Pizza-tow up from the dough up!!!

August 6, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie1 Comment

Hey everybody! I hope y’all are getting to enjoy every last drop of summer 2014! Over the past month, my little tomato garden has exploded into a rainbow of various shades of red, orange, yellow and pink. I have had more tomatoes than I know what to do with and have went what I have deemed as “tomato crazy.” Since one of my all time favorite things to eat is marinara sauce, I decided to give it a whirl with my own tomatoes, and I must say it turned out beautifully. And what better way to enjoy this delicious concoction than on everyone’s favorite food–PIZZA?! I have been making my own pizza dough for awhile now and had a lot of toppings in the fridge, so I threw it all together and it was amazing. After posting a pic on Instagram and Facebook I got a lot of people asking me how to make it. It is a little more detailed than just calling Domino’s so I’m here to guide everyone through the entire process, step by step. Hopefully I won’t leave anything out!

Ok, first and most importantly, you need to set the mood. Slip into something comfy and flip on the Frank Sinatra station on Pandora.

Seriously. I have made this pizza and sauce twice now, and this time, after serenading my sauce with Sinatra, it turned out better. You also are gonna want to have a nice clean workspace, with plenty of elbow room and a sinkful of soapy dishwater to make cleanup easier. I also like to keep a large “trash” bowl handy for the same reason. Instead of making a million trips to the trash can, you can just chuck everything in there and dump it at the very end.

Go ahead and preheat your oven to 400.

While your oven is heating, we’re gonna start the process of prepping your tomatoes for roasting. Gather all your ripest, reddest tomatoes. For aesthetic purposes only, you want to use red tomatoes. I know a lot of people prefer romas for making sauce, however, as you can see, I have used a mixture of better boys, heirlooms and cherry tomatoes and it turned out just as good. I used quite a bit of tomatoes, as they varied in size. But I would say if you are using standard medium sized tomatoes, you would want to use around 6 or 7.

Also, at this point you want to go ahead and get your water pots going. We’re going to blanch the tomatoes in order to peel the skin quickly and easily. Blanching simply means dunking your tomatoes in boiling water, then ice water. So go ahead and fill one pot with water and turn it on HIGH so it can start to heat to a boil. You will also fill another pot with heavily iced water and set it beside it on the stove, but obviously not on any heat.

Ok, while we’re waiting on that to boil, (remember, a watched pot never does) we can start prepping the tomatoes. Using a small paring knife, you want to remove the core from one end and make a small, shallow “x” in the other end.

You should also take this opportunity to taste test. YUM!

Back to the recipe!

So once you have that all finished, your water should be boiling and it’s time for your little maters to take a bath.

Using a slotted spoon, gently drop your tomatoes, a few at a time, into the boiling water for about 30 seconds, altering time depending on size.

Pull the tomatoes out and immediately immerse them in the ice water pot for about 30 seconds.

A perfectly blanched tomato should have skin that is wrinkling off the flesh.

Go ahead and continue this process for all your tomatoes. When you’re finished, don’t dump your hot tomato water! You can turn it off, but don’t pour it out. We can use that water later on to thin out your sauce if it is too thick.

Ok so go ahead and start peeling your tomatoes. When done correctly, it should take no effort to gently pull the skin off the flesh.

When you have all them finished, go ahead and quarter them up into large pieces, around an inch in size, and spread them on a foil lined cookie sheet.

Next comes the onion. I always wait until I see how much tomato I actually use to determine the amount of onions and garlic. This is also a matter of taste. I wanted “roasted onion and garlic parmesan” sauce. If you don’t like those flavors, don’t add them. I personally used a whole medium yellow onion, diced it, and spread it around the tomatoes on the pan.

Next comes my FAVORITE PART!! GARLIC!! I used a TON of garlic cloves of various sizes, but I would say maybe 7 normal sized cloves? 8? It’s a matter of taste. So then you chop those in halves or quarters depending on size and, stay with me here, it’s about to get wild, shove them INSIDE the tomato pieces!

This serves 2 purposes–1.) it will keep your garlic from burning in the oven and 2.) it infuses your tomatoes with yummy garlic goodness.

