Harvest Subscription

Cory and I are so excited about one of our most recent purchases: a Harvest Share Subscription from the Cobblestone Project.

What you do: pay $500 for 22 weeks of fresh produce/flowers/eggs starting in April and lasting through early October. The great thing about this purchase is that $250 goes as a tax-deductible donation to be given to a local charity in need and the remaining $250 goes towards your own purchase. Each week you pick up a lug (or a large plastic container) from either the Bentonville or Fayetteville Farmers Markets. I can't wait to see what each season of the Harvest holds! You can also volunteer to help at the farm, Cory and I are going for the first time March 10.

Here is a link that will tell you more about it: Harvest Share.

Yummy Sunday Filet Mignon Dinner

Tonight we made Filet Mignon with Truffled Mushroom Ragoût and a side of Asparagus with Balsamic Tomatoes and it was DELICIOUS! We even bought the filet mignon cut of meat from the Walmart USDA Choice selection for only $4.60 and we thought it was prepared as good as any steak you would order at Ruth's Chris.

The flavor of the mushrooms coupled with the pan-cooked steak was very robust and served with a very smooth cabernet saugvinon (link). Tonight's cab was by Toasted Head and we would definitely purchase this again.

The asparagus not only tasted good but it was simple to prepare (about 5 minutes; here is the link)!

Lemon Basil Shrimp and Pasta

We tried this recipe last night. It is rated a solid 3 stars due to the ease of which it can be made and the freshness it's taste connotes. 


Here is my review from myrecipes.com:
This recipe is very quick and easy to make. The only changes we would have made is to add more lemon juice and more fresh basil. My husband also topped his with cracked pepper and grated Parmesan which enhanced the flavor more. This is a great weeknight dish.


For presentation, I used my Vietri pasta bowls and fanned the rounded leaves of the spinach outwards to create a frame for the pasta. 

Surprise for Cory, from Rick's Bakery

My co-worker Rochelle and I made it to to Fayetteville today to visit a few bakeries. Of course, we visited Fayetteville's Rick's Bakery. They always have wonderful cake designs but the prices are absolutely outrageous.

Still, I always have to bring back a surprise treat or two. Here is a photo of their always sickeningly sweet but delicious petit fours and a glazed sugar cookie with the word Foxxy. What a perfect cookie to get for a man named Fox!

Creating our Signature Recipes

Cory and I are on a quest to create and name our list of signature dessert recipes. The idea being that if I were to ever sell my baked goods, I have a signature line of staples in the arsenal. With it being so cold outside, there are limited things to do in AR, which means we have to get creative!

We have our "Cooking Music" play list going on our iPod and ready to have some fun baking cookies!

Tonight on the agenda: oatmeal butterscotch cookies, ultimate chocolate chip cookies (we are adding white chocolate chips also) and soft sugar cookies.

Tomorrow, we are planning to venture into the world of making fun, colorful confetti cookies as inspired by Momofuku's Milk Bar. More to come and Happy Friday!

We Won with Chicken n' Waffles!

Cory and I won the Super Bowl Appetizer Throw-down tonight with our from scratch made Chicken & Waffles. Our hosts and other attendees of the party were mainly from the NE, so we thought it important to have some dishes to represent the South. We served bite size appetizer chicken and waffles with Vermont Maple Syrup with shots of sweet tea; we also prepared a full size and individual chocolate chess pies. Here are photos and links to the recipes, enjoy!

Mini Chicken n' Waffles - these chicken bites must be refrigerated in buttermilk, minced thyme, hot sauce, salt and pepper - this gave a delicious twist to each bite. 

Waffles Recipe - these waffles were fluffy, light and flavorful. The trick is, you fold in whipped egg whites at the end before putting on the griddle. We actually bought a $9.98 waffle iron at Walmart and it worked great.

Chocolate Chess Pie - this was my first time to make this type of pie with unsweetened bakers chocolate instead of cocoa. These pies were decadently delicious. We also made sweetened whipped cream.

Hubby Made His Own Lunch!

Cory and I are headed to a Super Bowl appetizer showdown party tonight and we are planning on winning! More to come on what we made, photos, results, etc., later tonight!

While I was baking our dessert for the competition, Cory was hungry and he started whipping up a new recipe: Kofte, which are Turkish meatballs. You can use either ground beef or ground lamb. He chose beef for this occasion but said the flavors would work great with lamb. Due to making the full recipe, there are some meatballs leftover which could go great over pasta with a light tomato sauce.

Here is the link to the recipe (Kofte) and the photo above is his final presentation, great job honey!

Recent Movie Reviews

My husband and I joined our dear friends at our local Crabby's restaurant for dinner. Cory had blacked red snapper with asparagus and mashed potatoes which he said were delish. I had soup and Pellegrino Bulgari edition, in a champagne glass of course.

