First weekend of 2010

The last two days of our break from work was great! Although this probably sounds boring to most, we just stayed home and played the Wii, ate, finished a couple projects around the house and watched TV. It was perfect! I never thought a vacation at home could be so enjoyable!

Saturday morning Matt made me a delicious breakfast. Two over easy eggs with rye toast that my grandmother brought up from our favorite Jersey bakery, Pechter's . Too excited to eat = forgot to take pictures. After breakfast I ran to the grocery store. While there, analyzing all the prices, I decided one of my annual projects is going to be to figure out which grocery store is really the cheapest. I know it sounds geeky but I'm going to create a spreadsheet with the items we buy the most often and price compare the 5 grocery stores that we go to:

1. Market Basket
2. Shaws/Star Market
3. Stop & Shop
4. Whole Foods
5. Trader Joes

My theory is that Market Basket is the cheapest overall for groceries, Trader Joe's the cheapest for wine and Whole Foods (definitely) the most expensive. I'm just curious what the actual spread is.
After grocery shopping I was starving! I made a chicken, cheese and mustard sandwich on Nature's Pride whole wheat bread with a pickle and a Bud Light Golden Wheat. Yum!!! I think the sandwich was gone in a minute. Did I mention I was starving?!


Later in the afternoon while kicking Matt's butt at Tiger Wood's PGA Tour 10 game for the Wii we snacked on chips and salsa with a ginger ale. I love this game! I don't play golf but would like to pick up the sport. I think this game is good practice. I know my body thinks so! My arm and shoulders are killing me!


For dinner that night I served my first recipe over a bed of whole wheat spaghetti, "Chicken with Creamy Leeks" (I thought I had the recipe with me but I don't so it will be posted later tonight):

Lauren's review: Not as flavorful as I typically like in my meals
Matt's review: I don't like leeks.
Final decision: Trash it AND remove leeks from Boston Organics list of items.

After dinner we had some wine and watched some TV. Went to bed late. Perfect!

We woke up early Sunday morning so we could have a nice long breakfast with Matt's parents. They had just dropped off the youngest at the airport and were in town. We decided on Mooo.... Matt and I have been to Mooo.... for drinks and dinner before but never breakfast. We were so pleased with our decision! The service was fantastic and the food was delicious! Again, I forgot to take a picture which is such a shame because it was all so beautiful! Matt and I split two entrees, one sweet and one savory. For our savory dish we had two eggs over easy with extra-crispy applewood smoked bacon and homefries. For our sweet dish we had french toast with a caramelized banana which reminded us of creme brulee. Both of our meals were excellent! They also bring cornbread for the table to share. I am a cornbread critique and I have to say that this was PERFECT cornbread. The right moist consistency and with the optimal amount of sweetness. I love breakfast... and I now love breakfast at Mooo.... which is very convenient because it's right next door!

After breakfast Matt and I played another round of golf. Then we started some projects around the house. I cleaned the living room kitchen while he worked on some things in the bedroom/office. Before we knew it lunch time had passed and we both decided to have snacks so we didn't ruin our appetites for dinner. Snack time consisted of pomegranate Chobani, TJ's sesame sticks and Polar soda water. The yogurt was great, every pomegranate aril that I found was like a little surprise. I also really enjoyed my peach soda water.


For dinner we decided to have left-overs, turkey shepard pie and chicken with leeks. While dinner was reheating we sat down for a 30-minute goal brainstorm for 2010. The list is long, about 60 items, but I think they're all great! Once we were done with our brainstorming session we dished out dinner. Matt and I aren't really a fan of left-overs but we hate wasting food! It was a blah dinner.

What definitely was not blah was the bottle of wine we decided to open. Justin Isosceles 2006 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. It was a bottle that we have been wanting to try for awhile, being highly recommended by Matt's sister and brother-in-law. We decided to celebrate with the bottle our last night off. Matt decanted the wine and tasted it a couple of times before pouring us each a glass, decanting for about 45 minutes. He said the wine was pretty young and had a high alcohol flavor initially that mellowed out after the time in the decanter. It was a great celebration.


