Drunk History Christmas

This video gave me a loud chuckle and I'm sure it will give you one too!  Check out Funny or Die's video of Ryan Gosling, Eva Mendes, and Jim Carrey in Drunk History Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  We sure did, and we still have one more Christmas to go this weekend back home.  Our little nugget celebrated his first Christmas and while I don't think he completely understood all the chaos going on, he sure loved the paper and is now playing with all the toys and books he got.  Next year, I will probably need to be a little sneakier and not literally wrap his presents in front of him....shoot.  Through all the craziness, I hope everyone stopped to remind themselves what the season is all about- the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Merry Christmas.

Recipe: Moo Goo Chicken and Baked Crab Rangoon

So Scott and I had planned a Mexican meal and an Italian meal for the next couple of weeks and Scott said, "We need a Chinese dish".  This is where I proceed to SCREAM with delight.  Yes, I literally did as I remembered I had a recipe for my mom's Moo Goo and a recipe from Pinterest for Baked Crab Rangoon I have been wanting to try.

Moo Goo was a meal my mom made for us MANY MANY times when were little cause it was always a hit.  There is a lot of preparation cutting up all the veggies, so my mom would always let us help which was really fun for us.  Any time we got to help in the kitchen, we would!  I got the recipe from my mom recently and decided to change it up a bit and just use chicken, brocolli, and carrots.  I still used all of the ingredients of the sauce, which is the star of the show anyway!

One of my favorite Chinese appetizers is Crab Rangoon and I have yet to find any that beats Holdrege's Gourmet House Crab Rangoon.  It's just so yum.  I saw this recipe on Pinterest for Baked Crab Rangoon that I knew I had to try and it is from Weight Watchers which makes it even better!  It is baked and not fried so you save some calories there.  I am sure that I could have found Won Ton Wrappers at Hy-Vee, but people online say they are difficult to find so you might as well make them yourself.  They are made with the most ridiculously simple ingredients, there is no reason not too!  And I love playing with dough.

The meal took a little while to make. I made the dough during one of Nolan's naps earlier in the day as it has to sit out for a little while on its own and I rolled it out and cut it during his next nap. I would advise making the wrappers in advance, even the night before or the weekend before you make it cause they can be stored in the freezer and refrigerator before use.

I gotta say, these Crab Rangoons tasted absolutely amazing.  The wrapper wasn't as crunchy as what you would get at a restaurant because these are baked and not fried but the middle (the essence, mind you) was almost spot on.  If I would have had Gourmet House's sweet and sour sauce, I would have been in heaven.  We settled for soy sauce and it worked just fine.  This little treat combined with the Moo Goo was a lovely meal that warranted leftovers for days and days and days.  It is quite a healthy meal depending on how much soy sauce you decide to use to drizzle on top.  It is also quite a therapeutic meal to make with the dough rolling and the veggie chopping so treat yourself to this dandy of a dish!

Recipe for Moo Goo Chicken:
1 1/2 lb chicken breasts- boned, skinned, cubed
1/2 tsp salt and paprika- sprinkled on chicken
1/4 cup oil- stir fry meat until done, then remove
Add Vegetables to hot oil- stir fry until partially cooked, then add sauce (see sauce recipe in next paragraph)
Vegetables in recipe:  (We just used broccoli and carrots)
1 green pepper cut in strips
4 cups celery
2 cups broccoli
1 cup sliced green onions
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts

Sauce: Add to vegetables and cook until clear
1 1/2 cups of chicken broth
2 Tblsp cornstarch
2 Tblsp soy sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar
Garnish with slivered almonds (optional)

Serve over hot rice or chow mein noodles

Recipe for Won Ton Wrappers can be found here at AllRecipes.com
Recipe for Baked Crab Rangoon can be found here at Weight-watcher-recipes.net

Recipe: Stuffed Shells with Crispy Pancetta (Bacon) and Spinach

I have been trying to plan more meals that warrant more leftovers so we can spend less and make less.  The enchiladas lasted about a week of leftovers cause instead of the regular two enchiladas I would have stuffed myself with, I had half of one with some black beans.  More food leftover and less calories to worry about burning off!

This time, we went the Italian route with some of Giada's Stuffed Shells, and they were so good!  They looked and tasted like restaurant quality food in both of our opinions.  I was a little hesitant about the nutmeg that is in there, but we both agreed it adds something very different to the dish.  There isn't a lot in there, but it goes a long way. I might even half the amount to 1/8 the next time so it's a bit less of that flavor.  Very good though. We also get all of our groceries for the most part at Target and they don't have pancetta, so I settled for it's poorer man's counterpart, bacon.  Also, we looked a few places for cream (Target, Walmart, and McKinney's) and all they had was half and half so I used that instead and it worked just dandy.  The recipe also asks for 2 lbs of spinach, but I just used a 10 oz container and it was enough. Everything tasted and looked great!  We only had about 4 shells per serving so these will last us a few days!  Give them a whirl, they won't disappoint.

Recipe courtesy of Foodnetwork.com

We Are Young

 

It's Music Monday!  It's a Monday and I am sharing some music.  Last week's episode of Glee (Yes, that show again.  I promise there is more depth to me than that.) talked about growing up too fast and to enjoy life while you are young.  It got me thinking about who exactly this applies to.  Does it apply to everyone up until they graduate high school?  College?  Or is it before you get married or have children?  When is it acceptable to be young and carefree?  Is it something that is within us or something that society tells us is okay? 

The video above is the original version of the song sung by Janelle Monae from her new album.  Click here if you would like to hear Glee's version.  I have listened to this song over 100 times since last Tuesday. I wish I was joking.

For me, I would say it applies up until I graduated college.  It was before my job consumed my 8:00-5:00.  It was when I had classes and could take naps in the middle of the day.  Not to mention the craziness of living with 60 girls along with the 40 others that lived outside the house.  I also got married a week after college graduation so that added on another level of responsibility to not only me, but to another human being.  Since having Nolan, that has stepped up even further.  He is the center of our lives and if that means we are in bed at 9:00 PM (knowing he will be up at 6:00 AM regardless) just to get a good solid night of sleep, so be it.  Some things are just worth "growing up" for.

I am a Basket Case

And no, I'm not talking about the 1982 horror flick "Basket Case" which I didn't know existed until I Googled whether basket case was one or two words.  Basketcase...yeah two words makes the most sense.  Anywho.

So, I have always loved Dollar General but we have recently rekindled our romance within the past couple of weeks.  I went there to pick up a few things and was walking around noticing that some things are cheaper here than at Target and Walmart- specifically some cleaning products, paper goods, toiletry items, etc.  Usually things seem to be a tad more here but since we have really been looking at prices lately, like REALLY looking, I knew how much things cost and where. I was so excited to find that some of these things were cheaper as DG is only a minute or so from our house and I am usually one of two people who are in there at one time.

