Day 268

I love smoothies. Growing up, my mom would make smoothies for my sister and I sometimes before we would go to school. There was also the best smoothies shop in the world in Greensboro called The Juice Shop. Cash only and they had about ten smoothies on their menu that haven't changed since the first time I ever went there.

You don't need a recipe for smoothies, although sometimes it's nice to have one if your doing something special. You can just throw in a plethora of fresh and frozen fruit, ice, yogurt, and fruit juice and you've got yourself a healthy meal.

John and I had both been craving smoothies lately so today I took the bull by the horns and went to Bed Bath and Beyond with my 20% off coupon and bought a blender.

I considered buying a KitchenAid because it was on sale for about $70 and had probably ten different settings until I saw the Oster one that I ended up purchasing. My parents to this day have their Oster blender which they received as a wedding present nearly thirty years ago and John's parents also have an Oster blender that is twenty some odd years old. Plus, who really needs ten different settings for a blender?

Day 267

Well it's been raining here for the last two days and the temperature is a little on the cool side, making for a perfect day for some soup and a sandwich.  I asked around at work and everyone recommended Heidi's, a New York style deli.

Having never been there before, I ordered half of a Reuben sandwich, a cup of Cheddar Broccoli soup, and a small side of potato salad.

Holy smokes.  I couldn't eat all of this!  The "half" a Reuben was the size of my hand.  I don't know how anyone could eat all of this but man it was perfect for the rainy, dreary day we were having.

TGIF!

Day 266

I like coffee.  I actually more than like coffee but I wouldn't say that I love coffee.  I'm not one of those crazy people who are addicted to a certain big chain coffee shop that serves over-priced drinks.  I don't understand how people can justify spending more than $10 a week on two, maybe three, drinks.  If you're one of those people, I don't mean to offend.  I just can think of better things to spend my money on.

Don't get me wrong.  Every once in a blue moon I will swing by said coffee shop and order a little treat for myself.  But man was I happy when I started working where I'm at now and I have unlimited access to this:

There's coffee, cappuccino, french vanilla cappuccino, mocha, and cafe latte, as well as and evil Butterfinger drink that is just way too sweet for even me.  We've also got a Nespresso machine with about 8 different blends of espresso and regular coffee pots.

Now there's really no reason to spend money on coffee from that big chain coffee shop.

Day 265

It must be almost summer because, even in Colorado, the number of thunderstorms is on the rise. 

Day 264

I love chocolate.  I love cherries.  And I love hazelnut.  So when I saw this recipe in the Cooking Light cookbook that you have become so familiar with from all of my recipes of late, I was ecstatic. Unfortunately, I nearly caught the apartment on fire and wasn't able to snap a picture of the hilarity.

But a word to the wise: when something says to place an ingredient on parchment paper and bake in the over at whatever degrees for however long, you won't get the same result if you use wax paper!  Instead, when you open the oven door to check and see how the hazelnuts are toasting, you will get blasted in the face with a plume of smoke and see that your hazelnuts are burnt.

I will be making this again in the future and will definitely follow up with you guys on how to properly make this low cal chocolate snack!

Day 263

For the past few weeks John and I have been hunting for a new place to live.

And after hours of hunting online, phone calls, and apartment tours, we have finally found a place!
It's right across the creek from where we are now and it is amazing.  So here's some pictures of the place.

 Part of the porch.  There's three mature trees directly around the porch.  There's plenty of room for a "bistro" set (table and two chairs) and a grill.  I want to but a hammock chair out there for reading and listening to the rain and thunder storms.

 View from the dining room into the living room.  Notice the wonderful built in wine rack (with grates to hang glasses) and storage!

 View from the dining room down the hall leading to the laundry, bedroom, and bathroom.  Also, the kitchen is on the right.

 Our awesome kitchen!!  Granite counter tops...

 Amazing custom cabinetry....

 Under-mounted sink with built in soap dispenser....

 Cute mini-shelves (I'm thinking little flowers in these vases), under- and above-cabinet lighting, and a nice back-splash!

 The apartment comes with a nice full sized washer and dryer.

 There's a bay window in the bedroom

 and a pretty window with a big window sill and a hook in the ceiling.  I'm seeing some plants!

 There's a full length mirror on the inside of the closet door.

 Walk-in closet.  We could fit a twin bed in here!

