Tag Archives: cheese

Peasy Pesto Pasta

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It’s already after 11 pm and the alarm is going off before 6 am tomorrow, yikes!  This day needs a speedy post.

Workout – 40 minutes on the stationary bike at  random level 6

Breakfast – Banana brulee yogurt.

In a small skillet I cooked a sliced banana with 1/2 Tbsp butter and 2 tsp brown sugar.  I put the gooey, caramelized banana on top of a bowl of Wegman’s 0% Plain Greek Yogurt.

The sweet and tangy tastes went perfectly together.

Lunch – a bagel sandwich.

A cinnamon raisin Bagel Thin topped with jalapeño cream cheese and two slices of Applegate Farms smoked turkey.

I ate a slice of turkey in the morning as I was assembling my sandwich, it’s great.

I also had a Golden Delicious apple.

Snack – a mini bag of kettle corn.

Dinner – 2 oz of bow tie pasta with slices of roasted zucchini and peasy pesto (see below).

I love pesto so flipping much!  Bow ties with pesto are one of my major food memories from my childhood.  My aunt makes the best pesto I’ve ever had but she’s a great cook so that’s not surprising.

Peasy Pesto, makes 4 – 8 servings

  • 10 oz frozen peas, thawed and drained
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  1. Place peas and oil in food processor and process until homogenous, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and pulse until well combined.

It was such a pretty green, I just couldn’t help taking pictures of it!

Jalapeño Popper Rolls

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As promised, here is the first of the recipes I made for book club last weekend.

These rolls are spicy and cheesy, my favorite combination!  They are a take on my favorite appetizer – Jalapeño Poppers.  Some popper aficionados prefer cheddar while the purists want cream cheese.  These rolls make cheddar and cream cheese play together nicely.

Wimps who want something cheesy with just a bit of spice may want to substitute banana peppers.  Daredevils can use fresh jalapeños.

Jalapeño Popper Rolls, makes 8 rolls

  • 8 oz package Pillsbury Crescent Seamless Dough Sheet
  • 4 oz 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 2 T jarred jalapeño juice
  • 1/2 cup jarred sliced jalapeños, drained
  • 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Farenheit and prepare a cookie sheet with baking spray.
  2. In a medium bowl, use a mixer to blend together cream cheese and jalapeño juice.
  3. On a clean, flat workspace, roll out seamless dough sheet.
  4. Use a spatula to spread jalapeño cream cheese in a thin, even layer on dough.  You don’t want to leave a border, spread the cream cheese to the edges of the dough.
  5. Place jalapeños in rows on top of cream cheese.  Leave about half an inch between each row and do not overlap the jalapeños.
  6. Sprinkle cheese in an even layer on top of jalapeños.
  7. Carefully roll up the dough, as if you were rolling up a yoga mat.  Slice rolled dough into 8 pieces.
  8. Place rolls on prepared cookie sheet, leaving a bit of space between them so they have room to rise.
  9. Bake at 375* for 18 – 20 minutes until golden.

BBQ ‘Bellas

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The stormy weather threatened my workout tonight but I persevered.  When I walked outside into heavy rain I knew I had to rethink my run.  Then the husband offered to drive me to the gym like a knight in shining armor a dry car.  I’ve hated running on the treadmill recently but it’s better than nothing at all.  I ran 2 miles (18:44) and then walked a 5 minute cool down.  2.3 miles and 24 minutes.  Followed by a few minutes of strength/stretching.

Dinner was a beauty.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten a portabella burger but a Wegman’s worker was cooking them for a display at the store last weekend and Adam and I both caught the craving.

These babies were especially good when paired with bbq sauce, aged gouda, and jalapeño cream cheese.

I put the ‘shrooms and a bit of canola oil over medium-high heat and then covered the pan and let them cook for 6 minutes.  Meanwhile, I toasted up some sandwich thins.  I schmeared 1 oz of jalapeño cream cheese on a thin, topped it with the cooked portabella, and then topped that with a healthy drizzle of Stubbs bbq sauce and 1 oz of aged gouda.

