Freshen Up Your Crock Pot

Healthy Hump Day Recipe

Has anyone's life seemed busy lately? Mine sure has! Perhaps it's because it is officially Spring now, and we've all readjusted to losing that hour of sleep weeks ago. I know it has been rather chilly in some of the northern states, but in sunny Florida the temperatures sure have warmed up. My crock pot always comes to mind when I think of what to do for dinner on a busy day, but I am more hesitant in such warm weather to make such a heavy meal. I decided to brainstorm of lighter dishes I could make in the crock pot with the simple fresh tastes of Spring and Summer. Tomato and basil are some of my favorite fresh tastes. This chicken dish has the perfect blend of those flavors without being overwhelming. Each bite a burst of fresh flavor even though this recipe is so simple to make with only 5 ingredients! This has definitely become a warm-weather-crock-pot staple in my family.

Stewed Tomato Chicken

Ingredients
-1/2 sweet onion
-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts
-4 cloves garlic
-5tbsp basil
-28oz canned diced tomatoes, drained (or crushed, stewed, whatever is in your pantry)

Directions

1. Chop onion.

2. Place chicken breasts at the bottom of crock pot.
3. Spread 1 clove of garlic and 1tbsp basil on each chicken breast.

4. Top with diced onion, then pour tomatoes over to completely cover the contents.
5. Sprinkle the last tbsp basil over the tomatoes and cook on low for 8hrs or high for 4hrs.

*Add to a batch of your favorite pasta!
*Shred chicken and add to buns for chicken sandwiches!
*Dice chicken and lay over bowl of spinach or salad greens!

The ingredients

Chop onion

Place chicken at bottom of crock pot

Add 1 clove garlic to each breast

Add 1tbsp basil to each breast

Top with diced onion

Pour tomato over

Sprinkle remaining basil

Cook on low 8hrs or high 4hrs 

A Magically Italian Dessert

Maniac Monday: Challenge- Girl Vs. Bombolini

Being the Disney fanatic and dessert fanatic that I am, trying new restaurants at the Walt Disney World Resort is always something I get excited about. A new Italian restaurant calle Trattoria Al Forno was introduced to the Boardwalk Resort last year, and some friends and I decided to check it out. Everyone's food received excellent reviews. In fact, they were so good that we were not planning on ordering dessert (I know, crazy!). Well, it's like the manager knew us so well and knew that we would love to even further indulge in the amazing food, so she brought us 2 dessert specialties to try. Like one of my brothers used to say, "We have an extra belly for dessert!", and before we knew it, the plates were licked clean. The first dessert was the Cannoli Pizzelle, a decadent pastry shell filled with chocolate and pistachio cream. The crunchiness of the shell and smoothness of the cream combined to create such a great texture that each bite just melted in your mouth, and the cream wasn't too sweet but light and airy. WOW! The second dessert was the restaurant's signature dessert, the Bombolini. Don't you love it already? How fun of a word is that?! Small, fluffy doughnuts are rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with dark chocolate sauce, vanilla gelato, and berries. I could have had 10 more servings of these tiny bites of Heaven. Thanks for a magical evening, Trattoria Al Forno! We hope you stay at the Boardwalk Resort for years to come!

Sweets from Ireland

Maniac Monday: Challenge- Girl Vs. Irish Sweets

St. Patrick's Day has got to be one of my favorite holidays. My Grandmother was born and raised in Ireland, so carrying on the heritage was always a priority for her after moving to The States. She would tell us stories about her childhood time and time again that it felt like we lived those stories with her, and about a year and a half ago my family got to relive those stories when we visited Ireland and the town that she grew up in. It was so special. Because of the way that dual citizenship works in Ireland, I was able to apply for it and submitted all of my paperwork the week before last, so I am just waiting to hear if I was accepted. I am thrilled to have done this and be able to say that I am a citizen of the country that meant so much to my Grandmother, to my family, and to me. 