A recent trip to the old General left me with an overflowing cart of baskets!  Blue baskets, brown baskets, small baskets, and big baskets! I then proceeded to go home and throw all the baskets in the air and cry out "Baskets, so many baskets!" as they poured all over me. Not really, as some of the baskets are woodenish and would have caused some unnecessary scratches/possible bleeding.  Who has time for that.  See, they had a sale on baskets- half off.  Baskets cost a lot of money, like a ridiculous amount, and I have been looking for some to fill our home for various reasons.  So, they were half off which meant they were a couple dollars a piece when normally they would be at least $10 anywhere else.  One basket in particular struck my fancy as I have been looking for baskets to fill in the little cubby holes in our bathroom.  I check out and said basket rang up as one penny.  ONE CENT!  They said sometimes they do that if they are really trying to get rid of things.  I thought I was going to have a heart attack as one other thing I bought also rang up as a cent.

Full of adrenaline, I proceeded to go to DG the next day to push my luck. I got two more baskets like it to fill in the other two slots cause I loved how it looked.   I did two different colors to mix it up a bit and because it was all they had left. Another one rang up as a penny and the other one rang up half off at 1.50.  So a look that should have cost at least $15-$20 (my estimate I don't really know) cost me a total of $1.52.  And it is GLORIOUS.  That is a freaking deal right there.

Now, I told Scott to take good care of these baskets.  Most of the time you say to take care of things because they are expensive, but in this case they look so perfect and were so cheap, I know I'm never gonna find a deal like this again.

Baby, It's Freaking Cold Outside

One of the good things about this time of year is the music and the spirit of the holidays.  I came across a very beautiful song - "Winter Song" by two of my favorite artists- Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles. Enjoy.

Recipe: Chicken Enchiladas

There are so many different recipes for chicken enchiladas out there, it could make your head spin.  One recipe, though, holds a special place in my stomach.  Sarah has always made these enchiladas so she gave me the recipe this past weekend and we didn't waste much time making them. We decided to shred the chicken as that is what is most appetizing to me. I'm not a big chunks o' meat kinda gal.


Recipe:
2-3 chicken breast chopped and cooked
2 small cans of green chiles (4 oz. cans)
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
Grated cheddar cheese (at least 12 oz)
16 oz of sour cream
Green onions chopped to taste (we omitted this)
8'' flour tortillas (about 12 of them)

Preparation: Mix cooked chicken, soup, sour cream, onions, chiles, and part of the cheese. Use part of the sauce in the tortillas, wrap, and place in a baking dish.  Pour the rest over the top and sprinkle on the cheese.  Bake approximately 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

You can tell that this is a family recipe when things say "about" and "approximately".  We ended up using a 9x13 baking dish and used 8 filled tortillas.  And remember to cook the chicken first.  SARAH. :)

Good Old Fashioned Comfort

Before you have children, traditions between a married couple sort of seem silly, don't they?  Maybe not, but it's easy to say they aren't as fun.  Since having Nolan, we have thought a lot more about traditions and how we would like to start some with him.

One tradition that my family always had was to open Christmas presents after a big Christmas dinner with immediate and extended family on Christmas Eve and we would open Christmas presents from "Santa" on Christmas morning.  TWO days of presents and always something to look forward to in the morning.  Except for the impending doom that Santa brings into the home in the middle of the night of course.  Oh the nightmares I had every Christmas Eve until we were told Santa wasn't real. Nights where I would share a bed with both my sisters as other family had the other rooms and having to hold my pee in as I was so scared to leave that room for fear I would come across Santa while he is breaking into our home... ANYWAY (deep breath).  Scott's family opened all Christmas presents on Christmas morning.    We both think each way is the best and what we will end up doing as Nolan gets older is still up for debate.  Why wouldn't we think that each of these traditions are normal though? It is what we grew up with, it's what happened every single year of our lives, and it was what we felt comfortable with.

Scott has mentioned that every Sunday his family would eat grilled cheese and mac n' cheese for lunch after church.  My family would always go out to eat after church.  Maybe this is something that we could compromise on.  After all, there are 52 Sundays every year.  Sometimes you just need that reminder of being young again with your family when life was easy.  Sometimes you just need some good old fashioned comfort.

Why Glee is Just Awesome.

We are now in the third season of Glee and if anyone met me during the first season, it was basically all I could talk about.  It's just a great show if you love music in general.  Scott and I started dating while we were in show choir together, so show choirs, musicals, etc. hold a special place in my heart.  Glee does their own renditions of a lot of great songs and there are some that are so redone, you wouldn't even recognize them unless you heard the lyrics.  This is one that was on tonight and I can't stop listening to it- "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".

Recipe: Properly Prepared Spaghetti Squash

Man, don't you wish you could just eat pasta every single day for every meal? Ugh so good.  Too bad it isn't that great for you otherwise, that is for sure what would be happening in this here household. For sure.  I was trying to think of some healthier alternatives for these tasty pasta dishes and I immediately thought of spaghetti squash.

The first time I made spaghetti squash was back in our first apartment in Omaha after being sent home with some from my grandparent's garden.  My dad told me to put some brown sugar on it, pop it in the oven and we had ourselves a sweet treat.  Very good! I hadn't thought much about this spaghetti squash until recently and decided to bring it back into our life. It's ridiculously easy to make, fairly cheap, versatile, and an extremely low calorie option.  A cup of cooked spaghetti squash according to livestrong.com, is 41 calories. FORTY-ONE CALORIES. And it fills you up almost like pasta does.

 I decided to do a search and came across this number and decided to try her out for myself.  And it was delicious.  It's basically death by garlic meets spaghetti squash.  It allowed about three days worth of leftovers which was awesome for us and it actually tasted better as the days went on.  Totally worth trying this dish. Your waistline will thank you. 

Recipe courtesy of www.food.com

Restaurant: The Green Apple

Scott and I wanted to take part in Small Business Saturday today as we know how vital small businesses are to our economy and decided to eat at the newest restaurant in Gretna, The Green Apple.  And man, did we make the right choice!

We had seen this place come to life as we would go through the drive thru to Runza on occasion and it boasted healthy sandwiches, soups, etc.  We were very excited to not only have a new place to eat in Gretna, but a healthy one at that!  We have a lot of fast food places, but not a lot of healthy, good options.  Their location is great as it is right next to Anytime Fitness and we saw a couple people come in after their workout to grab one of their yummy looking smoothies.

We walked in to a bright green decor and a small quaint little eating area. We found our spot in the corner and I ordered a garlic herb wrap with turkey and cheese inside and Scott had a beef wrap.  We both REALLY enjoyed them! We decided to do the combo with the potato salad, but we probably wouldn't do that again. Not that it wasn't delicious, but it was such a small portion and the combo didn't come with a drink that I would just stick with the wrap itself. It was plenty of food!  They had terrific service and we even shared a single scoop of Butter Pecan ice cream at the end.  Had to treat ourselves a little bit. :)

Can't wait to go back and hopefully we will be able to come here with family the next time so they can try this little Gretna jem!

Click here for The Green Apple's facebook page with their menu and pictures!