We finished the night off watching some more TV. The list of shows and movies that we saw over the last couple days in between our Wii playing:

Glee
Talk Soup
Top Chef (I finished watching the last two shows of the season)
a couple episodes of Dexter season 4
Julie & Julia

Are you a fan of any of these shows or the movie?

It was a great vacation but now it's back to work! Good thing I like my job!

Recipe box

Last night I temporarily reorganized my recipes and emptied out my recipe box. The picture above only represents the recipes that I have in paper format. My online recipes probably double my collection. I think I have a problem!

The challenge:
Purge all of my recipes by trying a new recipe a day.

The plan:
The daily recipe will be reviewed and critiqued by Matt and myself. All "non-worthy" will get thrown in the recycling bin! Those that are delicious will make it to a savored spot in the recipe box!

The recipe box currently contains 5 recipes that I know are tried and true that Matt & I love:

Turkey (or Chicken) with Sweet Potato Dumplings courtesy of Whole Foods

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon (T) extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 small yellow onion, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups chopped vegetables (raw, cooked or frozen)
1.5 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
3 cups (~18 oz) shredded cooked turkey or chicken (I used leftover rotisserie chicken)
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes (~0.75 pound potato mashed)
2 teaspoons (t) baking soda
1.5 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400F. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, salt & pepper and cook stirring until golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Add vegetables and cook until softened and hot throughout. Sprinkle 0.25 cups flour over vegetables, stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Whisk in broth, bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened about 2-3 minutes. Stir in turkey, salt & pepper. Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking dish; set aside. In a large bowl gently combine 1.25 cups flour, sweet potatoes, baking soda, buttermilk, 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper to make a thick batter. Don't over mix. Drop batter in large spoonfuls over turkey mixture to form 8 dumplings. Bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Nutrition: 280 calories, 7g fat, 2g saturated fat, 50mg cholesterol, 640mg sodium, 34g carbohydrates, 4g fiber, 7g sugar, 21g protein

Ciao to Chopping Meatloaf courtesy of Women's Health (but they don't have the recipe on their website and I altered it a bit to my liking)

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 pound (lb.) extra-lean ground turkey
1 egg (or 2 egg whites)
1/2 c. whole wheat panko bread crumbs (or any plain bread crumbs)
1/2 c. grated carrots
1/4 c. grated zucchini (I typically put 1 whole zucchini in the food processor and use it all)
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 t. dried sweet basil
1 t. dried oregano
1 t. Italian seasoning
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. salt
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 375F. Spray nonstick loaf pan with olive oil spray. Mix all ingredients. Press into pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until there is no pink.

*We eat this as meatloaf the first night and then make meatloaf sandwiches the next night. I sometimes freeze this (only up to a week) and then reheat to make the sandwiches if we don't want meatloaf two nights in a row.

Maple-Balsamic Glazed Pork Medallions courtesy of Cooking Light

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 c. maple syrup
3 T. balsamic vinegar
2 t. Dijon mustard
1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed
2 t EVOO
salt & pepper to taste

Combine syrup and vinegar in sauce pan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced, about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in mustard. Cut pork crosswise into 8 pieces. Place each piece between plastic wrap and pound to 1/4" thickness. Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork with salt & pepper. Cook 3 minutes on each side. Add vinegar mixture cook for 1 minute or until desired doneness. Drizzle sauce over plated pork and serve.

*This recipe is so flavorful and fast. One on my go-to meals!

Roasted Pork with Apples and Onions courtesy of my mother-in-law

This is a summary of what to do with a pork tenderloin for an easy and delicious dinner.

