Spring has Sprung Salads!

It's officially spring - the animals are waking up from their winter naps, the last snow is melting into jumping puddles, and your garden is ready to bloom!

So whether you are getting ready for bikini season or trying to up your intake of greeneries, here are some delicious spring salads to get into your daily mix.

Strawberry and Spinach Salad with Honey Balsamic Vinaigrette:
When I think of spring salads, my mom's strawberry salad always comes to mind. It's light and so easy to throw together, while allowing you to start using all those fresh strawberries making their way back in to store this time a year, or that you picked! The honey dressing also sounds delllllightful. Get the recipe here.

Image: Shelby Cady

Roasted Squash Salad with Warm Picked Dressing: 
It's not all about the greens, Katie Websters "no lettuce" salad series from theKitchn.com brings some color into your life in the form of squash, apples, cabbage and walnuts! Get the recipe here. 

Image: Katie Webster

Swiss Chard Salad Rolls: 
If you'd rather ditch the rabbit way and eat with your paws, roll-ups are the way to go! Get the recipe here.

Photo: Joanne Gerrard Young

Taco Tuesday

There's a first time for everything and I always like taking on new challenges...especially when it comes to baking. Even if it doesn't come out the best, its still fun to put your creativity into something and make someone happy. And today we did just that for Mijo's birthday! It was either a taco or a bean dip can...the taco seemed more visually appealing, so we went with that.

I have to say that this didn't turn out hard to pull off and anyone can do it! Yes, its easier with a KitchenAid Mixer for the fondant, but the rest - facilísimo!

Here's what you'll need: 

• Cake Mix {or make your own} 
• Chocolate Frosting 
• Chocolate Chips 
• Marshmallow {large or small} 
• Powered Sugar 
• Water 
• Candy Orange Slices {in variety kind for orange and red} 
• Rip Cords {in apple} 
• Orange Food Coloring While your cake is baking, you can get going on setting up the rest of your "condiments'. 

Your taco shell is really just fondant mixed with orange food coloring, rolled out, and shaped into a opal. The opal shape allows you to have some space for the cake underneath without taking away from your taco sides!

The Candy Orange Slices will be your tomatoes, so you'll want to cut those into cubes. I used the orange and red versions for a little more realistic coloring. For your lettuce, take the Rip Cord apple candies and pull on the individual pieces. For your cheese, simply use some of your extra fondant from your taco and slice thinly. And finally for your meat, mix the chocolate chips into your chocolate frosting!

Fondant:

• 16 ounce (450g) bag of mini marshmallows 
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) water 
• 2 pound (900g) bag of powdered sugar 

To Prepare:

• Pour your marshmallows into a microwave safe bowl 
• Pour 2 tbsp of water into the bowl and microwave for 1 minute 
• Your Marshmallows will then be nice and gooey and poor them into your Kitchenaid mixer (if available) - Otherwise your mixin boo and gettin yourself an arm workout! 
• Slowly add your powder sugar to the bowl as the consistency gets thicker. If the powdered sugar doesn't end up making it firm enough for you, I suggest added a bit of flour which has helped solidify it better. 
• Once your fondant is solid enough, you can then shape it into anything! 
• At this point you'll want to take your cake out and let it cool. 

Once your cake is ready to dress, begin to assemble your taco!

• Take your taco shell opal and put on the plate you'll be serving on 
• Put the cake in the taco shell and cover the cake only with chocolate frosting to help the fondant stick to the cake (not the meat frosting yet!) 
• Then bring up the side of your taco shell - To better hold the sides onto the frosting, I used two skewer sticks I stuck through the cake so they didn't fall while in the fridge. 
• Next, add your condiments! Meat first, then your lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese! And that's it! TACO CAKE! Enjoy!! 

