The "Need to Button My Pants" Diet

So the past few weeks I have totally given up on my healthy eating habits. You can see that I haven't posted much in terms of recipes, mostly because I've been too lazy to cook. I have seriously eaten either Taco Bell (Nachos Bell Grande... with extra jalapenos) or Wendy's (Spicy Chicken Nuggets with Cheese & Bacon Baked Potato) almost every day for lunch. As a result I have not been able to button a single pair of jeans since in almost 2 weeks. While I was home I went out to dinner and had to unbutton my pants after I sat down and then sneakily button them again before I got up. Sad I know. So in order to rectify this problem I have decided to go on the "need to button at least one pair of jeans by the end of the week" diet. I have come up with a list of healthy meals (including lots of salad, fish and chicken) and just went grocery shopping this morning to buy the ingredients, as well as some healthy snacks. I also went to the farmer's market to buy a whole bunch of fruits and veggies. Finally, I picked out some exercise (mostly yoga and pilates) dvd's from Netflix. I am determined to fit into my pants darn it. I'm moving in 2 months and definitely don't have money to buy a new wardrobe. I'll keep you all posted on the recipe outcomes.

My First Restaurant Review

Exciting I know. So after a week of begging Chris to come out for Indian food with me I finally did it. And I may have used a bit of manipulation, but I think that could be debated. I actually ended up painting him this very adorable picture of us sitting in a corner of some sexy, steamy restaurant and feeding each other with our hands. Obviously it didn't quite go down like that. Although in my defense I did not promise it would. I simply "imagined" out loud how romantic such an Indian meal could be.

Regardless, it worked and we got to go for Indian last night. I love Indian food, but don't have it very often. He has not had it before, but was under the assumption that he would not find it very appetizing. Therefore, I did my research beforehand, because I knew that if I didn't pick a good place we would not be going out for Indian for several years after this. Luckily I came across a place that had great reviews (by both critics and patrons).

We got there and the decor was slightly disappointing. I mean it was very cute, but I think I actually started believing we would be eating in some steamy, sexy restaurant with bright, plush fabrics and comfy little couches. The food, however, was delicious. They have some signature cocktails, I got a Rose Margarita (yummy and strong) and Chris got a Taj Mahal beer which he sang praises about all night. We ended up going with the Masala Dosa as an appetizer (which came Martha Stewart recommended) and was a big delicious crepe filled with potatoes and peas. It came with a three different sauces. For dinner we shared the Chicken Vindaloo and Chicken Masala. I kind of wanted to get a lamb dish, even though I don't usually eat lamb, but my guilt overcame me and I couldn't do it. I just kept picturing cute little lamb babies. Both chicken dishes were really yummy though. The vindaloo was spicier than I expected. They had warned me it was spicy, but I've had vindaloo before and thought I could take it.

Thankfully the water lady was spot on. Anytime my water glass was less than 3/4 of the way filled she was there filling it up. She must have come filled it at least 10 times. It was great. Because the worst thing when you are eating spicy food is to be out of a drink and unable to find the waiter to refill it. I think this was my favorite thing about the restaurant. My face lit up everytime she came by. The service was fabulous. For dessert I tried the milk patties, which were in this AMAZING sauce. Like to.die.for.

Overall, it was a really delicious meal, great service and Chris ended up really liking it. Genuinely. He cleared his plate and had seconds and thirds. I guess we'll be having Indian food in our future regardless of the lack of sexy, steamy decor. Although, if anyone actually does know a great Indian place with sexy, steamy decor let us know; we'll have to check it out. ;)

Hospitals and Ice Cream...

So we had a bit of a rough day on Tuesday. I took Rae in to get her Bordatella and Parvo boosters in the afternoon. I'm always hesitant about this, because when she was a puppy the first time I brought her in to get her vaccinations she went into anaphylactic shock and scared me half to death. The vet figured out that she was allergic to an ingredient called Lepto in the Parvo vaccine. Since then I always speak with the vet before doing that booster to remind him and she's never had a problem.

This time was no different. I reminded the vet and he assured me that the vaccine was Lepto-free. I assumed we were good to go. Since her birthday was yesterday, post-vet I took her to Pet Smart to pick out a toy. We then went home and I started doing work, she played in the living room with the squeaky sheepy toy she picked out.

A few hours later she jumped up on the bed and I noticed she looked really weird. Her face was SUPER swollen. Her snout was so swollen I couldn't lift her lip up to look inside her mouth, she had big bumps on her head and when I lifted her up I saw she had hives all over her belly. Naturally I panicked. This was around 7:30pm when our vet was already closed so I called the Small Animal Emergency Clinic in town. They started to ask me questions about what was going on, but a few minutes into the conversation I started panicking that if things got worse we should really be at the hospital, so I just stopped them and said I was going to bring her in.

When we got to the clinic they immediately took her back into "triage" and said that I had to wait out in the waiting room. I was not happy about this at all, but I wanted them to hurry up and take a look at her as soon as possible, so I agreed. A few minutes later someone came out to take a history and then the wait began. It took almost an hour for someone to come out and give me any information. My anxiety reached new highs. I began to think of all the worst possible scenarios. I truly consider my dog to be my first baby and I could not bear to think of not being able to take her home healthy and happy. When they came out they let me know that she had some kind of allergic reaction to the shots and they had to give her antihistamines and steroids to get the swelling down. They also tried to cool her off since the hives made her skin really hot. Luckily no anaphylactic shock though; her vitals were fine.