So after you’ve planted your little garlics into the tomatoes, you’re ready to oil and spice. I don’t measure spices, sorry. I liberally applied sea salt, black pepper and italian seasoning over everything, then drizzled it all with olive oil. You can definitely at this point use fresh oregano and basil and I’m sure it would make it even better, but since all I had on hand was the dried spice, I made do, and it still turned out great.

Time for the oven. You wanna roast this for about 30-40 minutes in that 400 degree oven. Keep an eye on your pan and make sure your tomatoes don’t get too done because they will shrivel, and make sure your onions don’t scorch. It’s just perfect when your onions are browned. Pull it out and let it cool for about 10 minutes until you’re able to comfortably touch it. This is where a food processor is so handy. It’s no secret I’m obsessed with my Ninja. I just dumped everything from the pan into it, added some more of the above spices to taste, plus about 1/8th cup of parmesan cheese and pulsed for a few seconds and Voila! You could probably also use a hand mixer.

When everything is a nice even consistency, just pour it into a pan and let it simmer on low, covered but not sealed, so that steam can escape but the spatter can’t. REMEMBER, ON LOW! VERY LOW! The last thing you want to do is scorch the bottom of your sauce and give a burned taste to all the hard work you’ve put in there. This also is the time to utilize that tomato water from earlier if your sauce is a little thick. Mine tends to turn out thin initially so I didn’t need the water, but you never can tell. I let mine simmer for about an hour under a watchful eye and stirring consistently until it had reduced to a nice thick sauce.

At this point I would let your sauce cool, then put it in an airtight container or mason jar and let it infuse in the fridge at least overnight. With fresh made things like sauces and salsas, the longer the flavors have to marry, the better it is going to taste.

So now let’s talk about the dough.

Your sauce has been chillin’ for a day or so, and now you REALLY want this flippin pizza. It’s time to start from the bread up. I make a very simple, healthy dough using greek yogurt and whole wheat flour. You can make this ahead of time as well and freeze it, or right before. But beware–the consistency of this dough is EVERYTHING. It is going to make or break your pizza. Too wet and it’s going to be too doughy, too dry and you can’t work with it. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425. Get out your ingredients, it’s gonna get messy.

nonstick

whole wheat flour

plain greek yogurt

1Cup measuring cup

garlic powder

salt

pepper

italian seasoning

rosemary

Again, I use my ninja for everything, so I sprayed the inside of it liberally with nonstick, but if you’re going to do this by hand, spray the inside of a large bowl. Then you just add 1 Cup of plain greek yogurt, and 1 Cup of whole wheat flour, then add your spices to taste. (again, I don’t measure so….sorry.) At this point I just threw on my lid, and pulsed until I got the right consistency. If you’re kneading by hand, know this will take a lot of working. You may have to add more flour or more yogurt, depending on the day. Also, make sure you spray your hands with nonstick before you start physically touching the dough. Trust me, you’ll thank me for that tip. The perfect dough consistency is pliable and easy to spread without tearing or sticking to everything it touches.

Sprinkle your work space with more flour before getting your dough out to work it. Roll it in a bit more flour, then start folding the dough into itself until it forms a nice smooth ball, and spray the top with nonstick.

Now you want to put your dough ball in the middle of a pizza pan that has been coated with nonstick. I really like the aerated pans, but if all you have is a cookie sheet, that will work too. Start in the middle and just work your dough out with your fingers to the edges of the pan, until it’s all the same thickness and uniform in shape. This amount of dough will make a medium sized 12″ pizza.

Then it’s time to add that delicious sauce from yesterday. (By the way, that amount of tomatoes should have made 1 rather large jar of sauce, so you should have enough for like at least 3 medium sized pizzas.) The amount of sauce you add is all a matter of taste, but since I love marinara I like to put a lot.

Then a LITTLE bit of cheese, to give your toppings something to stick to.

Now it’s time for toppings. I made a deluxe of sorts, with things I had in the fridge already. But put whatever you want! I used pepperoni, bacon, banana peppers, onions and spinach.

finally top it off with lots of cheese and it’s ready for your 425 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes. Your pizza is done when the edges are crispy and your cheese is starting to brown.

And that’s it. Time to enjoy!!

