Picture of the Day: January 4, 2014, Dinner

This dish is delicious.  It's Slow Cooker Beef Stew.

You can find the recipe here.  Stew and I both recommend this dish.  The only change I made to the recipe was to add four bay leaves instead of 2 - love the flavor, and to increase the amount of ground black pepper.  The other thing is, the recipe calls for it to be cooked on low for 8 to 10 hours.  Well, since I didn't get it in the crock pot until noon, that time wasn't going to work for me.  I cooked it for 6 hours on high, the beef was tender and it was still delicious.

Pinned It, Did It, Friday: Crispy Edamame

This next pin I originally saved because I thought it would make a good snack.  Turns out we had it with dinner as a side.

Here's the original pin and the original picture:

Stew made this the night we had it for dinner since I had a lot going on that night.  We had it with baked chicken. 

Our version:

It was delicious.  Pin Approved!

Just one word of warning, though - Stew took this for lunch the next day and said that it didn't warm up in the microwave very well.

Pinned it, Did it, Friday: Sassy Water

Just about the only thing I drink except for the small glass of orange juice in the morning to take my pills is water and let me just be straight with you right now and tell you that sometimes, water is boring.  So I've been looking for ways to give it some flavor.  I saw this pin for Sassy Water and decided to try it out.

Here's the original pin

That's the original blogger's photo.

Not much to this one, folks.  Cut up the ingredients, throw them in a pitcher, drink in the morning.

Here's mine

I think this turned out very good.  I drank it the whole week and then tired of it, but I'll call this one PinApproved.  Just one thing though, I would definitely bruise your mint leaves before putting them in the water - gives it more of a minty flavor.

Pinned It, Did It, Friday: Blackened Tilapia

Ahhh, the joys of trying to eat better.  I'm a big fan of fish that doesn't taste anything like fish and Stew is a fan of fish that is shaped like a square.  Introducing fish into our diet is a monumental task, but I'm definitely going to give it a go...

I saw this recipe on Pinterest for Oven-Baked Blackened Tilapia.  Now, interestingly enough, I followed the pin and then immediately went to where the blogger had gotten the original recipe.  Turns out, the original recipe from Food Network which the blogger modified but I didn't read, wasn't oven-baked at all.  I followed the original recipe and fried it on the stove.  It turned out really good and I can't imagine that the small amount of oil I used to fry it really diminished the healthy fact that we were eating fish.  Or as Stew said, "you really can't tell you're eating fish, at all."  Score one for the spice.

Here's the original pin:

And the original recipe.

Next time, I think I will try the oven baked version.  I think I might even like that better, but as I said - this is delicious either way.

Started with fresh tilapia from Wegman's.

Got my spices together for the coating.

 All coated and ready for the pan.

 Ready to eat.

 Yum.  I'm calling this one pin-approved.

Dinner, May 22, 2012

Lasagna in a Bowl

Unfortunately - no pictures - it was eaten too fast.

I made Stew and Steve's meal with whole wheat vegetable pasta.  I was going to make mine with spaghetti squash - unfortunately, I didn't realize how long it takes to cook the squash and without a trip to Wegman's - there was no low carb pasta alternative, so I ate mine with just the meat, cheese and tomato sauce.  Everyone agreed that it was good.  I didn't miss the pasta, at all.  It was good just the way it was and the good thing about this recipe was that since you make it in single servings you can add or subtract things that people don't like.  I'll be making this again.

Breakfast Today

Flax Meal Peanut Butter Hot Cereal

I must say, I didn't think I would like this at all, but it's not bad.  It definitely tastes better than it looks.  I did add two packets of Nevella (no calorie sweetener) to it and much more cinnamon than the recipe calls for, but this is easy to make and actually pretty good.  I think the fact that I used crunchy, natural peanut butter also helps, gives it a bit of texture.  I would suggest to eat it warm, though, it tends to get a bit pasty as it cools.

Also, there's a warning on the recipe about the issue of immediately adding this much fiber to your diet if you're not used to it.  I'll see how that goes during the day and spare you the details.  HA!  But if it turns out to be an issue, at least I work in the privacy of my own home and I'm not on a plane today.

Picture to be added to the post later.

Crockpot Oatmeal Review

Last night before bed, I set the ingredients for the Crockpot Oatmeal recipe I posted yesterday.

Worst part of it (and it wasn't really all that bad) was coring and peeling the apples.  Otherwise, everything gets measured and put in the crockpot.  Stir, set, and you're ready to go.  Though I should read directions more carefully.  The recipe called for ground flax seed - well, I bought whole flax seed.  I was a little worried about that when I set it last night but after tasting it this morning - no issues.

In one word this breakfast is delicious and very filling.  Next time I would definitely add more cinnamon than what the recipe calls for, but otherwise, it was a yummy and warm start to the day and I will definitely be making this again.

(See the flax seeds?  HAHA)  Should have turned the flash off!

All ready for the week - with added cinnamon on top.

One word to the wise, however, don't forget to spray your crockpot with cooking spray before you add your ingredients.  (It's even on the recipe - grrrr).  If you forget, you'll end up with this:

Recipe: Tiramisu

Recipe for slimmed down Tiramisu from Good Housekeeping magazine - have to make this one day.

POTD: January 4, 2012

No photo taken today, but I am still reading this magazine and there's a good recipe in it that I want to try someday (you know, like when I have a stove again), so I thought, a scan of this is as good as a picture.  Holding tight to wanting to do POTD, but have to allow myself some slack right now considering all that is going on.