Recipe: Artichoke Bread

I have been inhabiting Pinterest for a little while now and have come across some amazing recipes that I hope to make in the near future. One of these recipes, artichoke bread, was the first victim.  When I saw it I thought it would be perfect to bring to Thanksgiving this year as an appetizer while the rest of the food is cooking.  I guess on Thanksgiving everything is sort of considered an appetizer. GRAZERS.

Now, I could tell you everything went right with this dish. It came out perfect and the whole thing tasted amazing.  But, then I would be lying to you.  When making a recipe, make sure you follow the instructions. Make sure when they say to put foil on top of it and not below it to be sure the pan doesn't get dirty, you just do it.  There were about 50 things in the oven going at the same time so when we opened it and a little smoke came out, it wasn't the bread of course, right?  Just close it and let it cook a little more.  Well a couple min later we decided to take it out and my brother-in-law, Rob, tilted the beautiful looking bread on top to show a complete black smoky underside.  I thought the whole thing was ruined. Just RUEEENED.  Then, my beaver like instincts kicked in.  Why don't we just gnaw the good part off the top?  And it was delicious.  The two people brave enough to try it besides me said it was "Really good, all things considered."  I thought it was great to be honest and wish more people would have tried it.  Apparently having to gnaw on your food isn't attractive or something.  Look at the picture though, it looks amazing!

I would definitely make this again and do exactly what it says to next time.  The combination of the different cheeses with juiciness of the artichoke make the top of it very very good.  Its like artichoke dip already on the bread-what could be better?

Recipe courtesy of www.closetcooking.com

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I have a lot to be thankful for this year and one of the main things is currently sitting on my lap doing everything possible to keep my hands from typing.  And typing some things on his own: 'p;m ,00 (Nolan says hi).  We will be practicing his typing skills.

When one thinks of Thanksgiving, the first thing they think of is FOOD.  I know I do.  I was watching the Today Show yesterday and they stated that the average amount of caloric intake on Thanksgiving is 4500 calories. THAT is a lot of calories. But if you think about all the snacking you do up to the meal, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th trips you take during the meal and the slew of pies consumed afterwards, it makes sense.  I would say either plan to do about 3 hours of intense cardio tonight or just be more cognizant of what you are eating all day.  Maybe think of taking a little less of something you would have normally had.  Or just enjoy the day cause afterall, it is Thanksgiving.

While I am currently finished with my Nutrisystem as of yesterday, Scott still has some left so I have been eating some of his for him.  We were discussing last night how we didn't understand how someone could do this for more than two months as the food, especially the suppers taste worse over time. Scott had two entrees last night that he could only describe as tasting like cardboard and dirt.  MmmmMmmm.  Needless to say, we will be enjoying REAL good amazing Thanksgiving food today.

I will be making something for Thanksgiving today that I found on Pinterest and I hope it tastes as good as it looked in the picture!!  Can't wait to try her out!  I will be sure to share the results!

So, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We have been so blessed this year with the arrival of our little nugget and we are so thankful for all of the blessings He has given us and for everyone in our life.  A quote I love that always comes up on Facebook and Pinterest is: What if you woke up today with only the things you thanked God for yesterday?  Happy Thanksgiving!

Comic found here.

The Wheeler Life

As we draw towards the end of our weight loss goals, I realized that besides recipes, I'm not going to have a lot to talk about!  So, I decided to change things up with a new look and a new site name and talk about more than just food.  What else that might be, I'm not sure yet.  Maybe just life.

Topic: Supreme 90 Day

I'm sure most of you have had your nights where you stay up late and watch infomercials only to wake up with your head on the keyboard and a message on the computer saying "Thank you for your order!". Ok, well maybe just the first part. I love infomercials and I get sucked in like a turtle's head.  One of these said informercials is P90x stating that you will go from flab to muscle man in just 90 days.  Does it work?  Are those really the results?  Those people said that they did it, so it should work for me too right?  Only 17 small payments of 29.95?  Oh that doesn't seem bad.  Oh wait...until you realize that those 17 small payments  could probably go towards something else you need, like ya know, living.

Enter in a trip to Dollar General's As Seen on TV section and seeing Supreme 90 Day. What is this you say?  Compared to P90x? Only $20? Well, what do we have here...  I leave Dollar General empty handed as this seems too good to be true.  I go home and do what I do with everything I buy- look at reviews. And if you don't believe that I literally look at reviews for everything, just ask me what some of the reviews for Charmin Basic Toilet paper said.  They are hilarious.  Charmin Basic, by the way, is super cheap and very good toilet paper!  Just saying.

ANYWAYS, the reviews of Supreme 90 Day were so awesome!  People said they got better results quicker than they did with P90x and for only $20, what is there to lose?  We even used a $5 off coupon at Bed Bath and Beyond and it was only $15!  Seriously!  You get 10 DVD's, a chart on which days to do what workout, eating plan, etc.  You only need dumbells and a stability ball, unlike P90x where you would also need an over the door pull up bar...which I would never trust.  I'm not gonna spend more money replacing my broken door frame.  No thanks.

We have done 2 weeks so far of the Supreme 90 Day (you have 6 days on and 1 day of rest) and I would say the results are great!  It's all about muscle confusion and challenging your muscles so you will get great results.  A lot of the reviews state that this isn't your weight loss ticket, but more of a strengthening program which I would say to be very accurate.  We already lost a good amount of weight with Nutrisystem, so the way to sustain the weight loss and now build up those muscles is a program like this.  I would definitely say that we have gotten stronger.  Day one, I could barely do one push up with my knees on the ground and we are at the beginning of the 3rd week and I can do about 20 regular pushups in a row.  Not a lot, but a definite improvement!  Scott and are I seeing muscles in our arms and legs start to form like when were in high school when we were both in sports.  And Nolan feels lighter too! That's a HUGE plus!  Especially when he is teething and the only thing he wants in the world is to be held.

So, so far, I am seeing my weight loss start to slow down a bit, but it's still dropping, so I'm ok with that. Another good thing about this program is that you stretch really good at the end of each workout.  According to my Turbo Jam instructor, we should be doing stretches 7 days a week to keep blood circulation and flexibility in a good state.

So, in all, I'm really excited about this. You have to be committed though. You will be so sore and not want to do it the next night, but you have to push yourself. Thankfully I have Scott doing this with me so we can push each other. 

Photo courtesy of here.

Topic Nutrisystem- Should be done, but we aren't! ;)

So, today should have ended the Nutrisystem era at this time in our life, but low and behold, we still have a ton of food left.  I am officially out of breakfasts, so I at least had one of those everyday like a good girl.  We got an extra week of food in there so that adds to the amount and Scott went a whole week without the food, so there lies the excess.

Things are still going quite well- Scott was losing so much weight he didn't think it was healthy anymore, so he has started eating two entrees at each meal to kind of catchup with me on what I have left.  Also, I am officially under my pre-pregnancy weight! Woohoo!!!

This week, we started a new workout routine called Supreme 90 Day and it is going great so far!  I will do a different post about that later!

