The View

This has been my view lately. For the past three days I've been stuck in bed with the stomach flu. Fever, you name it, I got all of it.

I'm looking forward to feeling better soon.

The recipe for the Spicy Chicken Dip below was made for our girls night out. Even in my condition, I found myself thinking "That chicken dip was amazing, I don't know who made it but I really want to taste it again." It was seriously that good. It was a creamy, chicken-y, cheesy, onion-y dip that was served with tortilla scoops. Luckily a friend was able to get me in touch with the person who brought the dip, and she was sweet enough to send the recipe right over!

This Chicken Dip is perfect for get-togethers. As soon as I'm "up and at it" I'll be making a test batch for myself. I mean for Jay and myself! :)

*This recipe came from Add Another Place Setting, a Junior League Cookbook.

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GNO

Girls night at Sips and Strokes. :)

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90999

90999 is the code to text if you would like to donate to the American Red Cross Relief Effort for Haitians. $10 will be charged to your bill at the end of the month, according to the Centsational Girl. Please check out her blog for some inspirational photos of Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

On a completely different topic, click the following link to check out the way she updates old furniture and thrift store finds. It's amazing how much decorating one can do on a low budget with a little creativity. I'm inspired to hit the old 'antique' store up the street!

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Mmm mmm good

I found another healthy snack - smoothies. Here's the recipe I like best (serves 2):

1 cup of strawberries
1 cup mix of blueberries, raspberries and a few blackberries (blackberries will give it a little bit of a tart flavor)
1 1 /4 cup of coconut water
1 teaspoon honey
2 vanilla yogurts, 6 oz. each
1/2 teaspoon flaxseed (this adds a nutty flavor, omega 3's and fiber)

I have to admit, it took me a few tries to get it right. I started with frozen fruit from the grocery store with a big label that said "perfect for smoothies." Haley, our lab, will eat anything that looks remotely edible. When she spit out a piece of the frozen fruit that I had given her, I should have stopped there. I went along making the smoothie.

I sat down with my big smoothie in an over-sized wine glass as a treat, took a sip and "bllaaaahhh," it was bad. Really, really bad. I went back to each ingredient for a taste test, and yup, it was the fruit.

On the second try (can you believe I tried again? I really wanted it to work!), I cleaned and cut up fresh fruit, put it in bread pans and froze it overnight. My freezer is way too small to lay it flat on cookie sheets as it should have been frozen (hint, hint). It worked out ok, although I had to work harder to separate the fruit. :)

This time the smoothie was really good! I could taste the fruit as if it were fresh from the fridge, especially the strawberries. The blackberries added a slight tart too, which gave it some depth. I couldn't be more pleased to find a new treat!

The coconut water is from Whole Foods. HERE'S more information about coconut water. It is a natural electrolyte, that has less sugar than fruit juice and more potassium than a banana. This would be a great drink after a workout!

This is the frozen fruit cut and ready to go!

I simply put all of the ingredients into the blender and blended until it looked smooth.

And here's what the finished smoothie looked like.

Off to try some entrees!


**Update: I made a smoothie for Jay this morning. He asked for seconds AND thirds. (I gave him a smaller juice glass just in case he didn't like it). That's the true test! It must be good! :)

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Turning over a new leaf

Having more free time during the day while I'm looking for a job is a double edged sword...I would like to be starting the new career now, but I also time to do things I normally wouldn't have time for. I have started planning meals regularly (no kids means that we've been pretty spoiled in regard to cooking - we haven't had to!).

I eat because I'm hungry and want good nutrition, not because I love food. Hence, why I'm just starting to cook! :) Whenever I've cooked for us in the past, it felt like I spent a ton of time to prepare and then we were done eating, we would just feel stuffed, over salted, and simply put "fluffy."

So last week, I started researching super healthy foods. I started with breakfast because it's the meal I have the least variety in. It used to consist of a piece of toast or maybe french toast. The same thing over and over - well, that's not very exciting! :) My new favorite breakfast is this: whole grain bread from Great Harvest Bread Company, toasted and topped with jam, low fat cottage cheese and whole grain FEED granola. I have to say that I normally can't eat cottage cheese. I just can't seem to put it in my mouth. But on the bread, between jam and granola, it tastes a lot more like cream cheese. It is actually pretty tasty, I promise!

This is Murphy. I have to be careful how fast I turn around because he always stands right next to me (or right behind me).


I'm trying out a new recipe right now, a berry smoothie. If it's good, I'll be sure to post the recipe. Next up, healthy lunch and dinner entrees.

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