New Obsession

Yesterday I was at the Beauty supply place near my work trying to find the hair stuff Brian likes and I found the greatest new thing!  In the past I have had bad luck with buying random beauty products without trying them out first, but I took a $16 chance and it paid off!  I have been using Bare Escentuals Mineral Makeup since as far back as I can remember.  I really like the all-in-one aspects of it, natural finish and sensitivity to my very sensitive skin.  Although I am very fond of the face makeup and face lotions, the eye shadows have never been my favorite.  I normally do not like things super shiny or sparkly which most of them are and the little pots are SO messy.  

That said, their New High Shine Eye color Tubes are great!

It is basically a tube with their eyeshadow in it and a built-in foam applicator.  You just shake it, pull the applicator out, tap off the excess and then swipe the whole thing over your eyelid.  It totally eliminates the need for eye shadow brushes, multiple eye shadow colors and the extra 10 minutes it usually takes me to create what I like to call, "My every day, trying to look effortlessly polished look" that is anything but effortless.  I bought the "Meteorite" shade, but they all looked really beautiful.  Now that I have tried it, I am going to go back and get another color or two.  

A few tips for use:

-DO use an eye shadow base or some concealer on your eye lid first as a layering base, it will keep the eyeshadow on like glue and will keep it from creasing

-DO NOT put this on after applying your concealer and face makeup. I always do my eyes first, clean up underneath and then start my face, but I know not everyone does it this way.  With this product you need to because some of the product tends to fall underneath there and you will look like you have raccoon eyes if you aren't careful.  

-DO put on your lids, only apply in your crease or all over if you want an extremely dramatic effect.  I would guess with the lighter colors you could put them all over.

-DO blend any mishaps with a Blending Brush

Hope everyone is having a good week, half way through!  

Multitalented

Maybe its just me, but Gwyneth Paltrow seems to be all over the place recently!  Actress, Singer...Chef? I got my new issue of Bon Appetit the other day and sure enough she was on the cover.  The article profiled her in her London apartment cooking up recipes that the culinary team at Bon Appetit helped her create.  Pretty interesting.  Of course she looked effortlessly beautiful dicing onions and cutting up chicken.  If only my real life looked so nice!

I was especially intrigued by her Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce; both by the concept and the vision of her making this in London which screams everything but "BBQ".  The sauce in the picture was this gorgeous orange and I had to try it out for myself.  

I am a big fan of BBQ sauce and this looked really different and perfect for summer!

Chicken with Peach BBQ Sauce

Courtesy of Bon Appetit and Gwyneth Paltrow

Ingredients

1 cup diced fresh peaches, about 2 peaches

1/2 cup Ketchup

1 tablespoon garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons Adobo Sauce (from Chipotle Chilis in Adobo Sauce)

Salt and Pepper

4 Chicken Breasts

Directions

In a small saucepan combine peaches, ketchup, garlic and adobo sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes or until peaches are tender.  

Transfer carefully to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  

Use about half the sauce to pour over the chicken breasts and marinate for at least 20 minutes (and up to 12 hours).  Meanwhile, heat grill to a medium high heat.  Grill chicken for 4-5 minutes per side.  Brush each side with BBQ sauce and grill for another 1 minute per side, or until done.  Serve with extra sauce.

I have to say I was pretty impressed with this sauce.  It was tasty and had a great flavor, different than normal BBQ sauce, but familiar enough that I wasn't missing anything.  I loved that it required so few ingredients and a reasonable cooking time for the development of flavors.  I paired it with some baked sweet potato fries and grilled asparagus.  

Happy Grilling!

What is Succotash?

Saw something about a "Corn Succotash" the other day in something I was reading and the first thing I thought is, "What exactly is a succotash?"  Is it always made with corn?  Does it always contain lima beans?  Gross.  I looked it up.  

Succotash: is a food dish containing primarily of corn and lima beans, or other shell beans.

Hmm...Corn, yes.  Lima beans, no.  The concept had potential though, so I just changed a few things around and out popped this very easy, delicious meal in minutes.  You have to love meals that contain a store bought rotisserie chicken.  

Corn Succotash (Sort of) with Tomatoes and Rotisserie Chicken
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 earns corn, kernels cut off the cob

2 small zucchini, chopped into medium pieces

1 tablespoon minced garlic

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 avocado, chopped

3 ounces Goat Cheese

4 basil leaves, chopped

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded

Directions

In a large saute pan, heat oil over medium high heat.  Add corn and saute for 2 minutes.  Add zucchini, salt, pepper and red wine vinegar and saute for an additional 4- minutes until just done.  Transfer corn mixture to a bowl and toss with basil leaves.  Top with cheese and avocado.
Serve with tomatoes and shredded chicken.  Enjoy!

