Chicken and Sausage Stew to Warm You Up

Even though we've had a very mild winter, there are still very chilly evenings that remind us what season it really is.  So, a comforting stew that can be thrown together pretty easily on a weeknight when you don't have to head out can be a very good thing.

This month's issue of Cooking Light called to me... to be honest, it hasn't in awhile.  I would flag a couple of recipes, but never go back and add them to my list to actually make them.  I don't know why, but the recipes had lost their appeal the last few months.  This month, the focus in the issue is on comfort classics and many are updated and lightened up.  I can get into that idea.

There was an entire article, with recipes, on how to use a jar of tomato sauce and add some key ingredients to make it something extra special.  While I wasn't overly excited about some of the recipes in that article... the Chicken and Sausage Stew spoke to me.

Baked Red Snapper with Herbed Butter

One of my goals this year was to make sure we are eating fish once a week.  Most week's I am definitely making this happen, which I feel really good about because those meals always seem lighter and healthier for some reason.

 

I've also been trying to expand beyond tilapia and cod as my mainstays when it comes to making fish.  The other night, I made red snapper for the first time.  It's another mild fish, but with nice reddish color to the flesh before it's cooked.

 

 

In my search for healthy weeknight meals, I decided it was time to pull out a cookbook that hasn't been shown enough love... Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast.  I've had it for awhile and have a number of pages flagged to go back to and make at some point.  I'm so glad I revisited this cookbook for this dish!

Product Review: The Better Chip

I've been eating a lot of sandwiches for lunch lately.  Why?  Because it's easy to make during a very rushed morning and I can easily determine the calories I'm putting in my lunchbox.  While I am enjoying my sandwich each day, I often wish I brought something crunchy and salty along.  Sometimes I remember my cut up veggies and dip... and sometimes I break down and bring a small bag of whatever chips we happen to have at home.

So, when I was asked if I'd like to receive a sample of chips from The Better Chip, I was very interested.  I checked their website and loved that they are all natural and real ingredients are right inside the chips! 

The flavors are so intense when you bite into these chips!  You could enjoy the whole bag, but if intense flavor satisifies you (like it does me), you could save the rest for lunch the next day! 

Time to Read: The Hunger Games

After hearing so much about The Hunger Games, I finally decided it was time to see what all the fuss was about. 

As the story begins, you find out that the world as we know it... or really the United States as we know it, no longer exists.  Things have seriously changed and not in a good way.

People are living in 12 Districts and are kept under control by a government in the Capitol that doesn't want to lose that control. 

A 10th Birthday and Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Time keeps rolling by me at a break-neck pace!  10 years ago, I was getting used to having a sweet little baby boy.  This week, I have a 10 year old who seems to be getting taller by the moment!  I'm not that tall to begin with and the fact that he is up to my chin... well, it kinda freaks me out when I think about it for too long.

That being said, I have enjoyed watching him get so excited about this birthday.  He's been counting down to it for months.  He planned who will be invited for his movie/sleepover party (still to come this weekend) and what kind of cake he wanted. 

Now the cake is interesting... because he was looking over my shoulder when I was browsing my "food I want/need to make" board on Pinterest.  This brownie ice cream cake appealed to him right away.  I was happy to oblige because it was easy enough and I thought I could manage to decorate it close to what the photo looked like.

Time to Read: Review of The Good Daughters

Since receiving my Kindle Touch, I've been enjoying reading so much more lately!  I have been able to use the library downloads to receive books in addition to my purchases.  Soon, I'll have my cover for it so I can take it places with me to read while waiting in line or for My Boys to finish up a practice or something.

As a result of all this reading, I am going to be sharing my thoughts on books that I've read.  Some may be glowing reviews, others may be a bit lackluster... all are my opinions and while I may enjoy (or dislike) a book, it's entirely possible it may not be something you will like (or you may love)... regardless, I hope you enjoy these posts as I make my way back into the world of reading novels!

For this first Time to Read post, I'd like to tell you a bit about The Good Daughters: A Novel by Joyce Maynard.  This is the first novel I've read by this author so, I can't compare it to others that have received very good reviews.  I may have to add her book, Labor Day: A Novel to my reading list after seeing some fabulous reviews of that one.

This book is told from the viewpoint of two girls who were born on the same day, in the same hospital in a small farming town in New Hampshire.  From early on in the story, I suspected that there was more to the relationship of these two families than was shared in the beginning.

Product Review: Eggies

Have you ever been in your local Target or Wal-Mart or some other discount store and stumbled across one of those "As Seen on TV" products?  I've seen them tons of times, and on occasion I give in to the urge and buy the product... sometimes with great results... and others, well... they get packaged back up and returned.

 

Last weekend, we were at Target doing a bit of kid-free shopping and as we meandered through the kitchen goodies area I saw a product I had heard about - Eggies.

 

 

Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies (A Pinterest Find!)

I've been spending a fair amount of my evening "downtime" on Pinterest lately.  At first, I didn't get it... as many people I've talked to have also said at first.  Once you start pinning things you like and following other people, it's fun to see what else you can find. 

To kind of justify my pinning... I thought it was time to actually make something from my new on-line collection of recipes.  I found a recipe from The Farmgirl Recipes that fit the bill... Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Cookies.

I chose these cookies because I had all the ingredients AND My Oldest was having a play date at our house last weekend... which, usually means I'm baking cookies or something fun for them to enjoy. 

