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14
May
2013
 Put the Lime in the…



…coconut and drink it all up! ;-D

There was a lot of lime for my birthday–skinny margaritas and lime pie! Perfect for this warmer weather. Sam made me the lime pie, and my Mom got me this cute little lemon-lime tart earlier in the day.

mini lemon tartBy the way, this mini lemon tart is still almost 200 calories! What the heck!

And of course, Psycho Holiday Baker got me the most decadent cake the day before: “Million Dollar Cake”. I am not sure why it is called this. It could be due to the extremely rich layers of chocolate mousse, cheesecake, and brownie!

million dollar birthday cake

million dollar cake

And you got to love this card from my brother telling me that I must eat unhealthy foods on my birthday ;-)

unhealthy birthday card

Earlier in the day we did have some tasty healthier food.

Mat-the-w made some bruschetta with me as his sous chef.

bruschetta with mozarella

cooking dinner at home

vegetable pasta and salad

pasta primavera dinner

Dad made a delicious pasta primavera with the veggies and chicken grilled, and then mixed with the pasta. The key was to top it with smoked gouda! Yum! You can find a similar recipe here.

There was quite a lot of rich food this birthday weekend, including some nachos last night ;-) Hehe. No worries, I already ate some veggies and an apple today. Back to my normal routine.

birthday balloons

So long year 26. It was nice, but now on to year 27!

3
Apr
2013
 Spring Break Eats



The past Easter weekend, I headed to the beach with my family to a short break. We went to Destin, Florida area which is also near the location for my wedding this Fall. So, I got in a little wedding planning while I was there. But, mostly, we relaxed and enjoyed the ocean and the food!

On the way there, we passed this disgrace:

hardees pork and biscuit

Pork and gravy biscuit? Eww, no thanks.

I brought my seed crackers for the ride down, and my sister enjoyed her Twizzlers ;-)

healthy cracker for travel

I was happy to get to the beach and enjoy some shrimp!

steamed shrimp

We went to Shake’s after dinner. My family and I love Shake’s–the ice cream is so creamy and is more of a “custard”. We only get to have it when we are near Destin!

So, don’t freak out about this less healthy option.

Shake's hot fudge sundae

I will say that they have increased their portions. The “regular” size used to be smaller than this, so we were all surprised when we got this huge ice cream!

Yum! Then, the next night I ordered salmon and asparagus.

salmon on cedar plank

We enjoyed some wine most every night ;-) And took plenty of walks and went for a few runs.

Rosemary Beach restaurants

For Easter, Psycho Holiday Baker brought a huge Costco size Jelly Belly container. And Dad picked up some Donut Hole treats. They are known for their key lime pie, but also have tasty donuts and baked goods. I eat mostly fruit and some natural peanut butter, but enjoyed half a chocolate coconut donut!

Donut hole donuts

It was a fun weekend, but now it’s back to the day-to-day normal routine!!

4
Mar
2013
 Eats this Week: Best Salad Ever and The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies



We had a lot of tasty eats this week! Mr. Cyclist and I discovered that if you roast little mini peppers they become even more sweet and delicious.

We ate them with a turkey burger (I left off the bun because I was saving room for chips hah):

turkey burger with roasted peppers

All you need to do is get the big bag of mini peppers from Costco or your local grocery store (if you can find them there) and then roast them on a baking sheet in the oven under the broiler until they brown. We add some olive oil and a few spices.

Next, we added those same peppers to what I am calling the best salad ever (for the moment anyway).

shrimp avocado salad

Lemon shrimp, avocado, Romano cheese, roasted mini peppers, spinach, onion, sun-dried tomatoes and a few olives. So tasty!

For another dinner, we took more avocados and put them on top of a vegetable omelet.

omelet with avocado

Served with a side of spiced black beans for a complete meal.

Last night, Psycho Holiday Baker made a batch of some of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. Even my Dad couldn’t stop eating them! And he doesn’t usually care much about cookies. The recipe was from Savory Sweet Life.

best chocolate chip cookies

For today, we went to one of those make-your-own stir-fry restaurants.