The sandwiches were a mess to eat but oh-so satisfying.

Roasted asparagus rounded out dinner.

This meal tasted like summer.

Pick your favorite – bean burger, beef burger, turkey burger, or ‘bella burger?

Epic Meal Time

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I’m not talking about the Epic Meal Time, though those guys are awesome.

Muscles Glasses is a hottie.

I’m talking about yesterday’s meals.  They were literally epic (you’ll see).

Breakfast was more nonexistent than epic, because I stayed in bed reading a book until the last possible minute.  When I was utterly distraught over finishing Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series my mom bought me the first book in several murder mystery lines.  Yesterday I was finishing up Tess Gerritsen’s The Surgeon.  It wasn’t terrible – I loved the way she switched point of view with each chapter from a different character’s perception – but I don’t plan on reading any more of hers.  I actually have the latest TB book now but I’m making myself wait to savor it.

I had to be out of bed and out the door at a specific time because my friend Hillary and I were presenting our research on Ginkgo Biloba at a poster presentation.

Last major assignment of the semester, done!

After I changed out of my suit Adam and I went to lunch.  We took a nice walk down Elmwood (a little over a mile) to Nickle City Cheese & Mercantile, an adorable new cheese shop.

The space looks great and they carry all sorts of cool lines that I’ve read about and wanted to try.

Adam and I got lunch and had a picnic outside.

We had a Sprecher Cherry Cola,

Mac and cheese with gouda,

and a grilled cheese of pimento cheese on pumpernickel with red onion.

Everything was great, but the pimento cheese didn’t have as much flavor as I was hoping for.  We definitely plan on going back for fancy cheese.

On the walk home we stopped at the neighborhood candy store for mint M&M’s.

They are one of my favorites but I was feeling pretty satisfied from lunch so I only ate half of them.

The rest of our afternoon was spent running the rest of our weekend errands.  Many took us to the mall.

Our final errand was at Cold Stone (legit!) where Adam and I split a kid’s chocolate frozen yogurt with butterfinger.

I like that Cold Stone has an option with less than 200 calories per small serving but this tasted a little “empty” somehow.

For dinner we went on a fancy date night!  We had an amazing Groupon for Epic Restaurant and Lounge.

They brought us bread with oil to start.

And Adam ordered the Filet Sliders – with house-made sea salt and vinegar potato chips and smoked gouda fondue as an appetizer.

I ate a few chips dipped in the fondue and it was awesome.

Per usual, we did some sharing with dinner.  I got the Grilled Rock Lobster Tail  – with lemon and asparagus barley risotto drizzled with a garlic shallot butter and brocoli rabe.

He got the Cedar Plank Salmon – maple candied carrots, fresh arugula, smoked gouda mashed potatoes.

Gahhhh!  Everything was sooooo good!  Adam’s favorite bite was the lobster tail and my favorites were the broccoli rabe and the fatty end of Adam’s salmon.  It was a great meal and a great time.

We extended the fun with Monkey Bread for dessert.

Oh, and we ordered a bottle of Prosecco with our meal.

Which is why you’re getting this post in the morning 😉

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oatmeal (For Dinner)

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My book and beers were great last night but I woke up in a funk.  Adam and I both just didn’t want to get out of bed.  I snoozed for so long that suddenly there wasn’t enough time to both go to the gym and make the fun breakfast I was looking forward to.  I knew I had to get it together before my bad mood ruined the whole day so I tried to pinpoint what was making me cranky – I was cold, I was tired, I was hungry.

Time to problem-solve!  I decided I would make a mug of hot chocolate (calories, warmth, caffeine), go to the gym (endorphins), and eat my fun breakfast for dinner (anticipation).

The cocoa was pretty weak but my workout felt rewarding.  10 minutes on the treadmill (1 mile) and 20 minutes at level 6 random on the stationary bike (7 miles).