 A nice ceiling fan!!  A ceiling fan is a must for me.

 Now for the bathroom.  Granite counters in here, too!

 Rounded shower-curtain rod and a double bar towel rack.

 Updated lighting, nice finishes, etc.

 The kitchen and John :)

No this isn't ours...this is the club house.

We're really excited to be moving to this place.  It feels less like an apartment and has more of a homey feel.  Plus there's a garage that goes directly into our apartment.

Hooray for no more parking on the street and walking to the apartment!

Day 262

Today was a beautiful, warm, almost summer-like day.  And what screams summer more than burgers?

 Burgers and crinkly fries!

What do you put on your burger?  I like mustard, ketchup, lettuce, onion, and dill pickles (we only had sweet relish but it's close enough for me!)

John is a very good burger cook and these were delicious, but I can only imagine how delicious these will be once we get a grill!

What other foods make you think of summer?

Corn?

Fresh tomatoes?

What does it for ya?  I want to know.

Day 260

Tonight's dinner: Cooking Light Spicy Honey-Brushed chicken Thighs with roasted potato wedges.

This recipe was so easy, as I'm noticing the majority of them are in this cook book.

Preheat the broiler.  Combine 2 tsp garlic powder, 2 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp paprika, and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes.  Add 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs to a bowl and add spices.  Toss to coat.  Place chicken on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray.  Broil chicken 5 minutes on each side.

Quarter a handful of red potatoes and spread evenly across a cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dill.  Place on bottom rack in oven.

Combine 6 Tbs honey and 2 tsp cider vinegar, stirring well.  Remove chicken thighs from over and brush with honey mixture (on one side only).  Broil 1 minute.  Remove from oven and turn pieces over.  Brush with honey mixture and broil for another minute.

Remove potatoes from oven.  Makes 4 servings: one serving is 2 chicken thighs and 3/4 cup roasted potatoes.

Super easy and really yummy.  We'll be making this one again.

Day 259

The next few days are going to be gross and cold and rainy/snowing.  While it is already May and summer is about a month away, Colorado doesn't seem to know that.

In preparation for the weather, I made a Cooking Light Butternut Squash Soup.  It was super easy and pretty cheap and oh-so-yummy.  So here we go.

 Cast of Characters.

 Peel the butternut squash and cube 3-1/2 cups.  Chop 3/4 cup carrots and 1/2 cup sweet onion.

 Melt 1 Tbs butter in pot over medium-high heat.

 Add squash, carrot, and onion.  Saute 12 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 This is what it looks like after 12 minutes.

 Add 2-1/2 cups fat-free, lower sodium chicken broth and bring to a boil.

 Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes.

Remove from heat, stir in 1/4 cup half and half (I used skim milk), 1/8 tsp salt, and pepper to taste.

With an immersion blender (you can also use a regular blender), blend soup until no chunks remain.

One serving is 1 cup of soup and 1-1 ounce slice of crusty bread.  I added a little fresh Parm cheese to mine.  This comes in at 338 calories, even less actually because I used skim milk!

This is so delicious, so easy, and I will definitely be making this again.

Day 258

John had to go to a work event after he got of work this afternoon.  I'm sure it was awful.  The company he worked for rented out two boxes at the Colorado Rockies game and had everyone go to tonight's game.  What a hard life.

So I celebrated my evening of freedom alone time by cooking some snow crabs legs and pouring myself a nice, big 'ole glass of wine.

Yum.  Our friends have snow crab every year on Good Friday and they had leftovers so they sent John back with two bags packed full of these delicious morsels

I could eat crab legs and/or seafood nearly every day of my life and be perfectly happy.

I would need a good steak thrown in there every once in a while, though.

Day 257

Happy Mother's Day to my amazing Momma and to all the Mommas out there!

Today we went apartment hunting.  The apartment we're at now is great: great location, great amenities (even though we don't use any of them) and great price for what we get.  The place is really nice but they're increasing our rent if we renew the lease so we're looking to see what we can get for our money at other places.

We looked at one place that would be closer to work for me (Oh yea, I'm working with Nestle on contract!) but it's farther from John's work and from downtown.  Plus, there's tons of things right around the corner from where we are now while this place doesn't really have much.  It would be a great safe and quiet area, but we'll see.

