Fancy Sammie

I am pretty sure things with fun or fancy names taste better. For example, I could have called tonight’s dinner open faced egg sandwiches with amaretto berries. Instead, I decided to use the term Croque Madames with boozy berry parfaits. A fun name for a fun (and easy) dinner!

The first thing I did is wash up some strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries. Aren’t they gorgeous?!?!

For the two servings of berries (one for me and one for the hubs) I added ¼ cup of amaretto and let the berries “marinate” while I prepared the rest of dinner.

The final step was adding the freshly soaked “boozy” berries to a fun glass and topping with fat free whipped cream. YUM! I love any excuse to eat pretty much anything out of a fun glass. 😉

While the boozy berries are an excellent guest star, the main event tonight were the amazing (if I do say so myself) Croque Madames I prepared. I skipped a few of the traditional steps (as I was in a hurry and starving) but these little sammies made a big splash in my house tonight!

To start, toast up some whole grain bread in the oven with olive oil at 350 degrees for 17 minutes. Once it’s ready thinly spread on some organic blackberry preserves.

Next add on 2-3 slices of thinly sliced deli ham (I used natural honey ham tonight).

On top of the ham add a white cheese or white cheese “sauce”. I chose one of my favorites, muenster.

The final ingredient is a runny (or not so much if that grosses you out) egg.

Bust out the knife and fork for this protein packed gem!

This meal was a huge success with everyone in the Running In Pink Project household and has definitely won a spot on my faves list! Give it a try for a super simple, incredibly filling, pseudo fancy dinner in a rush!

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Sandwich Meets Fork

I thought I would torture entertain all of you living with the feet upon feet of snow with a little photo look see at my trail run/walk today. It was a clear beautiful 45 degrees and the trail was packed. I love how beautiful and blue the sky looked. Other than some super tight calves in the beginning and some toe pain near the end I could have stayed out there for hours. (Well except for that pesky sun setting thing). These little bursts of nice weather remind me there is an end to the winter in sight.

When I got home I was starving so I decided to make a dish I have been interested in trying for quite some time. My gal Rachael Ray made this on 30 Minute Meals ages ago and I thought it looked really yummy. She calls it a “Cuban Hash” since it incorporates the elements of a Cuban sandwich. You can find her recipe HERE. Due to my eating plan I made several adjustments to this super easy to make knife and fork kind of sammie.

-I started by toasting up some whole grain bread in the oven with olive oil, chopping 1 medium onion, and chopping 3 links of lean andouille sausage (none of it is super lean so just do your best).

-Next I substituted ground turkey for ground pork and heated it in a skillet with cumin, all spice, salt and pepper. After it was slightly browned I tossed in the chopped onions.

-After this cooked up I added in the sausage

-After 2-3 minutes I added 2 ½ tablespoons of tomato paste and allowed it to cook through for 1-2 minutes

-Next, I poured in ½ bottle of beer (even the cheap stuff will do) and let it cook out for 3-4 minutes before reducing the heat

-As the beer cooked out I made my “relish” which was some chopped dill pickles and yellow mustard (simple yet oh so effective)

And just like that it was time to build the knife and fork sandwich

-Use toast at the base

-Pile on a couple scoops of the meat and onions

-Add a slice of 2% Swiss cheese

-Pile on the chunky homemade relish

-Top with a fried egg (Yum!)

Bust out the knife and fork because this little guy is packed with way too much awesome goodness to pick up! It was a great filling meal, was healthy with our modifications, and is totally guy friendly! Enjoy!!

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Dinner for 2….or 12

There is nothing I like more than a good breakfast, even if it’s for dinner. In fact, I have been toying with the idea of throwing a “Brinner Party” for some pals this coming Spring. I am already thinking of some super cute ideas for décor and side dishes. Tonight, though, the hubs and I set up what will likely be the “star” of my brinner party….Omelet stations.

There is probably nothing quite as cost effective as serving up an egg based meal. Customized omelets are great because whether you are cooking for 2 or 12 everyone can get exactly what they want. For example, the hubs likes a good meat and cheese omelet while I think the more veggies, the better!

The other great thing is how simple it is to execute. You can simply set up bowls/small plates with various “fillings”. Some favorites in our house are mushrooms, green bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, onions, turkey sausage, and of course cheese.

Next, heat up your fillings to the desired tenderness. I chose onions, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes and a touch of turkey sausage.

