Gazpacho Salad
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup coarsely chopped cucumber
3/4 cup coarsely chopped yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup coarsely chopped red onion
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 cup fat-free zesty Italian dressing
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Combine all ingredients. Serve immediately or cover and chill.
Does this make any one else anxious for fresh garden vegetables?
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Recipe Exchange-Day 2
Still under the weather here, and never managed to get my recipe posted yesterday. Thankfully, we were hit with snow yesterday, so I am home all day to get some rest without having to use a sick day.
I am going to go ahead and stick with a theme this week...all my recipes will be from Weight Watchers sources. This is what we had for dinner last night;
Wagon Wheel Beef Soup
3 cups uncooked wagon wheel pasta
3/4 pound ground round
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (1-pound, 10-ounce) bottle low-fat pasta sauce
1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans, undrained
2 (14-ounce) cans less-sodium beef broth
1. Cook pasta and drain
2. cook beef and onion, drain
3. Mix pasta and beef mixture together and add remaining ingredients
4. Cook until thoroughly heated
I am going to go ahead and stick with a theme this week...all my recipes will be from Weight Watchers sources. This is what we had for dinner last night;
Wagon Wheel Beef Soup
3 cups uncooked wagon wheel pasta
3/4 pound ground round
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (1-pound, 10-ounce) bottle low-fat pasta sauce
1 (16-ounce) can red kidney beans, undrained
2 (14-ounce) cans less-sodium beef broth
1. Cook pasta and drain
2. cook beef and onion, drain
3. Mix pasta and beef mixture together and add remaining ingredients
4. Cook until thoroughly heated
Monday, February 04, 2008
Recipe Exchange-Day 1
Several are participating in a recipe exchange this week, so I thought I would jump in. Other bloggers participating include, but not limited to; Stremmed Out and Sojourning Stranger.
Italian Chicken and Vegetables
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8 ounce) presliced mushrooms
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped plum tomato
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in small bowl; sprinkle chicken with garlic powder mixture. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray, and broil 6 minutes on each side or until done.
3. While chicken cooks, heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mushrooms, zucchini, and minced garlic; saute two minutes. Add 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomato, onion, basil, and vinegar; saute three minutes. Serve vegetable mixture over chicken and sprinkle with cheese.
Now for my confessions regarding this recipe...it is very flexible I discovered last week when I made it. I added green pepper because we had some extra to use, I also forgot the red onion and cheese. Plus I substituted refrigerated minced garlic and dried basil. I thought my version turned out pretty good...and even George said, "It's not bad". Once I discovered the missing cheese still in the fridge, he said, "OH! That would have been great!" None the less, it was pretty tasty, not to mention healthy.
Must give credit....this recipe is from a Weight Watchers Cookbook, although I do not know exactly which one to give credit to.
Italian Chicken and Vegetables
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper, divided
4 (6 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8 ounce) presliced mushrooms
1 small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped plum tomato
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat broiler
2. Combine garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in small bowl; sprinkle chicken with garlic powder mixture. Place chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray, and broil 6 minutes on each side or until done.
3. While chicken cooks, heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, mushrooms, zucchini, and minced garlic; saute two minutes. Add 1/8 teaspoon pepper, tomato, onion, basil, and vinegar; saute three minutes. Serve vegetable mixture over chicken and sprinkle with cheese.
Now for my confessions regarding this recipe...it is very flexible I discovered last week when I made it. I added green pepper because we had some extra to use, I also forgot the red onion and cheese. Plus I substituted refrigerated minced garlic and dried basil. I thought my version turned out pretty good...and even George said, "It's not bad". Once I discovered the missing cheese still in the fridge, he said, "OH! That would have been great!" None the less, it was pretty tasty, not to mention healthy.
Must give credit....this recipe is from a Weight Watchers Cookbook, although I do not know exactly which one to give credit to.
A little under the weather tonight, but due to popular request, although this is not the actual vacuum in our closet, it is close enough. The Dyson Yellow DC07. The cannister is very easy to remove, empty, and replace with essentially no mess what so ever. Had a known a new vacuum would make George want to vacuum so much, we would have splurged much earlier. :)
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Growing up
Over the last few years I've had moments where I've just been smacked in the head with the fact I'm not a kid anymore. Sometimes it is hard to accept growing up because it is easier to keep being a kid without having to worry about bills, responsibilities, making decisions, cooking meals, etc. Getting married was obviously one of the "growing up moments" as well as licensing my car, purchasing insurance independently, and so on. With the exception of marrying, I wouldn't say the other responsibilities were extremely fun or eventful. Last weekend, I had another growing up moment.
Silly as it may be...it was a moment none the less.
We bought.....
Get ready for it....
it is exciting....
yes, we did it....
We bought a vacuum!! A brand new, fancy, dancy, bagless, easy to use vacuum. Our previous vacuum, one I had used through college just wasn't cutting it anymore, so we read some online reviews and headed to the store. We pulled three various models off the shelf, comparing and contrasting each feature. Who would have thought it was so difficult to buy a cleaning tool!! We finally settled on the one we wanted but there was a price conflict between what was on the model and what was on the box. We found a nice saleslady who shrugged to see the vacuum we were purchasing. "It is the #1 vacuum we see returned," she explained. She then checked the price for us, confirming the lower price. We continued looking, reflecting on her suggestion. I kept saying, we don't have animals or children, so why spend so much on a cleaning machine? I could see it in his eyes...he was sold on the nicer one, after all he explained, someday there would be children and even a pet or two. So in the end, yes, we fell for it...we put the mediocre vacuum back and purchased the next one up, nearly double the cost. We arrive home later that night and went to bed, but first thing in the morning, as if it were Christmas morning, George opened the box, and handed it to me to "do the honors". It wasn't that we had purchased a vacuum that made me feel grown up, but rather the idea that we had purchased a vacuum and were excited about it!! Who would have thought--a vacuum, I don't think I would have been too thrilled about it prior to growing up.
Silly as it may be...it was a moment none the less.
We bought.....
Get ready for it....
it is exciting....
yes, we did it....
We bought a vacuum!! A brand new, fancy, dancy, bagless, easy to use vacuum. Our previous vacuum, one I had used through college just wasn't cutting it anymore, so we read some online reviews and headed to the store. We pulled three various models off the shelf, comparing and contrasting each feature. Who would have thought it was so difficult to buy a cleaning tool!! We finally settled on the one we wanted but there was a price conflict between what was on the model and what was on the box. We found a nice saleslady who shrugged to see the vacuum we were purchasing. "It is the #1 vacuum we see returned," she explained. She then checked the price for us, confirming the lower price. We continued looking, reflecting on her suggestion. I kept saying, we don't have animals or children, so why spend so much on a cleaning machine? I could see it in his eyes...he was sold on the nicer one, after all he explained, someday there would be children and even a pet or two. So in the end, yes, we fell for it...we put the mediocre vacuum back and purchased the next one up, nearly double the cost. We arrive home later that night and went to bed, but first thing in the morning, as if it were Christmas morning, George opened the box, and handed it to me to "do the honors". It wasn't that we had purchased a vacuum that made me feel grown up, but rather the idea that we had purchased a vacuum and were excited about it!! Who would have thought--a vacuum, I don't think I would have been too thrilled about it prior to growing up.
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