So in between looking at this place down in the Denver Tech Center and going to the next place, John decided he wanted to go to Shepler's, a giant Western-wear store.  Why did he want to go?  I nearly fainted when I heard this..

He wanted to look at cowboy boots!!

I never thought I'd see the day that I got this New England boy to put on, much less buy, cowboy boots.

To make things even better, he was wearing a pair of Ralph Lauren plaid shorts.  Those and cowboy boots don't exactly make the best look.

He was pretty excited about them and I made sure he was going to get real boots.  None of that Ariat stuff.  Tony Lama is the only way to go.  Plus, I decided these would be the large chunk of his birthday present.  So here's what the final decision was:

Mmmmmmmm.

 A little info on Tony Lama and the boots J picked out: Tony Lama has been making boots for ranching, roping, and riding since 1911. Over the years, Tony Lama boots have evolved into technically advanced, fashionable footwear that sets the standard for the western lifestyle. They are proud to introduce the 3R buckaroo. It's handcrafted with a rojo bridle leather foot under a 16" ivory baron calf leather shaft. Shaft features fancy stitching, inlay detail, and easy-on pull holes. 3R embroidered logo detail. Square toe. Unit heel. 1/4" spur ridge. Single stitched welt construction.

But then this shopping trip got a little bigger.  John, while tall as is, doesn't have the proper jeans for cowboy boots.  Ya gotta have 'em super long and they've gotta be Wranglers.

Whew.  He looks like he could actually fit in at a barn.  I told him I'd make a country boy or cattle rancher outta him yet.

Mmmmmmm Wranglers and Tony Lamas.  I was beside myself.  Still am.

A pair of boots, the necessary tools to keep them well taken care of, two pairs of Wranglers, and a hysterical bought with the boot jack later, we made it out of there.  Starving and satisfied our day's work, we went to Jason's Deli for lunch and didn't go look at the other apartment.

Now he's just got to wait until June 4 to wear his boots and jeans.

Day 256

I am a big fan of stir fry.  Big fan doesn't even do it.  I could eat stir fry every day.  You can change it up with different veggies, spices, meats, and side dishes.  And it's a healthy dish!

So here's what we had for dinner tonight: Pork and Vegetable Sit-Fry with Cashew Rice.

 Cast of Characters.

 Combine 2/3 cup fat-free, low sodium chicken broth, 1 Tbs cornstarch, 2 Tbs reduced-sodium soy sauce, and honey in a small bowl.

 Set aside.

 The recipe calls for 1-lb. of pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.  I bought 1-lb. of boneless pork chops instead.  They were cheaper and are a leaner cut.

 Combine 1 Tbs cornstarch and 1 Tbs reduced sodium soy sauce.

 Mix well.

 Add to pork and toss well to coat.

 Heat 2 tsp oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add pork and saute 4 minutes or until browned.  Remove from pan.

 Here's an up-close of the pork.  It was so tasty!

 Add 1 tsp oil to the pan.  Add 2 cups sliced mushrooms (I didn't use these because neither of us like mushrooms) and 1 cup chopped onion to the pan.  Saute 2 minutes.

 Stir in 1 Tbs grated peeled fresh ginger (I used dried ginger because that's what I had) and 2 minced garlic cloves.  Saute 30 seconds.

 Add 2 cups (6 ounces) sugar snap peas and 1 cup chopped red bell pepper (1) and saute 1 minute.

 Stir in pork and cook 1 minute.  Add reserved broth mixture to pan.  Bring to a boil and cook 1 minute or until thick, stirring constantly.

While all of this is going on, have 3/4 cup long-grained rice cooking according to package directions, leaving out the salt and fat.  When it's done, stir in 1/3 cup chopped green onions, 1/4 dry-roasted cashews, salted and coarsely chopped, and 1/2 tsp salt.

Serve 1-1/2 cups pork and veggie mixture over 1/2 cup cashew rice.  This very filling and very delicious meal comes in at 460 calories.

We did make one little change though.  We added however much we wanted to of that delciously super hot "Rooster Sauce" (Chinese red chili sauce that has the rooster on the label) to our personal plates.  This made this recipe absolutely perfect.

This makes 4 servings and is great for leftovers.

I really really hope you make this.  It's so good.  If you do, let me know what you're thoughts are and if you make any alterations!