Later at their house, we had game night. First we played SceneIt, at which Cory surprisingly cleaned up! Next, we played Scrabble Slam and let me tell you, this is not your traditional Scrabble where you want to fall asleep. This game is fun, quick thinking and did I mention fun? I also won 4 out of 4 games but I won't admit it was due to the fact that I was the only one without alcohol during the night.

Anyway, I wanted to write about some recent movies we have seen to encourage you to see some and discourage you from others.

1. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol - Awesome and everything a great action movie should be: incredible action scenes, attractive cast and the bonus: a decent plot! Tom Cruise was definitely back in fine form - my husband even said "Aside from the Scientology stuff, he seems like a pretty nice guy." This will be a great blu ray for the home theater.

2. The Eagle - if you like historic war movies set in England with plenty of gore, this is for you. It's definitely a B-grade movie but for a $1.50 red box rental, why not? Plus, Channing Tatum is cute.

3. Drive - I kept reading reviews that this was a standout movie of the year and Ryan Gosling was at his best. Somewhere in those comments, they forgot to mention that it was also a gory blood bath. The title should have been: Blood Bath, LA, No Driving. There really were zero driving scenes. Boo.

4. Ides of March - Although George Clooney gets kudos for his directorial debut, I mean come on, pick up the pace! This movie was slow, it's key redeeming factor was the great actors. Again, for a $1.50 red box, not the worst mistake ever.

5. Contagion - We are currently watching this now and it's pretty decent. I recommend watching it if you like some suspense, great actors and a compelling story that touches the world and your neighbors.

Spinach, Chicken and Feta Salad

Our first healthy, high protein meal came from cooking light (recipe). It looked beautiful and according to Cory, was delicious!

Photo of cooking the red onions with the chicken. If your chicken breast is thick, I recommend butterflying it. If you are unfamiliar with how to butterfly a chicken breast, check out this video (link).

Here is the final dish, we served it in a shallow pasta bowl from Vietri, my fav.

Notes on Protein and Healthy Eating

Although I am on a restrictive, medical diet, I have continued to cook for my husband. This is in an effort to set myself up for success after the weight loss portion ends. During our core education classes, the dr. focused a lot on what a true balanced diet is. He noted the importance of lean protein, keeping full in between meals and going longer between meals without becoming hungry.

Some of the top notes are as follows:
1. We should consume at least 30% of protein in our daily diet
2. Key sources of protein (see additional notes on all of these topics below):
a) any beef with the term loin in it
b) fish: specifically salmon (line caught in the Pacific Northwest or in the Atlantic, just be cautious of fish with high mercury)
c) chicken
d) beans and whole grains, in moderation

We dove deeper into these topics, and I found the information enlightening.

Regarding beef, it does get a bad wrap currently but the reason being: cows are being raised against how God intended in nature. Most farms are raising cattle for slaughter in a barn, eating corn and standing in their own poo. God intended the cattle to be grass fed. In addition to being raised in a more healthy environment, these grass fed cattle are also a more lean cut of beef.

The same concept goes for chicken. Most chicken farms are raising chickens with so many antiobiotics that they are so big, their legs can't hold them up and they break before they are killed. This is not how chickens should be prepared as a food source.

I also learned more about the fish industry. For one, tilapia is a bottom feeding fish and farm raised tilapia is fed corn/food and it's awful. As listed above, the highest recommended fish was salmon. The doctor also said although shellfish is higher in cholesterol, in smaller doses, it is fine.

I'll continue to share as I learn more.

Searching for Healthy, High Protein Recipes

Hello!
I can't believe how long I've gone without writing, but such is life!

Anyway, my husband and I have started really watching what we are eating so that we can have the healthiest bodies and lives possible. I even took the steps to start a medical weight loss program (check it out: New Directions) and I'm in week 3! While it's been very difficult to abstain from eating (and drinking alcohol too), I'm already down 10 lbs in two weeks. I truly can't wait for the final results (timeline should be 3 1/2 or so months).

This program was a great fit for me because it's so black and white - either you are following the plan or you're not. Additionally, it truly resets your mentality about food to set you up for a healthy life, not just for yourself but your husband and (future) family. You also achieve results quickly, but in a healthy manner, which helps if you are ADD during diet programs like I am.

While in the reducing phase, they encourage you to start learning new habits to prepare you for your post-weight loss, maintenance phase. This life change will definitely influence the topics of my future posts. I will continue to feature food but enhance the focus on finding healthy but filling meals. I also want to highlight great activities that don't include food (which if you Google, is very hard to find), being more active (bicycling, walking the dogs, etc.) and of course, having fun in life!