Whew it has been a busy and fantastic week! My birthday is April 11 and I have such a wonderful group of friends, family and an amazing boyfriend that spoiled me so much!

Tigers/Orioles baseball game during opening week on Thursday!

Birthday Dinner Friday!

(That's vegan gnocchi with herb sauce and a side of roasted garlic green beans and mushrooms)

(Almond Joy, Cinnabon, and S'more cupcakes!)

Philadelphia Saturday!

(Philly Cheesesteaks!)

(Independence Hall!)

It was my first time indulging in a Philly Cheesesteak! We waited in line for about 20 minutes before finally reaching the counter and ordering them plain, one with Whiz and one with American ;) We proceeded to split both of them and decided, that while both were delicious, the whiz won out! Philly cheesesteak with extra whiz from Jim's Steaks on South Street is a must if you ever visit! Next time I'll load mine up with onions and peppers I think!

Sunday consisted of relaxing, watching sports (Redwings and the Masters!) along with a homemade dinner by moi. On the menu: Pork milanese (I used whipped egg whites to dip the chops in along with whole wheat bread crumb to pump up the nutrients and reduce the fat/calories) and a side of whole grain angel hair with a simple sauce: vegan butter, olive oil, capers, lemon juice. Simple, delicious!

Some great gifts from MB! (He knows me too well...and due to the fact that I didn't have a Tiger's shirt for the baseball game and was on the verge of wearing an O's t-shirt to the game I got this great vintage henley from Mitchell & Ness!)

And with my gift card from his parents to Williams Sonoma (that I spent the day after I got it! haha) I bought some more cooking gadgets...a microplane, veggie peelers and an oil mister. <3

Loved loved loved my birthday!!!

First Attempt at Homemade Nut Butters...

I think peanut butter has to be one of my all time favorite foods. I can seriously eat it by the spoonful. Add a bit of honey and I'm in heaven! My favorite I had found at a grocery store back in the Midwest and sadly I can't find it anywhere here in Maryland, but it really is to die for! Check out the honey roasted peanut butter at Parkers Farm...and if you can find it in your local grocery store you need to buy it!

Some of my favorite food bloggers have been writing all about their homemade nut butters and I've been wanting to try out a cashew butter for some time now but haven't had the time. I got to travel to Chicago last weekend to visit MB and my lovely mother and stepfather where we definitely at our way through the Windy City again :) Lunches at Tavern on Rush and Portillo's for a true Chicago-style hotdog with amazing dinners at Prairie Fire and Chicago Q!

I was able to stock up on groceries last weekend at Wegmans (My trips there will be getting pretty limited soon...I decided to give up my car next week since my lease is ending. I'm going to try the "green" route and opt for public transit from now on...I'll let you  know how this experience goes!) and hit the bulk bins for some roasted cashews.

From what I read, all you have to do is process nuts with possibly a little oil and it's supposed to blend smoothly. I didn't have such amazing luck :( I attempted to make this in my Magic Bullet but I don't think the little guy was up to the challenge. It took quite a while to get the nuts chopped and blended and in that time my Bullet started to overheat! I did finally get it to a point where it was spreadable but still a little chunky. I think next time I'll breakdown and pull out the full sized food processor that I have.

I used about 2 cups of roasted cashews and 2 tablespoons of honey, blended until smooth.

It tastes good but a little too thick/chunky for my taste. I'll try again with some almonds and a regular food processor and hopefully some better luck :)

For some great nut butter recipes check out Oh She Glows! They look amazing! And after re-reading I think I just need to process for quite a bit longer...Let me know if you have any tips for me! 

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are really not something I've made a lot. I have experimented with other vegetarian versions with beans (using black beans and fiesta rice with lots of cheese...yum) as well as turkey stuffed peppers and I've also had, but not personally made ones with ground beef. I don't quite know why since I know my mother had definitely made them a few times growing up but they just really haven't been my go-to. Really though, these make such a fantastic easy and healthy family meal!

