After a long week of late nights at work, even later nights out to start the long weekend and early mornings with the pup, B and I needed some rest and relaxation by Sunday night. After his basketball game we stopped by Whole Foods to grab some snow peas and tomato sauce to compliment the mixed seafood and whole wheat pasta we already had. We decided to make our own “seafood fra diavolo” and were very successful! We followed this recipe loosely but adjusted for our own personal tastes (hot!) and using an awesome spice B had on hand. I had never cooked with snow peas before so we can add another to the list of new vegetables I have tried. Checking new ones off is so fulfilling, especially when they’re as tasty as these snow peas were. They did a nice job of balancing the spice of the dish and in the end it was a colorful and healthy dinner for two tired kids.  

We had a very pinterest-ing valentine’s day! (I am the lamest person ever, I’m aware) B and I wanted to stay in, cook a special dinner, drink wine and watch tv with the dog. We decided on a menu beforehand and it consisted almost entirely of recipes I found on pinterest. I’ve included all of the healthy recipes below. The only thing we did by scratch was all B and it was incredible! I don’t think he’d even be able to tell us what he did or what he used, but the night before Valentine’s Day he made a rub for a huge rack of ribs. The next morning, he transferred the ribs into a marinade in the slow cooker where it cooked for 8 hours. It was fall-off-the-bone deliciousness. Loved every bite. This was after we had a tasty (and soo simple!) appetizer of mussels. For sides we enjoyed baked sweet potatoes and roasted broccoli. It was all great.

I wanted to tackle a new and special for Valentine’s Day recipe so I chose red velvet cheesecake cookies. I prepped the filling at my apt in the morning so it had time to freeze. Because of the filling, the cookies were tricky to get off the pan. I thought I had successfully gotten the first four off, only to smush the entire plate against myself! Suddenly I was scrambling to pick the pieces off the floor and pulling the dog away so she wouldn’t eat any chocolate. She ended up with red velvet spots all around her neck and torso! The next two batches turned out great and after one cookie each, I showed B the plate of cookie mess. We laughed and decide we’d enjoy that and let his roommates eat the pretty cookies. And that, my friends, is all I could have ever wanted for Valentine’s Day, to find the person who would laugh and enjoy my cookie mess with me. Hope your holiday was just as nice. 

B kindly went grocery shopping and made us dinner the other night and unintentionally helped me with two of my 2012 goals - order from seamless less and try seasonal vegetables. He made us a delicious plate filled with sweet potato gnocchi, cannelloni beans, tomatoes, swiss chard and mozzarella cheese. The swiss chard was new to me and I loved the slightly bitter taste it gave the meal, really nicely balancing the other flavors. Have you tried chard? I’d love to incorporate it into my diet more. What are some ways you’ve enjoyed it? 

Another delicious way to incorporate freshly picked apples into your meals, in a way that doesn’t involve sweets. Apple sauce! I just had to make this meal after we went apple picking and was glad when we finally did it. I picked up a few pork chops, rice and green beans and used the apple sauce I already made. We seasoned the chops with just some salt and pepper and cooked them on the stovetop. B and I both agreed that the cool apple sauce would taste delicious against the hot chops and we were right. It was refreshing and delicious. 

After the success of my corn chowder a little while ago, I decided to tackle another soup - french onion. I really wanted to try a recipe using a slow cooker, but was after working out in the morning, I was jammed for time and then worried it would get bad if I left it in for more than the recommended 8 hours, definitely less than my work day. Because of that, I resorted to this recipe and decided to pair it with a perfect recipe for french onion soup grilled cheese. I knew the soup wouldn’t be enough to fill us, and each having a grilled cheese on the side really helped. I used the baguette that I cut on top o the soup so it all worked very well together. I was amazed at how easy it was to prepare the two at the same time and both components of the meal really came together just in time for B to come by. It was the perfect meal for a rainy Tuesday evening. 

After we had finished eating and digested a little, B and I peeled and cut up apples for a little apple crisp. I wanted to make a slightly healthier version, so after finding this recipe, I was pleased to see various comments on the bottom with tips on how to make it healthier. One that I employed was replacing the white flour with whole wheat flour and using 1/4 cup oatmeal in place of 1/4 cup of the flour. The oatmeal added a nice texture and we both had seconds of another simple, yet very comforting dessert.

