Couscous Salad

Recently, in preparation for pregnancy, I have been doing a lot of pregnancy research (in part to distract me from not being pregnant).  Since I am overweight currently, the dietary aspects of pregnancy have been the most interesting I have found.  I know how important a healthy weight gain is during a regular pregnancy, but since I am already overweight then a healthy weight gain is even more important.  I know what you are thinking..."but Lisa is terrible at dieting and eating healthy."  True as that may be, I think I can do it!  If (when) I get pregnant I will continue to share recipes as I find them!  For now, enjoy this one that I love!!

Couscous salad with chickpeas and vegetables

(Pregnancy benefit: Protein, iron, vitamin C, folic acid and fiber)

Ingredients:

3 cups cooked couscous (3/4 cup uncooked)

2 Tbsp wine vinegar

1 sm clove garlic, crushed

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

3 Tbsp olive oil

12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup diced red peppers

2/3 cup chickpeas

2/3 canned artichoke hearts, quartered

1/2 cup olives, any variety (I used black olives)

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted (I did not include this)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup finely sliced scallions

fresh lemon juice, to taste

salt and pepper, to taste

1.  Cook couscous according to package directions.  Transfer to large bowl and allow to cool.

2.  Make dressing in small bowl, mix the vinegar, garlic, and mustard until well blended.  Add olive oil and mix well.  Set aside.

3. Add remaining ingredients, except lemon juice and salt and pepper, to couscous.  Mix.  Add dressing and mix gently until well combined.  Add lemon juice and adjust seasoning.  Serve! 

4. Keeps for 3 days refrigerated. 



Finally...Sue's Marvy Cheesecake Squares!

When I was a kid, I spent every summer with my dad.  During my early years, he was married to a woman who made the most delicious snack-style dessert of all time!  Sue's Cheesecake Squares were was she would call "marvy."  They sure are marvelous and once you get a taste you definitely will want more!

I have made them over the years for friends, coworkers, family functions...and they are always a hit!  My little sister, Sara, used to request them for her birthday.  My husband's coworkers love them so much that in the Christmas White Elephant Gift Exchange this past year we gave a card with 3 vouchers for Cheesecake Squares as a gift and people were fighting over it!  I also made some for a friend when I visited her and her baby and she has been asking for the recipe, so Bree, this is for you!  These are very easy to make so get baking!

Cheesecake Squares

Ingredients:

2 - 8oz packages cream cheese, softened

2 - 8 count Pilsbury crescent rolls (the generic don't work quite as well)

1 cup sugar

1 egg yolk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

cinnamon/sugar mixture

optional:  chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Grease 8x13 baking pan (I use some sort of cooking spray).

2. Lay 1 package crescent rolls along bottom of pan.

3. In medium mixing bowl, mix cream cheese, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla with electric mixer until smooth.

4. Spread evenly over crescents in baking pan.

5. Lay 2nd package crescent rolls over cream cheese mixture.

6. Sprinkle top with cinnamon/sugar and top with chopped walnuts, if desired.  I hate nuts on my desserts, so I never use the nuts.

7. Bake for 35 minutes.

8.  Cool completely then refridgerate before serving.

Snacks, cupcakes and quiche!

As you all are aware, I have become fascinated with Pinterest.  Particularly for the recipes.  I am constantly on the lookout for delicious foods to make to help break my family out of our dinner rut.  I decided to make some new snacks, as well as some old favorites for the superbowl.

Starting on the far left and moving clockwise you will find:  Judy Moulton's Taco Dip, White Queso,  Blueberry Lemon Loaf, Brownies, Pigs in a Blanket, and Honey Glazed Chicken and Bacon Bites.  Some of these are pinterest recipes, so I linked to the original site.  The brownies were a box mix...I can't make everything from scratch! 

Judy Moulton's Taco Dip

This is my favorite dip. Judy Moulton is a woman from my childhood church and she was the foods teacher in my high school. This is her recipe and I have stolen it over the years and I love it!  I always make it for parties because it is crazy easy and delicious.

Ingredients:

2 cans refriend beans

1/2 cup mayo

1 pkt taco seasoning

1 cup sour cream

Mix all ingredients well. 

Top with shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, sliced black olives, and green onions. 

Serve with tortilla chips.

Pigs in a Blanket

These are another crazy easy party food!  You just take crescent roll dough and cut it into 1/2" strips.  Wrap the little smokies in the strips in a "x" pattern.  Bake at 375 for 15 minutes and enjoy.  Heavenly!

So the superbowl snacks were a success and one of the Manning brothers won...good day all around.

Quiche

Yesterday, Mimi was here with me and she has been asking for quiche for awhile.  Mom and I have different recipes we use, but I wanted to share mine because I think it's better :)  I got this quiche recipe from my college boyfriend's mom, Karen.  It is the best quiche ever.  The recipe is for 1 quiche, but I usually make 2 at a time.

Ingredients:

1 pie shell

4 oz cream cheese

2 eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

dash white pepper

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 pkg shredded cheese (any variety)

1/2 cup mayo

1/4 cup milk

1/4 tsp salt

1 clove garlic, minced

Mix all ingredients into a large food processor until blended.  Pour into pie shell,  Bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.

Optional ingredients:

1 cup smoked sausage and 1/2 cup frozen peas OR

1 cup broccoli and 1/2 cup frozen peas OR

1 cup crumbled bacon

If you do add smoked sausage or bacon, you can cut out the salt because those meats are so salty.  This recipes makes it really easy to customize based on who will be eating it!