I know this seems like a ton of work for one pizza. why go through all that trouble when you could just order one from Pizza Hut and have it to your house in 45 minutes? Well, I try to be aware of where everything comes from that is going into my body and it really doesn’t get any healthier than this when it comes to pizza. You can’t beat the taste of homemade either. And if you spend one day making a large batch of sauce, enough for several jars, then you have it on hand and can throw it on pizza or pasta for a quick and easy dinner later. Remember, failing to plan is planning to fail, so making dishes ahead of time can really turn into a lifesaver when you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle. I hope this “healthy” cheat meal is as delicious for you as it was for me. Bon apetit!

Fast, Fresh Recipes Using Summer’s Bounty

July 16, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie5 Comments

Hey guys! Another beautiful summer evening here in East Tennessee! I’ve been a busy bee all evening, playing with new recipes and I would love to take a second to share them with you guys!

This all started because I had a windowsill FULL of overripe tomatoes from my garden. These have been the first to ripen, so they’re a little small, some had a few spots on them…..they just weren’t SUPER great slicing tomatoes. But what to do?! I’m certainly not going to waste them! And I had 3 jalepenos that had just come straight from the little garden out back. As I started digging around the house I realized I had a bag of diced bell peppers that I had stored back in March in the freezer. I also had garlic and spices. A quick trip to the store down the road for an onion and a lime could mean one thing……SALSA TIME!!!

Now, I am as guilty as the next person about buying canned salsa, and I’m here to tell you right now, YOU DON’T FRIGGIN NEED IT! It’s just as cheap, a million times healthier and 548168416525 times tastier to make your own! Especially if you have a garden, like moi. Even if you don’t, buying a couple of tomatoes, peppers and onions will cost you next to nothing and make a crap ton of delicious homemade salsa. Store it in freezer bags and you can enjoy it all year long!

Ok, so yeah, I don’t have an exact recipe really. The beauty of salsa is that you can make it exactly as you like it. Chunky or smooth. Spicy or sweet. Cilantro or no. (NO WAY for me. I HATE cilantro. yeachhhh!!!!) It’s your prerogative. For me, I used what was around the house. The amount of tomatoes I ended up having after removing the stems and bad spots came to around 2 1/2- 3 Cups. Because I had 2 different kinds of peppers, I only used about 1/2 cup of bell peppers and 2 whole jalepenos ( seeds and ribs included!) If you don’t like things too spicy, definitely only use 1 and remove the seeds (that’s where all the heat is.) Also I should mention that mine were small as they came from my garden, and the ones in stores tend to be larger. Try your best to buy organic or homegrown. The difference in quality is unquestioned. And I swear, knowing exactly what went into these beautiful veggies, digging the hole with my own two hands and being able to pick them a few months later to enjoy really takes taste to a whole other level. Anyway, back to the recipe.

So you’ve diced up your tomatoes and peppers. If you’re going to make a chunky salsa, make sure you dice your stuff up pretty uniform in size so one flavor doesn’t outweigh another. I used a food processor (God bless my Ninja) so I just chunked it up without thought. Next comes the onion. I used about a 1/4 of a large onion. Since the flavor is so strong I didn’t want it to over power, just compliment. Then the garlic. I used probably 2-3 good sized cloves. I frickin LOVE garlic. I could probably eat an entire bulb like an apple, so again, go with your own taste. Finally I added sea salt, ground black pepper, and since I didn’t have cumin on hand, I improvised with chili powder. Juice of 1 lime and I was ready to process! Remember, as tempting as it is going to be to eat your salsa immediately, it’s best if you let it marinade overnight. All the flavors mix together and it will taste completely different. So that’s that. If you like cilantro, throw that in. If you want something sweet and different, substitute mangoes or pineapple for the tomatoes. Add some corn and black beans if you want a heartier salsa.

I swear to God, I have made some pretty delicious things in my life, but this was by far one of the easiest and most delicious things to come out of my kitchen. So fresh–UGH!!

(**side note, I ate mine with some simple sea salted pita chips, but you can use whatever you like. I just didn’t want a strong salt flavor to take away from the beauty of the salsa.)

Fresh from the garden salsa ingredients, minus the bell peppers

The finished product, after a quick spin in the Ninja.