Now, for the weight loss results after 8 weeks:
Scott:  -22 lbs              2 lbs ABOVE weight loss goal
Jessica: -14.8 lbs         8.2 lbs away from weight loss goal

Topic: Nutrisystem- 6 weeks down

Now, I didn't say 6 weeks down, 2 to go cause I actually have no idea how many weeks we really have left.  We ended up getting an additional week of free food and Scott went a whole week without the food, so we probably have at least 3 more weeks of this food left, which is okay in my book!

Scott spent an entire week in Chicago this week with buffets and Giordano's pizza so I was anxious to see what his total weight loss would be for these two weeks. In addition, I may or may not have taken Thursday night off this week to possibly eat a Cheesy and a Crisp Pinto from Amigos followed by a chocolate chip cookie from The Cookie Company.  Hey, I was in Lincoln and my family MADE me eat these things while we were at the mall. FORCED me to.  Okay, not really, but in my head they did.  But, I haven't had Amigos in forever.  I was also anxious to see what my weight loss would be as I spent three days in Lincoln and didn't weigh myself once. Self-control!

As I see our stock pile of food dwindle down very slowly, I am excited and nervous at the same time.  Most of the suppers are the same type of food and taste the same with the exception of the title on the box and the breakfasts are always a bit "chewy" if you get a scone or muffin of the sort.  I am looking forward to real food again, but nervous about the choices we are going to make, so we will really need to push each other. We didn't spend all this money and work so hard to lose all this weight just to gain it all back.  I will not stand for it!  So we got to stick to the portion sizes, still eat dairy, protein, fruit, and veggies at the same time every day and I think we will be fine.  We might even feel healthier as some of this food has a lot of preservatives.

So, here we go.  Our weight loss after 6 weeks:

Scott: -18 lbs          2 lbs away from weight loss goal
Jessica: -12 lbs       11 lbs away from weight loss goal

If you remember correctly, I had reported that Scott had passed the 20 lb. mark last week, but enter in buffets and Giordano's pizza all week and there is your answer for gaining back the two pounds. I didn't quite lose the five pounds I was hoping to, but it was close! So, we will just keep trucking along.  My goal for these next two weeks is to pass the weight I was before pregnancy and I don't even care if it's by 0.1!  I am not quite on track for where I was hoping to be at this point, but it doesn't mean I'm going to stop once we are done with this food. We are just beginning this healthy new journey!

Tip: Tomatoes!

I was watching The Chew today and they had a little tid bit on there about how canned tomatoes are actually healthier for you than raw tomatoes as they contain 2-8 times more lycopene, which helps to lower the risk of cancer and heart disease.  So, if you are making a tomatoey dish, make sure to not only use canned tomatoes, but drizzle a little bit of olive oil on top to help your body absorb that lycopene to its maximum potential.  Makes the dish nice and shiny too.

Tip can be found by clicking here.
Tomato photo courtesy of here.

Topic: Milestones

I know I said that I wouldn't post our results for another two weeks, but Scott and I both hit some major milestones within a day of each other!  Scott has officially lost 20 lbs as of yesterday and when I weighed myself today, I have passed 10 lbs of weight loss!  All in 4 1/2 weeks. Pretty awesome.  I'm still hoping to have the goal of at least 5 lbs lost during these two weeks so I can be at my pre-pregnancy weight.  Let's do this!

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Salad

As you had seen before, I get to have a Dairy or Protein for lunch. What a better way to go about this then to make a Grilled Chicken Salad.  You can basically have salad at any meal so we decided to put this pairing together.  We had some frozen chicken breasts in the freezer and decided to grill them all up and use them for salads for the week.  There are ways to make Nutrisystem "more bearable" and this is definitely one of those ways.  Mine is on the left and Scott's is on the right.  I did a handful of salad, cucumbers, chicken and drizzled it with Kraft Fat Free Caesar Italian Dressing. Scott doubled his salad to a couple handfuls with chicken and Kraft Fat Free Ranch dressing. Chicken never tasted so good.

Topic: Nutrisystem- Halfway Done!

We are officially halfway through our Nutrisystem plan and things are still going good!  Scott had been doing so great that he felt comfortable going off the plan a little bit as he had lunches for work he had to attend to.  He has also had a juicy burger from Red Robin and I got a salad there.  You gotta have a meal or two outside the system or you might go crazy.  Just make sure what you are eating is healthy or the same portion as what would be in your Nutrisystem meal. I have only had two meals the entire time outside the plan. One was supper for my mom's bday and that salad from Red Robin.

It takes about a third of the time it normally does to go to the grocery store, which has been nice.  You look for vegetables, dairy, and fruits, and you are basically done.  Hy-vee had an amazing sale on their yogurt ($.29) so I got a month's worth of them.  When you get a deal, go for it!

I was going to start writing every week after the last post, but both Scott and I were sick last week, so neither of us worked out the entire week.  I was so disappointed in my weight loss that I didn't want to write about it.  I was just banking on getting better and back on track this week, which I did!  It was no additional 6 lbs, but it was something. You can't expect perfection all the time, but you can at least try to be better than you were the day before. At least that is what I tell myself. The fact that I didn't lose much weight last week really just tells you how important exercise is to your weight loss goals. So get off that couch!

I am still going to the class on Tuesday nights at our church unless Scott has to work late, which happens more than we would both like.  We had been doing mainly Turbo Jam workouts, but the teacher has strayed and we have been doing some workouts that she created, which have been just as effective. One of the things that the creator of Turbo Jam always says is that you might not feel like working out, but just think about how good you feel when you are done.  That should get you motivated!

Even though I didn't get a chance to work out at all last week, I am still happy with my progress because that is weight that probably would still be there if it weren't for our new eating habits.  I haven't really had any cravings for much food outside the system so it has made it easy. The only thing I have wanted was Death By Garlic. I could seriously eat that every day.

So here we are at the end of month one, and we are sitting pretty good!  My goal weight loss after one month was 10 lbs. and I probably could have gotten there with a few more workouts last week, but that just means that I need to work even harder this next month. I'm up for the challenge!

Total weight loss after one month on Nutrisystem:
Scott: -16 lbs                    4 lbs away from weight loss goal
Jessica: -8.6 lbs              14.4 lbs away from weight loss goal

I was so close to that 10 lb. mark and I can not wait to get there!  We will be getting an extra week of food because my food didn't end up shipping correctly so I have had to eat Scott's food (which is exactly the same). They wanted to make sure that I was able to supplement Scott's food from what I took, so they are sending a free week which we will share!

I will be reporting back in two weeks regarding our results and my goal is to get past that 10 lb. weight mark.  And, if I lose about another 5 lbs, I will be at my pre-pregnancy weight!  Scott's goal is to also lose another 5 lbs.  So here is to shedding another 5 lbs each in two weeks- and we WILL do it!

Topic: Nutrisystem Men's Plan

One of the great things about doing Nutrisystem is the fact that Scott and I are able to do it together. Neither of us have any self control when it comes to food so if only one of us was on the plan and the other was eating like we regularly do, the one on the plan would have "cheated", oh on say, day two.  That is why we needed to do this and do this together.