I had been seeing acorn squash at Trader Joe’s for a while and one day I just couldn’t pass by them anymore! I grabbed one and proceeded to look up a recipe on Epicurious while I was still in the store. I didn’t find one that really spoke to me so I decided to use just use it as inspiration. In the end, I roasted the squash upside down in water in the oven, flipped them right-side-up and filled with instant brown rice, onions, jalapeno chicken sausage and cheddar cheese and continued to cook them. The result was a delicious bowl of autumnal goodness. Yup, I said it. This squash was under $2 and is very healthy and delicious, a winning combo. I can’t wait to cook up some more fall foods!

Monday night B and I decided to use his Eating Well iphone app to choose what to make for dinner. This app is awesome, you can enter in different categories and it will suggest easy-to-make meals. You can also email them directly from the app, which is how B shared ideas with me while I was at work. After looking at a few options, we settled on Grilled Rosemary-Salmon Skewers. Whole Foods was out of skewers and B’s roof with the grill was closed but we improvised by cooking the tomatoes and salmon in a sauté pan. Paired with Ithaca Apricot Wheat beers, it was a lovely end of summer meal. 

Last night I did a big cardio mix up, starting with 15 minutes of running intervals on the treadmill (2 min at 6mph, 1 min of 8mph), 15 minutes on the elliptical doing a hill interval and then 15 minute intervals on the treadmill at a 14% incline of walking and then running. The runs were on the hill were hard and not fast, but hopefully are helping me get ready for Falmouth in just over two weeks! I left the gym and walked through Grand Central rather than going outside into the heat. I love stumbling upon little plaques and pieces of history that I usually fly by on my way to one location or another. Sometimes it’s nice to stop and smell the roses.

After my workout, B and I decided to cook a celebratory meal. We wandered around Whole Foods for a few minutes before deciding upon grilled chicken with a delicious maple chipotle glaze from the Stonewall Kitchen. I love all of their jams so I was psyched to see sauces, and then was even more psyched when B reached for the one I had been eying! For a veggie side, we made eggplant caprese stacks. While I sliced everything, B grilled the chicken in some of the marinade and then lightly sauteed slices of the eggplants. We then stacked the eggplant slices with a slice of mozarella, slice of tomato, a few pieces of basil and then drizzled with olive oil and vinegar. The combination of the warm eggplant slices with the cold moz and tomatoes was sooo refreshing. The chicken was cooked perfectly and we may or may not have dipped into more of the maple chipotle sauce. I’m glad we have a bit left in the bottle, can’t wait to make more with it! Maybe fish next time? 

After a fairly rowdy Thursday night, B and I decided to take it easy, stay in and cook. We were really happy when his roommates K, M and J decided to join us for dinner. After sending a few recipes around, we settled on one that we felt would be simple, slightly detoxing and delicious! I’ve been hoping to make the stuffed peppers with tomato cream sauce from How Sweet It Is for a while and was psyched that’s what we landed on. We decided to roast potatoes rather than making mashed because they felt more summer-like.

It was truly a team effort as we all participated in various steps of the process. Because of timing issues, we did adapt and not use the brown rice (first we thought it would cook in the sauce but then we realized we had to cook in advance, whoops!) Fortunately, we had enough meat to fill the eight peppers. While everything roasted in the oven we relaxed with some ice cold Corona Lites and limes. When it was ready, red wine was opened and we all filled our plates with the overflowing peppers. The meal was delicious, the company hilarious and the night a complete success. Really looking forward to the next time.

I apologize that this is such a terrible photo! Not only was I distracted by my meal but also my dinner date, so I took this photo without making sure it was up to snuff, oops. Despite the amateur photo, this stuffed artichoke was delish. I found this article online months ago and have been dying to try it. I attempting them once in college and failed miserably which I attribute to never having seen an artichoke cooked like this. Since then I’ve talked to several people (including The Fabulous Foodie, who has to lend me her mother’s recipe) who have told me what it should look like, taste like and most important to me-how to eat it! I think these turned out rather well. My only adjustment for next time would be to make sure I got the dressing/butter mixture into each of the leaves. Some of them had only dry bread crumbs which were still good but made eating a bit messy. Perhaps mixing the dry and wet ingredients beforehand would help. I still have two more left over and I’m looking forward to trying another artichoke recipe.