Another happy surprise I got tonight was finding a way to curb my craving for mashed potatoes! Here in the south we love LOVE our taters. Smashed, mashed, hashed, fried, baked or loaded…you name it, we’ll eat it. Unfortunately that is part of why the south has an obesity epidemic on it’s hands, but that’s a rant for another blog. So tonight I gave mashed cauliflower a whirl. SO glad I did! The consistency was perfect and after the right flavorings, you NEVER would have known it was simply steamed cauliflower. This is yet another recipe that can be tailored to your individual taste, or altered by what you have laying around the house. We’ll call mine “Garlic Ranch Parmesan Fauxtatoes!” I chopped up one head of cauliflower, removing the core and any remaining leaves, then tossed it in a large pot, covered it with water and turned it on the stovetop on high. I also threw in a few garlic cloves because, like I said earlier, I have a garlic fever and don’t wanna be cured. Also I’m a huge fan of garlic mashed potatoes, so I thought, what the hell. I threw a lid on the pot and let that sucker boil and steam on medium high for about 15 minutes, til it was really tender. Then I drained the water and threw all of it in my Ninja. (I told you I love that thing. Best $100 I’ve spent in my kitchen.) Sea salt, black pepper to taste, then I started adding light ranch greek yogurt dressing. This is where things get custom. I used Marzetti’s Simply Dressed & Light. I added probably 1/4 cup initially, pulsed and added more. All told, I used maybe 1/3 of the bottle??? I didn’t really pay attention. I just added until it was the right consistency and had the right amount of ranch flavor for me. OMG it was AMAZING! This is a recipe I intend to make several times a week. Did I happen to mention that 1 cup of cauliflower has 25 calories, compared to 1 cup of potatoes, which has 116?! That means I can have 3x as much….right?

Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don't be scared! — Grilled chicken with a spinach and cucumber salad and MASHED FAUXTATOES!!! Try them! Don’t be scared!

Guys I hope you try these recipes and it inspires you to create some of your own. The best meals are made of simple, fresh, wholesome ingredients. Remember that and you can’t go wrong! post me some of your favorite healthy recipes and I would love to re-post them to share with others!!

Until next time, stay happy and southern and enjoy the little things!!

Valentine’s Day, my way….

February 10, 2014February 10, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

So as promised, I’m writing today to recap this weekend’s wonderful events. Because Mitch and I work together (which by the way, I do not suggest for anyone else.) I decided it would be easiest for us to celebrate a week early, so it wouldn’t be so hard for us to get time off with everyone else wanting to celebrate as well. I wanted to do something extra special for my love, so I planned a surprise overnight stay in Knoxville for Saturday. After waking up and getting on the road by 11:30am, we arrived at The Oliver Hotel, a beautiful boutique hotel in the heart of the Market Square District by 1:30. I had called ahead of time and arranged for an early check-in, which the receptionists were more than happy to accommodate. Also, because of an online promotion I had participated in, we were upgraded to a king suite from a queen at no cost. Our room was beautiful. Simple, modern and classic design set in a vintage building. Shutter style windows directly overlooked Market Square and the bathroom was equipped with a large walk-in shower, subway tile and modern hardware on all the faucets.

The Oliver Hotel in Knoxville, directly adjacent to Tupelo Honey and the Peter Kern Library. (photo courtesy of knoxville.org)

The view of Market Square out our window. — The view of Market Square outside our window.

We grabbed a quick nibble to tide us over until dinner at Trio Cafe, which was right around the corner from the hotel. Mitch opted for a turkey panini and Angry Orchard Cider, while I had a very grown up grilled cheese and tomato soup paired with a rich chocolate porter.

After lunch, Mitch relaxed with a nap while I spent the next two hours getting ready. (Typical.) Before I left I found the most perfect red and black rose print DKNY skinny jeans for $6.99 at Ross. I’m obsessed. I matched them with a simple black tank and blazer and my favorite black studded motorcycle boots. Smokey eyes and a nude lip finished the look. My gorgeous boyfriend was my best accessory, wearing classic dark jeans from the Gap and a simple black sweater.

Mitch had never been to Ye Olde Steakhouse before and I knew he would just love it, due to the 20oz steaks and casual atmosphere, so off we went for dinner. Everything was delicious, as usual. My filet was so tender, I could have eaten it even if I was toothless. Also, since it is BYOB, I splurged on a good bottle of wine I’ve been eyeing for about a month. I have a personal policy to not spend more than $15 on anything that is going to be passing through my body, however, “the prisoner” was an excellent choice. At $45/bottle it better be!