I was reading something yesterday (can't remember where now) that really struck me.   The message was that there is a huge difference between going on a diet and eating healthy.  When a person goes on a diet, it means at some point they will get off of that diet and return to their regular habits.  This is where it goes downhill again.  That person will live with a vicious cycle of dieting>> losing weight >> going back to regular habits >> gaining weight >>dieting, and so on.  We need to be able to figure out what is healthy and stick to it so you aren't doing that to your body.  I think Nutrisystem is really teaching us a lot about what we should put in our bodies, the amounts we should put, and the times of day we should be eating.

I had posted the Women's Plan earlier, so here is what Scott gets to eat everyday:

Nutrisystem Men's Plan:

Breakfast
Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree
Dairy or Protein
Fruit
Carbohydrate

Morning Snack
Dairy or Protein
Fruit

Lunch
Nutrisystem Lunch Entree
Vegetable
Vegetable

Afternoon Snack
Nutrisystem Snack/Dessert Entree

Dinner
Nutrisystem Dinner Entree
Fruit of Vegetable
Vegetable
Vegetable
Carbohydrate
Fat

Dessert
Nutrisystem Dessert Entree

You will notice the main differences between the two are that Scott gets a morning snack and gets to add two carbohydrates to his day.   So, they get to eat more AND lose twice as much weight.   Uggghhh men.

Topic: Nutrisystem Women's Plan

So, as I had mentioned before, women and men have two different plans suited to what will help them lose weight the best. Scott gets one additional Nutrisystem snack/dessert and gets to add carbohydrates to his day.  The only times I am allowed a piece of bread is with the Turkey Hot Dogs, which are one of my favorites, or with either the Chicken or Tuna Salad.  So after all is said and done with this, I am really going to cut back on my bread intake because I really don't need it.  Here is the women's plan laid out for the day:

Breakfast                                                              What I might have
Nutrisystem Breakfast Entree                           Blueberry Pancakes
Dairy or Protein                                                  1 Fried Egg
Fruit                                                                     1/2 cup of 100% Cranberry juice

Lunch
Nutrisystem Lunch Entree                                   Fettuccini Alfredo
Vegetable                                                             1 cup of Romaine lettuce
Vegetable                                                             1/2 cup of asparagus
Dairy or Protein                                                   1/4 cup of cottage cheese


Afternoon Snack
Dairy or Protein                                                    1 container of lowfat yogurt
Fruit                                                                         15 grapes

Dinner
Nutrisystem Dinner Entree                                 Cheese and Spinach Ravioli
Vegetable                                                              1/2 cup of cucumbers
Vegetable                                                              1/2 cup of green beans
Vegetable or Fruit                                                 Half a medium banana
Fat                                                                         Small spoonful of peanut butter

Dessert
Nutrisystem Dessert Entree                    Chocolate Peanut Butter Bar


So there ya go.  The packet of information given to you gives portion sizes for each veggie, fruit, dairy or protein so you don't have to worry about eating too much of something that could ruin your diet. You can see though that I basically have an entire plateful of food so it's not so bad!  Sometimes we get lazy and only do one vegetable cause it is a lot to supplement and prepare all the time. You can also add 2 tbsp of fat free dressing to any salad that you make and salad could be the vegetable for any of your meals. Scott and I both have the Nutrisystem apps on our phones where we are able to keep track of all this as well. And yes, just like they say in the ads, I do have chocolate every single day!  Their desserts are amazing!

Topic: Nutrisystem- 2 Weeks Down, 6 To Go

Well, we have officially completed two full weeks on Nutrisystem and to say it has been a success so far would be an understatement.  I was unable to write after one week because we were out of town and we weren't able to weigh in.  Now, there is a huge difference between men and women when it comes to weight loss. Scott basically smells the food and loses 5 lbs. Well, me being a woman, I've had to work my butt off. But, it is paying off and I haven't felt this good and healthy since we got married almost 3 1/2 years ago which is saying something.  We made the mistake of sort of pigging out before going on it as we knew it would be our last ice cream, pizza, etc. for the next two months so I ended up gaining a few more pounds in the few weeks working up to it. My bad. I just have to work harder and I have a new weight loss goal of 23 lbs. I would love to get back to my wedding weight, so that is the plan!  Yes, marriage makes you gain weight cause you are so relieved you don't have to fit in that wedding dress anymore and having a baby doesn't help the matter.

We have been very impressed with the food so far except for a couple items.  Scott was not a fan of the supper- Orange Chicken and I was not a fan of the breakfast- Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables. I'm pretty sure there were pieces of sausage or something in there and there definitely wasn't supposed to be. The fact that I'm not sure what they actually were makes it even worse. Thankfully, we have liked most of the food so it has made it bearable! We have wanted to order a pizza or just get a big juicy burger countless times but when we start something and have made a commitment to it (and have spent all the money haha) we aren't gonna mess it up!  The main theme of Nutrisystem is portion sizes and small meals throughout the day.  Along with your Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert (Scott gets another Nutrisystem snack during the day in addition), you also have to supplement with vegetables, fruit, dairy, and protein (Scott also gets to add carbohydrates on his plan). They give you a great guide that gives you ideas of what you can have so it takes the guess work out of it.  I have never eaten so many vegetables in my life!

I have kept the same workout regimen as I did prior to starting Nutrisystem as I thought it was a good one. I do the elliptical 3-4 times a week for 30-45 min (doing a different workout on it every time) burning anywhere from 400-500 calories in addition to Tuesday night workouts at our church that are actually very intense and make me sore for days.  It is good to mix things up a bit.  Scott basically just breathes and mows.  He has gone on the treadmill once, but I think he wants to get more into a routine here soon.

The results after two weeks are as follows:

Scott: -11              9 lbs til weight loss goal
Jessica: -6           17 lbs til weight loss goal

I would definitely say we are on track for our 20-23 lb goal- Scott definitely is, that's for sure! We are still doing it for the full two months so we have two weeks down, six to go!

Topic: Nutrisystem

Scott and I have decided to make a drastic change in our eating habits which requires me to stay away from just about everything in the kitchen except for the microwave.  Blasphemy, I know.  For the next two months, we will be going on Nutrisystem.  We decided two months as we think it will be the perfect amount of time for us to get used to good portion sizes for the future and lose the 20 lbs we each want to lose.  I had been working out really hard about 4-5 times a week and seeing no results or any weight loss whatsoever, so we decided this was going to be the road we needed to take. Our family members that went on it had much success, so we will too!  I hope...

I have decided to chronicle our success with this so hopefully we will have a lot to share!  The first day was a bit hard as I found myself wandering over to the pantry as I do everyday for a snack and I was punched in the face with this sight:

It's gonna be interesting.

Recipe: Chicken Piccata

Scott and I had some chicken breasts we wanted to do a meal with, so I browsed some of Giada's chicken recipes and came across this tasty number.  All I gotta say is HOLY SMOKES. Before preparing this dish make sure that all windows are open and you are prepared to have your house filled with smoke. Yummy fried chicken smelling smoke.

