*The lake*

This weekend is what has turned into my annual lake party and we're going with friends to celebrate Jay O. being done with the bar exam!!!  FINALLY.  It is nice to have my husband back:)  

Last night we went to eat with my parent's at Terry's Finer Foods to celebrate.  I definitely recommend trying it if you have never been!  It's a small menu, but great options.  I had the shrimp (with some word attached I can't pronounce, & I'm not even going to try to spell it), and the blueberry mint martini was amazzzinnngggg.  GO!  

Now, this weekend will be time for Jay O. to get to celebrate/kick back with friends, very excited!  

Here's a few new things that are on the weekend menu:

Tex Wasabi's Koi Grilled Fish Taco's with Tequila Lime Aioli with a fresh corn salad & "My Guac" for an appetizer.


Saturday I'm going to do a chilled pasta salad with crab, shrimp, green pepper & purple onion.


And, Saturday night simple burgers & turkey sausages from fresh market that I highly recommend as well:)


These are just a few recipes I will hopefully love & you can be excited about!!!


Please keep Jay O. in your thoughts & prayers over the next 6 weeks until he finds out the results from his exam...even though I am confident he pulled it off with flying colors!  (I, on the other hand, would be in for it)


REEBS, we will miss you this weekend!!!  XOXO

Chicken Bites Appetizer = DELICIOUS!!!

This weekend was a GREAT one!!!  It was the weekend of Steve Aday's wedding.  We had the rehearsal dinner Friday night, and the wedding & reception Saturday night.  The wedding was very nice & they did a great job putting it all together.  Everyone had a blast!  

Saturday evening we had JayO's family, Aunt Abigail, Hatley & Tristan over for wine & appetizers.  Baxter & Josh also stayed with us for the weekend.  

With Jay O. being so busy studying lately, my favorite part of the weekend was actually being able to hang out with him! :)

One of the appetizers I prepared Saturday was a new recipe that I definitely plan to make a staple in my recipe box:

CHICKEN BITES (no, I don't like the name of this recipe...but I guarantee you'll love it):

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package (8 ounces) 1/3 less fat cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon dried leaf basil, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• dash thyme leaves, crushed
• 1 cup minced cooked chicken
• 1/4 cup finely chopped celery
• 1 jar (2 ounces) chopped pimiento, drained
• 2 cans (8 ounces each) crescent rolls (reduced fat if you want to cut calories)
• 1 egg, beaten
• sesame seeds (you can find these with the spices in the grocery store)

DIRECTIONS:

• Combine cream cheese, lemon juice, basil, salt, thyme; mix until well blended. Stir in chicken, celery, and pimiento; mix well.

• Separate dough into eight triangles, firmly pressing the perforations to seal. Spread cream cheese/chicken mixture over each rectangle, leaving 1/2-inch uncovered on one long edge. Roll up, starting with the long edge which has cream cheese right to the edge; seal edges. Brush rolls with egg; sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cut each roll into 4 portions. Place chicken bites, seam side down, on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown. Serve immediately.  

OR what I chose to do was I separated the triangles, put a spoonful of the chicken mixture on the long side of the triangle, & rolled up the crescent roll making sure that all of the edges were sealed.  Then I brushed the egg & sprinkled the sesame seeds.  I baked it at 350 for 13 minutes.  This made 16 little sandwiches & turned out looking great:)

• Makes 32 chicken appetizers or 16 mini sandwiches

I have one more recipe I will share with you very soon that I also prepared.

For spirits, I was excited to find that VOGA now has a sparkling Pinot Grigio.  I absolutely loved it & plan to purchase it again!

Between $13.99 & $15.99

All of this made out to be a fun filled weekend, & a very productive one too!

*CITRUS GRILL*

We all have those nights during the week where we want to cook something yummy, healthy, but EASY.  On nights like these I always want my lean protein, veggies, & a healthy starch on the side.  

I always go for chicken or fish...and a great seasoning for both of these (especially during the summer months) is Citrus Grill which you can purchase at Sam's!  It looks like this:

I recommend this seasoning to everyone!!!

What I cooked:

1 serrano pepper seeded & diced

1 yellow bell pepper diced

1 orange bell pepper diced

1 red bell pepper diced

3 chicken breasts cubed

2 tablespoons light italian dressing

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Citrus Grill

I did all of this in a skillet with a little bit of 0 calorie olive oil spray to coat the pan.  I used the italian dressing & balsamic as the marinade & sprinkled the top with the citrus grill.  I made plenty to have leftovers:)

 my iPhone didn't take the best picture...

I had beans on the side & Jay O. had multi-grain rice.  Enjoy!!!

Girl's Night!

Last night (Friday) I had my first girl's night at our new house.  I was excited because Ann was in town & I don't get to see her often enough!  My other fav people who came:  Megan, Hannah D., Layne, Charlie, Anna Jeter, & Grace.  I loved seeing everyone, thanks for coming!!!   Missed you Donna & Ang!  It was great to see everyone, and a good time for everyone to see our new little home:)  

I prepared the colby-pepper jack chicken dip, my bruschetta recipe, margherita pizza with fresh mozzarella & tomatoes from my sister's garden, and lemonada cocktails with fresh fruit!!!  YUM.  Megan contributed Guacamole Dip & Layne contributed Hummus Dip with Pita Chips.  Thanks for everyone's help!

