes downtown called Popovers!  I had a cup of tomato bisque and half of a roasted veggie sandwich! 
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My soup came with a small popover…I LOVE popovers…crispy, light, eggy batter.  After our meal, we share two small cookies…1 chocolate chip and 1 oatmeal raisin. 

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After some walking, shopping, a trip to a local brewery so Brian could fill up a Growler of beer, and driving around our old alma matter (UNH!), we headed back in Portsmouth for dinner at:

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The Black Trumpet

I had checked out the website before making reservations and knew it sounded like a place we’d love, and I was right.

We were a little early, so we went upstairs to have a cocktail while waiting for our table.  I ordered the Lava Lamp: champagne, pomegranate liquor, and pomegranate molasses.  Tangy, tart, and refreshing!  They even put a few pomegranate arils in the glass.  This picture is once down at our table because it had better lighting than the bar.

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Once at our copper covered table, we perused the menu they had “little dishes”,”medium dishes”, cheeses, salads, soups, and main courses.

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We opted for 1 little dish, 2 cheeses, and each a main course.

Our little dish was:  Marinated White Asparagus, Crispy VentrĂŞche and Grapefruit in a sumac bĂ©arnaise  

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Ventreche is pretty much pork belly…like little morsels of the best bacon you’ve ever tasted :)

This had so many interesting flavors and they all tasted amazing together.

Next was cheese.  I was worried about getting full off cheese, but no matter if you chose 1, 2, or 3 different types, you always get 2 oz. total. 

We chose the sheep's milk, and goats milk. 

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The sheep's milk was served with a sweet onion jam which tasted like a little cup of caramelized onions!!

The goats had a truffled chestnut and date molasses.  I wasn’t wild about this goat’s cheese by itself, but with the crostini and molasses it was delicious.

I also love the slate cheese board with the name of the cheese written in chalk!

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we clearly hated it…

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I enjoyed a glass of Sauvignon Blanc with the cheese

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Both of our entrees were specials for Valentine’s Day.  I had the:

Oven-roasted Gulf of Maine halibut with Maine shrimp fritter and black venus rice, served with fava bean puree, and spice soy aioli.

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Brian had the short ribs…they were delicious.

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My fish was perfectly cooked, simple, but great flavor!  The little shrimp fritter was DELICIOUS!  The rice and bean puree were good, not amazing but at that point I didn’t even need them. 

Then came dessert…oh yes, what you’ve all been waiting for. 

Now I usually shy away from “deep fried” items, but after reading this description there was no WAY I was leaving without trying it!

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um…yes please!!!

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yes, that would be a deep fried banana, cut into 4 pieces, with marshmallow on the left, peanut butter mousse on the right, and all drizzled in delicious chocolate sauce.  The chocolate tasted like melted semi-sweet chocolate.  A-MA-ZING!!!!!!!!!!  The banana was hot and gooey and eaten with a bite of all components was heaven in my mouth. 

Since Brian was driving home, he opted for a cappuccino as well…
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Thanks, Black Trumpet, for making our first Valentine’s day as husband and wife a memorable AND delicious one!

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