If you haven't noticed....

Morning, everyone!  Hope you had an excellent weekend!  I told you this weekend was going to be wall-to-wall food and I was NOT lying!  This blog would have been food packed had I simply told you we headed to Maggiano's on Saturday night to celebrate one of my BFF's birthdays...

Maggiano's, much like Carmine's, serves HUGE portions that are split family-style.  It's such a fun place to celebrate special occasions because it just seems so HAPPYJ  I mean, how could carbs served in HUGE portions and shared amongst the table do anything BUT make you happy, right??J

I was pretty full after sampling our appetizer selection of Maggiano's salad, bruschetta & mozzarella marinara... 

But still managed to find some room to sample the chicken Parmesan, spaghetti & meatballs, fettuccine Alfredo (if you're gonna have it, might as well have it when you can have a SMALL portion and NOT as an entire entree!) and Parmesan tilapia.... 

Maggiano's food is REALLY good for being SO LARGE...and even more surprising, their LARGE desserts are surprisingly awesome!  So I still made sure I had enough room for their delectable creme brulee... 

...and the only chocolate/chocolate cake that I ever actually CRAVE (I'm not really a CHOCOLATE/CHOCOLATE fan, for the most part.  I know...) is their monster Chocolate Zuccotto cake! 

Since this thing is so big, I would swear that it would be tasteless and bland.  OH NO!  It is super moist and filled with frosting layers that are tinged with sambucaJ  I guess that'll put anyone in a good mood, huh??J  Such a fun & festive nightJ

Sunday morning kicked of Halloween week around here in appropriate style with a little sugar & spice and everything nice... 

Being whirled into PUMPKIN DOUGHNUTS! 

I halved this recipe and made 4 rather LARGE baked doughnuts (probably could have stretched out the batter to 6-8).  But either way, it was just enough for usJ 

And the last little piece de resistance??  A little roll in melted butter & a dip in some cinnamon sugar... 

Weeeeeeeeee! 

Needless to say, these were a hit all aroundJ 

And because I'm a dork and love to be OVERLY festive (ya know, if you haven't noticeJ)  I have an entire week planned of FESTIVE HALLOWEEN MEALS leading up to the big day!  (cause WHY NOT, right??)  And to kick off the week, let's give it up for the adorableness of these GHOST MONTE CRISTO SANDWICHES!

A layer of cheese, ham & turkey on potato bread... 

...trimmed with a little help from my friend!  (you could try this freehand, but I ended up finding this cookie cutter yesterday in my grocery store for about $1.50) 

(ps-none of the corners went to waste as Penny was the happy recipient of all of the 'scraps.'  She gets a festive treat tooJ)

I nearly SQUEALED at the cuteness!! 

OK...who am I kidding??  I totally really DID squeal J

And since Scott was a LITTTTTLE leery about them being dipped in "French toast dip," and since we're SUCH fans of the "Hawaiian sweet roll ham & cheese sandwiches", I did the next best thing and just made both! 

2 sandwiches were dunked in a mix of:

• 1 egg
• a little 2% milk
• dash of sea salt
• dash of nutmeg

While the others got a brush of:

• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire
• Sprinkle of onion powder

I put a small pat of butter under the "French toast side" and cooked them on a nonstick skillet over medium low heat for about 3 minutes on each side or until the cheese was nice & melty...

Once they were cooked, I let Katie help me out by splitting the 'ghost flavors' and getting a little sample of each!

Once the above photo was taken, the ghosts were sent to their adjacent corners (errr....curves??) and the french toast got a hit of some powdered sugar...

I enjoy any excuse to break this thing out, ya know?? J 

We knew the 'savory' side with the butter & onion was going to be irresistible, but we were both surprised how good the french toast one was too!  Sweet & savory to the max!  You MUST try out both varieties because they are both SOOO good....and so DARN cute, wouldn't ya say??   (that powdered sugar really makes em extra ghostly whiteJ)

Katie liked her sandwich...but LOVEEEED the roasted broccoli.  I'm OK with this. 

And our other order of the day for Sunday was a visit from the "Great Pumpkin," who brought Katie the big Jack 'o Lanterns we were going to carve...

I had thought of this little 'tradition' before she was born (still letting her pumpkin pick her own small 'kin) and was SO excited to actually do it!  Even if she only gave the pumpkins a fleeting glance before moving on to reading her 'Alice in Wonderland' bookJ  Hahahahaha...maybe it'll be more 'magical' for her next yearJ

Then we got to business...