Vanilla cupcake with Caramel Frosting

I also made one othe pinterest recipe today.  A quick dessert.  It is a vanilla cupcake with caramel frosting.  The cake mix is from a box (I was not in the mood to make cake from scratch) but the caramel frosting was delicious.  The frosting didn't turn out as pretty as I had hoped, but I know better for next time.  It tastes perfect though!

After the cupcakes are cooled you start the frosting.  In a medium saucepan mix 1 cup dark brown sugar and 5 Tbsp unsalted butter over medium heat.  Add 1/4 cup milk and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.  Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly then add 1 cup powdered sugar and mix thoroughly.  Take off heat and dip the cupcake tops into the caramel and quickly replace back on the cooling rack.  This must be done quickly as the caramel hardens quickly.  I think it will work better if the caramel is left on the heat at a low level while the cupcakes are being frosted.   Not sure though.  Anyway, they are tasty!

Pinterest

I held off as long as I could.

I tried to keep from peeking at it, knowing I would become addicted.

I fought.  I lost.

I am on pinterest and I LOVE it!

This past week, I decided to try pinterest recipes each day (except one day where I made my favorite chili from the recipe from dad - tweaked slightly).  These are not my pictures...these are the ones from pinterest.  I was a silly girl that did not take my own pictures of my beautiful foods :(

French Toast Breakfast Muffins

These were delicious!  Especially while warm, so be sure to put them in the microwave for 15 seconds or so.  Big hit with the guys in my house.

Bacon Ranch Chicken Pasta

Super easy crock pot recipe.  My family didn't so much enjoy the whole wheat pasta I used, nor the substitution of turkey bacon for "real" bacon, but they all still ate it!

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

The frosting was the best part of this recipe...and of course I left off the nuts on top.  The cake was a bit dense for me (too much like banana bread) but still really good and a nice change from banana bread for those bananas that are about to hit the trash!

French Dip Crescents

This was probably the easiest recipe and everyone really loved it!

Sparkling Peach Sangria

Gotta throw a drink into the mix!  This was delicious and again, crazy easy!  I used Moscato for the sparkling part and when I made my drink I mixed in a bit of beer to cancel out a tad of the sweetness.

 Stuffed Zucchini

Of course the guys didn't eat this one, but Mom and I did.  I did make a few tweaks with the spices, but it turned out really good!  I think I will put back into the mix only half of the zucchini pulp though next time.  There was too much stuffing to put back in the zucchini boats!

Three-Cheese Pasta

This is what the guys got instead of the zucchini.  It was really creamy and cheesy!  I definately reccomend it as a side or add some chicken for a meal!

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Healthy, easy meal!  The filling was enough for 10 rolls, not 8 like the recipe says.  Also, I would make a few extra noodles incase they break or rip.  I used more cheese on top too :)  Shawn though I was trying to poison him with spinach!



Overall, good eats in my house this week thanks to Pinterest!!

Irish Cream

We had our NICU Christmas Party on Saturday night...it was great!  We did an Italian pot luck.  So many delicious foods, desserts, and drinks!  We had eggnog, punch, wine slushes, some delicious drink made with Amaretto, and I brought my favorite: Homemade Irish Cream.  A few people were initally wary of it because it has raw eggs, but once people started drinking...rave reviews!  They loved it!  So I decided to post the recipe on here so everyone can enjoy it for themselves (and because I can't afford to make it for anyone else...Jameson is expensive!)

Irish Cream

1-3/4 cups Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 cup whipping cream

1 can condensed milk

4 eggs

2 Tbsp chocolate syrup

2 tsp instant coffee

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp almond extract

Place all ingredients in blender.  Blend until smooth.  Store in a container with a tight fitting lid and refridgerate for up to 30 days.  Serve chilled.  Enjoy over ice or added to coffee :)

** I am sure you can use a cheaper kind of whiskey, but I have never tried.  Jameson is perfect :)  Also, I find that if you put the whiskey in the blender first then add the cream, condensed milk, and eggs and start the blending at a low speed it will turn out better.  I left it blending on the low speed while I added the chocolate syrup, coffee and extracts.  Then I turned it up to blend for a minute after everything was in.  Turned out perfect! **

Weight Loss Journey: Entry 1

So...once again I am giving Weight Watchers a go.  This time Mom and I are doing it together, so we should have good results.  We have completed one week with success!

I lost 4.2 pounds!

Now only...well A LOT still to lose but I'll get there.

Mom and I have already found some really great recipes, so I'll share some of the good ones we find.  Here is a breakfast recipe I found, which is awesome because breakfast is my favorite!  Also, I read something recently that said your breakfast should consist of 40% of your caloric intake for the day, with 30% at lunch at 30% at dinner.  Who does that on a daily basis?  I guess we should.  This breakfast is not 40% of the daily calories, but it is delicious and filling.

Eggs Italian Style

4 Servings

8 - 1 oz slices of Polenta (I used a Sundried Tomato & Basil variety)

4 small tomatoes, in 1/4" slices

4 egg

1 Tbsp Olive Oil (or cooking spray)

Oregano, Salt & Pepper

In a non-stick skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add polenta and cook 1-2 minutes per side then place 2 per plate.  Lightly season tomatoes with salt, pepper and oregano and place in same skillet.  Cook 30 seconds per side, until sugars of tomato start to slightly carmelize.  Place each tomatoe (approx 3 slices) onto plates over the polenta.  Add eggs to skillet (season lightly with salt, pepper and oregano) and cook until whites are opaque but yolk still runny (over easy is what I did).  Place 1 egg on each plate.  Serve.  Yummy.