At first, I was horrible at putting together ingredients, but now I am a pro. Haha. Anyway, first I made a vegetable and tilapia curry mix:

tilapia vegetable red curry

And then, a second small vegetable mix with vodka sauce! It was amazing:

vodka sauce stir fry

Look at all of those veggies!

make your own stir fry

I don’t think he really liked getting his picture taken.

Now, it’s time to make some gumbo and relax. I already did my exercise by wandering around on a trail in the woods with Mr. Cyclist! Hah. Typical for a day off.

25
Feb
2013
 When’s the last time you had a Philly Cheesesteak?



What’s wrong with this picture? Haha.

easy cheese

My answer to this question would be… maybe in middle school? I have no idea. It has been forever. My Mom used to cook us that frozen meat and put it all under the broiler. It was delicious.

Since I am not a fan of beef and cheese, I had a modified cheesesteak for dinner. My Dad was kind enough to cook me chicken.

chicken Philly cheesesteak

Then, I topped with loads of lettuce and some spicy sauce.

healthier Philly cheesesteak

I was so excited about the sweet potato fries, that I had already been eating them off my plate before the picture ;-)

baked homemade sweet potato fries

For all of you who are don’t like to eat much white bread, here is a trick I use:

Pick out the fluffy inside of a bun, so that all you have is a bread sandwich “shell” to hold your toppings.

low carb sub roll

Now, compared to my meal, here is my brother’s cheesy less healthy meal. Ugh.

homemade philly cheesesteak

Does not look appetizing to me. Just looks gross. By the way, I was reading the ingredients of the Easy Cheese, and they seem to be a little better now. Easy Cheese is made with cheese, and canola oil now. And, of course, a list of preservatives and chemicals, but it is not as bad as I remember.

We all got excited about Philly Cheesesteaks, and were rushing to get to watch the Oscar’s that this happened:

dropped eggs

Whoops.

When I came home after the Oscar’s, the cats were loving their new Banana Republic shopping bag!

cat in shopping bag

cat in bag

Until tomorrow bloggies!

Going to start working on getting ready to get in my bikini at the end of March when I go to the beach. So, I will be posting some beach body worthy foods and recipe ideas starting Monday!

Until then…

cat in a shopping bag

10
Feb
2013
 Weekend Eats: Thai & Painting Inspiratation



More curry this weekend!

green curry

I ordered green curry with shrimp, and I was pleasantly surprised. It was loaded with julienned vegetables, had a nice thick sauce, and seemed pretty light for a curry dish.

Meanwhile, Mr. Cyclist was out at another restaurant with some friends eating green curry! Hah! I guess we really love curry.

This is the Thai restaurant I went to North of Atlanta called Lime Juice. It has been under new management for about half a year now, and the food seems to be much better. And everyone is so nice there. It is tucked in a shopping plaza hidden away so you wouldn’t know about it. I highly recommend it for anyone in the Atlanta area.

Afterwards, we went to a wine and painting class. My Dad chatted it up with the wine man, and my sister and I had eagle eye focus on our paintings.

My Dad has this unique painting style. It’s like he’s wanting to paint a Kinkade style house, but ends up with something more pop art style.

dad painting

My painting came out pretty good. I still could have used more extreme lights and darks for better shadows.

diy tuscan painting

Anyway, it was a bunch of fun to see what everyone came up with in the end!

Now, on to food.