 Slimy hands, a paint covered 19-month old and one bath later and here were our results for the yearJ

And what better way to end the night/weekend than with some roasted pumpkin seeds rolled in a bit of melted coconut oil and a sprinkle of cinnamon & sugar!  Might as well get all the money you can outta those pumpkins, right??

PHEW!  Alright, I knew that was gonna be a lot to share!  Hope you liked our little recap and you had a fun weekend, as well!  Needless to say, I have another "festive" dinner on the horizon tonight...stay tuned & Have a great Monday!J

Beets abound...

Hey guys...how is everyone?  Sorry for my delayed post.  It seems like I can't get my feet under me on MondaysJ  I feel like I wake up and before I know it, it's dinner time & then off to the gym.  Guess not the WORST way to spend a Monday, huh??  ANYWAY, so I have a double post for you today...

Sunday & Monday Recap:

8:30am:  Breakfast- Naturally "Sorta-Red" Velvet Baked Doughnuts

So I KNEW my next variations of baked doughnuts had to be RED this weekend...but I wanted to make one little adjustment because I just felt weird about giving our littlest chowhound too much fake red food dye.  It just didn't feel right to me at her age.

So, what to do?  Try making red velvet doughnuts with....BEETS!  I roasted a beet for an hour at 450 until it was tender.  Once cooled, I peeled the beet (the skin basically slips off once roasted.  If not, just use a veggie peeler) and then added the chopped beet into a food processor with buttermilk & vinegar.  The acid from those 2 apparently keeps the red REEEEDDDD... (I did this step the night before so it was all ready in the morning)

I added the rest of the ingredients...

And things were looking UP!!! 

Well, until they baked and then they sorta reverted back to the color of cocoa powder...they actually darken as they COOLED...

Buttt....slap a little cream cheese frosting & sweet sprinkles and you get all the flavors of red velvet and a red tint without all the fakey dye...not a bad trade off, right??

Naturally "Sorta Red" Velvet Doughnuts with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 beet
• 1/3 cup buttermilk + 1 tablespoon
• 3/4 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 cup cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1. Wrap beet in foil & roast at 450 for 60 minutes or until beet is tender.
2. Peel beet & puree with buttermilk and vinegar.
3. Add egg, butter & vanilla extract to beet mixture.
4. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cocoa powder and baking soda.  Add to beet mixture and stir until just combined.
5. Fill doughnut molds 2/3 full & bake 10 minutes at 350.  Allow doughnuts to cool 5 minutes before removing from pan.  (makes about 9-10 doughnuts)
6. Slather with frosting...recipe below

• 1/4 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4-5 tablespoons heavy cream

1. Combine ingredients (adding heavy cream to reach desired consistency.)
2. Slather on doughnuts
3. E-A-T!!!!!

12:00pm:  Lunch- Leftover slice of pepperoni pizza 

I know I had a few tortilla chips & a Brownie Mix truffle in the afternoon...but no 'solid snacks' that I can think of.  Not the best eating plan, but oh well... it was the weekendJ

5:30pm:  Dinner- Crispy Pesto Gnocchi with Goat Cheese

Because of my 'bad planned' afternoon, I was STARVING by the time dinner hit the table.  Thankfully this dinner took 12 seconds to make and yet I STILL only managed to get a picture of this pot.  Opps...

Well, and THIS little pesto face trying gnocchi for the first timeJ  I want to bite her little arms in this pictureJ

We also caught up on our horror movies and Netflixed Paranormal Activity 4. (which always seems to be released RIGHT around Valentines day...appropriate for usJ)  

After the DISMAL 3rd installation, I was NOT expecting much...but it actually was really good!  Sometimes I find people just forebodingly standing around MUCH more terrifying than the blatant scares.  (although..how many more of these are they going to make before they actually explain what's going on???)

Monday Recap:

9:30am:  Multigrain waffle with butter & flax...

Yes...the RETURN of the waffle.  I know...don't get too excitedJ

11:30am:  Lunch- Hummus with pita chips

3:00pm:  Snack- Strawberries & Dark Chocolate almonds  

I went from FINE to STARVING in .4 seconds and tried to grab the quickest things that I knew would be filling.  Sometimes it's SOOOOOOO easy to grab the junk food when you're looking for something quick...but this healthy snack took all of 3 seconds to wash the berries & measure out the almonds.  When you get that PASTSTARVING thing, try to take a breath and realize what is going to FILL you up the quickest...not just what is the quickest to grab.  The protein from the almonds & volume from the berries had me full in no time.

