Happy Thanksgiving!
I am in the process of making my first Thanksgiving Dinner today! So far, so good. Every year since I have gotten married, either my family goes to my Mom’s house and she cooks, or we go to my husbands side of the family. This …
Author: Jenn
Enchilada Crockpot Casserole
When I got home from work last night, I made a totally deluxe dinner of a huge stir fry with lots of veggies and homemade won-tons which my sister had made the other day which inspired me. It took me like 1 1/2 hours to …
Asian Lettuce Wraps
If you ever get a chance to go to P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, get the Asian Lettuce Wraps! They are phenomenal. The architecture firm I work at does the architecture/interior design for all the P.F. Chang’s around the country, and I’ve gotten to go there …
Muffin of the Week – Pumpkin Date Muffins
Its been a while since I made muffins, so I thought this would be a great way to start out the week. I love pumpkin and especially around Thanksgiving, its such a great thing to add to so many holiday dishes. I am going to …
Some new ideas
Thanks to my brother Charlie (www.backtothefridge.com) who posted on Megan’s site today (www.megansmunchies.blogspot.com) he made a recipe our Dad made growing up (Pumpkin chocolate chip bread) and used a new tool to figure out the calories that I never used before. It’s a recipe analysis where you can put …
Pistachio crusted chicken with creamy red pepper sauce
This is another favorite item I was talking about yesterday from Cucina Paradiso, a restaurant by my office. It may sound weird, but the combo of the crust and the dipping sauce is outstanding. This is my first attempt at making it. I am just …
Rustic salad
There is a restaurant by my office called Cucina Paradiso and they make the BEST salad ever called the Rustic Salad. I could eat plates of it and never get tired of it, and I could also drink the balsamic vinaigrette that comes with it, I love …
Seared chicken breast stuffed with spinach and basil
A long time ago, when my sister and I first started trying to eat healthier, we tried all sorts of products when they were new, but not necessarily in the stores. We had to order things by the case online like Kashi cereals, Krusteaz high …
Creamy Red Pepper Sauce served with linguine and shrimp!
OK, so I stole this recipe from my sister. She entered a cooking contest and used this sauce as its base. As she was describing it, I thought to myself, I always make spaghetti sauce, but no other kind of sauce to go with pasta (besides pesto). So, …
Potato-Asparagus Soup
A few weeks ago, when I went out to lunch with Roni from www.ronisweigh.com my sister got cream of asparagus soup. She made me try it, and it wasn’t that bad! I am about to return all my Vegan books to the library since I finished my …
It's my daughter Claire's 7th birthday today!
Here are pics from over the years. The one at the top was when she was about 14 months old. The second one is when she was two. The third picture is Mark, Claire and Paul overlooking Lake Michigan from the Children’s museum at Navy …
Rosemary-Mustard Chicken
This recipe serves 2, however it can be easily doubled or tripled. I got this recipe from Fitness Magazine.Here is what you will need: 2 (4) oz. boneless, skinless chicken breasts 1/2 cup white wine 1 TB. fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp. dried rosemary 2 …
Winter vegetable bisque
The best part about the weather turning gross, is hot soups! You can easily make this in a crock pot all day, or it doesn’t even take long to make when you get home from work. Here’s what you will need: 1 TB. olive oil …
Thanksgiving tips!
If you haven’t seen this commercial, I almost pee in my pants every time I see it because I am laughing so hard! Of course, I knew it had to be on you tube! But seriously, Thanksgiving is only a few weeks away, and over …
Lunch with Roni!
I had the pleasure today of having lunch with Roni from www.ronisweigh.com and www.greenlitebites. She could not have been nicer! We met at Water Tower Place at Mity Nice Grill. It was me, my sister, my niece and two other fantastic women, so I was glad it was …
Vegetable spring rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce
Usually when my Mom, sister and I get together and meet to go to a movie, we will eat lunch first at Big Bowl. I love the spring rolls, the dipping sauces, the tempura green beans. I saw this recipe in a cook book called …
Cutting food costs
I love when I get ideas sent to me about what to post! Earlier in the fall I was contacted by a representative for the Florida Department of Citrus about the benefits of Vitamin C, and keeping healthy during the cold and flu season. Recently, …
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with toasted garlic
I am doing my research paper for my Nutrition class on Veganism and what kinds of foods you can eat. I am not interested in being Vegan per se, but as for the ingenuity of baking in an alternative way, I am intrigued by all …
Toffee Bit Milk Shakes
I love this recipe because it is so quick, plus you can mix and match depending on what you like.You need: 1 pint low-fat vanilla ice cream 1/4 cup low fat milk (I use fat free) 1/2 cup toffee bits (you can buy these by …
Busy Saturday!
I’ve had a super busy day so far. My daughter and I ran errands this morning, got home, made lunch, dropped her off at a birthday party. While she is there, the rest of the family is getting ready to go to a family party …
Happy Halloween – Butterfinger eye balls!
Happy Halloween! It’s a beautiful day in the Chicagoland area, its going to reach the mid 60’s which is kind of unheard of on Halloween. Usually its windy, cold, maybe snow, freezing rain etc… so trick or treating is going to be great tonight. I …
I had my first cup of coffee today! + Pumpkin pecan waffles
First of all, I have to start out by saying I had my first cup of coffee today! I know, its weird to be 40 and to not have had a cup of coffee. I have tried it over the years, but I would take a sip, …
Marinated flank steak
Before I post the recipe, I have a funny story to tell. I was making dinner last night, and I called my twin sister to talk about our day. She asked me what I was having for dinner, I said “spaghetti and meatballs” and she …
Southwestern Egg Scramble + other ideas
Frequently for me, my biggest meal of the day is breakfast. I love a big breakfast. And even though I have a very hectic morning, I try to plan ahead for the next morning. Like last night, I knew I wanted to make scrambled eggs and have …
Penne pasta with asparagus and pine nuts
For some reason I have been thinking about pine nuts, and wanted to make something that included them. I normally don’t buy pine nuts, but saw them at the grocery store and thought sure I would find a recipe that would include them. I did …