After filling up on dinner, wine and dessert, we went back and enjoyed the beautiful hotel room and let our food settle. Finally, we decided to venture out and explore Market Square. A quick stop at the Peter Kern Library, the speakeasy adjacent to our hotel was first on the list, with Preservation pub being our final watering hole. we really enjoyed the live music, beer selection and atmosphere.

As wonderful as our trip out of town was, I have to say my favorite part of the weekend was yesterday, Sunday, when we got to just lay around the house and be lazy together. It is a very rare day that I get to be home and not have to do dishes, laundry, bathe the dogs, etc. So it was just me and Mitch enjoying the quiet comforts of home. I made an awesome chicken dish in the crockpot that was too simple and delicious not to pass on. I’ll post it below.

I hope everyone has as great a Valentine’s Day as I did next weekend. For now, it’s back to the grind.

Recipe submitted by ORANGECOWCAT at http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=1326428

Slow Cooker Creamy Italian Chicken

Submitted by: ORANGECOWCAT

Introduction

Six ingredients, 5 minutes of hands-on cooking, and dinner is served!

Minutes to Prepare: 5

Minutes to Cook: 240

Number of Servings: 6

Ingredients

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 packet Italian dressing mix

1/2 cup water

1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese

1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup

3 cups cooked long grain rice (white or brown)

8-Inch Chef’s Knife Amazon.com $39.99

Tips

Just to clarify for the questions below:
First, YES the cream cheese is figured into the totals…if you use FULL FAT cream cheese, the fat content will be considerably higher. But low fat cream cheese really takes the fat down.

Second, I haven’t ever tried it with regular Italian dressing…let me know how it turns out!

Third, I HIGHLY recommend using the low setting for cooking…it allows the juices from the chicken to really seep into the dressing.

Directions

*1. Place chicken in crock pot
*2. Mix together Italian dressing mix and water. Pour over chicken.
*3. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours OR low for 8 hours.
*4. Mix together cream cheese and soup in separate bowl.
*5. Carefully remove chicken from crock pot to plate.
*6. Pour cream cheese/soup mixture into crock pot and mix together with dressing in bottom.
*7. Return chicken to crock pot and mix gently to shred the chicken.
*8. Cook on LOW until heated through.
*Serve with rice or noodles.

**You may add skim or low fat milk in very small quantities to thin the sauce a little. It does not significantly affect the nutritional value if you use up to 2 tablespoons**

Makes 6 servings. Approximately 2/3 cup mixture with 1/2 cup rice.

This recipe can be made with FAT FREE cream cheese and it saves about 6 grams of fat. However, I feel that the dish benefits from the flavor of the low fat over the fat free.

A life without noodles…..

January 30, 2014January 30, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie2 Comments

As a girl who has been watching her figure the better part of her life, I have learned quite a few tricks for getting around pesky, unneeded calories without giving up my favorite foods and flavor. One thing I decided to get rid of for good is noodles. I know they are a mainstay of every pasta dish. But to me, they are flavorless fillers that just make me bloated and miserable after they digest. Not to mention a mere 2 ounces pack a 200 calorie punch and most people consume twice that unknowingly! A noodle is nothing more than a processed wheat product that takes on the FLAVOR of whatever you put on it –that’s where all the taste is! So over the years I have learned to alter my recipes and cut down my calorie intake at least a third. Since this is something I get asked about quite a bit, AND I made lasagna last night, here are a few of my quick and easy Italian go-to’s.

-When making spaghetti, sub spaghetti squash. One whole cup of cooked spaghetti squash only has around 42 calories and 10 carbs! There are several ways of cooking a spaghetti squash, but the easiest way I’ve found of doing it is by poking it all over with a metal skewer and roasting it on a cookie sheet on 375 until it’s fork tender. For god’s sake, PLEASE REMEMBER TO POKE IT OR IT WILL EXPLODE!! After it’s cooled enough that I can touch it, I just slice it down the middle, remove the seeds and then, with the tines of a fork, start scraping up the “noodles.” It’s just as easy as boiling traditional spaghetti! Once you top it with your favorite yummy spaghetti sauce, you’re guaranteed to not miss a thing!

-In place of fettuccine style noodles, I will often julienne a zucchini and steam it for just a few minutes on the stove top with a bit of my house spice–salt, pepper and garlic powder. Just don’t let it go too long or they will get mushy and disintegrate! They make tools to create pasta out of veggies, but I simply use a vegetable peeler. It’s whatever you prefer! Oh and did I mention, one medium zucchini only has 33 calories?!