Reinvention: BLT

Lately, it kinda seems like I have been obsessed with the concept of a BLT.  Well, it is sort of true.  I am obsessed with the flavor profile, but mostly it is the ease of making it.  The almost insignificant effort required to make something tasty.  As I was perusing the pages of my new Martha Stuart Magazine, I came across a BLT soup.  Yes, a BLT soup...

I checked out the recipe.  I love the concept, but did not like they way they did it in the recipe.  I am pretty picky about tomato soup =)  The way they had the recipe written was with iceberg lettuce, tomato soup, croutons, bacon and an egg drizzle.  

No offense, Martha, but Iceberg lettuce in soup does not work for me!  

My re-invented, BLT Soup came out perfectly delicious, healthy and satisfying.  I would make this again any day and the tomato soup was great for lunch the next day!  

BLT Soup

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup chopped onion, one medium

3/4 cup shredded carrot

1 tablespoon garlic, minced

1 tablespoon, shallots, minced

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

4 basil leaves

3 drained sun dried tomato halves, packed in oil with herbs

2 (14.5 ounce) cans organic diced tomatoes, undrained

1 (14 ounce) can fat free, less sodium chicken broth

Croutons

8 slices Turkey Bacon Pan Fried in cooking spray (or Regular Bacon), torn into pieces

2 cups Fresh Spinach

Directions

Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add chopped onion, shredded carrot, garlic, and shallots to pan.  Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently.  Add sugar, pepper, salt and 4 basil leaves and cook for 5 minutes.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and broth and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.  Remove from heat.  Use and immersion blender (or regular blender) and blend until smooth.  

In the bottom of each bowl put a bunch of spinach.  Divide soup amongst bowls and top 

with croutons and torn bacon. Serve!  

Enjoy this one!  It was wonderful!

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Turkey Lettuce Cups

In a constant quest to eat healthy and low calorie, I am always trying to find dinner ideas that are tasty.  The weather also has such a profound affect on what seems appetizing to me.  When it is hot, I do not want anything heavy, but at the same time I might be starving.  When it is cold I want something warm and comforting, but not overly caloric.  Summer in the desert is especially hard, when it is so hot you can't imagine eating anything remotely hot or heavy.  

When I came across this recipe for Lettuce cups, it seemed like the perfect answer to dinner at the end of a 98 degree day.  I used ground turkey instead of chicken breasts because it cooks quicker and is lower in calories.  Less time in front of a hot stove is key in this weather.  The cool, crunch of the lettuce provided the perfect compliment to the warm, sweet and sour turkey mixture.  I left feeling satisfied and not stuffed.  Brian on the other hand ate a 4 person serving size so I can't say the same for him.  He still managed to knock back 3 low calorie ice cream bars.... 

Turkey Lettuce Cups

Adapted from Guy Fieri, removed some ingredients to adjust calorie and fat content

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon oil

2 carrot, diced

2 celery ribs, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 cup snap peas, diced

1/2 cup red onion, diced

1 package ground turkey, lowest fat possible

6 ounces Apricot Sambal Szechwan Sauce, recipe follows

Iceberg Lettuce Leaves

2 tablespoons scallions, sliced

Directions

In a medium saute pan over high heat, add oil.  Add vegetables and turkey, saute till turkey is almost done.  Deglaze with sabal sauce for 30 seconds.

Scoop turkey mixture into lettuce leaves and garnish with sesame seeds.

Apricot Sesame Sambal Sauce

1/2 cup soy sauce

3 tablespoons minced garlic

3 tablespoons minced ginger

3 tablespoons sambal hot sauce 

3 tablespoons apricot preserves

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon minced cilantro

2 teaspoons sesame seeds

1 teaspoon sesame oil

Mix well.

Happy Friday! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Curried Cous Cous

I am constantly looking for interesting side dishes.  I know I can't be alone in my quest!  Sometimes it seems like everything I make is boring and no matter how hard I try to change and reinvent things, it is still the same flavor profiles and same old broccoli.  

Now that I think of it, I often feel the same way about my closet...

I accidentally said this out loud when peering into my closet the other day.  Frustrated and fed up with trying to put together yet another outfit for work I yelped, "Ugh!  I have no clothes!" as I fell to the floor in  my closet melodramatically.  Unfortunately, I was unaware of my husband standing 5 feet away watching my whole ordeal unravel.  Even more frustrated and annoyed than me, he was even more appalled by my display.  Ha!  Whoops!  