Here are some of my meal planning ideas for next week:

3
Feb
2013
 Caitlin turns 25 after the Super Bowl



We went for a walk with Nala and MatTheW up Sawnee Mountain to enjoy the sunshine. I was shocked to find “No Dogs Allowed” signs in many of the nearby parks. So, we had to park at a church and just walk up a road to get to the top of the mountain. Still a great view!

sawnee mtn

When we got home, it was time for an artichoke and spinach appetizer!

light spinach artichoke dip

We had it with some of these brown rice crackers (Food Should Taste Good brand) that I LOVE:

brownricecrackers

For dinner we had a homemade vodka sauce with crab meat served over pasta.

family dinner

MatTheW thought his salad dressing bottle had a shaker top, and spilled about one-third of the bottle all over his salad… Figures. But, at least we could dip our crusty bread in the extra dressing!

spilled dressing

We watched some of the Super Bowl, then had some birthday cake!

happy 25th birthday

family eating sitting on couch

Nala wants some too.

Back to watching the Super Bowl… or the game that shall not be named.

This week I made some delicious spaghetti squash, and will post my new recipe tomorrow. Good night!

19
Jan
2013
 Salmon Dinner Night: Danny Turns 17



My little brother, who is not little anymore at all (he is 6’3″ tall), turned 17. This makes me feel old. I know that is silly. I still decorated a cookie cake kid style just to make myself feel even younger.

dinosaur cookie cake

Dinosaurs vs. toy soldiers. Haha. Everyone got a kick out of it. Not healthy, but at least Psycho Holiday Baker made it from scratch.

For dinner, Dad made some awesome salmon “burgers” made from fresh salmon. They were delicious! And much more nutritious.

salmon burger

Since I ate leftover turkey lettuce wraps at 3 pm, and we snacked on brown rice crackers and cheese before dinner, I just ate a small salmon burger with a bed of lettuce.

Of course, Danny would not be eating salmon on his birthday. This is the unhealthy version of the birthday dinner night:

unhealthy onion rings and burger

Danny's Birthday

Anyway, tomorrow I will probably go out for a run to burn off the buttery sugary cookie cake. Going to be beautiful weather here in Atlanta. A nice break from the nasty, cold and wet weather we had all this week.

Tomorrow I will have my guacamole quinoa recipe posted!

27
Dec
2012
 All Done with Holiday Feasting!



This particular Christmas, I went to three different dinners over the course of 3 days. Lots of calories were eaten, and there were plentiful white carbohydrates and some unhealthy fats and sugars. Yikes!

It only happens a few times per year, so I don’t worry and neither should you ;-)

Day 1: Southern cooking for lunch (I had roast turkey with gravy, beans/peas, and turnip greens. A quick Starbuck’s stop for some jet fuel black coffee with a dash of cream. For dinner was a creamy seafood soup, half a turkey sandwich, and cranberry cookie pie.
Day 2: Christmas Eve with my family: Fruit, followed by a workout in the morning, then some spicy black beans for a mid-morning snack/early lunch. Snacked on nuts and baked goodies (cookies, biscotti) at my family’s house. I had to hurry up and make an apple pie for the next day. More jet fuel black coffee. Dinner was a delicious lasagna, small salad, and a meatball! More cookies for dessert.
lasagna and meatballDay 3: Woke up and had some black coffee, a banana that I shared with Nala (the dog), and a biscotti. Opened presents, then ate some of the delicious and healthier egg and vegetable casserole that my Dad made.
vegetable egg casseroleCan you see that apple cake in the background? Psycho Holiday Baker made it of course, and it is a traditional apple cake my Italian grandmother used to make. 2 pieces of that were eaten later…

Also had some fresh fruit, and then we were on the way to North Georgia for another feast!

Dinner: Roast turkey, spoonful of mac ‘n cheese, spoonful of dressing, green bean casserole, cranberry salad, steamed vegetables, deviled egg, and wine. Dessert was the apple pie I made, and some more cookies.

Later on we got hungry again and had some snacks: Pimento cheese and wheat thins and some raw veggies with a spinach dip. Probably got so hungry because of our expert Taboo game we had going on. Brain fuel. Final score was 73 to 80.
high taboo score

Day 4: In the morning I had a small cinnamon roll and some All Bran. More jet fuel. For lunch, I shared a small portion of Mr Cyclist’s turkey sandwich, ate a few bites of veggies, and 2 deviled eggs. For a snack, I had some homemade Chex Mix which is super tasty. Sometime later on I had another cookie.