To connect us further with our Irish culture, a few of my cousins and I Irish step dance (like Riverdance and Lord of the Dance) and have competed in it all over the country throughout our childhood. I still have the privilege of Irish dancing with a very talented band here in Central Florida that had a full line up of gigs last week to celebrate St. Paddy's Day, one of a which was a Celtic Festival in the beautiful city of St. Augustine. Thousands of people came to celebrate the Irish culture. One of the things that I just had to get my hands on was some delicious Irish dessert- shortbread! I was looking for a very specific vendor whose shortbread cookies are as big as my fist and topped with homemade fudge, and thankfully I found them! Nothing beats ending the night after our last gig with a cup of tea and this delicious shortbread creation. Made from sugar, butter, and flour, shortbread is a not-too-sweet dessert that holds its thick and dense shape very well making it great for dipping into tea. Although it holds its shape, it is not crunchy by any means and, in fact, melts in your mouth making it easy to enjoy its rich flavor.

I knew my Grandmother was with me in spirit this St. Patrick's Day as she has been for the past few St. Patrick's Days, and I can't wait until next year when America focuses so much on the wonderful Irish culture again!

All the Butterbeer

Maniac Monday: Challenge- Girl Vs. Butterbeer

We recently went to Universal Studios to visit the new Harry Potter section of the park- Diagon Alley. For those of you who are not Harry Potter fans, this is still something I would highly recommend you visit if you ever find yourself in the Orlando area. The architecture, design, and technology that it encompasses is nothing short of incredible. For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, I know I don't need to convince you that you should go. 

Although I was excited to go on the new attraction, the thing I was most excited about is the various types of butterbeer they offer. Butterbeer is like an even sweeter and, therefore, tastier cream soda without the carbination, and they used to offer the beverage in a slushie form or drink form. (My favorite was the drink form because it was sweeter!) With the new section of the park opening, they expanded on their butterbeer menu! They now offer a butterbeer flavored soft serve ice cream as well as a hot butterbeer drink. Both of them were amazing! The ice cream had that lovely texture of soft serve ice cream but had the rims of every swirl coated in delicious butterbeer flavored sweetness. The hot drink was served just like hot cocoa and was absolutely irresistible. Thank you Universal Orlando for thinking of my sweet tooth with your park expansion!

Remember when I made butterbeer cupcakes? Check them out here! I just can't get enough of the delicious taste, and to think that it doesn't even have any chocolate in it... You know it must be good then!

Sipping on that delicious hot butterbeer

Hot butterbeer

Butterbeer ice cream

Homemade Frosting Sandwich

Sweet Recipe Saturday

I love chocolate. Shocker, right? More importantly, I am not willing to compromise on the chocolate flavor in my desserts at all which usually means that the unhealthiest ingredients go into my desserts. I justify that because I eat very healthy all day and exercise everyday, so I can treat myself by indulging in my guilty pleasure to the fullest. 

That being said, there are some ingredients that really can replace some unhealthy ingredients WITHOUT sacrificing the flavor in some of my favorite desserts! I was very apprehensive to give this a shot and was convinced that I was going to be able to taste a difference. Much to my surprise, I could not tell that a common brownie ingredient was replaced by a healthy one- unsweetened applesauce instead of oil! For this sweet treat, I use a boxed brownie mix and a tub of frosting to make a brownie frosting sandwich inspired by the Earl of Sandwich and Ghirardelli's brownie frosting sandwich. Click here to read about that deliciousness!

I figured that if I am going to add even more unhealthy things to make this dessert extra tasty, I may as well substitute a healthy ingredient if it doesn't compromise the taste. I know to not count a brownie as 1 serving of fruit, though, just because it has applesauce in it... If only...

HealthiER Frosting Sandwich

Ingredients
-Boxed brownie mix of your choice (my favorite, thanks to my mom, is Ghirardelli's Double Chocolate!)
-Ingredients on the back of the boxed brownie mix box EXCEPT oil
-Applesauce in the same amount that the box calls for oil
-1 tub chocolate frosting
-Sprinkles

Directions
1. Follow instructions on back of boxed brownie mix replacing the oil with applesauce.
2. Bake in a 9"x12" baking dish according to boxed brownie mix instructions.
3. Cool completely. Cut in half and place one half on a serving platter.
4. Microwave the tub of frosting with the lid off for 20 seconds. Spread half on top of brownie and add sprinkles.
5. Top with other half of brownie. Add remaining frosting and some sprinkles.

