I have known of The Pioneer Woman for quite some time now, but I heard her recipes involved a lot of ingredients and took a lot of time to cook, so I never actually went to her site.
I just saw this (which looks fantabulous) and decided to check out the recipe. I had no idea what I was missing! The Pioneer Woman is awesome! And while some of her recipes look like they will take a lot of effort to make, she has some great 16-minute meals, like Mini Meatball Sandwiches and Beef and Bean Burritos, and some of the other recipes look pretty manageable. I am also a big fan of making extra food and eating it for a few days (or freezing it, if I can).
Not to mention, The Pioneer Woman, who lives on a ranch in Oklahoma, is freakin’ hilarious. Like really funny. She was a high-heel wearing 9-5er living in California until…On a short visit to her hometown, she fell in love with her husband, who she calls the Marlboro Man. She has four kids, who she refers to as “punks,” is obsessed with her camera and apparently cooks up a storm.
I highly recommend you check out her site if you haven’t. If not for the recipes, for some inspiration and probably a good laugh.
I have been doing Weight Watchers since January 12th. I allow myself one cheat day a week, where I can eat and drink whatever I want. If I go out for happy hour or lunch during the week, I try not stay as close to my points allowance as possible. So far, so good. My pants are even starting to fit better!
The one thing about “dieting” that I like is that it forces me to be creative in the kitchen. Last night I made a frittata with Egg Beaters, egg whites, veggies and lowfat cheese. I made taco soup, which consists of ground turkey, beans, corn, tomatoes, chicken broth and taco seasoning. My new breakfast go-to is fat-free Greek yogurt with berries and some granola or some Fiber One cereal for crunch.
I have also found some new points-friendly snacks. And a tip for anyone who might be looking for some healthy snack foods - Target has THE BEST selection. Some of my new favorites include Quaker Rice Snacks Mini Delights in Cinnamon Streusel, Emerald 100 Calorie Almonds in Cocoa Roast/Dark Chocolate, an apple with Laughing Cow Original Light Swiss Cheese spread on it (Don’t knock it ‘til you rock it! Thanks, HungryGirl!) and Fiber One bars. And Stash decaf tea in Chocolate Hazelnut flavor (with some skim milk and Splenda) is an awesome way to satisfy my sweet tooth at night.
And the diet continues…
I had one of the best weekends I have had in a long time.
- Friday night - Went to the Gilda’s Club of North Texas Rock the Red Door event at The Loft. The Spazmatics played and they were awesome. I definitely need to catch them the next time they play. After the event, I went to the am/pm lounge with my friends Ashley and Makenzie. We were in the mood for a change of scenery from Uptown and trust me, downtown is definitely a change. We danced, probably a little too crazy, and had a really good time. We saw and attempted to take a picture (FAIL) with Mario Lopez! Who knew random celebrities hung out in downtown?!
- Saturday - Headed to Ikea, the Allen outlet mall and Home Goods with Ashley. We really made the rounds in the ‘burbs! I bought a shelf/pot rack for my kitchen and a muffin tin. After a long day of shopping, I headed back to the ‘burbs with Ashley to a Halloween party at her friends house and then we came back to Dallas to hit the Dervish Club Halloween party at Madison Ave. Saw some good costumes, which gave me the idea to be something more creative than a cat next year. I might attempt to come up with a way to be a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. Madison Ave. was packed and we left around midnight.
- Sunday - Grocery shopping. Six loads of laundry. Mopped the floors. Cleaned the bathrooms (cleaning 3 toilets sucks). Watched the Cowboys beat the Seahawks. Baked apple spice muffins. Got my car washed. Bought pre-sale tickets to see New Moon (shut up). Started re-reading New Moon (shut up again). Relaxed before another exhausting week of work.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
“It’s fun to cook for a crowd. But when Americans eat at home alone, many of us—the folks at Tasting Table included—tend to fall into the same bowl of cereal trap.
Judith Jones wants to free us from that trap. The esteemed author and editor of Julia Child, James Beard, Jacques Pépin (and many other culinary legends) says our cup-o-ramen is keeping us from a liberating chance to follow our whims and experiment without worrying about the results.
In The Pleasures of Cooking for One, Jones’s new cookbook, she shares solo cooking advice alongside elegant recipes tweaked to serve one.”
Must buy!
I made my own pizza with real dough (frozen, but real) tonight. Half margherita and half chicken sausage. It doesn’t look vert pretty, but it turned out delicious and I will definitely be making it again.
Since my grandma and I both live alone, she taught me a great trick.
Pour the liquid into an ice cube tray and then freeze. Pop out the cubes and put them in a freezer bag. Two cubes is about a 1/4 cup. Whenever you need some chicken broth or some spaghetti sauce, you have exactly the amount you need.
Here are some other useful ways to utilize your ice cube trays.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
I made cupcakes for my office! I never bake, so they will be very suprised tomorrow.
My goal of eating through the food I currently have in my apartment and only buying perishable items, has inspired me to be creative in the kitchen.
Tonight I made whole wheat pasta with pesto (I had a tube of pesto paste that you mix with equal parts olive oil that I bought at Sprouts a while back) and low fat ricotta cheese (from my recent attempt at a low fat, non-fried eggplant parmesan) with chicken.
I cooked the pasta and then tossed it in the pesto, stirred in some of the ricotta cheese with some leftover pasta water (thank you Food Network) and the chicken and topped it off with parmesan cheese.
And I even have leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
I have been thinking of starting a new blog lately. I am not sure what the topic will be, but I like to cook…and eat…and I do random things like clip coupons and bargain hunt. I am also single. I have a cat. And I grew up in New Jersey. I am an only child too.
I don’t really see a theme with those things, but I’ll keep thinking about it. It’s great to write down random thoughts and quotes and experiences and share photos, but it would be nice to write about something I am passionate about.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The other day I was browsing in Target, somewhere I usually go when I need random crap or feel like getting out of my apartment and have nowhere to go.
I was looking through the books section and found a display of cookbooks. I came across one called “Hungry Girl” and started flipping through it. There were some great new recipes that revamp the original recipes, like spinach artichoke dip and desserts, and make them healthy. Love it!
If you are a hungry girl, I recommend signing up for their daily e-mails. Today’s e-mail was an oatmeal cookie recipe. I smell some baking in the near future…
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