-Finally, my favorite Italian noodle-less meal, AND what I made for dinner last night–Lasagna with eggplant noodles! So good you won’t even realize there isn’t a starch! Because this is one of my favorite meals, I’ll just give you my entire recipe. But please, be creative! Play around with flavors! What works for me might not be your cup of tea and that’s ok!

Appalachian Barbie Lasagna

1/2 lb ground sirloin
1/2 mild Italian sausage
1/2 medium onion, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jar spaghetti sauce
1/2 cup of water
2 15oz containers of small curd cottage cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese (divided)
2 eggs
2 eggplants, sliced thinly to 1/4″ thickness
spices- salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning

Begin by pre-heating your oven to 400 degrees and letting your sauce pan heat up with around a teaspoon of olive oil while you’re dicing and mincing your veggies. To sauce pan, add meats, peppers, onions and garlic cloves. Cook over medium heat, crumbling meat until it is cooked through and no longer pink. While this is cooking, begin slicing your eggplants lengthwise to no more than 1/4″ thickness. Place them on cookie sheets, drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder and italian seasoning and pop them in the oven to roast. You don’t want to over cook these, as they will disintegrate pretty easily. So around 5 minutes should do the trick but keep an eye on them. You just want them to be pliable!

After your meat mixture is cooked, add spices to taste, 1 jar of pasta sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Reduce heat, cover and let simmer while you’re preparing your cheese mixture.

In a medium bowl, combine 2 eggs, lightly beaten, cottage cheese, 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan. Add 1tsp of italian seasoning and stir together. Now it’s time to build your lasagna!

Begin by spooning about a 1/2 cup of sauce mixture onto bottom of 8×8″ pan. Next, layer eggplant “noodles,” covering bottom. Spoon half of cheese mixture on top of “noodles.” Repeat sauce, “noodles”, cheese. Add one more layer of “noodles,” top with sauce and cover with the 1 cup of shredded mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parmesan you reserved from earlier. Lower oven to 365, wrap lasagna tightly in foil and let it cook for about 45 minutes. If you would like, sometimes I will let it cook uncovered the last 5-10 minutes so the cheese gets a nice browning on top. Make sure to let your lasagna set for around 20 minutes before serving. This will help keep it from falling apart when you cut it. And you won’t burn your mouth like a fat kid!

Because of my honey’s intense weight training, he can carbo-load with no worries. So last night I made a full size regular lasagna for him and a little mini eggplant lasagna for me. It worked out perfectly and we both have leftovers!

I hope this article inspires you to try a few noodle-less dishes! The only difference I can tell is that the dishes are a bit wetter because there isn’t any bread to soak up all the juice. Let me know what you think!

The week from hell…..

January 24, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie2 Comments

This week seems like it has just been one thing after another. Last time I posted, I mentioned that a friend of mine was in the hospital. That friend passed away Monday, and it was very unexpected. So on top of that tragedy, I’ve worked a stupid schedule at work (two 13 hour shifts on top of my regular schedule) and there just haven’t been enough hours in the day. I have done my best to keep positive and find a silver lining in all this. One thing I can say is that I have never been more aware of my health and more motivated to be as healthy as possible as I am following Ron’s untimely passing. So here’s a few of the healthy meals I concocted this week.

Sweet and Spicy Asian Inspired Pork Chops with Roasted veggies

Fake Fried Buffalo Chicken Tenders with brocolli — Fake Fried Buffalo Chicken Tenders with broccoli

For the chops, I seasoned some boneless pork chops I got on sale with my go-to house spices-salt, pepper and garlic powder. Then I glazed them with a mixture of jalepeno pepper jelly and soy sauce. For a side dish, I sliced some red bell pepper and onion and tossed with asparagus in olive oil and house spice and roasted for about 10 mins. I also boiled up some brown rice for a small amount of healthy carbs. Fluffed with a little margarine and a dollop of sweet chili sauce it was perfect.

The buffalo tenders were great too. I just cut some skinless, boneless chicken breasts into strips, dredged in whole wheat flour and egg whites then rolled in panko and baked til crispy and done. Then I tossed them in some wing sauce and steamed some fresh broccoli for a side dish. For dipping, I am obsessed with Litehouse kefir yogurt ranch. It’s full of healthy probiotics and only has 60 calories per serving!