*Have fun with this recipe by trying different frosting flavors and different ingredients instead of sprinkles!

The ingredients

Mix egg, water, and applesauce

Add brownie mix

Bake in 9"x12" dish according to box instructions

Cool completely

Cut in half and place one half on platter

Microwave frosting for 20 seconds

Spread half of frosting on brownie half

Add sprinkles

Top with other brownie and add frosting and sprinkles

Add caption

Open Says Me for Skinny Sesame

Healthy Hump Day Recipe

Does anyone else ever get a craving for Chinese food? The sweet tastes, huge portions, reasonable price, and delivery options make it a quick go-to choice for dinner. I consider it a treat when we order in as we rarely do, mainly because it is so far from healthy. Why is it that the foods that taste the best are always the worst for us?

When I was home visiting my family, one of my brothers was also home, and I asked him what he wanted me to make everyone for dinner. He said, without hesitation, "Chinese". Uh oh, I guess it was going to be an unhealthy evening... But then I though there just had to be a way to duplicate that yummy taste but cut the calories and fat content way down. And there was! By leaving out ingredients that, although tasty, are unnecessary for flavor, it was a delicious meal that no one had to feel guilty about. Give it a shot!

Skinny Sesame Chicken

Ingredients
-2 cloves minced garlic
-2tbsp sesame seeds
-2tbsp honey
-2tbsp soy sauce
-2 egg whites
-1/8 cup cornstarch
-16oz chicken, diced
-2tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-1/2lb fresh green beans, stems cut off

Directions
1. Combine first 4 ingredients and whisk together. Set aside
2. Combine egg whites and cornstarch, then toss chicken in and coat.
3. Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute chicken and green beans for about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat and poor in sauce made in step 1. Let sit for 3min prior to serving.

*Serve with brown rice for a complete balanced meal!

The ingredients

Combine first 4 ingredients in small bowl

Mix together and set aside

Combine egg whites and cornstarch

Coat chicken

Add chicken and green beans to medium-high heat skillet and cook for 8min

Remove from heat and add sauce from step 1, and allow to sit for 3min

Healthy Sesame Chicken

The Sweet Bread Bowl

Maniac Mondays: Challenge- Girl Vs. Bread Pudding

I just love a night out on the town with friends. The beautiful historic area of Downtown Winter Garden is where we find ourselves quite often. We love the ice cream shop (have you seen my video on it? Click here!), the Farmer's Market, the theater, and all of the restaurants down there. We recently went to Urban Flats for Trivia Night and dinner. One of our friends could be considered a walking encyclopedia and knows a ton of random facts often found as answers to Trivia Night questions, so as long as he is there, our team has a fighting chance. (Thanks Evan!) After a delicious meal of flatbreads, we were all pretty full until the waitress uttered 2 words: bread pudding. Suddenly we all got a little hungrier, and our sweet tooths were in full gear. Each of the 3 couples ordered one, and good thing because they each were heaping bowls of warm, doughy bread doused in a sweet and cinnamony cream sauce, drizzled with caramel, and topped generously with whipped cream. Each bite just melted in your mouth. What a perfect end to a fun night out with friends!

Check out more of Urban Flats in Downtown Winter Garden at their Facebook page here!

No Meat No Problem

Healthy Hump Day Recipe

Happy Lenten season to those who celebrate it! The first day of Lent and then each Friday during Lent are days that we refrain from eating meat. Since fish is not considered a meat, we find ourselves seeking fish as our go-to meals on those days. Thankfully, I love fish and have put together some delicious marinades to take away the classic "fishy taste" that tends to turn people off of it. Fish does not need to be marinaded for long and can actually start cooking the fish prematurely if it is in the marinade for too long. That makes it a great go-to meal on a day where you don't have much time to prepare a meal because the prep work is quick and the cook time is so short. 

Mahi mahi is my favorite type of fish, so whenever it is on sale, I'm always sure to pluck it up. I love its flaky texture (when cooked properly), and it absorbs just the right amount of marinade to be tasty and healthy meal. This recipe is so simple, and the marinade contains ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry. Enjoy!