A Healthy Start to 2015

As a start to 2015, I've been doing a 30 day detox. Yep, you heard right - a dry January, free from any alcoholic bevvies. It's not a resolution as much as I'm trying to make a lifestyle change. If you know me well, you know I love a glass of vino with good company watching a beautiful Cali sunset any day. Anddddd while that may still be the case and a way I find myself winding down some days, I have been more & more inspired to be a healthier me, take good care of myself all around, and finding new ways to beat stress in the coming year. 

Now, before I continue, I have a confession to make. I am going to come clean that on day 15, I had somewhat of a cheat day - I like to call it an "Intermission". I know, I feel super guilty - if its any consolation, I learned that I'm way too old to have a Sunday completely knocked out by an awful headache. That's what I get for giving in! However, I am still equally proud I went through two weeks full of events - the Pats in the playoffs, The Bachelor premiere, the final episodes of Parenthood - we all know this show is therapeutic to my soul, Award Show season, dinners with friends and brunches people! I even had to ask waiters to bring me soda water and splash of OJ in a wine glass just to feel aliveeeee at happy hours! Which is now my new favorite go to non-alcoholic drink by the way...so refreshing!

I also learned that without those extra drinking calories, I wasn't even eating enough calories during the day to keep my metabolism going. Time to fill those empty calories with solid food choices and up the water intake!  So in preparation for some changes, I've been following a lot of gym videos and training programs on Instagram that have been teaching me about clean eating and great alternatives to that same boring gym routine. Couldn't be happier to see that even these trainers only incorporate 10-15 min of the stairmaster! 

Thankfully I can report that I'm also back on the dry January wagon and thinking about keeping it up through February, AFTER a weekend getaway with my sisters to Vegas at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure you don't survive Vegas unless you drink your way through it, right? But in the meantime, I've found myself making better decisions, going on daily hikes or nature walks, and trying new recipes for cooking up tasty new healthy meals thanks to these motivating insta's. Any step in the right direction is still heading in the right direction - so start small if you have to and you'll gradually make these changes an everyday part of your new life. 

@emilyskyefit
This Aussi knows how to keep it fit!  As a health & fitness expert, Emily has one of the best food and exercise programs to help you tone up and keep motivated...to look like her of course! Check out her programs on www.28dayshred.com.au

@shonda1020
Shonda had a lot of great home exercises and clean eating recipes. Not to mention she's a mother of 2 who incorporates her babes into her exercise routines! Genius for mommy's trying to find time to work out!

@skinnybunnytea
I haven't actually ordered this tea yet, I've been following them for more of their detox recipes and making my own homemade teas using green tea, kombucha, lemon, and cayanne pepper! You can find great info on the best ways to fight bloating, lose water weight, and gain more energy!

@home.exercises
This is pretty self explanatory - when you're not feeling your best to hit up the gym or in crunch for time, home.exercises has so many ways to get the most out of your fitness all within the comfort of your home. 

@squatguide
This account is great for learning how to properly do squats - all kinds of them! Let me count the ways to tone that booty!

@cleaneatz

There's a lot of ways to get the proper nutrients into your diet while still eating clean. Cleaneatz provides some of the best recipes to keep your diet delicious and nutritious while still incorporating some of your favorite foods. 

Stuff Yourself

For the past month or so that I've been here, I've been experimenting with a few new dishes, that eventually I'll make again for all you fine blog folks when I have my ducks in a row and feel like I can really dig into the SoCal scene! But here's a little taste of the mouthwatering goodness coming your way.

The recipe calls for some different items, but I like to try to make my pasta dishes on the lighter side, so hopefully I stay on the lighter side...

Sausage & Spinach Stuff Shells

 - 1 cup of finely chopped fresh spinach

 - 3 Chicken Sausage links (pre-cooked and chopped)

 - About 20 jumbo stuffed shells

 - A handful of skim mozzarella shredded cheese

 - 1 cup of Light Ricotta Cheese

 - 1/2 Cup of chopped onions (optional)

 - 2 tbsp of Olive Oil

 - A dash of salt

This dish is pretty fast paced, only takes about 20-30 minutes.