Preheat oven to 400F. Mix dijon mustard with EVOO then rub onto the tenderloin. Sprinkle the tenderloin with salt & pepper. In a large skillet over medium-high heat sear the tenderloin on all sides. Then add to the pan 2-3 chopped apples, 1 chopped onion and 1 cup water. Cook until pork reaches 160F (using a meat thermometer to check doneness).

Buffalo Chicken Dip courtesy of my friend Betsy

Makes 1 large casserole dish of dip

Ingredients:
3-4 cooked boneless chicken breasts (I poached mine)
2 8oz. packages of light cream cheese, softened
1 - 1.5 c. Franks Hot Sauce
1 c. Marie's light blue cheese salad dressing
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients and bake at 350F until bubbly. Serve with tortilla chips.


So there you have it. All of the recipes that are currently in my empty recipe box. Lots and lots more recipes to come along with my personal review of each meal. It's going to be a busy year! Let me know if you want to stop by for a meal! There will be plenty to share.

First Post of 2010!

Happy New Year!

Can you believe that it's 2010?! I can't!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season. Below are some pictures of our Christmas.

Christmas Eve dinner we were in Ogunquit with my in-laws. We were all invited to a family and friends event at Katie's Cafe. It was such a wonderful evening with such delicious food!

Some pictures of my in-laws B&B all done up for the holidays!

Bailey's own personal ornament on the tree:

After "midnight" mass we opened our gifts with the in-laws. This included our kids gift to the parents. It was such a great gift. Matt created a game where mom and dad had to fill in the blanks which would sound out their gift. Each kid had a question to help with the game. It was so much fun! We were even able to Skype Matt's sister and brother-in-law from Chicago to help with the clues! Below is a picture of my Wickert family all working hard on the puzzle.

The Chicago family Skyping:

Finally, my in-laws receiving their gift. A brand new LCD TV! Sorry that it's blurry there was a lot of excitement and movement!

My mother-in-law made us all a plate of cookies and hot chocolate for our gift opening!

Bailey hoarding his two new toys:

We had a great long Christmas celebration in Maine and New Hampshire. We finally came back to our home in Beantown Wednesday night. We celebrated New Years Eve very quietly and relaxed, sitting around in our PJs all day watching movies and playing the Wii. We finally got dressed in time to go pick up Thai food for our dinner. Then good friends of ours stopped by right before midnight to celebrate the new year!

The first two photos are shots of Boston from our roofdeck at midnight:

The Beacon Hill friends celebrating 2010 with rose champagne at midnight on our COLD roofdeck!

The new year is bringing a new start to my health and to this blog! I'm almost 100% better! I think that by the time I go back to work on Monday I should be healthy! Thank God for this week off! It's given me a chance to sleep and relax which has helped me fight off my cold! Wow... that's a lot of exclamation points!

With the new year comes resolutions. Matt and I are going to sit down tomorrow to discuss our goals for the year and years to come. One resolution that I decided on a while ago is that this is going to be the year that I clean out all of the recipes that I've accrued over the years. I'm going to try a new recipe a day (in theory) from my collection. Those that Matt and I like will get put into a newly organized collection of recipes. Those that fail to meet our tasting standards will get put in the recycling bin.

In addition to my recipe resolution I have also decided to make a resolution for this blog. My blog goals:

1. I plan on blogging at least 5 days a week

2. I will include all of the recipes from my recipe challenge along with a critique of the meal

3. I am going to try to become a better writer. My writing skills are not as great as I would like. I've already signed up for a food writing course at the BCAE and, luckily, I have a great husband who is also going to help me out.

4. Improve my photography skills. I am currently lacking an eye for photos. I hope to improve this over the year!

To start the new year right I have included photos from dinner tonight. There isn't much in the house right now for groceries so I made a "shepherd pie" tonight with what we did have. I think it was pretty good considering I winged it without a recipe!