I had to hurry, but somehow my hair air-dried perfectly today!

Often one side curls under while the other flips up so this felt very fortuitous since I had to look nice for clinic.

For breakfast I cashed in the last of my Ashker’s smoothie Groupon on the walk to school.

I got a Lemon Zinger sans ginger; aka a carrot, peach, mango, and lemon smoothie.  It was great!

Lunch included more carrots so it’s a good thing I’m a fan.

Also a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with two slices of Applegate Farm’s Smoked Turkey and a wedge of Light French Onion Laughing Cow.

And a 120-calorie pack of Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters.

These were on super-sale so I took a chance and I ended up quite liking them.  The serving was small but the caramel was nice and I liked the bit of crunch.

But I probably should have packed an additional item for lunch because I was inhaling this 100-calorie bag of kettle corn the minute I walked in the door at the end of the day.

My clinical hours today were at a Diabetic Education Course.  The RD let me teach the portion on reading nutrition labels.  She said I seemed knowledgable and confident which is awesome because on the inside I was screaming my head off!  I’m considering becoming a certified diabetes educator (cde) some day so it was neat to get a taste of the experience.

I had to get through night class and then I finally had my much-anticipated breakfast dinner.  What combination was I so excited about?

Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake Oats!

So flipping good.

cooked: 3/4 cup skim milk, pinch salt, 1/4 cup oats

stirred in: 1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese (cheesecake), 4 toasted marshmallows (marshmallow!)

topped: 1 Tbsp melted Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter (crust)

The toasted marshmallows stirred into the mix and the bowl was like a giant, toasty, marshmallow!

When I originally planned this meal for breakfast I wanted to make sure it was nutritionally ready to get me through the day so I plugged the ingredients into an online calculator –

Not bad, not bad at all; especially for something that tasted like dessert.

What is your favorite decadent breakfast?

White Girl Broad Rice Noodles

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If I had to name my favorite foods, Pad See Eiw would top the list every time.  It beats out baby carrots and even jalapeño nachos, though it’s worth noting that diet pop isn’t a contender because it’s considered a necessity.  Broad rice noodles have the best chew.  If you get a well made dish of Pad See Eiw the noodles are almost like marshmallows, but in a delicious, savory way.

Tragically, I’ve never been able to find broad rice noodles on sale for the home cook.  I’ve searched at Thai markets in Buffalo, Brooklyn, and Toronto with no luck.  I haven’t given up hope but I’m not too broken up about it either.  I figure that the universe is just telling me that we need to go out for Thai more often.  Plus, I’ve found a white girl substitution that works in a pinch –

lasagna noodles

You simply cook the noodles according to the package directions, drain and cool, chop into large squares, and stir fry.  The flavor and texture aren’t identical to broad rice noodles but they are good.  It’s the closest I’ve come to approximating that great chew at home.

For tonight’s meal I made “broad rice noodles” with veggies and a spicy basil sauce.  The final dish was chewy, spicy, healthy, and a little sweet and sour; we were big fans!

To make the meal, I used 1 Tbsp canola oil to stir fry 2 servings of chopped lasagna noodles, 3 small heads roasted broccoli, 2 roasted zucchini, and 2 eggs.  Then I tossed everything in a spicy basil sauce and cooked it all for another 3 minutes.

spicy basil sauce

  • 2 Tbsp finely chopped basil
  • 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp tamari
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Sriracha

Dinner was great but I’ve been a hungry mungry all afternoon and my stomach is still growling!  Before dinner I made myself a sliced green apple with 2 Tbsp Trader Joe’s Cookie Butter.

The cookie butter is tasty but it’s not exactly like Biscoff Spread.  I still can’t put my finger on what the difference is.

When I was still hungry an hour after dinner I made myself a serving of Ritz crackers with 1 oz of melted Cabot 50% Reduced Sharp Cheddar.