You get at least 2 servings of vegetables in a pepper with more if you add a veggie to the stuffing itself. Add in some lean protein like ground white meat turkey, lean ground beef or vegetarian protein like beans or tofu along with a whole grain like brown rice, whole wheat couscous or quinoa and voila! A complete, tasty and healthy dinner packed with protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. It can also be a fun way to get kids to eat their veggies with the fun, untraditional presentation ;)

This time I decided to try a mediterranean theme using garbanzo beans, feta cheese, dill and some lemon for flavoring.

Here's what I used:

• 4 medium Red Bell Peppers, tops sliced off and ribs/seeds removed
• 8oz sliced mushrooms
• 2 cups whole grain rice (I used Uncle Bens Ready Rice Whole Grain Medley in a bag...you don't want me to even try to make homemade rice...really!)
• 1/2 small yellow cooking onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1T olive oil
• Dill, to taste (I used about a tablespoon I think)
• 1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Heat olive oil in a large skilled over medium heat. Add onion and saute for about 1-2 minutes. Add mushrooms and saute until cooked down, then add in your garlic. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until garlic is fragrant. Add in your cooked rice and saute until combined and heated through. Season with dill, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Stir in cheese. Fill pepper shells with mixture and place in a greased baking dish, cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes or until peppers are soft.

Semi-Homemade Mac 'n Cheese

Now this is just an idea of mine that sounded easy and delicious to me. It's also good for families who want to make a kid-friendly food that is also somewhat good for them. At one of my favorite Italian restaurants they make a dish with tortellini, alfredo sauce, ham and peas...to die for! I had a craving for it the other night and looked in the cabinet to see what I could come up with to satisfy that craving without going overboard on calories and fat.

I was excited when I remembered that when I was doing my gluten-free shopping I bought Annie's Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese! Now, you can use whatever brand you like but try for something more natural and/or whole grain if possible. I made this according to package directions (using skim milk and NO added butter).

Simply saute 2-3 thin slices of bacon, prosciutto, or pancetta until crisp. Drain well onto paper towel and crumble into pieces. Lean ham or canadian bacon would also be a good low fat option or you could use real bacon bits/pieces, turkey bacon...whatever you like! Just remember to use the meat sparingly and drain off as much fat as possible...it's just for flavor :)

Thaw 1 cup of frozen peas or vegetable of choice (steamed broccoli cut into small pieces is also good, or you could puree cauliflower or butternut squash and mix that in as well to be more "sneaky"). Mix vegetable and meat together with the mac and cheese and heat until warmed through.

Adding the vegetable increases the amount so you can cut down on calories while adding good-for-you fiber and vitamins and also stretch that dollar just a bit more too! I think I could easily get 4 servings from this (whereas a typical box of mac and cheese serves about 2).

For about 1/4 of the recipe or about 1 cup is 140 calories. 

Comfort-style Cauliflower

You know when you just want something to make you go mmmmm? But you also want it to be healthy? Well this side dish is something that I've been working on for a while and I've had the idea since MB and I went to Girl and the Goat in Chicago last summer. We had the cauliflower side dish that really wowed me with it's parmesan and hot peppers! I experimented with the frozen cauliflower I had in my freezer a couple weeks ago and think I got it just about right! You can use more mild peppers if you don't like things as spicy but I just loved this side dish. Home run if I do say so myself :)

Ingredients:

• 1 large bag frozen cauliflower (3-4 cups)
• About 3 small peppers (I used 1 each of a jalepeno, banana pepper and a fresno pepper), sliced with seeds and ribs removed
• 1T EVOO
• 1T tub margarine or vegan butter
• Drizzle of honey (maybe 1-2tsp)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2T parmesan cheese, ground/grated

Melt EVOO and butter in large skillet over medium high heat. Add peppers and saute for about 2 minutes until slightly soft. Add garlic and sauté for another minute. Add cauliflower along with a tablespoon of water and cover. Let steam for 3-5 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to mix. Uncover and add honey. Mix. Allow cauliflower to brown lightly, stirring to make sure everything is cooked through. Add parmesan cheese and stir to coat. Cook until just heated through and cheese is lightly cooked (about 30 seconds-1 minute). Serve immediately!