Then you will prepare your egg…

Add your fillings (and cheese if desired), flip, and plate (the word is you shouldn’t overstuff the egg. I ignored that obviously and shoved in as many veggies as humanly possible!)

Once your omelet is plated you can have a little bar of toppings such as sour cream, salsa, or green onions to choose from.

Everyone can top their omelet with something fabulous

Then scoop up some fantastic sides and enjoy! (PS: How cute are these “pink” oranges I found today? Check out the sticker (it says pink is the new orange). There is NO WAY I could pass them up!

Bon Appetite!

What sort of yummy breakfast sides would YOU serve at a Brinner Party?

 

*Thanks again to the hubs for being the official photo taker tonight. ❤

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Summer Eats on a Winter’s Day

As I mentioned earlier, my office was on a 2 hour or so delay this morning. As I spent a lazy couple of hours with the pups and some blogs waiting on the world to thaw out the hubs was hard at work de-icing our sidewalks, porch, and driveway. He went all “Knight in Shining Armor and a Dallas Cowboys hat” and scraped the wonder-bug for me. It was all warm and ready to go when I finally headed out.

To reward my sweetie for his efforts I decided to make a dish tonight using one of his favorite ingredients, coconut. I don’t love coconut so I don’t cook with it very often. However, after making this dish I might need to rethink that philosophy.

I spotted this recipe while watching Rachael Ray last week. She had a show highlighting her ten most downloaded recipes of 2010. One of which happened to be Coconut chicken cutlets. You can find her recipe here. My hero RR gets full credit for this gem of course but I had to change it up just a tad to meet our needs. Here is what I did.

-Trim up some boneless skinless chicken tenders and pound them until they are your desired thickness. Salt and pepper the chicken to taste. Hopefully you will have a tenderizer and not have to improvise like I did!

-Set up a 3 step “dipping station”. The first container will have flour, the second an egg beaters/water combo, and the third an unsweetened coconut/ panko bread crumb combo. (1/2 cup of each)

-After dipping your chicken tenders, place them in a hot skillet liberally drizzled with olive oil.

-Serve with dipping sauce and veggies.

I may tackle her glaze next time around but tonight we paired these tenders with a light honey Dijon sauce. Yum!

What is your favorite coconut recipe?

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To Kill a Craving Part II

So today I was having a very specific craving. This craving was so vivid and so specific I could almost literally taste it. Way back in August at HLS one of the trainings mentioned when you have a craving you should try to indulge it as best you can. They did not mean, of course, that this gives you a license to eat junk. Instead it means to indulge the craving as healthfully as possible so you do not eat a million calories in other stuff that never quite hits the spot. I think this makes all of the sense in the world.

However, what do you do when your craving is of the super unhealthy variety? Today, I was faced with such a dilemma. I could not shake the craving for a Melt and Shoe String fries from Steak and Shake with a side of ranch and a soda. Ahem. Very specific (and a little gross).

Ahhh Steak and Shake. This is a joint that has steak burgers, double steak burgers, crispy fries, and heavenly milk shakes. It is also a place that a dieter dare not enter, at least not this one. Fries are kind of my weakness. I was not going to indulge my Steak and Shake craving for a couple of reasons 1. We don’t have Steak and Shakes where I live. And 2. More importantly, I was not willing to give up the 1390 calories and 93 grams of fat this meal entails. In fact, just the thought makes me nervous.

So, I set out to curb my craving with my own recipe of BBQ turkey burger “melts”. Here is the method:

-Pre heat your oven to heat up some sweet potato fries or organic shoe string potatoes. (I’m in desperate need of new bake ware. Ick!)

-Heat up 1 slice of turkey bacon per person. While the bacon cooks up combine the following: 1 lb of lean ground turkey, 3 tablespoons of BBQ sauce, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 2 grated gloves of garlic, 1 ½ teaspoons of chili powder, 2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard, 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs, ¼ cup diced onion.

-Heat up 2 slices of bread lightly brushed with butter or olive oil. I like olive oil but if you don’t like the taste use butter. Heat at 350 degrees for 17 minutes.

-Grill up your turkey burger patties in a touch of olive oil.

-Next assemble your melt. Place 1 slice of bacon on the patty and 1 slice of cheese on top of that. Place some pickles on the bottom piece of toast, add meat/cheese combo, add veggies, and add the top piece of toast spread with condiments.

This was a super filling meal that fell well within my allotted points plus/ calories. Also, it totally killed my Steak and Shake craving. Do you have a craving you want me to help you kill? Email me at runninginpinkproject@gmail.com and I will hook you up on a future blog!