I was able to take her home and called the vet the next morning to get to the bottom of it. Apparently she may just be allergic to something else in the vaccines now, so we're going to have give her Benadryl before doing all vaccinations and do all shots in the morning so she can stay at the vet as a precaution during the day.

I'm just thankful she's healthy and happy. She turned 4 years old on Thursday and has brought more happiness and companionship into my life these past four years than I thought imaginable. We celebrated with a bit of vanilla ice cream and of course her new toy. Happy Birthday Roo!!!

Sheepy present!

Dairy Queen celebration!

Cutest baby ever!!

Oscar Dinner: Zuppa de Pesce

So Zuppe de Pesce is one of my faves. I make some version of it every Christmas Eve and fairly often throughout the year. I am a big seafood person and like to play around with different recipes and different types of fish. Tonight I made Giada's version in honor of the Oscar's. I did work all day, so that I could relax tonight and watch the Oscar's (and red carpet pre-show) with a glass (or two!) of wine and a yummy dinner. Giada calls her recipe Ligurian Fish Stew. I followed the recipe pretty much, but I substituted a cup of chicken broth for the cup of water. I almost always do that, as chicken broth always gives whatever you're cooking more flavor. I also only used 1lb of Cod and used .5 lb of mussels instead, because I can't make zuppa de pesce without mussels. I heart mussels. I also added a bit more red pepper flakes, because I like it spicy. I thought this recipe came out really well, but you can always play around with it: different veggies, herbs and fish. The musts are garlic, some kind of broth, tomatoes (always use San Marzano's) and white wine. The crostini came out yummy too. It's always important to have some kind of bread to dip. All in all a yummy Oscar meal. My belly is fuuuullllll. :)

Go Sandra!!!

Cookies!!

So I have a new blog obsession and while reading it last night I came across I delicious cookie recipe. Lo and behold I had all the ingredients to make the cookies, so of course I had to try them. They are basically Linzer Tart cookies, but I they were way easier than I ever imagined to make. I don't actually have cookie cutters, so I ended up using cups (a big cup and a small cup) to cut out the shapes. Lame I know. I really should invest in cookie cutters. The shapes I cut out were a bit too big, because the cookies came out massive, albeit delicious. Recipe from Momisodes: Linzer Tart Cookies. (Yes. I have an obsession with mommy blogs).

No they are not pretty.

But they were delicious!

Caesar Club Sandwiches

So yesterday I was supposed to be reading for class. However, I really really dislike the class and clearly would do anything to distract myself from this task. I spent the day cooking instead. For lunch I made these sandwiches that I saw on the Barefoot Contessa Thursday afternoon. After going to two different grocery stores to find Anchovy Paste and spending quite a bit of money on the ingredients (particularly the parmesan, chicken breast and pancetta), I knew this recipe would have to be amazing to be worth it. They were. Caesar salad is my favorite food. I make a point of trying them at almost any restaurant I've ever been to in order to compare. (My fave at this point is at the Homestead Steakhouse at the Borgata. It is to.die.for. Although really everything at that restaurant is.). And this time they were on a sandwich- built in crouton!! Anyways. The recipe is kind of a pain, in that you have to make the dressing homemade, crisp the pancetta, roast the chicken and then layer to make the sandwich. Typically I try to take shortcuts and buy some of this stuff (like the chicken) pre-made. But I really think it was worth it this time to go homemade. The sandwiches were absolutely delicious and I have enough left, that I'll be making another one tonight for dinner and probably a third for lunch tomorrow. Here's the recipe from the Barefoot Contessa herself: Caesar Club Sandwiches.

Roast chicken breast. (I must admit I disgustingly ate the crispy skin off of all three. Gross, I know.)

Crispy Pancetta.

Fresh Arugula. I couldn't find baby arugula.

Shavings of Parmesan.

Homemade Caesar Dressing.

Yummmmm.

Inside View.

Mushroom Bourguignon

So a few weeks ago I made a really yummy mushroom bourguignon, but never got around to posting it. It was super rich and delicious. I'm more of a veggie/fish person, than a big meat eater, so I loved that you could make this with mushrooms. Things to keep in mind: portobello's are pretty expensive- almost $6 a pound down here (and you need 2 lbs), as is the red wine if you don't keep any in the house (I don't, I'm a white wine person). However, this recipe makes a big portion and I had enough to get multiple meals out of it. I used a cheapy brand of red wine- Red Truck (like $6 a bottle). I thought it was fine, but people who know wine better than I may want a nicer brand. Also, at first the amount of mushrooms will look overwhelming (they were like overflowing out of my pot), but they cook down! I followed the recipe form Smitten Kitchen exactly and it came out really well: Mushroom Bourguignon.

Here served over egg noodles.

I served it with a quick salad: Baby Romaine, Crispy Prosciutto (Bake slices of Prosciutto at 450 for 7 min & then break into pieces), Crumbled Gorgonzola and mix with Annie's Shiitake & Sesame Vinaigrette.

The next day I served it without the noodles and had some French bread to dip in it. I actually preferred it like this over the egg noodles. (But then again, I'm a total sucker for bread).