First, set your oven to 350 and in a pot, toss in the shells and set the timer for about 10 minutes. Usually I just test pasta when I think it's ready, but you don't want to overcook the shells because they'll break when you got to stuff them. 


Then toss your chopped up spinach and diced onions into a saucepan with the olive oil and a 1/4 cup of water. Let them simmer for a bit till the spinach starts to shrivel. Then take your chopped sausage and add it to the mix so the flavors blend together. In a separate bowl, blend your mozzarella cheese, ricotta and the pinch of salt. 

When you feel the spinach & sausage is all cooked up, pour into the bowl with the cheese mixture and blend together.  

You're pasta should be ready now, so drain it and spray it with cold water so the pasta stops cooking and its easier for you to handle.  Start stuffing the shells with the blended ingredients and place into sprayed glass baking dish. Once the baking dish has reached capacity, put a pinch of the shredded mozzarella on each shell. Toss it in the oven for about 10 minutes, then serve alone or with your favorite pasta sauce!

Smore's Brownies to Ease the Mind...

Woo! What a whirlwind of a week...but the road trip begins TOMORROW! crazy! its around midnight and it still hasn't hit me yet...it's all feeling a little surreal right now. 

But I promised these S'mores Brownies I made and the recipe you will get! :)

It was just what I needed after a long day of waking up early and packing the car. So while I packed, they baked and the result came out better than I thought! Enjoy! and don't forget to join my brother and I on our great adventure to the West Coast!

Smores Brownies: 

  - 2/3 of a box of Graham Crackers

  - 1 box of No Pudge or Reduced Guilt Brownie Mix

  - 1 vanilla yogurt cup (required for brownie mix)

  - 1/4 cup of margarine (melted)

  - 1/2 cup of mini marshmallows

  - Chocolate Sauce

Heat oven to 350 degrees, then proceed to: 

First crush the graham crackers in a bowl

then add your melted butter to make a crust...

spread the crust on the bottom of a greased pan

After mixing your brownie mix with one vanilla yogurt cup, pour brownie mix on top of crust and put in the oven for 24-30 minutes

Once the brownies have cooled, cut into individual pieces and put on a cookie tray

When about ready to serve, put 10 marshmallows on each piece and put in the oven for 7-10 minutes till all brownies are warm

Put brownies on individual plates and drizzle with chocolate sauce! Looks so fancy eh?!

Dinner Served: Coconut Chicken with Apricot Glaze

This Coconut Chicken recipe was so yummy and actually turned out to be a pretty low maintenance meal that simmered and cooked while I got to catch up on the latest episode of Louie. The apricot dijon glaze was a perfect pairing and you can serve it on a bed of rice, mashed potatoes, salad, or veggies. Would even make good in a wrap! Enjoy! xo

1 egg
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Preheat the oven to 400˚F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl; set aside.  Mix the coconut, flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Dip each piece of chicken in the bowl with the beaten egg and then coat with the coconut mixture.  Before popping in the oven, drizzle with the melted butter.  Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, flipping once halfway..

To prepare the apricot sauce, mix the apricot preserves and the Dijon mustard in a small bowl. 

Bloomin' Onion Bread Mate

Ahh...the bloomin' onion...straight from the open plains of the Aussi's mate..or your local Outback.  But this homemade bread twist is a perfect appetizer to warm your guests as they arrive, not to mention less mess and guilt! It's extremely fast and super easy for something that looks rather fancy. We just might have the next staple that will be showing up at dinner parties far and wide....crickey!

 

 

Bloomin' Onion Bread

Source: The Changing Table

1 unsliced loaf sourdough bread

12-16 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, thinly sliced

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup finely diced green onion

Cut the bread lengthwise and widthwise without cutting through the bottom crust. This can be a little tricky going the second way but the bread is very forgiving.

Place on a foil-lined baking sheet. Insert cheese slices between cuts. Combine butter, onion, and poppy seeds. Drizzle over bread. Wrap in foil; place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Unwrap the bread and bake 10 more minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Festive 4th of July Treats

Oh boy...that's a lot of July 4th goodness right there...