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Love and Cookies

Saturday night the hubs and I headed out all dressed up for the wedding of a friend. Admittedly, I did not know the groom or bride very well but the groom has been pals with my hub’s family for quite some time. At any rate I just love love and so I love weddings. We had a fun little evening out (we got to spend some time with the hubs family) and even with a few bites of wedding cake I was able to stay 100% on plan. Also, the brand new Mr. and Mrs. Chose a Broadway theme for their reception which was very cute

After the hubs and I got home I decided to bake some oatmeal cookies. I had seen this recipe last week in a “craisin” add inside of Rachael Ray’s magazine. I only had one and gave the rest over to the hubs to either share at work, or just have himself. The recipe is super easy!

~Pre-heat the oven to 375. Mix together ¾ cup butter and ¾ cup brown sugar until it’s fluffy. Then mix in 2 eggs. I busted out my trusty Kitchen Aid mixer for the task but a hand held would be fine too.

~Combine 1 ½ cups flour, 1 ½ cups old fashioned oats, 1tsp baking soda and a pinch of salt. Add this mixture to the wet ingredients in several segments

~Once you have added all of the dry ingredients stir in 1 cup of white chocolate chips and a 6oz pack of craisins by hand. I love Ghirdeli chocolate. It always reminds me of Downtown Disney and it makes me smile!

~Spoon onto a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes. Makes 2 ½ dozen cookies!

Do you have a favorite oatmeal cookie recipe?

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Mail Call, A New Recipe, and A Workout Fear

Warning: Tonight’s blog is a mish-mosh of topics. My mind is sort of all over the place today and apparently so is my blog. Please excuse the random thoughts ahead!!

I love getting snail mail (when it’s not a bill that is) and I was really jazzed to have two fabulous things waiting on me when I got home today. First, I need to mention that last week I actually won a giveaway on another blog. (Pretty cool way to start the New Year!) Anywho, I won an awesome new Eat Smart Bathroom Scale from Gina’s blog. (Thanks Again!!) The scale arrived today and I am totally jazzed to have a bathroom scale that works and actually gives a consistent weight reading (basically, you know, a scale’s job!). My current scale is terrible so I am pleased to be moving this little gem in. I will now be able to do mid-week check-ins on my weight to make sure I am making progress toward my “official” Saturday weigh-ins!

Next (and I totally get that you won’t be as excited about this as I am) I was stoked to get my February issue of “Everyday with Rachael Ray” magazine. If you are a reader of the blog (or have ever met me in real life) you know of my love for all things Rachael Ray. I am not a huge magazine fan but I do get all excited about this one!

Moving on, a few months ago I had a blog fail moment when I made a new dish and completely blanked on giving you fab readers the recipe. Tonight I am going to rectify that wrong with my recipe for Balsamic Onion Pasta. This recipe was adapted from a recipe for a vegetarian balsamic onion linguini I found ages ago. However, I have made so many modifications to the original recipe I feel comfortable calling it my own.

• First, roast 2-3 red bell peppers (or cheat and buy them already roasted) then chop them into strips

• Prepare a box of whole grain penne while you brown up 1lb of Italian turkey sausage

• Set aside the browed turkey sausage and allow the excess oil to drain on a plate. In the same skillet add 1 table spoon butter and 3 small onions. Allow them to caramelize for 20 minutes. They will go from stark white to a gooey brown.

• After the onions are caramelized add in the red peppers and browned Italian turkey sausage. Allow this to cook up for approximately 5 minutes

• Next make the “sauce” by adding 1 cup chicken broth or stock, 3 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Allow it to come to a boil and reduce heat

• Combine with the wheat pasta, add a touch of grated parmesan and enjoy!

The last thing on my agenda tonight is preparing for my yoga class tomorrow tonight. My friend and I are signed up for Bikram Yoga. For those not familiar with this term it is 90 minutes of a series of 26 poses completed in a room that is 105 degrees and 40% humidity! I have heard horror stories of people vomiting or passing out during their first class. To say I am a little nervous is an understatement. Any bikram yoga fans out there? Is it truly as intense as I am thinking it will be? I will be giving a full report tomorrow night if I survive!

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Getting Back to Good

I talked a little last week about transitioning back into running. That is happening right now as I begin preparing for the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon.  Part of that transition means fueling my body for workouts rather than being haphazard about what I am eating. I started that process today. While staying on program in terms of (weight watchers) points/calories I was very careful about putting only fruit, veggies, lean meats, and grains into my body. While I am not needing anything special in terms of my diet I am trying my best to make sound nutritional choices. Tonight I prepared a dish that completely fits the bill!

