Orecchiette with Sausage & Zucchini

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , , ,

pasta with sausage and zucchini First, I have to say, this tastes better than the picture shows. The colors look a little bland here once the zucchini and squash cook, don’t be fooled.  This is a delicious healthy pasta dish!  It is inspired by a dish I had in Rome.  Mama mia it was good!  In Rome I am sure it wasn’t chicken sausage, but I like to use the chicken sausage as I think it has great flavor.  Feel free to use whatever sausage you like.

The key to this dish is to undercook the pasta, so that  you finish it in the pan with the sauce (or “condimento” as Mario Batali always says!).  This allows the orrechiette to soak up all the flavors, oh yeah! Continue reading Orecchiette with Sausage & Zucchini →

Japanese Ginger Dressing Salad

Healthy, Recipes, Salads, , , ,

salad with ginger dressing

You know the delicious salad dressing you get on the salad at your local Japanese steak house?  This tastes just like it but you can make it at home.  There are quite a few ingredients and you can work with it.  For example, the lemon is a nice touch but not necessary.  This makes a big batch that will keep up to a week in the refridgerator.  It’s a nice twist on your normal salad.  I like to have this with Potstickers for a fun weeknight dinner. Continue reading Japanese Ginger Dressing Salad →

Filet Mignon with Brandy Mushroom Sauce

Beef, Date Night, Main, Recipes, , , ,

filet mignon with brandy mushroom sauce First, I know I haven’t posted for 2 weeks.  In my defense, I have been busy and last week I was on vacation, so I wasn’t cooking that much and I was certainly trying to stay away from my laptop.

I’m back!  Still busy (sitting at my desk waiting for an important work document to arrive) but figured I could squeeze in a few minutes to post the absolutely freaking amazing delicious mushroom Brandy Sauce I made Sunday with Filet.  Whenever we go on vacation, I am dying to get right back into my kitchen when we get back.  Usually I am inspired by something amazing I had on vacation, but no I woke up Sunday and knew I just had to have Filet for Sunday dinner.  Probably because I had a lot of fish on vacation.  Anyway, it’s 4:16 and as I look at this picture of the Filet, I am getting really hungry.  The sauce was so good, but I know I already said that!  I will say the sauce is supposed to be for four people but Bill and I pretty much finished it ourselves, so if you are making this for 4 sauce lovers…………double it! Continue reading Filet Mignon with Brandy Mushroom Sauce →

Salad with Soy Dressing & Prosciutto

Appetizers, Healthy, Recipes, Salads

salad with soy

This is Bill’s all time favorite salad.  I made it for him when we first started dating.  I used to make it all the time and then frankly, I forgot about it.  When planning our Valentine’s menu, I was trying to think of a light salad to have and remembered this.  Let’s say it was well received by my Valentine 🙂

The salty prosciutto and dressing goes really well with the lettuces.  Make sure you lightly dress the salad, a little of this dressing goes a long way! Continue reading Salad with Soy Dressing & Prosciutto →

Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs with Molasses

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, , ,

lemon garlic chicken This is one of my oldest, go-to, weeknight dinners.  It’s super easy to make, fast and delicious!  Everyone loves it.  You could substitute chicken breast if you don’t like the dark meat, you just won’t cook it as long.  I love to have mine with a roasted sweet potato and Bill and the boys like it on rice to soak up all the yummy sauce.  A must try dish! Continue reading Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs with Molasses →

Scallion-Soy Dipping Sauce

Recipes

 

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Scallion-Soy Dipping Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: Appetizer
Prep time: 
Total time: 
 
Ingredients
  • ⅓ Cup Soy Sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. Rice Wine Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp. Mirin (can substitute sherry)
  • 2 Tbsp. Sugar
  • 1 Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper
  • 2 Tbsp. Chopped Scallions
  • 1 Tsp. Sesame Oil
Instructions
  1. Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix well.

Body Revolution Phase 1 Review

Run/Working Out, ,

I am a big fan of Jillian Michaels and just completed Phase 1 of her Body Revolution, 3 Phase program.  So far, I am very happy with the program and my results.

About the Program:  This is a 3 Phase, 12 week program.  Each phase has (4) Strength DVD’s and (1) Cardio DVD.  You do the program like this:  For the first 2 weeks, you will do Workout 1, Workout 2, Cardio 1, Workout 1, Workout 2, Cardio 1, Rest Day, then repeat.  The 3rd and 4th week are Workout 3, Workout 4, Cardio 1, Workout 3, Workout 4, Cardio 1, Rest Day.

Each strength workout is 32-35 minutes including warm up and cool down.  The strength workouts are (4) circuits of (4) moves that you repeat twice with 1 minute Cardio HIIT in between sets.  The mixing up of the circuits helps me stay entertained.  Funny, it is just like when I am on a run, as soon as I start circuit 3 and know I am half way done, I am mentally great!  The moves are tough but do-able.  She gives modifications so anyone should be able to do it.

The Cardio workout is (3) circuits of (8) moves.  They start easy with a military march and end with suicides (yes, this is the Biggest Loser toughest trainer!!!).  The cardio workout is 25 minutes.

I like Jillian’s style.  She is tough and has some funny lines like, “If you are new to this you might feel a little bit nauseous and frankly, I don’t care”.  Or my personal favorite “Get out of your comfort zone.  The comfort zone is for pansies.  If you want the comfort zone you bought the wrong program”.

She also has a nutrition diet plan, but I didn’t follow that.  I am using My Fitness Pal to record all my food.  It’s a great app that you put in your stats, age, weight, height, lifestyle, amount of weight you want to lose and it calculates your daily calorie goal.

In addition to that, I am using the UP24 By Jawbone fitness tracker.  I wear it all day long and it keeps track of my steps.  I set 12,000 steps as a daily goal (just under 6 miles) and it syncs with My Fitness Pal so it will up my daily calorie goal if I burn extra calories.

Month 1 Results:  I lost 5 pounds and 6 inches.  I am mostly excited about the -2.5 inches I lost on my waist, my biggest problem area.

Reflections on Month 1:  I am definitely working out more than normal but not by much.  The biggest difference is that I am recording every morsel of food I eat.  I also know those inches lost are from those fierce JM workouts.  Phase 2 is not going to be easy but I am ready!!!  I’ll be back next month with a Phase 2 Review.

 

Roast Chicken with Shallots

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, ,

roasted chicken

Yes, I know another chicken  recipe but if you are like me, there are just so many ways to enjoy chicken and it’s so healthy.  Here is the story of this one.  It was 4:30 last Thursday and I have no idea what to make for dinner.  I had a cut up chicken in the fridge and went to Epicurious and looked around and found this recipe.  I made a couple of changes (of course!).  Number 1 the original recipe called for 4 large shallots.  As you can see from the picture above there are no shallots.  That is because I ate all the delicious omg shallots before I plated this.  So, I determined the number of shallots needs to be at least doubled.  I didn’t use the parsley either as I didn’t have any in the house but it was delicious without it!

The only other thing I did was to add the chicken stock to create a fabulous pan jus.  This recipe comes from the book French Farmhouse Cookbook which I just may order after trying this.  Nothing like a super simple delicious, healthy week night dinner! Continue reading Roast Chicken with Shallots →