I didn't really realize I was going to be technically frying chicken til I actually started making it. Shows just how much I look ahead at the recipe.  Hey, I'm looking for easy to find, affordable ingredients.  The cooking part will come on its own, right?  When the dish was completed, it didn't look like fried chicken, but it sure smelled like it...

I ate every single bite of this chicken, which is a rarity for me. I am usually inspecting each piece before it goes into my mouth to make sure there isn't anything icky in the chicken.  Maybe we just got some good chicken, I don't know.  Scott absolutely loved this. He took leftovers to work the next day and said they were just freaking awesome and that I have to make this again. Despite the smoke and oil splattered everywhere, I definitely will!

(Doesn't that picture look ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS?!?  I made that beast!!)

Recipe can be found here at FoodNetwork.com

Recipe: Fried Couscous Salad

I love couscous.  It is so light and airy and doesn't give you that heavy feeling like you get after you have had a whole bowl of pasta.  So when Giada (yes, her again) made this Fried Couscous Salad, I knew we were going to have it in our stomachs within a few days.

I cannot say enough good things about this dish. It is seriously probably one of my favorite things I have made to date.  You could probably eat the entire bowl in one sitting (which gave us leftovers for two more days) and would still ask, "is there any more?"  At least I wish I could have eaten the whole thing by myself.  It has that same awesome combination of flavors of the feta and sun-dried tomatoes mixed with the crunch of the cucumber that you just can't beat.  This is a must have, so I hope you enjoy it!

Note: The recipe calls for ricotta salata- if you read the reviews, you can see that many people stated it was difficult to find so they just used feta cheese, which is what I did. Also, lesson learned from the lemony panini I made previously- I only put a splash of lemon juice in this dressing instead of the called for zest and juice of half a lemon.  I didn't want this dish to be overpowered by lemon like the last one and it was perfect!

The recipe can be found here at FoodNetwork.com

Recipe: Tuna and Artichoke Panini

I had saved this recipe for a day when I would be getting a food processor and since that day was now, I decided to make it!  This Tuna and Artichoke Panini was another delicious dish from Giada that gets 5 out of 5 stars on FoodNetwork.com so we gave her a shot.

I had never bought ciabatta bread before and it won't be the last.  When it was baking, I told Scott that I would like to try many things with it as it reminds me of all the good bread in the restaurants we go to.  I got all the ingredients ready to go in the processor and since Nolan was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him, I did the logical thing and went to the upstairs bathroom, shut the door, and blended away!  So fun!  I can't wait to use it on other recipes!

One of Giada's favorite words is "lemony" as she puts lemon zest and lemon juice on just about everything. This was the first recipe I made of hers that required both and I would say that this dish tasted "lemony".  A bit too lemony for my liking.  I would probably just do the lemon zest next time and omit the lemon juice as the consistency of the panini was a bit too liquidy. Otherwise it was very good!

I love artichokes and olives so it made my day!  Scott, on the otherhand, hates artichokes and olives, so he took the end of my ciabatta bread and made himself a steak sandwich which I think he would say he was very proud of.

The recipe can be found here at FoodNetwork.com.

Topic: The Ninja Warrior

Meet, THE NINJA WARRIOR. Dun DUN DUN. Or in Scott's words, "the coolest purchase we have made in awhile".  I have come across so many recipes that require a food processor that I have wanted to make but have not been able to because you know what?  I don't have a freakin food processor.  I have looked at them in stores and online but the cheapest one I could ever find was $60. We are on a budget people- not gonna happen.

One day, I happen upon THE NINJA WARRIOR.  Got tons of excellent reviews online but I kinda looked at it and forgot about it.  When we were back in Holdrege, I was discussing the fact that I really wanted a food processor.  Scott said that they show up on Woot sometimes, so he would watch out for them.  He decided to get on Woot a few min later and you know what their daily deal was that day? THE NINJA WARRIOR- on sale for a very cheap price.  It was meant to be. Scott ordered it and we got it the next week!  It comes with a food processor and an emulsifier so we are able to make our smoothies more efficiently and I can make food processor required meals now! Yippee!!

Check out this video featuring THE NINJA WARRIOR.

Recipe: Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Pizza

We went back to H-town for a week in August, so I didn't have to plan any meals that week.  I kinda missed it!  It's my time at the end of the day to be by myself and wind down.  Nothing like cooking a meal for yourself and your husband that you both really like.

When we got back, I had already gotten the ingredients for this Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Stuffed Pizza, so I thought it would be perfect to make without us having to go to the store again.  What it doesn't say in the title is that it is also made of tofu.  I have had tofu, but had never made it so I was excited to try it.  Scott was less than thrilled at the idea, but he had never had it before. Being that I am making his supper for him, he might as well try it, right??  My non-meat eating days lasted about two days and I was ok with eating it again.  But why not experiment with some vegetarian dishes?

This recipe was very fun to make and had a lot going on with it.  The tofu was interesting to deal with, but easy enough.  We both took a bite and were like- holy crap this is so good!!  Tofu doesn't have much flavor to it but combined with the salty cheeses and the sun-dried tomatoes made it taste delicious. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce and you got yourself a meal!  Scott not only liked the tofu stuffed pizza, he TWEETED about it! Now that's a huge deal in itself!  I was so happy he liked it and I was able to have it for leftovers the next day for lunch.  I will definitely be making this again and will be looking for other tofu dishes in the future!

The recipe can be found here at EatingWell.com

Recipe: Chilaquiles Casserole

After watching Food, Inc.,  I decided I wasn't really up for eating meat that night and I had the ingredients to make this next dish- Chilaquiles Casserole.  While making it, I felt like I was having deja vu from making the Layered Enchiladas minus the meat and with a few adjustments.  It was so good!  Scott even loved it even though it didn't have any meat in it.  You don't really miss the meat as there are so many other ingredients involved.  I found this recipe on EatingWell.com (thought I would give them another shot) and so it was pretty healthy.   Great Mexican dish- vegetarian style!

Recipe can be found here- EatingWell.com

Topic: Food, Inc.

So, if you couldn't tell by the juicy hamburger I talked about previously,  I don't like to eat meat that much.  Well, most of the time.   I'm just not a huge fan of it.  It has nothing to do with the animals, it just grosses me out, that's it.  Now, my sister Kim is a vegetarian.  What set her over the edge you say?  The movie: Food, Inc.  This was a movie she watched over Christmas time a year and a half ago and I saw images as she was watching it and decided I was never going to watch it myself as it looked icky. It showed them slaughtering animals and whatnot- didn't know the context of it.

Well, here we are at the present and I decide to watch the movie for myself.  (Instant watch on Netflix- seriously get Netflix if you don't have it. Well worth it. Watched the entire movie on my phone and it loaded as soon as I pushed play.)  I am glad to say that I did end up watching it on my phone as some of the images would have been horrible to see on a large TV.