Matt and I also enjoyed an amazing bottle of wine that you can only get at the Stag's Leap vineyard in Napa. Thanks to Matt's sister and brother-in-law we received this amazing bottle as a Christmas gift. It was very smooth and delicious. It is a Rhone style blend with Syrah, Grenache, Mouvedre and Carignane. Matt and I usually aren't a fan of European wines because of it's dirty, organic flavors but because these grapes came from California I think it was a perfect balance! We got to enjoy European variety grapes with the only the flavors that we enjoy in a California wine! Thanks Carrie and Dave!

My Shepherds Pie Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Make mashed potatoes with 5 boiled potatoes blended with 3 tablespoons fat free greek yogurt, a 1/4 cup of skim milk, a tablespoon of unsalted butter and salt & pepper to taste.

Brown a pound of ground turkey. Add in a chopped onion and 3 gloves of chopped garlic. Cook for 4 minutes. Then add in about 3/4 cup of tomato sauce.

Put the browned meat into a casserole dish then top with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle mashed potatoes with about 1/2 cup of cheese (I used a combination of mild cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan). Sprinkle the top of the casserole with a little bit of paprika (just for color). Bake for 30 minutes.

Will serve 4.

Enjoy!

Okay I'm off to kick my husband's butt (I hope) at Tiger Wood's Wii Golf. Have a great night!

Disappearing Act...

Hey All!

Sorry I've disappeared. The vacation was great but ever since we got back I've been feeling like I'm on my death bed. My cough hasn't gone away (my ribs are bruised and hurt!) and I think I have a cold on top of it! I have had no energy to make food, eat food or remember to take photos. Also, believe it or not, I haven't even started my Christmas shopping yet! Yikes!

Real quick a summary of photos from the weekend before our trip. Dinner in the North End at Carmen. I had a glass of Italian white wine, salad and pumpkin and squash ravioli.

My friend had this delicious looking bowl of seafood. I'm going to have to try it the next time we go back!


Then there was our awesome vacation with our friends Julia and Chris! Of course I forgot to take pictures of most of our food but here is what I do have!

Breakfast at the airport


Our first drinks at the resort... Airborne... which apparently did nothing for me


First real drink at the pool, BBC


Day 1 buffet lunch on the resort


Day 2 first breakfast at the resort


Day 2 lunch, conch chowder yum!!


Day 2 lunch grilled mahi-mahi on a salad


Hummus appetizer at dinner


Scallop appetizer


Crab chowder


Matt's dessert, key lime pie


My dessert, grilled bananas with ice cream


This was the view from the gym. It made going to the gym more enjoyable. I actually went a couple of mornings before breakfast. Matt kicked my butt by going to the gym every day! Jerk! ;o)


Chris, Julia, Matt and me at the swim-up bar


Matt and I on the pier


All dressed up for our last dinner on the resort


Hope everyone is more prepared for the holidays than I am! I probably will return to the blog after Christmas. I haven't been going to the gym, trying to rest to get healthy again. I've now been sick for a month and it's so frustrating!

Happy Holidays!

Blogger MIA

The last week has been crazy! Between all the work that needs to be done before we leave for the Bahamas, still being sick, a crazy "after work" schedule and all the errands that need to be done for our trip I have only remembered to take food pictures occasionally and I have NOT found the time to write about anything!

Regarding my pre-vacation goals. I think I've failed at least one of the goals every day since last week. I haven't been able to sleep between the stress of life and my cough (which still isn't gone!). I have done pretty well with not drinking during the week, with one Corona light exception! Most of the days I have stayed within my allotted 1550 calories. However, the days that I have failed at this goal have been awful food days! (I haven't figured out how to plan for parties yet!) I have been able to succeed in drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day! However, all the water in the world doesn't make up for the lack of gym time. I haven't been going to the gym as much as I would like because I am still trying to get healthy again. I figured the gym depletes my energy which is counter-productive to beating this cough!

I can't wait for my work/life balance to return! Right now it's just end of the year push: work, work, work!