Our wonderful countries patriotic & whimsical holiday is this weekend and I am sure everyone has plans to enjoy some fantastic food, good company and of course a sparkly display of fireworks!

So whether you're throwing a party or need to bring some goodies, try some of these festive treats below:

1. Blackberry Prosecco Popsicles

2. Raspberry Vanilla Sherbert Cups

3. White Chocolate No Bake Cheesecake - Also see No bake Oreo Cheesecake

4. Red Velvet Fudge

5. Summer Salad

6. Berry Pound Cake

7. Festive Smores on a Stick

Low-Fat No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

To me, cookies'n'cream is like the vanilla to my ice cream selection. A staple, one of my favorites, and tastes good with any topping. So when I saw this recipe on babble.com, I adapted it a bit to be even more health conscious and it still came out delicious!  

I put both the original and adaptation so you can choose what you'd like, since not everyone is trying to lose their booty like me! Miss new boootayyy - FOUND!

It is a super cute idea to put them in jars for special occasions or for a dinner party, but don't fret about that part if you're making them at home. They are a fabulous summer treat and quick for those impromptu cookouts! Enjoy!

xo - Lindsay

Low Fat No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

 

  

Ingredients:

 - About 15 Reduced Fat Oreo cookies, roughly chopped

 - 8 ounces Low-Fat cream cheese, I used Philly's 1/3 less Fat

 - ¾ cup granulated sugar - Splenda has a granulated sugar that you can use about two tsp for this amount

 - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 - 8 ounces Low-Fat Cool Whip

 - 1 can of Light Whipped Cream

Throw cookies in a bag and beat em like hell till their coarsely chopped!

In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and set aside. Gently stir in the Cool Whip and 3/4′s of the chopped cookies.

Scoop even amounts of the mixture into the eight bowls.

Top each one with a little bit of the remaining chopped cookies.

Refrigerate them for at least four hours, or until firm. Serve with a dollop of light whipped cream

Homemade Seafood Chowder

It was an absolutely beautiful Memorial Day weekend! These are the times where I'm so happy those weathermen are wrong - when we get sunshine and great temperatures all weekend long!

It was wonderful seeing family and friends and spending some time on the boat! Just look at the beautiful skies down by the dock! And with some inspiration from our sea adventures, my dad and I decided to cook up a very delicious Doyle recipe: Seafood Chowder!

A Doyle Family Recipe: 

Seafood Chowder

Ingredients: 

 - 2 cans - Seafood Stock

 - 1-2 cans of Low Sodium Salt

 - 1 cup of half & half

 - 1 stick of butter or margarine

 - 1 tsp of sea salt (seafood has its own salty flavoring)

 - 1 tsp of pepper

 - 1/2 cup chopped parsley

 - 1 tsp chopped garlic

 - 1 small bag of red bliss potatoes

 - 1 full white onion

 - 1/2 bag of celery stocks

 - 1 1/2 lbs of fresh caught Cod*

 - 1 lb of lobster meat *

 - 1 lb of steamers*

*Alternative suggestion: Trader Joe's has an awesome "seafood mix" of calamari, scallops, and shrimp that is also PERFECT for seafood chowder. Just use two bags!

Get all your ingredients out and ready to go! the process is pretty fast!

Wash all your veggies...

and dice up into small bite size pieces....

Add the onions and celery into a pan with a little olive oil to coat

cook up and set aside....

Boil two cans of seafood stock with about 1 cup of water -  once boiling, add in potatoes and boil for 8-10 minutes (they are diced so they should cook pretty fast). Then add in veggie mix that was set aside with seafood blend and turn stove top down to MED. Let seafood cook for another 5 minutes.

Then add in your seasonings, butter, and 1 cup of half and half and stir together, letting the ingredients soak up all that flavor!

Then grab yourself a slice of french banquette and a nice glass of white wine to join your seafood bliss!! ENJOY!