The premise of the movie is basically to investigate where and how we get our food.  It discusses the growth hormones that are put into the animals and how they engineer these animals to grow faster, be bigger, and be better suited to what the consumers want (ex. large, white meat chicken breasts).  To be honest,  I really don't care about animals.  Go hunt all you want, just don't get any animal bits on my carpet.  I have seen a deer be completely skinned, but some of things I saw in this movie were completely disturbing.  Some big companies (ones that you might have in your fridge/freezer at this very moment) refused to be interviewed because they knew if people knew what their practices were, no one might eat their products again.

Some of the statistics in the movie were absolutely appalling and I learned some things that I never knew before about the industry.  The agenda of the movie is not to make a person never want meat again or bash farmers.  It is about the overall big picture of the industry: who exactly is running the show and what happens in the process. It may not turn you into a vegetarian or care more about animals, but it will definitely change the way you look at what is on your plate at dinner time and maybe think twice about what type of meat you are getting and where it is coming from.  I recommend you watch it and let me know what you think!

Recipe: Peanut Butter Pebble Cookies

After I had told my family that I would be starting this blog, my dad sent me a link to Punch Fork where you can view the best new recipes at all of the top food sites out there.  I was looking through some of the recipes and came across these Peanut Butter Pebble Cookies and they looked scrumdilliumptious.  I love peanut butter and peanut butter cookies so I knew these had to be made.

They were a terrific cookie to make at the end of a weekend. We had so many leftover and knew we wouldn't be able to eat them all before we left for vacation, so I sent the majority of them with Scott to take to work.  And they LOVED THEM!  They taste like your typical peanut butter cookie with extra crunch from the peanuts and chocolate chips.  If I make them again, I will just add the whole bag of chocolate chips as Scott thought it had the potential to taste like a Reese's with that combination. And it was a delight any time I had a bite with a chocolate chip in it.  Fun for all ages! 

To view the original recipe, click here at Serious Eats.com

Recipe: Robin Burger

As I had mentioned before, Scott and I enjoy trying to recreate foods that we like at restaurants.  One being, the Royal Red Robin Burger from Red Robin.  It seemed pretty simple to make at home, so we tried it a couple years back and it really was!  If we ever want a spin on a plain old hamburger, we fry up an egg and some bacon and place them on the burger.  Or you can microwave them, which is what we do. ;) (To microwave the egg- spray cereal bowl with cooking spray, crack one egg, whisk, and microwave on high for 1 1/2 min.  Make sure to stop halfway through to poke holes in the cooking egg or it will explode in the microwave.  Or in your face. Not that I know from about 10 years of making egg sandwiches.)

Now, you can place any toppings that you like on this burger, but we find that bacon, cheese, mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise make the perfect combination that makes it taste just like the burger at one of our favorite restaurants.  Give it a taste, it is sure to be egg-cellent!  Yep, I went there.

Ingredients per hamburger
1 hamburger bun
1 hamburger- cooked to your liking
1 egg- fried or microwaved
1 or 2 slices of American cheese
2 slices of bacon halved
Your choice of toppings

Preparation
Stack all ingredients in alphabetical order.  Not really, but I think you can figure out how to put together a hamburger.

Recipe: Macaroni Salad

So, I get a call on Saturday morning from our church wanting to know if I could make a large salad for a funeral coming up the next week.  We like to help out our church as much as possible and it takes hardly any time to make this salad that I of course told them I would.  This would be the second time that I have made this salad for a funeral at our church so I am getting it down!  This is a salad that Scott's mom Lori would make us on occasion and she gave us the recipe!

If you ever need an additional side for a meal or need to make a large salad for an event, this is one you should definitely try!

 Ingredients
1 lb macaroni- cooked according to the directions on the box
3 big carrots- diced
1 cucumber- cut the seeds out and then dice
1 med onion- diced
2 cups Miracle Whip
1/2 cup of sugar
2 Tblspoons mustard

Preparation

Combine the macaroni, carrots, cucumber, and onion.  Add Sauce of miracle whip, sugar, and mustard slowly so you can make it as saucy as you would like. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Restaurant: Pizza Gourmet Company

It all started way back when Scott and I were in college and went over to Greg and Brooke's for some pizza.  What we got, changed my life forever.... too dramatic?  No but seriously, it was awesome.  We got pepperoni, jalepeno, and cream cheese pizza from Nero's and it was like nothing I had ever had before.  Cream cheese on pizza?  Who would have thought it would be the best thing in the entire world?

Zoom ahead to 2008 and Scott and I are making our way to our new apartment in Omaha. We didn't know much about Omaha and what was around us, but Pizza Gourmet Company was a close restaurant to our apartment so we decided to try it.  The inside is nothing like what the name of the restaurant might indicate.  It is nothing short of a sports bar complete with large screen TV's and beer.  Our kind of place!

We look at the menu and see that they have cream cheese as a topping!  Oh my we have to get this with pepperoni! It was so damn good.  Any time any family would come to town after that, we would take them to the Pizza Gourmet Company to have this pizza. Every single person couldn't say good enough things about it.  Scott and I had a Groupon to Pizza Gourment, which they have often so we brought Nolan to his second or third trip there and had ourselves some delicious pepperoni and cream cheese pizza. Yummy.

Restaurant: Sushi Japan Yakiniku Boy

So, Scott and I went out on a lovely date night and went to go see the movie Horrible Bosses which was terrific! It ended up being better than I thought it would be and I thought the guy who was the least well known- Charlie Day- was actually the funniest. I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars!

After the movie, we hit up Sushi Japan Yakiniku Boy as it was close to the theater and it was a sushi place we had never tried before. Scott and I absolutely love sushi. We had never had much of  it until we moved to Omaha three years ago and man we never turned back. Our favorite sushi places we frequent the most are Blue and Baby Blue strictly for convenience and Hiro is also a great place to go. I would go to Hiro for lunch quite often with coworkers when I worked at my previous to my previous job. ;) Didn't know how to phrase that exactly. I would also recommend Kona Grill strictly for their Las Vegas rolls. They are my favorite roll next to the Asparagus Salmon.  I could eat a tub of Asparagus Salmon rolls if presented with one. The combination of the salmon, cream cheese, and crunch of the asparagus is absolutely delectable.

When we went to Sushi Japan, I got their version of the Asparagus Salmon and the Crab Rangoon roll. This roll was one that I had never seen before at any restaurant so I had to try it! It tasted exactly like a crab rangoon, a crab rangoon at The Gourmet House mind you, drizzled with sweet and sour sauce. So good! Scott got the Spicy Tuna and Philidelphia rolls, which he said tasted about the same as the other places. I really wish I would have gotten a picture of our amazing platter. Those sushi places really know how to make a grand presentation with their plating!  Now, I will eat raw fish but the rolls I like the best just happen to be cooked! If you are afraid of sushi, I would start with the cooked rolls as they might suit you best. I would definitely recommend this restaurant along with the other sushi places when you come to Omaha! Give them a shot!

(Their website www.omaha-sushi.com never works very well, so if you are interested, just try to Google them and see what comes up!  I have yet to be able to pull it up.)