Hopefully the trip to the Bahamas will help me re-center so I can focus on this blog again. I have been missing my daily time with my food, pictures and computer!

I will be posting pictures when I return from my vacation next week. Until then...

Healthy Eating Articles

Good Morning!

I received an email with a link to a couple of good articles that I wanted to share. They're perfect for the holiday season cooking, baking and eating!

Cut the Fat in Baking
"Healthy" Cookies and Desserts
Baking with Sugar Alternatives
5 Easy Appetizers Under 250 Calories

Enjoy!

On the road again...

I'm hoping it's the road to recovery... today was my last day of medicine!

Let's rewind back to Monday. I woke up Monday morning and immediately realized I wasn't going to work. I think I accidentally made myself sick combining my antibiotics, a dose and a half of my narcotic cough medicine and two glasses of wine. Even though I drank the wine over four hours I woke up with what felt like the worst hangover ever! I went straight back to bed still half soapy and wet from my half shower that I managed to take. Matt was nice enough to put Bailey on the bed for cuddle time before he left for work. Little did he know that us lazy bones would be in bed until 1:30. I tried to get up before then but each time had to run back to bed!


I finally had breakfast (or brunch) at 2:00. I had a slice of whole wheat toast with some apple butter and peanut butter, a Yo Plus yogurt and a large glass of water to rehydrate.



A couple hours later I was still weak and tired but managed to eat a snack. More fluids, pomegranate white tea, and the last two sweet potato oatmeal raisin cookies.



We got our monthly delivery of coconut water today. Perfect timing! I needed to be all the fluids I could get into my body! Did you know that a cup of coconut water contains more potassium than a banana?! It's the best, natural drink for electrolytes and rehydration. Matt and I have recently gotten into a habit of drinking coconut water instead of a sports drink. Only downside is that they are pretty expensive!



Matt picked up a rotisserie chicken on his way home for dinner. I mashed up our last Boston Organic delicata squash with some yogurt spread, raisins and a little brown sugar and made a slice of whole wheat garlic bread. I've discovered the best way to make garlic bread is to cut a clove of garlic and rub it on a hot piece of bread. The oils from the garlic seep into the toast! I then put a little olive oil or yogurt spread on the toast and sprinkle it with Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt. Yum!



Shortly after dinner, I was starting to feel whole again, and decided I wanted a snack. More tea and a packet of SunBest Currant Raisin Biscuits.



To finish the night Matt made a big smoothie! I forgot to take a picture of my little cup of smoothie.


I was feeling bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, at least compared to yesterday! When I got into the office I made myself breakfast. Oatmeal with a little pumpkin spice, flax seed and raisins. I rinsed down my last antibiotic with a big bottle of water and my coffee.



I am back into my routine. You can tell by my lunch. I had my typical lunch wrap, salad with chicken and herb blue cheese mustard. A side of Kettle Salt & Vinegar Chips and a yogurt. I really love my routine even though my sandwich may get boring every now and then!



I forgot to take pictures of my afternoon snacks. I had a big honey crisp apple (my favorite) before the gym. I completed my lower body, shoulders and tricep strength training session today. After the gym I had a kiwi and a cheese stick which was surprisingly enough to hold me over until dinner.


For dinner tonight I made this recipe that I've been dying to try, Turkey with Dumplings. Instead of turkey I used the rest of the rotisserie chicken from last night. I also halved the recipe. It came out delicious. Matt thought the sweet potato biscuit was a great substitute for his favorite drop biscuits. I call that a win! It looked pretty and with all the color from the veggies you know it's healthy! One serving fills you up and it's only 280 calories!






I'm now enjoying another cup of the pomegranate white tea and I'm about to go do another hour of work before I head to bed.


Back to the Goal Checklist!
Go to the gym - √
Drink Water - √
No Alcohol - √
Get 7 hours of sleep - √
Consume no more than 1550 calories - √