Veg Sushi and Miso

Today wasn't as productive as I'd hoped, we did get some cleaning done but got side tracked running errands. We stopped at Whole Foods- I could spend all day there, everything smells and looks so good :) While we were there we picked up some tofu avocado "sushi" for dinner and miso soup mix. I'm a little disappointed with the miso we got this one is low sodium, and tastes kind of bland :-/. The sushi was great though as always :)

Pizza and Gelato

Tonight's dinner consisted of mini whole grain pita pizzas. I poured extra virgin olive oil on the pita, added a slice of tomato, some sliced kalamata olives, diced marinated artichoke hearts, chopped chicken breast, sun dried tomato basil feta cheese and some fresh mozzarella. They were baked at 350 just long enough to melt the cheese. For dessert we had banana chocolate swirl gelato. I love the talenti brand gelatos, they're so rich and flavorful, the also make fantastic sorbets, the blood orange one is my fav ;).

Chicken, cucumbers and peppers

Tonight's dinner was pan fried chicken, that I first glazed in honey mustard before coating in breadcrumbs, leftover cucumber salad from last night, and peppers that I found at Walmart- cute, colorful baby bell peppers- that I halved, removed the stem, diced capers and put them in the halves, then used a melon baller to ball out chunks of fresh mozzarella which were pressed into the peppers on top of the capers. I put these guys in a jar covered in olive oil and added basil, oregano and parsley.. Soooo yummy ;)

Cucumber Salad and Potato Leek Soup

Tonight's dinner was out of Jamie's Food Revolution cook book. The cucumber salad was just peeled and diced cucumber, chopped bacon and a homemade dill-yogurt dressing (plain yogurt, dried dill and a little salt). It's really simple but tasty :). The potato leek soup requires the following ingredients:
(serves 6-8, I cut the recipe in half for us)
-2 carrots
-2 celery stalks
-2 medium onions
-1 lb leeks
-2 cloves garlic
-1 3/4 qts chicken or vegetable broth, preferably organic (buying low sodium is always important too)
-1 lb potatoes
-olive oil
-sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions:
Peel and roughly slice the carrots. Slice the celery. Peel and roughly chop onions. Cut the ends off the leeks, quarter them lengthways, wash them under running water and cut into 3/4 inch slices. Peel and slice the garlic. Put the broth in a saucepan and heat until boiling. Place all your chopped ingredients into a saucepan on high heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add all of your chopped and sliced ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon. Cook around 10-15 minutes with the lid askew until the carrots are softened but still hold their shape, and the onion and leeks are lightly golden. Peel the potatoes and cut them into 1/4 inch dice. Add the boiling broth to the vegetables. Add your potatoes. Give the soup a good stir and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes with the lid on.
Serving:
Remove the pan from the heat and season with salt and pepper. Serve as is or pulse with an emersion blender until smooth. Divide between serving bowls. I added fresh grated mozzarella to the top of my soup for a little extra flavor :)

Christmas Pics and Peanut Chicken

Today I took some pictures for our Christmas cards, and I can't help but giggle at her toothless smile :). There's still snow on the ground, but it was a little warmer today (almost 50*) so we had the snow for the pics without bundling up all Christmas Story like ;). After wrapping gifts and mailing gifts we both took an afternoon nap which was awesome. Dinner consisted of peanut chicken over brown rice, (which came out yummy) then we watched Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer :). Now E's in bed and I'm all snuggled up with some lemon ginger tea :).

Barbecue Chicken

For dinner last night I just boiled some chicken breast and then shredded it to make bbq chicken sandwiches. I used my favorite bbq sauce, The Ribhouse bbq sauce. All natural, no high fructose corn syrup and great flavor. Our grocery store used to carry it in mild,med and hot but seems to only carry the mild and medium anymore so I went with the medium, which is still good and not too spicy for E. We also had some really good biscuits I made I class yesterday ;)

Sunset Runs and Pizza

Esther had a last minute birthday party tonight after guitar practice so I had time to get a late afternoon run in before dark. Dinner was really lazy tonight, California Pizza Kitchen frozen pizzas (the white one with spinach and the uncured pepperoni) but both were really good :). Off to write recipes for class tomorrow and maybe read a little before hitting the hay :)