Basic Grilled Mahi Mahi

Ingredients
-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
-1 clove garlic, minced
-1/4tsp ground black pepper
-1/4tsp cayenne pepper
-1/8tsp salt
-4tbsp lime juice
-8oz mahi mahi

Directions
1. Mix all ingredients except mahi mahi in a medium bowl until combined. Add mahi mahi and allow to marinate for 20min.
2. Preheat an indoor grill to 300 degrees. Evenly coat grill with cooking spray.
3. Remove mahi mahi from marinade and cook on preheated grill for about 6-8 minutes or until the fish is flaky and slightly brown on each side.

*If using an outdoor grill, preheat to medium and grill for about 3-4min on each side.

The ingredients

Combine all ingredients except the mahi mahi in a small bowl

Marinade mahi mahi for about 20min

Place on preheated grill to 300 degrees and close grill 

After 6-8min when fish is lightly browned and flaky, you're done

When still warm, shred it up for fish tacos

Delicious and nutritious!

Lenten Success

Tuesday's Tip

With the season of Lent upon us, we are encouraged to give something up that we love and take on something new in our lives as tests of will power in an effort to become better. With food being such a big part of our lives, a lot of people find themselves giving up their favorite food item. 

I am giving up candy. I love candy so much and eat it very regularly (most of the time in acceptable portions), so it is going to be quite the undertaking. I am going to set myself up for success, though, by getting rid of the candy in my house that would tempt me. Instead, I will make sure other forms of sweets are available to make it easier to not break my promise for the Lenten season. 

It isn't as difficult to walk by a bag of candy in the grocery store as opposed to in the pantry. I encourage you to rid your homes of the items you are giving up so you only have to focus your energy on staying clear of those items when you are out. It will be difficult enough to express will power without those cherished items in arm's length. 

This is a great strategy for jump starting your healthy living as well. We are less likely to jump in the car and drive to a store to satisfy our cravings, so if those items are out of your house, you are more likely to be successful!

The KING CAKE is Coming!

Maniac Monday: Challenge- Girl Vs. The King

Tomorrow is "Fat Tuesday", the day before the season of Lent begins where fasting and sacrifice are practiced. If people are going to be tested to give something up that they love for the entire 40 days, they get one last hoo-rah of indulging, hence the name Fat Tuesday. 

The Mardi Gras season brings a lot of fun things in New Orleans such as parades with huge floats all decked out in a specific theme and extravagant balls where thousands of people attend. Some friends and I went to visit a good friend who grew up in New Orleans and would be able to show us the culture better than anyone. We had an amazing time. The food was to die for and unlike anything I have eaten anywhere else. I would go back again just for the food (and to see my friend, of course!). 

While in NOLA (as the natives call it) our friend, Lauren, also introduced us to the widely popular Mardi Gras tradition of King Cake. If you have not tried King Cake before, think of it as the King of cinnamon rolls, but better. She recently came to visit Florida for a friend's wedding and stayed at my house, and she was so sweet to bring a gift of gratitude- a King Cake! I was so excited. This one came from one of her favorite bakeries in the heart of New Orleans, Caluda's (find more information on that here). The box it was in was humongous, and I could hardly wait to dig it. THEN my friend tells me that this isn't just any King Cake, it is a King Cake STUFFED with COOKIE DOUGH! Could it get any better? That's not where the fun ends, though. Another unique feature of these cakes is that there is a small plastic doll baked into the cake somewhere. The tradition is that whoever finds the hidden baby (signifying baby Jesus) must bring a King Cake to the next social gathering, and it has been my mission to find the baby in every cake I eat. If that means eating more than a single serving, then so be it! This cake was so delicious, and we got to enjoy it over the course of a few days. Because you are probably in suspense right now, I will tell that I did find the baby Jesus in this cake despite everyone's efforts to steal my moment from me. We are planning a trip to NOLA next year during the Mardi Gras season, and I can't wait to take part in this fun King Cake tradition again!

All the way from New Orleans!

Look at those layers of sweet dough, cookie dough, cinnamon, and frosting!

I found the tiny baby Jesus