Warm Mediterranean Pasta Salad

–Begin by preparing a whole grain or vegetable based pasta

-Finely Chop 1 large onion and a bell pepper (I chose a sunshiny yellow since the weather is so blah!)

-Add these veggies to a pan with extra virgin olive oil-salt and pepper to taste-then add a container of halved grape tomatoes

-After the tomatoes begin to burst add in some finely chopped artichoke hearts

-After the artichokes warm through add in some balsamic vinegar and combine it with the pasta and add in some turkey peperoni, black olives (sliced), and feta

-Add salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

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Naughty and Nice…Two Thanksgiving Recipes

Moderation is a key term for weight loss and it’s going to have to be a key theme for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. I don’t need to go into the details of not blowing your eating plan on a holiday. We’ve all heard a million times to just have a touch of the more caloric items or to pick and choose with care (taking your favorite item but leaving something you can get anytime such as a dinner roll). However, since I am dining with a group of both dieters and non-dieters tomorrow I chose to make one crowd pleaser and one diet pleaser. Here are the recipes for my Naughty “Mac and Cheese Lorraine”, a Rachael Ray recipe, and Nice “Banana Pudding”. Happy Thanksgiving!

(Naughty) Mac and Cheese Lorraine

This Rachael Ray Recipe is a wink and a nudge to one of my favorite dishes, quiche Lorraine. Due to its super high calorie content (I doubt I will even eat this tomorrow) plus it’s pretty high price tag (wine and gruyere isn’t cheap friends!) I only make this dish once or twice a year.

-In a skillet crisp up a pound of chopped center cut hormone free bacon (use a touch of olive oil to get it extra crispy)

-Shred an entire block of gruyere cheese and prepare your whole grain pasta per the box’s instructions

-After the bacon is crisp remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon. Add 2 chopped organic onions to the same pot. Allow the onions to cook 10-12 minutes to caramelize. Then add ½ dry white wine and allow it to cook out for one minute.

-As the onions cook, in another pot heat up 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of flour. Once this has cooked up (1 min) add 1 cup of chicken stock and one cup of whole milk. Salt and pepper to taste.

-After this mixture thickens and begins to boil add the cheese one handful at a time stirring in a figure 8 motion. Once you have added the cheese also add 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard and a touch of nutmeg.

Combine your pasta, onions, bacon, and cheese sauce and enjoy!

(Nice) Banana Pudding

-Get a fancy desert bowl and line the bottom with reduced fat vanilla wafers

-Prepare your sugar free vanilla or sugar free banana crème pudding with skim milk and set aside

-While the pudding firms up slice up several bananas

-Fold ½ container of fat free cool whip into the pudding. This makes it really smooth and fluffy.

-Layer cookies, bananas, pudding, cookies, bananas, pudding, etc (3 times)

-Top with the remaining cool whip, add some crumbles to the top, cookies to the side and dig in!

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Chopsticks Optional

When it comes down to the choice of “real” homemade food versus takeout the home cooked nutritious option will win out in my house every single time. Since the hubs expressed a craving for Chinese take out, I decided to cook my own version of Cashew Chicken. We all know I am a huge Rachael Ray lover so this recipe was initially borrowed from her. However, the recipe below is modified to reflect a lower calorie count. This recipe is so easy…

-Start by heating a large skillet to medium high heat, add olive oil, and cubed boneless/skinless chicken breasts (season with grill seasoning and a touch of garlic)

-After the chicken browns for 5-7 minute add your veggies (1 large chopped onion, 1 large bell pepper chopped, 2 carrots grated)

-Once the veggies have softened add in 2-3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

-Give the soy sauce 3-4 minutes to absorb then add a dash of crushed red pepper flakes, a healthy drizzle of honey, ¼ cup of sugar free pancake syrup and the star of the show.. Chipolte Chili Powder.

This can be found with the regular spices right in your grocery store OR take a field trip to a spice store which is what I love to do from time to time. (I heart Penzeys)

One you have everything combined toss in some peas (your choice of type) and some cashews. I don’t do tons of cashews since they bump up the calorie count and there is already plenty of protein coming from the chicken.

Reduce heat and cover for 5-6 minutes. Pair with some brown rice (which I recommend making with chicken stock instead of water) and enjoy….with or without chopsticks!

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