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On a Roll May 5, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Dessert, Dinner, Food, Goals, Motivation, Weight Watchers.
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More good news at my weight-in today!!! I have officially lost  removed 45.6 pounds since joining Weight Watchers. As my leaders says, lost implies that I can find it again, and I certainly don’t want that!

As a reward, I bought salmon from Whole Foods for dinner tonight. I realize that rewarding myself with food isn’t what I am supposed to do… but as my reward is a healthy meal, I decided it would be alright. Just this once.

For my ‘congratulations to myself’ dinner, I decided to grill salmon and corn on the cob with a side of quinoa salad. For a very special treat, a strawberry daiquiri to complete the meal.

This was my first attempt at grilling… and it came out quite well, if I do say so myself! For the salmon, I just put a touch of butter, salt, and pepper. Simple is sometimes the best. The corn was a little more difficult. Mostly because I didn’t realize that it took 20 minutes of presoaking in water. Still turned out to be very tasty, though! The daiquiri was a particularly delicious addition to the evening. I didn’t quite have enough strawberries, so added in some frozen mixed berries. Absolutely delicious celebratory meal!

 

Summer Time, Summer Time May 3, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Dessert, Dinner, Family, Food.
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Nothing says summer like 80* days and grilling. Now, I might not be a huge fan of the heat, but I am certainly a fan of the fire.

Chris decided that tonight would be the perfect night to fire up the grill and make some of the ‘Omaha Steak’ burgers that my grandmother gave us for Christmas. They were perfectly cooked and positively delicious!

To go with the burger, Chris popped an orange bell pepper on the grill. I just love the grill marks! I brought home some Terra Blues as a treat… Chris loves them because they are the official snack of JetBlue! I also made a quinoa salad, which is absolutely delicious!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/2 sweet onion
  • 1 2/3 cup low sodium vegetable broth or water
  • 1 tsp salt (if you want)
  • 1 cup tomatoes
  • 1 1/4 cup corn
  • 2 scallions
  • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 avocado

Directions:

  1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add quinoa to onions and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for 3-4 minutes.  Add vegetable broth/water and stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt. Turn heat up to high and bring to a boil. Cover pan tightly with lid, turn heat down to low and simmer for 17-20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is cooked. Transfer cooked quinoa to mixing bowl and chill in refrigerator.
  3. When quinoa is cool, add remaining tablespoon olive oil, tomatoes, corn, scallions, cilantro, remaining 1/2 tsp salt, and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Right before serving, scatter avocado chunks over top.
  4. Enjoy!

The salad is so delicious and cool. The lime juice gives it a nice freshness. I can definitely see having this in the middle of summer. Absolutely fantastic.

For dessert, I had strawberries dipper in Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter… heavenly!!!

Talk about a summertime treat!

 

Channeling My Inner Domestic Goddess February 5, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Baking, Craving, Dessert, Food.
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Friday was a snowday! A much needed day off from work, indeed. Boulder was covered in a cozy blanket of the purest snow I have ever seen in Colorado. Twenty-four inches in all!

What to do with a day off?

1. Take Oliver on numerous walks… well I struggle to call them walks. More like slogs, or expeditions. Oliver enjoyed himself greatly, bounding through the drifts of snow and munching on every flake that came his way.

2. Channel my inner domestic goddess. I opened up The Joy of Cooking, and perused the recipes until I came upon one for baguettes. I had all of the ingredients: yeast, flour, salt, and water.  It is not a recipe for the faint of heart, or the short on time. Only to be used if you are in it for the long haul!

3. While the bread is rising (the first and second times) start baking cupcakes for the Superbowl! Again, I looked to The Joy of Cooking for inspiration. In it I found a recipe for four egg yellow cake, which I decided would be perfect for a non-chocolate loving nephew. I don’t usually make cakes from scratch, but this was relatively easy, didn’t have that many ingredients, and above all I had time.

An incredibly fluffy, moist cake with a sweet butter cream frosting. Of course, they had to be decorated to support the team… Go Giants!

I made the butter cream swirls and Chris added on the blue lettering. A big hit for the big game. Of course, they tasted all the sweeter when our team won!

Scotland in my Soul January 28, 2012

Posted by cirellih in Craving, Dessert, Family, Food, Friends, Lunch.
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Today was a delightfully quiet, cozy kind of a day. The sky was grey, and for those of you not living in Colorado, please understand this is a rarity. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the sun, it makes playing outside easy when you know you can count on the weather. Sometimes, my soul craves grey days. It must be the east-coaster in me.

So today was one of those days that revives me. A little overcast. A little grey. Mostly perfect. On these kind of days all I want to do is read, sip some tea, and dream of Scotland.

For those of you who don’t know, I spent my junior year in college in Edinburgh, Scotland. Certainly some of my favorite memories took place there. Chris proposed while I lived there, my family visited for Christmas which involved fire-light parades, I made some wonderful friends who enjoyed a good frolic through moors, on top of hills, in glens and in the sea. I have come to the realization that I left a little bit of my soul there. On grey days, I close my eyes, imagine the salty sea air brushing against my face, hair whipping in the wind and Scotland running through my veins.

As a poor substitute for being in my dream-land, I made one of my favorite meals: Tuna fish on a baked potato.

In Edinburgh, there were lots of bake potato shops, where you could get a myriad of toppings on a steaming hot baked potato. I loved being able to get an extremely filling meal, that wasn’t deep fried, for relatively little money. The tuna salad topping was my favorite. Absolutely delish.

To complement my meal, I simply had to add a side of black tea with a splash of milk. And of course, a Tunnock’s Tea Cake for desert.

If you have never had a tea cake, I would advise you to go and find one now. It’s a bit like a s’more. Marshmallow filling on a biscuit covered in chocolate. Besides, it’s like unwrapping a present every time you eat one… and who doesn’t like getting presents??

For now, tuna baked potato with tea and cakes will have to do to satisfy my urge to go to Scotland. Just for now.

Like Buddah September 25, 2011

Posted by cirellih in Dessert, Dinner, Food, Friends.
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We have had a very productive weekend. Yesterday, Jolly and I had a baking party! Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but I assure you, there were lots of delicious treats. Jolly ended up making peanut butter oreo cheesecakes. They were definitely decadent treats! I made pumpkin spice cookies, which were cakey and moist… delish!

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp allspice
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree (plain)
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup dark molasses
  • 1 cup golden raisins

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350*.
  2. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg in a large bowl.
  3. Mix pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, oil, and molasses in a separate bowl until combined.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients and raisins into the dry ingredients, making sure that none of the dry ingredients remain.
  5. Drop tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet 1.5 inches apart.
  6. Bake the cookies until they are firm to the touch and lightly golden on the top, about 10-12 minutes. Place them on a wire rack and let cool.

I’m going to bring these to work tomorrow, and I bet they’ll go fast!

After a long day of cleaning, shredding, and vacuuming, Chris and I decided to cook up the filet mignons that my grandmother sent to us. Let me tell you, we were excited to see these lovelies in the mail!

Chris put a little bit of Worcestershire sauce and stir fry sauce  on the filet, and grilled them to perfection. Really, he can cook a mean steak.

Add a dollop of cheddar mashed potatoes and a side of green beans, and you’ve got yourself a dinner!