5:30pm:  Beet RED Salad J

Yes...one LAST beet recipe for the weekJ hahahahahahaha...   This time I peeled & sliced the beets, drizzled em with olive oil & roasted at 350 for 30 minutes.  They came perfectly crisp on the edges and chewy center.  

Also in the mix:

• Spinach
• 1/2 diced avocado
• Handful diced & toasted almonds
• Feta cheese 

This may have been one of my favorite salads EVVVVVVEEEEERRRRR.  The sweet & chewy roasted beets, cool avocado, crunchy walnuts & salty feta = too die for!  And thanks to the olive oil drizzled beets & creamy avocado, this was a no-dressing-needed salad.  Always a bonus.. 

6:30-8:00pm:  Beginners Power Yoga

My absolute proudest moment of the day (week, month...) may have been that I FINALLLLLLLLLLY learned how to balance a headstand in yoga class last night!!! 

It has taken me YEARS to get my body to finally "CLICK" and understand how to do this without actually putting the pressure on my head & crunching my neck.  Finally my arms understood how to strengthen as a base and support my 'stand.  I almost cried right there on my mat...it was one pose I NEVER thought I'd get.  And like my teacher said: "Just cause you have it this week, doesn't mean it's going to be perfect next.  So don't put any negativity in it."  Pretty good advice for LIFE, no?  

I. LOVE. YOGA!  

 8:30pm:  Dessert- No sugar added Rice Pudding

I was so giddy from class, I just HAD to give myself a little treatJ  And I love this No Sugar Added Kozy Shack pudding because it's no sugar added...NOT 'sweetened with chemicals.'  (now if I can only quit that damn coffee creamer!!J)

Alright folks...that was a lot for one day!  Hope you have a great Tuesday.

(and ummm...did anyone else hear the rumors of another possible snow storm in Jersey on the 17th?? Squeeeeeeeeel!)

The dinner we've made a thousand + 1 times...

Wednesday Recap:

8:00am:  Hot Lemon Water

9:30am:  Breakfast-Multigrain waffle & coffee with creamer

Since I love the texture of grains, I thought I'd try sprinkling my waffle with some ground flax seed.  For better or for worse, you couldn't really taste it at all.  Sneaky way to add some extra Omega 3's to your diet (which are muy importante!)

I'm not sure if it was because I guzzled my coffee down like a shot at da club or what, but I was still hungry and felt a little shaky after breakfast.  And knowing I was in for a TOUGH yoga class, I measured out 1/4 cup serving of trail mix and picked on that while I got ready. 

When I was about half way through the cup, I realized I was only eating it because it was good and not because I felt hungry anymore.  So I just saved the rest for lunch.

10:30-11:45am:  Power Yoga class

Tough today!  Like sweat pouring in my eyes tough.  

Sorry for that visualJ

12:30pm:  Lunch-Yogurt & leftover trail mix 

It's been awhile since I've gushed about my love for Pineapple Chobani...but allow me:  ILOVETHISSTUFFSOMUCH...ITSLIKECANDY!  aka-it's dee best!

2:30pm:  Snack-Pear... apparently a very INTERESTING pear, considering it's attentive audienceJ

6:00pm:  Dinner-Buffalo chicken fingers with blue cheese cole slaw

So, this was SUPPOSED to be served all chopped up over lettuce in lieu of the Monday salad night that wasn't, buttttt we figured our shredded 1/2 head of cabbage (along with carrots & green onions) was enough of a veggie quota for the night. 

All zipped up in mere seconds in my new food processor my in-laws got me for Christmas! 

Mix with 1 part nonfat Greek yogurt, 2 parts olive oil-based mayo and the most pivotal ingredient of all... 

Well, usually blue cheese, but this was all I could find at the store the other day!

All served up with buffalo sauce & panko coated baked chicken tenders, this is STILL one of our all time favorite meals.  Spicy chicken & coooooool, blue cheese spotted cole slaw = awesome! 

 8:00pm: Dessert- Baked Chocolate Doughnuts with Buttermilk Glaze

6 day old baked doughnuts were....ehhh...not as good as fresh, that's for sure.  Oh well, we got our last fills and unfortunately had to chuck the last 2.  Good thing I only made HALF the original recipe.  I already have plans for my NEXT baked doughnut venture...weeeeeee!

Happy ALMOST FRIDAY...that's right, I said it!