Inspired by the book The Skinnygirl Dish
by Bethenny Frankel, I decided to create a vegetable soup to eat before meals. This vegetable soup is the perfect appetizer to serve to company or Not only do I sneak more vegetables into my diet (yes, I am a five year old) but I love the idea of filling up on this hearty and delicious soup before sitting down to a meal as a way of portion and appetite control. The base of this soup is from the garlic, onion, carrot and celery – but feel free to substitute the other four vegetables to ones that you love. The key to this soup is to cut all vegetables to roughly the same size for even cooking and a smoother puree. Substitute vegetable broth for a purely vegetarian soup.
Pureed Vegetable Soup:
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 c onion, diced
1/2 c celery, diced
1/2 c carrot, diced
1 c sweet potato, diced
1 c broccoli, diced
1 c cauliflower, diced
1 c red pepper, diced
1 quart chicken broth
1/4 c parsley, loosely packed
Over medium heat, combine olive oil and butter in large sauce pan. Add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add onion, season with salt and pepper. Saute for 5 minutes. Add carrot and celery, saute another 5 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and chicken broth. Bring soup to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Take soup off of the heat for 5 minutes to cool. Add parsley and blend soup (with traditional blender or immersion blender) and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Good morning foodie fans! Lots of work has been going on behind the scenes while I upgrade and redesign the site. Will hopefully launch the new version next week! In the mean time, though, I have had an extremely stressful week! And while the exercise is consistent (yay me!), the eating…not so much.
I really thought I was doing nothing different this week. Until I took a look at my recycling bin! Where did that box of Bagel Bites come from? I didn’t have those! Oh, wait, yes I did. That was Tuesday night when I didn’t stop working until after 8 p.m. and I was too exhausted to cook. Instead of going out for fast food, I went out and bought a box of those. And where did that box of Texas Toast come from? Right, that was another late night dinner. I had not even realized that these items even made it into my house until I took a good, long look at the recycling. Amazing!
So, with my eyes opened, I will try harder this week. And I’ll pay closer attention to the recycle bin out back. Until next week, stay healthy!
Here is a great way to use up your St. Patrick’s Day leftovers. Serve your leftover corned beef and cabbage as an appetizer! The only thing better than this classic pairing is the dollop of mustard sauce to go over the top. Tangy and bright, this mustard sauce will knock your socks off and is so easy to make – just two ingredients (plus salt and pepper).
Corned Beef and Cabbage Crackers (Serves 4):
12 0z cooked corned beef, chopped
1/2 c cooked cabbage, chopped
12 crackers
Mustard Sauce:
1/4 c fat free greek yogurt (or sour cream if you prefer)
2 1/2 tbsp whole grain mustard
dash of Salt
dash of Pepper
Mix mustard sauce in small bowl. Divide corned beef and cabbage evenly between the 12 crackers. Top each cracker with a teaspoon of mustard sauce. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
Once again, Sur La Table is offering adorable holiday accents for your holiday table! Check out these new Easter must-haves. You won’t find anything cuter than these steals:
This is an adorable hand painted earthenware salt and pepper set to make your Easter dinner shine:
How about these cute straw chicks? This set of three chicks are 3″ tall and will brighten up any Easter decor:
Show off your egg dyeing skills with these chick cups! This set of four cups were crafted in Portugal and brought here to make your Easter a little cuter!
For this week’s recipe I tried to re-create a packaged pizza dip that I had fallen in love with. I incorporated sundried tomatoes into this appetizer to add a burst of flavor. And I’m happy to say, it worked! This dip is so easy, it’s full of pizza flavor and seems to be a real crowd pleaser. Though I make this dip with full fat ingredients, feel free to experiment with lower fat substitutes. Just give the dip more time to set up in the fridge. You can serve this dip with your favorite crackers or crostini as I did here.
Sundried Tomato Pizza Dip:
1 – 8 oz package of cream cheese
1/2 c sour cream
1/2 c mayonaise
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil
1 tbsp dried oregano (plus more for garnish)
1/2 c finely chopped sundried tomatoes packed in oil
Bring cream cheese to room temperature in large mixing bowl. Add in remaining ingredients and stir very well to combine. Put in refrigerator for at least 1 hour to set up. Take out of refrigerator at least 15 minutes before serving and garnish with a sprinkle of dried oregano. Enjoy!