Look, I know I have a lot of clothes, more than most normal people.  I know that he had to move his clothes into our guest room closet so I could have both the large walk-in closets in our bedroom, but aren't I allowed one day of frustration?  Yes.  I think so!

Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta

Courtesy of Cooking Light

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups Water

1 cup uncooked Couscous

1 1/2 cups small broccoli florets

1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup carrot, shredded

1/4 cup Raisins

1/4 cup dry-roasted cashews, chopped (I omitted this and added Pomegranate Seeds instead.  YUM!)

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder

1 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)  I would use half if making as a side dish, use the whole thing if making as a vegetarian main

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous.  Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork.  

While couscous stand, steam broccoli florets, covered, for 3 minutes or until tender.

Combine couscous, broccoli, onion and next 10 ingredients (onion though chickpeas), tossing gently.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

This dish is SO flavorful and surprisingly amazing!  

You need to try it!  

Warm Pasta Salad

I love coming up with things to use a lot of leftover vegetables in my refrigerator.  Seems like I buy lots at the beginning of the week and end up with a little of each at the end of the week, but I hate to throw perfectly good food away!  Pasta salad is one of those great things to make on a hot day, but can be filled with lots of calories and too much pasta most of the time.  I threw together this Warm Spinach Pasta Salad easily in just the time it took to boil the pasta water and cook it!  

Warm Spinach Pasta Salad

Ingredients

2 Packages (about 10 oz each) Cheese Tortellini

2 Rotisserie Chicken Breasts, shredded

2 cups Grape Tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup Peas

1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced

1/3 cup Basil, thinly sliced

1 can Artichoke Hearts (14 oz), drained and quartered

4 cups Baby Spinach, washed

1 cup Fresh Asparagus, washed and sliced into 1.5 inch pieces

Reduced Fat Balsamic Vinaigrette, about 4-5 tablespoons

3/4 cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions

Boil a large pot of water and cook pasta according to the directions on the package.  During the last minute or so of the pasta cooking, add the asparagus and peas and cook with the 

pasta for the last 2 minutes.  

While the pasta is cooking chop and prepare the other ingredients (except cheese) and put into a large bowl to wait for the pasta, peas and asparagus.  After pasta mixture is cooked till al dente and drained, add to bowl and toss with salt, pepper and dressing.  Sprinkle cheese on top.

Serve warm, at room temp or cold.  

You could alter this for any vegetables you want, this is just what I had on hand, but the combination was very flavorful, filling and healthy!  Great for lunch the next day!

Hearty and Healthy

What do you do when you feel like hearty comfort food, but are determined not to break your calorie bank?  Make healthy Chicken Chili!  I love Ina Garten; her recipe was wonderful and hit the spot.

Chicken Chili

Courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 4 cups chopped yellow onions (3 onions)
• 1/8 cup good olive oil, plus extra for chicken
• 1/8 cup minced garlic (2 cloves)
• 2 red bell peppers, cored, seeded, and large-diced
• 2 yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded, and large-diced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes, or to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus more for chicken
• 2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled plum tomatoes in puree, undrained
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
• 4 split chicken breasts, bone in, skin on
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook the onions in the oil over medium-low heat for 10 to 15 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Add the bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cayenne, and salt. Cook for 1 minute. Crush the tomatoes by hand or in batches in a food processor fitted with a steel blade (pulse 6 to 8 times). Add to the pot with the basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Rub the chicken breasts with olive oil and place them on a baking sheet. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until just cooked. Let cool slightly. Separate the meat from the bones and skin and cut it into 3/4-inch chunks. Add to the chili and simmer, uncovered, for another 20 minutes. Serve with the toppings, or refrigerate and reheat gently before serving.

I served it with some low fat cheddar sprinkled on top and fat free sour cream.  It was warm and comforting and made for great leftovers.  I used some in my egg white scramble the next morning and Brian made tacos out of it for lunch.  Multi-purpose chili!  Happy Monday!

New Obsession!

Today I became obsessed with Etsy!  I know it is nothing new, but it does take a long time to peruse through the site and all the categories.  Even after spending hours on it, I found the best way to find cool stuff is to find a seller you like and then look at their favorites.  Seems pretty logical that if you like the items the seller is offering, you will probably like their taste.  I found all sorts of great things to buy and things I marked to save for the future.  

These are a few of the items I LOVE!

Walnut and Oak Cutting Board

If I was getting married again I would love these eco-friendly bouquets!

Great Wedding or Anniversary Gift

You never know, you might find yourself browsing the aisles of crafts and falling in love with one thing after the next!  If you find anything I might like, leave me the link in the comments!