Chewy Brownie Cookies

I've been thinking about making a change around here... not a big one, but one you may notice if you check the header up above.  It's official, my little blog is now a ".com" address!  I decided to change the name a bit for many reasons, but I kinda like that it's a shorter name to remember and it's a bit different.  Please take a moment to update your bookmarks - I think the subscriptions should still work fine, but please let me know if they aren't - RSS or email - as I will have to figure out what else I need to update.

 

Now, for something sweet to start off the week!  Last weekend, My Boys had friends over for play dates and I got the urge to make cookies.  Nothing new there, right?  I pulled out an old mini cookbook - Crisco Cookies for a Year of Celebrations.  I've had this one forever, and pull it out every once in awhile.

 

I decided that I liked the sound of Chewy Brownie Cookies... and luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand.

 

 

Review: The Carb Lovers Diet Cookbook (Recipe: Oatmeal-Cranberry Muffins)

I have read tons of books on various types of diets and how to lose weight.  When I initially received an email asking if I'd like more information on the Carb Lovers Diet Cookbook, I did hesitate because I just didn't know if I need to add to my already huge collection of cookbooks and diets.  Once I did a little checking, I could see that it wasn't going to be a free-for-all-eat-all-the-carbs-you-want-diet.  I was also intrigued because I saw that this wasn't one of those diets that suggests you completely eliminate an entire food group.  I just can't get my head around those diets because they work for awhile and then you go back to the "old ways" because you crave the foods you gave up.

I am not going to review the merits of the diet or the meal plans that are provided in this book, since I have not followed them myself.  If you are interested in following the plan, the book does provide a Kick-Start meal plan (1200 calories per day) that lasts for 1 week, which is then followed by a 21 day meal plan (1600 calories per day) to help you continue losing. 

My review is really about the recipes and this cookbook has 150 healthy, balanced recipes to choose from as you work towards improving your diet.  I'm very interested in any book that promotes whole grains, fresh produce and lean proteins.  From everything I have seen over the years, these are the elements necessary to embarking on healthy eating.  Portion control is also key, and necessary even with these recipes.

 The Carb Lovers Diet Cookbook is filled with fabulous photos that will make your mouth water.  The theory behind this cookbook is not that you can go crazy filling up on carbohydrates, but rather that if you choose your carbs wisely you can still enjoy them as part of a healthy lifestyle.

Eat. Live. Be. (Routines are Good)

I never would have thought I'd be a morning person.  And, I am still not a jump-out-of-bed-with-a-smile-on-my-face morning person. 

But, I have noticed in the few weeks I've been getting up super early to hit the treadmill with a vengence, that I am now waking up before my alarm goes off.  Something to be said about training yourself to wake up.

That's not to say that I don't have a moment or two where I actually have to think about why I am awake and whether the nice warm bed is the place I should stay.  My motivation has been much higher this time around... and when I saw this statement, it totally fits with my current approach to starting off the day on a healthy/fit note:

Hearty Vegetable Soup

I'm a pretty lucky woman because My Husband not only enjoys looking for new recipes for us to try, but also enjoys cooking up some really good food for us, too!

Last week, he found a few recipes for soup that sounded good.  Since I had to take the boys out to do a few things, he went to the grocery store and picked up everything needed to make the soup.  The soup started out as a recipe for pasta fagioli, but ended up morphing into more of a really thick and hearty vegetable soup. 

Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. (Feeling Good & Recipe for Roasted Carrots & Parsips)

Eat. Live. Be. Reboot. day is here again.  This week though is already a much different story than last week was... you know the one where I was so stuffy and miserable I couldn't get a single workout in last week.

 

This week, I am going to be celebrating each little success because I found this cute little reminder over on Pinterest!

 

Whether that success is getting up at 5:15 in the morning to do 40 minutes on the treadmill... or that I made it to the gym for a 2nd workout (for weights and strength) on my lunch break, or that I walked away from the candy machine... even though chocolate was REALLY calling my name, I am going to celebrate it and keep my positive momentum going!   And so, far this week I can say the workouts are happening (and I am really happy about that) and I'm working on resisting those sweet cravings.

  

Total Comfort Food: Red-Wine Braised Short Ribs

There are times when I get something in my head that I want to make and I keep thinking about it until I actually make it.  This was one of those times.

When we went to Las Vegas in 2010 with our friends and ate dinner at Fleur de Lys, my friend ordered the most amazing wine braised short ribs ever.  I had a taste and it simply melted in my mouth.  I have been thinking about them ever since.  She has since made them a few times and each time she has mentioned it, my mouth waters at the thought.

Eat. Live. Be. - Sidelined...

After my last Eat. Live. Be. post, I was feeling pretty good about how things were going.  Then, Saturday arrived and I had a ridiculously early hair appointment which caused me to skip the AM workout.  I went along my merry way, doing a few errands and finding some time to do some reading.  But, by that afternoon, I began to notice a slight sore throat.

Fast forward to Monday, my throat was continuing to give me grief but I went to the gym and did a light workout.  I didn't want to start my week off without getting it in after the previous week.  Needless to say, by that night I wasn't sleeping well and woke up with a stuffy nose and all the fun that comes with that.

Now, it's Thursday and I can only say I've worked out once this week.  My body has been so worn out that I just can't stay awake past 9:30 each night... so, I'm listening and obeying.  This afternoon, I started to feel the energy coming back.  My fingers are crossed that I can manage my gym workout tomorrow and perhaps get my longer treadmill workouts back on the weekend.  Please let this cold leave me as I'm really tired of it at this point!