I’ve lost track of the weeks! I think we just finished Week 7 according to my calculations. Yes, I’m still going strong on the 10in10 Challenge.
I have to admit that I guess I didn’t eat many processed foods to begin with, because I’m not really having to go out of my way to avoid them. The biggest difference in my life is the regular exercise. I feel great! So great, in fact, that I have decided to take on a third form of exercise. So not only will I be running and playing tennis – I’m going to start yoga as well. I have started building a ton of muscle lately and I’m feeling the need to stretch! I’m already looking forward to May when my exercise schedule will officially spin out of control. Tennis three days a week, running three days a week and yoga somewhere in between. I had better be a lean, mean muscle machine before my big trip in September or I’m going to be disappointed!!
Until next week, stay healthy!
I never really thought of fruit salad as an appetizer until it was served to me as a first course to a very delicious meal at a dear friend’s house. But it made total sense once I started eating this salad. It’s light and refreshing, it doesn’t fill you up and it’s the perfect start to a meal. Not to mention healthy! This very easy recipe requires no cooking time and very minimal chopping time. It makes way more than you would think, it easily serves four. Don’t skip the lemon flavored yogurt, it makes the dish! This recipe was originally published on AllRecipes.com and you can find the original recipe here. Try this for your next dinner party, you won’t be disappointed!
Waldorf Fruit Salad (Serves 4):
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and chopped
1 Red Delicious apple, cored and chopped
1 nectarine, pitted and chopped
1/2 c walnuts, chopped
1/2 c dried cranberries
8 oz lemon flavored non-fat yogurt
Combine all ingredients in bowl, chill until serving time.
I was lamenting last night about how I don’t have a decent “chips and dip” serving set anymore when I happened upon this beauty in the Sur La Table catalog. This is quite possibly the cutest serving bowl and dip bowl set I have ever seen. Handmade in Italy, this duck set is perfect for spring and Easter but can be used all year-round. It is a true original made exclusively for Sur La Table.
Here is the link for the Duck Serving Bowl.
Here is the link for the Duck Dip Bowl.
*See FAQ regarding links in post
Who doesn’t love baked Brie? It melts beautifully with its warm and oozing cheesy goodness. I have had baked brie many ways, my favorite kind involving caramel ice cream topping and slivered almonds (but that’s a different post!). The only thing I don’t like about baked brie is the fact that everyone has to take turns diving into the plate, scooping up the hot cheese, plopping it on their cracker or bread. So I solved this by individually portioning the cheese onto the crackers, baking them in the oven and then topping each cracker with the jam and walnuts. They are easy to eat and delicious too! And while I don’t usually tell you what type of product to use in any recipe, I will tell you that in this recipe I use Carr’s Whole Wheat crackers. They are more like sweet little cookies rather than crackers and they are to die for!
Baked Brie on Crackers (makes 24 crackers):
24 crackers of your choice
1 wedge of imported Brie
1/4 c seedless raspberry preserves
1/4 c chopped walnuts
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Working in groups of 12, line baking sheet with crackers. Cut rind off of Brie and discard. Cut cheese into little squares or rectangles and fit onto crackers (does NOT have to be perfect). Bake crackers with cheese in oven for 4 minutes. While crackers are baking, heat small nonstick skillet over medium high heat and dry toast the walnuts. Take crackers out of the oven. Using two spoons, top each cracker with a little dollop of raspberry preserves (don’t put too much, see picture). Return to the oven and bake for 1 minute. Remove from oven and top with walnuts. Transfer carefully to serving plate and enjoy!
Well, an added benefit from reaching my goals has arrived this week. I just realized that I have lost some weight along the way in this challenge and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Of course, the ultimate goal of my exercising and eating better is to lose weight, but I resisted the urge to put that pressure on myself.
As I get older, I just refuse to diet. A lot of people around me right now are losing weight by either doing pre-bought meals, diet shakes or master cleanses. And while it is tempting to jump on the bandwagon, I know that is something I can’t stick with for the long term and I will not set myself up to fail. Imagine the joy of quickly losing weight only to have the disappointment of gaining it back again when I go back to “normal” eating. I will not do that to myself. So while others are dieting, I am relishing in my non-diet and enjoying the foods I like to enjoy – just in smaller portions. And it’s working out for me.
Until next week, stay healthy!