Recipe: Capellini al Forno

So, I made another recipe later in the week from Giada herself that was absolutely amazing and a must eat!  It is Capellini al Forno and it is quite the extreme pasta dish if I must say so myself.  As soon as I saw the picture and name of it at the beginning of the episode, I had the recipe saved on my phone. It is basically a pasta pie/casserole none like I have ever made or seen before in my life.  First you have a layer of jam, then meat sauteed with peas and onions....Oh wait, wrong show.

Angel hair pasta, prosciutto, mozzarella, and bread crumbs.  Those are the layers.  Amazing huh?  I thought so anyway.  Now if you are thinking to yourself, what the heck is prosciutto?  Well you are not alone. I had no clue what it was until I started watching her show.  It is a very very thinly sliced (so thin you can see through it) meat that has a peppery taste to it.

Now the recipe calls for 1 lb of prosciutto.  We thought our best shot at getting this meaty delicacy would be an Italian bakery in the Old Market called Orsi's but we ended up finding it at Hy-Vee.  We just needed a pound, so if it costs a bit more than your standard deli meat, we can splurge as the rest of the dish is very cheap, right?  WRONG.  Three ounces....let me say that again- THREE OUNCES of prosciutto cost $7.00. Are you freaking kidding me?  Well this might throw the whole plan out.  We are looking at almost $40 worth of prosciutto if we wanted to do this recipe right.  Well now all of a sudden Scott is ok with changing the recipe.  What if we just buy the 3 oz and see what happens.  Sounds good to me!  We will still get the lovely taste of the prosciutto in the dish without having to explain to our three month old that he needs to go in the big boy potty because Mommy and Daddy can no longer afford to buy diapers.

That said, I made the dish with the little amount we did have and it was fantastic!  You can even see the layer of prosciutto in the picture, so I don't think it was absorbed by the rest of the pasta.  All of they layers look fantastic and compliment one another so well.  So delicious. I think a whole pound would have made it kinda....ewwy.  I liked the added taste of it, but any more would have been a bit much.  This recipe is so easy and actually pretty fun to make.  Even Nolan had fun watching me make it!  Try it out!

Couple things to note: I looked online for substitutes for prosciutto and one thing that came up was ham.  So you could try it out with ham or honestly, any thinly sliced meat of your choice or no meat at all.  I think it would taste good either way!  Also, the original recipe calls for smoked mozzarella- we just bought the regular mozzarella as it is hard to find the smoked and the plain is much cheaper!  In addition, in the episode, Giada's aunt said that their family recipe calls for the regular mozzarella but Giada thought the smoked would be good for the dish.  So, we will stick to the original! ;)

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing pan
• 1 pound capellini (angel hair) pasta
• 1 cup plus 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 pound prosciutto, sliced 1/8-inch thick and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded smoked mozzarella
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (25-ounce) jar marinara or tomato-basil sauce, warmed

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch diameter nonstick spring form pan. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain well and place in a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons butter, 1 cup Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Toss well until coated.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup breadcrumbs in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread 1/3 of the seasoned pasta on top. Arrange half of the prosciutto in a single layer on top. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on top. Add 1/3 of the pasta and push down lightly to form an even layer. Repeat the layers with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, the remaining pasta, prosciutto, and mozzarella. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and Parmesan together. Sprinkle over the layers and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until light golden on top, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

Remove the sides of the pan and cut the pasta into wedges. Serve with warm marinara sauce.

You can find the original recipe here: Food Network

Recipe: Turkey Meatloaf with Feta and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Gotta say it, gotta put it out there: I'm in love with Giada De Laurentiis.  If I could be her, I would.  I tape her show every day as I don't always get to watch it when it is on.  She makes the most fabulous Italian dishes that make me want to jump through the TV to try.  That said, I finally made one of her dishes: Turkey meatloaf with feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes.  Everything about it to me said yum, so I decided I wanted to try it!

When we went to the store, they didn't have 1 lb of ground turkey, so we bought 4 ground turkey patties that were 16 oz. total- made sense!  Turkey meat is a lot healthier for you which was very appealing to me!  Also, with the little amount of whole milk actually needed for the dish, we didn't feel it was necessary to buy a whole $4 thing of it so we just used the milk we had at home.  Did not affect the taste or texture of the dish at all!

I had never made meatloaf before and you know what,  it wasn't scary!  It was actually just too easy! I don't know why I thought it would be more challenging than it was.  Probably from all the "Perfect Meatloaf" commercials where they show the soggy meatloaf as though it takes only a master chef, or the "Perfect Meatloaf", to get it right!  But I did it!  And it was absolutely delicious and and the combination of the sweet sun-dried tomatoes with salty feta cheese was a match made in heaven. Once it comes out of the oven, you don't have to add a thing to it- absolutely perfect.  It's a rarity, but this is one meaty dish I would do again!

*One thing to note is that the eggs need to be at room temperature before combining with the rest of the mixture so it comes out right.  Let them sit out for a couple hours before preparing the dish!

Ingredients

• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/4 cup chopped garlic and herb-marinated sun-dried tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, optional
• 2 eggs, at room temperature, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, stir together the bread crumbs, parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, if using, eggs, milk, feta, salt, and pepper. Add the turkey and gently stir to combine, being careful not to overwork the meat.
Carefully pack the meat mixture into the prepared pan and bake until the internal temperature registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Transfer to a cutting board and slice. Put on a serving platter and serve.

Recipe can be found here:  Food Network

Recipe: Honey-Poppy Seed Dressing

With Nolan's baptism coming up at the end of July, we had decided we were going to have a reception at our house afterwards for about 30 people.  Sounds easy setting it up a month in advance, right?  Well, the time came to actually plan what we were going to eat and one of the first things that came to mind was a fruit bowl covered in this honey-poppy seed dressing that our sister-in-law, Brooke, had made us one night when we had dinner at their house.  It was absolutely delicious and something I wanted to do for us at home.

Since that dinner, I had made it without the poppy seed and it tastes just as good without the added texture.  I decided to make the full recipe for the reception as it makes the whole bowl of fruit pop with the poppy seeds.  The original recipe found by clicking here, uses apples, grapes, apricots, and pineapple.  Well, I am not a huge fan of apples so I decided to pick a few fruits that we both really like. We chose strawberries, green grapes, and cantelope. 

This dressing isn't just to make the fruit look pretty, but really accentuates the natural sugars in the fruit to make it very sweet and mouthwatering. Even if you aren't fond of fruit, try this dressing on it and you will be changed forever.  The colors of the different fruits that we chose look so fabulous and yummy together, you wouldn't be surprised that there wasn't a single piece of fruit left by the end of the reception.

Ingredients of Our Fruit Medley
2 lbs of strawberries sliced
1 large bunch of green grapes cut in half
1 cantelope chopped in bite size pieces

Honey-Poppy Seed Dressing

1/4	cup vegetable oil
3	tablespoons honey
2	tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2	teaspoons poppy seed

I actually ended up doubling this recipe since we had about double the fruit of the original recipe.  I don't think you can have too much of the dressing so make as much as you want!

(Side note: You have no idea how many times I kept typing poopy instead of poppy.  That will be a dish I make NEXT week!  Silly me.)