Also this week, I jumped on the opportunity to get out of town and take my mind off of work and funerals and went on a little girls trip to Asheville. Asheville is only about 45 minutes up the mountain from where I live but feels like a whole other world. It’s a little mountain town that packs a whole lot of culture into a beautiful, natural package and is brimming with fantastic food, art and shopping, and most everything is local. And did I mention booze? Yeah, there’s that little fact that Asheville is better known as Beer City, USA, and plays host to almost 20 breweries.

Asheville, NC. Big city feel, tucked into the security of these mountains.

Our first stop was for lunch at Salsa’s, a tiny Mexican-Carribean fusion cantina. Since we didn’t arrive until 2:30, we thankfully had missed the lunch rush and had the restaurant to ourselves. As we poured over the drink menu (priorities!), I couldn’t help but notice the art on the walls. According to our very knowledgeable server, the owner and chef Hector Diaz, purchases all the art and changes the themes every so often. Right now, they are featuring local graffiti artists, but unfortunately, none of the pieces are for sale. I settled on the habanero margarita, which at $12.95 might seem a little steep but you really get what you pay for, because it was worth every dime. Patron Silver tequila is served over rocks with Cointreau and hand squeezed citrus mix. Muddled into the bottom is the smallest sliver of habanero pepper, which provides the perfect amount of heat to this refreshing libation. Sitting inside this brightly colored oasis, sipping margaritas and watching the snow pour outside the large windows I felt like I was living inside a snow globe one might buy at the Cancun International Airport giftshop. Within moments our appetizers arrived to the table, and believe me when I tell you, this may be some of the best food I’ve ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth. Ariana went with the pork tostadas, while Ashton and I tore into the jalepeno poppers. And please be assured, these were not some little deep fried nuggets of crap. Whole jalepenos, sliced down the middle, fire roasted and filled to capacity with a salmon/cream cheese mixture, rolled and dipped in batter then deep fried, topped with this delicious sweet and tangy pineapple/lime sour cream and a mango salsa. Honest to God, those might very well be one of the greatest things I’ve ever tasted. I followed appetizers with an entree of fajitas, which the chefs were kind enough to modify to cater to my cilantro allergy. Ordinarily I wouldn’t be so offensive as to ask for such an alteration at a place like that, but since they were not busy, I felt it couldn’t hurt. And so glad I was–the rest of the food was just as delicious. Salsa’s is just authentic, simple, fresh ingredients, tossed together in the most complimentary way and will definitely be a must-stop for every trip to Asheville.

The girls and I at Salsa's. — The girls and I at Salsa’s.

As dusk fell in the mountains, we stopped in for sweets and wine at French Broad Chocolate Lounge. Since poor Mitch was stuck at school all day, I decided to gift him with a box of assorted chocolates from the aphrodisiac collection–rawr! I snuggled down in a big comfy leather chair and dove straight in to my warm nibby browny, covered with a fat scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and drizzled with freshly melted chocolate. A big, bold glass of cabernet was the perfect compliment to this sweet concoction. My lady companions settled on equally enticing treats. Ashton, the creme brulee and Ariana, the carrot cake. I heard no complaints from their end, but then again, their mouths were stuffed the entire time.

Decadence, courtesy of French Broad Chocolates. — Decadence, courtesy of French Broad Chocolates

We finished up the day with a marathon shopping session, and you know me, we had to hit up the outlets. These Fendi sunglasses that I scored for $60 at TJ Maxx are everything. Everything.

Yesterday, which was Wednesday, I had to go to that funeral and although it was a sad occasion, I was able to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen in awhile at a lunch afterward. My best friend Alision and I also took the afternoon to toot around The Corner Nest, an antique warehouse in my town. After being there for God only knows how long, we staggered out into the cold and darkness, disoriented, a few dollars poorer, but a few antiques richer. All in all, it was a good peaceful day for remembering a dear friend, departed far too soon.

Tonight is supposed to be date night, but with temperatures dipping into single digits, I don’t know that I’m up for getting out of my sweats and central heat to venture into public for a cocktail and a movie. We’ll see how it goes. I’ll leave you with a look from earlier this week. I finally got around to wearing that adorable little black dress with the prim scallop collar. I paired it with some ballet flats, but ultimately I wish I would have had some Mary Janes. A braid, rosy cheeks and glossy lips finished the look and I’m pretty happy with it.