Yummy, but not very filling.  We don’t have a ton of options in the house though and I’ve definitly consumed enough calories for the day so I’ve decided to suck it up and just go hungry.  Hopefully when I get back to work I’ll get distracted and my stomach will give it a rest!

Are you a broad rice noodle fan?

Thai One On

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Good food, good friends, and a bit of work; ’twas the perfect Sunday!

Any day is sweet when your morning starts off like this –

If you don’t want to start your day with sweetened condensed milk I’m not sure we can be friends.  I only had a small taste, I was using the SCM in a fun recipe and licking the spoon is practically a requirement.

We had brunch plans at noon so I also had this Cara Cara Orange in the a.m. to hold me over.

Good thing too, the wait ended up being lengthy.

Thankfully Betty’s was worth the time.

3rd year has been busy so it was great to get together with some medical school friends.


Apparently I think smoky eyes are a brunch look.

A Bloody Mary (extra spicy) was ordered the minute we got to our table.

Not gonna lie – I got a little buzzed; I’m officially a light-weight.

For my meal I had my eye on the vegetable hash –

Corn and poblano peppers topped with runny eggs sounds like heaven on a plate, but sadly they had run out.  I ended up making a last-minute decision and choosing the apple and cranberry french toast streusel casserole.

The casserole was good but I should have stuck with savory, I just wasn’t feeling sweet.  I ate about half plus two incredible stolen bites of Adam’s lox Benedict.

I didn’t have to wait long to eat again (do I ever?!); we went to the movies this afternoon and I polished off 90% of these pretzel bites.

This is literally the only time I would ever considering eating fake cheese, but boy do I shovel it in with pretzel bites!  We saw “Cabin in the Woods.”  I hate horror films a lot (even “horror comedies”) but we’re obsessed with Joss Whedon so we had to go.  I didn’t adore the movie itself but I loved the fact that it was basically a giant commentary on the genre.  No “Serenity” though 😉

Our friends were talking about the “five languages of love” at brunch so when we got home we decided to take the quiz.  Here are my results –

And here are Adam’s –

We both are indifferent to gifts but need physical touch and quality time (I could have told you that before the quiz!)  You’ll notice that I care much more about acts of service than Adam; a good thing since I’m basically worthless!

But I did make us an awesome snack.

When we lived in Park Slope there was a coffee shop on our block with the best-ever coffee granita.  We were obsessed and Adam got a granita for free two years in the row because he was the first person to order it at the end of winter.  This was my attempt at a Thai Iced Coffee style granita.

I know it looks like dog food but I promise that the taste and texture were great.  Here’s the recipe –

Thai Iced Coffee Slush, serves 6

  • 6 heaping Tbsp espresso roast ground coffee
  • 3 cups water
  • 14 oz can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
  1. Place grounds and water in coffee maker of choice and brew according to manufacture’s instructions.  Remove finished coffee from heat and allow to cool completely.
  2. In a large bowl, whisk together coffee and sweetened condensed milk until homogenous.
  3. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9 inch glass casserole dish and place in the freezer.
  4. Freeze 8 hours or until fully frozen.  Use a fork to break up the mixture every 2 hours or so, scraping the tines through until you’ve achieved a texture similar to wet sand.
  5. Serve immediately.  Slush will keep in the freezer indefinitely but you may need to use a blender to break it up if you wait more than 1 – 2 days to serve.

We loved it!  The slush was milky and sweet but the coffee flavor was strong.  Each serving has less than 200 calories so it’s the perfect light, summer treat.

We weren’t done having fun yet; next we cashed in a Living Social deal for dinner at Spicy Thai.  Spicy Thai has my favorite pad see eiw in Buffalo but I was craving spice so I branched out.

Spicy Tofu – “(comes hot and only hot) fried tofu with green beans sautéed in spicy chili, garlic, and basil.”  I requested mine extra hot and with broccoli thrown in for some extra veggies.