Makes about 4 side servings (or maybe 1-2 servings if you love it as much as I do!). Calories 100/serving, Fat 6.5g/serving, Protein 3g/serving

Fun & {healthy} Cheese Dip!

I cannot take credit for this on my own since I pretty much adapted this straight from one of my favorite food bloggers Green Lite Bites! I've been following Roni's blog for about 3 years after I stumbled upon it in grad school after searching for "easy, healthy" recipe ideas. Check her out if you haven't already...she's fantastic!

This cheese dip that she made looked and WAS so quick, easy and super fast. It is a great dip for veggies, pretzels, whole grain bread, etc! Plus it tasted so good, you'd never know it was only 110 calories.

I surprisingly couldn't find the cheddar Babybel cheese at my grocery store so I decided to try it with the original and it still turned out fantastic!

Here's what I used:

• 1 mini Babybel original
• 1 Laughing Cow Light, Queso Fresco flavor
• 1T skim milk

Here's what I did:

Microwave Babybel for about 30 seconds until soft then stir a bit. Add the Laughing Cow cheese wedge and microwave for another 30 seconds and stir. Add in the milk and continue to microwave and stir in 15 second intervals until smooth.

Enjoy with your choice of healthy dip-able treats! 

Gluten-Free Week Wrap Up!

So I made it through my week or so of GF living and honestly, it wasn't that hard. I was pleased to find such great GF items at local grocery stores (Wegman's, Safeway, etc.) and live very close to a Whole Foods that caters to people with celiac disease, food allergies and those just trying to eat healthy, organic foods. I was able to find GF breads, cereals, crackers, and pasta that tasted great! Snacks that I already enjoy like baked chips and popcorn are naturally gluten free (but always make sure to check food labels!). I loaded up on fresh fruits, veggies, low fat dairy and lean meats which are gluten free as well.


I know that these specialty items can be a bit more expensive but I was also surprised to find that they weren't always as bad as I remember initially (except for the GF bread... upwards of $8/loaf!! For this I might try to go that extra mile and try to bake GF bread yourself if you have the time to save a few $$. Check out Gluten Free Goddess for some amazing bread recipes.)


Walking in the shoes of someone who may have celiac disease or a wheat/gluten allergy has really opened my eyes to the challenges of eating with a gluten-restriction and will really make me more sympathetic when it comes to counseling my patients with these limitations. It takes some getting used to. It isn't as easy to eat out. The flavors of your favorite carbohydrate-rich foods will be different (not always bad, but different). It may be a bit more expensive and some other sacrifices need to be made. You need to pay attention to food labels and check out every ingredient because there are "hidden" forms of gluten in foods. Even soy sauce has wheat in it (but there are GF versions)! 
Make sure to watch out for things like:

• Modified food starch (MAY be made with a gluten-containing starch)
• Maltodextrin
• Dextrin
• Barley and Rye also contain "gluten"
• Anything "malted": malt, malt flavoring, malt extract, malt syrup and malt vinegar
• Oats may also contain traces of gluten due to where they are grown and processed...make sure to look for a certified GF oatmeal
• Wheat includes spelt, kamut, einkorn, emmer, durum, semolina, triticale and atta; wheat bran, couscous, graham flour, matzo, wheat germ, cracked wheat, farina and tabbouleh
• Seasonings: Some multi-purpose seasonings or special seasonings may contain gluten...label read!
• Marinades (check labels!)
• Broth (sometimes wheat is used as a thickening agent)

When eating out you may want to call ahead to the restaurant to see if they can comply with your GF lifestyle. Some restaurants have added completely GF sections to their menu. MB & I went to PF Changs last weekend and I was stoked to see that they had my favorite Changs Spicy Chicken in a GF version that tasted exactly the same! :) With the ahi tuna appetizer and a GF chocolate dome for dessert I was in heaven!  And did I mention? Wine is gluten free.... :D

If you take the time and have the patience, it can become easy to follow a GF lifestyle. I'm not saying there won't be trying moments and frustrating moments and I-hate-this-diet moments...but there will also be rewarding moments :) And if you truly have a gluten intolerance, you'll feel so much better in the end which is a true payoff. 

Have a healthy day everyone :)