Pomegranate & Goat Cheese Salad

Last night, believe it or not, I forwent dinner. Not on purpose, but one thing led to another and then it was bedtime. I attended the SMPS Holiday Party at Arena Stage with friend and colleague, Stephanie, then met people for drinks afterward. I had lots of fun and wouldn’t have changed a thing about the night, except that I was especially hungry today.
Tonight a few girls headed over to a friend (Mary Scott)'s house for another dinner get-together where all the guests bring a part of the meal – the new coolest trend, haven’t you heard? I volunteered for a salad and dessert. Dessert was a done deal, since I brought my leftover wreath corn flake cookies. The salad was conceived today while shopping at Trader Joe’s during lunch. I grabbed spinach, goat cheese (so cheap there!), rosemary pecan’s and cranberries, and a pomegranate (was going to use blueberries but no blueberries did I find). For dressing, I chose to make a balsamic vinaigrette from ingredients I had at home, and by doing so I am avoiding the sneaky msg-like ingredients they sneak into bottled dressing . I’m actually very proud of this balsamic vinaigrette. I went at it with no recipe, only by taste.
 
Ingredients:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp shallot, minced
1/4 tsp dijon mustard
Salt & pepper
I’m so bad at taking pictures during these types of things, so you can use your imagination for the delicious Mexican dip & chips, green beans and quiche. As expected, everything was great. I love how these dinner break up the week so nicely. And in a few short hours it will be Friday!

Whole Foods Spree

 

I spent my day feeling sick, laying around in my PJs, and watching “The Beautiful Truth” (interesting documentary on healthy eating, cancer and alternative medicine). That motivated me to go to the store and stock up on healthy foods, especially after such a heavy meal last night…not to mention the movie I just watched about the dangers of MSG, Aspartame, and other processed food ingredients.

For as health conscious as this meal was, it was delicious and filling. In detail, it consisted of raw broccoli with cheddar cheese, sweet potato with butter and cinnamon, pears with honey almond butter, wheat baguette with melted brie and pomegranate seeds and a glass of Naked Juice’s Fruit and Vegetable Machine. Ooh and now I get to spend the rest of the night watching Friday Night Lights (only THE best high school football television series ever).

6 Girls & Shrimp Scampi

 

Another day, another dinner party. A great thing about this particular dinner was that the meal became a collaborative effort and not just one person putting on the show (not that I mind that either). The menu was extensive. If I had buttons on my pants they would definitely be unbuttoned at this point.

~Menu~

Wine	Blair
Sausage balls & Tapenade Rolls	Katie
Chips & Cheese Dip	Mary
Cucumber, Onion, Tomato & Feta Salad	Courtney
Shrimp Scampi	China
Apple Butter Crumble Bars	Brooks

The starter of tapenade rolls and sausage balls almost filled everyone up before I even started cooking dinner.

After Brooks finished making her bars in the kitchen, I started on my shrimp scampi. I found the recipe on a blog and picked it because it sounded yummy and easy, and it was! I boiled a pound of wheat pasta, then sautéed garlic and shallot in a pan with olive oil and butter, added the shrimp, then the white wine. Simmer, simmer. Dump the mixture into the cooked pasta, and add the Asiago-Parmesan mixed cheese (found this at Trader Joes, super cheap and delicious) and chopped parsley.

I did the dishes listening to Christmas music on the radio courtesy of Delilah and reminded myself of my Grandmother – in a good way. I <3 the holidays

Cookie Frenzy

Every Saturday I feel this compelling need to go to Target, whether I have things I need or not. This particular visit I had about two things on my list, which ended in a full basket of baking supplies. It was time to bake some cookies. First up, Corn Flake "Wreath" cookies. This recipe is the exact same as Rice Crispy Treats, just using Corn Flakes and green food coloring. 

Melt a 10 oz. bag of marshmallows in a pot with 3 tbsp butter. Add food coloring, then mix in 3 cups of corn flakes. Plop spoonfuls of the sticky mixture onto parchment paper lined baking sheets, then press a couple red M&M's or red hots onto the wreaths. Mine could have used a little more green dye, but you get the picture. 

Second came the white & semi-sweet chocolate chip cookies. I just made the Tollhouse recipe on the bag and swapped half of the chocolate chips for white chocolate chips. 

I took some of these cookies over to Evan's where, no surprise, boys were watching football. Since  I was feeling adventurous after my cookie-baking frenzy, I went in on their football bets. I will say, watching football is way more interesting when there is money on the line. I actually almost won it all! It came down to a tie between me and Evan, except I picked UCLA for the last game and that didn't go so well. Still, not too shabby for my first time.

Salmon Crostini & Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage Spaghetti

Out of nowhere, I had an intense craving for smoked salmon at work this Friday. So I went Trader Joe's at lunch time to pick some up (making sure it was "wild caught" not farm raised, much healthier!), and some of their generous samples - that day was chocolate truffles. That night our appetizers were salmon crostini and brie & crackers paired with a White Russian (yum!). 

Salmon Crostini

Toast rustic bread or baguette. Mix cream cheese with diced scallions and/or diced red onion, salt and pepper. Spread onto bread and top with sliced salmon and capers.

 Chicken Sausage Spaghetti

For dinner I made chicken sausage spaghetti. My marinara sauce was a little boring so I sautéed garlic and diced onion in butter, then added the diced sausage (casing removed) into the pan, before adding the marinara sauce. Served this on top of wheat spaghetti. 
A few hours earlier I had determined that my laptop I've had since my freshman year had finally tapped out. As I may have mentioned, I was dead-set on getting a MacBook Pro, but after a realization that I didn't need to spend that much money on a computer...I settled for an hp. It's not too bad and for the price, I can live with it. 

Easy as Pie

Last night’s dinner took 13 seconds to make and only 10 minutes to bake, and it was healthier and cheaper than ordering in a pizza. Unless I want a really fancy pizza, I usually opt for making one at home. Whole Foods has whole wheat Lavash (essentially just flatbread) I used for the crust to make individual sized pizzas. I also picked up grated mozzarella, marinara sauce and then raided the salad bar for toppings. For this pizza, I grabbed sliced bell peppers, sliced red onion, artichoke hearts and grated parmesan cheese. I baked these at 400 for 10 minutes and they were gooey-cheesy-wonderful.

Dressed Up Oatmeal

Just because I have oatmeal every morning doesn't mean I have a boring breakfast. Today's version was an example of really fancy oats. It started with half a cup of old fashioned oats. I added half a mashed banana, a few dashes of cinnamon, sprinkle of chopped pecans, brown sugar, handful of blueberries and topped with homemade whipped cream. 

Weekday breakfasts can be exciting too.