Awesome.  It actually wasn’t as spicy as I’d hoped but the flavors were delicious.  I loved how the tofu was a little bit sweet.  I ate 2/3s and then gave the rest, and all of my rice, to the husband.

He ordered the Pad See Eiw and I took many bites of that as well.

Marshmallow noodles!

My tofu may not have been hot but my dish did come with some of these killer Thai peppers.

I always pick around the darker dried ones (I had a really bad experience at a Panda Express once) but today I tried one of the soft, bright red pieces.  I spent a minute in tears with a tongue that felt like it had a hole in it, but ended up with a really pleasant spice flavor.  Adam – who used to ardently hate all things hot – even tried one.

I’m so proud of him for branching out!  He’s even the occasional Sriracha fan now.

On our way home we stopped in at Starbucks to get me the chocolate hazelnut tart that I’ve been mooning at for weeks.

I Googled when we got home and if I’d know that this guy only had 180 calories I probably would have gotten one sooner!  The shortbread crust was everything I was hoping it would be.

Actually, Adam attempted to get me one of those last week but misunderstood and purchased a little apple pie instead (no thanks).  I may not have eaten his treat but I was incredibly thrilled by the gesture.  I guess I do care a little bit about gifts!

What is your most important language of love?

Still Searching for ‘Rita

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Did you have a successful Saturday?  Ours was sort of a wash.  I did my to-do’s and had some fun with the husband but I also felt sick and spent many hours curled up in bed.  I guess I’m just glad I was awake long enough to do what I needed to do.

For breakfast the husband took me to the new juice bar he spotted.

Code Blu was a win!  Cute space and good juice.

*Hulk smash*

I got an “@Green.com” – spinach, kale, parsley, romaine, cucumber, celery, lemon, and apple.

Delicious!  I liked how much it tasted like a lemonade.  And there was combo on the menu with kale and watermelon so we’ll definitely be back.

We didn’t grocery shop at all for this week (only soda, cottage cheese, and fruit for Adam were purchased) so our errands were very quick but I was still complaining of hunger by the time we were done.  I ate this handful of peanut m&m’s to try to stave off more whining.

Bletch; these only led to more complaining; why do they have such a terrible aftertaste?

When I woke up this morning the only thing I could think of was margaritas.  I don’t even like tequilla so it was an odd craving but it was a strong one.  Unfortunately none of the Mexican restaurants nearby were open for lunch (sidenote – I am flipping out over Cantina Loco‘s menu, I need to go there immediately).  Then I remembered the free appetizer coupon I had for TGIFriday’s.  I knew the margarita wouldn’t be the best ever, but I figured it was better than nothing.

Nothing would have been better.  Adam and I split this skinny margarita and neither of us were fans.

The only redeeming thing I can say is that it had only 120 calories so at least I didn’t waste a meal’s worth of calories on the worst drink I’ve ever had.  The sweetness level was sickening.  Now I need to keep trying until I find a margarita that quenches my craving; I’m up to the task!

With our free appetizer coupon we got an order of pretzel sticks with beer cheese.

Beer cheese and pretzels are both always good things. 

I ate 1.5 pretzels with cheese.  We took one pretzel home for later but we probably should have just split it because the rest of lunch was a bust.

We split a cranberry jalapeño turkey reuben, no butter on the bread.

I loved this sandwich when I attended the tasting a few weeks back, but I couldn’t even finish my half today.  It was too spicy and totally tasteless all at the same time.

I did eat most of my side salad with balsamic though.

Our meal came with dessert for only a dollar more so we took a chance on the “Oreo Madness.”

Yuck again.  Adam actually ate most of it but I was unimpressed, and I’m the one who loves Oreos.

By the time we got home I was totally ill, a fact for which I blame the skinny sour mix in the margaritas.  Not my best idea.  But after a much-needed nap we pulled it together and switched out our closets and spring cleaned the storage containers.  Go us!

Dinner ended up being a bag of popcorn.

No complaints there!