My diet has been somewhat off the rails throughout the past several weeks. A few of the unhealthy habits that I ditched when I started my weight loss campaign 18 months ago have crept their way back in. Likewise, some of the healthier rules I’ve developed have left on summer holiday. Admittedly, math was never my gift but I Read more
Today I have a sandwich idea that’s the perfect way to get the main course salad concept past your little kids or your teenagers. Maybe you know someone like NTYB who, when he hears we’re having salad for dinner, gets very ornery because he 1). is “a growing teenage boy, mom” and 2). wants to (cough) “bulk up” for cross country season (what?). I laugh because, have you met NTYB? He weighs approximately 105 lbs. soaking wet. So when we have salad for dinner I usually try to make it into something a little more substantial, lest my teenagers waste away before my eyes. Tonight we had these yummy Cobb Salad Pitas with a big pile of crispy roasted redskin potatoes and thick wedges of watermelon. It was the perfect summer meal.
I had a blast channeling my inner 15-year-old girl yesterday when a friend and I took two carloads of giggly girlie girls over to Noah’s Ark in the Dells for the day. Oh. My. Gosh. If you haven’t shrieked like a teenage girl in a while, you should definitely give it a go. It’s cathartic and fun and no one even cares because they’re all screaming their faces off, too. Somehow we lucked out and there were no lines for anything at all, which meant we were able to run from slide to slide without navigating any crowds, and we rode slides until we were completely waterlogged and absolutely could not climb one more stair.
As we were going through our usual warm up at boot camp a few weeks ago, the conversation turned to (what else?) — food. Healthy food, naturally. I took the opportunity to throw myself aggressively into the warm up and keep my big mouth shut, as I don’t typically have anything constructive to contribute to these conversations. They tend to revolve around avoiding the very consumables that I happen to enjoy. I was concentrating on my form and was in my own little world of perfect side lunges when someone said, “Let’s ask the food blogger! Leah, do you happen to know a good recipe for homemade quinoa tortillas?” (A good recipe, like I have more than one up my sleeve). Well. I nearly laughed out loud and thought, I am being punked right here in the middle of Monday morning boot camp. I resisted a snappy reply, and instead, put on my saddest face and said only “sorry, I sure don’t.”
This no-cook sauce is is possibly the freshest tasting and most frugal recipe I’ve made all summer long. In this version, diced roma tomatoes marinate in their own juices along with good olive oil, fresh garlic, Italian parsley, and a bit of jalapeno for just a little punch. Toss it with a pound of cooked pasta, top it with a little good Parmesan, and serve some warm bread alongside. Yum. Dinner is served!
Despite my feelings about raw tomatoes, this salad is one of my all time favorites. I could eat it for dinner all on its own, but I love it alongside grilled chicken or fish. It’s the perfect summer side dish, and a great way to use both the sale Romas and the Sendik’s Artisan Ciabatta Bread.
I’m already seeking out ideas for next Halloween, so I’d love to know: what was the best costume you saw this past weekend? I saw a lot of good ones, but my personal favorites were (in order of creativity): a psychotic ballerina (aka, The Black Swan), a hilarious husband /wife punk rocker duo, and a pair of Angry Birds. I also have to “credit” my friend Liz who dressed in a toga and laurel wreath and walked around all night tossing fake paper money all over the place. Can you guess what she was?
I had the best time at the Mequon store this morning! The girls in the floral department were working like mad to unpack and display all manner of Christmas decorations. At first glance I groaned to myself — Christmas already?! — but the closer I got, the more exciting it all became
As I mentioned yesterday, I’m cooking my way through the October issue of Cooking Light – and last night we had this chili-corn chip “pie” thingy. I’m not sure why they called it a ‘pie’, it’s nothing like a pie at all…kinda weird. What it’s supposed to be is a healthier version of a “walking taco” – which is (for those who are a long time removed from the grade school hot lunch program), a meaty chili mixture spooned inside a mini bag of Fritos, then topped with cheese and sour cream and smushed around and eaten out of the bag with a plastic sp’ork.
If you’re trying to work more fish into your weekly dinner repertoire, here’s a great way to do it. If you’re trying to do it economically, this recipe also fits the bill!