For dinner that night, I made a detoxifying kale dish to get in some veggies for the day. Munched on a few nuts a little later.

kale and artichoke bake

In general, my normal diet is much higher in fruits and vegetables, so I noticed the lack of them in my diet for the past 3-4 days. Less energy overall. And it is mostly just the added sugars that I am not used to in high quantities.

I did my best to eat as well as I could and still enjoy the foods and eat the foods I don’t usually get a chance to eat! That is what it is all about–portion control, eat slowly, enjoy your food, think about the taste of your food, and remember to eat your 5-9 fruits and vegetables on the non-Holiday occasions. :)

baked kale with onion and feta

This kale recipe was made from frozen kale, sauteed onions, spinach, spoonful of cream cheese, garlic, small amount of feta, marinated artichokes, and some spices.

3
Dec
2012
 Light Baked French Toast



I rarely make french toast since it takes a while if you are baking it in the oven. But, when I do make it, get ready for some deliciousness!

I took a bite of my piece already!

You can use any type of bread as long as it is crusty. I put in a slice of Ezekiel bread for myself. But, this was mostly white Italian style bread. You could do the entire dish with Ezekiel bread if you wanted! And the great part is that you can put the bread in the casserole still partially frozen.

Half Ezekiel, half white bread here.

Light Baked French Toast

Serves 3–You can easily double this and make in a 9×13 pan instead.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups skim milk (or any milk you prefer)
  • 4 egg (could use some egg whites if you want even lighter)
  • 1 Tbsp. good vanilla
  • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon, and then some for dusting on top
  • 1 tsp. sugar
  • 1 tsp. butter or Earth Balance to grease the bottom and sides of pan, PLUS 2 tsp. butter for the top of the casserole
  • Half a loaf of crusty bread (whatever you prefer)–preferably, a natural bread
  • pinch of salt

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. In a small square baking dish, grease the bottom and sides with your butter or Earth Balance.
  3. Slice your bread in 1-1.5 inch slices. If the bread slices are already sliced, then layer in double slices. Add the bread to the baking dish and make sure it is compactly arranged. You can cut up a few cube slices and stick in the empty spots of the casserole to keep everything in place.
  4. Whisk your eggs, vanilla, milk, and cinnamon. Pour over top of your bread in the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a tiny pinch of salt.
  5. With 1 tsp. sugar, dust over top of the french toast. Cut tiny slices of butter/Earth Balance and place on top of the french toast.
  6. Bake 45-60 minutes until all the liquid is cooked or absorbed and the top has become lightly golden.

Serve with real maple syrup, fruit, fruit compote, agave, or honey! You can easily make variations on this with bananas, or other fruits, or pecans, etc.

Yum yum yum. The reason this recipe is lighter is because I cut out the heavy cream, reduced the butter significantly, and reduced the sugar to only 5 grams of sugar for the entire recipe.

25
Nov
2012
 Holiday Festivities and The $4 Turkey



Yes, I got a turkey for $4! Craziness. All you have to do is buy the turkey 1 to 2 days after Thanksgiving. The turkey was supposed to be about $14 for 10 pounds, but it had a discount of about $10!

I should run back and get another!

We started this tradition of making a turkey after Thanksgiving because I never do Thanksgiving at my home, so I miss all the leftovers.

By the way, my bourbon vegan truffles came out fantastic. Recipe here.

I put these cute little leaf sprinkles on them for fall ;)

We got our Christmas tree safely home yesterday. I could have sworn it was going to fall off the car.

The kitties have been running everywhere around the tree. This morning, one even tried to climb it!

I underestimated their ability to jump, and had to move ornaments higher. They look sweet, but they are trouble makers! Haha.

Time to get ready to cook that turkey! Going to eat it with some mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. I have this amazing recipe that I will post later.

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