I didn't have any new recipes to share, I just wanted to share that I finally got to have over my besties!!!  Love y'all

*A simple way to perfect grilled corn*

Street vendors across Mexico sell this type of roasted or grilled corn topped with mayonnaise, paprika, & cotija cheese.  You can serve this corn on a platter with small bowls of the sauce, & the cheese & lime wedges on the side so people can make their own.  

Now, enjoy this simple way to make corn that much more delicious & have that extra punch of flavor!!! 

INGREDIENTS
- 5 Tablespoons low-fat mayo
- 2 teaspoons paprika (chili powder would work well, too)
- 4 Tablespoons cotija cheese or parmesan cheese
- lime wedges 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat grill to medium-high.
2. Combine mayonnaise and paprika in a small bowl.
3. Grill corn, turning occasionally, until marked and tender, 8 to 12 minutes total. Spread each ear with 1 tablespoon of the sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve with lime wedges.

Colby-Pepper Jack Cheese Dip w. Chicken - AMAZZZINGGGG!

This weekend was a blast celebrating the 4th of July with my wonderful family & friends!  Jay O. & I went to my parent's place on Greer's Ferry to enjoy our 3 day weekend with the Bradley's (minus Becca, Rachel, & Forrest- missed y'all!), my family, and the Joan's & Kennedy's.  We also got in some fun time with Chris & Reebs!  

Jay O. & I contributed the appetizer for the night & it was quite a hit:)  Pretty spicy though, so only use one jalapeno pepper if you want it to be more mild.

After dinner we all took the boats out on the lake to watch my Dad's firework display that get's better & better every year!!!  Great weekend.

Prepare up to a day ahead; cover and chill in an airtight 

container, and bake just before serving.

Ingredients

• 1  (8-oz.) package 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
• 2/3  cup  light sour cream
• 1/3  cup  light mayonnaise
• 1  tablespoon  finely chopped canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
• 2  teaspoons  chili powder
• 2  cups  chopped cooked chicken (I used 2 chicken breasts, boiled them & cut into cubes)
• 2  cups  (8 oz.) shredded colby-Jack cheese blend
• 1  (4-oz.) can chopped green chiles
• 4  green onions, finely chopped
• 2  jalapeño peppers, seeded and minced
• 1/4  cup  chopped fresh cilantro
• Garnish: fresh cilantro sprig
• Tortilla chips

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Stir together first 5 ingredients in a large bowl until smooth. Stir in chicken and next 5 ingredients until blended. Spoon cheese mixture into a lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish.

2. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly. Spoon into a serving bowl. Garnish, if desired. Serve with tortilla chips.

Be careful getting it out of the oven... because it's hot, hot, hot!!! :)

*WAIST MANAGEMENT - LEAN PROTEINS*

We all know that one of the key factors to a healthy diet is eating LEAN proteins. Sometimes we are in such a hurry at the grocery store that we don’t take time to read the nutrition facts and we are satisfied enough that we are buying one of the healthier options… the following information will make it easier for you to run in & out of the grocery store without having to think twice about what to choose or worry about which will keep your waistline maintained or even smaller than before.

The BRAND matters :

Just because 2 or 3 different brands are all ground white turkey, etc., this does not mean that all of them are equally low in calories & fat.

THE BELOW 3 TURKEY BRANDS ARE REGULAR, NOT EXTRA LEAN

Honeysuckle Ground Turkey

Serving Size: 4 oz.; Calories: 120, Total Fat: 1g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 28g

 

Ground Turkey (Jennie-O)

Serving Size: 4 oz; Calories: 220, Total Fat: 17g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 20g

Ground Turkey (Kroger)

Serving Size: 4 oz (112.0 g) ; Calories: 150, Total Fat: 7.0g, Carbs: 0g, Protein: 22.0g

VERSUS

Ground Beef

Serving Size: 4 oz; Calories: 259, Total Fat: 16.3g, Carbs: 0g , Protein: 26.06g

Honeysuckle is your healthiest choice having less calories, A LOT less fat, & more protein!!! Jennie-O is your worst choice as far as regular ground turkey.

As you can see…turkey has less fat than beef, even when it’s not extra lean

A few more nutrition facts & healthy options (below are the averages of the nutrition information of all brands):

Ground Turkey 99% Fat Free (4 oz. serving): Calories: 120, Fat: 1.5 g, Carbohydrates: 0g, Protein: 26 g

Ground Buffalo (4 oz. serving): Calories: 143, Fat: 2.42 g, Carbohydrates: 0g, Protein: 26 g

96% lean ground beef (4 oz. serving): Calories: 150, Fat: 4.5 g, Carbohydrates: 0g, Protein: 25 g

Chicken Breast (4 oz. serving): Calories: 120, Fat: 1 g, Carbohydrates: 0g, Protein: 26 g

Pork Chop (4 oz. serving): Calories: 190, Fat: 6.5 g, Carbohydrates: 0 g, Protein: 20 g

Make sure to substitute 99% lean ground turkey for beef in your chili, for burgers, taco’s and in any recipe you use beef. To mix it up & try something new, try ground buffalo that you can find in the meat section at your local market.


Just because you are eating white meat does not mean that it is healthier than all red meat, pay attention to the saturated fat content in the meats you’re purchasing. Though, many studies say that eating more white meat will give you better cardiovascular health & improve longevity.


If you are craving a steak, the healthiest cut (least amount of fat) is filet mignon, sirloin, or eye round. Don’t go for the extra large rib-eye!


Make sure to fit in your fish during the week too, because it is rich in Omega 3’s and will help keep your heart healthy, & is a good source of B-12!!!