007

Lunch break!

January 16, 2014January 16, 2014 The Appalachian Barbie2 Comments

Can we just talk about how gorgeous this salad Is that I just threw together on a whim? Leftover pesto chicken from the crock pot tops a bed of spinach, cukes, Roma tomatoes, red pepper slices and a few strategically placed croutons. Drizzled with EVOO and pomegranate red wine vinegar…..YUM!

Healthy life, happy couple

January 16, 2014January 16, 2014 The Appalachian BarbieLeave a comment

Phew! What a busy week I’ve had! If you’re familiar with the service industry, you know that “Friday night-Sunday night” weekends are irrelevant, and are actually a bartender’s busiest days. My weekends begin when I get home from my Tuesday night shift, which technically doesn’t end until around 4am on Wednesday morning. Then I have until Friday night at 9pm to do WHATEVER I WANT!!! Yeah right. The more of an adult I become, the more I realize days off are only for getting ALL that stuff done around the house that you don’t have time to do through the week. Especially when your boyfriend is a bodybuilder and eats for 3. There’s always grocery shopping and food prep to be done on top of the dishes and laundry. But I wouldn’t have it any other way. Your health is nothing to gamble on and I was slapped in the face with that fact twice this week. Unfortunately I had one of my favorite restaurant regulars pass away and another bar regular has ended up in the hospital with complications from diabetes and pneumonia. Living a healthy lifestyle is so important. You really are what you eat. And if you want to see how true that is, take a little stroll through your local Walmart and just observe the correlation of what is in a person’s buggy and their size. It’s disgusting. Eat better, feel better, look better. It’s really that simple.

So on Tuesday I made my weekly pilgrimage to Kroger for groceries and a gas fill-up. I only buy groceries once a week, so I have to meal plan around both our work schedules. And if something runs out or I don’t get it, it’s tough titty said the kitty! I typically spend between $100-$200/wk, depending on what is on sale and what we’re out of. But some things are a weekly staple, like eggs for example. Between the 4 egg whites I have for breakfast every day and the 6 whole eggs that Mitch is currently eating, we’re about to go egg poor. I bet I look like a crazy person coming through the line with 60 eggs!

Our weekly grocery supply. Please note those peanut butter poptarts and double stuff oreos belong to a certain 245lb bodybuilder I know and not me.

So a lot of my favorite recipes are things that I have thrown together at the spur of the moment and only take around 15 minutes to make. My apple/gouda chicken sausage hash and sweet and spicy stir fry are two such recipes that I happened to make this week. Both are ridiculously healthy, natural and filling meals and cost very little to make. Here are the recipes. I hope you enjoy!

Kathie’s Chicken Sausage and Sweet Potato Hash

1 package of Hormel Natural Choice Apple Gouda Chicken Sausages, sliced into rounds

2 medium sized sweet potatoes, diced to bite size

Caribbean Jerk seasoning

Spray skillet with nonstick spray liberally and heat over medium. Add diced sweet potatoes and sprinkle with Caribbean jerk seasoning. Add sliced sausages and add more seasoning to taste. Cook covered, stirring occasionally, until sweet potatoes are fork tender and glazed. Serve with a green veggie on side.

Kathie’s Sweet and Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

1-1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite size pieces

half of a green bell pepper, half of a red bell pepper, sliced into strips

half of a medium onion, sliced into strips

half of a fresh pineapple, cored and cut into bite sized chunks

7 or so asparagus spears, white ends discarded, and chopped into 1″ long sticks

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt

pepper

garlic powder

sweet chili sauce

soy sauce

Toss first 6 ingredients into a deep pan that has been sprayed liberally with nonstick. cook over medium heat. Season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder. When chicken is almost cooked through, add sweet chili and soy sauces to taste. (*note, tis better to err on the side of too little soy and add to it, than to put too much and ruin the dish. Soy sauce is extremely salty and it’s hard to recover from putting too much in.) This dish will be pretty juicy from the sweet chili sauce and pineapples. All the better! Serve with brown rice and let it soak up all that delicious flavor! yum!

Bon apetit!

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